Happy Saraswathy Puja to all

Today is Saraswathy Puja in Kerala. Celebrated across India in different names and fashion.Its also called Dussehra in north India, Navrathri in west India,Durga Puja in east India and few other names across the country. I guess the Keralite version is the most simplistic version of all these ones.There is no 9 days of celebrations,no people on the streets than usual,no Dandiya and all the glamour that goes with it, no fasting- absolutely nothing to indicate something is afoot except the look of complete joy in the eyes of kids everywhere.

For Malayali kids everywhere this is the time of the year eagerly awaited. Kids keep their books for puja to receive blessings from the goddess Saraswathy( The Goddess of Knowledge)on the Navami(9th day) and have to get it back only on the Dasami(10th day). Their biggest reason for joy is tht NO ONE can tell them to go and study or do their homework for these two days.Its almost considered capital sin among your kiddie peer group if one of them is seen reading even a newspaper on this day.

Its funny the kind of things you miss when you grow and/or travel out of India. I miss putting my Maths and Physics Textbooks for Puja as soon as the festival starts. Miss spending two days trying to avert my eyes from all written material- Magazines, Newspapers and even sign boards on the street.Miss playing play cricket all day long-only coming in for the freshly prepared iced lime juice in between the game and munch non stop on the lovely sweets prepared (Our pockets were filled too).

And after two days of pure fun you are asked to go back to the temple and fetch your books. From that second on, the wait for the next saraswathy puja day starts.

Om hari shree ganapathaye namaha

To read a bit more about this festival go to
http://www.keralain.com/kerala_festivals/kerala_festivals_navaratri.php

Pic courtesy: ARTNAVY's Blog

R.I.P Soumya

I don't know how many of you have felt "just another news item" remaining no more so in your lives.I must admit its an all together different experience...It moves you from empathy and disappointment to shock, frustration,anger and pure rage at the system.

I felt it for the first time on Tuesday evening when I heard the news of TV producer Soumya Vishwanathan's horrific death in the wee hours of the morning in Delhi. She was found with a bullet in head and her car was completely smashed. Again this would have been "just another news" for me had I not known her personally,albeit through my sister.

I had met Soumya at my sister's wedding who coincidentally shares the same name. There was this smiling polite Malayali girl with oodles of "aishwaryam"( Grace in malayalam) in a saree along with all the other Headlines Today regalia. She being one of my sister's best friends had made it a point to appear for the functions of the whole week.And as I went through her friends comments about her, I mentally tick marked all those aspects from my memory of her..Poised yet effervescent...Smiling with a sparkle in her eyes.I'm sure she was all these and much more had I known her more than I did.

Unfortunately this incident brings to lime light yet again the dastardly law and order scenario in our capital of all places. Its a wonder women in Delhi are still working, as among all of our generation Delhi is considered to be the worst city for a working woman to pursue her trade. And foolhardy comments like "She was Adventurous" by our precious CM (Who is a lady herself!!!)just go to add more fuel to the fire that is raging in the wake of such an incident.

I hope the Delhi police whose track record is nothing to write home about in terms of solving crime or bringing the criminals to justice, decides to do something about this and other unsolved crimes in the capital.

Also the onus is on us too-the community to provide our men,women and children with safety on our streets. I think the power of a "Neighborhood safety community" for protection is highly under rated and under utilized in our country. This would also take care of comments like like "We don't have enough resources to patrol all the streets of Delhi" from our CM,Union Minister or Police chiefs.

Why do we wait for incident to spark us to action? Why do we have to see a known face appearing in the newspapers before we feel the need to something? I don't know and might never will....Rest in Peace Soumya - You were too good for this world as I hang my head in shame.

Please sign the petition for Justice for Soumya below

http://www.petitiononline.com/soumyav/petition.html

Also find more discussions at following sites.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=30157298526

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=26887274209

1560 weekends and counting..

As is normal with each passing birthday you think about where you headed,what you achieved and what will you acheive in your life. I turned 26 this month and if i look back I have done OK. But not really put nearly enough effort to make it..(hmmm whats the word im looking for-yeah Barney's line) LEGENDARY...

Assuming that we have 60 years to live with 52 weekends in between, Im down to 1560 weekends and counting...Gotta make it count brother.Its going to be LEGEN..Wait for it and I hope you are not lactose intolerant because the next word is DARY !!!

Sound and Brand Identity

All elements of a Brand from its nomenclature, logos, tag lines, visuals, typography, textures and even scents which help a customer uniquely identify with the brand form the elements of a Brand's identity.

However there one element that I love, when I'm nostalgic about old ad campaigns.Yeah I'm kinda crazy that way!! That's the element of Sound. In various forms - from jingles to tunes, sound creates an unique brand identity in the minds of all of us.

