Letters to GOD!!

Diwali is Almost HERE!! Yay!!

Yes it is once again THAT time of the Year! I earnestly look forward to Diwali, I absolutely love the colors, lights, sweets and the genuine unadulterated FUN! Lighting up your entire house with Diyas, Candles everywhere, and the smell of incense sticks filling the whole house, the fresh flowers, the colors, the clothes, and the jewellery!!

Agreed for the past two years we haven’t been celebrating Diwali they way we used, all thanks to the Layer of Depression that engulfs these festivities in terms of "Ohh... Yet another Diwali and My daughter is Still single! We will celebrate Once we find a Perfect partner for Neelu!" Sulk Sulk! But this time around I am going to have none of this spoil My Diwali!

As a prelude to the Festivities, last Saturday, I rolled up my sleeves and got into doing my most favourite chore ever, CLEANING! :D Yes, you read it right, scrubbing, dusting, washing, wiping and cleaning and ensuring every bereft dusty ignored corner of my Room (Yes I have only finished cleaning my room that to baring my sister’s Table :P). Ahh the feeling when the room sparkles from polish scrubbing and cleaning is truly divine considering how much of a borderline OCD, I am.

Last Saturday, If anyone were to come to my Room, they would most definitely have found me atop my ladder, screaming to my little brother to come and Make himself USEFUL!!! Poor Thing, Is my handy help, after all he would just anything to avoid his Studies… hahah… Me calling and involving him into my project garners a different response from my Mum which is something to the effect of… “You clean, scrub, do anything you want, do not involve the rest of us, you have nothing to do, but the rest of us have, Mon has to study and cannot waste his time… By the way for how long will is remain this leave, I am sure you yourself will be the first one to dirty the place!” My mum! Hahhah… Well Its is True to an extent, I won’t disagree, but this time around I intend to keep the Space Spick and Span throughout!! *Fingers Crossed!*

Duster, Broom, Vacuum cleaner, soap, window cleaner and everything else is absolutely essential to ensure that every iota of fictitious dirt gets sucked into a different realm, where all the Dirt from millions of OCD patient’s homes get chased into!

I am getting inherently lazy when it comes to exercise these day, I cant belive I am the same person who used to take 4 steep stairways more than 10 times in the day during my college, Ahh well at least I can blame my Knee for laziness! :P With Diwali cleaning comes the absolute exhaustion post the cleaning with I completely Look forward to. It’s the same feeling I get when I venture to take the Kitchen Duty into my hand on certain Thursday nights. The Feeling has every bone, muscle and ligament in my body beg for forgiveness and promise to show through the skin, rather than be Content and hide beneath layers of fat and MORE FAT!

And then comes My Mum’s Favorite Part of Diwali cleaning. Getting rid of the clutter! She hates clutter, and we (read me, Sannu and Kits!) are manic about accumulating clutter. And she has her way during this Cleaning, and we cannot really do anything about it as we have it our way throughout the YEAR! :P

Hybrid bits and pieces which have long been disjoint from the rest of its Body, Invitation cards, Movie theatre tickets, Metro Route, etc and they came as attachments to, old rolls of wires, dented tony cars and more, which are not going to useful as long as the Sun is shining over our Planet, but we still store it for Pure EMOTIONAL Value!

I love Diwali cleaning with a passion that only rivals the feeling of looking through bundles of old books, notes, papers and MEMORIES. Cleaning and dusting and arranging leads me to places, I knew existed, but had forgotten over the months, among the heap of my college books, I discovered a heap of papers with lots of emotional Value! My Professor’s Hand written notes congratulating me, My Boss 1st Note for me, My 1st Public speech, Little Doodles drawn during the classes, random sketches of my Dream home, My umpteen no of diaries and most importantly My Letters to God!

Sigh… My Letters to God! Expressing certain feelings of mine to anyone beyond a limit, regardless of the subject is a very very difficult thing to do for me… I am always skeptical when it comes to doing that only because of previous unpleasant experiences. It requires being prepared to bear the consequences of being misinterpreted, misquoted and most of all feeling exposed! And therefore I find it best to talk to the one person I have no qualms with, no inhibitions, no fear, and no restrictions and have nothing but Pure Love for, GOD!

There was a time I used to saturate myself with God, read and meditate on different write-ups on HIM, pray, Write and talk to God daily. Listen and try to learn his voice… and daily run these effects in my mind while doing all my daily chores.

