Travel the mile

Travel a mile, recognise my road 

Breathe the air, feel the weight 

Stop aside; sit with me for a while

Refine your thoughts before they become mine. 

Takes a moment to judge, so learn my tale

Takes a lifetime to learn, then judge my case 

Before you know, you'll see a different me 

Late, so what? There's lots to see. 

Climb the stairs, don't forget the fleet 

Hold the ground firm, understand your reach 

My thoughts transcend the dark patches, 

In light, they find your feet. 

A story to tell

A hyper mind, a constant rut, a desire that never leaves.

A river of thoughts carving its way through the barren expanse of one's mind.

Goes on and on, bringing back opportunities that got left behind.

They say an idle mind is a devil's workshop, I say it is an invitation to hell.

Let your thoughts do the talking, a story they are bound to tell.

Look around you - there's a sea of machines. Machines that breathe, machines that talk, machines that achieve.

Sometimes appears a spark, a spark that lets you see. Where is this world headed and where should you be?

There is no stopping then as your thoughts take the lead. Leaving you with nothing but queries to self.

What were you doing while the others  wrote? They wrote the stories you wanted to tell.

If content is the king, presentation is the entrance to his castle

When was the last time you went to shop, picked up a piece of clothing and said - 'wow, the hemming on this piece is done so well' or 'it would've taken really long for them to dye this exact color'? Probably never, unless of course you're a designer or well, just finding reasons not to spend money. 

The point I'm trying to make here is that although we don't notice these things, if they weren't done well, it would convince our decision to purchase them. 

Similarly, when it comes to social media, the concept is the same. The display of our thought process behind building an idea needs to be presented well otherwise the impact is lost. Precise visualisation has therefore, gained so much importance in the last few years. From infographics to animated slideshows, presentation has definitely taken a seat in the front row in this storytelling thriller. 

In the movie, Catch Me If You Can, Leonardo Di Caprio's father told him that the Yankees always won not because they had Mickey but because people can't keep their eyes off the stripes on their uniform. From being a to-die-for gorgeous co-pilot without knowing what's the jump seat in a cockpit to being a Harvard graduate, he constantly displayed efficient presentation skills to get his way around. 

When I was in college, we had to submit a biology journal which had all sorts of intricate dissection diagrams of experiments we had conducted during that month. Being an aspiring systems engineer, one was always overwhelmed by the workload and it was easy to forget essential deliverables. One night I remembered that I hadn't submitted the journal for an entire quarter and next day was the last day to submit it to acquire the subject credits. I had two options - work my butt off and write 43 experiments in one night or make up some excuse and repeat the subject again next sem. The former wasn't possible and I couldn't let the latter happen! So assuming that I would end up failing the subject anyway, I drew all the diagrams and wrote whatever I could (few experiments here and there) in my all time best handwriting. The next day, I submitted it just like everyone else and dreaded the results the week after. Turned out that I aced biology and got a first on the practicals. What had happened baffled me so I asked the supervisor about my journal. She said - "Oh honey your handwriting is a pleasure to read." So basically she read the first few experiments and the last few, saw the neat diagrams and didn't bother going through each and every page. 

Now, I'm not trying to imply that you can fool anyone by merely decorating a good-for-nothing idea/piece of work but what I am saying is that you can lure one into thinking that the effort put into something is obviously worth considering. Especially with all the clutter and competition, one is always looking for good quality work and we as storytellers need to capitalise on that to stand out. 

What do you think? 

Yes, I am 'friends with benefits' with Instagram!

Have you ever been in a super steady relationship and suddenly met someone absolutely stunning who blew your mind? I have!  

The series of events that follow after meeting Mr./Ms. Stunning are usually typical. You try very hard to tell yourself that it's 'just a phase' and you should stick to the life you had before the encounter. You even try to make that happen and either of the following two things happen - you give up on the one you love or you try to manage this complicated arrangement we'd like to call 'friends with benefits" with the new-bee. 

Now unluckily/luckily, the latter happened to me and I'm loving it!  Yes, I am friends with benefits (FWB) with Instagram! And no matter how hard I try to justify my love for Facebook, it just doesn't feel the same. Yes, I admit I do hang out with FB and hear about everything that is happening in our friends' lives but that's about it. There is absolutely no sharing! I initially tried to introduce Insta to FB but no luck. You know, it was almost like a forced attempt from my part that led to blurred results. 

But honestly, when I'm with Instagram, things are so different. It always erases my flaws by filtering them with true love. The best part is that it doesn't have a million things to hide like FB, so we can freely roam about hand in hand confident about not being spotted by someone who we don't want around. 

Lastly, there is so much space in this relationship! Insta doesn't call me all day telling about the smallest things that happened on the planet! I mean the last time it called me was when it launched some super cool video thing. That's legit, isn't it?  

I'm not denying that now and then, I do miss FB and the life we had together. But there is so much going on there with the whole graph search and hashtags thing, that it barely has time for me. I mean even when we meet, it's all about work.

