Yeah,it's New Year!

Another year in its closure,another serenade of introspection, retrospection.The time will unfold to a new beginning with the numbers changing to a perfect 10.The past thoughts, perceptions ,grudges,relations,memories are all taken to the future ,the only thing that changes are the calendars,forecasts, age(worst of all) and probably a mental image of something new.

Like all,I have thoughts on this coming year 2010.With the apocalypse of 2012,with me growing old day by day,with my days getting numbered I have whoopee plans for myself.

I wish to go bungee jumping off the Kawarau bridge in Queenstown,NZ

I wish to explore Ladakh Leh on a road trip.Only in Ladakh can a man sitting in the sun with his feet in the shade suffer from sunstroke and frostbite at the same time! 

I wish to read more.My English prof always told me if you are not reading a new book a month you do not fall into the avid reader category.I am happy to have read more than one in a month from fiction ,finance ,advertising to spirituality.Stayed away from biographies,autobiographies,history.Would like to read them and explore other authors too.

I wish to write more.The blog post count has been a good progress compared to the past years.Would look forward to write on more diverse topics and appreciate the different styles of writing.Travel writing is something i need to explore.

I wish to meet a lot of new people from diverse fields,build new relationships and cherish the old ones.

I wish to become a voice artist.Give voice to Princess Fiona in the next sequel(wishful thinking guys!)

I wish to get a makeover for good :-)

I wish to do babysitting.Babies have a lot to teach you and the tinytots make me feel really good.

I wish to see a miracle and get blessed.

“What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner”

No more..

High Rise windows doors adjacent
Block,compact house touch across
Blurring horns undue honking
Peace of mind dreams of
Water thirsty lakes and ponds
Food inflation stomach snores
Poor man withers without
Swines wine just one of all
Account imbalances at Copenhagen
The debtor refuses to pay
No wonder flouting toxic assets
Comes from a country nay say
Rules of game change
Gone are the bygone days
'No more,No more' whispers forever again

Red Queen is Right

'' Well, in our country ,''said Alice,still panting a little,''you'd generally get to somewhere else- if you ran very fast

for a long time ,as we've been doing"

''A slow sort of country!'' said the Red Queen.''Now,here,you see,it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.

''If you want to get somewhere else,you must run atleast twice as fast as that!''

                                    ----Through The looking Glass(Lewis Carrol)

Parody of our Reality shows.

Five reality shows most likely to make to the tellyland.Good Job Jerry!A nice parody of the reality shows.

Main Raakhi Sawant Banna Chaahati Hoon THE applicants will be put through a series of tests and elective surgeries. They will be graded on their ability to bring in their years of struggle into every single answer. For example: Interviewer: So Miss Dupadgaurangi, how are you this morning? Miss Dupadgaurangi: I may look well, but that is not the point. You should see how I looked when I was struggling. That was the time when these dirtydirty people would make sure that I was not getting my dues. How much I have struggled nobody knows except for me. I have struggled for so long that nobody knows how long, but it was not that long because then I would be older than I am, but as everyone in the industry knows, I am younger than I am. But then every heroine is younger than she is, no? 

K se Kahoon to Kya Kahoon? 
T he applicants for this show will run a television company that has not had a hit in a very long time. They will be graded on their superstitions, their ability to swear loudly and coarsely; their ability to get their employees to show up for meetings at three in the morning. It is rumoured that the ability to fight with those who contribute most to the show will result in high points. Having a brother whom one wants to promote relentlessly, ruthlessly and without any attention to whether the said brother had a shred of acting talent may or may not work in the applicant’s favour. 

Fear ya austere? 
This is a political game show. Candidates split into teams. One team buys itself Italian tiles so that it can make soosoo in style and then it blogs about soosooing posh as opposed to the cattle class who soosoo in sorrow. The other team takes offense at everything from the names of shops to the clothes women wear to the religious affiliations of all those who do not share their religious affiliations. Both teams then make their pitches to the nation. The nation votes by sms. Whichever team loses complains to the press that the SMS system is bad and they want to go back to maidans and rallies and booth-capturing in the old style. This is not to be confused with the elections, but if that happens, who can help it? 

