Decoding Advertising & Media

Social Media is not just fun. It’s business.

2012-01-12T15:25:00.000+05:30

Social media as you all know has become crucial to all marketers. So for some time, forget how you’ll monitor, base the metrics, judge the ROI. Just go ahead and plan it out. The value it’ll add will be well worth it! No other medium lets you interact with your customers and future customers to this extent.

What are the best practices? New practices? Must adopt practices? Here are the core things you need to do for a SMB / growing business:

Tweet and FB everyday:

First of all, just because you want to push our marketing content, don’t expect your customers to be willing to take that. They’re going to turn to social media to talk things about you; good, bad and ugly. So be open to criticism and no matter what, do respond.

Twitter is a medium which is abuzz with varied topics at varied times of the day. So be sure to interact with your followers at least 3-4 times a day. Sharing news, asking people to visit your blog, appreciating a follower, thanking someone for an RT, all count. You can use Hootsuite to manage your twitter streams and also track your competitors / industry buzz words.

Facebook has millions of people on it. And most likely, all your customers too. This is a great platform to get together and discuss your product / brand / announce contests. Be a fun-loving brand, but never lose track of what you really stand for.

Blog:

Writing content can be a challenge through your busy day. It does need undivided attention, to produce something worth reading. But do set aside some time to think about what you want to communicate, pen down your thoughts and then reserve an hour or two to draft the blog.

Make sure you’re churning out relevant topics. Keep yourself abreast with the latest happenings in your Industry / city and write about those. You can take the help of hot-trend search on google. If the whole of India is talking about e-commerce, and you’re an ecommerce firm, go blog about it!

Linkedin:

Do you have a product to sell? Put it up on Linkedin product pages. People, who are really serious about doing business with you, will follow you there and interact with your brand with the intention of conducting business with you.

Put up all the correct information about your company, its founding members, its team strength, website, youtube channel, etc. Also, make sure everyone in your company has a formal picture as a part of their profile and have linked themselves to your company page.

To be noticed, be a part of relevant groups and discussions. Help people. Share knowledge. It’ll pay back.

Video Blogs / Youtube:

Reading is a trend which is reducing day by day. Today, brands are engaging with customers through short videos / vlogs (video blogs). You can explain an aspect about your company / business in a short and sexy format. Anything that you could blog about, could be made into a video. Example – This lady wanted to probably write about her Asia trip, but she made a short vlog which not just told her friends what all she did in Asia, but they could actually see it for their own eyes.

Also put up videos that talk about your company on youtube. Help your customers learn more about your brand / product using these new mediums.

You can also promote the youtube videos / vlogs through your twitter / fb / linkedin / blog stream.

Marketing in a small budget

2011-10-27T14:29:00.002+05:30

Do you think you can market your products efficiently in a tight budget? I think you can!

Firstly, when we talk about ROI (Return on Investment) on our marketing spends; we should realize that Marketing is an Investment and not an Expense.

So just like you make the detailed choices while investing your money in the stock market or property deals, you need to make the right choice about investing in marketing for your company. When you’re buying a house, what do you think first?

What is my objective of buying property?

Are you buying the house to stay in or to re-sell for a gain? Similarly, are you marketing to build your brand or promote an offer and make quick sales? Once your objectives are in place, you can sure deal with the dilemma of how much time and money to invest better.

Am I buying this house for myself or my parents or my children?

The expectations from the house will be different if it is for you vs your parents vs your children. You should know who you’re buying the house for. In the same manner, you should know who your target market is and what they need. Only then can you target your marketing campaign directly at them, without much spill over to the non-interested buyers.

After responding to these basic questions, which could take you months to answer, you’re set to actually kick start the marketing process. If you keep your marketing activities in line with your sales activities, there is a greater chance of you getting higher returns.

However, let’s focus on Marketing your Brand. After having identified your TG, look at the means of targeting them.

Reach your customers via a co-op advertising:

Select a few partners / build a few partnerships which lead to a win-win marketing campaign for both you and your partner. These are called Strategic Partners in the common world. Your partner has some value to give to you and you in return have something in store for them. Both parties can cross promote each other’s products and in return, expand your market pie.

E.g.: Every ad you see of a laptop/computer has the logo of Intel. Intel gains mind-share in the public eye and in return helps their partners advertise and market. And the laptop/computer company gains value by being partnered with Intel and thus increase their sales & Intel processor usage.

Get closer to your customers through Events:

Be a part of trade-shows or co-host an event related to your industry to get closer to the market. The closer you are to them, the better you’ll be able to market to them.

Social Media:

Social media is a marketing tool which is absolutely free. All you’ll need to do is to invest time into it.

You can create your own company Facebook Page and engage your target audience with your brand by taking polls, hosting contests, giving news about your industry space. By the way, research shows if a customer likes your brand on Facebook, they are 80% more likely to buy from you than your competitor.
Your Company Twitter Handle can help you engage with a much evolved target audience from India. People on twitter are there to seek knowledge, share their opinions and recommend brands to their followers. Twitter is very challenging because you’ve to say it all in 140 characters. There are trending topics which you can be a part of or start a conversation using a hashtag (#)
Youtube your product launches and events. This will help your customers understand you better. Indians love videos. Make sure what you’re putting up is engaging, entertaining and adding value to your customers.
Blog! You need to start talking to people and expressing your views through your blog post. If your posts add value to the community and customers, you’ll be seen as a ‘thought leader’ in your space. If you don’t have the money to pump into Public Relations to get your thought out, this is the most effective way. You can do a lot with your blog:

a. Respond to industry events, comment on the new policies and regulations

b. Put up your customer’s testimonials and their stories, with pictures

c. Put up your company’s growth trends

d. Post stuff about the ups and downs you face in your industry and how you deal with them

e. Be human – show your views and personality here

5. LinkedIn is a professional networking website which can not only uplift your professional image but also help you recruit the right people needed for your business and even find corporate partners. You can be a part of a lot of professional groups within your industry circle, converse with others and find solutions to your professional bottle-necks.

Do not rush into kick-starting all the above at once. Plan your manpower and accordingly deploy people into handling the above. For instance blogging requires you to push out fresh content at least once a month. Make sure you have enough time and topics to talk about before starting out. Similarly, twitter and facebook require daily monitoring and posting.

And above all, make sure your sales processes are in line with your marketing plan to make sure you’re tapping the market without losing out to your competitors.

Social Media Conference @SoCon2011 & the learning

2011-10-20T21:23:00.003+05:30

Today I was tuned in to a social media conference - SoCon 2011, which was happening at London. There were a lot of intelligent speakers who were talking about what Social Media and what it can do for brands and more importantly what should marketers do to make their Social Marketing effective. By the way, I heard about this awesome conference through the Social Media :)
One of the speakers Mathew Hawn who is the VP at Last.fm summed up social media beautifully:

1. Embrace the diversity and chaos on the independent web

There are going to be people who talk about a lot of stuff, in different styles. You cannot talk to just one set of people. You need to embrace everyone on the web and talk what your brand wants to portray and listen to all that they have to say.

