My Best Friend Lily

There were lot of mistakes I made while building new relationships. Having a lonely friendless childhood made me extra sensitive towards letting  go of anything. I enjoyed being a victim to this trait of mine.

When in school I had my 1st best friend. Who left me to be with someone more popular. After days of him ignoring me I finally managed to get of hold him and I remember, I cried more than I talked.
Well, I cried because I did not have many friend and losing the only friend was devastating. I was not too good at studies either. To top it I was a bullied kid at school.
Facial hair and ever increasing weight lowered my self confidence. Dancing is what kept me occupied as it got me atleast some appreciation from others at school. But the bullying continued.
As planned I lost a few kilos before my high school. I think I looked better and my confidence level was good enough to atleast walk through the school crowd.

It was 11th grade when I met Lily ( name changed ). She was everything I needed. This might sound a bit shallow but I wanted to be her friend to show her off to everyone in school. She was pretty and a well mannered girl and her US accent was exactly what would have gotten me attention from others if we started hanging out. But after a  few months we turned out become best friends. We were inseparable.
I got through as a Flight Attendant at the age of 18. She was still pursuing her graduation. I joined airline because I knew I again did not fit a typical college setting.
Flying got me new friends. I loved how I could choose to have more BEST FRIENDS.
A childhood dream of having many friends around made Lily and me a bit distanced. I grew closer to other friends. I had a new best friend - Ramanika ( name changed, u can still rhyme it with the real : P). Lily took a back seat. Our friendship started to fade and I did not care.
Lily moved on because I did. She had a new best friend too - Megha.

After years of being loyal to Ramanika I realized it broke over a silly misunderstanding and a big ego clash. I tried going back and apologizing. I beg and cried. But she turned out to be the sweetest girl with the biggest ego I had ever come across. I wish she chose friendship over ego. But she had made up her mind to leave.

Lily works in Canada now. Yesterday while talking to her on Skype I realized how de-stressed I felt. It was almost she sucked all the worry from my system. She always knew how to. It's just that I took time to understand.

Many questions in life are  answered at the very beginning. But a crazy and young mind needs to explore other options only to come back from where it had started only to value it more. So I searched the whole world and found out that the answer was Lily. And the question was - Will I ever have a soul mate??
We all run to find the most good looking pair of shoes.But at the end settle for the one that fits us comfortably . Right ?


Well, today I don't have single friend on facebook blocked or deleted. I leave no opportunity to reconnect with old friends and even the ones who gave me a tough time. Its just one life to live, and I want to live it beautifully. 

Fashion can be purchased at Zara, style can't be.

Sunday when I left home I hardly knew it was, 1stly, Sunday and to make matters worse sale season.
Palladium was flooded with people.

I dislike shopping. One quick walk and if I don't like anything I leave.
I was at Zara too and tried walking through as fast as I can. But I couldn't. The rush was insane.
More than clothes I checked out people around. There were different size people of all age and from different sections of the society. What united them all was the illusion of a BIG brand ( in Mumbai ) Zara and a positive thought that clothes make a Man. Wrong.
They all looked fashion conscious. If not fashionable. I shall not mention class and style quotient in them. Somehow it didn't come across hence this blog.
As I looked at men around in the Zara Men section I realized they all had dressed up to shop ( at a sale ). I saw how everyone wanted to pick the best irrespective of their body type. Level of fashion in clothes should match the level of fashion in you. Its an EPIC fail when fashion level of the clothe is more than you personal level of fashion. Most Fashion conscious men mimic fashion straight from a fashion magazine or movies. We Indians don't have a very fab body to flaunt these clothes. Iam just being very honest about it. But we certainly do a good job with Indian wear. Why ? Because we are confident in wearing that. We understand the style, silhouette, cut and fabric. But we don't understand western clothes as good. And Indian men are further away from understanding the nitty gritty uber fashion.
Every guy present there had dressed to kill. Dressed up shop ? Really. They were party ready. Tight pant, a half sleeves printed tee, loafer and nicely trimmed hair to mention few. 10 on 10 for the effort to look up market and fashionable. But they all failed.

Some men dress well. Its mostly those who think fashion is for women and play safe. But this sounds boring to some. And enters the modern fashionable man. These men try stealing fashion from all the possible sources. This might work but only when these efforts don't come across as effort. But some men fail like I said before because the outfit never looks part of them. ofcourse because your wardrobe has very few of these kind which they wear for special times like... Shopping. They certainly were trying to impress people around with their clothes, shoes and watches screaming- Iam Fashinable. Look at me.
Men should always keep their fashion quotient high, no doubt. But lazy weekend occupations like shopping should not have flashy dress code. Unless you college student or aspiring model.
Being careful while choosing your outfit is the key word. Making your most expensive outfit look eased out on your body serves the mantra. I won't specify colour but nothing that is gaudy or blingy works for men, esp. on lazy weekends. Avoid tight fiiting clothes if you don't have the best physic. It should be just the right fit. Not to tight not too loose.

