Social Media

Traditional Vs Social Media – A new beginning

1. Social is more important than Media (Medium)
2. Social Media is about building relationships and trust is one of the most important factors
3. Traditional Marketing was a monologue and Social Media is a dialogue
4. Social Media shifts the control/power from the Brand to the consumers
5. Social Media demands openness and lack of control – do not be rigid
6. Learn to Listen!

Social Media Marketing & Strategy – Going deep

1. Social Media is an excellent way to create Brand Awareness and Brand Loyalty and like branding, it has to come from within
2. Social Media is a part of your Marketing & Overall company strategy
3. All Marketing Strategies come down to the basics – Segmentation, Targeting & Positioning
4. Social Media doesn’t happen in silos – there are a lot of stakeholders involved and you have to consider them
5. Social Media is constantly evolving – Keep learnings – but always remember your basics
6. There are 100s of channels available – know yourself (your company) and choose wisely

Measurement – Keeping it real

1. Likes & Followers do not determine your success in Social Media
2. Social Media is a for building relationships – so ROI is not always measurable in short term
3. Netnography (derived from Internet & Ethnography) is an effective way of understanding your consumers online (qualitative measurement)
4. Measurement is possible – but it is still in the developing stage

Remember the Golden Rules – In the end

1. What happens in Vegas – Stays on the Internet and gets amplified on social media channels
2. Think before you speak and Google before you post!
3. Starting Social Media by setting up accounts in Channels is free – the tough part comes in getting the content and maintaining the accounts
4. No one is perfect and chances are – you will make mistakes too – in such case, be prompt and humble – accept your mistake and move ahead

And a bonus ‘gem’ I got from my guest lecture (Sean Moffitt – @SeanMoffitt) in Social Media Marketing class today:

• In the Social Media world – Customer is King and Content is Queen

So to give a glimpse of our struggle to everyone in our class (and outside world) – we did create a video which was supposed to be a trailer for our presentation. The 30 seconds trailer probably took more time than presentation and we got more comments on our voices (rather why didn’t go we for someone else’s voice) instead of the content of the video. Here’s the video (it will only take your 30 seconds and it will also increase our YouTube hits – which is struggling to reach a 3 digit figure):

Anyways, so after struggling for a few sleepless nights and decreasing my my average sleeping time to 3 hours per day (thanks to MBA), we did find something and came to a common ground in terms of our content. Since we were so confused in the beginning – we decided to go with questions and answers format i.e. understand the thole topic with a series of basic questions and answers like what is an SNS, what is a microblog, what are they used for, what are their strategic uses, how are they used by people & companies and what are the examples to substantiate that. The content came down to basics and we both were satisfied with that.

Now the last problem was the presentation (something I thought my MBA would really help me elevate in two years)! Kashif and I struggled a lot with the final presentation as we wanted to make it really awesome and my fellow classmates had already set a really high standard for that. After struggling for nearly the whole day – the penultimate day, we were not able to come to common grounds and the only idea we thought would work was really difficult and time consuming to implement. I always thought MBA would help me to decrease the gap between ‘what is there in my mind’ and ‘what comes out as an expression’. Well MBA has definitely amplified both the visualization and expression and helped me find a structure for them – but they still have a huge gap! At around 2 AM at night, we realized that it won’t be possible to go with our idea due to lack of time, energy and resources and we went with the best of what we had – probably that’s what Strategy is – to make choices based on what you have and what is out there and make the most out of it!

So we did go for the presentation and it was – to be honest……..well it is better to leave somethings for imagination. We did tweak our topic to make it better fit our content and in the end, it became ‘SNS and Microblogs: Beyond Facebook and Twitter’. For whose who are curious – this is our presentation deck on ‘slideshare’:

As they say, journey is more important than destination, we did learn a lot of things from this whole experience. If I have to give my two cents on the topic – I’d say:

1. A lot of companies and people join Social Media because everyone is doing it or because they realize it is important without understanding why and how it would work for them. They just create a Facebook and Twitter account as that’s the thing to do and measure the followers to measure the success. This reminds me of the the late 90s and early 2000 when there was a ‘dot-com’ boom and everyone wanted to have their own website. Social Media doesn’t work that way. You need to be clear with your why and how and ‘strategically’ choose the channels which would work best for you. Getting into Social Media is quite easy – maintaining it and doing it the right way to be effective in it is the most difficult part!
2. A social media strategy for any company cannot be different from their Marketing and Branding strategy or in fact the Company’s overall corporate strategy. It is almost always in sync and it helps to amplify them. Hence instead of taking an outside-in approach – companies need to take an inside-out approach.  This theory works for people too.

