Was it indeed a giant leap for all of Mankind ??

July 21st 1969.... God!! Its been 40 long years since Neil Armstrong had set his feet on the Moon.. 40 years. Its definitely a huge deal for the entire world...

40 years of confusion and arguments and conspiracy theories.. 'Did man actually land on the Moon'?? I myself have been facing this internal conflict.. A major part of me wants to believe that Neil Armstrong was the first man, who made a Giant Leap for the entire mankind. But there is a tiny portion in my mind which compels me to think the opposite, No man ever landed on Moon..

This thought is strongly supported by the number of evidences provided by various conspiracy theorists and secondly knowing the fact that the country in question is none other the United States !!!

Whatever it is, I do not want to bring up the issue all over again and take away the charm from this big event. For now this is just a stoic response to a huge achievement of Mankind 40 years ago ! !! To support this even the world is about the witness the longest ever Solar eclipse in the past so many years.. Call it destiny or wat??

The Exciting World of Ads !!

Ads… No matter how far you run, no matter where you hide, they will hunt you down and sell things that you want / don’t want / never even dreamt of having etc etc… That is the power of advertising!!

I know for majority of people advertisements are something that find there way either into the most interesting part of a match, or exactly at a time when the movie is about to hit a climax!!! This being exactly the reason why they are hated by many…

But for some strange reason, I have always admired the creativity that goes behind the Ads. I have deliberately made an effort to understand and appreciate the way in which the message is being communicated. The more indirect mode of communication, the more interested I am in the Ad..

I believe that the Indian Ad world has come a long way in terms of the punch of the message, creativity and a much bolder theme. In terms of creativity, the first things that pops into my head is the Zoozoo ads of Vodafone. The ads were so powerful, that It has shook the entire media industry, to an extent that the Zoozoos have become the new face of Vodafone along with the “always loved” Pug. Subtle and simple messages were communicated so powerfully that it leaves a lasting impact on a person’s mind ! Kudos to the team behind it...

The other ad which had grabbed my mindshare for a long time was the Happy Dent White chewing gum ad. The message – Eating this particular chewing gum helps in maintaining white teeth, was conveyed so dramatically with an added sense of humor that this particular ad went on to win the best ad in the 2007 awards.

There are a loads of other ads worthy enough to be mentioned here, like the Pulsar 220, 2009 edition ad.. Fastest Indian on road, The latest Yamaha Mobike ads focusing on performance and the Brand, The HSBC Bank ad conveying the message that different people have different needs and loads of others.. Not jotting them down for want of space..

I was earlier mentioning that the Indian Ad world has also evolved into a much mature industry, where bold and strong messages are being communicated. And the best part is that such messages are well accepted by the audience as well, which is indeed a positive development..

For instance, the “Jo Bola, wohi Sikandar” ad on condom was a lot bolder than the older ads, or the Ipill emergency pills ads or the latest matrimonial website ads etc have helped the consumer shed the inhibitions associated with such products from their minds.

Well, all of the above said, I still feel that Print ads are the best, as they convey the message in the best and shortest way possible, which tests the creativity to its limit !! I am just posting a collection of a few of the Ads which I found were really exceptional… So here goes..

A dramatic representation of the power of the Vitamin tablets.. The Plane crashes as it is hit by the ball... Awesome creativity !!!

One of the best Hot Wheel ads i have ever witnessed..

Never ever seen such a lovely Pepsi Ad.. :)

An awesome effort by the IWC Watches. This was done in all the public mode of transporation in Zurich !! Amazing...

The best way to communicate that the particular skin cream is the best !!

This is creativity at its best, i would say. The Crown of the Beer bottle has a picture of the car. The minute you open the bottle the picture of the car is bent, with a message on the inside of the bottle... Dont Drink and Drive !! Awesome !!! Who would have ever thought of this.

Alright.. i am leaving this one for you guys to admire the thought... Go on.. ;)

Well since the Idea behind this particular ad is a bit serious had reserved it for the last. This was published immediately after the Bihar Floods (River Kosi).. The message was .. SAVE TREES, TREES SAVE! Hard hitting, but excellent...

