Janta

Finally found my way to Janta ! A homely, no frills, good food, cheap alcohol bar in Bandra. Don't know how I had managed to avoid it for so long...
Anyway... big shout to A, N, S and S - three of them were new folks A and I met there; 1 was from Coimbatore/ London and the other 2 were from Bangalore. Fun people. Relaxed, easy to converse with and just plain fun. No baggage in public. Need more of those kind in Mumbai. Daym.

Hotel

I was at the Sahara Star yesterday, which is near the domestic airport terminal in Vile Parle East. Was dinnering with a friend and his wife -OMG this is insane!!! I now have friends who are married!!!! Insanity I say!!! This is madnesss!!! This is not Sparta!!!!

Anyway, we ate at Namak where they have some odd custom where they welcome people to eat with their hands. The servers were sub-par and slightly confused, although the hospitality was stupendous - the greeter made sure we sat down and took care of us until one of the servers could come by with menus and complimentary refreshments. So we had food there, which was nice and not excellent, but nice nonetheless.. loved the biryani :D

We then went around the circumference of the dome inside the hotel and made our way to the coffee lounge, and this is why I am writing this on my blog. We sit down at 1020 pm, the place is about the shut at 11 pm. Yes, there is a normal coffee shop at the lower level which, I believe, is open 24 hrs a day.
We sit down and are lusting after the pastries on display; I feel like having an espresso and the server says something odd. He says that there is a cover charge of INR 500 per person. I am utterly dumbfounded.
I ask him to ask a senior person if we can not pay that ridiculous amount because we had just finished dinner downstairs... The senior dude comes along and says that he is sorry, but it is a policy of the 'restaurant', but he did say that since the place is shutting soon, we were welcome to sit.
So I think, well, if we can sit, and we want to have a coffee and a pastry, why can't we order it? He says that we can, but it will be subject to the cover charge. Ludicrous.
So, we decide not to order anything.

What transpired above was rather ridiculous for a hotel as nice as the Sahara Star, especially because it was with paying guests of the hotel. A cover charge? Really? Some rules need to be bent. Yes.

Encounters of a Sexual kind

In a hotel, 'I have a room upstairs, if you're interested...'
This refers to the potential of having sexual intercourse + / - other things with a person who is largely a stranger. If this hint is proposed to you, would you say:

"O ! Yeah!"
Or
"I'm sorry, I am married."
Or
"I'm sorry, I am seeing someone (but damn, you're yummy!)."

Shouldn't one rather say,
"I'm sorry, I'm in love with someone, and would much rather sleep with him/ her."

Actors

Rumination - as my friend likes to call it. :)

Richard Branson - Plausibly the first infuence in my life. Have fun at what you are doing. And most of the times it may not have to do with the field of work but rather, the company you have with you. There is no point being business like when all that matters is happiness for all and thereby arises the multiplier effect.

Michelle - My professor in the 2nd and 3rd semester of BMS at HR College. Lively person in whom you could see a burning desire for knowledge (which may or may not be true). I remember how she rewarded correct and out of the box answers, how she made economics as non technical as possible, how she applauded cheekiness, and how she lambasted over-the-top pride. She was the one who introduced me to the multiplier effect - a simple concept which allows me, even now, to question matters perpetually.

Venkatesh, Venky - Explosive guy with a raw sense of humour and a penchant for the atrangi (strange). Hardly learnt any concepts from the subjects he taught - but what I did learn will stay with me for a long time.
Question things, Think (ya thats right - one word) - because people stop thinking after a while, Be atrangi, be brazen, be forthright, question things, question things and never stop.
He was the moron who recommended 'Fountainhead' - a book that has helped change my approach towards life. I will never forgive him for that ;)

Rajeshwari Ravi - The image of a person that I detest. Obey the norms, develop good handwriting, pay respect even though it may be blind, learn word by word and spit when need be, a foreign accent equals intelligence. Her idea of entrepreneurship - Sunglasses with video recording so when you are speaking to a person - you can record the conversation automatically.

Sex

"Yeah man, she was like the best fuck ever!"
"And when I was talking to him, he said the same thing, that 'She was his best fuck!'"
"That was the gayest moment, coz we had had sex with the same chick."
"But yeah, she was the best fuck I've had"

People amuse me.

Conversation

Me: Do you think that Univ. of Illinois was better 10 years or so ago ?

Bus Driver: I tell you what; according to me, all universities were better 10 years ago, and they were even better 20 years ago.

Me: O, why do you say so?

