Pen and Pitcher...

Ivory Coast
18th May, 2013
2:56 am

I have heard a lot about the golden night at the street of Plateau in Abidjan but never went this way.... I have also heard about the craziest stuff that goes through the night... Since it was my first lonely night without my friends and project mates,  I wanted to do something different (no attempt to crash and burn myself). I felt going solo would be worth trying to go to a bar. I did this my first night out as the work pressure from all direction was strong enough to do some weird thing. I thought if I had friends around, I would have done the usual thing and stayed in a comfortable group...

So i entered a English cum french bar [.], saw a rainbow of people, colors and sounds, all holding glasses filled with golds, blacks and browns..... A busty flow of conversation, laughing, rising and falling as you pass through the groups.... “Have you tried this one?!”... “What do you want next?” ...Around a corner drinkers are stretched all along, looking up and down, all around, a constant passing back and forth of glasses, money and beer... Another corner and the smell of food strikes. Another corner and it opens into a line of bars and a huge seating area, so big you can barely see the other end, a rock star stage in between...(a drunk performer between frnz)...

People everywhere drink their beers, they talk about their day, their week, the weekends ahead; they gossip, talk about the news, cinema, sport; they talk about what they drank earlier, what they’ve got now, what they’ll order next; they say this is good, this isn’t, this is great, this is incredible, this is insane, this is…

All around are the interested eyes of friends in conversation; the glazed-eyes of seven hours of being there; the eager eyes of the newly arrived; And then it starts. 4 hours later, the grip loosens, the excitement fails the hand. Girls almost seems easier than standing around totally alone and they were coming easily, giving a look as if we met before..:)... Then later, nearer the end, it happens more, a constant flow of crash and cheer breaks conversations for a moment to join in - a second to drop everything and shout with the crowd.

“Nice” friends... “Good” friends and “just” friends...

Nothing is sure... Nothing is pure...Nothing is forever..

And now think of myself... what a wonderful world!!

The cheer is not for the broken glass, it’s for the full ones about to be emptied and then refilled - it’s for us. I’ll drop my glass to that.

Where LEFT is RIGHT and RIGHT is LEFT

No prizes on guessing the name of the place i am referring to ... Well well, its not United State of America (USA), my friend..  It's Ivory Coast - a place where i found a new paradigm of what is right and what is left.
Well this is my first trip ever outside India and is also a first international working trip for me.
For a newcomer to the outer world like me, the "LEFT" and "RIGHT" issue starts with which side you are driving on the road in CIV, but its not limited to this.. It actually means that whatever you have been doing till noe, has to undergo an inversion. You have to imagine yourself to be a mirror image of yourself and then try to recognize the world around you with the changed reference frame and then react - sounds confusing... :) Read below :-

• It means that the knob for hot water is on the left side of the tap and cold water knob is on the right. And it also means that the flush lever on the toilet is on the right side, unline left in india.
• It means that the knob of your door will open when you rotate it clockwise (unlike in India , where you rotate it anti-clockwise )
• It means that while crossing the roads you should follow the rule "Look at left - right - left" and then cross (Unlike "right - left - right " rule in India)
• It means that when you enter any public place then you should eneter by right door, use the right elevator and so on..

These are some of the most irritating items I have faced till now in daily life which forced me to reboot my memory with a mirror image of myself so that i can fit in the world..... But this is not the end of this story.... In fact this is the begining of a journey where i am syre i will see more interesting things in the time to come....

 

 

 

Whatever

At one point you realize that it really doesn't matter, does it? I mean OK, things didn't go your way, but then they usually don't! When they do, usually, it's disappointment, so I guess by default we're programmed to feel bad/sad/greedy/blah. I guess it is left to our faculties to decide and program our brain (yes, we all possess one even though most forget to use it!) to make us feel happy, et cetra. No matter what the problem is, that point does come at least once when one realizes that it wasn't worth all the drama........


It came even for Devdas -


"Babuji ne kaha gaon chhodh do...... sub ne kaha paro ko chhodh do...... paro ne kaha sharab chhodh do...aaj tum keh rehe ho yeh haweli ko chhodh do...eik din ayega jab woh kaha ga duniya hi chhodh do... " 

It came even for Devdas, but he was too drunk to realize it or perhaps the music at Chandramukhi’s place a tad too loud to contemplate his stupidity, who knows! I mean, wouldn’t it have been a ton better to have either run away with Paro or to have, just you know like, enjoyed all his dad’s money or even just made use of his fancy degree from London or some place and gotten a job or something? But no, apparently getting drunk and dying was better. In retrospect however, even he would have realized that everyone else seemed to have managed fine without all the drama. Chandramukhi kept dancing, Paro kept being married or whatever.

Look at it this way, why do we become sad? Guess, coz well, we are not happy. Ok, fair enough. But, then doesn’t being sad, make us even less happy and eventually sadder? So, basically being sad just makes us sad, so why be sad? OK. Wait, not helping.  Let us look at it in a less idiotic way, whatever we feel and all is basically just a set chemical reactions and electrical impulses, sent by our brain. Our brain functions according to well, our brain! So, if we choose to look at the good things, if we decide to move on and be happy, we will. Logically and practically, no one can stop that. So, don’t choose to be sad. Simple. Well, there is this little voice that usually pokes its nose to point out that, you know things didn’t go your way and all. Here’s what you do, tell Mr. Goody Two-Shoes to help, if it can then good enough, if it can’t well, you really can’t do much about it, can you? So, move on, ignore the pestering little, little voice and choose to be happy, start afresh.

