Knowledge is great, literally!

Being thoroughly bored with my Chartered Accountancy coursework and keeping well in mind that I will be required to show some amount of volunteer work on my resume to apply for B-schools, I applied to a charitable organization in Mumbai to start volunteering there. While work took up my weekdays, going to the NGO was going to be my every Saturday goal. On the first day, I was asked to reach their office in Mumbai where four other volunteers and I were given maximum possible details regarding the organization and work done by it; at the end, we were asked to provide the nearest possible location that we could volunteer at, accordingly, I was assigned a BMC (BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation) school. The school, located in Parel, was a government run school where Marathi was the main medium of coaching. However, the NGO had co-ordinated with the school to provide additional teachers and extra volunteers (like yours truly) to provide English medium coaching. On my first day, being completely clueless as to what needed to be done, I reached the school and was assigned two very mischievous children to whom I had to impart the basics of English and Math. May I add Class II English and Math, something us adults take for granted, I had to actually teach the nuances of. 

Only two words can possibly describe my experience, exhausted and exhilarated. The enthusiasm with which the kids started doing Math was sincerely shocking for me. It made me think about how lightly I had taken school just because my parents could afford to send me to one of the best schools in the state. At the end of day, I spoke one on one with the principal of the school and to my shock, heard myself say “I’d rather have back-end work, like managing the library or something.” After giving much thought to my words, I realized that taking the future of a couple of kids in my own hands is some responsibility I would not at all be comfortable with! What if the kid can’t understand these basics and fails in advanced Math, what if the kid doesn’t understand the grammar and vocabulary I am teaching and fails in English in an English medium school! The next Saturday, I was given the task of arranging books in the library and that has now become my Saturday chore at the school. I love the work. I love books, I like order, I like things being organized, I love the fact that at least someone is benefiting from my work.

Only recently it hit me with full force that my CA course is about to come to an end and all the future decisions that I had put off, will have to be made soon. I enjoy the work at the school so much, that I know for a fact that I wish to work toward education, toward betterment of society through literacy. While I was earlier focussed on joining an MNC post my qualification and drowning deeper into the work I no longer genuinely had fun with and obtaining an M.B.A. to worsen my life, I now want something I enjoy, even with a lower pay but with satisfaction at the end of the day. After thorough research day-in and day-out, my ultimate goal now is to join the AFID- Accounting for International Development and provide volunteer accounting work as frequently possible, what better way to utilize the knowledge I learnt? This organization does volunteer accounting across the world and helps various charitable organizations in improving their financial management with a thorough assessment and consultation.

But, only armed with an accounting degree and no knowledge or background in social services, I researched various universities across the world offering a degree in Social work. While a Master of Arts is out of question for want of a Bachelor of Arts degree, a Master of Science in a related social service major is my goal. I particularly like the MSc in Social Work offered by the University of Portsmouth, England. The coursework includes an introduction, basics of social work, practices thereof, scope for improvement, practice placements, policy analysis and need for change therein, and social work on a local, national and international basis. This course, spread over two years is, in my opinion, one of the stepping stones for me to get my wish. There can be no greater satisfaction to me than to see my qualifications being put to use by charitable organizations primarily aiming toward improving education worldwide. Knowledge is great, literally!!

Recharge your hair, recharge your life

As I walked into my parent's place, yelling orders to my junior over the phone as to what needed to be done with all those journal and bank vouchers, the family of three sitting on the family couch was completely out of my peripheral vision. I went to the balcony, got rid of my shoes and after hanging up the phone, came back to the living room, demanding a hot cup of filter coffee from Amma while continuously staring at my phone, checking out my messages. Considering the silence that followed, I was made to look up at five pairs of eyes staring at me with an amused expression. Mom, Dad and the aforementioned family of three. Suddenly, the woman in the red saree (not my Amma!) asked me "Do you remember me?" It was then my turn to stare at her blankly with my eyes darting from Amma to Appa to the aunty. Slowly I squeaked a "Umm.. no.. sorry!" And the aunty said "Ohhh!! How come! I came to your naming ceremony!" I kept a straight face with all the effort in the world, my hair coming in handy to an extent at covering my face. "Okayyy" I dragged on, gave a polite smile and tried to get away from the room to avoid the awkward conversation. Dad suddenly spoke up saying "Shreesha, meet the Iyengars, this is A" pointing at the cute guy sitting between his parents. I smiled and we shook hands.

