tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15770869134816806332024-03-14T10:32:14.117-07:00alisha adnanwhat i feel to share...alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-80661010205261361882013-06-26T09:46:00.000-07:002013-06-26T09:49:58.293-07:00Aren't Our Rickshaw Walas The Richest Community After All?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Rickshaw
walas are undoubtedly one of the richest communities in Mumbai. A businessman
is constantly looking for clients, a shopkeeper tries his best to sell the
product, and brands spend millions in advertising and marketing to get a boost
in sale and market share. But not our rickshaw walas! They are least perturbed.
They work according to their whims and fancies. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Heavy
downpour, innumerable mini lakes and ponds on the roads and a throng of
commuters wrestling with their umbrellas and running behind every single empty
auto asking if he would be kind enough to drop them to their desired
destination. But it only takes a second for that auto driver to say no and take
his empty auto on an indefinite voyage. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">It
seems to me that our helplessness is a kind of sadist amusement for these auto
drivers. They wander the streets and with their vacant autos waving their rejection on
our faces. This happened with me today. I had to go to the Post Office and I
asked this rickshaw wala if he would take me there. He said, “<i>nahi madam, aage bohot traffic hai. Abhi
nahi jayega.” </i>Considering how firm they are to their word I moved on in the
deluge seeking many more rebuffs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">After
a while I saw this same fellow roving round and round generously snubbing
everyone giving the same excuse he gave me. The only sane inference I could
come up with after this was that they are all god damned critters. And of
course bloody rich. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Only
a rickshw wala, in Mumbai, can say no to business. He would rather sit in a
corner with a cutting, music blasting in his “office” chatting away with others
of his kind. Every now and then they make their way into the news demanding
hike in fare or they would go on a strike. Aren't they always on some sort of a
virtual strike? Whether they are on strike or not, the scene is not very uncommon
for the commuters. The only thing that changes is the upshot the hyped strike
has on our pockets.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I’m
being a pessimist here but I do not envision any recuperation in this condition
any time soon. There is always a huge chunk of people standing at the stands
waiting for an auto. And then there is this other chunk of people who are
mostly headed in the same direction on their bikes or cars. They say Mumbai is
spirited and helpful and full of life. This may be true in case of a disaster
but not always. Those people on bikes and cars can always offer a lift to the other
chunk. Sadly, that never happens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
battle continues. Sometimes you are lucky. Most of the times, you are not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-38078159915884107412013-05-07T06:53:00.000-07:002013-05-07T06:53:52.533-07:00Marian Keyes - The Other Side of the Story<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Time
is a flawed concept. It is one of the shittiest jokes that nature could ever
play. But just like everything else, we endure it. Much like time, happiness is
a rotten concept. So much has been written and spoken about it that now it
seems almost idealistic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">I
was, and someplace deep inside still am convinced with this. There comes a
phase when almost everything and everybody is conspiring against you. Every
single action or event compels you to believe that you are now rotten, just
like happiness. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">You
sit in a corner of your room isolated, free from all the chaos, delimited by
absolute silence. And that silence is the root of your agony. You longed for it
when you </span><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px;">didn't</span><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"> have it. But when you finally got it realization dawned and it
hit you in the face.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Amidst
the noise of silence, I did what I do best. Embracing the isolation, I picked
up a book and crossed the threshold into the virtual world. Marian Keyes’ ‘The Other
Side of the Story’ is rather an unusual story. But a perfect book to read in
times when you are on your way to self-destruction. The books starts on a
wrecked note and you realize that it is perfect. Reading about other people’s miserable
life is somehow comforting when you are on the same page as them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYf3Mw2DQ6kdeciCS1uYIL2_T3PQ6MBu8hcFqi3-lIoZkPRNKlkTMW1Emv0494W_fgf4wafCwv871boe7QyJNAP0zKlv2pdwIZJziGJhqDSV5fKTxZb-7IRMBAbmpD7hpp84RkFXLuIsU/s1600/Marian+Keyes+-+The+Other+Side+Of+The+Story+-+Book+Review.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYf3Mw2DQ6kdeciCS1uYIL2_T3PQ6MBu8hcFqi3-lIoZkPRNKlkTMW1Emv0494W_fgf4wafCwv871boe7QyJNAP0zKlv2pdwIZJziGJhqDSV5fKTxZb-7IRMBAbmpD7hpp84RkFXLuIsU/s320/Marian+Keyes+-+The+Other+Side+Of+The+Story+-+Book+Review.jpg" width="209" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">But
as the book progressed, it delivered a strong vibe of optimism. Not the clichéd
concept but the kind where it tells you to stop over-analyzing, take a deep
breath and deal with whatever <i>shit</i>