Meri Kahaani, Your Tears 
Candidates who wish to appear on this show must have had more than their fair share of emosanal atyachar, but they should be urban, urbane, fairskinned, cute, above five feet in height, and from the twice-born castes or the Ashrafi elite. Farmers please excuse. Each contestant will get six minutes to speak with Simpering Greywall, the noted television anchor. (The rest of the twenty-six minutes will be taken by Simpering who wants to see your soul.) Each contestant will be judged on how many tears Simpering sheds during the course of the interview. The nation’s tear-ducts will also be polled. Repeat contestants may come back to try again, but if they have fresh stories of new atyachaar, they should have FIRs. 

Kavita Bhabhi 
Well, why not, we say? 
(Author:Jerry Pinto)   

Almost Single,Almost.

Disclaimer:The views of the writer are neither personal nor professional.They are the perspectives of the writer created as a result of her rovering observations, imaginations and manifestations.You are advised not to consider the views mentioned on a serious note as the insurance for the added frustation would stand unclaimed.Readers are advised not to judge the writer on the basis of this article as most of the times she is being unreasonable.

I got in touch with my friend after 6 long years and this is what i get to hear 'Hope,you have not called me to tell me you are getting married'.Sigh.Sigh.Sigh.I would not be calling people telling them that i have lost my freedom.It wouldn't be such a good thought to share.It is even more threatening to share with your family the idea of your friends getting married.The simple reason being the search-o-meter for the perfect groom gets triggered.Why on earth play such games.

What's the trouble with this 'M' word.It works in direct proportion:more I hear people getting married ,more I despise getting into it.M-phobia perhaps.The trouble is with the search ,it is not as fascinating as Google(your search ends here) nor is it as exciting as Treasure hunt.A definite set of questions with definite set of answers from definite set of people makes your wild card options narrower and sleeker.You have a number of matrimonial search portals to help you in this regard.As Advaita Kala,author of Almost single puts forward that it is possible to choose guys of all shapes and sizes on the web.Never imagined people would market themselves for this reason.Furthermore,attention-getters flip flop with their status as single and committed as if the only thing left on earth is to symathasize with them on their single or congratulate them on their committed status quo.The virtual reality is you could pick the guy who mentions IIT IIM in his profile,the two I's thrill you and later you discover that creature is from some Nallamallai engg college and has done his MBA from some Mangowala college in a faraway district never heard of.You got duped,chances are that you werent even aware of the virtual reality.You are so excited to get to the foreign lands that the picture of the guy with statue of liberty at the backdrop becomes the indispensible profile for you.Later you realise he has full plans to take that liberty away from you.Virtual space fails in all corners,better find the one in your study corner.

Let's get into the arranged way,you meet this guy at the coffee shop and go ahead with that typical HR question'Tell me about yourself' and move on to family,likes,dislikes,hobbies blah blah.You just hate the guy sitting opposite you yet you manage to keep that smile on for courtesy sake.The cologne best dressed man on one fine date is in no way an answer to your hunt for the perfect groom.Things are getting difficult.The search seems not only difficult but unbearable.But like everything has a solution and so does this.

The typical love philosophy works everytime:Wait for the right man and no matter how old you become keep waiting........because sooner or later you will fall into this trap and then repent on the search made for that PERFECT groom.Sigh.Sigh.Sigh.

Day One:Teach India

A saturday afternoon,all walking anxiously around the new english school at Bandra unable to locate the KEF LABs centre.What were we expecting,some big billboards with the welcome messages,Nahhhh!!!With the help of the faciliator we were directed to the third floor of the building wherin a class had been converted into KEF LABS.Nicely decorated with ribbons & posters,what my friend Yasmine compares to a five star treatment of the room which is agreeable if you have seen various other NGO centres .We chatted with the fellow volunteers and were treated royally with a cuppa of tea and parle biscuits with a prewarning that this kind of treatment is only for today as they do not have the budget to serve us everyday.This is understable.The induction began with a brief introduction and an interesting game.I won the game and i was happy about that,though the game involved a little alertness and pushing to get hold of your seats,i just did tht by unkindly pushing one of the girls to get my seat of honour.What not for the winner title!

