Time

All the characters and incidents mentioned are imaginary, resemblance to any person dead or alive is purely coincidental.

“There comes a point when you just love someone. Not because they're good, or bad, or anything really. You just love them. It doesn't mean you'll be together forever. It doesn't mean you won't hurt each other. It just means you love them. Sometimes in spite of who they are, and sometimes because of who they are. And you know that they love you, sometimes because of who you are, and sometimes in spite of it.”

She remembers the feel of the sand under her feet, burning hot while she tries to keep up with him. She runs along the beach, just where the waves crash on the shore. Shading her eyes, she quickly steals a glance at him. She looked at him as he walked along the shore, keeping a watch on her while she played around in the water. She noticed the smile, and said nothing. Living in the moment was something she had learnt the hard way. She had found her happy place.

A gentle breeze, a table for two at the beach, soft music- they sat talking, oblivious to the rest of the world. He told her she looked nice, she shied away slightly. They talked. They spoke about their families, their lives, of loves lost and memories made, of childhood dreams and secret ambitions, of past mistakes and future dreams. Conversations were logical, they didn't feel the need to explain how they felt. There was an unspoken bond that held them close, an unspoken understanding to stay in control.

The passion drove them mad. The intensity of it all was beyond something they could have imagined. The touch of his skin electrified her soul. She enjoyed the pain, it made her feel alive.It was intense, a process so pure and delicate she couldn't help it when tears rolled down her face as she smiled while he passionately made love to her.  She had never known of passion this strong. No one had made her feel so complete. If only she could him in this moment forever....

And then there came that point when she knew she loved him. Not because he was good or bad, or anything really. She just knew she loved him. Would they be in this moment forever? Only time can tell. 

Let's do an MBA

3 years ago when I decided to do my MBA, I knew I’d be regretting it at some point in my life. For the entire duration of my MBA, I never understood the need to study Taguchi and Six Sigma and Quality Control and Principles of Management and PERT/CPM,the benefits of recruitment/training , blah blah. As always, it was a case of “the grass is always greener on the other side” I wanted to break free from the 9 to 5 routine, I wanted to be the creative “let’s work in an agency and talk like snobs” sorts. Since then, I realized this MBA was a big fail. Little did I know that 2 years down the line, I would want to make PERT/CPM/Quality Control/Six Sigma/Production a part of my life.

Stereotyping should be my middle name. Even before I enter a place, I have already been stereotyped. It’s frustrating. By now I was used to it. So I wasn't surprised when my classmates thought I was just another pretty face who had decided to waste her money on an MBA degree cos she didn't know what to do with her life, and would spend the next 2 years bunking classes and partying the nights away in some state of drunkenness.  So imagine the look on their faces when I ace the first ever test. Well, I get cheap thrills surprising people. But it didn't stop there. I managed a pretty decent score in the first term when most of them failed a few subjects. The second term was even better when I realized people wanted to LEARN from me. And of course there were a few of those who hated me for being smart enough to do well even though I never spent my entire life in the library. Well, I guess I have just been lucky. And smart. Things changed in the senior year- marketing club head, presentations and tests on a daily basis, placement pressure, etc etc. I was noticed, and it made me more confident than ever. It was mind orgasmic, the feeling of being in control.

After all that, I still decided to risk it by taking up a job in the field of advertising. 9 to 5 wasn’t my cup of tea, I figured. It’s been a while in the corporate world now, and I have come to realize this-

People who understand nothing about marketing, probably haven’t even heard of Kotler, rise to senior positions in the work place because they are “aggressive” To normal humans, these people would come across as crass individuals who couldn't really survive out in the real corporate world, unless of course the real world decided to turn into a soap opera. These people swear by professionalism, but are absolutely clueless when it comes to dealing with “issues” at work. Drama is their middle name. We have 50 year olds trying to act 20 again, 30 year olds going through mid-life crises, straight men passing off as gay just to SEE some action, graduates trying to figure out what they want in life, some excuses for post-graduates trying to build teams, and then some intelligent people being shunned and disregarded as village idiots. It’s fun for some time, but then it gets to me. The ego had to kick in. I have not done my MBA to mechanically listen to orders of my seniors, who probably have no idea how marketing/advertising really works, but have “I am a senior person, I have been here and I understand how this industry works” ready as a comeback for anything and everything that you say to them. I have not done my MBA to be spoken to like a 5 year old who doesn't understand instructions given to her. I am not meant to be here at a place where the collective IQ of all the individuals is probably that of a dead rat. I am not meant to be at a place where my work is based on my “personality”, which by the way has been stereotyped too. I am not here to be involved with people who could not buy class even if they had a million dollars with them. And I am definitely not meant to be here with people who’s main aim in life is to make everything a soap opera. I am not a puppet, and it’s high time I stood up for myself. It’s high time I put a stop to this stereotyping. High time I showed them who’s intelligent and who’s not. High time I stopped accepting “When I first met you I thought you would be one of those dumb blondes, but then you surprised me, and I’ve realized you are probably one of the smartest people around”

I need to breathe again.