Social Media fascinates me and I am pretty sure it would change a lot of things in the world – but then as my branding professor, Ashley Konson once said – your means change but the underlying principals remain same – we need to keep our basics clear

Nb: Special thanks to Kashif for bearing me for so many days during this project. Apart from all these things above, he definitely got an experience in Teamwork!

Those were the best of times, those were the worst of times - Charles Dickens

I wanted to write an article from past couple of weeks but every time I wrote something and read it again, it felt like crap. I went through different topics like MBA, Love, Marriage & New Year but couldn’t come up with anything good…..so in the end, I just went through my infinite pictures I took in this year and then in hit me! As I am struggling with words and a pictures speak thousand words, it’s better I let my pictures do the talking. 2011 was one hell of a year and I am not sure if I found more than I lost, but I definitely had the time of my life. Obviously MBA, friends, travel, marriage, learnings, exploring and food were the major part of the year and that would be evident from the pictures  

A new beginning!

The year started with my MBA from Schulich School of Business at S P Jain, Mumbai. We went for a team building trip to ‘Alibaug’ and since then, we never looked back. I made some friends for life during my MBA. If I have to compare the lessons learned from faculty and lessons learned from class mates, I think the later would outweigh the former. I’ll always be grateful to have them in my life! 

Life is a Rollercoaster!

My cousin got married in the end of January and I made one of the most ‘hectic’ trip of my life in between my classes. I applied ‘Getting stuff done’, a concept coined by my classmates, during this trip and made one roller coaster trip possible. I met all my cousins and was still able pass my exam the very next day.  In the very next week, I also lost one of the most loved person of my life. I some how got reminded that we are not determined by what is thrown at us, but what we make of what is thrown at us. 

Life in a Metro!

I was really lucky to have the first phase of my MBA in Mumbai as I was able to spend time with a lot of my childhood friends who were also in Mumbai and most of my friends passed through Mumbai in some or the other way. I met most of my German friends here and also some of my college friends. I also discovered Mumbai in my own way through motorbike, local, auto rickshaw, taxi and sometimes even barefoot! Honestly speaking, it took me a long time to like Mumbai, but then as my friends say, this city takes time to sink in!

A run for hope!

While running constantly during my MBA, we also managed to take part in various extra curricular activities like helping in organizing ‘Terry Fox Run’ for spreading awareness cancer patients. These breaks, sports and social outings brought us closer to each other as a group and MBA somehow seems more enjoyable.

My best friend’s wedding!

Anirudh’s wedding was both a moment of happiness and a moment of shock. It was a reality check for me to realize that now my turn is not far away. Being a  huge fan of romantic comedies, I always wanted to go for a love marriage, but then, the most important aspect of a love marriage is two people in love. I wish I could do that before the end of 2012 as I know that I won’t be able to run for long and even though the world won’t end in 2012, my world probably will.

Adios Mumbai

Mumbai chapter ended in a mixed note. I had a great time in Mumbai and yes, I did fall in love with this city (a small affair actually). I’ll miss the bike rides, the pubs, restaurants, street food, spending time with friends, catching up with old friend, having a crush after a long time and living life to the fullest!

My sister’s wedding!

So 2011 was a year of marriages and this one was the closest. Every brother has a dream to gift his sister a dream wedding and I know that I didn’t have a big role in this one, but then it was still a dream wedding (well to a great extent).

The trip of my lifetime!

Nagpur – Mumbai – Kuala Lumpur – Phuket – London – Frankfurt – Heidelberg – Munich – Zurich – Berlin – Amsterdam – Brussels – Paris – Glasgow – Toronto! Around 30 days, 11 countries, 15 cities, backpacking, photography, meeting old friends, making some new ones and exploring places, people, history and cultures. I somehow felt like I was a part of the book ‘Around the world in 80 days’. It was truly the trip of my lifetime! 

Exploring Toronto!

As someone rightly said, ‘there’s no foreign land, only foreign people’. I tried to explore Toronto as a local and I was astonished by the multi-cultural diversity of this place. Every week there’s something new going on and you feel lost in the sea of colours and cultures. I cannot imagine any other place on earth which is so excited about a Ukrainian festival and then a Polish festival and then the Czech and Slovakian festival and also the Indian and Chinese festivals. This city represents the spirit of the united world!