After the predictable questionnaire from the other Mom and Dad Iyengar- Where do you work? (like my dad hasn't already told you!) How much do you earn? (even my parents don't know, why, oh, why would I tell you?) What all can you cook? (Pasta, coffee, sandwich and maggi, a wholesome meal, don't you think?) Why don't you stay with your parents? (Oh, my parents thought the restrictions and curfews were all done with and threw me out) What all shlokas do you know? (the Hanuman Chalisa, but, I'm agnostic) Gasp! (shrug) What all festivals do you like to celebrate? (ogling at fireworks at Diwali and partying and welcoming the new year) Party, gasp! (shrug) *awkward silence* Dad then said "Why don't you and A go out for coffee?" Having no other option about it, we take off to the nearest Cafe Coffee Day (my filter coffee all forgotten about). As we awkwardly made small talk, big talk, debated and agreed, we realized that we actually had a lot in common! Deciding to meet for dinner the next day, we hugged and left, me to my friend's place to gossip and him to my place to join his parents.

Fortunately for me, the next day, my parents decided to go to the Iyengar's place (the other Iyengars), I had the place to my self. By seven, I started to get ready and realized that, being the first date, him living in the States for the past couple of years, me watching too many romantic comedies and my "forward thinking" as Iyengar aunty put it, we might kiss. *Blush* I started to wonder how the kiss might be. Soft? Forceful? The Mills-and-Boons-hunk-kisses-damsel-in-distress type? Damn those romantic comedies! I took a beauty bath, shampooed and conditioned my hair and wore the classy dress I purchased that afternoon (black, slightly low cut, ending just above my knees). Just fyi, I let my hair down, no make up, just moisturizer, lip gloss, my awesome awesome dress and black stilettos.

We went to Pizza by the Bay, enjoyed great pasta, pizza, potato wedges and chocolaty pastry (damn my diet) and we walked down Marine Drive for a few hours. We really enjoyed all that "romance" with constant texts and calls from our Dads as to where we were. He dropped me off home in his car (chauffeur driven :D). He walked me inside the building and came into the elevator with me. As I hit the 14th floor button and the elevator doors closed, he put his hand at the back of my head, his fingers through my hair and kissed me. Oh, the passion. As the elevator pinged on the 14th floor, he released me and gave me a tight hug, wherein I simultaneously felt him take in the fragrance of my hair, letting out a soft moan. I detached from him, smiled, blushed and walked out thinking, had it not been for the Sunsilk recharge, how on Earth would my life (and my love life, if I may) have been recharged with this cute guy and my yummy first elevator kiss . The thought of A struggling to get his fingers out of my all tangled and dry hair is just makes me shudder!! Thank you, Sunsilk! :D

 

Comments are most welcome!!

The Perfect Road Trip

"Goaaaaaaaaa.... woot woot!"

Yes, finally, a well deserved holiday. Life is really stressful for all us future chartered accountants you know. I mean, we are 21 and all, and still, life sucks. Yes, it does. You hate what you do, you hate the firm where you work, you hate your peers for being competitive during the exam, you hate your seniors because they are snooty that they cleared, you hate the admin people at your workplace since you don't get full reimbursement of your expenses, you hate your clients (however big they maybe) since they don't give a rat's ass about you considering you are the junior and all and you hate your own office since it is small and dingy and finally, you hate your boss for being unrelenting, irritating and for giving you a bitchy hard time! Can I be more rantful (Is that even a word?) And, office picnics, seriously, are a real pain in the rear end. You end up meeting exactly all those people you loath! So, what did we do instead? By we, I mean us "juniors" without them "seniors" (hmph!), we planned a super secret road trip (secret from the office) to Goaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! Woot woot! And what fun! Alcohol, beach, hot guys with the perfectly chiseled bodies and us girls in shorts (without parents' approval, duh!), oh boy!

