Young Turk

Teach them Respect for women

2013-01-29T12:58:00.002+05:30

A disgusting event has had a tragic end. The nation hangs its head in shame over the trauma and death of a 23-year old woman so brutally gang-raped and beaten to pulp. As politicians and law enforcement officials mull over the next step, the larger India must ask itself a simple question — are we going to allow this disgust to continue and tragically so?

Some are calling for instant justice — take the rapists out, hang them and then ask questions. But the most sober in society are calling naturally for tougher laws that mandate the death penalty for a convicted offender. The temptation for quick retribution — the lynch mob style — should not take away or ignore the fact that as the world’s largest democracy, we are a nation of laws, however slow justice may be delivered. That sets us apart from banana republics.

The physical and emotional pain suffered by Nirbhaya and her family is something that many women across India feel silently and almost on a daily basis and much of it under the guise of “culture.” It is atrocious to say that there is something called a “cultural context” to rape, and worse to make the point that the issue is best put to rest as there is a “culture” to contend with. There can be nothing more cowardly than invoking culture so as not to discuss or deal with a sensitive issue pertaining to women.

The hoopla over the tragedy will continue for some time — as long as the media keep it afloat or until such time some other issue makes the front page.

Even today one group still blames the Delhi victim and her friend for going to a late-night movie and for boarding a private bus. Why should it always be a moral science lesson for the girl, and not the guy? Isn’t it a shame that people still believe that the girl tempts the person to rape her?

So what is the answer? It is in educational institutions where extra effort must be made to inculcate in students respect for women, for what they are. This is not going to be easy in a society where women are looked down upon as the “weaker” sex, if not inferior to men. But a beginning must be made.

Placing a rope over the neck or castrating the culprits is not going to be the only effective deterrent. Sensitising people to the issue is the way to go about. Institutions of higher learning must take upon themselves to enlighten students on the rightful place of women in society and in the process highlight the troublesome issues — sexual discrimination, harassment, assault and rape.

“She” was always a pain in the neck, unwelcome even before she was born, a constant nag to the family as she had to be watched. If things go wrong, it is always because of “her” — if the home is unkept, food is bad, children are spoiled brats or a marriage is broken. It is time for the subaltern to speak. The voice might be feeble, trembling and muffled — after all this is the voice of the community that has been silenced for centuries.

Hostel Life !!!

2012-11-27T10:48:00.000+05:30

Finally, got settled in hostel..!!!

Life at home cannot be compared to the life in hostel. Both are entirely different.

Staying in a foreign place and having to adapt to the new surroundings can at times be tough. We will have to be independent and rely on ourselves is one but some may see this as a good thing since they have all the freedom to do anything and everything they want to without being restricted or questioned.

Lots of freedom and independence in hostel, but still life at home is incomparable. One has to keep in mind the convenience of others in hostel.

All busy with their ipod hearing songs and glued with their mobile talking for the whole day ;) I really wonder who pays the bill :) And myself, looking at the phone for someone to call :(

Hostel life may not be something that everyone yearns for but it is definitely a great experience. Making things even better, I am fortunately enough to be able to stay in this lovely area with everything near me which saves me a lot of trouble having to travel out to get certain things like groceries fixed.

Amanda's Wedding

2012-11-22T13:39:00.000+05:30

October and this month November were fully filled with surprising events :) I was trotting between Madurai and Chennai and now almost settled in a place.To me, every year, October is a month of joy and surprises and this year is no exception. I have totally slacked off on reading the last month :( And hence decided to read a novel and to my surprise, the book was something about Wedding.

Amanda's Wedding by Jenny Colgan is a fiendishly funny debut novel and is a romantic comedy like no other. This is an author who will have you howling with laughter one moment. Well, Amanda’s Wedding took me by surprise… and not in a good way. I was expecting the book to be funny as it is, after all, a book about friends trying to sabotage their ‘friend’s’ wedding. But it was just a whole mess that I was so bored reading it. If it wasn’t written by Jenny Colgan, I would not have finished it at all (and I was really bored).

Mel is a copywriter and lives in a flat with a quiet woman named Linda. Fran, on the other hand, is someone who has Mel’s best interests in mind and tries to keep her from making a ‘man mistake’ every time, but of course Mel doesn’t listen to her. She and Mel are best friends and she practically lives in Mel’s flat.
Amanda, who I cannot even call ‘poor’ despite the antics of the others against her, is a real piece of work. She is condescending to Mel and Fran, she’s so bossy, she is disrespectful to the family of her fiancée, Fraser, and she is just so…fake. While I am not saying she deserved what she got, no one deserves to be leg-shackled to someone like that. And Fraser seems so nice…although I still wonder how they got engaged in the first place. Really.

