Deepti's CARPE DIEM WORLD!!

Still February

2011-02-23T15:50:00.012-07:00

I think it is time for me to change my profile. It still says Boston, MA and it still says I am a student. I no longer am and no longer reside in Boston.

The month of February is almost over. The weather still looks Yuky!! Nothing exciting as of yet.

Went to see Mr. Deepak Chopra couple of weeks back at Kellogg Business School. It was an interesting talk indeed. I need to read his new book : The soul of Leadership. I have added that to my reading list. Last year I had attended the talk with Prasanna, however, this time he was in Boston so I went by myself.

My reading list right now.

1. Unleashing Nepal : Past, Present and Future of the Economy- Sujeev Shakya (very good read!! Gave me a good overview of our country Nepal)

2. Too Big to Fail : Andrew Sorkin ( Overview of the Financial crises. Talks about all the big financial firms including J.P. Morgan)

3. Chasing Goldman Sachs - Suzann Mcgee (Overview of rise and fall of Goldman Sachs)

4. Blink - Malcom Gladwell

5. Getting Unstuck - How Dead becomes New Path (Timothy Butler)

These are all he books that I am reading. Ah- I have finished Sujeev dai's Unleashing Nepal though. Blink- I am re-reading the book and trying to connect it with my own life.

I am back to the reading mode and enjoying every bit of it!!!!

February

2011-02-09T17:05:00.008-07:00

It is February!!! Already!!!!!!

I am going to be much disciplined in terms of writing this blog regularly, but it turns out I have not opted to do so. However, I will try to regularly do so going forward. That is all I can say.

February 1st.

Lot has happened since the beginning of this morning. To begin with- there was one of the worst blizzards in the history of Chicago that apparently fell on the same day as our 6th Wedding Anniversary. Excitingly I had purchased a Groupon ticket for a Romantic Swiss fondue at a restaurant called Gejas for that evening, which unfortunately, got cancelled - thanks to the GREAT blizzard. It indeed was some sort of a co-incidence as we had gotten married the day our ex king Gyanendra Bir Bikram had successfully taken a coup of our kingdom. Despite everyone getting nervous about the outcome, the groom, in this case- Mr. Dhungel had successfully made his way to my place without a slight problem. He was actually dancing which was a rare seen at Kathmandu as most grooms humbly sit inside the car. So the day of our marriage it was the coup d' etat and now on our 6th, the great blizzard.

So here we were on our 6th Anniversary, not being able to do anything. So we decided to have a dinner at the house. ( Pasta and Shrimp) No wine as I had an early morning work.

The blizzard day:

Alarm rings at 5:00. I usually wake up at 5:15am however, I had put a slight margin not sure what to expect the next morning as Weather emergency was already declared. I get out from my bed, look outside and see nothing but a dust of snow travelling everywhere. The street lamp was barely visible on the snow covered street. I check the schedule of the Metra ( the express train that is about 2 blocks away from my apartment) and there was nothing out of ordinary at the website. Phew! The Metra is running I thought. It actually takes me 20 min to get to downtown versus about 45 min if I take the regular train.

I hurriedly got ready and headed outside. Prasanna half asleep asked me if he needed to drop me off and I left saying, “it looks like the Metra is running."

Out I go and face myself with the fierce Blizzard. Since it was so early in the morning, the pavement was literraly covered with about 2 feet of snow. I struggled to walk towards the Metra Station covering my face that was pricked by the cold and forceful snow. Somehow I managed it.

Even though I had a big boot on (a Really big boot), it was hard walking on that snow. The resistance was hard.

I made it to the Metra, only to find out that was delayed by 2 hours. It was now 6:00am.

Shoot... I then walk towards the el (the regular train station. In Chicago, they call it el, like "L.") This was my plan B. Taking El meant, getting to work little bit late cause I was behind my regular routine. With the snow, I did not know what to expect. I called my work to let me colleagues know that I was going to be late.

At this point, I had literally given up walking on the pavement that was covered by 2 feet of snow. I started running on the middle of the road to make sure that I did not miss the train. Since the snow was soft, I was not too worried of falling down, even though, I somewhat had a phobia of falling down since that Boston incident. So in Boston, stupid me, I was running with my high heel of course, to catch the bus and boom... I land on the bridge that was covered by black ice. I fell so hard that I had to do 3 weeks worth of physical therapy. So with this on my mind, I was running, but carefully running to catch my train. And thank god! I did not Fall.

I manged to get to the station, and then had to wait another for 15 min. The road was empty, the train station was empty. It was still dark outside and the only thing you would see was the white snow covered street and the forceful sound of the wind blowing those snow away. Well at the end, I managed to get to work!!!! :) I go to work and the work is busy. Clients from NY calling... they have no idea how it is like here in Chicago most likely. I turn on the computer and another busy day begins!!!

On a side note- I did fell at the train station but it was nothing like the one in Boston. So to me, this was a win. I managed to get to work on the Blizzard day!

( the picture above is the picture of the lake shore drive. Before and after the blizzard)

Winter

2011-01-26T20:21:00.006-07:00

So this morning when I left for work I did not have to wear my regular cap and gloves. For some reason it felt awfully warm. I walk to the train station and saw most people without their hat. It must be warm today I thought. Then I get to downtown and start walking towards my work. The gust of find would give you an occasional chill feeling, but, yet, it was not as cold as last Friday. Then I look at the temperate at the Wacker building in downtown Chicago and it reads, 25F.

Wow, it was still below zero and I did not feel cold. In reality, it really wasn't brutally cold than what we had on Friday. On Friday, with the wind chill factor it was -35F. I had a big bulky jacket, thick Russian hat that literally covered my eyes, another big hat from the jacket, scarp wrapped around my face, the 3 layers of t-shirt, sweater and a fleece, yet, while walking 4 blocks to work in downtown, it felt like my nose and teeth were about to fall off. It was so so cold. Waiting for the train for 6 min seemed like an hour wait. I could not feel my face nor my covered hand.

Compared to that torture, this morning indeed was a pleasant one. A balmy 25F :)

Chicago Bears

2011-01-23T21:11:00.003-07:00

So Bears lost... Ugghhh..... Not a fun home game to watch especially when there was a little bit of a hope towards the end of the game. After our first touchdown, all the Chicago Bears fan were hopeful to have a tie, but nonetheless, Packers won 14 -7. We had to console ourselves with the thought that Bears were able to get a touchdown and a goal. Had there been one touchdown, then the game would have totally turned into a whole different direction. Oh' Well. Next time.

Almost about 6 years ago, we were in Boston when New England Patriots won the SuperBowl.

That is how our Sunday was today. We went to Evanston to watch the game at "Buffalo Wings," then after the game, we walked around the town and the went to the Hare Krishna Temple. The latter game would have been more interesting one to watch, but we decided to spend the evening in peace and serenity of God. It felt nice going back to our regular Sunday routine after almost two months.

All right, bed time.

2011

2011-01-23T09:02:00.001-07:00

Been a while since I have been in this blog world. I would like to come back and write. Write and share my thoughts like I used to. I have multiple excuses, however, at this point, I realize that I cannot complain anymore. If I want to write a blog, then I just have to do it and here I am.

It is the era of 2011. Lot has happened in 2010.. lots of memorable event indeed worth mentioning onto this blog world and I will do so in the coming weeks,months, days etc. Trip to Nepal, Wedding, Trip to Tokyo, Prasanna's graduation, Parents moving to Carbondale, IL, my new role at JP Morgan... to name a few.

Today is Sunday, my off day and I am enjoying this beautiful day with a cup of tea and a view of a snow covered ground outside my house. I had a day off yesterday as well. Considering the fact that I work one of the weekends, this was a big bonus to me having both the weekends off.

Quick Recap, we went to Pratigya di's house for Koyal - Pratigya di's daugther's 2 Birthday. Around 8:30pm, we headed to downtown to celebrate Shivam's Bday. Shivam and Deepika, they are both our friends from Kellogg. Shivam and Prasanna are both Class of 09. It was lot of Fun. We met our friends from Kellogg days and it was great to connect back.

Got back home around 1:45am and then headed to sleep.

Today we are planning to go Evanston do do some errands and then watch the Bears game. Bears Vs Packers. Not sure, what future holds, but totally going to root for the Bears!

Adieu!

Plain old blog

2010-04-07T12:45:00.002-07:00

So right when I thought the spring was here..... I decided to get sick. I sort of have a pattern of getting sick during climate's transition period ... usually winter to spring Or summer to winter.. Last year however, I had a sense of strong immune system primarily of my healthy diet and the exercising regime.. thanks to all the half and full marathons.

Well I have been sick for past couple of days now. Since Saturday to be exact. Sunday morning got up with 101 temperature, in the afternoon the temperature sky rocketed to 103.. and then in the evening 102.5. Today I feel lot better. My throat does not hurt as much and I have an appetite to eat. However, not having eaten properly for last 5 days I really feel weak so I have been resting. No work for last 3 days. Gargling and drinking lots of fluid with a hope of quick recovery!!! :)

All this is telling me to register for a run... This summer, I am not sure if I am going to do a Full marathon but definitely going for a half one... I wanted to do a triathlon but since it is only a month away.. I am not prepared for it. Maybe next time... :)

What else-- School is almost over for Prasanna. This is the last quarter.... Spring break is over... last year we were in Costa Rica :) this year, Prasanna was off to San Fran and I was in Chicago. The weather has been acting weird lately, so haven't been running outside at all. I did a 4 mile couple of weeks back and got back with a blisters. However, I need to start training for my 13.1 soon...

Reading wise, I have started reading.. " Die Trying" by Bo Parfet. It is about climbing the 7 summit of the world including Everest. So far, Bo has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and he is climbing Mt. Kosciusko in Argentina. Reading that books makes me wanna have a strong desire to climb.....If I ever get a chance, I would like to climb at least Mt. Kilimanjaro... and I think I can do it :)

" I will persist until I succeed. I was not delivered into this world to defeat, nor does failure come to my veins. I am not a sheep waiting to be prodded by my shepherd. I am a LION and I refuse to talk, to walk, to sleep with the sheep. The slaughterhouse of failure is not my density... I will persist until I succeed...." ----- Og Mandlion

I want this to be my Mantra for rest of my life!!!

Spring is here..

2010-03-12T11:29:00.002-07:00

Not much is going on except the radical change in the weather. It is 50 outside and to me it is like a summer... I am sweating!!! seriously, till last week it was freezing cold and all of a sudden it is the 50s week... yesterday was almost 60! Oh! my and this week is the daylight saving.. how exciting.. we gain back one hour and it is going to be longer.. maybe I can soon start running outside...

I have started hitting the gym again.... this past few days not much of running though.... doing cycling and elliptical.. not slowly try to hit the running regime...

What else... had a chance to listen to Promod Hauque yesterday. It was a great talk. Promod had graduated from Kellogg back in '83 and is now one of the top Venture Capitalist based out of Silicon Valley. His firm is called Norwest Venuture Patners. These type of talks are always so insightful as you are getting the first hand experience. Another such experience for me comes from The" Leadership" taught by former CEO of Baxter. I am bit sad..... I really am by the fact that the class is done. It was a great class. Getting perspective on the topic of leadership directly from a leader added a lot of value. There were lot of takeaways from the class. To me that strikes the most is to the Self Reflection part. I do believe it is very important to sit back and reflect on yourself. Take time out for yourself and reflect on your behavior, career actions and then prioritize. I know for fact that i have to work a lot to get these prioritize... but I have realized the importance of it.

" Most failures occur not because of complacency, but through overreacting. " This is a profound statement that each needs to put in mind if you want to want succeed by becoming a leader someday! Focus, Focus and Focus!

The Spring break at Kellogg starts next week...and 10 more weeks and then the school year for class of '10 will be done.

Weekend plan-- not much.. Pras has his exam.. I need to start clearing the closet and other stuff... Too much junk in the house!

March is here..

2010-03-01T21:49:00.002-07:00

March already... it already feels like semi Spring.. Weather was 30 today..which means 0 degree celcius.. which is sort of like Spring here.. The remaining snow from the snow storm still remains on the ground, yet, it is not that cold.

The wind is bit brutal, but aside from that nothing is unbearable.

It was HOLI on Sunday. We had a little holi celebration at McManus, the place where we live right now.. sort of MBA dorm. It was nice playing with colours. I have really good memories of Holi 2 years back with everyone back home. The only thing that was missing from the Holi was the balloon and the water...

I am slowly recovering, not completely recovered to hit the gym yet. And I can feel my body growing :) Hopefully, in a next couple of days I will be all set.

Work was fine.. busy, semi busy.. why is Citi' stock going down? And, Mail merging is a fun stuff :)

Toyoda san

2010-02-24T22:33:00.004-07:00

Back to work after couple of days of drowsiness. Weather wise - it was cold and gloomy and snowy everywhere. Followed the Congressional testimony of Fed. Chairman Ben Bernanke in the morning and in the afternoon it was the interrogation of Mr. Akio Toyoda of Toyota.

" I am deeply sorry for the accidents that people have suffered," Mr. Toyoda expressed. He also stressed on the part that the company's priority has always been " safety, quality, and volume"

Toyoda san, apart from an apology, stressed the company's determination to put safety as the highest qualities.

The interrogation was about 3-4 hours long.. It was still going on when I left the work. It was good listening to Mr. Toyoda's Japanese, as he spoke in Japanese throughout the interrogation. I sort of wondered why he had the interpreter. Nevertheless, it helped me refresh my Japanese. I felt nice that I could still understand the language after all these years.

For some reason, i felt the questionnaires or the way the questions were too harsh.. but i guess that is the JOB of those congressman. They grill you and grill you hard till the end...

Antibioticss

2010-02-22T13:13:00.002-07:00

Been Sick for last few days.. the antibiotic is making me feel drowsy and weak.. Could not go to work last week... and again today. Drinking lots of water and cranberry juice, yet, I do not feel good!!

This is the update :) nothing exciting really....

Too Big to Fail

2010-02-18T21:55:00.006-07:00

So I had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Andrew Sorkin, the author of " Too Big to Fail."

I have not been reading books lately, not reading at all I must admit. It was a whole different thing back in Boston. Truthfully speaking, I blame the train system here in Chicago.... Well... "why"- why the train system one could ask... The train system back in Boston was the subway system, where upon getting in the train you would have no choice but to either read the books,newspaper or to simply stare at the 'pitch' black tunnel outside the train window... until you reach the " Charles MGH" station.. where all of a sudden you are introduced to the.. I mean " THE" most scenic /panoramic view which truly encapsulates the beauty of the city. It is so so phenonemal! Charles river, the prudential tower, the dome.. ah... ! One of the bestest ( not really sure if there is a word called "bestest," if not, then I just created one ) views of Boston... I really enjoyed the 4 season everyone morning at this particular stop.....

Anyways, before I get off track again... the reason- why I do not or I should say-- why I am so less motivated to read during my 1 hour train ride from Evanston to Chicago is primarily because of the view as well. It is not much of a scenic route, except when you getting close towards the city.. ( as you can embrace the enriched architectural skyline) nonetheless, I find myself enjoying the view outside the window.. Sometimes, I look at the people, sometimes I look at a building and to top it off --my complements the view..

On the other hand, I, however, leave the apartment with two newspapers i) Wall Street and ii) The Financial Times (FT).. ... which usually ( I should bluntly say always) does not get opened until I get to my office at 9:00. I get to work, turn on my computer and then skim the newspaper.

For somereason, last week, I decided to open the FT and ended up reading an interview with the Adithya Mittal, the CFO of the Mittal Industries... The last question the interviewee was posed with was " What is the current book you are reading..."

" Too Big to Fail"-

This book had come out in July ish.. I had not heard about this.. So I note down the name, get to work, google the book, and do a quick read of the summary. It was bascially about the financial crises. It was also listed as the NY times best seller. It must be a good book i ponder.....

I get home and tell about this to Pras. The following week he sends me an email saying, Andrew Sorkin was going to be speaking at Kellogg's downtown campus. Wow... what a coincidence. I quickly put down on my calendar. Even though we had a semi blizzard that day, I decided to head to the downtown campus after work and get the opportunity to hear the story from the author himself...

Too Big to Fail-- is the book about the Financial Crisis. The fall of Lehman brothers and the subsequent government bailout. The book debut at No. 4 best sellers at NY times. Andrew is the financial columinst at NY times and has his blog in the NY times as well and is well known person in the financial arena.. He virtually had the chance to interveiw all the major players of the Wall Street and those involved in the finanical crises.

His talk was so interesting. It was sort of like a story telling. Since he had interviewed all the players, the whole talk was basically an anecdote of his interactions with different leaders/CEO's .He talked about his interview with the players from Bear Stearns, then Lehman Brothers, then AIG, and Citi... Goldman Sachs and so on.. Some of the things he said completely took the audience by surprise...For eg. the case where he talks about the conversation with Jamie Dimon ( JP Morgan ) and Vikram Pandit ( Citi). How BoA initially had an interest to buy Wachovia before purchasing Merrill Lynch... All in All, the overall story told by Sorkin was very interesting, very politicized..

I have yet to read the book... attending his talk has sort of given me a broad view of the book. Those who have read this book say, it is a must- read for anyone who wants clearconcise picture of the decisions that led to Lehman's bankruptcy and the resulting chaotic weeks on Wall Streets.

Marathon Story

2010-02-17T14:00:00.005-07:00

Chicago marathon.. I was aiming on running one of the world's TOP 5 marathons. 1. Boston 2. London 3. Berlin 4. Chicago 5. NY

I started walking towards the start line. The roads were all closed.. Michigan Aveue, which is usually packed with cars was literally EMPTY..I was walking in the middle of the road. I would never ever get to do this otherwise. It ws unexpectedly cold that morning... 0 to begin with.. I was not prepared as to what to wear.... I thought I was going to be ok with what I had.. but towards the end of the race.. apparently, it was not.

I went to the bathroom.. and then started stretching. The ambiance was GREAT! Choppers on the air... news reporters... 35,000 racers, the spectators, the family members..... it surly pumped up anyone's adrenaline! It was almost 8:30.. the race was about to begin... I walk towards the start line... jammed pack with all the racers. The American National Anthem Begins and BOOM!!! the gun shot.. THE RACE has officially begun... and I started running...

It was cold.. the gust of cold wind gave you sort of uncomfortable feeling... but with the roars of gushing crowds it soon became a minor distraction.. I started running and looking around... It was amazing.. Everyone clapping at you.. people chanting your name.. What a good feeling!!!

Soon it was mile 2.. then mile 5...

I stopped for the Gatorade. I did not have to worry about getting Dehydrated since it was not going to be hot. However, I had made a goal of drinking a lot at the drink station. Since it was so cold.. Little did I know that drinking a lot would some how equate to stopping for a bathroom a lot as well... In the beginning.. especially, mile 5,6,7... the wait line was at least 2-3 min in the bathroom which somehow made me loose time.. I had a 12/mile pace but with the bathroom stop... I was few min behind my calculated time.. Mile 10 I see my husband.. and I get my energy back..... I told him I was going to see him in Mile 20 next.. He would have to take a train to get to mile 20.

The scenes of chicago during the run was so fun. Different town had diffrent parades, bands cheering all the marathon runners. It was all so exciting.. My music was good.. I was enjoying running.... then mile 12.. my headphone started to make screeechyy sound... I tried to work on that several times but gave up and started running with out the music.... which was something I really had hard time.. however, knowing that I had no choice, I started running looking at the spectators and counting the kids. This sort of distracted me from the "mile marker' and it made my run little bit easier..

Soon I was in the hospital district... mile 15 I think... At this point, I was getting tired.. I knew China town was soon going to be next route.... maybe in about nest 3 miles or so.. I was looking forward to running in the china town. At mile 15, they had also provided the "sport shot" which I was sort of accustomed with. These "power bar shot" was always recommended to get used to before the big day otherwise, it could totally upset your stomach.

I had never tried any of the power shots during my "half marathons" or the "20 mile run." However, everyone told me to take this for my marathon as it was really helpful. So after my 20 mile run..... during the last 3 weeks prior to the marathon, I had done the practice run with the "Gu shots." The taste was yuky.. but it really helped. Personally, I had preferred the jelly beans.. which was helpful too..

On the real day,mile 15, taking the shot helped me.. It did not make me tired. Mile 17....China town arrives... yeah... I can feel my body getting tired. I could feel the blisters and my knee cap slowly hurting. I had both my knees wrapped by the bandages... which was not that great of an idea cause I think I had sort of hampered the blood circulation... Mile 17.. I took the run/walk strategy.. I would run then walk and then run.. but I was having hard time..

I had not :hit the wall".. not yet... Having completed the 20 mile run about 3 weeks ago,Ii had the confident to finish up to the 20 mile without any problem.. after that, I had not a single clue... ... Soon mile 18... running in the Chinatown.. little kids waving at us and passing bananas... I was not in the mood to eat anything... yet, i stopped and took a small pieces of cut bananas from a little girl... During the race, I had made a friend from Chicago, whose goal was to finish the race in 5:35min...It was her second time...

