tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66079365160616465622024-03-13T14:03:32.490+05:00AIM HIGH!Born to live life to the fullest!Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-71495811307987909882012-03-11T22:01:00.003+06:002012-03-11T22:39:01.799+06:00Race for the solar power<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 100%; ">A natural need to wake up with bright sunshine and birds singing in the mornings is what I really need now. Alas, the aftershocks of winter knocks me down: grey melting snow, muddy streets, annoying non-personalised unfriendly sky. </span></div><div><br /></div><div>Let's move to the south? </div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-72996550533904801662012-01-16T14:04:00.001+06:002012-01-16T14:04:44.993+06:00Serendipity<div><div style="text-align: justify; ">It's been quite a while since I blogged last time, and during this time I got a few requests from my international friends about my writings. "What the hell is going on with you? You've become less active on social media, you stopped blogging, are you OK?" </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">It's awesome and fantastic how nowadays friendships have evolved and how we "measure" them. One of my Nigerian friends used to say that people who are very active on different e-platforms seem to be very extrovert ... virtually. Whereas when you come to know them face-to-face they tend to stay in a shadow and they are pretty much introverts. I guess I would agree with him (and disagree at the same time) - just looking at myself I feel I can find a whole life there "in the web net", and still, I looooove interacting with awesome personalities whom I meet on the way. Plus, in 2011 I continued my lifetime friendship with Books :) I read books about everything and everywhere. Each morning next to my pillow I would find a pile of books that would make my mornings, keep me in tension till I get home, and some little brochures that I take to the office while loading web pages on my system. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">So where was I these months, to be precise from Oct 2011 up to Jan 2012? Still here, in Holy India :) I've been roaming here and there, I've become more relaxed and explored new feelings and desires towards this !ncredible country, I cherished and enjoyed most of all those divine moments with my colleagues (aka friends), with ACErs across India. I kept on constant travelling: so I finally made it to Munnar which is a hill station covered in dozens of infinite green tea plantations. Elephant rides that we took there were topped with fun, laughter and awe-experience (did you know that an elephant peeps about 5l of urine and it looks like a tap water?!). Kochi with its warm sunsets and delicious Kerala food which we dreamt of once we were back to Chennai. Then a long awaited trip in November 2011 to one of the oldest holiest places in the whole world - Varanasi. The town or rather a holy place is one of the pilgrimage spots for Hindus and it gets most of the Hindu attraction during Diwali (one of the most respectful and significant Hindu celebrations across the world). However, on Diwali I stayed in Chennai and this time it was of no difference for me as it was a Diwali in 2010 I've seen in Hyderabad. In fact, it was continuously raining that day in Chennai, so I was not fond of going out, and most of my close Indian friends would leave Chennai for visiting their families in the Northern India. Surprisingly, I find Diwali similar to our New Years (in CIS region) - we pay as much attention and dedicate hours of preparation time for it as Indians (read Hindu) do for Diwali. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">I also visited Mumbai in October due to work reasons, and it was a marvellous trip. Every time I get to Mumbai, I get this hyper-mode feeling that I can conquer the world :) What I mean is that Mumbai is so hectic, you rush for everything and nothing, you enjoy slow walks in the suburbs or dropping by shopping areas in Collaba, south of the city, actually awake in you a giant feeling of "The World is so AWEsome!" ... Mumbai, I am so weak in front of you! </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">December was quite. I decided I would not travel much in this month and spend it wisely for last minute things in Chennai. It was my last month and there would be plenty of things I had to do before leaving. My favourite spots such as Thiruvanmiyur beach or Ideal beach resort on the way to Mahabalipuram, where you lazily swing in a hummock, read a book, look at the sea and simply dream. Priceless moments. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Leaving Chennai was a mixture of enigmatic feelings. I've been stunned by so many confessions from different people, I've been made cry when my friends would leave or when I had to say "Bye and See you soon!", I've learnt a few Indian dishes which I am so proud of (by the time I come back home I am planning to host an Indian evening for my family/friends :), I've been falling in and out of love, I've been attracting and pushing people back and forth ... A lifetime experience in India was about to end, and Chennai was to close this outstanding chapter of my life. Chennai had guts to make me feel home. I actually could not believe these words when I said them outloud - I made my living in Chennai successful and full of fun and passion to life no matter if it was too filthy, too humid and hot, too spicy and oily, too inefficient and complacent, too much of whatever I hated it in the beginning! </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">I came to the same conclusion I've started my life in India - People are one of the most adaptable creatures the world has seen. And if you are willing enough to sacrifice some part of that comfort life you used to have somewhere out there, you will find a beauty of life even in the God's forgotten place like Chennai. After all, I've learnt a bit of one of the world's most complicated languages in the world- Tamil ;) </div></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">PS I fall in love with these bits and this voice every time I listen to it. Just thought the song has some close connection to what I am leaving behind me in Chennai ... </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><iframe width="459" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1IrxWoTeTlo?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-53853445397893545532012-01-16T13:11:00.006+06:002012-01-16T14:36:30.072+06:00Life at the maximum!<div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Jan 5th, 2012</b>. Chennai Domestic Airport. En route to Mumbai with 16kg excess luggage. How fancy is that?</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The saddest part of this phase of boarding for Mumbai flight was that I had to get rid of some stuff. And since my heaviest stuff were perfect books I read during 2011, unfortunately I had to leave them (and some clothes) in the airport! I shed a tear when an airport assistant took the books off from me, but what to do? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On the plane. With my guitar and loads of bags. Empty hearted and ready to leave as soon as possible. Surprisingly, that evening Chennai pampered its visitors and inhabitants with a good weather. Usually, when I leave places "I wish I could stay a bit more", the weather does not welcome flight conditions and it is either heavily raining or snowfalls delay the flight, and then this is the most boring time in the airport!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I was damn exhausted, so I immediately was off on the plane. Even a veg snack they served on the plane did not taste that delicious the way it was supposed to be. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mumbai, late evening. Chilly air, honking and Hindi speeches. Splendid. Alas, my heart was there in Thoraipakkam, Chennai with friends and closer to rough waves of the Bay of Bengal. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">As always, my phone battery was about to die, and I made last calls to Mumbai friends to meet me. Half an hour later I was at their place. I felt safe. Strange, but this time coming to Mumbai resembled to me as if it was my first time travelling alone and as if I could not utter a word in any of the languages. I was absolutely numbed. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Friends made me feel home. We talked, we laughed, they offered me food and safety. You know that kind of safety that you need the most when you are thrown outside in the middle of nowhere in a very sever winter night, and then all of a sudden you are picked up by a stranger who gives you a shelter and says, "Relax. Everything will be alright." That was me and my condition. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mumbai happened fast and loud. The way it should. I was warmed up by so many close friends and their love and affection made me feel home. I am home with my family - a bunch of self driven crazy travellers who come to India, leave India, cannot survive back home and come back to India again, who found their loves in the whole lifetime in India and they do not give a shit about how much you earn, what suit you are wearing and which accommodation you choose when you travel. Simple. It is so beautiful about them. I mean their attitudes to life. Simplicity and No Posh style at all. And they are smart. Damn smart. My friends. We are internationally linked with each other, and once we leave each other we fall sick. We lack each other. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbx6ny9naSl1n851x-d-XYBhZhPQWBxq4VoL935DU-Wo2FgD93nPxnDyFqnNe3oLxMpBUI1ljb-_af3BGt8frhOWOWeh3vdKalzV0U3KTRJPhHFzqrHKMyK-gVJMWK3F6xOnY0Eun8lkqr/s320/DSCF0145.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698144449644326034" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-align: left; text-decoration: underline; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div><i><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><br /></i></div><div><i>Mumbai friends' meet up and Baddis' farewell</i></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Jan 7th,</b> Mumbai Domestic Airport. Flight Mumbai - Jodhpur is delayed by a few hours and Air India does not announce the delay to the passengers. My friend, Nisha and I are still optimistic about our perfectly planned trip to Rajasthan, western India. We will take off today and land for the camel safari ( which we did not book yet :D ) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Two hours later we boarded for our flight.<br />Rajasthan, here we come! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiCN9xLlCTiSE3HyOrva_xcqVrlHPG7NFF52X-ZrEKmS27Q-1mou0BnxLZLcOJTHuLUoFcQoOjXCcNafiGT94qj9g017_2oLfio0sdhQRvj6GVy2vHEOvljzNwwdkiHfT0szeDhDB36872/s1600/DSCF0165.JPG" style="text-align: left; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiCN9xLlCTiSE3HyOrva_xcqVrlHPG7NFF52X-ZrEKmS27Q-1mou0BnxLZLcOJTHuLUoFcQoOjXCcNafiGT94qj9g017_2oLfio0sdhQRvj6GVy2vHEOvljzNwwdkiHfT0szeDhDB36872/s320/DSCF0165.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5698145237299960978" style="float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a><br style="text-align: left; "><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b> </b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-13898981272216271812011-10-02T19:49:00.001+06:002011-10-02T19:49:57.301+06:00Excel !<div style="text-align: justify;">It's not a perfect representation of the thoughts I had on a more or less similar topic that you can see in this video. After all, only I know my thoughts. But it's good to know there is a digital movement happening in introducing Kazakhstan to the world arena. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have a beautiful idea how to cutify a Kazakhstanodiscovery for future world nomads. I just need the right resources ( like professional software wizards :) Well, yeah, I may sound ambitious but not boasting about the topic :p </div><div><br /></div><div>PS Sharing old still feelings </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/MTFzRV0PO1I?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-21965096745544431002011-10-02T19:14:00.001+06:002011-10-02T19:15:34.629+06:00Saheb Biwi aur Gangster Experience<div style="text-align: justify;">A very good friend of mine had a strong desire to watch a Hindi movie. Of course we decided to pamper ourselves and not to lose an opportunity to hear and see the beauty of Hindi. Granted that we live in the south India, in Tamil Nadu state, which is one of the most conservative states in India, Hindi movie was in a Must Watch list. Though it was my second Hindi movie, I booked tickets for the first movie that got most votes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">After I booked tickets for Saheb Biwi aur Gangster, I watched the trailer... and I was curious. Yes, a very teasing promotion. Yes, I got slightly shocked. Yes, I wanted to see another face of India. Face of modern India that is seldom discussed by my Indian friends/locals in general. Face of India that interests us, as internationals when we ask if there is any sex education for kids in the schools across the country. Finally face of India which was set in a small town in the northern India that provokes (maybe?) a new pattern of people's behaviour... publicly. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The trailer is accompanied by a vibrating Hindi song that immediately enables you to dance. Don't tell me it does not :)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Happy watching :) </div><div><br /></div><iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Lrtsq3kYwto?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-29005056975691550362011-08-11T01:21:00.006+06:002011-08-11T01:40:04.318+06:00A Thing About India<div style="text-align: left;"><i>Live India with every heartbeat.</i></div><div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i>Live it and Love it. But only when you are Open for India. </i></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">These lessons I learnt throughout my 1 year of living and working in India. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On July 25th 2010 I landed at Mumbai airport at 3am hoping there would be somebody to pick me up. