Muse

Communication Media for Social Awareness

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 11:07:00 +0000

"Clean Katraj - Smart Katraj"

Here I am going to present a small case I have taken up to see if proper media is used for communicating social issues can we make people follow it. An experiment where I have tried to use the principle of advertising to effectively communicate a message and try to bring about a change in HABIT.

A simple corollary that I want to test - If good advertising can help an individual change a brand of tea or shampoo - that is, effectively change my personal preference (a habit) - then is it possible that we can change a habit of non segregation of garbage at source.

Well of course there are many agencies involved. And they all had to work under a common agenda - so the first step was to get each organisation to work for a common cause - together. The key point is 'working together'. Individually the govt system (PMC) and NGOs have all been working independently on the same cause for some time now - each agency complaining about the others flaws. What was required was that the inadequacies of each working agency had to be brought on a common table (identification of loop holes) - agreeing that the identified issues fell in who's perview (so the blame game could stop) and finally identifying mechanisms 'together' to resolve the inadequacies - essentially sharing responsibilities.

This enormous task was taken up by Janwani an NGO under the MCCIA (Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture). Under the guidance of Kishori Gadre (Director Janawani) a project was designed and a ward identified. Janawani is acting as the main facilitator and initiator for the implementation of the project. I was fortunate to get associated with Janwani - and I discussed my idea with Kishori - was it possible to get professionally designed communication material to spread the message. She agreed and my journey with the project took its first step by getting a logo / identity designed for the campaign.

The objective for having an independent identity was simply to help all involved keep their agendas aside - use their individual strengths - to implement a campaign that took up a cause/issue that they were already working on! Numerous meetings and site visits, at garbage depot, and dumps followed , initial surveys were conducted and data and manpower was shared by the contributing agencies. Funds flowed in with support of the Local Lion's Group, and now corporate houses are also planning to pitch in.

Through the post that now follow I would put up updates of how we went about the project. The ultimate objective is to get the Katraj ward to become the model ward with a ZERO garbage policy.

(Janwani joined hands with the NGOs working in this sector to make it a representative ward for making it azero garbage and create sustainable system for decentralized waste management.

Janwani, Dhankawdi Ward office of Pune Municipal Corporation, Maharashtra Plastics Manufactures Association, and SWaCH Co-operative, Lions club international and local corporator are part of this initiative.)

Passion for Dance (Kathak)

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 08:02:00 +0000

I still remember the day when Vallarie (age 4 yrs) was very sad because her painjan (silver anklets with tiny bells) had broken. It was one piece of jewellery that she dearly loved. Now at eighteen, when I see her perform Kathak – I knew that the love for paijan or 'shoom-shoom' as she had named them, was much beyond the adornment it provided.

At 7 years when she had once gone for her regular evening stroll with her grandma (my mother), she heard the sound of ghungaroos (tiny bells used on ankles for the tinkling sound, by Indian classical dancers), she asked my mother to take her there. In a school classroom they found a lady teaching children and adults - Kathak. It soon became regular for them to stay back at the class and watch the dance training. Seeing her interest my mother ventured ahead and asked the teacher – Guru Mrs. Maneesha Sathe, if Vallarie could join. The teacher asked what Vallarie’s age was, and said she could not enrol her as she was not yet eight.

I was a little disturbed and felt why was this lady curbing the enthusiasm of my child? Wasn’t she killing her interest? My questions were answered most patiently by Maneeshatai – she said that she believes that the child is not physically and mentally prepared to go through the rigors of long practice sessions. And often this could make the child get ‘bored’ with the repetitive nature of the practise session. And in fact it was this early induction that could kill her interest!

This made a lot of sense to me and we decided to wait. The topic of dance was soon forgotten and Vallarie and my mom soon changed their route for their evening walks.

But what surprised me most when after the celebrations of her 8^th birthday, and having gone over all her gifts Vallarie asked if we could go and enrol for the dance class. I could not believe this – a topic that we had not spoken of for the past 7 months! What amazed me that she had kept this in her heart for so long?

It’s been ten years since and I have witnessed 10 years of dedication to Kathak. Each time I watch her perform for a small programme or a competition I do not see my child dancing, but a dancer performing from her soul. And it reaches out to me, sitting way back in the audience, holding back that lump in my throat.The hug at the end of each performance is what I cherish the most today.