Mile 19... tired.. more tired and I think I had hit the wall... both my legs started feeling numb... I still tried to run.. it looked funny.. but I running on my heels... Mile 20. and you could see the skyline of Chicago... That was my destination... At this point, lot of people had dropped out. There were people escorting the dropped out runners in their cart. Some were getting massaged, some were simply resting..

"Listen to your Body.."

Should I drop out.. No! I think I can keep on going..

At this point, there were very few runners running... . Either people had dropped out or the runners were way before us... It still made me feel nice seeing that I was not amongst the last ones..

The runners were cheering for one another and we started running in a small group.... soon Mile 21. I took out my milkybar and sneakers and started chewing on them... it did not help me a whole lot but still gave me little energy.

Mile 22.. walking slowly... i think at this point, I have pulled the muscles on both the legs..It was hard for me to even walk. I pass the train station..Seeing the condition, the train master asks me if i want to take the train downtown.. "No" I said and kept on moving forwrd.

Almost mile 23.. I get stopped again.. this time by cops. " Do you want a ride.." No! I will keep on going...

I was almost there and did not want to give up... 3 more miles and this will be the biggest achievements of my life.

Mile 24... My destination was almost there... At this point you could see all the racers with the medals... It gives you motivation. I wanted to finish the race. I will finish the race...

Mile 24 and 1/2. Condition= Limping...

The Volunteers stop me again asking me if I was ok. I said I am fine. At this point, I decided to take off my bandage, but was worried of the outcome. What if I cannot stand up... what if I cannot even more... I gradually opened my bandage and it sort of felt better...

Mile 25!!! yes.. Almost there.. I call my husband to come and help me finish the race. I wanted him to be there during my last mile... and there he was..

I had few more blocks to go...

Again, I started visualizing the finish line.... everyone cheering for me

At this point, everyone on the street was cheering us... " You are almost there.. couple more blocks..."

This slogan gave me gush of energy..

Mile 26!! yes.. the last 385 yards.. maybe 3 blocks and at this point you come to the realisation that you have actually finished the marathon!!!!

I cross the finish line ... It still seems surreal.

The guy asks my husband if he wants to put the medal for me. Prasanna puts my medal. What a nice feeling..!!!

I finished the marathon on my First attempt!!!

It was all in my mind... and I did it!!!

My body was sore for 3 days. I could not move and was sleeping for 3 days.. but that Pain was the pain of a JOY!!!!!

Thank you Jason for inspiring me to start. Thank you husband for pushing me, encouraging me and helping me get to the finish line.. .

The lessons I learnt!!! :-

1)If you do it from your heart!!! you can do anything!!! :)

2) Surround yourself in a positive environment where people will make you believe that you can do it.

3) Discipline is an integral part.. even though I was not strictly disciplined, I would have done way better had I was one..

4) Stretch = Pre and Post the run!

Spirit of Marathon

2010-02-05T13:15:00.004-07:00

" I am going to run a marathon," I said to myself after meeting Jason Sissel. But deep down I knew that 26.2 just seemed impossible.

Jason Sissel, whom I was introduced by a fellow colleague had worked at Morgan Stanley for 8 years and had lot of connection in the Chicago's Financial area where we had recently moved. I had gone to meet Jason with a hope of expanding my network, but I came back with a notion of running a marathon which sort of changed my life.

Jason had recently quit his job and had opened "Endure to Cure, " a pediatric cancer non-profit foundation with the goal of raising at least $3 million for the cause by doing endurance events around the world. He had done several marathons, ultraman and Ironman around the United States and also had a goal of climbing top summits in the 7 continents including Mt. Everest. When I shared my experience back home regarding our recent trip to Everest Base Camp, he seemed very intrigued. On the other side, I was more curious to know about his experiences with the Marathons and the Ironman.

Seeing my curiosity, he asked me if I had done any long distance running. I love swimming and had done indoor running but never had I ran more than 5 mile. In Boston, my husband and I, would always cheer the runners at Boston Marathon but never had I thought about doing a full marathon. " It is all about up here," Jason pointed his head." If you are prepared mentally, then you can do anything. You have done the base camp, Marathon should not be hard for you." " You should sign up, " he said before we finished our meeting.

That day, all I thought was about the Marathon. I went to the gym and ran 2 miles. I am going to do a marathon I said to my husband who simply smiled.

I started meeting Jason more frequently. The more I met him, the more encouragement he would give me on doing the marathon. He gave me a positive vibe which made me want to do the marathon even more... then again.. would I be able to ?? I would go to the website to register, but then would browse other stuff and would never finish the work. Then one day, I signed up for the marathon.Voila!

Since the deadline had already passed for the registration, the only way to get the spot was by running for a charity. Team World Vision, was a charity that helped kids in Africa, and I signed up with them.

The next few months was the training months. Winter hit Chicago and the city was covered with snow and wind. I was less motivated to run outside which was very important. I would run in the treadmill, but it was nothing like running outside.

Months past by and I was still running inside. I was afraid to run outside. It was cold and I would always make an excuses. Then one day I ran outside and could barely run a mile. It was so hard to run outside. The wind, the concrete road, the presuure on my feet. It looked difficult. I could barely run 1 mile and I had a plan of running 26.2. By this point, I had already told my family members about the plan on running and had started raising money... within first 10 days, I overreached my goal of $600, the minimum requirement for the charity.

Pressure mounted even more. Raising money meant commitment towards doing the marathon. I gradually started running outside and followed a training regime... and then I got hit by injuries. Apparetnly, I was not stretching enough, which caused the stiffness of muscle and as a result, weak knee cap.

I had trouble walking after I finished my first 10 mile outside. Climbing downstairs was too painful for me... this meant at least 2 weeks of rest and going to the Physical therapist. During this time, I focused on my strength trainning and doing lots of weights with a hope of strengtehing my knee caps and hips.

My body was slowly improving. At this point, I had changed my focus to running outside. I was mentally prepared to run outside every day and I followed. My husband would drop me off at the beginning in the Lake shore drive trail and I would run for two hours every night. Slowly I started developing a stamina. I also registered for Chicago Half Marathon and a 20 mile run.. which is one the BEST decisions.

My boss at work who had ran the marathon said, " If you finish the 20 mile, you can finish the marathon...". Well, I have to finish the 13 mile first... ". My half marathon was slowly approaching... However hard I tried to be disciplined, I found it hard... My knee cap was hurting.. then my back started hurting.... then my left knee, then my right... I would get home at one hour commute and then eat a snack and take a nap... and start to run from 7 in the evening till 9:00. Sometimes, I would just not get up from my nap.....:)

The day of the half marathon- Feelings ? = Scared as hell.

I seriously had something inside my stomach that made me feel like puking. I was nervous. What if, what if I don't maintain the 12 mile pace, would they kick me out from the race? What if I can't finish... I had all these questions in my mind. The race was going to start at 7:30 from Southside Chicago.. I had my alarm for 4:30, but somehow, the morning of the marathon I did not want to go. Alarm went off for the third time and I did not want to partake in the race. My husband had to literally drag me out of my bed. I had to remind myself that it would be ok, if i do not finish.. it would be fine.. no worries...

The Race Feeling= Anxious!

As we approached closer towards the South Side Chicago, we could see all the tables lined up at the side of the road with the Gaterode drinks, then there was mile marker and then.. the runners.. all pumped up. I got more scared. My husband dropped me off at the start line and went to park the car. I checked my gears and stretched and then voila, I was one of the runners... Gun Shot! and it began..

Turned on my music.. and there I was running... Mile 1 finished.. checked my watch... 12min per mile pace maintained.. " good one.." I told myself...

Soon it was 5 mile.. and there I see my husband.. how exciting.. I screamed at him, waved him and continued my pace... Mile 6... and 7..... I stopped for the gateorade and again continued the run.. it was feeling good... Mile 10.... at this point, I knew I could do it. I visioned crossing the finish line and continued with the run.. and there I was!!! The finish line... I received the medal..! Wow.. what a sweet victory. Aside from couple of blisters, I was feeling good!!! This gave me a bucket full of confidence!

The following weekend I had the 20 mile run with the Chicago Runners Association. The race was going to start at 6:30am. I had a 4 mile run in the middle of the week and was " sort of" ready for this run. 13 mile was the furthest I had run. If you were to follow a trainning regiment, you would have done, 15, 18 and then 20 mile. I was jumping straight from 13 mile to 20, so I had no idea of what to expect.

That morning- Wierd feeling .

I had my left leg covered with a bandage and I was not 100% comfortable with my running. I might have to take the strategy of Run/Walk, I thought. 6:30, the gun starts and then there I was running... The sun rise over Lake Michigan was so beautiful... It made the first half of the run so much... 13 mile this time was an easy run.. ... At this point, I remembered what Jason had told me about the run. He had said, once you finish 13 mile, it would be so easy the next time you do it. 14 felt fine..Gaterode and a trail mix.. I could keep on going... and then mile 17, I hit the wall.

Hit the Wall is the term the runners use when you have absolutely no energy left and you feel tired and feel like quiting! At mile 17, I could feel my blisters on both my foot. It felt like the blood circulation had suddently stopped and I could feel numbness. I wanted to stop but I did not want to.. Mile 17 1/2 then 18... 2 more to go I said... Gotta keep on running Deepti.. Keep on running.. Focus Focus.... Mile 19... ok.. ok.. 1 more mile to go and I am there...

Where is mile 19 1/2 now.. It felt the longest one ever.. why would's the 20 mile come? Where is it? Is it here yet?! 5 more blocks?! Oh my god.. really... ok.. C'mon.. keep on going .. keep on going... and.. all the cheers kept me going and thennnn.. the finish line.... Finally...

20 mile was brutal... I had not taken any energy bar/or gel shots.. bad idea... for the full marathon, I need to .. or I should say i have to take the energy bars!

20 mile is the furthest you run before the marathon. The last 3 weeks is known as Taper week where you actually let the body rest and run less than 20 miles. Since I had problem with my knee cap, I did not do much of a run that following week. The week after, I had no luck more than 5 miles.

The weather in Chicago had decided to get really cold all of a sudden and it was a flue season. The Thursday of the Marathon week, I had a tingly feeling in my head... For some reason I had a feeling of catching a flue... ekkkkkk.

All I did was eat and rest.. I ate ate.. It was time to load myself with Carbohydrate and protein... On Friday, I felt worst and I was beginning to feel anxious. " You are not running if you have a fever," Prasanna said. I wanted to run.. I had watched the movie, " Spirit of marathon," and had already visioned of crossing the finish line.. I wanted to do this, and yet, I was scared. I went to the expo and got my packets and energy gel and bars. Getting able to see Diane Kaster, the American bronze medaist was another plus point. I was pumped, I felt like my energy was slowly coming back.

Saturday -- All day rest.. and eat.. Protein, pasta, pizza, tandoori, nan and icecream. Evening- I started to lay all my clothes for the Race next morning. Prasanna made me a name card for my shirt. I was all set for the morning... I guess

Next morning, Alarm rings at 4:15... Time to get up. I get up.. Feel good.. Feel better than the last couple of days. Gradually progress towards the running mood.... It is the big day for me today... I have been trainning for this for past 7 months.. " Will I be able to finish?" I ask my husband..... " Yes, if you do it slowly.. do not over do and listen to your body.. " he says...

Please knee cap, be good today! Do not ruin this day.. Help me finish it.

1 pack of oatmeal and omlete and a tea and I am all set to go.

I go inside my bedroom and make a pray to lord Ram and my grandparents and my aunt, who will be watching me from heaven. Lord, give me strength for today, I prayed.

I left for downtown with anxiety. The train was filled with all the runners.. some eating bananas, some energy bars... I looked at them and thought "today I am going to be one of them..." Spectators on the other hand looked excited.. with the camera's around the neck and holding signs to cheer the runner..

Downtown was packed ... with the runners.. It was cold.. 0 degree celcius I think. I took a long breath... Am I prepared for this run ?

The new year

2010-01-30T15:30:00.005-07:00

Logging into the site after many many months.. 2009 past by in a blink... another year.. another journey, another adventurous life ahead of us.

Biggest achievements of 2009 :

1. Finished the marathon ( yeah yeah!!)

2. Finished the 20 mile run ( yeah)

3. Finished the half marathon ( yes!!)

4. Working at UBS.. in this crazy financials crises, I was happy to have entered into the financial industry.

Welcomed the new year in Sydney Australia

Goals for 2010...

Lots ... some realistic ones.. some not so realistic one... but all these goals are what motivates to keep me going... The 6 months training for marathon taught me all.... It is good to have a GOAL after all... :)

Leaving Microsoft to change the world

2009-10-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

This summer, the book titled 'Microsoft Dekhi Bahundanda Samma' seemed very prominent at the book stalls in New Road. I had heard a lot about the author John Wood mainly from my husband. John was a graduate of a Kellogg Business School, the same Business School my husband was going to be attending that fall of ‘08. However tempted I was to read the Nepali version, I resisted and decided to the read the original book. From my previous experience on the translated books, it felt like the messages were unintentionally diluted. Afraid, that was going to be a case for this one; I decided to wait to read the original version by John Wood himself.

Upon returning to the US, I was ecstatic to finally read the book. John Wood was going to be coming at Kellogg Business School in 2 weeks and I wanted to finish it prior his visit. I started reading the book and visualized the greenery expounded my John during his hike to Annapurna. Recently on our trip back home, we had managed to go to the Everest Base Camp. Topics such as poverty and illiteracy mentioned by John in the book were not by means any surprise to us as we had both witnessed during our Trek. For instance - One thing that John seemed to have taken by awe was the fact that children had to walk almost two -three miles to get to school. We had encountered bunch of little children during our trek who did not seem to mind to walk 2 hours every day to get the education. They struggle and yet, seem happy and here we are, with all the amenities and yet we complain! It had struck me then and the same feeling hit me again as I read the book.

This book was a mixture of emotional and inspirational journey for both my husband and I. Realizing how much struggle there is back home makes me feel sad. Unlike many girls from Nepal, I have been very lucky with the education. Having gotten a chance to study in an International School in Tokyo with students from 35 different nationalities has always taught me a lesson not to take things for granted. While children in the poverty stricken part are struggling with house chores and school work, I have been fortunate finish the studies without any struggle. The most striking part to me while reading this book was the effort put by John Wood. Then, John was simply a trekker who had taken some time off from his busy schedule and upon seeing the dire need of education in our poor villages, he had decided to help the kids. Led by the theme, “World’s change starts with educated children,” Room to Read has successfully celebrated its 10^th anniversary and recently opened a project in Bangladesh and Zambia and heading strong.

John is an American who decided to do so much for the country only after one visit. I felt ashamed to have lived and travelled abroad and not having being able to help the poor children who are in dire need of help. 2 years ago, my husband and I had donated 150 dollars to sponsor a study of a child in Dang and that is only thing we had done so far. For many Nepali living abroad, 150 in merely a lot of money. You go to a nice restaurant, have a good wine and voila, the bill could be potentially larger than this.

The most memorable part of this book is simply close the eyes and be able to empathize with the little children after opening a school in their villages. Upon finishing the book, I wrote to John Wood. I wanted to meet with him and talk to him personally. His talk at Kellogg was very vibrant and what an energetic person he was. During the Q and A session, I thanked him on behalf of Nepal and asked him what I, as a privileged woman could do to help spread the word of Room to Read. “Pass the words to as many people as possible" was his humble reply. Room to Read has recently started the project in Bangladesh and Zambia. I am currently involved with the Chicago Chapter to raise funds. Along with my husband and my brother in law we are also planning to raise money to get involved with a project in Humla.
I am in touch John and will be meeting him again in April. His words are inspiring and it has motivated me to get involved in this organization. It has made me focus on importance of education in our part of the world. It only takes 250 to fund a child for schooling and takes 10,000 to open a library. I would strongly urge everyone to Read John’s book and instill the value of education and make a difference in people’s life. Please plant the seed of education to our new generation who are going to be the next leaders

“To a world you maybe a person, but to a person, you may be their world"

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World

2009-01-08T10:24:00.003-07:00

The title of this blog is the title of the book by John Wood. I had heard about this book a lot and always wanted to read it. When I was travelling back home this summer, I saw the 'Nepali' version of this book by Nepali, I mean, someone had translated this book into a Nepali book. The whole story but it was being narrated in Nepali. I wanted to buy it, then again, I did not.

I had read one Nepali book called ' Palpasa Cafe' which was translated into English and had lost the whole meaning of the story. The translation was very disappointing. In retrospect, I had wished that I had read the book in Nepali. Likewise, I did not buy the Nepali version of ' Leaving Microsoft to Change the World.' I waited and here I am finally reading it. I have heard a lot about this book. Mainly by my husband who talked a lot about this book while we were doing the Annapurna trekking.

The book is by John Wood. John Wood is an individual who chose to walk away at the prime of his corporate career as a Microsoft's Director of Business Development in order to found Room to Read Foundation. He dedicated his life for a social cause.

I have just started reading this book and I am very enjoying so far. The story takes place in Nepal. John decides to have to have a little escapade in a foothill of Himalayas doing the Annapurna Circuit trekking. While doing his trekking he comes across a man called Pashupathi, who reveals his sadness for not having being able to do anything for the children of Nepal. One of his main concern in the Lack of School for the future stars of Nepal. John, with the help of Pasupathi visits the school in a village called Bahundada and is shocked to find the situation of the school. At the School John discovers that the few books available were so precious that they were kept under lock and key - to protect them from the children! There are fewer than 20 books –mainly left by backpackers which the children can barely read—(Danielle Steel’s, the Lonely planet etc) for more than 450 students.

His journey then begins....

This is a firsthand perspective of how John launched a literacy organization for children in Asia after a life-changing three-week trek through the mountains of Nepal. Leveraging his business acumen and networks from his days at Microsoft, Wood turned Room to Read into a successful nonprofit organization with schools and libraries throughout Asia.

I have yet to finish the book which I just started. The exciting part is that John is actually come to Kellogg School of Management next week and I want to finish the book before that. He is a graduate of Kellogg.

For anyone, who is looking for a book to read, this one is definitely recommended. One of the many things learned from this book is following your Passion.

One thing that struck me while reading this book is that quote from Dalai Lama that is mentioned in this book. “When we give something away, we actually get something in return: Happiness.”

Happy New Year to everyone

2009-01-07T12:07:00.005-07:00

As the new year rolls in I take some time to think on my resolutions. Honestly, I do not even feel like a new year, thus, I do not have any concrete resolution. Sounds bit ironic right.. I was going to write morbid, but I do not think i have reached that stage. Well my resolution this year is to get a job in this tough market.

It is going to be an exciting ride. Christmas break was good. Pras and I joined Shailendra dai in Bahamas. After getting stuck in North Carolina for one night, we made it to Nassau on Tuesday afternoon. We were both very annoyed for having missed the flight.. which by the way was no fault of ours. Because of the col weather - 35, our 6:00 am flight got delayed for 2 hours. The Air Valve of the plane was frozen and it took them 2 hours to de freeze it. As a result, we missed our connecting flight from North Carolina. To make the situation even better, all our luggages were gone. I did not even have have contact solution with me. They gave us a hotel and some coupons... which -- I guess was the least they could do. We were at the Charoltte Aiport for almost 4 hours... hoping to get our luggage but to our vain no luck whatsoever.

Since we had a long day-- we had been up since 3:00 am in the morning, we went to the hotel and took a nap. Then called Smita didi and the family. Smita didi is my first cousins. My mum's oldest sister's daughter. The last time I had seen her was back in 2004. Almost 5 years ago. Steve- my cousin in law came to pick us up and we spend our night at the Sawyers residence. It was really nice meeting with the boys and the dog :)

Luckily, the next morning, we were put in 9:00 flight and got to Nassau at 11:00. The weather was kinda chilli that day. According to Shailendra dai, the weather on Monday was really sunny and beautiful. Clear Clear sky, but on Tuesday it was bit cold. we went to the beach but could not enjoy the ocean as we were hit by the sand storm. The next day, got even worse. We decided to take a ferry and go to Rose Island. It rained and the weather got more crappy. Despite that, we did snorkeling.. It was our first snorkeling ever and it was Amazing. One of the must to do - in a life time. The snorkeling made our day.

The next day.. finally, the weather started getting clearer.. at least better than the first few days. We really enjoyed relaxing on the beach.. but it was still kinda chili to sun bathe. I had a little blanket over me.. Yup! Finally, the last day of our trip was THE best one. We got up at 5:00 in the morning and headed to downtown for the Junkanu festival. Junakanu is kind of the mix of Mardi Gras and Carnival. Parade one after another. The Bahamanian would start the parade at 12:00 at night and would continue till 12:00 in the morning. The whole city- nassau was wide awake and so were we. Upon watching the carnival, we returned to the hotel took a brief nap and headed to another exciting day.. The snorkeling Day. We were taken in a boat to three different places and were given 30 min to snorkel. The weather was great and the water was Blue... could not have been better. The salty water made the snorkel even more exciting.

