My Journey Over the Last 6 Days

 The title is misleading and I am honest when I say I’m lying about it. There’s a pre and post journey (life long, hopefully) associated with this post and is not limited to just the last 6 days.

Everyone in this world has the same amount of time with them. How one uses (abuse/misuse being some options) it is completely up to the person :) The greatest investment one can do is invest the time they have is by constantly learning. Returns on this investment vary on the disciplined effort put in.

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to attend several training programs and workshops. The feedback form is the only thing that has remained constant. Key metrics include structure, relevance, and fluency of the content presented. While most programs were/are great, a minute error here or there tends to get magnified (we are human and are programmed to spot the defects first). I realized there’s no time like NOW to correct/improve myself first before providing feedback to others.

The art of imagining stories and storytelling has been around for generations (remember the Gurukul system? remember how Ramayana and Mahabarata were passed on?). What separates good from great leaders is being able to narrate a story and captivate audiences across any medium. With so much data and content going around, it is no wonder that this is one of the most wanted and premium skills to possess.

Little known fact: Public speaking along with death would possibly rank among the 5 greatest fears.

I fell prey to the Facebook Marketing campaign of Content Vidhya and decided to formally take the plunge. To be honest, I had zero expectations. This usually translates to zero disappointments.

Uma Madhavi mentioned that all of this is available on Google (and free!) but what separated these sessions was the rigor and structure. For me, a live session works better than a recorded session. Timings suited me perfectly. (Loved the punctuality even more). Communication through emails and the WhatsApp group was great. Instructions were clear, crisp, and concise.

Content shared as part of the sessions (live and post) can be a lot better. More live examples will add teeth to the program. If this means no break day, then so be it. Participants will value it.

I would treat this as a great starting point knowing what, how, and where to look for a bunch of things that were discussed. This is a model that can be easily replicated to other courses (e.g. data visualization, digital marketing) to be able to find your niche and write about it.

Next steps — Improve my writing by implementing key concepts learned and applying them in an area outside of my current working environment. Explore and exploit all the tools discussed. And hopefully, monetize this in the weeks/months to come.

Thanks, Content Vidhya — Uma and team for rekindling my interest in Grammar!

Identifying Your Niche in a Post COVID Era

 “Never risk what you have and need for what we don’t have and don’t need.” ~ Warren Buffet

COVID has been one of the greatest levelers of our time, if not THE greatest. Apart from everyone being equally ignorant about this pandemic, the pandemic refuses to spare anyone — across race, religion, countries. If there was ever a silver lining, we can take solace in the fact that “IT” is not discriminatory.

Fear of dealing with the unknown is extremely difficult to overcome. Plans have been derailed and many of us are forced to reassess, recalibrate, reprioritize several things. We have come to realize the things that we often take for granted and are truly redefining “essentials v/s non-essentials, needs v/s wants”.

As we adjust to the new normal and new ways of working, some of us may also be using this time to introspect on a few things. This could be involuntary in case of being laid off, or voluntary as you re-skill for a post COVID era.

From my limited experience in various industries, these are some of the roles that could probably stand the test of time. I’ve always aspired to be a digital nomad and this list below is skewed towards filters that work for me — geographically independent roles, skills that can be acquired relatively easily (and mostly free of cost)!

• Content Writing — Good writing is always appreciated and welcome everywhere especially since there seems to be a shortage of quality content writers for every platform.
• Graphic Design — A good design is almost always proportional to the sale of a product or service. If you have a good aesthetic sense, this probably should be your first choice and a no brainer. Great designers command a premium in the market and have even greater flexibility with their schedules.

Content writing and Graphic design can open up a plethora of opportunities in the eLearning space. There seems to be an appetite that has developed across the world for learning solutions (schools, colleges — pre-university, graduation, post-graduation to name a few). No dearth of subjects or opportunities for sure.

• Business Continuity Planning — An easy domain to enter into with the right training and certifications. Businesses across sizes have been found wanting with contingency plans, not in place or ill-conceived plans. This could be because of a lackadaisical attitude with not enough emphasis laid on this all-important aspect of the organization.
• Business Operations — Although roles like a project assistant or a virtual assistant may not pay that much initially, there’s plenty on offer to get a steady income streaming in as a side hustle.
• Teach English as a Foreign Language — Take a TEFL or TESOL course if you are passionate about the English language and dream of living in SE Asia for a good part of the year.
• Cybersecurity — There’s no denying the fact about the scale and speed of everything in daily life going digital. While the jury is out on the rate of adoption across industries (Google v/s an oil rig in a remote part of the world), ignoring getting onto the digital bandwagon would be detrimental to one’s business and at one’s peril. Managing the security and privacy of humongous amounts of data is a known risk. This is where in-depth knowledge of cybersecurity policies and governance models that revolve around them becomes crucial and critical.

