Hiya!!! Yep i know, long time again! But as usual many fun updates, loads of snaps and many new places visited. Oxford summer, Arriving in India, Dad’s 60th Birthday — good times (missed ma and sis) with pretty much rest of the extended family (buas, uncles, aunts, cousins) in attendance!

Though I am gonna start with the very latest…because not only is it fresh in my mind, but as the title says it was truly mesmerizing. As you would know (ya rite!), I am in mumbai,India for summer. For my third weekend here (july 17-20th), I went for a weekend getaway to Ranikhet — a mesmerizing scenic beauty set in the charming background of the western peaks of the snow clad Himalayas — in the Almora district in the Indian state of Uttarakhand (previously uttaranchal)!
Check out the wiki for info on the place: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ranikhet
It was one of the best weekend getaways ever (topped the mendocino trip in california or dorset in uk i recently updated u guys on!). There were 3 others : Dhruv (rockstar - thanks for making this trip happen, Nat, AP) — mah buddies from ox!

How we got there: mumbai - delhi flite, overnight train from delhi to Kathgodam (nearest railhead - 80 km from ranikhet) and then a private taxi through the beautiful hills to Majhkhali — peaceful spot 13 km from ranikhet with views of majestic Sonya peaks in the Himalayan ranges. This is where our cottage was — one of the most tastefully done getaway cottages ever! More on the cottage later in the blog.

First up on our way to Majhkhali in the taxi, we made a stop over at ‘himalayan fishermen lodge’ - a spectacular and luxurious lodge overlooking a beautiful lake — in bhimtaal (22 Kms. from Nainital and on the route from Kathgodam to Majhkhali). You have to see it to believe it! And whenever you do visit (coz by the time i m done with this blog, u will be lookin up deals to this place) - you MUST put up at this lodge. See the pictures below if you dont believe it — and the real deal is 10 times better! An eco-friendly lodge with rich facilities, delightful staff and panaramic views — the lodge is serenity personified and the experience I can vouch be truly world class!

Then we got to our ultimate destination — the cottage in Majhkhali. A huge huge shout out to Mr. Bakshi (Dhruv’s uncle) for letting us camp at his cottage. It is undoubtedly one of the most tastefully done interior’s I have seen for a holiday home. (He is also the owner of the lodge mentioned above - so you can imagine how much greatercare would taken for a guest lodge!). Rustic pastel colours and immaculately chosen decorative adornments with a equally inviting homely traditional indian furniture immediately lulled us into vacation mode the moment we entered the cottage. We were pampered to bits by Narainji, an old timer and caretaker of the cottage. What did we do for 3 days: Start the days to 2-3 cups of tea and hot parathas in the covered patio (right most section of house looking out to the himalayas– see pics)

with the clouds literally amidst us, a pseudo yoga session by the girlshot scrumptious indian meal for lunch, afternoon snooze, walk out in the mountains or down the the village, back with evening tea and ‘nasta’pretty much immediately followed by the start of rum and wine session at around 7 pm. That would go on till 9 or 10 with eric clapton/buddha bar/nusral fateh ali khan (yup the cottage was complete with the most eclective classic music collection) playing in the background. This session was in the center living room which had french panes looking out to the himalayas (’the view’) - and they were the best part of the trips for me! Yup the rum was a factor but so was some delightful conversations with the kids (read dhruv, nat n ap), music and what i shall always refer to as ‘the view’! Dinner was in the left most section of the house, again looking out the the himalays the difference being this room not only had french panes but a glass ceiling. So hot dinner (think chicken curry, ‘madhve ki roti’- a local bread, dal, paneer etc) with rain drops on a glass ceiling! Needless to say the nights post dinner went long — usually back in the open patio or the living room.

IF the above sounds too good to be true — it WAS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE! I had never visited the northern part of india as much..and now I am sold on it! I am most definetely doing a trip tp Jammu (his native place) and Dharmsala (buddhist monastries) in this year for sure! Thanks a ton kids for making this trip happen, more so Dhruv (my main man!) and most of all his uncle. Truly appreciate your generous gesture.

Phew!! :-). So how and what am i doin in Mumbai in the first place. Well its getting a monkey off my back. Most of u know how much I have been talking about wanting to come back to india after the 8 years away. Well if Oxford was step one leaving the US, this internship is step 2 in giving Indian and honest open shot. I shall work here for 8 weeks and see for myself which side of my well wishers opinion am I on — i.e. I will love it or be frustrated and not want to work here). Mumbai though so far has not dissappointed me. Yeah the weather could have been better and I could have done with some space — but besides that no complaint. I am put up on Marine drive, working at VT (working with the PE arm of Times of India group) — so really cant complaint. My main purpose being networking I have already had a chance to attend a super exclusive event (corporate Dossiers Super Achievers Forum at Rooftop, Hillton) — where in I got to have dinner with the likes of CEO Deloitte Internations, CEO Deloitte India, MD Pfizer, CEO Tata Power, CEO Mahindra Life Space, MD Merill Lynch etc! At the same time also trying to meet peers who have made it back to learn from their experiences.

Shall update you soon with my learnings on that profesisonal front. I think its not rocket science and is about managing expectations. But watch this space for my views on that in a couple of weeks.

What else had happened since the last update(dubai) and before Ranikhet? Here is a dump
Trip to the USA (new-york, san francisco, austin), MootCorp business plan competion, SBS Fund finalist and the pitch at the finals, Trip to Paris, MBATS, Trinity term final exams, india forum at oxford (got to hear the likes of sunil bharti mittal, indian minister kamal nathi, ficci chair mishra, advisor to pm dr. sanjay baru, india express editor shekhar gupta. I was lucky being part of oxford entrepreneurs I got to do lunch with these dignitories too), cancelled flight to India leading to all nite end of term partyyyyyyyyy and finally arriving to India!

Yeah I know the year at oxford has just whizzed by. I complete the internship end of august, head back to oxford and am done within a month. where will I be come end of September — — Its that time in life again. I dunno! Your guess as good as mine — mumbai? Dubai? London? back to the US? or somewhere else? Time ll tell…

peace out
jitin