you are going through. The lives of Gemma, Jojo and Lily are portrayed in a very
realistic fashion and that’s what made the book so appealing. It is fast paced
and makes you bubble up with happiness inside. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">After
all happiness, however rotten it is is a rare thing and we have to take our
chances where we find them. We want to do the right thing – but how do we ever
know? There are no guarantees. I could rationalize until I was blue in the face
but then why not just accept and smile. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-58804732109167147322012-12-25T06:16:00.001-08:002012-12-25T06:16:26.984-08:00John Green - Fault In Our Stars<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The thing about books is
they leave you with memories. The thing about characters is they take the form
of life you want and permanently reside in your universe. Sometimes as a friend
and sometimes as a reflection of what you want to be. The thing about books is
that the story they behold stays with you. It becomes a part of you. They make
you feel emotions you never thought you could feel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBimsSNq_3zg_MW3q8e2vwyKhiz-KvoqPoK_y_OVsO8CkgMxDmeiBOuubJlpgWAKKMlFnP964cAKEqERfW9GirQVCqTGH1DgKytHcwPjDhK08BGtRFCMW24WPTtuALt2Ve2gRf664qXI/s1600/the-fault_in-our-stars_john-green.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrBimsSNq_3zg_MW3q8e2vwyKhiz-KvoqPoK_y_OVsO8CkgMxDmeiBOuubJlpgWAKKMlFnP964cAKEqERfW9GirQVCqTGH1DgKytHcwPjDhK08BGtRFCMW24WPTtuALt2Ve2gRf664qXI/s320/the-fault_in-our-stars_john-green.jpeg" width="239" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">I was looking for a certain
book when I accidently came across John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. Now
even though it is not some extraordinaire work of fiction, it still has that
spark. People who have read it might just call it a ‘chick book (like a chick
flick)’. But I refuse to do so. Emotions cannot be differentiated on the basis
of gender. That would be unfair and rude. Emotions are meant to be felt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The book is about Hazel
Grace and Augustus (Gus) Waters. Both are Cancer patients and both have a unique
sense of humor which absorbs you as you walk through their journey. The thing
about cancer patients is that we believe they start living death even before
they actually face it. John Green managed to contradict that in a manner as if
mocking us by proving us wrong. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">A person leaves you with a
void to deal with for the rest of your life when s/he walks out of your universe.
You never knew what that void could be like unless it hits you in the face.
That’s the thing about death. It leaves the others who are alive emotionally
handicapped. Their lives are like stars that cannot fathom a constellation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">When Gus died, he left a
void in my universe. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">This book is definitely
worth a read. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-71728997316680282102012-10-01T11:02:00.003-07:002012-10-01T11:09:15.422-07:00Fifty Shades Of Grey - Book Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF5K26wrnFh-L4T7I2dnRmgtgisVcZyvWjnHIUef_kkQCSpVzCWe0NY-yCGKU3DWODK1fLjl4arxy7sPcbswnOvICp4qkHiT9pjIWwWXrJ_A8YHLDIUakrNim0RGxwyVRufxI6PN7ycs8/s1600/Fifty-Shades-Of-Grey.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF5K26wrnFh-L4T7I2dnRmgtgisVcZyvWjnHIUef_kkQCSpVzCWe0NY-yCGKU3DWODK1fLjl4arxy7sPcbswnOvICp4qkHiT9pjIWwWXrJ_A8YHLDIUakrNim0RGxwyVRufxI6PN7ycs8/s320/Fifty-Shades-Of-Grey.png" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">When
I started the much talked about Fifty Shades of Grey (trilogy), I had high
hopes.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">And I did try to sustain that
level till the second part eager for something interesting to happen. Some unanticipated
twist, some startling event, something that makes me want to be fond of this
book.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Regrettably,
none of that happened. The book in my opinion insults romance and love. E L James seems to have a dull understanding of love…err…lust. The books are
divided in two parts – <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">1)
Pages and pages of erotica which after a point becomes suffocating and
frustrating.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">2)
The Twilight Saga<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
story has two protagonists – Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. The former
being a control freak, dominating, bossy, overprotective, stunning and filthy
rich guy who apparently has a dark side to him which is not revealed until the
first half of the second book. The latter being a clumsy, confused,
take-no-bullshit and a hopeless romantic. (Remember Edward Cullen and Bella
Swan?).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">When
the two are not making love they are thinking about making love. As usual the
guy has a dark side and has had many girlfriends (or sub-missives as they are
referred in the book) in the past but he tersely changes after he meets the
clumsy soul who has never had any boyfriends in her past. <i>Clichéd!</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
plot is nothing which can’t be predicted. It establishes with a typical, hasty,
unexpected meeting which results into love at first side. The guy stalks the
girl and the girl instead of finding it utterly creepy falls for it. As the
story progresses, somewhere in the middle of all the erotica, it disappoints.