Nationhood over Statehood

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 11:24:00 +0000

Why does the Shiv Sena take every comment made by any Indian so personally? Especially when national icons like Sachin Tendulkar states openly that he is an Indian first – is it not a proud mement. In fact it would seem so petty if he had made the statement otherwise, that is stating his State comes first. The whole concept of team spirit gets defeated here. Especially in case of India where every state level player has to wait his/her turn to get selected. The selectors have to take care that all states and religions are represented to keep everybody happy – and I guess the nation looses out on a good player in this process. But as a patient nation we are willing to wait out till the right combination of religion and state representation happens to give us the world’s greatest team!

Would the Sena supremo be happy if Sachin had stated I play for myself first, then my family, then the state and lastly the nation? Would it not seem selfish?

It did not matter to me which state Abhinav Bindra belonged to, but it mattered to me that he brought the first Gold for India. It mattered to me that P T Usha ran her heart out not for herself or her state but for India. As a citizen, a student and a parent when I witnessed these moments I always felt I was cheering for India and not the state.

At college I used to play basketball. What a significant day it was when I learned that I was part of the College team. Interestingly the team had players from 2 rival clubs. Let me explain – individually some of the top players also represented their clubs. But under the college colours we were all one. Then I got to represent the Pune district and had to forget that I belonged to my college. And so on it goes upto national selections. When we have such a selection process for all team sports – does it really matters which state we come from?

When Sachin is speaking on a national forum, and the world is watching him– it is definitely right of him to respect his nationality first. It’s a lesson for all to get the perspective right. As a role model that many youngsters look upto, Sachin made a bold statement, reinforcing the fact that the team will always come first over personal and state agenda.

Bravo Sachin ! What you said was not “a cheeky single” but a glorious SIX and I am glad “you stepped out of the crease” to come out and make the statement. Thanks for making us feel proud for being Indians first.

Psycho analysis of a blog - who am I?

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:15:00 +0000

Whew! Finally a long weekend.
Over a cup of coffee Sumi asked if I had recently checked Suvrat's blog and to check his interview. And I got a chance to catch up on some of my favourite blogs. And as it always happens with me, I started going into the older posts and after a couple of hard core geology stuff I needed a break, so moved on to his humour link. This was a fun post - that psycho analysed you through your blog! and I promptly decided to get some analysis done for myself. It was simple. I just had to put in my url and ta-daaa - there was my result! A MECHANIC!!!!

I know I do not write as frequently as most do, nor do my topics stick to any one theme. So it came as a total surprise that a profile could be generated on the basis of the few posts I had put up.

Now let me explain the reason for my surprise. About six months back Pushkaraj had conducted an MBTI excercise for some friends, where I found my type to be ENFP - and through the various excercises, found most of the traits were quite evident in myself to be ENFP. The score on the E however did tilt towards I - and I have often noticed a lot of I in me these days. But what a surprise when the analysis (of me) of my blog showed that I am an ISTP!

This is what the analysis read- The independent and problem-solving type. They are especially attuned to the demands of the moment and are highly skilled at seeing and fixing what needs to be fixed. They generally prefer to think things out for themselves and often avoid inter-personal conflicts. The Mechanics enjoy working together with other independent and highly skilled people and often like seek fun and action both in their work and personal life. They enjoy adventure and risk such as in driving race cars or working as policemen and firefighters.

It also gave a 'Brain Map' and it looked like this

The result prompted me to do a quick refresh on Myers-Briggs Type Indicators and read up on the two types. This is a gist of what an ENFP person is - "Warmly enthusiastic and imaginative. Sees life as full of possibilities. Makes connections between events and information very quickly, and confidently proceed based on the patterns they see. Want a lot of affirmation from others, and readily give appreciation and support. Spontaneous and flexible, often rely on their ability to improvise and their verbal fluency."

While an ISTP person is this - "Tolerant and flexible, quiet observers until a problem appears, then act quickly to find workable solutions. Analyze what makes things work and readily get through large amounts of data to isolate the core of practical problems. Interested in cause and effect, organize facts using logical principles, value efficiency."

Well now I know that I may be an ENFP but virtually I am an ISTP....thats intersting.

Stop Smoking....Save You And Me

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 10:01:00 +0000

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:
Amazing Photoshop work - for once not to beautify!

Stop Smokking....Save You And Me

View more presentations from DINISHA .

