How to lose a group in 10 days
After a long day at work, I was all set to head to Delhi and my only agenda was to learn all that I can from the 10 day course for publishing professionals. And yes, I thought that everyday after the course, I'll do office work (duh!).
So, I came to Delhi and I started with the condensed course at the Institute of Book Publishing. The first day was brilliant, I saw a really pretty girl walk-in and I was like, great! :-) But then there was another surprise waiting for me. I got a nice scholarship for the article I submitted to the Institute of Book Publishing. Way to go! My having a hard-time with school books was put to use in the article "How can digital publishing change the face of education". As they say, you can only connect the dots looking backwards.
Then, just when the publishing course was about to start, 6 really fancy people walked in. The ladies and the dudes were just like my office folks in Hyderabad, India, but surprisingly, they were from the Oxford University Press, Pakistan. Frankly, when I heard that they are from Pakistan, my first reaction was "WOHAO" and all I wanted to do was to get close and take them out for dinner or something. Actually, for obvious reasons, I was very curious as to what happens in that part of the world (work culture, history, cricket and all that)...I work for a multinational and I get to meet and talk with lots of westerners but never do I get to mingle with people from my own subcontinent. But then, they were in a group, it's not really advisable to just make your way into a group of tourists and make them feel ultra-uncomfortable. So, I played easy and I did not influence them with their outing plans.
Anyways, in the workshop, the discussions were great. I found a group of really like-minded guys to hang-out with during tea breaks (if you know what I mean!) and I got talking with some publishing geeks, it was wonderful and kinda awkward to know how less I know of the publishing industry. But now that I am back at work, I see that I have a lot of awesome ideas of publishing our company books. This course (at the Institute of Book Publishing) was very very helpful. I also came to know that a lot of people had attended other such publishing courses but none of the other courses were as good as the one conducted by the Institute of Book Publishing.
The more the discussions we had in the course, the more we learnt about each others background and experiences. The course faculty was full of industry experts, most of whom said things that we did not know of or we did not have clarity on. After listening to several speakers talk about the work-types in a publishing house, this one day, we went on a trip to a printing press. It was a great experience to see how everything worked in real-time. Also, it was a great time to get close as a group. We played some games, laughed a lot, and then planned a good dinner at a nearby restaurant. This was the crux of hanging out as a group; we got talking about a lot of things (primarily about our cultures and our sense of entertainment) and enjoyed our food and the live music at the restaurant.
There were a lot of other outings (actually, every evening I had some or the other plan) and I got attached to almost everyone in the group. And frankly, ladies from Pakistan were my special guests :-), I really enjoyed their awesome sense of sarcasm (now I think that sarcasm is a universal way of expressing oneself and opening oneself to others, everyone loves it). Also, it's really funny how one can get close to a women in a matter of 5-10 hours of interaction (it's just the chemistry between two people, it's truly a science). With all brotherly feelings, I (certainly) will miss you and I hope we run into each other in the near future. After all, it's a small world.
My decision to go for the Institute of Book Publishing course has really paid off. I learnt a lot of things and clearly, it's worth the fifteen grand fee. Apart from the group at the workshop, I really loved the Delhi metro rail, the 1.5 km morning-walk to the office thru the Lodi gardens, and the superb city weather. I kinda wanted to extend my stay and I also had second thoughts as to whether I should switch my job location to Delhi :-). Superb group and a superb trip.
Finally, I am back to my city, Hyderabad. The taste of Biryani makes me forget the time well spent at Delhi :-). So, yes! Hyderabadi Biryani is the answer to how to lose a group in 10 days.
So long.
PS: If you happen to land here after searching for the Institute of Book Publishing course, I hope you got the idea that the course is worth it. Also, you can reach me at youtextme@gmail.com with anything specific you want to know about the course.
