The Big, the deep and the cheap!

The last few days have been very exciting for my online self. Lots of gossip, controversies, pseudo  online stands for the right causes and what not! 

This all started when The Times Of India (TOI) published Ms. Deepika Padukone's picture showing-off her cleavage. 

Well, publishing Masala to boost sales, is a practice sadly adopted by almost all media houses. Sadder is the fact that it has worked for all of them. I could write and be noble about discouraging media houses from these practices but the sole reason this kind of non-sense exist is us, the consumers. So, I don't intend to be the social police in this blog. 

Deepika says she is pissed because the world sees women as objects, which is wrong and hurtful. 

But where is this objectification coming from? Ever heard of an ITEM number? Who is the ITEM in that number? 

This all boils down to what people want to see! Item numbers, bikini scenes, kisses and smooches! Imran Hashmis, Sheelas and Munnis did not exist a few years back, but they do now and everyone including the celebs are accepting it, willfully catering us!

If a celebrity takes a strong stand against objectification of women, shouldn't the stand be a 360 degree phenomenon or just where it would suit the celeb? 

I completely understand that looking at her own self in the newspaper with a raunchy title would have made her feel disgusted of the publisher. But lets take this a little slower and more logically. Objectifying a person is wrong in so many ways, but haven't these celebs accepted it as per their audience's requirements? A very strong argument is that the Role demanded that kind of exposure. Think about it, why do all the roles demand exposure these days? Why weren't the parts offered a few years ago, so demanding? 

Actually, you can't even say the Script demanded the Item Number! Yeah right! The script did demand it cause the script sucked and you needed people in the theaters! 

Remember Dum Maaro Dum, potty pe baithe nanga and what not... Deepika had no Role in the movie, just that item number flaunting her long sweet legs and the same cleavage... But that isn't objectifying when she has agreed to do it, yeah? 

So isn't the anger misplaced? TOI is not really objectifying women, TOI is only cashing the fact that women already are! And why just women, SRK's 6-packs or John's bums too! 

I wouldn't even say TOI is encouraging it, because its a business which demands profits, which means whatever sells has to be in it! But how does TOI confirm that this kind of pics would increase its sales? Maybe some Chikni Chameeli told them. Or maybe they read how J Lo insured her thighs! Oh, what assets! (aaaa... asset = object, no?) 

But anyhow, passing a judgement on a media house categorizing them as the ones objectifying women would be a tad bit incorrect. 

We would need to accept the kind of world we have created. We buy it, that's why it sells. And, someone is producing it too! So no-one is completely in the white here! 

Everyone who stands by Deepika in this, should stop promoting such stuff, don't go and watch Bang Bang, cause Hrithik has flaunted like crazy in the movie and stop hanging those topless John Abrahms in your rooms! Run away, lock yourself up in a pseudo world and throw away the keys somewhere deep!

If you choose to stand against something so evident and obvious, it has to be a stronger stand than a sweet noble speech in favor of women on your blog. 

I am a marketer and I understand TOI's point of view. Being human, I can sympathize with Deepika and her anger but can't ignore the contributions made by her and the likes of her in this!

I mean, Deepika carries an item number, but when TOI plays it, it gets cheap. Sorry, beyond me!

Not troubling myself with this complexities of the glamour world, I'd rather just enjoy the view from far far away! :)

55 to go!

Q. What do you want to be when you grow up?

A. Teacher/Pilot

As kids we were fascinated by either our teachers or birds! Either we heard the teacher or the birds chirping outside. It was so simple, so sorted. Before greed, before jealousy, before competition introduced themselves and polluted all the gentle minds we used to be. 

In today's rat race, we've grown so materialistically blind that we've forgotten the purpose of the race and are just focused on winning it. We might have forgotten where we need to reach in the end, but we are fully aware of who all we need to leave behind. Who started out to be like their warm smiling teacher or the carefree bird, have turned 'successful' managers, investment bankers and what not! 

When I was a boy, I always wished years would turn to seconds and I'd be all grown up. As time took its course; on every birthday, watching old pictures, videos, I kept missing the phases I had lived. 

I turned 25 last April. Yaay! 

Which means, I've spent 25 glorious years on this planet, out of which 15 years I was being taught how to live in this world (Also known as being schooled). The next 6 years I was being taught how to earn/compete/succeed in this world (Engineering + MBA). And for the last 3 years, I've joined the race with gazillions like me around the globe to a 9-5 job waiting for drunk weekends/getaways and for the 1st of every month, so I have more money to burn! 

And it seems to remain the same for the part of my life I'm yet to experience, with added responsibilities and bla bla! 

