Life's like that

I hate Fridays. They are like those people you wish to avoid but nonetheless happen to meet at regular intervals. Like a ‘dare’ that befalls on you no matter how strategically you try to play. It’s like what one feels like on reaching the top of the giant wheel. It all looks so beautiful from that height. Everything seems within your reach. But as it slowly descends, the larger picture is lost and all you are left with is that thing which lies immediately before your eyes. It’s exactly the way a Friday begins, giving hope to numerous possibilities. But by the time you plan something, it’s all lost. Whoosh. The ride is over. You have to come back to ground reality and begin the circle of daily routine.

The best things happen on a hunch, like they did the week that went by. A women’s film festival, a photography exhibition, a display of drawings put up by school children and another exhibition of a renowned painter, Nabibaksh Mansuri are the events that made my week. There’s something about the places these activities take place in and the kind of people you see there that gives rise to an emotion that lingers around for quite some time. Suddenly, you feel a part of a community that endorses the aesthetically appealing activities. It gives you a different kind of high; a voice that screams out ‘yeah, this is life man’. To paint a picture with bold strokes on a huge canvas, to capture the myriad human expressions through the lens, to appreciate beauty and have the freedom to express it the way you understand it...That’s life.

Had it not been for media studies, I would have taken up fine arts. I’m reminded of a line from Bob Dylan’s song, “People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent.”

i have something to say...

It’s been long since I posted something on the blog. Considering the medium, even 2-3 days is a long time and I was away for almost 20 days! Reason? Even I don’t know. Not that I didn’t have anything to say, but just that I didn’t know how to say it. But today I do.

I dread the word ‘expectations’ and no matter how hard I try to avoid it, it manages to come back to me time and again. Sometimes it’s about things I expect from others but more often it’s about things I expect from myself. At times I think I know exactly what I want from life. And at times I’m left completely clueless. Sometimes I crib because I believe I do not have enough options to choose from. And at others, I get boggled down by the choices in front of me and hate it when I have to go through the pain of choosing one thing over the other.

It gets even worse when people put a certain amount of faith in you. Relationships often get marred by expectations. It’s not easy to please everyone; rather, it’s impossible. But still, we keep trying, thinking that some day we will succeed. And though we know we are doomed to fail, we do not lose hope.

I, like everyone else, like to find solace in the word ‘hope.’

We the Bloggers

Last Sunday, on ‘We the People’ (NDTV) the topic of debate was – Should blogs be regulated? My immediate reaction was - What sort of question is that?! Despite the absolutely senseless topic, I dutifully watched the entire debate - thought it was my responsibility as a blogger to do so :P

On the panel were people behind some popular blogs:

Compulsive Confessor
Emancipation of the Eve
Sour Apple Martini

To my surprise, the debate was highly disappointing. I thought it was meant to take blogging seriously. On the contrary, it displayed a very shallow understanding about this whole new means of expression. Add to it the many digressions it succumbed to only to return to the topic towards the end of the show.

Imagine this: Barkha Dutt reads some shocking lines from a post where the blogger talks about his sexual orientation and returns to him to ask ‘Do your parents read your blog?’ Excuse me? Is it some kind of exercise where your parents’ permission is mandatory?

The show was full of contradictions and superficial knowledge about blogs. A teenager proudly announced that he considered it to be a cheap stunt and his classmates had started blogging to get famous overnight! Sigh. He still hasn’t seen anything beyond Orkut.

Thankfully, towards the end the segment on the good and bad about blogs managed to pull out some decent threads. Again, nothing new was spelt out but it encouraged some discussion. Mr. Jagdish, a journalist who maintains a Hindi blog asserted that blogging has revived a new way of writing. Now you don’t have to wait for a newspaper or a publisher to print your stories. Add to it the instant responses! (I told you, nothing new!)

