La Vie est Bien

It’s no secret that that my only source of global breaking news as well as entertainment (read social life during the week) is Facebook! And I take the “me-time” with FB very seriously – for e.g. I will go through hoops & loops (read multiple friends’ status messages & numerous #hashtags) to ensure I know the entire story - What song was played during the Virushka wedding, what expletives Dhoni hurled at (you know who) and of course what the world & their grandmothers think of ‘how’ Sreedevi must’ve actually died (may her soul rest in peace).. Yet my breakfast routine is also to flip through the newspaper just in case that upcoming HR head and/or entrepreneur is (finally) in the news for doing something right (in turn instilling hope for souls like yours truly & her life partner).. I also have the moral obligation to watch out for the org that pays me my salary – Hopefully, “we” are in the news for the right reasons! And of course, I flip through to see which onli...

Last night I watched ‘Hachi: A Dog’s Tale’ – The movie ended, the sobbing ceased and yet the cathartic role pets play in our lives continued - With Pluto sat next to me, I realised I’m so grateful for the absolute healers, the real givers - the 3 pets I’ve had in my life. Each have had their own personalities and their own quirks (Oh ya, it’s a complete package, buddy! Perfection is boring, remember!!?) And here’s how the story unfolds..  Scene 1:  Falling in love with Natasha ..  Scene 2 : Goofy makes a grand entry…  Scene 3 : Pluto leaps into our life..  Scene 4 : And we live together happily (ever after I truly hope)… Happy reading.. We were at Lonavala, a hill station near Bombay - As an afternoon getaway, we visited a farmhouse recommended by my dad's friend (my mom still wonders if he was indeed a "friend") - on sale were little pups - amidst all the oohs and aahs, a Pomeranian (the Spitz type) pup caught our attention.. White as snow, she...

Last month, I attended the NASSCOM D&I conference along with a few colleagues at work. One of the rare seminars that was brilliantly planned & executed, each of the sessions was very interesting, if not inspiring! Surrounded by tonnes of like-minded people, our discussions and debates hit a new high.. Doe-eyed we came back with tonnes of notes and to-dos (read lofty plans on initiatives that we’d begin right away if not in a short while..) And then reality struck.. the snide remarks, the sarcastic tones.. (the fact that Women’s Day fell in the following week didn’t necessarily help).. “Do you know how the men folk see all this jazz organisations want to create around this Diversity agenda? Have you ever thought how this can harm you women colleagues – Would you feel comfortable if someone thinks you made it to the top only cos of your gender!?” OF COURSE NOT… And if you still persist, I will get Mrs. Funny Bones aka Twinkle Khanna’s help to make this point clear(er) to yo...

       Just in case you wish to feel a sense of belongingness at one of our homes, you may need to know that         Our obsession with the Sun is Epic (After all, there MUST be a reason the ‘Earth’ revolves around it!!) – We wake up at sunrise, no matter how sleepy/ yawny we are post that (read no matter how late we hit the bed and/or the fact that we were woken up in the middle of the night - like I am right now!) – Waking up beyond 6:30 could be considered equivalent to blasphemy.. No wonder I've heard Geetha aunty cry foul saying “Ayiyo, this Kartik.. he usually wakes up only at 8’o clock !! This hostel life has spoilt him!” -           It’s critical to clear the “Have you showered” litmus test every single morning  – A typical morning (even on a weekend) may look like this.. Step 1: Wake up earllllyyyyyyy à Step 2: Drink tea/ coffee à Step 3: Have a shower à Step 4: Read new...

"So how do you manage?" Hopefully (in any case, I'm convinced!) when my friends & colleagues ask me this, they're referring to how I stay super-positive (read sane) amidst managing two toddlers*, an entrepreneur hubby, living with the in-laws, spending time with my family, staying in touch with friends, while successfully & ambitiously pursuing a career in an area I am quite passionate about, trying to stay fit- running a few 10-k a year, reading & traveling a bit, and of course, staying abreast with the latest (useless yet priceless, masala-filled) debates & updates on social media – I mean how can I miss out on how my friend, her brother and her ex-boyfriend & his cousin feel about how amicable Farhan Akhtar's divorce is! ;-) *For those new to this word - it includes caring, cleaning, teaching, cooking, entertaining, disciplining & a myriad other things- basically, ticking off from a never-ending list of activities that keeps...

Its quite true I guess.. Old habits die hard! The passion for traveling and exploring new places that I discovered in my early 20s (a tad earlier would’ve been even better) had to put on hold with Rhea & Dhruv’s arrival and what not.. But there we are.. back to square one! And what’s beautiful is that it’s back with a vengeance! With a little more ‘disposable’ money in hand, it seems to make me a shopping traveloholic (if there’s one such term).. Thanks to the awesome organization that I work with, I have been fortunate to have traveled abroad 4 times in the past 5 months! Now that IS enviable by all means.. It began in March when they asked me if I could travel to the UK for a week for an up-skilling program.. Extremely conscious about what it would mean to the kids etc. but reassured by the hubby, I grudgingly agreed only to be posed with a travel to Bangkok even as I was processing the UK visa. 1 3-day stint to Bangkok gave me the much-needed confidence to undertake fore...

The past few days have been interesting times... The latest found obsession is watching news and reading the newspaper inside out (especially the editorials). With each passing day, the news gets juicier while the tones of the newsreaders gets more dramatic.. With Steve Balmer talking about probable lay-off (almost unheard of), Steve Jobs declaring a sabbatical (owing to health reasons) and the 'Yahoo!' baton in the hands of an (able) woman, and of course America's largest telephone equipment maker filing for bankruptcy, the corporate world surely seems to be in the limelight (for the wrong reasons, perhaps)! Just while the Indian press and media were about to divulge 'almost everything' that existed about this person (or may be beast) called 'Amir Ajmal Kasab' - one of the terrorists caught alive from the Terrorist attacks in Bombay on November 26, 2008- the focus turned to our home-grown (financial) terrorist Mr. Ramalingam Raju. Anyone that has been partl...