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I still remember that night with every tiny detail: loud crowds of short men,women and children staring at an Asian girl looking confused and frightened with her one luggage suit and a backpack. I remember the smell which Mumbai had welcomed me with : the same smell I sensed in summer 2008 in Delhi on my first arrival to India. I remember how I kept on asking locals to help me make a call to AIESEC Mumbai guys and find out where the taxi driver was. I remember that 6 hours later I met one of my future best friends, Ola, who has been so generous and helpful! I just could not understand why she had been so helpful to a stranger - just another intern in India. She would lend me money (I forgot to exchange US Dollars to Indian Rupees in the Mumbai airport), give all her Mumbai maps, encourage to take her cell phone and make necessary calls (<a href="http://assel-aim-high.blogspot.com/2010/08/mumbai-week-1.html"><b>in our first weeks of Mumbai madness</b></a>). I remember I met with Dina on the same day and she had been a great guide and friend sharing hew viewpoints on India, the internship experience and Mumbai as such. I remember my fears, my tears, old and new friends, discoveries, small achievements I'd been proud of, monsoons (Oh My God! Mumbai!), love and hatred...</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My inner body and mind remember every single beat of my Hyderabadi life. Meeting so many close friends at AIESEC International Congress 2010, regular travels, cultural cooking evenings, parties, latino dances, my guitar lessons and Toastmaster classes, my awesome colleagues and a big job dissatisfaction, strong support and encouragement of my Kondapur family - Carlos, Areli, Fadel(ina), Kasia, Veronica, ACE family... Lots of things ...</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I remember and appreciate the times I had in working with amazing passionate and creative minds in the Global Support Team in AIESEC. We have walked with the team a beautiful leadership path, we have lived our lives being in so many places at the same time: Moldova, Denmark, Turkey, Serbia, Slovakia, Cambodia, Bulgaria, India. The talks we had carry a lot of vital essence: do we really impact ourselves and our organisation? How do we create impact? What is a change and how to manage it? </div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Change management has been the key thought and action in India so far. I changed Hyderabad for Chennai, I changed Hyderabadi friends for Chennai folks, I changed charming Nizam city for enchanting beaches of the Bay of Bengal and hills of Tamil Nadu, I changed enlightening Kondapur family for a "silent" Canopy family, I changed my first project- Competency Development- to come to Training and HR Deployment and continue working with Competency Development area. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I changed a lot of things and places within one year but I have not changed one core thing yet: Love and Passion for a Great Living. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Closing my first year in India and opening another chapter I am celebrating my FIRST ( or ONE? ) YEAR in India with <a href="http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=529186350&sk=photos"><b><i>new friends</i></b></a> and I am happy I can be a part of their lives.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I am also asking myself a simple question after this amazingly !ncredible year - </div><div style="text-align: justify;">
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<br /></div><iframe width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dyVnHkUSJGQ?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-67788178016021967662011-08-02T05:47:00.005+06:002011-08-02T07:20:57.407+06:001+1 = infinity<div style="text-align: justify;">The summer 2011 kicked off with <a href="http://assel-aim-high.blogspot.com/2011/07/malaysia.html"><i>travels</i></a>. Tons of discoveries, FUNtastic moments, re-connections with friends I have not seen for a long time, and dancing with <i><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj70mXG3E1M">I love you, baby</a> . </i>Splendid!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, I was preparing for the ACE Conference. A plain thought of meeting all ACErs in the maximum city Mumbai in the beginning of July electrified me with a driving force, and I was getting online every time I had a chance to keep on working for it. The Conference team was a bunch of professionals: AIESEC did teach us a lot during our active years in AIESEC, and it was a big pleasure to work with such a dynamic flexible innovative team as the one that created the whole concept and fun. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Our Conference team was gender-balanced: current ACE coordinators- Feras, Iryna and Chinedu, Feras's successor, Magda ( lovely Polish! ) and Onur, one of the core idea-generators :) A truly international passionate team! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">You know, when an opportunity comes to work with committed fun people I tend to jump not thinking too much of what investment of time and energy it will require for me. Just a plain thought excites me: creating new opportunities for somebody to see him/her shining and discovering while walking a leadership journey! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">On June 21st I landed in Mumbai... I arrived at the same multi-opportunistic Mumbai like last year. This arrival was much more to the point: I knew the local language, I knew the routes, I felt more confident and the rickshaws could not rip me off. Right after landing I met with dear Mohamed in one of the coffee cafes, and some time later brave Oksana joined us. Delicious lunch of pasta, magnificent aromas in the cafe we stayed in and long awaited chats with old friends. What a marvellous day!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The next two weeks before the conference buzzed in the air I lived outstanding days with my friends in Powai, Mumbai. Feels like we all created a forgotten sense of home for each other. Dinners we cooked together and then laughter that would break Mumbai tiredness and madness, foolness we would play repeating 'Ba. Bu. My name is Babu" ( Babu in Hindi means something like Dude ), the care and love we would dedicate for each other ... The memories of those two touching my heart weeks have been precious! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, conference preparations cooked of the right ingredients of total dedication, passion, excellence, commitment and fun have energized the whole conference team day by day. A few of us were masters of wicked humor, and some others took notes of those jokes. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">June 30th. Not a raining evening at all. ACErs keep arriving to the hotel. Old friends. New faces. Incredible excitement. Our first dinner altogether near the swimming pool. Indian food. Tons of meat that is immediately grabbed by hungry-for-meat ACErs. Yummy desserts. Shyness of somebody. A cautious eye of another one. Talents in engaging with a big crowd of people. Trust. Affection. Love. ACErs.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The next three days were like a roller- coaster. Too fast and too little. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I am extremely grateful to the ACE program for living such an incredible life in India. Grateful to the ACE Conference 2011 for walking a leadership journey together with my team and with the diverse 75 talents from 30 countries. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">ACE Conference was a huge highlight of </div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Love and Passion</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Commitment and Responsibility</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Creativity and Fun</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Purpose and Action</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Big Picture with tiny black dots </div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Carpe Diem</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Confession and Acceptance</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Diversity and Unity</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Professionalism </div><div style="text-align: justify;">- Leadership</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you are interested in the ACE program refer to the following links: </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><a href="http://www.aiesec.org/cms/aiesec/AI/partners/TCS/index.html"><br /></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><a href="http://www.aiesec.org/cms/aiesec/AI/partners/TCS/index.html">AIESEC International Global IS Partner - TCS </a><br /></span><a href="http://www.aiesec.org/cms/aiesec/AI/partners/TCS/Testimonials.html"><span ><u><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></u></span><span class="Apple-style-span" >Testimonials - Ratan Tata and Yogesh Thakoor</span></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" ><u><a href="http://www.aiesec.org/cms/aiesec/AI/partners/TCS/Partnership_History.html"><br /></a></u></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><u><a href="http://www.aiesec.org/cms/aiesec/AI/partners/TCS/Partnership_History.html">Partnership History</a></u></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><a href="http://www.aiesec.org/cms/aiesec/AI/partners/TCS/Initiatives.html"><br /></a></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span class="Apple-style-span" ><a href="http://www.aiesec.org/cms/aiesec/AI/partners/TCS/Initiatives.html">Initiatives</a><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" > </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">..<i><span class="Apple-style-span" >.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; ">When you love what you do and you do what you love, you create a room for absolute infinite happiness. I am grateful to a creative loud ACE Family that keeps growing and gets stronger day by day. Thank you all for an amazing opportunity to be a part of your lives! Thank you dear FACI team for all efforts you have put to highlight the most memorable moments of our life changing experience in the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150303482991351&set=a.10150193172891351.350180.529186350&type=1&theater"><b>ACE programme</b></a>!</span></span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></i></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-34983735633745977242011-07-28T20:13:00.001+06:002011-07-28T20:18:18.498+06:00Windmills<div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><span >My phone rang. Feras, my hermano, called. After brief warm greetings he asked me, "We are planning to have ACE Conference in the beginning of July. I was thinking of the Chair for it. Would you consider my invitation to lead the conference?"</span> </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">Lead the ACE Conference ... That is to engage with 70+ ACE interns from 30+ countries, to be an ambassador of one's own country and be united in diversity, to network with TCS colleagues and understand one's place in the corporate world we are in, and of course to indulge into peculiarities of the magical Indian culture. Great opportunity! Of course, I said Yes! to Feras and the ideas of the event jumped into my head. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">This conversation happened in the end of April 2011. Two weeks after we agreed to meet with Feras in Trivandrum, Kerala. We both were invited to Leadership Development Institute in Trivandrum to deliver a session on Culture and cultural difference. Business and communication overseas. as a part of a training program for business development/relations managers of TCS. So our weekend agenda was full: session delivery and conceptualising the ACE conference. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">However, God likes playing jokes on me as I can see. On May 6th lunchtime I received a call about cancelling my evening flight to Trivandrum because Air India crew were on strike. Nobody knew when it would finish, and nobody knew when they would start operating the flights. </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- Ok, could you please find me another flight? I asked casually.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- Not possible, madam. All flights are booked.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- Well, if not Air India, then another airline. There are plenty of them, I repeated, still casually.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- Not possible, madam. All tickets are sold. We don't have any tickets available to Trivandrum, the same monotonous voice replied. </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- Ok, are there any tickets from any other place but Chennai to Tricandrum today? I have an urgent meeting this evening and I have to be in Trivandrum. I stopped being casual and tried to show the seriousness of my situation. </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- No madam, I repeat, we don't have any tickets to Trivandrum. Neither from Hyderabad or Madurai or from anywhere else. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">Call dropped. I looked at the blank screen of my phone trying to understand how I was going to get to Trivandrum. The session was scheduled for the evening, and the next day we were supposed to build the conference agenda with Feras. Well, I said to myself, one way or another, I gotta be there. I went upstairs to my cabin and searched for available flight tickets on the same day, May 6th 2011. The agent was a trustworthy source: there were no tickets at any time on Friday, All the next days tickets' statuses blinked at me winking, "Hey, nobody has bought me yet. Take me, I am yours!" I swore in French and kept on searching for tickets. Then I called Feras but he was already on the plane from Mumbai to Trivandrum. Then I called the coordinator of the training program to inform him about the current situation. We both did not know what to do. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">Then I said that I could take a bus and arrive the next day. If the session could be shifted to Saturday noon, I would make it. </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- Assel, are you sure you want to come by bus? </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- Yes, absolutely.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- Maybe Feras can deliver the session on his own?, the coordinator asked cautiously.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- No worries. Let me book bus tickets online. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">Seriously, what's the problem, I thought. It would not be my first time of travelling by bus alone in India. Ok, it's not comfortable at all and more time consuming in comparison with the airplane, but it was an important weekend. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">So I went online to book bus tickets. Fail. Then I called Chennai bus stand to book directly from them. The person I spoke too bombarded me with his super proficient Tamil and I could not even utter a word. I called for help from our HR and thankfully she explained to him what I needed. The man asked me to arrive at 7pm to the main bus stand and call him again, he promised me he would get a one way ticket for me. