The new I did

Like I wrote in my very first blog post, change is necessary; I have moved to Mumbai. I got a job here as a ‘Social Media Evangelist’ for an MNC called ‘Datum Digital’. I am so glad I took this job as I am really enjoying Mumbai. I have always liked the spirit of this city and the hard working and smart ‘Mumbaikars’.  Though I have visited it often, living here is an entire different experience.

I live as a Paying Guest and have a roommate, Payal. She is from Delhi and is studying her Masters here. She amazes me, as in spite of being from a Science background, she is very intellectual. Earlier this week, when we were about to sleep, she said, “PG(Paying Guest) life is strange, isn’t it? You make a ruckus about sharing things with strangers, but you meet so many strangers if you are living away from home and share a room with a person you have just met.” I just want to share her feeling instead of mine on this one as we are quite alike.

Ria lives in the next room and she is from Vapi. I went out for dinner with her to this place half a kilometre away from where I live called ‘Dakshinayan’, which is a South Indian restaurant. It was crowded and the receptionist told us we would have to share a table for four with two other people! We agreed as we were really hungry. Ria told me this happens in Mumbai all the time. I have never experienced this back home in Ahmedabad. We took our table and in a short while two middle aged women joined us. They were speaking Gujarati and asked for Jain South Indian food- which means they wanted jain dosa, jain sambhar and jain chutney as well. The waiter got very confused and took a long time to get their order whereas ours arrived really fast.

When they got their dosa's, one of them asked the waiter to take hers back as she felt it wasn’t enough hot for her and asked him to heat it again. She asked me, “Taro garam che?” (Meaning: “Is yours hot enough?” in Gujarati) seeing that I had already finished half of my masala dosa by then. I asked her in surprise, “How do you know I am a Gujarati?” She replied, “That is because I can see that you understand what we are talking about; and you are smiling knowingly ever since we asked for Jain food.” Haha! I need to control my knowing smiles. We spoke about all good places to eat in Mumbai, and also about Gujarati food, of course. I had warned Ria earlier (softly in her ear) that if I start a conversation with them, it would be like eating together rather than simply sharing a table. But she is a very talkative person herself.  

My office is really swanky and smart. Benaifer is a very sweet Parsi girl who I just love talking to as we talk in Gujarati(she is the only one who talks to me in my mother tongue apart from Gujarati women I meet in restaurants and here and there) She asks me in her saccharine Parsi Gujarati to breakfast with her. Then there is Lumbini who works very hard and Kirti who loves to talk. There are some other team members as well, who have been very helpful and supportive.

I am totally on my own, and I am enjoying every bit of it. There have been heavy rains here last week. It got difficult at times but I just love this city and everything about it- the beach, the rains, the trains, the taxis, the people, the cosmopolitan environment and... fashion, food, culture, roads, glamour... Looking forward to more experiences that I can add to the list. 

 Being unstoppable...

I just finished my two and a half months internship with Femina. It was my first job in media. My friend Rapti, from my Diploma class had asked her colleague Ashima to interview me for Ahmedabad Mirror for a features section.  Ashima and I kept in touch; who recommended me to Shivli Tyagi, the Features Editor of Femina Gujarat. (Both Ahmedabad Mirror and Femina offices are in the Times of India building) She reads my blog and hence thought I would fit the job. And she was right. I enjoyed myself and got to learn a lot. Femina’s tagline, ‘Be unstoppable’ is apt as that’s the spirit of the magazine. My work was pretty much the same. Unstoppable- as I enjoyed every bit of it. I not only wrote about fashion, beauty, food reviews and interior but also managed photo shoots and covered PR events and interviews. Though I have a Diploma in communications, I landed this job due to my blog (cutting long story short).

My desk in Femina office

I interviewed Shekhar Ravjiani and Zanane Rajsingh and also some successful women who are great entrepreneurs from Gujarat. It was fun to review some amazing restaurants like ‘Papa Nino’s’ and ‘24/7 All Day Dining Coffee Shop - The Metropole Hotel’. Shivli, my boss helped me initially with some basic ‘do’s’ and ‘do not’s’ of journalism. However, later on, I learnt a lot from her- about many different things. I love internships as they teach you a lot of other things besides your job. This was my second internship; the first one was in Quality Assurance when I was in the third year of my college. You are ever ready to learn and unstoppable when it comes to work. Besides, if you are a female working for a women’s magazine, you would surely love your work. It just makes you feel good about yourself and hence about the world. I am rejuvenated and ready to take on the world.

Nishi and Jahnavi, who were in the advertising department, also helped me to learn the basics of advertising. We had a great team and went out for lunch a couple of times. It was an amazing feeling to walk in the Times of India building every day. The office is a busy one, buzzing with journalists, cameramen and interesting stories most of all. It is amazing to be the ‘first ones’ to know the most happening news. (We still wait to see the story we read on the internet in the newspaper the next day)

My best friend Marisha who works in NavGujarat Samay had her office on the same floor as mine. Happy coincidences! I made some new friends as well. It was a great experience which has opened various other avenues for me.