Reason, Rhyme, Rant » Reason

When life throws lemons at you…

Vaishnavi — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 03:00:16 +0000

Recently I have been coming across the adage ‘when life throws you lemons, make lemonade’ many a times. It can be easy to be optimistic when things are going well, but more demanding when life gets hard. This volatile life seems to come at us in ways that are completely unexpected and we are forced to deal with it. Dealing with it is one thing, but making it better is completely different.

If you had asked what I’d do if life threw lemons at me a few years ago, I’d definitely say that I’d duck! Well, my attitude has definitely taken an upbeat since then. Few months ago when life didn’t throw just 1 or 2 lemons but decided to volley a truckload of them, I thought that now was the time I hit it up a notch higher and make margaritas instead! (Well, I would have tried to package them, market and even sell them, but err…but leaving the metaphor behind no one would buy my problems!)

I read this story on some random email forward and thought it was worth sharing. “There are many out there who are all rooting for you. They are voting for you because they want you to win. Unfortunately, losers also surround you; people who want to drag you down. They are voting against you. Half are for you. Half are against you. How will this closely contested drama turn out? It all depends on you because you will be casting the deciding vote. The ballot is the choice you make. Be careful how you choose!”

So how do you keep a sunny disposition and vote for you on a gloomy day when life is throwing curveball at you?

Here it goes, the recipe to make perfect margaritas out of the sour lemons! ?

1 fluid ounce of premium courage and will to survive

3/4 fluid ounce of faith

3/4 fluid ounce of love and support from family

3/4 fluid ounce of simple things that you like to

1 fluid ounce of the right attitude

1 challenge, from which you want to juice out the good

1/2 cup of being prepared

Even on the gloomiest days, there are things we can do to stay positive and not let it get the best of us. I might not be an expert at making these margaritas but I do know for sure that next time, I’d be better at making them. The ingredients for margarita are always the same but the chef in me will improve! In the end, it does not hurt to be a drunk in optimism, does it? ?

Confessions of a litterbug: A clean sweep to jumpstart Project Eco-clean

Vaishnavi — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 20:06:49 +0000

He looked straight into my eyes and spoke through his eyes, “No properly educated and socially habituated individual will litter. Period. If you do, you ARE trash yourself and deserving of scorn and even legal prosecution.”

Well, maybe he did not speak them but that is definitely what I read in his eyes.

Background: I was chatting away with my family in the moving train, eating away biscuits and when it got over, like it was the most natural thing to do, I casually threw out the plastic wrapper out of the window. That is when one of my cousins (who looked at me as if I threw a baby out of the train! Gulp!) asked me, “Do you always do that, akka?”

When all the intimidating eyes turned towards me, putting me on the hot seat, I swallowed hard and awkwardly came up with 1000 things, trying (well, let us say failing) to justify my action.

I stammered and reluctantly answered, “I’ll occasionally let go of a biscuit wrapper or something…err… when I’m just not thinking…err… but I really don’t litter that much. I used to be a tree hugger as a kid though… when I would walk home from school and had a biscuit wrapper, I usually held on to it till I got to a dustbin. And moreover…I do not see a trash can around”, (which is true!). I even agreed in unison to one of us who said, “Well, I only throw decomposable stuff”.

Yikes! Isn’t it? I know, I am not too proud of myself either.

Back to the story…

This was one of those moments; I felt a stomach turning culmination that I was one of those guys. “Those guys” that Abdul Kalam spoke about in his letter to Indians, “Take a person on his way to Singapore. Give him a name –’YOURS’. Give him a face –’YOURS’. YOU walk out of the airport and you are at your International best. In Singapore you don’t throw cigarette butts on the roads or eat in the stores.” This time it really was me. Did I stick to not littering outside India merely because of law?? Or was it that US made it very convenient for me to find trashcans everywhere?

I can pretend that I was making the best I can to keep earth clean but….yeah….I litter occasionally when I do not have an easy access to the trash can, and I did not feel very bad about it, either (till I was put on the hot seat). And, yes I’m very properly educated and socially conditioned. I’m also rather apathetic and came across as a person who didn’t give a damn.