We all might not have a perfect body but there are certainly atleast one type of clothe that suits us. Wear that. Find variations in that. Look for different pattern in that. A different fabric. A different colour.
Always compensate. If a thing on your body is bright wear a light thing to go with it, Tight then another thing loose, if your pant is too much printed or has too much texture choose sober tee. Compensate. You don't want to look like you are going for audition in Andheri West. Right ?
Fashion is so readily available today. So you can have a perfect tee, pants, shoes but then that would be perfect piece chosen which necessary doesn't mean it would look good on you. All good expensive things put together but still not good enough. Why ? The answer is as simple. Fashion can be acquired but style is innate.
When buying an outfit think. Being true to oneself is the key word. Get inspired from around and from within when choosing your outfit. Understand your background and your personality. Your choice of clothe should not be the one that's affected by the awesome looking clothe on the mannequin. It should be something that enhances your appearance and avoids making you look frivolous.

Stay true to what suits you and what you can justify. Look for you in a outfit and  PLEASE  stop crowding at malls. =) 

My Grey Zara Bermuda

That Zara Bermuda =I

My friend sent a Zara link to me and asked me to check if it might interest me. Ofcourse Zara does interest me. They make clothes for me. And are cheaper as compared to the way they look. So why not !

My 1st Zara was ever was a Carbon Black Semi Formal Jacket. Its looked so sexy. I paid 4500rs for it. And I felt it was way cheaper than anything I would have gotten around Mumbai. It was Zara for god sake is what I thought at that point. Now don't judge me on this. Iam a poor fellow from a developing country without a steady job. Please consider ! =(
Well two wash and Zara gives way. Damn ! Now may be I realize why cheaper. lol. The Jacket still rocks my Wardrobe but this grey Bermudas that I got them made me sad . I guess they expected a more rich customer to have picked it up who dry cleans alsways. So when I put it in the washing machine after the 1st use the stitch from one side of the leg came off. I was left with  no option but to throw it in archives section of my wardrobe. But it was  until my Dad came back from his vacation and stitched it for me. Wallah. As good as new. And I didn't have to pay him. Priceless. Difference between Love and Business. Right ?
When Zara quotes a price to a piece of clothe it seems unreasonable. I swear I want that fashion but I hate it when after two washes Zara starts to look old. And swear more than money part who would want to keep giving their everyday clothe to Dry Clean.. not me. Iam kind of not interested in stopping by at a Dry Cleaners place.
A few days back a friend of mine was to go to Milan. He asked me if he could buy me something from there. May be something for Zara. How does he know my choice 0_o. 1stly what I got to know from the offer by this friend was that Sales are common at this time of the year all over the world. And 2nd discovering, clothes are cheaper abroad. Almost a 1000rs less.
From 2006 to 2010 I got my clothes from London. It was for the same simple reason that the clothes we cheaper there. Same with I phones. Hai na ?
For the size of my pocket I suppose Zara fits just right. Its in sync with my choice of colour and cuts too. Check my wardrobe and its filled with all grey. And the toned down colours of Zara Men work for me. But the quality offered can be better.

Info -
Zara in Mumbai was inaugurated by Kareena Kapoor ( irrelevant right ? )

Zara outlets in Mumbai-

1- Palladium, Parel.

2- Infiniti, Malad.

Price-

Expensive to Moderate

Quality-

Passable 

Collection-

Ooh La La  

Could Have Been Worse

Bungalow we stayed at

I rushed to the Bungalow and shut the bathroom door. With the clothes on I put the shower on. As the thin and dead force of water from shower ran down my face I looked in the mirror in disbelieve. I didn't believe I was alive. I looked at my face in the mirror. It looked like a separate body, full of human feature but without soul. I left a piece of me at that lake.
On Holi 2010 when me and my other three friends planned a time away from family and friend turned out to be the most dreaded day of our life.
I was tired so I chose to take pictures and record video of my other three friends playing in the lake. As I watched Hanika through the lens I shouted and admired the cute expression on her face. But then she vanished. So did Amit. He was trying hard to communicate from inside the water. He certainly looked harrowed. Within a split second I had Sooh shouting at them with fear in her voice and pleading them to stop acting and put an end to it. But it was far from what I took time to realize. They were drowning !
My knees felt weightless. All of a sudden my body felt so warm from inside with tremble in my posture. I sat down on the shore. I could see Hanika and Amit drowning and I could hear Sooh shouting for help. And I had lost the ability to speak or shout.

That Kalmuha lake

I crawled towards the water in hope of extending help. But they were far from my reach. As I tried harder I fell right in the lake, the deep part of the lake. The shallow shore was no more under my feet. Soon I was being pulled in the deep still lake. Our only savior was panic stricken frail Sooh. As she approached us she got pulled too. So four of us, all in the isolated lake of Kamsheth, drowning.