Above all, I heard a while ago that they come from the same family background and live very close to each other. While I keep hoping for the best for FB as it played a huge role in getting me my career, I cannot wait until people realise the importance of Insta in my life! 

Is necessity no longer the mother of invention?

I hear about the greatest inventions of all times like the bulb, telephone, email, etc. and marvel at the way they have made life simpler. The need to keep in touch invited modes of communication, the need to increase productivity in the absence of the sun introduced us to light and so on. Everywhere there was a need that was addressed by intelligent minds.

We get excited about announcements like hashtags on Facebook, video on Instagram or for that matter, longer Dreamliners. Is that it? Imagine the excitement when Edison turned on the switch that lit the room and compare it when we were introduced to say, touch phones. In our times, I highly doubt we will feel that rush, that happiness about solving a problem that could change millions of lives. Hence, we adopted a way to embellish our achievements, decorate them with appreciations and create a hype so strong that people 'think' they are life changing pieces of work. And that's where marketing found its place. Assisted what was good and beautified what was not so good.

Zoom out a bit and take a look at the bigger picture; where are we headed? According to me, we are treading towards a virtual world in which we 'create a need' and fulfil it with something that we want to 'create'.

I can imagine, Facebook 'likes' being used like equity shares by companies, Instagram photos being used at high-end auctions and twitter followers being counted as assets. If you've watched Zeitgeist documentaries, you'd know what I mean when I say that we are constantly forming new entities and running a world that no longer depends on things of the past. It is precisely how the much sort after, money was created by few who could decide what the world  would transact in terms of in the future. 

Will marketers and data analysts lead the transformation this time? Will they be the ones to decide what the public accepts or rejects? Huge responsibility lies ahead, don't you think? 

Hashtags and the road to social embarrassment

Just a few weeks ago, I came across an update on Facebook that read something like this: '#Workout #at #the #gym - #bestfeelingever'. And this was before Facebook even hinted upon introducing hashtags! I wanted to know (for the mere satisfaction of my own intrigue) the rationale that went behind hash-tagging words like 'at' and 'the'. 

I mean how wrong had Chris Messinar (founder of the concept of hashtags, 2007) gone in conveying the hashtag story?! When it comes to a lot of people I know, it seems like he went pretty wrong.

 So this guy's answer to my question was that he posted that photo directly from Instagram and hence, the hashtags. But it still didn't answer the #at and #the! Never mind, I let him enjoy the sheer joy of adding that fancy sign wherever he wanted. 

I am no social media genius or hash-tagging queen, so I had to teach myself the art of hash-tagging a few months ago as well. So when I think of hashtags, I think of various clubs we had in school. You know how being popular was synonymous to being a part of all the cool groups in school? The more one participated, the easier it was to be noticed by like-minded people or for that matter anyone. 

According to me, it works the same way for the content you curate through various social platforms that support hashtags. If you want to make your content 'participate' in meaningful conversations or get 'noticed' by people who will possibly be searching for similar interests as yours; be my guest and hashtag all you want. But it is important to remember that while you are busy inventing meaningless hashtags on your own, especially using random names of people or sentences as long as Adriana Lima's legs; someone out there in the digital media landscape is having a good laugh! 

We all are aware of water surfing, isn't it? Think of hashtags as the waves surfers use to ride upon. Let your content ride upon existing available hashtags to have a smooth sail. So if you're up for the hashtag game, take a deep breather and repeat after me - 'Using a gazillion hashtags at once in a sentence will not make me rich or better than my ex's boyfriend/girlfriend.' 

Happy hash-tagging! 

Father's Day 2013 - What's the story?

It's very natural to take things for granted all our lives until we lose them.
The infamous statements from heartbroken girlfriends - 'I didn't know what he meant to me until we broke up' or my family's reaction to our cook declaring his vacation - 'The scrambled eggs will be different from now on' and so on. Everything/everyone has a way of being missed and nothing we can do can reverse that feeling.

Until last year, Father's Day was just another marketing gimmick I noticed because the store, Archie's made it so obvious with their tacky advertisements. This year, it seems like everyone around me is talking about Father's Day gifts, brunches, etc. Suddenly, my focus went from Burberry's new collection to the ties they had displayed for Father's Day and from real estate adverts on the radio to the ones screaming about Father's Day. 

My father had a simple philosophy - 'no day comes again'. So he never believed in giving one specific Sunday more importance than any other day. And it was not only for Father's Day, I once told him about the importance of the date 11/11/11 and his response to that was - "So you are trying to imply that something like a 8/9/10 or 2/4/09 will come again? So what's the big deal about 11/11/11!".

With not so much excitement about this particular day as a kid; it was a usual ritual, I would get my father a card and write a short note. My father never had an off on Sundays so I would leave it with my mother because he was long gone before I woke up.

I'm not the only one who lost her father comparatively early in her life, so do people like me become a minority for present marketers? Isn't there any story  curated for us?