2. Be on the social networks, but don't build your house there

It was a very valid point I believe. The idea of social media is not to replace your website for conversation or for enquiries. It is just to listen to the people and react to issues and proactively push out the messaging your brand wants to. A valid example cited by Mathew was about the gaming app company Zynga. Zynga has launched some of the most popular games on FaceBook called Farmville. And now they are trying to move away from FaceBook and call users to play on their independent platform.
Keep your customers close to yourself :)

3. It’s not always about you. Sometimes it’s about the community

Is it not more interesting when people talk about your brand rather than you yourself talking about it? It sure is. But not every company has that mass appeal. So what can a brand do? Listen to the customers. Help them out where you can. And to do this, you don’t need to stray away from your brand communication guidelines either.
I’ll narrate an example of what I did at the company I work for during the petrol price hike in India. The petrol price had hiked by Rs. 3.14 in India. This created a lot of unrest amongst the people and everyone started criticizing the politicians, etc! We simply tweeted:
Make the most of the petrol hike! Use coupon code petrol314 and get a 3.14% discount on our products. Don't you wish the hike was higher?
The result? People loved us for that quick and witty tweet. They retweeted, followed us, favorite our tweet and more importantly, they like us as a brand because we understood their pain points.
So just be a part of the community and the community will give you back the appreciation you deserve.

4. Be a Swiss Bank with the data you collect from your customers

This point talks about not selling off your database to any vendor or even google. Make sure your data sharing happens in an encrypted environment and don’t ever let your customers feel their privacy is being invaded.
Anyways your customer database is the more valuable thing your company has. Why would you want to share or sell it off anyway?

5. Translate your online strategies into offline events

This is another interesting point that Mathew brought up. If you want to become successful, you’ll have to reach out to your customers through all possible mediums that they’re on. Including offline advertising -a poster, hoarding, road show, TV ad spot, events, all of these help your customers feel your brand. You need to show them your non-digital side to get approval on your digital front too.
The other speaker who I was able to pay attention to during my work day and absolutely loved was Tejal Patel, who is leading social commerce at Nokia.

She made a wonderful comment: "It's no longer about pushing people to your e-commerce site; it's about creating a social shopping experience"

That is very true! You spend $40 in converting a customer online, and their experience with you was really bad. You get your conversion, but the customer doesn’t like you. What are you going to say? Its okay, he’s paid anyways?

I would be very worried if that was the case. I would be worried about the things he’s going to say to other probable customers. So yes, through digital marketing or any other kind of marketing, don’t try to push people to your site. Give them an experience they remember you for.Social media is not about get your products to Facebook. It’s about creating a holistic user experience.

Another very interesting thing she mentioned was: “Social media is like a pub. You go there to have a good time, catch up with friends. But the pub owner also wants you to buy a drink and not just sit there”

As a social media marketer, this statement makes so much sense. There is a human who is working throughout the day, listening to you, making you enjoy your tweets, keeping you abreast with the latest news, etc. But at the end of the day the human also wants you to purchase something. And at another level, FaceBook wants you to click on those ads and buy something.

There was much more that I’ve heard at the conference today… I’ll try to put up some more stuff as and when I can.

Planning the Media for your Campaign:

2011-10-20T19:21:00.000+05:30

Today, there are a lot more media options available than what was available ten years back. And this statement will remain evergreen, in my opinion :)

Just like I mentioned in my last post, you need to first figure out your Target Audience and then understand what their media consumption is.

But before you set your foot to do this, you need to clarify a few things in your head:

What are the marketing and communication objectives?

· Are you advertising to build a brand?

· Is it a sales oriented campaign?

· Is there a specific call to action? Call / visit to a website?

What are your competitor’s media spends?

· Are your competitors advertising on mainstream?

· How do they tackle advertising?

· Is there anything you can learn from them?

Now that your objectives are clear in your head, you need to figure out the strategy to accomplish the same.

First of all you need to define your Target Audience:
This step was covered in my previous post as well. The only way to figure this out is to listen to your current and prospective customers and post that categorize them into standard Target Audience definitions.

In India, there is a knowledgebase known as TAM. According to TAM, you can define your target audience basis

Socio-economics - SEC A/B/C/D/E/F
Demographics – Age, gender, locality, etc

TAM is just like google for TV! They know what you like and dislike, what you watch, what you do in your free-time…

So let’s say you have a product such as ‘toothpaste’. Now you’ll think how one can categorize toothpaste basis socio-economics and demographics as everyone uses it! True, everyone uses it, but through our campaign, we might want to attack the person who is actually buying the toothpaste!

Now you need to study who is the person who purchases toothpastes in most households and once you’ve figured that out, you need to categorize them as per TAM TG Definitions.

Once you’ve categorized your TG and mapped it on TAM, you can study the TV viewing habits, radio habits, etc. Basis that, you can find out which medium to choose and within that medium which all channels to choose.

Decision-Making components for TV:

TVR - The % of audience exposed to a particular programme
GRP - A summation of all the TVRs for a particular media schedule
Reach - The net unduplicated number of people that the plan covers at least once in the defined period
AOTS / average opportunity to see - The number of times, on average, the audience reached sees the commercial during a given period
Channel Share - Out of the total TV viewing universe in the specified time period what proportion of the audience has viewed the channel
Affinity – The likeability of a channel/genre of a specific target set as opposed to the universe

Decision-Making Components for Print:

Circulation - The number of copies each edition sells
Average Readership - The total number of adult readers for each title
Sole readers - A percentage / portion of the audience who reads only a particular vehicle and nothing else
Also consider:
1.       Type of publications used
2.       Periodicity (Dailies v/s Magazines)
3.       Color v/s B&W
4.       Specific ad placement positions like back cover, etc

You should do a similar study for each of the media vehicles in your target audience. Then go ahead with the mix that gives you maximum reach and frequency and visibility amongst the clutter.

Your Target Audience is Your Bible

2011-09-16T16:52:00.002+05:30

When launching an ad campaign or any sort of messaging in the media, one should always rely on their customers / prospective customers for the marketing intelligence. It is imperative to know your target audience before you even begin budgeting and planning a campaign!

Ask yourself these questions: Who are ‘they’? What are their needs? What is their media consumption pattern? Who all are competing with you for the customer’s mind-share? Are those competitors doing any sort of marketing? Maybe you can learn from their failure and success stories!

And if you have to start from the scratch, just start listening to your customers. Your father, mother, wife, husband, kids, everyone around you could be categorized as a customer or a prospective customer.

First steps first, research on who would use your product.

Where do they live?
Where do they work?
What do they do in their free time?
What is their lifestyle?
What types of conversation are they having?
Are they talking to your competition?
How much money do they make?
What is their lingo? Tone? Casual? Professional?

Next is why would they need your product? Just answer these questions:

Why do they need your product?
Why do they experience the pain that requires them to need your product?
What is the financial, emotional and life impact of the pain? How bad is it?
What happens if they don’t have your product or service? What alternative products and services are there?
Will they mitigate or reduce the pain themselves if you don’t help them

What is your product going to do to your customers?

Does it give them hope?
Does it help them have a better day?
Does it make their family more at peace?
Does it help them keep their job?
Does it help them live a longer life?
Does it improve their career opportunities?

