The science of happiness (and your mum is not always right!)

I have often had this thought “Why can one not be happy always?” We tend to be joyful for a while and then continue our quest for something new and there goes happiness out of the window. 

Recently, I stumbled on some literature on the theme by Seligman and Daniel Gilbert of Harvard University—both of whom have spent a lifetime researching and raising questions on the nature of happiness, and whether it can be measured and researched scientifically in much the same way global warming and cancer are. The questions they’re working on are interesting. For instance, what happens to people after they get something they’ve always wanted? Are they happier for it? Or is it possible they remain unhappy after getting what they want? While on unhappiness, Gilbert’s hypothesis is that most people are that way for one of two reasons. Either because they are surrounded by people who offer the wrong advice; or they aim for the wrong things. By way of example on wrong advice, he talks of his younger days when newspapers and magazines were pummeled by advertisements that encouraged people to smoke, drink cola and watch television as a family. By engaging in all of these activities, ads promised, everybody would be happier. With the benefit of hindsight and contemporary research, we now know smoking can kill, cola is bad and unfettered television makes zombies out of people. 

“Is happiness elusive?” Gilbert asks. “Well, of course we don’t get as much of it as we want. But we’re not supposed to be happy all the time. We want that, but nature designed us to have emotions for a reason. Emotions are a primitive signalling system. They’re how your brain tells you if you’re doing things that enhance—or diminish—your survival chances. What good is a compass if it’s always stuck on north? It must be able to fluctuate. You’re supposed to be moving through these emotional states. If someone offers you a pill that makes you happy 100 percent of the time, you should run fast in the other direction. It’s not good to feel happy in a dark alley at night. Happiness is a noun, so we think it’s something we can own. But happiness is a place to visit, not a place to live. It’s like the child’s idea that if you drive far and fast enough you can get to the horizon—no, the horizon’s not a place you get to.”

Then, there are mothers across all cultures who offer three pieces of unsolicited advice. They think it timeless and hopelessly true.

• Get married to a good girl (or man)

• Find a good job and stick to it

• Have children

Thing is, as much as mum’s advice sounds commonsensical, it hadn’t been measured scientifically. Among other things, that is pretty much what Gilbert and Seligman do for a living—question fondly held assumptions and try to understand if they stand up to scrutiny in the face of scientific data. Let’s take one thing at a time, beginning with marriage. Without getting into the various complexities and variables that govern this dynamic relationship, their research indicates that all other things remaining the same, when the number of years spent in a marriage are plotted on the X-axis against happiness on the Y-axis, the bell curve that emerges shows a consistent pattern. For a majority of the population, happiness begins to show an upward trend when they get hitched to somebody. The trend continues upwards until years five and six on the outside, and begins to decline until it plateaus around year 10 to finally rest at the same point it was at before you got married.

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             All research indicates money can indeed buy you happiness. Nobel Prize winning economist Daniel Kahneman and his compatriot Angus Deaton computed this number at a per capita income of $75,000. “We suspect that this means, in part, that when people have a lot more money, they can buy a lot more pleasures, but there are some indications that when you have a lot of money you will savour each pleasure less,” Kahneman said. “Perhaps $75,000 is a threshold beyond which further increases in income no longer improve individuals’ ability to do what matters most to their emotional well-being, such as spending time with people they like, avoiding pain and disease, and enjoying leisure.” In India’s case, even when measured in terms of purchasing power parity, the per capita gross national income is a wretched $5,350. But if I were to subject myself to definitions provided by the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), I am rich—like practically every reader of this blog is—with an annual income in excess of Rs.1.5 lakh. I suspect everybody who is rich as defined by NCAER, will agree this isn’t the kind of number exactly conducive to happiness. So, any spike in income matters until I can afford a nice home in a plush neighbourhood or a car that suits my fancy, much like a citizen of a wealthy Arab nation or Switzerland. To get there though, I have a long way to go and ought to look at every opportunity that comes my way until I reach the global average of $75,000. In doing that, mum’s advice to stick to a decent job at a nice place for as long as you can ought to be trashed.