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">I called back to Trivandrum office and asked of changing the session for Sat noon. Reassured, I would be there by morning, I left the office and headed to the bus station of Chennai at 5pm. So here is a bit of background information: if you happen to live in Chennai, or to be precise, to work and live in Chennai suburbs like me, you estimate that to get anywhere in the city takes around 1,5- 2 hours. The roads are packed and air pollution blocks every cell on your skin. So here was I on an AC bus hoping to reach the bus stand by 7pm. Luckily, my friend called from Canada and I had to fight on the bus for the place to stand, take care of my bags and talk to my friend. Unforgettable bus battle that ended win-win for me and people around :)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">7pm. Asian looking girl in a skirt alone at the evening hour at Chennai bus stand. Quite dangerous, they say. I did not care. I spent 30 mins in searching for a bus ticket to Tirvandrum, damn it, and there were no tickets. Not to Coimbatore, not to Madurai, not to Cochin - nowhere. Good that I knew major cities in Tamil Nadu state. Bad that this knowledge was still unused. Moreover, nobody spoke plain English at the "travel agencies" as they call it and I almost lost hope to find somebody to help me. Then somebody grabbed my hand. It was a tiny guy who asked me, Kerala, Kerala? I said, Yes, Kerala, but Trivandrum in Kerala. Let's go, let's go, and he went straight. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">We came to a small airless room where two big guys were counting money. They asked me, Where are you going, madam? Trivandrum. Do you have a spare ticket? We don't have buses to Trivandrum. But you can go to Nagerkoil and from there take another bus to Trivandrum. It's only 80 km far from there. Ok, fine. How much is the ticket?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">The bus was supposed to leave in half an hour, at 8pm. Knowing Indian punctuality I relaxed: no need to hurry and worry, the bus would be on time. </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">On time happened three hours later. Passengers who were going by the same bus were shouting at the guy who sold us tickets, and I was shouting too. I found out that he ripped me off selling me three times more expensive than the actual price. </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">I crawled onto the bus and immediately turned off. I was so exhausted waiting for the bus in a dusty humid station surrounded by thousand looks of hungry men. </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">About half an hour later I was woken up by some strange noise. I noticed that all men left the bus in a hurry and only 3 women including me remained in the bus. I looked at the driver's seat but there was nobody, and the bus was still moving. Hallucinations? No, reality. The bus kept on moving and then it bended right! Oh God, I thought we would crash! I slowly got up, took my orange backpack and came out. </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- What happened? my voice was trembling.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- No problem, madam. Five minutes, a tiny voice replied. </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Ok, here is a rule: when you hear No problem, madam then it means there is a serious problem.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- Why are we not going? </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- No problem, madam. The engine is broken. </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- How bad is it?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- No problem. Five minutes. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Still could not believe in what happened, I looked around. It was a complete darkness, we were in the middle of nowhere, the passengers were looking at each other. Nice start, I thought. Then I saw a man taking his bag from the bus and rushing towards a car.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- Hey, wait, excuse me, where are you going? I asked him.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- I found a cab, I am leaving. </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- Can I go with you? </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- Yeaaah, sure thing. He looked at me as if I was insane.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">So here I was in the small car with three unknown Tamil men going somewhere to the south of India. I had no information of who they are, which direction we would take and most importantly, when we would arrive. Perfect combination!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">I called Feras and to my colleagues to Trivandrum explaining what has happened. They were terrified. They asked me if I trusted the men, and I said I knew nothing about them. But my companions surprised me: they asked me where I was going and why, and then they called their wives and family members to search for a flight for me to Trivandrum. It was almost 1am when we finished online conference call with many people involved solving one person's question. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">Hopeless and emotionally exhausted, I fell asleep. Somewhere deep inside I had a big trust to these three men and I had a vision that everything would be alright. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">6 hours later one of the men woke me up and called for breakfast. We stopped at Cafe Coffee Day and had a morning capuccino with samosa ( spicy vegetable pastry ). We were about to reach Madurai and then Trichi where one of the men would stay. We agreed that the taxi driver would reach Nagerkoil first and then he would bring me to Trivandrum. We have discussed all the financial questions of this journey and seemed everyone was satisfied with conclusions. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">The road from Madurai to the south of Tamil Nadu is picturesque. Friends, if you are big nature lovers this is one of the fantastic roads to take. I have no idea Tamil Nadu is rich of green hills and strong winds. That is why on the very south of the state close to Kerala state border there are plenty of windmills at a distance of 15-20km. One of the men in the car happened to live in the Middle East, so he understood me perfectly - an expat in India. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">By 10-11 am we have reached Trichi and a former helpful expat has wished me good luck in delivering the session on time.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">Then we moved to Nagerkoil to drop another man. By midday-lunchtime I said Bye to him too, and breathed in happily anticipating a successful end of my endless journey. So we moved north from Nagerkoil and I was enjoying the green scenery of south Kerala. Less than an hour later we stopped. </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- What happened? I was totally sure something has happened.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- Police, police. Stop, stop. The cab driver did not possess a good command of English.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- Why police? </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- Not register. Car new. Not register. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Oh God! So the police stopped us 40km before Trivandrum and the driver had to pay the fine. I understood that if I stayed it would be another Indian novella, so I paid the driver for the journey and went hunting for any vehicle. The driver, however, asked me to pay more "just because he has to pay the fine I had to pay some part of the fine!" Upset, he looked for another way to get money from me and found me a rickshaw, and then asked money again. The rickshaw driver gave his price for 40km ride: 800 Rs (~ 16USD)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- You must be kidding me, I said, 800 Rs I would pay from Chennai to Hyderabad. But not for 40km distance. Bye. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">I walked a few minutes and caught a local bus.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- Excuse me, are you going to Trivandrum?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- Yes, madam.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- How long does it take?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- One hour.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- How much is the ticket? </div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">- 25 Rs ( ~50 US cents) </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">Perfect! </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">I reached the Trivandrum office at 2.30 pm. 17, 5 hours took me to reach Trivandrum to a) engage with TCS business managers in a lively discussion of how culture impacts the business nowadays, and b) dream with Feras about the July Maximum event for all our stakeholders. </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Friends recommended me to blog about this time consuming and incredible independent trip. Some people asked if I was not afraid to take the risks I'd taken.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;">Honestly, I did not care if I should be scared or not. I knew only one thing: I have to take a decision in those situations very fast. Time is time, and I would not like to lose it. Finally, there will be amazing stories to tell to my grandchildren :) </div></span><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">... next blog post is about actual ACE conference...</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "> </span></span></div></span>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-2541664436012471682011-07-27T21:34:00.007+06:002011-07-27T22:01:09.251+06:00Malaysia<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIBo7aJBfxZrCy_7o8kIEZaJPlJu79fNEVNro3pRZ56rfDsHnpOLqU-xh0NW9nRRwioTj4qdUmPrjk_NxkgYkHt19tHsIdqEoEbtW8b-qLNFmUPjUouQHNuvD66Q67TMy9w_5-dL7dj2Z/s1600/travelling+in+malaysia.bmp" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 174px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZIBo7aJBfxZrCy_7o8kIEZaJPlJu79fNEVNro3pRZ56rfDsHnpOLqU-xh0NW9nRRwioTj4qdUmPrjk_NxkgYkHt19tHsIdqEoEbtW8b-qLNFmUPjUouQHNuvD66Q67TMy9w_5-dL7dj2Z/s320/travelling+in+malaysia.bmp" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634057374523318482" /></a> Kuala Lumpur - Pangkor Island Route<div><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: small; ">As I was quite exhausted after physically active Sri Lanka trip, I immediately fell asleep on the plane to Kuala Lumpur. Flight was not time consuming and I woke up when we were about to land. First glances on the Malaysian peninsula cast my gut feelings: this trip would impact me tremendously. Well, I said to myself, let's get this done! </span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">First moments and first days in KL are entitled as "Tarzan in the City Jungles". </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">KL ICCT Terminal did not impress me. What impressed me was loud groups of Chinese speaking women wearing short skirts, sleeveless bright Tshirts with scoop neck and extremely high heel shoes who carried a large quantity of fake exclusive hand bags from LV or Armani, children toys, heavy boxes and plenty of other stuff. To add, they'd been very noisy, breaking the line all the time and speaking so loud that my ears started to pain. After harmonious noiseless trekking in Sri Lanka I had been thrown into one of the Asians metro cities. Welcome to Kuala Lumpur :) ! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Immigration table. Passport stamped. I am legal here. So far nobody asked me if I am from Japan or Indonesia or the US. Good sign. </span><br /><br /></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">I came out from the terminal and went searching for a shuttle to take me to <i><a href="http://www.klccconventioncentre.com/index_flash.html">KLLC </a>.</i></span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "> As always, I fell asleep on the bus and was woken up one hour later by a Chinese neighbour. He said, We've arrived. Wake up, please. By the way, you look tired. Where have you been? " I'm travelling" "Alone?" "Yes. Is something wrong with it?" "No, no" </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">You know, sometimes I just wonder how Asian men talk. For example, in India a few guys told me ( after not seeing me for some time ) , </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- Oh, you lost weight. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- How nice of you saying this to me , I reply with sarcasm. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">- No, no, I am sincere. You really lost weight. 6 months back when I met you, you were quite fat. Now you look fresher. What do you do? Dieting? </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Oh boy. He does not know he is deleted from my memory. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">I got off the bus and was searching for my friend's boyfriend. Unfortunately, my phone was off and I thought that Vodafone roams automatically. Fortunately, </span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">I immediately recognized Aman just because it was obvious: he was searching for somebody in the crowd and I thought it could be me.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">So, we went to take a subway and a wild zombie named Tarzan rose in me. I totally forgot how to use a modern transportation, forgot that people may ( and can, actually ) not stare at you and you also do not stare at them. Forgot that you do not need to push people to find your way out of the subway station and that you do need to bargain loudly with rickshaw drivers and they do not shout at you back just because there are no rickshaws in KL, and secondly because everything is digitized for simplicity and comfort. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">On my arrival day and the next day I was still tarzanning. It felt as if I was learning how to take first steps, how to walk properly and not jumping because there might be a bike or an annoyingly honking truck. I was flying and feeling light. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">First three days in KL were perfect. I had spent a very precious time with my careful friend, Lasma. Lasma painted my staying in Malaysia with all warm colours that exist in the world. Priceless friendship. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /></span><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_Uq6XdfiZzg6yY7Cg9gRDLfH4CYkmbRje35atr_Msui7MEI9KrXqDaImxxCfRSnt-tk771ShmLcnMyd0XYND-8TDJuUcNVlPHZN7Fa59akIK5AFoCtL1JS5rcEX9Ny8ny4hUndVQ2cVf/s320/DSCN8753.