I don’t write to HIM now, a little something made me stop, I only talk to him now, that Way I don’t feel sad reading the letters at a later stage and indulge myself in self pity. Reading the letters got me so emotional and moved since I myself was shocked at how naïve I was, How stupid I was, and at how grateful I should be, HE has given me Everything I asked for and more, everything I didn’t know I wanted, expect ONE, the One thing I kept asking HIM repeatedly in all my letters to HIM and Boy Am I glad I didn’t get it! Thank you… Thank you for not giving it to me!!

It is fascinating for me, at how my Diwali cleaning has received religious sanction of all fronts, be it me finding my letters to God or it being mandatory for all families to clean their house inside out in order to attract, Laxmi, the Goddess of Wealth.

Come Diwali, I have promised myself that will light up my house with all the lights I can lay my hands on. Bring the Diyas out, draw rangolis at the door and Laxmi’s feet running into every room of my home in optimistic hope that she decides to follow the Signage’s to our house as well… :)

Matters of the HEART!!!

I always mentioned, maintained and felt I was born in the Wrong era… A Little LATE!

I am prone to think it would have been so great if I was born a little earlier when life was simpler, uncomplicated and most of all in a World wherein I would FIT in perfectly, with my inherent old fashioned views.

I have issues, I don’t think the way most people my age do, I don’t talk in the fashion most of my friends do, I tend to think a lot, sometimes rational sometimes irrational… No I don’t mean to say that my Friends DON’T think!! Lol… That’s not for me to say, is it? :P But seriously… Its ME... I am slightly Cuckoo in the Head! I tend to over scrutinize and delve upon things a LOT more than actually necessary. But you know what I like it that way and you will know why in a bit!

The other day having a conversation with my close friend Sachu, he mentioned "You think a lot, from different aspects, and that I take decisions with my Mind and not my heart!"… Uhmm… Is it true?

I always thought and wanted to be able to listen to my Heart more…

Maybe I listen to my Mind more than my heart, because I don’t want to show people how I feel and only show people what I think, most of the time that is precisely what I do. This is solely because I have noticed that people are not really interested in knowing what exactly or how exactly I feel in tandem to any given topic. I definitely think so. I walk up to my mum, try talking to her, hearing my point of discussion, she simply exclaims… “Ohh, Its one of those attacks isnt it?? You have gone mad again... Go and tell your father, please!” Telling My Father, That!…. Yes… He will listen, yup he will… but he won’t react, he will smile and look at me, and say "You know when you were a kid, you used to wear short skirt and run behind like a little puppy following his master…" so what do I tell him… Turn to my brother, he says… "You want to express your feeling, please blog it, we are in no mood to hear your stuff!" Ahh… so much for loving your brother! :P

For Example, Right now my heart is totally at PEACE… yes complete Peace but My mind, My brain is racing, it is Tensed!! Confused and perplexed to be precise… Well anyone’s would when they come to know that their Pictures are been used by some Jobless retards to create a Fake Facebook ID and the tension might reach the point of a Heart attack when one would read the Slimy, cheesy, sexual explicit comments to the Picture… But my Heart believes its okay and everything would end nicely. How and Why I don’t know… But obliviously I can’t show that, can I? Because If I do, people would think I am definitely INSANE no?

I most definitely have to project what my brain has decided for me. My brain had decided it is wrong; you need to get tensed, perplexed and ACT! Which is definitely rational and expected, right? SO how can my Brain be wrong? :)

My Heart is very very volatile, fickle and explosive. It reacts fast and cools down equally fast. If it were for my heart I would still be friends with a lot of people, I would still be getting hurt by them, still be taken for granted and still be extreme!

But I am less crazy because of my Mind! My Mind stabilizes me, makes me look at the pros and cons in life, weigh the positives and negatives and act accordingly. This Blog entry is basically an attempt to pacify my System and bring it somewhere close to a delicate balance so that I can completely get over the Psychologically ILL, Imprudent and dim-witted person who tried to carry out an identity THEFT, that too of MINE!! If it weren’t for my brain I would have actually felt sorry for the obliviously unfortunate looking person instead of thinking about myself and my credibility!

It is often said that being true to yourself is following your heart… I guess I am Not all that TRUE to myself and I am GLAD!!

Going the GOOGLE way!

For Google to be the PERFECT search engine, means having to understand exactly what we MEAN and give back exactly what we WANT!

