Room with a View

A of the reason why I am very happy at the workplace is the room. Well, I did have a room in the last office also plus this one is far better.

a) The desk space is huge and largely empty. Whereas my previous place was loaded with stuff-samples, documents, inserts in the glass top, snacks and sundry other things, this is a refreshing change from a cluttered desk.

b) Morning Sunshine comes in to greet me. Inspite of the glare, I love it with the blinds totally out of the way.

This plant I carried back from the previous office and placed it in the path of the sunlight

The madmomma's gift was just waiting at home until I moved here and adorned it on the desk. It still needs to be filled up though!

c) And the best-est of it all- this view everytime I glance outside while working on the computer!

Smell

Smell and Taste are transportive. A whiff of a remembered odour, a flavor of forgotten food have the power to transport one to faraway lands or to many years before the present time.

My work in these industries have facilitated me to appreciate this fact even better.

But never have I encountered this sort power to transport before.

A couple of days ago, when I came home in the evening, Tejas hugged me and exclaimed- "Wagonr smell".
I work in place where there is a distinctive chemical odour which sticks to the clothes.
During my first stint with this company, I used to drive the wagonr to work and therefore Tejas would have associated the odour with Wagonr odour.
Shortly after I left, I bought the Swift.
I didn't think much of Tejas' comment and attributed it to transportive memory, until last morning when realisation came to me in a flash.
I used to drive the wagonr in 2006 from the time Tejas was 6 months to 1 year old and that too not regularly.
Does smell has a power so strong that a child can be transported to the time when he was as little as 6 months to as much as 1 year old?
If you go back to my posts, I left this place just before the kids turned 1 and the smell in the Wagonr would have lingered till Jan 2007 when I sold it.
Tejas has this style of smelling us and telling which car we drove- he always associates the husband with the Honda city or the Innova. Such is the power or uniqueness of association!

Back Again

After that there was a 3 week hiatis during which I gathered my belongings and said my goodbyes, taking all of 3 weeks to do justice to each goodbye- spoke individually on the phone or in person especially with whom I had worked closely over the last 4 plus years. I must add, people were pleasantly surprised and touched that I took the trouble to call them up rather than sending a mail on the last day or leaving without a trace.

I did the final handovers and collected my papers and the umbilical cord was well and truly cut when I err, gave up the SIM card and for the first time in so many years - for a few hours I was unreachable. Unless if they called me on my land line!
Yes, I ultimately got my closure and once that was done, I was eager to leave, inspite of the feet shuffling I was doing even after resigning.
For the first time in 4 plus years, I faced an unpaid weekend and thereby appreciated the value of work even better. Touch Wood.
11th April, I joined back. A week or several weeks earlier than I had wanted to or rather decided to, with just a weekend break behind me.

Back to pavilion. Back home. Back to the first love. Back to my first job. Back to my core competence.

Were the various versions of responses I received when I told them I was joining back.
Well, that was not what I thought, but it makes for a good blog story or a good life story. Since I am destined to do the same thing during my entire working life I might as well make a good story out of it!

I loved being part of the food industry and I still miss the tasting. I lapse into saying tasting rather than smelling from time to time. I refused to see what others saw and refused to acknowledge what others said, hotly denying the existence of "real love- smelling rather than tasting".

While I am equally good at both, I slipped into this old familiar role with much ease and to me it doesn't feel that I was gone at all. Inspite of the gap of 4 plus years during which I was tasting more than smelling.

I don't know what the future holds for me. I do not know whether I took the right step. Only time will tell. But for now I am just happy that I have enjoyed the best of both worlds in this industry and have come back richer in knowledge and more adventurous in attitude.

An End and A Beginning

So there. I have done it before and I have done it again today. And they are calling me back. Well, they made a mistake once and they are doing it again! So perhaps it was not a mistake.
It does feel nice to be called back. Because it makes you feel good about yourself. And you realize perhaps you were valued after all!

I have gone through a gamut of emotions the last 3 months. And today I am feeling truly very very sad.

Most importantly, I was happy and content here. I was at peace. I had an easy time. The less work pressure left me with a lot of time to devote to my children, a much needed thing during the last 4 plus years. I was taught, I was given respect, I was cared for. I loved the twisted sense of humour of my lunch companions.

