Blog Title Change

When I created this blog, the url and title (Confessions of a confused freak) seemed appropriate. But now as I have grown (matured :P), I want to change it. Also my husband, Arjun insists I'm neither confused nor a freak ;)

Unfortunately changing the blog link is not as easy as it seems to be. All previous links will become dead links, the page rank will be reset and what not...

So I opted for the easiest solution; let the url be as it is and change the title header ;)

Starting today it's called La Dolce Vita.. the sweet life! :)

The Dove Sponsored Indiblogger Meet

So, it's been 5 months since I last updated my blog. By now I've made up enough excuses of the lack of time, but am not going to list them here ;) So moving on, let me start talking about the meet!

A women's only meet! This was the first ever Indiblogger meet I attended. I don't have to tell you why this drew my attention. It was all about getting pampered and it was free! \:D/

The venue was Four Seasons hotel in Worli. That's crazy miles away from my cozy home for a lazy person like me. Nevertheless, I decided to embark this journey. Also I was the one who asked my friend Hazel to sign up for the event and she may have killed me if I didn't turn up; just a possibility :P

Luckily I had 4 amazing ladies for company: the twitter queen Vibha, the young & vivacious Deeppzz, a hospitality professor (yep!) Laxmi and a fellow entrepreneur Preeti.

Together all 5 of us headed to the venue and reached there at 11:00 am sharp. Right on time! We registered ourselves and in a span of 30 minutes were called to get our foot massages done. It was lovely. That was the first foot massage I ever got done in my life. Those who know me won't be surprised! :D

By the time our massages were done, we had more and more ladies come in and soon enough the introductions started. We had a great variety and I've decided to dedicate this post to all the ladies I interacted with. (I hope I don't forget any one here)

Now for those who are here to read about the details of the meet, I'm going to refer you to Aasheianaa's blog, a fashion blogger and a charmer. She has covered it well for all of us :)

Adding to the list of the amazing ladies I present to you,
IdeaSmith, the one who can easily captivate an audience.
Nisha, an amazing woman and a global traveler.
Priyanka, the pretty girl next door.
Neha, an incredible liar, I mean lawyer ;), the one with the best opening statement at the introduction round.
Aparna & Shirin , the lovely sister duo.
Tara, the one in the search for 'Khushi' :)
Anuradha, the one who can maintain 18+ blogs! Woah!
Amreen, the football fanatic!
Vasudha & her lovely kid, Harini who could come with the most amazing slogan for her team!
Nikolai, the tiny, amazing traveler.
Anu, the very creative and talented art and crafts blogger.
Charu, the one who had the most cheerful face. I did not interact with her, but she has a face that one can't forget :)

This is just the list I can recall. I'm sure I've missed some names and will make sure I get them in the next meet! :D

And how could one forget this little blogger! :)

Universal Chennai Indiblogger

I really have to thank Dove and Inidblogger for this great meet. Looking forward to more such meets!
And thanks to Dharmi who gave me a relaxing hairwash.

Us!

The t-shirt

The Dove Hamper

My product review shall follow after I experiment with it :)
Now, I better get back to work, before my friend and partner, Deepti finds out what I'm actually doing instead of working ;)

Never say No?

Never say "No" Isn't that something we've heard too often? But I think it comes with a small asterisk (*) that says rarely say "Yes"...

I'm one of those who failed to see the asterisk mark! I seldom said "No" in my life... This may come across as a very positive point, but it is actually the exact opposite!

Why did I never say "No"; - fear of hurting people, fear of not getting something right if someone else does it, fear of not being acknowledged, to please the other person, to help the other person, to clear disputes, to get it over with, blah blah... the reasons are so many, but it all comes to the fact that I never mastered the art of saying "No"..

Yes it is an art! A very important one... If you don't learn to say No, you will be taken for granted and expected to do whatever it is that you did, and more; sadly with negligible appreciation.

I remember my friend Jayashree telling me about this movie called "27 dresses". She said she saw me in the lead character's role instead of the actress. She asked me to watch the movie, so that I can understand what I do from a third person's perspective just to make sure I can learn to say "no"...

It never really occurred to me that it was such a big deal before... and when I did realize it, it dawned upon me that I've lost a great deal of myself while doing things for others. But its hard to give up the habit overnight... It been a year or more I've ventured into the path of saying "No" and I still have a long way to go...

For those similar to me, start it already.. better late than never :)
It's not about what you can do, it's about what you want to do!

P.S: I had a similar post in my older abandoned blog... Just felt like writing a better version here.

Onwards to Korea - Part 2 (Concluding Part)

For Part 1, click here. 


"Refreshed" after the boiled corn and French fries, I began my hunt for the Free Internet Service Station. And why didn't I use my laptop instead?
Well, as luck wold have it, the day I left for Korea, was some mega power block in Navi Mumbai area. No power frm 8-6! Wow!! So ya laptop was dead...