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    Then there are children. This may break your heart. But the question must be faced. “Why do we have an intuition children make us happy when data suggests they don’t?” asks Gilbert. By way of explanation, he says, “Basic theory in economics suggest you love what you pay a lot for.” “Children are creatures you invest in with blood, sweat and tears and money. So you go around telling people you must have children too because it will make you happy. There is data to suggest this,” says Gilbert. To prove the point, he talks of an experiment where parents were brought into a laboratory and given two articles to read. One suggested how happy children make you feel and the other how expensive children are to rear. That done, both sets of parents were questioned. The ones who read the piece that argued children are expensive to rear argued explosively that the joy children bring outweighs the costs. This, however, is the kind of reaction heroin induces, Gilbert argues. It makes you feel so good that it crowds out every other thing in your life. The net effect is that it will ruin your life. “Looking at a baby is much like having heroin. They crowd out every pleasure from life and demand more of your time. The net effect of having children is that they reduce happiness,” he says. The way people remember memories is by keeping track of the highs. That is how it works with children. All they have to do is say one cute thing and it brings us joy and compels us to go around telling everybody why having children is great. But those moments are rare and when clinically tracked, few and far between. To put that into perspective, you may not want to spend a lot on that crazy expensive iPhone. But once you do, you fall in love with it. Having done that, you go around telling everybody they ought to have it as well because it will make them happy. So, mummy was wrong again in arguing that more children bring more happiness.

If these guys are so smart and have figured everything down to the T, is there a formula that can be deployed to compute and acquire happiness? Yes, says Seligman, and offers an equation to come up with a robust answer. 

H = S + C + V, where H is your enduring level of happiness, S is your set range, C refers to the circumstances of your life, V represents factors under your voluntary control. 

It is important here to distinguish between enduring happiness and momentary happiness. “Momentary happiness can easily be increased by any number of uplifts such as a chocolate, a comedy film, a back rub, a compliment, flowers, or a new blouse,” writes Seligman. And while it’s okay to deploy some resources every once in a while towards the moment, in the longer run, all of your efforts ought to be deployed to achieve enduring happiness. To begin getting here, it is important to first understand your genetic predisposition—or the set range. If your biological parents were unhappy people, Seligman’s research suggests even if you were placed in a foster home with happy parents, you may just turn out to be unhappy. Unless you actively work on acknowledging it in the first instance, working at changing the circumstances that surround you and being in control of all the variables you possibly can. So it is time to rethink all that mum told you, however noble her intentions were. 

Want to know how happy you really are? Go ahead and take a test at www.authentichappiness.com

This is a test designed by Martin Seligman himself.

NOTE: Though written by me, certain parts of this blog post have been taken from various sources and the figures mentioned in the post are factually correct.

Respect Women...

"Of all the evils for which man has made himself responsible, none is so degrading, so shocking or so brutal as his abuse of the better half of humanity; the female sex (not the weaker sex)." - Mahatma Gandhi

I feel very amused when people react in one way to incidents of harassment, rape, discrimination etc etc. against women and then later on are very much a part in judging women. A woman gets raped in some city and we feel sorry and feel pity for the state of our country. Now at the same time a girl wears clothes considered to be sexy or talks freely with a guy and she is termed slutty by these very people. How is that?

Some intelligent souls blaming the way a lady dresses for the way she is treated is outright ridiculous. When a man has the freedom to dress the way he wants why doesn't the fairer sex? Women are the fairer lot so the way they dress actually adds that charm to their personality. I definitely don't consider wearing a short skirt or body hugging clothes provocative enough to go and rape her or pass ugly comments. It is about what is comfortable for her. If this was provocative, then every single one of us would be serving sentences for murdering that idiot who doesn't follow traffic rules or that pesky neighbor who interferes in your life. Life is about control. Provocation is out of question. What is even more disappointing is some women actually supporting the view that a woman should dress up in a way keeping in mind how freaky men would behave. And by agreeing with this, they are actually supporting the argument that men are not wrong for their actions. One dresses up the way one wants according to one's comfort. Every guy wants 'good looking' girls to talk with him and get close and casual. But if the same she talks freely with 5 other guys then she is not moral anymore. Seriously what the hell? I feel a sense of rage every time some guy sits and judges a girl. Irks me.

