tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46513710727746536142024-03-13T11:38:55.859-04:00Prachi's PerspectivesA kaleidoscope of things around me and about me!Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-62222762506398217912016-06-30T04:59:00.002-04:002016-06-30T04:59:51.779-04:00Thinking about a career break? Here is my story...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When I decided
to get married, I was living and working in the UK while my fiancé lived and
worked in the USA. So, I decided to take a career break to live with my husband
and look for a new job once I joined him. I have seen many couples getting
married yet continuing to stay in different cities (even different countries!)
but neither we nor our parents wanted us to live separately immediately after our
marriage.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /><span lang="EN-IN">Soon after I
joined my husband I applied for the necessary permits to start working and also
started my job search, which was not a pleasant experience, of course and took
a long time. I had many ups and downs during this time and finally after months
of struggle I found a job. It was only a few months into my new job when we
were required to move back to India. With a heavy-heart of leaving the job that
I found after toiling so much, I started to pack. People told me, I would have
a lot of opportunities in India since I had 2 overseas experiences in my CV!
So, I was very hopeful when I started to look for a job in my country but I
faced hardships here too.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span><b><u><span lang="EN-IN">The interview questions</span></u></b><span lang="EN-IN">While the
problem with finding a job in the US was more about not having US-specific
experience, the problem with finding a job in India was more about having taken
a career break! During the interview process in US, when I told people that I
took a career break post marriage, they would congratulate me and say that it
was a great decision since marriage brings about so many changes and there was
also a factor of moving to a different country. On the contrary, a few
interviewers in India told me that I would need to provide a surety that I
would not take another break soon! I found it amusing in the beginning but soon
this became preposterous. I fail to understand what kind of a society we live
in. On one hand, a woman is expected to be a perfect homemaker while on the
other she is not even allowed time-off to balance her career and personal life.
Some interviewers even considered my MBA (which I did in the UK after working
for 5 years in India) as a career break, which any sane person would consider as a career progression.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span><b><u><span lang="EN-IN">Job search in a foreign country vs at home</span></u></b><span lang="EN-IN">My job search in
India ended up being more stressful than the one in US, despite having worked
in India earlier. During this stressful time, I often wondered if my decision
to take a career break at the time of our marriage was a right decision.</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span><b><u><span lang="EN-IN">My advice to women who dared to take a career break</span></u></b><span lang="EN-IN">I have now found
a job, but when I was going through troubled times, I thought of other women
who might be in a similar situation. Here are my two cents for them:</span></span></div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Before your make a decision to quit, understand where you are going
to stand once you decide to join the work force again – both geographically as
well as industrially. Like some countries, some industries are also more open
to such breaks compared to others. If you are based in India and thinking of a
career break to settle in the new life post-marriage, good luck to you (unless
you are engaged in one of the preferred industries!).</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">While on a break always keep yourself engaged in things other than
the household work (which I agree is difficult as household work takes up more
time than most people think). Develop hobbies. Try travelling. Try doing
something new. There was a time when all I did was household work and I started
losing my self-worth.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Talk about your feelings. Whenever I felt low or unimportant, I
would talk to my husband and tell him exactly how I felt. He was always very
supportive and listened patiently. It always important to have someone who
would listen. Your spouse, your parents, your friends etc., anyone who you can
trust with your actual feelings without needing to feel ashamed of saying ‘I
think this career break was wrong decision’.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Whether or not you take a career break should be your decision.
Never take a career break because you are being pressurized to do so by your
family or your husband’s. I never blamed my husband for what I went through
during this time because he never forced me or asked me to take a break. It was
a well-thought of decision which was taken solely by me.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Finally, when you step back in the work place, be ready for remarks
like, “oh! so you were on a break. What did you do in all the “free” time?” or
“so, you were just chilling at home all this while”. Such people do not know
that being a homemaker is no less a challenge than being employed! Forgive
them! </span></li>
</ul>
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I rest my case
here with good wishes to all the bold women who decide to take a break from
their career to spend time with their family, whether post marriage or due to motherhood
or cause of any other family requirements. </span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
</div>
Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-32313619609392719972016-06-20T02:28:00.001-04:002016-06-21T04:54:41.902-04:00What's in a name, err..... surname?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">This post was originally published in Women's Web <b><a href="http://www.womensweb.in/2016/06/change-of-surname-after-marriage-for-women-should-be-a-choice/">here</a>.</b></span></div>
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<strong style="line-height: 15pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">A change of surname after
marriage for women should be a choice, not mandatory. Our society and
officialdom need to come to terms with this. </span></strong></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">A lot has been
written about this topic in the past and the future will be no different.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Like most other girls
preparing to tie the knot, I also debated with myself, while doing the wedding
preps, if I should change by last name post-marriage. After putting in a lot of
thought behind this and taking a lawyer’s opinion, I decided that I shall stick
to my<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">maiden name post-marriage</span></strong>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">The reason was simple. My maiden name was my
identity for more than 25 years and I did not have the heart to adopt a new
identity at this stage in my life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">My lawyer advised
that in case I decide to change my last name, I would need to execute an
affidavit of the change and would need to provide the affidavit wherever I
submit documents with my maiden name on them, like all education certificates,
PAN card, driving licence etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Alternatively, I
could retain my maiden name and provide a copy of our marriage certificate
whenever I needed to prove my marital status – e.g. visa, address proof work
related, etc. Now, if I have to submit an additional document whether or not I
change my name, I would obviously, choose to keep my name unchanged.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">The decision was taken
to<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">retain my maiden name</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>and my husband was in favour of the
same more than I was. My husband lived in the USA at the time we got married
and my visa formalities as well as joint bank account opening formalities went
pretty smoothly. No eyes or eyebrows or fingers were raised!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">A point to note here is that women do change
their surnames post marriage in all parts of the world (but it is a completely
personal choice). However, last year, when we moved back to India, I noticed,
every time I spelt out my surname (which is different from my husband’s),
people raise brows. It gets to me but I let it pass.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Recently I went to a
bank to open a ‘single’ account in my name. I submitted all required documents
relating to my identity as well as address (which have my maiden name on them).
Despite every document being in order, I was asked to submit a declaration that
I was married but I have chosen to retain my maiden name, along with a reason
for this decision!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">I said it is a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><strong style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-weight: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">personal choice</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>but was advised that it was not an
acceptable reason, though all my documents and certificates were in my maiden
name. The Customer Service Manager (I have nothing against her as she was
merely following procedure) asked me to declare that I retained my maiden name
for tax filing purposes. I needed to open this account and hence, submitted the
declaration but I still fail to understand why I was made to submit it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Since it is not a
compulsion for women to change their surname post wedding, I fail to fathom why
question them when they don’t? Why does my identity need to change just because
I am married? I have nothing against people who believe that women should
change their surname post marriage but I believe that this is a personal choice
and should not be forced onto someone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 15pt; margin: 0in 0in 7.5pt; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">Such related
incidents in the past few months have raised a very important question in my
mind,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">“why can’t we, as a society, let
people make their own decisions and not be judgmental about such choices?”</em><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-8456487088185933762016-06-20T02:23:00.000-04:002016-06-28T01:21:03.301-04:00Touring the 'Heart of India'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN">No other activity can rejuvenate me the way travel
does especially if the destination is thrilling. Recently, my husband and I
decided that we would visit all the tourist places in India in a structured
manner, one State at a time. The first State that we picked was Madhya Pradesh
(MP) - the heart of India, as per the MP tourism advertisements. There was no analysis
behind choosing MP as the first State, my parents live in MP, so access is easier.</span><span lang="EN-IN"> </span><span lang="EN-IN">So long, we have visited only a few places- Bhopal, Sanchi,
Bhimbhetka Caves, Tawa Dam & Reservoir and Pachmarhi. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN"><b><i>Why did we like tourist locations more than the ones in other parts of India?</i></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN">In a short &
quick visit to my brother’s place in Bangalore, we made a quick call on Hampi,
witnessing its multitude of temples & shrines, especially the Vittala
Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. What we noticed was that the tourist
places in MP are pretty well maintained. There is security at each site and
guards ensure that tourists do not misuse the sites in any way. We found no
litter lying around and were absolutely surprised to see that no one had
proclaimed their love on the rocks of Bhimbhetka caves or those of Pachmarhi.