In search of songs

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 09:07:00 +0000

Recently I had an assignment to arrange a sales conferance and we were wondering if we could do an anthem for them. Naturally I started searching for 'inspirational+motivational+songs'. I came across this amazing site Geet Ganga. They have put up songs from across India in 14 languages! plus they have the lyrics, transliteration and meanings where possible. and this is something I have seen for the first time - a license to share songs. Just one complaint - that the tracks are not clear for many songs, maybe thats because the original recordings are not good.

So as usual I got side tracked from my original search and did not realise how much time I had spent on that site.

So coming back to my agenda (and the sad reality) that what my client wanted was 'inspirational+motivational' contemporary movie songs! So here is a list I have put up - do let me know if I should add any to it.
1. I am the best – phir bhi dil hai hindustani
2. Aa dekhe zara, kisme kitna hai dum (new)
3. Aashayein (iqbal)
4. Haan yahi raasta hai – lakshya
5. Ruke ho kyon, jhuke ho kyon…jaan mein hai dum
6. Kandhon se milte hain kandhe Chak de India…kuch kariye..

Friendship

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:36:00 +0000

Friendship cannot exist unless you are ready to commit yourself to the well being of the other person - for life.
Friendship is not just another PR exercise!

Beautiful Rajasthan

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:57:00 +0000

Sound Advice

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 06:35:00 +0000

Its been a long time since I felt really excited about an innovative interactive advt. Sonetimes they are so technology heavy, and look as good 'ideas' but difficult to implement. Here is one concept that really wants you to go ahead and implement it.

"Ground Zero Los Angeles develop a new way for parents to communicate with their kids about drugs. The execution must be innovative and stimulating to an audience that has grown up with new media and technology as the norm not the new." Just click on image below to check the site.

How I found my salvation

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 11:55:00 +0000

“The sense of separateness “ – what a wonderful concept. Speaking Tree, a column of Times of India had this article by Dr. Deepak Ranade. He says “The more we endeavour to attain salvation; the sense of separateness only gets reinforced.”

In my daily endevour to live my life as sanely as possible I often feel that if I can get through the day without one major confrontation – emotional, professional or ethical, that itself was salvation. Yes alcohol can be recourse to achieve the momentary ‘disconnect’. But how often in the day do I feel like I want this disconnect?

Each day in the evening when I return home, I often wish – what if there was no one home – and I had the house to myself. What if I don’t have to answer “what’s for dinner tonight?” Over a period of time what I have experienced is that ‘giving-in’ to a situation makes it more pleasant. Let me explain that when I say ‘giving in’ here I do not wish it to be interpreted as ‘giving up”.

At some point in time did I not crave for just these things – someone to wait for me at home, someone to ask when I was coming home, someone to appreciate what I cook? I soon realized that my sense of happiness was only one-sided. “I am happy ONLY when things work my way”. So taking the above case – when it was MY need to be appreciated for the food I cook ; I wanted someone to cook the food for. The moment it becomes someone else’s need my unhappiness was generated from the feeling that I was ‘giving in’ to someone else’s need. Over a period of time this interpretation seeped into my relationships too. Is happiness the product of convenience?

I also discovered that having been in the role of the ‘giver’ it is difficult to become a ‘receiver’. And to be a ‘receiver’ I realized I had to ‘give in’. I needed to give others a chance to ‘do unto me’.

And that’s when I found happiness, without a trade-off. To quote Deepak once again "Connection or disconnection is relevant only in duality or an illusion of duality. Once this illusion of duality vanishes, what remains is unity. An impersonal awareness."

I had been able to experience the inclusive disconnection – a state of realization. "The disconnect that occurs by inclusion is everlasting, beyond any time-space considerations. Compassion for all life then becomes the effect rather than any imbibed virtue." I finally had my salvation.

Thanks Deepak for making me think all this.

I made my choice

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 07:40:00 +0000

I voted. Did you?