This was followed by an information session about KEF LABS taken by Genevi,the english faciliator.We learnt regarding what would be our roles as volunteer and what we need to take care of.The session was good in terms of simplicity and structure.Next session we will be directly interacting with the children our actual work begins then.

Reality Bytes!!

Bullying,sledging and racial slur row in the confined secluded Big Boss house.Shilpa Shetty shot to fame with sympathy votes resulting in a fantastic win,something badly needed at the time when Bollywood had shown her the doors.

Sixteen guys woo the item girl to win her heart.Drama,romance and a lot of spicy discoveries about the grooms to be shown at break interval to turn the public glued to the television.After dumping her beau who intentionally used her to climb the career ladder was also not spared from the negative publicity.Medium well used Rakhi Sawant's bold show makes the audience want even more.

Cool dudes and wimpy gals drive their way out riding on bikes, working on every challenging & adventurous task coming their way.You don't need immunity to perform those tasks but you do need 'immunity' to get ahead.That's not all,there is politics,leg pulling and a whole lot of drama with each elimination round turning common college going guys into Braggadocios.So much for money so much for fame,Arrives Ranvijay as the new VJ face winning the MTV roadies and surely big fan following.

The time then came to speak the truth.Gandhiji principles being followed now.What works in the west is being experimented in the country.Schultz adapted 'Moment of truth' is now 'Sach Ka Samna'.The participants do have the undaunting courage to face the nation but doesnt seem likely with the Indian Samaj or Indian netas.A heated debate swirls across the Lok sabha,Rajya sabha.Now,even the politicians are discussing TV shows over work ,we were not the only ones.

So the big question, why the Saas Bahu Sagas have faded and its all about reality shows that has been successful in grabbing the attention of our Indian Audience?The immense pleasure that we get by peeking into other person's life is one of the major factors.We love to know what our superstars eat, wear drink and if they are kept under surveillance for us what more do we want!The next big question why are such shows made then?Controvery is the name of the game.More the controversy more the TRPS.TRPS a rating which puts the show into the swim or sink state.A rating on which the whole media industry runs learn more about TRPS .So the media people do make sure to make their shows spicy, controversial or moreover IRRESISTABLE!!!

So much for money,so much for fame,so much for Air time,so much for TRPs ,Are we talking of self regulation.Think Again.

Day Zero:Teach India

'Big movements often have small beginnings'.Every beginning needs a changemaker, a leader and followers to make it a movement.A movement with a common thought with a common cause and a common purpose to bring about a CHANGE envisioned by all.I chose to be part of this movement.

Last year missed on the opportunity but this year made sure my application reached before the 15th july deadline.The volunteers were called in for an induction programme at Uttar Bhartiya Sangh Jr college which was just one of the 17 induction centres.With the numbers one can make sure of the overwhelming response.Entering the classroom you get to see an eclectic mix of volunteers right from a lady in her 70's to doctors,homemakers,working professionals,college students.The induction programme began with introduction of the five NGOs Kotak Education Foundation,Prem Foundation,Aasra,AAMRAE and an NGO at Dharavi.The introduction was followed by an interaction with the NGOs and each volunteer was given the choice to choose the NGO he/she wishes to get associated with.

Its wonderful to hear about the great initiatives taken by the various NGOs towards the literacy drive.Sometimes,you start believing that in some ways CSR activities are good atleast the fund and financial help reaches the NGO for their organised and better functioning.The reason being the number of sceptics outweigh the number of philanthropists.Having said that TOI's intiative is incredible in terms of bringing in volunteers to help bridge the education gap.

Its time to teach,it is time to learn.The movement has just begun..........

Dear Father

Dear Father,

Do you remember the day when I came into this world with mixed emotions from our relative relatives.Maybe the female child born again after my elder sister left everyone in a bad taste.I despise those narrow minded souls.It was you and our mother who ignored them and welcomed me into this world with great love and care.Yo have taken all my tantrums and stubbornness with great patience.For every single achievement I made you celebrated my little success with hugs and kisses.I was a little monster when I had created my own dictionary of words for things i wanted.You decoded them for me.When you share those cute words I can only smile at my sweet innocence.I pointed for TV as 'fee',spoon as 'pancha' orange as 'Soka' and many more.You remember all of them so vividly.You have always wanted us to excel at our academics and worked hard along with us to achieve that.

