Weekend 2

Almost like a week, ever since I wrote something...My work and the daily routine has been keepin me busy but that's only an excuse. Last weekend was quite a busy weekend as a number of things happened. Saturday started a bit late as there was nothing much to do early in the morning. Plan was to get ready and head towards the unexplored areas in the city. We headed towards Piccadilly Circus around noon, one of the most famous tourist places in the city which is close to Trafalgar Square (as crowded as the Times Square at New York).

The place looked quite happening, with shops and stores of various brands all around, huge hoardings, big hotels, and all other luxurious things that one can think of. While walking down we entered a huge store (i cannot recollect the name) which had lots and lots of fancy stuff. I sometimes can't believe how people get attracted into buying such fancy stuff at sky high prices. A piece of chocolate was over a pound (GBP) in value. Clearly, it wasn't the place for an average human. It had variety of stuff for different needs but all out of reach for common man. Oh! I believe common man concept exists only in India, because here I find everyone to be quite uncommon in everything. Lifestyle, spending, standard of living, talking, approach, thinking, everything else that anyone can think of, is different from any other common man that I have seen over last many years in India. And I may be wrong in generalizing, but I have certainly observed a lot of difference ever since I came here. I think I would be wrong if I compare too much, actually, I shouldn't.

Kept walking down the lane, looking at things here and there when suddenly the weather changed and it started drizzling. Weather here changes like the chameleon changes its colors. Thankfully, it wasn't very heavy and dried out in a little while and we continued with window shopping. There was a band (I don't know what else to call them, as they dint look like a recognized group, but they were all playing musical instruments) which was playing some nice music, all dressed in very elegant suits and playing quite beautifully and were enjoying what they were doing. I guess they do it everyday, I am not sure. Some of these things just create the mood even when you are tired walking or tired of doing things. Every passerby tends to get attracted, stops by for sometime, listens to that for a while and then continues walking up or down.

It was late and time for lunch after which we entered another store which had all the possible gifts, souvenirs, and everything else that anyone can think of other than food and grocery. So, now I know where to go when I need too buy things for anyone before I head home. After all this I saw a small group of  "Krishna Bhakts" dancing and singing "Hare Rama Hare Krishna" on the Piccadilly Street. It was another surprise. People from everywhere kept coming in, joining them, danced, sang and moved out. Such a beautiful thing to see and think of. I am another enthusiast and joined them. It is sometimes so much fun to do different things. I am not sure if I would have ever done such things back home, but here it was different. The "London's monthly Harinama" as they call it, went on for over an hour and I was part of it all through until it came to an end when they distributed "Prasaad" to everyone who was part of the group at that time. People from diverse backgrounds (not just Indians) were part of this group. Polish, Dutch, Russian, English, Irish, Asians, etc. a number of different castes, sects, creed, religion formed part of this wonderful group who became Krishna followers and joined this Bhakti Vedanta group (GaudiMath) and were promoting its awareness across the world. Its wonderful to see how people dedicate their lives to different things based on what they like and what enthralls them. Most of them in the group had quit their high paying jobs, family, etc to be part of this group and form a separate family and culture which promotes brotherhood, happiness and love for all.

Start to the weekend was quite interesting and so would be the end as the India vs England match is scheduled for Sunday and I was going to witness that LIVE at Lord's Cricket Ground, London. The ground where cricket was born and holds the name of the most prestigious cricket ground in the world. Some pictures from Saturday:

     

Week 2

The days during the week happened to be similar at work, but this week, had a bit more of work to do. In fact I was given some report to prepare and the deadline for which was End of Week (EoW). After understanding the process from one of the colleagues, it was time to do it by self and come up with questions or suggestions that I may have. I could successfully build the report by the timeline given and then was asked to add few more things to improve the report so that it looks more meaningful to the one who reads it.