So, everything was arranged. Contribution for the trip was gathered from all, our accommodation booked and our Mahindra Xylo ready! Mumbai to Goa, needless to say, amazing roads, beautiful view, excellent company and the feel of the free wind in our hair (literally). Our route was Mumbai- Lonavala- Pune- Khandala- Kolhapur- Belgaum- Goa! We decided that just driving through all these places will not be enough. I mean, they are the 'it' places to be visited across Maharashtra and Konkan, just how can we give it a miss? So, our plan was a stop over for two or less days in each place. Winter is just the best time of the year for a road trip like this, I tell you.

We left Mumbai on Day 1 and left for Lonavala. It took us two hours to reach Loanvala and after checking in, we set out to explore the place! The next day, by noon, we were leaving for Pune. We had only two things on our mind at Lonavala- visit the Bhaja caves and the Wax museum, modelled on London's Tussaud Museum. Before we left for Pune on Day 2, we went to the wax museum after a night's complete rest (this is how holidays are supposed to be!) and it was, to say the least, amazing! We arrived at Pune by lunch time and settled in at our hotel and ordered a sumptuous brunch (we were really hungry!) Since Pune is a big city and all and there are quite a few places to explore, we decided to just go for nature's beauty. First thing on the itinerary, a trek to Parvati Hill Temple, a beautiful and picturesque trek through Parvati Hill. After the tiring trek, we headed back to our hotel, had whatever our tummies would take and crashed. Day 3, we went to Saras Baug, enjoyed the view, lazed around and headed to Khandala.

View from Bhaja Caves

The road trip to Khandala was simply marvellous. Stunning Maharashtra, people! Go MH, I would say! It took us nearly an hour and a half (again) to reach Khandala. We arrived by lunch, checked in and had our lunch. After that, we headed to Amrutanjan point and had a wonderful view of the entire valley. While returning we went to a small restaurant serving Gujarati food (yummy, yummy, yummy!) named Chandralok and it was indeed great! We headed back to our hotel. On Day 4, after having our breakfast, we headed to Kolhapur which was a little more than 4 hours away by road. On arrival, check in and after our lunch, we went to Rankala lake and then went to the Jyotiba Temple. One afternoon well spent! We headed back to our hotel, lounged around and settled in for the night.

Rankala Lake

Day 5, we decided we needed to explore Kolhapur just a little more. We visited the Town Hall Museum, the Mahalakshmi Temple, the Kaneri Math and Panhala Fort. The Fort took away much of our energy and we headed back to our hotel. Day 6, enter Karnataka! We left early the next day, since Belgaum had much to offer for hungry cum lazy tourists like us! After a two hour drive, we checked in and headed to Belgaum Fort. After a not-so-appetizing lunch (i was really disappointed!) at a small tapri, we went to the Belgaum Cantonment Area and Swami Vivekanand Smarak. On Day 6, spent entirely at Belgaum, we explored Jamboti, Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary, the Siddheshwar Temple and called it a day.

 

Panhala Fort

Day 7, our final leg of the "journey", Belgaum to Goa, a three hour drive away. It was delayed by two hours since most of the group needed time out to check out how their virtual life is going (namely, trip spoiler- facebook, twitter and many more). We headed to Goa from Belgaum and happen to pass a fish market. Dear Lord, that made us all shut the windows and switch on the A/C. Don't get me wrong, we have nothing against fish or sea food or non-vegetarians, we just aren't used to the odour! Add to that Pooja's stinky wet socks (eugh!) We just couldn't take it anymore. We switched on the A/C and Karan plugged in the AmbiPur vent clip. The label read New Zealand Spring. Ah, now that was fragrance! The trip progressed smoothly and we ended up having so much fun! A fifteen day trip couldn't have been any better.

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