Our last stop was at the Shark Cove. We were given 10 min. It was literally swimming with the sharks. Not everyone dared to go to the water as it was kinda risky. However, they ( the divers) assured us that they had been doing this for 11 years and never had the any incident. They asked us not to bring any fish food with us. Would you ever get to swim with Shark-- No!! I decided to plunge in the water. They had a rope for us. As oppose to wander around the ocean, they strictly told us to hold the rope and not to go anywhere. Both Pras and Shailendra joined me. Looking underwater, I could see 10 sharks swimming back and forth. Some of them were bigger than me- More than 10 feet.... After being in the water for 7 min I decided to head back.

Only after getting up on the dock, made me realise that these were the same sharks that would kill people and I had been swimming with them. This gave me a chill.. but now I can say-- I swam with the shark!!! This definitely is one of the main highlights of the trip!!!

Quick update

2008-12-18T11:29:00.003-07:00

Further enfeebling the market, Dollar plunges in the wake of Fed move... Fed cuts rates near Zero.. Another highlight of the news today.. Goldman bonuses set to sink.... apparently, the CEO is not going to be taking any bonuses for 2008. Well I guess that is how the work gets done in the Wall Street. If the market is good.. then you are showered with all that money... and vice versa.. I guess, to Investment Banks, this year has been one of the worst years.

The bad news in the economy does not stop to make the headlines... During the Thanks Giving break the Mumbai terror had seemed to capture the audience... now again, back to the recession world. The whole case of Bernanrd Madoff.. the Ponzii scheme as they say. Apparently, the Spanish heiress is suferring one of the biggest losses through this. Alicia Koplowiz... I believe is her name and she has lost about $ 14.3 mill through her invesment firm. uh oh....

Aside from the market world nothing interesting has happened. I am slowly recovering from the flu. I went to downtown all bundled up on Monday. It was 8 degree which in celsius translantes to being -15 I think. very very cold... I had my thermal on, but, it did not help nontheless. I was still cold...

I have to do to downtown again and it is suppose to snow tomorrow.. we are expecing.. 5 to 6 inches... Glory Glory. Pras is in Cali busy with his VC trek. I am busy preparing for my visit to downtown tomorrow. the new year is almost here.....

The fridge at our apartment stopped working and unfortunately, we had just stocked on Sunday...I have put the frozen food, creamer, milk outside the window but how long can I do that for?

After long time

2008-12-08T13:35:00.002-07:00

It is almost end of 2008 now. This has been a good year. Relaxing year. We did a whole lot of traveling..... this year was too short of a year. Now.. the new year of 2009 will be welcoming us in about couple of weeks.

Today is a cold Monday. I had to go to downtown Chicago to meet one individual from William and Blair Company but, i am sick. Hopefully not the flue but I feel weak. I have been drinking a lot but still feel tired and weak. It is cold outside--the ground is still white.. the snow has lies on the ground peacefully. About a year ago I had slipped and almost fractured my arm... This year I have been ultra careful. We still need to buy the winter attire. Boots and downs and what not...

Thanks Giving weekend was nice. We went to Louisiana and Mississippi. It was sort of a family gathering. We drove for almost 4 days back and forth but it was nice. I need to get into the habit of writing again.. and the reading one... I used to be a good reader and a writer...but now, I have not been doing so. I had started to study for my Series 7 exam... and now since I have been sick, I have not been able to focus. I need to tough...

This is a quick update...for now. I feel tired already!!

Our Journey

2008-09-12T11:33:00.002-07:00

Rewind 5 months.... Back in February

Stunningly, lot did not seem too favorable about our trip to go back home in winter. No electricity, no water… strikes… and what not….Regardless of what everyone said, I decided to withhold my judgment, before I actually experienced myself. Both Pras and I were extremely excited to go home. Our mission was successful! Pras had gotten into a B school; I had just finished my B school. It was THE perfect timing. On the way home, we were going to make a brief stopover in Tokyo to visit my parents and little brother.

The hardest part for us was to get a tenant who was going to sublet our apartment. Pack and sell the furniture’s. After bidding farewell to all my colleagues at Merrill, I left the job from February. I was packing and selling…… At first, it seemed exciting but soon… it started getting stressful.

As distressing it sounds, somehow or other, we both did manage to get ready to leave on March 7^th.

So that is how our 5 month Journey began!!!!

New place -Chicago!!

2008-09-10T09:37:00.003-07:00

We are back in the US. Chicago- Evanston to be exact. Pras has started his B School and I am busy arranging the apartment. The journey past 5 months has been one of the best ones in our lives.

I will be back with more detail about our trip. Till then... See you soon!

Going home

2008-02-29T10:08:00.001-07:00

I will be going home next week!!! and will be in a hibernation mode until Aug. I will try to update however, cannot promise anything as of yet!!!

Too many exciting things going in my life :)

Second day!

2007-11-13T19:24:00.000-07:00

Here I am, trying to gradually adapt into the blogging mode. However, the thing is nothing exciting happened today. Therefore, I do not know what to write.

Work was interesting-- Since I spend major part of my daily hours at work, it only makes sense for me to write about major part of my blog on the work! Anyways, work was fun. New stuff, new project. Today, I did a research on Merril Lynch's Private Equities Fund. I learned new names and new investment requirements. Work was busy. 8 hour just flew like that---

On the way back home, I continued with Kiran Desai's "Inheritence of Loss." Gyan and Sai's love story is interesting and Biju hardlife in the US is heartbreaking. For a second, I felt I was completely lost in that part of the world. I am enjoying the book. I already have the next book in my mind after I finish this one :)

Got home.. made dinner-- Baked Asparagus, Spinach and a Shrimp Curry and little bit of "masyaura" from yesterday. Dinner was satisfying!

Good way to end a day!!

slowly recuperating my blog strength!

2007-11-12T20:07:00.000-07:00

So here I am... writing almost after one month. I am bit disappointed with myself for not being disciplined following this routine. blog. There used to days where I would regularly update my blog and I used to be very proud of it ( Would actually feel guilty if I did not write one).However, for past month or so, it has been a havoc. Rather than improving, I have gotten more worse. Somehow or another, I always seem to either forget it, procrastinate it or purposely ignore to try it. AND here I am, trying to follow the path again!!

It is a new month, new routine ( day light saving has been implemented), new begninging ( I have just entered a new age group!) and new life... almost ready to graduate. What better reasons could there for right.. :) I will try to be more focused on this blog world.

Lot has happened. Dashian, Tihar, Summer, Fall, Winter. Life has been good. Hopefully lots of good things lined up in next couple of months. Since I have not written for almost month, i am going to be bit sporadic in terms of jotting down my feelings/stories. I never have decent thoughts anywhere near any good place to write them down. so I don't write as often as I should write.

I need to update my blog with pictures. I have taken plenty but the wire you need to upload the picture is missing. With work and all-- I have not had chance to look at it. Correct, this indeed is a lame excuse, but, this really is the case.

Work is going on fine. Interesting news in the Financial world. The CEO was ousted-- which caused a pretty big dilemma in the financial world, then again, another CEO .. Mr. Prince steps down causing more conundrum. With the rising market volatility, it has been an interesting learn at work. To recap my day, I did a research on ML's Private Equity funds and Asset Allocation strategies.

Again, apologies for the sporadic seagway!

Weekend was good-- On Saturday, we went to see "American Gangster"--One of the best movies!!! Denzel deserves an Oscar!! If you have not seen this movie, it really is worth a watch. Saturday afternoon- we had a nice brunch at Sanjay's wedding. It was good time to catch up with old friends. Friday- laxmi pooja-Both P and I, we went to the temple and really enjoyed the ambiance--- very surreal and peaceful environment. Sunday,--- Called Nepal and talked with everyone back home. Then--- Brunch at Prativa di's place.We had a very good time and we really enjoyed. It was a good way to end the festival.and today-- back to work!!!

I have done a good job-- considering the fact I am writing after a month!

Good night!

2007-10-10T15:07:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to hear Mrs. Susan Morelli speak this morning. Of course, another stellar speaker whom I enjoyed immensely. Ms. Morelli is a CEO of the famous Au Bon Pain. I had guessed "Au Bon Pain" being from New England, no where specific to be exact, however, today I learned that is a local cafe started right here in the Bean town! Ms. Morelli specifically emphasized the topic of "BRAND" and how Au Bon Pain has been successful in creating a good brand. Ms. Morelli, who graduated from Yale and HBS was an excellent speaker. She had her audience captured in a joyful and interesting ride of Au Bon Pain. Even though it was too early for me, 7:00 in the morning, I really am happy about the fact that I made it. Listening to these leaders inspires me and encourages me to become like them.

Work was good.... Did Asset Allocation and Mutual fund comparison with all the S & P 500 indexes. Weather was gloomy. Happy that it did not rain.. I believe more rain is on the way.

Weekend was fun!! Foliage drive all the way up to the Vermont! Taken pics, I need to get my act together and update it!! :) will do!

Oh, I am very happy that "Kite Runner" is coming out in December. I cannot wait. Reading wise, these days, I have started reading some financial reports. Anita Roddick is done.. now, I need to finish, Kiran Desai at some point :)

2007-10-04T21:24:00.000-07:00

the practical measures elude me.... and i need to write. i love it, i just dont do it as much as i should. i didnt even say anything tonight, like i love to think i do. I am not making any sense I am. It is almost 12:30 in the morning. Waiting for P who is doing something in his computer. My neck hurts agian.. maybe the way I sit at my office is not right.. It was a busy day today. I did an emerging market allocation for one client. He had almost 10 accounts and analysis each too me a little more than I had expected and a result, I had no time to eat my lunch or take a break.... the work however, was very interesting!!! The emerging market is slowly taking over.. it is really an interstig dynamic how much impact they have in the economy!!!

I am glad it is Friday tomorrow....The one thing that I really look forward to is the sleeping part!!! Good night!!!!

On the other note, I was really surprised about the news about those two firefighters today. It took me (like many others) by shock. cocaine and alcohol toxicated.... wow. I am also saddened by the Burma news.The retaliation between the Military junta and the monks is unfathomable!!

Another abrupt end .... Good night! P is coming!

New Month

2007-10-01T19:49:00.000-07:00

Feel sick. real shallow, right down where the neck connects to the body, the soft spot between the first two bones in front. there's a knot.

I'm listening to what's turning out to be precisely the wrong music, more to turn myself a different direction than anything.

Dow Closes at Record Amid Hopes of Further Rate Cuts - Every one is happy at work.

Today is October 1st. New month and new beginning. Hopefully, I will be able to write more blogs. Good news- Got a loaner computer from the Best Buy. I have a company now. :)
Weekend was short as usual. Nothing unusual. Had an opporunity to see the indian show at Muna aunty's house. It was exciting.

titleless

2007-09-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

Not much today except the fact that it was super duper HOT!! almost 92 I think. I am excited that it is Wednesday.. Mid week... 2 more days and then the weekend!
Work was fine...I enjoy listening to Mr. Jim Cramer these days.... I have kind of started listening to his stock picks. Today, I was listening a conference call for a Investing Fund called Davis Fund in NY, the investors had quite an analogy with volatile market and opportunities. The interesting example was that of a SUV and a subcompact car.

They were saying, if you are driving a SUV, because of the large size you are so confident that nothing can go wrong, you drive more aggressively and as a result get more exposed to the accident. However, on the other hand, people who drive sub compact car are very conscious about how they drive as they are a small car, they are more conservative drivers and because of that they get into less accident. I believe the whole point here was about "Risk" Vs " Perceived Risk." -- The same thing implies to the volatility and uncertainties in the market. Interesting notion I think....

I guess this much for a today. A little bit of the market world :)

P joined me on the bus ride today-- 't was nice.

Usual rambling..

2007-09-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

I am trying to keep up with my writing...Enough of Procrastination..

So I call the Best Buy people on Friday. The guy whom I spoke to made me even more confused. I had called to ask about the update, but had to hangup the call as the conversation was getting no where. The guys was really nice, no doubt about that but, he just did not understand what I wanted to get out from him. I simply wanted to get the update, and he was basically empathizing with me for the loss of my hard disk..... One thing that I really hate about calling the so called - Geek Squad at Best Buy is that everytime I call, I have to repeat the whole scenario... even consistently asking them to update my information on their little box, they conveniently decide not to I suppose.... I do not know when I will get the computer at this point.

Weekend was nice. The weather was nice.. It felt like summer again.

I am yet not done with Anita's book..Everyone morning these days, somehow, I mange to take a quick nap in the train.... I get tired more easily these days... do not know why.. I get up.. reluctantly every morning wishing the fact that I had more time to Sleep and impatiently waiting for the weekend.

Work was fine.. doing more research on the Morning Star review. So Microsoft might potentially invest on Face book.. yup!! that so-called networking site has managed to drag inside their loop.. I am addicted ... :) I was listening to Ben Bernanke's speech on Education today.. for some reason, with his beard, I had different opinion about him, however, upon hearing his speech, I am totally impressed. His voice has a power... Despite all the criticism he has been facing regarding the discount rate and the sub prime loan, he has portrayed himself as a calm and good leader. Anyways, I was happy to listen to him on the Bloomberg TV today!

Gotta go.. sorry for the abrupt ending.. and typos :)

regular snippets!

2007-09-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

September 20, nothing has significantly changed in the past few days. Still without a computer. However, I did manage to call the people at Best Buy only to get informed that the computer was not yet sent to the service center. Hopefully, it finally has at this point. I would need to make a phone call to get the status. The sad part is my harddisk is completely corruputed and as a result, all of my data is completely gone. All my MBA stuff and everything.... They were suppose to backup the data for 9 gig which was going to cost about 90$, but since the harddrive is corrupted, they said, to retrieve the data it would cost anywhere between $250-$1500....... no point in paying that much I think...

Somehow, I feel that laptop and I, we do not get along. This is a second laptop in 2 years that has been wrecked by my use. Well, this was was already dead and we managed to retrieve it after being in a coma for almost a year, but still, it died. My other computer's harddrive went off as well.That was barely a year old.. Such is life.. At least I am grateful for the fact that it nothing major happened ( lots did happen)when I was at school..

Nothing much is going on..Work is fine.. I am learning a lot. Today, I was doing an asset allocation for an International fund. It was an interesting analysis. Fed cuts down the discount rate again... news all over the place. This move is supposedly going to help the economy everyone says. Funny thing is I have not had chance to hear Bernanke speak. Just the other day I watched Alan Greenspan's interview. I am very eager to see Ben Bernanke's speech. Hopefully, in next couple of days.

I have got this ugly thingie inside my mout...mouth ulcer it is called and it hurts like hell.. I cannot eat properly and I cannot talk properly, it hurts so very much...

Reading wise, still reading Anita's Book!! half way done... That women was Amazing. My uncle had written me a mail the other day. He told me that Anita had visited our factory 8 times. I was small when she came to our house in Nepal and I had already left for Japan when she came the other times. I talk about Anita a lot with P. Anita Roddick and Carlos Ghosn are two people that I talk quite frequently.... Ireally wish I had chance to meet and talk with Anita... Her stories are truely inspiring and I am thorougly enjoying it!

2007-09-14T13:26:00.001-07:00

S0 I am still without a Computer but making a good effort to keep up the blogs...which is bit hard to keep up to once, you have procrastinated for so long.

What happened to Mr. Abe... Why is he resigning...... ? Sometimes, in the morning you are bombarded with the news that you never expected to happen...

Happy Teej to everyone :)

My head is not thinking right, therefore, I do not even know what to write. All I can think of is good food :) and cashews for no particular reasons.

I went to the library and checked out Anita Roddick's book about her experience of opening the Body Shop.... The old book that I had read about 11 years ago. In the book, she talks about my uncle and her first experience travelling Nepal and our factory... it really took me back to my memory lane.

Book wise---I was suppose to read the book... "Random walk down the Wall Street".. which I have not even touch. Then my boss has given me 3 extra ones which I need to finish soon.. however, now that I have gotten Anita's book.. that is going to take all my time for next couple of days.

I am waiting for P to leave his work so that I could take the bus with him. He is busy at his work. I am tierd. I guess I will take a Nap or discreetly stare at certain people from across the room.

Back again

2007-09-12T15:51:00.000-07:00

I actually managed to take some time off from my busy schedule to write my Blogs. My computer died.. AGAIN!! second one this time.. and I have literary been computer less. Actually, I am in the library and going through my emails and replying a long overdue ones. At work, everything is blocked so I cannot check anything. The only thing that I am really geared towards is the CNBC and the BLoomberg news. Now, that I have been doing my intern for month and a half, I have started to live a usual life without getting obsessed to Facebook and hi5. ( I know it is crazyy....)!!!!

It has been a while since I have updated my well being. Not much is going on except the fact that I do not have to go to the school anymore.. My studying part is done.. no more weekend cramming and late night studying and stressful life. So far, life has been a breeze.. well kind of. Not having to study every night indeed is a big relief.

Working at ML has been a good experience. Watching cnbc news almost 8 hours a day has been a good exposure to the money world. I have also developed some real interest in the stock market world and I actually enjoy watching the tickers going up and down and have managed to learn a good amount of symbols... and yes, amongst all, I was heavily following the Ben Bernanke's act on cutting the Discount rate... All these(bonds, t-bills, yield, tax, allocation....) words that I once used to hate has now become my best friend.. (ALMOST)

Dame Anita Roddick, the great entrepenuer and a great leader passed away yesterday. I was shocked. It really was an unexpected news. She has been a true role model for many... including me. My parents used to tell us her story about how her family had migrated from Italy and had really worked hard to lead a good life in England. Anita and her husband Gordan, prior to starting their well renowned "Body Shop International" actually used to sell their product on the streets of England. Following her dream passionately, she came this far. Since my uncles back home are involved with the Body Shop, Anita herself had visited our factory in Nepal 7 times and had also come to our house in Nepal. I also remember my mum making me read one of her books which was truely inspirational. And now, knowing she is gone is hard to believe..... She will truly be remembered for her effort and her passion! Passion for helping the people with AIDS, supporting charity events, getting involved in domestic violence causes and so on.....

Though too short, and though we miss her, her’s was a life well lived. The world really needs people like Anita to encourage all the women around the world!!

The church bell is ringing.. I think it is time to say Adieu. I guess this one is going to be an abrupt ending!!!

last minute

2007-08-15T16:23:00.000-07:00

One more day to go, then I am done with my School. However, rather than jumping up and down with joy... I am sad. I don't know why, but I am sad......... Life has taken some good turns, yet, I do not some how seem to be appreciating the fact. AND I have been reminded more than few times about this nature of mine.... Not a nice feeling when things do not get appreciated right.. :)

Anyways, I am in the library at the moment. Trying so very hard to study for the exam tomorrow... Regression Analysis, Chi square.. what not... and also writing a paper and studying for Marketing exam ..... and doing lot more other things as well..

I am tired. DEAD tired... I have already fallen asleep numerous times. However hard I try to keep myself awake, it does not work....I can only see nine lights from where I'm sitting. the computer in the next room is reflecting all over the ceiling and the door frame. the new call light is flashing red on the phone. it's amazing to me.

Now that the school is over, hopefully, I will be able to write more on this blog.

night..

almost done..

2007-08-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

Do you know how high I'm feeling right now? in fact, I don't think my body can take it. I can feel the heat creeping up my spinal column into the medulla. i can feel my medulla… and I do not even know what it means!!!!.

Is that strange?

No drugs.Just the amount of coffee I have consumed in past couple of hours is innumerable. It seems non-stop… I need to revitalize by body which unfortunately, is so lethargic and energy less.

I am in the library and doing a research for the International Marketing Project which is due next week. I have two exams and on top of that, this 15 page paper. It is hard to foocus. It has been a long day. Tomorrow, we have a presentation in International Marketing class. Then, the Marketing Research assignment on Regression… which seems so difficult. Since, it is one of the important classes to have in future, I really wish , this class was offered during the fall or spring semester. I have learned a lot about SPSS, however, I wish I still had more itme to digest the information. The information keeps on accumulating in the brain and unfortunately, some of 'em don't even get time to get digested. Summer is simply too brutal.. It is non stop marathon and poor little brain can only take so much..Correct…

I was just thinking.. as I wanted to take a break from studies.. that :

The easiest people to love are the ones you've never met. They are without flaws, the embodiment of all that you find wonderful. Usually movie stars or musicians. at least in my experiences, anyway. the musicians are the best because you don't fall in love with the image of them. You fall for what they sing, how they do it, the idea of them. This sounds quite crazy does not it?!

That being said.. I am almost done with my school part of the MBA. Next week is the last week of school. Thursday, I have 2 finals, then I am doneeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Internship is going well. I am learning a lot.. Lots of S & P index and hedge funds. I even borrowed the book, “ A random walk down wall street…” let’s see where it will take me….

Better get back to studying!

Can't believe that it is already August now... I am been lagging behind a lottttt

long time

2007-07-23T19:56:00.000-07:00

It was, conceivably, a perfect day..... Class ended at 8:00 and I got to come home straight after that.

Should I start to countdown till the end of my school (which is very very close) I wonder..... have a mixture of both YES and NO feeling… 'Yes' cause I only I have 4 weeks of school left .. 'NO', cause this means innumerable Workload!!!!!

