Confused Identity...

To add to the woeful summer, the technology team in my office has gone ahead and changed my IDs. I now have three IDs on the mail system and half of those mails intended purely for purposes of my reading, have not been finding way to my Inbox at all!!!

It's frustrating as this has led to unknowingly pushing deadlines (which I hate) and most of the work not happening!!! Grrrrrr...

And like all things corporate, it will be a while before this is fixed!!!

The Battle of Vices

Came across a very interesting reading on the choice between Luxury and Premium products on Seth's Blog.
I love " Luxury goods are organised waste". How true!
Click here to read more....

Spoilt for Choice...

That's the mode Congress seems to be in. After winning 206 seats in the Parliament elections and notching up their best performance in abut 25 years, the party is enjoying the spoils, the riches and everything that comes with the victory.

The not-so-long-ago-foe BSP goes ahead and declares unconditional 'outside' support to the UPA coalition and the good weather friends Amar Singh couldn't be left behind. All through this, another 'long time' ally and now 'hurt' ex Railway minister Laloo Yadav secretly wonders what to do with his 4 MPs!!! By the end of the day, he too goes ahead and announces support for the victor :)

Such is the landscape of Indian politics. What a difference 20 odd seats can make!!

But the one good thing that came of these elections is that the 'Dalit and the Maratha Express' have been halted in their tracks and prevented from reaching Delhi atleast for the next 5 years. (relieved sigh)...So while Mr Singh enjoys the chaos and Rahul Gandhi leaves the country guessing about his next move, the others (read BJP, Left) can cool their heels in the opposition tables of the Parliament Central Hall. After all 5 years is not that long a wait :)

Move on Man!!

Sometimes I wish that someone would drill sensibility and sensitivity into our modern day ad wallahs!! They simply go overboard and have no clue as to what really clicks with their target audience. And when someone says that nowadays the purpose of an ad film is not to drive sales but to win awards, I couldn't agree more!! After all, how many of us knew the agencies responsible for the memorable Cadbury or Fevicol or Liril ads way back in the 1990s??

But the most recent ad for Fastrack watches beats the very purpose of its existence!! Again, what was it?? It is most certainly not a great draw as far as the brand is concerned. Nor does it make it to the gallery of classics!! It is downright...pathetic and tacky and sexist!! Now I have said on this platform several times that I am not a feminist but I do believe that everyone deserves some respect (even in anonymity). This ad breaks all such rules of decency. Broadly, it tells the story of this guy who gets close to a girl and then runs away when she begins to "get close"!! Closes with 'Move on Man'!! Really!! What are we saying here? Have we begun to propagate lack of commitment as a way of life? Is that what the brand actually stands for? It' just pathetic and sad that the makers of the ad and the bosses of the brand chose this line of communication. As someone who belongs to Gen Y and works on a daily basis with them, I know this is not what clicks with this generation. If the brand is looking at those 2% people who thrive on broken relationships and adopted cultures and who the brand managers perceive to be true representatives of their product or brand, I only have them to pity for their folly!! This generation is not easily smitten by the grandeur and false promises.They look for substance and move on if the promises you make are not met with.
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The dialogue from Pay it Forward:

Trev: You don't care.
Eugene: Yes I do. I will always care about you.
Trev: Yeah. You are my teacher. They pay you to.

Poignant. Beautiful.
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Kolkata Knight Riders won finally albeit without Mr Khan to cheer them on!! And on the way to the victory podium, made it just a little tougher for Chennai to reach the semis to where they were cruising. But all in all, a good match. Wonder what the Fake IPL Player has to say to that!!

Let the finger talk...

It is almost the end of the week and what a week it has been!!!

Delhi went to polls and after days of endless messages and random calls from Vijay Goel and Ajay Maken (the BJP and the Congress candidates from New Delhi) my phone breathes easy today!! And yes, I voted..and let my finger do the talking. But (un)fortunately, the finger was not the same as the Bachchans!! Actually, I am now wondering if it had been, would I have done the finger show in front of my parents..nah!! I would have gotten a good kick smack in the middle. I guess good values don't come easy after all. Hope the Bachchans are listening!! Anyhow, back to the elections..Delhi saw a voter turnout of 50%, much higher than the city that reeks of political and social hypocrisy (atleast on this front)!

