An Ode to Homemakers....

Have you ever felt that you are carrying the whole weight of the world onyour shoulder? Why is it that only you have to do everything to keep thethings moving? Why should only you struggle to make your house a home?

Well these questions were pondering in my mind on a Friday evening. It wasraining heavily and I was completely drenched on the way to my home fromoffice. The first thing I wanted was a nice hot cup of Ginger Tea, Coz no matter what, there is no combination better than heavy rain and hot tea. Irushed to the kitchen only to find that the Fridge didn’t have any milk in it. I braved the rain, went to the nearest departmental store and purchaseda packet of milk. I went back to the kitchen, all excited with the thoughtof having a hot tea. But things were not going my way. I found out that theGas cylinder was empty. No matter how much I try and extract the last bitof LPG from the cylinder, the burner wouldn’t budge. I was pissed, butthere was nothing I could do for a cup of tea. I mumbled a bit but thenrealised the best thing to do is accept the fact. So I decided to watchTV..

The hunt was on for the remote amongst the stack of magazines, CDs, andnewspapers and finally the remote. Switched on the TV, tuned in to themovie category only to be welcomed by a blank screen. There was a messagefrom Tata Sky – “ Dear subscriber, Your services have been temporarilywithdrawn for non-payment of the monthly subscription charges. Please makethe payment immediately to resume your services..” OH craap !! I forgot topay the charges.. Bloody hell !! No TV, and that too its a weekend !! Nooo !!

It was a good Friday evening. Our plans for a party had to be cancelled cozof the heavy rains. So I thought of spending some quality time at home allby myself as my roomie had also left for his hometown. But little did iknow what was in store for me!

All pissed and irritated, I finally decided to catch up with my friendsonline and I barged into the bedroom to grab my laptop. By the time thelappy was booting up, I had somehow managed to calm myself down. I clickedon the Mozilla browser, and by default hit the Facebook URL. You won’tbelieve, I was again welcomed by an alert message. – “Dear Airtel Customer,Please pay the current month outstanding amount to enjoy uninterruptedservices”.. I was spell bound. Have never felt so frustrated in life. I waslike wondering, why is it that only I have to do everything. Why aren’t myroommates concerned at all? But what is the point.With nothing working in favour of me and left with no choices, I decided toread a novel. Still feeling irritated, Pissed and helpless somehow byaround 12.30, I slept off.

But unfortunately, it was not over yet. I had to wake up the very next day,early in the morning as the maid had already come. Still groggy, somehowmanaged to get up, opened the door and went back to sleep, only to be wokenup by the maid, as there was no detergent powder and she couldn’t wash the clothes. I just could not believe it was happening to me. There are so many things to be taken care of in the house. I somehow told the maid to washthe clothes the next day, and finally just managed to doze off again.The door bell goes off again. It was the cook. Yes ! We have a cook. Abachelor’s boon. But not necessarily mine. She enters the kitchen andshouts out a list of things not available ranging from vegetables to atta and so on.. Man I had to finally pay her extra 50 bucks to go buy it andthen prepare brunch for me !! Add to it the additional effort of makingher understand how to prepapre the normal roti – sabji without adding herown favourite masalas.. My God !! No one can ever dare to taste itagain... he he...

This was the time when i truly missed my Mom.. It is only now that Irealise how difficult it would have been for her to manage me, my sis, Dadthe maid, the cable wala, the newspaper wala, the household shopping etcetc etc.. the list goes on and on and on.... She never ever made any of usuncomfortable. Whatever we wanted was always available. She used to solely manage the entire household with such great perfection that I had almosttaken it for granted. It is now when I have to personally manage thesethings that I realise the difficulty.

I want to take this opportunity to salute all wonderful homemakers who havebeen making houses as homes for so many years and meeting the needs of theentire family....

I salute u Ma...

Cheers..Kash !

A Reason to Celebrate...

It was a regular day in Office.. The same old Client presentations, the same old pretending to be busy etc etc.. Somehow spent 11 hours in office and reached home.. As expected out of a typical Bachelor, the first thing I did was to turn on the Television.

I love the company of some good music especially when I am alone at home. So the obvious choice was VH1. Made myself a cup of tea all the while enjoying the latest number from Lady Gaga. Finally I freshened up and decided to watch a beautiful series on Discovery Channel – TIME WARP.. ( A Genuine statement to people who have not watched it.. you are missing something).. And so I was watching Time Warp and enjoying every bit of it till the inevitable ad break..