Huffing and puffing, I have made this far.. And 90% of the credit goes to dear husband for all the encouragement and patience. Had it not been for his encouragement, I would not have reached here.

Internship is going on fine. I am learning more and more about Bloomberg and S & P Index and all of a sudden, I am hooked to CNBC news….isn’t it ironic !!

Harry Potter’s final book is out. I talked with my sister yesterday, who still does not have the newest book and all her friends back in Liverpool has it. I have only read the first two. At the moment, I am still reading Anita Desai’s Fasting and Feasting, which surprisingly has taken me longer to finish than I had expected.At this pace, it might take me another month to finish it.

The new book for Khaled Hosseni is out.. I want to read that one and I am pretty confident, that I will finish that book in couple of weeks!!....not months.. like the past few ones…

Lately, I have been dreaming of traveling.. I want to travel.. I want to go to Manchu Pichu.. for no particular reason. Since the time I have watched the movie “Motorcycle Diaries,” I wanted to go there..

I believe in Traveling..

I believe in the power of travel to change — to change individuals, communities and the collective global consciousness. I believe that it is only through personal understanding of different peoples and cultures that we can progress as a society.

It is 11:00 at night. It is bed time for me. I wanted to catch up my blogging... The day was kind of misty today. Looking outside the window, I see the moon...And the moon, the moon with its inconstant face, slipping through the turbulent sky like a fish through the rapid danger of the shoals, smooth and perfect and utterly unknowable.

Adieu!

regualar snippets

2007-07-15T17:56:00.000-07:00

I am sitting at home, doing my Gillette Case write up, (which is almost done) and watching the program called “High Net worth Individuals” at CNBC channel. I have been trying to follow the news at CNBC for last hour and half. Since at work, they have the CNBC news on all day, I thought it was going to be useful for me to brush up my financial knowledge. AND! I actually enjoyed the news…

High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI) was interesting program. They had an interview with Laxmi Mittal and Victoria Beckham, aka Posh Spice. Since the "Beckhams" have just moved to the US, the whole financial world has their eyes on them.. They indeed are the High Net worth individuals.

Then suddenly, another interesting thing caught my eye. It was about “Jet Airways.” For some reason, I always thought, Jet Airways was from back home, however, to my dismay it is not. Anyways, back to the interesting stuff, the news was that, the CEO of Jet Airways, Mr. Naresh Goyal, revealed the world's most revolutionary interiors and most luxurious airline seats including their First Class Bedroom Suites. “The passenger will have their private butler,” Mt Goyal emphasized.

The total cost of this airline ticket from Mumbai to NY is approximately, 14,0000 $$ and the GREAT Mr. Goyal is worth $1.5 billion. Very very interesting!!!

It is hot!!! For some reason, I want it to rain and storm like it never has before. I wonder what it is about storms... or just snow... that makes the sky burn late at night.

Reading wise, I have started reading, Anita Desai's "Fasting and Feasting".. So far, nothing exciting has happened yet, but I am pretty sure, in next couple of chapters, it will be all exciting.. :)

2007-07-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

When I came closer I saw that the fire dancers were out, twirling at the center of blazing trails of heat, their skin glistening gold and orange in the light... This was my dream.. I think I was in a jungle.. alone... no body on my side. I have been getting this feeling a lot lately.. don't know why....those...Lonely dreams.. :)

However, being alone did not make me unhappy. I was not SAD in my dream. Infact, quite content. Because in the end, what will it matter? What comfort can it possibly bring me? How will it justify my life to be first in the eyes of another? Only I can validate my existence. Surely it isn't right to put my hope in a fallible being. BLAH !! Blah... I am not making a single sense am I? It has been a rough week/days for me :)

Because of the hectic schedule, I wish I was living in a dorm. Sleep, get up in the morning go to school/work and then back to the dormm.. For instance, today, I have class until 10:30....... I will be dead tierd by then..

Work was interesting. Made graphs using Excel today and it was neat. It was really hot outside and I beleive it is. I feel like taking a nap.. a long nap..

I wonder, sometimes, how we keep ourselves above the despair that looms yawningly below us as we tread the fragile bridge of everyday life. I do not do anything but simply WONDER!!!

2007-07-11T14:08:00.000-07:00

I'm full of wishes but even more full of fear.

Days has been tedious. Workload is gradually piling up. Presentation, mid-term and paper-- all lined up for next year.

Intership wise-- it is going Great. Everyday has been a learning expereince. I learned to make a Equity chart in the Excel sheet. I have always been an avid user of p.point but I guess, excel is more popular in the financial world.

I just got done with one meeting. Another meeting will start soon...

gray

2007-07-09T12:47:00.000-07:00

Summer 1 has finally finished. It is summer 2 now. I have 5 more weeks to go, and then I am done with the 'studying' part of the MBA.

In addition to that, I have started an internship. I work until 2 in the afternoon and then head back to my class. The experience has been good so far. So far, I have learned about Client's Portfolio Review, comparing ROR with S& P index and today, I learned about filing a litigation claim for a client.Tomorrow, I am planning to take a Bloomberg prep course once again.

Even though, I am not finance major, working at ML has been fun. I have learned a lot!!
Summer has been nice and pleasant. Yesterday we went to the fort near the airport and enjoyed watching the “Take off " and "landing," until the rain ruined the peaceful evening.

Saturday, we went to Motu dai's Picnic and then latter half of the day was mostly shoppingg ugghhh!

Today is intermediate. Suspended in time, in space. It's got that gray feeling of not being a peak or a valley but somewhere lost on the slope. In between. I should be doing something but I don't know what it is. Class starts soon.

Presentation Mania

2007-06-26T06:51:00.000-07:00

Four down.. two more to go..... The brutal week is not getting better.. Physically or Mentally!!

Summer I will end on Friday, and Summer two will start from Monday, July 2nd.

2007-06-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

Strangest dream the other night. Surprisingly, all about Negative reinforcement.

Maybe communication would be that much easier, not having to use words.

Presenation Fiasco

2007-06-14T17:15:00.001-07:00

Had one of the hardest Presentation yesterday on the " Random House".... the core topic was about Integrated Vs Potfolio organization and about a synergy of a company. Is it really good to have synergy???

Sadly, even putting extra effort for so many days, the presentation did not turn out to be good. In fact, we were grilled until the very end... The presentation which was suppose to last one hour and 15 min lasted for brutal 2 hours.

I want to write more.. However, I'm not going to write about what I probably originally wanted to because the night is shot. It's gone. the happiness i had kind of disintegrated.... at least the music is good.. the beautiful Jazz.. and of course, I am tierd... 2 more weeks to go..

Confusion

2007-06-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

I'm wondering if and how i could reinvent myself.
I think that would be a worthwhile thing to do.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2007-06-07T08:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Happy Birthday to the GORGEOUS husband!!!

MANY MANY MANY HAPPY RETURNS OF THE DAY!!!

I wish you all the happines, laughter and luck for the year ahead.

May all your dreams come true and you reach a new height of sucess each day!!!

With your Persistence and Determination, you will soar to unreachable Horizons!!!!!

Loving thoughts for the nicest, smartest, handsomest husband a girl could ever wish for!

Happy Happy Birthday!!!

Snippets!!!

2007-06-05T07:56:00.001-07:00

Relaxing isn’t it when the day is past and you are spent all you had on surviving its trials and wonders and awakeness and the only thing to do this time of night is lazily turn an apathetic ear to a boring or rubbish tv show or simply lying down doing absolutely nothing. The air isn’t heavy its just your head and lips weight more than all that but its nonsensical and unimportant all at once.

Anyways, Summer school is going by way faster than any of us had ever imagined. The work load is unfathomable!!!

I am so much behind the blog thingie. So much has happened. I still have to update my German visit along with the UVA graduation and the Maine visit. It is just that I have been bit busy with the school work. The case study simply does not stop coming.

This morning in the train I was reading a case for my Brand management class about “Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy”. Yup! I had no idea about the full name of the empire. Henessey and Moet et Chandon are both a leading champagne and cognac manufacturer. Moet et Chandon, at first merget with Henessy and later, they then merged with Louis Vuitton. So far, this has been one of the interesting cases I have read. Another one that I read yesterday was about the Chinese brand Lenovo!!

With that being said, it is time for me to get back to my case study. I will try to assure the fact that all the exciting blogs along with the pictures will be updated soon!!

Ciao

My Diary in Germany

2007-06-01T11:30:00.000-07:00

The first day

The trip from Boston to

Germany

was really a short one. The travel was good however, I know for a fact that given a choice, I will not fly in Lufthansa again. In Boston, Lufthansa has done so much marketing promotion and it has really succeeded in gaining attention and placing the image of Lufthansa as a superior airlines. I am going to say bluntly that I did not like it at all. The leg room was really small, the portion of the food was small as well and on top of that, they had no LCD’s on the back of the seat.

The only thing that I liked about this airline was that we did not have to pay for the wine. Unlike other airlines in which you have to pay $5 for a glass of wine, we had the liberty to enjoy free wine in Lufthansa.

So far my best flight experience has no doubt been in Northwest Airlines. For Asian Airlines it is Cathay Pacific, Thai, and Singapore Airlines.

Along with Amit and Diviya, Matt, Huani and Professor Mclean were also in the same flight. We had a direct flight from Boston to Frankfurt that was good. The only caveat was that we landed in Frankfurt at 5:00 in the morning and our hotel rooms were not available till 12:00 in the afternoon. Bummer!!

Luckily Matt got a room. After placing our luggage, we decided to go for a quick stroll in Frankfurt. The place looked very quiet. Some of the places very much reminded me of Zurich. The building, the small paved streets……. the train.

We took a quick tour around the river and everything was closed. The place was very quiet. For some reason I was hoping to see small bread and baguette shops like the ones in Paris. However, the streets of Frankfurt were completely deserted. Soon it was 9:00 clock; we had wandered around the city for 3 hours…. .Yet, nothing seemed to open. We walked around the city for another hour. There was a huge flee market near the banks of the river. Since we were trying to kill time, we walked slowly around the market. I was half asleep.

Finally upon arriving at the hotel at 12:30 pm, we got a room and took a nap. I was bit tired of taking too many pictures…

We had a group meeting in a small room where we got to meet with everyone. Everyone was excited, excited for the “chic and elegant” dinner that night. The meeting was a short one, basically summarizing our trip agenda. We also had a quick introduction with Dr. Gilbert and Ingo.

Dinner that night was fabulous. I had ordered salmon which was equally good. After the dinner, we went for a night walk… Night life in Frankfurt was completely different. It somehow reminded me of “July 4^th” fireworks night. The night looked young to everyone… however, I was tired. The rest of the group decided to go. After a exciting 45 minutes walk, I was ready to go to bed. And yes, we did manage to see the tallest building in Europe and yes, we were 100% convinced that it was definitely the tallest building.

busy

2007-05-31T17:21:00.000-07:00

I promise I will write something here as soon as the world stops and lets me off. Been Busy with school, homework and family.

Lots of exciting news on the way...

We went to Maine over the memorial day weekend. Bar Harbour to be exact. It was a breath taking experience. I promise to post it soon.

Currently, I am in the library. Studying a case for " Value Chain."

Gotta get going. Summer school is exausting.... I really am tierd!!

after a long silence..

2007-05-24T11:55:00.001-07:00

Needless to say, I have been extremely busy with school work as well as other stuff. I promise I will write something here as soon as the world stops and lets me off. :) *Sigh*

I remain hopelessly behind with journal entries.

I have yet to write about the exciting part from the Germany trip-- which I assure will come soon.

Summer semester has been hectic. Having a class twice a week is quite brutal. We have case write-ups and case reading everyday for the 4 classes.

Last week my uncle and aunt were in Boston for 2 days. They were in Belgium and made a stop in Boston before heading to NY on Friday. To make the thing worse, we had a pouring rain on Friday. Despite the nasty weather we still managed to take a tour of Boston. Prasanna took us in a drive to Rockport and Gloucester.. (Excuse my typo!) which both my uncle and aunt enjoyed a lot!!!!

We left Boston around 9:30 at night and got to Long Island at 1:15 in the morning. We had to head off to Virginia for our cousin's graduation so we had to leave the next morning. I was bit sad cause I really wanted to spend time with my uncle and aunts........ it was very very short visit!

The drive from Long Island to Virgina was long and tiring BUT we made it!!

Virgina was fun.... University of Virginia is Beautiful. Both Pras and I, we had visited our cousin about 3 years ago .. and now here we are in his graduation. The campus really reminded me of my own University. Beautiful and Green "University of Mississippi." The exciting trip was also the speaker in the ceremony! John Grisham was one of the speakers!! I was so excitied. I had seen him about 4 years ago in book store when he was doing a book signing in his hometown of Oxford, MS. Seeing him again was indeed a pleasure ....

But amongst all was the WEATHER!! ..… the weather was superb!! Neither a scorching sun nor a cold wind.. it was perfect.. Simply perfect. Graduation was nice. Family re-union was even more fun! We flew from Baltimore on Monday night.. 7 family members all flying together.... I remember, I used to always tell my parents how I hated flying alone and now, I had the liberty of flying with a whole family.

Right now everyone is in Boston. We have total of 7 members in the house. It feels nice. Very homely feeling!!

Here is a quick overview of all the little things I wanted to write about but never found the effort or the time to. I will try to be more disciplined from now on.

We had the Negotiation Workshop yesterday and the professor was indeed a character. He reminded me of a general in an Army. Had he been our professor, we would all have been very very disciplined.

Now back to studying!!

back from Germany!

2007-05-15T11:37:00.000-07:00

I am back from Germany... it was a great trip but bit hectic one. I wish I had more time to enjoy the cities. Lufthansa, BMW and Adidas's company's visit was really fun and interesting. Little did I know about Adi Dassler, the founder of Adidas ( the word Adidas is the first name of Adi and Das is the first three letters of his last name) yup! All day I dream about sports or something else for that matter has nothing to do with it.. :)

Of all the places, Munich, Frankfurt and Berlin, I really really love Berlin and Munich. The ond historic buildings, the museums and the history is what I liked the most. Food, on the other hand was ok. Too much sausages, snitzels and pretzels... I had really started to miss Rice and Curry and Dal. Wine was fun.. infact, I must admit, we had too much of a wine and pretzel.. I really missed Pras. Since he is the wine lover, he would have really really loved this trip.But, there is always next time.. I look forward to doing this with him again!

The weather was perfect!! Only slight rain in the last few days in Berlin, but other than that it was nice. Yes.. I am all tanned now thanks to the 2 hours of boat tour both in Frankfurt and Berlin.:)

School started from Yesterday ( yikes!! and I already have a case write up due on Monday!!!!) Since the China group are still not back from their seminar, we only had 10 people in our class yesterday. Today, my first class got cancelled and I have another one in couple of hours. As I was going to school yesterday, I was happy to see Park Street's " T" station filled with the sign of " SAVE DARFUR." Oh! how happy I felt.The world is slowly realising the importance of Sudan!!

Weather in Boston is very pleasant as well. I can hear the wind outside. My window rattles a lot in the wind. It's kind of annoying. I have lot to write but I need to clean the house. My uncle and aunt are coming on Thursday. I am excited and then everyone is coming next week... I have lots and lots of exciting news about my trip. The presentation Fiasco, the Hoffrahause, the wine tasting, the Rhine river cruise and many more.. But for now, I gotta get ready for my class.

Done with the second semester

2007-05-04T08:17:00.000-07:00

I am done with my Finals. Finance went ok I think… but it is so unpredictable. When you think you have really done well, the result you get will completely shatter all the expectations. Yesterday’s exam was better than the previous two. I think I did better than the last two ones… but again, I can never be sure.

I was happy yesterday after my exam, but then again, I was sad! I do not know why…. I mean kind of happy... but in a sad kind of way. I'm conflicted about this time of year, can you tell?

Packing is all done… I leave in about couple of hours and tomorrow at this time I will be in Frankfurt. Life takes a different mode every few seconds…I am happy and sad.....sad that pras will not be with me.. happy that I will be in a new country, new culture, new everything... and of course, I am happy that I am done with my second semester!!

Interesting thing happened to me… thanks to face book.

As I was coming home from school yesterday in the T at MIT station a guy walks in. He looks familiar. He was “Eswar,” a guy senior to me from International School of Japan. I was in a debate team and had debated against his team in my freshmen year of high school. That was in ‘95….. Almost 12 years ago… I recognized him right way. I introduce myself and then we start to chat. He recognizes me as well. What a small world. His parents were still in Tokyo. I told him about my parents and my recent to Japan. We exchanged our number and plan to meet sometimes soon.

What a small world. I meet with a person, whom I had known in my high school days in Tokyo and meet him RANDOMLY in a subway in a total different city… :)

The picture above has no relation to this blog title.. I just thought it was simply cute...and True maybe ;)

Almost done..

2007-05-02T20:18:00.000-07:00

My Operational Management exam is done. It was ok. It was hard. The last few questions were exceptionally hard..... What is done is done.. I am glad it is over.

Now one more to go. My Finance exam tomorrow and then I will be done for the second semester. No more Finance.... :) I have studied a lot for this exam.... My past experience for this test has not been good. However hard I try, the result has always been quite disappointing....

Nevertheless, I have not given up.

Hope at the end is what keeps you going right :)

I have given my best... 4 days of studying... and tomorrow is the big day!

I had a chance to quickly skim the "Metro" this morning and was quite appalled by the news about the resignation of Lord Browne.

"Chief Executive John Browne resigned Tuesday, hours after a judge allowed a newspaper to publish allegations from a former boyfriend that the executive misused company resources."

I was very surprised. I had seen his talk exactly one year ago at MIT's Dean Innovative Series talk and how impressed I was after listening to him.

I still have one question pondering in my mind:

Is it really fair to bring in the private life. “The former boyfriend's allegation..." ??

Exam Anxiety

2007-05-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

My operational Management Exam is tomorrow. I have been studying all day.. I am prepared.. I think….the worst is yet to come. On Thursday I have Finance.. the exam that I have been dreading for..... it has been my worst nightmare.

Nothing going on in my life except studying. The apartment looks messsy... practically books everywhere. I got an email from Don Cheadle, the actor from "Hotel Rwanda." I did not get his email per se, but I got an email with his signature. It was for the “Darfur Day." I still feel bad that I missed the demonstration. I was looking at the pictures and it looked nice. Lot of people with energy and determination to stop the Genocide in Sudan.

Something made me think about the American media…. news in particular. Living in this country makes you isolated from the rest of the world I think. Back home, we had BBC and even the Nepali news channels covers at least 20 min of the international news. Back in Japan, because I was in International school, I was constantly aware of the world news. However, suddenly, it was different when I came to the US. (Again, this is solely based on my personal experience and please feel free to disagree!)

Regarding the news of Darfur. It was the " Darfur day" on Sunday. People around the world demonstrated for PEACE in Darfur... they demonstrated for the Human Rights. Had I not been involved in Amnesty International two years ago I would not have realized about this worst atrocities. Similarly, my husband was telling me the same thing. Had it not been because of my involvement in Amnesty, he would not have known about Darfur.

I wonder why American media focuses so much on Iraq and South Korea when there are much greater epidemics happening in the world.

I have so much to write about...... I can go on and on...

All right, I better get back to my studying mode….

Let there be peace in Darfur!!

On the side note, the comment I received today on my blog was very nice. I was very happy Thank you!!

three more days till Final

2007-04-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

Been studying all day today….. yesterday and day before yesterday. Exam is on Wednesday and Thursday morning…... (All throughout the weekend I studied and completely forgot to go the " Save Darfur" demonstration at Boston Commons!! sucks!!!!) on the other hand, Pras managed to go see the "Raag concert" at MIT. Lucky him....

I have closed all the blinds and been focusing on my corporate finance book. About forty minutes ago, I eased back the curtains and saw lights. What a beautiful day it is outside.

I need a break. I have been hooked with the facebook. I met my old high friend Natasha from Japan almost after 12 years. Kudos to Facebook! It is really is amazing and addictive.

I did not go to school today. Decided to stay home and study. Been productive day I must say. Another couple hours of Finance and then I will focus on my Operational Management.

I want to keep writing... I just can't think of anything else important right now. Another night

Studyy

2007-04-28T20:51:00.000-07:00

It's barely 11:20 and i can hardly keep my eyes open. It’s going to be nice to be asleep by midnight or a little after. I have been studying all day.. FINANCE.. dividend payout, bonds, stock, capital gains...uughhh

Second semester is literally done( Alas!) My last day of class was on Friday. Thursday we had the law Presentation and we got A on the spot!!! Our group was happy. Since we had spend soooo much time on the case analysis and the rationale.. it really paid off. Our case was on “Sherman Act” and “Arbitration” on Mitsubishi Vs Chrysler Company. Also got a satisfying grade on our IT presentation. Hopefully, the final grade will be as good as this one. So far, it has been good. I have been working straight through this semester. I'm not sure where it went. Never really stopped to take a breath ( well maybe here and there :). All of a sudden it is the last week of school.