I learnt new things. And most importantly I tasted many new and varied things in my line of work. I learnt my wasabis and galangals and even beefs without eating beef in the real sense. I ate my first centrefilled gum here. I have eaten more types and quantity of chocolates during the last 4 years than my entire lifetime perhaps. (And I hate to go- it will cut off my perpetual chocolate supply for ever)

I carved a niche for myself in presentation making.

I did many things and perhaps it is time to do more. Enhanced role, more responsibility, more learning.

Wish me Luck!

Winter is Cool but Summer is Nice too

I love Chennai winters. It's cool without being brrrr cold requiring layers and layers of woolens, there is a nice nip in the air and the kitchens are not sweaty at all. The kids (and their father) can play during the mid morning hours without feeling the heat of the sun (and at the same time be out of my hair)! Except for the dust, it also feels good to drive with the windows rolled down.
Part of the reason we had our wedding held in Chennai was because the December weather would be a welcome escape to people travelling from the North.
Well, starting yesterday, I have begun to switch on the A/C at night, the kids are sweaty all over everytime they do a little running race and I do not even want to talk about the kitchen. Yet I refuse to acknowledge that winter is over so soon.
Except for the fact that I can also do one thing that I like about summer.
I can leave office while the soft rays of the setting sun are reflecting on the cars and reach home while it is still enevin (evening in Ojas Tejas speak)- which means the kids are happy as their only complaint during winter is-
Mamma tum enevin mein ghar aao, night mein nahin aao (Mamma, you come home during the evening not at night)

I am in a Corporate-ish Mood today

So here is a post relevant to the mood.
A part of my job involves making presentations. Converting boring data or info or straightforward concepts into a format that becomes interesting and more important helps the audience remember atleast something of the crap you spoke.

So the rule of thumb for me when I make a ppt.....
0. Point zero is that content is king. Cannot deny that fact but the important thing is what can you do beyond the content to make people listen to you as you speak
1. What's your story? Can you fit it in a model? Think of some gimmicky models like Johari window, 6 thinking hats, Need hierarchy. Can you fit your data into that story?
2. Pictures do speak louder than words. Think back to the ppts that you have sat through. You will find that you remember the ones that had interesting pictorial depiction. You may not even remember the content (and the secret is nobody ever remembers the content) but you will remember the pictorial depictions.
3. Less is More- use simple, single sentences or text boxes to make your point - don't write the entire story in a single slide.
4. Graphs... nice way to depict data. But data is just that- data. It is nicer if you can put a 2 line summary of what you derived from the data instead of leaving it to the attendees.
5. The format- make a story, present it in verse, sing it, videos... think in the dimension of the 5 senses.
6. When you start- start with a bang. In a workshop I once burst a balloon and threw a ball at someone while making a point. What point even I do not remember but I just remember the action which woke everyone up from their afternoon siesta.
7. Modulate your voice as you move from slide to slide. Add your personal touch...be expressive.
8. Use props- posters, visuals, use the entire room, not just the computer and the screen
9. Involve people- ask questions, get them to role play. In the beginning of a presentation, I once asked the entire audience to start with a big kiss- asked them to mouth loud kisses as I was going to Keep It Simple & Stupid (K.I.S.S)
10. Sometimes I like to not tell all-leave deliberate gaps to incite the audience to question and get involved
11. Rehearse - rehearse your tone, the stories you will break into and at what point.

Oh I So Dislike

1. Jobless colleagues other than HR people sending email asking us to fill in our birthdays/ anniversaries. Grow up dears
2. Colleagues calling you up during your holiday and then bitching about the company on the company phone (roaming charges applicable). Come to the point, shut up and let me enjoy my holiday. I am not in bitching mode.
3. Account Managers calling you up on your holiday- asking you if you are sleeping at this time of the afternoon. When answered in the affirmative with explanation that yours truly did not sleep the ENTIRE night, they proceed coolly to discuss concepts for a very urgent and important project. And when yours truly falls asleep in the middle of the conversation they ask you to stand up & talk and continue with the sleep later. If it was so urgent, why is there no mail or project in the system after I come back to office?
4. Chain mails in official mailbox - If I had the time I would send it back (insert prescribed number of times mentioned in the mail) times to the sender. Go flood yourself in the sender's mailbox.
5. Bosses who believe that the reportee was to comeback a week before (s)he actually is coming back and make people call up and check why the missing person has not reported. err, I thought you approved my leave?
6. Mails that insinuate that some project is in deep shit because yours truly is on a break (after a gap of more than a year). Get a life. Come to the point. You are not my boss. Anyone in this large team can bail you out. Remember that it is the technical person who will make the product ultimately.

