Putt

Yesterday was by far one of the most perfect days of 2009. I am thinking why did not the year start like this? Well, its better late than never, my redemption for a shitty 1st Jan 2009! We were co sponsoring a Golf Tournaments and it turned out to be a perfect day to do so. I usually shy away from sponsoring or organising Golf Tournaments as my experience has been of meeting very hoity toity golfers. My brand is all about fun and Golf restricts that with its mare attitude. Well, yesterday I very graciously accepted my mistake!

A few months back I changed my usual answer for golf and decided to Co sponsor this event. All the while thinking I am gonna add some fun to this game. Lets see how the hoity toity react to the fun. Well, I have to admit Golf turned it around for me and I landed up having as much fun as the pros did.

We put miniature replicas of our planes on the golf buggies. The buggies looked just too cool and had that element of fun and surprise. We were going up and down the Golf course in our mad mad buggies when we suddenly halted as a game was in progress. So, the curious us were quietly watching these men play their shots when suddenly THE Kapil Dev turned around and asked us girls to step out and play with them. I mean hello, here is Kapil Dev, arguably one of the Best athletes of this country inviting us to play. From a giggly bunch were suddenly turned into a bunch of nervous wrecks!

Next thing you know I am holding THE Kapil Dev's Golf club and playing a shot. Lo behold what do I do??? I instinctively stood in the hockey stance ready to hit the ball. Mr Dev...errr I mean Kapil..OK OK...you know who I mean, immediately reminded me that I was attempting to play golf and NOT hockey. Well I guess some instincts never die, do they? Once a hockey player always a hockey player! Anyways, It was a perfect first shot as far as I was concerned. Mr. Dev turned around and told me I had power in my swing and should start practicing the game! WHAT THE HELL??!! I am prespiring like hell on a cold Saturday morning while he tells me that more women need to take to this sport. Errr... Hello Sir, thanks to this I am SO gonna attend the golf clinic I had signed up for but had no intention of attending!

10 minutes later the girls and I found our selves at the Golf clinic while the tournament was going on. For the next 1 hour we found our selves giggling and learning the delicate nuances of the game called Golf. It helped that the instructor was this cool young upcoming golfer. One look at him and I KNEW he was a fauji kid. There is something about us fauji brats, we can smell the other one out! The moment one finds out that the other is an army brat there is this unspoken connection that takes place. With all the cities we have moved in our lives, our instincts of finding others like us is very strong! Thanks Mandeo. Its indeed amazing to meet young inspiring fauji kids!

The day just getting better with the tournament goin well. Some one actually won a hole in one and took home a Volkswagen. I am told that's a super freak case! The afternoon was beautiful with good food, great company and the live band that belted out some good ol oldies!

I am so glad that Golf turned on me and mocked me for assuming it was boring and stodgy. That should teach me stop judging without knowing! Why do we humans do that all the time? Haven't learnt enough with life experiences not to judge and have pre conceived notions?! When will we learn to make changes in our attitudes? Even the best of us with really OPEN minds seems to have shut our minds to wonders of LEARNING. I was taught by this youngster to make perfect circles in the air while swinging the golf club. After learning to do that with much difficulty, I open my mind and had some really good swings along with some miserable ones that made all of us laugh! What a perfect perfect day when small miracle opened her eyes to golf.

A golf match is a test of your skill against your opponent's luck. Yesterday luck was on my side and hopefully I will pick up the skills along the way. Seed for thought?!

Illumination

Gayatri Mantra has been a big part of my life is the past many years. This is the foremost mantra in Hinduism that inspires wisdom.
Its meaning is "May the almighty God illuminate our intellect to lead us along the righteous path."

I have found great solace and peace in this mantra. Nearly all evening I go back home and put on the Gayatri mantra on the deck and listen to it while I sit on my enchanted terrace. The sun is setting, birds are cruzing in for the last feed of the day, my fish are swimming about peacefully hoping for some food to come their way. Its pure bliss!!

It is here that I have often sat and tried to seek answers to life and things that happen to me. There are days when one is peaceful and thankful and then there are days when one questions life meaning and experiences. A lot of why me, why now, why him, why why...all of that happens right here on my terrace with the Gayatri mantra chants in the air.