In other election related news, I happened to see a debate between Raninder Singh and Harsimrat Kaur (the Congress and Akali candidates from Bathinda). One, the son of Amarinder Singh and the other the daughter in law of Prakash Singh Badal. And the debate yielded much surprise. I atleast expected Raninder to be a good orator, if not a great politician. And he disappointed on just about every front, including this. The lady on the other hand might belong to one of the most corrupt families of Punjab but she surely came out unscathed in this battle of wits and words. She chose her words carefully (or not so much coz such is the politics of Punjab) and literally tore her opponent to pieces all the while in convent school English! Man, she was impressive. Maybe the man was just being a gentle-man (pun intended) and that wouldn't be surprising given his political lineage. But he soon needs to smell the coffee coz the lady for sure is in no mood for kindness. Anyhow, all we can do is wait till the 16th and see which of the political horses crossed the finishing line victorious.

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Work wise, it has been a greeeat great week. The much awaited good news finally came along, and I had my Miss India moment (literally) :)

And now, I am all geared up for the next innings..just wish I would get a month long holiday ;)

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Made the most of the election day and finally watched The Kite Runner and it left me asking for more tissues. Ok, not really but it is a sensitive film made from the heart and it shows. In every frame and in every shot. Hassan is adorable (the child actor) and specially the scenes where he says "for you a thousand times over" and the one scene in which Amir throws tomatoes at Hassan (in a display of helplessness and anger against his inaction), his eyes say so much more than he could otherwise. I don't know if the kids are established actors but Hassan surely does a great job in the film!! He is adorable and your heart goes out to him everytime he appears on screen, whether as a faithful play mate for Amir or as his dutiful servant during Amir's birthday or as his "confidante" during the scene where he is accused of stealing Amir's watch.

Amazing film.I am sure you have watched it but just in case you haven't, go get it. It's not a dampener.

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The one reason I can watch We are Marshall again and again is the Chak de like moment when he says that "The funerals end today". Everytime it leaves me wondering if all of us sometimes in our lives need those two minute speeches that can change the course of our lives and stay with us much after the moment has passed.

And then I think if I ever got mine. And then my mind veers towards those people who hold places of distinction in my life and a couple of incidents stand out. But none more than the recent session with Ankur where he gave me a very important lesson that I am sure will stay with me atleast for the entire duration of my professional life. Yes, I did have my eureka moment :)

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And how could the week end without the staple dose of IPL!!! Many matches and many 'DLF Maximums'. And the dismal performance of Kolkata Knight Riders continues. It breaks my heart every time they let the ball fall from between their butter fingers!! Clearly not their tournament.

Anyhow, amidst the many matches what stood out was the match between CSK and KxiP last night. Well Hayden has never been a favorite but his sixes set the place on fire. And Dhoni with his cheeky smile enjoyed every minute he was out there. Not to say the Prince of Patiala (courtesy Fake IPL player) did not join the party but it just wasn't enough!! In the end CSK made their way to the top of the points table with a hard fought win. But the icing on the cake was the presentation ceremony. Rameez Raja called on "the loser" and while I was still wondering if it was a slip of tongue and about the standard of English among the new breed commentators, in walked Yuvraj Singh! Well it was my 'citi moment of success'.

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A great week. All ready for the weekend!

On an aside...

I loved it that Shah Rukh voted and as did Aamir. The Bachchan khandaan was out in well coordinated clothes flaunting their middle finger :)

Strange choice of the finger. I would always prefer to have the election mark on my index finger!! The only choice actually :)

A no-show of hypocrites

It is a classic case of "Barking dogs seldom bite"...i could have euphenized it but it was deliberate not to!!
After all, didn't the whole country and specially Mumbai cry hoarse about the Government apathy in the aftermath of 26/11?? And just about 5 months later, given a chance to correct their past mistakes (we choose the government after all), the very same people chose the comfort of their homes. I guess it must have a pretty hard choice between the heat and future of the country. But a choice well made!!

Just 43% voting and that too when the temperatures hovered not above 37 degrees. What in God's name can be the excuse? Well atleast, the government's think tank got it right and the decision to post pone the elections to April-May seem to have paid off. The ploy to avoid the public anger was well thought out and will get them what they had wished for...the public didn't show up!

The next time there is a threat to the national security, those who didn't vote shall have no moral authority to raise a finger at teh government coz they didn't bother to get the stain on their finger on the day it mattered. I am beginning to convince myself that the government apathy is well deserved after all!!