Is your competition a real threat?

What are the replacement products or services to yours? This includes competition, alternative products and do-it-yourself.
Where does your product or service sit in comparison to competition? Is it better? Worse? Why?
What value does your audience place on your product?
Why do they place value on your offering?
What are the complimentary products to yours? Who do they buy them and why? Who do they buy them from?

What is your competition up to?

How is your audience engaging with your competition?
What is your competition doing that you aren’t?
Why are they doing such things different? Do they have a competitive edge over you?
What type of response are they receiving online and offline from your target audiences? Is it different than how your audience is engaging with you?
Does your competition have a consistent tone, message and brand? If not, how can you enhance your messaging?

The above questions will help you decode your Target Audience’s behavior, needs, wants & desires. So please do spend a lot of time figuring that out. After you think you’ve got the answer, test your product on them. Are they even buying it? Better still, are they even inclined to buy?

After you have a clear answer to this, try to hit the TA with the message which will appeal to them. This is again a very tricky phase. What you think would fly with the audience will probably fall flat. So to avoid this, you’ve got to go back to your audience and ask for their feedback.

This really could be a game changing process. Ultimately, whichever media you choose, you want to make sure the people who you’re talking to, understand you.

After your messaging is done, you need to think about the media bit. I’ll pen this down in my next post.

IV injection – My first

2009-12-15T19:56:00.000+05:30

Today I got this weird sneezing attack at 4 am… eyes started watering… weird rashes appeared…
So cutting short the medical part of it… I sneaked out of my house and went to Hinduja Hospital. There they diagnosed it as some serious allergic reaction. It was pretty bad I believe… I was given 4 different injections, through one Intra Venous injection.
Now that was a first in my life!
But seriously, it did not hurt too much… it was just that I knew that this metallic needle is in my vein and that made me all cry baby sorts. I know I know… shame on me…
Hoping that it was my first and last IV :|

Speak up! Spoke up!

2009-12-13T22:34:00.001+05:30

This blog post is on the miserable state of auto-rickshaw drivers in Mumbai. I thought that this post would be more relevant to Delhi drivers, but today I realized that it was not so.
The unfortunate incident happened at around 7 PM when my friend Sonali and I got into a rickshaw at Linking Road in Bandra. The fare meter was up, and so the driver could not have refused to take us to our destination (Bandra Station). As soon as we sat in the rickshaw, he started swearing disgusting ‘hindi galiis’ and said that he would not go to the station as his rickshaw was not working fine. Bull shit! Then we simply told him to take us to the train station / police station. He refused and instead picked up a fight and then he had the audacity to turn into an unknown lane… which was quiet and out of the way… When asked to stop, he said ‘if you don’t want to get off, I will take you both wherever I wish to.’ This freaked us out and we called the police.
Until the police arrived, there were many people who asked what was wrong and that sort of kept the driver engaged. And his explanation to any questions (in a very polite manner) was that we were wrong and that we beat him up. HIDEOUS!
After a few spectators went, he started to drive the rickshaw again, which put me into my drama mode… and I yelled at the top of my voice and a few people on the road stopped the rickshaw and accompanied us till the cops arrived. After that he was dragged to the station and was beaten up…
Did not really want that to happen… but anything could have happened… probably something weird. It feels good to speak up. I would have totally not been able to do it without my friend Sonali.

In love with my 450D!

2009-10-13T01:16:00.000+05:30

This event in my life definitely needs to be documented! So I was planning to buy a car… a small second hand car or a low-budget new one. Instead what my parents marketed was a “DSLR which you have been yearning for a year!” I don’t know at what time of the conversation I got convinced… But I did. I think I thought to myself a bird in hand (DSLR) is better than 2 birds in the dream (DSLR and Car.)
So this Saturday my mom and I went to pick up my DSLR. It was all planned in the head… I went to the shop and I said one Canon 450D. I said it as if I wanted one cheese burger…
I got the camera.. did all the paper work… paid… and walked out of the shop. I did not feel anything… nothing at all… I thought I would be jumping with joy and would do all that jazz… but nope… nothing of that sort happened. Then we hailed a cab and I took out my cam to click a few pics. As soon as I clicked the first picture I knew what I had… and why I yearned for it for over a year.
I started seeing everything in frames and shades once again!
I clicked random stuff… crows, rats, leaves, hats, shoes… Thank god the randomness in life is back!
Thanks mom n dad for the awesome pre-diwali gift!

someday...

2009-09-01T22:23:00.002+05:30

Someday I will be gone…
And you would definitely long…
For a minute-long conversation.
In your life, some distraction.

Someday, when I am gone…
I will think of our bond…
Which was never there.
For me or you to tear.

Someday, when you are there…
And this thought crosses your mind somewhere…
You won’t remember the color of my eye.
And a tear drop which went dry.

Someday when you are there…
And you try to find me near…
Hahahahah! Mission accomplished!
I would be gone my dear!

Why I like trains more that planes

2009-08-01T09:17:00.000+05:30

Yesterday night I boarded a flight from Mumbai to Delhi. My colleagues had come to help me catch a rickshaw to the airport. I was just saying goodbye to everyone… And even as I boarded the flight, the thoughts of the afternoon, of leaving my work for 10 days, of being away from the ‘scene’ were all popping up in my head. There was not enough time to even sort my thoughts…
And before I knew it, I was in Delhi.
Again, there was so much to absorb. The city where I grew up as a child… Crossed India Gate, my school road, the bus-stop where I got off by mistake and had to walk for 30 minutes, the exhibition hall where I last spent some quality time with my best friend…. All roads had memories, and I will always remember them as that.
And just like that, I was home. The place I call home :)Met my dog… spoke to my sister till we both dozed off… It was like a walk down the memory lane.. :)

But had I taken a train, the transition from my ‘office life’ to ‘being back home life would have been smoother. I would have got good 16 hours to leave behind some thoughts, some conversations, some people…
I love trains for the simple reason that they give me good enough time to unwind - to read some book, to listen to some music… to watch an episode of HIMYM…

What do you call relatives of relatives ?

2009-07-29T22:31:00.001+05:30

Someone was going to meet my brother and his wife in US and so I decided to send some goodies through him. So what do I call him ? He happens to be my brother's wife's real brother. So is he a cousin ? No. Am I his sister in-law ? No. Am I his sister ? No.
Funny!
But we had good fun shopping together. I bought the bag I had a crush on for very long... for my bhabhi (brother's wife.)

Saw the rain and the helmet fight

2009-07-14T18:52:00.000+05:30

This was the perfect day to bunk work... But the adventurous creep inside me stepped out... After lazing around the house, watching Twilight for the 10th time, cooking, having a hot water bath...I stepped out with a colleague of mine to get to work. The journey till Bandra was fun! It was raining heavily and was all romantic and all that jazz... We got off at Bandra to get some grubs... McDonald's was our answer. Happy meals.. happy times... only to be followed by weird times...