I still remember in my younger days I used to absolutely hate coming back home. I had all excuses of not entering my house till late in the evenings. I was so happy with friends and boyfriends. They were so much fun and exciting. Although I had very loving and supportive parents at home waiting for me, I had all the excuses not to go back home. A few years back I got married and all I could think of was to rush back home. To my house, my space, my place. But, No one was waiting for me there. My better half works late. Period. I almost always have come back to an empty house with no loving family looking forward to my return end of the day. Ironic isn't it?!

Slowly the emptiness started eating into me. In spite of so many friends I started becoming desperately lonely. My house was eating me alive...slowly snuffing the life out of me. It is then nearly 5 years back I found the Divine Gayatri Mantra. Our family Soothsayer introduced me to it and its deep meaning. He could see the signs and realised that its was time for the Divine to illuminate me.

Now nearly half a decade later, I sit peacefully on my terrace garden, ALONE but NOT lonely. I soak in the mantra and feel it self reveal to me in a new way every single day. I do believe it has delivered me to wisdom. I have a great connection to this mantra. Today I realise why this is considered on of the highest and the most powerful mantras of all.

Now I find quiet strength in solitude. I am not scared of facing me, alone. I appreciate the duality of life, the yin and the yang. The very social me has respect and (more importantly) acceptance of the lone me.

I realise that Heaven, Earth and Hell are all here, together. I can't let the euphoria of Heaven lead me down the path of unrequited love of material happiness, the reality of Earth has grounded me and brought out the nurturer in me and the experiences of Hell have made me less fearful of the things to come.

We need to appreciate and understand the brilliance of our being. When in doubt turn to the Divine and not get lost in the million by lanes of life. Seed for thought?!!

Tick Tock

There are days when time just doesn't seem to pass. Only that day when the clock is tick tocking at the slowest ever, the day is also the worst. From dawn till dusk its a slog. Everything seems to be in slow mo. People are irritating, work is boring and family just doesn't stop getting on ones nerves! On days like this I just want the clock to tick tock a little faster.

What is with time? How can the same 24 hours seem to play it self out in different ways on different days?! How is that when things are hectic and crazy and one needs the day to be 25 hrs, its gets over before you know it. Especially if there is a big deadline round the corner. But then the days which are really dull and one would want for it to get over faster...it just stretches on and on and on.

Why does time play games with us all the time? I have noticed the day I am leaving office for a few days, there will be a million gazillion things to do. Papers to sign, mails to send, accounts to deal with...and things are moving in fast forward. I can so do with an extra hour or two that day. But, no sire the day will whizz past!!

Today has been one of those that I just want to get over with. Its not a bad day, its just a plain good for nothing day. For a person like me who is action mode all the time (especially at work) days like to day can just suck the energy out of me. I have nothing extra ordinary to say or do. Can we please move along to tomorrow??

Today is a bore, yesterday is nothing but the past and tomorrow none have seen. Does time play games with us. Is time just an illusion?! Seed for thought.

Networking

The other day a batch mate of mine, from my good ol MBA days, started this weird conversation with me on chat. He was very annoyed that the status updates I have on FB seemed to attract responses from people. His point being why are they so interested to respond to what your status update is? I was a bit taken aback and baffled as well. I mean hellooo...Social Networking sites are meant for people to "socialise"...or one would assume?? That is what one does on such sites...chat and interact. I did very politely tell him why doesn't he just take me off his friend list as it would be the best way for him not to see whats happening on my page. To which is very weirdly responded "some of us just log on to FB to see what people have to say on your page!!". So, a much baffled me asked him what the bloody hell the conversation was about. He then went on to tell me that some of the responses people had on my page were not really "appropriate" and a bit frivolous. So, now he also clearly had EXPECTATIONS of me!!

This got me thinking how warped our social system is. You want to know whats happening in some one (who you really don't care much for) life...you are curious about the interactions they are having. But, you have also put them on some pedestal of sorts where you feel that the interactions should be of a certain kind (mature, grown up etc).

Why do we want to be part of peoples life who we feel are not our types, yet its important to know whats going on in their life?!! Why does he want to be part of my Social networking site??!

Some things in our society are so deep rooted that they will remain so for ever. I am not a conformist, so here I am clearly NOT conforming to what is expected of an MBA. I am happy and carefree. This man is a good boy MBA but wants to live a happy carefree life. Now he gets to read my "frivolous" page and get to make fun of what people are saying. He meanwhile is ignored on the same site by the same batch mates. Hmmm?

I am as always confounded by such people. Needless to say I am so bidding goodbye to him on FB. I hope he gets to live vicariously through someone other poor soul who he can sit and judge with all my blessings!