Schulympics ’11

Since I started watching hollywood movies, I always wanted to enjoy the college life the way they show in the movies. After spending sometime in LA, I did realized that there’s a difference between reel life and real life, but Schulympics did blur that difference for me to a great extent. I will always remember those 2 days with my college friends at the cottages besides the beautiful lake.

My Alma Mater

My friends are my Alma Matter! I don’t remember a lot of what I learned in school, but I’ve definitely learned most of my values from my friends. I was lucky to have a small reunion here  in Toronto with William, Kashif and Karan (from left to right in the picture). I kind of relived my School days!

The year ends!

This year was like an escape for me from my status quo to understand more about the world and through that, myself. It definitely served its purpose well. I am thankful for yet another amazing year of my life filled with lots of moments to remember

My 50th Birthday - Looking back!

“When I was 5 years old, my mother always told me that happiness was the key to life. When I went to school, they asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. I wrote down ‘happy’. They told me I didn’t understand the assignment, and I told them they didn’t understand ‘life’!”

– John Lennon 

Most of the stories start with ‘long time ago’. This one is a bit different, it belongs to the future. A future, which no one has seen, but I have lived in it long enough to make sense of it. This is the story of my life from the time when I would be celebrating my 50th Birthday. What would my life be when I look back? I’ve always chased future because I wanted it be specific (the way I dreamt), but contrary to all my efforts, it has always been different (much different). Even though it is difficult, one has to admit that the whole concept is really tempting. To imagine your life from someone else’s perspective; that someone else who is you, but a much wiser version of you!

People around me

If you ask me what is my most prized procession, even without the blink of an eye, I would answer ‘my friends’! I can’t imagine my 50th Birthday without my friends by my side. The more I have travelled, the more I have realized that the color, culture and languages which separate us are much smaller as compared to that human compassion which brings us together. There are 7 billion people and I still find the happiness in connecting with another soul surpasses most of the riches, power and fame in the world. As Isaac Newton once said, if I have seen any further in life, it is by standing on the shoulders of the Giants. Similarly, I learnt most of the important lessons of life outside class from my friends. The celebrations would be futile without them.

When I look back at myself

If I look back from there, would I be the CEO of a multinational firm or that Technology Geek who changed the world? After contemplating with that thought for around a week, I realized, probably I would be none! I don’t want all the power or money of the world at least not at the cost of my free spirit.

When I look back, I can see myself as a teacher (a professor), a traveler, a writer, a technology geek or someone who is a combination of all of them. It is definitely tempting to imagine a multi-focused individual who is a part time professor who travels around the globe to teach and to learn and then, writes about his experiences and journeys. That would definitely be my dream job. I could go for a Non Profit or Education sector, as I would like to help people in some way. Even tourism and hospitality sector could work well as I really have interest in these sectors. The only problem is that when I look back 5 years, I wanted to conquer the technology world and around 5 years before that I wanted to be an Astronaut. I wonder if I would laugh at my naive plans when I would look back at 50.

If I could combine all the things I wanted to be in life and try to draw an analogy, it was always somewhere in the lines of an explorer (Astronaut, Technology Researcher or Traveler). From exploring the depth of the oceans to the height of the mountains, I want to see it all, challenge myself through those journey, find my limits and appreciate the beauty of the world I live in. When I started exploring the world around me, I realized, that the depths covered by human heart and the heights reached by human mind are beyond measures when compared to oceans and mountains. So probably I would be an explorer in my life, either the one who explores human nature or the nature created by God himself.

That someone special

As for the love of my life, I have chased her since the time I discovered the concept called ‘love’ and dwelled into the beauty of it. Probably that is the reason it has been so difficult for me to actually fall in love with someone in real life. I have always compared my life to a fantasy and I have mentally dated all those intriguing characters created by the best writers in the world, be it ‘Holly Golightly’ from ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s', ‘Sara Thomas’ from ‘Serendipity’, ‘Lucy Whitmore’ from ’50 First Dates’ or the countless characters played by Meg Ryan in those Romantic comedies which make you feel that life is worthless without love.

I have lived so much in the  ’reel’ life that falling in love in the ‘real’ life would be like finding Neverland; yet like a hopeless dreamer, I still believe in love. That is one of the reasons I travel all around the world; to discover myself in the mysteries of the world and eventually, find love! I am not sure if it is funny or sad that when I imagine myself at 50, love is the only thing I am not sure about. I am not sure if I will eventually find the love of my life and spend the rest of my life happily with her or if I would give up that idea and accept the reality proposed by the world and adjust my life accordingly. When I imagine myself at that party, I still do not have a face for the person besides me.