I thought Fran was nice, but in the end, I was just surprised. I mean, you do not do that to your best friend and expect to be immediately forgiven. That was just undoing several years’ worth of friendship for a guy you didn’t even love.
The only characters that I actually liked was Fraser and his younger brother, Angus. They both seem to be nice and they actually look out for each other.

The book was unexpected because it wasn’t what I was expecting of her. The love angle of Mel’s love life was just so confusing as well as the love lives of the other characters. It’s as if not one of them can get it right. Mel ends up with someone unexpected, Fran does something unexpected and ends up with someone unexpected as well, and Angus is…well, you’ll see.

My rating would be 3.5/5

Marriages ARE made in Heaven !!

2012-11-19T17:34:00.001+05:30

Its been almost a month I have posted something in this blog. And suddenly got a feeling of posting something today and specially about marriage for the "special one" :-) inspite of me not feeling well.

Marriage is, in essence, finding a friend with whom you can share the rest of your life. It is a decision that has to be taken after lot of sensible thinking and practical analysis shredding all pretence. Marriage is about knowing that no matter how hard your day has been, back at home there is someone to listen you through and to help loosen your knotted shoulder muscles. It is also about having the confidence to voice your opinion freely without worrying what the other person will think you. So yes, it is everything about being compatible and all the above being good friends. Marriage is the sweet and cozy symbiosis between men and women.

Vedas have described marriage as a union of two bodies, two minds, two hearts and two souls that amicably resolve to live with each other. The sole purpose of the marriage is to get a soul-mate –this means relishing the company of someone one adores, getting a shoulder to cry on when one is in despair, getting relieved by oozing the emotions out which one can’t share with rest of the world, having someone consoling when one feels left out……. and the list is endless and perspective dependent.

One wise man had said- ‘always marry your girlfriend, if you couldn’t then make your spouse your girlfriend’.

Sounds awesome but is it pragmatic?

On the contrary, in the world-famous novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ Jane Austin quotes- “Happiness in Marriage Is Entirely a Matter of Chance”.

Neither love marriage nor arranged marriage is perfect and both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Doesn’t matter what type of a marriage is, the real forte for a couple is turning it into a ‘Love cum arranged marriage’ where parents’ and the couple’s choice concur and it is the best of the both worlds. This does not mean that parents should always concur with the marrying couple’s choice but even in case of an arranged marriage both partners should try to pepper their relationship with faithful love and understanding to make it an ideal and blissful ‘love cum arranged’ marriage.

If any of the entities in the ‘Dynamics of the Marriage’ is ailing, then both partners should try their tooth and nail to fix that problem instead of using their teeth and nails to hurt each other. In every relationship, problems arise but real spirit is continuously striving to get over those problems instead of blaming and keeping quarreling.

In case of beyond-solving problems in a marriage, both partners should develop endurance to overlook the problem and look at the life remembering age old adages- ‘what can’t be cured must be endured’ and ‘this too will be over’.

As per the Indian scriptures, marriage is a sweet relationship which gives an individual the best companion for life and it’s the duty of every married couple to honor its sanctity.

Are you afraid of the DARK ?

2012-10-01T22:22:00.001+05:30

There was a time when Sidney Sheldon ruled the roost of contemporary fiction. Books such as BLOODLINE, THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT, RAGE OF ANGELS and MASTER OF THE GAME were all over the place, with sales figures that resulted in self-perpetuating multiple paperback reprintings.

Are You Afraid Of The Dark by Sidney Sheldon is a pretty confusing story and I am afraid that it’s not really my cup of tea. The book has 2 elements; either crime or a science gone wrong. Sidney Sheldon is called the 'Master of the Unexpected' as he never failed in keeping up with his fan's expectations, infact he always out did himself in his each book. Sadly for me 'Are you afraid of the dark' was quite predictable and apparent. It was something you could call a typical Sheldon plot. The fact that I predicted each upcoming twist didn't put me off immediately. I forced myself to read the whole thing and kept reassuring myself that may be something new and thrilling pops up but that never happened and the book ended just like I thought so. But I must comment that Sidney Sheldon does write amazing power language and the power command of the characters in the book are really engaging.

