Pyaare Government !

02 June 2012

Dear Mr. Indian Government,

Hello Mr. Government. Greetings . Hope you are doing brilliantly well this warm and sunny afternoon.The sultry weather could be taking a toll and could give you a massive headache , and then hearing all these people of yours cribbing all the time about how the rupee is devaluing, how the budget is adversely affecting them , how service tax has increased by leaps and bounds , how income is not increasing and all.

Now all this , i agree . But when these citizens crib about how the petrol prices are rising way too much for an average Indian to accept , i do not agree ! You , are such a gem of person ,the efforts you make to help your citizens ! And these citizens just cribbing away without giving it a thought ! But , here , today , i wish to thank you , for having increased the petrol prices. This , truly has been a landmark moment in the history of Indian Government . Because , the Indian citizens have failed to decipher your true interest in this price rise . Today , i want to take this opportunity to explain to my fellow citizens , your true intentions .

Back in the 1970's and 1980's , when owning a car was unaffordable an was considered to be a status symbol of the rich , most people stuck to using trains and local buses as their mode of transportation , and most of these most people , walked  to their destination .Not only did they save monetarily , but also kept well in health.Then slowly , in the 1990's ,  after 1991 when India faced globalization, more competitors from round the world , came into picture and as it works , supply exceeded demand , cost dropped , and having your own vehicle became affordable . Simultaneously , due to your New Industrial Policy benefited us , citizens vastly and  standard of living became better by the day .We started depending on our personal vehicles so much , that we have forgotten that walking  to our destination , is an exercise , way better than going to the gyms and exercise clubs. Also , we have lost our patience , waiting even for a few minutes for public transport , angers us no end .
So government uncle , thank you . Because now the cost of gas has risen so much , that citizens would be compelled to use public transport or to walk or to buy a bicycle .

The good old days are going to be back . We are going to be patient again , mentally relaxed ,  and improve our health , the healthy way . So we , should be having no reason to crib . I , on behalf of all the Indian Citizens , thank you for this , and also apologise for all the cribbing and for the revenue loss caused due to the 'Bharat Bandh' in protest .

With Respect ,
Just another Indian Citizen. 

IPL – The Feel Good Phenomena

-The story of how a bumbayi-ite loves IPL…

 

*Wake up . Brush . Bathe . Have your breakfast . Read Bombay Times . Look in the mirror for 10 exact seconds (obviously not more , you are going to miss your train then ) . Stuff your dubba and bottle into the bag . Run to work (because if you are late , assignment nai milega ,toh boss respect nai karega ; boss respect nai karega toh promotion nai milega ; promotion nai milega toh paisa nai milega ; paisa nai milega toh life kaise jiyenge , how will you fulfil your needs ?) .

Work . Work. Work . Have lunch . Work . Work. Work . Eat vada pav below office . Run and catch the train . Reach Home. Have dinner . Watch TV . Use the internet , keep some movies for downloading (woh toh bas aise hi download karte hai , dekhne ka time kisko hai ? But ,but, it feels nice to say ‘’I have a 100 movies downloaded and kept at home ‘’ , nai? ) And then sleep .sleep. sleep.

Wake up...

Are you wondering how i know about your daily routine ? Did you think i was following you ? Obviously not ! Looks like ,you too ,are from Bumbai ,my friend .*

So all the Bumbayi-ites , chalo , lets go back in time ...

2008,April

Cricket you know , is as much a religion in India , as any other religion is .

So , the Board of Cricket and Control in India decided to merge cricket and entertainment , and launched a  professional television cricket league ; IPL-Indian Premier League .

Ofcourse , it created a roar of excitement amongst people world – wide . Bumbiyas were happy too , weren’t you ?

Well , you were , and why not ! It is something totally out of your daily boring and monotonous schedule , almost free to watch (since it was shown on a Set Max , which your cable provider provides you with , at no extra cost ) and above all so entertaining  and enthralling !

Back to 2012

Over the years , IPL kept growing . Five years down the line and we have reached a point where IPL tickets can cost anything from Rs. 650 to Rs.5000 , or much more ,since , the black market for these tickets is fast growing . But lots of us Bumbayi-ites are ready to spend that colour of money , on one single evening – expensive tickets , on buying the jersey of the team your support , on gathering your friends and tattooing yourself , on accessories , and merchandise of that team , and most importantly , ont he food and drinks to celebrate the success of the team .Because for them , an IPL evening is like breaking free from the daily routine , from the same old work , from the herd class sweaty trains and traffic . Its as good as a tequila shot ,when you have it , it brings a weird happiness , like the one from hallucination ; a joy beyond expression ,a feeling that this ,is my life ,an utmost desire to remain there forever , in the same feel , but when you sleep it off , its all gone ;like it never happened .

Isn’t the Bumbayia life like that ? We work endlessly each day , and behave as if yesterday did not even happen!