Barkha’s personal experience of an anonymous post holding her responsible for the death of 4 soldiers during the Kargil war led her to believe that though blogs offer freedom and eloquence, they lack accountability. This, in turn raised a question (which apparently was the original topic of the debate) “should blogs be subjected to some level of regulation?”

Towards the end of the show I felt it was a complete waste of time. I wish the NDTV team had done some decent research to know that not all blogs are ‘personal blogs’. Comments like they are a threat to the ‘indian culture’ and a mere way to get ‘cheap thrills’; picking up writers of only personal blogs as panelists; Barkha's superficial knowledge about the subject and the dearth of audience participation marred an otherwise potent topic of discussion. Nothing new was articulated, no conclusions were made. It was an utter disappointment, except for the fact that it became this post’s raison d’etre.

Cut-throat competition – literally!

Uttarayan – the kite flying festival was celebrated with much gusto during the last two days here in Gujarat. Colourful kites, loud music and voices screaming ‘kaypo che’ and ‘lapet’ filled the air. Relatives visited each other, friends indulged in some fruitful bird-watching on the terraces and undhiyon-fafda-jalebi was the obvious menu in every household. The tanned faces, bruised fingers and sore throats of every second person I met were a telling tale of the fun-filled day spent on the terrace.

But today is a different story all together. The colourful kites that adorned the skies are now seen entangled in the branches of every tree and electrical wire that comes to sight. The dangerous glass coated threads (manja) that became the reason of much jubilation and many frustrations until yesterday now lie on the roads, clinging to every vehicle and passer-by in its way. And I haven’t even spelt out the worst that could have happened – something I feared the most.

The headline reads that a man lost his life after a Chinese thread (apparently with more glass powder) slit his throat while he was driving on his two-wheeler. Seven other people lost their lives while chasing kites and two toppled off the terrace. More than 500 birds were injured and 90 lost their lives during these two days - some of which include the most endangered species.

I cannot help but think, are these celebrations even worth it? Why don’t people understand that their moments of joy could cost someone his life? It degrades the very essence with which such festivals were started in the first place. And Uttarayan is not the only festival to be blamed here. In every festival - be it Holi or Diwali – the nuisance overrules the celebrations. Chemical colours burn the skin; black smoke chokes the air – but we wouldn’t stop celebrating such festivals. Afterall, they are a part of our tradition, isn’t it? Think again. Do we still have to continue like this? Can we not think of better ways of celebrating these festivals in its true spirit?

Ad-dicted – The best ads of 2007

From typical saas-bahu soaps to typical reality shows - television programming is getting more and more stereo‘typical’…

Little wonder, there are only 2 things I watch with full devotion on TV – the amazing shows on Travel and Living and advertisements.

2007 I believe has been one of the good years for ad agencies owing to some major changes in marketing strategies, mergers and launch of some great brands. The following are some of my favourite ads that were showcased in 2007:

(Follow the link to watch the ad)

Happydent – Hats off to Prasoon Joshi – the man behind the 100 watts smile. What does he eat? I mean, who would have thought of such huge sets, never-seen-before idea and a crazy execution for a mere chewing gum? Little wonder, all the ad functions went gaga over this ad. It surely deserved it.

Bingo – Bingo marked a new trend in advertising – something that we’d never seen before. A clip which started as a tele-shopping ad for glad bangles gets weirdly associated to Bingo’s combination of mad angles! Stupid? Creative? Whatever people say, the fact is that you remember the ad because of its craziness. No confusion, great combination indeed.

Airtel – The brand moves from its “express yourself” tagline and goes deeper with a new thought, ‘Barriers break when people talk’. The original idea was to set the ad at the Wagah Border, and get Indian and Pakistani soldiers to start a football game together. But later, it was changed to make the appeal much more universal. The result – Airtel breaks the clutter and once again becomes one of the most recalled brands.

Vodafone– Hutch becomes Vodafone and the ads just get better. No dialogues, just some background music, great performances and gripping visuals. You’d leave anything aside to watch these ads one more time. I especially love the elevator ad where the poor chap waits the entire day to meet his soulmate and finally meets her. The song ‘take me away’ was especially made for the ad! Loved it.

