GMAT is in the Air

I attended the MBA Tour in Delhi on Saturday, and I am so glad I did. It was an eye-opener. On the day I booked my GMAT appointment, I stumbled upon this information that there was going to be an MBA Tour in Delhi with representatives from many international B-Schools who will interact with the participants and provide information. I promptly registered for the event and went to Intercontinental, CP on Saturday. First, I was surprised at the number of people who had turned up for the event, must be close to 500. Second, I was surprised at the number of B-Schools who were participating, 35 to be precise.

We had 3 sessions; How Admissions Decisions are made, Managing your MBA Career Search, and an Alumni Panel Discussion. Finally there was an MBA Fair, where I interacted with representatives from the admissions comittees of some schools, alumni of other schools, and collected brochures of about 10 schools. It was all so helpful.

The lessons that I learned - (1) I need to start looking for prospective schools NOW, (2) Getting a good score is the least of challenges, (3) A self-analysis is needed to decide where I want to land, (4) Time is going to FLY, (5) I should learn to be realistic, and not get carried away with B-School Rankings (6) I need to gather more information from many people and sources.

Phew! It is going to be tough, but whats an achievement when the road to it was a cake-walk.

Today is the first Navratra, I will be fasting for 9 days, i.e, will take only one meal a day at night. Hopefully it will help me shed the extra pounds I have lately gained :-)

Accessories - The Right Look

Since I am not an accessory person, meaning I am not great shakes at accessorising my outfits so I asked my friend NV to help me put together some tips. NV is great at picking the right accessories and can carry almost any piece of junk jewellery. She is cute, somewhat plump, and has adorable cheeks. Many a time I jealously watch her shopping for HUGE glares, HUGE watches, HUGE earbobs, and HUGE beaded neck strings. She looks perfect wearing any such thing. Now, the HUGE accessory look doesn't suit me at all. I am the kind of person who looks best while wearing slim strings on neck, delicate watches, sober earrings, and bracelets are not made for me at all. Anyway, here come tips right out of NV's head for accessories:

1) While wearing a Black cocktail dress with your favourite black sandals, simply put on a fab watch, diamond ear studs and nothing else. You can also wear a matching beaded necklace with nothing in the ears and a nice matching bracelet or watch. Carry a good clutch (which goes with your watch and sandals) and the look is complete.

2) With printed tops and kurtis, avoid wearing anything in the neck. Earrings should also be simple. Sleeveless kurtis can be accessorised with matching bangles or bracelets. With plain outfits you can wear long neck strings and junk stuff.

3) It is smart to have a Golden, Copper and Silver clutch or bag. Black ones are too common but they help college-goers a lot. These colors go with many outfits but then remember to have a matching pair of footwear too.

4) While wearing a Business Suit, keep your style statement very simple. The only thing that can do wonders to your simplicity is a pearl necklace in any warm color (green, red, black, coffee). It looks super chic.

5) While wearing a Sari, many women go overboard with their jewelery. Even with a Sari, a nice watch, some sophisticated jewelery, and maybe a bracelet is enough. If you want to wear a nice, huge pair of earrings, then do not wear anything in the neck. Show it off instead (that looks hotter).

6) With Capris, knee or ankle length skirts, you can wear anklets in one leg or both, but they shouldn't be loud. Moreover, sandals and heels don't go with anklets, they look best with jodhpuris or slip-ons.

7) Always match your belts with your footwear and bag. If you want to show off a gorgeous belt, then wear it with plain outfits in colors that contrast with the belt.

Wardrobe Must-Haves for 25 Year Old Gals

I am fed up of looking at so many inappropriately or badly dressed women around me. Coco Chanel once said that when a woman is impeccably dressed, you notice the woman else you notice her dress. I find this so true in day-to-day life, while looking at women wearing mismatched combinations, ugly footwear, gross nailpaints etc. I am no fashion guru, but I know at least some basic fundamentals about clothes and make-up, and it surprises me that a number of people don't. I believe that you should never go over-board in terms of fashion when at work. Keep it simple, and yet try to make a statement with your clothes. While getting ready for office if you are confused whether something is appropriate for office wear, better don't wear it. While at work many women go wrong with their accessories. While choosing accessories for work, you should keep in mind that they are not flashy, or dangling, or make sounds (think jingling bangles), or come in your way at all. Office bag, ah, you can experiment so much with this one, always remembering that the size and look should be right. Anyway, I have come up with some wardrobe must-haves for 25 year olds and listed them below:
While compiling this list, I have assumed that you are neither too fat nor too thin, but someone with an average body type (like me)

1) A denim mini skirt - This looks sexy and cool at the same time and can be teamed up with a variety of tops to give it the right look. For Example, team it with a nice white statement Tee during the day time, with a sexy red top, for a movie in the evening, even with a pair of black tights when you are not in a mood to show your legs.
2) Denim Capris - They look cool and are very comfortable. Team it with various Tees in any colour you fancy.
3) Pleated short skirt in a dark color for winters - This looks totally hot. Team it with black tights and boots. Wear it with a tight smart sweater and a jacket, which can be either very short or as long as the skirt.
4) Spaghetti tops - Have at least 3 or 4 of these in bright colours. You can have so much fun with these. Wear them inside an open shirt, or inside a dungaree, or just with a jeans.
5) Black Cocktail Dress - This little number comes in handy for a night out at some pub, or a formal party.
6) Black High Heels - Do I need to emphasise the importance of this one.
7) Jodhpuri Chappals - They look cool with ethnic as well as trendy clothes. Team it with a salwar suit or with Jeans or capris. They always look cool and are oh-so-comfortable.
8) Leather Boots - I can spend an entire winter in these.
9) Ethnic suit - A very Indian, very bright, very ethnic suit is a must have for all young Indian ladies. It makes a good impression on elders too ;-)
10) Sari - A sexy, bright yet simple Sari with a glamorous choli. Oooooh!!!!! HOTTTT is the word for it.
11) Jackets - I love jackets. They can make any plain dress look fabulous. I have so many of them, one long brown suede, one long black leather, one short green denim, one long black fur :-) You need not have so many, but one long and one short will do, choose your own material.