Anyway, in my opinion, this is probably Sidney Sheldon’s worst work. However, do not misconstrue that to mean that the book isn’t worth reading; It is! It is fun, gripping and explores questions we should all be asking ourselves as human beings. It just doesn’t hold up to the standard I’ve set for Sheldon. But if you like Sidney’s form of writing, you can give it a try.

Welcome October :)

2012-09-28T23:15:00.001+05:30

October is just around the corner. There are lots of things that I have to look forward to this month. Every year, it brings in lots of surprises and hope this time it turns out to be the same :)

Had a great time reading "I have a dream" by Rashmi Bansal. The first thing that would attract you most is its blue book cover and the fluffy white cloud, on which rests the book title. The aesthetics is in perfect sync with the title and concept that is “Dreams”. Quite naturally, the book is about one common dream that 20 social entrepreneurs have of transforming the world with their capabilities to something phenomenal. The stories are impressive because of the amazing grit and resolve that each one has shown to bring a change in the society. It's plain inspiring and makes you think, " What am I doing for the country? "

I am glad that someone out there is not as selfish as we are and is relentlessly working to bring a change in the society. There are IIT grads, IIM passouts and many many others who could have easily had a better life but chose to go down this path of social entrepreneurship.

The book also tells us that social entrepreneurship does not always mean no profits. You can always earn profits and yet be a driver of change in society. Some stories are so exceptionally impressive that you would feel the urge to quit job and do something similar. Why we don't do it, is a different topic altogether.

The bad part is it seems to have a more journalistic way of writing. Each story is more of an interview conducted by her. While there is nothing wrong in that approach, I feel it should be accompanied by immaculate writing that keeps the reader interested. This is where Rashmi fails. The writing does become dull at times, you'll have to push yourself to finish the book at times.

But it is not easy travelling around India, collecting the information, interviewing them and then penning it down to a book. And also making it a best seller. So, kudos for that.

My rating for this book would be 3.5/5

Hmm..Can't wait for the awesome things going to happen in October. Hope it turns over a new leaf in my life.

Lord Ganesha - The Remover of obstacles

2012-09-19T19:06:00.000+05:30

For all of us, our tryst with obstacles started even before we breathed first in this world, i.e., among those 300 million sperms travelling to the fallopian tube, one succeeded in meeting the egg and here we are reading this post. So life without obstacle is sweet without sugar. The first job of each one of us in morning is to thank God for keeping you alive to see the light of the day. When we face any problems, we tend to limit ourselves thoughtfully and tend to move into the world of depression. It is said that mind is like a parachute; works only when it is open. Life would be monotony without problems. It is those obstacles which we face, are the opportunities that make a person expand his wisdom by tactically handling those insurmountable problems.

For those believers in God, Lord Ganesha is always seen as the one who removes the obstacles in the path of success. Every new endeavour, even if it is a routine start of the day, Lord Ganesha occupies the first place in their prayers. The traditional annual worship of God is known as Vinayagar Chaturthi. It is the day on which we offer special adoration to the Remover of Obstacles. The main sweet dish during the festival is the modak.
Along with it, wooden apple(Lord Ganesha's favourite), and some flowers are offered.

May he remove all obstacles in pursuit of the spiritual path.

If God was a Banker

2012-09-17T15:28:00.000+05:30

This weekend was quite boring for me and had very few choices left to explore. Hence I decided to read the novel “IF GOD WAS A BANKER” written by Ravi Subramanian, an alumnus from IIM Bangalore. The story is of two bankers of New York International Bank (NYIB) who started their career together post their MBA from IIMs. But as they come from different family backgrounds, they have different levels of ethics and benevolence.

The story revolves around five characters viz Sundeep, an arrogant and overconfident graduate from IIM Ahmadabad; Swami, a modest and honest chap from IIM Bangalore; Kalpana a campus recruit for NYIB who goes on to marry Swami; Aditya, the first boss of Swami, Sundeep and Kalpana; Natasha, secretary of Aditya whom Sundeep gets married to.

The two of them Swami and Kalpana are hardworking and honest but the other guy Sundeep is a firm believer of shortcuts in success. All three of them achieve incredible success in their careers but as it always happens, especially in typical Indian imagination, the person who had taken wrong way to achieve success lands in a predicament.

