Leonine Luxury

Ah! The joys of a manicure! I am indulgently staring at my fingers while typing. I am touching and picking objects gently and not grabbing at them, to make my nail polish last longer. Alas! Even with new and improvised beauty products entering the market every other day, there is still not a single nail polish that would last even for 3 days without chipping. Anyway, right now my hands are glowing and my nails are shining. What more could a girl ask for? Apart from some Mac products and spa trips and new clothes and.... mmm guess I am getting carried away :)

While getting my manicure this evening, I let my thoughts wander. I was thinking how much I love pampering. I know everybody does, but with me, it goes to another level. It has a healing effect on my body, mind, and soul. It makes me so happy! I think it has a lot to do with me being a Leo :)

Okay, people who don't believe in sun-signs are now rolling their eyes. Roll 'em as much as you want dear non-believer, but every Leo loves luxury and pampering, and that's as good as a fact. There might be just different ways of being pampered that work for different people, but scratch the surface and you find that need for self-indulgence in every Big Cat.

These days I am too much into it. I have a set routine (yes, I count that as indulgence), I wake up at 6 AM, I do Yoga, I meditate, I listen to soothing lounge music during my shower, I eat only fruits for my dinner, all of which makes me feel as fresh as a baby. My mind is so relaxed, my body feels so light and I am so peaceful that I do imagine being just-out-of-the-womb kind of fresh. Alright maybe a just-out-of-the-womb baby isn't that happy. I should say a-day-old-baby kind of fresh. I believe in getting my facts right :)

I want to clarify here that I am not a diet and fitness freak, neither am I paranoid about my weight, and I call myself a 'foodie'. It is just a phase that I am in, but now I am seriously considering making it my lifestyle. However, I also know that all this is possible because presently I have more time on my hands than I can waste without feeling guilty. Once I get back into the grind of work or studies, it would be nearly impossible to afford such luxury. This gets me back to the L-word. Yep, that's the L-word of my life nowadays :)

Psst: I succeeded in not mentioning Vlerick even once in my post. Yayieee!! :D

Life And To-Do-List

Life has suddenly become very busy. There are numerous things to do on my list and there is a deadline for everything. I came back from Kanpur on 12th and had an exam for my HR diploma on 15th. I have the next exam tomorrow but since 15th I have been busy with my registration at Vlerick. I met GO and his friends day before to catch up over drinks and dinner because GO is going to US for 3 months on a business trip. I will be done with my HR exams on 25th and after that, I have to rush things to get a loan and then apply for Visa. Meanwhile, I also have to join French classes (it will look good on my resume during placements next year) and keep learning until August. With all this work and the deadlines threatening to zoom past, I am also trying to keep in touch with my future batch mates at Vlerick. They are a nice bunch, all of them from varied backgrounds and age groups. I know only about the Indian admits yet, and hence I can imagine the kind of diversity we will get in the class once we are actually there. The Indian admits are all brilliant people and I am looking ahead to an intellectually stimulating and exciting time at Belgium.

I have to visit Parneet while she is in Delhi. Amit has promised to come to Delhi from Hyderabad before I leave, so I have plans to catch up with him too. Golly, I need to meet everybody in these few months.

Life is revolving around a 'To-Do-List' these days and I guess it is going to get busier and busier. I have heard and read about the horrid working and sleeping hours at B-Schools, and I think I need to prepare myself for the grind. Already, I feel that I have stopped thinking coherently. My thoughts all start with, "I need to ..." and a new thing-to-do is mentally added to my already miles long list. :(

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.11) I need to brush up my cycling skills. It has been years since I rode a bike and in Belgium people prefer to pedal down to wherever they want to go.

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.20) I need to do a lot of boring reading before I go. Business Reviews, Economic Times, Business Blogs.

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55) I need to learn all about Internet Marketing and professional writing. It might help me earn during my studies. Just an Idea :D

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.79) I need to reduce my sleeping hours :(

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.100) I need to stop needing rest :(

.101) I need to stop talking about Vlerick :D

Karma and Holi

A Very Happy Colorful Holy Holi To All

I am visiting my cousins in Kanpur for Holi this year, and although I have never in my life liked Kanpur, I am looking forward to celebrating Holi with my cousins. This will be my first Holi here and I have heard that Kanpur people go wild when celebrating the festival of colors. I have been singled out as today's target by cousins, brothers-in-law, nephews, and nieces alike. I know I am going to get a raw deal today :(

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My to-be-school Vlerick is constantly on my mind these days. It feels like I am infatuated with the school, and I am sure if there was any such thing as love with inanimate objects, then I would have called it the beginning of a love affair. Well, come to think of it, to my mind Vlerick is not at all an inanimate object. However, I don't want to go blah-blah about my school again because that is exactly what I am doing since many days and people around me now grab any nearby object to stuff it either in my mouth or in their ears, whichever is easier. I would just write about my love relationship with Vlerick :)

In February, I first saw its name on the 2008 Financial Times rankings and because it was in Europe, I visited the college website. It was simply love at first sight. The college campus was beautiful and the city even more so. The various stats about the college were very impressive and I knew that we were meant to be together. I had a fair idea that my chances were bleak considering the reputation of Vlerick in Europe. I nevertheless decided to give it a try. It was tough, the application, the essays et all, but the path of true love is never easy. I submitted the application and waited for some days with bated breath (just figuratively), praying throughout and asking my friends to pray for me. I think that Gods were kind and I came to know my results in 6 days flat. I am the only person out of those admitted who had the results in that unbelievably short duration. For everybody else it took more than 2 weeks. I made it, I have been accepted by my love and I can't wait for our new life together. The latest FT rankings just gave me more reason to rejoice, because Vlerick jumped up by 22 places (now ranks 75 in the world), which makes it the fastest moving-up-the-ladder school. I have to now complete the registration process to legalise our relationship and then Vlerick would be officially mine. We will live together from 1st September.

Give this couple your blessings :D

Alright, so I just demonstrated my insane infatuation but so what!

The News

Although I am very ill and tired at the moment, I still feel euphoric. I have been speaking almost non-stop for the last 2 days, which has made my tonsils swell and has resulted in a mild fever, but I never felt better in my life.

Dear Blogdosts,

Thank you all for your kind comments on my previous post. You all encouraged me no end and I am very happy to share now that I have received the much-awaited offer from my dream school, Vlerick Leuven Gent School of Management. I still can't believe that I really made it to one of the top 100 B-Schools in the world. As far as I know, I am the only girl selected from India as yet, 4 other Indian guys have been offered admission, and I believe there will only be 2-3 more Indian admits.

I have been running really busy since last 2 days. On 3rd March I went to Noida and met Priya, GO and a college friend whom I had not met since ages. I came back home late and tired and checked my mails to find a mail from Vlerick, informing me about the offer. I screamed, yes, I did. I told Mom and then Dad and then called friends and since then I am talking incessantly to friends and family and narrating the whole story to everyone. Nothing less would do! On 4th, that is yesterday, I had a wedding to attend, where I again met many family members who got to hear the entire history of Vlerick from me. That much of talking has its disadvantages, and I am now struggling to recover from a fever and pain in my throat. I never before realized that I gulp more than once every minute. I now know, because each time I gulp, I close my eyes and do it in slow motion, else the pain seems almost unbearable.

Anyhow, these last few days have been very eventful for me and I am not complaining :-). Thank you guys for your good wishes. I think they really worked for me. The session begins September 1 and I am really looking forward to it :D