I am not too good with accessories, so I won't put them here. But I will soon post pics for all the above listed items.

Home Alone and Partying

I was home alone for a few days. Dad's gone to Hyderabad and Mom's visiting my sister. So, did I behave like an opportunist to have some fun in the absence of my parents?? I sure did, what else did you expect. I totally threatened my friends to make some good weekend plan since noone knows when I would get such an opportunity again. I cannot have late nights in the presence of my family, curfew timings for me are 8 P.M. Yeah, I know, gross!! But I don't complain, coz I love being with the old gal and the old guy :-) But that doesn't mean I wouldn't feel guiltily glad when they are not at home.
So a friend of mine told me that one of his friends was having a house party and I was welcome to come along. Now, I didn't even know the guy who was throwing the party. But what the hell!!! At 25, you are still allowed to visit parties where you don't know anybody. (Ain't it??!! ) So, I went without the least idea of what the party was going to be like, how many people would there be, etc. All I knew was that the party could go on till veryy late and there would of course be drinks. As it turned out, the party included somewhere around 12 nice people. The host was very friendly and very drunk by the time everybody arrived. So we drank, ate, talked, played cards, and finally danced. I did not drink too much, as I did not want to embarass myself or my friend by being tipsy. So all I had were 2 vodka and orange juice and one shot of Tequila. We danced through the night and it was in the wee hours of morning that we said our goodbyes. I reached home at 5:30, dead tired, and dropped on bed without even changing.
So I had all the fun I could in the absence of my parents, and that would keep me going till the next time they are not home. :-)
Till then, I would be a good, homely daughter

Delhi Bomb Blasts

I was out with my friends at the Great India Place mall in Noida yesterday and got a call from my Mom towards late evening. She was somewhat panicky and asked me to get back home early as there had been a bomb blast somewhere in Karol Bagh. Now my sister lives in Karol Bagh and we could not talk to her or her husband because the networks were all congested. Boy, was it a panicky situation while I frantically tried to connect with my sister! I finally talked with her and she said all was fine but she too had not been able to talk with Jiju who being a doc was in hospital. With some relief I resumed shopping with my friends when a shop attendant informed us that their had been bomb blasts in Greater Kailash too. Shit!!! What was happening!! I now tried calling my Dad who was coming home from airport.
My friends and I decided to return back to our homes but when we drove out of the parking, it seemed as if we would never get home. All roads were blocked due to traffic congestion. I suppose everybody was trying to rush back home as soon as possible. While stuck in traffic, I got a call again from Mom. There had been 5 blasts in all, including one in the Central Park at Connaught Place. I closed my eyes, and just wished to be back home quickly. I looked at the posh market around me and thought of the possibility of a bomb blast there. I tried to clear my head of the unpleasant thoughts as I started receiving calls from many relatives in other cities, who wanted to know whether we were all fine.
I reached home at 8, my Dad had reached only 10 minutes back. So, we were all at home, safe but shaken. The only person with whom nobody had been able to connect was my sister's husband, my jiju, who was at the hospital. However, he probably realised that everyone at home must be trying his number, so he messaged us all that he was really busy because of the blast victims at his hospital. When he came back home today he told us that 2 people were brought dead and the others were badly injured. Both the men who were brought dead were young guys, one of whom had a girlfriend who had many injuries. Poor girl did not even know that his boyfriend was dead. Some victims were in a very critical state with ugly injuries. Jiju had blood stains over his clothes and even being a doctor he said he was feeling really sick after seeing such injuries.
Since yesterday, all news channels are showing the same news about the blasts. What the hell is wrong with these people who are behind the blasts? Do they really think that they are serving God or some part of humanity with their work? It is just impossible to imagine that they take the name of God to justify their heinous deeds. Please, say whatever you may but don't say that you do this in the name of God.

GMAT Date Booked

I booked my GMAT Exam date today for 27th of November. 2 and a half months to go, and a lot to do. Well, I have always performed well under pressure. So the date is set and so am I. All the Best to me. :-)

Dad's new company gave him a brand new black Honda Accord. It's a sexy car, classy too.

Craving for Isolation

Hmph!!! The last few days have been really busy. It's only now that I could get some quality time for myself. So, here I am, sipping on some hot tea, with the laptop on my lap, and typing my heart out. My sister was staying with me for a few days and I was doing all the cooking and cleaning. She was kind and considerate enough to prepare a cup of tea for me whenever I demanded; and that was it. I do the same to her whenever I visit her place :-). I have a mind to call us the wicked sisters since we are really mean to each other. However, I love that about our relationship, no boring formality when I am with my sister. I have seen some siblings who are sweeter than sugar towards each other and talk like they are in church. Yuck. I am glad my sister gives me tough competition in being mean, wicked, delightfully selfish and ready to pounce on any opportunity to fight. That's the right way to live with your siblings.

Mom and Dad arrived yesterday with almost a truckload of luggage. They have gone to Gurgaon today and will hopefully finalize an apartment out of a few shortlisted. So, I am all alone at home and enjoying these moments. Being with family is all too good but one needs some time alone for oneself. At least I do.