Downing my Drafts

So my blog's been dry all this while because I've been furiously typing in my drafts - it's weird that one or more random reasons always kept me one step short of publishing posts. Sometimes I felt the content was too patchy, sometimes I was plain lazy to spell-check, but mostly I just hesitated because there was so much going on.

But now that I've graduated, I'm planning to publish a few posts (with context) that explain what crazy past two years have been like - from clinks to clashes, from cheers to ashes - because Pittsburgh ensured that I experience all seasons.

Anyway, about the next few posts:

Some is spotty poetry
Some is delicate prose
Some is soaring anger
Some is cheeky sows

Many thoughts disjointed,
not even fully mounted
Some wild, some unsure
And somewhat immature

But the one thing that
brings them together and apart,
is the moment they fired
straight from my heart.

Daring to share, hope you like it!

#Tepper-ed!

New Found Love

I wish I was smarter, and limericks would come more naturally to me. As with all new found loves, these days I am obsessing over how awesome they are - scanning webpages for the cool ones, scratching brain cells for the inspiration to strike.

For starters,

There was a young lady named Bright
who traveled much faster than light.
She set out one day
in a relative way,
and came back the previous night.

Hawking’s "Brief History of Time"
is such a relief! How sublime
that time, in reverse,
may un-write this verse
and un-spend my last thin dime!

Okay, if you're not relatively curious:

To his friend, Ned said, rather blue,
"My wife Edith just told me we're through,
For she says I'm too fat."
And his friend told him that,
"You can't have your cake and then, have Edith, too."

Note: All sourced from the internet. 

C'mon writer's block, you can't do that to me all the time.

A wonderful summer at Mylan!

It took me a while to get myself to write, but here's my authentic thank you for an amazing summer. I enjoyed every bit of it. Cheers to a good summer internship, an awesome team, and overall, a great learning experience. 

Dedicated to the North America Strategy Team, Mylan: Jeff May, James Wu, Alejandro Sola, Doug Donaldson, Andy Fang, Chris Hartley, Heather Martin, Andrew Maston, Dan Spice, Greg Schaap and my fellow intern, Alice Toy :)

And I thought... "Yay, Week 1"

A wonderful summer has just begun

Let's knock down this case study's core,

And soon we'll get to Phase II and more!

And I thought... "Alright Week 3"

Now we're thinking and this is fun,

Weaving a story and telling it through,

Wasn't something that I had done

And I thought... "Welcome Week 5"

Phase I is now almost done

Just gotta make this slide look nice,

Lets add sugar, we've got spice!*

And I thought.. the weeks flew by,

The last few slides did come undone

With frameworks, trail-runs, beer and NALT**

My days at Mylan were coming to a halt

And I thought.. I owe you one,

For all the good times,
and all the good thought,

'cz turn up we may, but turn down for what. 

* pun intended
** North America Leadership Team Conference

Say Something

I'm giving up on you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmErRm-vApI

I'm giving up on writing. I haven't been saying anything for a while. I don't know if this is just a me-thing but I need little interstices of free time (in between chunks of not a minute to waste stuff to do) to be able to appreciate time.. think, write and publish. I've been trying 5 minute poetry (think 2-minute noodles), but clearly its not happening (though I must say that I am getting better. That makes me feel good, I like productivity!)

Anyway, school never allowed time to ponder - and I've also been kind of surprised by the sheer volume and nature of change over the past few months. Not only has business school brought about a change in routine, but people have also brought about a change in perspective. Just like coal turns to diamond under pressure - people have changed color, texture and substance under pressure, not always in a good way. Basically I think, we're all stoned (pun-intended). 

A few Minis Ago..

Situation: Social gathering and Mini 1 - I'm feeling good about the whole "prioritization is the key" aspect of MBA. So far, so good.

Task: Good conversations

Action:

"Many-a-beers down, they smiled
It's only just begun
Wait and watch what happens,
When M3 interviews come."

Result: Reminiscences.

The Blur.

She nudged away stray tendrils with the back of her hand, and couldn't help smiling at their soft texture. Just as playfully, they rushed back quickly to play hide and seek with her bright kohl-lined eyes.

Her eyes. He loved her eyes. They were so intense, so big, they seemed to gleam with the radiance of energy around them.

There was a certain energy about them. Not eerie or uncomfortable silence, but the cheery, warm welcome of wordless-ness, that questioned the purpose of communication itself.

Pinning the rebellious strand back in place, she continued to graciously knead the dough in front of her. There was still an hour to go and she'd be done in the next 20 minutes.

Which left  40 minutes to get ready, wear her favorite red kurta and golden jhumkas, and of course retouch the black magic : kohl. She loved kohl, and its intense black quality - like a black hole that took everything in its stride, no questions asked.

He'd never really asked questions. He knew what he wanted to know. He knew he had her from word go. He knew he loved her from before.

Before, when he first met her. Before, when they started smiling. Before, when he first kissed her hand. Before, when their lives became awesome.

Awesomness, of course is a relative term, he thought, smiling at the thought of the bright red kurta she'd be wearing today. He knew that, no questions asked. Surprises surprised him, he basked in the pleasure of knowing her every thought.

