Ask Neela!

It has only been 7 months in Hyderabad and right from the commonplace where-to-eat-whats or what-to-buy-wheres, to the not-so-common, which Telegu movie is running its 7th week in which theatre or which artist is Kalakriti Art Gallery hosting this week, have all found themselves secure lodgings in my otherwise always-too-full-to-store-more memory. I do not aspire to become a Tourist Guide or pen "Know Hyderabad" post marriage, nor do I gorge on Hyderabad Times every morning. All I do is.... write for asklaila!!

And I am glad I chose India Syndicate to Deloitte as my career launchpad in Hyderabad or else it would have taken years for me to know the city the way I know it now. At that time India Syndicate meant an opportunity to make my 'pen more fertile' (it feels better to refer to it as the good old "pen") and good moolah right from the comforts of my giant revolving chair at home, while Deloitte meant nothing more than the hugest office I'd ever work for (well, I kind of regret that decision now and that's a different story altogether). I was also a little unsure about how I will weave my stories out of a city I had just landed. And how I love challenges - all you do to get me doing something is give me a - "You can't do it"!

The best part about being an online writer is you may edit what you wrote as and when you want to. So every discovery, overlooked or missed out on in my first dig, due to lack of first hand experience, would promptly appear in or dissappear from my features.

And the way I'm being Google'ed lately by friends, I am actually tempted to set off an askneela.com myself with honest, no-frills-attached reviews and informations. And then I'll expand it into a local Just Dial service of sorts. Gradually I will expand and will answer to all your city specific queries of the entire nation you'd have otherwise Google'ed for. Next, askneela.com will go global (remember askjeeves?) and very soon tabloids will be full of Askneela Vs. Goolge warfare and then one fine day Misrosoft will send me an acquisition proposal. By then I'd have become quite rich and it would not give me an heart-attack like I'd have had today counting the zeroes in the offer. I'd show it to Don (I'm convinced Don will retire as a Microsoftian by then) and inspite of all his convincing, I'd refuse the offer.

Tabloids would next read: Askneela Vs. Google Vs. Misrosoft.

Then somebody will write a book on me and you'll see my photographs and interviews splattered all over...........................

Sometime mid-way while writing this, I felt like listening to Don McLean's "Starry starry night" (a tribute to Vincent Van Gogh)...which I did....

I'm sure Larry Page or Bill gates sounded as crazy some many years back.....if you know what I mean!

Hail Insanity!