This whole episode got me thinking. I admit I have an OCD about keeping my house clean. If you ask my family and friends, they will even tell you that I brag about it sometimes. BUT, it seemed to end right at my doorstep. Initially whenever I stepped out, I used to collect all the trash in my purse to dispose them in my house. But later I just seemed to have gotten tired doing that.

Certainly, I am not the only one augmenting the “broken window theory” here in India. Clearly, if you look around there is trash and litter everywhere. Throwing our waste on the street, and right outside our own homes is a part of our daily routine. Littering is seems to be socially accepted in India – not everybody minds, not everybody cares.

But can the average Indian be persuaded to change? Yes, I am sure we can. In a different scenario, this is what my neighborhood back in my hometown in Kerala did. To stop people from dumping trash outside their homes, a team from the colony invested in waste management by launching a garbage collection drive. By insisting on collection of garbage for Rs. 50 per house and taking it to a government authorized waste disposal site, they worked towards sanitizing the environment outside of their homes.

What makes me feel worse is that my dad was an integral part of that team. And here I am littering the town.

Educated Indians who DO care about earth get disconnected sometimes from those things around us. We forget that these are our roads, our trains, our property, and our earth. And we do crazy-irresponsible things to make them messy and ugly. Throwing garbage in the street is grungy and unacceptable, even if it’s food garbage. Sure, it is biodegradable, but in the meantime it will just sit there making everything look lousy, attracting flies and is a total nuisance if someone steps on or trips over it.

I needed to bring that connection back. The point is that have potential and that I’ve known my stuff. I need to make my environment and it’s surroundings a part of my priorities. I am not a passionate environmentalist (may I add, “yet”!) but I definitely am not a hypocrite. And you will never see me litter in public again. ?

Moving back to India: My reflections

Vaishnavi — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 06:02:51 +0000

A move to India was something that I’ve considered since I left to US for marriage a little more than 3 years ago. Every year, just as me there are so many of Indians thinking about moving back to India. Without intending to generalize, almost every Indian I’ve met there has debated this or is debating this decision at some point of their life. Some to catch up with the growing opportunities in India, some for love and warmth of family in India or some to escape the high cost of living in the US cities (in comparison with the metros in India). For us it was an amalgam of all the three.

Both my husband and I have strong network and support system in both the countries. Though grown up & studied in India, we had never lived a life of a responsible, adult in India. So living in India has always intrigued us. Fortunately or unfortunately, we have an opportunity to try out living in India and we jumped the gun at it!

Yes, after several discussions within ourselves, family, work folks, we set out to India. Why not? We are still young to easily adapt, adventurous and hey, no baggages yet, why not make a logical decision after getting the complete picture. The only sad part was that right when we had our roots grow in US, we were going to India. This I am not sure if it is a pro or con yet

Right now, I am back home, in Chennai – Settling down and catching up with work and my family. I wanted to share my experience of moving back home… in the hope that those of you who are planning on moving can prepare yourselves mentally for the ride ahead before you head out to buy the tickets.

Cons first…

If you are an Indian or has lived in the country for more than 1 week, you are no stranger to the deafening sounds, queer smells, scorching heat, humidity and suffocating Junta. It does take some amount of savviness to figure out how to live in this frenzy country! These struggles are still there and I am pretty sure that it is not going away.

The traffic infrastructure is still pitiable, if not worse – Or at least in the metros. It is a huge contrast from the orderly rules of traffic on the highways and freeways in the U.S. Forget being the driver; even being a pedestrian on the street is quite an adventure.

Even if you get past all the above, what’ll irk you is the “whatever – chalta hai” attitude of people. Most systems lack discipline. There is absolute no professionalism or sense of time here. My home appliances were installed 2 weeks after it was bought. Everyday what we heard was a confident “ I’ll come today itself madam” lines…or “I am 5 minutes away from your place” with no show. In that way you waste a lot of time with no fault of yours.

Opening bank accounts, filling out any government forms is a big chore with so much uncertainty. Customer Service is a namesake concept. (I can write another blog by itself on Samsung, India customer service. It is nothing but a big joke.)