The Great Indian Democracy

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 08:47:00 +0000

What great timing...the general elections of 2009 and me reading The Great Indian Novel by Shashi Tharoor. I do hope Mr. Tharoor sticks by what he has to say about democracy in India. In the chapter 'The drop of Honey – A Parable' Vyas is having a discourse on the fall out of emergency (the Siege as it is referred to in the Novel) Vyas says -

“ The Siege was accompanied by a declaration of 20 point socio-economic programme which the government seemed determined to implement. With strikes and political demonstrations banned, there was a new sense of purpose where earlier there had been drift and uncertainty. In the slothful, yet oh-so vital world of officialdom, the officialdom in whose hands rests the hope of progress for so many of our national poor, habitual absentees were reporting for work all over the country....I felt that if the Siege, however base its basic motive, was going to permit the government to serve the common man far more effectively than before, then people like us who had lost the freedom we alone knew how to exercise, had no right to object. The purpose of democracy was the greatest good for the greatest number, and I had no doubt that more Indians would benefit from the abolition of bonded labour and the implementation of land reforms than would suffer from the censorship of (press) articles...”

Why is it so that we as Indians do not implement social reform in its true spirit unless we are forced to by law? Why does our ‘holier than thou’ attitude not make us conscious of our social responsibility before pointing at flaws in any social reform plan? How many of the government programmes for the benefit of the farmers/ruralite have actually served their objectives.

Who will measure this? And if measured who will take a look at the results (however negative they may be) and dwell upon it to look for a way forward, rather than pointing accusing fingers. Its only we who can make it happen... or is an emergency state, focussed on reforms, our only hope of bringing an indent however small in the Human Development Index.

And yes, lastly is media ever going to be repsonsible... or should i say who is reponsible for the media? I dont know, the lines have surely gone all grey here.

Of Churches and Spires

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 06:31:00 +0000

A temple evokes a very different feeling in me..I mean I am not a religious person. But the atmosphere or call it the ambience, always leaves me with a sense of awe. And so it also happened in case of The St. Philomena's Church in Mysore.

On a recent visit in January’08, Vallarie and myself decided to visit Mysore, and our first destination was the Church. I guess it was a wrong time of the day for photography, as we were in the blazing afternoon heat of 2.00pm, and equipped with only a digital camera – these are all the images we could get.

The tall imposing spires makes you feel you have entered Tolkien’s world, and except for the heat and the mulling people you could be on the sets of "the lord of the rings". Oh I know this is my imagination running wild. But seriously that’s just the kind of feeling I got.

I was very surprised to note that the church came into its current state of existence not long ago, but as early as in 1933. I mean earlier there was a smaller church in these premises over 250 years ago. Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar III , the king of Mysore built a small church for the resident Britishers.
My notes are poor here, but I got to know that a Frenchman named Daly designed the church. The church floor is in the form of a cross. The long part of the cross is the 'nave', which is the congregation hall. The two arms of the cross are the 'transepts'. The fourth part containing the altar and the choir is the 'crossing'. Wish I could get an ariel view!
The church is built in the Gothic style and is one of the largest in South Asia. The significant story is that it has the relic of the 3rd century St. Philomena that is in a beautiful catacomb right below the main altar. You can go through dungeon pathways having names of all those who have contributed to the church, inscribed on black polished stones. It was my first time in a catacomb - very eerie. So after the St Francis' Church in Goa I have voted this to be one of the best churches I visited.

Priority or Option

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 13:31:00 +0000

I do not know who has shot this image ... but I had kept it with me for quite some time, and the same thought has been in my mind. I think now that I have resolved many issues, I am sharing this image.

This image helped me - hope it gives you answers too

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter...Spring

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 18:50:00 +0000

I have recently joined a film club - its just a once in a month commitment which I was sure I would be able to manage.
A time to see by myself, films that others always talk about. Films that have revolutionised thought - films that brought India into the global realm - some cult - and some popular of course. I promised myself I would not get over-influenced by the tag attached to many films of being "critically acclaimed' but see if they touch me personally - anywhere. And also not to read anything about films before I see them. This is a pure selfish endevour. Maybe to help a search within myself. And of course see a good story being told by some masters of filmdom.
Till now I have seen Citizen Kane and Sadgati, missed The Great Dictator(but since I have that in my collection didn't miss it much). What I am going to share here is my experience of watching 'Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring' - , Writer/director/editor Kim Ki-duk has created a masterpiece- a story about the human spirit, moving from Innocence, through Love, violence and Guilt, to Enlightenment and finally Rebirth
What I really liked was his ability to portray the serenity of the mind through the pace of the film..slow yet keeping an element of curiosity alive. One wanted to know what was going to happen next in the life of these two characters who hardly speak.. The director very skillfully leads you through the various emotions of joy, curiosity, guilt and repentance. The symbols of Buddhist philosophy are embedded so naturally in the story that they do not obstruct your thought, yet later you end up pondering over them. A simple of act of rowing to the shore and back to the island monastry starts getting a new meaning as the story unfolds.
Actually what he has to tell is nothing new, but the way he shows the evolution of thought linking it with the seasons and stages of life is significant, and thus the name “Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter Spring” – the inevitability of the circle of life!
While watching the movie you first get lost and wonder what time period it is set in as you see no clues, and then suddenly two new characters from the 'outside' world are introduced, and the fairy tale story starts becoming real, especially when the lead character actually leaves this world and returns in 'todays' world.
The story and and whats it all about, you can of course get loads of it on the net. I enjoyed the cinematography and the storytelling skill of the Korean director. Cheers to him!