We walked almost a kilometer in calf-length water. Got into a rickshaw... and it had only been a few minutes when we had to halt at this signal... My colleague and me were just watching the rain when our eyes caught something bizarre... Two men were fighting with each other in knee-deep water... and were hitting each other with all their might. And within seconds 2 more guys joined them and then two more. There was no evidence of any accident / a girl fight... Would have been something more serious / absolutely frivolous... because one of them hit the other person with his helmet. A streak of red followed... and followed till his waist. Yes, his head was bleeding profusely. Still the fight did not stop and neither did the signal give us a green light.

The fight continued... more helmet punches and more of attempts of drowning the other person happened. No body on the road was bothered about the fight. No body complained to the police. Neither did I. We all did save ourselves some trouble... and when I looked back, I could see that they were getting to the pacifying mode...
Then my colleague and me took a breather as we moved away from the scene... we had a little chit-chat with our rickshaw driver... And he began narrating stories of how trivial this fight was and how he has been a part of the bigger mess. WEIRD! As if that was going to help the cause of me being disgusted.

Seeing blood just makes me zone out... I don't know how to put it in words... but lets say it just makes me feel uncomfortable to see / talk about blood. And he kept on and on and on about “the time I got hit by a police man” to “when my father hit me” to “his locality fights.”

Finally got to work.

The roof and the cat falling

2009-07-10T22:38:00.000+05:30

Just to give you a brief history... My office is going to shift from its current establishment to a new building. And so we do not bother with repairs etc now. So were all sitting in the office, going about our usual chores. And suddenly there was a thud! We see a part of the roof falling and following it is a sweet brown cat. Could not make out if it was a cat at first... And then I could observe many people acting like the cat... running around, trying to climb the wall, making all meow sounds...
The cat is stuck on the roof for the past 10 minutes now. It is a funny situation. People are equally scared of the cat. Feeling bad that no one got pictures of the whole mess :(
My office is like a mini zoo! I love it! As someone rightly pointed out... I do belong to the fauna... hahahhaah!

What an awesome 15 mins!

Back to square 1

2009-07-10T21:31:00.001+05:30

So my life is back to the phase wherein the entrance and exit of someone makes the entrance of a smile/frown. Wow!

Was just seeing the How I Met Your Mother episode wherein everyone is talking about their policies on 'how much time it takes to get over a person.' Lily says half the length of the entire relationship, Marshall says one week for every month you were together, Barney says the amount of steps taken to get out the door and bang into another one, Robin says 10,000 drinks, and Ted feels that it is when you get into some kind of something with someone.

I still have not formed my opinion on this subject... but looks like when you look forward to the day just to meet someone... it is it!

I am so sure I am wrong about it... but I am scared to accept that the bubble will burst soon.

Gosh! It is time for another bitch-fix.

I am 4.5 timing

2009-07-08T02:58:00.000+05:30

Yes, I am in a relationship with 4.5 people at the same time. These 4 people are my bitch-fixes. We are almost in a relationship.. except for the mushy-gushy part...

I have gone out on typical dates with them. A nice romantic low-lit dinner, a romantic cafe where you can just unwind over waffles and peach iced-tea, a walk at worli sea-face in the rain, a scary movie wherein we are holding hands... celebrating valentines day together...and all those silly moments.

Thanks for being there Bhavna, Kritika, Ruchika and Sonali!

Had you all not been there... I would have actually been with someone lame... Like the current 0.5 in my life ;)

Bitch-fixes rock!

DSLR - the delayed dream

2009-07-05T17:09:00.000+05:30

4 months back I had decided that the day I get my appraised salary, I would go and buy a DSLR. Did it happen? NO.
A sad and short story follows…
I went to the shop, and because it was pouring in Mumbai, the shop keeper decided to shut-shop right when we are at his doorsteps. And so he does go ahead with his shop-shutting plans. I turn to another shop and they only dealt in grey. So by the time I decided to actually go in for a camera without warranty, it was too late. If only 20 minutes is too much time to decide between grey and non-grey. What is it called? Black ? White ? Okay… white sounds more legitimate. Thought to self – racist!
Anyways… I had decided on one more thing… If you don’t end up buying a camera today, it is a sign that I should not. This is called too much of serendipity movie happening in my real life.
So just to avoid breaking my promise to self, I wrote a cheque for all the money that I had in my bank, except for Rs. 3000. At the moment I am broke and don’t even have an SLR.

Now I will have to wait for at least 3 months before I can buy one. And after that I want an iphone.

Damn! I need to stop thinking gadgets and cameras completely.

Life as it is

2009-06-29T02:57:00.003+05:30

So many books and so many songs sound so true! No, not talking about the love songs at all… These are songs like Only Me by Nine Inch Nails, books like Almost Single by Advaita Kala, paintings by Dali (there is something very lonely about all his paintings and sculptures… not lonely exactly… but one), etc etc…

So if I look at my life as it is, at the moment, it is weird.
I have a job which is great, but is dissatisfactory in many ways (mostly monetary). Whatever happened to meeting the targets… working your ass off on projects… in real life, you do the real job, but never get enough appraisal + appreciation to make your dreams really real… hope you all get the drift in making the point.

I have a torn application form for Government Law College, Mumbai. I took 10 minutes to decide that I have to do law, 1 day to do shopping for college books and folders, etc. And just about 10 hours to decide that Law… really was not my cup of tea. I could not sit and scrutinize a document and try and find clauses which could benefit my future company. Maybe something else will feature on my list of career to pursue list…

I have a dog that I miss immensely… Enzo. Can’t go back to Delhi… can’t get enzo here… sigh!

Now the good things…

I have my close (read closest) circle of friends which include Bhavna, Ruchika and Sonali (in alphabetical order), it would be very difficult to place who comes first… These three are like my bitch-fixes. And all three are bitch-fixes for different times and different conversations. If you three would not have been there by my side, life would have been quite a mess.
Bhavna is a person who is exactly like me. I know exactly how she is going to react to a situation… It is really simple, with her; I just have to think me. You have mirrored my emotions gazillion times… and it is easy to let it all out…
Ruchika is a mad girl. I have had all whacked out fun moments when she is around. Talk about impulsive plans, falling off at inappropriate places, getting into deep shit and then laughing… all the weird things…
Sonali is the girl I have explored and got to know Mumbai with. Thanks for all the shopping trips and all the trips to the most awesome chai and coffee walas… the list is endless… not just shopping… you have also been a person who has given me the right suggestions always… except for the ODE evening!

Seriously girls, I know instead of being your bitch-fix, I have been a bitch to you all at times… but c’mon… it is a part of the package…
Love you all!

And the picture below is a tribute to all you men and women… because this fact will remain as it is, forever...

Of plans, get-togethers and evil cancellations...

2009-06-22T21:37:00.001+05:30

So a Saturday night happened... it was more of a cocktail night... not solely because of the cocktails but because of the live cocktails happening...

It was my friend's birthday and we had a get-together at his place. The rooms swarmed with kids, as I like to call them. (1 year younger to me included.) Gossip, drinks falling, philosophical lectures, drunk-dialing, the familiar and not-so familiar faces blaring... I was sure I was going to get bored.