Please don't get me wrong. I don't mind being judged at all, people do that all the time. But, I do mind when people expect me to be some one other than who I am...

"Its better to be hated for what you are then to be loved for something you are not" Andre Glide

Seed for thought??

Everything

We could have been Warm

we could have been Cozy

we could have been Happy

we could have been Right

we could have been anything...

we could have had Soul

we could have been Loving

we could have been Rocking

we could been Sweet

we could have been Tangy

we could have been anything...

we could have been Naughty

we could have been Serious

we could have been Mellow

we could have been Honest

we could have been Loyal

we could have been anything...

we could have been a Team

we could have Danced

we could have been Music

we could be Noise

we could have been Silence

we could have been anything...

we could have Shared

we could have really Cared

we could have been Lovers

we could have been Friends

we could have been a Family

We lost it all....because you didn't know how to love ...you didn't know what was right!

Sadly, we could have been EVERYTHING!!!

Seed for thought?!

Vixen-ation

The vixen is back and boy has it been a start of 2009. I had my fix of hippie dressing in Goa. I love the way all the international tourists dress. It looks like they juss couldn't care a damn yet when u sit and notice them you realise they are actually conforming to a fashion, their hippie fashion. I see they are under as much pressure to look chilled out as you and I are under to look smart.

I love London high street fashion. Its like nearly every one is dressed differently but some how they all look like they are dressed in that seasons trends. Its like the women and men have individual style but still seem to have taken that one style which is that seasons and made it their own. Its absolutely inspiring to sit on Oxford street and see the ENTIRE world cross you lookin so HIP and COOL. The vixen is really impressed.

Then I cut to Delhi and the mall crawl here in Ambi mall gets me back to earth with such horrid dressing by the shoppers. Some of them really make you stop and stare and think...what the hell were you thinking! What is it about delhites that makes them so uncool??Why do women wear super tight jeans with the pockets juss under their hips, aren't they supposed to be a little above?! I also often wonder whats the fascination of the Delhi women and their paunch showing under a super tight Lycra top?!!

Today fashion is so easily accessible to the youth. They can get on the net and a 100 fashion magazines that are available. Many many years back I used to go to Shankar market to buy second hand "phoren" magazines to check out the world outside India. I can never thank those magazinewalla enough today.

OK ladies tips for the winters. Get your self one nice long coat( could be trench if you think you are cool enough to carry it: ) !), a pair of nice boots, well fitting jeans and a number of inexpensive yet colourful mufflers. I am a big one for mufflers. Keep it basic and simple and you are set for the winters.

Last but not the least, please feel free to shoot the next lady you see wearing socks and sandals under western wear!! The Vixen thinks we have been given one life to live and we should live it fashionably. Please don't read fashion as expensive, I am big one for Janpath and Sarojini. You can get some really good high street fashion stuff there.

Only great minds can afford a simple style. Seed for thought?!!

Lemonade

Hello All, Wish you a very happy new year. I hope 2009 is all that you had wished for and more. Although I am wishing for your dreams to come true, please know that the power is in your hands as well to make your dreams and ambitions come alive!

Well, I brought in the New Year with great fun and frolic. I was on one of my favourite beaches in the world, with some champagne and fireworks...it was absolutely perfect. Then an hour later some where out of the blue, life threw a BIG FAT SOUR LEMON at me. I mean really sour!! Here I was having a great time, feeling mellow..thinking things couldn't be better...and out of the blue comes this ugly lemon with a post it on it saying "SUCK on this!!".

Ordinarily I would have been thrown and life would quickly fall apart...I nearly did. Then I thought to my self...what have I learnt in all these years?? If I let this happen to me again and again...where have I evolved?!! So this time round (after much tears and thinking) I said..OK BRING IT ON...I am so gonna make a lemonade out of this lousy friggin lemon. Its gonna be the best lemonade I have ever had...heck it gonna be even better than Champagne!!

So, for me 2009 is going to be about lemonade. Come on throw me a few sour ones and I am so gonna open a lemonade stall. In 2009, Lemons will be used to bring in refreshing lemonade into our lives and not just a whole load of sourness. Well, I have the entire year to find out. This year will be the YEAR OF LEMONADE!! With that thought, for the first first time I look destiny squarely in the eyes and say Cheers to you and me! I look forward to this challenge.

You all have a brilliant year ahead and see if you can make your lemons into lemonade as well. Do we have the power to change our destiny when we decide enough is enough??

Seed for thought??