And to top all of this, public infrastructure is yet another sob story – a trip to any public loo is accompanied by melancholy most often.

And now the pros…

The dynamics of India have drastically changed in the last couple of years. All of a sudden India has emerged as a new player on the international arena. Every news channel, news paper, big corporations, Gartner, and even your mom says so! The time has arrived where the Indian economy is meeting opportunity.

India has become so urbanized. There seems to be a sudden mania for shopping malls and multiplexes in India. With shopping malls erupting in every nook and corner, the modern India seems to have become the hot destination for a galore of international brands in clothes, shoes, cosmetics, food, lifestyle, kitchen ware. The towering breadth of globalization seems to have led to the development of the country as a great hub for shopping. Increasing number of malls in India also seems to have empowered the shoppers to a great extent.

Though there exists biting competition, India remains the land of opportunities and thriving entrepreneurship. In-spite of the lower cost of living (Well, I am not sure of the other cities, this fact is based on my move from LA to Chennai), the lifestyle (In terms of a maid etc) is indeed superior here. Though there are several power outages, there are so many solutions in the market for you to choose to escape them.

Cheaper healthcare in india is the added advantage. Unless you are living on Mars, I am sure you’ve heard about the atrocious healthcare system in US. When my mom-in-law had a small accident in US, we were billed for $2800 for a tetanus injection and X rays which costs at the most Rs.500 in India, which is $11.62. Of course she had insurance and we paid just $100, but still when you compare the money which we actually had to shell out, the healthcare in US is whopping expensive.

India though a very old ancient country feels young! Every 3rd person you meet in this country seems to be in the age group of 15-33 years old (Yep, thats the age group I would call young ) What I love the most in India is the warmth its people, my people. There is a very good and a positive blend of western and Indian culture… especially in the metros. The presence of immediate family is indeed a bonus which makes you feel stronger and secure. While there is a sense of belonging here, there is also a possibility of a larger social circle too.

It has been 2 months here in India now and I am enjoying and taking in the warmth and beauty of my vibrant and colorful India. Being away from India for a while has opened me up to embracing all the things that I have otherwise taken for granted here.

And I got to to mention this, I came across this newspaper article in ‘The Hindu’ the day I returned from India saying, “Living the American dream made me fall in love with my country all over again”. I’m not sure if it was the universe was reaching out to me in the strangest of ways, but I could relate to it at a higher level.

This article is for myself and for the others like me, in a hope that it helps and gives a realistic sense of moving out here. And yes, I’ll keep updating this pros and cons list in the due course of my stay here.

Its all about connecting and expressing

Vaishnavi — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 02:10:43 +0000

Contrary to the popular belief that Twitter/Facebook is a replacement for blogging, both the worlds are different and both require a different kind of commitment. This is the realization I stumbled upon few months ago, when my Facebook account competed with my blog for attention. I guess it’s not just with me, but I read an article that talked about how in the past year, there have been fewer articles from bloggers while their Facebook/Orkut/Twitter action had quadrupled.

I guess for any person, to share his opinion or belief or his experience with his community is the main drive to communicate. With Microblogging, this is just easier and faster – especially when you are busy and are multitasking. I love the way Twitter/FB status lets you share interesting links and our latest tit-bits on the World Wide Web. I love the buzz and excitement it generates through comments and likes and reposts, I love the way it engages you with your community and lets you participate on random conversations. When I am in one of my attention-deficit moods, I love the way it lets me interact and verbalize my thoughts in 140 characters or less! Isn’t it a lot like public-texting?

On the other hand, every blogger knows in his heart that the digital epiphany from a blog is much more than Microblogging. It lets you dive deep into the content and dwell on the stuff that you want to say (Just like what I am doing right now!! ) It is true that with traditional blogging you need to focus but the impact it has on readers is surely more in terms of the topic lingering in your mind longer.

Well, the bottom line is that this revolution in expression is an epic-win. Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Buzz, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Orkut, Digg, etc. has made our world smaller. Isn’t it so easy to socialize, connect & reconnect now? As long as this is not ruling your life, its okay I guess. Nope, I don’t need a social media detox yet!