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634058358752351090" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: small; ">First three days were not very much tourist oriented. Yes, we went immediately to Petronas Twin Towers. We were very lucky because that night it was a lunar eclipse and here is a proof :) </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Lasma encouraged me to try south eastern asian food. I fell in love with Bangladeshi food. Delicious! Thai food left me speechless. Needless to mention that I was gradually falling in love with the scenery, the taste and the drive of magnificent opportunistic KL.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Among touristic sites I visited my favourite one is KL Towers. It gives a grande panorama view of the city with an audio guide and history background. Moreover, it educates you on the highest towers in the world such as Ostankino Tower in Moscow, Russia or the Tokyo one. I loved this spot because it stopped my feeling of being a Tarzan: high skyscrapers planted by a hand of an architect left me with relief. There was nothing to feel paralysed or shocked. An ordinary life in an ordinary city. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj33LjuJ5ZNgLDJvlZ4qo1EkS2ic6p8HaHLTqax74T5iap2tgr2u22KTb7UhRmVNiTY3TfO6WwTvx2YSD03S7MEcZlkzeIMbEgLmsUItyYtsmCzqvfW1EzGYNveaQY8DgGnpxDcD0knRWg3/s320/DSCN8815.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634060596241028050" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpluAk-5-WM3LzSwGFS3rD9tubXrLzjrGDBEsbIFWZUpEcfsYDFAbq617pK4VY-Ko4Fn77B8r8yuEEzq6jGbD69g7uiLR5H-R7RGH37P6PEqOaDd7t23uAXA71BHLltxCfCsK7cE9G4Sk/s320/DSCN9067.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634061586790909218" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" ><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: small; ">Apart from structured organised life, I loved KL for its affordability and the sense of comfort. Peaceful moments of reading a book or a journal in a cozy cafe with a fresh brewed coffee and a blueberry muffin, or lying on the grass next to the fountains and viewing the Petronas Towers and imagining you are a bird ... Cherishable moments. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">In the last two days of Seductive Malaysia trip there was no notion of time. There was Present all the time. There was no Yesterday, no Tomorrow. There was friendship, our sweet dreams, luscious food, amazingly transparent blue oceanic water, beige soft sand of Pangkor island, a sizzling orange sunset, lonely ships in the ocean, a total freedom and peacefulness. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">... <b><i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150281262376351.381594.529186350">Seductive Malaysia</a></i></b> trip has finished. Saturday noon June 18th I took a flight back to the hottest Chennai, India.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">In the airport as almost everywhere in KL shop assistants would ask me, Excuse me, are you from Kazakhstan? My jaw dropped several times. First time when I was abroad locals not only recognise my origins but also do possess a substantial knowledge of the country based on the actual facts and not the Borat movie. I probably shall say here that I adore multiculturalism and cross cultural communication, I smile when internationals know nothing about my homeland ( not even its location ) , I feel fine when people say that Kazakhstan is still Russia or China or whatever. It is fine. However, the more I travel and live abroad, the more I appreciate my motherland, the people that live in a multi- ethnical Kazakhstan and the cultures that we bear. But this is probably a topic for another blog post. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">You can view the pictures from Malaysia trip <b><i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150281262376351.381594.529186350">here</a></i></b></span></span></div><div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><span ><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><span ><br /></span></span></div><div></div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-86261038664615429562011-07-26T23:24:00.005+06:002011-07-27T01:06:01.249+06:00Sri Lanka<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ_mveT7K9O4H96cvkRd8WLqsStI8pTTZLvZ7rxpK2o-cZQxXIV6DTgNKVTth5qQhBCEWMn9M0Q1_MZFvYSYsWdW8li0UXiHzZEkpTnt6IBSWYB2ZnEL1lyC5KInv6wxgMX9wZrla5X5ey/s1600/travelling+in+sri+lanka.bmp" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 177px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ_mveT7K9O4H96cvkRd8WLqsStI8pTTZLvZ7rxpK2o-cZQxXIV6DTgNKVTth5qQhBCEWMn9M0Q1_MZFvYSYsWdW8li0UXiHzZEkpTnt6IBSWYB2ZnEL1lyC5KInv6wxgMX9wZrla5X5ey/s320/travelling+in+sri+lanka.bmp" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633733538187719858" /></a><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><span ><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><span >Notification: It is quite a long blog post </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><span ><br /></span></span></div></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><span >One of my friends after visiting Sri Lanka in April 2011 created an album in Facebook named </span><span ><i><b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1614932907441.72578.1659895938">The Pearl of Indian Ocean</a></b></i>. He refered to Sri Lanka - a magical mesmerizing island with a rich history</span> <span >of Buddhism and amazingly hospitable inhabitants. I've been there in spring 2011 but due to </span><span >the busy-ness at the AIESEC conference and an urge to be back in Chennai office, I had not had</span> <span >a glimpse of this lavish land. Moreover, I missed Sri Lankan friends I made at the AIESEC </span><span >conference. Stuffed and stucked with these feelings, I took a flight to Colombo on June 8th. </span><span >I was excited to wave to Chennai and with a huge relief I said, 'Be as you are, Chennai. But </span><span >without me. At least in the next few weeks we wil rest from each other' </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Couple of hours later International Colombo Airport welcomed me with its politeness and </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">colourful lanterns which immediately caused a big smile on my face: lanterns do associate </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">with Sri Lanka and a dear friend for me. This was the first sign I would be having an </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">exceptional Vacation in the country like no other... </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">The whole trip was Exceptional: my AIESEC Sri Lanka friends that I missed tremendously, the </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">beauty of raw nature of the island, people's warmth, attention, care and affection, </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">perfect chilly weather ( but still with the mosquitoes :), delicious juicy home made food... </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Quick chit chats with Ashan and Dana, hearing laugh of Inas, enjoying Livi and Teddy Bear</span> <span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Thilina's energizing dances, appreciating Kesh and Thirsha's sister-ness, sharing good news </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">with Hatim, discussing different topics with Niradh, travelling with Deepika and being </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">with myself are the highlights of the Sri Lanka vacation. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">I have lived incredibly priceless five days in Sri Lanka that would never be forgotten. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><span >Below I am sharing with you my routes ( map is on the top) and what I have experienced. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><b style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><span >Day 1 (<span class="Apple-style-span" >Green line</span>) </span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><b><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Colombo-Peradeniya </span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">After a quick exchange of greetings and some food gifts from India to Kesh, we set off</span> <span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">with 2 AIESEC Alumni to Kandy. A 4-hour bus ride was an introduction to a beautiful nature</span> <span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">the island has. The ride was not tiring, on the opposite, we talked and we laughed, and </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">we had short naps and debated. By the evening, we reached Peradeniya - a small cozy town</span> <span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">where Deepika, a brave wise friend was waiting for me. She recently joined AIESEC, and we </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">got to know each other during their National conference in spring. Little I knew that time </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">that we would travel hand in hand in the next five days learning and listening to each other. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Deepika met me and walked me to her house where her family had prepared a delicious meal: </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">fresh juicy fish with curry, raw fried jack fruit, steamed rice and a white loaf of bread! </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Same bread that I would eat at home in Kazakhstan! Needless to say how euphoric I was that </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">evening, but Deepika and her family had seen me! :) </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">After late dinner I exchanged the travel plans. There were a few places that I definitely </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">wanted to visit, otherwise I would feel my trip was incomplete and I would return again in some</span> <span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">time. Initially, I wanted to go to Kandy and see the temple. Surprisingly, Kandy was very close </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">to Peradeniya, just 5 or 6 km. Then Deepika's father offered to go to Mahiyanganaya - this </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">place was not in my list, so we googled it and I was astonished! The pictures and travel </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">websites convinced me in the very first seconds. So we set the alarm clocks for 3.30am to depart </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">at 4am and catch the sunrise with its reflections in transparent innocent lakes and rivers. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><b><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Day 2 ( <span class="Apple-style-span" >Dark blue line </span>) </span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><b><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Peradeniya-Mahiyanganaya-<wbr>Peradeniya</span> </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">4am. Complete darkness. A cool air splashed on our faces. We got onto Deepika father's truck.</span> <span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">A repetitive monks'chants woke my mind up and my eyes illuminated with a sly adventurous </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">spark: I was going to see the sunrise and the virgin nature.</span></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><span >The road had been with no surprises. Deepika tried several times to wake me up on the way </span><span >because I was all the time asleep. Effortless.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><span > </span></span></div><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; border-collapse: separate; "><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">By the time the sun rose high enough to dazzle us, we had been a bit thirsty and hungry. It</span> <span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">was not hot at all and natural colours of the sky, the sun, the surroundings have completely </span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">woken me up. What I saw was picturesque and refreshing. Beneath a hill we were standing on, </span><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">a big land of dark green trees and plants and luminous lakes and rivers had caught our eye.</span> <span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">It was absolutely amazing to witness how freshness enters a day, and absolutely marvellous </span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">that I could witness it after living in one of the hot spots on the Earth.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><span > </span></span></span></div></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: small; ">My 1st day of landlocked travelling was far more than just good. It has been splendid! </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">We finished the day with Deepika and another AIESEcer in Peradeniya simply resting on a wide </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">green lawn of the local university campus, eating ice-creams and laughing, taking pictures </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">and visiting a couple of Buddhist temples. My heart was conquered by breathtaking views of </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">authentic nature and easiness that fulfilled that day. Pura felicidad. <b> </b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><b>Day 3 ( <span class="Apple-style-span" >Pink line</span> ) </b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><b>Peradeniya-Kandy-Dambulla-<wbr>Sigiriya </b> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">One of the biggest attractions of Central Sri Lanka is definitely <i><b><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigiriya">Sigiriya rock</a></b></i>. </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Everyone buzzes about Sigiriya rock and of course I was keen on some rock climbing. Back home rock </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">climbing or trekking is one of my weekend activities with friends or family members, so I could not </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">miss this opportunity in the island as well. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">By tradition, Deepika and I woke up early in the morning, recharged with a simple nutriotious breakfast </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">nd took first bus to Kandy. Then another bus to Dambulla. And then some 4-5 hours later we reached Sigiriya. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">It was already midday when we found ourselves quite hungry and thirsty. Unfortunately, we did not see any shop </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">available to get some snacks or drinks. But attentive Deepika did take a bottle of water with her from home, so </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">that bottle was our savior for the next few hours. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Right after we got off the bus I saw a massive rock dominating a flat area. Luckily, there were no tourists at all </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">except one couple. Deepika and I headed towards the counter to get an entry ticket and some guide books if possible.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">To my biggest surprise, shock, disappointment ( exactly in this order ) the entry ticket for foreigners cost 33 USD!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Even in India tickets to UNESCO Heritage Sites cost not more than 5 USD ( except for Taj Mahal which is around 15USD ) </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Unfortunately, I did not carry that much money with me that day, and even if I did I would not pay this sum for climbing</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">a NATURAL rock "designed" by king's people some centuries ago. With all my deepest respect to the culture, I do not </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">overpay things that are not created by men. In addition to that, in travellers' blogs that I searched there was no </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">mention about such a high fee. So I had a plan B. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">My flatmates visited this place in April, and they were sort of short of money ( simply because they forgot to exchange </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Indian rupees to Sri Lankan rupees in the airport, and since they did not spend much time in Colombo they could not </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">exchange Indian rupees anywhere else. So their whole trip was an adventure :) Tom, one of my flatmates, told me that they found </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">another rock in Sigiriya from which they could view the main Sigiriya rock, and all they had to do is to climb that rock</span> <span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">and pay nothing. Bingo! That was my plan B! I explained to Deepika that we need to find that rock, and it is in the bag!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">However, Deepika's hesitating reply slowed down my adventurous hyperexcitement. I felt that it was one of Deepika's first </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">independent travels and that I should not be insisting. On the other hand, I would've been upset coming back home and having </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">an incomplete travel plan. Well, there should be a third way then. </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">We walked to and fro, we estimated all prons and cons, we even found that cave temple from which we were supposed to climb </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">but we could not find the balance. I still did not want to push Deepika's decision and I saw what it took Deepika to come </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">to a final step: we found a local man who agreed to show us the path and show the Sigiriya rock and a nearby area. He also </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">has served us as a guide and it was an absolute pleasure to be following him and climbing him in narrow junctions. O</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">ne of the funniest moments I remember was when I asked Deepika in the morning if she was wearing sneakers. Thoughtful, </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">she asked, Why? No, I wear flip flops. "Isn't it slippery?, I asked. "No, she said, in Sri Lanka we wear flip flops. We wear</span> <span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">them everywhere. "Interesting, I thought. In my country we wear sneakers when we do trekking. Cultural differences", and I </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">smiled. In fact, when we climbed the cave temple I have noticed that our guide wore flip flops too. Indeed, everybody </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">in this country wears flip flops. Here is a <i><b><a href="http://vkontakte.ru/photo1102581_263561530">snap </a></b></i>of Cultural Differences :) </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Finally, we reached the peak of the rock and what a pictresque view I saw I must admit!!! Strong wind, a completely uninhabited v</span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">irgin green land was in front of us, and among the trees and plants there was the famous Sigiriya rock!!! Achievement!</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">I took out one of my travel treasures - <i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150275690156351&set=a.10150217606921351.351627.529186350&type=1&theater"><b>Kazakhstan's flag and got a picture with it</b></a></i>. The view was absolutely stunning, and</span> <span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">the feeling that finally we completed our mission of 3rd travelling day made me feel relieved. Pura felicidad. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">It was already late evening when we almost reached Dambulla. Unfortunately, we did not have extra time to visit the Golden </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">temple there as well as one of the MUST see places in Sri Lanka. I leave it for the next time :) </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><b style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><span >Day 4 ( <span class="Apple-style-span" >Maroon line</span> )</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><b style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "> </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><b>Saturday, June 11th. Another big day to realise my travel dreams. </b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">The plan was to see the Kandy temple and be as fast as possible in Galle, the south of Sri Lanka to plunge in the bluish </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">warmest waters of the Indian ocean. A tiring bus ride Peradeniya-Kandy ( a short stop in Kandy to see the front side of the </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">temple) - Colombo ( a 2 hour stop in Colombo ) - Galle ( a 4 hour bus ride ) stuffed me with lots of hours of uncomfortable </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">sleep and then a hunt for glorious sunset pictures. <i><b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150217606921351.351627.529186350">Golden floating clouds and ravishing scarlet reflections of the sun </a></b></i></span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><i><b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150217606921351.351627.529186350">charmed me with all its simplicity of the natural beauty. </a></b></i>How often don't we notice our surroundings that beautify even the </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">greyish moment in our lives? How often do we limit ourselves neglecting what is available in the nature and consuming </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">everything artificial that glows?</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">We reached Galle in the evening and though it was quite dark and traffic noise did not add any charm to the city, I fell in </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">love with what I sensed in Galle: lightness. Deepika's old friend picked us up and we moved to her house. It was a really</span><span class="Apple-style-span" > </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">lovely evening with her family: home made food, laughter and travel stories, local stories and making plans for the next day. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">The next morning we woke up at 5.30am to leave at 6am, and to my big surprise ( Oh my! How many positive surprises did I </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">encounter during my Sri Lanka trip? :) Deepika friend's mother prepared breakfast for us as a take away! So cute! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">With the help of the family we reached the main attraction of Galle - the then Dutch fort which is a perfect sightseeing </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">and a destination to do jogging or yoga in the early mornings. Since it is not that hot in the mornings and the breezes </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">enlighten one's inner energy and harmony, the fort is extraordinary in this sense. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">I guess I do not need to say more here since the feelings can't really be described at a full length and depth of what one </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">can experience there. You simply go there if you are looking for some serenity and serendipity. And love, of course :) </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">... All good things come to an end. So did my Sri Lanka addiction was counting its minutes. Time has come when I had to say </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">Bye to Deepika and her friends with whom I spent an indescribable time in Galle. It has been really hard to let go the trip</span><span class="Apple-style-span" > </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">with Deepika and head to Colombo but I had to. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">I reached Colombo by 9 pm and was extremely happy to meet my AIESEC Sri Lanka friends: the guys have just started their </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">term as the National board of AIESEC in Sri Lanka. They all looked exhausted after the planning conference and we celebrated</span><span class="Apple-style-span" > </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">our meeting with a few shots of local drinks and AIESEC dances :) </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">... The cab arrived at 5am to take me to the airport. I packed my Sri Lanka memories, kissed my friends who were deadly </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">sleeping and went to the cab with Niradh. Colombo was quiet in the morning. I arrived at the airport totally exhausted. At </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">the customs a woman asked me if I was from Japan or Malaysia. Negative. In fact, I was going to Malaysia. But my heart </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">was still in this warm hearted beloved country like no other. When we took off, I could not resist shedding a tear as well as the weather. The sky had been crying with me.</span></span><div><div><div><div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse;"><br /></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">The <b><i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150217606921351.351627.529186350">Sri Lanka</a></i></b> travel experience was absolutely <i><b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150217606921351.351627.529186350">Exceptional</a></b></i>. Twice. </span><div><div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; "><br /></span></span></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; "><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; ">You can view Sri Lanka_Exceptional albums in Facebook <b><i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150217606921351.351627.529186350">here </a></i></b>and Vkontakte <i><b><a href="http://vkontakte.ru/album1102581_137207891">here</a></b></i></span></span></div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-29006020791687733702011-07-25T01:15:00.004+06:002011-07-25T02:50:02.217+06:00Collection of HAPPYness<div style="text-align: left;">Excitement! This was my first reaction to the email I got from organisers of World 10K Marathon in Bangalore. One of the main organisers was the IT company I've been undergoing a management internship at: TATA Consultancy Services ( TCS )</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Sarcastically, I received the confirmation email 1,5 day before the big run. Excitement doubled when I managed to book the bus tickets: after all, it takes only 6-7 hours to get from Chennai to Bangalore ( this is nothing in India. And I love watching a wide road and green trees on the way to Bangalore. I just can't find it much in Chennai )</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So tickets were booked, map was printed, and unwisely I stayed up till 1am. The next morning I found myself throwing clothes to my beloved orange backpack that keeps all my travel memories, and running to be on time for the morning bus. Naively, I believed I would be on time, but in fact I was late for 25 minutes. I could not believe I have overslept and would easily lose this opportunity to run. No way, I was craving for it! After all, it could have been my second run so far... Wait, why could have been? I still could find another bus but a thought of paying double did not put any smile on my face. No, not at all. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Luckily, there were two guys who also missed the same 8am bus and they were trying to get another bus for the same tickets. After a few minutes the guys were asking for three tickets including mine :) I felt how luck smiled at us when the travel agency staff agreed to give us a 10am bus for the same tickets we have not used. (Not that bad, ugh?)</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So we had a 1 1/2 hour and we went to the nearest hotel for a fresh breakfast. I was quite hungry but as I imagined that most probably breakfast would be too masala in the morning, I gave up of ordering dosas and idlis. ( Masala are spices; dosa is like a big pancake but it is too oily for me, and idlis are like small pancakes made of rice flour and usually eaten with coconut chutney or any other chutney and sambar ( i.e. "sauses" )</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">During breakfast, I got to know my companions. Both were from Chennai and both were travelling. Seemed like both were best friends and seemed like they did not care if they speak English or Tamil with me. Neither did I. I was sipping a pineapple juice and smiling like a small kid that has gotten what he wanted. Yes, I was actually going to run the next day. Unbelievable!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">7 hours later we safely arrived at one of the most developed and beautiful cities in India - Bangalore. I always liked Bangalore - its wide clean streets, shadows from the trees, parks to walk and rest, and beautiful people. In the evening I met with Pascal, a Cameroonian friend, and we headed to his home. In this marvellous evening I had tried a delicious Cameroonian meal. Unfortunately, I forgot its name but it was with fried bananas and some meat and something else. Delicious!