The events that bit by bit unfold are nothing novel or atypical from the conventional.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">The
girl craves for the one thing which the guy has plainly refused to give. The
guy has a creepy stalker ex-submissive with a gun who wants to kill Ana. Without a
second guess, Grey is all over protective of Ana and all he wants is for her
‘to be safe’. The family is profligately
affluent and they all adore Ana the moment they meet her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Now </span><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px;">doesn't</span><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"> all that sound familiar?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Looks
like E L James filled in the blanks for what she felt was missing in The
Twilight Saga. The crux of the story remains the same all the way through with
just some minor improvisations which fail miserably. It’s distressing how she
has looked at romance as a genre in such monotonic manner like there was no
hope to explore and give something worth reading. The book has nothing new or
exciting to offer (unless you like reading porn). Perhaps the answer to the
writer’s every ‘what now?’ was Sex. Every time she </span><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px;">didn't</span><span style="font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"> know how to advance
with the story she laid pages and pages of erotica which after a while got dreadfully
exasperating.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Fifty
Shades Of Grey – Trilogy has zilch new to offer and is a sheer letdown. If you
are a book lover and prefer to read good substantial stories then this one is
not for you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-68332736398895904882012-08-14T09:25:00.000-07:002012-08-14T09:26:46.272-07:00Independence To Me Is...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic1cWMp0Aj2XygWUNoP_QJhjk2SQf8Dd7Jsn9BSbutS-exvcS-aqCkl3r02mpvxIC6gkjOaaFUpn9IP-3PT_MMf9FByGr0y_agV4q964rcj9v3iIv-UgH5Fz_dhb7m5sJpG78uzJMdhyphenhyphenk/s1600/IMG-20120813-WA0001+-+Copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic1cWMp0Aj2XygWUNoP_QJhjk2SQf8Dd7Jsn9BSbutS-exvcS-aqCkl3r02mpvxIC6gkjOaaFUpn9IP-3PT_MMf9FByGr0y_agV4q964rcj9v3iIv-UgH5Fz_dhb7m5sJpG78uzJMdhyphenhyphenk/s400/IMG-20120813-WA0001+-+Copy.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Getting your quote published in a prestigious newspaper gives you another high altogether.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My quote on what Independence means to me was published in The Times Of India, Kashmir Edition on 13th August 2012. Hence, I am going to brag about it a little. :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The quote goes something like this – </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Independence to me is when I can think freely without any social or cultural boundaries. It is when I can express and behave the way I want to without worrying about the outcome. When I am allowed to pursue the kind of studies and occupation I want to without any kind of discrimination.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Now to me, this quote is nothing fancy or extraordinaire. Yet it means a lot and I am happy.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happy Independence Day! </span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br /></div>
alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-67630597039183484232012-07-17T00:35:00.001-07:002012-07-17T00:40:25.442-07:00Read Instead<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">I fell in love with books. Some people find beauty in music, some in painting, some in landscape, but I find it in words. By beauty, I mean the feeling you have suddenly glimpsed another world, or looked into a portal that reveals a kind of magic or romance out of which the world has been constructed, a feeling there is something more than the mundane, and a reason for our plodding.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4kr1sILnpsQbHZFg-ThZYPVptCeNrSsrukRLRHZb-y4nN6iOFlg4sovOov_zMYas70sybJqAH2VBuCwHX9Htb3ZTU0iP88peRiv6khVoyBrDhCJjGA_JAeWUMw1Fi_a9FU1jxWD9ntE/s1600/51.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ4kr1sILnpsQbHZFg-ThZYPVptCeNrSsrukRLRHZb-y4nN6iOFlg4sovOov_zMYas70sybJqAH2VBuCwHX9Htb3ZTU0iP88peRiv6khVoyBrDhCJjGA_JAeWUMw1Fi_a9FU1jxWD9ntE/s320/51.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The thing about books is that they take me in a world I can only dream of – the fresh air, the coruscant sunlight, the devil-may-care </span><span style="background-color: white;">environs</span><span style="font-family: inherit;">. I cannot feel all this even if I wish to – because firstly, I live in Mumbai and can only expect polluted air, abrasive sunlight and nerve-racking environment. While travelling in an overly crowded Virar train at the peak hour, the only thing that makes my 80 minutes journey not so cumbersome is Books. </span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLtaAVZk8Gdu8q-dk-CDIABkvU4xr2zdyZfKMMa_cXxhpxCKYdqWO2euji3ic-lPe01c45JfcWJLJaCMSJmKeks2PhL87YzBx7_FBIG0mJ2_PEcCJcn1KDulZ4V3hyv0jrYprf6TYc3e0/s1600/Read+Instead.