The iPad story: Glory vs. Gory

Vaishnavi — Sun, 02 May 2010 02:55:52 +0000

I’m pretty tired of all the iPad bashing and their banal twaddle.

So what is it with you guys? So you miss multi tasking (Anyways wait for the next software update!), file system and the USB drive?

Dude, iPad is not designed to replace your laptop. If that were the case, then why in the heaven’s name would Apple just revamp their MacBook Pro?

For those who are complaining about the 64 GB space? Come on! Honestly what are you going to do with all that space? How are you managing it on your iPod? Seriously, learn to manage your music!

Honestly if you want to buy a laptop, save your money and buy a laptop! iPad is meant to be transient – for a quick and easy way to get entertainment, reading, movies etc. Speaking of movies, I’m taking on the flash argument. It is an outrageous lie to say that an iPad doesn’t let you watch any videos except that You Tube. There are tons of different forms of video on it. Most of us care about Netflix and Hulu and that is good enough. Personally I think Adobe is pretty much getting what it deserves. What was Adobe doing when flash kept crashing on OS X? You know what? Every site that delivers video will equip to support non-flash based delivery if they want the apple crowd. (Heard of HTML 5??)

If you have heard the argument from Adobe on a blog post from Adobe’s Mike Chambers, vilifying Apple for not being more open with its approach to the App Store, Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller responded to that on CNet, “Someone has it backwards — it is HTML5, CSS, JavaScript, and H.264 (all supported by the iPhone and iPad) that are open and standard, while Adobe’s Flash is closed and proprietary.”

I’m interested and am holding up myself for the next gen iPad or maybe even later. I did that for iPhone – I got myself a 3G and you bet I’m glad I did. I think iPad will be an awesome travel companion – Awesome for short trip and let’s you access data on the go!

Faces of Water: Give water the respect that it deserves

Vaishnavi — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 03:03:26 +0000

It’s yet another earth day today and I am pondering if “Being Green” is just another fad or are people actually taking it seriously. No, no, please don’t get me wrong. I know a lot of them who do their part sincerely but these days, I just feel jaded with the constant drivel about “Going Green” in every business – corporate scenario, just to appear cool – a marketing gimmick.

In school we had something called “Vanamahotsava” where all of us students were made to plant trees. My dad loved what we did and was inspired to start the same tradition at home. As we grew older, I’ll be honest; I have not really done anything for the earth. Except maybe give a $150 donation to Charity: Water, that too because my cousin was raising money for it.

I’m not exactly proud of myself for losing the Nature Club/WWF activist that I was during my teen years.

The past three years, I notice myself being called out by Water. Every place that I’ve been going to, has been influenced by water someway or the other. I have been utterly mesmerized by water and the transfixing worlds that it creates – be it in the raw power of the waterfall at Chalakudy or shaping of the landscape, eroding the land and leaving behind the colossal experience at Grand Canyon, be it the snow peaked mountains at Mammoth, or be it in the marvelous glaciers in the lands of Alaska. The striking beauty of water belies incredible power! There is something about water. It cannot be compared to anything and yet everything at some point is dependant on it.

Water is so beautiful even in the morning dew or in gentle streams or in an astounding blast of a hot spring. The gurgling sound of the fountain outside breaks the awkward morning silence. Its rhythm takes me back to the old memories of Palghat, Kerala, where I remember gazing out the French windows – taking glances at the gentle drizzle, cuddling with the book of Jeffrey Archer on my mom’s lap. Why, even this morning, I was left gawking at the magnificence of the clouds hovering over the distant LA downtown. What are clouds really? They are simply massive chunks of sheer water.

Why is water so beautiful and captivating? Is it because it reminds me of something? Or is it me just being a “Cancerian” as per Linda Goodman’s book? Or is it because it is a visual delight? A mere hot bath after a long hard working day, can alter your mood altogether. Water makes your soul peaceful and calm.

The melancholic twist to this whole saga of water and its beauty is “Wastage”. To think of it, Water is the most abused and insulted resource. I wish people think twice about wasting water. As an admirer of water, I speak on it behalf and encourage you to conserve water! Happy Earth Day!