PS: Ten days at this publishing course was a little scary because most of the course participants were editors. These really smart editors got me thinking as to whether I know *any* English or not. This one-time I was talking with an editor and she actually picks up a book to scan for errors (that's a really cool and a freaky talent for an editor). So, if you are an editor and if you found (like) 3 million mistakes in this article, please do me a favor, keep it to yourself and don't let the world know of my writing skills! :-)
So, I came to Delhi and I started with the condensed course at the Institute of Book Publishing. The first day was brilliant, I saw a really pretty girl walk-in and I was like, great! :-) But then there was another surprise waiting for me. I got a nice scholarship for the article I submitted to the Institute of Book Publishing. Way to go! My having a hard-time with school books was put to use in the article "How can digital publishing change the face of education". As they say, you can only connect the dots looking backwards.
Then, just when the publishing course was about to start, 6 really fancy people walked in. The ladies and the dudes were just like my office folks in Hyderabad, India, but surprisingly, they were from the Oxford University Press, Pakistan. Frankly, when I heard that they are from Pakistan, my first reaction was "WOHAO" and all I wanted to do was to get close and take them out for dinner or something. Actually, for obvious reasons, I was very curious as to what happens in that part of the world (work culture, history, cricket and all that)...I work for a multinational and I get to meet and talk with lots of westerners but never do I get to mingle with people from my own subcontinent. But then, they were in a group, it's not really advisable to just make your way into a group of tourists and make them feel ultra-uncomfortable. So, I played easy and I did not influence them with their outing plans.
Anyways, in the workshop, the discussions were great. I found a group of really like-minded guys to hang-out with during tea breaks (if you know what I mean!) and I got talking with some publishing geeks, it was wonderful and kinda awkward to know how less I know of the publishing industry. But now that I am back at work, I see that I have a lot of awesome ideas of publishing our company books. This course (at the Institute of Book Publishing) was very very helpful. I also came to know that a lot of people had attended other such publishing courses but none of the other courses were as good as the one conducted by the Institute of Book Publishing.
The more the discussions we had in the course, the more we learnt about each others background and experiences. The course faculty was full of industry experts, most of whom said things that we did not know of or we did not have clarity on. After listening to several speakers talk about the work-types in a publishing house, this one day, we went on a trip to a printing press. It was a great experience to see how everything worked in real-time. Also, it was a great time to get close as a group. We played some games, laughed a lot, and then planned a good dinner at a nearby restaurant. This was the crux of hanging out as a group; we got talking about a lot of things (primarily about our cultures and our sense of entertainment) and enjoyed our food and the live music at the restaurant.
There were a lot of other outings (actually, every evening I had some or the other plan) and I got attached to almost everyone in the group. And frankly, ladies from Pakistan were my special guests :-), I really enjoyed their awesome sense of sarcasm (now I think that sarcasm is a universal way of expressing oneself and opening oneself to others, everyone loves it). Also, it's really funny how one can get close to a women in a matter of 5-10 hours of interaction (it's just the chemistry between two people, it's truly a science). With all brotherly feelings, I (certainly) will miss you and I hope we run into each other in the near future. After all, it's a small world.
My decision to go for the Institute of Book Publishing course has really paid off. I learnt a lot of things and clearly, it's worth the fifteen grand fee. Apart from the group at the workshop, I really loved the Delhi metro rail, the 1.5 km morning-walk to the office thru the Lodi gardens, and the superb city weather. I kinda wanted to extend my stay and I also had second thoughts as to whether I should switch my job location to Delhi :-). Superb group and a superb trip.
Finally, I am back to my city, Hyderabad. The taste of Biryani makes me forget the time well spent at Delhi :-). So, yes! Hyderabadi Biryani is the answer to how to lose a group in 10 days.
So long.
PS: If you happen to land here after searching for the Institute of Book Publishing course, I hope you got the idea that the course is worth it. Also, you can reach me at youtextme@gmail.com with anything specific you want to know about the course.
PS: Ten days at this publishing course was a little scary because most of the course participants were editors. These really smart editors got me thinking as to whether I know *any* English or not. This one-time I was talking with an editor and she actually picks up a book to scan for errors (that's a really cool and a freaky talent for an editor). So, if you are an editor and if you found (like) 3 million mistakes in this article, please do me a favor, keep it to yourself and don't let the world know of my writing skills! :-)