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLtaAVZk8Gdu8q-dk-CDIABkvU4xr2zdyZfKMMa_cXxhpxCKYdqWO2euji3ic-lPe01c45JfcWJLJaCMSJmKeks2PhL87YzBx7_FBIG0mJ2_PEcCJcn1KDulZ4V3hyv0jrYprf6TYc3e0/s320/Read+Instead.jpg" width="220" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I respect writes the most. They have a God gifted talent to put words in such magical way that leaves me hypnotized. They somehow express my feelings in a way I can never even if I tried. When I don’t want to face reality, when I want to believe that the world is a better place, when I want the reassurance that I am not the only one with troubles, I turn to books. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit;">The sassy aroma, the crisp young pages and the words staring at me asking me to read them. That never-ending moment when I stare in the space thinking about what I read. People come and go, feelings change, life moves on but books stay and so does those moments and thoughts. I share my deepest secrets with them and they keep it.</span></div>
</div>alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-45969477325479686782012-03-14T04:10:00.001-07:002012-03-30T08:35:12.893-07:00Darkest Nights<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">“I
would like a refill”, she said without looking up. “I’m sorry Ma’am but we’re
closed for today”, the middle-aged waiter told her nervously. She looked up at
the waiter and stared with helpless eyes. Then quietly stood up, took her coat
off the chair and slowly walked out of the bar. Her feet felt weak, her head
dizzy. The gush of cold wind hit her face the moment she stepped out. She stood
there still feeling the wind tear her skin wishing to lose all her senses and
just give up. Why couldn’t she have the easy way out for once? She looked up.
The stars that once gave her company had vanished. All she could see was a
dark, dense sky. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">It
was midnight. The streets were asleep. The silence that was once insanely
beautiful was screaming at her tonight. “What is it that you want? You had
better tell me now. I don’t want this drama every day.” His words kept echoing
in her head. She never had an answer to that question. Even today, she is
looking for an answer. She wanted him. But she could not say it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Tired,
she started walking into the dead of the night. Her hands were cold, her lips
dry. Timidly she wiped her tongue on the dry lips to comfort them. But who
would comfort her? All she wanted was a shoulder to cry on but all she got were
opinions and warnings to be careful the next time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Next
time? Was there ever going to be a next time? This wasn’t some movie. There was
no guarantee that the ending would be a happy one. The people who were once her
BFFs were now strangers. She could never decipher their talks or their
presence. Were they there for her or not? Too many questions but no one to
answer them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Standing
outside her apartment, staring at the door, she wished if someone from inside
would open the door and embrace her. She was dreaming of course. Letting out a
vulnerable sigh, she unlocked the door and walked in. The cleanliness and order
of things disturbed her. She liked mess. Apparently, nothing she liked was with
her now. Dropping the coat on the floor, she walked up to the windowsill and
sat there staring into the dark silent night. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">She knew
she had lost it all. That it would never be the same again. Those gone days
were just memories now. Memories she wished to forget. They made her miserable.
A part of her had died when he left. He was the one who had given her a reason
to live, to smile, to believe that she was also one of the lucky ones. Today those
smiles make her heart ache. How could she be so stupid? She felt ugly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">How
can one person affect her so much that every time she remembered him the pain
became unbearable? She longed to see him. She wanted him to look at her and smile
like nothing had ever happened. But she was expecting a lot. And it was these
expectations that were the cause of her agony. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">The
sudden loud ring of her phone startled her. She hadn’t noticed she was crying. Gently
wiping the tears off her eyes, she got up to answer the phone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">“Hello”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">“Hey!
I hope I didn’t disturb you. Were you asleep?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">“No.
It’s okay. What’s up?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">“Umm…
I was wondering if you could come a little early tomorrow so that we can have a
rehearsal before the final presentation.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">“Yeah
sure. No problem.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">“Great.
See you tomorrow then. Bye.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">“Bye.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 322.5pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">It
was quiet again. She stared at the phone debating whether to call him or not. She
didn’t want to sound desperate even though she was. The tears had made their
way back to her eyes. She knew it was just her. He wasn’t thinking about her. Hell!
