My return to random ramblings

It has been a while since I wrote. A lot of things have happened since October. I went down to India for a month’s holiday, came back and was offered a new job with a Big Four (in London), which I start later this year. To complicate things, my current employer doesn’t want me to leave and has raised the stakes (better salary, leading a bigger team, etc). And the last piece of jigsaw is an interview with a major Strategy Consulting Firm later this month. I hear you say, if this is the kind of complications- brings it on!!! But, I am clear, Big Four it is!!!

In the meantime, I have been to Vienna and Estonia (for a Ice cricket tournament!!!) and fallen in love with the latter. I think there is something very romantic about Eastern Europe. The snow, the stonewalls, the misty air, the biting frost and the song-like language, all makes one drift away from the hum dum of daily existence. I am sure it helps that Eastern Europe has the most beautiful women in the world. I am informed that Estonia in particular has the largest concentration of models per population in the world and I do not doubt it one inch. Before you think any further, I didn’t get laid in Estonia. The opportunity was there in the nightclubs and bars, but people who know me know that that’s not my style or taste. I would rather spend time speaking to an intelligent and charming lady sitting at fireside than fiddle around in a nightclub with loud music and even louder company. I am old fashioned (and boring!!!)

My trip to Vienna last Xmas was exciting as well. Stayed in a Castle at a hill that had been converted into a Hotel with a splendid view over Vienna. Went to a Concert at the Imperial Palace and indulged in some good old Mozart and Strauss. The real incident that made my trip was something more offbeat. When we were waiting for a Bus outside the Hotel, a Limo (antique Rolls Royce) drove out of it and the driver (a Santa Claus like figure who owned a whole fleet of them and chauffeured people around as a hobby) stopped the Limo is front of us and requested me to give him the opportunity to drive us into the town. In my conversation with him on the drive, I realised that he needed company and an Indian seemed exotic. It was absolutely fabulous, a trip around Vienna in a Limo with a Chauffeur, what else do I need in life??? Maybe that was my Christmas Gift. Unfortunately after he dropped us off at a Café, the Car broke down 100 metres down the road. It was my turn to return the favour; I duly helped him push the car to the edge of the road. Never once did his smile disappear or his charm frown. A good man. God Bless him.

I am back now and will start writing more often. Most probably on some ramblings which I flatter myself as philosophical.

Till then, I hope all of you had a great new year and a very merry xmas in the reverse order.