[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by jacs

@star, so you had 3 days of your vacation paid by your company?

Most of my income (and hence my assets) have been paid by the employer since last 16 years.

As i said before, i do not work in a services company or an environment where time/duration of work is the indicator of performance. It does not matter, where i operate from business should continue, customers should be attended, committed actions must happen and results should be achieved.

generally in summers/vacation season, i have operated from Mumbai whenever i needed since last 4 years. This year too, i worked like this from Mumbai for one week due to personal emergencies.

With such flexibility, the responsibility of demonstrating the results and doing the right thing even when no one is watching you also increases.

e.g. This week i am on a vacation (having applied leaves) for some weddings in the family, still i had to attend two business meetings, the boundaries between the personal time and business time is blurring as one moves up in the career ladder, but same is not true as far as money is concerned.

Originally Posted by pjay_in

Very interesting read, keep adding more. And don't skip any detail of your MBA program

Sure, i will try to share as much possible.

Coming up,

* Brushing up the basics of home science syllabi.
* Trip to Taipei (Taiwan) & Night market, Electronic market
* Trip to New Delhi and getting barbequed at ~45 deg C
* Bachelor Evenings and Weekends in Bangalore
* MBA summer project : Review of eatouts / resturants in Bangalore with special focus on Bangalore North, Analysis of the businesses of a a south Indian Resturant in North Bangalore.
* Concluding Part..Getting the family back.

[StarVegabond]

After looking at Panaromic view of Powai Lake, we drove into IIT campus for a cup of tea.

47 view from the IIT side


48 Looks like a mini dal kale of Srinagar, minus kashmiri feel


49 IIT a spring of technical education, but water looks dirty, no freshness, mostly still water, no sprkle.


50 IIT like A big cactus survives on little or no water (=research funding by government), it survives, but can not give any fruits.


51 Students like Running Ducks..follow the herd.


52 Students tired of running, start to walk.


53. Students eventually end up like sitting ducks, focus on what is available now and and believe it is green nature and continue to stay there.


54. A techie from foreign land drinking desi chai.


We discussed about how the education system is in Taiwan Vs India.
The guy turned out to be a taiwanese brought up in Brazil studied in USA.

After enjoying the tea, we drove till Khopoli (on expressway), he did some more tests w.r.t. roaming, cell handover at different speeds etc.

While returning, he wanted to do some shopping of Indian spices, Indian dresses for himself and guess who..Ma (=mother). The person loves Indian food, he learnt it from an indian friend while he was in college.

I took him to the Hypercity mall, helped him to buy the different varieties of spices. It was an experience trying to explain him the details of the spices (=home science learnings) and which spice is used where etc.

The next item was buying a Salwar for his mother and some Indian dress for himself. This was a very difficult work for me. after spending about 2+ hours he managed to get what he wanted. Again here i was suppose to be an expert, but i never bothered to check on his feedback on my performance.

We had the dinner in the food court while watching the IPL. Again my low/no knowledge came into picture because, i could hardly recognize many players, even though i can explain about cricket.

Eventually i pushed him into a taxi and instructed the driver to take him the the hotel. The guy promptly called me back once he reached hotel.

I had some other meetings next day, hence he was on his own for next 2 days. He was any way suppose to come to Bangalore.

initially he expressed interest to drive down to Bangalore in my car, but later on preferred to fly. I also prefered it that way as it would have complicated the matters in case of any unwanted incident.

[jacs]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

Most of my income (and hence my assets) have been paid by the employer since last 16 years.

As i said before, i do not work in a services company or an environment where time/duration of work is the indicator of performance. It does not matter, where i operate from business should continue, customers should be attended, committed actions must happen and results should be achieved.

generally in summers/vacation season, i have operated from Mumbai whenever i needed since last 4 years. This year too, i worked like this from Mumbai for one week due to personal emergencies.

With such flexibility, the responsibility of demonstrating the results and doing the right thing even when no one is watching you also increases.

e.g. This week i am on a vacation (having applied leaves) for some weddings in the family, still i had to attend two business meetings, the boundaries between the personal time and business time is blurring as one moves up in the career ladder, but same is not true as far as money is concerned.