When I look back at life

I know we cannot connect the dots moving forward, and I’m sure that at my party at 50, looking back, I would probably laugh at my attempt to predict my life. I hope I would be wise enough to remember the fact that it’s the journey, which holds importance more than the destination. I would prefer to live my life for a million small things than to spend all my energy for achieving something big and realizing in the end that all those small things were actually the ones, which gave meaning to life.

To epitomize, I don’t know what I would be and what I want to be in life as it changes too often. The truth is, I am enjoying my ambiguity as of now, and I know that whatever I do, I would do it with all my heart. When I look back at 50, I want to be happy that I lived my life to the fullest!

My 50th Birthday - Looking Back

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. – Lao Tzu

One of my major reasons to join MBA was to find out what I want from life. I know it’s one of the most fundamental questions we have to answer, but I was some how expecting that the knowledge I gain during MBA will help me to understand myself and the world and hopefully help me find the answer of the big question, ‘what I want from life?’

I’ve always believed that after we get into something important in life, it is very difficult to keep the big picture in front of us while dealing with it, probably that is why all the good players need a coach to constantly remind them of the goal. After getting into the MBA, with each passing subjects, I realized that it was becoming much more difficult for me to find out where I want to go. The rat race for getting good marks and securing a good job camouflaged the learning experience. After coming to Toronto, I went to Career Development Center (CDC) and found they also have a life coach, a person who guides you in finding what you want to do with our life.

 I have always believed that most of the times, the answer lies within us and that is why I have always wondered, why do people go to gurus, saints and sages to get the answers of their life. Now I can understand their problem, the joy of not knowing what you want from life and living each day as it passes is surpassed by the the restlessness of finding what is important in life and frustration of watching everyone pass by us and wondering if we are on the right path. I set an appointment with Lisa, our life coach from CDC and her clarity of thought made me realize why it was important to meet her at this stage of my life. I have also believed that the best coaches don’t give you the answers; they somehow help us realize that the answers are there within us. She asked me one of the most important question of my life, i.e. ‘Where do you see yourself on your 85^th Birthday? Who are there with you and when you look back at your life, what were your greatest accomplishments?’ This one question (ok it had sub questions) from her made things so simple and clear (even interesting) that I spent next couple of weeks just living that moment and trying to look back at my life from that 50 years old guy (85 years is too old for a person like me who lives for the moment). So here my attempt in the form of the article below:

My 50th Birthday Party! 

I’ve always believed that the best coaches don’t give you the answers; they somehow help us realize that the answers are there within us. I am thankful to Lisa for helping me to remember that!

My Alma Mater

“I believe in angels, the kind that heaven sends. I’m surrounded by angels, and I call them my friends” -  Pamela Daranjo

I completed my schooling from ‘St. Francis De Sales’ (SFS), a 140 years old school in Nagpur, Central India. It is not the best school in Central India, in fact not even close, but it definitely had something which made us proud of being a part of it. Probably it was that more than 100 years legacy, our alumni who earned glory in different fields in the world or may be just that feeling of being a part of a chohart. For me, the best part about my school life were my friends. They say that there’s a special bonding between SFS students and that no matter what they do……… after getting into the real world, most of them find their way!

With Samir & Sameer in Huston

I still remember the April of 2009. I was having one of the worst day of my life when I was travelling from Los Angeles to Houston (Texas) and I missed my flight to India. There were Thunderstorms for the whole day in Houston and my initial flight got delayed by around 10 hours (one of the most brutal 10 hours I could remember). So I lost my flight, I lost my hope and was at Huston Airport at the middle of the night with no place to go. I suddenly remembered that I have my school friend in Huston i.e. Samir. I called him in the middle of the night and to my luck, he came to the airport to pick me and my luck took a 180 degree turn from there on (probably God wanted to compensate for the bad day). We had another friend Sameer from School who was living in Huston (what are the odds) and he joined us and we three had a great day exploring the city, trying Indian Food, shopping and yes, remembering those school days over a cup of awesome tea made by Samir.