Next week at this time, I will be in Frankfurt. I am excited but scared as well, because by then, I will be done with my Finance exam.. Wonder how I will do it.... ?? I wish Pras was allowed to join the group. I really wanted to see “Germany” with him but they would not let him….Maybe next time...

It was a beautiful day today…. beautiful in a photograph. A blue sky, electric green trees, people walking about... blustery winds and noises everywhere. Pras went for a walk! Lucky him. He did not take me along as I had to study... and I could not argue with him because I really had to.

Friday evening was nice and relaxing. We had the Yadav brothers at our place. White wine/Newcastle beer, spinach and shrimp curry ... were a good combination.

I cannot study anymore. Both Pras and I, we are watching a program called “1000 places to see before you die" on Travel channel. They are showing city of Paris... what a beautiful city that was........City of love.. Pariisssss.. tres tres bon!

Amnesty Demonstration

2007-04-26T06:17:00.000-07:00

It is that time of the semester when you have totally given up on everything…you are physically and mentally tired and you feel everyone in whole world has disbanded you…Unfortunately, even your loved ones. If I were to literally define myself at this moment, I would say I am about to explode. Both my head and neck hurts awfully.Too much inside me and my body feels very heavy. The work load is just driving me crazy. Today is my last day of class….. the last presentation, my law presentation and then I am officially done with my second year of MBA. I have two finals next week. The brutal Finance and the operational management!

Now the Amnesty International demonstrations recap:

I left the house at 5:00 in the morning, and the group left for NY at 6.00. We were already in St. Bart’s Place at 55 Lexington Avenue by 10:15. It was going to be a long day. Luckily, the weather was just perfect. Neither Scorching sun nor a chill wind.. Just perfect.

This year’s agenda was

-Human Right abuses in Darfur, Sudan, Guatemala, Bhopal, India and Ethiopia.

There were more than 15000 Amnesty International Activists, primarily students, from more than 10 states. Escorted by the NYPD, we marched in the heart of NY city chanting the Human Right slogan.

At the Chinese mission to the UN, we protested for China to pressure Sudan to protect civilians in Darfur. Sudan represents China's largest overseas investment, worth at least $3 billion, and is the third- largest supplier of oil to China. The demonstration highlighted the failure of the Chinese government to use its influence to pressure the Sudanese government to admit a viable peacekeeping operation into Darfur.

At the Guatemalan mission, we strongly urged authorities to bring General Efrain Rios Montt to justice for his actions during his tenure as dictator, considered genocide by a U.N. Truth Commission.

The best part was the demonstration at J.P Morgan. The rally at J.P. Morgan was to
pressure the investment company, one of Dow Chemical's largest institutional investors, to
demonstrate its commitment to social responsibility by supporting a shareholder resolution
filed by Amnesty International seeking disclosure about Dow's efforts to address the health,
environmental, and social concerns of survivors of a Union Carbide gas leak in Bhopal, India,
 22 years ago.All the savvy looking JP Morgan workers came down to look at the
demonstration.

Workers from the nearby offices looked outside the window out of curiosity.  Some asked to  explain us why we were demonstrations the company, some simply stood there with their
sour faces and some simply smiled and applauded our effort.Cab Riders honked at us, Tourist bus
waved at us and applauded us even more. To me, this is a satisfaction.

To JP Morgan, this demonstration probably means nothing. But to me, this was a chance was get out and be part of something that makes a difference, with other 1,000 people who feel the same way.

I am also suppose to write the journal for my Germany trip. A pre-travel journal I suppose. I have written once... with so much going in your life, it really is very hard to keep up.

Noam Chomsky

2007-04-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

Weekend has been busy. Week has been even busier.

I have four presentation lined up for this week. I would say I am 80% done. Still need to work on that latter 20%.

Lots of exciting this has happened to me last couple of days.

The first one.

Professor Noam Chomsky- Mr. Chomsky was at Suffolk Law school giving a talk on “ The US and Middle East relationship.” I was very ecstatic. Ecstatic about meeting the FAMOUS Noam Chomsky. :) I really consider myself lucky for being able to hear him. The policemen outside the audotorium made me feel especial for attending the event.

I have not had chance to read any of his books however, upon hearing him, I am convinced that I will find his views and perspectives very interesting. The talk was very interesting and thought provoking I must say. I learned lots of things I did not know or I was not aware of.

“ Us supports brutal regime and opposes Democracy”. According to research done by Wall street Journal, this is how most people in Middle East perceive United States.

Later during his talk he gave his analogy on why US would not withdraw troops from Iraq?

What consequences will there be if Iraq is permitted with sovereignty?

US thinks that if they give Iraqis sovereignty then the Shiites in Iraq will improve their relationship with Iran and Saudi and then try to get power … they want Autonomy… Who does not want Autonomy? Is that not a country's soverign immunity??

Another interesting point he raised was about the relationship between US and Saddam Hussein “Saddam attacked the US in gulf and just got away an apology." Professor Chomsky emphasized the fact that US and Britain continued to support "Sadam Hussein " until 1989. I was quite aghast by this statement.

Chomsky is widely known for his political activism, and for his criticism of the foreign policy of the United States and other governments. Having finally able to see the Great Noam Chomsky( and of course shake his hands) was indeed a GREAT experience. I really admire this man for standing up for his views despite all the controversies he is dealing with. You gotta stand up for your right!!!!!!

I am getting tired. I had a long day today. The weather was awesome, again!! However, to my dismay, I could not enjoy a lot.

Pras took me to the famous Ipswich Beach yesterday! Simply fabulous.

I have yet to share my NY experience on Friday. I was in NY for the Amnesty International Human Right demonstration.. The JP Morgan demonstration was the Best Part.

sad news

2007-04-17T20:13:00.000-07:00

Worst Campus Massacre in the U.S History.

Instead of waking up to a cool morning breeze and a hot cup of coffee, students at Virginia Tech woke up to the rattling of gunshots this morning. The Virginia Tech’s ghastly incident shocked everyone. Many Virginia Tech students are expressing their absolute shock and disbelief in regards to this situation.

What is the motive behind the killing of innocent people?

I tried to watch the updated news this afternoon and could not bear the digest the detail. I remember watching the news about a professor who had survived the holocaust and died yesterday from the hand of his own student.

Why should anyone allowed to buy a gun?

The Virginia Tech murders confirm the value of empowering ordinary citizens to carry a concealed weapon. Really….. Event like this has been happening quite frequently for the past 5 years and yet, nothing has happened. The law has not changed. What civil right is this?

The situation is simply beyond anyone’s imagination.

My best wishes go out to the victims, their families, and VT community.

Hectic

2007-04-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

I am writing after a week… No improvement whatsoever, it is simply getting worse.

Life wise, it is frustrating....from everywhere. Got back my Finance test. Not satisfied at all.. With all that studying, merely an improvement compare to the first one. Now, with only one remaining final, I really have no hope in that class.. I mean really.

Semester is almost over. 3 weeks to be exact before the finals. All the last minute cramming is currently taking place. 3 presentations lined up for next week. Information Management- we have chose the topic of Secondlife, then Marketing and Law presentation along with 25 paper pages.

Quickly encapsulating last weekend:

Went to Ishwar dai’s secret B’day Bash at Motu dai’s residence on Saturday. It was fun. Met everyone after a long time. Pras went to his Raag conference all day on Sunday and I was practically glued in front of my computer doing the Marketing project which is not even halfway done.

Now the exciting news:

Yesterday, I had the chance to hear Mr. Jack Welch’s speak at MIT. What an energetic person he is. For his age, he is simply Amazing person. “Energy” is one of the common traits I have noticed in all the leaders I have seen. I guess it is good to be an energetic person.

I liked Mr. Welch’s 20-70-10 % theory.

He said, to make a better organization, you have to Reward top 20%
Remove the bottom 10% and Improve the middle 70%.

He emphasized the point that business is like managing a “sports team.” The one with a best players win. You as a leader must know your team, care about them.

How do you Groom leaders?

Mr. Welsh answered with 3 points.

Rigorous appraisal system
Tons of Training
Enforcing “education” from educated people

He also favored “Intrinsic” values as oppose to monetary values.

In sum, I was very happy to see the Retired CEO of GE. Truthfully speaking, it is people like this who change the world. During his tenure, GE market value grew from 13 million to $ 400 billion.

I had a long day today as well. Friday, and my class ended at 8:00. We had a networking event, which I decided not to go.

I have a scratch .. BAD scratch in my hand and the "Hepatitis" Immunization does not make it any better… It hurts really badly.

You know what? I’m happy tonight. Maybe not actively happy. maybe content

I can't say how much I’d like to close my eyes and float away right now. I’ve always had this dream of flying. Independently flying, not like in a plane or with wings. Feels like too much effort. Just floating, you know? All alone, unattached. Out of reach.

How wonderful would that be?

brutal week

2007-04-06T18:36:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been quite a week. A hectic and exhausting week. This is by far one of the craziest weeks ever. 4 tests along with an agonizing neck pain (which to my dismay is still lingering around) with an dissapointing outcomes.. The finance test did not go well..

I had my law test yesterday. Unlike last time, I did not study for 4 days, I studied all day yesterday….. from 9:00 am in the morning till 7:00 in the evening.. and I think it went pretty well.... I could answer all the Multiple choice Questions and since the bonus question was on the topic of "Corporate Social Responsibility"..and Bhopal case.. it went well.. I think.... The result will say it all.

It was quite cold this morning. It was another exhausting day for both Pras and I. Running around Boston doing errands was not fun.

It is already Easter this Sunday… Wow… and in about couple of weeks I will be done with my school…

Plans for the weekend.. I plan to take it easy… However, I do need to work on my presentations….. a sigh of relief for all the case write ups.. Thank God.. they are all done... I have the last one for my Information management class this week and the no more!!

So, while a great restructuring is taking place in the mind (as well as the body), I take comfort in the fact that the school will be ending soon .

I have started Inheritance of Loss this morning. Depending on my mood, I plan to do parallel reading between Lolita and Desai’s book.

Right now, at this time, I want to forget about everything.. I mean.. absolutely everything and just relax…Ah! Ignorance is a bliss…

I just finished Watching the movie "DOR"....WHAT a great movie it was.. Simply amazing. This movie was particulary recommended by my mum and I simply.. I mean SIMPLY loved it.. :) It is a compelling movie. IT is on the empowermnet of the weak and oppressed. IT is a beautiful tale of love, loss, freindship, courage and desire to follow your heart!! It is so beleivable and deeply touched. It touched my HEART!!

Unfair

2007-04-04T14:52:00.000-07:00

I've gotten worse and worse and staying up to date here. The last blog was quite sometime ago…

I study and I still do badly on the test. I study only little and still do bad on the test--- What is the logic behind this, I still wonder? Should I not study or should I study. Argghhh..

I had studied about “Variances” in my Finance class, and like the variance, the weather in Boston varies a lot. It is simply unpredictable. For instance, who would have ever imagined that after having the high 60s over the weekend, it would be actually snowing this week? Since, it is snowing and I have no umbrella, I have no choice but to stay in the library and wait for the snow to stop. The snow has stymied my plan to go home…. I am stuck inside the library after taking a brutal operational management quiz. My neck hurts, I mean it seriously hurts. After taking the 3 long Finance exams, the neck situation has only gotten worse. Never have I experienced such agony in my neck.. It is disturbing. I am at the library.. I have to speak a whisper..

After reading Siddhartha, I have started pondering a bit about the philosophy of life. Life is hard. At this juncture of life, I don't know whether I am happy or sad, or maybe just fine.

Occasionally, I get tired of the usual morning's mundane matters. The days of my youth, as I look back on them, seem to fly away from me like a flurries of snow. Future still holds ambiguity…. well not so much one might think but to me, it still is a lot of confusion. I must not dwell too much, I know..

I finally finished Siddhartha; I have borrowed Damien and Lolita. I have already read Lolita--- almost 6 years ago… (This is what I mean of my youth flying by…) but I wanted to re- read it again. In the meantime, I would also like to start Inheritance of Loss. A Thousand Splendid Sun is out….. I cannot wait to read it.

Quick re- cap of my weekend.

This computer almost died….. but Pras thankfully revived back with the help of Sanjay.

I studied all day Saturday--- I usually like to take a rest on Saturday, however, with all those exams lined up, I had no choice but to study all day Saturday. Got a nice break at the Bista residence that night. Food and ambience were both great….. Got back home.. and it was another crazy night…

Sunday…. I studied all day … all night.. Was up till 1:00 in the morning doing last minute practice..

On the side note, I have opened an account in Facebook and I must add, it is quite an entertainment. I have already added 7 of my high school friends from Japan.

Somewhere in the dark tunnel, both Pras and I, saw a ray of hope this morning. Hopefully, this will be it!! Amid uncertainity, Amid, ambiguity.... there is still hopeee..... :)

crazyy

2007-03-30T14:14:00.000-07:00

My days go by in waves.

Life has been odd lately. Up and down, in and out, it's crazy. Things taking in a complete different mode… completely unexpected… and completely unfair. I wish there were something to say about it…. Something is really … suffocating to the mind.

Friday afternoon, I am at school trying to recuperate my last piece of brains to do some Finance. I just finished my Operational Management class. This week has been tough, and so will the next week and the week after next. With the semester almost coming to an end and all the presentation, Finals and case write up lined up, it is absolutely chaotic.

Plan for this weekend… Studying… Absolutely studying.Corporate Finanace, Operational Management, Law and the case write is all waiting for me next week.

Last weekend, even though I was in School until 2:00 in the afternoon on Saturday, the evening was quite pleasant. Sahilendra dai, Pras and I, we went to “Tanjore” for dinner and then later at night, enjoyed the long waited movie, “The Namesake.” I was very satisfied with the movie. Unlike other movies, (Da Vinci code, The Scarlet Letter, The house of Spirits) where the movie is completely distrorted from the book, the namesake had lots of resemblance to the main plot of the book. It was very nicely done. Apparrently, the author Jhumpa Lahiri herlself is in the movie, I only realised it after the movie ended. Pras really like it as well.

Yesterday, I had the chance to attend the talk titled “US-Pakistani Relations” by Mahmud Ali Durrani, the current Pakistani Ambasaddor to the U.S and yes, I did shake his hand and had a brief talk with him after the event.

“What is your perspective on the coup regime by General Musharef” was my question to him?” which unfortunately was answered in a very ambiguious way?

Why was the coup d’etat successful in Pakistan and why it failed in Nepal? I am still confused?

I just don't get it.

Saw the video " Night in Bhopal" in our law class. Such a hearbreaking video. I am glad I am going to partake in Amnesty's demonstration this year as well.. Those culprits needs to get jailed.......

There are many things on my mind lately .

Why is it so difficult to get something that you really want?? Why?

Royal Ghost

2007-03-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

I finished the “Royal Ghost.” I have always enjoyed reading books by Samrat Upadhyay. This is also one of my favorite books.. and how can I forget our very own Guru of Love? This is his third book I have read so far and I have to be blatantly honest that the more, the more I become fan of his writing styles. So vivid and so descriptive.

Amongst all the books I have read, if I were to rank, I would pick Herman Hesse, Samrat Upadhyaya and Kiran Desai as powerful writers. If anyone was to examine my choice, upon a quick glance, they would realize that they are all foreign authors. I sometimes ponder if I have been biased on making this judgment. Humbly speaking, I enjoy reading books by foreign authors as oppose to the American ones. This does not mean that I do enjoy reading them---I guess, I am more inclined to the foreign authors.

I do have couple of favorite ones like “To kill a mocking bird, Catcher in the Rye, 1984, A room with a view, Native Son…”—to name a few .However, I have to confess that lately I have been more attracted to the foreign authors. Maybe cause I can relate more to them. For instance in Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, I could relate a lot to myself and my family when I first moved to Japan... the new culture, the new school, the new place... In addition to empathizing with the characters, the readers also get to comphrehend a new global perspective from the authors. In Kite Runner, I learned a lot about the Taliban Regime and the Phustuns tribe which I could relate to when I was watching the movie “Kabul Express..”which might not have been possible had I not read the bool. This movie by the way is an excellent one.

Royal Ghost is an amalgamation of short stories. It talks a lot about the Maobadi situation so I am guessing Samrat has used recent time for the Setting. Chintamani’s woman is one of my favorite stories out of that collection. The coincidence I must add is that Chintamani is the name of my granddad as well. However, to my surprise, the story here in about a 23 year old boy. The story bears the stamp of Samrat’s lucid, illustrative and discriptive prose. Characters are familiar, so are the milieu– Kathmandu and its vicinity. Reading the book is like wandering in the streets of Kathmandu.Another Story that really hit me hard was " The Refugee."

Refugee is a story about Pitamber, a good father figure who volunteers his house as a refuge for a poor woman from the country and her daughter, who had lost most of their family to Maoist violence. They are traumatized. Pitamber has to manage his unruly teenage son and also fend off gossip that perhaps he’s taken a “second wife.” Sadly, this is how our society is like .... filled with gossip.

In other news….. the World cup Cricket. I am not a follower at all, however, this morning’s NPR news caught my attention. What happened to the Coach Bob Woolmer? How did he die and what happened to the Pakistani team? The coach has been strangled says the New York Post. What a tragedy during the World cup.

The sky is patterned in the sky, and the moon’s sickle floating in the blue like a boat. I would like to wonder the world like a child, wide awake and open to my surrounding and free from mistrust.

(By the way, I wrote this blog on Friday afternoon.. was bit lazy to post it right then therefore, here I am uploading it, after 2 days. :) Weekend was fun. I need a new post for that.)

Back to School

2007-03-20T18:01:00.000-07:00

Spring break is over.

I'm not sure if it’s a sign of me getting older, or how busy life gets at school, but time is zooming by a ludicrous speed.

We did manage to New York to visit the newly wedded sister and brother-in law. They got back from Nepal about 3 weeks ago.. . I was really excited ... excited that the snow had finally stopped. It really was a going to be a very short visit but I was very much looking forward to it ...... Surprisingly, because of the snow, the road was completely deserted which made the drive a hassle free one. Imagine getting stuck in the Traffic on Saturday afternoon.. Ugghh.. After picking my cousin, we headed to the Nepali restaurant called “Yak” in Jackson Height. The place reminded me so much like restaurant back home.. They even had a singer who sang beautiful Hindi and Nepali songs and on top of that, the momo was simply de-licioous..!!

We also got to meet and had a wonderful lunch with Pushkar dai and his wife. Pras gets really excited meeting with his old friends. I still am very amazed by the connection and the friendship he has with his old friends.The Budhanilkantha connection I suppose. :)

In sum, the LongIsland trip was really nice. I really got to cherish my old Ktm memories back which definetly is a priceless moment.

Now back to school…

I grew apprehensive as I entered by Finance class yesterday. The Grueling ordeal was finally about to end. My heart almost skipped a beat…. I got my paper back. Not good at all. But I passed… Man... after all that studying.. Got to study more…

This week:

I have a case write up in Marketing, which I need to work extra hard. Then I have the law exam… and then the finance one the following weekend. And all the looming presentation… Boy oh boy!! I gotta really work hard.

In class today, we did the PriceWaterHouseCoopers’s Knowledge Curve case study. I was up until 12 doing the write up and getting up this morning was hard. On the other hand, the case was really interesting. The whole topic of “Portal Integration,”“ Knowledge Curve.” I had no idea until yesterday that IBM had actually bought the PriceWaterHouse Consulting after the spin off..…. very very interesting!

I better get back to my work. I would at least try to finish the “British Airways” case for my IT class and my stomach in GROWLING…...

Oh did I mention that I am one of the e-board members for the Women in Business club at Suffolk :)

gaze the no'reaster :)

2007-03-16T16:03:00.000-07:00

The last day of my Spring break today ends with FOUR letter word? SNOW! ARGH!

Just as I was thinking about the beautiful weather this week which has put me in the best moods of late, this happens!! After a day this week where we were in the 70s, we have a snow.....and that too on the weekend. My only hope is that the past few days were warm enough that it won't stick for long.

And the timing isn't very good.

We are planning to drive down to NY tomorrow to meet our newly married cousin and her husband. I really hope we can go.. I am really excited to meet her. Snow Snow go away.....

The annoying Noreaster!!! Arghhh..

Happenings-wise:

Even though it's the holidays—aka spring break, I'm trying to stay on top of my work. I had my internship interview yesterday… the second interview which went quite smoothly. It is still quite early for the fall internship, but I am trying to make a bit of a head start.

After the interview, I decided to go to MFA. The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

When I got to the museum, surprisingly enough there were fire brigade lined outside the building and everyone was out in the garden. I humbly asked one of the staff members, “Fire in the roof” was her quick reply.

Her calmness made me conclude that it was not anything serious. Upon waiting for 20 minutes, we were allowed inside the museum. Thank god!! After making a detail inquiry, I found out that it was a small fire in the new building they were expanding. I was extremely happy that they had let us all in

I love Museums…… simply cannot put more emphasis on the word LOVE!! I cannot spend whole day, but I can spend good amount of time, if I really enjoy the piece. Strolling down the isle, looking at Manet, Monet, Renoir and all the mixture of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist art with a additional flavour of Egyptian Art was a thrill for me. The main purpose of the visit was to look the “Paris Fashion collection.” It was really nice. They had the little collection by Chanel, Dior, Valentino, and Yoji Yamamoto to name a few. It truly was a depiction of the “"the democratization of fashion."