But the cocktail part of it made life a little interesting! Soon after I walked in, there was another person who walked in and I was just gaping at him. No... not because he was the Mr. Edible or anything... but he looked exactly like my ex. Hello!!! Ever heard of giving a person some time to get over the past??? Doesn't look like!!! But this cocktail has a bright side too. At least now I know for a fact that my ex was not THE ONLY ONE!!! There are more look-alikes :)

And then some real cocktails happened... blue frog... Jim Morrison (beer + whiskey)... Mojito etcetera etcetera... There was actually a bar tender hired for the evening... and he was doing all stunts with bottles and straws and lemons and peanuts... Everybody was funny and stupid by now, barring a few...

So we pick up the most favorite topic for the evening – men are superior or women ??? Is that even a question ? Sorry for the randomness, but I have a t-shirt that says 'men are from earth, women are from earth. Deal with it!.' So apt! But as far as I can remember, the opponent man ended up saying “ohhh... but I love you naa baby” to one of the fellow members, fighting on our side. So who wins ? Guess it is safe to say it was a drunk quarrel.

Then I meet this young man (kid) who is the perfect mixture of two people who I absolutely despise in my life. Copy-writing and USA to sum it up. And I was talking the most... well almost most, to him alone. Wait! He loved talking (like me) so I was the sounding-board. Change is good :) So I term him as the third cocktail of the evening.

I was about to get out in ½ hour... that clearly did not happen. And I ended up canning on a brilliant plan. It only seemed less brilliant that time.

So this was an event I was full-on going to bunk... But I gathered the courage to get up... get out of my book... and do something good. Buying a Chelsea Zipper for my friend was a chunk of that... Was quite a memorable day.
Thanks to everybody who formed a part of the good memories :)

Refuge

2009-05-09T20:49:00.000+05:30

Let me come to you for one refuge,
one day you make me feel like a child
and the other day a woman
and then the next day a person in love.

Let me come to you for one refuge,
the days so lively,
the evenings so lazy,
and the nights so cozy,

Let me come to you for one refuge,
because your being constant,
brings a change in my life
because your going away,
leaves nothing here to stay.

Let me come to you for one refuge,
to tell you for once what you mean,
let me re-define the meaning of refuge,
it is you.

But now I will leave without the refuge,
because you broke the promises,
you shattered the dreams,
and you negated the idea of you.

Hope you find your refuge. Or have the heart to understand what it could mean.

poem of the past...

2009-03-21T02:17:00.000+05:30

When I had tears in my eyes,
heart over-full with remorse,
amongst all fake lies,
and conditions worse.

Like an angel in disguise,
you beckoned me close,
you took me in your arms,
with support galore.

Only it took me a day,
to be happy and gay,
to realize what I had,
were arms of cactus.

You wiped off my tears,
to give me some more,
you strengthened my fears,
and threw me off-shore.

Only, some time it took,
and thoroughly it shook,
that the faith in belief,
will not be a relief.

10 commandments of staying Emotionally Numb:

2009-03-03T00:13:00.003+05:30

1. Do not look at the opposite sex admiringly. Ever!

2. If they say “You are nice” / “I like you in a weird way”/ anything containing “like”... Just use the F word.

3. Kick them in the b**** if they say you are “different from the others.” What the heck you are normal human beings!!!

4. Think about your past experiences, and if you feel like hitting the current one of the species, go ahead!

5. When you see the world through pink shades... Put your glares high up on the head!

6. Mid-night calls are more like Mess-with me calls. Ignore. Why take the pain, just switch off the phone.

7. Google up lyrics criticizing love. Best use of search engines at emotionally low moments!

8. Do not hang out at places famous for good singles. They are all happy. Do not want you :) At least think so in your mind...

9. Live a King Size life! And don't be a slave of the heart.

10. Lastly, remember that all men are b******s and all women are bitches.

You will be fine :) I am all set to try this out!

The Big Fat Indian Wedding!

2009-03-01T23:31:00.001+05:30

Caution: You will hear the following words a lot- eat, over eat, cry, dance.

My friend Sonali’s sister got married on the 26th of February. I was invited to Ahmedabad, to attend the wedding and the associated ceremonies. I went there and had a great time! So I though that the whole event did deserve a blog entry 

Starting with Monday, 23rd: I went to office and from there I took a train to Ahmedabad. At the station I met Nidhi Didi’s other friends and then the good times began  The train journey constituted of over eating, talking, laughing and sleeping.

We reached Ahmedabad on Tuesday, 24th: Nidhi Didi was greeted by a bouquet of flowers  Then we arranged the luggage and set to our destination- Bhopal, Bungalow number 89. It was a kind of Bungalow which I had never seen…The garden was huge… It had a pond, swings, fish, peacocks, a marble tea table, a temple, almost real stuffed dears and camels… It was amazing! The house inside was even better! It had a home theatre which could seat 20-30 people… artistically done rooms and walls…. I just fell in love with the house. That is what living life king size is! In Mumbai I believe, we are all living a rat’s life… Then we had to move to another bungalow, where we had to stay. Could not stay in the beautiful one because good things are not to be messed with ;)
After having our breakfast we began our dance practice, which was to be performed on the Sangeet ceremony tomorrow. The ‘mehendi wali’ ladies had also come home… Pooja songs were playing in a distant room… Hip hop and Pop in the other… the house was filled with good fragrance, good vibes, good sounds… In the evening we had a gujju DJ night! Was damn fun! Got my foot stamped and some blood oozed out… Was exhausted! The night dawned and we all took to a little chattering before going to sleep. We were around 12 girls in one room, all different, yet similar. We all got along very well with each other and had lots and lots of fun in the coming days.

Wednesday, 25th - the Sangeet day: The day began with eating lots and lots of tasty food. Then we all took a break to digest the food. And then began the practice for the dance performance. The dance sequence was depicting Nidhi Di’s life… from childhood to adolescence to youth. Then we all got ready and were ready to go to Grand Bhagwati Hotel, Amdavad. The ceremony began… and finally the dance was given a formal performance instead of a practice. The whole sequence merged with the script brought around an overwhelming response from everyone. Then we ate again 
Considering di was going to get married tomorrow we all planned a bachelor’s night for Di. We arranged for Tequila in a Dry State! We played some weird (censored) games. Talked till 4 am… then went to sleep.

Thursday, 26th – The wedding day! : Everyone today was crying at irregular intervals. There were many small ceremonies happening. Getting ready took a long long long time. Saree would just refuse to stay where it was pinned. The make up maroon would invariably turn to blood red, as if I were a white skinned person… And many other such problems had piled up… Finally we reached the wedding place – Red Woods garden. We were late  But we enjoyed a lot! Clicked many many many pictures… Got home crying… Later we were too tired to even cry, and so gave in to sleeping.

Friday, 27th – The Leaving day: We got up, got ready, got into our cars, reached Amdavad Station and left for Mumbai - A very mechanical, yet emotional task. It was a sad feeling to leave my family of 4 days. The train journey was good  Got to Mumbai and reached Office.

The big fat Indian Wedding got over!