Fear

Honestly, I feel fear is good. A little bit of fear keeps us going.

I am afraid I am not good enough, that I could have done much better.I am terrified that the one person I am in love with might wake up one day and realize he could do so much better than me. But hey, I am not going to let that insecurity ruin the feeling of completion he brings to my life. Everybody leaves, everything ends…life could be much better if you accepted this, and gave it your best shot. The fear of losing something makes you more sharp, more honest, I feel. How we deal with insecurities and uncertainties make us who we are. All that we can do is keep going, celebrating the chaos that is life.

I love the ocean. I love how we can stand at the shore and stare into nothingness. So vast and so..alive. Makes me feel powerful. Hopeful. I like how it makes me realize life is all about looking at the bigger picture, and not giving up just because things are not going my way. It makes me happy. I like how it drives away all fear, I like how it makes me feel silly for being so insecure about life.
If there is one thing I wanted right now, it would be a beach house. ‘cos right now, I could do with a walk along the beach, with my feet in the water.

The thought of it makes me feel happy.
…Fearless.

Cos love is friendship.

All the characters and incidents mentioned are imaginary, resemblance to any person dead or alive is purely coincidental.

They knew they'd come a long way when they first saw each other. Two years down the line, they were best friends. And life was changing. She stood before the mirror, looking at her pale complexion, searching for an answer in those eyes that looked back at her. She felt empty.

She had agreed to be the maid of honor. She would do it for him. But something didn’t feel right. She didn’t agree with what was happening. The whole marriage was a bad idea. She had tried talking him out of it. But he was too love-drunk to notice. She hated that woman. Oh he could do so much better! That woman had no class, no values... why would he want to be associated with someone like that? Why was he being so pig-headed? Now she was starting to get annoyed with him. He had stopped hanging out with her the way he used to, he had stopped sharing things with her, stopped calling her…being the possessive thing that she was, she couldn’t come to terms with that change, even though she knew it was not a bad thing. It was all that woman’s fault.

There was a knock on the door; she had been expecting that. She opened the door, and seeing him standing there looking like a lost puppy made her smile. “Hey, there you are! How’s it going? 40 hours to go eh? Come on in..” “Do you really want to know? I don’t know. I am a mess. I am nervous. I don’t think I should do this. I don’t know. But I love her. But what if I can’t keep her happy forever? What if she can’t keep me happy forever? I don’t want this to be the biggest mistake of my life”

“Firstly, calm down. Also, there is a 50% chance of things going wrong in life. Doesn’t mean you stop living. You love her, now celebrate that love instead of being such a paranoid douchebag! Yes it is a risk to love, what if it doesn’t work out and all that. But when it does, it is the most beautiful thing in the world. You need to take the risk to find out”

“I hate it when you start making sense. Ok then I have to go, my suit’s here and I was too nervous to even try it on. I’ll meet you at the rehearsal”

She loved these random conversations with him. For a few minutes things would be dead serious, and then he would walk out like nothing had ever happened. Typical. And just as he was about to walk out the door, she did something she had never done in the last 2 years of knowing him- she reached up and hugged him. He was shocked for a second, but he got over it and held her close. It felt comfortable, it felt right..more than anything else, it felt complete. They must have stayed that way for 2 seconds, 2 min or 2 hours, they couldn’t tell. All that they knew was that the world would not be the same once they broke apart, and that they didn’t want this moment to pass.

She let go of him first..there was an awkward pause. She looked up at him, and he leant in for a kiss. It was short, sweet, and passionate. This time she didn’t let go. She held him close and kissed him like she had never kissed anyone before. This love was the only one that mattered at that moment. Love that had grown tired of waiting. Gentle patient love.

When they parted, they knew things had changed. While he walked back to his room, she looked at herself in the mirror- the color has returned to her cheeks, her eyes seemed lively. She stared back into those eyes, this time finding an answer to all the questions that she had.

Love was indeed friendship set on fire.

Real eyes. Real lies.

Why is it that some of us give so much? We just GIVE. Some people give more than others. Some don’t show it, others do. Some don’t give at all. Why can't things ever be balanced?