The incomprehensive clothing exquisitely crafted indeed was very breathtaking... very much like the actual "Runway" you see on Fashion channels. (Since I have never been to the real one, I am making the basis of the judgment on my knowledge of Fashion TV.) Without my realization, I had actually spent almost an hour and half studying the beautiful dresses on the mannequins, which I so hoped were real models. In sum, yesterday was a great museum day for me.

Saw the movie Departed. Great movie. to me, the most exciting part was when Matt Damon says he wants to go to Suffolk ( my school) to get a one year law degree.

Just a while ago I eased back the curtains and saw the continuous snowfall… moving furiously, west to east. I went in my room, put on my shoes, and found my camera. Click click…..I manage to take couple of quick shots!.. including this one of our bikes... which sadly is completely covered in white snow.

Pras is back from work early.

Right now, I have the blinds open. Sipping the hot soup while enjoying the mixture of white snow and the smooth jazz is simply AMAZING!

Quickly reflecting on my dream-- I had a nice dream about my granddad and my great grand mum.

Oh—Happy Saint Patty’s day tomorrow!!

Reading wise, I have started “the Royal Ghost.”

Work

2007-03-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

I have been busy working for my professor's research all morning. The perfect Spring break for me would have been lying in front of the TV or reading books all day. However, I am stuck with work.

I am getting nutts. That is for sure. It's almost 2:30 in the afternoon and I have been in this position since early morning. Such are the vageries of life.. :)

Lot needs to be done before Friday.

I still have to study my Finance and law class... Biggg presentation on the way.

In the meatime, here are few of my favourite songs by Prasanna. I occasionaly do get the liberty of enjoying his melodious voice :)

Enjoy!!

spring break

2007-03-12T09:33:00.000-07:00

I am reasonably happy today.

Reason = Spring break… very simple equation :)

I am reminiscing my college old days…..Those college days. I had made my FIRST trip to Boston during my sophomore year Spring break in 2001, and I had fallen in Love with place then. Little did I know that I was going to be in Boston in Future, but then, I really had hoped of getting a job after my graduation in Boston. And Voila, here I am..

Weekend was a relaxed one.

On Saturday, after a good brunch at Sahilendra dai’s and Sanjay’s place, we managed to go for a quick drive. Pras also managed to see his role model, Vinod Khosla’s speech at the Energy seminar in MIT. Since last few weekends had been overloaded with homework’s, I completely wanted to relax this weekend. We rented “Babul,” which was an Ok movie. I still have to finish the last bit.

Sunday was nice, mainly because of the weather. Sagar dai and Jasmeen had come to our place. It was nice seeing them after such a long time. I really have been out of loop because of school. Weekend is always occupied with homework and projects.

Since, days are gulped down in the vortex of time, in no time; it will be a “back to school” time. I am really dreading it because once the school starts, I have all my papers and presentation due.

The whole day light saving phenomena is still not engraved in my mind. Waking up this morning was hard. I am glad; I did not have school today. That gave me more time to voyage with my wildest Dream. DREAM!!

My thoughts regarding my dream are too complicated and disorganized to sum up here.

It takes me far from everything familiar, it throws me wingless into the void of the world, it tosses me beyond the gravitational pull of familiar stars

There---My life is the steam that rises from the translucent stillness, this fragile nothing that curls and wavers in the wind.

phenomenal women

2007-03-10T14:19:00.001-07:00

PHENOMENAL WOMAN

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Men themselves have wondered
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can't touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them
They say they still can't see.
I say,
It's the arch of my back,
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Now you understand
Just why my head's not bowed.
I don't shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.
When you see me passing
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It's in the click of my heels,
The bend of my hair,
the palm of my hand,
The need of my care.
'Cause I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

Maya Angelou's poem Phenomenal Woman is very lyrical, as are many of her other poems. I had first read this poem in my 9th grade English class and was in love with Maya Angelou. I remember printing this out and sticking in my reading desk at home. To me, this was a very powerful and influential poem.. and it still is. Happy Women's day!

We are all PHENOMENAL WOMAN and yes!! we can RISEEE :)

Women's day

2007-03-07T14:03:00.000-07:00

HAPPY WOMEN'S DAY!!!!!

Today is International Women's Day. It is a time set aside for people to celebrate the achievements of women around the world, and to inspire women to achieve their full potential and make a difference.

Today is the day meant to highlight women around the world and focus on their continuing struggles.

The United Nation's theme for International Women's day in 2007 is : " Ending Impunity for Violence agianst Women and Girls: " Happy Women's day!"

Let's stop the Femicide in Guatemala!!!

I did not get back my Finance paper.. I was so happy... My spring break starts from next week.. Had I gotten the paper back.. I would have been depressed throughout the break. :)

With my test and my case write up done, I am little bit relieved but still lots need to be done. This spring break is THE only long break I have until August.

I am at the library. I just got done with my Operational Management class. I have to attend a talk by Meridith Heckmann, the director of Market Research at Welch's. I literally cannot wait till Friday!!

Happy Holi

2007-03-06T09:55:00.000-07:00

Finance test : It was my first thought, this morning, aside from the alarm clock, which is less a thought than a reaction, the test was so very terrible yesterday and I have still not overcome that ordeal.

My law test was bad and now this…. Why am I dealing with the déjà vu?

I really had studied quite a lot but in retrospect, I guess that was not enough.

I am sitting in library Again!! and trying to wrap up my case-write up for Ice-wine, my consumer behaviour class.

I pop my knuckles in the silence and think of friend who hates it but, I do not stop.

I should be doing work of sorts or being productive, although I define this as productive; more so than mindless sporadic reading/pondering process.

Cette après-midi.

In an hour, I will get back my test.. I am dreading it!!!!

I am hungry..

It is cold today….. – 15 I think. With the wind chill... it is really bad...

Warming up to the idea that it will be getting high by the end of this month, I see it as more of an inevitability. Seeing things beautiful sometimes anyway but sounds like an experience to assemble words about. Some other part of life regardless, I suppose.

This morning, walking, in the cold, I kept a sharp eye. It’s something I do these days, to prevent running into those I don't want to.

Weekend was all about studying for Finance.. which I still do not believe that I completely screwed up!

Friday night—watched the movie, “ Kabul Express.” We both liked it so much. I could relate so much to the book, Kite Runner… the terms Hazara, Phustuns..…

It was a good movie.

Saturday, for a change, I wrote my case write up at a Starbucks café, which was pleasantly soothing expereince with white choclate mocha. I usually get distracted, however, this time, I got lot done--- listening to music recorded.

We went to Tamarind Bay at Cambridge for dinner that night. ‘t was ok.

On the side note, it was HOLI on Saturday. The picture above was taken 2 years ago back home.... My first holi with Pras.... Lots of memories that day!

March madness

2007-03-02T15:32:00.000-07:00

I am sorry. Both for myself and my absence for the extended period of time since my last post---the busy class schedule and tests and write ups is the culprit here.

I got my law test back yesterday. It was Terrible. Its early and late. I did not think it was going to be that bad. I really need to do lot of studying in that class.I’m in that odd state, a mix of shock and disillusion.

Yesterday was a big day for us. Hope everything will work out just fine.

Today is soooo blah and slow and rainy and all that I just want to lie down and sleep. This weekend I have to do lots of studying. Corporate Finance and the Consumer Behaviour case write up.

I have been studying for Finance all day today. Now, I have to get ready for the “networking” event in Boston. I would have been excited to go had it not been this crazy weather. The pouring rain does not motivate me at all. I feel like lying in a couch and watching a movie.

The most remarkable thing happened to me yesterday—I am trying to be very optimistic.

I was on the way to my school.. riding in the T. The train stopped at Central Square. Two Nepali got in the train. One Boy and a girl. The girl sat next to me and the boy stood right in front of her. I was in my usual reading self. I was reading the last intense paragraph of “Gods of Small thing,” looking very serious. I was wearing my black coat had my black scarf wrapped around the neck. There was no-way… no way in the whole wide world that I looked like a “ Detective.”

However, to that teenage boy, I did. He signaled his friend in Nepali saying “ Look at that girl sitting next to you. She looks like a Detective. With that black coat and the scarf, she really looks like a serious detective...” He was about to saying something about my nose stud.. and I abruptly interrupted him by saying.. “ I am a Nepali as well… so you really think I look like a detective??..…”

This last statement completely took him by awe. He had no idea what to say next.

This was a funny incident.

When I shared with Pras that evening, he simply laughed and I laughed with him…

Pras had a flue yesterday. It is a flue season again. He is slowly recovering.

I started "Siddhartha" by Herman Hesse.... the writing style is enriched with the beautiful literary terms that I simply mesmerized by. Oh! how I wish, I could write like that.

Familiarity bores me. I hate it that I see things happening, understand the nuances of what goes on, and just accept them.

usual ramble..

2007-02-26T22:11:00.000-07:00

What kind of goals are there to have?

I thought of this while thinking of the other stuff but I forgot to write it down.

What is progressive?

What is change?

What kind of goal can you possibly look to accomplish?

Hmmmm..

It was snowing this morning.

The school did not get closed.

I sat in the library looking out at the snowy y morning. The glowing remaining leaves, the icicles on the trees. i knew it was frigid but it didn't look cold… looked forty five-ish and lovely.

I talked with mum. She is back from Nepal. I also got to talk with my grand mum in Malaysia last night. It was nice talking with her. She is enjoying the sun. I also called home this morning from school.

Weekend was study time.

Finance and Case write ups. My law midterm is over. It went ok I suppose… the words.. jurisdiction, sovereign immunity, forum non convenience, extraterritoriality….. they are all still lingering inside my brain.

Saw the movie Eklayba…. We both really liked it. The protagonist was amazing.

Too much going on right now.. My brain is completely Frail..

I need lots and lots and lots of luck for next couple of days.. very very important time for me.
The book is finished. What a twisted ending.. it really took me by surprise. Now, I can finally start Siddhartha....

long weekend

2007-02-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

The long weekend is over… ‘t was too short.

We had made a short trip to visit our sister and brother in law in Delaware. Oh! How I wished we had more time.

After studying all day on Friday and Saturday (the law test is this week), we hopped into a car after Pras’s Raag class on Sunday morning for a longweekend gateaway. The drive was not bad at all. We made it to Newark, Delaware at around 6:30 is. Both of us were extremely excited to see our cousins,our biani jwais :) Simona and Sajju. It had already been a year since we had seen them. After enjoying the lovely dinner (the food was simple delicious. Seriously, to prevent myself from salivating, I cannot think about the food right now. ) The kebab and the fish curry was the quintessential of Delicious food. It was our short, yet a fulfilled and memorial trip. It would have been nice if they were in Boston or maybe even to Connecticut. But things always does not happen our way does it.

We got back to Boston at 1:30 am. Yes, we did manage to go to Pras’s old town in New Jersey and had dinner at an Indian Place. The food was delicious, but not as delicious as the food we had in Delaware. :)

Getting up this morning was hard. I had a 9:00 class. Luckily, I had done all my home works on Saturday, so I was a guilt free student.

As I was writing this, I dozed off for about 15 minutes.

And I had a Dream.

I had a dream about writing. I dreamt about the people I love

I can't decide whether this week should feel long or short….

More studying, more focus, more work

- The book is getting exciting. Rachel and Estha finally gets to meet long awaited Sophie Mol.

The "JetBlue" fiasco is crazy... Good Strategy of the CEO to apologize the customers in public. With all the competitiors I wonder how much of this is going to be effective.

V day

2007-02-15T21:28:00.000-07:00

This life is so static. I just feel like laying back against one of the big plushy brown coffee house chairs with my head on the tall cushion and listen to the music…. a nice mellow jazz and forget all the home works and tests.

What a snow fall yesterday. I was ecstatic by the fact my school was cancelled and on top of that it was the V- day. Even though Pras worked all day, he gave me a beautiful surprise. (Yes! I got a beautiful rose and a card. very very happyy!!! :)) I want to get through this week but I don't want to move on to next week. I have the law test. TESTTTT. It's not an ideal situation. There is a solution, though, albeit a radical one. Scrap tests altogether. I wish we had case write ups like we do in other courses. I seriously would not mind writing 10 page case write ups.. Tests.. freaks me out!!!

I want this weekend but I don't want the days following.

I’m frustrated with a lot of things and happy with a lot of things. It’s usually the case with me, naturally. It is Thursday. I still have the lingering feeling of it being earlier in the week, Monday or Tuesday.

it’s cold

The television is muted and the shadows play across the walls. The sounds of my fingers on the keys blend in to the most wonderful thing I can imagine hearing. Even the refrigerator quits whining for a while.

I borrowed two books from the library.

I have yet to finish “the gods of small thing.”

However, I could not resist.

I got Michaels Dell’s --Direct from Dell

And Siddhartha --by Herman Hesse

awful

2007-02-12T21:57:00.000-07:00

It has been a decently awful day, so I'm letting myself recuperate from it by working on the blog.. Finance homework does not stop coming! It took me 10 hours to do homework for this week. All day Friday and Sunday--- What a crazy day it was.

Got back home from school and then I had to do case write ups. It has been an exhausting day. I am about to head off to bed. I have a early class tomorrow--- then the research for professor.

Weekend was nice. Saturday was bit relaxing. Pras came back from California. He is a busy man as well. Travel Travel and work!! Pras and I, we went out for nice dinner Saturday night… and Sunday all day was “book” day for me.

Talked with all my uncle and aunts yesterday. We have a wedding at our place. My cousin got married. It is a wedding season in Nepal. Two Weddings that we missed this month…

The weather has been unseasonably warm this winter…. Well not per se….. last few days was quite awful. It was quite mild today. Apparently, there is supposed to be a snow storm this week. But right now the full moon is so bright; it looks as if the parking lot is blanketed in white.

Good night!!

On a side note, there is a newly elected WOMEN president at the Harvard university from today!!!!! :)

here and there

2007-02-07T21:02:00.001-07:00

Ah, I don't know what to write today. The whole day today has been busy because of the networking events. Early in the morning at 9:30, I attended the career fair at Northeastern University. Realizing the fact that I had to attend the entrepreneurship seminar back at the University, I frantically had to run to the T and wait for almost 20 min in the cold. ( I still hate the GREEN line.. I always have!! they are the worst in terms of being on time)

After the seminar, bunch of us headed to the "Global Economic challenges" conference in downtown Boston which ended at 8:00. Attended the wine/cheese networking session.. and met some interesting people from the US chamber of commerce.

Amongst the organization present, there was " Oxford Analytica," a Global Strategic Analysis group out of UK which had predicted the risk analysis of all the countries in Atlas. I looked at Nepal and it had the label of being a "high risk" country.

Why I asked?

" The Maoist" situation was his humble reply.

and I am finally at home.. cold and hungry..... It was 11 today with the wind chill factor of -13.

back to Boston

2007-02-06T18:04:00.000-07:00

Weekend was good. We had gone to Louisiana for our cousins's rice feeding ceremony. We flew from Boston to Houston and rented a car. Along with other family members from D.C, we then made a 4 hours drive to Leeville, Louisiana. We left the house at 4 am in the morning, and reached at 8:30 pm. Quite a long trip indeed. Since we had gone there just for the weekend, the trip was little too short and awfully hectic.However, on the other side we got to meet with everyone from the family :) This was sort of like a quick re-union. Meeting the two new members of the family was a pleasure. Both kushal and Sara have become more cuter.

Now back to hectic schedule again. It is really cold outside. Pras is off to California for couple of days. I am overwhelmed with all my homeworks and case studies and the research work.Since I had skipped my school on Friday, I am quite behind actually.

Feb 1st marked the second year of our anniversary. Time has really flown by so quickly. It is still hard to believe that I have been Mrs. Dhungel for 2 years now.Yesterday, I got a very pleasant surprise. I had gone to check my mail and saw a huge box..... and to my biggest surprise, that box was for me!!! It was from my brother and sister in law from Delaware. I loved the gift :) This week has been nice. Lots of surprises. First a lovely one from Pras and then yesterday the another one....

Today, I started "Gods of small thing" by Ms. Arundathi roy!

Night melodies

2007-01-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

I had the wonderful opportunity to hear a BEAUTIFUL song by my husband.

Prasanna's song- “Biteka Kura ”

It was indeed a great way to start a BRAND new day at 12:00 am :)

My day

2007-01-30T16:01:00.000-07:00

The alarm clock buzzed at 6: 45 in the morning. After snoozing for about 4 times, I finally decide to drag myself out from the bed. " I have a meeting in the morning-" - Prasanna had warned me before going to bed last night. This meant getting ready by 8:15...Reluctantly; I forced myself out from the bed. We went to bed at 1:00 in the morning. I had the case-writeup due this morning. I wished I had more time to sleep. I also had a meeting with one of my professors at 9:30. As I head to take the shower,Prasanna rolls out from the bed and heads to the coffee machine.. Perfect aroma in the apartment. We quickly got dressed and head out for the brand new day. :)

The train is awfully crowded. I have my book with me and I care less. Crammed in the crowd, I start to enter the Desai world. The book is getting more interesting and soon comes the " Park Street" station. Time for me to get off. I have a morning class today. We are discussing about the “Providian Trust" case. Intersting case about Reenginnering and Transforming the organizational structure. I got my first case back. I am happy:) My grade took me by complete surprise:)

After the class, I quickly grab a bowl of soup and three power bars and head to the library to do my Corporate Finance homework. The books that I have bought at the ebay has not arrived yet. I am sitting in the library's reference room trying to get hold of the Corporate Finance book.. apparently someone has checked it out and it is not due back for another hour. I want to get over with my Finance homework by Friday. I see two of my friends doing the same homework. I join them... the problems looks relatively easy. I think I can get the work done in a hour or so... I did it!! I did all the problems except the last one. I still need to check it but I think, the major part is done.. oh! what a relief! Now the case write up. We have a make up class on Friday for the Martin Luther king holiday, which I am going to miss. We are off the Louisiana on Friday morning...early morning :)

The weather is quite chilly. Boston weather, which sometimes leaves me wondering if my ears are going to fall off in the cold! Because we were both in a rush this morning, I forgot to get my scarf and the gloves.. The view of Charles is beautiful in the early morning. It is covered with a blanket of ice and a slight tint of sun rays bouncing on it makes it even more beautiful.

Weekend was hectic. I attended the " Dynamic Women's Conference" at Harvard Business school from 8 - 5 pm. Quite a busy day. It was great opportunity for us to hear some encouraging insights from some of the powerful women in the business world. Attending Panel discussions at Harvard Business School's class along with the business student was quite an experience. I attended three panels. 1. Entrepreneurship 2. Consulting 3. Marketing. In addition, I also got to meet with and listen to the creator of the TV series "Amazing Race”- which I really love to watch!!

Talked with everyone back home. It is sad that we missed the wedding.Prasanna really wanted to go but could not leave because of his work. He works too much… Sometimes, I wish he had more time :) Time is what we lack the most..

Without further dwelling much into detail, I would like to conclude the journal for today! I am tired today.. Soon I will drift off to dreamland. Adios.

quick run down

2007-01-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

Despite the bitter cold, I still make an effort to take the longer route to go to my class.Why ?-- To get some exercise. I am ridiculously out of shape -—the brisk wind on my face and icy air in my lungs is no fun. There is a small hill in front the Beacon Hill that exactly takes me to the business building. Walking in the cold wind makes your brain quite alert but in Boston,this might not always be a good idea.Yesterday was awfully cold so I opted not to go.

I feel quite fresh today! Sleep is a prized commodity. I got a good night sleep last night compare to the one before. I had a case due so I was up until 1:00 and then again, got up at 6 to do it. This is what you get for buying the case package at the last minute. It was a complete Havoc.

School has been going on just fine. The bad thing this semester is that all my presentations are at the end of the semester. Let’s see-- total of 4 presentations with four different groups. That is going to be fun.

I had my law class yesterday. My mind is still buzzing from all the new terms I read. On top of that, reading the case was a torturous ordeal. The two cases were “Schooner Vs McFadden and the Asahi Metal case.” Usually, the business cases takes me about 45 min of concrete attention; however, the law case yesterday took more almost 2 hours. Some of the words were purely brutal….. I have read almost all the novels by John Grisham, yet, reading these cases was horrendous. I can already tell this class is going to be a fun one :) I probably need to allocate a good chunk of time just for this one, and then I have Corporate Finance and Operational Management. This semester, Corporate Finance is also going to be a killer one. Working in a group to do our assignments is a BIG “NO.” The professor clearly stated deducting points if he catches the same mistake in our homework’s. That means more time for me as I am quite dubious of the whole Finance subject.

I am kind of multi-tasking. I am doing my homework and chatting with one of my good friends, Swasti from school. She is giving me a quick summary of a wedding of my brother-in-law back home which both Prasanna and I missed. This ifriend of mine is a mutual friend of my new sister-in-law as well. Therefore, I get the chance to hear the scoop from the girl’s side. Wedding is one of the best times in Nepal. My cousin is also getting married in second week of February. Mum will be off to Nepal next week. All we can do is sit here and hear the exciting and fun stuff back home.

