i wish, i can & i will

Often an outsider's perspective helps. So Nirav who was reading here was trying to trace a journey from the 1st post to the latest one and asked me why hav I shortened the length of the posts. He had a point: earlier I wuld login to blogger to write out essays, all my thoughts on a certain thing. Now, I just rant. There is something that died within. That urge to write and write, to express everything I felt. All that's left is lil posts to say something not anything. (i wish)

For the past couple of days have been hearing or reading stories of people driving/riding to distant parts of our country. Want to do that. Want to have that feeling when you reach a toll naka and somebody doesn't understand your tongue. Want to have that feeling when you go so far that milestones read in a different script. That's when you realise you have come far far away from your comfort zone. That's when you realise that you need to change gears and accelerate further. Want to do that. (i will)

Elections around the corner and the Great Indian Tamasha starts off. News channels & Newspapers start posturing. More on it soon. (i can)

what is it about booze and blogs?

Alcohol brings out stuff!! Like literally!

So this past week we had gone for an office party. Booze was flowing like river and all of us were fish..err..i was amphibious!
Conversations ranged from the usual office stories to the eternal favorite : your that list. Every gathering has this classic. I think its got something to do with the fact that all of us want to let out our wishlist but with alcohol its like an indemnity clause. Sometime later if the people we named get to know about it and come down and confront us, we can always get away blaming it on the booze :)
And as is always, there were some conversations on the side. Someone was drinking like a fish for his girlfriend had dumped him. Another colleague sitting beside him sensing something fishy asked him if anything was wrong: the kid said his girlfriend from 2 years had dumped him!

On being asked why, the kid said he had no answer why he was dumped.

The colleague being the sweetheart he is, ran his palm over the kid's hair and just said: Be glad my friend, she wasn't as excited in being with you as much as you were in being with her. All of it makes a man of the boy. Cheers!

Usually have many of my discussions with Nirav who sits beside me at office. An avid reader, quizzer and someone with a sharp skills set, he is a fellow planner at Ogilvy and blogs here . So both of us were trying to wonder what makes people rant, go philosophical and get reflective on life on their blogs. Then it just hit me, sitting and staring at this Create Post scren is somewhat like sitting and staring at the sea with or without the sun. It just grinds you up from within to let it all out.

Wonder why the same doesn't happen on Word or Powerpoint? That way advertisers would churn out better stuff and make way more money than they do now ;)

moving on..really now?

Watchn Dev D it hit me that it is so natural for us to be stuck onto sumthing or someone. A coupla posts bac i had said we never really 'move on'. In a movie that is so unapolgetic about anything it says, the hero echoes the same in a line. This has to be the most beautifully textured, audaciously crafted drama i have seen.

A week back I was in a client meet discussing some interesting way forwards for a brand. As the agency we presented some fabulous ideas and some really outta the box stuff. As is usually the case, the outta the box thing was loved unanimously but we all know it wasn't possible to go forward with it. Like all things forbidden or out of bounds, we lived on it for sometime trying ways to bring it to life but to no avail! Much like the way we pursue relationships even on knowing it is not working.

We stick on to something that we know isnt viable just because we like the process. We like the person's company or the improbable promise of what if? what if it works out...if it doesn't atleast let me enjoy it till then!

Man never gives up. Even when you know the odds are against you. Even when you know you don't stand a rat's chance!

You will try, you will fail. You will try again, you'll falter, slip and may even lose your way But you will never stop trying! You won't stop till it works!! You won't stop till you get it right!

I won't give up!

Songs on playlist:

Nayan Tarse from Dev D

Rehna Tu from Dilli 6

Pardesi from Dev D

as long as it worked.

Quit my job today. Should be starting work at another place soon. It's disheartening to see how the industry teaches you to kill the human within. You're supposed to be emotionless when you put in your papers. People you worked with, looked up to and looked forward to work with day after day suddenly need to be kept at a distance. You shldn't be showing any signs of vulnerability for if you do, you'll be trapped back.