Nice to know that you are a satisfied employee and wishing you stay satisfied throughout your career . Why should one worry as long as they get payed well and allowed to be on their own (not imposing rules). Not many are previlaged to be in a job they love.

Though I am not very happy on the payment part, I am also blessed with a role in the current company which offers lots of flexibility in terms of work hours and place of work though work pressure is high. I work from home atleast 5 days a month which gives me 5 more days with family .

[StarVegabond]

One of the indicator of good vacation is the amount of quality time spent with friends and family.

These times are very hectic, everyone is in their own race towards progress or chaos. we can not spare a moment or thought for others on a busy day. Vacation could be a time when we can actually do it.

During this week in mumbai, we friends found time to catch up with each other. Three families along with the kids had planned to meet for the dinner. Just prior to the dinner, following conversation happend.

Daughter: I will not come for the dinner (:-(
Wife : Why dear ?
Daughter: Vaidehi is coming with her brother, Shalvi is coming with her brother. I can not take a brother with me. i am bored to go alone
Wife : What we can do ?
Daughter : Can I bring Chunnu with me ?
Me : We need to ask your Mausi whether you can bring him out with us.

Subsequent discussion concluded that she can bring her kid brother with her for the dinner, so eventually the family was complete.

so 3 dads with 3 moms with 3 sisters and 3 brothers had a great dinner

#56 & 57 : dinner time, gala time



Another evening was family time. My co-brother atlast was free for friday evening. Mumbai is a place where evening social life on a work is next to impossible.

We went to famous Bhagat Tarachand resturant at Sanpada. We had to wait for some time to get the tables. we had some great moments among us.

I do not have many photographs as we were all busy with the conversations and the food. But i have one photo with the speciality of Bhagat Tarachand i.e. Lassi in a special bottle and the our hosts. I also have some moods of the kid brother of my daughter.

#58 Speciality of Bhagat Tarachand


#59 & 60 : Moods of Chunnu



#61 Our Hosts at Navi Mumbai

[StarVegabond]

Our beloved aunt who was suffering from blood cancer got discharged from the hospital on thursday evening. She and her husband had organized a lunch get together for all of us at her home on Sunday.

Special occation was visit of her brother from europe who had come to invite all of us for his daughter's wedding as well as few other guests.

So we all assembled at her home in Powai on sunday morning 11 AM.
The food was ordered from outside, but the girls decided to have puri's at home.

We again had some great conversations along with the food.

#61 : Chunnu on the swing: this position presents a great view


#62 My wife tells me there were 7 dwarfs, but now only 4 left.


#63 Ladies having the lunch after we gents are done with ours.


Aunt was very apologetic that she could not cook for us. That really brought the tears into everyone's eyes.

She also told us that she is yet to visit Coorg and she want to make the trip by end of the year 2010, We invited her to Bangalore. She readily agreed and wanted me to drive her to coorg and show her around.

We were all amazed by the resolve to live the life to the fullest.

I said good bye to eevryone as i had to drive back to attend work at Bangalore on Monday. My taiwanese techie friend was also suppose to land in bangalore on Monday morning. I also had couple of visitors form Europe at office, hence had to reach bangalore by morning.

My original plan was to start from Mumbai on saturday, but becasue of this get together lunch i postponed by drive.

Some departure shots with our hosts are below

#64 Chunnu trying his luck with photography


#65 Kids simply love the Honda city.


#66 group photograph with the hosts.


My wife and daughter had plans to stay back for couple of days more as Chunnu was celebrating his birthday on couple of days hence. Later on they had plans to go together to Pune and spend couple of weeks at my in-laws place.

so i left for Bangalore at 6:15 PM and reached bangalore next day morning. Link to the details of the drive have posted earlier.

it was one hell of an hectic week, but i could achive all the things i planned to achieve.

On Monday night beloved aunt passed away. It was a sad day for all of us.

Kabhi Meetha, Kabhi Khatta. May her soul rest in peace. Her resolve to live life to the fullest would remain a motivation for us.

Never give up.

[MX6]

Sad to hear about your aunt. Yes. Life is short. Make the maximum out of it while you are still around!