Tumultuous Twenties

Vaishnavi — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 00:54:49 +0000

20s is the most happening decade in life I think. Life is brimming with activities. On one side when there is getting out of school, earning and switching jobs, starting your career, finding your soulmate (Yes I still believe in it!;)), figuring out who you are as an adult etc etc but on the other side there is anxiety that invariably comes with a period of life characterized by instability, frequent change, and incessant decision-making. I am coping well with my tumultuous 20s – hey I am not denying the ups and downs but mentally and spiritually I am still intact! It has been 6 years since I have been voyaging in my twenties. I’ll admit, 20s were not at all like I imagined it would be. Initially I constantly craved for assurance and reassurance – I thank my amazing support system (family & friends) for my sanity today! Is the “twenties momentum” the same for everybody? This question set me my thought process rolling. I thought I could make a handbook for the kids entering 20s and give them the tips and tricks to schmooze their way through

Rule 1: Gain a lot of life experience:

A key advantage a 20s something year old has, is that its okay to fall. Even if you fail its okay. You can jump right back on your feet. Despite the little fears and insecurities that linger in the background, this is one of those life phases where it still feels like it’s okay to screw up, because “real life” hasn’t started yet. I’m trying to love being 20s with this in mind. Since you just start your career, you understand about your field of expertise better than you were in school. Identify and work on the skills to gain, to get ahead of the game. Experiment and gain as much experience as life offers. Don’t be in a hurry to settle down. Keep an open mind. Travel around, observe people and pick up all the best characters that appeals to you. Enjoy the time you have by indulging in something that stimulates you mentally. I know a lot of 30 year olds who wished that they had done something creative in their 20s when they actually had time.

Rule 2: Financial Education

I think there are valuable financial lessons to learn in 20s and it is so important you get them as soon as possible! When you’ve gained the education and/or skills you need for the career you’ve chosen, and you’re earning money and learning how to handle it, its so important to develop good spending and saving habits, and learning to budget and invest during your twenties. When you make all the short term and long term plans for life I think 20s is the right start to estimate and budget your goals. Enjoy the money you make but be responsible.

Rule 3: Remember that it is normal to feel lost but have a plan:

I still have not figured out why there are chunks of insecurity and anxiety in 20s that I did not have in my teens! There are so many moments when there are conflicting thoughts in your head. But I think I will gain confidence with time and more experience. The fact that I am more confident at 26 than I was at 23 is an assurance. If you feel lost and confused, make a plan about what you want to achieve – make a 5 year plan. What I mean is that its good to set goals. I know for sure that people who have a plan rolled up under their sleeve have a better sleep than those who don’t. Have fun but do not get lost in all the fun. Enjoy the minimal responsibility in 20s. There is room for fun and to experiment. I saw Lindsay Lohan on TV recently. I think she is a perfect example of 20s gone bad. The 22-year-old actress is always going to fabulous parties and supposedly having the time of her life, but is she really? Lohan was arrested twice for drunk driving, had to spend 84 minutes in jail and is now going bankrupt, according to Channel E!. Her friends seem catty and the press is all over her. It must be really stressful. That is something you don’t want.

PS: Sometimes its annoying when someone intrusively asks you “what your plan is”. You know what, you don’t have to say it to them. Just remember these plans are for you. You don’t need any tom, dick and harry’s approval for it.

Rule 4: Have a mentor, surround yourself with a good support system

There’s no faster way to improve than to have someone work with you on your goals. And that is what a mentor does. After I identified my mentor and accepted a mentor, I seem to have a direction in life that I lacked before. There is a lot you can learn from every single person, but a mentor helps you achieve significantly more results than if you had worked alone. Trust me on this one! A lot of things are too complicated to learn by yourself. You can save yourself a lot of time and money by having someone you can ask questions to. It’s important to have Mentors in your life who have “been there.. done that” that you can lean on for guidance, support and advice.

Its crazy in the 20s. Only in 20s can it irk you when a teenager acts like she/he knows it all! You know that the teenager is being an imbecile and on the other hand you are not matured enough to understand that you were the same in your teens!