The story subtly brings out some of the corporate issues of the like Glass Ceiling, sexual encounters at work place etc. The story is slightly engrossing in nature at the beginning where in it reminded the famous book “Five Point Someone” by Chetan Bhagat and in some patches becomes slightly boring. The story sometimes seems to be inspired by Bollywood movies where an arrogant boss takes advantage of his women sub-ordinates belonging to middle class background.
Well, my rating for this novel would be 2/5

Shed those Kilos...

2012-09-12T18:53:00.002+05:30

What makes you choose a particular dress to wear for the big party?

Your mood, party theme and crowd..?? Or the bulges you need to cover up ??

Look around, chances are that one in five people will be overweight and one in 10 obese.

Women are increasingly falling prey to the obesity bug largely due to a sedentary lifestyle and good appetite. Also the new age woman who juggles a hectic work schedule and personal life sees her body undergo metabolic changes. More often than not, such women either skip meals or binge on unhealthy food; all leading to obesity. Apart from your shape, all those extra pounds can lead to many health problems.

So, is there anyway out...??
Here are some simple ways to lose weight in a healthy manner....

Keep a check on your metabolism. The Basal Metabolic Rate is the energy used by a person while inactive. Agents in chillies and pepper help increase BMR. So next time, choose a spicy dish over a sweet one.
Increase fibre intake. It will keep you feeling full for longer. Foods rich in fibre include whole grains, beans and green leafy vegetables.
Ban the lift. You must have heard of " lift the ban" but it's time to ban the lift. Use stairs whenever possible and sweat away those calories.
Gym responsibly. Excessive gymming leads to muscle and water loss.

Don't expect miracles overnight. Try these faithfully along with healthy eating and I am sure you'll see a marked change in yourself.

By now, you must have heard this news...people who eat chocolates remain slim than those who don't.

So, instead of binging on pizzas and burgers, you can have those chocolates :)

Don't restrict kids...

2012-09-11T13:27:00.002+05:30

Phew....The last week had been damn crazy with fever and runny nose. And now with full of energy, I start to write this week's blog post.

Don't climb on that, you will fall....

Don't go into dark room, the ghost would catch you....

These are some classic examples of a parent restricting her child from trying a simple and natural movement like climbing. I hear these a lot from my aunt and now my 2 year old cousin fears even to go to nearby room. It seems that the modern parent is also terrorised by the most functional movement. I've actually lost count of the number of times I've heard my neighbour tell his 3 year old son that he will fall and break his bones if he runs.

Such reminders only inhibit children from trying different movements. There is no point in complaining later that children are inactive. Fear of injury is one side of the coin. The other side sees some parents push them into serious sports at a very early age to live out their dreams through their children. There has to be a holistic approach when it comes to encouraging kid in sports. As a parent, one should not restrict a child; but provide them a safe environment to explore.

Kids tend to copy their parents. If you get back home only to sit and watch TV, the chances of your child being active are bleak. So start introducing children to playground and some fun exercises.

As I am suffering from cold and fever..:(

2012-09-03T22:33:00.001+05:30

As I am suffering from cold and fever.....

No matter what is or isn’t standardized in India, there is one thing that is completely standardized, on which people are educated perfectly from their 4th grade in school, which is passed on till the date that they retire from employment. That is, writing a letter requesting a grant for a leave of absense...:)

Looks very simple....a very simple and easy reason to say, but suffering with runny nose and fever and enduring with it is really a herculean task. And I am too suffering now..:(

People do not tend to develop themselves with the skill of making their leave application look any better, and they just want to continue with this culture till the end of the world it seems.

And now "As I am suffering from fever, I am not able to write this post further..:D"

Journey of a Girl - Part 2 :)

2012-09-03T19:11:00.002+05:30

Wow....Journey of a Girl beautifully portrayed in this recent advertisement. Really an alluring video...!!

P.S. I am not an endorser :P

Courtesy : Jos Alukkas

Journey of a Girl

2012-09-02T14:49:00.000+05:30

The baby girl, the apple of everyone at home. She is like the butterfly with most vibrant colors of the universe. We all read, feel and understand her identity, yet, we treat her as per our convenience and whims and fancies.

The little angel who is a girl is beautiful, soft, loving and charming....the creator of a family. It is such a pleasure watching her, listening to her sweet melodious voice,her delicate approach towards life, the rolling tears in her eyes at the slightest scoldings .