This lake was covered with only mountains and a slight glimpse of our Bungalow. As we struggled for our lives trying hard with every possible force to stay afloat it all seemed futile. We were all drowning and it was a reality. Matter of minutes the scene had changed. The smiles were gone and the expression  on our face suggested - Death.
I kept looking at the quickly disappearing world. It almost felt like the curtains were closing on me. The movie was over. I looked all around. It was so quite and peaceful. I didn't see a single leaves move or a bird fly by. My whole life story was in-front of my eyes. From the time I remember my life till this day when I was drowning. I also saw the expression on our parents faces when they would see their childrens bloated dead bodies. I saw our room in the Bungalow being inspected by the police. I saw so much in the that short span of time. I told myself - this is it Navin. U were suppose to die drowning. This is how it was planned for you. 

I looked behind Hanika was already far away being pulled further inside. She was the one who was struggling the longest. Soon Amit vanished too. It was Sooh and me struggling harder to live.

Morning. Before hanika arrived

As we all sat in the car that evening to go back home from Kamsheth to Mumbai we all looked out of the car. I remember looking to the furthest my eyes could see. We joked, we cried. But the best part we were talking. It was in all sense an accident. We are matured and responsible individual to be quoted as being frivolous for what had happened to us that afternoon. The incident kept flashing infront of me. While struggling in the water I realized we all certainly panic stricken. Despite being a trained swimmer and having learnt buddy swimming back in 2005 I never knew I would have actually required it one day. A numb mind thought swimming was the last option to save my life. Glad I realized I could swim. As I started swimming towards the shore Sooh held my right shoulder. I put my hand in the water to look for Amits. His hand still extending upwards from inside the brown coloured water expecting for a miracle to happen. I blindly looked for his hand inside water and got hold of him. Every stroke towards the water were harder for life. 

When I finally felt the land underneath my foot I screamed - Breath guys. We are saved.

At the shore

Hanika says that really pulled her out of the shock. They all sat on the shore and I rushed to the Bungalow. I did not want to waste a single second close to the bloody lake.

Four of us look back at that time and smile. We all have tackled it in our different ways. This certainly is a 2nd lease of life.  I have shared this experience with close friends and family. And my friends certainly know how to lighten it up for me. We always laugh on how Hanika still believes that God pulled her out from the water. Poor Amit never gets his due. haha. Jokes apart this incident certainly thought me to value life better and cherish these rest three morons more. Hence even when I would be on the biggest ego trip I would choose my friendship with them over anything.



Cheers to life !!!

NOM NOM

Situated in the busy suburb of Andheri, on the Juhu-Versova Link Road, one might miss Nom Nom quite easily, unless one is specifically looking for it.  NOM NOM made for a most wonderful memory. It didn't need reservations neither we had to wait for our turn to enter, because of it being fairly new and a hidden location. We entered and are so glad that we did. The atmosphere is cool, with  wooden and partly cushioned wall and eclectic decor. There is not too many tables hence you can have a very very cozy and private time. It is difficult to describe all the great flavors of everything we had, so I will post some pics to drool over. The service was almost perfect, minus when the waiter didn't understand my order and got me Pepsi ( ignoreable ). The good food made up for that service glitch, though. This is a must place to dine when in 7 Bungalow. The small area certainly gives it a thumbs up, the staff is sweet always trying to impress and the soft lighting added to this great experience. A good place to go on a date maybe. Though the downfall could be the expensive food. But again the experience can make up for it. For me, I hope to dine at Nom Nom again soon.

..Food ordered -

..Chicken Salad ( a must try ) - 180rs
..Veg. sushi - 400rs

..Wasabi Water Chest Nuts - Don't remember       

..Saki Beer

Chicken salad

veg. sushi

Wasabi Waterchest Nuts

Timings: 

7:00 PM to 1:00 AM

Food Type: 

South East Asian

Price: 

 Expensive

Features: 

Large Group Friendly, Notable Beer List, Notable Wine List

Ambiance: 