I remember how stubborn i was at the age of three,I always wrote the letter C as ) in all my worksheets.Then,one day you decided to make my ways straight.I was made to write that C a hundred times with huge scoldings and I cried all along.You have stayed up all night with us to complete our lessons made sure we ate something during those long periods of study.You have worked so hard all your life and whatever you have achieved today you have truly earned it.You and our mother have made immense sacrifices for our upbringing.We are indebted to you for our entire lifetime.

Do you remember the projects we made together at the age of 8 and 9 when you slogged along with me to make my project reach the top position in the exhibition.You have taken care of our needs every now and then.If i am able to fight against the wrong it is you who has stood by me.I remember when i was in the first std and a rowdy drawing teacher used to bully students.I took up in my hands to compalin against him.You listened to my agony and supported me by taking me to the Principal and allowed me to have my say.I am bold,strong and fearless all due to you my father.You were the strict disciplinarian who never let us watch our favorite Mougli on sunday mornings unless we finished our homework.I was so scared of you then.It was this discipline that you instilled in us that has helped us in a long way.

Over the years as i have begun to understand you I have realised what a changed person you are now.You have become so possessive and sensitive about us.You visit our rooms twice every night to check on us if we are tucked in properly.You lose your sleep if we sleep disturbed.You have waited for us when we returned late though you may be dead tired after a hard day.You have shared stories and your experiences to make us face this world in a more dignified way.You taught me to be independent and headstrong.I realise now what a beautiful relationship does a father and daughter share.It is a special bond which does not require any testimony,which does not require any justification,it keeps growing over the years.

Now,when a few days back you underwent bypass surgery,when surgeons were fixing your body,i was point blank shattered inside.I prayed hard for your recovery and Dad,the good person that you are I questioned God 'Why bad things happen to good people?'.You have always been the greatest person i have ever known kind,fair and honest.God is not that cruel to put you through all this,he has just planned a new phase of life for you-rejuvenated,renewed and replenished.The fighter that you are you shall overcome all the obstacles that come your way.I know even if things go crazy for me you and mom,my rockstars are always by my side.I am working towards the dream that you have desired for me.The new beginning has begun Dad,we are always there around.It is time for your inner connect and never forget you are blessed with the most loving caring wife and not so bad children :-).

When I saw you today smiling,Triumphed after 3 days post operation.I knew my prayers have been answered.

Your loving daughter.

Nidhi

Little joys of Life

I happen to holiday at a hill station over this weekend.Of all the posed , style diva  and nature serenade pictures a few pictures are my most treasured..We say a picture is worth a thousand words but I feel this calls for a million!

As I was browing  at articles being sold at the footpath my sister and I looked at something that left us in a state of fixation.A chirpy little baby being swayed by his grandma.The baby stayed cuddled up in the craddle looking mysteriously at passerbys.The grandma(Kakii) was selling stuff and simultaneously rocking the craddle.It was heartening to see how well the baby was tied up and well taken care of.When we asked Kakii for the pic with the baby she shyed and smiled sheepingly but anyways gave us the permission to capture the pic of her twinkling star.

The camera is flashed.The result:A smiling baby thrilled to get the undivided attention.The mother and grandma happy to see their baby twinkle.Such are the little joys of Life :-))))

The Perfect Stranger

Lites a cigaratte,

Smoke fills the air,

The fog blankets the face,

Cloudy hallows disappear,

Looks at passerby with sheer cheer,

Cute kid jumps and tags along,

Throwing peanuts at the kid,

Runs,catches,Laughs out loud,

Charming,Innocent,Dreamy.

Women haste to get a glimse of him,

Reluctant,Restless,Retired.

