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!

Wall Street Saga...

Want to read a succulent, tempting thriller that keeps on your toes. I am not suggesting you a Agatha Cristie, Dan Brown, Michael Clayton or Archer’s fiction book. I am talking about the Wall Street saga, never has been a time when I have taken so much interest in the financial turnarounds. Assets, liabilities, interest, profit and loss is something my financial knowledge was limited to but now what the hell is leverage, hedge funds, private equity fund, debt, equity, securities and many more?? Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are financial institutions; I thought they were twin daughters. AIG is a top insurance firm, oh thought it was something on the lines of NIKE sponsoring a football club. Hank Paulson, Ben Berkeley, Timothy Geithner…. who are these people??? Why am I despised when taking names of Richard Fuld and Jimmy Cayne?
So, what went wrong? How does one explain this to a layman like me :-)
Lehman Brothers was like the little kid pulling the tail of a dog. You know the kid is going to hurt eventually, so no one is surprised when the dog turns around and bites the kid. But the kid only hurts himself, so no one cares about that much. Bear Sterns is the little pyro – the kid who was always playing with matches. He could harm not only himself but burn his own house down, even the entire neighborhood. The Fed stepped in not to protect him, but the rest of the block. AIG is the kid who stumbled into a bio-tech warfare lab found all these unlabelled vials, and headed out into the playground with a handful of them jammed into his pockets. Federal Reserve was the babysitter who gave the kids the dog and the matches and forgot to lock the door to the lab. The politicians hired the babysitter. The babysitter did not behave like a responsible parent and let the kid become big, fat and diabetic and was now seeking redemption by taking the whole family on a diet of rice and beans. Fannie and Freddie were the two twins who bought bad meat and made poisonous sandwiches. Henry Paulson was the good babysitter who tried to pamper the kids with a candy of $700 billion bailout plan so that the kids stop crying for a short while.
All said and done, it’s a sad time for the financial market but a good time to learn facts from fiction. Perhaps, this saga too like any other will have its up and down with a not so happy-ending. For all the fin-heads unable to answer to people who have lost their money are escaping by saying………….
Never Ask for money spent
Where the spender thinks it went
Nobody was ever meant
To remember or invent
What he did with every cent…!!!!!!

Not a really good way of calming the people isn’t???

Panacea of Life

Composed by me on a morning when i was out of this world..........
There is a strange feeling
My Lips are murmuring
To let out my my unspoken words
But something is holding me inside
For they are the hard facts of life
Why is that the sky not beautified
With the rainbow everyday?
Why is that the flowers do not bloom everyday?
Every day is not our day
Every moment is not our moment
All this and much more
Makes me bedazzle and swine
Why Am I not heard always
Or Why do I not lend my ear to hear
If what you sow so shall you reap
is what we all hear
Its true fact that reciprocation is part of life
that one needs to adhere
Your smile makes one feel good of others
And so does your ignorance makes you part from others.
You may meet many wrong people
before you meet the right one
But you must walk with the wrong ones to reach the right one
For Realization comes from experience.
For just being alone in the race makes you only weaker
For the world is survival of the fittest
And so hold the hands of the one who can make you strong and not let you down.
Dont be suppressed by anyone
For you have your own self-respect
And there is much to learn in this aspect.
For every twist and turn choose your way
Choose the right one to reach your destination
For its better than salvation
These are the authentic facts of life that i lend to you my dear friend.