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The next morning I woke up impatiently to start the HAPPYness Day. Pascal and I arrived at the main stadium at about 6.30am where runner amateurs were flooding the whole district. Passing by DHL, KPMG rooms, press room, media room, etc we searched for TCS room to get a runner kit. It took us almost half an hour to find what we needed: in a blue light bag I found my number 26161, a branded blue Tshirt, a brand new blue cap and lots of useful packs of oats, sun lotion, some medicine, a sandwich and a cake and a juice can and much more. Impressive! ( It was impressive for me because when I had my <i><a href="http://assel-aim-high.blogspot.com/2009/08/run-assel-run.html">first run in Riga, Latvia </a></i>I did not receive such a pack ) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One hour later Pascal and I reached the gates from where 5Km batch was supposed to run. I really had no idea how many people had registered for a 5 Km run but there were too many black haired heads to count. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... Off! I slowly walked from the main entrance but then was caught up by a massive wave of runners: it was a big mix of TCSers, DHLers, KPMGs, local company employees which names I cannot recall.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My goal was to run 5 km, five, not ten km. I started off quite lightly. I approximately knew my time for 5 km, I sensed when I would need to make stops and how much of water I would need to visualise to satisfy my thirstiness. Hopefully, it was slightly hot and there were a few water stations on the way. Cheerleaders' support, passers by inquisitiveness and reporters' media coverage made the run an extremely funny experience! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So 22 minutes later I got an update: I ran 2 kms. Sigh. I still felt fine, no need to stop, the breath and pulse were stable, so I kept on running. After some time I notice a new sign: 4km. 'Brilliant', I had thought, ' I am close to finish". However, a sign "5" never appeared. Instead, I saw "7", then "8" and so on. To my surprise I was running a 10 km challenge! I had nothing to do but finish. Finish as soon as possible because by 6-7th km I felt tired and hungry. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">44 minutes is my record for 10km. I don't know if it is a good time or not. Personally, I found it a suitable time: not in a rush, not in a slow motion, not breathless or waterless. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the end, I felt HAPPY, excited and reassured I can run at a bit more long distances. I felt that I can achieve more when I get this hobby more seriously and would get myself trained every week. I am serious. I will get back to running in the gym and will look for future marathons. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Post marathon. </b>I am so much thankful to Pascal for his friendliness and care. Thankful to his friends who have fed me in the first evening and who shared with me their views on life. Thankful to TCS Bangalore for this amazing opportunity to feel life in my veins! Thankful to that couple at the bus station that helped me get the bus to chase my dream. And thankful to my beloved mom who taught me one simple truth in life, "Anything that you are doing in life - do it with all your passion and love. Put your soul in it. Then you will be happy". Thank you, mama!</div><div><br /></div><div>A few pictures from the marathon published online you can view <i><a href="http://www.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event.py?event=Sports%2FCPUK%2F2011%2FBangalore+10K&new_search=1&match=26161">here</a> </i>and a few more in one of my Facebook albums <i><a href="http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150268891706351&set=a.10150136969166351.334460.529186350&type=1&theater">here</a></i></div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3KZETe9s0AyrudnbQmO7wQ2WEZFUZhWrSWliTSXeHDJYuq7lPfhmaTrDjHfjsmuuOESSqcjsg78L_OmtjvNr8ZEZFkMjo182HRkFwcbZK9ljq2994ujX7IW4YG8f7eDnIQ-2biPLJLefm/s320/Bangalore+marathon.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5633019338994476418" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 251px; height: 320px; " /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-90381321034113959412011-07-21T23:46:00.010+06:002011-07-22T01:07:29.544+06:00Turning Passion into ACTion<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'courier new'; white-space: pre-wrap; font-size: medium; ">A bit of Chennai </span></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCxPD9f3h7QMemGdT4bSQ7dgf0fCglY9WIz_9GgRQhw_5N76B4B-e4K5jXtx863fI-JK-WKwhbUYhm4bK5rJdVwx5W00km7GFGsgYwLXKyyq_LIXYHksx1LAsKJEspLY120xil_-yjGXQL/s320/2962FE44-B069-E656-CCF8-8C7F42BC5418wallpaper.jpg" style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631875809584738658" /><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">In the end of May 2011 I found myself emotionally broken: the sickness did not seem to slow down,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">an unbearable heat would only boil the air, mosquitoes were cruelly biting every inch of me and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">unnecessary stress at work pinched my head.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">Of course, due to health matters I just literally</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "> sw</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">itched off my brain whenever it came to think of the office.Obviously, I stayed home for a few days to foster recovery by sleeping and </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">relaxing. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "><span class="Apple-style-span">During those hot sick days and nights I was thinking what made me feel what I felt. What was the environment that made me lose my optimistic spirit? Who were the people whose behaviour I could not understand and thus, I did not enjoy their company? What elements were missing to feel uplifted, to smile, to shine and be happy?</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">It did not take me long to think, to analyse. Solutions popped up naturally. </span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">Firstly, I registered for the Open World 10K Marathon in Bangalore organised by TCS.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span"></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">Then I said to myself,'Discipline is your best friend at this time. Make it a habit to</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">listen to your heart and do what you really want. Reduce negative language in your thinking.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">Welcome physical exerc</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">ises with an open heart when you are absolutely ready for this experience,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">and go!" So </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">running in the gym and yogging in the evenings, swimming at weekends and feeling </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">lighter and lighter helped me in winning the fever. I must add to it that I am still bad at </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">proper nutrition for myself, especially when it comes to working out. Too bad, I know. </span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">Expect the unexpected. One of the key lessons I always carry in my soul here in India. I can't recall if I learnt this lesson somewhere else but definitely in India it is a reality. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">(Owing to this precious learning, I have even forgotten the word "Expectation" an</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">d whenever somebody utters it I wonder what it is) So unexpectedly I reached the Finish line in</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "> the project I worked in for the past 5 months. A colourful box of friends' farewells </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">got enriched with another of Farewell experience of mine: saying Bye is always a two sided</span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">coin. On one hand, you are sad saying Bye to your that "Old" lifestyle you led. On the other </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">hand, a Bye is always a door into unknown, and I am always positively certain that the Unknown </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">brings new opportunities, new friends, new discoveries and new desires. Heavily loaded by </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">these thoughts I said a warm Bye to the project and to my colleagues, breathed in excess</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">ively</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">filling my lungs with a huge volume of the air anticipating a beautiful exciting summer.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">I knew what I wanted: travels! I needed so much a break from Chennai, the break from the heat </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">and annoying noise, the break from whatever I was in at the end of May. </span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; ">Yes, I am an average travel freak. I do not look for comfort when I travel. All I want is to be in the moment, to feel the present and live it to 100%. So I checked my passport, checked my monthly budget, googled the pictures of places I wanted to visit and clicked on 'Book' the flight tickets... Beginning of June embraced me with all its future unknowness and astonishing surprises. I was going to be with myself to rejuvenate and do what I truly love - travel ...</span></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "><br /></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;font-size: medium; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhObQHCBFXwXgHUU0VOnpKmFZXVPD83ziF05rZ83uOL6rMp2zfiQc7iPbCJyEXbQF6TdxoLsjEekpH8Cc94TiDRt_TABXKt4eU98TScAcRc9Dznifd4xjrSRQ-KwOJyoUTL6G5yXq6xq0CV/s320/chennai-colombo-KL+route.bmp" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631876730254705634" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 170px; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; " /></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><br /></span></div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-1080340793969321262011-07-21T01:07:00.003+06:002011-07-21T02:25:19.420+06:00M(a)Y<div style="text-align: justify;">Time runs. It does not fly anymore for me here. It marches and sprints with a 'Champion!' spirit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">My May 2011 was a peak of Intern's <a href="http://assel-aim-high.blogspot.com/2011/04/cycle.html">Cycle </a> Life: last farewells to ACE family members: Naldo, Erik, Agus, Ola, Mohamed Adel, Vincent. My dear Naldo, my soulmate and my brother; it was Naldo, Elizabeth's and my journey in India we cherished, shared and cared about. My dear Erik whose positive attitude softened all the challenges I had encountered in Chennai and whose firm hand was always there to reach. Beautiful Ola that showed me her wisdom, who was constantly seeking for the best and learning to enjoy simple beauties in the world. Agus, Latino, guapo, whose salsas and merengues I will always miss! Mohamed Adel, the passionate Egyptian friend, his friendship is as silent as a mouse. Vincent, a big big African brother with a wide friendly smile and kind eyes. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">...May was as crazy as any other month here in India. I was twice seriously sick: these temperature differences of indoor and outdoor checkmate me with no option but be treated with MEDICINE. Of course, I go to the Doc in a very rare case: I just simply do not believe to whatever they prescribe. However, here in India I already had gone twice to the Doc: dealing with infections and abnormal fevers made me re-look at my skeptical views of the Medicine in general. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Then, there was an intensive week of parties. It started with my pre Birthday party. My flatmates- Pamela, Erik and Tom- together with my first flatmates and close friends from Hyderabad - Carlos, Areli, Jose and Fernando - gifted me with a huge touching surprise: the Hyderabadis just arrived here at Chennai on Saturday noon. Devoted friends spent about 20 hours on the train, on a bus, in a rickshaw instead of traditional 12 hours! Exhausted and sweating, the Latino friends made a loud noise in our Chennai flat! It was totally unexpected: I was having a lazy noon nap when all of a sudden somebody was whistling, and then I saw faces of Fernando and Carlos in my room! Firstly I thought I was having a dream and I smiled looking at both of them: God knows how much I missed both of them! But then the noise grew louder and louder, and Areli and Jose's laughs woke me up completely! Had I had a camera nearby I could've captured those moments: all of us together embracing each other and tears come down my face... All my flatmates and close friends in Chennai knew about the surprise and were awaiting for the evening party to start. It was a priceless Bday gift! I am hundred times grateful to Pamela and my dear Chennai friends for keeping the fire burning that night!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So the Party week continued. We had farewells for Tina, Agus, Erik, Edward ( who actually left 3 weeks after because of the inefficiency and weirdness of the Immigration office of Chennai ), we had Bday party for Tanya, a true Damn Soviet compatriot. With Erik leave we welcomed Sergio and Angela to Chennai ACE family, and the parties went on and on ...