Saturday 14 August 2010

Mallya Junior+awareness drive+ Inside RCB dope, The Mumbai Meetup had it all.

royal challengers

Whoa…The best fan meetup so far. I’m elated. Sidhartha Mallya obliged us fans with his presence for over two hours (albeit a last minute surprise element)

Little did I know that a random tweet update by me calling all RCB fans in Mumbai for a meetup at Leopold, would get the Director of RCB to join us fans and and share the inside dope on players, venues, matches and surprisingly his school days. The Fan Meetup & awareness drive turned out to be a huge success with Mallya Junior playing a great host and fans turning up in large numbers.

Toying with a social cause since the fan Summit, the meetup was planned so as to cater to atleast a small social cause from RCB fans to the city of Mumbai. And glad we did…we held a jersey rally along Marine Drive with the help of CORNER STONE, a Mumbai based NGO. We conducted an awareness drive along the roads from Colaba to Marine Drive with social and cleanliness messages pasted on our jersey, holding placards and asking people not to litter. A brief start to what we intend to take a long way.

But the real action unfolded at Cafe Leopold, where Sid Mallya turned up (before time..mind you, as Nidhi said UK timings ) with two of his friends and had a ‘Good Time’ with all the fans. Here’s how it all began:

Tweete-e-Tweete :
My tweet update for RCB:
Calling all RCB fans in Mumbai for a meetup (4pm @Leopold, Colaba) & Jersey/T-shirt rally thereafter. So are you Mumbaikars, GAME FOR MORE?

Sidhartha Mallya replies:
@RCBTweets I will for sure come along…Leo’s is my fav place!

I hope I’m seeing as many RCB fans as possible today at 4pm at Leopolds, Colaba. Will be good to have a catch up and a few beers… 2:03 PM Aug 8th via UberTwitter


As fans dropped by donning RCB jerseys he was at a loss of words and quite humbled by the number of those who had turned up for the meet. Sharing inside goss about IPL 3 auctions, his favourite picks for RCB and player retention policies for CLT20 and IPL4, Sidhartha patiently answered all our queries. Few off the record dope and indulging in a banter with his staunch KXIP follower friend, his days at the boarding school and as a hockey captain…Mallya junior had a whale of a time with us. He also promised to give away Red & Gold RCB bagdes (he was wearing one too) for fans turning for coming meetups.
News is ‘RCB jersey for CLT20 is gonna change’ The new one will be sans a collar..it’ll be a round neck fitted Jersey..specially keeping in mind players like PK who wears a jersey 3 times his size We also came up with a suggestion to start our own ‘Cafe RCB & Force India’ on the lines of “ManUtd cafes’. Chatting for over two hours it was time to bid adieu to the ‘Prince of Good Times’

Happiness Index: The happiness quotient of the meetup fans and Mallya Junior alike was really high. Turning up for all the fans, an impromtu & warm gesture, on Sidhartha’s part was highly appreciated. Also this meetup would be featured in the Times of India. (will update that bit soon)

Party Meter: Most of them who’d turned for the meetup were teetotallers and Sid was amazed as to how RCB fans could leave the venue without having USL products. But then he played aperfect host and offered juices instead


royal challengers

royal challengers

royal challengers

He tweets post the meetup:

"Just met our fans at Leopolds.am completely humbled and in awe of the experience. Amazing feeling to know we have rcb fans all over india "

P.S. The ‘off the record’ player/matches info that Mallya Junior shared with us will be posted in my next blog soon.


Vignettes revamped..

A lull before an array of blogs. Starting afresh after the hectic IPL season and a host of parties that I’ve been to, the revamped page of my blog will have exciting new deals for Mumbaikars by Mydala.com
Also the new look and feel of my blog (I love it more than anyone else..: P) will make it easier for you’ll to browse through the archives and pictures. A big shout out to my fellow bloggers Dhaval and Kunal for their blogging and SEO tips. Thanks a lot guys.

So on the eve of Indian Independence, I pledge that I'll blog regularly. (not that it'll add to the nation's significance ;-) )

Thursday 5 August 2010

'CALL' it quits

I suffer from a chronic yet quirky problem of hating to talk on the phone. So much so that I start getting uneasy if the conversation extends the 15-20 min mark. Quite unlike other girls my age, who spend hours yapping on the phone, I tend to end conversations abruptly. Did try a lot to get over the habit but somehow couldnt. This weird habit of mine is now getting on to the nerves of those who try to contact me, my family, friends,acquaintances. So much so that they've even contemplated getting to know what this 'phobia' is termed as???


The mobile phone will celebrate its 15th birthday in India this year but I, much to other's dismay,  yearn for the days when they were only for the strong and the wealthy. Ironically, being a gadegt freak myself, I've got to admit I'm impressed by technology and services it has to offer with the advent of 3G.
But whats with the compulsion that makes the mobile owners use the damn thing day and night?
They are fast replacing clouds of cigarette smoke as public nuisance No. 1.  My hour long train commute to college and back home was the only 'alone time' I had to myself during the day, maybe hooked to a nice book or some soulful lyrics on my MP3. But now its impossible to enjoy those thoughtful moments without having to listen to a dozen one sided phone conversations of complete strangers. None is an urgent warning  to a loved one or a call that sheds invaluable insights on life. Sadly they are boring, devoid of any intrigue, usually packed with trivia everyone within  earshot must endure.
I do concede that mobile phones have saved ship wrecked sailors or hikers lost  in mountains or even ideal for finding a wandering partner. But they also blight lives. Tiger Woods and Terry would be at a better position as to how these very handy devices have wrecked their lives.What irks me the most about this device is the very essence of its invention (read make/receive calls on the go). Just hope i get over this syndrome someday. if not for myself atleast for those who call me up.

P.S. Texting ( note how the mobile changed the word 'text' from noun to verb)  the other feature which a phone offers is my addiction. I can go to any lengths texting a conversation than having one. Just realised I text faster than i talk