If you look at Indian men, there are those who indulge in eve-teasing. Then there are those who accompany a girl all the way to her house late night, just to make sure she reaches home safe and sound.

There are those who treat women like objects. Then there are those who look up to their sisters, female friends and wives for advice and guidance.

There are those who beat up their wives and go out and get drunk every night. Then there are those who accompany their wives for hours of endless shopping and return home willingly every evening just to have a quiet dinner with the family.

There are those who discriminate against not-so-good-looking women. Then there are those who take care and look after their wives, female friends, or any woman in their circle no matter how she looks, just because she is a woman.

There are those who touch women inappropriately. Then there are those who hold hands while crossing the street, walk on the traffic-side of the road, are vigilant of inappropriate behaviour towards their female companion in crowds, and shield the woman from rain, sun and wind, just to make sure she is comfortable.

There are both kinds. The media highlights some, and they should be highlighted, and they need to be straightened out. But let's not forget the positive side of the Indian male psyche too. We do have gentlemen after all. Let's acknowledge them and treat them as well as they treat us.

A lot of people will say that a woman should watch how she dresses so she doesn't tempt you to look at her wrongly. Here is what I have to say. It is a woman’s responsibility to dress herself in the morning. It is your responsibility to look at her like a human being regardless of what she is wearing. You will feel the temptation to blame her for your wandering eyes because of what she is wearing – or not wearing. But don’t. Don’t play the victim. You are not a helpless victim when it comes to your eyes. You have full control over them. Exercise that control. Train them to look her in the eyes. Discipline yourself to see her, not her clothes or her body.

And the woman you are looking at is more than her clothes. She is more than her body. There is a lot of talk about how men objectify women, and largely, it is true. Humans objectify the things they love in effort to control them. If you truly love a person, do not reduce them to an object. The moment you objectify another human – woman or man, you give up your humanity.

There are two views regarding a woman’s dress code that you will be pressured to buy into. One view will say that women need to dress to get the attention of men. The other view will say women need to dress to protect men from themselves. Dude, you are better than both of these. A woman, or any human being, should not have to dress to get your attention. You should give them the full attention they deserve simply because they are a fellow human being. On the other side, a woman should not have to feel like she needs to protect you from you. You need to be in control of you.

As a give-away let me emphasize that it is extremely important to change our views and perception about women if we want to reduce crimes against women in the country and make it a safer place. Men should learn to respect a woman for whatever and however she is. She has as much freedom as any man to do what she wants. Just because she has breasts doesn't mean she is inferior in any way. Being physically overpowering doesn't give any man the right to press his will over her. Every woman is different and yet so similar in many ways. The way they dress up, the way they use make-up, the way they talk, the way they think, the way they do anything differently from men is what makes them adorable and lovable. I agree that ladies are tough to handle but the world would never be a better place without them. Right now women are like an endangered species and they need to be protected, nurtured, respected and loved.

A woman’s body is beautiful and wonderful and mysterious. Respect it by respecting her as an individual with hopes and dreams and experiences and emotions and longings. Let her be confident. Encourage her confidence. But don’t do all this because she is weaker. That’s the biggest bunch of crap out there. Women are not weaker than men. They are not the weaker sex. They are the other sex.

I’m not telling you to not look at women. Just the opposite. I’m telling you to see women. Really see them. Not just with your eyes, but with your heart. Don’t look to see something that tickles your senses, but see a human being.

My hope is that changing how you see women will change how you are around them. Don’t just be around women. Be with women.

