Goodbye, 2012

Each of the episodes documented here deserve their own blog posts, but there is really no sense in that now. Hence one big, fat post will have to do.

Aaarrgh, where to begin! I absolutely cannot do this in chronological order. So lemme start with what's fresh.

Didi's wedding

This was the big one. Natasha Kate married Manish Kothari, this wedding was just waiting to happen. More than a year after they acquainted their families with their intentions, my older sister and her batch mate from undergraduate years at KEM Hospital tied the knot. 

She looked beautiful - if there is one thing worth mentioning about the wedding, it is this - that she looked incomparably beautiful. Movie stars in their best attire and make-up imaginable would pass off as her maidservants - THAT beautiful. 

Pre-wedding rituals

Anyway, it was quite a traditional wedding, with pheras  and everything. I (and even Mum!) ran all over Iskcon, Juhu in a saree and the tallest heels I have ever worn - welcoming the baaraat, welcoming the guests, stealing the groom's shoes, handling everybody's mood swings, handling the gifts, the bags, the jewelry, the whatnot. However, time and again, I had the occasional respite of chilling with a few friends who would never have given up the opportunity to watch me at my, ahem, best.

Then close to midnight, once everyone was gone, the families had a chance to proceed towards the food. Post which, there were hurried, sorrowful (tear-less!) goodbyes and the wedding was DONE. As per Didi and my plan, on our way home, I told Dad that I wanted to get married next year. The result of which is that I have now been banned from getting married for the next three years. Not a bad deal, if you think about it.

Kyani Cafe

Food

What a nice day this was, although it kind of ended by 2 PM. A couple of friends and I drove down to Churchgate to breakfast at Kyani's. After a physical tussle over who got to ride up front (which I WON), we left Vile Parle at 9 AM and were gorging on yummy Parsi food and coffee an hour later. Of course, knowing the company, I don't even have to think back before mentioning that the conversation was just about at par with the food. And that's saying a lot, if you've eaten breakfast at Kyani's. Of course, we then proceeded to Parsi Dairy Farm and had Kulfi. Refer to the pic for an additional 1000 words on this day.

Cummins India Ltd., Pune

Le PPT

They gave me a job in return for the work I did for them in an internship. I made a few really good friends. I had the opportunity to visit Ahmedabad and walk around on an oil rig. I finally got a glimpse of what an MBA is all about. I worked harder than I ever did in my life and got paid for it too. Enough said.

Asian Paints Canvas

Three of us participated in this competition. Here's an excerpt from what we submitted as a summary (not authored by me) of our time working for Canvas.

"As cliché as it sounds, it began at 1:30 AM when one guy sent a message to his friends online asking 'Hey. Asian Paints. Email. Competition. Interested?'

It was only after our first visit to a rather small dealer (where, fortunately, we spoke to the dealer, an end user and a painter) that we became genuinely interested in taking part as the case seemed interesting. We were quickly absorbed into the case and we went from simply “participating” to “competing” by visiting more stores and spending more time together. 

Presenting First

It would take a separate article to talk about the elation when we knew we were the national finalists from our college."

Right. So we competed in the National Finals as well, representing NMIMS. We didn't win, but I know we put up a good fight. The event was amazing. First of all, it happened at Grand Hyatt and the organisers treated us like royalty. We got personalised gifts and everything (Jim Corbett's Tiger Stories!). Secondly, it was bigtime exposure, you have to be there to know what its like. So many new people from different B-schools, different backgrounds and informal, fun conversations with other people who have words like 'MD', 'CEO' and 'Asian Paints' on the same visiting card. 

Pictures from the after-party aren't something I'll share here. Those memories are too crazy, too special and belong solely to my teammates and I. Yay Asian Paints!

Trip to Matheran

It began with the idea of going on a day long trip to some place that took at best 3 hours to get to by car. Naturally, we were left with barely a handful of options. Obviously, Lonavala was out of the question. So we decided we'd trek through Matheran because we needed the fresh air and the exercise. We pitched the idea to a couple of buddies and four of us set out the next morning.

Water / Suicide / Dying Point

It was the monsoon season. We walked through clouds at the start - we could feel the tiny droplets of water on our skin as we casually began our long, long walk. It hadn't rained though, and so the paths in Matheran were dry and easy to make our way through. Much later, we had walked enough to ensure I was complaining about how we'd never make it all the way back. Even my lesser finicky companions began to wonder whether we'd actually have to spend truckloads traveling back on horseback - assuming we'd find these horses. We reached that which you see in the picture, eventually. There was a tiny, shallow pool of water that had been formed just before the cliff and I sat there, cooling off. The water was cold and it felt like I was applying an ice pack on my ankles - just what I needed! Meanwhile, my friends scurried on closer to the edge of the cliff and enjoyed the spectacular view. I joined them later, of course before we all went back to soaking our feet.