Imagine the joy of being the opportunity to comprehend what THEY mean and in turn create what THEY want! Yes! That is exactly what happened on a fine June morning this year. A Courier addressed to the Design department in my office, with a specific mention of “Interior Designer/ Quantity Surveyor” comes our way. Since I am the one who fits the above bill perfectly, the Package was delivered to my desk. Being the excited person that I am, I cheekily sidelined everything else that I was working on and excitedly opened up the packet ( or ripped apart in my colleague, Shaji’s words), with the happiness one sees on a 5 year old‘s face opening her Christmas gift! And was I disappointed?? Nope absolutely not!!

The Packet gave way to yet another packet marked GOOGLE! Imagine my shock, excitement and astonishment? Immediately I said to myself NO WAY are we going to get it! But the next minute I thought, to even be able to bid for the Project is a great honour in itself, right? Of course it is!

But everyone here at my office thought otherwise, they thought it was an absolute waste of time to invest our time, energy and money into something that won’t materialise the WAY we wanted it to. Why would they give it to our company they quizzed? But I, and proud to say that with my determination and backing from a few dependable colleagues, we are able to bid for the project and what do you know? We WON the Project!! :D :D

From then on started a wonderful journey involving a multitude of effects like chaos, high energy, long hours of work, sweat, tension, migraines, acidity, high stress levels and weight loss.

In order to effectively understand the Google way of working and designing the office space, there were a few things that Me and My boss had mutually agreed on that Its best to do one thing really, really well and therefore I was asked to concentrate completely on Google’s New office in Dubai and nothing else till the project is handed over and I was definitely not complaining!

Google’s head honchos as well their Middle East partners had a fairly distinct idea of what exactly they wanted in their new Office. The Office, we decided, would reflect an obvious Middle Eastern feel, along with a very modern interpretation given to the whole space, not forgetting the free, colourful, transparent feel to the entire space. We decided to Focus on the user and all else will follow. And that is exactly what happened.



Entrance Foyer



Reception Counter





The Entrance to any office sets the whole image of the entire setting. The Reception was designed to have a strong Arabic feel offset with an abstract colourful analysis. The Reception Counter was designed in the shape of a Traditional Arabic dhow, leading to the Counter is a strong feature wall, with Limestone cladding in a random English brick pattern, right beside the Counter, is a silhouette of the complete Dubai skyline featuring most of the Iconic building. In the waiting area, to add colour, we incorporated a bespoke curvilinear sofa in Bright Read and pouffe in Bright Yellow to match. Carpet tiles in golden brown and dark brown were laid in curvilinear patterns to reflect the sand dunes in the entire office. To complete the Reception Area, we added a Foosball table and a Floor to Wall Wooden Mashribiya to match the Reception counter.



Floor to Wall Mashribya Screens

Foos Ball Table



BreakOut Area

A Breakout Area, with provisions to play PS3, musical instruments like the drums and guitar was created in the form of upholstered tiers at varying heights. This area was to have the feel of a Beach, with live beach scene lurking in the background, the sounds of the sea fed into the music systems, a couple of beach chairs thrown into the mixture and viola, we have Google’s Breakout Area.




Breakout Area

 All the meeting rooms have been created with the aim of inciting the employees to work hard and play harder and therefore perform better. One of the Meeting Room has a detailed Feature wall, incorporating the Camel Racing theme.



Meeting Room 1 - Camel Racing Theme

Another Meeting room is completely in the Arabic Majlis theme, this to prove that you don’t necessarily need to be at your desk to need an answer or find a solution! The complete room, in a rich Maroon and gold, with bright Moroccan lighting adding to the flavour of the space, in order to stop the space from becoming completely Arabic, three pop art images were hung high on the wall.



Majlis Meeting Room



Majlis Room

Yet another one has a Shining glowing wall, A wall made with a mixture of Wooden Mashribiya and Acrylic sheets and dim lighting coming through creating an illusion of added space in the otherwise constrained Room.



Glowing Wall

A Central Informal Meeting Room was created in the shape of a Pearl, Yes a Pearl, to symbolise Dubai being the Pearl of the Middle Eastern Desert! Made in Pure Corian finish, with upholstered seating fixed inside, and in order to provide additional acoustic insulation and add to the aesthetic nature of the Pearl, a fabric canopy was created from the Ghutra, the traditional fabric used by the Arabs to cover their head.

Yet another novel feature was the presence of the Phone Booths, Two Phone Booths placed beside each other to house employees who need to make important telephone conversations with their foreign counterparts. The Phone Booth is a cosy room, filled with juxtaposed images of Telephones of different kinds being pasted all over the four walls. The Front facia is covered with an abstract disproportionate interpretation of the Burj Al Arab and the Emirates Towers.



