More Indian Than You Think

The best, and I repeat, the BEST experience of Indianness abroad, for me, was in Singapore. So, we were in Mustafa Centre, just shopping randomly as tourists always do (we just love disrupting the daily lives of people) and we reached the section of untensils. The sibling and I, knowing it wasn't our territory, went off in another direction only to be called back. Actually, squealed back, by a very excited Amma. You will not guess what we found. A coffee filter. In Singapore. Actually, a mini-coffee filter. Coffee filters are not available in Mumbai. Also, they are rarely found in South India (my parents checked). And we found it there.

http://www.worldmarket.com/product/ss-indian-coffee-cup-set-and-f.do

The product to the left is the coffee filter and we found it in a golden colour.

On a different note, while Indians are celebrating Valentine's Day, Women's Day, Sister's Day, Brother's Day, Father's Day, Mother's Day and every other just-one-day-to-celebrate-this-because-we-are-too-lazy-to-do-it-all-year Day, the West has more of the following dialogues-
"Why do you need a card for this? This is complete commercialization!"
"Children celebrating Valentine's Day? This is nuts! No! You need to study like those kids in India and China so you can make money out of these cards and not be a victim to it!"
It's funny how they are trying to ape us more and more! Proud to be an Indian moment, please!

While we here in India have mushrooming of gyms just about anywhere (Yes, "Gyms" or as I like to call them "Akhadas"- Hindi for gym, well, a makeshift gym) and the introduction of soul cycle and zumba and what not, the West is taking to the yoga pants and the yoga mats. We? We are just taking to the yoga pants to join the spinning class that just opened up near my place and costs a kidney to join. Yay!

While the West is taking to Jodhpuri chappal and Kolhapuri Chappal

Kolhapuri Chappal http://www.craftsvilla.com/kolhapuri-chappal-for-men-model-b010-1.html

Jodhpuri chappal http://handloomsofindia.com/orange-multicolored-jodhpuri-jutti.html

We here in India are opting for Pumps and Stilettos. All that while we are just one step away from getting the heel stuck in between the tiles laid out as a poor excuse for a sidewalk.

And do I even need to make a mention of the Indian headshake? Is it a yes, a no, a don't know? Foreigners are surprised, shocked and awed at the nod that we make and learn it to perfection. I have seen my friend learn it well and communicate effectively with just a nod. Does it get any better?


What can we do? We Indians are like this only. And we shall make you also like this only. Watch out, world! :)

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!!

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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