Hmmm, thoughts totally blew her away... So she could sit in front of the window pane, for hours together, a book in one hand and a coffee in the other.. and continue to contemplate life, before after and now, ups and downs, screams and tantrums, laughs and fears, chokes and smears.... hmmm. And then all of a sudden a squeak or a shout would shake her from her reverie and accuse procrastination. Almost as reflex, her hands would move back on the pages. Guilt had its annoying ways of creeping into her personal life, like a honk on a quiet street or perhaps, a banging doorbell in the middle of her siesta?

*Knock Knock*

He walked in to the smell of homemade choclate slush cake. She jumped at the sound of gift wrap along his fingers. They both lunged for their respective targets.

Almost ceremoniously, they stood together to cut the cake, comfortable in the joys of quiet anniversary celebrations. Later as they fed each other pieces, he naughtily scratched a smile on the back of her hand and slid a love band through her ring finger. Because love was simple, precious and eternal. Because love was theirs to keep.

In thirty years of blind and mute togetherness, they cheered on yet another year of silence. He swiftly released the locks around her ears, he knew she'd be smiling. No questions asked.


Celebrating the Platinum Day of Love with Indiblogger and Platinum

Five people you meet in the Delhi Metro

The Delhi Metro, local train of New Delhi, India

If we could collect miles by travelling on the metro, I'm pretty sure I'd have collected enough for a world-tour. No really, I didn't have a car (I think cars are bad investments, but anyway that's a separate issue), autowallahs were too haughty, rickshaw-waalas were too slow, my friends were car-less, and sitting at home on the weekends was simply not an option that I entertained.

So I had the unique opportunity to travel long distances for random reasons on convoluted paths of the Delhi Metro. I can explain the use of the word convoluted: for example, if I had to go from point A to B, but the metro went from A to C to D and then to B, I'd happily tag along. It was cheap, had Air Conditioning, and fellow travelers graciously offered free, non-stop entertainment.

So now that I'm missing dilli, I thought I'd write an ode to by far the best place around there: The Women's Coach. I have seen many men standing on one leg, falling on the edges, spilling over the sides of the adjacent coach, staring right in (to the women's coach) of course pretending otherwise, trying hard to pry in on every conversation, so I thought I might as well do them the favor and spill the secret of this magic coach.

So here's the observation: all people aboard the Metro at any instant of time can broadly be classified into either or at best, a combination of, these five prime categories:

• Stare at me, Size me up: This category is predominant: they are sharply dressed, but often have one super shiny, and very-out-of-place accessory on them, almost like a warning signal. Beware, the warning is no use, because by the time you notice the warning, they have noticed you.. Err did I say notice? I meant sized you up from top to bottom, noted all the brands (or lack thereof) that you're wearing, commented on whether the stud around your neck is gold or platinum, decided what 'type' of girl you are, where you live and what you might be up to at that time. They're the hawks and they kill their prey just by staring. So if you're suddenly more uncomfortable than a chicken squirming under butcher's knife, look out for hawk eyes (or the shiny accessory) 

• Sleeping Beauty: If you don't find atleast one of this category through your ride, you are probably not travelling long enough. They can be spotted along the edge seats, leaning along the panes, enjoying the bumpy ride, some smiling, some mouth open, (once I even saw one drooling, urgh) all enjoying a a surprisingly peaceful siesta, without a care for the world.
• Sleep walkers: this subtype jumps up at the sound of Rajiv Chowk Metro Station, neatly gets up (wipes away the drool) and walks out like sleep-walking in the metro is the 'in-thing' to do

• Phone Connection: These ones are stuck to their phones. If the battery dies out, they would do anything to get to the one charging point in extreme end of the coach. Anything. And that means, leaning along five rows of people, requesting two other strangers (who happen to be sitting next to the charging point) to hold the wire and keep the connection as she continues to chatter/ text/ both on the amazingly addictive android device. Caution: This type is generally make-up heavy, and smell like Victoria's Secret, which is great, but they also have extremely well exercised jaw muscles. If you look close enough you can see ab-like sick packs right under the chin, a product of hard work from years of non-stop blabber. And yes, the whole metro knows their life history, past boyfriends, current boyfriends, how many people in office are hitting on them, who said what, whether the boss is cute looking, the latest CK sale, how the fruits are too expensive, but the pink MANGO shorts are a steal. Phew.

• Lovers: These are the lovers, they travel in pairs, smile a lot, are obviously well-dressed, believe strongly in PDA, and weirdly enough travel right on the edge of the women's coach. The girl is on women's side, the guy is hanging on the other, and of course the hawk's eyes are hanging in right there. If you know what I mean. (If you don't, go to 1)

• Books and Brew: If there were two seconds between their stop and the now, they'd open a book and read 1.75 words. No kidding, they could be hanging along the ceiling, one hand trying to balance the jerks, back trying to balance a back-pack, feet trying to twitch some space, nose trying to find some air, but eye-balls slithering along pages like a hungry snake advancing towards its prey. As expected, they're the easiest to spot - young, spectacled, (a spectacle themselves), serious, brooding, and not listening to the phone connection (for more, see 3). 

"Yatri kripya dhyaan dein..Dilli Metro mein khaana, peena, ve dhumra-paan varjit hai" 
(Travellers, please take note, smoking, drinking and eating is not permitted on the Delhi Metro)

Happy Travelling!