With Karan in Miami

Next, it was probably June of 2009 and I was really having a bad time due to some past events. Karan, another School friend called me to Venice, Florida for spending a weekend there. With that kind of mindset, I really needed a change. I joined him and a couple of his friends for a road trip to Miami. The place was just awesome and helped us capture some moments we still talk about. Florida is one of the best place to chill out and have a break. Then we came back to Venice and Karan gave me one of the best gifts of my life (and I still boast about that) when he helped me fly an Air Plane. I couldn’t thank him enough for that dream come true moment!

With Saunak & Arun in Singapore

Then it was February of 2010 and I was back in India after spending a year in US. I was just like most of the people who come back from US and find it really difficult to adjust with their life in India (the place where they lived for most of their life without any problem). I decided to take a break and planned yet another economic trip to meet my school friends. This time, it was Malaysia & Singapore and I was going to meet Saunak & Arun. Saunak tried every bit to make my trip memorable, I still remember going to that beautiful place called Chimes. Then it was a sheer pleasure to meet Arun who is so full of life, he can really uplift anyone’s spirit by just being there!

With Danny & Devendra at Sydney

Next, it was August of 2010 and one of my friend needed me and honestly speaking, even I needed a break. This time, it was Australia calling. I went to Perth to meet Danny and then we both went to Sydney to meet Devendra. I still remember how much pain Devendra went through just accommodate us in his small apartment. Also that all day Driving from Sydney to Wllongong and back. I know it was not easy for him but he never made us realize that. Grand Pacific Drive was breath taking and so was Sydney and Perth. I still remember how Danny paid for my tickets for Sydney as he knew that I didn’t have any money. I had a great time in Australia and I cannot imagine even half of that fun and enjoyment without Danny and Devendra.

With Kashif, Karan & William at Niagara Falls!

Then came Toronto where I’m doing my MBA along with Kashif. William (another school mate) is living here for some time now. Fortunately, Karan came to Toronto for month to upgrade his flying certificate and we were 4 of us here at the same place. So again we 4 SFS mates go out and explore Toronto and nearby places and talk about our life back in School. Again, I cannot imagine the whole enjoyment without William who drives around cities just to meet us and then takes us out to different places so that we have a great time here. It is funny because I’ve never been very close to most of them during school days but the time and effort these guys give just for me to have good time is beyond appreciation.

Honestly speaking, I don’t have a lot of memories from school days and I’m not a huge fan when it comes to my school (in fact we make fun of our school for so many things, specially our poor english), but I have to admit that I met few of the best people there. My friends are my Alma Matter! I don’t remember a lot of what I learned in school, but I’ve definitely learned most of my values from my friends. So this article is dedicated goes to Samir, Sameer, Karan, Saunak, Arun, Danny, Devendra, Kashif and William and all my SFS friends. I am really proud to be associated with my school friends and I’ll always cherish my moments with them! They say that there’s a special bonding between SFS students and I totally agree to that!

Nb: When it comes to friends, I’m really lucky (I can argue with anyone on this) and it’s not just my school friends I am proud of. I’ve got amazing friends all over the world from various journeys of my life! My friends are my Alma Matter!

The Starbucks Experience!

“We’re in the people business serving coffee,
not the coffee business serving people.” 
- Howard Schultz

I always used to wonder why people go to a café to have a coffee in $1 – $5 (sometimes even more) when they can make the same coffee at home in less than 20 cents. You don’t even require any special culinary skills (unless you want to make some really unique coffee from a particular part of the world). I remember having a talk with one of my friends during my Engineering (those late night talks when every senseless topic had a meaning to it) when he tried to explain me how amazing the café business model was. His argument was that don’t sell coffee…they sell something totally different! A price conscious middle class student like me was probably not ready to understand that.

 After nearly 5 years, when I’m doing my MBA  and my Brand Management professor is explaining the concepts of Branding, all of a sudden, my friend’s gibberish words make a lot of sense.

While working on my Brand Management assignment, I realized that a lot goes into that 20 cents cup. While enjoying coffee at Starbucks (you can imagine your favorite café here), I looked closer and found that the walls around me were telling me a beautiful story of the origins of coffee. That special aroma gave me a hint about that remote part of the world where it was made and the ambiance made me feel that this place was made just for me to relax and forget about the rest of the world.

I understood why it costs so much. Somehow it was never about just coffee, it was all about the experience

Oh Canada!