SO when I finally, hopefully, turn 80, what do I get out of all of this? All my time here on this planet would end up being a glorified rat race in which I kept running until my body gave away? 

Why do we celebrate the time we have spent already? Shouldn't we celebrate the time we have left? Wouldn't it drive us to be more cheerful, more driven, more human?

I know its all very fancy to write this on a blog but, I am not suggesting to revolutionize the world or to make it spin the other way round. All I suggest is a different perspective to look at life.

Lets say, last April I had '55 years left' of my life. 

I somehow feel a charge when I hear that. I got so much to do! So much to laugh, so much to explore, so much to travel, so much to live... 

Lets make it a long cheerful drive and not a crazy race! :) 

I'd close at that thought... Lets get out, away from this closed room and not waste time punching this piece of plastic! :) Care to Join me?

DILLI

Date:    1st July, 2014

Place:   Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi

Who:    ME!!! 

YESSS, I have moved to Delhi!!! 

Bidding adieu to Bangalore wasn't easy; had such great memories from the place, nevertheless, the way forward looked very attractive! Having done my Post Graduation from NCR, its a delight to come back to Delhi. Delhi has a large chunk of my family, friends, cousins and the humid polluted air gives a familiar sense of  warmth. Such bliss! 

No, I haven't quit my job, its a transfer... Phew!

I have realized the most difficult part of relocating is finding a place to stay! My company was kind enough to offer a guest house as temporary accommodation till I find my place in the city. So, the problem was pushed a few weeks and I was saved from the company of 78 million fellow citizens in India who sleep on the footpath. 

The search starts with a thousand considerations like, how far is the place from office? how far is the market place? how far is the Wine Shop? etc etc.. 

5 consecutive days I went house hunting in areas nearby CP, where my office is located, dreaming of a tall super fine flat with a balcony and a porch near the window pane where I would sit admiring the chaos in the city and sip hot coffee! All I found were overly congested, overly priced old apartments which I had to consider with a handkerchief over my nose. Sorry, Not my cup of coffee! 

I decided to take advantage of my kind-hearted company and occupy the FREE, amazing accommodation at the guest house for a while longer. I've been inhabiting it since. Que Sera Sera, as they say! 

The next on my wishlist is a CAR! Now, now! This has been there on the list staring back at me since I was in 10th Grade. I have finalized and rejected every mid-sized car which is in the market since then. I am determined to check this off my list now because finally I feel a bit stable. So, unless I fu*k up real bad and my boss kicks me out, I'm here to stay a good couple of years. And I know that finally I would choose....*drumrolls*... Swift! 

Good fuel economy, amazing comfort, credible service and fun to drive! 

Apart from all the lists I have, life is fun as usual! I have one of my closest friends here, Ankit. Thats him, with me in the pic below:

So we hang out pretty much every 2nd day at our college favorite hangout/drinking place - Route04:

Yes, using a straw is as much fun as it seems in the pic! 

At an age where we never know which one of our bestie would be seen tying the knot on FB and be unavailable for such random fun then on, its unforgivable to not use the time we have as bachelors/bachelorettes! 

Have lots on my plate right now, but all deliciously mouth watering! 

Looking forward to a great time in Delhi! :D 

Thats all folks! 

NEXT

Time makes life complicated.

When I was a kid, I felt such burden on my tiny shoulders with all the studying and exams, scoring marks, gaining ranks, competing on stage and at the field! When I grew older, I felt that the pressure which was limited to mummy's scolding has now taken a much deeper source, my future! If I do not score well in my boards, I might not get the subjects of my choice and maybe instead of juggling numbers, I'd be juggling frogs in the bio lab.

A few years hence, I felt the burden had grown threefold. Having the right subjects, if I do not get into the right college, I'd be like any other boy from the neighborhood. Actually no, i take that back, considering it was always the neighborhood boys whom I had to outsmart to keep mum and everyone else happy. Phew!

Well, to get that right engineering college I was expected to rip apart a country wide admission test conducted by the best league of colleges in India - IIT-JEE. The exam happened, ripping happened. Ahem, finally God was kind and there was another exam for souls who were ripped apart by this grand daddy of exams. This test was called AIEEE. I came out of the exam room confident to rank among the top 10,000 students, but all in vain. A few marks here and there and you realize why we need population control in India.

Somehow I managed a decent college with the course I wanted to opt for, but the burden of stress was just getting started with. As if it was teasing me. What I had seen by now was nothing compared to what was to follow. The next target was a job! Among 256 engineering colleges in Hyd, with over 3 lack students studying alongside, we were to hunt jobs in a recession struck market.

I pounced as hard as I could and found myself holing a call letter from Infosys.