Eager to Be in Their Dad's Shoes..errr Seats

Looks Like Dad is not doing his work properly.... So much work is piled up...

Theatre Workshop

I attended this theatre workshop on Saturday. While I had been extremely excited about the program, honestly I found it a little too elementary for my tastes. On a positive note, the facilitator could be used further to develop a more corporate suited program.
And in my opinion, there were too many wake-up games....Well, I had not gone there is the first place to sleep so it was totally unnecessary and hilarious so to speak. I was intent on trying to guess the objective of the game and was a trifle disappointed that it was just wake-up- no team building or any such thing.
I remember a classmate of mine used to say- we are adults, if we choose to sleep and not pay attention, it's our loss. There is no point forcing someone to listen to you.
And more than that, I have come to the level where in if there are gender differences, it is more out of choice than coming from the workplace.
The participants were intended to be corporates so role plays that are "home" based doesn't solve the objective.
Yet another experience that left me disillusioned with these over rated programs.
So this was one of the games..
Concept- Mirror
What we had to do- One person is the mirror, the other is ..well..not the mirror.
The mirror needs to do what the other person does.
So I am the mirror and this guy does a few gestures that I imitate.
Then he hitches his pant up.
I do the same.
He- No no no I didn't do that...my pant is lose....

The Home is Here and So Also the Heart

Long long ago, 9 years ago to be precise, I came to this city to join my first job. Completely clueless on how to find accomodation for myself and most important, where to stay while I looked for accomodation. I was told in no uncertain terms at my office that I need to find a place to stay on my own when I come over to join or atleast find (unearth) some relatives to accomodate me. Which I finally did- approached the relatives, stayed with them, moved over to another set of relatives, spent my first salary on them in gratitude until finally outstaying my welcome and moving over to my own Paying Guest accomodation.

That was the time I made a pact with myself. I will always keep my doors open for any guest to Chennai and if it has not been already asked, I will make the first move to open my home and heart to them.

Because I know how tough it is in a new city, how expensive a decent short term accomodation is and how little it is going to cost me to accomodate them.

So whether it called for approaching my landlady for providing short term accomodation for friends who were in town for an entrance exam or having friends looking for a job as house guests even when I was pregnant or never refusing whenever someone expresses a wish to come home.

I may not be the perfect hostess, I may not cook large meals- I may just serve Maggi or bread, I may not be able to provide a proper bed but lay out mattresses in the living room even or may not be able to provide an exclusive bathroom and I may not even be home if I am unable to get leave of absence from work- but my doors are open for my guests to make themselves comfortable in my home.

I have never been able to refuse people when they want to come over, no matter how much it may inconvenience me. It might be bedtime for my kids or a lazy weekend with family or I might be going out. But I have faced situations when I have called up friends or even relatives just to check if they are home and if it is comfortable for them if I come over, I have been outright refused without an alternative meeting occassion being suggested. Somehow, everytime this happens, my faith in warmth of relatives, friends and society takes a beating.

Once upon a time, before the kids were born, Hubby and I made it a practice to host atleast one dinner every month- for us it was a chance to call people home, socialize, take out the new crockery and cutlery, show my cooking skills (?) off and generally have a good time. The motto being, if you want to be invited, invite first! Well, I can finger count how many times we got invited!

A lot of people complain when they come to a new city especially a city like Chennai where language is a problem- I know nothing about this place, I only know my office and home and Gemini Flyover. I wonder, why they hell did they not even feel like picking up the phone and giving me a call? A few minutes into the conversation and I would have been calling them over to my home or planning to meet during festivals or weekends or I would have definitely offered to help them shop! Only a shopaholic like me will know what it is like to go to a city and not be able to shop or explore and as much as possible, I make it a point to help my guests to shop!

Enough said- the point is that this is no shameless self promotion but just a statement of facts that I have not forgotten my past- the desperation I felt when I had to "ask" for help and to wait with bated breath until I get an answer and this nagging feeling that there is a shade of reluctance lurking somewhere. The helplessness I felt when I knew I had no alternative and I had to make do with it until I could find a roof of my own over my head and them hold my head high. I have faced hesitation, reluctance and refusal and have been scarred for life and even now I am uncomfortable about staying in someone's home and try to ensure that I give as less trouble as possible! Wonder where the world is heading towards- we dread it when people come home to see us!