What follows is her schooling. She goes to school in the spotless crisp uniform.She is academically conscious about her performance from the first day. She tries her best to be in the good books of all the teachers, score highest marks in all the subjects, never be punished by any teacher. She wants to remain disciplined in front of her fellow boys. She craves to be appreciated in front of other girls. She has big career goals and high ambitions in life. At home, she is a helping hand for the other family members. She is expected never to misbehave, back answer or be rude. She tries to comply with all the conditions.

Next is the phase of young lady. Life is lovely and so are her dreams. Here comes the awareness of the Prince waiting to carry her off in his horse to distant lands where she will have only happiness. She dreams of sinking into his arms & living happily ever after.
There is eventually a tug of war between her parents and her to find the “Mr. Right”. All this goes on while she is advised to improve her grooming sense, dressing sense,culiniary expertise and responsibility handling. She is made aware of the fact that she needs to conduct herself well enough to be able to handle a family independently. She is made health conscious. Every time she develops a soft corner for anyone , she either pulls herself back voluntarily , or is forced to pull herself back for she is not sure of the person who would finally hold the strings of her life. She is at a threshold with all her grace, beauty, emotions to shower on her soulmate.

New life, new atmosphere, new experiences, new power and responsibility.

The last and final Phase is the most interesting and challenging. The phase of rediscovery! Rediscovering the youth in her obviously. Children have gone their way & grandchildren are finding theirs. A phase when time is available aplenty but physically she can’t cope up with all she wants to do. After all nature has ordained her with a great amount of emotional strength. She achieves all her dreams or at least tries to. For as they rightly say, AGE IS ALL IN THE MIND.

Coming Out Of Hibernation

2012-09-02T13:56:00.002+05:30

Argh..... Only one blog post so far this year, I’ve been totally stacked. I've been exhausted and bogged down with too many works swirling around in my head.

Lots have been changed in my life...:)

Strange feeling creeps my mind saying that "You are not a kid anymore..:( "

I’ve not found the time to blog – everytime I think about it I feel it needs to be something big and shiny as it’s been such a long time… so today I decided just to post a little something to get back in the swing of things.

Life is what you make it

2012-02-17T18:45:00.000+05:30

I ended up reading Preeti Shenoy's Life Is What You Make It. Yes, one look at the front cover of Preeti Shenoy’s novel ‘Life is What You Make It’ and I fell madly in love with her, she made me poetic and I read the book in 3 hours. It is a well crafted and synchronized novel, in which emotions are intensely described.

I had a feeling that perhaps I made too much sense out of an appealing front page and ‘Life is What You Make It’ is simply yet another novel about a middle class, ambitious girl sacrificing love for money, who fails to meet her own expectations and ends up at a clinic for some quick counselling.

But, Preeti Shenoy proved me totally wrong. After about 100 pages or so, I got the biggest shock of my life. Suddenly, the plot shifted gears and a routine love versus career story was transformed into a heart wrenching first hand account of a schizophrenic. Almost overnight, Ankita is transformed from a brilliant, vivacious girl into a dim witted, scared creature, who is unable to decipher a single written word. She loses her memory, her mind goes blank and she steadily slips into the dark dungeons of depression, even turning suicidal.

This book is not a love story but it is about how one should live their life like. Preeti has beautifully scripted the whole story to let the world know that the people going to mental hospital or coming back from it aren't crazy. That's a kind of sickness which can happen with anyone at any point of time. The time I realized that the book is about the main character itself and it has no love story involved, I took deep interest in reading it. At last, when the book ended, I clapped and wanted the book to be little more big. I didn't wanted it to finish.Believe me, I finished it at one sitting.

Kudos to Preeti Shenoy for her unusual storyline.

Am Back..!!!

2011-09-12T18:24:00.001+05:30

Ladies and Gentelmen !!

WE are proud to Have with us the Girl who Probably was missed by millions and millions of bloggers across the world galaxy Universe .The girl who created ripples in the blogoshpere by her ever entertaining posts . Whose blog became the only source of entertainment for all the people in the times when the parasite boredom creeped in .

Let us Welcome the amazing ,ever stunning

**Drums Rolling **

**Drum Rolling**

Phew !! Its really strange that it takes a build up as lame as the one above to take a blogger like me out from hibernation. Self-Motivation, u see . Every one needs motivation. And when there is no one to motivate u, you have to do all on your own. This has been my longest absence from the blogosphere . I really missed all your blogs and I guess u must have missed my valuable,enlightning and entertaining posts too . Never mind ! Now that I am back ,your ultimate source of entertainment is back Online .

