Travel became an interest quite by default. My Armyman father, moved ever so often with lock (Ma), stock (bro) and barrel (me) all over the country. Have seen India at her beautiful-best from Kargil to Kanyakumari, and a whole lot more thrown in between !!

This country you see ladies and gentlemen is Switzerland, the Bahamas, Brazil, Perth and Malaysia rolled into one. So next time you feel the urge to pack your bags and take off somewhere, book your tickets to Nagaland instead of Scotland.

My education, due to theses excursions has been the collective effort of 14 different educational institutions. I'm not sure which one is responsible for the Puja Madan tapping away on the key-board right now. But then, was 'education' ever good enough reason for us to be who and where we are??

Other interests include reading (fav reads: 'The Alchemist', 'Synchrodestiny', 'Little Women', 'The Prophet', 'Not A Penny Less, Not A Penny More', 'Illusions', 'A Stone For Danny Fisher') Im also an inside-but-mostly-outside-bathroom crooner. The love for music extends to my fingers... am trying to learn the guitar these days, those damn bar-chords hamper progress once in a while (sheepish grin)

My 5-year love affair with beloved Pune has been (temporarily) terminated. I 'passed out' out of B-School to land a job in Mumbai. This city with its different hues promises to be an experience of another kind. Will keep you posted dear Ryzers.
Till then, please do post your thoughts into my GB.

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Whoever said "Be careful what you wish for. You might just get it" surely wasn't talking through his hat. Because I got my wish (to travel more... see 'Wants' above) and much much more when I went vacationing to Indonesia and Singapore this September. Out of all the places I visited, Bali was the most exciting! Here's my take on it in a nutshell:

Bali is not a destination to be reached or a tourist-attraction to be visited. It�s a delight to be experienced. The million blue-hues of the sea and sky, the warmth of its people, the freshness of every sunrise can�t be duplicated in image or print. One has to go there. And just be.

You step out of the airport and the air that wafts into your nostrils informs you that you have arrived� �if there can be a heaven on earth, this is it; the air continues to tell you. You switch off and let the breeze caress your face. It�s warm and humid. �Perfect for a dip in the sea� the air manages to interject. This time you�re listening :D

Although one can stay in Bali �forever�, for all practical purposes (retaining your job being an one of them!!) you need a minimum of 3 weeks to be able to accumulate all that Bali has to offer. The first week - dedicated to the wild white sands and wilder waves. Yes, just lie around on the beach all day and all night, swim into the Bali sea occasionally, walk with the waves lapping up at your feet, feel the texture of the sand between your toes, collect unbelievable washed-away shells, corals...

Week 2 - set out to sight see. And trust me, there are ample of that to do ;) off-the beach also!. Ubud, for instance is a delight for the artistically inclined. The winding, hilly journey takes you to this homely village lined with handicraft, paintings, wood and stone carvings' galleries. Then there�s Tanah Lot, where an otherwise ordinary sunset becomes an unbelievable sight � trance-like and other-worldly�

And just when you think that taking in the sheer beauty of the place would suffice, you discover the Balinese water sports!! From safe glass-bottomed boat-rides to para-sailing, from snorkeling to surfing, Bali allows you to reclaim your adventurous side!


Parting words? �Dive right in!�

More when you come visiting :)

Cheers!
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Heyyyy!! Loads has happened since my last update, but the Knopfler concert surely swept me off my feet to the highest highs! So here's some more on how He left his MARK...

The sky was like the sea�. with clouds rippling about in small-big waves. Very similar was the Bandra Kurla Complex, under this heavenly blanket, with throngs of Knopfler lovers, gathering and waiting (special note: patience levels were an all-time low) around for the man Himself to arrive�. and enthrall.

As the evening wore on and stars appeared above, it was time for this star to appear too. Casually walking in, sans histrionics, Mark Knopfler meant business. Complete non-serious, rocking business. The 20,000 odd audience of old and young, Indian and Internationals knew they were in for a treat. However what they DIDN�T know was that this God-for-many came with a transporting device � which would carry them into another world of intoxicating lyrics, throaty-and-oh-so-sexy vocals and frenzied finger-picking.