Volunteering

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:56:00 +0000

I have the good fortune to have a friend in Anupama...how we stuck along for so long is a different story, but what I admire her most for is the tenacity with which she follows what she belives in. Take the case of Seva Sahyog - she has been actively promoting the work and participating voluntarily to do her bit. Instead of being just another 'couch' volunteer , she was instrumental in getting her collegues contribute to the activity and spent the last 3 weekends help distribute school kits to children who were financially under-privileged. Read more - Times of India Pune, on their 4th page.
After hearing her story I browsed to realise there was so much in 'Seva Sahyog' - especially their site - Youth for Seva was very informative. It provided a forum to all those who have always wanted to do something but did not know where to start or trust the credibility of organisations seeking help. Seva does the research for you and in their updates sections gives a list of activities where voluntary support is needed.
So hope to see you sometime on a Seva activity...I am definitely there.

Value education for School Children

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:56:00 +0000

Well, the rummaging continues...and I discover this article written for the school edition of the newspaper - am posting the article as it is, but would be adding more as to what others have to say about the same. So here goes -

As a parent I ask myself – what all did I expect my child to learn at school? And was value education anywhere in the top three things to learn. I am sure if we sit down to list the reasons for choosing a school, value education would come way down.

Then whose responsibility is value education? I think it is the responsibility of the society that the future generation is made to be a sensitive generation. We as ‘parents’, we as ‘teachers’ and we as ‘by standers’ – in all these roles that form the web of society are responsible for inculcating values amongst school children.

The age group of 8 to 14 is considered to be the most impressionable age and children spend maximum number of waking hours in the school during this phase, and thus we often expect the school to fulfill this ‘learning’ need too. In case of value education it is not just the books, or stories or songs that help one to learn. It is observation, that is the major tool of learning. If what children learn at school and what they experience at home or in their social environment is contradictory, then we are only creating further confusions in the young minds. We are raising doubts and building up inhibitions to respond to what they feel is right.

If value education is taken up as a subject, it definitely becomes a subject to joke about, or is considered nearly an ‘off – period’ – I mean who wants to be told moralistic stories anymore? However if the same subject is covered through experiential learning it can become a major tool of inculcating values and sensitivity issues for the young minds. It could cover issues of socio-economic disparity, gender sensitivity, environment concerns and a host of others topics.

I remember as a school girl, I was a Girl Guide – and what we learnt in those three years are still a part of my personality. Even today I follow the basic tenets of the Guide movement - “do a good deed for the day” and “ khari Kamayee” (work and earn). Was it not ‘value education’? But we don’t seem to do these activities any more.

Currently the only lip-service that we give to our commitment to value education is through the mechanical rendition of the National Pledge. Even if each line of the pledge is recited with heart and commitment, and followed in spirit to the word, we do not require any additional classes for ‘value education’. Why can we not just commit ourselves to what we say in our national pledge; and extend the values from ‘all Indians’ to all “human beings”.

So let’s start with something simple and something possible. Just let’s try to inculcate the Pledge in spirit and value education will happen.

