Graduated!

Only a handful in this world can deeply connect with my sheer excitement of having graduated with an MBA! A long-awaited dream that seemed to definitely not picture itself in my history is now actually a chapter in it. The world that once seemed confined has now turned opportunistic. This year at Lancaster has been 'the' most memorable year in my life so far, the memories of which I shall cherish for lifetime. Thanks to friends, family, staff and colleagues who supported me on this journey!

Well, this wasn't supposed to be a vote of thanks note! :) The graduation week as it was called started with buzz and fizz. Going up North back to Lancaster, felt like going back home. Meeting my MBA colleagues and staff, going around the campus and the city brought back very fond memories. The ceremony at 12 Noon was for the MBAs! Cheering for my classmates and enjoying the aura in the air, I had goosebumps when my name was called out! What a moment! Post the ceremony a small gathering in the Management School was hosted by the MBA programme team. Thanks to the team for the lovely gesture.Special thanks to my aunt's and cousins who decided to be with me to share this special moment. Thanks to everyone sending in wishes, congratulatory messages, cards and gifts. Overwhelmed! :) #loveLancaster #MBAGrad #LUGrad

Every ending is a new beginning

September 1st marked my official last day on the Lancaster MBA. The final academic piece submitted and I bid farewell to the class. I still can't believe that the past year was real - I have to pinch myself often to remind me that it was indeed. What an amazing year it has been! Friday night we were all hosted by the school at The Kensington Roof Gardens for a farewell. It was lovely to meet my cohort and the staff for one last time as students. Excited to join the alumni bandwagon now.

I spent the whole of Saturday at Enfield at my cousins' before Niharika, Ketan and me headed off to Belfast to celebrate the course completion.

Belfast is beautiful - has a look and feel of a European city more than UK. Toured 3 full days going around Belfast and Northern Ireland. The highlight was the drive through the Antrim coast to Giant's causeway and the Carrick-a-rede rope bridge. Loved the entire experience. The best part of the trip was meeting Dominic, who managed to make it to Belfast from Dublin to catch up with me. Lovely trip, lovely company, lovely city and what a lovely way to mark the course closure. 

Back home now as the exploration to find the next journey begins. Sincere thanks to the entire programme team, the staff and my class for making this year a memorable and life-changing experience for me. Love you all. Good luck to the cohort that starts soon. #loveLancaster

The Scottish Experience!

Amidst a busy essay writing spree and when the curtains have already started rolling down, I chose to take a break and unwind at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Thanks to my SIL, who studied there for being a perfect host and an amazing tour guide. Off to Edinburgh from Stansted on the Friday, Saturday was slated for a city tour. The pointed towers and monuments reminded me of Prague. Lacked the colour though. A very beautiful city - had to quote it since it was my first time in Scotland. Was close while I was in Lancaster but had to put it off waiting to go with an authentic tour guide :) Also got to meet a few people mainly friends of my SIL. The exciting bit was getting immersed in the ongoing Fringe festival. Street performances, food, shopping - it was a thorough delight. Got to also catch-up with a show titled Skin. The following day, we headed early to hike to get to Arthur's seat. Breathtaking views from the top, definitely worth the climb. Climbing down walking through the university, admiring some traditional sites, tasting traditional food, going back in history at the Mary King's close - everything was very spectacular and very interesting. Weather was favourable too. Monday - I managed to catch up with Martin - it was brilliant to chat with him. Then a quick hike to the Calton hill, before we headed to the airport. 

Didn't know another exciting thing awaited in the plane. Got a chance to meet Kes Gray, a children's book author, winner of the prestigious Red House Children's Book Award. Very interesting conversation with him that kept me awake and excited all through the 1 hour. Take a look at his work - http://www.kesgray.com/.

Back home, working on my essay and the race is on! #loveLancaster

View from Arthur's seat	National monument	Parliament
Edinburgh Castle	Balmoral from atop Scott monument	Fringe!
Scott Monument	Another one read Trudeau or Trump! :)	The trio!
Only #SRK fans will love this! :)	Ready to explore.	While in Edinburgh! :)

Date with the capstone!

A long date - quite demanding and requires a lot of effort! :) As soon as we got done with the project report and took a break, the work on the final capstone piece has begun and goes on and on. Weekend was fun, spent bidding farewell to Pankaj who headed back to Pune this Tuesday. Friday night we were off to Hemel Hempstead to meet a cousin. The next day, I was off to Bethnal Green to reminisce and devour some of the missing experiences. That night we stopped for dinner at Las Iguanas for some Mexican cuisine and then I was out for adventure with the three girls on Santander bikes. Literally a tick on the pending item of my London diary. Sunday morning after quite a struggle with the tube and the DLR, myself and Radhika went to meet Shaswati at Greenwich. Definitely worth the struggle. Time ticks and you don't want it to, when you talk to Shas. It is always rejuvenating and refreshing to meet this energetic young woman. Loved the conversation. Time beautifully spent. Back home after seeing off Pankaj, I headed back to Cambridge. Well, disheartening to hear the tragic rail accident back in India. On the other side, was super fun watching the wedding and reception videos of my cousin in the US. This week has been drowned in working on the capstone essay and the saga continues, before it halts for the long weekend as Scotland calls! :) #loveLancaster

Spot the 2 rainbows!
	News on India's rail accident at Canary Wharf

A lot said and done!

Woah! Huh! Yayy! Yippie! Hmm.....mixing it up isn't it - that's exactly the mood of the hour. Penning after over a week - early last week went into finalizing the presentation, getting our pitch ready and applying cosmetic changes. Wednesday delivered it to the team at Saatchi and we were elated by the response and acknowledgement. Post bidding good-bye to the team and to Saatchi & Saatchi, we treated ourselves for a lunch at Rasa. The next 2 days were literally spent sleeping and sleeping and sleeping. Thursday night, however Simpy, Niharika and myself ended up stepping out visiting Southbank, the Underbelly festival and had a great time. Weekend was super busy though - Friday afternoon I was off to Croydon to help Praveen pack and move. Friday night - reunion at Salt-point bar - fun to meet most of the cohort and catch up with happenings in their zones. Saturday - lunch with cousins at Bethnal Green and dinner with Christina, Alisa, Irene, Ploy and Jen at Clapham. Spent a few hours at their place chatting and it felt so good. Later that night, 12 of us from the cohort headed to 'Ministry of Sound' for the 'very very wrong indeed' club night. My first experience clubbing in London and it was super amazing. The energy, the atmosphere, the music - Kudos! Will wait to go again sometime soon. Sunday was rather a quick start given that I was moving to Cambridge to my cousin's. Feeling of moving away from the class has set-in and it is sort of depressing. I know it will fade away soon but it is going to remain for a while. All set in Cambridge, was off out yesterday to meet Alisa and Grace who were visiting Cambridge. Fun 5-6 hours with them going around Cambridge - the pictures below should speak. Getting done with reports, beginning to work on my final essay and waiting to meet some of my class again this weekend. UK diaries continue. #loveLancaster

At the Underbelly festival
Dinner at Dishoom!	Missing Deepika in the UK!	Will soon miss Pankaj as well!