Old Wine,Older Jokes

‘What if I have a few grey hair strands,
I am still a lot wiser.
What if I take more time to speak,
I am quite more patient.
What if I walk a little slow,
I am far more steadier.’
Minced by an old man he feels wiser, patient and steadier than all of us. In this oldie context there is only one thing that gives me a pause is the ‘AGE’. Two great icons turned into archives with that ‘AGE’ context. Sachin Tendulkar, the world’s greatest batsman has lost his contract as brand ambassador of FMCG PepsiCo. John McCain seems to be losing out against Barack Obama way before the final verdict of the presidential race. Apparently, I don’t see any signs of old age in Sachin though his jet black hair could be misleading courtesy: Garnier or Godrej hair dye, his face shows no wrinkles that could also be misleading courtesy: Botox treatment. Whereas McCain has all the signs forcing to withdraw my evident support. I’m unquestionably not alone; in a university poll of swing states (Florida, Ohio, Pennyslvania) published two weeks back, nearly a quarter of respondents said that his age made it less likely they would vote for him. It wasn’t just the young who had an issue with it, either. More than 20 percent of those 55 and above agreed. So what makes him fall flat in the public face. Surprisingly, he is the culprit for the string of self-deprecating jokes. On ‘Saturday Night Live ‘he joked that we should be looking for someone ‘very, very, very old’ to be the next president. I guess his inspiration lies with the Indian politicians age bracket. It was disconcerting when he flubbed a joke on MTV about ‘being older than dirt’ with ‘more scars than Frankenstein’. It was quite alarming to hear his confession about computer illiteracy in the age of Google, YouTube and MySpace, when jehadis maintain their own websites and the rival candidate is Obama-a Borg-like Internet juggernaut. Perhaps, there is no political botox (Sigh! The stilted grins & blank expressions) in his self-flagellating humour. It’s not good to be too modest that it takes the hell out of you.
Coming to our homeland, Sachin did nothing unlike McCain to prove his age. PepsiCo brand gurus are for ‘Youngistan’ run & Sachin seemingly doesn’t fit in. A price of 4 Crores is too much wherein with the same sum two young goodie players Ishant Sharma and Rohit Sharma can be roped in. Inflation affects everybody isn’t it! So ‘young’,’youth’ are the new buzzwords. We are awed by the pageants of ‘Young CEOs’,‘Young Entrepreneur’,’ Young politicians’,’Young diplomats’ and of course ‘Young actors’ .The media and society have become more conducive towards the young and perhaps berated the old. All said and done, one must act one’s age & stop talking about it all the time. If you really can’t resist than lauds its merits of wisdom. No witty streak please ;-)

The Undomestic Goddess

Mom: Nidhi, no office today rite?
Me: Hmmm…. Yes Mom No Office today what a relief (Smiles)
Mom: Nidhi, go and make tea for everyone, I am a bit tired today
Me (Sigh): Alrite, Mama (Tread heavily towards the kitchen)
Now, TEA-Making has an interesting backdrop. I, for sure dread going to the kitchen which was quite an implicit fact known to my dear mom. As always, mother knows best and they surely know how to tackle brats like me. You have guests in the form of aunties from the neighboring area, who turn up every time and then like vodafone smses on the cell ‘A time waster with useless suggestions of dating, movie, masti, magic n crap’.You need to treat them with fake smiles and agreeable expressions (Then only are you awarded the title of what-a-nice-daughter maybe!).Turnaround to the testimony my mother furtively made her secret mission and asked me to make a nice cuppa tea n coffee for my what-a-nice-daughter arbitrators. This kind of rigmarole has happened so often that it proved to be win-win-win situation for my title, my mother and of course tea-making.
Me (Served the tea and look at everyone’s face for their verdict to be): How is it Mom?
Mom (Smiles): Good, U certainly make good tea (Getting a Good remark from her surely counts she has all the traits of a Virgo Critic). But I would appreciate if you could learn and manage to cook at least a decent meal for yourself. You should take some interest in the kitchen chores too.
Me: Yes Mom, I’ll try………..
Moms have always something to add on, they are never happy with the child’s current status. She never minced these words earlier because she wanted me to be completely focused on my grad. Studies. But then eventually all this ought to be learnt sooner or later.
I was turning the pages of ‘The Undomestic Goddess’ and Bang! There you go, the story revolves around a girl just like my types with no idea of the household chores .The girl is Samantha Sweeting, 29 year old high profiled lawyer smart, gutsy and a complete workaholic. Her whole journey is a complete joyride from her career in Carter Spink to her mistaken identity of a housekeeper at Geiger’s house and her chick-lit romance with the Geiger’s house-gardener Nathaniel. The author Sophie Kinsella surely knows how to keep her readers charmed. After all the funny accidents in Miss Geiger’s kitchen, her innocence eventually proved in the 50 million pound blunder case, her partnership offered back to her she called it all quits and chose to be’ the housekeeper’. She chose what she wanted the most and found most satisfying. Crazy Isn’t! She was making the biggest mistake of her entire existence. No at all for Samantha---‘If I’ve learned one lesson from all that’s happened to me, it’s that there is no such thing as the biggest mistake of your existence. There’s no such thing as ruining your life. Life’s a pretty resilient thing, it turns out’.