Lee- This one’s Lee’s first television ad in India and what a success! Denims get a sensuous look and the song ‘I want to touch you’ does the magic. This one was made by a 6 month old ad agency from Bangalore called ‘Happy’ and here too the song was especially made for this ad.

Madhya Pradesh Tourism –Jheel dekho, taad dekho, sher ki dahaad dekho, aankhein neeche neeche dekho, aankhein phaad phaad dekho...
I wish I make something as lovely as this someday. The addictive music, the perfectly rhyming list of sentences, the tamasha treatment – you are sure to enjoy this ad everytime you watch it.

I’m sure there are many more ads but these are the ones that come to my mind instantly. While the world cribs about increased airtime to ads, I would say they are probably the only creative spots we are left with on Indian television today. And I strongly believe there should be a channel completely dedicated to ads so that soaps and reality shows do not spoil the fun of appreciating creativity at its best. What say :)

First post of 2008!

Couldn’t think of a better way of welcoming the New Year on this blog than posting one of my favourite poems…

Sitaron se aage jahan aur bhi hain
Abhi ishq ke imtehan aur bhi hain
Tahi zindagi se nahin ye fizayen
Yahan siakdon karwaan aur bhi hain
Khana’at na kar aalam-e-rang-o-bu par
Chaman aur bhi aashiyaan aur bhi hain
Agar kho gaya ek nasheman to kya ghum
Maqmat-e-aah-o-fughaan aur bhi hain
Tu shaheen hai parvwaaz hai kaam tera
Tere saamne aasmaan aur bhi hain
Isi roz-o-shab main ulajh kar na rah ja
Ke tere zameen par makaan aur bhi hain
Gaye din ke tanha tha main anjuman mein
Yahaan ab mere raazdaan aur bhi hain

Beyond the stars there are worlds more
Our quest yet has more tests to pass
This existence alone does not matter
There are boundless journeys more
Do not rest on what you have
There are paradises more to explore
Why worry if you have lost one abode
There are a million addresses to claim
You are the falcon, your passion is flight
And you have skies more to transcend
Lose not yourself in the cycle of days and nights
Within your reach are feats even more
Gone is the day when I was lonesome in the crowd
Today those who resonate my thoughts are more

Mohammed Iqbal
Naujawaan ke Naam, Bal-e-Jibraeel, 1908

Stop to shop

Lord save me from the disastrous shopping trips I end up into. Last afternoon, my parents got a pleasant surprise when I announced, ‘I feel like shopping.’ Their eyes gleamed on hearing this rare expression from the Big B and immediately mom got ready to accompany me for shopping.

Alright, I know I’m a little too choosy when it comes to clothes (more than 4 clothes still have price tags attached to it and more than a dozen shirts that I haven’t touched since ages still usurp my wardrobe space). But then, that’s me. Live with it.

Almost an hour into the shop, and I felt like banging my head against the wall. Why, no I mean, WHY don’t I ever get the kind of clothes I want?? All of them are so tight and dhinchak. Why can’t they just keep simple, normal clothes? Everything has to be so bloody body-fitted. I mean, how do even people breathe in it? Tight jeans and tight t-shirt. Go to a tailor and he wouldn’t even have to take out his measuring tape to know your vital stats! And everything seems to be so loud (probably, it’s my mistake - I went during party season). Everything was glittering – loaded with sequins, stones and God alone knows what all.

Anyways, my point is why does fashion have to come in the way of what you feel comfortable in? Isn’t it ok if I don’t like those clothes? Wouldn’t it be just fine to move around in my jeans and kurta? No, I’m absolutely normal. Just that I detest this whole idea of going with the ‘in’ thing.

End of topic. No more shopping trips for me. In 2007 I mean. Better luck in 2008!

Wish you all a very happy New Year!!! :)