This is definitely an extreme rarity in India where young lovers do not even
leave the walls of holy places or sites of historical importance, to proclaim
their love! Even the temples in Pachmarhi were absolutely clean despite the
flowing water which could have caused a lot of sludge. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN"><b><i>A quick guide to each of the sites we visited</i></b></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-IN">Bhopal</span></b><span lang="EN-IN">- Bhopal, the capital
city of Madhya Pradesh, is by far one of the most beautiful cities I have seen
in India. It is an amalgam of scenic beauty, historical charm and urban
lifestyle. The two lakes in Bhopal dominate the city and one can find ample
greenery in the busiest of the areas of Bhopal. Bhopal’s cultural scene is
pretty active too- almost every evening, you can walk in to Rabindra Bhawan/
Bharat Bhawan and the likes for free to enjoy a cultural performance. Bhopal is
well connected to the rest of India via air, rail as well as road networks.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-IN">Sanchi</span></b><span lang="EN-IN">- Sanchi is located approximately 46 kilometres north-east of Bhopal
and is known for the Buddhist Stupas. On the way from Bhopal to Sanchi, one
also crosses the Tropic of Cancer. The Stupas at Sanchi is also a UNESCO World
Heritage Site and are well-maintained despite all the natural wear and tear. It
is a good idea to hire a guide to see the Great Stupa.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-IN">Bhimbhetka caves</span></b><span lang="EN-IN">- This is
another UNESCO World Heritage Site in Madhya Pradesh. Located approximately 45
kilometres south of Bhopal, these pre-historic (more than 100.000 years old)
rock shelters exhibit the earliest traces of human life in India. One can still
see paintings and art on the rocks. Some of these paintings have eroded, so Archaeological
Survey of India has used chemicals and wax to restore them.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-IN">Tawa Dam & Reservoir</span></b><span lang="EN-IN">- Tawa Dam & Reservoir is a scenic escape from the busy city
life. It is situated 35 kilometres from Itarsi (the nearest major rail-road
junction). The views of the sunset and sunrise from the dam are enchanting. A
boat ride of the lake reservoir, which takes one around the little islands
dotting the reservoir and offer beautiful views of the Satpura range is a
must-do here.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><span lang="EN-IN">Pachmarhi</span></b><span lang="EN-IN">- Pachmarhi is a
hill station situated about 120 kilometres from Hoshangabad (the nearest major
rail-road junction). It is also known as ‘<i>Satpura
ki Rani</i>’. The name is believed to be derived from hindi words ‘<i>panch’ </i>meaning five<i> and ‘marhi’ </i>meaning cave. Pachmarhi has the famous Pandava caves,
used by the Pandavas during their <i>Agyaatvaas
</i>(exile in anonymity) and many other tourist attractions including water
falls, caves, temples and scenic views.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN">The directions to the destinations are also marked on
the highways so driving to them is not very difficult. The upkeep of these tourist places is
definitely paid attention to. I would like to believe that such initiative is
also taken by other States in maintenance of their tourist attractions. Till then,
I will go back to planning my next sojourn! </span></span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-21971456439060865262015-07-28T22:03:00.000-04:002015-07-28T22:08:36.594-04:00A 2-day trip to Boston<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Boston: </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The capital and largest
city of Massachusetts in USA. It is also one of the oldest cities the United
States and has witnessed some of the key events of the American Revolution.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Places of interest:</b> Freedom Trail
– Boston Common, Massachusetts State House, Old State House, Site of Boston
Massacre, Old North Church, Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market, USS Constitution, USS
Casing Young, Old South Meeting Hall; Boston Tea Party, New England Aquarium,
Trinity Church, Fenway Park, Prudential Tower Skywalk, Harvard University &
MIT (both in Cambridge)- among others equally interesting and exciting places. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>How to get there:</b> Plenty of
options depending on where you are coming from. Boston has an international
airport, Amtrak connections from New York & some other places in Northeast
Corridor as well as bus connections from many cities in the US. We drove from DC
to Boston (approx. 10 hours journey including 3 stops). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Our visit:</b> We visited Boston
during the long-weekend of 4<sup>th</sup> of July <i>(<b>Interesting fact 1:</b>
Americans wish ‘Happy 4<sup>th</sup> of July’ on this day and not ‘Happy
Independence Day’ like most other countries do on their independence day. <b>Interesting fact 2:</b> While a date is
always mentioned in the month first format in America, 4<sup>th</sup> of July
is (probably?) the only date which is mentioned in the date first format)</i>.
We were told that Boston attracts a lot of crowds for this weekend and yes,
there were a lot of people but that did not cause any problem to us. On our first day in Boston, we did a hop-on hop-off bus tour of Boston which
covered most of the tourist attractions. In the evening we spent some time at
Boston Common and explored the Freedom Trail. The next morning, we went for a
whale watching cruise. We did not go to Cape Cod for this cruise and did it
from Boston Harbor, which we think was a good decision (thanks to advice from
people who had visited earlier!) as we avoided the unnecessary travel time to
Cape Cod. We sighted 5 whales including a mother with her extremely playful calf. Later during
the day, we visited the Harvard University. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Our ‘must see’ recommendations:</b>
Boston Tea Party, Whale watching cruise (this was the high point of our trip),
Freedom Trail and Boston Common</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-68268974184348468732015-06-24T10:58:00.000-04:002016-06-19T02:12:58.007-04:00India and feminism<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A few months ago there were innumerable posts on social media, chain emails, whatsapp messages and protests about 'why India needs feminism'. Being a woman, I understand the sentiments behind each of these posts but I also noticed how over-rated the word 'feminism' has become. Feminism is defined as<i> '</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;"><i>the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men'. </i>It is not about male bashing or hating men. Are all the people giving reason for pro-feminism really following this definition? I guess not. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I have seen 'funny' pictures where a girl is holding a placard saying she needs feminism because she does not need to learn cooking. I feel that </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">in the current times, both men and women need to know how to cook- for survival. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">There is another one where someone said she needed feminism because she wanted to be able to sleep in a cab! R</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">eally? Since when did it become safe for anyone (boy or girl) to sleep in a cab? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">There are many others like these.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">What frustrates me more is the fact that whenever there is a crime against a woman, everyone starts forwarding messages, emails and posting on social media about the crime and pledging for violence against women/ women safety/ </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">feminism</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">. A few weeks later, when the news has moved to 2nd and 3rd pages of the newspapers, nobody bothers about </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">feminism</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;"> anymore. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In my opinion, we do not need these placards to attain <i>feminism </i>in India. Women need to learn a few things before they step out and highlight why we need feminism. This learning, as any other learning, begins at home. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">Many highly educated girls who are earning well, and <i>need feminism, </i>accept that dowry is a 'ritual' that needs to be adhered to in marriages. I have heard atrocious reasons like, <i>it increases the status of the bride in the new home, the couple will start a new life so all furniture and household items should be given to the bride (oh! so the groom will not sleep on that bed and nor will he use that sofa, TV, Refrigerator, Aircondtioner etc.)</i>. It is high time these sophisticated, well-educated women stand up for themselves and put their foot down the moment dowry is mentioned. That will be <i>'feminism'</i>. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">Throughout India, there is an image of an ideal woman - the one who sacrifices herself for the benefit of others around her. If a woman fails to live up to this image, she is not the ideal woman. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;"> When you try to explain to a mother that she does not need to sacrifice everytime for her family, she will proudly answer, "that is a trait of a good mother". </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">Is that how we judge mothers? If she does not give her share of food to her children or husband, is she not a good mother or a good wife? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">Sometimes, the mothers who teach their daughters about sacrifices fail to teach their sons to be 'human' (Mom to her daughter: a boy whistled at you, you must have done something to attract his attention. Mom about her son: He has started whistling at girls, he is growing up. <wink, wink>) </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">As a girl grows up, she sees her mother making these sacrifices and picks up the same. Where the mother fails to inculcate such behaviour in her daughter or the daughter refuses to follow this; she faces problems post-marriage. Her mother-in-law expects her to behave in such a way. I don't see a reason why women need to be taught this while men don't. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">Once, every woman starts treating her needs as important as that of her family, that will be </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">'feminism'</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">We will achieve <i>feminism </i>the day the lady living next door stops judging you according to the time you return home or the number of boys you have in your friend circle. We will achieve <i>feminism</i> when women stop saying that rape is the fault of the victim - I fail to understand how a 6 month old baby commits the fault of being raped! We will achieve <i>feminism</i> when women stop judging other women by the way they dress or saying that women get raped because of their dresses- if that was so, crime against women would be the highest in the western world instead of India! </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">We can achieve <i>feminism</i> only when the thinking of our women change. I can not say that this thinking can be changed by education as highly educated women are making these mistakes. The change has to come from within, from household setups. Next time put your foot down, don't always think of compromise, treat yourself as important as your husband/children, when another woman stares at you because of your dress, walk up to her and ask for a reason instead of twisting your mouth and looking the other way, when a woman in office says the rape was the girls fault ask her for her reasoning - I am sure there will be none! Walk together to achieve <i>feminism</i> by changing the way you think! </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">Oh, and in no way am I saying that the state of affairs in the country is only due to the women. Men are equally responsible. My only claim is that lets correct ourselves first and then go on to change the world! Also, I am not claiming that the examples I have quoted are true for every Indian home; there maybe only a very few but what the change needs to come about in those few homes as well.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 15.6000003814697px;">I hope one day, India will understand <i>feminism- </i>that day the Indian woman will be truly respected. </span></span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-3072933020672562402014-09-06T20:39:00.001-04:002014-09-06T20:39:32.898-04:00Parents... our first teachers!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Parents... a child's first teachers, first friends, best guides, mentors, real confidantes, saviours and all that you ever need in life. With changing times, people are forgetting the importance of parents in their lives. The reason for a person's success has its roots in their parents.... I got hold of this picture somewhere and it describes best the contribution of parents in a person's success:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is
so aptly put! I chose Teachers' Day (5th September) to write about parents.
Teachers' Day in India is celebrated on the birth anniversary of <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #f9f9f9; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">the </span>second President of India, academic
philosopher Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When he became the President, some of his students and
friends requested him to allow them to celebrate his birthday. He replied,
"Instead of celebrating my birthday, it would be my proud privilege if 5
September is observed as Teachers' Day"<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></div>
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<i><span style="background: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">His birthday has since been celebrated as Teachers' Day in
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Parents are our first teachers. They are there for us though thick and thin... then a day comes when they grow old... they need us. I believe this time is the test of one's character. People usually forget what their parents went through to bring them up... some people pass it as 'it was the parents' duty, we dint ask them to bring us in this world'. These same people expect their children to take care of them when they grow old. A person with real character will never disrespect one's parents, will love them all the more when they grow old and will treat them as one's child as they age. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">India is progressing but the family values are deteriorating... <i>'Padhega India tabhi to badhega India' </i>(India will progress if India is educated)<i> ... </i>a tagline being used a little too often sounds hollow when I look at the state of the old people (not all but a large number!). I believe education should build your character, should enrich you with values and make you more empathetic. In contrast, the educated youth (again... not all but a large number!) take false pride in being educated and think anyone else who is not as educated (or not as educated as they are) is inferior to them... be it their parents! They forget that it is their parents who provided for their education. Such people are always complaining that their parents did not provide for something or the other during their childhood and they would provide a better upbringing to their children. I pity such educated people!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I wish we continued to believe in building character rather than wealth. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oh! and for all those who believe that parents can't be your friends, remember when you could not even speak, your mother played peek-a-boo with you. When you grew up a little, your father played stupid games with you when he returned from a hectic day at work. When you started going to school, they listened to endless repeated stories about your school and teachers and friends. Those were your first friends and probably the only ones who will last!</span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-64971711657051387902014-09-04T10:15:00.001-04:002014-09-06T20:48:20.503-04:00Our new apartment<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everyone agrees that moving to a new apartment is a big task! All the packing, unpacking and setting up becomes so tiresome that one tends to avoid. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Recently, we were subjected to this task. Dev was living in a one-bedroom apartment which was quite small, suitable for his bachelor days. With me joining him, the wardrobe seemed to be overflowing. The dresser was no different and I was always hitting some furniture while walking from one room to another. Bottom line, we needed a bigger apartment! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hence, the search for an apartment began. We did this in a very organised way - making a checklist of everything we needed in our new apartment and tallying it with the available amenities every time we visited an apartment. It was tedious but finally we did find an apartment we liked!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We were moving from a furnished apartment to an unfurnished one. This was good news plus bad news - good because I had full control on the style of the furniture and bad because we had to put in a lot of effort selecting and ordering the furniture. I chose to take it as good news. Then came the packing, moving, unpacking and setting up. It took us about a month to finally set up the whole apartment to our liking. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now that we are settled, I really love the place. My favourite place in the apartment is our balcony where I can spend hours. Just sitting and reading or writing. In the evening, when Dev comes home, we sit in the balcony and sip tea - sometimes a cold coffee. On Saturday nights - our Biryani night when we are home - we have dinner in the balcony. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I keep looking up for ideas to decorate the walls of the apartment. I have used some mirror work and photographs to decorate the living room walls and am planning on using some wall art for the bedrooms. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Though the whole exercise was tiresome, Dev and I are really enjoying our new abode! Welcome home!! </span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-52159928639479464752014-09-04T09:37:00.002-04:002015-07-28T22:48:24.358-04:00Pursuing hobbies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Two things always amazed me: tasty food and life-like photographs!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First, the food. I am not too much of a foodie so when my Mom asks me to name the dishes I want to eat when I am home next time, I am at a loss of words, in contrast to my brother who would name them without taking a moment's break. Despite not being a foodie, I loved what my Mom cooked. How does she do it??? I would often wonder! How can someone make the simple ingredients taste so good! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Going on to my
history in cooking, Mom tells me when I was 10, I once prepared food for the
entire family as she was unwell. I do not remember this incident but since she
is sure, she must be right. I have enjoyed baking and making continental food
since I was 16. However, I could not imagine myself making delicious Indian
food ever. During our pre-marriage conversations about food and my motivation
for cooking, my husband was almost sure that he would have to continue to cook
post-marriage. Even I was pretty sure that I would probably cook once or twice