Customers and end consumers (sometimes both end up being the same) expect zero downtime and a glitch-free environment. This opens up opportunities for fraud and fraudsters are waiting to pounce on and cash in on any such opportunity — big or small. Fraud is bad for the entire system. It causes people to lose trust and encourages crime. It incentivizes nonethical behavior with immense monetary gain and/or imbalance of power in society. Pursuing a role in Cybersecurity ensures you are on the TEAM ETHICAL.

Cheers to acquiring new skills, non-stop LEARNING, and non-stop EARNING !!! I hope to provide specifics for each of these options in the coming weeks.

Nature will always be one up against humanity and the ever-growing greed of humans. We will have to look at this like any other earthquake, volcano, hurricane, tsunami. All we can do now is to be grateful for what we have. Events like this bring out the best or worst in humanity and all we can do is be hopeful.

Speak Up (Vocally or Otherwise) — Let’s spread positivity!

 The fact of the day is that we live in a highly polarised world where the space for well-informed debates is rapidly shrinking. Social media has unfortunately played the role of a villain (more than a hero) by giving a platform for several who can shout & scoot, thereby accelerating the decline further. The voice of those who shout the loudest is amplified further by bots (and with the help of a few agencies who “provide strategies” to make content “go viral”).

So what is the alternative to counter a one-sided narrative? Ever heard of “Actions speak louder than words”?

This phrase is even more relevant now and gains importance in the current scheme of things, with no shortage of issues facing countries globally.

You’re probably thinking, among other things -

1. My opinion or voice doesn’t count
2. Issues don’t affect me or worse my opinion doesn’t affect the outcome
3. Nothing is going to change (hoping that they change for the better on their own)

Here are a few things you can do

1. Fact check.
2. Either counter it yourself or through like-minded folks.
3. If you’re an introvert like me, design slogans or messages that can be
4. Printed on merchandise like T-shirts — for example, connect with Chimp Tribe.
5. Converted to something that is web-friendly and catches the attention of many — will exponentially increase reach.
6. Order one of the many T-shirts from Chimp Tribe and flaunt your style
7. There are plenty of themes and messages that would echo your thoughts. Wear your style as you travel, go to the gym and attend any PRIDE events. Don’t underestimate the impact this can have as people read (and maybe even acknowledge/appreciate) what you’re wearing.

Mastering the Art of Being a minimalist in parallel

Would you buy a relatively cheaper piece of fabric that doesn’t last very long or would you think of buying a more expensive piece of clothing that is highly durable (treating it like an investment)? There is probably no right or wrong answer to this. If I have to draw an analogy, it is perhaps similar to what came first — the chicken or the egg.

Global warming is real and is staring at your face at this very point in time. If there was ever a silver lining from the disaster of COVID, it was how the planet could mend itself. Being mindful of our daily lifestyle and actions (lesser air travel, lesser vehicular pollution, lesser hotel occupancy translating to lower water wastage) goes a long way.

It is easily understood if it is viewed from a supply and demand perspective. The lower the demand for easily disposable goods would mean lower manufacturing and reduced wastage. Smarter operations would lead to lower inventory costs and almost zero wastage.

Chimp Tribe’s philosophy is to contribute to society in as many (even little) ways as possible. Things to focus on are engaging with vendors and partners that share our vision (minimising the use of plastic, recyclable packing, ethical and sustainable labor practices, and actively engaging in CSR initiatives).

I hope I’ve got you thinking and humbly request you to pay it forward. Be the change you want to see.

The Work-Travel balance

Thank you, Ranga for this ever relevant piece ! (First appeared in 2014)

The desire to travel and “see the world” is inherent in most of us. We look enviously at pictures from National Geographic and wonder when we will be able to travel to all these exotic places.

Most of us do manage to do quite a bit of travel in our lives. Some of us use our savings judiciously to travel on a regular basis, some of us find jobs that allow us to travel, while many more of us work the extra yards in the hope that we can do all the travel that we want once we retire.

Any which way you look at it, there are challenges and compromises to be made. How much we manage to travel depends on how well we manage certain aspects of our lives.

1. Managing expenses

One of the first issues that come up while discussing travelling is the dreaded question of the expenses.

To understand how much money we really need is a huge task. A lot of us can barely explain how much we exactly spend out of our incomes. Some of our expenditure is fixed — rent, EMI, School fees etc while some of it is quite variable — dining out, clothing etc.

One of the key aspects of planning a travel-friendly life would be to identify exactly how much money you need in order to keep going. While the fixed expenses are pretty easy to quantify, it is important to look at the variable expenses more critically? How much do you need to spend on food and drink in a month? How much of this can be cut down without significantly impacting your life-style? Surely, you don’t want to end up being a skinflint who constantly looks at every penny that is being spent, but at the same time, you also don’t want to be spending too much of your money on things that don’t really matter.

2. Generating income

The other big question that crops us when it comes to travel is generating the income required to sustain ourselves. A lot of us have steady income jobs and have trained ourselves to think that way.