On Tuesday it was one of my office colleague’s pre-wedding drink party which was organised at a close by pub, about 10 minutes walking from office. Most of us went there to congratulate her and wish her successful married life. Its so different out here, the culture that people follow. Both, the bride to be and the groom were present for the occasion, and everything was so casual all around the place. It was only drinks and no food and the drinks were limited to 2-3 per person. Quite different and organised from what I have seen in the past, in India. Generally, we do not have these types of parties as well before we get married, at least from what I have seen. Ya, there is some concept called a bachelor’s party and stuff, but it is not all that much prevalent.

Anyway, so as we approached towards the end of the week, there was lot of discussions around the ongoing cricket series between India and England. Ever since I knew about my possible plans of coming to London, I always wanted to watch the match between India and England at the Lord’s Cricket Ground, London. The head of my department (CFO) happens to be a cricket freak, and not just him, many more around me here in the UK have been cricket freaks for many years.  So, during a general conversation with the CFO regarding cricket, we expressed our desire to watch the match LIVE at the Lord’s to which he responded that he will try to get some tickets for us. He happens to be the Member of the same club which owns the Lord’s Cricket Ground. Just about a few hours later, he informed us that he could arrange the tickets for us and we can join in for the match on Sunday. Quite an exciting opportunity, of a lifetime, I must say to watch the teams play cricket at the Mecca of cricket, where Cricket was born several years ago.

The week came to an end with not much happening except for the couple of key things that were different. Looking forward to the cricket match on the weekend and also something more exciting, may be.

New Week...

Characteristics define people and also their attitude..."Lazy" is what defines me and "Laid Back" is what my attitude is, and I call myself these adjectives is purely because I haven't been writing for the last 2-3 days. I was supposed to be behind schedule just by a day but its 4 days behind now. I can have excuses like being busy or not getting time, etc. but I guess they will remain excuses always. If the attitude is right it is not difficult to find our a bit of time to scribble down things that run through your mind. So, I choose to get up early in the morning everyday and think of writing a bit of something but something or the other kept me busy here and there and left me with just enough time to get ready for work and leave for office. In fact, I reached office 15 minutes after the ETA on the last 2 days out of 4..Sad!

Monday started with not much, just regular getting ready and walking down to work, which is a good walk. Not too much had happened on the work front in the first week so there were expectations that something extra will be put in front of me and that should keep me busy for rest of the week, at least partially if not extremely busy. Had couple of meetings, highlighting certain core things within the business, met new team members whom I would be working with in the time to come, and few more things here and there. Day was pretty much relaxed with nothing much, just an overview of certain things within the organisation and the team. I guess English people are not as aggressive as their American counterparts. Americans tend to be jumping around all the time for things here and there and are too involved in things from the very start. Not that it is bad or something, but it's just a kind of stark difference that I have observed in the working culture of people in both the continents. Good for me!

My manager here, happens to be a very simple and quiet man, extremely soft spoken, because of which I have to ask him to repeat what he said, most of the times. Just getting used to it. Office environment is also pretty relaxed, people working religiously, not looking too worried or too relaxed at anytime, unlike what I have seen at other places and to be specific in my very own country. Lots of learning actually. Lots of them!

After office it was usual walk down towards home, grabbing something to eat on our way and then enjoying the sudden change in London weather. It rained, it shone and it rained again, lot of wind and extreme sudden cold by the "Summer Standards" here in London and supposedly the coldest summer in last 18 years. Huh! Enjoyed all of that on my way back. Some pictures taken at the start of the week.

Much more to write and share as usual...Will do that this evening again when I am back from work...Until then, take care!

The weekend trip!

Sunday Sept 04, 2011 –                                                                      First Trip outside London


As planned, Sunday morning we had to visit Oxford, one of the most famous places in the world for its world class education. As usual, we dint leave on time which we had decided the previous night because of laziness, I guess. I sometimes realise that I hardly end up doing most of the things on time, which is so ridiculous. It needs to change, and it certainly needs to because I have seen the level of punctuality that people follow here in the UK. It really sets the tone for all other things during the day. I would dare not miss a timeline at office if I want to be safe! Ya..so anyway, we finally got ready and left for Oxford at about 9 from our apartment. We had taken a fair bit of idea from office colleagues as to what could be the best way to reach the city. We took a bus to Victoria terminus, which is supposed to be the centre for all possible conveyances for any and every possible city within the United Kingdom. We reached there and saw the Oxford Tube waiting at their respective location. We took a return ticket and checked with the driver on how long is it, before we left. 2 minutes is what he said, and before we could go to the upper deck of the bus and settle down, the bus moved. Another classic example of how punctual these people are just makes you respect them more and more every time.