Inconvenient Truth Unfolds

Geyser for the hot water bath. Toaster popping the crispy toast sandwich for the high-powered energy breakfast. Fans rotating in full speed to respite us from the hot summer of 2008.Rooms all illuminated with the halogens and PL lights for its easier to locate things and give credibility to Edison. Cell phone needs to be kept ringing all day to flaunt the no of friends and business exhibits and charged for the important communication to be. Air conditioner is a necessity for the good night sleep in the unbearable summer warmth. Iron steaming out working over the crease of the shirts for Looks matter and clothes definitely adds to it. Huh! That’s just a quarter of the whole electricity consumption that the billion population across the world makes on a SINGLE DAY. Not surprising at all!
We have other tendencies also .We just don’t switch off our PCs at our workplace; it is such a tedious job of booting the computer. We throw and litter things around and spitting is our contribution towards the red mosaic painting on walls, road, footpath, you name it and there we go. We are so good at nit-picking such as if incidents like the Mumbai Deluge do occur we have a thousand reasons to blame the Municipal Corporation for the poor drainage system and poor infrastructure. We love to experience the heavy downpours, the rising temperatures and shaking and swirling EARTH. Deluge, Floods, Tornados, Tsunamis, Earthquakes we have seen it all. As a matter of fact all are natural disasters so naturally they are bound to happen.
We are quite cool and calm and don’t even waste our time on the petty things of life.
We haven’t even learnt the meaning of consequences so far.
That’s the Inconvenient Truth; we are inhibiting ourselves from facing the truth of Global Warming a problem so severe that it will destroy the flora and fauna of our mother Earth. This is the truth. Face it.
An amazing documentary Inconvenient Truth presented by American Vice-President Al Gore is enlightening and brings to light the grueling and shocking facts of Global Warming. When he points on that blue dot in a satellite picture taken, he said something so stirring-In his exact words: ‘You see that pale, blue dot? That’s us. Everything that has ever happened in all of human history, has happened on that pixel. All the triumphs all the tragedies, all the wars all the families, all the major advances…….it’s our only home. And that is what is at stake , our ability to live on Planet Earth, to have a future as a civilization .I believe this a moral issue , its your time to cease this issue, its our time to rise again to secure our future. What we take for granted might not be here for our children’. After hearing him there is a gearshift inside you and you say inside ‘Oh my God is that all true!’
Future generations may well have occasion to ask themselves, what were our parents thinking? Why didn’t they wake up when they had a chance? We have to hear to that question from them , now.

Critics Call:The Class

This is my first book of the year and must say what an apocalyptic experience! The book
‘The Class’ by Eric Segal is not a romantic tale unlike his bestseller ‘Love Story’ nor is it the one discussing societal issue of the rich and the poor class as the name might suggest; its about the Harvard CLASS of 1958.
‘The Class’ is a powerful and moving saga of five extraordinary members of Class’58. Its about their journey of twenty five years which culminates with their alma-mater 25th REUNION at which they confront each other and the balance sheet of their lives. Daniel Rossi, Jason Gilbert, Theodore Lambros, Andrew Eliot and George Keller are the heroes of this story. Each guy from a different background and each had a different story to foretell but what stands in common is Harvard-the symbol of who they are and who they will be. If you are not the son of Harvard this is what one gets to hear-
‘There must be……some possible background in reason for one’s boiling over with joy that one is a son of Harvard, and was not by some unspeakably horrible accident of birth, predestined to graduate at Yale or Cornell’.
Its about the revelation of life that unfolds with the college years.
‘We took the world as given. Cigarettes

Were twenty several cents a pack, and gas

As much per gallon. Sex came wrapped in rubber

And veiled in supernatural scruples-call
Them chivalry
Psychology was in the mind; abstract
Things grabbed us where we lived; the my life
Worth living was the private life and- least
Worth scandal in this characterization-
We did not know we were a generation’
Each protagonist had something to share with its readers in terms of the realties of life. Eric Segal has portrayed in a remarkable way what it is like to be a ‘Harvardian’. He writes that the guys out there have such uncanny confidence, self assurance emanated from these dignitaries like a halo- whether they were discussing metaphysics or the merits of a new instructor’s wife. The guys have the ability to love themselves and treasure their own intellects. There are some fillers as to the lingo used in the college; the secret word that is the key to making good at Harvard: bullshit. With tongue-in-cheek remarks as to greater the opportunity for tossing the verbiage like so much salad(unimpeded by the need for such trivia as facts) the more likely the course would be a snap. To let the cat out of the bag , tell you the Harvard guys may not be that great at essay writing they have a secret recipe for it. Pad paragraphs with useful phrases such as ‘From a theoretical point of view’ or ‘upon first inspection we may seem to discern a certain attitude which may well survive even closer scrutiny’. The entry of the freshmen was animatedly described as ‘They glanced at one another like tigers taking measure of a menancing new rival. But in this kind of jungle you could never be sure where the real danger lurked’.
The author dynamically puts the fact that everybody pays a price for his success. Though you may learn a lot of things from such paradise symbolic places but ‘How to be happy’ that’s one thing that even Harvard can’t teach you. You may have a talent for success maybe and maybe no talent for friendship , such cold selfish nature can cripple you in the years to come.
Definitely a first class entertainment for all those seeking success (who doesn’t!) and that too from pride places like Harvard (could be IIMs here)
Leave with this quintessential message of the Odyssey
‘ The imperfections of the human state are outweighed by the glory of human love…..’