Was listening to Ghajini's music tonight. I think we have a winner with the music already. Suggested garnishing: A pair of hi-fidelity headphones. Just check the music arrangement. Mind Blowing. Like I always say, Rahman wouldn't be half as good had it not been for his arrangement and mixing (0:11 seconds to 0:40 seconds in Guzarish. Divine.)

Songs on playlist:

Behka from Ghajini
Latoo from Ghajini
Kaise Mujhe (Instrumental) from Ghajini

kids n dads

With kids, you never get bored. Just never.

Let them speak and see a world so different. A world, where the real and imaginary co-exist, where stories go on and have no relevance to where they started. Where things are 'possible'.

While its absolute fun to be with toddlers, talk to them with weird faces and absurd voices, it's funnier to observe young fathers taking care of their kids when their wives have entrusted them the responsibilities (Watch initial bits of Daddy Day Care to get a rough idea).

It's not like they don't care but the way they go about it is clumsy and lacks the finesse that moms have. Sample this: Child feels li'l uneasy on a journey. Dad asks the child if he's fine (that baritone ensures even if the child felt uneasy he's gonna be alright all his life, the tone of the voice is no where close to the pappu, kanna or kondai that the moms use). Child says he's fine with some reluctance. Dad says wokay and drives on.

Do I really need to say how moms would go about this?

Happened to catch Ghajini, the Tamilzh one. If Aamir's making the same one frame to frame, MTV Fully Faltoo has got itself a year's supply of gags.

quickie-2

Job Interviews and Dates have a few things common:

You want to know how the work atmosphere is and how smart you're expected to be. You wanna know the jokes she likes, the songs she loves, the movies she's crazy about, the colours you'll always find her in and the things she absolutely adores.

You want to know the background of the job profile and the team you're gonna be working with. You wanna know about the BEST GUY Friend who'll always be there to screw your happiness, the former BOYFRIENDS who are still in touch & often arrive uninvited and obviously the jing bang of other girlfriends who share everything from Tube tops to tears.

You want to know how you'll grow in the organization. You wanna know what is on the girl's mind : Fling(ummm...)/Convenience(always game)/Commitment(gimme some time ya)/Marriage(perhaps..I'm not averse to it)?

You want to know the remuneration or CTC. You wanna know what assets await your actions.


Three songs on playlist:
Manmohini from Yuvvraj. Performed by Vijay Prakash.
Kuchh Khaas from Fashion. Performed by Mohit Chauhan & Neha Bhasin
Guzaarish from Ghajini. Performed by Javed Ali & Sonu Nigam

Prithvi Cafe. The Fest begins.

For someone who isn't a fan of the coffee table conversations (I prefer conversations over long walks/drives or seafronts and if it absolutely HAS to be coffee: piping hot filter kaapi in a steel tumbler is my idea), Prithvi cafe is one of those places which always charms me. I really don't think it's the location. I mean, barista, ccd and Brio are just around the corner.

I don't even think it's the menu or their coffee. Their cold coffee tastes like Boost and their Veg Falafel tastes like..well..let it be (Not that Falafel as a food item tastes particularly good anywhere, Not even in the Veg Hummus chain).

I think I know what works at Prithvi Cafe: it's character. This place never really makes any pretence about itself. The wooden tables are rickety, unpolished and hardly stand a chance against the suave glass chairs at Brio. But that's what you love it the most for. In a world full of specials, here's the ordinary.

At Brio or CCD, you'll always find yourself surrounded by tables full of people always so conscious of how they look, drink, eat, talk and did I say look? It's like there's always this reel rolling when you sit there. On the other hand, at Prithvi, it's real.. People don't just sit, sip and speak. They Be, Brew and Belong there.


Filter kaapi will be sipping his chai at Prithvi cafe all this week. He heavily recommends Antigone, Cotton 56 Polyester 84, All about women and Shakkar ke Paanch Daane. Click here to get there.