He would be busy talking to some other girl. Feeling like a fool, she went to
the bed and cuddled herself in a blanket. She was tired. Listlessly she closed
her eyes letting the last tear make its way down her cheek. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-50838783498493468832012-01-24T10:46:00.000-08:002012-03-30T08:37:38.598-07:00What Has Happened Is A Black Farce - Salman Rushdie<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Salman Rushdie dominated the Jaipur
Literature Festival. His book, The Satanic Verses has been in news since it was
released. The book did not go down well with the Muslim Community. As a result
of which, there were protests and the book was burned and banned. During the
Jaipur Literature Festival, the author was persuaded to stay away and not
attend the festival. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">In India, art is given top notch importance. We Indians
are known for our love and respect for art. Since the ancient Mughal period,
and even long before that era, art has been an eminent part of the Indian
society. That art, then, could be anything - be it architecture, paintings or
literature.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Bearing this in mind, it is a matter of great shame that
we, as Indians, who are the biggest democracy in the world, who value the
freedom of speech and expression and who admire art, supported the bigots of
Salman Rushdie and his book The Satanic Verses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvbJcrzI_QUkO9YJWJY497RWzdlZxYBiATJt9A-t1I8hbq3-BgWgvSIPlyWXTndwj64udlrUExb_2jF-ztt__W-VlIwxs-ncrszZX5FEWKIlWX0SrjQ6c62EfYIPxXmZ7kkND8mlM11w/s1600/Salman-Rushdie-The+Satanic+Verses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglvbJcrzI_QUkO9YJWJY497RWzdlZxYBiATJt9A-t1I8hbq3-BgWgvSIPlyWXTndwj64udlrUExb_2jF-ztt__W-VlIwxs-ncrszZX5FEWKIlWX0SrjQ6c62EfYIPxXmZ7kkND8mlM11w/s320/Salman-Rushdie-The+Satanic+Verses.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Iran's religious leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a
fatwa against Salman Rushdie for his book The Satanic Verses because according
to him, it hurt the sentiments of Muslims and was an insult to Islam. Ayatollah
Khomeini, the man who was castigated for human rights violations of Iranians,
can never understand the importance of freedom of speech. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_9PhzElSBL1E1zP_azMMUUQ7EHbXINeYo6ACGOQhdLKyM2K4RsiPprZBy76txuQG6bPkigQUy-Q2IxqKc2GWHF_7jec0JgLIs7eMdIOuWPRor7szMNuDPC-DVAUMJjTni6wVF4H2EEE/s1600/Protest+for+Salman+Rushdie%2527s+The+Satanic+Verses.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC_9PhzElSBL1E1zP_azMMUUQ7EHbXINeYo6ACGOQhdLKyM2K4RsiPprZBy76txuQG6bPkigQUy-Q2IxqKc2GWHF_7jec0JgLIs7eMdIOuWPRor7szMNuDPC-DVAUMJjTni6wVF4H2EEE/s320/Protest+for+Salman+Rushdie%2527s+The+Satanic+Verses.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">The book got the publicity it needed and became a
bestseller. The Ayatollah sure knew how to sell books.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Freedom of expression is the cornerstone, the bedrock of
any democratic society. Such protests and violent acts are an assault to the
liberty. This is not an attack on a particular individual or a specific piece of
work. But it is indeed and attack on the artistic intellectual scholarly
freedom. An individual, who is bestowed with the freedom of expression, thus
has that freedom to express his opinions. He has the freedom to offer his full
vision to the world through his work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Talking about the freedom of expression, people have the
right to express their displeasure. They have the right to demonstrate but they
do not have the right to disrupt peace and stability. They can make their
protests but they should be clear and peaceful. Because those who burn books
will then burn people. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">The Salman Rushdie issue, then, is not about the book
that seemed to offend certain sections of society; it is not even about India,
the failed state. This is about the opportunism that imbues politics in the
country today. The fundamental commonness is that politicians see in such
developments as opportunities to polarize Hindu and Muslim votes and gain one
or other vote-bank.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Because if that was not the case, then why didn’t these
leaders raise their voice when M.F.Hussain was in exile? Why did they let him
breathe his last in a foreign land? Where was the respect of art then?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">During a discussion, my father was of the opinion that
why do these artists have to play with the sentiments of people? Why don’t they
believe in creating art that pleases everyone?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">However, I cease to agree with him. This is gamble of
literature. Is it fair to have censorship on thought? Because if you do so,
then in my opinion, you are a fool. Censorship of thoughts is the death of art.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">India culturally is in a much worse state than it was 30
years ago. It is becoming intolerant of artists and creativity. And I blame the
people sitting at the top for this. India, as a country values art and freedom.