If I was in their position, I'd be weaving a great story about how my mother plays the role of my father, sometimes, even better than he did. Why wouldn't any luxury brand touch upon this emotion? Why wouldn't a Burberry introduce a boyfriend shirt for those mothers who play a dual role for their children?

In a recent book I am reading - 'All Marketers Tell Stories', Seth Godin talks about how you have to appeal to a small niche group in the market who share the same worldview (thought process) and they will help you forward your story to the larger audience. 

Aren't we ideal ones to buy a story, a story that doesn't make us feel like outcasts on a day like Father's Day? I really believe that it's true that people have started following trends and trust people like themselves more than people of authority but, at the end of the day we buy something because we tell ourselves a tale. A tale that justifies the need for something or someone. 

Isn't that the reason why people buy expensive phones, designer clothes, trusted cosmetics or even luxury cars? Father's Day isn't just one opportunity to explore, there are millions! And masses waiting to be tapped. The question remains who'd take the risk to take advantage of their sensitive spots elegantly. 

So which league are you in?

If you have ever travelled to work (preferably Gurgaon or Noida) by car, you would've noticed that there are windows of time when unbearable traffic collects. 

After travelling the route to Gurgaon for almost 2 years now, I have come to a conclusion - there are different leagues of people who choose different windows of time to travel  which according to me clearly defines their work ethic. 

(A tiny disclaimer here: these are purely my thoughts and I take full responsibility if you get pissed off, remember exceptions are what keep us going) 

So which league do you fall in? 

1. The early risers - Look around your workplace, identify that one person who reaches work early and complains about it all day. I'm sure you recognised more than one! Now, these early risers are the ones who would like to believe that they are the smartest as they beat the morning traffic and reach work first. Hats off guys, you have cracked the traffic dilemma but trust me you aren't leaving before the entire work gets over in the evening! These people generally never take risks and are very comfortable watching other people work hard. 

2. The peak commuters - this group actually knows that it's going to be real crowded in that 8-8:30 am time window when everyone is rushing to get to work at half 9 but that does not deter their determination to choose that very time to travel. Even at work, you can recognise  them easily - always there in a group discussion saying exactly what other people are saying just a little differently! 

3. The smart-lazy combo - this league is close to my heart as it chooses the 'sweet spot' to travel after months of clear observation and detailed analysis of its route. You know there is that time in the morning when the 'peak commuters' have left and the 'late crawlers' have yet not considered leaving. That is the 'sweet spot' - they might be a few minutes delayed at work but take the least time to reach. Even at work, I'm sure you have those who are always on top of things, yeah? See them. Salute them. 

4. The late crawlers - trust me, let's get over the fact that people who come real late to work are cool and actually have a life. The truth is - they always 'think' they will make it on time and eventually succumb to fate. You might beat the peak traffic but honey, you were never competing! So think of those people at work who always think the deadlines work according to them and not the organisation, keep your hand on their shoulders and say - 'it's okay' when they come late. See their reaction - it's priceless

You say Facebook, I say Work!

4 years of engineering makes you breathe numbers, digest concepts and play with applications. And then you drop it and choose a whole new path for yourself. And guess what, to top it all, you choose something that isn't so mainstream at all. 

The last time I tried to explain to someone what do I exactly do led to the following conversation -

- Oh so you mean you sit on Facebook the whole day? Or 

- What's the difference between Facebook and Twitter anyway? Twitter is just Facebook without photos, isn't it? 

- People actually get paid to do that? 

- YouTube is a social media channel? 

Honestly, I don't blame them because how much so ever updated one might be; explaining digital, especially social media management to them remains a painstaking task. 

Entering the digital space as an outsider and living in it for almost a year now, I have learnt a few things that are absolutely unique to the kind of work we do and people will never get these. 

1. Others might not believe it but launching a Facebook page can be as demanding as bringing up a baby. You check on it time and time again, you feed it with new content and then you protect it from spammers! 

2. We too have crisis! Recently somebody asked me - after all, your work is not about life and death, so what's the panic about? The panic is about protecting your property from unwanted people at any hour - day or night. 

3. Having a social presence is not only about 'posting' out-of-context quotes and getting a million 'likes' or following everyone on Twitter so that they follow you back. There is 'strategy' that goes into every aspect of what we do too. 

4. 9 PM - 5 PM? Come again? 
The web doesn't sleep so how can we? You never know who, where, is sitting and waiting to be offended by something that your client sells or does. So next time you give a bad review/remark online after eating dinner late at night - remember someone like us is getting thrashed the next day! 

5. It seems to everyone that we never work. Whenever someone will come by our desk - they will see the likes of HootSuite, TweetDeck running all the time. This doesn't mean that we aren't working, that IS OUR WORK! 

6. Lastly, people always say - 'you guys are so lucky'. Seriously? Try being on Facebook/Twitter as 4 different people with completely different personalities for a week and the same tools you love, you will despise. I mean imagine talking like 4 people - an engineer, a businessman, a corporate executive and a social worker at the same time. 

Is social media making us better at what we do?

