Lunch in Classroom !

What can be better than attending a lecture for 3 hours on a pleasant Sunday morning ? 

Well, If u r thinking I am gone nuts, read on… I came to know from my juniors that Prof. Nikhil Mehta was going to arrange for a guest lecture session on “Corporate Dining Etiquettes” in the morning. Prof. Seema Khanvilkar (from NMIMS) was gonna deliver the session. So here I was in Syndicate 1, learning the fine nuances about dining and table manners from a stupendous authority on the subject.

 

Fork in the right.. Knife in the left.. wait... err.. was it the other way round ?

My Plate :-)

Of course, the incentive of having food was also something which made me huf and puff up those 96 steps :P

It was a wonderful session, extremely enlightening and Prof. Seema kept all of us engrossed in the ‘tricks of the trade’ all the time. It was an eye-opener for all of us, and we savored all details pertaining to table manners, eating habits, cross-cultural culinary differences and the likes.

 

Prof. Seema delivering the lecture on Corporate Dining Etiquettes

Time for some Practical Training :-)

Great job done by IE 40 (especially the CRs, Mess Secys and all those who were involved).

Why don’t all weekends go like this .. I wonder :-D

Happy eating ...!

A rendezvous with Hyderabad

Last weekend I got a chance to visit Hyderabad. Was a quick tour, and had the privilege to attend Vamsi Bhargav and Sravanthi Sarabu’s wedding. They both were gr8 seniors at NITIE and also guided me immensely for Lakshya.  It was a gr8 wedding, Hyderabadi ishtyle :-)

The couple crooning something in Telegu.. I cudnt understand…

It was a gr8 get together for us NITIEans too… was wonderful to see Seniors and colleagues come together for this great occasion

Hyderabad is similar to Lucknow in many respects. The more I visit it, the more reinforced this idea gets in my thoughts. Be it the difference between the old city and the new, the roads, markets, public places, malls etc. – there exists a marked similarity. But one thing which really sets them apart is the airport: (the new one in Hyderabad)

It is picturesque to say at least.. and built a good 40 Kms away from the main city. Had a great experience in riding the aeroexpress shuttle bus service.

A thing which struck me that the route on which the bus shuttle was operating, it had a loooooooong flyover (at least 30 km) without the bus having the come on the ground level. This speaks volumes about the level of construction projects going on around in that region. 

Another point: The  waiting lounge of the airport had actually very less chairs to sit, but a great many shops, particularly of food. (A splendid marketing strategy). On one hand Pizza Hut was there, and so was a shop selling 2 Idlis for Rs. 75 (Fortunately I knew I would be getting meal in the flight itself.. so was spared from getting a hole burnt into my wallet for my gourmet desires)

The waiting lounge at the H'bad airport

Hope to visit H’bad again soon. My other friend Phani Raja Sharma (the man who is making a killing by selling Automatic bowling machines) is from the same city, and will definitely kill me if I meet him on 15^th March… Hope to be alive after that :P

C ya all !

Mobile Mania and Mumbai Gals :)

I travel from NITIE to Godrej office in Vikhroli every day. The morning and the evening time give me solace which I enjoy while looking out of my bus window. (or sometimes from an Auto rickshaw too). As soon as I start reaching near Vikhroli station, over the days I have started witnessing a strange phenomenon. Maybe it’s not so strange after all, but anyways, the keen inquisitional bug inside me finds it worthy of mention

Here are some general observations (approx numbers)

• There is a general ratio of 1:1 for both the genders in the office-going public (talks a great deal about the greater emphasis to gender equality paid in this part of the country)
• For every 5 females, there is at least 1 lady/girl/woman using a mobile phone !
• This frequency starts increasing just near the Vikhroli railway crossing (which is unmanned, by the way)
• The no. is way less for men. I don’t see more than 1 in 20 gentlemen actually using the phone while crossing the road or railway track.

Images are only of representative nature and obtained from public domain.

Now I really don’t understand some things:

• Is talking over the phone while commuting to the office SO NECESSARY ?
• Even if there is an unmanned railway track, should you (read ‘women’) talk over the phone or be engrossed in sending SMSs ?
• Well, who are they talking to ? Assuming that a bulk of the pool of persons on the other side of the call is of an opposite gender… who would be so interested to chat NON-STOP in the morning at 9 AM !
• What is really there to talk about ??? Everyday ???
• And the biggest question – even after seeing such a market in India, Sunil Bharti Mittal recently said for the telecom sector “The telecom party is over !”. Crap. Nonsense. It has just begun !

The question beats me … I have been known by my friends as a person who asks too many questions.. many of them irrelevant. But I find it interesting and intellectually stimulating by wondering over many such small things.. after all, these tangy zany things spice our lives.. isn’t it ? All Romoes and Ranjhas would agree with me :)