Peking Duck at China House

It was great to have dinner with my friends Aymeric and Smita. We decided on Chinese at the China House at the Grand Hyatt.

It was a very relaxed atmosphere with a lot of great conversation ranging from the state of Indian aviation to French and American politics to my Fun@Work project to the status of women in France, Germany and India.

The highlight of the evening was the Peking Duck which was outstanding. Peking Duck is one of the specialities of Chinese cuisine which has been prepared since the imperial era. The duck is carved by the chef in front of the guests with the thin, crisp skin being offered to the most important person. The meat is eaten with pancakes, spring onions, and hoisin sauce or sweet bean sauce.

Picture taken from the internet.

The proper way to eat it is to first pick up a slice of duck with the help of a pair of chopsticks and dip it into the soy paste. Next, lay it on the top of a thin pancake and add some bars of cucumber and shallot. Finally, wrap it up and savour each morsel.

Picture taken from the internet.

My rating for the China House:

Food - Excellent
Service - A notch below excellent
Ambience - Excellent

A walk in the clouds - a trek to Lonavla

In July at the height of the monsoons, a few of us from KF went on a trek to Tikona fort, near the Pawna dam, Lonavla. They say the fort dates back to the early 1500s and is located at a height of approximately 3500 ft above sea level. The trek started at the village of Tikona Peth. We walked through cloying red mud for quite a distance before we actually came to firm ground. Thereafter it was quite an easy trek up to the fort which was typical Maratha in style. The best part of the trek was walking in the rain with gentle clouds swirling all around us. It was absolutely heavenly.

The cloying mud which sucked off at least 4 soles!

The ancient grinder

A walk in the clouds

The reservoir

One of the darwazas

Awesome views

The actual fun part of the trek started on the way down when we decided to take the road less travelled. Later we realised that we were the only brave ones who had even attempted that particular route in the monsoons. The path was narrow, steep, slippery, treacherous and at one point disappeared from view. It took all of our resourcefulness, courage and strength to get us down especially when some of our colleagues were genuinely frightened. But slowly and surely, we finally reached the base and made our way to little hut where we washed our dirty feet and changed into dry clothes. We also had a simple village meal.

Exhausted, we boarded the bus for the return journey to Bombay but to our good fortune, the bus broke down. We then shared our experiences which was very enlightening. Some of the insights:

• We started off as strangers and ended the trek as friends.

  Teamwork saw us through the difficult parts of the trek.
• Eco conservation was of prime importance with all of us carrying our rubbish back downhill.
• There is no heirarchy on a trip like this. Great for breaking the ice amongst work groups.
• Talent amongst us was in abundance.
• There were quite a few who were natural leaders and we were pleasantly surprised.

A trek to Matheran

Walking is therapeutic, especially when it is outside Bombay, amidst nature. Our trek began at the Karjat junction. We, 19 happy trekkers guided by Chandan, walked through a village and then up a tiny hill which brought us to a beautiful serene lake. There was no one in sight except for a few villagers. The lake itself reminded me of the fjords of Norway.

The trek itself was graded as "difficult" and had 3 stages. The sun was quite intense to begin with and we were all drained out before we had even reached the second stage. Just when we were beginning to wonder if we would make it through, the sun disappeared, the temperature dropped and the weather became much more bearable. The second stage began at the base of another village where I doubt there was even electricity! Amazing to think that we were just a few hours away from the big metropolis of Bombay and even closer to Matheran which is prominent hill station, yet the abject poverty right at their doorsteps.

Anyway, we had all run out of water by then and there were no shops at the village. We had to refill our bottles at the stream that flowed from a well. All of us (city dwellers) were concerned about the quality of the water but took the chance and drank deeply. We refilled our bottles as for the next 5 hours we were not going to come across any shops! Still living to tell the tale. :)

The second stage was the longest and a bit difficult but the reward at the end of it was supreme bliss. The meadow was absolutely beautiful - a sea of bright green with a little bit of yellow from the wild flowers and hills all around. In the distance we saw some lakes and the entire scenery was pretty peaceful, relaxing and destressing.