If you are expecting a happy ending here, I am sorry you aren't getting one, neither did I.

Someone once told me its good to be ambitious, keeps you on your toes, keeps you focused and asking for more. I sadly took this gentleman's advice and jumped into another rat race, this time for a MBA. Before I could join Infosys, I had my CAT results in my hands. Obviously with probabilities of almost triple the pay package, I skipped the IT firm and went on for the 2 year post graduation course.

Thats when I realized that the 3 lack people in Hyd weren't so bad to compete with. Imagine competing with the top 5% in the country! Well, I yet again pulled up my socks and ran like all the other rats. I did finish well to my surprise! Finally a happy moment! Completed MBA, bagged a heavy package, the peace in the world is restored!

I just missed a slight question which later hit me, very hard. What kind of job? This is frustrating. After you get that feeling of your arrival into the crude world with your flag flying high, you expect a job where everyone treats you such, you are expected to do some very important stuff, be the alpha! In the real world, I was adopted by a Lala! Clueless about my future professionally, it took me 6 months to decide that I needed to change the line of work. The industry as a whole.

Realizing the fact that not all industries were offering such high salaries, and the ones which were, weren't exactly awaiting my arrival, it took me all kinds of ridiculous situations, patience and a great deal of help from friends and family to finally find a break in the relevant industry.

Everything can never be rosy. So I had to take a good slash at my pay package. But with a clearer future, the slash seemed a good trade-off.

Today, I find myself much happier, much content. But still, there is a lot more I want on my plate, a lot more that I expect out of myself, a lot more of going ahead.

Finally its not about stress or burden. Its more about handling it, dealing with it. Our stress, our burden is our state of mind. Every hurdle could either be an inspiration, or be a burden. The choice is always ours.

I choose to get up, get pissed, gear up and ask, Whats Next? How about you? 

Of Vampires and the diaries...

I used to write when I had a thought worth writing about. Self-discovery, speculations, views and what not! This blog was my silent agony aunt. Now, things are different. I open this space whenever I recall that it exists. I write to discover if there is something deep inside of me that wants out.

Time teaches us maturity. It has been a while since I have been trying to define it. Is it exposure, travel, wisdom, us growing up with experiences, facing situations or how we shape ourselves after overcoming them? Every time I end up concluding and settling with a different answer. Now, I might be clueless about what maturity means, but I have figured that whatever it is, time is the only thing that teaches it. Yes, I am so clever!

There always is an ideal 'me' in our minds. The imaginary self which we wish to be. Our heroic self. And then, there is us. The real flesh and bone me. The constant pursuit of reaching that ideal self is mostly life. The problem is, that ideal me changes as we change with time and so the pursuit is never ending. Its a vicious circle! For every step we take, we find ourselves two behind. Basically our ideal self comes with a deadline/expiry date which we always tend to miss.
I really like generalizing my thoughts to everyone's. In my defense, taking this particular case in consideration, if one has that ideal self, constant and stationary, then either he/she is extremely far-sighted or extremely deluded.

I would like to believe that our shifting our ideal self from one level to the next is us getting mature.

On the last Friendships' day, a school mate FB msged me saying he hated me in school just because I was non-vegetarian! And now he realizes how stupid that was. Well, quiet a leap for his ideal self!

Those who know me would know how fond I am of movies, specially horror. These days I have been watching a lot of TV series! Saves me the trouble of looking for new movies every second day! Well, most of these series are either horror having ghosts, werewolves and vampires as heros and heroines! If I were to extend my theory of the ideal me pursuit to Vampires, they should all be Mahatmas! Think about it, living for around 500 odd years, they would be epitomes of self-perfection. This thoughts brings me to realize that the basic ingredient to the pursuit is intent.

Well, having said that I hope everyone in the world at least intends to better themselves. Or do you believe you are all perfect? Are you a vampire? :P

A few days back FB launched 'A look back' video which was a super smash with people with everyone posting their's! Yaay! If I were to meet my 5-years-ago-self, I dont even think we'd connect! And, I am nowhere near to what I would have hoped for myself then! lol... Well, that guy was a dodo! He had no clue.

Ahem, speaking of the past, I fondly remember the moments which were happy then and now make me nostalgic, makes me miss people I've lost or if not lost, have drifted away with time. I wonder how they would have grown to be, if we ever meet again, how would it be like. I wish we wouldn't have to explain, I wish we'd understand. I wish we do meet.

Maybe someday I'd truly understand what maturity is. Maybe someday I realize it doesn't matter. Maybe someday I'd find peace within myself. 

Fourteen

The mist is in the air. Not just literally, also metaphorically!

