WHAT A YEAR-2013

I believe I am an optimist and it’s only natural to say that last year was better than the year before and this year would be better than the one we just left behind. However 2013 was just mindblowingly spectacular. Yes it did triumph the years I fell in love for the first time, my first kiss, my first job and my first car. 2013 was larger than life in freakishly high proportions. I graduated from one of the top B schools in the world, spent a crazy one year in two continents , traveled like a maniac , lived in a gazzilion year old château , made friends from across the world literally with an OD of Latinos, learned a new language ,ate almost all of the world’s cuisines , bagged a superb job and moved in to a beautiful apartment in a new country .Most importantly did all of the above with the most spectacular partner in crime and rhyme Prinku.

2013 will always hold a super special place in my heart and in my life. It taught me to be humble , to take on challenges head on and deal with life. It made me understand the importance of knowing context and cultures of knowing religions and beliefs. There were times when it was difficult o hell ya – getting back to the classroom , trying to stay awake in those 90 minute lectures , dealing with some not so pleasant folks and most importantly staying away from my family and my G gang which I missed like crazy. But still the happiness and success trumped the challenges. I believe in myself more than ever , I believe I can take on anything in the world, all thanks to this one year. Given a choice I would hands down repeat 2013 again, but I am even more excited about this new one. I am sure I will face challenges. I know I will crazily miss my new friends who are now spread across the world and the old ones but I do know I will make it big with all that I have learned and with Prinku on my side.

LET IT BEGIN…..

It’s been a year I have been hooked and booked with you and every single moment since then has been sheer pleasure. You have been more than what I thought and definitely more than what I deserve. You have been a lover, mother and friend all packed in one small packet. I realise that you are the biggest gift I could give to my family and even though I will miss soaps featuring battles between mother in law and daughter in law I prefer this situation.

When most brides sit back and relax and plan their next shopping trips and cruises, you moved countries and jobs to support your groom who decided to become a student again. I applaud your financial understanding that I am a good investment and I will generate regular cash flows in future.

You know how to win hearts and bargain hard. You can bargain from Auto drivers to Ski guides, from airline staff to high street hotels. You can beat the shit out of our INSEAD negotiations prof. Your cost saving efforts and lets ask once policy have saved us appx. $ 2000 till now and I am sure this will go up and result in surplus cash.

I love your love for food and all things spicy and pray every day that one day you can turn in to a meat eater and enjoy some real food. Till then I agree that pasta tastes best with some green chili and breakfast is not breakfast till it burns your tummy.

And I have to agree that you are also better than me in most aspects case in point being falling just twice on your first ski trip, scuba diving without knowing how to swim and looking pretty even when you are dead tired being on the top of the list. Although in some other extremely small things like snoring I beat your ass

On this special day I can keep writing about all the awesome things that you have done for me and how cool you are but if I don’t get back to ACF our future cash flows will be disrupted. So I leave with a wish that every morning we wake up is blissful and every evening we fall asleep is peaceful rest everything will fall in place. Love u…

Prinku

I met you last September fell in love and we were married by March. After a series of catastrophic events when I had almost lost all hope of finding someone sane and shut my front door, you jumped in through the window. I still can’t forget that first glance I had of you waiting for me in the corner store, you looked stunningly beautiful. That lunch and what followed after that was straight out of a Bollywood movie, it was stuff that dreams are made off.

It’s been a year and I still can’t believe my stars and I have to admit I secretly thank god to show me the reality and also my ex-girlfriends for not being great to me. I so realised what I dint want in life and what I did. The only word to describe you is AWSOME. Since we got married in March it’s been a roller-coaster ride for you more than me. You moved from Mumbai to Delhi, shut your business in Mumbai, and started something in Delhi which you again left so as to accompany me on my INSEAD journey. You struggled hard to find a job which fitted your style and calibre it was crazy but in the end you did find it and I am glad you did. To do so much for someone you had just known for a few months is just insane and I don’t know of many who could do so much.

I know you miss home and your people and long to go back but you never say it and never complain. I also know that you sometimes kill your desire to go crazy and buy the world but you never stop smiling. Well I have to admit that without you My INSEAD story wouldn’t be half as exciting; in fact I don’t see me going through this without you. It’s difficult because I don’t get to see you throughout the day given our crazy timings but I long all day for that one hug which takes away all my stress , I forget all about CFP , accounting and whatever I am grappling with. One look at you and I am ready to take on the world again and win it for you. Hold on Me Munica the Journey has just begin…..ill get the world for you and soon...

Change

for once my life seems sorted unlike all the earlier times and its time to change the morose , copied yet intense title of my blog (unforgiven)to something more original may be less intense ..i am thinking what it could be while i write. Also i have moved in to a new phase of life which is quite a contrary to ancient Hindu stages of life.The ancient four stages are Brahmachari (student), Grihasta (Householder) Vanaprasta (forest dweller or Hermit in semi retirement) Sannyasi (the renounced one in full retirement). I am currently a grihasta and a brahmachari which means i would have been hanged in the old times. However today being a married student is super exciting. It’s challenging but quite exciting. So i intend to write more about our (me & prinku) life together at Insead and beyond. Honestly I also want to help those who are or are going to go through this stage of life.