I was just staring at the screen when suddenly one ad caught my attention… My Hero, My Daughter… Celebrate Daughters’ day on 27th September, with Archies Cards.. I was like.. Duh.. WTF… Daughters’ Day. Hey... I am not against the Fairer sex or anything like that. I am just amused by the way these Greeting card companies make regular calendar days something really important.. I mean, no one ever celebrated these kinda stuff had these Greeting Card companies not made cards on Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day, Teachers’ Day even Valentine’s Day. I mean there is nothing wrong in it, but somewhere I feel the emotional value is getting lost... (I am bound to find plety of differences in opinion in this context)

But now , somehow I feel there has to be a limit somewhere. There is nothing wrong in Celebrating a day specially for someone, but there has to be a history behind it. There is a specific reason why Valentine’s day is celebrated, why Teachers; Day is celebrated and so on. But Daughters’ Day – on what context.. May be I am ignorant or unaware, but I don’t think the significance of an Intense relationship between a Father, Mother and their children should intensify on a particular day! It is something to be celebrated throughout ones’ life…

May Be I am thinking too much.. May be it would be better if I set my mind at rest and enjoy the next episode of Time Warp…

Disclaimer -- I have nothing against the celebration of any day, Just that I personally feel that the significance of certain relationships are lost into thin air behind the marketing gimmicks by a few companies..

Cheers.. I sign off...

Destination Unknown….

“Kabhi Kissi Anjaan sheher keliye ticket kata ke dekho”… Be Born Again….. these words said by Amir Khan in the latest Titan ad were echoing in my head all the while I was travelling in the Bus…

Everything started with a wedding invite that I received from a very good friend of mine. The D day was on 23rd of August and the venue was a small village somewhere in Tamil Nadu. Well that was the only information I had… Along with a mandate that no matter what I was supposed to attend the wedding at any cost ! However I was assured by my friend that he will ensure I land up safely at the right venue.. :)
You will not believe, I had no clue where this village was till the final date of travel as the tickets were booked by another one of our friends who was travelling along with me to the wedding. Finally, after loads of struggle, I somehow managed to find out the destination. It was close to Tanjore, the haven of traditional art forms paintings and the ever famous Tanjore temple. But still this wasn’t the exact location. But at least I knew where I was headed to – Close to Tanjore… he he..

So we boarded the bus on Friday night and reached the location on Saturday morning 7.30. It was finally when I got out of the bus (No Volvos or AC buses to the destination… Only an old rickety bus, which is probably meant to run only on country sides….) that I realised that I actually am in one of the remotest place in Tamil Nadu that I have ever visited. Apparently the ‘close to Tanjore' was an eye wash made by my friend who probably didn’t want to take the pains to explain where the hell we were off to. I realised that we were around 170 KM away from Tanjore and 380 KM away from Chennai...

Well the name of the Village or rather hamlet was ‘PATTUKOTTAI’. If translated literally into English, meant SILK FORT. It was altogether a different feeling. No hustle bustle of Automobiles, no blaring horns, no busy people running around. There were no Auto rickshaws. Only Govt buses were the means of transportation. That too one bus every 5 hours. One can slightly get a feeling as to what kind of place it would be.

But what changed my perception was the Tanjore – Pattukottai bus trip. I could experience the real beauty of the unspoilt, unpolluted countryside... Long winding (surprisingly well maintained) roads through acres or rather hectares of lush green Paddy fields on both sides dancing to glory to the tunes of the wind. The roads were rarely occupied by vehicles. Cows, Buffaloes, and occasionally the tractors used to crowd the roads near small towns. It was a beautiful experience all in all.

I was feeling totally out of place in a plain Blue Denim and Grey Tee. The rest of the Junta were in the traditional White Dhotis and White Shirt. I could feel as though the entire village was staring at me with amusement. And finally, after a two and a half hour long journey we finally reached the marriage venue.


The entire family was there to welcome us. It was a royal treatment that we got. I was taken aback by the warmth and the affection being showered on us. Suddenly, the feeling that – Oh my God, where on earth have I landed, just disappeared. I was feeling really great.

The marriage was purely traditional with the entire village attending the ceremony. It was a fantastic experience. The way the people of the village were taking pride in being part of the wedding was just too good. Small kids to young men had taken the responsibility to handle the function, from arranging the tables and chairs, serving the lunch etc. The females had taken up welcoming of the guests and collecting the gifts, ensuring that each one of the guests were well taken care of etc..

This made me realise how distinct is the culture with in one state itself. It was a great feeling to be part of the entire function. Pattukottai and the wonderful people will remain etched in my mind for a long time..

Image Source: http://wallpaper4god.com/wallpapers/destination-unknown_299_1024x768.jpg

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.....