A wonderful and well maintained double Decker, extremely comfortable bus makes your journey just half tiring as it could possibly be and the feeling comes right as the journey starts. That is exactly what happened to me. London to Oxford is supposed to be an hour long journey and approximately 15 minutes after we started it started drizzling. I was in serious thought if it will be worth going there, if it actually starts raining heavily, and to clarify my doubts, half way through the journey it started raining cats and dogs. If that’s not the correct way to define “extremely heavy rainfall” then whatever may be the superlative can be used at that place. 3 miles to Oxford and the rain slowed down and by the time we reached the city it was all dried up...Good Luck to me! We got off the bus at the last bus stop which was Oxford City Centre as suggested by some ex-resident, who happens to be a friend of mine. Well, things become easier when some guidance is there, especially when you travel to distant places, completely new and unknown world.

The city looked pretty small when we entered but as we started walking, it looked like it would never end. Colleges on the left, colleges on the right, Libraries, Book Shops, Souvenir Shops, Art and Craft and what not. Almost all the things which could possible attract any tourist was there, and it is surprising that I entered almost every possible shop that I crossed. I wasn’t behaving the way I usually behave...Haha, complete shock for me as well. Multitude of things, each of them worth a look and many of them worth taking home, but then pockets have to be really deep in order to fulfil such desires. This is the city where the famous “Harry Potter” series was apparently shot and that makes it a even bigger attraction amongst the tourists in the UK. I haven’t seen anything of Harry Potter ever, so I choose not to comment on it, however, from a bit of what I know about it, the concept behind Harry Potter or the theme has always sounded ridiculous to me. Sounds like a completely atrocious story only aimed to fool kids, but the unfortunate part is that a number of grownups have liked it and so on...Anyway, why am I discussing something which is ridiculous to me? So, saw “Christchurch College” where the “famous HP” series was shot and then moved towards another marvellous architecture named the “Bodleian Library” which happens to be one of the oldest Libraries in entire European Continent and second largest by size, just after the British Library. Fabulous work inside, and known to be the most famous library for all research scholars studying at the “Oxford University”. I visited the Bodleian Shop as well and liked a number of “costly” stuff which, of course, I left as it is and bought a few lighter ones which are good to have and will be good to remember the place. The next wonderful stop was at a chocolate store which was selling about more than 1000 varieties of handmade chocolates. I spent about more than half an hour checking out various varieties and ended up buying some lose handmade chocolates. They said there won’t be a problem carrying it for up to 2-3 months, so I am guessing, I will be able to give everyone back home a chance to taste handmade chocolates

The walk around the city continued until the clock struck 5, which is when we reached bang opposite the “University of St. Mary the Virgin Church”. I am utterly religious person and anything that comes in my vicinity gets to see me. That’s what happened with this wonderful church, and as I entered I was perplexed to see the silence and that too on a Sunday just before the “Sunday Mass”. Big Church, quite well maintained as all other Churches and enough space to sit and pray. Since, we had to rush to London before it got dark; we just stood there, prayed for a while, lit up the holy candle and moved out of the Church premises. The Oxford City trip came to an end with a good deed.

We went back to the city centre to board the bus back to London which just about left the moment after we boarded the bus. The overall experience was wonderful as the place was quite quiet and beautiful. After reaching London it was time to get back home, get some dinner and take a nap as next morning was the start of the week at work and the coming week was expected to be tiring as new work and trainings will replace the sad and dried out no-work days which we had during the last week, as part of our settling down program. Rest of the story and experiences I will share when I write tomorrow. Until then, it’s Good Bye!

