LPD

I work in L'Oreal Luxe! Or LPD, as we call it - the Luxury Products Division. What is great about LPD is that it is made up of genuinely-nice, warm, sweet people. My guide ROCKS. She is a delight to work with. She is clear, uncomplicated, open, fun, she shares it all like I do, she is really really great. I LIKE her! And my guide's boss is gay :D :D It is fun to observe his eccentricities. He says "retarded" like it is a norm. He IS luxury. His ideal vacation is a garden-restaurant in France with good food and wine. :P Ah, well. Okay. No problem. Can work with him, regardless. Because he is not pretentious. He is not an exploiter when it comes to work. And, this is what matters.

And, then there are the other brands in Luxury. I love Ruchi, who heads YSL. She and I get along well. I am sure she is not fun to work with, because she is kind of dumb. She doesn't even know vlookup on Excel. But, she is sweet and unpretentious too. And, there is our financial controller - Ayesha. I adore her! She is SMART. She is an experimenter. She is pretty. She is a Gujju :D And, I guess I needn't say more :D

 And, then, there is my favourite duo - Carton and Vikram. Carlton is the product manager for the perfumes - Diesel, Ralph Lauren and Armani. Vikram is the Assistant PM. Carlton is a good boss and I can see it from how he and Vikram work together. They get things done in a snap. I like that.

And, Vikram! :D :D What do I say! He is FUNNN!!! On Valentine's Day, we got little red lollipop-chocolates from the company. I was busy hogging those chocolates. Vikram wasn't going to have his, so he gave me his lollipop. That got the others talking and teasing, haha. And, then, he comes to me and says, "Beg borrow steal, but I have a craving for them, and I want them!" :D hahaha!! So, I searched for one and went up to him with it. That's when there was an uproar about the whole thing hahah!! But, because I don't like Vikram, I just really like him, what slipped out of my tongue was this: "Vikram is like my father!" Hahhaahahaha!!!! That's when he got indignant :D :D And, since then, I have been running all around him calling him Daddy. Hahah! But we have fun. He sits right next to Josh - our designer - with whom I have a lot of work. He is very possessive about his desk. So, we end up erecting invisible walls and taking over chargers (did I mention he also has the same HTC as I? And he is the first person who I really like who is not visible to me on Facebook. I am sure he has an account. He will be those Abhjt Arra types who omit vowels for anonymity. :P :D But, Vikram-fun I will miss when I move out of LPD!

Exercise

I MUST EXERCISE. If there were a scientific method to measure age based on the status of one's body, I'd be 60 years I am sure. I must mustg must go for a walk every morning. Beginning tomorrow. I am reaching Bombay at 5. Will reach my place by 5:20. Will clean up, have tea and then head out to the sea-face! Yes!!! :D :D I live just a couple of minutes from the Worli sea-face!!!! YAYYYYYY!!!! I am paying through my nose. But, honestly, I think, it is okay. It gives me time to sleep. To wake up at about 7 in the morning. To take bath at about 8. And to go to work within 7 minutes of a cab-ride. I like, I like. Even if it is for a month. This not knowing can sometimes irk you, but it also keeps the excitement alive. It makes you want to put in those long hours. It makes you think of Singapore and the ASEAN project with a whole lot of interest If I am going to Singapore, I am definitely going to quit DD formally and have NOTHING interfere with the 3 months there. I am not going to read emails from the past and reminisce about could-have-been's. I am going to be free.

Bored as a Hat in the Middle of Antarctica

So, yeah, when I am bored, I think of all these weird analogies. But, yes, somehow when I am in Baroda and when my friends are all bijji, I wonder why I came to Baroda for the weekend in the first place :P Cafe Zoey, Zodiac Grill, Salt Water Grill, Vie, The Comedy Store, NCPA, Prithvi and practically 48 hours of mad fun sacrificed! :P I wish I could hire somebody to play my boyfriend for the time I was in Baroda - so that I can satiate my appetite for long drives in the middle of the night. When people say Baroda is dead, I now understand what they mean. When we work as hard as we do, we have been told by Subbu and Symbi that we MUST MUST MUST play as hard too. And, I would love to go out, DO something! But, what do I do is the question in Baroda :P First, my friends all disappear or cancel at the last minute and Offside's no longer the option. I like that place because it has can make me sit there for hours. But, I have made up my mind and it is best I stick with it. So that leaves shopping and Barista. But that I can even do in Bombay. So, what's the point :P Sigh. All I ask for is a spirit of adventure. No sitting at home and whiling away time. This is what happens when you get used to fun weekend night-outs!

Shah Rukh Khan

One of the perks of working in L'Oreal is that we get to do some uber-glamourous things - like rub shoulders with SRK! :D I visited the Colours Screen Awards and watched the entire show from start to finish. Went with Pavitra and boy, are we happy about it! It was FAB FAB FAB to be at the same venue as Ranbir, Deepika, PC, Shahid Kapoor and the lot. I am not a huge Bollywood fan but I AM an SRK fan and he completely stole the show. He is the best host for such events - he livens up the entire event with his silly jokes, his funny mannerisms, his sly digs at people the industry as a whole has taken a dislike to... he defines COOL for me... But, then, I also work in an industry that is very close to celebrities and fashion. And it is disconcerting to hear gossipy stories of people like SRK, who we think are super-cool. Case in point: When SRK's hairstylist - whose boyfriend works with Lancome - suddenly started talking about how everyone makes out with everyone - SRK-PC, SRK-KJ, Gauri-the whole world and what not! :-O I was sad. The Fall of the people on Pedestals all over again! Haha! So, PC's agent is one damn funny gal. Or guy. I forget her name. But she is one crazy female. All boyish. Wearing a tilted cap. And talks and walks like a "bhai". We had to give her a goodie-bag. So, the Garnier trainess put in some Maybelline and some LP. And, then suddenly, there was a commotion... "Haw! For PC's agent???" Little did we know her... or him... haha! What I love about all this is the utter newness! It is another world! What they said about Marketing being glamourous is so very true! It is. I might be doing mere execution, but it is still worth it to be so close to decision-making, to be so close to influencers. I want to be with Kiehl's! Pleeeeej!!! :D