Well, I admit that i got carried away, and suddenly realised the post has becme really long.. So in the interest of the readers I am resisting my temptations to post any more...

But a sincere request to everyone out there... please take a few minutes of your entertaiment time to admire the creativity behind these ads as well..... Thanks...

Cheers Ash....

Not all is up in Smokes... !

Cigarette smoking is injurious to health..... The first thing that I always read and highlight to people about who I really care....

I have always wondered, what is there in smoking that can make people addicted to it, to an extent that inspite of knowing all the harmful side effects, people just don't quit it... That's when I thought, why not attempt to understand the good things about smoking, not the vices, which takes flak all the time...

So here I go...

Nothing promotes Bonhomie as much as a smoke... Wondering what the hell I am speaking about?? Well... I have always observed this thing, One guy is smoking and there is somebody else who needs a light.. and thats it.. Off they go into a casual conversation.. A cigarette butt usually turns out to be the best conversation starter ever.. You Meet somebody for the first time at a smoking joint, share a light, share some light moments discussing economy, weather, etc etc.. Meet the person again at the joint the next day and there you go.... Good buddies from then on...

A smooth Ice breaker... Yes !! I have often seen this... Juniors going out for a smoke with the seniors.. Its one place where both the parties discuss work casually, off hand without the messy Boss - Subordinate relation.. The uncomfortable silence which usually creeps in can easily be blown away with the smoke.. I have seen guys developing a good rapport with their bosses, even talk about appraisals, better job offers etc over a smoke.. Which is definitely a positive score.. :)

Burn out your worries... "Don't drink and Drive, Just smoke and fly".. This is the motto that keeps the spirit alive, vouches one of my best buddies.. If you are in some tension, something is bothering you, just burn em out with a smoke.. I fail to understand how it works, but it definitely helps loads of people in easing out the worries..

Oodles of attitude....This is one thing that cannot be denied at any cost ! No matter what people say, A smart formal attire flaunted along with a cigarette surely scores on the "COOL QUOTIENT" front !! This is a personal opinion and may not be accepted by all.. I strongly do feel so ..

Well.. that's the best of the lot that I could gather on the positives on smoking.. But I still maintain, none of these have ever motivated me to take up smoking.. and hope nothing ever will.....

Thatz all 4 now !!!

I am Inspired !!!

It was a lazy saturday morning.. Had a pretty loong night yesterday. So ended up gettin up really late. around 12.PM.. he he.. For guys who dont know me, I am a typical lazy, unorganized procastinating couch potato.. So the very first thing I did was freshened up, grabbed the days' paper and switched on the TV... Was jus flicking through the channels, and there came Spiderman 3.. just wanted to see the stunts all over again so left it onand was also running through the days headlines on the newspaper..

The Movie was on in full swing with all the special effects, graphix and stuff, which I was intermittently enjoying.. The Movie was almost over andthats when our Spidey passes on a statement --

"Whatever comes our way, Whatever battle rages within us, We always have a choice to make...Its our choices that make us who we are, And we can alwayschoose to do whats right!"

All of a sudden, something struck my mind.. I found the statement so powerful that I ran through my DVD stack, played Spiderman 3 again, just to hear the statement again. For some reason, it got registered in my head !!!

Choices... Ever wondered the number of options God had always offered you..Ever bothered to rethink the choices that you have made till date???.. You chose an option which has defined what you are today !! Whoa !! If you ever think of it that way, it sounds so huge, but when you are actually faced with multiple options, the choice that you make mostly, are based on the immediate benefits are short term happiness... It may or may not be right at a later point in time..

I should also agree that there will be times when life does not offer multiple options, and you are left with no choices but forced to pick one that comes your way.. And thats the real challenge. Even though the choice is yours, you may not have the option to choose right !!

Personal turmoils can always hinder sane decision making abilities .. Lifealtering choices should never be taken under pressure. Faith in self should guide you in taking decisions..But I firmly believe that If one always wishes good for himself and for others the choices that he makes eventually may turn out to be right !