The First weekend ...

September 03, 2011 Think-LongLane Apartments

Quite an interesting Saturday, I must say. Had gotten up with the plan of packing things up from the hotel and moving to the apartment before noon, but the irony was that the hotel wanted me to check out by noon and the apartment did not allow check-in before 3pm. Hence, my colleague and I decided to pack things up, take the taxi and move to apartment. Keep the luggage there and walk down to see places and have lunch until the rooms are ready for check-in. As soon as I started packing, I realised how many things I have with me and how much of it is kept all around the hotel room from the bathroom to the cupboard to fridge, everywhere. Somehow, collected all of them and packed them all decently. Suddenly, someone opened my door, and it was a middle aged woman with her house-keeping attire on. She was shocked to see me inside the room, as she had assumed that no one is there at about 10:00am local time which was the case for over last few days as I used to leave for work. She immediately apologised and started moving out when I stopped her and made her feel comfortable by saying it was all fine. She must be in her mid 40s and was extremely courteous. I spoke for a few minutes to her about where she is from and other general things. It is sometimes surprising to know what people do in life to serve their home and family. She told me that she is from “Latvia” and she was here to earn for her family, and has 2 children including a 15 year old daughter. God, it is such a tough thing to do in life, to leave your children and stay miles away from them just to keep them happy and fulfil all their basic needs. On the other hand, what was more captivating was the way she spoke. I sometimes wonder if there are actually such people who speak so softly and sweetly in general with loads and loads of courtesy in every word that comes out of their mouth. I wish to learn this etiquette and would love to see everyone doing that always.

Done with all the packing and got ready, it was time to say good bye to the hotel and move to the new apartment which was about a mile away from the current location or from my office precisely, which means that I will have to leave about half an hour before to reach office by 9am sharp. The receptionist called for the taxi, settled our bills and before we left, we clicked a few snaps with the front desk execs. They were courteous enough to get the snaps clicked and I also promised to send those snaps to them over email which I am yet to do. I am never on time I guess whether it is writing emails, blogging, or doing anything else and that makes me feel that people like me may never be appreciated in a country where people like to be extremely punctual in everything that they do.

Another thing worth noting about this city or the country is the cost of living. It is supposed to be one of the costliest places in the world and it indeed is by far the costliest. Water, which forms 75% of our planet, is also extremely costly here, but there is nothing that can really be done about it. People in general prefer to walk, take a bike (bicycle) or prefer a tube train or local bus instead of taking a taxi or private car to any place or to work. But that is also something good about this place, which makes everyone respect the value of hard earned money. I paid a bomb to travel less than one mile in the taxi from the hotel to the apartment and then I decided not to take taxi until the life and death kind of scenario comes in. As expected, we (my colleague and I) had to store our luggage at the apartment reception and go out walking around the unexplored areas of the city.

Ever since I came to this city, it feels as if you can keep on walking all around the city and it will never finish...So was the case with us as well. We kept on walking looking for couple of important things. One of them being buying a phone and the other was finding out desi (Indian) food joints. I was lucky to have found a Bangladeshi guy working at one of the local supermarkets in London who gave a fair idea that, at a certain distance from the store, there is an area which has a lot of Asian, especially Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi stuff. It sometimes helps to know local languages and I am saying this because I started conversing with this Bangladeshi fellow in Bengali and he looked visibly happy that there was someone who was speaking to him in his local dialect and I guess that made him help me with directions and places. Otherwise, in a city like London, I don’t think anyone would care. I thanked him and walked down the street as directed by him and finally reached a junction which was cordoned off by London Police. My colleague and I immediately held our steps back and re-thought on our idea of going towards that area. I managed to go speak to one of the officer amongst the thousands standing there regarding the issue, to which he said, it’s just because of some protest, which will last a couple of hours and there is nothing to worry. That’s when the story started unfolding; when I came to know that it was some anti-Islamic protest, hence the situation was as grim as it looked like. There were London police helicopters patrolling in the air, roughly about 1000 ft from the ground level, about a 1000 police vans around the area from all directions, more than 10000 policemen and policewomen dressed in black, looking dapper, all in sync, extremely well trained and organised. Wow, it was like some motion picture running live in front of my eyes. I wish, if we had such wonderful and dedicated officers all around the world, it would make life so much more peaceful. Law and order is what is the backbone of any country and its progress and it was clearly visible why London and entire UK is so well maintained and peaceful. People wouldn’t mind paying taxes and charges to a government which respects the hard earned money of each individual in the country. Many of the Asian countries really need to learn from them.