The night and the year before Mumbai Marathon ‘09

2009-01-18T10:49:00.000+05:30

Yesterday night I was at Marine Drive… Every body was busy preparing for the big run that was to happen today… The Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon. There were Kingfisher ‘Mumbai is back on its feet’ stalls installed, there were portable loos’ placed here and there… Big maps of the run route… The roads lay clean…
It was all just like last year. Only this year I was not running the half marathon. The overwhelming response led to a steep increase in the demand and the infrastructure obviously did not have that capacity. And so my application was put down, and no external source seemed to work.

I really wanted to run this year too… The confidence that I got after running 21 kms flat was mind blowing!!! It is a must experience event. Normally I would never be able to run 21 Kms. But there are so many people on the road, some peeping out of their balconies, some cheerleaders of the various stalls… who are there to cheer you up… Every time I would slow down a little, I could hear the sounds “don’t stop yet… keep Mumbai running… run Mumbai run” and I don’t know where I would get the energy from… and I would run… then walk… then just drag myself… And I think that they have come up with a very apt advertisement for the same… The script goes something like Marathon is not about Stamina, not about the speed; it’s about the Spirit of Mumbai!
So true!

Last year when I was running, there was a handicapped dog at marine drive, who was running along with everyone. And we all had stopped for a few minutes to let the dog pass and we all clapped for him too! There are other fond memories too… Many senior veterans bucking up young people to run that extra km… Many couples running together in harmony…

Hopefully, I will be able to run next year.

Secret Santa

2008-12-24T21:39:00.000+05:30

Yesterday we played the 'Secret Santa' game in office... In this game, everyone's names are written on chits and then everyone has to come and pick one random chit. The name written on that chit that you pick, is the person for whom you are the Santa.
I was the 'Secret Santa' for Sneha. I didn't know that I could enjoy shopping for someone else soooooo much:) It was almost like meeting the other side of me this x-mas eve ;) On 23rd December, we all packed our gifts and kept it around a decorated x-mas tree in our office. For the first time there was a real Christmas tree and real gifts and real people around it... It was all so real, but looked like a scene from a Hollywood movie.

I think I took this game way too seriously... I went ahead and shopped for another friend of mine, who was not even a part of this game... But really... I enjoyed seeing the smile on people's faces.

And I loved the part where I was on the receiving end too! My boss gifted Born Lippy lip balm to me and another girl colleague:D I used to eye that small lip balm box for months... But I always thought that it is not worth the money... Yaaay! Finally I have it on me!!!

Looks like the year is ending well :D

Living in a illusion...

2008-12-22T22:10:00.000+05:30

I would like to begin this post with two quotations:
“Happiness is just an illusion caused by the temporary absence of reality.” “But time strips our illusions of their hue, And one by one in turn, some grand mistake casts off its bright skin yearly like the snake”
That would pretty much be the summary of this blog too...

But its a good idea to begin after a summary (like in my real life.) So I was living in an illusion for the past one year... Been in and out and finally back in the whole emotional web. But now devoid of the illusionary glimpses of any future. Do I feel better? Or is it worse? Or should I just speak my mind and say numb?
I never thought that I could be numb. It feels like there is no more that can sink in, so people and their words just bounce back as if I were a bullet proof shield. There is no incentive to get back to life. Yet I am loving this life. Why are there so many ironies?

The blasts and then the candles...

2008-12-07T23:05:00.000+05:30

Today evening I had gone to Worli sea-face for a walk. On my way there I saw a small gathering of people who were lighting candles as a tribute to all those people who had lost their lives in the recent Mumbai blasts.

Just yesterday I was having a conversation with my friend, wherein I was of the opinion that these Candle burning marches and walkathons and petitions are of not much use. On the other hand my friend believed that these things will at least get the government moving in the right direction. I was hardly convinced. And then I got thinking what really can change the scenario? The thoughts running through my head were sure impractical.
I thought that the reason for which terrorists are still killing people is because it affects us all. It creates a momentum among people and hits us all deep within. So what should be done? We should stop getting affected? No peace marches, no petitions? Will being stoned help? No.
Then I thought that there needs to be ‘A Wednesday’ in some of our lives. The ordinary civilian should actually make use of the power of google to empower his own thoughts. It is actually quite simple to make a bomb. But then is that the right way out? Will the damn impotent government support ‘A Wednesday’ or will it actually catch the man behind it and kill him. It is an easy kill huh! The Saadhvi (Malegaon blast) case proves that the government is interested in just votes. And will do everything in their capacity to keep the message in sync with their own branding and not care about anything more. So ‘A Wednesday’ is also a bad idea.

Well, I did light a candle at Worli today. The only reason why I did light the candle despite knowing that it is not going to help anyone, is because the organizers there were super hopeful of that event changing things.
I have often seen myself doing things because it will strengthen someone else’s faith. Will count today’s incident in the same list.

People and their random fears

2008-11-17T23:12:00.000+05:30

I was just analyzing the past few years of my life. And I think that I have always been caught between other people's fears. Ha! So much for my being fearless. While writing this I am reminded of a quote which goes like “people often promise according to their dreams, but perform keeping in mind their fears.”

That is so true! Everyone is so bothered about protecting their own self, their ego, their sentiments that they have just forgotten how to give in. And after all this, maybe even I will. I am not just discussing all of it with reference to the typical 'love' relationships. It is about every damn relationship that I come across.

Just some days back I found someone who was looking up my blog, and wanted to make conversation with me. Random guy, random conversation. I never entertain chats from random people because there are anyways too many friends to handle, and so I refrain from all new 'friend requests.' Call it destiny or whatever, I had a chat with this guy. We might have been a couple of hours into the conversation (over 2-3 days) and then he discloses that I am not 'xyz' but I am 'abc.' It was the What the Hell moment for me. And so I asked why he lied to me. The answer was even more strange... It went like I did not want to disclose my identity to people who would not matter to me, and so I use a fake ID. Its like someone is so god damn insecure about himself, and is looking for a real 'friend.'

Well the above instance might sound stupid to you, but that was not the only case of insecurity in my life. I definitely do not like insecurity of any sort to surround me, be it economic, social, emotional or whatever. Everyone is a little skeptical about what life has in store for one ahead, but not to an extent that you change the things you like, you laughed at, etc just to enjoy the cushion of security. So I better keep off people who are too scared in their lives.

The tipping point of my life

2008-11-09T03:12:00.000+05:30

Torn between the feeling of nothingness and complacency….
No they are no ironies… there is no creativity in ironies… am I looking for creativity???
The past two weeks have been the most indecisive time phases of my life…
Everything was taking its own turn….
Pulling me in 'n' number of directions…
Suddenly I felt that something I had been pursuing for almost a year with all my efforts and willingness was facing its back on me, my career I mean.
I suddenly felt disinterested…. And that uncomfortable thought vexed me no end. And as usual… just when I thought I have decided what I have to do, everything came tipping back.

The dream world keeps me closer to reality

2008-10-16T01:38:00.000+05:30

I have been watching a lot of chick flick movies lately. They are so dreamy and so perfect that you don't regret a thing from your past. It tells me how perfect one's life can be... and so I do not miss anything...
And that is why my friends Radhika and Sonali find solace in Mills & Boon...
Cheers to all our girl's night outs!!!