[khoj]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

Her resolve to live life to the fullest would remain a motivation for us.

Never give up.

Within the few sentences and the snap, her addictive zest for life has had a positive affect on me too. My condolences and may her soul find eternal peace.

[StarVegabond]

Originally Posted by MX6

Sad to hear about your aunt. Yes. Life is short. Make the maximum out of it while you are still around!

Originally Posted by khoj

Within the few sentences and the snap, her addictive zest for life has had a positive affect on me too. My condolences and may her soul find eternal peace.

Thanks very for your condolences. I have not uploaded any of her snaps here. I would like to retain her energetic and full of life image in my mind rather than the image of the last few days. The people in the snaps uploaded here continue to enjoy thier respective lives.

Continuing with the story..

Monday morning dawn was very beautiful just like any other day.

I have said before some where that the Sun rise and Sun set are the most wonderful miracle moments the mother nature can show us. Good thing is that these moments repeat themselves every day.

With our hectic lifestyle, we do not manage to enjoy these moments most of the days. Few people on their vacations manage to witness sun sets, but still lesser people can enjoy a sun rise. Most of the people prefer to tuck in their beds.

I have added here some snaps of the dawn and sun rise. My apologies for the pictures, some of them have been taken on the move by the driver, that is me.

#68 first shot of the dawn this day.


#69, Every minute the canvan changes, mother nature is the best artist at work one can witness.


#70 Rise..SUN..rise


#71 sun changes the entire landscape


#72 SUN is the single largest energy source that drives earth and us.


Imagine a world without Sun, we homosepians would not have survived.

Let me have some pun... There would not have been a thread named "Night driving tips" on team BHP. Head lights would have been much more brighter, people were required to use projector lights 24 hours. Car would have become a simpler, no need of any A/C in the car, probably only heater is needed.

let me arrest my speculative tendencies and get back to the story.

#73 I found a boat riding on a truck.


Early morning even during summer could be very pleasant. I need to enjoy it more often than now.

[StarVegabond]

I am back in bangalore after a hectic week in Mumbai.

Being a bachelor mean taking care of one's basic needs by oneself.

There is a saying in Marathi "Ghara la, Ghar pan denari manasa"
meaning home is made by the people who stay there.

With me alone, home is just 1/3rd of what it is generally.
what this means

positives:
-----------
+ I have the entire home for myself, i can do what i want to do
+ TV remote again belongs to me, i can flip at will
+ The swinging chair again belongs to me
+ No longer i need to watch saas-bhau serials, the great indian soap operas, i can watch as many movies as possible in the evenings
+ No sleeping time restrictions, if i want i can stay awake whole night, if required, i can stay in bed as long as possible on weekends
+ i can be as lazy as needed, no one to nag me.
+ can party with friends, can eat out as many times as needed

negatives:
------------
- need to get the clothes washed, ironed and ready any day/time. challenging for a working guy, found this to take one full day every weekend.
- eating out appears good initially, but over the period of time it no longer welcome thing, oh..no, not again, please bring me anything, i will eat it
- after a week house looks a mess, it is clean up time.
- doing the dishes as and when the kitchen sink is full.
- need to wait for the maid to come every week end, how can i wait for a maid ?
- everyday i need to ensure that all electricals are off, doors are locked etc etc prior to leaving home for work. i never thought it is such a important task.
- cold water spring in the fridge seems to have drained up, i never find the water bottles full.. becasue, i have already drank them up during the week
now i need to fill up all the bottles from the acqua guard.. oh, how the stuff works ?
- i need a tea, oh no, there is no milk, ok, i will go and it it from the shop below, i need to warm it, so i keep it on the gas stove, ok, it will take few minutes, meanwhile i will catch up with some news... after half an hour... oh...some burning smell..run to the kitchen.. oh forget the tea.
- etc etc.

I begin to understand the value of small pleasures of married life at the end of first week itself.

I thought, being bachelor was fun

[ranjith.rajaram]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

Imagine a world without Sun, we homosepians would not have survived.

Let me have some pun... There would not have been a thread named "Night driving tips" on team BHP. Head lights would have been much more brighter, people were required to use projector lights 24 hours. Car would have become a simpler, no need of any A/C in the car, probably only heater is needed.