a week! </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then, marriage happened! Marriage brought a lot of change in my life. Since I decided to join my husband, Dev, in another country, I quit my job and took a career break. I had quite a bit of 'me' time in which, I read, watched documentaries & movies and decorated our apartment. But there was much more I could do. I started to experiment in the kitchen. And viola, we were both in for a pleasant surprise. I started to enjoy cooking! It is so satisfying to experience how the ingredients turn into a tasty surprise. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Next, the photography. Came spring and the world became colourful. Starting from the Cherry Blossom festival, I found various opportunities to practice photography. I would click pictures of flowers from various angles and then analyse them. This helped me click better pictures. Dev, who is not very fond of getting pictures clicked had to become my subject at various instances. I started enjoying it, especially capturing natural landscapes, flora and fauna. I used my iPhone camera as well as my point and shoot. Seeing my passion, Dev gifted me a DSLR recently. Last Sunday was my first day out with my DSLR and I thoroughly enjoyed playing with it. Slowly I will learn and hope some day I will have captured shots that are worth sharing with the world!!!</span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-14923648562439833022013-11-18T08:58:00.000-05:002014-09-02T22:36:15.192-04:00Countdown to the wedding...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well countdown to my wedding has begun… a little less than 6 months to go. I can proudly say about 60% of my wedding preparations are done. Like always, there are still some little things left but I can say more or less done. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am a Bhopal bride and it was really difficult to find things around as my parents have recently moved to Bhopal while I have been living in UK for last few years. So, none of us really knew our way around. I am starting this blog with the hope to help future Bhopal brides with some planning…and to create memories of my journey to the D-day<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The details:<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My groom is a Bengali from Kolkata. We are not Bengalis and the wedding will be a mix of both traditions. So while the Wedding will happen in Bhopal (mainly following our customs), there will be a Bengali style Reception (Bou Bhaat) in Kolkata. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Things to plan:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"></div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wedding venue and decorations</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Functions – Sangeet, Mehendi, Reception etc.</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Outfit for each of the functions</span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trousseau including accessories and footwear</span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Make-up Artist and Mehendi artist</span></span></li><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-indent: -18pt;">Guest list</span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Stay arrangements for Baraat as well as relatives & friends</span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Invitations</span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Photographer and videographer</span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Food menu</span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Transport</span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Gifts for in-laws</span></span></li><li><span style="text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Vidaai gifts for guests</span></span></li></ol><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Not necessarily in that order though!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keep checking this blog as I share my journey here.</span><br /><br /><div class="MsoNormal"></div><br /></div>Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-15006592604057784342013-11-17T07:20:00.000-05:002015-06-24T13:19:13.856-04:00Search for the Venue<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Though Bhopal is full of venues, our requirements put a lot of constraints on the available venues. We are a large family and I being the youngest girl in both my father’s and my mother’s sides of the family, there is a lot of excitement attached to my wedding, which means stay arrangements for about 200 or more people and guest list of 600 or more people…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">After a lot of ifs and buts, selections and rejections, we have finalised Vrindavan Garden as the wedding venue. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Before we finalised the venue, we checked out many others. Here are my views on them (click on the venue names to visit their website):</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></b><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #351c75;"><a href="http://www.vrindavangarden.com/" target="_blank">Vrindavan Garden</a></span></i></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The two venues -Vrindavan Garden and Vrindavan Palace - are next to each other. While Vrindavan Garden has an ethnic look while Vrindavan Palace in white marble (?) looks more modern. I like ethnic and so, Vrindavan Garden was the chosen one for me. It has a nice stage and a large lawn for seating arrangements. It also has a small indoor stage for ring ceremony or </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">sangeet</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">. The rooms are large and there is a dormitory as well… good enough to accommodate all the guests.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #990000;">Update (27th March, 2014):</span></b> I am really happy about having chosen this venue. Everything was so well arranged, the food was very tasty, <i>mandap</i> was beautiful and the management readily helped with everything we needed, be it milk for the children or mid-night tea for the elders. The <i>jaimaala, </i>reception and food was arranged in the lawn outside while the <i>mandap</i> was put up in the hall inside- a perfect arrangement as we did not want to freeze while the wedding ceremonies were going on. We had requested for a projector for the <i>Sangeet, </i>it was readily arranged and we did not experience any technical glitches in any electronic equipment. Thumbs up to this place.... though they do not claim to be wedding planners, they will happily provide you with a DJ, Shehnai person, Band, contacts for transport providers (cars/ charter buses for picking up and dropping guests)... anything and everything, you just need to ask! The arrangements at the wedding were praised by everyone who attended - the credit ofcourse goes to my family, my cousins who ran from one end of the city to the other just to pick up relatives and friends who provided support in case of last minute requirements; but I can not ignore the contribution of the management at Vrindavan Garden for their wonderful arrangement and service!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></span></span></span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #351c75;"><a href="http://www.hotelamerpalace.com/" target="_blank">Hotel Amer Palace</a></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Their largest banquet hall- Jhoomar- has a capacity for 400 people (though I would differ!). Did not find the banquet hall good enough as a wedding venue, though I thought it could be used for smaller functions like </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">tilak, sangeet</i><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">, etc. The rooms were well maintained but seemed closed and claustrophobic- a deluxe room we saw had no windows!</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></b><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #351c75;"><a href="http://hotel-residency.com/" target="_blank">The Residency</a></span></i></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The manager’s behaviour was irritating. He behaved as if he had to run the show for the wedding and started telling my parents what to do and not to do! The banquet halls in the basement were a complete put off. These were across from each other with the swimming pool in between, the sizes were small and the ceiling is too low making them look like boxes. They have a roof-top restaurant which the manager said could be closed and converted into a wedding venue. That was a good option but again, for the number of guests I will have for the wedding, it seemed small. The rooms were very standard but very expensive. The only good thing was the roof-top that can be converted into a venue…it has an ethnic setting to it and would be good for holding function for up to 100-150 guests I think.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></b><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #351c75;"><a href="http://www.hotelrajhansbhopal.com/hotelrajhans_re_about.php" target="_blank">Rajhans Regency</a></span></i></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">This hotel is a little difficult to find at first, due to the various constructions going on around the hotel, I believe. The banquet hall is standard. However, they have another banquet hall on the terrace with the terrace attached to it. The room and the terrace combined would make a good venue for up to 200 guests, in my opinion. The rooms are quite nice…spacious and with large windows to allow ample sunlight into the rooms.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="color: #351c75;"><a href="http://motelshiraz.com/" target="_blank">Kwality Motel Shiraz</a></span></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">There are two lawns opposite each other. A good location and if both lawns are used- one for reception and the other for food- this is an ideal location. Their package also includes a cottage for the bride when you book the lawns. The cottage however, is dated and the furniture is old. The rooms (both deluxe and standard) are even worse. The rooms smelled musty, the bathroom stank and there were some broken windows (with make-shift wooden planks to cover the broken part). When we went to visit, the new manager had just taken over. There was an business event going on at the time and the manager came to see us only after a wait of about half an hour. My father had attended another wedding at this venue a few days back and began his conversation with the manager by praising the venue. The Manager did not even hear my father out completely and said that he was not interested in knowing what happened there before he took over! If you do not need stay arrangements, the lawns make a good venue. Good luck with the manager though!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="color: #351c75;">Hindi Bhavan</span></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">A very good wedding venue. Lots of space; both outdoors and indoors. However, you will need to arrange for your own decorator as well as caterer. They do have some rooms as well as halls. The stairway to the halls was very dirty. The rooms are ok but dated and obviously very basic. If you only need a venue and are confident of getting good decorators, this is a good venue for a large guest list.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #351c75;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="color: #351c75;"><a href="http://www.hotelimperialsabre.com/contact.html" target="_blank">Hotel Imperial Sabre</a></span></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Did not see the rooms here. The venue is very attractive. There was a wedding there when we went to visit and the place was beautifully decorated. The stage is high up with water flowing down from the middle and stairs on each side to go up to the stage. A beautiful setting with the view of the lake. However, with many elderly people in the guest list, the climbing up and down the stairs for the pictures would be very difficult and hence we rejected the venue despite it being very beautiful.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="color: #351c75;"><a href="http://www.lakeviewashok.com/" target="_blank">Hotel Ashoka Lake View</a></span></i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">The banquet hall here was like most others and small for our requirements. Some of the rooms have lake view and they were awesome. When we walked into one, it felt like the lake started right at the window. However, the corridors smelled musty and were dirty.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We did not check out <a href="http://www.welcomheritagehotels.in/hotel-overview/noor-us-sabah-palace-bhopal" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;"><b><i>Noor-us-Sabah</i></b></span></a> and <a href="http://www.hoteljehanumapalace.com/" target="_blank"><b><i><span style="color: blue;">Jehan Numa Palace</span></i></b></a>, though they are the popular venues. If you want a lake-side wedding, these would be the best places. People planning your weddings in the winter, please remember that the lake-side will be quite cold. <span style="font-size: x-small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><b>Update (June 24, 2015):</b></span><br />