Doesnt care for the attention,

Looks around mysteriously,

Tapping the foot on the Beatles song,

Holding binoculars by the soft hands,

Looks atop at the high rise,

Turns around,

Notes,Scribbles in the red diary,

Strange moves,Haunting silence,

Tensed,Desperate,Worried.

Calls a number,

Huddles and walks down the path,

The kid pulls the long jacket,

Hungry,Dishevelled,Tired.

Ignoring the kid walks across,

Asks me to 'tag Along'

Observing his ways all this while,

'No Way' I say to the perfect stranger........ 

-Nidhi Acharya

The Hard Way

Guess who?

They are worshipped.

They are studied on behaviourial competencies.

They are enticed.

They are ones who decide Q1,2,3,4 results.

They are the cynosure of every marketer.

They get royalty on loyalty.

They turn the tables around.

They are put on a pedestal.

They are the 'Customers'.

Customers are vested with the power of making and breaking the business structure.The power which even superman and spiderman might borrow one day.To pay due respect to this humungous power watts,the business came up with 'Customer Care' or say 'Customers we dont care'.There have been such interesting conversations with the customer care that now with great humility I say that i no more care.

The first conversation goes like this.Its between Vodafone-Happy To Help!(V) and myself-Happy to Listen!(me)

V: Good Morning Ma'am.Ma'am could i speak to you if you could spare me a few mins.

Me: yeah,sure

V:Ma'am we have realised that your monthly bills are on the lower side due to less usage.Are you facing any problems with our service.We needed to check on that.

Me(surprised):haha,no nothing like that.I have no problems as of now.

V:Thank you Ma'am

Hello,so if my bill comes on the lower side,they remind me that I am not making good use of it? Or was it really a part of Customer care but I no more care.

The second conversation goes like this.Its between ICICI Personal banking-Hum hai na!(IC) and myself-Main hoon na!(Me).It's a real task to get connected to the customer care and when you finally get connected this is what you get to hear.

Me:I have a problem using my credit card.While using at the ICICI payment gateway i received a message that my card is blocked due to duplicate merchant id.Could you please help me unblock my card.

IC:Sorry Ma'am you need to discard this card and go for a new card.
Me(disgusted):whattttt? another application for a new card

IC:yes Ma'am

Me:Listen,but i made another transaction using AXIS bank gateway that transaction was successful.What's wrong then?

IC:Let me check Ma'am

Me(waiting):--------

IC:Yes Ma'am it seems you made a transaction of Rs.1400 right?

Me:Yes

IC:Your card is fine Ma'am maybe some problem with the server.

Me:Alright,how much time will it take to put the server up.

IC:Ma'am you can ahead with your transaction in an hours time.

Me:Alrite,Thanks.

I was given the same lame excuse of server down thingiee for the past one month.My patience was lost and i was completely disgusted with their laid back response.My next step was to shoot a strict mail to the customer care whose response is expected in 48 hours.To my surprise,i received a response within 4 hours and my card is functional now.

I had to play the hard way for one can be taken for a ride unless one reminds them that we are their coveted CUSTOMERS.Don't ever forget that!

What's got into me:Gumption!

Iris ,You take the centre stage...............

I understand feeling as small and as insignificant as humanly possible. And how it can actually ache in places you didn't know you had inside you. And it doesn't matter how many new haircuts you get, or gyms you join, or how many glasses of chardonnay you drink with your girlfriends... you still go to bed every night going over every detail and wonder what you did wrong or how you could have misunderstood. And how in the hell for that brief moment you could think that you were that happy. And sometimes you can even convince yourself that he'll see the light and show up at your door. And after all that, however long all that may be, you'll go somewhere new. And you'll meet people who make you feel worthwhile again. And little pieces of your soul will finally come back. And all that fuzzy stuff, those years of your life that you wasted, that will eventually begin to fade.

DeVote to Vote

The newspapers,the news channels are all buzzing in the glory of forthcoming elections.The two big parties BJP and Congress are doing their bit to get the public attention.The new wave of voice is of the people asking their fellow citizens to VOTE!