Because in the end, they want to be with you. Without fear of being judged, or shamed, or condemned, or objectified, or being treated as other. And that’s not just what women want. That’s what people want.

Ultimately, it’s what you want.

So all the men out there change your thoughts today and try to transform a lecherous man you come across again.

The Secret Wishlist by Preeti Shenoy - A Review

My adoration for Preeti started from Tea for two and a piece of cake. Was really impressed with the book. Today when we have authors cropping up in every corner of the country, Preeti  Shenoy, definitely stands out as an author of substance, both through her books and achievements. She has become a real inspiration for women across the country. She has shown that age and motherhood is no barrier to achieve success.  Her's is definitely a story that every woman would be proud of. With The Secret Wishlist, Preeti has shown that storytelling is something that comes naturally to her.

 Coming to the review of the book. One can actually find a lot of similarities between this one and her previous book Tea for two and a piece of cake. The protagonist  is a female character who is burdened by life's cruel fate and then rises against all odds to live her dreams. A broken marriage and finding true love. Even with all these similarities, The Secret Wishlist, stands out.

Well critics may say that she is promoting extra-marital affairs and inspiring women to walk out of marriages. Well you couldn't be more wrong. She is providing hope for lakhs of women out there who feel that their life is wasted within the four walls of the house. Well, even though I am a guy, I can really understand, feel and relate to the message the book is trying to convey. Most housewives will read this book and say - well that's my life she is describing or that sounds like my husband.
Today when most books have sex as their selling point, the intimate scenes in this novel are so passionate and tender. Makes you enjoy the whole experience. It just blends so well with story. Sex is just a part of the story not the part. Marital rape is another hush - hush issue that Preeti has succeeded in conveying subtly. Something you never see people raising their voice against. Just tells you that it's not always about the man here.

As the name suggests, the book talks about fulfilling those secret wishes that everyone of us have. They could be really simple things but are difficult  to fulfill in their own way. The book inspires you to go out there and achieve what you really want from life. It helps you regain the lost belief in your dreams. Believe in your dreams and they will eventually transform into goals and knowingly or unknowingly you will fulfill them. Believe in something with all your heart and the world conspires to help you achieve your dream. Sounds familiar doesn't it? Well Preeti has been successful to make us realise that it is indeed possible, with her book.

The Secret Wishlist, is a must read for all married women, also the soon to marry and the unmarried ones. Well since this book is not really written with a feministic mind-set, all guys must read this as well to know how to be a good friend, a good husband and above all a gentleman.

Kudos Preeti for such an excellent book.

P.S. Don't forget to make your secret wish list; even if you haven't read this book. We really need a Make a wishlist movement!

The Art of Letting Go...

Achieving something requires true grit. Holding on to something requires courage and motivation. But letting go of something or someone you hold dear is perhaps the hardest of them. In the race called life, we are busy acquiring things and achieving the impossible. But in this mad race we do not learn how to let go. We hold on to something that belongs to us till the last breath. But certain things are best left to go. Else it might cause you more harm than good. It can be a relationship, memories of a dead someone or even a dream.

Recently in the audition of the reality TV show Roadies, one contestant appeared for the auditions. You will not believe this but he was auditioning for the 10th year in a row. Right from the first season till the latest season. He kept trying and trying. Even this time he didn’t get selected for the finals. When the makers of the show heard his story they had nothing but respect for him but they just couldn’t select him. What he failed to realize was that he just didn’t have it in him to be a 'Roadie'. But still he couldn’t let go of his unfulfilled dream. When the hosts made him realize this and asked him to let go, he cried like a baby.

How many of us have gone through a similar experience? It might be that first love which didn’t end well but the heart is not ready to let go of him/her. It could be the memories of a dear one who you loved beyond words but is no more. It could be that one elusive dream which you tried with all your might but still remains unfulfilled. You need to realize, its time to let go.