I am hungry now. More than often have I been reprimanded for my eating behavior, and yet, I shamefully admit, I am not disciplined. Especially with the school and group meeting, one way or the other, I always seem to miss my lunch.

Jan 23^rd one of the important dates for me came and went by...nothing especial. Fragmentary as it is, this is all I can summarise of this week.

Win and Loose

2007-01-23T15:29:00.000-07:00

Tom Brady’s picture loomed over the Boston Globe and the metro yesterday morning. 3 out of 5 had the newspaper in front of them with their sad faces (Or happy for the Colts fan). It could have been a SWEET victory for the New Englanders, however, to the shock of the civilized world, Brady threw a pick that ended the game and sent the Colts to the Big Game. Even Manning thought Brady was going to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat…and look how the game ended… the victory was so close, yet so far!!

Now, I guess all the pressure is off Peyton, because his arch-nemesis, his Kryptonite, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots are out of the leagues.

Now that the Pats are out, I am fully supporting Colts….mainly because of Peyton Manning, brother of Eli Manning..…. I guess supporting MS. As ironic as it sounds, I went to same school or I should say college as Eli Manning did-- My alma-mater "University of Mississippi" aka Olemiss. Both Eli and I were in the same class--Micro-Economics and Business Law both at 8:00 in the morning.

I still regret the fact that I never got his Autograph.—Just imagine how much it would have worth now…...In retrospect, I can STILL say that I went to same school as Eli did and have seen both Peyton and Archie Manning during our home game.

Sunday night was a good night. Sanjay, Pras and I went to Motu dai’s and Ishwar dai’s residence to watch the game. There we had the great company of Neevs and Anil dai. The only thing that was missing was of course, the victory at the end. The Game was was exciting. Better than the one with Saints and Bears. I have NOT really been a "football" fan..... but the last game was simply amazing !!

I am at the library today. Yesterday, for a change, I went to the Law library and it is so much better than the Business school one. Law students seem even smarter than usJ I was not trying to eaves drop, but I could not help over hearing how the students were talking about getting only 5 hours of sleep. Boy! Law school must be hard. I went to their cafeteria and the table was filled with students studying with their laptop. If the cafeteria was like this, then imagine how the law library was. I have now decided to study in the Law library. Maybe looking at them will give me more reasons to study.. Just an assumption here…. Nothing proved as of yet…..

Talking about library--- I am still at the library--the Business school one. It snowed a little bit in the morning. I have been trying to study but it has been hard to focus.

I am book hopping right now. Since I had already renewed the book twice, before re-newing the third time ( which I do not think is allowed) I have decided to read Kiran Desai’s Hulaballo in the guava tree and I am half way done. With the rate I am going, I should be done by Friday!

Friday

2007-01-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

I see flurries outside the window…but somewhere in the cloud, I see the hidden sun forcing to come out. It succeeds for a sec then again; the cloud envelopes the whole sky in a murky grayish haze.

I am glad it is Friday, and not Monday!

I am working on my Professor’s research today. Lots and Lots of articles to read… some interesting and some not so interesting ones.

I had the “International Law” class yesterday. It seems interesting; however, the work load is not funny. Quite outrageous. Preparing for 4 cases and reading chapters is not going to be fun.

I have started reading The God of Small Things by Arundathi Roy. In the mean time, I am also planning to start Magic Seeds. With the time crunch, it is going to be hard, but this will definitely make a good company for my bus and train ride.

As I was reading the book, I started pondering a bit about LIFE!

I wonder, sometimes, how we keep ourselves above the despair that looms yawningly below us as we tread the fragile bridge of everyday life

This is what I answered myself with --

Find yourself a life worth dreaming of, an adventure you've searched for since you figured out what it was. Let go of the things that have been holding you down. If you have succeeded thus far, despite everything, what you've built will remain. If you have built true, against the odds, it will be here for you always. If it is not, then it was not true, and to tie yourself to it is to cripple you for life. Seek a new life, and leave nothing at all behind. If you would be strong at last. You would be free.

Struggle

2007-01-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

I got the following anecdote from Shailendra dai. It is a very inspiring one.
====================================================================

A man found a cocoon with a butterfly within it. One day a small opening appeared and he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through the little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared to have gotten as far as it could and could go no farther. The man then decided to help the butterfly.

He took a pair of scissors and snipped the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. Something was strange! The butterfly had a swollen body and shriveled wings. He continued to watch the butterfly expecting that at any moment the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time. Neither happened. In fact the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling round with a swollen body and deformed wings. It was never able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the small opening of the cocoon are nature’s ways of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it released the cocoon.

The moral of this story :

Struggles are exactly what we need in our life!!! We need to be a fighter!!

Back to school

2007-01-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

I am slowly getting accustomed to my old schedules.

I do miss Tokyo. The craziness I suppose. Whether you want to call it spontaneity or chaos, there are a million different Tokyo moments that can catch you off-guard and sweep you off your feet. During the day it can seem bleak and endless, but at night it's exciting, breathless, illuminated by a thousand pulsing lights. Anything can happen here -- stuff so strange, you couldn't make it up.

Jet lag is still lurking over me. I do not know when it will go. I got up 4 am in the morning, and after being awake for almost an hour and half, I fell asleep and got up again at 6 and without my realization, it was time for me to go to school.

Yup! Today was my first day of School for this semester. I had a class called “Global Information Management for Competitive Advantage.” Interesting course I must add-----as it left me awake throughout the class.

One of the chapters we are going to cover is about “Knowledge Management.”

Knowledge management refers to a range of practices used by organisations to identify, create, represent, and distribute knowledge for reuse, awareness and learning across the organization.

Honestly speaking I was quite ignorant of this topic until my dad told me. My dad is in Bangkok right now for the “Knowledge Management” seminar. Knowledge is a powerful tool and the more effectively we manage it, the better off we are.

I also had a quick appointment with my Professor. For this semester, my task is to conduct a thorough research on the demand factor of the Designers. What do designers wish to get out of their further education? Where would they utilise this education. My professor is publishing an article in one of the Design Management Journals. Even though, this topic sounds quite strange, it actually is an amalgamation of both Marketing and Design field.

It is really cold outside and waiting for bus was a nightmare. The only thing I enjoyed was reading the book. Mr. Mehta’s book is still not done. I am enjoying reading Mr. Mehta’s perspective on the city. The book is written in such a detail that I, as a reader feel as if I am one of the characters wandering in the street of Mumbai. It is sort of like a intoxication. Once you start it you cannot stop..The book keeps on getting interesting and I get more curious about the city-- the Mumbai city!!

My reading list keeps on growing and the time keeps on shrinking….

Tomorrow, my second day of school this year, hopefully it is going to be either deeply unproductive or astoundingly productive, or possibly both for me.

That being said, I bid a humble Adieu!

Back

2007-01-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

I woke up in Boston on a balmy morning to find a sunny day outside my window. I got woken up by the car honks outside the Mass Ave. It took me a while to realize whether I was still lying in my brother’s room or in my own room. The emptiness in the apartment clarified my ambiguity. I was indeed back in Boston. Being home with my Mum for past couple of days made me kind of spoilt. I wished Prasanna did not have to go to work today.

I left Tokyo on Thursday afternoon. at 10:30 am in the morning to be precise. My flight was at 3:30, however, I had to leave early as the airport is 4 hours away from the city. Quite a long commute. My flight from Seattle was o.k. I tried to sleep but could not. I continued with Mr. Mehta’s book which took me to the whole different world.. —I have yet to finish that. In the second half of my flight, I entertained myself with the movie,“The Queen.”

This is a nicely depicted documentary but it really left me pondering on whether the characters were actually correctly portrayed. Why was “Philip,” husband of Queen Elizabeth so cold? Why was did the monarchy made such a big deal about having their flags half down to show the sympathy for the death of the princess. When the whole world is mourning, why was it such a big deal for the royals? And most of all, why was the queen so hesitant about delivering a speech post the accident of princess. If the movie is indeed portrayed correctly, then I must admit that I am very much in side of Prime Minister Tony Blair, who took control of the situation very nicely. For a recently appointed Prime Minister, I admire him for the way he stood for his belief. In sum, I really liked the documentary. You really get to witness a whole new side of the so called – “British Monarchy.”

The latter half, I watched the movie, "Khosla Ka Bhosla" and I really enjoyed it. It is a funny movie. Worth seeing- I must say. I landed at the Seattle Airport at 7:00 in the morning and it was unbelievingly pitch dark. It was like landing at 7 at night. As the sun gradually started glaring up, I could really enjoy the beautiful city of Seattle covered with white snow. It looked beautiful.

I had to kill few hours. Feeling drowsy and sleepy, I decided to sit and continue with my book. No luck! Because I was so sleepy, I could not even manage reading a single page. Then something interesting caught my attention. Mr. David Beckham was on the T.V. The news was that Beckham had recently signed with the LA soccer team to promote the “Football” here in the US. Wow, David actually left Real Madrid to come to a country where the word football means different thing. Regardless of that, David and his wife will become successful in stealing the attention.

My flight was long. From Seattle, I flew to D. C and then finally to Boston at 11:30 at night. It was a longgg day for me. But I forgot everything----all my jet lag, all my pains… after I saw my lovely husband waiting at the airport. This is the ONLY thing that I looked forward to coming Boston for.It was good to be home..!!

Yokohama

2007-01-09T07:58:00.000-07:00

I went to Yokohama city today. Another beautiful and second largest city of Japan that I really love. It is not as crowded as Tokyo and with the bay by its side, the city is even more beautiful. I had a lunch appointment with my old bosses. They both used to work at the Nissan HQ in Ginza, Tokyo but recently been transferred to Yokohama’s branch. This was good as it gave me a reason to visit the beautiful city of Yokohama.

I left the house at 11:00 pm—the actually plan I had was to leave the house at 10:30 so that it would give me enough time to get enjoy the beautiful city. However I kind of overslept and left the house bit late. I was worried that it would take me more than to reach by destination, however, luck favored me as I managed to catch the express train and got to the exact location at 5 min before the hour.

Lunch was good. We went to an Italian restaurant. Even though I am in touch with them through an e-mail, I had not seen them for almost 3 years. Last time, both Prasanna and I were in Tokyo for only 4 days and I did not have chance to visit them then. It was nice seeing them after so long. We had some "Marketing" talk.Since the Japanese market has matured a bit; Nissan is now interested in developing new strategies in Asia. Who knows, I could be very well working in the Nissan Asian branch in near future. Working in Nissan has really been one of my best experiences. It helped me find my true interest in Global Marketing.

After the lunch, I enjoyed the view of “RAINBOW BRIDGE” and the glimmering cityscape that reflected on the water. This bridge is so heavenly beautiful at night. Strange enough, every time I listen to a Jazz music, this is the picture that pops into back of my mind. Not a single clue why…. ?? When I was working at Nissan, I had the chance to test drive the new Toyota model in this bridge and boy, it was fun!! I am still quite astonished by the fact that this bridge is two stories. Heavy trucks drive on the top and the regular car drive on the bottom lane

Is sum, I had a great day today. More flashback of my olden days :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2007-01-04T07:12:00.000-07:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!! !

Osyogatsu Omedeto gozaimasu!!!!

Finally it is the new year… the new era!! ( Even the UN has a new Secretary General!! ) It is the year of 2007. This is the first blog of 2007. A new year brings the opportunity to have a little fun and try new things. It allows you to take a look back, laugh at all of last year’s silliness, refocus and start anew. Moreover, that’s exactly what I am doing here. Here are my tentative goals for the new year- I resolve to work smarter, hustle harder, be more focused and the list goes on….

Before I forget --- A Happy New Year to everyone!! I know.....a bit belated but still heartfelt.

The new year has started off well. Every new year’s eve, the Japanese movie and music industry has this big male Vs female singing concert-- unfortunately, the male won :( We usually watch this show as it is the main highlight of the night here in Japan. Similarly, this year, almost after 8 years, I was once again watching the show with my parents and welcomed the new year from home. Since the living room has the “room with a view”, we also enjoyed the fireworks from our balcony.

Now that the New year is gone, everything is back to normal now. All the offices are open. My dad had 6 days long holiday and his work started from today. After a long spoilt schedule, he had quite a difficult time getting up this morning. My brother who is dreading to go back to his school has no choice but to go from Monday and soon.. it will be time for me to leave as well.

I went to Shibuya with my brother today. Again, the crowded city gave me a quick flash back of my high school days. Weather wise, it is quite mild. It gets bit windy during the day but with the sun, it is not as bad. I am enjoying the beautiful sunny day in Japan.

Next week I am meeting my bosses from Nissan at Tokyo and Yokohama. I guess this is will be the other main highlights for next week..

Since this is my first blog of the year, I hope to share many good news with you!!

Akemashite Omedeto Gozaimasu!!!!

Execution

2006-12-30T04:30:00.000-07:00

“Sadam did not get to see the dawn of Saturday morning,” – announced the BBC world precisely at 11:00 this morning. “He did not show any remorse or resistance prior to his execution”- the reporter describes in more detail. This news took me by complete surprise. Just in the morning I had read the bold headline in “Japan Times” “Saadam maybe be executed ‘within days’”….. but it did not say how soon…The news had also featured how Sadam’s Baath Party had threatened to retaliate if this ousted Iraqi leader was executed. Within few hours there was a BREAKING news of SADAM's Execution.

Sadam is executed. He deserves this for all the appalling crime he has committed. Now that the dictator is gone, there is one question lingering in everyone’s mind—Whether Iraq will step into the milestone by becoming democratic nation or will the country suffer even more. His hanging was filmed as proof of execution.— vvvery disturbing!! Even though, he was a bad person, watching him in front of gallows was very distasteful.

This will be an interesting event to remember at the end of this year. 2006 also holds a death of another powerful dictator, Alberto Pinochet. Another big year for the death of evil regime I suppose.

All is going well with me. I am enjoying the holidays with my parents and my brother. My little brother has become so tall—He is only 13 and he has grown so tall—taller than me and his voice is slowly cracking… He has become more cuter.

The weather is Tokyo is cold—but at least there is sunshine. It feels nice soaking up in the afternoon sun. It reminds me so much of Nepal. We have the Indian Channel at home and I along with my mum sort of have become addicted to the TV series. The sun and the Indian TV reminds me of the winter holidays back home.

One more day and it is the New Year. The biggest highlight in Japan this year is the birth of the new crown prince—the heir to the royal dynasty.

Soon it will be 2007— the new year which hopefully will bring peace and prosperity in everyone’s life. I pray for peace in Earth and peace back home.

Oh! Yes—I will get to welcome the New Year with Mt. Fuji. Hopefully, Fuji san will be bring me lots of luck this year.

The land of rising sun

2006-12-25T05:39:00.000-07:00

Procrastination indeed is an art… which can be interpreted in any ways you want to.
For me, last few days have been mixture of both procrastination and jet lag.
I got in Tokyo late Friday night. The journey was simply too long.

My trip to Seattle was fun…except the RAIN!! It rained all the time. The place reminded my so much of Liverpool…. Dark and gloomy and rainnnnn. My cousin had planned to take me hiking to Mt. Rainer; unfortunately the frozen rain did not permit us to do so. Despite the crazy schedules of my cousins who are both doctors, I did manage to get a quick overview of the downtown Seattle and was amazed by the number of Starbucks café the city had. Starbucks has really has diffused the city!!

After two days in Seattle, I was off to Japan. To recollect the journey, I watched two movies and read 1/3 of the book by Suketu Mehta. People who have read this book have told me that it really feels like being a part of the busy and crowded Bombay and really, how true was that. I have never been to Bombay but I really feel I have visited part of Jogeswari slums. It is very unique and interesting book indeed.

As I stepped out from Narita and climbed in the bus, I saw the lights of the busy streets of the Tokyo as I had seen a year…. or I should say years ago. A memory explosion, an instant bridge between the precise moment and this one. As I walked around the city, I step on little pockets of memory treasure… the treasures of my high school days burst open and waft open its scents.. Such an amazing power it has.

The next morning, I got woken up by my excited parents. My parents recently moved to a new apartment. The new apartment is in the 8th floor and you can actually enjoy the beautiful view of Fuji san…. Mt. Fuji from our living window. The view is simply breath taking. My brother has also bought a binocular to watch Fuji san every morning.

I am still jet lagged. I wake up early in the morning and then go back to sleep again later in the morning. Yesterday, I watched the movie called OMKARA. Interesting movie…. modification of Shakespeare’s Othello. This is probably the 4th movie that I have seen based on Othello. The first one I have watched was in 1998. I had to read the book during my summer break of junior high school. Then we watched the movie Othello with Kenneth Branagh and Lauren Fishburne in our English class. Then in my sophomore year of college I watched “O” with Omar Epps and now the Hindi version.

It is around 9 in the evening and slowly I am feeling drowsy and sleepy and it is time for me to stop. We are still waiting for the broadband connection. The dial up is too slow. This might be my last blog of 2006. :)

Finally it is over!

2006-12-18T13:34:00.000-07:00

Procrastination is a fine art, however, this time, it is not the reason for the absence blog.Even though school was over, I still needed to do some last minute things… paper, write ups and all.. Now everything, I mean everything is done for me. I am relieved. Well not relieved per se.. cause I still do not know my grades, but I am comforted by the fact that I do not need to go to the library. Such a nice feeling it is.

This weekend was nice. We had a brunch at Shailendra dai’s place. Yup! The same great menu- waffle, eggs and hash browns. Since Snajay, the Waffle man was not there, both Pras and I made the waffle which turned out to be GREAT. I also did little bit of cooking that day—actually; I did a whole lot of cooking for Mr. D that afternoon.

Sunday was a Raag day. Prasanna sang Raag Durga with a mixture of Bilambit Jhaptaal and Tin Taal. It was so soothing and so beautiful. I really have become a fan of Raag. It really gives you a peace of mind which is a must in your stressful schedule.There were also little boys performing that day. They must have been probably 5 or 6 years old and they were playing tabla-- the view was soo adorable. I could not help smiling looking at them perform their piece. It was amazing!!

Click here to see Raag Durga in Bilambit Jhap Taal Part I :- (Prasanna’s Raag )

Click here to see Raag Durga in Bilambit Jhap Taal Part II :- (Prasanna's Raag)

Click here to see Raag Durga in Tin Taal :- (Prasanna’s Raag)

Now, I am doing packing. It is not even half way done-------- I would be stressed, but I can't be bothered. I am off to Seattle tomorrow. I have an early flight. I will be staying with my cousin and her husband who I have not seen for almost 2 and half years. I am excited. Then on Thursday, I am off to Tokyo. I'm really looking forward to it. Both Prasanna and I, we were in Tokyo last summer, almost a year and a half ago. It was a short 5 days visit. This is the first long trip visiting my parents since I have been married.

My parents also moved into a new apartment last week. Another thing to look forward to. The only thing I am sad about is leaving Prasanna. Since the past few trips has always been with Mr. D, this was one is going to be boring and sad without him. I am already worried about who I am going to be sitting next to in the plane. I hate traveling aloneeee.

The other day, I went to the library and have checkedout couple of books to read. My list is too long and I managed to bring 5 ( not all of them from the list) books but I do not think that I am going to finish it all.

I am taking- Suketa Mehta’s –The maximum city, V.S. Naipaul’s Magic Seeds, Innovators Dilemma by Clayton Christensen and last but not the least--- Palpasa café by Mr. Narayan Wagle. This is going to be bit hard for me since everything is s in Nepali. The vocabulary is very confusing but I am very resolute to read it.

Almost over

2006-12-14T21:34:00.000-07:00

Semester is almost over for me. My exams are done. I had my Accounting presentation--- I should add the "FINAL" presentation yesterday. It was on pricing project-- the one where I had interviewed Prasanna. It feels such a relief. I still need to do couple of last minute things before I call it off. Yup! I still need to work in the library to finish the final editing of the paper-- Tomorrow thankfully is going to be the LAST day.. I mean ABSOLUTELY last day for this semster. Even though I try not to, one way or another, I always end up going to the library.I some how get more attuned in the library-- I suppose because of the environment.It is the final week and everyone is studying...leaving you feeling guilty if you don't. I get more things done at the library as oppose to any other places. It works perfectly... no phone, no internet...and quiet!!!

After our accounting class which ended at 10:00 last night, we all went to the "6B" lounge in the downtown and everyone sort of celebrated the finishing of the semester by having champagne and wine.

It was a nice feeling. It was raining a little bit... the quiet rain and the mist that floats between worlds, that belongs to no one and nothing, that is the pause between one breath and the next.The humming of a Christmas song still lingers in my mind and no matter how cold it may be I always feel warm.

Reflective Journal

2006-12-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

I have been doing the reflective Journal- my 15 page paper for International Business class for past couple of days. It is due tomorrow. This is sort of like a report -- or I should say company analysis of Nissan, the company I had worked during my Junior and Senior year of College. Nissan by far has been one of my best working experiences. The CEO Carlos Ghosn is really a true role model for this company.