However, in the new economy, multiple avenues have opened up for flexible working. Geographically independent jobs are now more common than before, thanks to improved technology and connectivity. As more and more companies start looking at work-from-home options, it is not too far-fetched to think that jobs can now be managed from any location. Not just back-end, manual heavy work, even high profile roles like project management and product development are now being managed on a remote basis.

With a bit of effort, it is possible to reinvent existing job roles to make them geography-independent. And more travel-friendly !

3. Working for travel

Another development in recent times has been the availability of travel-friendly jobs. English teaching across non-English speaking countries is now a fairly lucrative job option for travel-inclined people. Such a job gives people the option to travel across and experience local cultures, while making a good living.

Transferable skills like project management, marketing, or even code-writing, can be harnessed into non-traditional job streams to create travel friendly career options. Options that did not exist earlier

4. Giving up the idea of job-security

Since the big economic meltdown of 2008–09, the concept of job-security is pretty much obsolete. One of the key attractions of a “regular” job was the security that it provided. However, once you get past the need for job-security, it is possible to embrace the idea of being a contract-worker. It is already an established concept in many developed nations and is increasingly gaining acceptance in the developing world as well. Going “freelance” enables you to manage your time better and devote more of your efforts towards travel. The 5-day week is slowly being replaced by the 9-month year, wherein people are increasingly finding ways to spend 3 months of the year travelling. The key is to be open to the idea of contract work and develop skills that continue to be relevant in a changing world.

What do you think? Are there any other aspects of your work-life that you can manage differently to enable you to meet your travel need? 

Transitioning to a Digital Nomad — Learnings from my journey

I’ve been blessed with friends who introduced me to travel, and barely a few trips later (within & outside India), I enjoyed it more than I expected. About a decade ago, 2 domestic trips & 1 International trip didn’t seem too far-fetched. Sixty trips (before I turn 60!) were the ultimate aim.

Then came a crucial aspect of taking time off for these travels and funding it. The annual 20-day vacation to force-fit holidays didn’t sit well with me (more like ticking boxes).

At the time, location-independent roles were scarce, and the concept was still relatively nascent. But Remote year was something that I stumbled across. Due credit has to be given to this portal for being the eye-opener and the first step in gaining immense clarity on what I was working towards. Escthecity.org was another portal that was a pleasant surprise with the roles on offer.

Cut to the present world, a post COVID world to be precise, where there is a surge in remote working and the rate of adoption has been phenomenal. What was previously thought impossible now seems like the new normal, albeit with a pause and considerable dip in travel.

Having worked remotely for more than a decade, it was something that came naturally to me. Having said that, few and far remote roles suddenly exploded into so many more available, and now a matter of finding your niche (sustainable at that!). Experience can be additional baggage that you end up paying for much more than what you initially bargained for.

Without stagnating further, I decided the logical next step was to translate ideas into action.

From my limited experience, I would have loved for it to be broken down like this a few years back -

Pre transition
1. Significant research required — translating to investing a lot of your spare time, also may mean having to sacrifice binge-watching TV series, reading the latest best-seller, having to say NO to a couple of social events)
2. Matching your areas of interest with something that makes sense commercially
3. Understanding the risks involved and having a fallback plan in case things go down south rather quickly
4. Setting aside funds and being prepared for zero income while in the transition phase for a set period that works for you
5. Acquiring skills/re-skilling in an area of your choice (for example, digital marketing, product marketing)
6. Connecting with folks in your area of choice on LinkedIn and Social Media
Trying out internships and volunteering to gain actual experience via Indeed, LinkedIn, Upwork

Actual transition
1. Take a sabbatical for about 4–6 months from your current role and put to practice the skills gained.
2. Experimenting/trying out co-working spaces in the current location or other locations based on budgets and the need for change in the environment
3. Either via freelancing or on contract — this is when you would actually start earning money and sustain yourself.
4. Continuing to re-skill / up-skill and keeping up with trends in the chosen field

If you are ever thinking of transitioning roles and doing something completely different would suggest reaching out to Arjun Prakash — PIVOT

Post transition
1. Share learnings
2. Help others/pay it forward
3. Keep collaborating
4. Specialise in a couple of areas, if you can

Hopefully, I’ll be able to cover much more with specifics on how I started from scratch learning Social Media/Digital Marketing with plenty of links.

Lastly, never stop enjoying what you do. Life’s too short to be lived with regrets and transient to be spent thinking, “What could’ve/might’ve been?”.

The Australian Diaries

The Australian Diaries

14^th February 2014

Most Valentine’s Days are the same. A lot of talk before, but with very little happening on the day itself. With age, even the talk seems to be reducing. A case of much ado about nothing, I suppose.

This one, however, was different. As always, there was a lot of talk preceding the event. But the day itself was different. Rajesh called in the morning to ask Ranga and me to book tickets for the Cricket World Cup 2015, which was to be played in (drum roll, hero introduction music!) AUSTRALIA!