TOI has taken the LEAD Indian Vote campaign initiative urging people to make their vote count.There is something more interesting to this that has caught one's eye,its not leadindia.com camapign but the bleeindia.com campaign which has the tagline 'Take no tension.Why vote in Election?'.You wouldnt agree seeing it but aint we leaving India bleeding by not voting?!It's like when a person doesnt understand by good means he is made to understand through false means that stirs one's conscience.Likewise,The jaagore.com campaign is drawn on the same lines'That if you are not voting you are sleeping',A kind of reverse psychology used to make people aware of their wrong doing.

This would be the second time I would be voting but I am still not sure which party will be able to live up to my expectations. I would rather use form 17 A for negative or no vote option.So if i dont like any of the candidate I can use this option(official extract from CER 1961) which states
'49-O. Elector deciding not to vote. - If an elector, after hisElectoral roll number has been duly entered in the register of voters in Form-17A and has put his signature or thumb impression thereon asrequired under sub-rule (1) of rule 49L, decided not to record his vote, a remark to this effect shall be made against the said entry in Form 17A by the presiding officer and the signature or thumb impression of the elector shall be obtained against such remark.'This number may not even taken into account in the negative but to the effect its not directed towards leveraging an unsuitable candidate,I really dont mind.

Remember,If by the mere force of numbers a majority should deprive a minority of any clearly written constitutional right,it might, in any moral point of view-justify revolution(Lincoln)---call it a Political Revolution!

Colours Emote

Clamour of Sounds,
Pigeoning of holes,
In all probability a tied up soul,
The black and white are two extremes,
Grey matter bequest,a fine honor,
Civil Wars,Terror Attacks,
Red reactionary in bedlam,
Twittering of birds,in silence,
Burgeoning trees,at a distance,
Breathing space,so little,
Talking Green,the big flavor,
Slums with little hoods,
Beholds the world's eye,
Golden Globe and Oscar ladies,embrace startlets,
Religion Dividers staggers the Orange flag,
Pinks defiant in strong stride,
Colours camouflage,Into the White lands,
Disappearing hopes,Cast Away.

-Nidhi

In the pursuit of being tech-savvy

I used to be called a blogger and now I am a Twitter,a Snipper, A NewsViner, A Digger----the many incarnations in a lifetime all thanks to the tools created for the virtual world.With the amount of information inundated on the WWW,we have innovators coming up with these tools to help us classify and segregate information as per our preferences.Likewise,in the hoarde to be a tech literate i thought of checking them out to know whether they really help in making a difference to the kind of information that is available to me.

I chose to be a digger first.Digg allows you to share article,images or video online.So what's so unique in that werent these taken care of by Orkut and Facebook.But the USP is its like a big voting machine that works on the principle that the more you digg the better are the chances of bringing your piece to the popular category.So you have the power to digg or bury the content.
What's the word with being a NewsViner,ah! heard of grapevine then newsvine is exactly that,you become a virtual reporter and spread the news /rumours around.Indeed,Someone took it seriously that grapevine is the fastest way of communication!Being a snipper allows you to download all the e-books,web-shared content hassle-free.

Understand this,it looks like a democratic way to use the digital media but like most of the time democracy is fooled.It's like a small toy with big packaging.It's like how we think of malls where we end up buying all the unneccessary stuff wooed by the great display and shunning those kirana stores where we got things predecided at home without burning a hole in our pockets.In line with this we are using the internet in a similar way,we end up spending more time figuring out and popularising those webpages being the digger,twitter,snipper..blah blah that we forget the most important things to be done.

In the pursuit of being tech-savvy we are forgetting that a much real word exists with real people,real thoughts and real values.No need to digg,bury,snip or poke them...they exist in reality. So surreal...they say..........

Critics Call:If God was a Banker

If God was a Banker........

I read the title and presto added the book to my queue.Isnt the title exciting enough to make you anticipate what could God have done in the Global eco Crisis?Isnt it like the title that draws parallel to our school essay topics 'If i were the president...'?How idiotic of me to think of it that way and there are reasons to support my absurdity.Firstly, Ravi Subramanian got his novel published in the year 2007 when the world scenario was so bright and sunny and I-bankers were the most sought after blue-eyed guys,so the timeline rules out my first false impression.Secondly,'If God was a banker....' was written in that schoo-essay-type the poor author would be left with not much choice but to say that such a financial breakdown would have never occurred had God been a banker.Putting this into perspective Vatican has included financial greed as one of the seven sins in the era of globalisation.