LOST

2008-08-20T01:29:00.000+05:30

At 1 am in the night I am fidgeting with my phone.... thinking of who to call up at this point of time in the night...

I dial many numbers... but I just press the red button thinking they must be sleeping... or maybe we just would not have anything to talk about...

A few office friends to fall back up on... but do they know the history of 3 years in 3 months?

NO.

And so I am writing this piece in vain...

I don't even know what I want to talk about... nor do I know who do I want to talk to...

In between work and college time phases is sandwiched a 'now'.

In 3 years so much has changed. And I would not be wrong in saying that in the past 3 months also lots have changed. And when I look back again after certain years, I would have another numerical to add.

And now I have realized that this whole mess is the product of an idle brain... but continuing further...

Did you ever wish you could just go to a specific time frame? And live in those moments? Be like that again? With them? Just like in movies... Time and Space Displacement! Wish life was a movie... with a happy beginning, journey and end... As if happiness was wildcarded on to your life...

But alas, iss noo zookes....

I really miss spending my life with certain people. I will always treasure those moments :)

A Nation Whose Constituency Is Far Ahead Of Its Citizens

2007-12-06T21:58:00.000+05:30

In class today we were discussing the human rights. In India, all clauses and acts have been issue related. Something happens and in retaliation to it, an act is passed to prevent its further occurrences.

It is said that India’s constituency is far ahead of its time. But are we?

In a nation where one looks at people as mere votes, and their right to existence depends totally on whom they support and who they don’t. It is then that the anti Muslim leader would come crawling on his knees for votes from a Muslim community and vice versa. The incidences are numerous. The conclusion is just one – wrong.

There is nothing right about killing people, luring them to vote, faking promises…. Nothing!

The generation that I belong to is not too opinionated… or do I say is divided…not between the Hindu and Muslims but between the right and wrong.

Definitely my father feels that I have no right to comment about Narendra Modi or anyone…as I am not contributing anything… but is he? What is with this mindset???

What happened in the Gujarat riots can never be justified. Not to me at least.

We are a generation who cares a damn about who is in power and who is not… we also know that we have the ‘right to not vote’, it is called Rule No. 49 (O). We are a generation who is sandwiched between opinions and views….

It is sad to note that my own friends do not feel safe in their own country… that they are not allowed to buy houses and property with as much ease as the majority…

It is sad to note all this and do nothing about it too…

Green to Blue

2007-12-06T00:43:00.000+05:30

Strong, stoic blue

Against a vivacious green

In the midnight’s dark hue

How long it has been…

Blue to green

Against all odds

A journey unforeseen

By all our Gods

Green to blue

Seeped in to the soul

The colors paid their due

Only to let the mind maul

Let me view

This black and orange world

From green to blue

Let me stand out in the crowd

I will show you

This mixed shade

Of green and blue

A piece of my dreams laid

Dog massacre in the killer state – Karnataka

2007-04-01T13:22:00.000+05:30

On an ordinary day, just browsing through my orkut, I received a link from my friend Subhash(who is also involved in this protest), evidencing the cruel behavior towards dogs. I sincerely thought that Hitler cannot be reborn. But we have a Hitler, here in India – Banglore Mahanagar Palika.
For those who do not know about what is happpening in Karnataka, apparently a few dogs bit children and an old woman, and that was reason enough for the BMP to electrocute, inject, drag, throw acid on dogs, poison them, etc.
I discovered that all the protests by the NGOs n the sensible people, just led the Karnataka Officials to stop the massacre for a week! Is that what we have all come to?
Shouldn’t they be sterilising the bitches rather than electrocuting them? Shouldn’t they be more logical?
10 human kids: 7600 dogs??? What sort of a logic is it?I have no words to express this state!

"This is mass slaughter by an uncaring and arrogant government - not the selective culling of rabid and infected dogs," said Savitha Nagabhushan, the activist who filmed the killings on Sunday in Anekal town, outside Bangalore.

In Mandya, healthy dogs were caught roughly and killed with injections on the spot. Some of the dogs were wagging their tails at their killers.
"This is mass slaughter by an uncaring and arrogant government - not the selective culling of rabid and infected dogs," said Savitha Nagabhushan, the activist who filmed the killings on Sunday in Anekal town, outside Bangalore.

About 60 dead dogs were dumped into the pit on Sunday, she said, with workers paid 50 rupees for every dog they killed. "It's against the PCA (India's Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act), it's against morality, it’s against every rule and law! Ms Nagabhushan said police refused to register her cruelty complaint. What do we call them? The police OF the people or FOR the people?Ms Nagabhushan said she went to Anekal after being told cyanide was being used to kill strays. CG Suprasanna, an official in the municipal administration directorate, which oversees all local bodies in Karnataka, denied authorities had sanctioned a mass killing of street dogs. Municipal workers had orders only for the "mercy killing" of rabid and infected strays, which first had to be taken to animal shelters, and to sterilize and free the rest, he said. Bangalore authorities have summoned expert dog catchers from the Malabar region of southern Kerala state to round up strays in the city, home to nearly seven million people and an estimated 76,000 stray dogs.

Please let us all do our own bit towards it!
Let this not happen any further!
I have no more words; let the links instigate your consciousness.

WE CANNOT SIT ON IT. LET ME NOT SIT ON IT.

The links are:
For humanity's sake n 4 the luv of dogs:
NOTE - ”Disturbing Content” discretion recommended !!

http://www.orkut.com/Album.aspx?uid=14088450812546468696

http://www.orkut.com/Album.aspx?uid=13991636905027824852

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,21461869-1702,00.html

POA for the dog massacre in Karnataka.

1 - Spread the word. To all the people… even if they hate dogs!
2 - Help me with the propaganda documentary which we shall all collectively make.
3 - Join the rally coming up this week in Mumbai.
4 - Use all your media connections n get it out in the public
5 - Propose to sterilize the bitches n NOT ELECTROCUTE THEM
6 – I will need all your inputs. Pictures, opinions, videos, funds...
6- BUT WE WILL NEED TO CLK PICS ON THE DAY THE RALLY HAPPENS. I AM NOT IN MUMBAI as I am unfortunately off for Delhi ON THAT DAY, PLZ U ALL GO AHEAD N CATCH THE PULSE OF THE PROTEST.
7 – I am trying to catch DNA’s, NDTV, CNN, Aaj TAk’s attention. Any contacts anywhere?

vartikaverma@gmail.com

‘The Worst Job in the World’ by Jens Pedersen

2007-02-23T00:18:00.001+05:30

A 29 minutes short film on ‘the most disgusting job on earth’ To begin with, let me tell you that it has won the Globo d’Oro, Foreign Press, Italy award.

What came to my mind when I first heard of the name of the movie was, ‘prostitution.’ I really thought that this would be just another film talking about how the prostitutes take up the worst job ever, wherein they have to sell their soul blah blah blah…
But, surprisingly or, shockingly, this 29 minutes long movie was an eye-opener to me.

This movie is about the so called ‘caste-defined’ occupation of nearly 1 million Dalits in India. It is about the people who PICK UP HUMAN EXCRETA WITH THEIR BARE HANDS.