And so ,there are lots of big brands out there in the market , loads of entrepreneurs , cricketers , who are ready to invest in IPL , in terms of money , effort  , skill or talent . Because , hell , its got whopoping return on investments.

Its like this : Even though the team you own or are a part of , ranks last in the season , you would be making profits , because big companies are yet going to sponsor your team , yet going to give you advertisements , people are still going to buy your team merchandise and more than anything else , people are still going to come and watch your match in the stadium  . Basically , IPL is soon going to become the Indian Religion .

And , all this , despite the fact , that cricketers and team owners ; have , in the past , been found fixing matches , bribing officials , bookies have been found paying players to suit their business needs , team owners have openly declared that IPL is nothing more than mere business for them , the sport and its rules are being over looks , tickets are overtly expensive , vendors , restaurants are over pricing on the criterion of match screening , youngsters are getting more into the habit of betting , politicians have found a way to make money , and ; security measures have been diverted to IPL , and important matters are being overlooked .

The question is ,does this concern us ? Or should IPL be taken in the spirit of pure business ?But if that is done , isn’t it unfair ?6 To the sport ,to the people who spend their hard earned money on it , to the very talented cricketers ?Would such commercialism lead to the world losing its innocence ,the fact that even a game is not taken in a sportsman spirit and bribing is over powering our thoughts ?

But we,at Bumbayi ,don’t care, or rather , do not have the time to care . Because here , as someone rightly said , Life is a race , and if you don’t run fast , you’ll be like a broken egg !

IPL was , is and will continue to be amongst the most entertaining event of the year , no matter what !

Think about it .

Summer the Ketki Way!

So this summer , Lakme's sunshine girl Kyra has chosen me to spend her time with ! And what better than a girl's day out to the beach ?!

So we , are going to land up at a beautiful goan beach , and guess what !
Kyra asks me for my summer daily routine ! Well , obviously i am taken aback , because the sunshine girl herself wants tips from  me !

Anyway , i give her these tips and she totally agrees ! This is what she does as her routine too !

So i thought i should be sgaring this with all my blogger friends too !

Besides the usual tips like :
1.Drinks lots of water
2.Eats Fruits having good water content
3.Wear lose clothes
4.Apply a sunblock
5.Always wear something to protect your head and eyes;

Kyra and I have the common belief that ,
This summer , wear your style , be comfortable  , be yourself , and you will be the perfect sunshine girl , the one whose advice everyone would want !


At the beach ,in our colourful flipflops , lose ,printed  & pretty  tops , Cute little accessories ,we had an amazing time because we could do it all , jump in the salty warm waters beneath the shiny sun , play beach games on the white sand-we all love beach volleyball , right ? , get a tan and laze around! All this only because our mantra was , 'Be yourself , Be comfortable ' !

So girls , just go there and have some beach fun !



This Blog is a part of the contest by :http://www.facebook.com/ilovelakme

Change is inevitable

Change. Everything changes . All the time . Imagine , you nails and hair also grow every second . Every second .
Infact, a friend posted once , "The only constant in my life in 20 years is Apsara eraser" !

Sometimes this change is going to crush you . Its going to make you feel that everything is lost . But remember , afetr every dark night is a bright morning . The bright morning has to come . Earlier or Later . And , when it comes depends on how you decide to treat the change.

You , have to hope its going to do you more good , than bad . You , have to believe , that all the struggle through the change , adapting to the situation and the new people around you , the effort , is all going to be worth it one day .

And then you are going to look behind at the day when the change happened , and when you cried for old times sake ; and you are going to laugh at yourself . Because , at that time , its all going to be fine .All the drama , all the effort , its all going to be worth it .

So , believe , that the inevitable change is going to do you great . Its all going to make sense one day !

Cheers!

So Much , yet nothing !

Don't you think filmstars , celebrities and every other person who has loads of money and who is constantly in the limelight , is so lucky ?!

Even i thought so , until recently .

And I am Sameera . Ayesha's school buddy , short , dusky , average looking . I do a small 9 am to 5 pm job , run around to make ends meet , but look foward to getting home every evening to hug my child and dine with my husband . It gives me immense pleasure to to finish work at office and run home to be greeted by people who care about me . My parents , often drop in to check whether everything is alright and my family is doing well . Brings a smile to my face . 

Also , my best friend often brings home some biryani so we can share dinner and which saves me the effort of cooking after a tiring day at work , since i cannot really afford a cook or maid .

Just last week , i banged into a school friend . Not that i hadn't seen her in long . I had , but she hadn't. Ayesha.

Lets meet Ayesha , 28 years of age , a successful actress and super model , tall , slim , beautiful , rich , successful! ( Yeah , i know you made an image in your head and already muttered to yourself , 'So lucky' !)

It was ages since we actually caught up . She called me over to her place .
At the doorstep of her mansion (yes , it wasn't even a house ) i was astonished , and thought to myself , 'She wears pretty clothes , travels the world , and has so much money and luxury ! Her luck has shone brightly'.