Holy Matrimony

My mom once told me that there is a special person waiting somewhere for you and it’s difficult to find her because there is well only one. Last year September I lunched out with this someone special not knowing that she was the one. Long story short i fell in love and before I knew I was married to the prettiest girl I had ever met or known in my life. Surprise is that she is also the most sorted women I had ever met in fact I am surprised because I never knew women like her existed.

People who attended my wedding said I was the happiest groom they had ever seen and I support that point I was. Weddings in north of India can be quite stressful and eventful. the biggest event in a family’s life and contrary to the belief its not about the couple who is getting married. Its about card designs , accommodations for buas & massies , dinner arrangements for 1000+ guests who the groom or the bride would have never met in their lives and The Pundits.

I can easily say that now I am a pro at The Navgrah Pooja having performed it 5 times in 3 days. Believe it or not I did the same Pooja for the same god 5 times. If I was god I would definitely wake up and may be bless the groom if I was in a good mood.

But I was on a trip of my own and I wanted to enjoy my wedding and I did. Everything was super sorted thanks to my lovely parents and not to forget my sister who quit her job to become a wedding planner. The fights and arguments on venues , card designs and food menus gave away to super food , drunk buddies ,backless dresses and lot of dhol and dhamaka.

My mother is on cloud 9 because every one in her club thinks Priyanka was such a good catch and my father’s chest has blown because he managed the sexiest weddings in my hometown and family till now. As for me and my gorgeous wife we are happy that we can officially share the room and life.

2011....

2011 started like the past 4 years.. waking up in Goa with my dear Abu Singh(don’t get ideas he is my chaddi budy and my partner in crime) the only difference this year was that our third musketeer Viraj Sinh was not there( He had taken the plunge in to the unknown ) . We looked in each other’s drunk eyes and felt like shit, abused each-other and promised this won’t be repeated . I am glad the 4 year jinx finally ended. Abu’s found his girl and I have found my love….finally…. The New Year also started as usual with a lot of insane resolutions made in a state of drunkenness. Fuck 8 packs I will have 9 packs by the year end, I will run a full marathon, I will raft in Brahmaputra, I will buy a bike and the usual I will open a shack in Goa. Needless to say nothing of the above happened.. I was 6 kg’s heavier, couldn’t cross 21 km even once, couldn’t even reach Rishikesh and my car repair bills took a toll on my bike buying dreams. But something super happened…. I got back my burning ambition and my drive to break on to the other side .9 months of slogging and drinking less bear upped my bank-balance and my midnight snacking and almost no fitness activity made me gain 7 freakin Kg’s. But that’s not important, what is super cool is that I got through two of the best B Schools in the world KELLOGG and INSEAD. WAKAOOOOOOOO It is tough to describe the feeling but it’s almost liberating, the world is on my feet kind of a feeling, I am the king of the world kind of a feeling, the sun comes out of my ass kind of a feeling. I think this is how rock stars feel when their albums go platinum or when BOLT breaks a 100 m record or when Yuvi hits 6 sixes . All I know is I stand TALL and that’s what matters. Now as if this wasn’t enough. I got the biggest rush in my life when I found my girl soon to be my women. Finding Priyanka was like finding the elusive cradle of life, the holy freak-in grail , the lost king Solomon’s treasure ….so far my biggest achievement in life.I feel loved , I feel responsible and I feel super-duper happy ...and my heart skips a beat every time I see her smile . Life seems sorted for the first time and I can see the light at the end of the TUNNEL. Everything that I do, I achieve seems to have a purpose which is all funnily hooked back to this Angel In White … yes the Angel In White has arrived ppl…….and I am all set to embark on the journey of my lifetime… THE EPIC YEAR BEGAINS……

Package Delivered

Someone once told me “god sends an angel for everyone, there is one for one, no duplications. No matter how much you hover around, look around , sniff around u aint gona find her or well him if u are a lady or delve on the other side”. U might have an illusion that you have her, an illusion that might last years or a few seconds but sunny boy it’s an illusion after all. So I asked this someone “how do u know when your angel has been parceled by the great god”…he smiled at me and said “you will know my buoy you will know…” Guess what I now know ….its clichéd and lame but in my case a door bells rings... So here is the story ..i actually first saw my angel 4 years back sitting pretty in a vanity van of this hwaaat Bollywood star who I had just signed for my brand. I walked in and I almost thought I shd have signed her (angel) up instead..…sigh…. she looked prettier than everyone else around. I ignored the first bell…Mistake… Years went by and I went through shit in life you know illusions.Some months back I called her on her birthday randomly and she called me over for her bash …na I didn’t land up ignored the second bell…grave mistake… Honestly story could have ended and DHL could have returned the parcel to god with a note. The guy was an idiot didn’t recognize. That jerk doesn’t deserve her. Let him suffer. well guess what I got my third chance…so we went for lunch …third bell rang and I heard it you bet…loud and fuckin clear…and this time I am not letting her go…cause I know she is the one……no illusions…I see the writing on the wall…cant wait for her to land in my life..