Brushing aside our initial responses (“Hangover talk!”, “Call me back when you are sober”, “Have you been smoking that stuff again?”, etc), he convinced us to go online and actually book tickets. The man is a born salesman.

In case you are wondering about the connection to Valentine’s day, this is a love story. With a difference. From test cricket, to pyjama cricket, down  to the latest IPL cricketainment, we had been in love with this beast called Cricket. And now this love story would be played out in Australia and everything that came along with the land down under.

The way the tournament was scheduled and designed, it was safe to assume that India will at least reach the quarter finals. We went about, in right earnest, getting the balance of venues and matches that involved India. In hindsight, it was a tad too ambitious. The project manager in me was up in arms, but was pointedly ignored. The list of risks and assumptions were way too many for any sane person’s liking. India reaching the quarter finals? Leave approval for 3 weeks so early in the year? Funding a month-long vacation in Australia? Looked like we took the advice of ‘Dreaming Big, Doing Bigger’ of several life coaches a little too seriously.

However, with the madness that usually accompanies love, match tickets were booked, credit card bills were paid the following month (or three!) and all was forgotten. But not for long!

31^st December, 2014

Year-end revelries usually revolve around a couple of things: an epic piss-up at night and a set of resolutions the next morning. This one was a little different. All talk was about our impending trip to Australia. Friends and family seemed more confident of us making the trip than we were. Travel planning/arm chair travelling (over many glasses of alcoholic beverages) is turning out to be the latest national hobby. What never ceases to surprise is the enthusiasm with which people shout out ‘Count me in! If mere intent to could replace travel, I would have travelled the length and breadth of the world. Twice!

However, the enthusiasm the world around us seemed to be showing about our trip convinced us that this was a holiday that had to be taken. Not that we needed any convincing to take any holiday, given the kind of people that we are.

14^th February, 2015

One year from Rajesh’s call, things had moved rapidly. Holiday applications were put in. And approved! Visa applications had been submitted to the travel agent. Getting documents in order for the Australian visa was akin to getting a new identity in spy movies. One’s life history had to match the evidence provided.

Meanwhile India was getting walloped Down Under and in the ODI series, ensuring than expectations for the World Cup were at rock-bottom, if not lower. However, the opening game against Pakistan ensured that there was a marked surge not just in the general interest levels, but also in the number of visa applicants and associated costs.

Thanks to my superior planning skills, however, we had our visas within the next one week. By “we”, of course, I mean Ranga and me. Rajesh, in typical style, had complicated his life by agreeing to go on a business trip to Germany a week before our trip. And Kurien, unfortunately, had to drop out due to business commitments.

16^th March, 2015

Kurien is a stickler for tradition. Despite having to drop out of the trip, he was quick to point out that we had to honour the age old tradition of sipping on a few chilled ones on the terrace of Sherlock Holmes before departing for any trip. Strategy plotting, revisiting itineraries and must do’s usually form the agenda of these conversations.  JD joined on this one to give us the ladies perspective, which was restricted to pleading with us to not make fools of ourselves if we managed to get on the TV cameras.

Sufficiently tanked up, we uber-ed it to the Airport, where Irshad, from Sri Lankan Airlines ensured that our holiday would be off to a great start. He managed to get us fantastic seats all the way to Sydney. If three seats for two from Colombo to KL was the cake, four seats for two from KL to Sydney was the icing. The benchmark had been set and it was up to us to raise the bar now.

A 2-hour layover at Colombo and a similar one at KL weren’t too bad and nothing worth complaining about. Getting a foot massage in the middle of the night was our way of killing time – any excuse for our well-being will do.

Useful tip – get hot green tea at the KL airport. You can easily wait for an hour for the tea to cool down while you catch up on reading on the Kindle.

The usual movie watching, snacking on stale airline food, catching a few winks and hoping that elusive pretty woman makes interesting conversation completed the rest of the uneventful flight to Sydney. All flights being on time is worth a mention. Even Malaysian Airlines got into the spirit of things by landing on hard firm ground at Sydney, and not on some water-body along the way.

17^th March, 2015

Sydney welcomed us with perfect weather. Stepping out of a 7 hour flight into a cool 22 degrees at 8 PM local time was literally a breath of fresh air. Any signs of fatigue and weariness disappeared in seconds.

At the airport itself, we got ourselves equipped with local sims. Optus offers very good short term pre-paid cards that is perfect for trips like these.

We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel. The moment the taxi driver knew we were from India, he readily indulged us in some banter, ranging from NaMo’s policies, India’s economy, ‘fun’ (a-hem)  things to do in Sydney etc. He dropped us off at Potts Point which is close to Kings Cross station. Apparently this stretch is supposed to be dangerous and if anything had to go wrong in Sydney it would be here.