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Meanwhile, my body got weaker and weaker. The heat of Chennai had been ruining all my hopes for a chilly weather at least for a day. I had this crazy thought to crack the eggs on the heated cemented road or rock and fry them. Guess, I thought too long that I actually never did it. Now the sun is not that strong and the experiment has more chances to be just a hypothetical thought of mine . . . </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">However, even if I was staying in bed with high temperature and terribly sounding cough I was still hoping to run a Marathon in June in Bangalore. By the way, my former office mate Juan, hearing my cough, said to me, 'Even I with a long Smoker experience do not cough like you do. Go visit the Doc': said-forgotten. I was worried of a more important stuff:</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">a) How long it takes me to run 5 km </div><div style="text-align: justify;">b) When I am travelling to Malaysia </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-67451706716850361602011-06-02T01:46:00.002+06:002011-06-02T02:24:54.250+06:00Creating Happiness<div style="text-align: justify;">When I read my posts from first 6 months of living and working in India, I notice how many times I mention " <b>I want to be Happy</b>". In fact, right now I realise I was happy all that time as well as quite dissatisfied with the professional experience I was (not ) having. Friends would say, "You can't have both: excelling at work and living a wonderful life". I would frown back and ask, "Why I can't have these both at the same time? It is only me who is responsible for getting what I want in life". "Yeah, but there are some internal or external circumstances which you have to take into account, you know. Especially in India, where nothing is stable and things change faster than a thought appears in one's mind" And I would be still frowning and disagreeing with this viewpoint. Yeah, call me stubborn or idealistic but this is me and I live with this spirit. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So when I look back at my year I lived in Latvia I am firmly reassured what year I had lived in my life. I headed to Latvia to see AIESEC in Latvia <a href="http://assel-aim-high.blogspot.com/2010/03/growth-mindset.html">growing</a>, having successes and learning from failures, daring to dream big and not being afraid of how big those dreams were, seeing the impact of his or her actions. I had one long term thought in my mind: I want to live a year of <a href="http://assel-aim-high.blogspot.com/2010/05/before-i-take-off.html">SUCCESS and ACHIEVEMENT</a>, and share it with people around me. Living in India I came to a conclusion that I had success and achievement every single day during my term in the National Team of AIESEC in Latvia. Can you believe it - every single day? I say to myself - no, it can't be. How many times did you lose faith or get mad or refuse from an initial plan to accomplish a professional or personal goal? If at least it happened once, how can you declare you were successful every single day? But here is a trick: it is all about how you perceive it. Yes, we all get emotional ( and don't tell me lies that there are folks who are super perfect in managing their emotions ), Yes, we all may lose inner beliefs and give up, but that is the easiest way. For me it is a behaviour of me being weak, it is about wasting time procrastinating or complaining. The complaints do not bring solutions, so it is better to move on, to open your eyes and mind for other great upcoming moments, opportunities, encounters. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">So after my 3-4 months of Indianness I made it clear for myself: in the year of 2010-11 I want to be HAPPY and see LOVE around. When I do not feel happiness or love - I create it. I go and try new things, I experiment with my body, with my mind, with my feelings. I travel to relax and live the moment. Carpe Diem, you know :) </div><div><br /></div><div>Accidentally, I watched this video tonight:</div><div><a href="http://www.ted.com/talks/stefan_sagmeister_7_rules_for_making_more_happiness.html">Stefan Sagmeister: 7 rules for making more happiness | Video on TED.com</a></div><div><br /></div><div>... after all, <i>if you want to be happy, <b>be</b></i><b> </b>(c)</div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-62372193222298390772011-05-31T11:31:00.003+06:002011-05-31T12:24:09.393+06:00I Want It!<div style="text-align: justify;">I feel this amazing springy desire to do these days things I have craved for recently!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I want:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- spend more hours in the gym to prepare myself for the upcoming marathon in Bangalore </div><div style="text-align: justify;">- meditate to hear myself </div><div style="text-align: justify;">- place things in order and freshly breathe in after some chaotic months</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- finish 4 books I am reading now (!)</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- watch the movies from my friend and write back to him </div><div style="text-align: justify;">- start writing my 1st book of living abroad </div><div style="text-align: justify;">- go to Chennai beach in the evening and not worry about late hours after office spending there</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- dance like hell everywhere: at home, in a club, in my soul</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- approve my budget for the independent summer <b>travel </b>plan <b>in South Asia</b> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">- prepare for the <b>ACE Conference</b> in July 2011</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- say "<i>I love you</i>" and "<i>Thank You</i>" to people that I love and care</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- call my <b>brother </b>and hear him sounding happily</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- prepare myself mentally for homecoming </div><div style="text-align: justify;">- get rid of fears that recently appeared in my life. This thing must be funny because recently I wanted to have some fears but now since I have been uttering this word quite often I feel an emotional tiring weigh and it is very boring for me.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">- get back to studying Portuguese </div><div style="text-align: justify;">- <b><i>lastly and most importantly I want to make a successful marriage between what I do and what I love</i></b></div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-31128720455710235502011-05-11T23:37:00.000+06:002011-05-11T23:37:04.662+06:00Be grateful<div style="text-align: justify; ">Last few days I am feeling pretty much weak. I believe it is the heat and humidity and air pollution of noisy Chennai that I still did get used to living. Though I've lived here already 4,5 months. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Today I started a new yoga course: a new teacher, a new room for practising, a new group of people interested in ... in whatever they are interested. Some come for spirituality, some others come because their parents brought them there, like today. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In my previous yoga classes I had for a couple of months in the office premises I've experienced two different things: </div><div style="text-align: justify; ">a) Teamwork </div><div style="text-align: justify; ">b) Fun</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">What I missed was Why? I do yoga like I was told to. I joined those classes because I was curious - that is like people say, C'me on! You live in India and aren't yogging! Which is a quite imprecise judgement: I've heard before and witnessed myself that the so-called "Yoga Gurus of India" are not always great inspiring leaders or pro's. So in the end of my second month of previous classes I ...quited :) Luckily, three or four weeks later I found a new yoga course in a distance of 3 min walk from my flat (yes, yes, I refer to the distance like auto rickshaws in Mumbai :) </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">So today I met new people whom I am welcoming to my life: the yoga master ( I don't know his name yet but when he calls me he says, "Hello, this is yoga master" - if he is going to call himself the Master, I really will believe him soon :), a few kids that funnily did Pranayamas (breathing exercises), a brave average aged woman in a tight saree- she got me thinking of her outfit for the class, a young tall father that came with his cute 4-5 year old son ( the boy kept looking at me the whole class. Once I smiled at him I received a smile back :) and a 65 year old thin bold man. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Most of the exercises we did were not a new invention of how to make our bodies move. They were less intensive and less sweating in comparison with previous Office Guru classes. And they were shorter- 45 minutes. But! these classes are 6 times/week and the duration will be extended once we are ready for that. This is what Master Guru said. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">But why I am writing about this one hour piece of my evening is that I heard a beautiful monologue from that 65 year old thin bold man. We live in one block of flats with him. He is from Hyderabad ( Yay! ) and now stays with his son in Chennai. He met me nearby my flat and spoke to me. In the beginning it was a pretty common opening of the dialogue:</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- Hi, I saw you came to a yoga class today. Is it your first class?</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- Yes, it is. I also saw you. </div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- Ah yes, yes. I came to the club on Saturday. You know, they don't have classes on Mondays. </div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- Yes, I know. </div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Meanwhile he keeps smiling illuminating me with a very warm deep look of his eyes. </div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- Where are you from?</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- I am from Kazakhstan. </div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- Rajasthan?</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- No, Kazakhstan, Central Asia ( Oh My, I think, how come that one of 26 states in India sounds so familiar to Kazakhstan?). Do you know where Central Asia is?</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- Rajasthan... Hm, no, it is in India. </div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- No, no, Kazakhstan. Do you know China? Russia?</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- China... Yes, I know. Russia, yes. But where is Kazakhstan? (well, he mispronounced the name)</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- Russia is in the north, China is in the east and in the middle is Kazakhstan. This is where I am from. </div><div style="text-align: justify; ">After a few minutes, still smiling and examining me with his slyish but friendly eyes he says: </div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- Are you not Russia? Is Kazakhstan in Russia?</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- No, we are a separate independent state. But we border. You know, like India borders with Nepal the same is with us: Kazakhstan and Russia share one border in the north ( At this point I stopped not going into details )</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- But have you not been a part of Russia?</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">- We have been in the Union. In the Soviet Union. Kazakhstan, Russia and 13 other countries. But nowadays we are all independent countries ( and I am not going to debate with people on this topic - which state is independent nowadays and which is not )</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">And then the old man, my new neighbour/yoga mate/a friend (?) switched to another topic. He talked to me about his father and what his father taught him. One of the biggest lessons he learnt from his father is ... <b>gratitude</b>. He said, <b>Do not criticize anyone.</b> When you criticize things or people, you spoil your mind, your soul, your body. You allow negative thoughts overspread in your mind, body and soul. And this is bad. This is too bad. Do not do it. Do not criticize people. This is what my father taught me... Be thankful. <b>Be grateful.</b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">I was attentively listening to him and all seemed like he spelled a few minutes with his grandfather's charm. At that moment I made a parallel to:</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">a) Why he was talking to me about gratitude?</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">b) As a kid, I was less fortunate and did not spend much time with my grandfathers. My father's father, the knowledge and the treasure of the family, had a car accident in a very young age; my mother's father, the role model, died from a cancer when I was 6. So I actually did not have any time to spend with them. </div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">... Accidentally I played my friend's playlist and heard this song - the song about <b>gratitude</b>. </div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Let us be grateful. At least, today. </div><div><br /></div><iframe width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ytmESI_j5-U?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-46484347318547567332011-05-09T22:41:00.003+06:002011-05-09T22:45:34.386+06:00This is YOUR LIFE!Was fortunate enough to receive this message from a friend months ago...<div> </div><div>Had enough of memory power to find this message in my messy inbox to remind myself and share with everyone ...</div><div> <img src="http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=843d14ec82&view=att&th=12e5c9d8414175e6&attid=0.1&disp=emb&realattid=bb60582862ac3a32_0.1&zw" alt="Description: words to live by.jpg" /></div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-78354331393292399452011-05-09T21:09:00.001+06:002011-05-09T22:03:12.726+06:00The Power of Belief<div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">" John Stuart Mill once wrote, One person with a <b>belief </b>is equal to a force of ninety-nine who have only interests. That's precisely why <b>beliefs open </b>the <b>door </b>to excellence"</div><div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> This sentence had stricken me today! I was dining in the office canteen feeling quite exhausted after the weekend trip to Trivandrum, Kerala and dying because of the Chennai heat. I impatiently took out the book I am reading now from my old reliable orange backpack, turned to page 55 and greedily swallowed the first paragraph. The eye opening sentence had reassured me that in times of turbulence we can </div><div style="text-align: justify;">a) give up; </div><div style="text-align: justify;">b) pause and lose momentum; </div><div style="text-align: justify;">c) stay firm, keep believing in yourself and think positively. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">The latter had highlighted my adventurous weekend in Kerala - I strongly believed in myself and I saw only happy moments of it. Said - done: it has been THE Weekend! I will share it with you dear readers in some time ( Love Hinglish :) </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">... For this weekend I am thankful to India ... </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> There will be stories for me to tell my grandchildren :) </div><div> </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><br /><div> <iframe width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/CxIN79n4jVo?