New Year ... New beginnings ..

With the start of another year comes another list of new year resolutions, new wishes, different dreams and hopes. Some might be hoping to start fresh this year, or some like me would just like to carry on our already amazing journey of life, no matter what everyone's thinking, I wish everyone a very happy and prosperous new year.

The past year might have been good for you or you might have gone through some tough times. New relationships were formed and some people were lost or just simply taken away from us. And even though difficult moments and choices are part of everyone's life, it's up to us to keep our outlook positive and keep the hope alive.

So, on this first day of the year, I wish everyone a very happy and prosperous new year, more aptly put through the following Neil Gaiman quote.

To report or not – That is the question.

The year before last, I was in Mumbai and had gone to a completely new area, to interview police constables for a college assignment. (There has to be irony in here somewhere!) After, and since it was late and both my friend and I had more than our share of work to do, my friend dropped me to the nearest local station. Since the major part of the assignment was done, (the interview), I was much more relaxed than I should have been, and as usual, I put on my earphones and started listening to music, rather loudly I guess. A few minutes later I saw two elder females pointing and whispering to something behind me, bringing me back to “reality”. A man was standing there, gradually coming nearer or seemed like it, at least, so obviously, I decided to move away, and that was when I realised he was really drunk and saw that his trouser was open (read unzipped)!

Like most females, even I have been eve teased, cat-called, been a victim (of attempts) to public groping and whatnot. Anyway, the open pant thing was a first for me and for two minutes I didn’t even know what to do! Luckily for me, just then, a police constable was passing by and saw the whole incident and quickly hit him 3-4 times with his 'lathi' before asking me if I was alright. The local train pulled in by then and after telling him I was fine, I got on and left, wondering the entire way about what it was that I should have done.

Discovering the Joy of Togetherness with Kissan!

There are few times when advertisements, in the way of promoting their cause, are able to bring smiles to faces and make people realise the importance of families. ‘Kissanpur – Real Joy of Togetherness’, the new advertisement from Kissan, one of India’s FMCG forerunners by Hindustan Unilever, has managed to do just that!

The video focuses on giving parents a new idea of spending time with their kids as virtual social connections have taken over real ones. The idea here is sowing the seeds of bonding with the brand and to bring back its consumers the real joy in being together. 

Hi

Image Courtesy: SmileyMe.Com

Since, I have revamped my blog to quite some extent now and my readership has also increased, which I hope will keep on increasing, I have decided to add the 'In Person' Column, featuring tour and travel entrepreneurs, heritage walk architects, and a few chef interactions.

I wasn't sure, if I should, however, during the tenure of my job, there were a few interactions that were left unpublished and leaving it that way, just doesn't feel right. And, though I understand that my blog readership isn't as wide as the publications that I was working with before, I still wanted to help in my own small way.

So here’s an effort from my end, as I believe that these are amazing people who have created and started something even better, in an effort to showcase the heritage and culture of our nation, be it in terms of new and unique travel initiatives or innovation based cuisine.

Image Courtesy: Imagesbuddy.com

Are You MAD?

With the World Mental Health Day just gone by, just sharing a few thoughts about the Indian Mental health status and coping with mental issues.

How many times do we use the phrase, ‘Tu pagal hai kya?’ Almost every day, I guess. However, the troubling part is, that over time, we have learnt to use the phrase so casually that we have forgotten the real meaning, stigma or taboo that is associated with ‘being mad’, especially in our society. 

In fact, according to various reports, there are thousands of people with mental health conditions around the world, deprived of their human rights. They are not only discriminated against, stigmatised and marginalised but are also subject to emotional and physical abuse in both mental health facilities and the community. Also poor quality care due to a lack of qualified health professionals and dilapidated facilities leads to further violations.

Now focusing on the Indian macro scenario, esp. since the World Mental Health Day has also just gone by, the status of India in terms of mental health is bad, to say the least. According to an article by The Huffington Post, at least 5% of the population lives with a mental illness, translating to well over 50 million people. Moreover, it stated that nearly half of those with severe mental illnesses aren't treated and of those with less severe versions, nearly 9 in 10, go by uncared.

Mental illness is still considered a hushed up topic in our country and visiting a psychiatrist or seeking help is often a cause for embarrassment and hence, people suffering from psychological ailments end up either denying or hiding their illness, sometimes until it becomes too late.

Music

As the left hand side of this page suggests, I am a member of Blogadda. It’s a blogger platform, where you submit your blog and it showcased among other Indian blogs. Well, today I received a mail from them about a competition.

Here’s what the mail was all about:

Didn't we tell you that we love our bloggers in Delhi/NCR? Well, we are back to show our love with an invitation to be a part of an one of its kind event organised by Red Bull. 