A lot has happened in a span of month. Yet it seems so vague that I will have to search for words to fill it up here. Sometimes i feel that the world has narrowed down much within a time of 2 months.

Currently reading The Da Vinci Code and now I am able to realize why people were going ga-ga over this book. Although I don't get much time but still I have been making it a point to read atleast 30-40 pages daily.

Adios Amigos..!!

Angdee Birds ..:)

2011-09-12T14:34:00.001+05:30

Squawk, virtually..!!!

I first heard of this game from my 3 year old cousin. He kept badgering his dad to hand over his iPad to him. "Angdee Birds, I want " was his refrain. I watched him as he slung 'angdee' birds at grunting pigs. And he wanted me to give him a five every time a pig combusted.
Intrigued, I got back home, downloaded Angry birds, and tried out my catapulting skills. What seemed like a simple game of hurling birds at pigs, was actually tough. Tough to commit virtual 'porcicide'.

Now, I have fallen head over heels in love with this game. The game is designed to test our understanding of basic physics like kinematics and dynamics of projectiles. There is a twitter about the possibility of a movie on Angry birds.

Nostagic...:)

2011-08-13T23:07:00.003+05:30

( My first speech in English during my eighth grade for Independence day)

The word "patriotism" brings a biased thought in many people. Is patriotism only laying one's life for one's own country?? No, not at all. Patriotism also includes doing one's own duty correctly and paying reverence to the country. The essence of patriotism is selflessness, a sense of belonging towards the country, a will to make small sacrifices for the good of the society at large.

It is crystal clear from this that 'He who loves not his country can love nothing' as quoted by the great poet Byron.

We should take pride not in the history of India, but in creating Indian history; take pride not in the glory of India, but in bringing glory to India; take pride not in the millions who died for India, but in making "India" they died for. After all, the pride of an ideal patriotic Indian is in realising the ideals of India.

Young people those days had only one word on their lips "Freedom". But today, in the name of terrorism , the tree of patriotism has been broken. Its high time to think about the senseless killings and rejuvenate ourselves. The flame of patriotism should burn in every soul.

My language, my statement on the day of judgement shall only be this : I am a servant of the Indian people and Hindustan is my country . I am an Indian, Indian by blood, Indian by caste . Let India be a country where the flames of patriotism burn brightly , so that people of other countries may get ignited and be leaded by the principles of Indian people.

JAI HIND

Don't make it a one day program...!!

2011-08-13T11:26:00.001+05:30

I always wonder about tying a thread for protection on Rakshabandhan. Aren't there many other ways to express our immortal love? This festival is actually commercialised today. Why should we limit our love to just one day..??? In a country where molestation, female infanticide is rampant..these festivals don't have any significance.

I don’t wish to sound cynical but this whole business of rituals and religion and the paraphernalia attached to it irks me. I don't wish to hurt anyone's sentiments. It is just my personal view.

I have a good and stronger relationship with my brother and I feel that there is no need for showing it off by tying a thread. Ours is a transparent relationship.

A small poem for my brother, not just for this day, but for ever....

I’m so thankful I have a brother
like you to count on.
I know you’ll always be there
with open arms if I need a hug,
and an open mind if I need someone
to understand.
I’m so glad that I can
be myself around you.
You know my qualities and my faults.
and you love me just the same.

I’m so proud to have a brother like you...
not just for what you have accomplished,
but for who you are.
I’m so lucky to have you to talk
and laugh with ...
to reminisce and make
new memories with.
I can’t tell you
how much it means
to have a brother like you.
You’re one of the most important
people in my life.
Thanks for being ...
... a brother like you.

The month of hope and hoopla

2011-08-08T12:41:00.001+05:30

Come Aadi and the wind blows scores of freebies literally sweeping the consumers of their feet.The month of Aadi surely makes its mark in retail therapy. People feel happy returning with bag loads of "good and comfort buys"- items presumably at a lower price. And for the shopaholics like me, it is actually a mini Diwali. Call it the mood enhancer or grabbing the oppurtunity, an outing to the busy markets during this month is almost like a not-to-be-missed shopping event.