Just yesterday my brother performed solo at one of the leading theatre events in Delhi. While he was getting ready for it, I asked him - why was he being so finicky about the white shirt, it wasn't going to show when he would be so far away on the stage.

He looked at me as though my question had really offended him. He said that the group he was opening for had a live twitter feed, an updated Facebook page and a videographer present at the event. Also, he himself has an active YouTube channel among other social media sharing outlets. To add to that, his friends would be present at the event who would definitely share his images and recordings online.
He basically meant that technically his performance doesn't end that evening. It'll be carried to different platforms where that tiny mark on his shirt could create potential crisis or unwanted conversation.

I was a little taken aback. So this 15 year old boy had not only thought about his performance live but also the aftermath of it on social media. So is the fact that there are no boundaries to sharing and no event is technically closed to an online audience making us perform better than before? Or for that matter, micro manage things that we would've ignored earlier?

What one does on stage can trickle down positively or negatively online. Delhi concerts have been a clear example of this. A few days before the Tiesto concert, we were hearing rumours about it being cancelled. The organising group did not choose to pick a publication, print a life size advert and erase that rumour but just published an online interview of Tiesto talking about how excited he was to come to India. And moments later, people were posting all over social media about the confirmation of the Tiesto tour. This definitely relays the trust people have in what other people like them post online than someone unknown sitting behind a printing machine.

Coming back to the point of performance. Are we paying more attention to what we create keeping in mind the kind of platform it would be shared on? According to me the answer is yes. Taking the example of Instagram - how many us who have that application installed on our phones don't think about what filter a certain thing would look good in? The fact that photo sharing has become synonymous to Instagram is a clear indication that people are putting articulated thought into things around them and how to best capture them.

At a polo event last month, I was sitting amongst Delhi's elite and was overwhelmed by the talks of leading make up and clothing brands. Something mentioned by one of the ladies surprised me - she said - "I bought this Louis Vuitton Damier bag just two weeks back and she had it a day after I did. I think she saw my Greece vacation pictures on Facebook and decided to buy it." I wanted to tell her - "Honey, I don't think she dropped a few thousand dollars just because she looked at how good the bag looked on you in your profile picture" but I stopped. Because yes, there could be a clear high possibility that this trend-cheater just saw that bag on her friend's profile and decided to buy it. So is sharing helping us convince other people's choices and set trends like never before?

I personally believe it is the beginning of a never ending era of sharing and crowd sourcing. So would you thinking before you wear that shirt or watching your pronunciation while you speak at a presentation. According to me - please do, you never know who is sharing. 

Are you making these mistakes?

Well I am no one to judge but since we do have a right to opinion and live in a somewhat democratic country, I am going to go ahead and share what's been on my mind for a few weeks now.

There are these incessant mistakes that people make while dressing up in India. Now don't take it personally but yes, it's true and you'll agree with me by the end of this post (hopefully).

#1 Skin show - fail
So it is THE most accepted rule in the fashion industry - "show some leg or show some cleavage, never both!". Here it is the extreme - either you'll see women dressed in the most skimpiest of clothes at parties or completely covered up. I mean yes, you love that ultra mini skirt so put on a block colour short sleeves top with it or for that matter if you love your skinny jeans put on a low neck line top. But why, oh why would you wear that ultra mini with the low neck line top?

#2 Socks with stilettos
I literally feel so sad when I see women do that. I mean yes, I don't expect everyone to have a closet full of shoes (guilty here) but it is basic to keep one summer sandal and one closed shoe for winter. And wear socks, it is completely fine but don't wear I-just-got-these-from-Disneyland designs!

#3 White on white
Now I do appreciate your effort to wear sheer clothing to work but this is a dangerous area and not everybody can handle the consequences of the inappropriate sheer. Wear white sheers but please NOT with white bras, choose a nude colour instead.

#4 Sneakers to work, seriously?
Now this one is heart-breaking. God has given you a great female body and you're lucky to be working so why would you wear sneakers to work! It's beyond me.

#5 "I'm not wearing any" leggings
Nude leggings is a new trend and women are flaunting these all around whether with tops or kurtas. Nude colour leggings make me think that you're not actually wearing any lowers and trust me it isn't a great sight. Choosing a white or darker colour instead could not only streamline your body but also bring out the colour of what you wear on top.

#6 "Jhola clothing"
It is common nowadays to put on an ultra loose pajama-like lower but why do we forget that it only suits a certain kind of people? If you're home, be my guest but if you're in public you might want to think before copying that friend of yours.

#7 The Matching syndrome
"If my outfit is pink then shouldn't my sandals be pink and not to forget my hair accessories, jewellery, etc?!" Good lord I feel like people just over do it completely. 

What does your Instagram filter say about you?

Recently, I read a certain article about this celebrity urging everyone to keep it "natural" and not use filters to embellish one's pictures. It's like that period when suddenly celebrities were posing without make up (apparently) and trying to convince people not to indulge in the heavy duty made up look (while endorsing top notch make up lines of course).