 “Not all those who wander are lost.”  - J R R Tolkien

I still remember the first time I fell in love with Canada. It was the winter of 2001 and I saw a ‘Bollywood Movie – Tum Bin’ almost alone in the theatre. I was in love, both with the movie and with Canada. Such simplicity and beauty portrayed in the most honest possible way! Since then, I always wanted to visit Canada. I got my first chance to visit this place during my stay in US around a couple of years ago when I came to the Canada’s side of Niagara Falls and saw one of the most spectacular sites of my life! Canada was simply breath taking .

Fall in Canada

For those who don’t know me (or those who are not in touch from a long time), I’m an MBA student from Schulich School of Business, Toronto, Canada. I left my job last year for pursuing my MBA and started with this special course in Schulich where I have to complete my first 6 months in Mumbai at a satellite campus (S P Jain) and then complete the next two terms (10 months) in Toronto, Canada. Last year, a lot of my friends had their doubts and asked me, why Canada and why Schulich? They had a lot of reasons against the place as nothing much happens here and it’s quite cold for most of the year. And now when the US & European Economy is going through one of the most difficult times, Canada is quite stable and Schulich is raising in world rankings (Schulich entered the list of world’s Best B Schools as per most of the rankings), they tend to feel that it was a good decision. Honestly speaking, I chose Canada as I always wanted to explore this place and I chose Schulich as it made a lot of sense a year ago (and I’m still proud of my decision).

York University, Toronto, Canada

 So here I am, in Canada for at least 8 months doing my MBA and also exploring the place. I love traveling, capturing moments, trying out  vegetarian food from all over the world, learning new things and meeting new people. Being a proper multi-cultural place, Canada fulfills all my needs. People are amazingly polite and welcoming, the whole place is filled with beautiful colours and there’s so much diversity that I am really excited being a part of it. So next few months are going to be great and I will try to share as much as possible. I have already started my memorable journey here and I’m sure you would love being a part of it .

The backpacking trip of my life!

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” – Mark Jenkins

They say dreams are not those which you see while sleeping, they are the ones which don’t let you sleep! I am a 27 year old ordinary guy who doesn’t know how to swim, drive a car and I’m terrible at making conversations. On top of it, I am a vegetarian, acrophobic and even hydrophobic but besides all those qualities, I love traveling and I am a dreamer. After watching tons of movies and TV Series, I was fascinated by this world and the people who live in it, and I wanted to experience it all on my own. Since then, I’ve tried my best not to let my limitations limit me. So I follow my heart, unconditionally…..and like a faithful friend, it has never deceived me. It has always helped me make memorable journeys.

Every journey has a story. My back-packing trip also has a long but fascinating story attached to it. It all started in October ’10 where I was thinking about joining Schulich (Toronto, Canada) for MBA and during my research online, found a deal from AirAsia for London. They were giving tickets for London at a throw away price of INR 7000 (i.e. around USD 140). The tickets were for 2011 and my mind started strategizing. I somehow calculated the possibility of getting into Schulich and then the possibility of going there in July. With the approximate joining dates of around 1^st August, I booked the tickets for 17^th July ’11 from Kuala Lumpur to London. This was obviously a long shot, but then a man could be defined by the summation of all the experiences he has had. I knew by going with this crazy idea, I’ll definitely have few of the best experiences of my life (even if it didn’t work out well). Every great plan needs initiation and buying this ticket was mine .

To my luck, things worked out nearly the same way I planned them. I got into Schulich and our joining date in Canada was 1^st week of August. I went through the forums, seniors and my batch mates and most of them had the one way ticket estimates of 35,000 – 40,000 INR (approx. $800) to reach Toronto. I took that as my benchmark and started working on a trip which will last from around 3 weeks and take around 40000 INR but would be the longest possible route to Canada . I knew this was somewhat stupid, but the most of the best things in life came out from unpractical ideas and people’s belief in them…..I believed in this one!

What started as a fun challenge around 8 months ago became a full-fledged idea in a couple of months. I started researching everywhere, from websites to blogs, forums, my friends who used to travel a lot and a lot of other sources. Even in class while doing research online on subjects, at least one tab of my internet browser used to be researching on the travel. That was one thing which was constantly on at the back of my mind. This was my dream project and I was trying to fight every possible problem to make it possible. The most prominent challenges being:

1. Booking a cheap ticket from Europe to Canada (as tickets from Europe to Canada were at sky rocket price (even costlier than the tickets from India to Canada with a stop at Europe).
2. Managing my luggage during this time. As I was going to Canada for a year, I had to take luggage for 1 year and then carry it with me for 1 month.