Finally, we climbed the 3rd stage which was the steepest and the riskiest. We had to literally climb rocks whilst gripping the ones above. The path was very narrow and we were forewarned if there was strong wind to just stay in place rather than move. Everyone made it up safely and then we took "Titanic" style pictures at the edge of the Garbut Point. From there it was a good hour and a half walk to where the lunch was served. Imagine us, hungry trekkers, having lunch at half past 6 in the evening. We were all exhausted but still able to protect our food from the naughty monkeys around.

Some of the things I learned on the trek:

• We are as strong as our weakest link. True teamwork got us through this tough trek.
• The power of the mind is incredible. One of our team was not keeping too well and had the choice to quit the trek at the first stage but he opted to go for it and he made it!!
• God's creation is absolutely wonderful and cannot be replicated. A few hours out of Bombay and we had a gorgeous place to destress. Further, it was so beautiful and serene, it kind of reminded me of Norway at one stage.
• We are truly privileged to lead the lives we do. We came across some villages where there may or may not have been electricity. We were struggling on the trek but that is the route used by the villagers in their daily lives. We even came across a pregnant woman walking up and down the hill with a load on her head!!
• Life is actually simple. We make it complicated.

Some trivia about Matheran:

• Matheran is in the Western Ghats, 90 kms away from Mumbai and 120 kms away from Pune.
• The British discovered it in 1850 and developed it as a hill station.
• It is 2625 kms above sea level and has panoramic views and breathtaking charm.
• The roads/paths are made of red laterite earth and there are no paved roads in Matheran.
• Beyond Dasturi which is 9 kms from Matheran, no vehicles are allowed. So you have to actually walk or hire a horse or be carried up.
• There is a narrow gauge railway line that connects Neral to Matheran.

Fjords in Matheran!

Pretty streams added to the beauty.

I love the rice terraces.

Absolutely gorgeous views of the lake.

The wild flowers gave a different perspective.

The beautiful meadow.

The Sound of Music

The Sound of Music has always been one of my favourite movies. So obviously I would not have missed watching the theatre format of my favourite musical.

I managed to get 2 passes and decided to invite my little friend Renee (Juanella's daughter) as she said Sound of Music was her favourite movie too. I think Raelle Padamsee and team did a fantastic job adapting it to the stage in Bombay. The talent on stage was uplifting and I particularly loved the way they integrated underprivileged children into the main performance. The Happy Home School of the Blind sang the Amazing Grace and in the play, they won the talent contest.

There were a lot of kids in the audience as well. Age was no bar with both adults and kids joining in the singing. Overall it was great and I had a blast.

Symphony on the Lawns

For the first time, a symphony orchestra performed at the Turf Club. It was a formal event and had the "who's who" of Bombay attending. This extravaganza was a collaboration between NCPA and the RWITC.

The concert was conducted by the internationally acclaimed virtuoso violinist, Marat Bisengaliev from Kazakhstan. There were over 65 musicians from 14 countries playing from music arranged in Canada. And the finale was a song sung by Kailash Kher accompanied by the SOI. It was awesome to be seated in the historic grandstand with the race course in front of us, listening to music that stirred one's soul and brought out a range of emotions from despair and sadness to joy and ecstasy.

Listening to them, I was instantly alerted to the simple facts:

• The orchestra is a perfect example of teamwork where every member makes a significant contribution.
• Even if there is a "Star". He is nothing without the support of the others.
• Generally there can only be one star performer but if there are 2, then there has to be compromise for the partnership to be successful.

We ended the evening with sumptuous dinner catered by Master Chef Farrokh Khambata.
  

Leap Talks at VJTI

Never in my wildest dreams did I think that one day I would be giving a motivational speech to engineering students at VJTI. So when I was invited by my ex-colleague Najeeb, I grabbed the opportunity.

LEAP Talks, is a platform where 4-6 powerful speakers share their knowledge, excitement and inspiration; where ideas and innovation are showcased; driving the audience to excel and outperform. A 2 hour monthly seminar where 4-6 dynamic and inspiring speakers talk about driving change. Using instances from their lives and what they've achieved they inspire audiences to believe in themselves.
Who - Change makers, Collaborators and Enthusiastic young people who we need to watch out for.
When - Every last Saturday of the Month/ Or as scheduled otherwise
15 min speeches, preferably using visual aid and multimedia on how they Beat the odds to get where they have reached and what they aspire to achieve in the next 3 years.