Nevertheless, I really don't understand the hype about people using Instagram. Let's face it - the end result of the pictures is great so why not share it with your friends? Suddenly, the boring wine and dine place you visited last night becomes interesting, the blemishes on the skin disappear and guess what you even look for things in your vicinity that could be beautified. So we are looking fab, developing an artistic eye and are not bored at not-so-interesting places.

I love surfing through my news feed on Instagram and I am intrigued by certain people using certain kinds of filters!

I would think of you to be very lazy if you published a picture "normally" after Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger made their fortunes by inventing this wonderful array of editing filters to be installed at the touch of your fingers. On second thought, I do understand your extreme urge to share as soon as you click; so yes, editing can be tad bit difficult. All in all, you have a meaningful following on Instagram and they will not judge you.

Beloved "Amaro", "Valencia", "Walden",and Rise" users - I know the love for these filters becomes unconditional after a while as they are so loyal and make any picture perfect. It is like a favour to those self-clicks where you can't predict the action of light. You are quick and know what works for you!

"X-Pro II", "Mayfair" and "Lo-fi" - few of my favourites; these filters focus on you and just you. Darkening everything in the vicinity, the object of interest shines bright. You have an incessant reason to shine and your following on Instagram is looking for things you capture irrespective of where you are or who you are with.

Those understated "Willow" and "Inkwell" users - You know the BnW effect is available on very photo app invented by humans but you choose to use Instagram for it. So either you love sharing with your followers, are too artistic to give other filters a chance or let's face it you have a DSLR hidden somewhere that gives you enough of editing work to do.

The "Toaster" and "Kelvin" users, a kind note - there are so many tanning options available in the market or you could just use this filter, isn't it? You warm, fuzzy people love to extenuate every picture with more warmth and well, fuzziness! Sometimes you don't get the point of this filter but you still use it because somehow it makes every click look happy.

With "Hudson", "Nashville" and "1977" filters, everything is cool, everything is calm and everything is a weird colour of purple Japanese anime. In love with keeping it cool, these users feel the need to impart that effect on everything they do and trust me, it works! Every time, I look at my pictures edited using these filters, I feel a sense a tranquility. 

Whatever the filter, I love it how this photo sharing application has changed the way users are approaching photo editing and how it is influencing our depiction to others. So which filter depicts you the best? 

What working for a start up actually means?

Working in a corporate, teaches you to be competitive, teaches you to be a team worker and all those things that help you make a fancy CV. But what working in a start-up teaches you is to go out of your way and surprise yourself. 

So now almost two years later, having worked in both, I can firmly say that these are the 6 things that you will only and only know if you ever happen to work for a crazy entrepreneur or do something of your own. 

#1- You look for freebies everywhere. Whether it is a free tool used for monitoring online or a free venue for your event; it goes unsaid free things are the way to go. If it isn't free, it isn't worth it! 

#2- Work hours mean nothing to you.

You forget the two B's essential for any workforce- balance and boundaries. You spend hours at what you call your office and include anyone and everyone who knows you in what you are doing. Even if people are not interested or tired, you make sure the conversation somehow leads to what you are currently doing. 

#3- You look at fancy offices and say - SOMEDAY! 

Since, work for you means the nearest coffee shop or the study at your place, meeting people in their lush offices does not stop you from instantly picturing yourself sitting on their comfy chair. 

#4- You wonder - why doesn't everyone feel about their work the way you do? 

The answer to that is that they aren't maniacs like you are and they actually have a LIFE! So yeah, when you meet one of those normal workers, don't be surprised to know about the exciting things in their life when all you want to talk about is your idea! 

#5- You become shameless. 

Yes, shameless is the word. You are not hassled to talk to anyone whether it is at a bar or a shopping mall and ask them for their numbers. If someone you think can help you in someway, there is nothing that comes in your way to approach them. 

#6- Your gf/bf (if in a normal job) hate you and your family thinks that you aren't really going for "work".

I have witnessed this first hand- getting out of the car outside a coffee shop all the way in Gurgaon or my boss's house always made my driver wonder what I was doing there for hours! He would tell my mother - "I don't know where she goes and what she does so you speak to her!" And my mother would have a stereotypical response-"abhi enjoy kar rahi hain, karne do". To such conversations, you just want to say - "enjoy?!, seriously?". 

Whatever said and done, the accomplishment you feel by being a part of something that gives you the feeling of owning even the tiniest of things that you do without support from others is priceless. 

Will miss you - until further notice.

They say you only realise how much you miss someone/something when you lose them. Well I didn't really believe in this so-called rule of love and separation. I like taking things for granted especially when I have given them due time, attention and affection.

But recently when it actually happened to me, I was dumbfounded. I was dreaming, day and night indeed. Dreaming of access to that one thing that I had taken for granted for the longest time.

I can't actually recall it but my family reminds me of this incident time and time again. I was about 2 and half years old when I got a terrible asthma attack. It was like in the movies, the patient lies in the ICU while the family stares through that absurd round window in the door, weeping to bits. So apparently when I first came to my senses, I had asked for what I had been missing all this while. 