(My take on this piece of advice – if anything had to wrong it could happen anywhere in the world including inside your house. There wasn’t a single incident that was scary, disturbing or racist over the entire trip!)

The taxi driver even gave us a discount because he had overshot the way a little bit.

We checked in to a decent sized room and went off to explore Kings Cross. A good enough night life greeted us, although many places shut early on Tuesday. However, some great live music with some local brew ensured a great first evening down under.

Our Australia holiday had begun on a great note!

18^th March, 2015

The big day! We were off to the SCG for our first match down-under. It didn’t appear to be a mad busy working day from the looks of it. Crisp air, broad pavements, no honking cars, beautiful road side cafés – Sydney was really putting on a show for us.

Map-reading and geographical awareness has always tickled my brain. It tickles even more when I am abroad. But I am never averse to asking for directions from the locals. A construction worker, who we asked, initially feigned ignorance of the cricket world cup happening, just so that he could show off his iPhone and insisted on showing us at least a couple of different walking routes. The Aussies have a wicked sense of humour.

The route to the stadium was strewn with distractions. An impromptu stroll into a sports bar led to a couple of VB’s – supposed to be their cheapest beer – both in terms of quality and price. Way better than our local Kingfisher. By the way, not much of Foster’s anywhere. Didn’t someone say that the “Australian for beer” campaign was planned and shot in India?

We didn’t know how much more we had to walk, but a few steps out of the bar, we bumped into a couple of Englishmen going to the match as well. We realized we were just across the stadium. (To put things in perspective – distance between Koshy’s and Chinnaswamy stadium!)

Walking over the well-manicured lawns of the SCG, we shared our sympathies on the current state of English cricket. They were complete sports and saw the lighter side of it. I guess you have to, if you are an English cricket fan.

At the stadium, the lack of maddening crowds or a buzz that you would associate with cricket in India made us wonder just for a moment if there really was a quarter final going on. A fear that was quickly dispelled with the swarm of Sri Lankan fans. A Colombo feel engulfed the surrounding.

A Pakistani randomly walked up to us as we were waiting for the gates to open and asked, nay, demanded an extra ticket. When we said we didn’t have any, he even went  a step further, asking tickets for the semi-finals, trying to convince us that India wouldn’t make it anyway. Ah! What is cricket without an India-Pak rivalry. Can’t say he did much to make us love Pakistan, though.

The gates opened sharp at 1 PM and after a short walk inside, we got our first full glimpse of the home of the Don and Waugh brothers.  As we got our first glimpse of the famous grounds, with “Country Roads” playing in the background causing goose bumps, we needed a moment of reverent silence before we could react.

Calm and composure returned shortly and we got back to the business of getting beers to have in the stands. This is of special significance because we’ve always wanted to do this ever since we’ve been watching broadcast of matches in Australia. Oh India, I love you and all that. But long way to go on this frontL

The match itself was hardly the nail biter expected out of a quarter final, but we got a complete experience filled with showers, bright sunlight, a streaker (male, unfortunately!) and drunken aussies. (Clearly, alcohol doesn’t discriminate!)

It’s a joy watching a match with Sri Lankan fans. Whatever the state of the match, there is always singing and dancing, when they are around. And hardly any bad behaviour.

The match itself could be summed up in the words of one disgruntled Sri Lankan fan - ‘Wonder why the ball is being changed. It needs to be hit for it to lose shape’

Behind our seats, there were a bunch of Indian fans with a banner that read “Madcaps from Madras. From Street Cricket to SCG.”

Take out Madras, and it was pretty much what we felt after our first day of cricket in Australia

19^th – 21^st March, 2015

The next few days after the SCG game was a blur of fun and entertainment. This was also about the time when we started losing track of time and dates, an indicator of a really good holiday!

We now had a week’s break before the next game. We decided to be locals and took an OPAL card (one that can be used on trains, buses and ferries). Taking local transport is a great way to experience a place. And over the next few days, we managed to do exactly that.

We started off on the 19^th with a trip to Manly beach. This involved a train journey from Kings Cross to Circular Quay, which meant changing trains at Town Hall, followed by a Ferry ride to Manly, with the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge as the background!

At Manly, on the way from the Ferry station to the beach, there is a wonderful walkway, with shops and pubs lined up on the sides. We stopped at one of the latter to enquire if they would be showing the cricket match in the afternoon, the one involving India and another neighbour of ours, Bangladesh! We needn’t have asked. The man at the bar simply pointed to their “Cricketer’s Arms Keeper’s Lager”!

Before the match, we went for a walk on the pristine Manly beach. No wonder the locals rate it to be better than Bondi!  And we decided to have burger brunch at a place called Moo’s Burgers, a tribute to our returning funky towner, Tennessey!