Mission
Create a strong dedicated audience that walks out amazed, eagerly looking forward to the next one. Build the LEAP Talks brand, where only the most inspiring and powerful speakers share the podium and convey what life’s greatest lesson to them has been so far.


Date and Timing:
10th February,2011 @ 5:30pm. till 7:30pm
Address: VJTI College, Matunga.

Address: More than 400-500 students of VJTI. this program has been organized as an extension to their Annual Festival "Technovanza" and is being organized as one of the main draws for their Annual celebrations.

I had no clue what was expected from me, so had to ask Najeeb for a little more background and his brief to me was - Well it would be preferable to keep it focused on yourself, who Elsa is as a person, how she has grown in life and most importantly, what has been the turning point in her life - professional/personal and how she has done things differently which is why she is here today but others (who might have started their career about the same time as Elsa) could not achieve. And what difference she has made as a human being to the society.


Anyway, so with mixed feelings - excitement (to be able to address the students), a bit of anxiety (to ensure that I had the right content; being the perfectionist that I am) and a bit of wonder (God works in mysterious ways and what was he trying to tell me?) I went to VJTI. I met the General Secretary Benjamin and he explained the various events organised for the fest. I was quite impressed with the students ideas which was based around India and how to make it a superpower.

My co-speakers were a varied and eclectic lot:

• A scientist from BARC who specialisation is robotics. Meher is not only a woman in a highly specialised field of robotics but is also a kind hearted lady who runs her own NGO - Hana foundation. She truly touched my heart.
• An excise commissioner, Mr. Patel, who started off as a cowherd and today helps others in career selection and trains them to appear for competitive exams. He has a library with over a lakh of books.
• An entrepreneur who worked with Microsoft for over 8 years, had a green card but gave it all up to return to India to set up his own IT company. He now has offices in 8 countries and does a lot of philanthropic work.
• An astrologer, Hitesh, who chose to follow his dreams and passion rather than join his father's business.

I was truly humbled hearing their experiences and I definitely learned a lot. But through it all, I was reminded that success is not about designations but actually fulfilling your passions. Success is when you are happy, satisfied and when you can touch other people's lives. In order to achieve it, the path is fairly common - commitment, honesty, integrity, openness, thankfulness, sensitivity to others, willingness to adapt and change, courage to take risks, passion and most of all belief in yourself.

Iceland and Volcanic Ash

Poor Iceland...............am feeling quite sorry for them. Last year the country went bankrupt - a financial meltdown. And now, in the last few days, there was a literal "meltdown"! The Eyjafjallajökull (wonder how you pronounce that!) volcano in Iceland erupted about a month ago and a few days ago, it erupted for the second time melting ice, shooting smoke and steam into the air and forcing hundreds of people to flee rising floodwaters.

The result - volcanic ash cloud has drifted over Northern and Western Europe forcing closure of airspace. This in turn has resulted in flight disruptions and cancellations, thousands of passengers being stranded and total chaos at airports. IATA estimates that airlines have lost about USD 200 million per day!!

Was I affected? Yes, even though I am in India, which is in Asia and far, far away from Iceland!
How have I been affected?
We at Kingfisher have had to cancel both our London flights for the past few days and we have no clue when the situation will stabilise and schedules can be recovered. Our guests have been totally inconvenienced but truly the situation is beyond our control and we have tried our best to minimise their pain.
Personally, I was off to Adelaide, Australia to attend a conference. Guess what? The world is a global village. The Icelandic volcanic ash had an impact on Qantas' operations out of Singapore. All passengers were being checked in only upto Singapore and from there on we were advised to contact the transfer desk. However I did not have a Singapore visa and so they would not allow me to board the flight from Mumbai.
Anyway, so I went back to the office and proceeded to cancel my travel plans. Only to find that Kingfisher is so important to the conference that the organisers were willing to purchase my ticket. So am now going to Adelaide on Sunday.

Some pictures of the volcano and its effects.....................

