It's gonna be legen....

2014 was a mostly uneventful year in terms of my personal development. 
I have three important long-term gauge points to measure my life with. Let's call them the three introspective injunctions - intelligence, income, & in-seam. Those of you know me would have no trouble guessing that the only introspective injunction that saw an increase in my life last year, is my in-seam. 
Lethargy & complacence seems to be what I remember from 2014. But one thing starkly stands out. There was hardly any complaining from me. I’m fortunate enough to live in a city with probably the best weather in the world, surrounded by amazing people. It’s a peaceful life. Some could even say a happy go lucky one. Living here in this bubble makes tragic events happening in the world seem like a sad movie. But I digress. This was going to be my 2015 resolution of sorts – that’s why I’m writing it towards the end of January, which is when most people start giving up on their resolutions. 

I need to make detailed plans on how I will improve on my introspective injunctions. So here goes: 
·        Intelligence – write at least one blog post per week. (I’ll need to read a lot to come up with words to spill out onto the blog – so this is killing two birds with one stone) B-) 
·        Income – make at least one call to a new prospect everyday 
·        In-seam – for the love of god, wake up just 20 minutes early and jog/exercise/yoga. 

There you have it. All these plans need a lot more detailed scheduling to make them successful, but I don’t feel like getting into it right now (lord, I’m already procrastinating!). 
But one thing that doesn’t need detailed planning is the resolve to DO THIS THING! This year is going to be much more hopeful. I’m going to need the never-give-up attitude. 
So wish me luck… and see you on the other side! 

A day on The Turf

It's a hot afternoon, some people are still recovering from the New Years' Eve party. I'm in office since 7 AM and we have an important change underway - a server's hard drive has failed and we're executing an emergency change to fix the issue ASAP. 

My mind wanders across the road, where stands are filling up and rearers are preparing their steeds with gusto. Mr. Prakash, an official Steward at the Bangalore Turf Club has graciously invited us to the VIP lounge to join him for the K Rama Rao Memorial race which is held in memory of his father. Its race day!

The K Rama Rao Memorial trophy was won by the horse named Scarlet Emperor.

Until that day, mention of the race course brought an image of the green, oval track from my office terrace, holding a cup of coffee in hand, watching the trotting horses even as vehicles stop atop the busy flyover that just overlooks a portion of the course. We'd consider ourselves a lucky lot - to have a complete view of the course from our building top. But today, even that bird's-eye-view spot feels a tad bit under-whelming after last weekend. 

The men were asked to come in suit & tie - nobody can tell the ladies what to wear ;-)

The men were asked to come in suit and tie (the ladies' dress code, I assume, has always been left to their imagination). As I drive towards the parking, excitement fills me when I cross over a portion of the race turf to the 'parking' area - which is basically the inner circle of the grandiose oval track! Soon we're all collected in one place and handed our invites. We tread towards the stands, making small talk about big bets. Cue excited & nervous laughter. 

Past the general betting counters is a building that has a guard letting in club members, VIPs and invitees only. We go towards the building with an air of importance and reach the second floor. The air conditioning is just right, there's teak wood furniture, television screens wherever you can turn your head, some comfortable couches and chairs arranged around a few tables, a buffet table and of course, a betting counter just for the VIPs. 

The old man (a member) in the lift was not lying when he said the food upstairs is really good. It was scrumptious and the service was impeccable. The waiters knew whom to ask for a drink and when, an extra chair would magically appear wherever required, and empty platters would politely be cleared away with no interference. 

Our very own gracious (and very Page-3) couple, Shruthi & Arun Prakash!

Our hosts, Shruthi & Arun were being the good sport that they are and explaining the ropes of the game to us novices. Just as we were discussing betting strategies between lunch, the first (of eight) race began! The race bugle was called, and the horses shot ahead as the commentator's pace picked up. 

Oh the edge-of-seat excitement!

The Chief Minister's Trophy race was won by the horse named Agostini,
ridden by Trevor Patel and owned by a Suleiman Attaollahi

Finally this section of the newspaper made sense!

Some selfies, bets & races later, it was time for the page 3 moment - Mr. Prakash & family handed over the Ramrao cup to the winner and soon the day came to an end after a few more races. The Chief Minister's cup was given away by a representative of the Congress party, who then cut the most delicious chocolate (truffle?) cake in the VIP lounge.

Its safe to say that most of us learnt a thing or two about betting (or at least hedging bets).

All in all, it was a day very well spent. Definitely worth the suit & tie and most definitely worth taking off work early! Thank you very much to Mr. Prakash & family and I for one sure hope to enjoy the experience again!

An event isn't n event without a selfie!

Specially when attended from the VIP lounge!