After lunch, we went back to the pub to watch the match. The live betting was a temptation, but we resisted! The match itself was pretty uneventful, save for that famous “no-ball” non-dismissal of Rohit Sharma, which almost led to Bangladesh breaking off diplomatic relations with India. Once again, we met an English couple, who were sporting about the fact that Bangladesh had knocked them out of the World Cup!

The 20^th was a CBD day. We met my good friend Sheetal for lunch at the Opera Bar on a bright sunny day. From there, we headed out to George Street, a quaint little locality teeming with shops and history. But not before a small adventure. We took a train from Circular Quay to Martin Place, where Ranga was immediately attacked by two Police Dogs. Karma, as he came to realize, is a female dog!

We visited a couple of historic pubs and did what the Aussies are famous for – downing beer on a Friday afternoon, while watching Australia beat  another team (Pakistan this time) in cricket. From there, my friend took us back to CBD, where we went to Palmer and Co, one of Sydney’s hidden pubs, which seemed to be a grown-up version of The Leaky Cauldron from the Harry Potter world. After a few more beers here, we headed to a Belgian Restaurant ‘The Heritage’ nearby, where we feasted on some excellent mussels.

We finished off the day by getting Sheetal to use Uber for the first time. We believe in changing lives!

21st – 22nd March, 2015

Even in a super-friendly place like Australia, there are bound to be a few grumpy souls. We had one of those for a cab-driver to the airport on 21^st. His major compliant in life seemed to be that he was not given free tickets to the world cup games despite being an SCG life-member. Fortunately, it was just a 20 min ride and we had Gold Coast to look forward to.

The flight from Sydney to Gold Coast is usually just about an hour or so. But not when you have exciting people like us on the flight. A thunder storm in Gold Coast meant that our flight was unable to land in Gold Coast. So our flight was diverted to Brisbane.

From Brisbane, we had to take a bus to Gold Coast, giving us a view of Australia’s awesome highway routes. It was nearly evening by the time we reached Gold Coast airport.

Our taxi ride to our hotel from the Airport introduced us to Keith, who was exactly who you would imagine an Aussie taxi driver to be - friendly and chatty without being over-bearing. When he learnt that we were here for the World Cup and that we were hoping for India to beat Australia in the semis, he simply said, “You really think Australia is going to lose a home game?”

Our hotel at Gold Coast, Surfers Paradise, was one of those that overlooks the beach. The kind of place one sees only in the movies. A spectacular view greeted us from our balcony on the 11^th floor room! The evening was another blur of pub hopping and beer-swilling – Beer Garden, Irish Pub, Waxy et al

Sunday morning saw us heading to a beach restaurant for typical Australian breakfast. Which was pretty much like an English breakfast. Only bigger. And better!

We indulged in a Thai massage in the afternoon to loosen up our limbs and get us ready for the evening.

My good friend, Rupa, who lives in Gold Coast picked us up from our hotel in the evening with her husband. Both of them have lived in Australia for a long time and they took us to their beautiful house. Over many bottles of wine, old times were revisited, old friends were discussed and a wonderful dinner was consumed. Did I mention that her husband was a master-chef?

23rd-25th March, 2015

We had asked Keith to take us to Byron Bay. His only condition was that he wanted to take a selfie with us. Talk about being famous!

I slept through the trip to Byron Bay, while Ranga was getting to hear the details of Keith’s life history. In fact, Keith seemed so happy with Ranga that he apparently even showed topless pictures of some of his earlier customers, in addition to teaching him Koala (pronounced Ku-va-laa) means “bear” in the aboriginal language and that saying “Koala bear” is a form of tautology. I am so glad I was asleep!

We reached Byron Bay around lunch time. If Gold Coast was one extreme in terms of high energy and buzz, Byron Bay was exactly the opposite. It’s a small sleepy town and rightly called the Backpackers Paradise with the ‘smokes’ and cookies. The only activity that anyone makes the effort for is to surf. A lighthouse makes for good viewing, which indicates eastern most tip of Australia.

We had lunch at an Indian restaurant nearby and soaked in the peaceful atmosphere of the town for the rest of the evening. The continuous partying of the previous few days took a bit of a toll on us and we had a rare early night.

Bright and refreshed, we went back to our plans on the 24th. The pub by the beach was showing the semi between New Zealand and South Africa. There was plenty of excitement as there were a good bunch of Kiwis as well as lots of Aussies wanting the Kiwis to lose! Of course, there was also an American couple, who were completely clueless to the whole thing.

The match itself was a humdinger, that went New Zealand’s way after dithering like a Karan Johar heroine for two hours. We decided to celebrate the Kiwi victory by visiting a well-known local pub. Just to be sure, we asked the bouncer if there was a dress-code. He looked at my casual T-shirt, shorts and rubber flip flops with a critical eye and said, “You are over-dressed, mate!” Oh Australia how I love you!