Once in a while it does us good to remind ourselves that this is probably our only chance at life, and even if reincarnation and all does exist, this is our only chance at life as we know it, so why ruin it for something that is nothing in comparison in the long run? No matter how pathetic or miserable you are, trust me you’ve got a better life than most people. You at least have internet connection and the idle time to read this post, which says nothing new or even remotely entertaining. So, just be happy and stop whining, coz for a change you really do get to choose, so why not make a choice that you’ll actually like? \


Loads of Luv

Not Just a Movie

Sometimes, you just like a movie because that one dialogue, that one scene, that one song was about you............... about something special to you.......... That moment when you don’t see the actors, you don’t hear their voices, you just feel what you felt then, and then you don’t need a reason to like that movie, it becomes special, because it had that little bit of you.................. A single sentence, a small gesture is all it takes and then, you're not just watching a movie.


Loads of Luv.

I Dream... I Try... I "Believe"

I might have to wait, but I will never give up.... I guess it's half timing and the other half's luck.. Wherever you are, whenever its right, it's gonna come out of nowhere into my life.. "I Believe"

At the end of the day, you are your own. People would come along, be nice to you, walk a little while beside you. They may stay back. They may not. You don't know. You will make whatever you will of your life. And, if you think you're not where you wanted to be -  you took some bad decisions while on your way here. Maybe you have a chance to rectify your mistakes, may be you don't. you can only try. You will never know for sure. Keep trying to get where you want to be. I wish I wasn't where I am too. But maybe tomorrow i will want to be where I am. may be this is a part of the larger plan. May be I just don't know yet. May be if i keep trying to get out of this place i will succeed. Wish I know what the plan is. You can't stop yourself from wanting things you're n't certain of getting. That's what dreaming is about. You dream, you try. If you fall, You hurt. You stand up, you walk on, you heal. Sometimes it takes longer to heal, but heal you do. If you loose sight of this rationale when you're broken, it's alright. It will come to you. We are all unsure. We are all lost souls swimming in the fish bowl. We're all part of the the larger game plan. We're specks of dust. We want to be happy specks. We dream of better days.


Loads of Luv .... R

Behind everyone's success : The Girl Effect

Well ,there's a little bit of man in every woman and a little bit of woman in every man.... Betty Smith

This video by the Nike Foundation and NoVo is about the cycle of poverty in rural regions, and the impact

one person can create by breaking it.

Behind every successful economy, is a prosperous Girl.... just felt like sharing it.

Loads of Luv.... R

Stuffs I like # 3 : Cheese Orgasm

Salty... Smoth... Tangy... Sharp.... Milky.... Dry.... Mild.....

... I am trying to describe the taste of cheese to someone who hasn't tried it all is like describing the difference between dark cyan and teal to someone who's been blind all their life.. Far more difficult than describing a cat's eye or coffee's fragrance.

Loads of Luv.... R

Stuffs I like # 2 : Coffee

Coffee, unlike life itself, should be taken very seriously. A good cup of coffee is like sex, magic and love. It's a feeling one can't really define.

In my opinion, the only reason coffee hasn't seen as widespread regulation or taboo as alcohol or tobacco or say hukka is because caffeine is far more addictive and loved than ALCOHOL.

Loads of Luv.... R

A Letter from ROMAL

It is said that acknowledging achievements in the workplace is a boon to morale and makes for happy employees. It can be a hand shake or a heatfelt thank you, letting us know that we are valued and appreciated in a classy moves that has improved the business............ So this post is about one thing I am really excited about.........

In November 2010, I joined one of the big four firm called as KPMG as a trainee(Its almost 200 days) and now i am working as an "Analyst".When I joined this firm as an engineer without any previous work experience,i was completely baffled about my role in the company which runs by the best Chartered Accountants of the estate. And It was no coincidence that my first 30 days was really tough to make any move.

The best thing about our company is that one will get enormous opportunity to get the freedom to reach your potentials. And there is so much I can write about my company and the people whom I work with but i prefer to park these thoughts for my next upcoming post. :)

Back to the article, today I got rewarded by the Advisory Services and Head, National Telecom Practice, KPMG India. Mr. Romal V. Shetty, who lead us and take charges of the operation metrics as well. Irrespective of his hectic schedules, packed calendar,strenous travel, he always is well aware of the performances, hard-work put in by every employee in his huge team and the issues and drawbacks that any employee in the team faces no matter what the designation may be and reaches out to them.

Last week, i was deeply touched by his kind gesture when he called me and handed over a self-composed appreciation letter with a 90$ ITC Coupon to recognise my hardwork put in.

I feel fortunate to work with such a leader wherein my efforts were recognized and well appreciated. Like for everybody, it just motivates me to put in my best at work

More than the value of coupon, I was overwhelmed by reading the letter and its something which I want to share on this podium of blog.

I would like to end this post with the saying, "Give the world the best you have and the best will come to you."

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Dear Ratnesh,

There are plentiful tasks performed by each one every day – long hours worked, weekends sacrificed and so forth. But, over and above them all, are the little things missed, which are closer to one’s heart – an anniversary missed, a birthday lost amidst a pile of work, a fun-filled evening with friends/ relatives forgotten…. To name a few.

Ratnesh, you have sacrificed some of these personal moments to honor a professional commitments – to the firm and its clients. This note is to let you know that no matter how great or small – your contribution is highly valued and appreciated.

I may not be able to turn back time, but, here is a humble gesture on my part to re-create some of those magical moments for you with family. I would like to gift you these vouchers which you can use at any time of your convenience.

Here’s hoping you have a wonderful time with family and now that you are truly an asset to us.

Thanking you personally for your sincere dedication.

Warm regards,

Romal

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In the Picture :- Glimpse of ITC Windsor Manor
(U to D : L to R) D Antoo, S Jha, P Vastred, Ravi, Elle, Me & Aishu -

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Loads of Luv.... R