It’s the leaders that are putting the nation to shame.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">If this continues, India might cease to be a free
country.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-32696587556294870092011-12-26T06:04:00.000-08:002011-12-26T06:04:49.151-08:00Ten Things 2011 Taught Me<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Ten things 2011 taught
me –</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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</div>
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Love your work the
most. It will always be faithful to you.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">There is a huge
difference between your mind governing your thoughts and your thoughts
governing your mind. The former is healthy, the latter destructive.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Believing is
essential. You fail the moment you lose faith.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Nothing is more
powerful than self-confidence. It is the strongest weapon you can ever possess.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">The basic idea of
life is To Experience. By the time you turn into ashes, you would have
experienced all the adjectives that the world uses to define ‘life’.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">No dreams, no
reality.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Destruction
of borrowed dreams has a way of hurting more than those your own.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Our first and last
love is…Self-love.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">One powerful idea is
all it takes. That one original thought.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">It is good to be
confused provided it drives you nuts until you have cleared it out.</span></li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />
<!--[if !supportLists]--><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">So this was it for
2011.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Dear 2012,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Prove the Mayans
wrong, please.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Me.</span></div>
</div>alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-45432669435389089332011-12-22T04:08:00.000-08:002011-12-22T04:10:23.562-08:00Chilly Mornings<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">It was a warm winter afternoon and my mom had cooked her
best <i>Murgh Masala</i>. It is on very rare occasions that she actually takes the
pain to make something like this. Therefore, there was no way I was going to
miss the opportunity to relish it. It was right in front of me staring at me in
a seductive way. With love in my eyes, I looked back at it. Mom hates it when I
eat without washing my hands. And that was exactly what I did. She came
storming out of the room to give me a dose of cleanliness habits. However, to
my surprise instead of words she yelped something that was irritating and
sounded something like <i>tring… tring…!<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Just then, I opened my eyes and reality dawned upon me. <i>Murgh
Masala</i>, my eternal love was no longer in front of me. Instead, there was an eerie
looking alarm clock staring at me coldly as if in a way challenging me to break
it into tiny pieces. For once, I did consider the thought. After all, it had
deprived me of my right to relish the one dish I love the most. But that was
too unrealistic for a option. Shutting that damn thing up was a much better
option. Slowly I took out my hand from
the blanket to accomplish the very goal. But the moment I took my hand out of
the warm blanket I felt the chilling cold air on my hand and instantly pulled
it back inside the blanket. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">For the next 20 seconds I thought of two hundred excuses
to why I should not attend the lecture. Nothing helped. I did not have a
choice. But the thought of stepping out of the blanket was scary. It is inhuman
how teachers expect us to attend college early morning. I say there should be a
law against this. But then again, I say a lot of things. Anyway gathering all
my courage, I somehow managed to take one hand out of the blanket. It was
tough. It was heart wrenching. But I had to do it. It was now or never.
Determined I shoved the blanket off in one go. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">In an instant the cold breeze directed itself towards me
and chilled me to the core of my being. But I was firm. There was no looking
back. I had to get ready. Slowly I stood up and walked to the bathroom. The tap
inside was staring at me with an evil grin. At that moment it was the lion and
I was the lamb. Gathering all my courage I walked up to it and opened it. The
water, which was apparently coming directly from the Arctic Ocean, shred right
through my skin. I closed my eyes preparing myself for the next 20 painful
minutes of my day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Now this has become sort of a daily routine. Nobody understands.
It is a bad bad world, you see. But you know the one thing that is really
refreshing and that charges me like nothing else is the hot cup of tea that my
mom gives me when I am ready. And after that cup of tea I am ready to start off
the day and meet my stupid friends in college. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-23593248672348585962011-12-02T05:33:00.001-08:002011-12-03T03:20:54.232-08:00The Much Hyped 'Love'<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Often people ask me “Do you even have any feelings?” Because
according to them I am that sarcastic person who hates everything and
everybody. This BTW is not true. (Not to forget the question is wrongly framed).
I am after all a normal human being with thankfully no psychological
disabilities. I feel, I sense, I observe. The only difference is I prefer not
to exaggerate. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Love is not that big a deal, really. It's just sensationalized, romanticized and commercialized. It is after all just a simple
feeling. It is not that dramatic as they show in the movies. What they show in
the movies is the exaggerated version, which is so perhaps to highlight the
factor or the moment. However, it is amusing how the 21<sup>st</sup> century’s
fast, intelligent and forward generation is swathed away with the idea of
falling in love. How they try to implement the reel life situations in real
life and are then heartbroken when the consequences fail their expectations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Moreover, the young girls out there need to understand
this – “Fairy Tales Don’t Exist”. There isn’t going to be any prince charming.