The next day morning, good old Keith came to pick us up and take us to the Gold Coast Airport to fly back to Sydney. Most of us in India are not used to time zones. So it was a novelty for us to go through multiple time zones. Let me explain. Sydney is in New South Wales, which follows the Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT) this time of the year. So does Byron Bay. Gold Coast is in Queensland, which follows the Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST). Which means Sydney is an hour ahead of Gold Coast. Our trip from Byron Bay to Sydney through Gold Coast, therefore, meant that we were going from AEST to AEDT for the taxi ride between Byron Bay and Gold Coast, gaining one hour. And then again from AEDT to AEST while flying from Gold Coast, losing an hour! Who said time travel is not possible?!

Anyway, the taxi drive from Byron Bay to Gold Coast was uneventful, except for some enlightening discussions between Ranga and Keith about Solar panels and their pricing strategies.

At the Gold Coast airport, which we finally managed to enter after missing out on the earlier trip, we treated ourselves to a massage chair at the airport before our trip “home”

After a fairly uneventful flight, we found ourselves back home in Sydney. Few places in the world give you that distinct warm feeling and Sydney was clearly one of them.

The next day was clearly a big day. To prepare for the big event, we went to The Rocks with another good friend of mine, Sujay. The Rocks is a historic area of Sydney very close to the Harbour. A very European looking area, where we kicked off proceedings with a couple of beers in a German Bar.

From there, Sujay decided to take us to the Shangri-La Cocktail Bar on the 40^th Floor with a stunning view of the Sydney cityscape. Thanks to my friends out here, we really got to see a completely non-touristy side of Sydney

26th March, 2015

India vs Australia. Semi Finals!  Whodathunk?

Seriously, when we were making plans for Australia, not in our wildest dreams did we expect to be watching an Ind vs Aus match. That too, a semi-final in SCG!

We woke up next day, in a state of nervous excitement. After the traditional pre-match beer, we headed to the SCG. A very different SCG from the South Africa – Sri Lanka match. Bursting to the seams with Indian fans, it was difficult to believe that this was not Mumbai or Bangalore.

It is impossible to describe the atmosphere outside the stadium. These pictures might do a better job.

Rajesh was due to meet us outside the stadium. As I had mentioned earlier, he had legged it off to Germany for a week and had reached Sydney much later. While waiting for him, we bumped into a couple of known faces – Nishant and Sibi. Both of them had been traversing around Australia and NZ for a couple of weeks, watching cricket from the quarter finals onwards.

Rajesh finally landed up along with two other friends – Mukul and Rasika. It was obvious that Rajesh was missing us a lot, as the first words he uttered upon seeing us was, “My battery is nearly dead. Do you have a charger?”

We all piled on into the SCG. Ranga and I were SCG veterans, so we simply walked it casually. But for Rajesh and Mukul, it was a special moment. To understand how they felt, rewind back to my diary entry on 16^th March 2015!

Singing the anthem with tens of thousands of other Indians was special and is something that will remain etched in memory. I still get goose-bumps when I think of that moment.

The match itself was acutely disappointing for an Indian fan. Ranga started off by predicting that Australia would be all out for 28. He was close. They made 328. The rest of match involved Ranga making nonsense remarks and Rajesh constantly asking him for Wi-Fi connectivity or the portable charger every 5 minutes.

After the match, we all slunk away to our respective hotels, given that we were due to fly out early next day to Melbourne.

Later in the evening, Ranga and I went out for a couple of drinks and came home late to find ourselves locked out of our room. Calls to the contact number listed got us no response. And we had a flight to catch early in the morning. Clearly Sydney liked us so much that she didn’t want to let us go!

All was sorted out soon and we went back to bed for the final time in Sydney.

27th-28th March, 2015

It was finally time to say goodbye to Sydney. We left early morning to catch a train to the airport. Rajesh joined us at the airport. Mukul and Rasika were spending an extra day in Sydney.

Melbourne greeted us with grey skies and a nice breeze. As we couldn’t check into our rooms till noon, we left our bags at the reception and headed out to breakfast at a nice local café, where we also picked up a local map of Melbourne. After that, we decided to explore the trams in Melbourne. With a confidence that comes with ignorance, we boarded the next available tram. Ideally when you want to go from Point A to Point B, you take a tram that is going from Point A to Point B. We, of course, took one that went Point A to Point Z, Y, X… all the way back to Point B. To top it off, midway through the journey, we realised that the tram ride is not free and we had to pay for it. Somehow we made it out of the journey unscathed! We immediately got ourselves MyKi travel cards after this tram journey.

At the CBD, we saw a guy wearing a black cricket workd cup T-shirt. Rajesh, of course, had to say something. He asked the man, “You are a kiwi supporter, mate?” The guy gave one look at Rajesh and his response said everything you needed to know about the Trans-Tasman rivalry – “Fuck, no!”