For the Europe to Canada tickets, I found the AirTrans Airlines from a backpacker’s forum. Although this airline was much cheaper than the rest of them, it was still quite costly for me. I traced the site for around a couple of months for an offer and finally I had to settle down on 300 GBP (around INR 21,000) ticket. This and addition of some other destinations elevated my budget from the initial INR 40,000 to INR 60,000 but then the plan was changed a lot from my initial planning. Now I wanted to climb a mountain in Malaysia (Mt Kinabulu), travel all by Plane, Train and Car and meet nearly all my European Friends during my trip!

It definitely didn’t come that easy. The preparation for climbing that mountain in Malaysia required me to build up a lot of stamina. I started working out day and night to lose some fat and increase muscles (protein). After nearly a month of workout and loosing around 5-6 KGs, I met with a small accident and had to be operated on my leg. Although this was a temporary setback, my doctor suggested not climbing the mountain as my leg wouldn’t heal completely till that time. I would have still gone for the climb but then I had my Europe Trip planned just after that which I really didn’t want to jeopardize. Apart from that, getting VISA for all the countries was a real pain for me specially when I was sent back by the German Embassy at least twice just because of some small mistake (I’m just happy they didn’t reject the VISA). Apart from all that, there were so many other problems like my sweet sister was getting married just before my trip and my MBA was going in full flow which used to take nearly all my time of the day. It was one of the best test of my multitasking abilities. Now with all the above problems, forming a proper structure for the trip which was constantly expanding with all the limited resources I had was posing as one of the biggest challenge.

I’ve always considered problems as a testing of one’s passion towards their goals. I’ve also believed on the Paulo Chealo’s ‘Universe conspiring with us’ theory. I worked on the problems and the universe did help me. For instance, forming a proper structure, I just had too many places to cover and too little resources in terms of time and money. Here I took help of my German friends as they were perfect for this work. They were Europeans, knew nearly everything about these places and were genuinely interested in helping me. It worked for me and my trip got the best possible structure I could have imagined.

The Places I would cover!

So after 8 months driven by a passionate goal, it seemed quite possible in the end. I booked most of my tickets, got all my visas and also had a near to final itinerary with following main points:

• My Route: Nagpur – Mumbai – Kuala Lumpur – Phuket – London – Frankfurt – Munich – Zurich – Berlin – Amsterdam – Brussels – Paris – London – Glasgow – Toronto
• Dates: 12^th July ‘11 – 5^th August ‘11
• Tickets Cost: Approx. INR 32,000
• Overall cost of the trip: Approx. INR 60,000

I didn’t get into kniti-gritties of everything as I don’t like to plan everything (some things should be better left on chance). They say dreams are not those which you see while sleeping; they are the ones which don’t let you sleep! I was watching this dream constantly for 8 months now and it seemed to be possible now. I was going through nearly all the emotions I could imagine. I somehow imagined that following my heart would set me free……

Nb:

1. When it comes to giving credit, I think it’s one of the most difficult part as there are so many people who have helped or inspired me in one or the other way. I have to thank my class mates, friends, apartment mates and family for being there and supporting me. I have to specially thank Irfan for being there as a Doctor and also as a friend in all the times when I needed him during this journey. Also my German friends Leon, Jana, Katharina, Lucas, Wladimir, Nina & Maryam for making this trip a memorable one……specially Leon and Jana, I cannot imagine the trip without them . Thanks for being there and making it possible, you guys are my real treasure!!!
2. For those who are interested in keeping a track of my trip (or the future ones), this is the link: http://www.facebook.com/worldthroughmyeyes

I wasn’t able to write much on my blog in past 6 months. There were lots of reasons but the bigger ones were MBA and Facebook. The joy and convenience of microblogging kept me away from my articles (not sure if good or bad). So recently I was just going through all my posts on FB and selected some of them to recapitulate my life here:

The entries are from 5th April – 2nd July (Second Term of MBA)

April 5^th:

Had a great learning experience in first term, second term starts today…….