I have lots to do, therefore,I shall stop it right here and bid Adieu for today!

Finals

2006-12-07T16:37:00.000-07:00

I am in the midst of my Finals. School ended this week, however, since we have paper and group presentation, I still need to come to school. On top of that, I am behind my professor’s research. I really will not feel relief until the 14^th that is when everything will be DONE for me. Right now I am exhausted!

I have been in the library all day ( and I still am) - doing the accounting paper and trust me, it is very hard. It took me almost 8 hours to do all the questions and I still need to recuperate my energy to do the last few ones. My mind is tired and so is my body. I cannot wait for the school to be over.

Quickly I am going to recapitulate my weekend:

Saturday, after working on my paper for practically all day, we went to Mabi dai’s place for dinner. It was sort of a like a re-union dinner for us as we got to chitchat and re-connect with our old friends. It was really nice seeing Sworupa di, Somps dai and Sebs dijju. Lately, because of the school, I kind of have disconnected from the outside world as most of the time is spend buried with the book. It is not an excuse whatsoever, nevertheless, I still find hard to find time to do other stuff. I have wanted to go see “Casino Royale” for a long time… and still have not had the chance. I really hope I get to see the movie before it is out from the theatre.

Sunday was a good day for me .We went for a “MIMOSA BRUNCH” hosted by Omar and Christine, both my class mates from MBA. Omar lives in Northend and has a roof deck. Despite the chilly weather, it was a nice Sunday morning International brunch with all my friends. Meeting people invariably brings joy to me and I also learnt one new word that day, Mimosa- which means Orange juice and Champagne. That night we had the Yadav brothers over at our place for dinner. It is always so great to have their company.

On Tuesday, I found Christine’s long lost accounting book buried in one of the library shelves. I was doing some book research for my professor. She was happy—and told me I would have a good karma. Let’s see what my Karma holds and what it will bring. Professor Behnam's class got cancelled and we could not do our presentation... both good and bad. Since we had all worked so hard, it would have been since to get some extra points, good-- we all got the full points for that portion of the grade. I guess this was the so called Good karma for me.

Tuesday was one heck a day for me and I also missed the Victoria Secret fashion show which I was so much looking forward to watching it. sometimes, life takes a big plunge and you really not know what to expect.

This world is an aching void of need. I would disappear without so much as a ripple on the surface of that inky black nothingness, and there would be nothing left behind to mark my passing. Sometimeds, I just wish..

Brutal Cough

2006-11-30T18:05:00.000-07:00

My shoulders and neck ache, tension and strain over the ache of overuse.I don't even have the energy to record the litany of my problems... Cough and more Cough………It's almost over. Soon it will be over. It's almost over.

It has been almost a week and the vicious cough has not abandoned me. I suspect, it the my own recklessness ( need not to be mentioned here ;) for having taken to this stage-- Regardless of what I say now.—the cough is bothering me a little more too much.

I feel frail but I am still surviving. I need to survive. If I succumb, then I am doomed. -- Next couple of few days are very (let me re-emphasis the VERY part :))-- very crucial to me. The main reason being – the Finals!

Update Aside, This week has been relatively a hectic one. And on top of that recuperating after the long break makes it even worse. And the piled up case studies and presentation does not make it any better.

One down two more to go -- :)

I had my Organizational Behavior presentation on Monday!

A very important noteworthy fact is that: we were the brave group to volunteer to present it right after the break.

Our title was “Corporate Social Responsibility"—

What does "Corporate social responsibility" mean in terms of a media organization? How would you measure it, and why does it matter?

We chose three companies :-

1. Starbucks

2. Body Shop

3. Unilever

I also had a chance to share my personal experience of The BODY Shop international with my fellow class mates—which I very very happy about.

Some say it is the way to create an image in front of public. Some say, it is a genuine effort. Because, I have seen my family getting involved with the Body shop International, I agree with the latter part.

My dad and my uncles back home own a paper factory “The Get Paper Industry.” (Yup! I come from a business background.) Majority of the exporting is done with the Body shop International in the UK. One of the main highlights of the company is fulfilling the Fair Trade Guidelines and Code of Conduct of The Body Shop International social and environmental responsibilities. 40% Of the Revenue is dedicated to the Non Profit sister organization GWP (General Welfare Pratisthan) where the money is spend for AIDS Awareness Activities, opening schools, girls education and environmental activities. The CEO of the body Shop, Dame Anita Roddick who is an activist, an entreprenuer, author -- a truly amazing person!!! herself has visited the factory in Basbari.

The company was opened in 1989. Since then, each and every family member has played a critical role in taking the company where it is today. I am very proud to say to say that the company has been the recipient of “Exporter of the YEAR” in 2001/2 and 2003. A load of credit definitely goes to the uncles for this great job. The factory is located in Bansbari and Hattiban and has total of 200 employees.

It is December tomorrow. It will be a one year anniversary for this blog. As I had mentioned in my previously, my blog has expanded its sphere, albeit in a slow pace which I am still VERY proud of.

The temperature today was unbelievable-- high 40s. I guess with all the Gobal Warning going on, this is very much inevitable.

It really does not feel like Winter.—which of course, carries bit of a good and bad news.

Winter is emptiness, a silence that is not to be broken. The ground is frozen, sealed; the world sleeps WHILE Summer is a wild heat, an explosion of growth.

On a side note, my professor has let me borrow one of his books. It is called “ The innovator’s Dilemma”—when new technologies cause great firms to fail. It is by Clayton Christensen. Since I am working with my professor on a design aspect, I think it makes very much sense for me to take a grasp of Mr. Christensen’s ideas.

I like to read--- I am a ridiculously complex person and I take great delights in ridiculously complex things.I appreciate consistency, but dwelling in contradiction is lot more interesting.

Thanks giving break

2006-11-25T12:29:00.000-07:00

I have not been writing for a while. Truthfully speaking, I really did not have anything to reflect upon. Suffice to say, it may be less 'out on a cloud' intellectual, and more focused random snippets. Well, I suppose I shouldn't foreshadow or predetermine the line of my blogging.

In keeping with the introspective nature of this past week's blogs....here it goes AGAIN!!

I just finished reading the Virgin Mobile case. It deals with the whole "pricing strategy." My head is hurting mildly-- good excuse for me to take a quick break!

To recapitulate my past few days---- Thanks giving break was basically a resting time for me. Sipping tea and witnessing the serendipity brought at my bedroom by newspapers and TV is how I have been spending this break. I came to the realization that this body of mine needed its own time to rest, without the binding demands of the external factors as I am going through right now.

Each winter I think I get little better- in terms of flue and cold and I reluctantly succumb. I got sick … ….Well not sick per-se but I caught cold and the cough was unbearable. I was already feeling sick from last week and on Wednesday it got even worst. I was bed ridden for almost all day.

Despite not feeling good, we both did manage to go to the “Bistas” residence for Thanksgiving dinner and enjoyed the Turkey. For brunch, we had gone to the “Yadavs” residence and again had the liberty of enjoying the delicious waffle, hash brown and omelet made by Shailendra Dai and Sanjay. We both really enjoy going to their place. :)

I am still rejuvenating by the fact that my Marketing presenation is finished. It has really been one of the biggest reliefs.

Interviewing Prasanna – It is not very often (not often at all! I must add) that you get to interview your own husband. Along with my 5 other MBA friends, I had the honor of interviewing the VP of Business Development last Wednesday. This is for my Accounting pricing project’s presentation next week. We all decided to meet at the lounge of Marriott hotel at Kendal Square. The interview lasted for about an hour. I could not help but simply smile looking at him. I was interviewing my husband.I had never seen the professional side of him-- so eloquent and so dashing of course! I was happy.

The coughing is back again. It just sits and indeed is misabused by too much tension throughout the day.

Winter is here. Slowly, the endless snow will start to accumulate and get dirty.

Time : It stretches; it's not static. When you feel caught up 'in the moment', a few minutes can last a lifetime. When you feel crunched, even 30 min is not enough.

I have a half formed thoughts--- before I go off tangent by writing banal thoughts…I better say Adieu.

Presentation fiasco

2006-11-21T14:56:00.000-07:00

I am on a personal best high. Sometimes, you get up in the morning and you are just so happy. It was like that this morning— not for any particular reason. I was just happy and relieved. I finished my Marketing Presentation yesterday. Such a huge relief. Our presentation was an “Industry Audit” for an Airline Industry. It was an interesting research about the overall Industry airline. Most important fact of course was how all the major US Airlines have all filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcies. The recent big news of US Airways possibly acquiring Delta is making a headline everywhere. If the deal goes through, and If US Airways buy Delta before it comes out of the bankruptcies, then it will be saving almost $1.6 billion. But for now, we will just have to wait and see what happens.

Kellie, Dan and I --we had been working on for so long and to have it finally over is really a biggest relief. Now, I only have two presentations left. One for Accounting and the other one for Organizational behavior.

As for the weekend—it was one of the busiest ones for me. I was buried in my books and research all Saturday and Sunday. Sunday, I had the group meeting at the library at 1:00 and I returned back home at 8:00 in the evening. It was a long or I should emphasize longesttttt one. On top of that, I was not feeling well on Sunday. I think it is the cold. I had been feeling kind of weak all day, however, I had no choice but to drag myself and go to the meeting. With the help of centrums, Tylenol and orange of course, I forced myself to gather the strength. I was so scared that I was going to be sick on Monday—my presentation day. Luckily, I did not succumb, I survived.

Saturday – We had a brunch with Sujeev dai and Shailendra dai at this nice place called "SoundBites”.Prasanna was saying that it reminded him of Seinfeld’s “Soup Nazi show.” We also went to Chalphal talk that evening. It was GREAT listening to Sujjeev dai. His ideas and his plans were simply amazing. Had I had more time, I would have definitely stayed longer but had to go because of the presentation.

I am feeling little frail right now… basically my throat hurts. But—I know I will have a good rest during the thanks giving break.

I added my picture in the blog. Sometimes, even this blog page needs little bit of a modification. It is, after all MY BLog ( a page encompassing all the important facets of my life) and I also wanted to show little bit of my creative side. It's fun & perky. Like a new haircut. :)

It will be a One year in about 2 weeks since I have started writing this blog. I still remember that day---- I was in the library—cold winter of course! and my head buried in GMAT book.

Surprisingly, I have lasted this long---a year. Honestly speaking, I feel that I gradually have adopted the habit of writing a blog. I used to write a diary back in the school days and then I stopped for a while. Then I was back to the writing mode in my college days and now finally after 2 years, I have been accustomed to this habit which I am very proud of. :)

I just finished reading Kite Runner----It is one of the best books I have ever read. It keeps you interested throughout and is fantastic.

Kite Runner is set in Afghanistan during the Russian invasion (this will sound bizzare but I didn’t know Russia invaded until I read this book! Seriously!) and the years following in which the Taliban reigned. It follows the life of Amir and his servant/friend Hassan. Best friends from the beginning, theirs is a friendship saddened by discrimination and betrayal. Hassan would do anything for his friend and it is this leads to there eventual separation. Through out the book Amir is haunted by his past. Through out the story he searches how to right the wrongs he and others committed against his friend. Kite Runner reveals and hidden world that is fragile, beautiful and recovering from a tumultuous history.

Recently, I have started to notice that I have become fond of reading books by foreign authors. I am also talking about Jhumpa Lahiri-- she gave me a whole new different perspectives of many different aspects of life. And in this case, Khalid Hosini, the Afghan author—gave me another one for the Afghani world- -which, otherwise I might have been total ignorant of.

As you can probably tell from my writing,I am at the library—the random snippets jumping from here to there in no particular order). Whenever I feel like taking a break from the studies—I continue with my blog.

I just attended a “Make a Fair trade” from “Oxfam.” If time permits, this is one of the other organizations that I really want to get involved into.

Right now, I am sporadically reading the case studies for my Global marketing class.The case is about “Lucent technologies: Global Supply chain management.” I also have the do the Virgin Airline cases and the Reflective journal—the homework load just does not stop coming.

I forgot one more interesting thing—I attended the Bloomberg Crash course last week. That thing is simply AMAZING!! I learned that the acronyms of the stock market are referred as “Tickers”.

The talk

2006-11-17T12:23:00.000-07:00

I have been in the meeting from the early morning—For the Organizational Behavior presentation on Monday. I will feel a huge relief once I get done for my presentation on Monday.

Everyone said it rained quite heavily last night. Honestly speaking, I do not have the slightest clue. I had a long day and was very tired. I dozed off right after I went to bed—which was almost around 12:30.

So far the best weather was on Wednesday. High 60s I think. I had to attend the talk by Dr. Yoram Puri.Since the location was not far from school,I decided on talking a quick stroll around the busy downtown. The weather was simply marvellous. To my surprise,I was the odd one out walking around the city in my long coat.

Dr. Yoram Peri had also been appointed as the advisor for Yitzak Rabin’s period. It is always interesting to hear the first hand experience on these "on- going" conflicts. In relation to Nepal, I was kind of surprised to hear how instrumental the military was in the entire peace process in Israel. Dr. Peri emphasizes on the fact that Military were used by the politicians to strengthen their position. – To me, this is indeed a very interesting perspective.

Another interesting point he added which was quite appalling was when he mentioned, “War would have stopped, but the military did not want to. If there was a strong “ civil lain intuition,” then the war in Israel would have stopped. The view was just top myopic.”

Additionally, he added that fact how Israel after deciding to withdraw the troops from Lebanon unilaterally got attacked by the Hezbollah. He emphasized, that Israel thinks that they should not have withdraw from Gaza and Lebanon. “In near future, if we withdraw, we will get attacked.”

I think the talk was very interesting. Last month I had attended the “Jerusalem Women Speak” talk. In that talk one of the women had mentioned how in Israel, many thousands of eighteen years old are resisting conscription into a military because they do not see them being as a defense force. However, Dr. Peri, depicted Military as on of the heroic symbols in Israel. Truthfully speaking- I am confused.

I am not very knowledgeable in this topic but from the two talks that I have attended, I have just been more confused. Why is there so much involvement between the militants and the political leaders? I think Israel’s fundamental security posture will not improve until the pattern of relations between its generals and political leaders is dramatically altered and a better decision-making mechanism in national security matters is established.

After the talk, like usual, I managed to have a quick chat with Dr. Peri and of course! Shook my hand. The place was quite packed with Professors and representatives from the various consulates.

Not that I like to eavesdrop, J but one conversation really caught my attention. This old gentlemen patted on the back of a another one and gleefully said, “Your great grand father was a great president,”

“He was an idiot” – was the other gentlemen’s firm reply.

I could not help but think who that person was.

He definitely looked Middle Eastern—Israeli to be exact. Who am I to be so sure of that person’s nationality? He could have been very well from Turkey, or Palestine.. Anyways, during that event—that was one question that was running in my find and unfortunately, he left before the event ended. Nope, I did not have the chance to talk with me. The question still ponders in my mind.

On an interesting note, I met a wonderful lady, Dr. Kinchuk, director of the Humphrey Fellow Program from the BU University. She was from St.Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia-- The same place my dad got his undergraduate from. I always get excited to meet with people from around the world and if I could to relate to them I get more thrilled.

It was really nice meeting with her. I am very thankful for her as she helped to book the room for the Chalpohal talk tomorrow.

I am at the library- -trying to do the work for my professor. The internet is just too slow.

I have whole weekend booked for the Marketing presentation on Monday

snippets

2006-11-14T16:15:00.000-07:00

Boston is cold again. The air is so cold - you can feel it like a wall when you step outside the front door. Yesterday was really nice. Sunny and high 50s I think. Today… rain and more rain.

Both Prasanna and I, we needed a BREEEaaaak. It had been a longgg week for both of us.On Sunday, despite the crazy weather, we still decided to go for a quick spin. We were listening to the Jazz cd that Shailendra dai had made me last week. The sound was so mesmersing that we cared less about the Havoc outside. We kept driving and ended up going all the way to the JFK library. Neither of us had gone to this library, so we both thoroughly enjoyed every bit of that trip. I have been to the one is Dallas, where the president was shot; however, it was not anything close to the one we went on Saturday.The museum was really nice. We also managed to watch a quick documentary on the “Cuban Missile Crisis” during Kennedy’s Era.

In sum, this weekend was bit relaxing as compared to the other ones --- mainly becuase I had handed my Accounting midterm. I have two huge presentations coming up next week so this week so far has already been CRAZYY BUSY. Since both of us are so busy with work and school, I decided to take a break and decided to make 4 dishes last weekend--- which hopefully will last for at least 3 days. ( It is the second day and we still have some so far :)

Lately I have been captivated with “The kite runner.” I always read this on the way to school and back home, however, the story has become too addictive and I cannot seem to stop reading it. It has become a daily part of my routine I wonder what I am going to do once I finish it. I have been enjoying the book so much that I do not want to get off the train. I want to go on and on... The book is really very touching. It depicts an epitome of struggle. Struggle of Amir, the rich kid. Only after reading the book, I have realized how much similarity there is between Nepali – or I should say Hindi and Afghani. Some of the words like Zindgai , khushi, mehaman, bakshish - Some how reading this book has made me real familiar with the Afghani world.

I think this will a good movie if they ever decide to direct it.

Last week was a good week. I attended two networking event. I had a chance to talk and shake hands ( I try to put lot of emphasis on the shaking hand part as you might have noticed) with Mr. Arthur Frey, the inventor of Post it. His story was really inspiring. Really, talking with people like this makes you realize the essential of being a failure. I would say Failure is GOOD! You will stop and reflect back and become stronger. I say life could be mundane if you do not have challenges in front of you. IF you fail, you will struggle and try to do your best the second or the third time.

Art Fry’s story was one like that. Prior to inventing the final product of “Post –it” he had failed several times--- and look where his product is now.

Thursday morning, I attended another event called “Innovation and Design.” This was organized by my professor—the professor I work for. Very interesting event of course. They had a panel discussion with a professionals from five different backgrounds- -who all shared similarity about the topic of Design and Innovation. Working with my professor, I have come to realize the importance of Design factor in any successful companies. I agree that by delivering the best design, you can clearly appeal to the market. Even though this was one of the morning events—yup! 7:30 am one—I am so glad that I went to attend.

I am the midst of reading the case, “ IKEA Invades America.” Interesting case. I have class in about an hour—and honestly speaking I am already quite drained.

Tomorrow, I am planning to attend the talk by Yoram Peri, Former Political Advisor to Yitzhak Rabin. I am always excited to meet with these leaders. Their talks always inspire me. Oopsss--- I think it is about time for me to head to my class. Au Revior mon amie.

midterm

2006-11-08T10:09:00.000-07:00

I am done with my Accounting mid-term. Ah! What a relief. Now, I have two more presentation lined up and finally, I can take some break before the Final. I am taking a break from my studies. The weather outside is awfully gloomy and the rain makes it even worse. Prasanna’s got fever. He is sleeping. It is a flue season and I am trying my best not to let them attack me.

Good news back home. There has been a mutual agreement with the Maoist and the Government. We have hope. I see light at the end of the tunnel. I am very optimistic about the peace process in Nepal. When my parents went Nepal 2 weeks back, they really had to hard time finding the ticket right away because everything was sold out. This is a good sign. It seems to me that Tourists Industry have been revamped again. It indeed is a time for felicitation.

Another interesting news—Sadam’s Final verdict on Sunday morning.

What was with the deal with judge’s remark though? “You were not a dictator. You were not a dictator, however, the people and surrounding around you created a dictator out of you.” Seriously, how could anyone say that the man charged with murdering ten of thousands of his compatriots was not a dictator? Either way this remark unleashed a storm of criticism.I am still pondering about this whole thing. This incident some how made me reflect back upon the Slovadan Milosevic trail. Treacherous leaders like these have pawned upon the life on very innocent civilians.

Boston Beer Company

On our Marketing class on Monday, we took a trip to the Boston Beer Company plant. Boston Beer Company manufactures the most famous SAM ADAMS beer. It was an interesting tour. I am much fond of wine, so honestly speaking; I did not have much of a zeal. The overall trip was interesting one I would say. The pungent smell of barley and yeast was what bothered me all the time.

Weekend was good.

I have officially entered the esteemed post quarter century club denoted by Mr. Prasanna. Saturday was bit relaxing. I did a little bit of studying and reading.

Sunday was GREAT!

The weather was great. (Suddenly, I have come to realize how much impact the weather has on our behavior ) Prasanna sang me one of my favorite songs from crossroads. Then we had the honour of having a brunch and dinner at the Yadav residence. Shailendra Dai and Sanjay made us a GREAT waffle brunch. For Dinner, we had the combination of great curry with little bit of wine accompanied by Great Jazz music. I had a great day.

J'aime J'adore. Il est tres magnificient. merci beaucoup ma mari :) Yup! I learned french for two years . I even had a tutor ( Son of famous poet Laxmi Prasad devkota) when I had gone home for summer in my junior year of my high school.

I need to get back to studying ----

I am interested in investigating questions of the mind, in my mind, and do I mind? Yes, I do. That is in fact why I am here.