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

My aravali express ticket was waitlisted at WL1 even at 6 pm yesterday. So, I decided to do the fun thing and cancelled the railway ticket instead of the airline ticket :P (i had already made up my mind to fly to Bombay anyway. This just made it a guilt-free trip.) But I really like flying to Bombay when I don't have a connecting flight to mangalore. I get down at 8 and I take a cab to lower parel. I am as clean in Bombay as I am at home. And, I get to load up on a morning homey breakfast too. It is like I am going to work from Baroda. Imagine if I had a 1.5 lakhs per month salary. I will definitely fly home every weekend. On second thoughts, may be not. I love trains too. Anyway. I think my hormonal cycle is at its happy-high point. Because I am not all teary eyed despite spending so many hours per day at offside. Who knows, I might even get used to champa miss precious some day because I get to be with him, see him, talk to him, brainstorm with him, be friends with him. Okie, flight take off. More later.

I am in Baroda. And, boy, is it fun! :)

I have a whale of my time with my mommy and daddy! I just wish my dad were a little more sensible when it came to his career! Otherwise,  they're fun to spend time with, hang out with, share my L'Oreal fun with, share everything with! Obviously, they are  my parents and I HAVE to like them! But, I genuinely like them! They're cute, they're ALWAYS there, they are proud of me, they love me, they are one of my TOP people! I REEEEALLLLY wish my dad and his job issues didn't exist, because then, life will be less weighty, less scary, less on the tenterhooks wondering about all the calamities that can befall us at any given point in time! He is very good at regretting things but not as willing to or clear about changing things. Sigh.

Moving on. I met my darling babies. Dear god, I love them. I love them with my  whole heart. They are as good as my family. And, we laugh so very much. We get stomach cramps too! Let's all talk about stomach cramps today! :P Did I mention that I love them? :D Shru brought us gifts from Goa. Cute little ceramic bangdis that became props for pics as Facebook will surely display :P I love our conversations and how we debate things we don't even remember past a few minutes. I love our MEN! Our awesome new MEN! Bataka, Rajooo and Mitesh were always around - but then men who we have fallen / will fall in love with and who we have married / will  marry - I think they are COOL. Here's why! When we posed with the bangles for pics, they were complete sports and posed with the bangles too! And some people will call me shallow because this is a very small thing, but to me it meant a great deal. It showed me how they are simple, how they are non-pretentious, how they genuinely like us, how they want to get to know us, how they want to spend time with us and participate in our craziness! I also love how our two newly married girls bring them along any time that we meet, because they are part of us, too! And I love how they come - because they have all the freedom in the world to refuse - but still, they come! I love all of this - the new dyamics, the obvious and very real closeness, and the incredible warmth of laughter and shared friendship that only these special people can infuse into my world. Thank god for BBA and Convent. Thank god for LOVE.

And, Discount District. I have remodeled it. My current company helped me do it. It is a virtuous circle. And HE likes it. He is as much on fire with the new ideas as I am. We make such a good team. Damn him! Ha ha. This is how I shall always speak about him. As of now, I have made peace with the fact that he shall always be around, no matter how much I try to run away from all that is him, because he is DD and I am DD and DD is something we both won't give up because we want to do it for each other for various reasons.At least until the little snitch Miss Precious comes back from her UK soiree.

:) Baroda rocks.

Dear Colossally Confused Idiot

Why do you look at me when I turn around to look at some thing else? Why are you so darned curious about everything when you always realise I want to reveal nothing? Why do you want to explain when I don't want to hear what you have to say? Why do you always forget what you have told me and then pretend to have never said it? Why do you want to KNOW? Why did you follow me outside?!! Why can't I concentrate on what you are saying because I am too busy trying to quell my "thoughts"? Why are you such an asshole? Why do I still like you? Why do I always end up seeing beyond your asshole-panti to all that is SO GOOD about you!  Why do I not look beyond you to people who are ready to shower all the things I want from you on me? Why do I LOVE brainstorming with you! Why do I feel totally alive when I am with you!!! And WHY do I want to HELP you??!!! Arrrghhhh!!!

Love
My Silly Loser Brain.

P.S. I love everything about you more than your dumb Miss Precious with her wannabe pics can EVER like you! And I GET you more than she ever will!

P.S.2. One game of tennis and you have stomach cramps??!! Ha! Old man you have become! I'd have kept you young! :P Pooah Miss Precious and her tennis-playing stomach-cramping boyfriend! May they talk about her PMS and his tennis-induced cramps together! FUCK YOU BOTH.