Red Bull is organizing a Thre3Style event, an International DJing competition where participants mix a selection of any three genres or styles of music in 15 minutes. The World Finals are in Chicago and right now Delhi is hosting the National Finals for the Indian subcontinent. Yes, you got it right, we are inviting you to be a part of it. Shveta Salve will be hosting the Regional Finals and Nikhil Chinapa & Pearl will judge and play at the Red Bull Thre3style National Finals. Isn’t that cool and exciting?

We are looking for few bloggers who have an interest in music and lifestyle and wish to be a part of the gala evening that not only has in store some awesome performances, but also a workshop with a top console DJ and loads of Red Bull goodies on offer. To participate, you just have to tell us how interested you are in music/ lifestyle through a post on your blog. (If you are interested in music but haven't got any post up yet, just remember it is never too late to start. What better an opportunity than this? The last day for expressing your interest is Aug, 22nd 2012. 

Just a Moment

Today I don’t really have a topic relating to the news or stuff that happened around the world. Well, of course there is stuff happening all around, but I just don’t want to write about all that at the moment!!

Right now I feel like writing about everything and nothing, but that would be a little hard to do, don’t you think?

It rained a little today in the evening, n for the small period of time that rain drops were falling on the ground, all I did, was look up at the sky and try to make out the shapes of the clouds. This is sort of my usual time pass when I don’t have much to do. Don’t you just love the fragrance of wet soil, that scent, which is spread everywhere just after it has rained? Well, I do.

Anyhow, across the street I saw a kid, who didn’t look older than 6 or 7, doing almost the same thing, although pretty soon his mother came and took him inside. Leaving me wondering what was that kid imagining when he looked up and how would it be different than what I thought I saw.

Jealous

Hi,

This was something that I wrote sometime back, just wanted to share.

When I was young I used to be jealous

Jealous of all the people around me

Jealous of all they could have and not me

But even then I used to wonder

About the day when others would envy me

When they would realize what they had

But were careless enough not to understand it

Naive enough to worry about all the things they couldn’t get

And stupid enough to not be grateful for all they already have

And today, here I am, still jealous and still alone

Wondering when will I break this vicious cycle

When will I understand that this is how it will always be

I will always be that little kid who will look up every night

Trying to talk to the stars, the moon

And if nothing else then the solitary wind

Its as if I am never gonna find any peace and

I’ll always have that empty space

This should trouble me, should make me worry

But this realization has made me understand

This is how I always was

This is how I’ll always be

The First Entry : An Introduction

So .. starting my blog .. I have never actually written a blog or anything, I mean thought about it a billion of times, sure .. but never really got the time .. and now this, it sort of feels weird .. Hopefully, I’ll get used to this.

Umm .. so .. what do I say .. lets start with a little about me .. I am a very weird, freak of nature kinda person, utterly n totally confused but hoping that one day, somehow will manage to clear at least a few of my doubts ..

Now earlier I said that I didn't have time to start a blog .. well that was sorta true .. I know, i know, u have to make time blah blah, but I really had a very good reason for not having any spare time .. so I don't know how to manage my time, but how can u spare some when ur studying 24*7!!! Yes, that much .. well when ur studying to become a chartered accountant, that what u become, a mean, lean studying machine!! and its not like u can take a break or something but keep on studying till ur head starts to hurt n ur mind reaches its saturation point .. but thats not even the end of it .. I did all of that .. I really did .. but even after that I couldn't clear my group .. well thats not a good sign, now is it??

So I decided that i cannot do this ..  yes, I quit .. well I never wanted to become a CA anyways .. after 12^th it seemed a good option .. sure I had to work hard but the then young naïve little me thought “how hard could it be”, yeah, I really thought that .. well after 2 failed attempts n 2 years of my life that I am never gonna get back ..  I decided enough is enough .. I want time for myself .. time to read, read in a proper way n not trying to hide that I am reading a book or a novel .. a profession that I might actually like n not a job that turns me into one of those corporate, serious whiny, crying all the time about how their life turned out people!!!

So .. all this rambling leads to the conclusion of what I actually wanna do .. well when I finally came out of the shock of my exam result failure for the second time, I decided that journalism looks like a good option .. so with further research I decided that I want to be a journalist .. print journalist to be specific .. so now this journey begins where I actually try to decide and overcome my shy n confused personality ..

But now the main questions that is looming over my head like the sword that hovers over a man about to be beheaded is whether I’ll be able to make it to a proper post graduate course form a good institution, taking into consideration the limited no of seats available.

So this blog here on is going to be my practice ground, where almost everyday I’ll be posting my views along with facts of happenings all around the globe and of things that interest me.

Best of luck to me!!!