It's like an albatross around your neck. The more you hold on to it the heavier it gets and the more difficult it becomes to lose it. You don't need to live each day of your life in suffocation. Life would be simpler and merrier without that excess baggage.

Let go of that one thing that you do not need. Live your life peacefully.

Folks it's time to LET GO! 

A weekend of inspiration!

Last weekend was epic. 2 days that will never be forgotten. Yes I am talking about the 25 under 25 grand summit by Campus Diaries.

I got on the summit team relatively late. But as they say its not the quantity that matters but the quality. 20 days of non stop communication with a 100 odd people whom I have never heard of let alone meet or speak to in life  (many of you guys are celebrities but pardon me for being ignorant). Mails requesting for photos, travel plans, interviews, bank details… I am sure most of these people dreaded seeing my name in the from field after a while. Then there was the whatsapp group with a zillion people in it and messages being exchanged at a speed faster than that of light! Phew it was tough keeping up with the conversation. Trust me handling communication with a 100 people at once is a nightmare of a job. But come on, I know I am awesome at this (wink).

The excitement was massive leading up to the event. Last minute changes and additions. The travel hassles. Flights being cancelled, rescheduling the travel. Arranging pick up from airport. Things never end and all we wanted to do was make this a memorable experience for our winners. Sleep was something one could only dream of during the last few days. However none of this could dampen our spirits in welcoming you guys.

Come the D-day and our excitement knew no bounds. The entire Campus Diaries team was ready to welcome the guests and make the next 2 days the most epic. As expected my phone started buzzing from early morning on Saturday with calls from the airport enquiring about the transport arranged. I was dying to meet these superstars. Seeing the first Traveler van arrive from the airport packed with the people I was waiting to meet, my heart skipped a beat. This was the most energetic bunch of people I have met. All so fresh and brimming with energy after all the travel. It was finally great to put a face and voice to all the random names I was emailing to. Frankly, I still cannot get your name right if you stand in front of me. 100 new faces is a lot to process for my tiny brain in a short time of 2 days.

The 2 days were packed with activity. Workshops, stories, delicious food, photos, art and what not! While the IJP performance stole our hearts on Day 1, the beat boxing performance killed it on Day 2! I always wondered what made these 100 people unique. But over the 2 days I realized why each of these people deserved to be on stage receiving the award. So much talent and all of that in one place. Not to forget they are all under 25. Wow! I was mind blown quite literally. The photography category winners could challenge the best in the world. The science and tech guys are usually considered geeks but not these guys. These 25 are the ones going to control the course our future takes. The visual artists are a crazy group simply because they create some insanely crazy art which mesmerizes one and all. The writers let their words and sentences do all the talking giving us enough food for thought. When these 4 tribes come together, it can be quite a potent concoction!

And if you thought these people were only brains, then you couldn’t be more wrong. The awards night was nothing less than a glitzy Bollywood style affair. All the damsels and hunks dressed up in their designer wear, looked straight out of a magazine cover.

The day after the event all I wanted to do was sleep and restore my energy levels. But there was this weird feeling. As people left the hotel for their respective destinations, I couldn’t help feeling lonely. There was so much of buzz being surrounded by people for 2 days and suddenly it felt eerily quiet. How I wished the summit didn’t end.

There is only one wish I have. That the 100 winners that we selected go on to become rockstars in their field. You are prodigies and winners but now its up to you to let the world know why you deserve to be a winner.  Let success not go to your head. You have the responsibility to make the optimum use of your talent. There may be a million other people more talented than you but they will never be the 25 under 25! Nobody can snatch this title away from you.

You meet people and then you meet people. The 150 or so people I met in these 2 days were all achievers in their own right. They could inspire even a stone. So if I say, I was inspired it would be an understatement. I may not be half as talented as them but they have inspired me to strive for perfection. To constantly push myself and be the best of what I can be. So thank you for coming to the Summit and giving me the experience of a lifetime!

Are Women Safe, in India?

