First few days in Liberia

First time in West Africa, placed at a guest house in lower Monrovia which according to a friend is a place out of nowhere. Unfortunately this guest house is 45 min away from the main city. So quite restricted to the guest house- to the extent that for past 3 days i am eating raw papaya for both meals and ripe papaya for breakfast. No other fresh vegetable is available.

Liberia is 5.5 hrs behind India, the farthest i have traveled. Random observations in three days;

• No electricity, country runs on generators. In our guest house electricity supply from 7 AM to 7 PM.
• English common language, rather American English
• LPG very expensive, charcoal common cooking fuel, even in the guest house no LPG
• Business scene dominated by Lebanese and Indians
• Iron, gold, diamond - Mr Mittal biggest name in iron
• Call rate to India cheaper than to many African companies (5 cents/min)
• 1US$ - 75L$
• Very very green
• Very little construction (this too in past 3 years)/no bill boards on road.
• Indian army woman outside President house
• Missing fresh milk and food in general :(

I am hoping to get out of the guest house and get some real flavour of Liberia and food to eat.

'aadat'

When you get used to something its called a Habit. This reminds me of a nice evening when three of us were together having chivas. Suddenly a question pops up : what is love?

Spontaneously we replied

A: dard

B: dokha

And i said ‘aadat’.

Selfless love – is it possible?

Sixth house in Gurgaon

Yesterday I moved into sixth house in Gurgaon. It all began in October 2006 when I had no choice but to find a house and start a new life all over. Since then I have graced 6 houses in Gurgaon - nothing but a series of bad luck, a new story each time.

House No 1: 2 Oct 06 - August 2007; owner wanted double the rent I was paying. I was willing to pay but the broker would have lost his commission unitl a new kirayedar came

House No 2: Sept 07 - June 08; owner got a job in Gurgaon and i was asked to vacate

House No 3: July 08 - Oct 08; As soon as i moved in owner found a buyer and sold the house

House No 4: Nov 08 - 13 June 09; owner didnt get along with daughter in law, separeted and asked me to leave

House No 5: 14 June 09 - 15 Feb 2010; I decided to leave

House No 6: 16 Feb 2010 - until i want to leave; this time i shifted to my own home after 2 nd half months of struggle with Axis bank.

Quite a lot of statistical analysis can be done with above data. Unfortunately each time I parted on a bad note - fighting and jhik jhik with owners. Each time paid one month rent to brokers and shifting charges to moners n packers. Funnily, same guy moved my house three times in past 18 months.

More than shifting, searching for a house is a pain. I have now looked for a house in every corner of Gurgaon. In my office i am almost the house consultant. I seem to know all the locations, websites and a lot of propery dealers.

But thanks to mom my series of bad luck seems to have come to an end. If she didnt nag so much and more than that didnt support financially I might be on the same run. Thanks so much mom.

Buying a house was never on my list but may be it happened for good. till yesterday I felt tied and burdened with heavy debt for next 20 years.

But today when i woke up, I felt a different energy. I went to each room and my heart said this is my home.

Thanks mom and God and my friends who share my hapiness today.

Love - Is it science or Romance?

LOVE is in the air. Yes this seems to be true on a Valentines Day. u cant avoid it when everywhere (even the smallest dhaba) u find red color hearts. I guess thats why they say heart is vulnerable!

Wonder what LOVE is? Here is biochemical perspective on love I heard on a NDTV talk show this morning:

"Falling in love is at the mercy of your biochemical and hormones". There are three stages in a relationship between a guy and gal. Scientifically:

1. Lust - release of male and female hormones - progesterone and estrogen

2. Attraction - release of neuro chemicals - Dopamine

3. Attachment - release of oxytocin.

Lot of other things influence these chemicals, like 1. stage of menstrual cycle (mid cycle more female hormone), 2. alcohol (happy/pleasure cells are already activated), 3. Apocrine glands (@ axilla, nipples, pubic areas - release pheromones)

So these hormones and chemicals decide the behaviour and actions in these 3 stages of 'falling in love'.

Whatever it may be we all want to 'fall in love'. I find it magical. Its so beautiful to see an elderly couple siting on a bench in a park holding hands. It is the connection between two individuals and they only know how they feel about each other.

I believe its destiny. Love happens!

Life in Sudan

Life in Southern Sudan - Tough
Robberies - 'My Dear friend' it can happen anytime
Electricity - mostly generators
Road - only 7-8 km carpet road
Dust - plenty
Water - supplied straight from river Nile
Inter state Transport - mainly air and expensive
Wild life - everywhere
Vegetarians - difficult, juicy pineapple -the best option
Commodities - super expensive
Favourite drink - Soda and Beer
The attractiom - JIT supermarket
Brac's top five loan- list beer shop

Good times..Juba times!

As they say 'expect the unexpected'. 12 days in Juba were most unexpected. we were warned enuff before leaving India to expect a terrible stay.
Juba isnt the most comfortable place @ more than 40 deg temp and the capital city running on generators. we were lucky to find a decent hotel on the bank of river nile. Yes, the same river we went rafting 2 months ago. The hotel didn't offer a scenic view of Nile but it was the only place where we could unwind after long day of training. This was the place where we could hear nature.
The hotel was our jail and we were warned not to venture outside. So first 3 days we spent the evening - watching 'the sky and the Nile' changing its colour as the sun retired for the day. Counting stars and trying to spot constellation was the favorite time pass till we decided mosquitoes had enough of our blood. I havent seen such clear sky and so many twinkling stars in a long time. Watching a falling star was exhilarating, it was a stunning view. There were also some exciting scenes of locals bathing in their birthday suits. In short we were close to nature sitting under the shade of mango tree on the banks of Nile. Wow!
The next 7 days were masti....endless sessions of arguments between Kajal and Rochak on anything possible. They somehow have opposite views on anything and everything. We tried hard to convince him in favour of lesbian and gay community but we failed.

Well i guess the most beautiful memories are of the times 3 of us spent together.  this threesome combo went crazy when we threw glasses in the river. spitting water fountains was the wildest act. we didnt seem to mind anything at all.

truly its the company that matters not the place. thanks Juba for new friendships and strengthening older ties. 

Cheers!

The tallest, highest, longest..........

Two hour city tour in Dubai. Our guide Mr Khush was xtremely khushmizaaz and good with facts. He showed us all the tallest, highest, longest - hotels, buildings of dubai. Everything grandeur! u name it and its there - glimpses of venice, sydney opera house, las vegas, even beach. within few minutes I was not enjoying the show, I lost interest and didnt even step out to c the last site, i preferred to sleep in bus.

Next morning I realised there were huge highways, magnificent buildings but no life. I missed people on the streets of Dubai!

I can't fly

Location: BRAC Uganda HO

Me: Can I get water?
Mr accountant (on phone): Please bring two glass of water. two guests have come.
(after 20 minutes)
Mr accountant: why did you take so much time?
Service boy: I cant fly. I dont have wings.

The service boy is local, who are exremely cool, and take their own time. Interestingly, we were told if u pressurise them or say anything they will immediately leave the job.