Moving on, I finally did find a place. It read I could use it for 15 min, but hey till someone stands behind me and asks me to get up, I ain't going anywhere. Finally spoke to family and friends. Ah Internet is such a life saver I tell you. After chatting for some time, I could see some desperate souls like me waiting for their turn and I offered them my seat. (I'm nice at times :D)

There was still about 4 hours to go... Nintendo DS to the rescue! Played for quite sometime and suddenly heard a rumble. It was my stomach. How long can boiled corn and fries sustain; also I've a good appetite. :P
I was wondering what to eat! Of course... the safest food I could have without fear was Chocolates! Went around and bought a big pack of Toblerone Minis. Yay!

Munching on the chocolates, one after the other, I happily headed to the gate and opened my book to read. Books are like time machines (Amitabh Bacchan says that in the Reid & Taylor ad).... Need I say more?

It was time to board!

Cathay Pacific Airlines. First impressions? It was just like any other airlines... I only worried about food. I had requested for Indian Veg Meal, but then I didn't expect much esp after the food I had in Jet. Also it was China! But..life is full of surprises...Cathay pacific served the best Indian veg meal I had! Pulav, naan, & paneer mutter! Yummy!!!

After that content meal, soothing music is what I wanted. Turned on the flight's channels and to my surprise they had Bollywood music too... I loved Cathay Pacific already :D
The hours flew by in my sleep and the captain announced that it was near time to land.
That was the time, the harsh reality struck me. I wasn't going home! All this while it just felt like those days with a hectic travel schedule.. but the ending was always home...

But, it wasn't this time!

Landed. It was an unknown place, unknown people, unknown territory. I wasn't scared but I wanted to run back home. The thought that I wasn't returning home was tormenting me... Went through the exit, lost in thoughts.

My ex-boss was  waiting for me. I couldn't recognize him, but he could (ain't hard to spot an Indian here.) He called out my name, took over my luggage trolley, talked about old times and tried to make me feel comfortable. He gave his phone so that I could inform everyone back home about my safe journey. I couldn't speak much.. Various emotions were gushing. Held on to them and went on...

After 1.5 hrs of drive, we finally reached the apartment arranged for me. My boss, his family and my friend Praveen were there to welcome me. A sweet little place and the people were so warm and friendly.  After light introductions and greetings, everyone left. My friend however stayed back for sometime, we chit-chatted about old days and then he left too.

It was past midnight and I still couldn't get any sleep. "It sucks to be away from home"... I remember murmuring that for a long time only to wake up to the sun. It was months since anyone saw the sun in Korea. Maybe, he just followed me all the way here, to make sure I'm fine :)


This concludes the "Onwards to Korea"post. Will list my living experience here as it goes... :)

Onwards to Korea - Part 1

One fine morning, my ex-boss called me and offered me a job in Korea. I wasn't too sure how it was going to work out. Firstly it was going to be non-gaming. But then, I thought about it. I was considering taking a break from gaming to revive those creative brain cells. They were on the verge of death, me thinks ;)

My friend Praveen was already working for the same firm in Korea. I discussed with (read troubled) him and came to the conclusion to give it a try . And luckily for me, they offered a relevant role to my husband Arjun too! Yay!!  I was so happy about the fact that I won't have to stay alone! More than the staying, it was the travelling that scared me for some reason. I've never been scared to travel alone; maybe it was the unknown place, unknown language. When communication becomes a problem, it kind of scares me.

As luck would have it, the company wanted me to join early, and Arjun couldn't leave that early. So I had to start off alone...the very thing I was scared of... Sigh.

On the d-day, my entire family and a friend tagged along to drop me off at the Mumbai International Airport. The only time I have ever been away from my family was the 7 months I had spent in Bangalore. But this time it was different. It wasn't within India anymore. So sending me off did call for a good amount of tears. We are an emotional family as it is :)

My flight was Jet Airways which was taking me to HongKong and a change of flight from there. The lady at the counter informed me that they have no more tie-ups with the connecting flights and that I will have to collect my check-in luggage at HongKong and check it back in with my connecting airlines. I had checked with Jet Airways before my journey itself. So it didn't come as a surprise. In any case, she told me that she had tagged my check-in luggage destination to Seoul. (Umm..Alright :S)

My folks waited at the visitor's lounge till I proceeded to immigration. I'm not a big fan of being away from my comfort zone. With international roaming activated on my phone and slightly relieved to have cross checked with the airlines on my meal preference (Indian Veg Meal), I proceeded. It didn't feel any different than boarding a domestic flight. 

I was way early and had to kill about 3 hours! And I was hungry. So I went and grabbed a veg sandwich; which wasn't up to my liking. After throwing away the rest of it into the bin, I waited at the designated gate and read my book.  Reading a book is a great thing to do to kill time. It was time to board already. 

I was glad to see some good movies and shows listed as part of the flight entertainment. Right when I was dozing off, they served meal. I wasn't particularly happy about the food. It was a very similar sandwich.. Sigh.  Thankfully fruits were there.  After that I resumed the movie I was watching, only to wake up to breakfast service! 