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div></div></div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-80622609585287872222011-04-27T03:19:00.002+06:002011-04-27T03:49:25.063+06:00The Cycle<div style="text-align: justify;">An intern's life is simply <b>AWESOME</b>!!! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div><div style="text-align: justify;">I have been an intern during my University years, and that life was mainly about performing super well, proving my skills and learning a lot about my major studies in practice. That life has been super cool because of exceptional mentors I had who shared with me the beauties of a teacher's role as well as the university students made my 4-6 weeks of practice unbelievably amazing and challenging! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">9 months I have been an intern in one of the leading Indian IT companies. Have travelled around India, visited beautiful Sri Lanka, dreamt about touring around South (East) Asia, met so many great great people and some parts of me are in hands of international friends in their home countries... Incredible! </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yesterday I celebrated my engagement with India. I was sitting in a rickshaw, going today for a German friend's farewell and thinking about my 9 months' life. What has been and has not, where I have been and have not yet, what I have gone through and what is still there awaiting for me, what kind of person I have become... So many events happened for the past 9 months... I cannot measure them, I cannot describe them piece by piece, sometimes I cannot bear all happiness at one and the same moment. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One thing that I would like to share is that I became such a proactive learner at my internship in India. I have definitely learnt some invaluable lessons of life in my previous experiences. But somehow Indianness stands out of the crowd so far. Today I have heard a lot of negative thoughts, emotions and simply bitching from a few people and it got me thinking. What can this person do? What action shall he take? If he asks for a help, shall I help? How? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is always easy to complain, I used to think. I used to think that I prefer to be a part of the solution rather than a part of the problem. I feel I still tend to think in this way. So today I was thinking whether to leave the person dealing with his problems who tends to be a part of the problem, or to help him by at least listening and help him grow. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another moment that closed my day was friend's farewell. This is intern's lifestyle: people come, people leave. You easily or through pains connect with new homo sapiens, they enter your life, they shape you and your tastes, they are a part of your Indianness, they are a part of your learning and maturity, they are a part of you... You are them, they are you. And then they leave. And you cannot do anything but hope you will meet one day in this beautiful world. Next future moments will always be different, but it does not mean they will be bad. On the contrary, actually. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">... One more close friend's farewell is in a few days... The person who has been here always for me - all these 9 months and a few more days... </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Unbelievable intern's life in India... Unbelievably cool people do live on this planet. They are called the children of the sun. </div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-90398227638088722012011-04-18T22:57:00.002+06:002011-04-19T00:52:00.768+06:00Confusions in my head<div style="text-align: justify;">These days I am totally random. Even now. Why am I writing about this? Why am I thinking about this? Just for the sake to think of something? ... Again, a very random phrase...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Saying "this" I mean ...hm, what do I mean? </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ok, there are so many confusing thoughts in my head these weeks. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Firstly, I really really worry about my country now. Due to rapid snow melt and heavy rains in the west and in the east of Kazakhstan many people have lost their houses; the floods caused deaths of some people ( I do not know how many ); infrastructure built during the Soviet times has been destroyed... And nobody knows when it is over. On the contrary, the new government is being formed now after presidential elections happened on April 3rd, and all media attention is focused on whose seat will be shifted and who is gonna remain from the past. I wonder why Kazakhstan hesitates and is not asking for international aid? The country is not able to manage the currents. The water is increasing, the dams are already destroyed, the number of homeless people is skyrocketing... This <a href="http://ktk.kz/ru/news/video/2011/04/18/12210">video </a>or this <a href="http://centralasiaonline.com/cocoon/caii/xhtml/en_GB/newsbriefs/caii/newsbriefs/2011/04/16/newsbrief-05">article </a>do not bring any serenity. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"> </div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another confusion is ...ugh, it is India as always. This time it is not about cultural shocks or whatsoever. It is about how much of India I find in myself and am willing to leave the country now. The next day I am exploring more and I am saying, ' No, I do not want to leave the Holy land now. Later.' But eventually it will happen one day, and I want to be ready for it. Emotionally. Yes, yes, emotionally. It drives me crazy but exactly by living in India I get very emotional. I have not experienced so many high and low emotions at the same time before. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Yesterday I had quite gloomy Sunday. At 3pm we had a blackout (it happens every day) and while I was waiting for the power to be on, I fell asleep. Woken up around 8pm I was in panic. I had a nightmare ( it does not happen to me at all ) and I realised that we still had no electricity at home. My flatmates were out and I tried to calm myself down. Walked around the dark flat, finished the watermelon, and went downstairs to ask the security to help me get the lights back. Ten minutes later I was online searching for friends to talk. I was quite stressed, sweating and my hands were shaking. This is nooooot a typical case with me. Usually, I know how to control emotions. But yesterday I was just not able. My mind was occupied by the nightmare. Well, somebody had heard me and I was caught up in a few skype chats and calls with friends from Europe and Sri Lanka. A few hours later, I was relaxed. Thank you. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Today I had a very cool productive Monday. It does not happen often here with me these weeks since the heat is increasing in Chennai, and walking to the office at 8am is killing me. I feel as if the sun is at its peak and it burns everything around. We used to have a few ponds in our neighbourhood with beautiful white birds and lotus flowers. From January to March every morning I would enjoy watching little white flowers on the way to the main road, in the evening I would follow the birds' and somehow catch myself imagining I was a bird too. Now the ponds are dry, the birds are flying around to find a drop of water, and lotus flowers remain in neighbours' memories. </div><div style="text-align: justify;">But also today and yesterday and the day before yesterday and all previous week I was confused. Quite much. Confused about my current state in India now and a desire to move next somewhere else. Confused about big desire to stay in India, discover it more. At some point I find myself quite aculturised here -cultural shocks do not happen anymore, many things do not need an explanation, I behave similarly with the locals (south indians to be correct), frown if food is not spicy, shake my head not realising it, dance Panjabi dances and enjoy Tamil music, smile when children smile at me and want to come and touch but are afraid of foreigners... I gradually accept Chennai and Tamil Nadu as my home state though it is extremely different from cozy Hyderabad. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I incredibly miss Hyderabad, Almaty, Riga, St Petersburg, Moscow, Brugge, Colombo, Kharkiv, Ust Kamenogorsk, Sibiu, Astana...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I understand I cannot spend entire life with the same people in the same place. I will just go mad when it happens. Maybe that is why I prefer to move from a place to place like a bee, you know - from a flower to another flower, marking every plant with my presence and my taste, creating a small world there and leaving it unexpectedly... </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Emotions... It is easy to control them. But sometimes I just do not want to control anything. I do not need to probably...</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Random world which I created myself.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Tomorrow everything will be fine: the sun shines, the kids play cricket, and I smi)e. Everything will be OK in the end. If it is not OK, then it is not the end. </div><div><br /></div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-37235962973317230612011-04-18T22:18:00.000+06:002011-04-18T22:18:29.413+06:00Only Girl (In The World)<div>Oh yeah :) </div><div><br /></div><iframe width="480" height="295" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/pa14VNsdSYM?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-77118085818679323482011-04-17T03:22:00.001+06:002011-04-17T03:26:03.839+06:00Disorder<div style="text-align: justify;">Life is funny. The ones you desperately want to be with are not yours. On the other side of a coin, there are those who want to be with you but you do not want them. To add more, there are those who say they will go with you anywhere... anywhere... as long as you are close... and it leaves you confused... as you do not know what to believe in... </div><div><br /></div><div>Wherever you will go... Hm... I am not yours and it is OK. It will be OK. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><iframe width="425" height="344" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Ir2BhG1IW2A?fs=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-28986820093190752282011-04-17T01:36:00.003+06:002011-04-17T01:38:38.695+06:00THE Marathon<div style="text-align: right;"><i>If you want to win something, run the 100 metres. </i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i>If you want to learn something about life, run the marathon. </i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i>- Emil Zatopek </i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: right;"><i>16.04.2011</i></div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-91523178524304873812011-04-07T00:14:00.003+06:002011-04-07T00:21:15.411+06:00A simple truth of life<div style="text-align: center;"><i>I don't need all the money in the world to be happy. </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I need something more... Deeper... I have understood what it is... And I am creating it when I really want to be happy or when I want to make somebody happy... You do not need to ask for it...</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><b>PS</b> Loving my life every day. No matter how far away we are all from each other. </i></div><div><br /></div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6607936516061646562.post-66972767554532347082011-03-22T02:05:00.003+06:002011-03-22T02:33:24.976+06:00No pains - no gains<div style="text-align: justify;">A thought popped out in my mind: I want to quickly document this very moment:</div><div style="text-align: justify;">It is March 22nd, 2011, 1.35am. I am sitting in our living room of a two-room apartment I share with 3 interns from Ghana, Mexico and the UK. It is my 6th permanent flat I occupy in India since July 2010 when I started my Indian journey. The people I have shared a living space with, my past and my future projections, my dreams and my questions... It is a very intense learning day to day experience that is being created by so many hands... </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">I am listening to bits of Eminem rapping in my laptop, listening to the fan's noise that keeps me cool in this humid +37C weather of Chennai city, covering my legs with a blanket from annoying mosquitoes... And I catch myself at another thought: I am away from home on this very day when we celebrate Nauryz - the Persian New Year or the Kazakh or the Kazakhstani New Year ( google it if you are interested ). </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Where was I on March 22nd in different years and what I missed/gained?</div><div><ul><li style="text-align: justify;">2005, I am in Kyrgyzstan, Central Asia - Missed celebration of Nauryz with my student mates and free university lunches :D Learnt how Kyrgyz people celebrate Navruz- they cook beshbarmak making noodles instead of a whole dough divided in square pieces as Kazakhstanis do, and they celebrate it on March 21st. By the way, I have tasted Kyrgyz beshbarmak with people from Slovakia, from the Caucasus region, from the Czech Republic, from Kazakhstan. Not an AIESEC event :)</li><li style="text-align: justify;">2009, I am in Romania at an International AIESEC Conference EuroXpro- 5am, Salta and I are sitting in the hotel lobby, thinking of a Nauryz video content to display at the morning plenary for 200+ delegates from Central/Eastern/Western Europe. We understand how much we miss home and we are happy we had a quick skype chat with our relatives while making the video. The images from that morning are still so vivid! Unbelievable!</li><li style="text-align: justify;">2010, I am in Latvia, cooking baursaki in our MC flat for the team mates. It is an early morning, and I feel excited about the New Year concept in general. I am planning to call home to hear my Mum, my family. I miss them and I am happy as well I can be exposed to other cultures to appreciate and share.</li><li style="text-align: justify;">2011, I am in Chennai, South India, listening to Eminem, designing ideas for the next AIESEC conference in Sri Lanka. Incredibly missing my family, my brother, wanting to be with them now to hug every family member, to see and hear them speaking... To see the spring in my hometowns... To celebrate Nauryz with every one like I celebrated Holi yesterday in Hyderabad - with loads of laugh, hugs, fun, pictures, posing, fooling around... </li></ul></div>Asselhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09171141962775732015noreply@blogger.com0