Indeed markets downtown wear a festive look. Nobody seems to mind the rush and jostling. If markets,shops and streets are chock-a-block with people, it is also largely due to the attractive advertisements and banners screaming out hefty discounts and freebies. Obviously it is too tempting to fall for as the heavily discounted items match every family's budget. If Dubai has its own shopping festival, we have our local shopping bonanza.. There is little doubt then that "Aadi" has catapulted itself to the numero uno slot as the "prime time for shopping".

Interestingly, the month of "Aadi" in Tamil calendar is otherwise considered to be a non-festive period and meant for spiritual contempaltion. Social celebrations like marriages, upanayanam takes a back seat. It is said that this month is feverishly dedicated to Goddess, reserved for worshipping nature with much gusto. Though tradition brands this month to be inauspicious, the shoppers doesn't seem to care and the bazaars are brimming 24*7 literally with people hunting mega markdowns.

Either way, it is a win-win situation.

Log out of the Internet for a while this Sunday..!!

2011-08-05T18:23:00.001+05:30

"Yup, we are in touch on FB" is what we often say these days when someone enquires about a friend. In today's world, when just a click connects you to anyone on the other side of the globe, the words 'friend' and 'friendship' have assumed a differrent meaning. Familiarity no longer matters,as a few minutes of online chat with a total stranger can see him or her joining your long list of 'friends'.

Once you had benchmates and schoolmates, now you have netmates and online friends. The earthy 'Yei' is now replaced with 'hi' and the 'dei' and 'di' with 'Yaar' and 'dude'. 'Lolz' has taken the place of that unpretentious loud laughter that once you enjoyed with your friends. No matter how many lolz you type, the real laughter remains an echo today.

So, why not use coming Sunday as an oppurtunity to pause, look back and reconnect with good old pals..?

The demand for gifts and cards has gone down as people just SMS or email their wishes or send across an e-card. I could still remember my school days where it was a big fad and a matter of pride to have many friendship bands on the wrist.

So for once sign out of Facebook and catch up with real life friends and take a trip to those good old days. Friendship ,after all is a ship that seldom sinks; it sees you through the ups and downs of life.

HAPPY FRIENDSHIP DAY..!!

Menu-gateway to adventure

2011-07-28T22:26:00.001+05:30

Many believe that the menu is the most superfluous part of a restaurant. And the way most people use it, I find it difficult to disagree with this statement.

Think about it....Without fail, we all open the menu card and read it from cover to cover or end to end, whichever the case with great ceremony. And end up ordering what we always order. There's a whole world hidden away in that slightly laminated card..!! Alas, we lack the courage to try something new. And so reading the menu has become simply a ceremony.

What we need, is a revolution,spearheaded by adventurers who will boldly go where other diners seldom venture. For instance, identify the cuisines availabe in your city. You'd be surprised how many there are..!! Go online and choose five dishes from each cuisine, read about how to pronounce them, what they are supposed to taste like. And now you're ready to order.

To paraphrase a proverb, the way to the heart of a culture is through its cuisine. You don't need a passport to be a globetrotter. You just need the spirit of adventure and a good appetite. So the next time you dine out, try with different cuisines..!!

Indiblogger contest winner

2011-07-20T17:24:00.001+05:30

Yipeee..!!!!

I am in short of words to describe my happiness. :)

I am one of the winners of the "Take flight with Colour" contest conducted by HP and Indiblogger. My joy knows no bounds...:D

This is the first time I am winning such contests. I had participated two such contests before, but couldn't emerge as winner.

And the anticipation for this result started from July3..then postponed to 13 and then 19..and finally the result was out today at 4 in the evening. Thank God that atleast today the indi team let the cat out of the bag..:)

Thanks to all the bloggers who voted for me in this contest.

And not to forget about my other post "Stop and enjoy the beauty of nature", it got selected as the best post for the month by blogjunta...Thanks to blogjunta..!!

http://www.indiblogger.in/topic.php?topic=37

On cloud nine !!

2011-06-27T20:17:00.003+05:30

Got the much awaited prestigious Notable Newbie award from Blogadda. Thanks to blogadda for making me featured on their homepage.

GPR has increased from 0 to 2. Lots of votes have been pouring in for the "Take flight with Colour" contest conducted by HP and Indiblogger. Reached 50 followers.

Sister's marriage on Sunday....Hoping to see lots of enjoyable moments in this week!! :)

Colour of my choice..!!