Anyway, we further walked down to reach a locality which was partly commercial partly residential and I am glad to announce that we found lot of Indian stuff including lot of Indian sub-continent people and shops for basically all that I would have wanted at that time. I quickly got all that I needed and we had a nice Indian lunch. We quickly moved out of the restaurant and started moving out of the locality as the Police bandobast was getting tighter and stricter and it would have been difficult for us to move out later as the protests, just about got started. We started walking towards home and were surprised to see that every possible lane in the area was closed and covered by officers who formed a big chain, as they held each others’ hands. We kept asking subsequently kept moving towards the lane which could have taken us home, but the police security was just not ready to get over at any place, anywhere. I can certainly bet on the number to be over 10000 at that stage. Finally, we found some exit point and reached near the London Bridge which was also well guarded by the same batch. We stood there to see the progress of things and how wonderfully they were managing things all around the place, all of them standing on their foot, prepared to take on any situation. The force included Policemen, Policewomen, Dogs, humungous horses (I have never seen horses that are size of an elephant...huh!) and people from all over the city stood over the sidelines/pavements to witness all that was happening.

Since the situation never looked like coming to an end, we decided to move on the London Bridge and see the beauty of another marvel/architecture. I saw the bridge opening up and closing as it let the ship pass through it. It was such an experience, I must say. Extremely beautiful to look at and enjoy. We kept clicking snaps of almost each and every moment of surprise that kept springing up throughout the day, which was quite eventful. Finally, after miles of walking and millions of wonderful moments during the day we marched towards our apartment. Reached the apartment, settled with the luggage and started planning for Sunday. Oxford happens to be the plan, and that is where we go on Sunday. Much more to share, each day and every minute..more in the next post...until then, it’s sayonara!

The weekend begins...

As I continue to explore London...

Day 3... Mercure Hotel 02/Sept/2011

Such a bad luck and it feels so annoying sometimes...Finished writing more than half the blog last night and suddenly all that I wrote disappeared..aaarrgghhhh!!! and then since it was extremely late I decided to delay it by a day and hit the shack immediately. Became quite tired by the time I came back to hotel after lot of walking around the city. Got up pretty early in the morning around 7ish and started with the usual chores for the day and got ready for office, when I suddenly realised I can’t find my comb. Something that I really dint want, especially when the clock was just about touching 9am. Kept looking for it here and there until at just when the clock struck 9, I found it in one of the drawers of the cupboard in my hotel room. I felt like kicking myself for the stupidity of not being able to find the most important thing just before going to work...Anyway, rushed to work, thankfully, the office is just a minute away from the hotel.

As soon as I opened my mailbox, I was happy to see an email from one of the administrators in my org, which said that I can move into an apartment this weekend and need not stay in the hotel any longer than this. It was such a relief, especially when you know that the hotel is no good when it comes to fooding and stuff. Then the day went on, slow and steady with a couple of new things discussed by my manager here. He came along for lunch today, and discussed few things here and there. Right after lunch, there was a planned meeting with my manager to discuss a particular part of work, but within a few minutes he came to inform us that the meeting needs to be postponed as the top bosses of the org are coming for a general walk around. Well, that really happened and I was told that I am lucky to have met such top bosses, as many of them working in my org for many years hadn’t ever seen them. I got the privilege of meeting them personally for a few minutes as he came to meet my manager.
Later in the evening, before leaving from office, met some colleagues to understand about few places within the city and the accessibility options to those places. Quite a number of suggestions came in, so I decided to think over the best possible option and go for it. After leaving from office, went to the hotel, changed to casual attire and started our journey to infinity, not knowing where we were heading towards. On our way (myself and my colleague) decided to move towards the London Eye, Big Ben etc. We started and while on our way clicked innumerable number of pics and then reached the London Eye. On our way we enjoyed few street dances, shows etc.