Collectively speaking

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:21:00 +0000

While rumagging through some old file on my laptop, I found this collection of 'collective nouns'. Here are some that are truly amazing. Do add more if you can think of some more - I will add them to my collection.
A Tower of Pizzas
A Shakespeare of Idiots
A Siagon of Memories
A Sympathy of Smells
A Twitch of Habits
A Custody of Husbands
A Beep of Censors
A Smug of Smiles
A Shadow of Sunlight
A Rash of Diapers
A Portal of Insignificance
A Granary of Salt
A Forest of Pens
A Curfew of Restrictions
A Dawdle of Time
A Digit of Chips
A Chain Mail of Links!
A Chicken of Doubt
A Cholic of Al's
A Budget of Decimals
64 Megs of Ryan
A Cacti of Pricks

Click It

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:46:00 +0000

Can you imagine using the laptop and not moving you fingers over the touchpad? Or you are sitting on your desktop PC and moving the mouse insanely on your screen , though you may not be searching for anything in particular? Well if you dont, then you are a rare species - somehow i do have this habit wherein i am unconsciously moving the cursor constantly. i did not realise how really strong the urge was to click - be it the mouse or the touchpad. and then i came across this website. I realised i am looking for links / buttons / cursor shifting to the hand icon and other indicators of links whiile browing page/site. So here i am sharing with you an enjoyable experience - Just Dont Click It!

Begining or the End

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 19:55:00 +0000

It seems I am discovering something new each day on the internet. Of course that does not mean it is NEW, its just that its new for ME. So what? So I happened to discover 'Stumble upon' and its been a pleasure so far. I came upon this post on work done by street artists. Now don't think I am talking about the usual sights we see at traffic signals in India, nor a magician or scamster. They are activists using their creative talents to express in innovative ways.
I really dont want to say much of this link you just have to click on it and scroll to the right.
Is this the begining or the end? And the post I had stumbled upon is called - Are you generic?

Travels

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Fri, 30 May 2008 10:36:00 +0000

Snoozing in the car while travelling from Mahabaleshwar to Pune, I half opened my eyes to see where we had reached. And lo! what a sight! I could not believe what I saw! In all my travels in India, I am never surprised by the modes of transport. The range is so vast in terms of vehicles and also the goods carried, that nothing surprises me. But still, to see an elephant in a truck! it did leave me amazed.
At this particular point on the Bangalore highway, we were crossing the ghat section and the swaying truck looked pretty precarious on the road.
Where were they off to? Collect alms in Pune, then move on to some other town? He surely must be missing the long walks in the forests, as now he is relegated to burning asphalt of city roads during their stays. Can he see the hills passing by, or is he now blinded by the harsh afternoon sun burning on the tarred surface.
They say elephants have good memory. Why?

And the Award Goes to...

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:37:00 +0000

The magical words were finally heard. It felt good to hear that the Jury award for best film was awarded to KAASH! Yes we did it again..but now we surely feel we have to move ahead of ICE. We want to see what the world has to say. we want to be better at pre and post production. We want to experiment with original soundtrack, animation, dubbing..oh the list goes on.
We dont want to get stuck on past laurels and so now we move on to ERISED, our next project. our website!

Big Screen Moment

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Wed, 28 May 2008 12:49:00 +0000

Finally we were on BIG screen॥a dream come true..dont know yet what the results will be , but it sure felt goodto hear people respond to your creation. I mean these were not friends whom you had requested to view your film, but it was the aam junta, and the joy was in seeing that the audience did follow the path that you had set for them. Ample satisfaction. Buss I am happy...
Sharing the channels screens from KAASH...of course will have lots to tell post 7pm today. Wish me all the best.

क्या आम आदमी सुरक्षित है

noreply@blogger.com (Swati) — Wed, 21 May 2008 09:13:00 +0000

It came as a shock and a surprise to see the title convert to devanagiri (hindi) script..so much so that i decided to let it stay that way.. (and had a hard time trying to shut it off..yup I am technologically disabled!)
So what is "kya aam aadami surakshit hai?" all about? The description on the DVD cover reads -"When a lie is told a thousand times, you start believing it as the truth. And if someone can make a million people believe it, it certainly is a potent weapon.

This is a short film (20mins) made by us (prasad, swapnil and myself). How did we get to doing this.
It was a usual evening at Raviraj - our hangout. a place to catch-up before we left for home after office...usually over a cup of coffee or phoolchand paan or a mug of beer - oh and omlette sandwich for Swapnil...As usual we were hotly discussing movie themes, should we do a horror flic, or should it be a romance, maybe animie would be a new start, why cant we adapt a strory, and so on.
Well finally K.A.A.S.H was done and is also shortlisted for screening for ICE Festival 2008 and is going to be screened in Pune at City Pride Multiplex, Kothrud on 28th May 2009 , between 9am to 12 noon. The award is to be declared the same night.

So till the news is declared cant share the story...more about K.A.A.S.H follows after 28th May.