I’m sure there is something about every decade. But something tells me that 20s has its own special way of creating and changing you!

What do you think? Are your twenties how you thought they would be? If you’re older, what did you think about your twenties versus your life now? What was your favorite age so far? I would love to hear!

Namesake

Vaishnavi — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 21:28:17 +0000

When I sign my name, or say my name it’s with a flourish. When I extend my arm to introduce myself, a natural confidence flows through my handshake and it makes me smile.

Its not as dramatic as Jumpa Lahiri’s Namesake but my name has a story too.

Its been a while since I bid a tearful fareful to “Vaishnavi Thatha”. Vaishnavi Thatha! Aah! A perfect match! Its not that I am a feminist or anything but somehow after being attached to it for 23 years you kinda get stuck to it. I remember my brother tease me about changing the name , I shrugged it off in my pre-marriage euphoria. To think of it, I changed the name at the drop of a hat. (Psst..Inspite of a lot of paperwork!) I did not even realize I loved “Thatha” so much till the day I went for my Visa Interview months after my wedding. “Can I have your papers Mrs. Gollapudi?” “MRS GOLLAPUDI?????”!!! Me?? ” was my knee-jerk reaction. Responding to this new surname was like responding to a new name altogether! I felt different. I felt not me. I was scared and wondered if I had just made the worst decision of my life! What did I end up doing?! I had always been a happy go lucky person and all of a sudden I remembered a numerologist’s words (Who I thought was spinning a cock and bull story then!!) that said a name is everything to a person. I wondered if I would be impacted with this change? Will my stars change? Will all my luck change? Did I just make a pig in the poke decision?!

My friends have always told me,”Vaishnavi Thatha” is so you”! I don’t know what they meant but apparently even they thought it was my identity.

Fast Forward!

US of A. I played the new kid in the block – new country, new husband, new faces, new culture and new everything! The change in the whole atmosphere helped me to gradually step into the shoes of “Vaishnavi Gollapudi” without much struggles. Yes, you are right! There is a “BUT” factor involved. America doesn’t pronounce my name right. The problem was no longer about my last name. This time the focus was my first name. “Vaayeshnayvee” is the closest to “Vaishnavi” that I have been addressed to. I noticed people start twitching with discomfort when they are introduced to me.

Aydeetya (Yep, that is Aditya) introduces, “Meet my wife, Vaishnavi”.

Vaishnavi says, “Hello, Mr.X. Nice to meet you.”

Mr. X, “Vaa..errr..Vaayeesh.nn…(struggles, stammers)”

Vaish thinks, “Stop trippin man! My name is not that hard to pronounce!

Vaishnavi cuts in trying to salvage her name, “Its VAI-Shh-NAVI”. You can call me VAISH.”

Mr. X,”Oh wow! that is pretty! so exotic! err…Nice to meet you, VAAYEESH”.

The story continues.

You know what was pathetic about the whole thing? Eventually, I started to introducing myself as Vaayeesh and noticed it it only when my uncle called on me for that. Darn! There were times I resented saying my name at dinner reservations, doctor appointment. I just resented the mispronunciation of my name by me or by others. period.

Its been a while now and most of my village calls me Vaish. Things are getting peaceful – around me and IN me. I don’t know if your name is the most important label in life but it is an integral part of your identity.

More on a positive note: Since the movie avatar came on recently, I have been able to get people to understand “Navi”! I am Vaish-Navi..Naavi as in Avatar! Thanks James Cameron!

T. Vaishnavi to Vaishnavi T to Vaishnavi Thatha to Vaishnavi Gollapudi to Vaayeeshnne errrr to Vaayeesh to Vaish-Naavi!

This is has been the evolutionary adventure of my lovely name, In war and peace.

PS: Vaishnavi is incarnation of divine mother, Shakti, Goddess, Consort of Vishnu, the creator.

American recession and me

Vaishnavi — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 00:35:57 +0000

With 2010 around the corner, America is gliding into something that vaguely resembles a recovery. So how am I riding the crest of the economic recovery? How is my immigrant life placed in America and its post-traumatic stress disorder? Well, I am thankful to have a job and at the end of the tunnel I do see opportunities for greater responsibilities.