Just listen to these tunes and you know what I mean. Never forgotten, Brand remembered even if they aren't existent anymore.( I know the visuals have their huge impact too,for those who might want to bring up that point)....Pa pa ra ra pa ra ra





And one final one...No Video to help you on this one. Guess (For 99% of you it will take a exactly 1:36 min to guess )

Temple of God or Temple of Green

I know its been happening for a long time but its become more and more clear to me that in today's world even receiving God's blessings is no more about penance and sacrifice but about whose got the moolah and how much influence he can wield.

Last week after surviving a hair raising trip to Kodaikanal trying to drive up the mountain in zero visibility at 10 in the night my mother convinced herself that it was a sign from Lord Palani demanding her attention. So it was decided that we visit the temple at the foot of the Kodai which itself sits atop a small hill.

As soon as we entered the temple premises commerce started showing its head.As fate may have it was a very auspicious day with it being Lord Palani's birthday and all and the queue for just the cable car to take us up was a mile long. We were approached by touts who claimed that in the name of the Temple Committee they would make sure we cut the lines everywhere and also get to witness the Lords divine countenance upclose.The only cliche was that we had to shell out a cool 5k to be able to do that.

We were taken on our darshan journey with a Tamilian lady tout who doled out the extra bucks all the way up. To the Guard who let us cut the line.The Cable car operator who let is in first etc etc. I was waiting to see if someone from the queue would start shouting at us. But silly me...I soon realised this was not really cutting the line but a normal procedure approved by the Temple Committee. There were different lines once we summited the Divine hill. The longest queue for the free entrance,shorter for the Rs 20, Even shorter for Rs 200 and just us in the Rs 400 a person queue. It also meant that the persons doling out the cash received the closest darshan from the God and were not pushed around.

While coming down I was feeling very guilty about the whole thing and instead of feeling blessed was feeling like I had committed a dirty crime. This seems to be the order of the day now in all the big temples in India from the Vaishnu Devi to Tirupati.I vow not visit any of these big temples as anymore as I feel with all this Business - God has surely left the building.

Necessity is the Mother of Invention

And a few years later...

Around the World with McDonald's

I was walking the streets of Rome hopping from tourist spot to another-The Pantheon, The Fountain di Trevi,the Roman Forum etc etc and one common factor stuck out every time. There was a McDonald's within 100m of all these sites.Seeing how great McDees are at real estate( The burgers are definitely nothing much to write about)I had this idea for McDonald's marketing team. A Round the World with McDonald's promotion. Eat at 5 different Golden Arches around the world and win yada yada yada. Just one thing though. Remember to pay me for this! I'm Lovin it.

That Reservation word again

No comments. I have said it all here.

Only question - Why oh Why God are we to be cursed for vote Politics? No such unanimity among political parties when it comes to growth and development. I reiterate I'm not against reservations per say.I truly believe education is the way out.But in IIM's and IIT's? What's first needed is equality at primary and secondary education levels. Premier institutes like IIT's are among the only places left where there existed equality to certain extent.The equality of Meritocracy.

Reservations just takes that away in a flash.Fake certificate touts and creamy layer parents Heaven. Please show me some real effect towards inclusive social equality by doing this.Please Please Please!!!Or just leave the poor students alone. They are having a tough time already.Now all the parents and teachers are gonna be like- you are ONLY a 90% er you need to be 99%er. Why don't we just pour them some poison and be done with it.

This Avial I Like

Normally most mallus can't stop salivating at the very mention of avial( a mixture of veggies and coconut) but I'm NOT one of them. Never liked them Never will. But I think I just found another kind of the Avial I like. The musical version. Yes ladies and Gentleman the new Malayalam rockband Avial is belting out some real cool tunes. Do check it out. Be it Nada nada or Karukara or Adu Pambe, you can't help getting a good vibe. And Malayalam goes Hip. COOL

Been traveling and all that

Its been a very hectic 30 days for me.Started with my vacation to Italia(Ah i miss it already),returned to work preparing everything for a two week tour to India and Germany. A sad news heard just before leaving for India and returning yesterday after having my ears filled with German for the last two.

I had thought I would make a travelogue for my Italian trip but I guess I ain't in the mood anymore. Smells of Bergamo's Old city,Florence sunsets from the Pizzale Michaelangelo,Looking at the entire city of Venice from a church tower across the main island and gaping at the Colloseum in all its majesty and trying to push down the Tower of Pisa ,All the glamour and glitter inside the famous Vatican Museum were among the main highlights.


Moving from one youth hostel to another,meeting new people from different walks of life,partying with complete strangers probably never to meet them again and more makes you wanna travel all your life.




You begin to see what all this wander Lust thing is all about. Nomad for life.Would't that be something. Some one just pay my bills thats all.