Coming to the bestseller 'If God was a Banker',I liked the book because it was an easy read,helped traverse the corporate life of a banker, had a personalised touch with the various aspects of organisational politics,frauds,sexual harrassment that any individual working in the corporate can relate to.The two protoganists Swami and Sundeep's characters through the entire story helps you realise that success can be achieved but which way you choose to achieve it is all that matters.I disliked the book because at a point the story becomes very predictable,some cases are thrown overboard ,too sleazy and the ending left me utterly disappointed.The last lines remain with me though ' Life goes on as usual but one only gets smarter by the end ......'

By the end of it i realise its much easier for an IIM graduate to get their work published(Namely,Chetan Bhagat(IIM-A),Ravi Subramanian(IIM-B),Rashmi Bansal(IIM-A).......) and another interesting finding is narrate personal anecdotes and make it to the bestseller list!!

All is fair in love and cultural war

One simple question-Who own's a nation's culture?Is it our multi-faceted government,is it our efficient police force or the already burdened lawmakers or is it our desi taliban (Sena,Sene,MNS)?We talk of globalisation,modernisation on one hand and on the other hand we give impetus to the self confessed moral policy makers.Recently,there have been grim incidents such as the one in the mangalore pub where young females were molested by the lumpen vigilates,adding to the woes we receive irresponsible statements from home ministers of states and after all the headlines and media attention there seems to be no logical end to this farce.

The inaction on government's part to protect its citizen has left one overwhelmed.One day the vigilates will ask you to put hoardings in their mother tongue and you will obediently put up with them,then they will ask women not to enter pubs,clubs or maybe any entertainment place wherein women are most suspectible to interact with men which doesnt seem quite right in the eyes of the self styled moral guardians and you listen to that too with the fear that you will be thrashed in public.Then one day in the name of this culture drama they will ask women to stop stepping out of the house.Alrite,Thats alarming now.Nonetheless,Its too late you gave them the liberty and now it's time to lose yours.

The drama will unfold again on the valentine's day.We need to watch now how reasonably our police force acts on this front or as always adopt the 'We are on our own' aphorism to protect ourselves. Our culture doesnt belong to them and so do not allow them to live in this false belief.They think they can own it but nobody can.No one person.A culture is more spirited than all of us.It calls for liberation not vindictiveness.

Portrait

I was gifted this sketch by my friend ,may be i dont find any resemblance to it but its symbolic reflecting me,myself and I.Something i would love to Flaunt :O

What an idea!

Idea,the cellular service of Aditya Birla Group rightly says'An idea can change your life'.Idea is often a small spark that becomes an inferno.Ideas have defined the course of human history right from a caveman inventing fire by rubbing stones to a man inventing electricity.But few have the courage to work towards the paradigm shift.As Thomas Alva Edison puts it'Nearly every man who develops an idea works it up to the point where it looks impossible,and then he gets discouraged.That's not a place to become discouraged'.Well a panel consisting of marketing personnels,ad men were asked what would be their picks of revolutionary ideas that changed the world.They came up with this:
PS:Pretty interesting picks but some had to be researched as i had no clue .

1) Heineken bottle design:Heiniken is the europe's largest brewery and Heineken Beer is sold in over 170 countries.It came up with square shaped eco-bottles that took honours for its ingenious Lego puzzle design.

2) US porn Fraud which baffled the greatest fraudster of them all,Frank Abigail.Ok!if you have seen Steven Speilburg's 'Catch me if you Can'(2002) you would know what Abigail did.

3) Dove's Evolution Campaign encouraging increased self esteem and popularising that beauty has no age limit.

4) Design Barcodes-A japanese company invented a process that could incorporate visuals and designs in barcodes.