There won’t be any romantic songs. Real life is not reel life. If the guy who
you like doesn’t like you back, leave it. Don’t fret and for heaven’s sake
don’t try to find solace in those creepy heartbreak songs. Understand this –
there is a lot more to life. Love is just a part of life and not the other way
round. It is sad how everyone follows a standard line of thought when
apparently ‘heartbroken’. There is forwarding of some horribly cheesy SMSs,
liking of weird Facebook pages, status updates and tweets that practically don’t
make any sense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">This is where parents come in. If there is good amount of
understanding and the BFF kind of relationship then a lot of that drama can be
avoided. I feel so. I haven’t experienced any of it but I share a bond with my
mother where I can tell her almost anything. And that is a relief because for
one I know that she will understand. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">It is amusing how very few Indian parents are actually
talking about this with their children. Most of them shy away from it
considering it a social evil. Perhaps they are worried about the extreme
consequences. Which I think will not happen if the trust factor is maintained.
Parents need to understand and adapt to the changing scenarios. Otherwise,
their fears might just become reality mocking them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Friends are equally important but nobody can replace the
two pillars of our lives. They are who they are and by no means can their
presence be neglected. In addition, I have managed to compile 450 odd words up there
that qualifies for a new post. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">I think I really need to work on my beginnings and
endings. Don’t you think? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-36194047165191733502011-11-15T03:51:00.001-08:002011-11-15T03:53:46.327-08:00Marketing Simplified!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Only a genius can
come up with something so insightful and interesting. Whoever came up with this
must have had a tough time studying marketing or must have loved it dearly. A
friend sent this to me as an e-mail. Sharing
it with you all. Enjoy! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You see a gorgeous
girl at a party.<br />
You go up to her and say, “I’m very rich. Marry me.”<br />
That is <b>Direct Marketing</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You are at a party
with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl.<br />
One of your friends goes up to her and says, “He is a very rich man. Marry
him.”<br />
That is <b>Advertising</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You see a gorgeous
girl at a party.<br />
You go up to her and get her telephone number.<br />
The next day you call her and say, “Hi! I’m very rich. Marry me.”<br />
That is <b>Telemarketing</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You are at a party
and see a gorgeous girl.<br />
You get up and straighten your tie. You walk up to her and pour her a drink.<br />
You open the door for her. Pick up her bag after she drops it.<br />
Offer her a ride home and then say, “By the way, I am very rich. Will you marry
me?”<br />
That is <b>Public Relation</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You are at a party
and see a gorgeous girl.<br />
She walks up to you and says, “You are very rich…”<br />
That is <b>Brand Recognition</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You see a gorgeous
girl at a party.<br />
You go up to her and say, “I’m very rich. Marry me!”<br />
She gives you a nice hard slap on your face.<br />
That is <b>Customer Feedback</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You see a gorgeous
girl at a party.<br />
You go up to her and say, “I’m very rich. Marry me!”<br />
She introduces you to her husband.<br />
That is <b>Demand and Supply Gap</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">You see a gorgeous
girl at a party.<br />
You go up to her and say, “I’m very rich. Marry me!”<br />
She turns her face towards you ----------- She is your wife.<br />
That is <b>Competition Eating into your
Market Share</b>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 9.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">P.S. – This will be
very helpful to all the Marketing Beginners. :)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-76690437201504961582011-11-08T08:33:00.000-08:002011-11-13T05:01:01.355-08:00Ra.One, Marketing and Hysteria<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8al7t0lR-NKrt0wee87bGW63MJV34x3rz3xoCPGt3tyx_t_VLgw0x2w-F2XZxiSMVF0Z1i9C1w5QgEgquxUXQblElplYQt0sV0iesFn35uBtAkAKsQEeCahfnYOP99mloj5qYk1kKXpw/s1600/g.one-ra-one-marketing-strategy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8al7t0lR-NKrt0wee87bGW63MJV34x3rz3xoCPGt3tyx_t_VLgw0x2w-F2XZxiSMVF0Z1i9C1w5QgEgquxUXQblElplYQt0sV0iesFn35uBtAkAKsQEeCahfnYOP99mloj5qYk1kKXpw/s320/g.one-ra-one-marketing-strategy.jpg" width="219" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Marketing is that one technique that can either make you or
destroy you! Ra.One can be a very good example for the same. The movie was what
it was. Some may call it a complete dud while the SRK fanatics still drool. But
what made the movie work for me is its marketing. Don’t get me wrong. I haven’t
seen the movie yet but I very clearly saw all the intense and well planned
marketing Eros International, Red Chillies and SRK had been doing so far.</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">They key factor ensuring a movie’s success is marketing and Ra.One
took very good care of that. Their marketing tie-up went up to almost 50 crores
which included approximately 15 crores for online production. The movie changed
the face of marketing in India and created new records for Bollywood.</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Looks like King Khan just didn’t want anything to go wrong this
time. And nothing really went wrong except that Ra.One did not please the
critics and the audience (here, I am referring to the audience who likes good
cinema and not SRK fanatics).</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">It’s safe to say that SRK shouldn’t try these experiments
especially now that his “awe-inspiring” career graph is not pointing upwards.