We would do anything to keep them happy, go out of our way to make them feel special, and what do we get in return? “All right I am not in the mood for gossip is there anything else that you want to say or can I carry on with my work?” or “yeah ok” or “why do you care” or “stop being boring” And because we know this is how they are, we learn to deal with this. And then they take us for granted. All of them. They know you will get over the shock of being snapped at/shouted at/laughed at, and will bounce back to being the happy hyper bunny self of yours. I am sorry, NOT ANYMORE. So what, are we weak 'cos we display our emotions? (Maybe you were so caught up in yourself that you missed the whole outburst)What makes you think you know me so well? What makes you think I am a helpless soul begging to be rescued? What makes you think I cannot make my own decisions? What makes you think YOU can take my decisions for me? What makes you think you know what my problems are? What makes you think you can say whatever it is that you want to, and get away with it? What makes you think I am going to buy all the holier than thou nonsense that you are so full of? What makes you think demeaning others and laughing at them makes you better than others?

Sometimes, all we need is some credit. Some acknowledgement for being there. We don’t demand it 24x7, but it feels good to know that you feel we are worth it. Sometimes, we want their tough cold exterior to break down and be with us for who they truly are. Sometimes we just want them to know that we are not fine. 

You said you'd never be all the things that you see

Everybody is fighting a battle. 

Do you ever just feel like the world is passing you by?  Maybe it is just because I feel so trapped in this prison I am living in but I feel like I can look out and see the world just flying by me. Like the blur of time will just flash by and my consciousness will just slow into nothingness. 

Look at me..flying high, free from the mundane issues of your daily life. Look at me gliding along effortlessly, being on my own. I sit on my branch all afternoon, with that staunch nobility I have learned to master. I sit there observing the whole universe, looking at those that try to invade my personal space. I look at one small bit in particular, struggling through the strong winds, making his way towards my tree. "Come join me", I dare him. I see him choose a lower branch, I see him look up at me. I can sense the fear, and it satisfies me. I continue looking out at the horizon, observing the others- chirping and squawking all day. And I judge. 

And I can't stop Wine-ing.

This night is not one that I am likely to forget very easily- exciting company, stimulating conversations, free alcohol. Sounds perfect, doesn't it? In a few ways, maybe it was.

On a warm Friday evening, the air was filled with a refreshing sense of tranquil as I walked into the Terttulia Restaurant and Bar at Koregaon Park after a long day at work. Under the blanket of stars, in one of the quieter locations of the city, the calm atmosphere brought back a feeling of exhilaration; I could predict that in this perfect setting, I would be a part of an extraordinary experience. 
The inauguration of Myra Vineyards at Pune was an enriching experience, where I came across the most sterling personalities while I sipped on unique, uncomplicated wines.

The soft music, pleasant to the ear added on to the serenity at Terttulia. I chose to sit at a table closer to the calm, near the entrance and the wine counter in order to have an ideal atmosphere to taste the wine. As the night progressed I realized this was a good decision after all! 

The first wine I tried was Chenin Blanc, a slightly acidic or crisp white wine, light bodied, rich with tropical flavour. It was accompanied with a variety of starters- the soft, delicate and creamy chicken tapenade cooked perfectly, giving just the right flavours to the palette; traditional cheese balls with a lamb twist served with the mint sauce; the sweet and sour Rosemary potato skins, and the extra meaty meatballs with a hint of ham.

The second wine I tasted was the Myra Shiraz, a medium bodied and tropical red wine which works best with cheese. The appetizers fit perfectly with the flavours of the gold medalist wine. I observed more people walking in to the restaurant, making the atmosphere livelier, preparing everyone for the coming weekend. Few of them were Monica, Imrun and Ajay; yes, the atmosphere did get glamorous too! 

One of the men in the crowd, standing out with his charming appearance was Ajay Shetty, Managing Director of Myra wines. I was privileged to have a short interview with him where he told me more about himself, and his product.



Ajay Shetty worked as a Banker at Hong Kong, where he acquired a taste for wine. He pursued his masters in Computer Science in New York City. Being passionate about agri-business, he knew that with the opportunity to have tasted different types of cuisines and wines, he could make a career out of it. On returning to India, he worked on his passion, and in February 2013, he introduced Myra wines to the market. 
The concept of Myra is to ‘Experiment’ where wine does not have to be complicated; the beauty lies in its simplicity. Bridging the generation gap, this wine can be enjoyed by all. First timers could enjoy uncomplicated wine, one of its kind and develop a taste for it. Even experienced wine connoisseurs complimented the unique concept, along with the taste of the wines that Myra offers.

The Myra Vineyards, with its headquarters at Bengaluru, have successfully attracted a large audience to their unique, yet charming product. Myra wine would be equivalent to the oyster with a pearl; it’s matchless taste and concept is what makes the wine truly beautiful. 



All in all, the event was a success, providing the perfect setting, with the right people for tasting the exclusive wine. It was a night to remember, one with its own charm and one which was a perfect way to walk into (or start) the weekend.