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><i><b>Surendra Vilas Palace</b></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We used the their banquet hall for my brother's wedding reception in May and the rooms for a few guests. The rooms are nice and spacious. Since we had about 300 guests, they combined their 3 banquet halls (two were used for food). The halls are at the basement but there is an elevator for elderly and for people with disability. The decorations and flower arrangements were good and so was the food. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Another location that we considered was <a href="http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/bhocy-courtyard-bhopal/"><b><i>Courtyard Marriott</i></b></a>. Would have been good for a larger guest list. </span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-75700821832537644242013-11-16T07:01:00.000-05:002014-09-02T22:39:59.724-04:00Tips on a comprehensive 'Guest List'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everyone with experience of having planned a wedding will vouch for the fact that a creating a comprehensive guest list was a difficult task. You do not want to be embarrassed when someone mentions that they did not get an invitation card. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The best way to make a comprehensive guest list is to create one on cloud. You can access it anywhere, at any time. My mother had made a list of guests the traditional way- pen and paper while my brother and I created another one in our favourite 'MS excel'. We then added all of these lists and saved it on dropbox. There are many other options google drive, box etc. etc. I created one list for family and another for friends and shared the friends list with my fiancé to be able to ‘cross-invite’ each other’s friends. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It has been 3-4 months since I created the first draft of guest list and I still keep adding to it. Its easy as I don’t have to keep reminding myself to add the names when I get home, neither do I have to carry a wedding diary with me all the time. I just open the dropbox app and update my list! </span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-11832408229799417152013-11-15T15:52:00.000-05:002014-09-02T22:52:03.368-04:00Goodbye to UK – this is one is dedicated to my wonderful friends – Rahul, Moitree, Sinchan, Sneha, Sukrut!!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes, I finally said a ‘goodbye to UK’ on 14</span><sup style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">th</sup><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> September 2013… with just about 2 months left for the wedding, it gives me enough time to relax, spend time with family, and prepare for the wedding! A goodbye to UK also meant a goodbye to my friends (of course we remain friends but we will not see each other very often now). No weekend plans, no gossips, no late night talks, no dumb charades and no 29 (the newest addition to our ‘things to do’ list)! – well, all this will continue but without me… :(</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last weekend together</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Moitree and I, the 2 with craziest ideas!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“Some
people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave
footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.” – might be cheesy
but perfect for me now!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />Saying
goodbye to these friends was the most difficult part (or probably the only
difficult part) of leaving the country… The fact that I will not see them makes
me feel strange even after 5 days of the final waves at Heathrow airport where
we kept waving at each other till I reached the security gates after which I
could not see them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />I
have lived away from home for years and the years of practice has made me
perfect at not shedding tears while saying goodbyes and it worked this time
around as well. It was only when I sat on my seat in the aircraft it struck me…
I had just said goodbye to the best of my friends…. Friends who I know are my
lifelong friends… and tears rolled down. I am just not going to be the same
without them.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just before the final goodbye</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy that I am leaving? Or just keeping his promise of the last dance before I leave?</span></td></tr>
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<br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">“It
is one of the blessings of friends that you can afford to be stupid with them”</span> <span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">–
I have been stupid, I have been happy, I have been angry, I have been
judgemental, I have been stubborn, I have been all these and more with them and
I cherish each and every moment spent with them.<br /> <o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I
will see all of them at my wedding (except Moitree, who I will see at her wedding
next year!) but I will (probably) forever miss the times spent with them…
teasing Sukrut, fighting with Baba (Sinchan), gossiping (PNPC ;)) with Rahul,
late-night chats and crazy idea sharing with Moitree, hair care and skin care
discussions with Sneha....</span><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Guys….
I will really really really miss you!! See you all soon… </span><br />
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com1Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India23.2599333 77.4126149999999622.7929063 76.767167999999955 23.726960300000002 78.058061999999964tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-53892087297533854062013-11-14T14:58:00.000-05:002014-09-04T09:12:18.264-04:00Trousseau shopping <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Alright… probably the most interesting part of the wedding preparations… trousseau shopping! List- wedding outfits, <i>sarees</i>, <i>salwar-kameez</i>, footwear, makeup...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Sarees<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Well, to be fair, I did not want truckloads of <i>sarees</i>… not that I do not like wearing <i>sarees</i>, I love them (when all I need to do is wear them and sit like a doll). I am not used to running around and doing chores in <i>sarees</i>(dancing in a <i>‘Baraat’</i> excluded). Well, like most Indian girls, I was excited at the prospect of buying new <i>sarees</i> for myself! Not knowing much about Bhopal, we opted to go to Vadodara for <i>saree</i> shopping. Why Vadodara of all places in India??? The reason is that my brother is a fashion designer (he designs under his brand... Abstract) and lives in Vadodara…nothing better than having a fashion designer by your side when you do your bridal shopping! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I picked up 5 sarees from Vadodara from <i>Sia Sarees</i>. I chose safe colour options that I can wear even later- Fuschia, Red, Beige, Persian Green and a cream & pink combination and materials were pure chiffon, bhagalpuri silk and pure crepe. I later bought a maroon kanjivaram from <i>Radhika Sarees</i> in Bhopal and also picked up a yellow with olive thread work and a blue with gold thread work cotton-silk banarasi from the Silk Fab in Bhopal. I also bought a few sarees from <i>Jashn</i> in Mumbai. So, these along with my existing collection was enough for my saree quota! I did not like the collection at <i>Kala Niketan </i>or any other <i>saree</i> stores in Bhopal. I have earlier purchased sarees from <i>Kala Niketan</i> in Mumbai. I do not know if the Bhopal store is a franchisee of the same store, but I found the collection in Bhopal quite old fashioned yet expensive. <i>Mrignayani</i> in New Market has an excellent collection; I especially loved their Kota Check and Chanderi <i>sarees</i>. However, I had already purchased my quota of sarees by the time I visited this store. Mrignayani has a website too but the collection on the website is not even 1% of what you can find in store!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Salwar Kameez</span></i></b><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">You can find the latest fashion in <i>Salwar Kameez</i> in New Market. So, this was an easy bet. If not new market, DB city has many stores that you can go to. I picked up a few sets from <i>Fida</i> as well as Shoppers Stop & Pantaloon. For bargain deals, some of the stores in <i>Bairagarh</i>market (wholesale stores of the retailers in Bhopal) stock the latest fashion at a much cheaper price. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">We had a bit of difficulty finding the <i>lehenga</i> for me. After losing hope in many stores in Vadodara and Bhopal, I visited some stores in <i>Bairagarh</i> taking someone’s suggestion. And surprise surprise….I got both my <i>lehengas</i> from this market and at really low prices. I picked up a wine colour velvet <i>lehenga</i> with stone work in <i>kalis</i> from <i>Maya Sarees</i>. I know net has been in fashion for a while in bridal <i>lehengas</i>but I did not want net for my wedding. The sales boy almost gave up on me when I kept rejecting everything he brought out to show me. However, considering the wedding was in winters, velvet proved to be the perfect choice and it definitely looked very good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">For the reception I chose a red shimmer crepe lehenga with embroidery and glass work all over that I bought from <i>Dulhan Sarees</i> again in <i>Bairagarh</i>. This was a perfect fit for the reception as all of the groom’s side was there to see the bride for the first time, a traditional colour there suited the occasion perfectly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I wore a yellow and orange front open anarkali with cigarette pants for the <i>Sangeet</i>. This was specially designed for the occasion by my designer brother… yes, that’s how he came to be known among my friends when they saw his creations. He also designed a matching kurta for my younger brother for the same occasion. I feel proud to say that this design has also been published in the <i>Femina </i>magazine!! ;)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">I bought most of my footwear from the bridal collection of BHS in UK. However, Inc 5 at DB Mall has good collection for regular footwear while Metro has a good party wear collection. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">Makeup<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif";">L’Oreal Paris is a trusted makeup brand for me. I stuck to it for the bridal makeup kit. I picked up the Lumi range for foundation and the true match range for the concealer and face powder. In my opinion, the true match range actually creates magic! I also picked up 2 blush shades and the metallic eye shadow palette. For eyeliners, I picked up 2 from the super liner range – there are 3 options depending on how thick you want your liner to be. Mascara is the most important part of the eye makeup – I picked 2, false lash flutter (gives density to lashes) and volume million lashes (for length). I got a few lip shades from L’Oreal as well however; MAC is the go-to brand for lipsticks. MAC shades that I would recommend not to miss are – impassioned (suits all skin tones), Ruby Woo (a red is a must to have in your makeup palette) and Vegas Volt (for fair skin). I got these three shades and they are perfect with all attires… Indian or western. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-3353519915436133952013-11-11T16:43:00.000-05:002014-09-04T09:12:25.570-04:00MakeUp Artist<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I had a difficult time trying to find a MakeUp Artist (MUA) for the wedding. The most famous beauty parlours in Bhopal are probably Rose and Nicky Bawa. Both offer bridal makeup services and I have heard accolades about Rose from a few. I enquired about bridal services at these but did not have a detailed interaction with any of them as I was not convinced that my skin was the priority for them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I have very sensitive skin and I need to be extremely careful about the way I treat my skin. For my wedding day, I did not want layers of makeup on my skin, I wanted my skin to glow. During my desperate search on the internet to find something, I read something about Mrs. Sheela N. Kishore and came across her <a href="http://www.sheelasalon.com/about.html" target="_blank">website</a>. The website did not have many details so when I visited Bhopal, I called her. Within 5 minutes of meeting Mrs. Sheela (Aunty, as I fondly call her), I knew that she would be my MUA. She is an aesthetician to the core – absolutely passionate about what she does. She refused to come over to the venue to do the makeup- something I have seen even the best of MUAs do. However, she had a point- Aunty explained to me how the lights are different on the stage and in the room that I will have at the venue, she could create the stage environment in her studio while doing the makeup, something that is not possible in a small room at the venue. Satisfied with all her answers to my questions, I agreed to travel from one end of Bhopal to the other just for the makeup! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I took my pre-bridal services from Sheela’s Salon De Beautѐ as well. Her staff is well trained and friendly. I opted for bridal makeup by Sheela aunty herself. She dedicates herself completely to the bride, which means she takes only one bride at a time and the best is, she does not try using all the products and all the jewellery on you… only what suits your skin, your face and your personality. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mrs. Kishore is on Facebook and has a page dedicated to her salon. Please do not hesitate to drop me a message if you need her contact numbers. </span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-30044186766376689072013-11-10T13:48:00.000-05:002014-09-04T09:12:34.416-04:00Vidaaai gifts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><span lang="EN-GB">Vidaai </span></i><span lang="EN-GB">gift is the gift you give to your guests when they are leaving after attending the wedding. A <i>teeka </i>is applied on their forehead and the gift is given before bidding them a goodbye. The married ladies also get a <i>godi, </i>which is a pouch filled which rice, some money, a turmeric stick, a dry sweet (<i>bataasha)</i> and<i> supari.</i> When it comes to gifts, of course, a lot depends on your budget and who you are giving these gifts to. There are many gift shops in Bairagarh market where you can find items at wholesale rates. They will also gift wrap them for you. If you insist, they will deliver it at your doorstep too (provided you actually order in bulk!)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like most marriages, we had 2 categories for gifts: <i>Baraatis</i>and <i>Gharaatis</i>. For the <i>Gharaatis </i>(guests from my side), we bought multipurpose boxes (the kinds with 4 compartments in which you can keep dry fruits or mouth fresheners) from RK Distributors in Bairagarh market. We chose not to get the boxes gift wrapped by them for fear that some boxes might have defects and we would not want our guests to receive defective items. This turned out to be a good decision despite the fact that we had to gift wrap 100 such boxes ourselves. About 10 boxes were defective and RK Distributors readily took them back and refunded the money. While buying the boxes, we had even negotiated that we would return any remaining boxes to them (since we were ordering in bulk). They agreed and even though they made the delivery about a week late, all other dealings with them was smooth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the <i>Baraatis </i>(guests from the groom’s side), we selected deity idol (<i>murti</i>). We chose <i>murts </i>packed in transparent hard plastic boxes (giving it a look of glass). It is considered auspicious in our family to gift a <i>murti</i> to someone and we could think of nothing better than that to gift to the <i>Baraatis. </i>We bought these from Chhabra Collection in New Market. For the kids, we bought various DIY kits, which I picked up before I left UK (these are also available at Hobby Ideas stores in India).</span><i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-41212835864170366382013-11-09T23:05:00.000-05:002014-09-02T22:36:15.290-04:00Memories...aka photographs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wedding … one of the most important days of everyone’s life. There are beautiful expressions and emotions that you want to capture for the rest of your life. Finding a photographer who can take such shots is usually quite difficult. I am glad to have found such photographers.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Like most girls, I like getting pictures clicked but in a situation like a wedding, I felt I would get camera conscious and hence chose to have a candid photographer. I also wanted to have couple shots pre-wedding but the rules on my then would-be husbands side of the family did not allow us to see each other on the day of the wedding… not before the <i>baaraat </i>arrived. So, we had to drop the pre-wedding couple shoot. I saw some works by Amrit Vatsa from ShaadiGraPher and instantly liked his work. My brother handled all the communication with Amrit and Amrit flew in from Mumbai on the day of the wedding to capture the <i>Tilak</i>ceremony followed by the Wedding. I have to admit here that some of the best photographs of my parents as well as mine are by Amrit. We also had a posed photographer and videographer. We had Anurag Photographers from M.P.Nagar for this purpose. They did a fabulous job as well. The albums they have made are very good plus they create a couple photographs album as a part of the package. </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We also checked with Patidar Photo Studio in M.P.Nagar before we hired Anurag but found them a bit unprofessional. One other photographer worth checking with are Safal Photolabs in No. 10 market. </span><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-64026011034218952512013-11-08T11:31:00.000-05:002014-09-02T22:36:15.303-04:00Good luck to all Bhopal brides<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hello readers, thanks for reading my posts.This is my last post on the topic and time to say goodbye here. I hope I have provided enough information for you to plan a wedding in Bhopal. However, if there is anything I have missed here or any further questions you have please send me an email or comment here. I will be happy to help. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><br /><div class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All the best for your wedding. May the planning be easier for you than it was for me and may you find the same bliss in your married life that I did. Cheers!</span><o:p></o:p></span></div></div>Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-45119914945428146752013-04-23T12:39:00.000-04:002015-07-28T22:51:33.427-04:00Ever been woken up by the moonlight on your face??<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many
times in the past, my morning’s deep slumber have been disrupted by sunlight
streaming on my face from my bedroom window. Not an experience I am very fond
of! However, last night was different… I woke up due to the moonlight streaming
through my window.</span><br />
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about 2 a.m. I suddenly woke up being distracted by something… opened my eyes
to see the beautiful moon staring at my face.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The
sight was beautiful… clear sky and (almost) full moon! I have always admired
the moon. As children when my brother and I went to our grandparents’ places
for summer vacations and slept on the terrace, I remember we would spend hours
looking at the moon and gazing at the stars before we finally fell asleep.