At a Toastmasters event that I was part of recently the main topic of discussion was about the safety of women in India. What surprised me was the opinion of many people especially women, that India was among the safest countries for women. Maybe it is a sense of patriotism that made them say that. But, well the truth couldn't be any different. So I decided to go a little deeper into this topic and based on the research I had already done a few months back, but was too lazy to post, I have put together my views. Read On….

Being in the 21st century, with technology and world so advanced, we still talk about this subject, “Are Women Safe, in India, especially?” Every citizen has to realize that – ‘Women are NOT SAFE by any means in India’. There have many cases that have been reported and many unreported for the torture a woman undergoes, yet there has been nothing done to change the law or the system to the way a woman is being looked at.

Women have been advancing, progressing and have proved that they can beat men in any sector they are in. Be it sports, arts, science, politics, service or for that matter anywhere, she has stood at par with what a man could do. Yet, she still fights for equality.

No matter what, the old thoughts and upbringing culture still lay cluttered in the minds of men that women should not be above men, but below them. It is sad to understand that women are the better halves of the society, yet they are the ones who face the maximum tortures in many ways in their lives

One of the main reasons of violence against women is the mentality which deems women inferior of men and merely limits their importance to the maintenance of the household, the upbringing of children and pleasing their husbands and serving other members of the family.

Even in today's times of modernization of society, many working women are still subjected to immense pressure to shoulder the dual responsibility of a housewife and a working woman simultaneously with little or no help from their husbands.

It is the same mentality which, some generations ago, used to think of women as mere objects of attaining sexual pleasure and a servant of the husband, who was considered "parameshwar" which literally translates to "supreme God".

Even today, leave alone villages where people are uneducated, the educated society or who claims to be in the high class society, opts for abortions of girl child! The only reason that they state is “It is expensive to bring up a girl child.” How ridiculous? The system has to be changed right from the roots.

When a girl child is born, the first thought is, the parent has to make dowry to get her married off. Aren’t men and their families ashamed to ask for dowries even today? Do they survive on the money from the girl’s house?

From inside the womb, till her death, a woman is always faced with danger. In the womb, the chances of being killed, even before seeing light, when being born and growing, she faces harsh brutalities like molestation, abusing, physical and mental tortures and above all a heap of workloads and in old age, just abandoned and still being opened for more brutalities till death. What a life? One has to understand, women are also human beings. They also have the same thoughts, desires, and dreams and feel the same pain that men feel. How could they just be taken for granted?

We all know the Delhi Rape Case. (Dec 16th 2012) The most brutal rape case ever heard. There were nation-wide protests, debates, and candle lights, everything done by the public to punish the criminals. It took 9 months for the accused to be convicted and sentenced even when there was strong evidence against them. This is how our judicial system works. But atleast justice was delivered in this case, that is a change for a start.

Although it was a most heinous case of cruelty, it is ironical to note that such incidents are not actually rare in our country. There are several such cases happening everyday where females (from infants to old ladies, from upper middle class women in metro cities to Dalit women in villages, the list can be endless) are subjected to horrendous sexual torture by lustful men who are, in most cases, known to the victims. One cannot generalize the victims or those guilty of sexual crimes in India; they come from all strata of society and from every part of India and belong to all the age groups.

The judicial system has to change. Making stringent laws is necessary to ensure that the guilty in such cases get the punishment that they deserve and don't walk freely due to the weak provisions or loopholes of the existing laws. But asserting that stringent laws will be able to curb male sexual overdrive in India cannot be justified.

Unlike the cases of sexual molestation registered in police stations, there is a large portion of women in India who are subjected to rape and other forms of sexual assault on a daily basis and still their cases go unnoticed.

These women are the unfortunate wives who have to indulge in sexual intercourse with their husbands even if they don't want to (non-consensual sex is nothing but rape). They don't actually have a say in front of their husbands when it comes to sex, they have to comply with the needs and demands of their husbands.