“London Eye”, I must say is a marvel in itself and the man behind this idea should, in my view, be a champion of sorts who could design something as wonderful and as humungous as it. What an incredible sense of design it is! Then we saw the “Big Ben”, another fabulous structure, though I really need to read about what is the history behind it. Overall, a wonderful piece of work/architecture across most of London City is what I have observed as of now. Art and culture has been prevalent across the lanes of the city in various forms. One thing that I have started doing a lot after coming here is, walking. I have been walking and walking and walking from one place to another to another which in itself speaks how beautiful is the place.

After all the sightseeing, photo sessions etc. It was time to walk back to my abode but not before having to take away something for dinner. Very close to my hotel was this Chinese cuisine restaurant which was serving a vegetarian dish out of the hundreds that it had on the menu, which I quickly ordered for and took it to my room. It was completely a value for money as the quantity was decent enough to be consumed over two meals, and all that for just about 3 sterling pounds. The long day came to an end and it was time to hit the bed again. First weekend in the city, and nothing is planned, except for the fact that I need to buy a local mobile number for ease of communication.

Good Night!

London Diaries...Day 3

As I get used to the place...

It was my second day in a new country, new city, new place altogether....I am just kinda settling down slowly, adapting myself to the current environment, time zone, and to the people around me...Its not all that easy as per many people who have been here and all that, but for me, I guess it hasnt been any tough...I have found this place to be wonderful and extremely beautiful as compared to "you know where I am talking about"...its sad, but its true...and beauty not just by looks but by the overall culture, structure, and many other things....of course every country has different lifestyle as far as fooding, etc is concerned, but what I have seen here over the last couple of days have been exemplary..i have seen the committment with which everything is done here...talk about any work...cleaning the roadside bins to working at a corporate hub or with an MNC, everyone works so hard and with so much accuracy and dedication...i am sure, there is definitely lot to learn here..

My second day in London was my first working day here...the day started very very early for me...like at 4:00am London time...i was yet to settle down into the new time zone which is almost 5 hours behind IST. I managed to spend few more hours rotating and rolling over my extremely cosy bed...and then started getting ready at around 7. Then came the time for some quickfire breakfast...took out all the home made stuff which I had carried all the way from home and started to satiate myself...aah, wat a relief after almost 24 hours, got something home made. I am staying at a decent hotel (Hotel Mercure) which happens to be bang opposite my office, and makes my work easier by cutting down my travel time to zero...and knowing that London travel is extremely costly and tiring job, it does give a lot of relief to the mind and the body and of course my pocket :)

We reached the workplace well before the scheduled 9'o clock timeline and met our boss here, who looks to be a very very soft spoken and extremely hard working man...He introduced us to all extended team members and others who are inderctly working for our team...Office is quite well maintained, and peaceful place, with 99% of them working throughout the day...the rest 1% being myself and my friend who have come here to learn... :D Slowly it got boring as we entered the lunch time...Needless to say, lunch was all breads, sandwiches, etc...and since it was a Wednesday there was some Indian food as well, that was being served...had our lunch and walked down for a stroll for good half an hour...Post lunch, went for couple of meetings and left from office arnd 5:30pm....

Evening went off in walking down, from Hotel Room to the London Bridge over river Thames...it was beautiful all around in a very pleasent climate...saw couple of places here and there, clicked snapns and walked down to our hotel room, after having light dinner on the streets of London...

Will post more pictures soon...till then its good nite, sleep tight!

Some More Pics...

London Dreams...