April 6^th:

‎’The Oxford Murders’, ‘Insomnia’, ‘Monsoon Wedding’, ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s', ’12 Angry Men’, ‘Snatch’, ‘The Fall’ and a few more in past 2 weeks……Can’t decide which one was better

April 10^th:

Saw the first play of my life at Prithvi Theatre yesterday night…….can’t agree more with my friends who said it’s amongst the best things you can do in Mumbai

April 14^th:

Today’s journey started with a Masala Toast Sandwitch at Jay (Bandra)
next stop was Ramanayak Udipi Shri Krishna Boarding (Matunga) – had a good meal
next stop at Phoenix Mall
next stop HajiAli and had not so good chikoo & Anjeer shakes
next stop some park and beaches between Worli & Mahim (nice sea breeze and sunset)
and last stop at Spice Lounge for tasty Pani Puri

April 21^st:

Spent past 3 days analyzing the marriage of two incompatible entities ‘Air India & Indian’ and after a pleasing presentation, leaving for Nagpur to attend one of my best friend’s wedding……I’m loving it

April 23^rd:

After Dr. Gregory House and Dexter Morgen, I got my third favorite Character as Alan Shore

April 27^th:

Attending an amazing ‘guest lecture’ by ‘Shivnath Thukral’ (best Business Journalist of India) on Information Management….too good!

May 1^st:

What a weekend it was……..amazing start at ‘Prithvi Cafe’, wrote something on my blog after a looong time, went for an early morning photo shoot at ‘Chor Bazaar’ and explored a lot of streets and street food and finally went to ‘Candies’ in Bandra. All and all explored new places, food and made some new friends!!!!

May 6^th:

One of those days when I wanted to speak volumes but cannot………..suffering from throat infection

May 10^th:

Fast 5……it was like Italian job (or Ocean’s 11) with more adrenaline rush, less charm and no intelligence

May 12^th:

I have started a new picture game, you have to guess the place where I took this picture. Answer (if no one responds) would be given soon! Can you guess where is this place?

Let me know if you need a hit

May 12^th:

Cooked delicious Pulao and Dal Fry with apartment mates. The logical mind gets into creative mode before exam

May 14^th:

Had an awesome day:

First the Operations final paper (for which I couldn’t motivate myself to study) during which, my mind was continuously playing the new song from Delhi-Belly i.e. ‘Bhag-Bhag’

then watched a chick flick on youtube and sent a review to the actress on Twitter (as she sent the link to watch it)

and to end it, had an amazing time with an old friend at ITC Maratha (beautiful place)

May 22^nd:

I hope my recent series of crappy days come to an end tomorrow. Well at least the world didn’t come to an end today (as speculated by some).

Tomorrow, a new day and a new beginning

May 23^rd:

Finally, my crappy week ended with a really good ‘one on one’ play at ‘The Comedy Store’ followed by a sumptuous dinner at Shiro

June 2^nd:

Mumbai rains; so near……yet so far

June 3^rd:

Saw ‘No Strings Attached’ yesterday.

Relationship status: Still has a huge crush over ‘Natalie Portman’

June 9^th:

Explored Mumbai at night with friends…….loved the sleepy version of Mumbai and the company. Played with my new camera (need to learn a lot) and had a great time! I’m going to miss this city

June 11^th:

Last couple of weeks left in Mumbai (and damn hectic ones indeed). Would love to have suggestions on places, street food, restaurants, night life, photography, hang out, etc from all my friends who love Mumbai!

Something like your top 3 things to do in Mumbai! I’m expecting the ideas to pour in like Mumbai rains

June 21^st:

12 courses over 6 months, 30 credits, around 36 presentations, 100 cases, 75% sleepless nights (please read it as studying), unlimited number of parties, Alibaug, Matheran, hotels, restaurants, food joints, street food, comedy shows, night life, lots of photography, catching up with old and new friends!!!

Done with Mumbai and MBA in India, now party for 3 days and then back home for a much bigger event

June 23^rd:

After sleeping at 4 AM, went on an early morning bike ride with Sumeet to explore Juhu & Bandra at 6 AM. Another (unexpected) shade of Mumbai………I think we found more people on road during our sleepy night drive at 2 AM .

June 26^th:

Shall I start my own facebook page (mainly covering travel, photography, picture quiz, blog, etc). Any suggestions????

Most of my friends would get a relief from the non relevant updates

June 26^th:

Back in Nagpur…….as always, there’s no place like home

July 2^nd:

Very few things in world could beat yesterday’s ‘Pastry Party’ with friends (German Chocolate Pastry, Belgian Chocolate Pastry, Chocolate Rum-ball & Sizzling Brownie with Vanilla Ice-cream topping)

Perhaps today’s long bike ride to ‘Sher-e-Punjab’ Dhaba outside city specially to have ‘Aloo ke Parathe’ & ‘Daal Tadka’

In interest of the people (to prevent extensive reading) a lot of quotes were removed as they only represented my mood and not what I wrote  :)