So Mr. Spidey, I beleive that we alwaya have the option to choose what isright.... But i must say, It was indeed a powerful statement.

Cheers..
Ash.....

Remember the Time... JAckO !!!

"If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave the world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with" -- Micheal Jackson

Browsing the Internet at 2 in the morning, after a long hard day at work, one doesn't expect anything dramatic...leave alone earth-shaking. One look at CNN website and I was jolted out of my sleepy mood...the breaking news ticker said Michael Jackson, the absolute King of Pop, had been rushed to hospital after collapsing in his rented Bel Air mansion. I sat up straight, said a tiny little prayer but I feared the worst. And so it was. Soon all the channels were saying the same thing -- the King was dead.

I am Upset...it's as if someone I knew, someone real close to me, had died. And he was CLOSE...I've literally grown up listening to him...first as the Jackson Five and then as MJ...he rocked my world.
I remember vividly my dad bringing me the a triple casette pack of MJ "History"(no CDs back then) from one of his trips. I played it morning, noon and night on my Philips deck. I used to continuously play all my favoraite .....Billie Jean, Beat It, Wanna Be Startin Somethin' BAD, Earth Song, Heal the world (one of his best ever) and Thriller, of course.
Sing he could but dance...There was no one who could bring the stage shows alive as much as MJ could !!! He was a God on stage and crotch-grabbing was the only move that I could pull off when on the floor. He had created a charecter of his own by his sense of style -- red leather jacket and glitter glove on the right hand -- and I would want to remember MJ like this for ever...

As for the scandals, that's what sets the stars apart from us mortals. I definitely do not want to remember Jacko for the Scandals he got himself into, but as the creative and genuine Musical Maestro who set the wholw world danve to his tunes !!!!

I along with my close friends had decided to pay Ode to the King of pop in our own way possible.. We went out on a looong drive late in the night with the Car's audio system loaded with MJ's songs and we drove around the entire city playing his songs remembering him for his contribution to the world of Music !!!

Will Miss you Micheal !!!!

Lovely Recession.... :)

Hmmm.. Everyone was writing about the Global Economic Recession and stuff.. I had decided that not once will I post anything related to that.. I mean the job loss, lesser pay, pink slips and stuff.. Everything sounded so depressing... So I made up my mind that I will not write anything on the recession.. Let the Laws of Economics play its role and bring back the boom..

This was what I kept on thinking till I happened to come across the following.. I found it soo interesting that I thought it is worth to be shared with everyone.. So here goes.. :)

It is August. In a small town on the South Coast of France, holiday season is in full swing, but it is raining so there is not too much business happening. Everyone is heavily in debt.

Luckily, a rich Russian tourist arrives in the foyer of the small local hotel. He asks for a room and puts a Euro100 note on the reception counter, takes a key and goes to inspect the room located up the stairs on the third floor. The hotel owner takes the banknote in hurry and rushes to his meat supplier to whom he owes E100.The butcher takes the money and races to his supplier to pay his debt.The wholesaler rushes to the farmer to pay E100 for pigs he purchased some time ago.

The farmer triumphantly gives the E100 note to a local prostitute whogave him her services on credit.The prostitute goes quickly to the hotel, as she owed the hotel forher hourly room use to entertain clients. At that moment, the rich Russian is coming down to reception and informs the hotel owner that the proposed room is unsatisfactory and takes his E100 back and departs.

There was no profit or income. But everyone no longer has any debt and the small town people look optimistically towards their future.

COULD THIS BE THE SOLUTION TO THE GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS? Or, is there a catch here? A thought worth pondering around huh???

The Complete Man... !!

Now I definitely can understand why Raymond had come up with this tag line.. It takes helluva lot to be the Complete man....