When I was a teenager, I remember asking my grandpa how I would know if I was in a recession and he jokingly told me, “Recession is when your neighbor loses his job and depression is when you lose your job.”

I won’t deny that the times are tough but these recessionary times gave me several positive opportunities.

A greater sense of financial responsibility

The fear of the impending doomsday taught us so much about money. For people who get intimidated by numbers, percentages and Excel formulae, I highly recommend Mint.com. We adopted it as our Personal Finance Manager. It is a web application that pulls all money transactions- credit cards, checking/saving/investment accounts and tells your net worth at the end of the day. A single version of truth (Yes, I do work for a BI company!! ) It lets you classify and review your transactions (As groceries, party, vacation, gifts, restaurants, rent, etc). Not only does Mint analyze your spending and earning trends but it also gives you ideas to save! It has made our life so much easier! Well for all you doubting Thomas’s out there – Read this to see how secure mint is.

Finding my feet

The recessionary circumstances around, gave me the opportunity to change my career. I got into Marketing! This was home calling. Nothing like I ever did before. I got to do all the things that I love doing – writing, blogging, being creative and meeting people. I finally got down to brass tacks. And now recently we ventured into an online marketing business and conceived buzz360. Buzz360 is our new baby. Through buzz360 we are focusing to develop solutions in Search Marketing and Social Media Marketing for businesses and people. To increase the brand awareness, traffic to the website and providing highest level of Internet visibility for our customers is our goal for buzz360. Check out the website for more details.

Ridiculously priced vacation/airline deals

With the recession, the vacations that we would have probably avoided due to sky-high prices became a reality to us! The price spectrum of restaurants, airlines, hotels (& even cruises!!) had so many specials and promos to drum up their business. And we did not leave any stone unturned. We planned everything ahead and found great deals online. Thanks to Orbitz and Expedia & a special thanks to Google!!

(Psst… I will reveal my secrets to finding great deals online in my future blog)

Become politically and financially conscious

The looming recession sparked in tons of financial advice in media that forced me to take notice. (Free Advice!! Love you Suze Orman!) I remember “Economy” being the most powerful topic even in the presidential race. Without the fear of this recession I would have taken all of this for granted.

I might sound cockeyed for saying good things can come out of a recession but if you delve deeply into dark economic clouds, it is possible you see a silver lining too.

The more I know, the more I know how much I don’t know

Vaishnavi — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 21:54:48 +0000

I had my birthday couple of weeks back. For people who wished me, thanks a ton & it truly made me feel special!

How old am I? Old enough to want to hide it.

This birthday marks differently from the other birthdays so far… to my very own surprise, I am tired of making new resolutions. Most of my resolutions are born out of my dreams. How will my dreams come true if I don’t wake up? Huh?

This blog reflects my state of mind – feeling grown up. I finally understand why grown-ups are more confused than the kids.

I am amidst of starting a new and exciting marketing project, I had many brilliant ideas and felt so proud of myself when I submitted the plan to my boss. It was my brain child. The plan was born out of my own thoughts and ideas. If you ask me to judge the plan I would say it was comprehensive and crisp. I gave myself a pat on the back and went ahead with the project. Well, the bewilderment started when I began reading more and gathering new information- I felt lost, I panicked and was less confident about my work. Its true that my work contained great information but now (Gulp!!) I know all the holes that existed my plan. Truly sometimes knowing less is good!

That was in the work scenario…a similar situation in my personal life too. Next month, my marriage would complete 3 years. Thank god the “troublesome 2″ is phasing out! Oh yeah, like to the babies, it applies to marriage too!! When I got married to Adit, we had dated for 5 years. And I honestly was confident about knowing all about him BUT hey, hell no! Marriage is full of surprises and err…shocks. The more I knew him, the more I knew how less I knew him!

But the silver lining is that I am old enough to understand that feeling like I know less will keep me going! It keeps my ears and eyes open to absorb more. Let me go now- there is so much to learn!