Ofcourse , since it was so long and i had a family now , we had so much to share . Or well , maybe i had so much to share . Because after hearing me talk so much , Ayesha was overwhelmed . When it was her part to finally narrate her life over the years , she had nothing much to say . She finally uttered that her life was artificial , very pleasing to the eye . And to show to the world , she had luxury , comfort an money , but when she got home , she had no one to ask her whether she had eaten her meals , nor was there anyone to share them with her .

To the outside world it seemed that , Ayesha had so many fans and so many people who would care for her , but no one saw how artificial that was ! Ayesha was a loner at heart and in one of the most crowded cities of the world , Delhi , she felt she was all alone.

At that moment , i cant express how i felt . Maybe i just felt blessed . We lived extremely contradicting lives , she had so much , yet nothing ! While i had nothing , Yet i had so much !


P.S: Any resemblance to any character living or dead is purely co incidental.

P.S.S: This is yet again a part of Awesome April ! www.mytalentissowasted.blogspot.in

"Enjoy the small things in life , the big ones , are usually artificial" - Pamela Aderson 

                                                     Love ,

State of Affairs

She sat there .
Sad eyes . Check .
Exceptional fear . Check .
Trembling body . Check .

Each time she heard a knock on her door , she yelled for help .

"Mumma , Baba " she yelled .

No one heard her painful cries . You know why ? Because she asked for help to get rid of pain from who made her go through that pain .

Shyamli's parents were not particularly well to do . Her father worked at a construction site in their village  . The builders had been promising returns when the mall was ready , which ofcourse never happened and in exchange , these labourers were paid a meagre income of rupees 50 a day where Shyamli's father had to feed 6 mouths . A question that would arise to your mind :
If he didn't have the affordability then why so many kids?

"Male Child ".

Not that i have ever understood the need and importance of having a male child , its common belief in ancient India (and yet recently also ) , that male child is the heir to the family . And having a female child is like an ill omen .

So back to the Shyamli , her parents (like a lot of parents who are uneducated and are part of  the social 'not having a boy child' stigma) , decided to sell Shyamli.

Yes , however horrid it may sound ! Their poor 9 year old daughter who was sold to a prince from an arab country . While most kids her age were playing and enjoying , Shyamli was giving in to the sexual pleasures of someone , her grandfather's age , only so that her family could receive a little money !

Not that it was all that easy to take her away . Her school teacher , did confront Shyamli in front of the entire village before they took her away , as to whether she wished to say anything with regards to where her parents were sending her . Although she knew , she decided to keep mum , because her father had threatened to beat her up if she opened her mouth . Her mother , who could feel the pain , was too over powered by her dominating husband , too much to help her daughter .

But this my friends , is the sad state of affairs in India today . Rape , polygamy , etc are becoming increasingly common due to fall in the sex ratio in India  , especially in the northern states . Since sex determination has become so common and convenient , female feotecides and infanticides have increased ! Spread awareness , educate women and let try and make this a female dominated society ! Gone should be the days where men ruled ! This might not go down too well with the men !

P.S: This article is very cliche and something everybody knows , but im just doing my bit by spreading a little awareness.

P.S.S: This article is a part of my best friend's Awesome April !www.mytalentissowasted.blogspot.in

Do what You Love , Love what You Do!

I have no qualms in admitting that i am not exactly fond of what i currently doing . My job does not interest me , even a tiniest bit ! No , that does not mean my colleagues or office is bad , they're really nice people , but just that , this work is so not my cup of tea !

Yet , i stuck to the decision of continuing this job ; because i thought , "Heck , nobody loves their job ! But then thats the whole point ! You are supposed to love your hobby because it makes you feel happy ; but you are supposed to do your job because it fetches you money ! "

But you know my bwoy ; that aint true ! On a recent assignment , i went to audit a famous music store in the suburbs of Mumbai ! And this was my 'favouritestest' assignment to date ! Every person who worked there , did were doing what they loved the most in the world ! The store manager , plays the piano , and boy , he's good ! The Guitarist , so amazing ! And he , handles the guitar section ! And so is the drummer ! The most amazing among these was a part time employee ! He is an architect by profession but music was always his first love ! So he agreed to take up a part time job at this store !

In their free time ; that is when they were not attending to any customer , these guys jam together ! So basically , each day , they wake up to do what they love the most ! It got me thinking ! Maybe everyone should take out a little time of their busy schedule and do what they love the most , everyday ! Like me , i like to write , to express my thoughts , so i took up writing this blog ! I might not be the most amazing writer in this world, but it makes me feel happy ! So this is that one thing that i have promised to do , for myself !


I request you all , to take out half an hour everyday from your busy schedule , and do what you love ! Believe me , there is no feeling like this feeling ! So , lets all make a resolution !