Smoke billows from an erupting volcano which seems to be close to the top of the Eyjafjalla glacier on April 14, 2010 near Reykjavik. All London flights, including those from Heathrow, will be suspended from noon (1100 GMT) today due to volcanic ash from Iceland that has already caused almost 300 cancellations here, officials said. (AFP/Getty Images)

An aerial handout photo from the Icelandic Coast Guard shows flood caused by a volcanic eruption at Eyjafjalla Glacier in southern Iceland April 14, 2010. The volcanic eruption on Wednesday partially melted a glacier, setting off a major flood that threatened to damage roads and bridges and forcing hundreds to evacuate from a thinly populated area. Picture taken April 14, 2010. (REUTERS/Icelandic Coast Guard/Arni Saeberg)

Melting ice caused by a volcanic eruption at Eyjafjalla Glacier in southern Iceland April 14, 2010. (REUTERS/Icelandic Coast Guard/Arni Saeberg)

Photo taken on April 14, 2010 the Markarfljot glacial river, west of the Eyjafjalla glacier. Iceland's second volcano eruption in less than a month melted part of a glacier and caused heavy flooding on April 14, forcing up to 800 people to evacuate and grounding some flights over Norway. (HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP/Getty Images)

Flooding caused by a volcanic eruption at Eyjafjalla Glacier in southern Iceland April 14, 2010. (REUTERS/Icelandic Coast Guard/Arni Saeberg)

A man takes a picture of a road that has been washed away by flood water following the melting of the Eyjafjalla glacier due to the eruption of a volcano on April 14, 2010 near Reykjavik. (HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP/Getty Images)

In this Wednesday April 14, 2010 photograph, smoke and steam are seen rising from the volcano under the Eyjafjalla glacier in Iceland, which erupted for the second time in less than a month, melting ice, shooting smoke and steam into the air and forcing hundreds of people to flee rising floodwaters. (AP Photo/Icelandic Coastguard)

This picture taken on March 27, 2010 shows lava spurting out of the site of a volcanic eruption at the Eyjafjallajökull volcano some 125 km east of Reykjavik. With lava still gushing, a small Icelandic volcano that initially sent hundreds fleeing from their homes is turning into a boon for the island nation's tourism industry, as visitors flock to catch a glimpse of the eruption. (HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP/Getty Images)

Lava spews out of a mountain on March 21, 2010 in the region of the Eyjafjalla glacier in Iceland. (RAGNAR AXELSSON/AFP/Getty Images)

Lava spurts out of the site of a volcanic eruption at the Eyjafjallajökull volcano near the Eyjafjalla glacier in Iceland on March 27, 2010. (HALLDOR KOLBEINS/AFP/Getty Images)

Lava spews out of a mountain on March 21, 2010 in Hvolsvöllur in the region of the Eyjafjalla glacier in Iceland. (Fior Kjartansson/AFP/Getty Images)

Steam and hot gases rise above lava flowing from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano on April 3rd, 2010. Original here. (Ulrich Latzenhofer / CC BY-SA)

Source: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/icelands_disruptive_volcano.html

My friends and family..........

If the previous week was about making new friends, the last was about reconnecting with old ones.

It began with catching up with my best friend Marissa at her brother's 50th Birthday party. It was a nice event with lots of their family around. The music was mostly jive and rock n roll, most of which I had not heard for quite sometime. It was great to see Marissa and family connecting with their cousins, uncles, aunts, etc.

Marissa and me.

With Marissa's parents.

Merlyn, Rick, Clyde, Marissa and their parents.

Then of course, I had my cousin Aaron over. He was staying with us whilst he was attending a training programme. We spent a lot of quality time together and even went for the IPL cricket match - MI vs CSK. Here are some pics of his tattoos!!

