Aamchi Mumbai

Mumbai,here i come:The vey next day started off with a scare from people who were saying...."oh! did they ask u to reconsider?then ur notice period hasn't started yet".Clarified the point with my mgr n ws finally at peace with my move.It was a day of tremendous activity.Thanks to my persistence and convincing powers,dad had finally given in to my requests of letting me go to Mumbai for my SP interview.Got a few calls in the evening and one really really unexpected one - she ws a friend with whom my reln wsn't exactly great after all the breach of trust tht happened.As I picked her call and faked some courtesy-sake excitment,came the real "matlab" of the call n it ws time for me to get skeptical abt people ever wanting to give pure courtesy "how r u"calls.....some people never call w/o a reason n I might as well live with this truth.Was reminded of the 'doormat' funda of one of my best frenz who used to whine "i was just used like a doormat when i was needed n then disposed off"!Well, thanks to the emotional detachment that I have consciously n successfully been practising for quite sometime now(I have a very select few friends with whom I know I can let my guard down n get as emotional as I want.With everyone else it's 'emotionally distant for our own good'),Iam now in a position to successfully ward off such victimizers.They dare not treat me like door mats.
Dear C came home in the evening to gimme as much gyaan as he could abt current affairs.This guy has a pretty impressive GK.Started packing at 11:30pm n had to leave home latest by 6:45am.Drew some quick cash n set out on a drive to the airport with mom n dad.After some hugs,"all the best"s n "take care"s,I nearly lost my boarding pass at the luggage check-in!C n Shoum were there 2 see Nan n me off.Squeezed into the window seat with a lota trouble cz of the really really huge guy occupying the aisle seat n comfortably settled down with the newspaper.Breakfast came in flashing "TAJ" on all containers n I knew I was in for some free laxatives for sure.The two dosas were no bigger than two botis straightened out n upma was awful.The pleasant sight of the clouds below and the highly handsome hunks who were our air hosts more than made up for the bad food though.At a certain point,the clouds below looked like a huge bed of cotton and ice with a few punctures made here n there,revealing some awesome scenic landscape below.The last time I flew was to Hyderabad n Inidian Airlines had definitely made it a flight to remember.Hopped off at the airport onto a rick n headed straight to Bhavan's.Checked in,submitted our DDs and were led through a labyrinth of construction work,stone-n-mud paths and hedges to finally reach our accommodation.The campus was not what I would call beautiful.Just as we thought Nan n I wud share a room n chuck the other seemingly boring kid i(DebLeena) into another, the co-ordinator announced "there r 10 beds in there,u can share em'.Shux!!!our idea of a hostel room was not exactly a dorm.But on stepping in, we saw tht it was a pretty neat place,with the bedding all white n clean.Crashed for a while,made a few calls,hogged at Vrindavan and spent a major 5 hours at a cybercafe,researching for our interviews.Not an iota of effort put in until then n it felt funny to try n cram like this - back to the good ol engg exam days!Whether I would get thru or not,the fact that I persuaded my parents 2 let me go n chuck their supposedly awesome groom who didn't want his wife 2 study,gave me a lot of satisfaction.After cribbing a little about the disgusting campus,we visited a temple on the campus on our way back.Found the delicate Deb there....her dad,right from the start,treated her like she was a 2-year-old kid who was learning to walk.Nan n I began missing home like crazy.We must've blown atleast 500/- calling our folks :)
Ints - our purpose for visiting Mumbai: Interviews were a roller coaster too.....1st round ws pretty awesome for me,then the MAT test ws ok,the second round of int ws horrible - wasn't upto my satisfaction atleast but Nan kept saying I ws jst being overcritical as usual.There was one response that I would particularly want to remember:about job changes, the interviewer questioned "u deliberately don't expose ur weaknesses to ur interviewer...isn't it wrong to lie like this?Our scriptures say "Satyameva jayate"" n I retorted "but the scriptures also say "satyam apriyam na bruuyaat"Ur approach in such a situation should be focus-and-goal-based.Since the goal here is to market urself well, u should be talking about ur USPs and not weaknesses ".Good one!Online test followed n I ws glad we were finally done,glad 2 get back home.Met up with Sin n Ash,shopped,hogged the famous Mumbai ka paav bhaaji.My Shakespearean English didn't go well with the waiter and we had a hilarious scene with his local Hindi countering my supposedly accented English.Nan had 2 intervene n bail me out by placing my orders in a language tht the waiter understood.She still pulls my leg big time for being such aan Angrezi mem joker.
My opinion of Mumbai:(1)Rick meters function crazily.We travelled for half an hour,meter showed Rs.4.70 and we paid up 50/- Go figure!
(2)Wil vouch for this- this city NEVER sleeps.Dinner time's 11pm.Thot we'dget a glimpse of Mumbai at night n went out to dine at 11.Golly!The restaurant was so crowded,no place to sit.In contrast, when I returned to Bangy at 10:30,all shops were closed n I had to go home all starved :(
(3)Hopelessly overcrowded streets.Iam still amazed by how our rick puller waded through the endless stream of people who were millimeters away from being knocked down.
(4)Awesome food.No two ways about that.....especially the paav bhaji has definitely EARNED its fame here.
(5)Amazingly impressive n efficient public transport system.The local trains are so very well-managed n punctual.Learn Bangy learn.
(6)Pretty helpful and cordial people.Rickwaalas generally don't cheat outsiders like they do here n people don't guide u the wrong way like they do in TN.
(7)99% of the buildings present a miserable old-fort kinda picture.They very badly need the due-for-50 years white wash.
Learnings that came out of the Mumbai trip:
(1)Rather than my "no reln cz of a subconscious fear of break-up" stance,it's wiser to adopt a "take it in ur stride" attitude n let ur guard down a wee bit when ur fairly sure.
(2)Be more careful while uttering stupid things in front of people who aren't all that close to you.
(3)Communicate with people in a manner that THEY feel comfortable with.
(4)Equipping myself with knowledge gives me the best feel-good feeling about myself.I feel the best about myself when I feel Iam smart n well-informed.
(5)Should sharpen my presence of mind .....dreamgal needs a shake-up.Shouldn't dream away 2 glory atleast during an interview!
Book: Sack the CEO by Jeetendra Jain
Thought for the day:Life is about chasing the things you think are truly worth it, even if they don't happen, I'd rather have nothing but know I didn't settle for something I didn't want!
-Selma Hayek