Tiny Thoughts- Presentation

Sometimes I take up the entire time slot allocated to me for my presentation.
Even though I may need to prolong it by adding more details, talking slowly, showing commercials or products or provoking the audience by bringing out multiple dimensions to any particular slide.
I do it because I want to give it back in the same coin to all those who do not bother about how boring their talk can become for some of us in the audience. To all those who once get a chance to be on stage, keep talking our ears off with unnecessary data inspite of the given format of the presentation. To all those who cause a meeting to prolong well into the night because they do not know how to keep time.

Working Life Status Quo or Change? Questioning Self

Yesterday I entered into the 10th year of my working life.
Life in the city began 9 years ago when I walked into my ex-office, all apprehensive, eager and raring to go.
I was a mere trainee but none the less in terms of attitude, expectations and opinion.
I wanted to learn as much as possible, spent hours dogging the experienced ones, learning, soaking, absorbing every new thing that came my way. For in the business of fragrances, no great MBA degree would help. It all depended ultimately on your smelling, relating and recalling skills. It was all a game of aptitude, attitude and creativity rather than plain degrees.
It meant you have to remember details, correlate experiences and above all be extremely curious. It meant smelling a new perfume or a chemical and searching the depths of your memory and extracting the most relevant one so that you could learn, commit to memory and classify this new perfume that you have experienced. It meant picking up this new perfume out of your memory or physical records and submitting at the time of a new project. It required constant oiling of wheels and practice unfolding each dimension of the fragrance in our mind's eyes.
I am a kind of person who gets comfortable with status quo and thrfore I thought fragrances will remain my first & last love and I would end up staying in the fragrance industry if not the same company. But after 7 plus years, I changed. Not just the company but also the category- I moved from fragrance to flavour and it has taken more than a year for me to realize that I am enjoying working in flavours as much if not more than fragrances in terms of the creative width it gives me. There is always a new project to work on and new concept to generate or new ideas to think of.
And here comes the conflict-I am enjoying it here & am comfortable but do I want to spend a lifetime doing just this? Nothing new to do/ explore/ try out? Do I want to spend my entire life working for someone else and dreaming of flexi time and other convenient arrangements? After all we work to get easy access to pleasure and then we cannot take time off from work to splurge the money on a holiday or pleasure. We look to work hard now and enjoy later. But how soon is later? Is it anytime now or when we get old and tired and are nearing retirement.

In the last 9 years, I have hated, loved and become comfortable in Chennai city. I have reached a plateaue in terms of expectations and amazement for the city that has modernised right before my eyes. The IT parks never fail to fascinate me and those are the times when I wish that I should have taken IT as a career or atleast have an office in such a location. There was a time when Spencer mall was the hangout in Chennai and today we are lagging behind malls of Gurgaon / Bangalore etc.
At this juncture, I am facing a conflict of sorts- do I want to end up living my entire working life in this one city itself? When I retire from working life, will I regret not taking a chance? Will hubby agree? He seems to be pretty much wedded to Chennai.

I got married, bought an apartment (on EMI) in a prime location, got pregnant, had 2 lovely kids to show off, and now they are going to start school next month. On the face of it, what more could one want? A bigger house (with EMI paid up), better location, more facilities...it doesn't end anytime.
I managed to hold on to my job through this despite conflicting emotions of not giving enough time and attention to the kids.
Now what? Is in't it a little late in the day for hoping to explore more cities for living? After so much of time and investment in identifying the correct school here? After Hubby started his business here?
What is my net worth today- few close friends, family, rare personal phone calls, hardly a place where I could land unanounced and still get invited to stay for dinner, a handful of people who would care enough to take my child to the toilet if needed or pay for my food without making me feel obliged to pay back or return the favour. Can my children call any house here as the one where they almost lived in their childhood apart from their own home? The sort of homes where you are always in & out of, you can do a pajama party & sleepovers- a little too soon for me to think about as they have not yet reached the age when they pick & choose their buddy?
Am I going to end up feeling sorry that I did nothing different from status quo all this while? Thinking I did not enjoy life at all? As I take each day as it comes, I am happy. But from a wholistic point of view, I am not sure the resume of my life will be full of variety.

Ethnic Journey of India

Our Global visitors were taken through an ethnic journey of India.

They tasted flavour concepts that supported Indian ethnic ideas. We used terracotta pots/ vessels and beetel leaf plates for replicating the experience. We had posters depicting street food pictures - beverages, baked stuff, sweets, chaats etc.