2011-06-18T13:53:00.044+05:30

(This post is a part of indiblogger contest)

Without colours, life is like a body without soul

Life is enormous, life is bright, life is colorful. Colorful is the main feature among those three, as colors of the life is the mechanism that may turn the dull day into the brightest day. Just imagine a world without colour. Everything would be in monochrome. The feeling would be equivalent to living in a black and white television. There would be not much variation and everything would be of the same shades, black and white. That would be so gray, sad and gloomy. A peach and an apple would look almost identical.

There would not be any sweet fights between siblings when Mom gets dresses of two different colours..:)
Life would be monotonous..!!

We are so used to seeing colors that they have become something we take for granted. We can judge the significance of colors with the fact that most are associated with our emotions and different activities in life. White symbolizes peace, red symbolizes both love & anger, yellow is for friendship.

All colours have their own place. But what if our life had no colours? How would things look, and most importantly, how would our pictures look?

Have a look at these two pictures....Which entices you?

Colours can help tell us stories (visually) and it can be used to communicate on an emotional level. The emotion part is what I find much important. I would go so far as to say that color is the primary factor responsible for making a photo feel exciting, lively, mysterious or perhaps melancholic or a little sombre.The above coloured picture looks dramatic and also exciting just because of colour.

What is your say.....????

I like to quote out some connations to colour:

WHITE associated with 'purity' and 'enlightenment', regarded as being without blemish and restful and calm.

GREY In its positive context grey is regarded as offering peace and neutrality. In its more negative context grey is held to show indecision, doubt, and an air of invisibility or fading into the background.

BROWN The colour of the Earth, brown offers us grounding, The expression 'back down to Earth' is highly apt for the energy of this colour may be said to offer us a reality check and help us to keep our feet firmly on the ground.

RED Associated with passion and love. In its negative context red can indicate danger, overactivity and anger. People who are prone to anger quickly, may wish to avoid wearing the colour red.

YELLOW Associated with the Sun, and therefore masculine energies, yellow is linked to the intellect, reasoning, vibrancy and playfulness.

GREEN The colour of many growing things on Mother Earth. The energy of this colour is said to bring balance to mind, body and spirit, also said to have strong links to Mother Nature, and is associated with good fortune, and prosperity.

PINK It is associated with the 'feminine'. This colour is linked to unconditional love.

No doubt that colour plays a vitally important role in the world in which we live. Colour can affect our thinking, reflects in our actions, and can also cause reactions. It can irritate or soothe your eyes. Many people think that colour is just a matter of how things look and it is often dismissed as being purely cosmetic. However, the truth is that colour is light - the source of life itself; there is nowhere that colour does not exist.

Scientifically, it is the first thing we register when we are assessing anything.

A very simple example:

What will be our reaction when we look at a fly or mosquito in our home? We find it irritating.

But what if we see a colourful butterfly or the same fly with beautiful yellow stripes in it ..??

When yellow daffodils, bluebells and colourful things appear, we immediately begin to feel livelier; when grey skies and rain or snow surround us we instinctively draw in and tend to hibernate.

I like to see in colours:

As any other young girl, I like to see my grandparents photos in colours. Before few days, I saw my mom's childhood photos in black and white. I wish to see that in colours. Colours, undoubtedly brings life to the pictures.

As an engineering student, I like to see all my books printed with colourful pages and pictures:) It is quite weird. But still, those coloured pages in the book will instil interest in students to learn. Those small letters which can only be viewed in microscope in half white pages make a student dull.

I know this one would sound funny... I would like to see Oreo biscuits in colours :)It is good in black and white. But still, I like to see that in colours. I have fallen head over heals in love with this cookie.

One of my favourite aquatic bird is penguin. I would like to see those with colourful plumage.

Why Balck and white...??

Eventhough I am in lots of praise for colours, none can undue the importance of black and white. Black and white format suits well for landscapes, urban landscapes and architecture.

“I find that colors can be terribly distracting in some images and can take the focus away from your subject. I do portrait work and find that taking the color out of an image lets the subject speak for themselves. Its raw, it’s stripped back, it’s honest and it allows you to show the true person.” – Shane

Black and white suits well to all lighting situations.

About the colour of my blog:

And my favourite colour is always green. It cools the eyes. Calms the nerves. Creates inexplicable enthusiasm in the heart. Even my blog template has the shade of green. God seems to have an unlimited range of Green in His palette and His magical brush paints scintillating hues everywhere.

So what is yours...??
(This post is for a contest sponsored by indiblogger and HP )

Which side are you...??

You could promote my post if you like it at Indiblogger