Bus Driver: There is a great reduction in the line of independent thought; the only thing we have left are all the research guys and PhD guys coming out; society is far less liberal

Me: (Horrified) I tell you this from the perspective of an outsider; even though you may say that America is far less independent and liberal, for many of us, America does signify freedom of thought and liberty which is not seen so easily outside America.

Bus Driver: May be. The one thing is that I keep worrying about are my kids and my children's children, because as I see it, society is going down the drain and the people of America in the future will be forced to pay this price. I really don't take any political sides, I just want to live my life as long as people don't interfere. But when something wrong is happening, I would love to stand up.

Me: There is a very thin line between apathy and indifference.

Bus Driver: (Laughter) I am sorry to say this, but most of the people in this country belong to the former.

Me: It was very nice talking to you, have a good day!

Bus Driver: Likewise, have a good day.

Paris

Reading my friend's blog; reminded me of this time in Paris. I was walking around alone - this was in September, the day after exhibitions were over. I kept walking, trying to find the Cathedral of Notre Dame, not realising that it was far far away.
I remember going inside and staring at things.
Cameras were not allowed, however, many people still clicked away :)
Was about to go away when I realised that I should spend money and go up to the top of the Cathedral.
Remember having a nutella crepe and dropping a bit of it over the food counter, to the disgust of the girl who served me that.
2 french ladies asked me something in French, and I said 'Desole, Je ne comprend pas...' - to which they laughed.
I remember the gargoyles,
I remember the artists / students who sat at the top, trying to draw the view
I remember seeing La Defense from that view - that's when I decided that I would definitely go there
I remember that people were in a hurry to see everything,
I remember myself sitting near a person who was trying to draw a gargoyle.

I walked down,
I was hungry,
I went across to a cafe,
I sat outside on the street,
I ordered a beer,
A girl (my age I believe) was sitting indoors (there was no partition),
I asked her for help,
I wanted to order duck, but did not know how to say 'boneless',
So she turned to the waiter and said, 'boneless!',
She said it in English :D
She was Australian :)
And OMG she was pretty :)
I ordered duck pasta,
Ate and drank,
To the amusement of passersby,
May be they found it odd to see a young brown guy eating and drinking beer in the afternoon on the street - alone.

Vulnerable

I got drunk last night, or as one of my friends put it - hammered.
This was the first time I have ever been drunk, and potentially, the last.
2 large bourbons, 1 pint blue moon, 3/4 shots tequila (cannot remember), 2/3 (horrible) vodkas; all of this on, pretty much, an empty stomach.
Coup de grâce - puked in public and have hazy images of people moving away from me as I puked. I also remember shrieks of 'ewwww'.
Life is beautiful.
It's a good thing that I decided to be irresponsible in a situation where I had friends around me. Shall not forget the fact that they got me home; although, I can't remember who it was that got rid of my pants :P
Well, I believe I did.
The other good thing about getting drunk in cold weather - you don't feel that cold.
Puking helps - rids one of the stupor or the potential headache.

I do hope that I did not say anything last night that could be regretted.

Now for the important point; why did I get drunk 1 night before my birthday?
I don't think that there is a clear reason... my friend did get a bottle of bourbon from Kentucky for me, and that made the task simple. I should add that daym that bourbon is crazy shit :D
There was a food and non-alcoholic drink event sponsored by MSF and that made it easier to be around alcohol, afterwards.

I do not think I would want to get drunk ever again. Buzzed - yes.

Addendum: So, I also had an Irish car bomb after the vodkas, but I don't remember having that. However, I do remember asking the bartender chick to describe what it was...
And this goes out to my friends who took care of me :D
Quite awesome that a platoon walked me home to make sure I was OK :D

Networking

Vijay from Zanjeer
Girl: 'Let's talk'
Vijay: 'I don't know how to make conversations... I'm afraid you are going to get bored with me.'

A position that I would avoid being in; but have been in. Reminds me of this one time that I managed to do something outrageous. Case Competition evening, after the final results.

I'm talking to this guy; I am tired and quite foolish. He was trying to make small talk, so was I...
I say something to the effect of :
" You know, after this evening, you are not going to remember me and I am not going to remember you. All that all of us are trying to do is network so that we are in touch with each other such that whenever need be, we can reach out and hope that someone might be able to help us out.
Let's face it, you are doing the same and I am doing the same. "

He laughs at me and agrees - although, I still found him quite idiotic - and we continue our stupid conversation.
In the end, I am about to leave; I see some hesitation in him and I say to him.

" You know what? I believe it is best that we exchange details and stay in touch. Who knows how we might manage to be of help to the other... "

We exchanged numbers and that was the last I saw or heard of him.