And the breakfast was equally terrible. Mini Idlis soaked in tasteless sambhar and some weird Uthappa. Again, fruits saved the day. And in another hour's time, I had reached Hongkong! It was raining there then.

I spotted a help desk and approached them and asked them regarding my connecting flight and baggage. Fortunately the airport staff speaks understandable English. I did have to repeat, but the message got through :)

I headed to the Cathay Pacific counter and they gave me my boarding pass and told me they will pick up my luggage. !!! I checked with him again as Jet Airways had told me otherwise. He assured me. Instead of feeling relieved, I was tensed about whether they will pick up my luggage or not. He said I could check it at the gate, 1 hr prior to flight's takeoff. My connecting flight wasn't for another 5 hours! I finished my security check and sat at some random gate as my flight wasn't even listed then. Hongkong airport is huge. And travelators everywhere. I wanted to check about my check-in baggage and on inquiry found that the Cathay Pacific desk was on the other end. I started proceeding that way. Saw a lot of free internet stations on the way. All were occupied. I reached the other end; checked with the staff; he too assured me that my luggage will be picked up. I headed back trying to find a free internet station. I almost reached the other end without any luck only to feel hungry. Then it dawned that I saw Mc.Donalds near the airline desk.. Sigh..

The other side also had restaurants, but I wasn't sure if I will get anything veg. So, after another long walk, I headed to Mc Ds and asked for something veg. I got it too: Fries, Boiled Corn and Coke.. So disappointed. It's hard for the vegetarians. 

I grumbled to myself, thought about the delicious food back home and ate the meager meal that lay in front of me...

...to be contd....

Long time no see...

Things have changed considerably in my life. That sure calls for another long time no see post, doesn't it?
And sure has been long! To summarize the whole thing, I quit my job, worked as a freelancer, now in Korea as a consultant.

Few months and way too many changes. May be this is what I needed? Who knows! I feel like I'm in that unknown world of freshly passed out graduates having no clue what to do... It is a great feeling actually. Helps me see myself and what I want to do in a whole new perspective, which btw is still unclear...;)


Guess it's time to explore... Wish me luck! :)

The Immortals of Meluha

That's the name of the book, the first in the Shiva Trilogy written by Amish Tripati, a finance professional, graduated from IIM Kolkatta!

With the current spree of IIM pass outs turning out to be book authors, I really wish I was in IIM! :P

Anyways... here's how I ended up in the world of Meluha!

So one fine day, on one of those occasional visits to the Landmark bookstore in Pune, I saw this particular book placed everywhere to grab the buyer's attention! I have ignored a lot of other books that used to belong there... But this one was different.

They say never judge a book by its cover... however this wasn't the case for me... The cover was what caught my attention!

Being a lover of mythology, I couldn't resist being drawn to this mighty and sensual depiction of Lord Shiva!

I ran to my husband who was busy finding some books in the Sci-Fi section and told him I've found something good! He smiled and said, "Just read a page and see if you like the way it is written, and then you will know for sure!"

Hell, why didn't I do that! So I opened the book and read the first page of the first chapter and by God I was in love with the book. I didn't wanna stop reading.

The language was simple and the flow was great! The content itself was bloody brilliant. Neatly broken into paragraphs, pleasing font and good page quality! I'm not going to delve into the plot outline or so as the author lets you read the first chapter here, and also because it has to be read the way he has written, else it will lose it's charm.

A nicely made trailer is also available here.

After Lord of the Rings trilogy, this is the only other book that I've read in just a span of few hours because I couldn't put it down till sleep took over me unknowingly and yet I was in Meluha. With Shiva, Sati and everyone else, I was there looking at my leader, my God, my Saviour!

I've always had a soft corner for mythology and fantasy alike and if one may see, deep down they are very similar... So I won't question the content and get into unnecessary arguments on whether it is right or wrong, because there will be no answers, just more arguments... If one can accept the existing mythology which revolves around magic and the supernatural and at times the unnatural, then accepting this theory seems to be more likely.

Amish has tried to bring forth a practical and more believable aspect of Lord Shiva into existence through his book. My imaginations ran wild as his writing helped me create my own land of Meluha, it's people, the Suryavanshis, the Chandravanshis, everyone existed in my world.

I always adore authors who can use simple language to convey the most magnificent things and he definitely is one of them! I highly recommend this book for believers and non-believers alike! You can know all about the book at http://www.shivatrilogy.com

It was because of this book that I've got back into my reading habits and my husband is pretty delighted about that :) He is currently reading the book. This book has inspired the reader and the writer inside me! I owe one to Amish.

When I finished reading the last line of this book, my heart ached, I knew I had to wait... wait for Amish to finish the second book... It was hard... I wanted to know... I was in the book, in Meluha... and I'm still there, waiting...

Keep up the good work, Amish! May (Lord) Shiva be by your side to help you complete the series with the same amount of brilliance or more as seen in this one...

Har Har Mahadev!!!