The Special Bond

Big Egoes
Large Size
Loud Mouths
Big Arguments
Bigger Fights
Selfish to the Core
Extreme Vindictiveness
Fierce Competition
Big Ambition
Big Risks
Big Decisions
Big Parties
Big Appetite
Inane Jokes
Loads of Laughter
Big Enjoyment
Big Hugs
Long Drives
Long Discussions
Mindless Chats
Nicknames Galore
Promises Galore
Weaving Stories
Common goals
Lots of Adventure
Innumerable Dreams
Loads of Love
.....A special bond!

Salad

My latest obession is fighting the battle of the bulge... I have blown up my entire first salary on joining an upscale gym and have hired a personal trainer ( never imagined my penchant for bollywood would influence me to such great levels)..Endless hours have been spent digging out articles on Raveena'a weight loss diet and Bipasha's exercise regime,Adnan Samis weight loss secret,Sonam kapoor's weight loss formula, Atkins weight lossdiet,Zone weight loss diet,South Beach weight loss diet,GM weight loss diet and what not...Yes the keyword is weight loss:)

So after tons of unassigned consulting hours spent on assmilating data I have come up with a formidable database of low calorie meals and dishes...Btw I haven't lost significant amount of kilos or inches.. . Yet I strive to consume the unpalatable diet that transfomed the Sonams and the Raveenas of the tinseltown in the hope that it would work wonders for me someday.. Here is one semi palatable recipe from my diet...

Fat Free Curd( You can use Amul masti dahi too just has 78 calories in 100 gms)- 1/2 cup
Capsicum - 1 finely chopped
Tomates -2 Deseeded and finely chopped
Onion -1 finely chopped
And add anything else from this list.. raisins, badams(high fat so limited),mushrooms,paneer,chicken pieces,corn,(high carb so beware),olives,pickles,brocolli,cauliflower,boiled eggs(avoid the yolk),cabbage strips,lettuce
Crushed garlic - 2 pods or you can use readymade garlic paste
Olive oil - (optional)
Black pepper Powder
Salt
One Sugarfree pellet
Limejuice or vinegar -1 tbsp
Oregano (optional)
Mint/Coriander leaves(optional)

Procedure:
1)Hang the curd using any old handkerchief for 10 minutes squeeze out the water ( You can just use the curd directly if you want but that will turn the salad a little watery)
2) To this add salt ,pepper,sugarfree tablet,garlic paste,vinegar,mint/coriander leaves,oregano,olive oil and mix well
3) In a big bowl add all the remaining ingredients along with some lime juice
4) Add the dressing
5) Mix well and serve chilled
It might not sound appetizing but trust me it tastes decent enough and fills you stomach!
PS Add very little groundnuts/roasted moondal orchanna/chivda to give it that crunchiness

Strange are the ways of life!

There was a reason why I wanted to do my MBA. Yes, TOI reports on astronomical sums being paid to 25 year ol somethings was one,the other was my experience with a consulting firm called A when I was working for L&T. I was part of the client team and A was there to reengineer our business process.

I was very excited to be chosen in the client team and even more excited to interact with those 25 year old demi-gods from the IIMs and XLRIs of the world.They came in with fancy laptops (yeah 3 yrs back getting a laptop was a dream of every engineer in L&T), they made fancier PPTs and gave seemingly profound insights into our business.They worked furiously on excel sheets and devoured data like hungry dogs.Their graphs and charts were works of art . They made some amazing changes to our existing process by adding ten new processes and they got paid by the hour (Rs3000per hour for a fresh MBA grad).In short I was spellbound!I decided MBA it is and Consulting it is for me!

I got recruited by A through campus placements. I was super thrilled!I was told I would be a part of the supposed backend global team and I would be called an Analyst. Though disappointed I still bravely took up the offer, thinking about the measly client interaction I had being a Marketing engineer in L&T.The folks from A convinced me it was a well thought of decision to put me in the backend team with my domain expertise .Then comes my day of induction and 13 of us bundled up in a room made for 5 people. I dont see a projector, I dont even see a laptop in that room. A confused HR moves around frantically asking if anyone has come to, well ,induct us into the organization. Suddenly 7 of us are taken into a different room. HR pops head again says "You guys are part of the front end domestic business".Just like that I was thrown from their 'well planned decision'of putting me in a back end job to a front end job.So much for a company which preaches about organizational management to 350 of the fortune 500!!! I have experienced royalty as a new joinee in L&T as well as P&G (internship) so this came as a rude shock. I calmed my self saying might have been an unplanned induction program things will get better. Three hours over noone came in and then we had a hurried induction made on a very old laptop. We are then informed that after the induction we have to fend for ourselves.The office cannot accomodate more than 70 people so we need to pre book our seats.I again calmed myself down saying it was just a phase ,I would be on a project soon and things would change.

Three months done.. I still dont have a fixed seat ( ok that's a part and parcel of consulting), cannot make fancy ppts and my fingers do no work magic excel sheets, I have not received a single welcome mail from my service line head ( He is busy getting projects for me) and surprisingly I am still not staffed on a project ,I don't have a boss to report my boredom to and there is no way to know if work is coming in the near future..! I am a useless resource and it is reaffirmed every fortnight as I fill in my time sheet with unassigned hours... unassigned hours in consulting = falling into a deep bottomless pit!

I'm in the very organization that drove me to do my MBA ... and am left wondering whether the organization values the MBA :) ...Strange are the ways of life!