Phone Booths



Overall View of the Office Space

Visualizing such an Office and seeing it being built up in front of you just like the way you imagined, is believe me the most satiating experiences ever. It also does one more thing; It makes you wish you were working for Google!! They have everything a person needs in there and even more. They have massage chairs, foosball tables, PSP3, unlimited food, drink and other games, private funky cabins and much more.

Everyone is Proud of my “Achievement”, everyone here at my Office, My Professors, My friends and I am sure even my parents even though they haven’t been very vocal about it! But the question is; Is it the Best I can do? Nah…. Being Great just isn’t good enough, is it?! LOL! No it definitely isn’t! Fingers crossed and waiting with great expectations for the Next exciting Project to get COURIED to me...

I remain,

In Anticipation!

Oh… Btw you may ask me ‘What Did you learn from your brief stint at GOOGLE??”….Well… uhmm, You DONT need to be in a SUIT to be taken seriously!!!

The BIG BASH!

"Pura naam… Amitabh Bachan, baap ka naam… Harivansh Rai Bachchan, Maa ka naam, Teji Bachchan, Gaon Allahabad. Umar Adasath saal ...”

Mr. Amitabh Bachchan!! The Name needs absolutely no introduction or a prelude of any kind. The man, the legend, the persona all seem to hold a grand indescribable charisma that remains unrivalled. He is a phenomenon!

                                        

He is the Demi- god of the Indian Film Industry, a true legend, and fantastic Human being (am sure he is, after all he is a LIBRAN).

An entrepreneur, politician, game show host, a singer, voiceover artist, and an ACTOR par excellence - the roles he has played are immortal and he is idolized millions of crazy fans like me. Multitude of awards and recognition gravitates towards him endlessly as flies to a flame, year after year after year. HE cries and that’s it we break down as well. The minute we see a tear glistening Mr. Bachchan’s eye, there is a simultaneous tug to our heart strings.

But his affair with stardom was anything but smooth. But what is a life without turbulence, how can we appreciate the beauty of a butterfly without it having to struggle through its tedious and tiring metamorphosis stage?

Mr. Bachchan holds a double degree in M.A and used to work as a freight broker with Bird & Co, a shipping firm based in Kolkata which he quit to pursue acting! Thank goodness for US!

What would we do without him? Without the angry young man in Zanjeer, the despondent doctor in Anand, the jealous insecure struggling singer husband in Abhimaan, the dying man in Majboor, the fake Botany professor in Chupke Chupke, the intense powerful character in Deewar, the faithful friend and passionate lover in Sholay, the loverlorn poet in Kabhie Kabhie, the endearing Anthony Gonsalves in Amar Akbar Anthony, the wanted underworld kingpin in Don, the illegitimate child in the Hugely popular Laawaris, the unfaithful husband in Silsila, the alcoholic in Sharaabi, the gangster and urban dacoit in Agneepath, the dogmatic Narayan Shankar in Mohabattein, the psychotic villain in Aks, the aristocratic father in Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham, the talented, fanatical teacher in Black, the Godfather in Sarkar, the Sexy Sam in Kabhie Alvida Na Kehna, the old man enamoured by his daughter’s friend in Nishabdh, the Ghost in Bhootnath and as GOD himself in God Tussi Great ho!

We have been blessed to be able to see so many many avatars of this great man, who has not feared to experiment, with his looks, characters and genres. Mr. Bachchan’s unconventional looks, being dark, lean, and standing tall at 6’2” all worked in his favor in making him exceptional and truly UNIQUE. It’s surprising to think that these very factors deterred his initially chances in when it came to acting roles. But his deep baritone, the amazing texture and gravelly voice just add to overall BRAND! It’s just amazing to able to witness all his versatility and flexibility.

On the occasion of his 68th Birthday celebrations, I wish him a long healthy life blessed with even more creativity and ingenuity and I hope and pray that many many wonderful roles come along his way and he continues to entertain us with his wonderful personality and self!

LONG LIVE Mr. BACHCHAN!!!

Waise bhi… "Hai kisi maa ke laal me himmat, jo INKEY saamne aaye?"

SHOW and TELL - Middle East Interiors

My First Official Interview as a Designer... Yipee!! :D :D Its a Small bit... But small begnnings lead to HUGE Opportunities, dont they! :) :)