Somehow today, again I stand here trying to figure out what the future beholds. SO many ifs and what ifs, so many speculations, expectations, wishes and hopes with the new digit on the calendar.

A few days back I tweeted, that this year I shall act all cool and instead of blogging on the new years' I'll micro-blog. But then, feel si nai aai!

I welcomed the year with a bruised knee and ankle. Hugged half drunk buddies, ate chicken tikka masala, made pinky promises to watch Jai Ho first day first show and finally dozed off on a stranger's bed using his quilt and pillow.

I woke up to realize, that all of it is a state-of-mind. Everything was just the same as it was yesterday, including my knee! Its just the goodwill in the air which makes us smile and believe that we can hit that refresh button, awarding our life a new color. The occasion just acts like an external boost to our will for doing so. Having realized that, wallah! like fairy dust, all the boost is gone!

Look at it the other way, and you dont even need to wait for an occasion to hit refresh! But we'd need another day to be that optimistically positive.

I wish the mist clears, I wish I smell the floral fragrance of clarity, which puts my mind to peace. Amen. 

Konnichiwa! - Land of the rising sun

On 12th Sept, 2013 I got an e-mail from the HR dept of the company I work for, asking for my passport details. Sensing something good I promptly replied with a scan of the document. Only on 2nd November was I informed that I, with 3 other colleagues would be travelling to Japan on the 16th for plant visits and general induction. Overall the schedule was pretty tight with us travelling to a new city/town in Japan every evening which meant we had to checkout of every hotel, 7 in the morning and go to work with our packed luggage, move to the next destination in the evening and repeat the same the next morning. However tiring it might have been, it was double the fun!

TOKYO

After the 12 hour flight from Bangalore, with transit through Bangkok, we arrived at the Tokyo International Airport. I had well spent my time in the flight with "The Great Gatsby" & "The Prestige." After claiming our baggage, we immediately rushed to the metro train for Ginza, the place we stayed at in Tokyo. Its astonishing how well connected Japan is with the airport, train station and the metro, all synchronized and consolidated. It took us 50 mins to reach Ginza. Ginza is a popular area famous for shopping with brands like Vera Moda to Louis Vuitton shining, adding to the bright street. We were lucky as Tokyo was lit up with Christmas lighting.

GINZA STREET

CHRISTMAS LIGHTING

The next morning we visited the Mitsubishi HQ in Tokyo which was 15 mins from our hotel. The taxi driver in the black suit helped squeeze 4 gigantic Indian suitcases into the trunk of his old Toyota Crown. Taxi drivers there are generally old, in their 50s. On asking why is that so, we got to know that people in Japan marry only after they reach their 30s, and most of the couples do not have kids. Post retirement, they lack any kind of support system, and they become drivers. Unreasonably courteous and amazingly helpful people.

We met a few biggies there at the HQ, had lunch with a team of 4. Gulped down fish roes, Mizo soup, all kinds of fish. The only recognizable thing in the fat buffet was fried chicken! Anyhow, we bid farewell there and caught the train to our next destination at around 2 o clock.

AKO

Journey from Tokyo to Ako was amazing! We were travelling half way through Japan in the famous Shinkasen, the world's fastest train (Bullet train) which is designed by Mitsubishi, my very own boss for which he had been awarded citizen of the year award by the Japanese government. The ticket was costlier than that of the flight but we had to experience what Mitsubishi & Japan is so proud of! :)

SHINKANSEN

We reached Ako in the evening at around 5:30 pm. Right at the station we saw a restaurant called "Mera Sapna" and without thinking twice we entered to find 3 Delhites serving indian cosine in Ako. Though the tea costed INR 700, but they seemed to be doing pretty good for themselves. Ako is a small town with tar roads better than Chandigarh. The town is so small that we could cover the whole of it in a 15 min drive. We noticed the car sizes had reduced considerably from Tokyo. In fact whichever company car we saw, they all looked like Wagon Rs. May it be from Honda, Mitsubishi or even Toyota, they were all cousins of Wagon R. We could also spot the original Swift and Wagon R there! The evening was well spent with a team of 7 gentlemen joining us at dinner. Undoubtedly that was the best meal we had in Japan. Authentic, sumptuous and greatly satisfying. We got to taste octopus, eel, salmon, tuna, oysters and a lot of raw fish! YUM!  

Not to forget the famous alcoholic drink 'Sake' made from rice. Transparent, a little like vodka! Had it with every meal hereafter! ;)

WAGON Rs ALL THE WAY

Mitsubishi manufactures transformers of various industrial uses at Ako facility. Transformers for Nuclear plants, Substations, trains etc.. After visiting the facility we were off to the airport to reach the Itami factory near Osaka.