Alas! Those days are long gone. We moved to bigger cities which means we do not
get to see the moon and the stars anymore! The tall buildings hide the view of
the sky and even if one can see the sky, the bright lights dim the stars. I
have been in the UK for over 2.5 years now and I have been able to see clear
skies (when it is not cloudy!!) a few times and have admired the moon and the
stars. However, the sight last night was unparalleled. I could not believe that
I actually woke up due to the moonlight but when I looked around I realised
that there was no other reason that I would wake up at 2 a.m. The moon shone
brightly but it was not harsh like the sun… it was calming feeling.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It
is an experience to remember to wake by moonlight streaming on your face and be
able to stare back at the moon. It brought a smile to my face despite being
woken up…something that I hate!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I
hope everyone experiences this in a lifetime… and those of you who have
experienced it… you know what I mean!</span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-17251020689301144992011-12-12T17:47:00.000-05:002015-07-28T22:50:53.075-04:00New beginning, new hopes!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">After one of the longest nights of my life when I kept waking up with a start almost every hour fearing that I was late, came the morning of 12<sup>th</sup> December 2011. I was starting work after 1 year, 3 months and 11 days! 6 a.m: pitch dark outside! 7 a.m: I left home when it was still as dark as 6 a.m. I made my way the bus stop, waiting for the bus and marvelling at the almost full moon…it looked beautiful! I reached my new office well before time with my new hopes for the new beginning. Briefings about the company, about the team, about my role… the more I was told, the more interested I got. Attended a few meetings to get the feel of the work I would be required to do. Read quite a bit about the company, completed some admin work and that was it for the day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />A day that made me look forward to my role… give me more!! </span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-32143251322686810382011-09-01T20:26:00.000-04:002014-09-03T12:42:46.856-04:00First two weeks<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">First few days in UK</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As August was ending, my anxiety was increasing. The anxiety about the new life that was awaiting me...miles away from home! I was both, dreading the D-day as well as looking forward to it. The D-day:12th September 2010. The moment when I parted from family was tough.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The journey began at 01:45 am on the 12th of September 2010. Seven of us were on the same flight. The flight was not very peaceful. The anxiety was kind of killing. Lots of thoughts about the year ahead, my people back home, never thought getting sleep could ever be so difficult! The flight landed at London, Heathrow at 06.30 am (ahead of the scheduled time of 06.45 am and the crew was very happy to announce the same!). The pickup from the University was arranged only for 08.15 am. However, as soon as I came out of the airport one of my fellow students told me that I already had someone waiting for me and pointed to the person. I saw the placard.. "Prachi Kh.... Mumbai to London..Jet Airways"... ohh wasn't I glad! I asked the person if he was from Cranfield and the fellow probably dinht understand me and just nodded. The next thing was I was moving towards the exit when it struck me "how come none of the others had a pick up!" Here goes the conversation after that:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me: But are the pick up for the others not arranged?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Driver: Where are they going?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me: They are also going to Cranfield.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Driver: Ohh and have they arranged for a pick up?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Me: Yes ofcourse, we have all registered for the Airport Meeting Service.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Driver: Ohh... then they will have a pick up too.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I just could not get this thing in my head. Gut feeling said, there is something wrong. I waived to my fellow students and asked one of them to come. After a little more discussion, we got to know that the driver dint even know where Cranfield is! Wow! And I had almost left with him!! I looked at his placard again.. it said "Prachi Kharpe.. Mumbai to London.. Jet Airways". Interesting!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Later, we met the actual people who had come to pick us up. The drive to the University was nice. It was a lovely weather. Reached Cranfield around 09.30 am and all of us were given our respective rooms. The weather at Cranfield was very cold not the temperature..but the chilly wind.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The place is scenic and green all around with lots of apple trees on campus. First day...kind of lonely. Sunday after the last year's batches left. Not a soul on campus!! :(</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The feeling... "did I make a right decision?" kept creeping back in my head... then thankfully the day ended. And began day 2! Monday... excitement about what was in store... here come David Simmons to welcome us all... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The week was full of classes and activities, simulations blah blah blah from 9 am to 5.30 pm followed by kitchen parties...had good fun..started liking this little place... :)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then came week 2 which was equally good! Off to London now for a weekend break. The main MBA starts next monday!!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(written on 24th September 2010)</span></div>
Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-88113631471860709672011-08-31T20:29:00.000-04:002014-09-03T12:43:53.498-04:00Diwali at Cranfield<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Diwali... the festival closest to my heart!! The lights of the diyas, the rangoli, the excitement, the preparations, the food... I love everything about Diwali!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For years, I have celebrated this days with the people closest to my heart...my family! And this year...I was miles away from them. Difficult!! The day was bad..homesick...which made me sick. :(</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then came the wonderful evening... when we were handed out the cases for an assignment.. 'Written Assessment of a Case' (in short: WAC). Tea, Toast and Tenacity! Sounds interesting! The agenda was: Read the case, re-read the case, discuss with your learning team, discuss in the class with the whole stream, have pizza which has been made available (courtesy: the social reps) so that you don't have to go home and cook, discuss with the learning team again, go back home, share notes with friends, say good night to friends and start working on your report, try to work but can't get your head into the report, try to get some sleep, have dreams about economics, wake up early (very unusual for me!), start typing continuously for three hours, go back to sleep, wake up after two hours and stare at the watch wondering where the time went, start typing again, finish by 4.30 pm and rush to submit it. Ahh.... those of you wishing to read more..that was the end of it! That's how I spent the diwali night...discussing and typing instead of lighting up the diyas!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well... saturday went by... Sunday was the Diwali celebration day for us at Cranfield! Delicious home-made food (thanks to the wonderful chefs in the cohort!), lots of dance and the pleasure of seeing everyone enjoying Diwali so far away from home! Diwali could not be as it always is at home but then... even a bit of celebration away from home is worth it!! :)</span></div>
Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-11182940907499452692011-08-25T20:26:00.000-04:002014-09-03T12:55:30.999-04:00The AT Kearney experience!- the first round....<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The ATK experience..!! Awesome!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It all started on 5th October 2010... the ATK kick-off day. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border: 0px; display: inline; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">AT Kearney is a management consulting firm with strong ties to Cranfield.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"> </span>Becky Drinkwater briefed us about the A T Kearney Global Prize competition and its various steps. After an hour of presentation, we were all anxious to form our teams...the only rule: diversity!!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, there we were in the forum searching for our prospective team members. After asking around, we finally made our team of four: Mark Grenfell-Shaw with <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">has 25 years of experience across a wide range of sea-going engineering and strategic roles in the UK’s submarine force, Khanh Dinh with </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">11 years of experience in information technology consulting, Ilan Pragaspathy with </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">11 years of experience in North America working for both small and blue-chip companies and Prachi Khare with </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">has 5 years of experience in Corporate Banking with expertise in business development, financial modelling, risk analysis, corporate and structured finance, debt syndication and loan documentation. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">Of the 24 Cranfield teams that took part in the competition 10</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"> cleared the first round and we were one of them. Result date: 8th October 2010. Time to get the case and start working on it. Spent about a week trying to understand the case and forming questions to ask the team of senior officials during the simulation round which was on 15th Oct. 15th Oct was a great experience when we simulated a consulting case. Case submission day was near... good amount of work. Thankfully we had Ilan, our power point expert who did lots of work on the slides and they looked just perfect. Based on the submission, three teams were seleceted... 4x4 was one of them. The first reaction...more work? Oh no.. :( But slowly the reaction changed... we are in top 3..wow!!!