This together with a sumptous Kabab buffet at Raddisson Kabab factory completed the experience.

We tasted lychee kheer at the Kabab Factory- a must try.

Another Dress Code Issue

My regional counterpart wanted to know the dress code for customer visits in India.
Both of us Marketing ladies were in a dilemma on what to reply or rather how to word it.
Her queries- Are skirts acceptable or are suits best?
We know that the issue of dress code is not so high with corporate clients. With globalization and travelling and the fact that India is so attractive as an investment we always have global bosses coming down to meet the Indian arm. So in a way our men folk are more than used to northward hemlines and plunging necklines. Yet every one likes a good dekkho one in a while and it didn't seem fair to subject her to the stray stares.
But we did not want to sound matronly and prim and behenji by telling her wear anything as long as it is not too short in length or too deep in the front.
We could not tell her to Indianize herself and wear a sari or a salwar suit like we try to westernise ourselves on our abroad trips by buying suits & trousers irrespective of our genetically typical Indian buttocks, so that we don't stand out and are considered one among them?
We needed to tell her about the hot sweaty summers so that she doen't bring her lovely suits and toast in them.
Ultimately we summed up our views in a few lines- it would be hot & dry, cotton would be the best material, we would be meeting corporate clients so dress code no issue, skirts are fine, knee length ok.
My question,
Was our line of thinking right?
What would you have suggested in such a situation?
Do you believe in westernising yourself for abroad visits or do you be what you are- some days Indian/ sari some days trousers? Do you feel a sense of inacceptance or lack of confidence in Indian clothes in a global setting?
Is it really an issue- wearing Indian clothes for abroad trips? All my memories of photographs had Indira Gandhi standing in the ubiquitous sari for all Global summits. Yes she stood out but she was the most visible in the crowd. I never felt anything odd about her in a sari and she was the most graceful among all similar dressed people.

It was all Gurgaon Actually

Just because I landed in Delhi does not mean that I have to visit Delhi.
It was all of Gurgaon barring one meeting where we just barely crossed the border.
A lot of shopping, setting back my credit card by a few thousands, gaining in terms of plenty of gifts for the kids and some for myself from the relatives, a Chinese dinner at Golden Dragon sauced up with on the spot humour and an amazing lunch at Punjabi by Nature comprised my short & sweet trip. Punjabi by Nature typically serves portions not as per a normal Indian appetite. It embodies the largesse of Punjabis- the portions are gigantic. I had a keema naan which actually turned out be more like a keema paratha – a little oily which I could not have fully because of the kabab platter and aampanna I had been freaking on.
They had interesting alcoholic gulabjamuns & ethnic alcoholoic drinks - golgappa/ chaat etc. Wonder how they tasted!
We also visited the Haldiram factory cum outlet in Gurgaon to sort of make the global visitors aware of all Indian cuisine under one roof.
The summer heat prompted me to pick up a lot of whites.
HT had proposed Punjabi by Nature as a must do today. Talk about coincidence.
Posting in the car way back home

Another Role to Play

Yesterday afternoon I made my first client visit stepping into the shoes of the outgoing Account Manager. I have been nursing hopes of doing Account Management for the last 9 years. This company has placed their trust on me to handle this major account from the development side. I am not expected to do the complete sales role but only interact with R&D for development projects. Actually a sort of extension of my current role in Marketing for this particular category.
Nevertheless, I will be the face of my company for the development arm, a role which a Sales person traditionally handles. So ultimately I get the best of both worlds- Marketing- the role that I love and where my skills lie, and Account Management- something that I have been dreaming off both as an experience and as a notch to add on my resume and also to test myself and my capabilities.
For I am aware that Sales is a dirty role.
For starters it comes with the baggage of sorting out a lot of logistic issues- you cannot just meet clients and send reports- all the dirty job of tax forms, forecasting, order processing, follow ups fall on you.
You have to show your teeth to the client inspite of the fact that you really want to grind your teeth on their face. You need to bear with courage and politeness even if the client is abusive and using filthy language for you or your organisation. You need to make a hundred calls and run after the client for minor feedbacks. You cannot blame them if they don't give a feedback but they & your team will definitely blame you for not collecting feedback. You have to arbitrate between the organisation you represent and the client who believes you are on their side. A friend once mentioned- serving 2 masters is the phrase.
In that regard I am lucky that only the glamorous part has fallen in my lap. By default & design. As I mentioned, I was the logical choice to take up this role because of my current capacity in which I am handling the same category in which this client is present.
My first visit in this capacity yesterday. I got a taste of what it is all about. The client took my class in terms of voicing out all the grievances and complaints they had against us. Some valid some not at all valid but I had to agree to all of them, this being my first visit.
On the positive side, I managed to probe and sort of elicit a brief from them for one of their large brands. Touch Wood.
Wish me luck. As I mentioned, I had been hoping for this role for a long time. My understanding of the product and the business was high in my previous company but I was never rewarded with a role in Sales, something everyone who knew me knew that I had been hoping for. I was never considered good enough for wearing an Account Manager's hat and they never never gave me the chance to test their theory.
With my comparatively low level of understanding of our product in this company, I am allowed to play the role which is crucial, this being a big account for us. I am truly thankful and grateful.