Fine Dining

I was an Angry Bird & I hated flying

Yesterday while walking through a busy road I met an ex-colleague of mine. He was on his bike. We chatted until the signal lasted. The conversation was the usual what I always get from everyone. He asked if I enjoyed modelling better than flying. It was a tough comparison to make and I was dumb found. I had more expressions than word. I swear I couldn't crib anymore about flying as a career.
Sometimes when I look back at my time in the airline and chat with colleagues on Facebook I find it to be a cool place where I used to work. But I think deeper into it and I take a high jump out of the whole thought process. It was certainly a tough job keeping in mind that we all were literally in our teens when recruited. It certainly got worse when I met other with like mindedness and Bollywood dreams. Well, I was one of them. So I happily quit to become Shahrukh Khan of the NextGen. Iam seriously kidding about the SRK part. =I
What I miss about flying is not flying. I think I miss a job and not flying. Having a job that gets you a constant salary is what I miss but not flying. Swear the salary didn't do justice to what I thought of myself then. But then it kept coming in. Right !
Here I might do one assignment for a big brand and I get paid as much. But then I miss having a hectic life. No I swear flying kept me busy. But its not the flying that I miss. Again I resurrect its the no-time-on-hand I miss.
Your job is certainly you. Everything about you comes from your job. That pride in your walk, the way you talk to a waiter at a restaurant, the way you look at a stranger, the way you take out your credit/debit card, it all comes to you from your job. I've lost a bit of that pride u see. Your job is you. Its make 80% of who you are.
Today I wouldn't want to go back to flying. Because for me it still sucks. Its certainly a job I chose when I was 18years old. At 24 I feel I have more talent to return to the industry.
I'am glad its no more a set life. I wait for a bus for almost an hour but I won't take a rick. Seeing the real life seems more beautiful. Not having a job has made me more real. And certainly has helped me have more character to myself. I see my personality talking for me not my expensive gadget or material. I feel real and actually 2012. This is the real shit.
I think it's things when gone are missed the most. My job got me enough satisfaction ( the societal  satisfaction I guess ). Missing the job part is certainly what I'am sharing. But then I'am again scared for people to jump to conclusion that I might be regretting leaving flying.


I don't miss flying. I miss having a job. I miss being oh so busy. 

So next time when I meet an ex-colleague who asks me if I miss flying. I will certainly talk all good about it. But that I want you to know is my love for what made me. Something that contributed majorly in my life.
So I won't compare.

Just dress up both the ugly ducklings when speaking to others. And beat the hell of out each one of them when depressed. 

Bitch Please !

Today is kind of a weak day. I mean letting people affect me is been the oldest problem I've faced. No ! I've hardly made any attempts to overcome it. Iam hyper and Iam sensitive. This is what I hear from people about me so I share again the same from my mouth. See I told u I don't see it. But may be the ones who think this way have affected me to say it. Need a solution to this. Like right now !!!
I sit with my tea and Good-day biscuit. I don't care right now the amount of sugar the biscuit holds. When Iam down and low nothing matters. I dont mind seeing the weighing scale going up tomorrow. Because right now Iam in clutch of the moment.
I've always been a victim to my own self. I give a lot being a good friend or to people I've LOVED. And then expect back too. Only to love them so much more. 
I had this friend who I gave another chance. But like its already said by someone clever  - It was like giving the person an extra bullet because the bullet missed me the 1st time. Well to be honest I've warned about this friend since almost 6 years we've known each other. But then again, because I had read somewhere when I was young - Love unconditionally, because its the only way to live fully. So I love 100% and hate 200%. haha. That's screwed up. Right ? No.
There are moments when I want people who took advantage of me to give back all that I had offered them in kind. But in cash. How insane I might sound here.But what a good way to settle the hurt. The Hurt Game sounds better. I suppose more dramatic. Like me. 
As the God wanted me to know about the lie of this friend I was sent to a floor above of the building where I hadn't really ventured in past few weeks. So yeah ! As I spoke to this other person I was surprised by the story he had to share. This was completely unplanned atleast from my side. I was told that this ''supposed'' very good friend of mine had come to the city. And did not tell us or rather me. X ( that friend ) was here for an audition and gave a very bad shot. X failed to even emote. How sad is that. I say it was the Karma that froze Xs face in-front of the camera. haha.
Well why hide the visit from me. But the crime was committed. The damage was done , yet again. Our friendship has been full of lie but then I let go. But for all the 2nd chances, the hurt, the breach of trust it was time again. I sure wasn't in for such a rude behavior yet again. When I heard about the story I laughed. I just kept quite and listened to the entire tale. Though towards the end it did feel this story teller was being vengeful on X. lolMAX
Its sad that how people don't realize the worth of real people and keep lying. They base their relationships on lie. May be someone must have hurt you in past but that is no reason to pick up the same bad stuff and treat others in your life. Somehow with no offence but I see this behaviors a lot in people from small town or village. But then generalizing all for one is not right.
I've loved people pure and I know it comes back to me. For breaching the trust of a true friend is the biggest sin u can commit. So X lost the found again trust &  respect.And I will make sure I get all that I gave back. Don't ask me my game plans please... =) But not in cash here.
Because X doesn't make enough money. As X didn't pay for the drinks at the meeting with casting director. So I was told the casting director is never gonna approach X again for being so stingy.  They found this friend rude and sly.
Aah ! that resonates my opinion about my dear old friend. No work for X from those guys.. hmm... is Karma already acting ???
haha...