Yes, I try to spend time with others but I hate it when they just can't match the comfort level I felt with the one I am trying to get over. The feeling that could turn scorching Tuesday afternoons to spring breeze and wake me up like a shot of caffeine is gone, gone until further notice. So one can imagine my attachment to it. 

Moving on is tough but trying is not. So here I am trying new things, giving up hope on things that I have left behind. But my fizzy, cold glass of diet coke with a slice of lime - nothing like you will I ever find! 

Overnight Celebrity

 Is it luck or simply one's genius - one day you're just any one and next you're like no one else. The concept of ordinary people making it big really fascinates me. Why is it that some of us just have that factor in us to shine and others don't? To be very precise, I do not perceive cinematic success the only benchmark for success but celebrity to me is anyone who has made a great mark in their respective fields of study, business, art etc.

Now look at Shahrukh Khan; my mother recalls seeing him during her college days just like yet another guy on DU campus and now she is a die hard fan! What did he do right that hundreds in the Drama club didn't do? Bump into the right people who recognised his potential or just worked so hard that there was no choice? In one of his episodes of the show - Living with a Superstar, he says - "To be successful, one needs to breathe belief, eat belief, drink belief. Believe in what you want, what you desire and you'll succeed." But don't we all do that? I mean I have seldom met a person who is doing something that he/she doesn't believe in. Then what does one attribute his success to?

More than belief, I think it is the unimaginable perseverance. To me the relation between effort and success follows Hooke's Law as applicable to elastic bodies.

In layman terms, Hooke's Law states the relationship between force applied on a spring and the deformation it suffers due to that force.

I'm sure all of us have looked at an elastic spring. You press it and it bounces back. What I think is that all of us have been granted that elastic strength but a lot of us or for that matter, most of us break before we reach the phase of permanent deformation (In spring terms, when you press it and it would permanently lose its elasticity).

Using SRK's example once again, he lost his parents, lived alone, wasn't well off to afford a decent standard of living and I'm sure had matters beyond his control trying to wreck his efforts. Or take the example of Thomas Edison, he came from a poor background, was declared "slow" at school, lost hearing ability and sold newspapers at a young age. What such instances provoke me to think is that there is this driving force that one needs to surpass what so ever life puts you through without suffering permanent deformation.

It could be anything - personal satisfaction, love for the work one is doing, immeasurable desire to succeed for a loved one or just conditions that leave you with no option but to keep going.

Looking at the competitive landscape we work in, promotion to a higher position in the hierarchy is considered success. But to that one person for whom that success is a mere decoration and a reason to move ahead, there is no looking back. 

Hyper-connectivity. Amen.

Adjusting the on-the-go playlist on my ipod, checking email on the blackberry, finishing a presentation on my laptop and not to forget occasionally staring at the novel in my Damier check tote waiting to be "held". I found myself trapped in the car breathing "devices"; scared to the bone by my ability to coordinate using all of them at the same time without a glitch.

Instantly, my conscious came into play and I grasped "100 Dollar Start Ups" lying ignored in my bag. Almost immediately, I convinced myself that listening to some music couldn't do any harm and plugged in my pod. I barely finished couple pages when my hands started itching to touch the qwerty keypad of my Blackberry! I resisted the temptation; almost meditated (concentrated on my breathing and all that jazz). No luck! I held my phone and it felt like 'Pi' after being trapped 277 days reached ashore and touched the warm sand! An email about some deadline and there it was; back to my laptop.  Back to square one.

Blame hyper-connectivity! It is almost like the device doesn't require our touch to function but our touch requires the device to function! Why is that knowing everything has become so vital? I know there were times when an entire village knew what was going on in one tiny hut at the other end(especially if it was gossip). But that was the fun bit I suppose - the finding out and the manipulation of news as it traveled. Now what we have are: brief sentences, no punctuation and minimum emotion!

We, the baby manufacturing machines!

Running around in the unknown territory of a government hospital for someone I am not remotely related to has given me a sense of relief like no other.
I was out having high tea on a particularly idle Sunday when I decided to go back home early. My driver, V who has been working with us for over a year called in the most disturbed voice saying -  "hume nikaal diya" (They turned us out)! I didn't really understand why his wife who was in full-time labour be turned out of a private hospital at such a crucial time. I tried to ask him why, but fancy words dropped by the doctor about a certain complication were far from being comprehended by this man who drove a rickshaw since he was 15!

I asked him - "paisa ka problem hain kya?" (Did you not enough money?). He said he assured them that money wouldn't be a problem but still they asked him to take his wife to a government hospital.
He rushed her to a nearby government hospital and called me from there saying they were not accepting her admission too.

I was appalled! Do government hospitals not cater to complications or people like him don't have complications at all! That's when my aunt and I decided that sitting at home and trying to help him over the phone wouldn't help. We went to same hospital where he was being denied admission. It was a dead place with casualty cases all over the compound. Never in my life had I thought that I would have strength to walk through such a place. It also cleared a massive delusion in my head that one day I could be a doctor!

