Experiences and Stories '2018

The year's had several singularly fulfilling experiences, each with it's own stories and narratives......

1. Paint and wine evening at home with Diksha : 

This evening, last Jan was about painting and emotions. It was so deeply touching and wonderful..... and seemingly so easy to do, that I thought we could do it more often....but it somehow never happened again. All the more reason to cherish it.

2. Experiencing a Super Blue Blood Total Lunar Eclipse

A once in 150 years event, and it was like super bonus for me, as I had no inkling of it, and it was a chance occurrence that a friend happened to tell just as it was starting, and I could walk out onto my terrace to witness a spectacular viewing. And this eclipse told me a story that resonated real deep.

     

3. SELCO Again

Just to be back with SELCO again.....it was a two month consultancy project and so fascinating and so SELCO. The project involved interviewing thirty social entrepreneurs across the country from the perspective of Impact Investment, and analyzing and presenting the data at a global social forum. Also involved two trips to Bangalore which I missed including in my travel recap.

4. Mom's Innovative Idea

This deserves mention by virtue of it's continuing impact at home. A weekly one hour help with cleaning of what doesn't get cleaned on daily basis. And it's worked so brilliantly. I simply love it, and so does Faizan. It's a win win see.

5. The Charminar Food walk with Navin and Dhruv

What Navin started with us, is now a full fledged registered enterprise called 'The Hyderabad Walking Company'. This was one of the most fun 'being guinea pigs' experience I've had. Ambience was Charminar at night, food ranged across paaya, tandoori roti, shammi kebab, masala fish, falooda, kesar chai and osmania biscuit, Navin with his knowledge of the quaint lanes and stories about the place....very nice.

   

6. The Bamboo walk at Cubbon Park with Swaroop

This visit to Bangalore Swaroop came up with this irresistable suggestion of breakfast at Airlines ( a childhood favourite of ours) and a walk at Cubbon park....the Bamboo grove, was a fascinating surprise. 

    

7. A Talk on Counselling at a Corporate in Hyd

For all my love of talking and writing, I am not so comfortable with public speaking, I have crazy stage fright......so to actually have done a talk for 2500 people, was one massive explosive experience for me. That it was about Counselling is the one factor that motivated me there.

8. Ashutosh's visit, creating two days of nostalgia

A two days that took us back twenty five years, to my early stint with IDBI. Ashutosh visited from Mumbai with this exclusive purpose, and ensured Lan and I set aside two days for him. Starting the day with a visit to our old IDBI office itself, and pretty much on the road visiting old haunts rest of the two days. Very nostalgic indeed.

9. An early morning drive with Diksha

One of those totally spontaneous moments when Diksha's like "I'm in a long drive mood, want to come?" and we went on this real long drive. This was a break at Gandipet.

11. The gut level experience of watching a volcano in action

While this was part of the travel, as an experience I don't think there have many been many, if any, experience which got felt at such gut level. There's something at one time so powerful there, that it makes it almost surreal.

12. Double Rainbow from home

A rainbow by itself is one of my favouritest sights. The only double rainbow I'd seen my whole life was in Phoenix, Arizona; so to see one now from home...it was a wow.

13. Bryan Adams Concert

Bryan Adams has been part of growing up years..... and continues to be on my current play list. So to experience him in concert for real was exhilarating

14. A Smile Foundation Moment - Visiting Sukrutha

While I'm calling it a Smile Foundation moment, it runs deeper; Sukrutha being named after my mother, her education facilitated by Smile Foundation, and all this adding up to an absolute moment of celebration in her getting a job with ICICI. I went to visit her, actually more her mom, Kavita, as it was her dream come true. 

15. Writing exams after 30 years

Like I was telling a friend, this was actual hall ticket, pencil, scale kind of exams ( first year of a masters program in psychology). This comes on this list from sheer stretching of boundaries. The studying part, using those rusty memory cells, was so much tougher than I'd anticipated that I went through more than a few moments when I thought I'd drop it. 

While life does it's graph of ins and outs and ups and downs, these experiences do certainly stand out for me....fills me with a feeling of  glad and grateful .