Work Politics

What would you do if you come to know from the client that your meeting has been postponed, I hope your Account Manager has informed you? First you try to brush it aside saying he must be busy, he will call me. Then the client makes it a point to tell you that I informed him 3 hours ago. You can't fool a client who worked in your company with the same Account Manager a few years back. So now, the internal politics are out in the open.
Time for ITW to stand up and raise her voice. She calls up the bosses and updates them. She is asked to take the account manager's pants off in a conference meeting with the Sales head and entire Marketing team.
He has done this before. He pushed me to get samples from abroad last year. He fudged dates- altered his previous mail in a new forwarded mail and thankfully I had the good sense to check the original and report to the boss. He never presented the cracker samples to the client and told me that he wanted to give it due importance. I will present it separately. I am still waiting for the presentation to happen.
He did it again. He never informed the client that a team from Head office is travelling for this meeting. He infact mentioned that ITW is coordinating for samples, not making the concept presentation. He wanted me to leave behind extra set of samples to show to another client. I refused to let him peddle it anywhere until I make the presentation fit for the new client.
Is it not urgent & important to inform me that the meeting is postponed, right away? More so because I am booking tickets and hotel too. He also asked me if I have grabbed portions from a Global presentation? WTF? Does he think I am like him? He infact presented a complete presentation from his previous company to our clients! Without bothering to remove the logo! Cheat, but cheat intelligently.
We had a session with him this morning to sort out issues. He said that he forgot to raise the project in the intranet for the creative to take charge, I could have called him to remind him. He asked me why I didn't update him on the status at various stages. I told him I forgot, but you could have reminded me, I am just a phone call away. Aren't we quits! This time I played the game by his rules. Never call him, never update him until he asks for it. He never fixed the meeting date until I called him and reminded him. And since his Global boss was coming, he decided to prove a point to him and rush me on my presentation and do it before he arrives, to look good in front of his boss.
I told my boss clearly, if he would have taken me into confidence and asked me to bail him out on this one, I would have gladly obliged. Instead he tried to push me to the corner, shifted the blame on me and never kept me in the know. Then I pay him back in his coin.
Afterall I am a Leo, I have to live up to a reputation. And I am taking lessons from my Scorpio sons to pay him tit for tat.

Must Have Chocolates

Experiential, Delicious Chocolates with a Surprise...
The course of my job takes me to a chocolate expedition. Rather brings the expedition to my desk.
Lindt Peperoncino- Chocolates with a mild pungency of pepper in the throat. Careful before you pop the entire square in. Gives a slow but sure burn.
Lily O Briens Desserts- Bite size Chocolate cupswith dessert experience. A must have and don't even think of sharing. Lemon Sorbet is the surprise, I have never seen anothr lemon that blends so well with chocolate.
Sainsbury's Whole Cherry Chocolate Liqueurs- Dark chocolate filled with cherries & brandy. A melt in the mouth experience leaving a burning sensation in the throat. 1 piece and no more for me. But for somone who is used to hard drinks is lured into my room to badger me for more.
Vosges Chocolate- Exotic ingredients, lovely pack and raises chocolate eating to an- awakeing all 5 senses experience
Gulliver Coffee Beans- Roasted coffee beans coated with chocolate. Available in India- Nuts n Spices, Fresh @ stores. They have done a fin job of bring down the bitterness of the beans
Richfield Kiwi chocolate bar- Pieces of kiwi hidden withing a slab of chocolate. I loved it. Much better than the Cadbury's Black Forest which is more of cherry and cookies embedded in chocolate.
Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate Mousse- A little too bitter for my taste but that did not stop me from eating.
I haven't opened the rest of the packs to comment! More will come when I taste them