Once we got back on the road, we trekked to a few other points. One of which was an echo point. We waited for the public to leave and once we were by ourselves, started yelling like maniacs. There was a lot of experimentation required to finally find the perfect direction and the perfect volume that resulted in the perfect echo. Moment of pride!

While trekking back, we went off the road and into the vegetation on the sides at one point. We got a view of where we had been sitting. We did NOT know that the cliff was THAT steep. I really doubt anyone would have gotten as close to the edge as they did had we been here before. Clicked a pic to scare our mothers with - the same one on this post.

We found a place selling Amul Kool's. Each of us bought one, downed it and was able to walk till we found a place selling lunch. Downed lunch. Left Matheran. Drove back into the sunset. 

Guns N' Roses Concert

Posing

Concerts in Mumbai aren't even remotely comparable to the ones in Bangalore, is what I've heard. The biggest bands from across the world are almost always welcomed by my friends at Palace Grounds and I never had gotten the chance to do the same. Enter change. GNR performed in Mumbai on my mother's birthday, two days after Didi's wedding and one of the coolest days of the year turned way cooler. Six of us, including my Canvas teammates, my partners in crime at Kyani and my co-intern from Cummins spent three hours lost in the kickass music that is GNR. They played songs from both Appetite for Destruction as well as Chinese Democracy. Starting with Welcome to the Jungle (the one which themed their posters all over the city), Axl Rose went on to singing loads of my favourites.

The semi-enthu atmosphere in the section that we were in (the 1.5K one) changed, of course, when Sweet Child o' Mine set the mood for all. The highlight of the evening for me, was November Rain. This song has been one of my favourite songs of all time since 2007, and to have it played Live by the same (more or less) band, my life felt so complete. And given that I've always been a vocalist person, Axl Rose was more than enough for the music to be authentic enough to me.

It was like the band was listening to us. One friend wanted them to play Knocking on Heaven's Door, and they did it immediately. Another wanted them to end with Paradise City, which again, they did. I wanted them to play Civil War at one point and there it was. It was like MTV Select now that I think about it (!). Anyway, this is a day I will tell my grandchildren stories about. I headbanged like a lunatic and my shoulders were sore for days, but that kind of pain is more than worth it, we all know that.

NJM

The NJM Committee

Not Just Marketing, The Marketing Cell, NMIMS - One of the first few things I truly felt passionate about in my entire life. The cell has taught me so much, given me so many friends and has been a major part of what the MBA is for me. Being an NJM member was possibly one of the best things that happened to me at NM. I loved working with the committee this year, it was barely as dysfunctional as I thought it would be. In fact, I've bonded with a few people I never thought I would even like. And we luckily picked a great bunch of juniors too! I am so going to cry at the farewell party next year.

My Birthday

So, its midnight, and my parents wish me Happy Birthday. I get a card and everything. The phone calls start pouring in, a friend on chat is seemingly oblivious that it is my birthday and I start thinking of turning in for the night.

Ting Tong.

I go to the hall to see who in God's name is ringing our doorbell at the unearthly hour and there's DSC, a classmate of mine. I retract a few steps, because I'm like 'Whaaaaa?! Why in the world would he come all the way to my place, alone, to wish me?' But before I can ask him that, four others enter my home one after the other - a very unexpected combination of people, actually - but who cares! They were there (with cake) and wishing me for my birthday - the same people who wished me over the phone and did not wish me over chat.

Shreyas and I

We cut the cake, they smothered my face with it, and we proceeded to my room to gup for about an hour. Mum enjoyed in everyone's company too, and Baby did make a guest appearance.

The next day, I lunched with Mum and S at Aromas of China and I ended the day with dinner, drinks and brownies with my favourite people on the planet at HRC. What an amazing, unforgettable birthday!

***

Other significant mentionables:

1. Getting my new cellphone
2. Shreyas' birthday party
3. Dinner at Cream Center
4. The drive to Bandra in the rain
5. Drinks at Apache
6. The 2nd NJM party
7. Singing at Euphoria 2012
8. Beatles at Juhu Beach
9. Mousetrap
10. Meeting AC after 4.5 years

Sigh. Goodbye 2012. I owe you.