He was there outside the OPD trying to get his wife admitted for medical attention! They failed to make him understand that it was the emergency room he was looking for.  We guided him to the emergency room where they readily took her in and asked us to take her to the labour room.

This room was one floor up so for obvious reasons I requested for a wheel chair service for the girl in labour. That was considered an absolute impossibility as I got stares from people screaming - "don't you know women are baby manufacturing machines? She will be okay to walk". We had no time to argue and hence, slow and steady we got her to what they called the "labour room". It was more like a untidy dorm room where no one had a clue about what's going on.

The gynaecologist incharge was nowhere in the vicinity and this 10-12 bed place full of women absolutely ready to shoot out babies was being attended by tiny interns who were manually dividing the number of days by 8 to see how many weeks has it been for everyone.  When their multiple choice ticking ordeal to decide the number of weeks was over, we showed one of them her latest ultrasound report. The lady leisurely looked at it and started copying it word by word in what looked like her bible. It was getting too much to handle, so my aunt just followed her to the reporting doctor who of course was not slightly perturbed by the piling cases that needed her attention.

We had to drop a few names as my grandmother used to be a known gynaecologist in the area to get her to move her butt. First thing she looks at the patient and says - "kya problem hai? (What's the problem?). Seriously? If we/the girl knew what the problem was, why would we need her at all! My driver, V tried to come into the room several times but apparently men weren't allowed inside. Well, I thought to myself it is only in India that a man who is equally responsible for getting the girl into a situation like that is not expected to share the pain with her.

Finally, the doc ran a few regular checks and told us that it was a little late and she would have to operate on her and the chances of survival of the baby were slim. That's when I went out and stood with V. He was scared. The good part was he was less scared about the baby but more tensed about his wife in pain. I told him it wasn't going to be easy and he just kept trying to peep into the tiny opening to catch a glimpse of his wife.

I realised the feeling one gets being a parent has nothing to do with how rich or poor you are. At that moment, everything just becomes the same. The pain of watching someone close to you suffer dilutes all differences that we as humas have created.
Nevertheless, we left them there at midnight and couldn't sleep all night thinking about what the outcome of the operation would be. Finally, we gave up on waiting to hear from him and called him expecting bad news. To our surprise, we heard - "ladki hua, abhi hua" (It's a girl). I don't think I have felt that sense of relief ever before. And I kept repeating It in my head - "it's a girl! , it's a girl!". Phew.

Piece of cloth or a semi pressed animal?

Have you ever noticed while driving down on a fairly empty road, these rugged things or pieces of crap lying aimlessly. Black or brown due to the pollution and dirt brought by vehicles, to me these seemed like maybe injured animals from far off. Maybe highway road trips I took as I kid have instilled this thought - I used to without fail look back at every piece like that on the road and sometimes it was actually a semi-pressed cat or dog that probably tried to cross the road without caution. Fear or the sub-memory thought of those injured animals makes me leap every single time I notice such a disturbing thing lying on the road.

My utterly active mind especially when it comes to things that don't actually require so much over-thinking doesn't leave this instance to imagine the worse. I used to think to myself -  where did this piece come from? Has it traveled a lot? Maybe it was a part of someone's wardrobe. Maybe a dupatta? I don't know it used to leave me a bit intrigued about the history of those pieces and where they came from. A very similar thing happens to me  when I sit in an airplane. I used to look down during take off and wonder where the lights were coming from until there was complete darkness. Especially while traveling when you come across barren areas with just a light or two visible - I used to ponder about what those prime lights could be illuminating. Could the lights be coming from a house? Are people around that light able to this plane?

It might sound shocking to some but I have this incessant habit of keeping things that mean absolutely nothing apart from the fact that someday sometime I happened to find them somewhere and they looked fascinating. I know it can be formally referred to as hoarding by the way I explained but actually things that I am mentioning here are the most unimportant tiny ones that I link my memories to. Say a napkin I found with a note for someone in London, a bottle that looked stunning but was abandoned, pink paper clips stained due to paint, tickets to the show I never attended etc. I just think we come in touch with things or even people for a reason. The reason may not be entirely clear initially but as time passes I think one might find a connect. For example - the ticket of the show I missed reminds me every day that I still haven't seen it! Or the bottle - it instantly takes me back to the moment in London when I missed the 12am train and was stranded. Everything teaches me a lesson or brings a smile across my face. 

Madam "wok" (vogue) le lo

Everything becomes a business in seconds in this place and everything shuts shop in even milli seconds in Delhi!

So I live in Punjabi Bagh, a place primarily renowned for its filthy rich people with every car possible and the stamina to eat/pay for good food. There has been no such ice cream brand that has not targeted this region. So in a line of shops you'd find cocoberry, hoki poki, baskin robin, gianis, 24x7, nirula's and of course not to forget the existing hawkers of mother dairy, amul, etc. I mean yes the people like ice cream but how much can they eat! That's what I thought. But was surprised to find later that yes, they can eat A LOT and something new every night. Its crazy how none of these brands claim they've had a dry sales time ever in this place!