Another Tag Done- The Game of 5

These tags are a good way to keep the blog alive when you are swamped with work.
An important presentation to do, agreed for Monday deadline to bail out the Sardarji Account Manager who conveniently forgot to fix up a date with the client in advance and we have to do a rush job. He tried hard to pin down the blame on me but unfortunately could not succeed in his gundagardi. And we managed to find out that he was trying to shunt me out of the meeting by portraying that I am "coordinating for samples" and not doing the whole damn presentation. He infact never told the client that I am travelling to Mumbai just for the presentation. He took Monday appointment from the client and has told me the meeting is on Friday itself. The idea is I travel on Friday, the meeting does not happen and he keeps the samples and the presntation and does it by himself on Monday. Smart! We pulled some strings here and things are smooth as of now.
and now for the tag...
From Bangalore Mom, Timepass, Art Navy & Cuckoo
The rules of the tag are- 'Link 5 different posts of yours. Tag 5 other people to do it. The 5 posts should be about Family, Friends, Yourself, your love and anything you like!!
Family- Parents/ Grandparents
Friends-or lack of many of them- difficult to locate a good post on friends, so I better do it soon Yourself- Working Mom
Your Love- engagement story
Anything Else-Factual Fiction
I am not tagging anyone because probably everyone I know have already done it. So any one who hasn't done it yet please take it up and link me to it as the tagger!

Safety

The Security at my workplace was instructed to give me a sticker for my car- one reminding me to wear my seat belt and the other not to use mobile while driving.
Thank you site manager for reminding me to be safe for my sake and for the sake of my family.
For reminding me that a machine at my disposal is to be used responsibly and carefully. For reminding me that safety is not a joke. I, an educated, responsible, adult should have known better.
How do I expect to set a good example to my kids when I am not doing the right thing? So ultimately it boils down to practice what you preach.
So, for every troll that attempts to push me towards the side and overtake me, I say better safe than sorry, no panga with idiots who have nothing to lose. I chew my pride and allow them to pass.
A colleague recalled an incident where driving through a snowed road, the car skidded and the back seat passanger who was without the seat belt got ejected out of the back windshield.

Many years ago, a bus hit our stationery vehicle from behind and the car dashed against a truck loaded with bamboo poles a few metres ahead.

Seat belt facts

1. If unrestrained in a crash at 30mph, you will be thrown forward with a force up to 60 times your own body weight
2. Adjust the seat properly. Place the lap belt as low as possible over the hips – not over the abdomen. Ensure the shoulder belt lies on the chest and over the shoulder. Do not leave any slack in the belt
3. Do not interfere with the correct function of the seatbelt by fitting any comfort devices that are not recommended by your vehicle manufacturer
4. Use seatbelts even when travelling at low speeds or going on a short trip
5. Chances of being killed are almost 25 times greater if one is thrown from the vehicle
6. The forces in a collision can be great enough to throw one as far as 150 feet – about 15 car lengths
7. Seatbelts can keep one from:
   -Plunging through the windscreen
   -Being thrown out the door and hurled through the air
   -Scraping along the ground
   -Being crushed by own vehicle or oncoming vehicle
8. In almost any collision, one is better off being held inside the vehicle by seatbelts
9. Less than ½% of all injury-producing collisions involve fire or submersion. If fire or submersion does occur, wearing a seatbelt can save one's life.
10. If involved in a crash without seatbelt, one might be stunned or knocked unconscious by striking the interior of the car. Then the chances of getting out would be far less.
11. One's better off wearing the seatbelt at all times. With seatbelts, one's more likely to be unhurt, alert and capable of escaping quickly.
12. While wearing the seat belt, when reaching for things that will take one away from the steering wheel, it’s safer to pull off the road at an appropriate location
13. Holding the driver firmly, the seatbelt gives him the chance to keep control of his vehicle and prevents him from getting ejected off the vehicle
14. In incidents involving heavy goods vehicles, the major cause of injury is contact with the interior of the cab. Wearing a seatbelt significantly reduces this risk
15. Edited to add a tip from Suki- in case your car is upside down after an accident, the seat belt should be opened by pressing the button and pulling on the belt at the same time. Just the release button might not work in those circumstances.