Grinning and waving, he came on stage. And acute madness erupted amongst the crowd, who waved back and screamed at the sight of THE Sultan of Swing

Why Aye Man set the tone. The subtle strums in the intro picked up slowly to reverberate inside and around the avid listeners.

From super-hits of Dire Straits to heart-rending singles from his solo albums, each pluck and sound was like a shower of unadulterated bliss. Sultans of Swing, Done with Bonaparte, Song for Sonny Liston, Walk of Life, Boom Like That, Money for Nothing, � each a work of art, in every single, intricate note. My near-death experiences came with Romeo and Juliet and So Far Away. Delight, disbelief and ecstasy together make for a whoopingly cool druggy-trip J

So he came, he sang and he pretty much (re) conquered his mad fan following. I walked out like a zombie� still not believing that IT HAD HAPPENED!! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh man! Oh man!

I went, I saw and almost conquered (my urge to settle down there! by the beach in a hut) Thailand and months have passed since I wrote about it!! In between I had an eventful time working in OIMR where I encountered my creating, designing, conceptualizing, ladder-climbing, fabric-chopping, idea-hopping, floor-scrubbing self in a maroon avatar working 7 days for 4 months, sleeping little and dancing lots.
So the question of the moment remains: where do I start from? Do I even remember how I got to that island on the far east of the wonderland-called-Thailand?

Well to start with, it could have easily been called Thigh-land. The number of beautiful, picture-perfect, peaches-and-cream complexioned, petite and pretty women you see there, in the little-est of skirts and the slick-est of outfits, is breath-taking or breath-stopping (for men I reckon). Bangkok is the East-meeting-West in a dizzying combination. Age-old temples stand next to expressways and corporate high-rises, vendors selling walking-sandals park themselves outside shopping-malls selling Lamborghinis. Bangkok is a ready reckoner of how much westernization the east has experienced in recent years.

And then there are the islands: From the loud, chaotic, polluted city of Bangkok, to head for Koh Phangan (Ah now I remember how we got there� the Train Station takes you on a bus, yes that�s right, from the �train� station you board a �bus� that takes you� at breakneck speed, I feel compelled to add - to Surat thani from where a ferry - playing Thai pop music and Pirates of the Caribbean at the same time- takes you to the island, from where a taxi takes you to the beach of your choice) is a treat unto itself.

Haad Thien is a lesser known, lesser frequented, lesser partied-on beach in Koh Phangan and is one BIG postcard.....Everywhere you look, you will find the perfect composition for the perfect picture!
And once you�re there, your itinerary gets decided pretty much by itself :
Sleep
Swim
Eat and
Read (not necessarily in that order)
And that�s exactly what we did there. Trekked to the neighboring islands to explore eating joints - where I learnt that mushroom shakes are not REALLY funny-tasting milk shakes with mushrooms in them!!- swam to the little floating open-air platform a few hundred feet from the beach with a hammock, plonked on it and just relaxed till hunger woke us up.

And no, you don�t get bored because every time you look up, the sky is a different composition and every time you look down, the sea is a different mood. And if you look down-er, you will also spot schools of fish that are happily going about their business, sporting snazzy colours and designs. And this I could do, I discovered, for hours.

More when I�m done reminiscing :)

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Life has come full circle (hehehe, re-read this and realized how dramatic it sounds :)). Last year, same time, I quit my job, my house and took off on a journey - which showed me beautiful lands and people, and also helped me discover myself through these experiences. And now, I'm back in business - literally!

There is another kind of excitement in being settled, having a path chalked out in your career and so I'm happy to embark on this journey. I'm extra excited because my new job is working on the one (fairly stable) love of my life - Pune!

When I moved to Pune, I didn't know many things - where to eat, buy utensils, shop for curtains etc. There were online resources but not all were comprehensive or accurate. And that's what excited me about Metromela - that it aspires to be a ones stop solution for information about Pune. And I'm delighted to be part of that process... of discovering and helping others discover this beautiful city!

Check it out at www.metromela.com

You can register by clicking here

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Ciao for now. Your thoughts here, there(PM) or anywhere!