Target market/group analysis has such a widespread application in everything India does. Its almost like marketing skills have been drilled in all of us. Think about it - the vendors on the traffic lights know exactly who will buy flowers, magazines, car chargers, books etc. Now they did not study anything its just experience that talks loud.

At this red light recently, this tiny guy selling magazines comes to my window and suddenly changes the order of the magazines. Says - madam "wok" (vogue) le lo. I told him while pointing at a hindi publication and said - woh kyun nahi dikhaya? He started giggling and said "firangi type Indian  log toh "wok" hi kharidte hain". So this barely 8 year old guy knew the exact market for what he was carrying to sell! Similarly, this girl selling flowers at the signal tells Dev (a friend) - "phool le lo bhaiya, madam khush ho jayengi". Yet again they knew that a guy and a girl sitting together would be ideal for selling something like flowers.

There is this word called - "jugaad" that exists in a lot of our dictionaries, at least it does in mine! I absolutely love how people here have a gut feeling that if something is not possible, there has to be a sidelined way to get it done. We do not take NO as an answer very easily. If we go to a shop and do not find our size of say a pair of shoes, it would be 99percent that we would say - "please check in the stock." I mean why is it so hard to believe something when told once. Its probably because there is such a high probability of being cheated in every sphere! Even the sabzi wala will try and quote wrong prices so you can imagine how big decisions would be so tough to take. How do I know that if someone is telling me the right thing so I just haggle until I know that I've done my best. From the auto drivers to desi sharaab places - all cheat us and we still keep believing we made a good deal! That's the beauty of business here.

My nails will never be the same again

It is very weird when someone you see for 5 years, two times a month, one day is declared dead. Sometimes you can't imagine where death takes you and when you actually do its too late. Something similar happened to the man who always made sure my hands looked presentable.

It might be considered very trivial in a lot of people's lives but my manicurist was very dear to me.  Even during my years of being out of the city, he would skip any appointment if he knew I was coming back for a couple days.

Many are in this business because they couldn't do anything else in their lives, many are not even proud of the profession just attached to the money that comes with it and few are just happy having uninterrupted access to women and their lovely hands. In my experiences with salons in Delhi, I have never noticed a male manicurist who is so committed and  honest to what his work demands.

The last time I met Harish, I was going to get my nails done after ages and I was very well prepared to hear him rant about the state of my tanned hands. He was up and about as usual, complaining about his daughter creating tantrums at school and him having to go regularly to fetch her. He had been missing work quite a bit due to her.

He often joked about when I would get married and how old I had become to find a nice guy. I would laugh it off saying - just because you ruined your life early don't expect me to. He would laugh but always added - "if I wasn't in love, I wouldn't have".

Never in my imagination would I have thought, a hurried holiday to his home town would turn fateful for him. I entered the salon on a casual saturday not aware of what had happened and could literally feel the eerie atmosphere as everyone was uncomfortably quiet. Since, Harish used to often take holidays, it wasn't a surprise to me when another guy volunteered to do my manicure. In the process, he said -"whatever happened to Harish was not fair, I don't think it was an accident, it was definitely a murder". I was shocked! For a second I couldn't believe it. I asked him again -"what are you saying? What kind of a joke is this?" He apologized for breaking the news so abruptly and said - "ishita madam I thought you knew, otherwise no one in their right senses would do your manicure if Harish was here because we couldn't match his level of work."

I was very hurt. It was almost like losing a friend, a family member. I asked the guy what had happened and how his family was doing. Turned out his wife didn't know about it too until they rushed him to a local hospital where he was declared dead due to brain damage. The people from the salon had gone to visit his family in the hospital a day before his death. Harish's close associates at the Salon told me stuff that left so many questions in my head - it didn't seem like his parents were shocked, they claimed that he had a drinking problem so he lost his balance and fell from the first floor of his village house, his brothers were not there to assist the parents in the hospital, they did not admit him in a Government hospital which would be far more affordable as compared to the local private one, his wife was not given clear answers to what happened to her husband, the police was asked not to interfere in the case.

It all seemed like a cover up for something that went terribly wrong. The damage that his body took couldn't possibly occur even if he fell down from atleast 5-7 floors, in fact it was very possible that someone beat him up. The puzzle pieces fitted well - him rushing to his hometown without notice to the salon could have been due to a property matter, his brothers would have been unhappy with sharing the part with him so probably beat him up under the influence of alcohol, them not going to a Government hospital because the police would ask 'n' number of questions to raise the possibility of murder and finally, his parents not being shocked because they knew exactly what happened in the village.

He is no more but I can't possibly stop thinking about the state of his wife. A completely dependent woman lost the support of her husband and is stranded with two children (4 and 6 years old). I want to help her in some way but monetary help is not what I have in mind. What do you think one can do for her without making it look like charity? Knowing Harish, charity would disgust him and pity would make him sick.