There was a Jet Airways reunion planned on the Friday but I was too exhausted to attend, so I skipped. However the next day was a reunion of sorts with some close Jet Airways friends - Meeta, Yogita, Alyce and Payal. We met at Sammy Sosa's, Oshiwara and feasted on a range of starters which were all pretty good especially the cheese butter garlic prawns. We ended up digging into the brownie with chocolate sauce and icecream that Yogita had ordered. It was great to catch up with the girls. Each of them is doing fabulously well in their own right and I am so proud of them. This is the age of the powerful Indian women! :)

Pooja, Meeta, Yogita, Alyce and myself

Finally this morning, we attended the brunch organised by the Victoria Tourism Board at the Taj Land's End. It was a viewing of the Melbourne Grand Prix as well as a brunch with some activities for kids. I invited my friend Juanella and her little daughter Renee for the function as well. Renee being the smart child that she is, won a couple of kid's events. We feasted on the food and drink and I networked a bit with some industry people. The race was great because Force India came in at 7th place, which is not at all bad! and to top it all, Mum won a hamper of Australian Goodies.

Renee with her certificate and tattoo!

Juanella and Renee

Mum with her hamper of Aussie goodies.

The IPL - Match 20 - Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings

I am not a cricket fan..........yet I wanted to go for the IPL match. I had been for one 2 years earlier during the first IPL season and the atmosphere was electric. And for that reason alone, I had to go.

I was given a couple's VIP pass and since my cousin Aaron was in town, I invited him to come along with me to the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai. He ofcourse, was quite happy to do so. My friend Smita, was quite upset because a few days earlier she had said that she would love to go to watch the MI vs CSK match and that was exactly the match that I was going for!! Anyway I have promised to take her for the next one.

As expected, the atmosphere in the stadium was charged and there was a sea of blue fans with a smattering of yellow. We were right in front of the CSK cheerleaders who caught Aaron's attention throughout. Anyway, CSK batted first and it was a slow game with very few big shots. Yet they reached a decent score of 180 runs. I was sitting next to a young boy who was a CSK fan and his father on the other hand was a MI fan. It was interesting to watch his reaction everytime CSK was on top of the game and whenever they were not.

So the first half was quite quiet because none of the MI fans were cheering for CSK. But come the MI out on the field to bat and what do you know? The stadium was in a constant uproar with a lot of boos when the CSK bowlers bowled well and of course lots of cheering and blowing of trumpets when there were some big shots. There were definitely fireworks and I thought MI would finish the match in 15 overs!!

Throughout the match, there was complimentary popcorn, wafers and soft drinks. During the break, we had to move to a dining area for dinner and drinks. Amazing. If I had to go again, I would, for the food.........na just joking........for the electric experience. Hope I make it for the RCB game though.

The Wanderers ...................the first getaway

The Wanderers is an offshoot of the Thursday Club where like minded people from work go out on weekends together. The only difference is that this includes family and friends as well.

The last weekend was our first getaway to Hideout, an eco resort 3 hours from Bombay. We had actually planned to go to Aamby Valley but we had quite a time making arrangements for the stay there as well as trying to find out information about the place. Since the week was a hectic one, we put Aamby Valley on hold and instead settled for the Hideout.

We booked a mud hut and it worked out to Rs 1700 per head with all meals included. An honest review - the mud hut was completely basic and was nothing like the one we stayed in at Hodka, Gujarat. It was literally made up of mud and bamboos with a badly thatched roof which could not keep the cold out. In fact it was freezing cold and even though they had warned us to carry our own blankets, we spent the night in discomfort as we had not anticipated that the temperature would go so low!! The food was average and totally unlike the reviews that I had got from my friend Simmi. I was told that the owners grew their own vegetables and fruits organically and this in turn made the food extremely delicious. I personally thought it was average.

But the great company of my friends more than made up for these shortcomings of the eco resort. We had a great time playing Boggle and Jenga. We played 20 questions with Sanjai's gizmo and laughed all the time. We read a little, washed our lunch down with a wonderful Australian Merlot - Yellow tail - drunk in chai glasses and later in the evening had some Bacardi Reserve (8 Annos) once again in chai glasses! The night sky was absolutely beautiful, the sky was clear, the stars shone brightly and our only regret was that none of us were proficient in astronomy.

We also drove to a nearby dam, if you could call it that. Spent some serene time near the water and reflected on our present and wondered about our future. We also cycled a bit and figured that we could do more about our fitness levels. Watched a beautiful sunset and in short had a relaxing, destressing time in the quiet of the country, away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

All in all, it was an eventful trip. A great start for the concept of the Wanderers.