5) Barack Obama's Compaign-Like any great brand Obama has built up a strong brand of trust with the American people that perhaps it has lead to unrealistic expectations.That's my Pick ONE

6) Apple '1984' Super Bowl Campaign -In the third quarter of the 1984 Super Bowl, a strange and disorienting advertisement appeared on the TV screens of the millions of viewers tuned in to the yearly ritual. The ad opens on a gray network of futuristic tubes connecting blank, ominous buildings. Inside the tubes, we see cowed subjects marching towards a cavernous auditorium, where they bow before a Big Brother figure pontificating from a giant TV screen. But one lone woman remains unbroken. Chased by storm troopers, she runs up to the screen, hurls a hammer with a heroic grunt, and shatters the TV image. As the screen explodes, bathing the stunned audience in the light of freedom, a voice-over announces, "On January 24th, Apple Computer will introduce the Macintosh. And you'll see why 1984 won't be like "1984."
Its indeed a perennial achievement of Apple with its out of the box thinking and the exemplary i-Mac products.That's my Pick TWO

7) Potato.Can you imagine a world without potatoes!

8) The computer and the internet.That's my Pick Three.Cant imagine my life without it now.

9) Disney.Its the ultimate power to create your own unimaginable world.That's my Pick FOUR

10) Denim-There is no class or status associated with denim.Its truly global!

11) Johnie Walker'Keep Walking' campaign .Its not the destination but the journey that matters.JW still going strong.

12) Micro-chips.They changed the way technology functioned.Always for nano!That's my pick FIVE

Whats your Pick?Or Can you hear the idea clicking........:-)

Games people play.....!

In conversation with a friend in the railway compartment we asked each other how typical some people can be. That was the beginning of our conversation where we exchanged look of disgust and helplessness. It's always an interesting journey in the local trains of Mumbai. It's like an icing on the cake when you end up in the ladies compartment. You dare push the damsels or they will teach you all the bad words in theirmother tongue. You dare touch their hair and they will pull your hair back. Some are deadly and some are born perpetrators. A sophistication of a different kind that can be practised only in the vicinity of the train compartment.My new found friend and I asked the two ladies to make place for us for we could see the luggage occupy the seats.As always they ignored our kind request and in turn remarked 'You can sit on our lap if you want'.We both could have got into a tiff with those bumpkins but the end result would be nothing less than an exchange of false words and an impending bad day to come.Some people are just the way they are, you cannot break their mould.
Then there are times when there are people to remind you of your rights.I was travelling in a crowded bus with my one leg dangling and the other trying to overcome the gravitational pull.Hunting for a seat with my rovering eyes i realised that an old man had occupied one of the ladies' reserved seats.I did see him seize my rightful comfort seat but then on a second thought he deserved to sit there considering his age and might have used the seat seeing no lady was around.I remained standing there but was later reminded by a man that the seat belongs to me.The old man heard it and got up without any questioning.I felt guilty but still occupied the seat considering it was a right bestowed on me.
It's how we question others and then question ourselves.That's how games people play.............. !

Bizzare...Truth Revealed!

How far can one go in being honest that the facts are not only revealed but are printed in bold. Legality as a whole takes a new dimension when companies play safe to avoid any legal battles and pay huge sums in the name of compliance and regulations. One such company to outshine in the bizarre revelation is Cadbury with its product 'Dairy Milk'. Let me unwind the story. Cadbury is going to print the warning 'Contains:milk' on bars of Dairy Milk. Considering the fact that Cadbury's Dairy Milk is a brand in itself which is savoured by more than a million population,its logo that depicts a glass and half of milk poured into a chunk of chocolate is known to every little child. What makes Cadbury to double emphasize this fact is something quite not understood. According to Anaphylaxis campaign, a group which works to support people who suffer from life threatening allergic reactions, also known as anaphylactic shock the law requires manufacturers to list allergens if they are an ingredient. Alright! Now things are much clear so if the milk powder comes adulterated with melamine(China export) and you end up with anaphylactic shock, Cadbury is purely not responsible. Perhaps, Cadbury’s move is not unprecedented, Tesco puts labels on milk cartons saying they contained milk and also warned that bags of assorted nuts contained nuts.
Some things are quite implicit but its better to state than to be sorry!