OSAKA

Itami factory is the main facility contributing to the train traction systems and hence the most relevant to us. We were scheduled to visit the plant for 2 days but due to technical reasons, we ended up finishing the whole schedule in one single day! Now that we had a day free, we were advised to visit Kyoto which was not very far from Itami, and would have been beautiful in that season (Autumn) with trees going orange to red. So, we took cues from the Itami team, noted down the names of 2 most famous temples there and decided to visit Kyoto!

KYOTO

This was our bonus day for site seeing. We reached the first Buddha temple which was made of Gold in a pond with beautiful trees surrounding the area. Every vision, every angle, every view was so amazingly scenic and beautiful, we clicked endlessly. We bought the first souvenirs from Japan there, a Japanese fan and a few key chains for near and dear ones.

In Japan, every 100 meters you find Kiosks with Juices, Cola and even Beer. The curious person that I am, I ventured to one of them with the weird looking currency notes and excitedly shoved a JPY 100 in the machine only to realize I could not read Japanese and the machine assumed I did! After pushing all possible buttons, I retired and left donating the JPY 100.

THE GOLDEN TEMPLE

THE AUTUMN TREES

Next we went to another temple which was on a hill top. We saw beautiful ladies in traditional Kimonos and a huge market of souvenirs as we approached the temple. The trees were still orange and red, the surroundings still scenic and our cameras still active! While finding our way to the taxi to reach the airport, we found a mens' purse on the road. Mr. Nawata from SONY Corp. We took the same to the airport with us and from the Post Office at the airport, couriered it to the address on the gentleman's visiting card. He safely received the purse and is now a friend! :)

NAGASAKI

Nagasaki is like Shimla, a city on the hill slide towards the ocean! Yes, unlike Shimla which spreads downhill to a valley, Nagasaki spreads to the open sea. Our host, as punctual as all Japanese, arrived sharp at 7 pm to receive us at the New Nagasaki hotel lobby. He took us for a drive around the hill and thats when we realized how pretty the city looked!

NAGASAKI CITY VIEW AT NIGHT

He also told us that Nagasaki was all Mitsubishi. The two of the most famous beer brands, KIRIN and ASAHI both belonging to Mitsubishi. Basically, starting from TVs to full sized Ships, we make everything! The next day we visited the factory, after which we still had time left for the flight, so we ventured out to the Nagasaki Peace park, constructed in the memory of the Nagasaki nuclear bomb tragedy.

NAGASAKI PEACE PARK

We genuinely felt how grave and sad the tragedy was. In 1945, the Plutomium bomb exploded 50 meters from ground aiming at Mitsubishi Arms factory causing a nuclear rain. The impact of the blast was so great that people 1 km away from ground zero, flew to a distance of 14 meters.

Our 6 senses are unable to sense the radiation, we can sense only the burns caused by it. When people started experiencing the burns, they jumped into the sea only to find that the sea water was at 100 degrees. The blast caused 99% destruction. The map of Nagasaki after the blast was a plain canvas. Everything was wiped off.

In 1955, the Nagasaki Peace park was formed. The statue's right hand points to the threat of nuclear weapons while the extended left hand symbolizes eternal peace. The mild face symbolizes divine grace and the gently closed eyes offer a prayer for the repose of the bomb victims' souls. The folded right leg and extended left leg signify both meditation and the initiative to stand up and rescue the people of the world.

TOKYO

After crazy meals, tiring schedule, beautiful sights and a superbly hyper week, we once again found ourselves in Tokyo. It was Friday evening and we had Saturday to ourselves for sight seeing. We had managed to book the HATO (city tour) bus which showed us around the Tokyo tower, Tokyo bay cruise, a monastery, an old castle and a souvenir street. Content with whatever Tokyo had in store for us and extremely tired, we embraced our beds replaying the unbelievable experience we were to take back to India.

TOKYO TOWER

TOKYO BAY

SPECIAL MENTION

I had to specially mention the hi-tech toilets people use in Japan. We all have heard that joke where you sit on the toilet to find 3 buttons, on pressing one, a hand comes out of nowhere and wipes you off. When you come out, you find Dr. Manmohan Singh washing his hands.. Well, the joke wasn't really fiction!

THE HI-TECH TOILET SEAT

Observe carefully to admire the pictorial representation on the three buttons as options to how the water would wipe ur rear. The knob is to regulate the temperature of the seat. So when its cold, Sikaai hona to banta hai boss! hahahaha....

I guess that would be all for this travel log! I hope I'd be lucky for some more travel in the future!