August 30, 2011 – Airborne (Flying over Berlin) 8:35pm IST

So, the first international trip of my life has begun. After many years of planning, thinking, praying and many other thing(s) finally it’s time for something different. Almost 7 hours into the flight and I haven’t yet felt anything boring except for the first hour, which went thinking, how to spend the rest 8 hours in the flight. Thanks to this wonderful new friend, an NRI, who has made the journey quite engaging with lots and lots of discussion around topics ranging from India to US, Horoscopes, Astrology etc that have taken up all the time, and there is still more to come. I excused myself and settled myself into my upper class seat, which converts into a bed. I must say, the first international travel experience has been quite exciting till now.

The day started with mixed emotions of leaving friends, family and my real close ones back for almost 2 months. I cannot complain, as it has been my decision in my own best interest. Had completed packing and stuff by late yesterday night, hence there wasn’t too much tension that I carried early in the morning. Quickly got ready and went for breakfast with the most wonderful person of my life. A special someone who holds a special place in my life for all the special things that we have done to each other over the years ever since we have known each other so closely. It is always so wonderful to be with people who matter so much. I wasn’t speaking too much as I dint know how things would be couple of hours later. The unknown and unwanted stuff kept running at the back of my mind, and I couldn’t stop myself from thinking all that I dint want to. Its exasperating, how sometimes, emotion takes a toll on you even when you are heading for something good. And the fact of the matter is that you don’t necessarily get all that you want in life always. Thankfully, for me, someone close to me provides a lot of strength and support which helps me wade past the toughest of situations.

After having a lavish breakfast it was time to leave for the airport before which I cross checked all the things that were “must have” per my list. Calls kept me busy during my journey to the airport. The check-in wasn’t all that smooth, even though I held a business class ticket, as I had to wait for a long time before I was handed over the boarding pass. It was due to some technical glitch and I guess that is how system works at most of these places. Generally, a person who pays a bomb (not that I paid from my pocket, still) holds some advantage to him/her but it was no different than the regular economy class passengers for me. Huh! Look at me, I am talking as if I have always travelled first class... I along with my friend/colleague reached the VIP Lounge as there was still sometime before boarding started. Calls kept pouring in from friends and family wishing luck for my new endeavour, and more so because it was my first international trip. Everyone was seemingly excited knowing about the fact that I am going to do something great...haha..well things and mindset of people and families are so different I feel, in urban and not so urban cultures. Anyway, I guess it makes me feel happier to know that there are so many more people who are so happy knowing about the progress in my life. I feel lucky to have such supportive family, friends and colleagues during these times.

All the discussions and talking that we did in the flight with this new friend was quite interesting, with each of us sharing our views and beliefs with each other at a bar, (where alcoholic drinks are served) 35,000 feet above the ground in the middle of nowhere. The most important fact that I learnt was that I am doing better that 98% people in the world in terms of the family, life and work, and that is enough a reason not to brood over trivial things. This guy is pretty young but the fact that he highlighted, definitely had an impact on my mind. I immediately thought that I am proud to be what I am today as I have been honest all my life (at all possible junctures), with all the people who matter to me and in my relationships as a brother, friend, partner, everywhere and then to add to it, I am doing better than 98% of the world population only adds to my happiness and mental strength. Do I really need to regret about anything in life now? Well I guess not.

The hospitality so far as has been quite good and the crew has been extremely courteous all through the journey, since the time I checked-in at the airport. My colleague, who is travelling with me, and I have clicked few pictures ever since we started our journey from Delhi. I will be putting them up along with the blog. Presently, I am just an hour or even lesser, away from my final destination (Heathrow, London), however, I will be posting my blog only when I land there and check-in to the hotel as the flight doesn’t have the wi-fi facility . The interactive map (personal screen) on my seat shows that we are flying above Amsterdam, and with the looks of it London isn’t too far from here, as the crew members have suddenly become quite active, moving with stuff from here to there and vice-versa.

More once I reach the hotel and settle down, until then, take care!