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8th November..the D-day for the presentaion. We were all set, choreagraphy done, practices done, rules of the game: don't turn your back towards the judges, talk confidently, YOU are the consultant, tell them what they should do, and most imprtantly do not look at the slides. OK... so there we were. Once there, the choreography went hay-wire but thankfully the other things went fine. After the presentations there was a nail-biting time of about half an hour when we prayed... God let us be second, we don't want to come first and work more. The result announcement started with some briefings about each team. What we did well, we should have done well etc etc. Then came the announcements..third is ___, second is ___ and hey..that means we are first. The 'congratulations' started before we heard our names and it was unbelievable! I was shivering...not because of the cold but because I was so thrilled. I could not believe we did it!! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, though it looked like a hectic task to do this earlier, I am so glad that we did it. It has been such a great experience. And frankly, the more we have come along, the more we have nderstood what consultanc is all about! Looking forward to the European round on 19th November...and whether we win or lose.. this journey is worth a mention!! :)</span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-4827624753614665812011-08-18T19:45:00.000-04:002014-09-03T12:42:35.055-04:00AT Kearney..continued...the European round<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I will start where I left off.... 8th November... a day to remember. My best buddies here were super happy for me and we decided to celebrate. We went to Nando's for dinner. It was awesome! :)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next morning the team met at the Cafe Book shop to discuss what went well and what did not and what was the way forward. We were to have feedback sessions with all the judges for the local round. One by one meetngs were fixed. The next 10 days required superb preparation. And the struggle began... yet again... instructions said, ' you have now recommended a strategy. We would like to know how to implement it,, so here we had 10 days to make a new presentation and put in place an implementation. But hey, these 10 days were crucial. We had many assignments, reports and presentations to do for our course. A bit of an anxiety..how would we do it? Where is the time. The 10 days went by with 4 hours of sleep each night, lots of dozing off in the lectures and lots of reading, meetings with professors for their inputs. A busy week but a memorable one. Our learning teams were supportive, not complaining when we did not do the required in time, a big thanks goes to them. And how can I not thank the three musketeers (Sinchan, Rahul and Tanu) who did not expect me to cook and waited endlessly without complaints till late hours for dinner so that I don't have to eat alone! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Everyone around seemed so excited about our going for the European round. The competition was on 19th November and we had to report to the ATK office at 9 am. Sean offered to pay for our stay in London if we wanted to go earlier so that there is no rush on the D-day morning! Wonderful! Even more wonderful, ATK had arranged for dinner after the results and we thought we would not be able to attend it. Why? We had an assignment, WAC, to be submitted on 20th. But Sean was gracious enough to encourage us to stay for dinner and then submit the WAC on 21st! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So, we left Cranfield on 18th evening...8 pm. Reached our hotel in London at around 9.30 pm. Rooms were taken. Small cozy rooms. We spent sometime together at the lounge and then left for our rooms to have a good night's sleep so that we wake up fresh and active the next day. Went to my room, practiced my lines in front of the mirror some 3 times and then off to bed. And then came the D-day... when we would know the results of our efforts!! We reached the office at 9 am and were shown into a conference room right next to the conference room where the final presentations were being made. We started our practice. 2 hours to go... four rounds of serious practice and I started getting stressed... I was forgetting my lines! :(</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The team told me to just calm down... Ilan said..ohh don't worry u made a mistake only once so you wont make it in the final presentation and moreover the judges know what you mean. Mark said... just calm down, we will do well. Khanh said..remember Rhino... (will write about rhino sometime probably), for now its just about being confident while making presentations :). So at 11 am we walked into the room, four judges welocmed us and as soon as we reached the end of the room, one of the judges started talking and setting the pace and before we were setlled, he said, you have 20 mins. While Mark started talking, Ilan put the set-up in place and handed over the clicker to Mark. The presentation went smoothly and none of us fumbled for words even once!! Wow! Then there was question round which we answered confidently. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Relieved after the presentation, we decided to have coffee and stepped out. We had a nice one hour walk around the area and then went to a nice little coffee shop. By then it was time for lunch so headed back to office and met lots of people over lunch, the judges, students from other schools. Lots of chatting and discussions. Then we checked into our hotel, Radisson, this one arranged by ATK. Freshned up and then we were off for another long walk, this time to the Buckingham Palace,Trafalgar Square and National Gallery. Quite relaxed initially but then as it started nearing 5.30 pm (which was supossed to be the result announcement time!), the pace towards the ATK office increased. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And then..there we were back at the ATK office at 5.15 pm, there was lots of hustle bustle at the office, all teams were there waiting for the result...anxiety, excitement, nervousness, I felt all of these and even more at that point of time. Finally at 5.30 pm, the judges came out of the conference room and we huddled together around the four judges to know our results. But wait... the judges wanted to keep us waiting. 'We will announce the results but before that the people who were involved in the case would discuss the case with you, then we will give each team a feedback on their performance and finally we will announce the result', one of them told us! And, there were sighs all around... the anxiety was killing! </span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sDUR8BhJTtE/TPGlrv15MiI/AAAAAAAAABU/W-Kd5odlUHw/s1600/Runners+up.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_sDUR8BhJTtE/TPGlrv15MiI/AAAAAAAAABU/W-Kd5odlUHw/s320/Runners+up.jpg" height="218" ox="true" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When the judges started briefing on the solution, I was all too happy to realise how close our recommendations were to the real solution. I was confident that we had done better than many others, if not all. Then came the feedback session and there we got to know we definitely were not the best. I lost hope... we have not won any prize I thought. And then came the final winners announcements and what do I hear... Runners Up... Cranfield!!! Wow!!! I know being first would have been much much better but then... I consider this no less. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The journey has been a learning exerience and each and every stage of the process is a memorable one. These memories from the Cranfield MBA will stay with me forever! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well done 4x4!!!!</span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-42745226190672262702011-08-03T22:36:00.000-04:002014-09-03T12:43:08.892-04:00First snowfall experience!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">27th November 2010...my first encounter with snowfall. woooo hoooo...!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I hate early mornings yet I could not avoid it on 27th Nov 2010 to wake up at 6 am since I had TO take a bus at 7 am to travel to Oxford for attending EMERGE (a conference on social entrepreneurship). I dragged myself out of bed and forced myself to get ready. Finally, I stepped out of my place at 6.50 am and as I stepped out of the building little snowflakes wished me good morning! It was still dark, the entire pathway was covered with snow and glowed in the light of the bulbs. The scene looked lovely! I felt the snowflakes on my face... that was an experience! I loved the view. I suddenly realised I was cold and so I rushed to the bus. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We moved at 7.10 am and then may 3/4 miles away from Cranfield, the bus broke down in the middle of nowhere. If Cranfield is in the middle of nowhere, thiS was even worse!! Someone played with the idea of walking back to the University and I shivered with the thought of walking back while it was still snowing. Thankfully, the driver arranged fr another bus to come and pick us up and while waiting we enjoyed the scenery outside. The snow covered fields looked beautiful. I was thrilled with the view and the idea of having experienced the first snowfall! Wonderful!! Loved it. Though I know, this would not be the last snowfall I see in UK, the first one will always have its charm!! :)</span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651371072774653614.post-83441506764775951902011-07-31T06:33:00.000-04:002014-09-03T12:44:30.479-04:00End of Term One!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Exams just got over...what a relief! Not sure how I will do in the last exam, I finished a 2-hour SDS exam in a little over an hour. Now I am confused whether the questions were too easy that I could answer quickly or were they so difficult that I did not know anything about them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-GB">Anyways, exams over means party time and what better way to start a party than stepping out of the examination hall and be greeted by snow? The watery snowflakes (yes, they were very watery... the melted the moment they fell) felt nice despite the cold. Almost the whole batch gathered at the Social club...people discussed the vacation plans and bid goodbyes to the ones who were not attending the MBA Christmas party later in the evening. After a while, we moved on to get ready for the MBA Christmas party. I thought of taking a nap before getting ready but alas that wasn’t in store. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-char-type: symbol; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">L</span></span><span lang="EN-GB"> I had not realised that my room was such a mess during the exams! Well, a bit of cleaning up at the room, talking at home and general surfing took my time and then I had to rush to get ready. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The party was good...the food was ok... but the company was great. The whole cohort enjoying themselves and sharing stories about their experiences in term one. Oohh la la... finally term one is over and strangely none of us realised it was that long! Isn’t it strange that I have been here for about four months and it seems like ages but I feel that the term went by really quickly without giving a moment to even blink the eye!! </span></div>
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Prachihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12039278278695796628noreply@blogger.com0