No objective

Working in P&G conditions one to a certain style of writing and thinking. It becomes tough to imagine any kind of action without wondering about an objective. Eventually it does wonders for ur work, but kinda sucks when it comes to ur personal life. Coz friends dont always talk to you with an end in mind, so it doesnt help when ur kinda holding on waiting for the point they're making, most times, there isn't one! :-)

So I've set me a challenge, writing with no end in mind. Letting the words flow must be easy considering:
1. Im a woman
2. Im a talkative woman
3. Im a talkative woman with a gazillion opinions on a gazillion million things (most of which do not matter to the course of mankind lemme warn you)

Let me clarify, this very post is an experiment in the above. I have no idea right now, how this post will turn out and what it will be about. Read ahead at your very own risk or if you love me beyond belief. (like my mom or that crazy woman sharmili) :-)

Mumbai: My latest 'vacation' (No, Mr. Jim Lafferty of work life balance fame, it was NOT a real vacation - i DID take work along and worked from Mumbai office) was a visit home to family and friends. I grew up in Bombay for the 1st 22 years of my life, and on my 22nd birthday, i packed my bags to Bangalore for an MBA. 2 years were spent at Bangalore (memorable and incredibly life changing years those) and then 2 years at Singapore where i currently live. No other place in the world evokes as much emotion as Bombay does. (Forgive me but Bombay just sounds so right, i cant find it in me to say Mumbai!) And by emotion, i dont mean tears... Emotion ranges from rage to gratitude, from adoration to hatred. Rage at the crowds that literally make movement impossible, Gratitude at random acts of kindness that people send your way even if ur a complete stranger, Adoration at how little pockets of Bombay have these real stories of development and progress, and hatred at the dirt, the pollution and the lack of civic sense that go unnoticed. But i now realize that it is the most fertile ground for an imaginative mind to churn out world class stories (aka Shantaram) and an incredible lesson in survival instincts (aka hanging out the train from dadar to borivali) - none of which can happen in the very livable, yet very staid singapore. Despite all its conveniences, all its safety, im pretty sure that i'd like to put my children through a crash course in "Survival" by subjecting them to the teacher that is Bombay :D

Work life balance: To provide reference to that Jim Lafferty portion above, Mr Jim LAfferty is a country manager for the Phillippines MDO and an alleged authority in the subject of work life balance. Some other companies call it "life equilibrium" apparently, but we at procter call it WLB (Work Life Balance). We had the privilege of hearing him talk on the subject on Friday. I was rather tempted to walk over to him and ask if i could borrow his material (essentially just 13 simple tips on how to bring WLB into your own life) and post it here on my blog. Cause honestly, its the kind of stuff that is truly inspirational and has potential to be life changing. He starts with one simple rule about how WLB is not about working lesser hours, but about figuring out whats important in your life and ensuring it gets most of your energy and attention. Coz the popular notion in my company is that people who go home late have poor WLB, heck for all u know, they have nothing to do outside and really do enjoy working those hours, and people who go home at 5 pm might be too stressed by the events of the day to give their families the kind of energy they probably demand and deserve. Some other time, ill put in a more detailed post on Mr Laffertys tips on how to have better work life balance. Not until i email him and ask for express permission tho! :-)

Allergies: Yes i get how this isnt the glamorous post you thought it would be, but if you've read this far, you're probably really vetti anyway and won't lose much by reading a little further! :D So how many people suffer from allergies? (My hand's up in the air with another 60% of the classroom!) Im seriously allergic to dust (yes ive been very very sick from allergic bronchitis in the past), to the sun (yes yes rotfl and all that, but i am!), to eggs (they give me this bad stomach ache) and to bigots (well, those who isn't allergic to!) The one that bothers me the most, is probably the dust. Ill admit there's no dust here in Singapore, not by Bombay standards anyway, but heck there certainly is something around me that hits me every once in 30 days and sends me on my classic sneezing sprees (6 -7 aaccchhoooossss! at the very minimum in ONE SINGLE SPAN) and worse still, leaves a horrid runny nose behind. Ask people prone to colds and they'll tell you, the one thing that really pisses them off about the cold is not the headache, not the blocked nose, but the painful river of muck that endlessly flows forth from the nasal passage! Doesnt let you study, doesnt let you work, doesnt let u exercise, doesnt let u sing, doesnt let you meditate, doesnt let you do anything but sniffle and lie down all day waiting for the spell to pass ... ARGH!!! Im going through one of those today and i swear to god, a runny nose is a sure fire way of leaving you crabby and pissy to talk to. It takes GREAT effort to be nice and polite to people while u generously dose ur nose with tissue, all the while lamenting how its getting redder and sorer by the minute!!! (Yes - ill step out for anti histamines in a bit .. for now i need to vent!)

Kavita: She moved into our house in August and turned it into home. By the time she left in December, she'd created an atmosphere of friendliness and affection in this house. One of the most amazing women ive ever seen, great great listener, understanding, patient, childlike in her enthusiasm for everything alive or inanimate, ardent shopper, easily influenced by smooth talkers (yeah - how do u think i won her over?), shopping crazy, squash buddy to many, ex health instructor, ex Wella India General Manager, ex procerite.. Kavs is everything Shali and I could never be and so many things we would probably be better off being :-) Yes, Kavz, ur so right in saying i dont call, and that i seem to have forgotten you. Im incredibly sorry babe, i promised u id always be there and i didnt live up to it. And still u wr generous with ur forgiveness and shusshed me up saying it didn't matter. Let me just say you're one of the best things that happened to me in the past year (amidst many others yes yes), and we cherish you from the bottom of our hearts. Hope we can be flatmates once again, very very soon :-) And hope you find all that you've ever dreamt of and more! :D

And thats all for my non objective driven posting for the day. :-)