Here goes !!!!!!

Diwali is approaching. While most of the world around is excited with anticipation and looking forward to the festive season, Maya is not so inclined. She hated the approach time of the festivals. That just meant more work for her. Maya worked in a Super Market and approaching festivals brought in the crowds. They had to work extra time and long lines at the counters. Just the thought of the unsmiling, innumerable faces passing by the counter with their Diwali shopping brought a frown on her face. But work is work, so she forced herself to get up and prepare for the day ahead. She wore her uniform and entered the Super Market. The place was already bustling with people of all sizes, shapes and ages. People were loading their trolleys with anything and everything and making their way to the counter. Kids were being a pain as usual, asking for this and that. Grandparents were smilingly obliging, while parents were giving stern looks. Most men were looking bored as they accompanied ...

I am glad that SonyLiv started the KBC season 9 in the prime time. As it is, I was fed up with the nonsense being dished out in competition by the news channels. KBC came as an alternative and proved to be a mind blowing one. It reclaimed our family time as everyone started watching it. Whether it is intentional or not, I see a refreshing change in the KBC participants. The simple, at times not very highly educated, not very well off people from different parts of India bring us face to face with the true India. A refreshingly new India in which we all want to believe in and hold on to, not the one that the politicians, media houses or religious leaders would want us to see. So, what’s so different about this KBC? Almost each and every participant was a revelation. Many from far off villages we have not even heard of, but with a fire in their hearts and a will power to make it big. Let’s take a look at a few of the people who caught my attention. 1.  A government school teac...

Many a time the world around is just interested in judging you for what you have done. None try to understand why you did what you did. The political scenario in India is such that there are only two factions. Rest don’t count anyway. So, every situation that happens has to be viewed in one of the two modes, pro or anti. If you happen to criticize something, then the anti guys are very happy with you and if you go the other way, then they raise their eyebrows at you. It is true Vice Versa also with the so called Bhakts J BTW, I have realized that a Bhakt is someone who has immense faith in the capabilities of the deity whom they worship, so that’s not so bad after all. Even I am Bhakt of many Gods. I believe that while they may be the ones who gave me the problems, they are also the ones who give me  the solutions J So, perhaps the people who are called Bhakts are the ones who have immense faith and can see no wrong in what their idol does. At times, that is dangerous. Thin...

I am slowly becoming a fan off the cuff movies. They are not a commercial success, they are not popular, people don’t write reviews about them and certainly no reality show calls them for promotions. In short, they just come and go and you don’t even realize they exist. I have to admit that I started watching such movies only because I started flipping through the channels on the odd afternoons or evenings that I get time. Sometimes less is more and having too many channels and choices is a pain. Keep flipping, look at the title, read the synopsis and you don’t feel interested. And more often than not, I started landing on Star Gold Select HD as well as Star Movies Select HD . Instead of doing plain time pass these channels have given me some wonderful moments through many movies. Here are a few that I have watched and I felt like sharing: Nil Battey Sannatta: A beautifully woven story about Chanda, a maid and her daughter Apeksha. Chanda slogs it out only because she wants to ...

If you ask me which is our favourite festival, I would have to say it is India Vs Pakistan cricket match J There is no revelry and passion and overall pataka and dhoom like this for any other festival. In fact that passion is missing even for Diwali..... Preparation is done for this beforehand. Anyone who asks out at the time is politely declined, and anyone who wants to drop in is asked if they can join to watch the match albeit not so politely !!!!  Matter is clear, if India plays Pakistan, everything else pales. Be prepared to listen to a lot of shouts, cries, gesticulations and unreadable facial expressions, a few un-vocabulary words when catches are dropped or appeals are not given and an overall charged up unbeatable atmosphere. There should not be anything left to be done other than watching the match, even calls may be missed...... With all the hallabulla, every time that India plays Pakistan on a cricket ground, my mind goes back to the 1996 World Cup match between ...

A few incidents that happened across the past few weeks across India prompts me to think that we the Indian society are the biggest hypocrites of all. The incidents that I am talking about are the abduction and assault of a leading malayalam actor in Kerala, molestation of tiny tots in a pre-school in Bangalore and finally the Gurmehar Kaur incident in Delhi. All this struck me when I watched a TV Ad of Century Ply. What's the connection you may wonder. The Ad says 'sab sahe mast rahe' and I realized that this is what the Indian society expects of its women. Take all that comes and keep quiet, don't speak out. Thankfully in all 3 cases, speak out we did.  It’s a different matter that I do not subscribe to Gurmehar's views. If anything, it may be otherwise.  No one willingly goes to war and what happened in Kargil is history and known to all. But, I think she has the right to make and speak her opinion and so did everyone else who responded to her.  After all, fre...