Well in reality if such a thing to happen it will take billion years or more as sun already has that much energy. It will bring down the whole planets and all the things which as yet not named to an utter destruction. If the sun were to loose its energy today it will take millions of years for us to know that sun is already dead as our technology is not.

In fantasy i would dream of bringing the sunlight back perhaps with your smile .

[jacs]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

Lassi in a special bottle and the our hosts.

Good that you explained. I was wondering which one is this non labelled beer .

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

I begin to understand the value of small pleasures of married life at the end of first week itself.

I thought, being bachelor was fun

Ha ha. I was in a mood to blast when my family left me alone for two week in their native trip, but third day i felt like a beer without bubbles. I missed my wifey and son like hell. Good to know you also felt it.

One bachelor night out is something which all enjoy but not more than that .


Anyways good luck on your course.

[MX6]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

I have said before some where that the Sun rise and Sun set are the most wonderful miracle moments the mother nature can show us.

The first rays of the sun is always magical. Incidentally there's also a great Kannada Movie I loved. The name of the movie is "Prathama Usha Kirana". Definitely worth a watch for parents.
Sorry about the OT. Recollected that name of the movie when you spoke about sun rise.

[StarVegabond]

Barbeque is a relatively new concept in India. I first visited Barbeque nation at Indiranagar some 3-4 years ago (i do not remember exactly)

i just fell in love with the concept, service, food and environment.
Since then whenever i need to host a business dinner for foreign visitors, this is one of the place. I have taken my family also couple of times.

I had an opportunity to have dinner here as i had few visitors from Europe.

for the newbies, let me explain what is this Barbeque nation is all about.

#74 Barbeque grill is placed on the table. Precooked/grilled food is placed on the coal based grill on the table. It could be a vegetarian food or meat.


#75 & 76 different types fo sauces are applied on to the food as per one's need



#77 What is served on the barbeque


#78, Apart from the barbeque, there is a lavish buffet of Indian food


#79, one of the guests enjoying the food


One has to make the reservations at this resturant to get a table.
I have always found the place full.

The barbeque is served till one flags down the servings. I have always found service great. Always i have skipped the buffet food and jumped to the deserts after flagging down the brabeque.

The place is a great location for some good conversation and relationship building, fantastic food and drinks and ofcourse for bachelor parties. Finding a place to park is a headache at this place. one needs to park in the bylanes of Indiranagar and then walk to the resturant.

I would rate this as one of my favourite location in bangalore for the concept as well as the experience it delivers.

[laluks]

Originally Posted by StarVegabond

Barbeque is a relatively new concept in India..


The barbeque is served till one flags down the servings. I have always found service great. Always i have skipped the buffet food and jumped to the deserts after flagging down the brabeque.

The place is a great location for some good conversation and relationship building, fantastic food and drinks and ofcourse for bachelor parties. Finding a place to park is a headache at this place. one needs to park in the bylanes of Indiranagar and then walk to the resturant.

I would rate this as one of my favourite location in bangalore for the concept as well as the experience it delivers.

Agree to disagree - our family use to have regular barbeque nights.

Regarding Barbeque nation - After the barbeque and beverages its directly dessert - cant have any other one on the buffet.
I love their barbequed crab, and always ask in advance if they have it. if yes - then i'd tell them to serve that the max for me

The place is a wonderful place and reasonably priced for the food.

[khoj]

Ohhoho! now I must get back to Bombay ASAP, we have one of these at Thane and a friend owes me dinner. Must rush before the rains come in and all the sea food disappears.

Immediate problem! seeing all those photos of laden tables has made me hungry and it is 12.00am, where do I go to feed myself. Everything in our local area in Delhi shuts by 11.00, seriously Bombay scores in this regard. I could have simply gone to the station and could have had aanda burji or even egg rolls followed by coffee, courtesy my local McD's drive in which stays open till 01.30 am.

Can we have the review of the next restaurant please, while I go and toast some bread with salt and black pepper sprinkled on top for good measure. That will stop me ranting due to these inspired hunger pangs.