Why God Why... Why should I know things which are trivial, yet they mange to bother me so much... Y cannot I just remain blissfully ignorant about these little facts, which will help me enjoy myself without worrying much..Before all you guys start wondering about wat I am talking about, lemme just give you a hint.. Its about Fashion, etiquettes etc.. Hold On HoldOn.. I am no Fashion Guru or a Connoisseur of fine arts or manners or something... But its just that, since I know certain facts, there is a subconscious urge in me to stick by them, even if it makes me feel a bit uneasy... How unfortunate...

I know its no biig deal, but just have a look at the list of things I haveto be careful about, just because of the fact that I am aware of it... Hope somebody understands my Misery... :)

Here Goes..

If you are wearing a Blazer, you must ensure that the last button of the blazer is left open. Only three fourths of the cuffs of your shirt should be visible. I never used to bother till i happened to read about it some place.... Cuff Links are supposed to be worn only with twin cuffed shirts. Thankfully, never had the ability to own an expensive pair of Cuff Links..

You are not supposed to wear White sox to office... And I always had a feeling that White means formal and made it a point to wear flashy WhiteS ox for each of my placement Interview... Seesh !!!

The color of your Tie and that of your sox should match.. And here I was thinking that the Shirt and the Tie matching was of most importance.. But hell no ! It has to match with the bloody sox as well.. Well here is some more about ties... The length of the tie denotes your relationship status.. Can you beat that !!!! If the length of the Tie is just above your waist, then you are a Single earning professional. If the length is upto your belt buckle and covering the same, then you are a married man, and if the length of the tie covers the belt buckle and is slightly below the belt, then you are married and you have kids....Thank God, there is nothing to show how many kids you have.. hehe... Man... Every Monday, I struggle to keep the length of the tie just above my waist... Something I woudnt even have bothered had I not known about it..

The Color of your Belt and that of your Shoes should match.. Um Well This is something which I always knew, but never bothered to follow, Until recently.. (An Honest Confession)

The Belt buckle should always face towards the right.. Well I should admit,this is something which I knew right from my school days.. So not much complains about that...

Formal wear mean propoer formal wear, But business casuals definitely doesn’t mean casual wear.. Friday Casuals means -- No Round necked or V necked Ts, only collared ones.. Faded jeans – A strict NO NO.. etc etc.. Something for which my company HR always used to warn me.... hehe...

Monday Formals are different from Tuesday and so on.. Well I have to make a Candid confession out here... This silly guy.. (yours truly) had a belief that any Full Sleeve Shirt neatly Pressed and flaunted with a Matching Flat front trousers means you are in formals... A Mistake which I corrected Longback.. But there are several additions to it as well.. On Mondays it should be only a Light Plain coloured shirt with matching trousers and a tie plus a BLACK Shoes.. Yes.. Brown leather is not meant for MondayFormals..(God only knows howmany people know and follow it as well..) Teusdays and Wednesdays can be a Combo of not too loud Cheks or Stiripes and can be paired with Chinos and Khakis... And Thursdays are the only days wen one can wear a Half Sleeve and still manage to get away without raising many eyebrows..

And now to the most interesting part .. for me that is...– Watches.. For some strange reason it is said that Watches are to be worn on the left hand.. (I prefer in the right hand though, which explain the strage part of it.. he he).. And you cannot own just one watch and be content with it... Wondering Why?? Well here z why.....

Along with Monday formals, don’t you dare to commit the blunder of wearing a Metal Bracelet Watch. It should be a leather strap watch the color of which should of course match with your belt and shoes.. Digital Watches are definitely out of the league till Thursday.. probably you can manage towear it on a Friday..

Shoes.. One thing which I wouldnt want to discuss much in detail here, coz I myself am not sticking on to what ever I am about to say.. So leaving it unsaid .. Wink Wink...

I have no clue as to many of you were even aware of the details ... But I sure hope it should bother you as well the same way it troubles me... Only then my purpose of this post will be served... :D.. And Ladies.. Dont you dare say that Guys dont have to bother much. All they have to do is wear a Shirt and a Trouser... Atleast now you would be aware of the pains we go through for that perfect look.. :)

Well thts about it.. Me signing Off..