Another category of such women who are bound to indulge in sexual activities against their wishes are the hundreds of thousands of sex workers in India who are visited by numerous men every day and even tortured by many of their clients. They are compelled to do as their clients say as they have no other means of feeding themselves and their children other than selling their bodies to the sex-hungry men of India.

Serious consideration and changes in laws for these kinds of brutality and exploitation has to be brought about. Corrupted officers should be thrown out and punished as an example and efficient ones to be bought in. Action has to be taken, without looking at face and rules should not be bend for certain classes. Definitely, it would have an impact and the thought of “I can get along, no matter I do” thought would come to a stop. Law should neither favor some, nor be exploited by others. Such laws have to be bought about.

Strong and stringent laws are definitely necessary as the existing laws have proved to be inefficient in ensuring swift justice and appropriate punishment to the guilty. But the actual need of the hour is a revolutionary change in the mindset and conscience of Indian men so that they stop seeing women as objects of sexual pleasure. More than women empowerment what we need is to educate the men how to control their wild urges.

And most importantly, the marriage concept of dowry system or demanding for more from the bride’s family should be bought to a stop and that could be possible, when the groom stands for his bride and makes his family understand. It is not money that matters all the time; a good life partner is what your son should have. 

Changes do not take place soon or easily, but if each one of us join hands in every possible way that we can and start to make little changes within the family from today, it would gradually get implemented and there would be a better society that respects and understands women, at least for our next generation and generations to come. Women could walk around freely, without the fear of being attacked at anytime, anywhere. To end it I would like to repeat the words of one of our judges for the event, “India will be a safe country the day I can allow my daughter to go out without any fear.”

My first Starbucks experience!

Starbucks is considered like the ultimate coffee experience. So when I passed by the new Starbucks café in Bangalore, I decided to give it a try. This special day I discovered the turned out to be a Sunday. A closer look and I realised that getting inside the café was a near impossible task atleast for a few hours as the queue of people waiting to get a taste of the special nectar from the coffee beans extended a few blocks down the street.  Well my mouth fell open seeing the queue. The queue reminded of the people waiting to buy alcohol outside the liquor shops in Kerala. Guys this is just another café selling coffee and they are not selling the nectar of immortality. I had to return back disappointed.

                                                  

Determined to have taste of the Starbucks cuppa, I decided to visit the café again the next day. And this time I was lucky.  There were just few people waiting. So I joined the queue. It was indeed a good gesture by them to serve the eager java seekers a taste of some of their special brew in the form of small complimentary shots. It did taste really good.(when was anything free ever bad? ;-)) While waiting for my turn I ended up downing 3 glasses of their complimentary drinks. Geee!

Once we reached the counter, my friend and I, we ordered our drinks and snacks. I decided to go for a Hot Praline frappe and Double meat sandwich. While my decided to go for something cold. A cold caramel coffee and a veg rolls.

I eagerly wanted to get my name written on my cup and when the guy at the counter wrote my friend's name on both the cups, I was irritated. How could the guy deny me the opportunity to see my name on my Starbucks cup??? I asked the guy to get me a new cup with MY name on it. Finally there it was! A Starbucks mug with my name on it! Yesss!!!

Despite all this excitement, we had to wait a few more minutes to get a table to sit. Well neither of us were coffee drinkers. So I really cannot comment on the taste of the coffee we ordered. But yes it did taste good. :-)

Then when I bit into my double meat sandwich, I tasted heaven! That was easily the best sandwich I had ever had. Trust me on this. The sandwich was filled with Chicken, sausages, beef, egg, cheese and mayonnaise. (Definitely not something calorie conscious people should try.) This is a meat lovers' delight. I savored every bite of it. Though the sandwich like the coffee cost a fortune, it was worth every penny spent. 

After treating our taste buds, while leaving we spotted some souvenir mugs. So I decided to get a Starbucks India mug as souvenir. On the whole, my first Starbucks experience was worth savoring, specially for the sandwich. :-)