As I look at life

BTW

By the way, as I continued exploring new blogs via the A-Z blogging challenge, I came across a ghost story. I am not a big fan of horror movies, but I like some ghost movies (yeah Casper). So I challenged myself to write one someday. I guess I might have to do a lot of thinking and since I was getting late for work, I decided to write something easier this once.

But often when you discard the tough path to take an easier one, someone up there doesn't like it. And my Internet connection went off... Just like that when I had just hit the New Post tab on blogger!

Then it hit me, it is Tuesday! Sometimes we have load shedding on Tuesdays and this time the broadband provider had a power cut before it affected our building. But I was damn keen on completing a short post before I leave for work. So I called up the Internet guy. Thankfully, he said there was no powercut at his place. I requested him to come and check my computer. And as luck would have it, he was in the same complex monitoring a new internet connection. He arrived in 15 minutes! Looked like I would complete the post for the day in time.

A: Why is it the first letter?

I must confess, it took me a great deal of thought to decide what topic I should chose for my first ever A-Z challenge participation. Thanking Arlee Bird for initiating the A-Z Challenge four years ago. It's a challenge of sorts and has our brains working!

I started writing about my profession Advertising at first - Ad Mad World. But then, I reached the fifth paragraph only to realise that I might go on and on and then no one will visit my blog again and again ;)

So, I did you a favour (alright, it was for me actually!). I have kept it in Drafts and will touch it when I am completely lost for topics.

Title: F?@K Knows
Author: Shailendra Singh
Publisher: Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd.
Price: Rs 195/-
Language: English
My rating: 3.5/5

I received the book by courier and when I removed it from the envelope, I said, "F?@k, this is one cool title!"

I wondered if I should actually read this book by Shailendra Singh in the ladies compartment of a Mumbai local train at non-peak hours when only teachers, students and a copywriter like me travel in the furnace-hot dabba? When they see me reading this book, will the teachers think I am too bold to pick up a book and flash the bold red F?@k title on the yellow cover... what's with this generation? Will the college girls think I am doing so just to show that I am still too cool and young?

Visibility for what's Invisible

There are so many social causes in the world that I am sure if someone decides to list them all, it would be a really difficult task. Is it possible, the entire listing that covers everything? I seriously doubt.

Are the solutions possible? I believe so.

There are several known causes we are aware of right from the day we got educated enough to understand things in a broader sense. As we grow, some of us try to do whatever little or more we can to support some causes. To start with, we do not litter, we save water, save electricity, help the needy, plant some trees... Some of us have the will power to fight corrupts / corruption and some of us do not bribe or buy things in black.

But until something appears in big bold letters in the leading newspapers followed by major media coverage OR until we are directly affected by a thing, we do not know about certain causes that genuinely need attention and solution.

Like the Invisible Illness called Fibromyalgia. Yes, it is known as Invisible Illness for obvious reasons, I did not coin the term! Simply type it in the Compose Mail field in GMail and the red crooked line under the word tells you that it is still an unrecognized word out there!

Highlight of the budget: We will be healthy!

They say health is wealth. And while this year's budget is not letting us increase our wealth, look at the 'brighter' side - It's gonna ensure that our health (ignoring stress here) stays good.

Cars expensive, diesel dearer, auto-cab (and now train) fares keep increasing anyways. So we will walk a lot.

Eating out in an AC restaurant or coffee shop will attract more taxes. So we will cook and eat at home.

Cooking gas is limited now, so we will cook lesser, eat lesser. That's how we will lose weight and stay healthier.

PS Positive thinking seems to be the only hope now

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2013

I try not to miss visiting Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in Mumbai every year. If you haven't attended the annual event ever, you are missing out on a lovely thing. Of course, it seems to be more commercialised now, but it is one refreshing experience.

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival will be held from 2nd - 10th February, 2013.

Here are some of my pics / posts about the event, have a look and you'll know why you must visit:

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2012: Dances

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2012 Installation Photos

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2011 Photos

Kala Ghoda Arts Festival 2010 Photos

Nose Flute Musician in Mumbai

Photographs of the Kala Ghoda Festival, Mumbai 2008

Kala Ghoda Festival 2008 - Review

The 4 am friend

Isn't it strange when you meet some people for the first time and at that moment have no idea that they will always be there with you... they will always be there for you!

They say you are determined by the company you keep. But the deeper fact is that the company you keep often makes you the person you are. The way it happened with me.

I am so thankful for that sunny day of my college life when I met Sush. Frankly, I do not remember the date I met her first, but that was the time I entered the degree program at Bhavans College, Andheri. And that was the time I can never thank God enough for.

It's Christmas and New Year time and most of us are buying lots of soft drinks. Now don't just discard the used bottle the next day. You can use it for several good purposes - RECYCLE!

Just tried this and it took very little time:

Recycling Used Sprite Bottle to make a Flowerpot in 4 simple steps:
1 - Cut the bottle carefully with a hot knife
2 - Paint it from the outside
3 - Punch 3 small holes to drain excess water in future
4 - Plant the plant!

Justice is blind, but is it deaf too?

Over 1 lakh women were raped in India since 2007!

Every single time there is any news about a rape, every woman is enraged. Over the months, with so many terrible incidents reported almost everyday in the newspaper, the anger, the sorrow and the feeling of being unsafe only builds up. And it comes to a point when some of us, including me, feel so terrified that we start having nightmares... that we stop reading the entire news about rapes... because it leaves us disturbed... very disturbed.

This happens to us when we read about a certain rape tragedy with someone we didn't even know. Try imagining the plight of the person actually going through the trauma! No, we can never imagine.

Remember how bad you feel when someone at a crowded railway station touches you inappropriately and disappears in the crowd? As if we are some public property!!! Even thinking about what we will do if someone tries to rape us is super scary. Even if the thought comes to our mind, we immediately switch off. We think, we are unnecessarily worrying, it won't happen to us. But deep within we are concerned:

Will we be able to protect ourselves when a gang of inhuman creatures arrives?

My city is known for its spirit in the face of disasters, calamities and unfortunate incidents. My city is known for getting back on foot no matter what. My city is known for the unity it has displayed during days that tried its patience. I love my city Mumbai.

My city is known for its love for the legends of the city - in Bollywood, Politics, Business and every other field. My city is known for the way it feels sad unanimously, not compulsorily, every time we lose a legend. I love my city Mumbai.