Yes, as in-your-face as it can get! There were many layers of facts which were unveiled in the course of 29 minutes.
Lots of social stigma issues, politics, corruption, helplessness = situation now.
Who is responsible for this situation? Who is the person supporting such a job? You and me? Or should we take an easy route and blame the government?
Well, according to Indian law, manual scavenging is banned. Then why does it still exist? Oh! Law problem!

What else should one expect? The government bodies give money to these Dalits, a mere Rs. 700-900 per month, to clean the dry latrines. (Please excuse my language, but the fact is a fact.) And if these people are working, then there are also people who are giving them an opportunity to work for such a job.

This film led me to not eat for a while, it grossed me out completely. But once in a while, you ought to face the reality.
I just had my dinner had a normal day… and I don’t know why scenes from that movie suddenly flew in and created a montage in my head…
To pen it down is the least I can do…

Kerala - Nature unexplored (by us)

2007-02-21T00:14:00.000+05:30

I had gone to Kerala with all college friends. Can’t believe it was that, I was dying to see.

Really, did not explore it even a bit. But I could write a whole thesis on the roads and directions.
Travel, travel and more travel. Maybe the experience got bitter, just because of out tour boy. Or do I carry on with the blame list? Naah! I might have something better…

Ya… I do carry some fond memories with me. Sneaking out of the hotel and going out in the streets to eat local dosa… Staying locked in a room with 4 absolutely nutty nuts… Ahh… all the gossip… watching all mallu channels and trying hard to mimic them… the water fight which turned out to be soda…Sneha and I dared to purchase a ‘lungi’ and wore it for the jam-session… that smoke filled room…
Yes, too many tit bits to be explained. The beauty of those moments lies in not explaining them.
The backwater was an experience everyone loved. I think I yet again messed it up for myself by trying to compare it with my Port Blair ship journey…

I was mesmerized by looking at those giant printing machines at Malyala Manorma. Saw the old printers and the new digital ones too. Staff there was very patient and they completely understood our curiosity. Man! That was an experience

The tea-estate… well, at 8.30 in the night couldn’t see much. The good thing was that I could buy tea from there. Souvenir may I call it!

What I loved about the trip was the museum and the art and sculpture centre. I think it was the most informative and well-organised museum I had ever seen. With paintings of Picasso, a portrait titled Elizabeth, the lady with the lamb… just swept me off the floor.
Also I saw some paintings, of the 17th and 18th century, which looked so much like the technological age paintings. Some pictures still haunt me… staring right into my consciousness. What did they mean? Why are they talking to me? Is the picture of the tiger more real than the real tiger? How could someone capture innocence in a frame? Too many questions…

Direct from the desk

2007-01-28T01:32:00.000+05:30

I am writing this article from the desk of my office. Inside a cubicle, an untouched coffee mug on my left (which has now become cold), a tube light right above my head and a computer screen staring right into my eyes, I sit, looking away from all the work I have been piled on with, this early in the morning!!! I think its time I put down my confused thoughts and mixed emotions into words.
It’s been so long since I last saw a play, cuddled a dog, stared at the stars, read a book, went out with friends or just relaxed at home!!! I am bored and I desperately need a change. Maybe I just want to break away from the chains of dreariness. Am I sounding like a 50 year old boss, frustrated with his employees and his life???
Then, I am sorry to mention that I am just 18 yrs old and am suffering from the side effects of my ‘first job’.
This is the case with almost all the ‘ambitious’ students these days. With a constant pressure to stand out in the crowd and have the best practical knowledge about your job, this is something that one should expect. To have a secured future, we unknowingly are killing our present. Gone are the days when summer holidays meant painting, sleeping, watching T.V, playing… and doing just about anything. Today what it means to me is – going to office, cutting a few calls from your friends due to the work load, eating in a haste, getting angry over the piled up work and just dreaming about the ‘someday I will have time’ day.
We all enter the job market with our tender feet for just one good reason – good learning experience and hence, a better job!!!

Sometimes...

2007-01-28T01:30:00.000+05:30

Sometimes people say you should not be selfish. They say one should look beyond themselves and try to understand and analyze what is going around them. Think about it, how many times in your life did you hear that? I suppose many times. But have you ever been able to analyze why you have never been able to do so? Well I thought a lot about it. Finally, I think one cannot look beyond and outside themselves till the time they know about what is going on within them.
I agree with Maslow's theory of needs. One cannot seek other things, till the time their own biological and sociological needs are fulfilled. To be at peace, is not easy. Or, maybe it’s impossible. Freedom in itself is not free from boundaries. If we cross someone else’s boundary, we no more remain free. We are free just within our own boundaries. Just when one settles down with one thing, another issue comes crashing on us. And once again, we put in all our efforts in overcoming the problem. The worst conflict is the conflict within oneself. In such a phase there is no absolute answer, whether what is happening is right or wrong, only the word ‘maybe’ hangs in our head. A person always has choices. Success and failures are both an outcome of getting choices. These things seem to take the toll of our lives. But now, if you will try and think back of your own ‘dark patches’, you will realize that they are now just an add on to your list of experiences or maybe a piece of information which you can now very comfortably laugh at.

There will be a stage in our life, wherein success and failure will hold no great importance. Only at this stage of life, we can think ‘beyond’. And trust me, this stage doesn’t come with age. It comes with internal understanding of your own self.

Soul connection

2007-01-28T01:27:00.000+05:30

Till yesterday i felt that the worst that could happen to a person was death... but its only now that i realise that things go beyond... it might sound funny... but i have started believing in soul connection and the ever-living soul...
thanx to the insight given to me by the book - only love is real. to understand oneself and others around... u ought to read this book.

Life...

2007-01-28T01:05:00.001+05:30

Life never takes the roads that you step on. Life is a separate entity and deals with situations independently. Like us, the environment influences it too. Sometimes the real fun of living life is in going against the flow and sometimes it is about just going with the flow. The mixture of both the situations is important in one’s life to make is moving.
When life takes the turn you want it to, you call it luck and when it doesn’t, you call it the complications of life.
I have nothing to tell as to what should one do, mainly because I haven’t been able to figure it out myself.
The step towards death also adds to the journey to life. Sometimes I take each step as if it were an addition to my life’s experiences and at other times, it is just an additional step toward ending the ‘journey of life.’
I might be sounding very pessimistic but in reality it is the result of the insecurity that life brings in each day.

Expectations from self

2007-01-28T01:03:00.000+05:30

Expectations are the only reasons for quarrels and fights. Earlier I used to blame people for not reaching up to my expectations. But now after undergoing the whole thought process I have changed the way I perceive things and situations. It is obviously more pleasant to get a surprise rather than expecting something, and finally not getting it. Expectations make you go weak at your heart. It is not possible to have absolutely no expectations, but the lesser the better for you. In today's busy world no one really has time to listen to all your woes and tensions. People like a happy-go-lucky person, someone who can make others laugh and relieve them of their tensions. But we all have dark phases in our lives, we expect people to empathize. But all our expectations come crashing on us when it doesn’t happen. Expectations should be kept just from one own self. The minute you have high expectations from the others, you let yourself weak and surrender yourself in chains of hurt.