Anyway, if there are three men around, can a boat be far behind? Rajesh came up with this brilliant suggestion that we could take a boat cruise down the Yarra river. Picking up some beers, we embarked on this boat cruise for the next 4 hours. Yes. 4 hours! Tempted by the offer of free coffee and biscuits on board, Rajesh somehow convinced us that we should do the entire to and fro trip down the Yarra river. If there was free wifi on the boat, he would have got us to spend the entire goddamn trip on the boat!

It was a pretty good cruise, however, with the river cutting through the heart of Melbourne. 

We reached our hotel later in the evening. Our room was a massive suite. It is worth mentioning that the places we stayed across Australia all had large and comfortable rooms.

In the evening, while I walked around CBD, Rajesh and Ranga headed out to watch a variety show in the evening, given that the Comedy Festival was on in Melbourne. Apparently, they were the only 2 non-white people and also the only ones under 75 watching the show. But clearly, they had a good time. And on the way back at night, they decided to take cab and they ended up sharing the cab with two other ladies who were also going in the same direction. I am sure that kind of thing will never happen in India!

On the 28^th, we made a trip down to the MCG to pick up our match tickets. What a marvelous place it is. And it is just across the road from the Rod Laver arena. It was like our childhood dreams had suddenly come true with a vengeance!

We watched the Aussie cricket team going through a serious nets session. The intensity was unmistakable. We also took pictures with the statues of Shane Warne and Dennis Lillie. We ended up boarding one of those hop-on hop-off buses to go back to CBD. And yet again, we realised we had not paid for these tickets. This was really becoming a habit!

We had an hour or so to kill before our next ‘engagement’, which Rajesh spent hunting around for free wifi zones!

The engagement I mentioned was a book reading session moderated by Gideon Haigh for the release of Daniel Brettig’s book – from Ashes to Ashes, which captures how Australian cricket went from a high to low and then back to a high over the last 6-7 years. A fascinating discussion ensued about all things cricket. Easily one of the highlights of the trip.

I turned in early, as I normally do before a big match, while Rajesh went out with Mukul/Rasika and Ranga went out to meet another friend.

 

29th March, 2015

This was it. The finals. At the Em. Cee. Gee!

With India not featuring in the finals, we could watch the game without worrying too much about the result and purely for the LOVE of the game. Just being part of the 93,000 people who had turned up for the finals was something special. MCG is one of those venues where neither photographs nor TV images do justice to the place.

The final was one of the dullest matches that the world cup had produced. But it was more than made up for by the crowd. There were a bunch of kiwis behind us. One of them seemed completely overwhelmed by the size of the ground. He kept saying, “It’s a big ground, the MCG” pretty much through the match. I guess it probably looked bigger than his entire country. Australia won. By an innings. Or something like that.

On the way back, we decided to walk back to our hotel, which was about a couple of kilometers away. Rajesh was leaving early the next day. So we turned it early.

30th-31st March, 2015

This was it. Our glorious holiday was finally coming to an end. Rajesh left early morning on the 30^th. Ranga and I wandered all over Melbourne during the day, just soaking in the last few hours in Australia. We had a good Punjabi lunch at an Indian restaurant. I went back to the hotel in the afternoon, while Ranga decided to hang out in CBD.

Around evening, while we were waiting for our taxi to the airport, a middle-aged couple came in to the hotel. They had apparently vacated their previous hotel because the woman saw a bug in the bathroom. So she first wanted her husband, a very disgruntled man by then, to check their room to see if it was bug-free. He came back and said the room seems fine. The woman wanted to know if he could be 100% sure that the room was big free. The man said he could not be sure of that. A brief altercation later, they decide to vacate this place as well. But no so fast! The receptionist told them that they can only return the advance (which they had foolishly swiped before checking the room!) after three days. This led to further recriminations – wife blaming husband, husband blaming receptionist, receptionist calling manager etc. Finally they managed to sort everything out and left in the quest for a bug-free life. Should invite them to India sometime!

By the time the soap opera ended, our taxi had come and we grudgingly headed to the airport. We briefly flirted with the idea of staying on as illegal immigrants, but sense (or lack of it) prevailed.

At 01:05 AM on the 31^st, our Malaysian Airlines flight took off and soon we were at KL, looking forward to the 8 hour layover.

For some reason, I asked Ranga to show me his ticket. Turned out that his layover in KL was only 2 hours and the layover in Colombo was 8 hours. The exact opposite of mine. If I hadn’t asked for his ticket, Ranga would have happily spent 8 hours in KL airport, only to discover that his flight had left some 6 hours ago!

We parted at KL and reconvened at Colombo some 8 hours later. In a few hours, we were back in Bangalore!

End-notes

If Ladakh helped in learning a lot about (ahem) myself, this trip was taking it a step further and filling in a few blanks. Australia is the place to go for sun, sand, beaches, beer, sport and legalized betting. I can guarantee that you will relook at the quality of life your lead along with work life balance. I’ve heard a lot about Travel being the best educator and this leads me to wonder why a specialized degree in Travel (not combined with Tourism) isn’t more popular around the world.