At this time, he has only two safe options. He should either take a grand
retirement or just stick to movies like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Kal Ho Na Ho, K3G,
etc. that’s where people actually like him. Anything beyond that fails
miserably.</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Also, the kind of audience that watches Salman Khan and Shahrukh
Khan is a tad different. Since everyone is comparing Ra.One with Bodyguard, why
should I stay behind? The point is Salman Khan is the hero of the masses. But
when we talk about the Badshah, the audience that watches him is a bit on the
upper side. You will not see SRK become play the role of a Bodyguard in any
film. That is something Salman does and is appreciated for it. But when we talk
about Shahrukh, his audience is different and has expectations. Which proves
why the audience was disappointed with Ra.One. We all like the romantic
Shahrukh. But the superhero Sharukh, not so much.</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Coming back to the marketing aspect, the hotch-potch entertainment
by King Khan is a huge marketing success. The 5-day weekend collection is
anticipated to be around a hundred crore, as rivalled to Bodyguard’s 82 crore.</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">But one should not miss the wood for the trees. It is not the
geeky tale or Akon’s Chammak Challo item numbers or the Shahrukh magic that
made the movie. It is all that and much more. The selling is the secret of its
success.</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<div style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">The two-year project had a marketing window of 10 months starting
January 2011, wherein the release of the music, the gaming and merchandise, and
Shah Rukh’s road shows followed a detailed time-table. For gaming, the
producers tied up with Sony. Similarly, they had a tie-up with YouTube for
promoting trailers. And if that’s not enough then they teamed up up with as
many as 25 brands ranging from Videocon, Western Union and Star TV to Cinthol
and Gitanjali Gems.</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<div style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Seven months before its release, SRK kicked off
the promotions with a 10-second trailer during the World Cup semi-final match
between India and Australia, while Ra<i>.</i>One's first look was revealed
by the star on his Twitter page on January 2011 along with an ad in a leading
daily.</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
<div style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 15pt; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">According to brand whizzes, the marketing
blitzkrieg for <i>Ra.One</i> is a classic case of integrating a film
into every aspect of people's lives. For instance, be it clothing, automobiles,
games, sports, merchandising, there will be a part of the film involved.</span><span style="font-size: 9pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<u1:p></u1:p>
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<br /></div>
</div>alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-21706894638940983332011-11-06T06:07:00.000-08:002011-11-08T08:35:14.078-08:00Cause We Live To Eat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">One of the most happening phenomena
in a youth’s life is fast food chains.
Yummy food and variety in the same is all they ask for. In this fast paced
life, a person desires tasty and pocket friendly food which </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">fast food joints</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">
</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">offer. Unlike many Indians who still
carry their lunch along, others now prefer grabbing a bite at McDonald’s or
Subway. It satisfies their tummies and is tasty at the same time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Western </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">chains of fast food</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> <span style="color: #222222;">like Domino’s, KFC, McDonald’s when first entered the
Indian market, they had to compete with the spicy Indian street food and the
much adored home-cooked repasts. Adding more spices and a little tadka to the
traditional menus, creating more vegetarian options made these </span>restaurants<span style="color: red;"> </span><span style="color: #222222;">more accessible. The youth now prefers the new fast food chains than the old Udipi
restaurant because a burger tastes better than vada sambar.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguLDFSv4JY1zORptKBQZDGcnZos58A01H_FX0XjpSBgUJikO0y2FPPCcGPvpQcLeLTDZLebkr2mmXb4YRdO_wDicDUImvHJGrnMsWa8rIeDjA22IQMSypLwMmeLDOCW5bqld8fYWcmnOI/s1600/Food-Fast+food-foodies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguLDFSv4JY1zORptKBQZDGcnZos58A01H_FX0XjpSBgUJikO0y2FPPCcGPvpQcLeLTDZLebkr2mmXb4YRdO_wDicDUImvHJGrnMsWa8rIeDjA22IQMSypLwMmeLDOCW5bqld8fYWcmnOI/s320/Food-Fast+food-foodies.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">While these fast food chains adapt to the Indian </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">food chain</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">, they face another obstacle - real estate </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">which is difficult
to find in over-crowded Indian cities. While the international joints face this
hurdle, the fast food chain stalls in
the Indian cities settle themselves on the nooks and corners of the streets
giving us our favorite dishes that we resort to when we are short on cash and
when that’s the only thing our stomach hankers for.<span style="color: #222222;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">The market of fast
food chains in India is competitive. Indians are food lovers. The chain of fast food<span style="color: red;"> </span>in a way binds them together. A new fast food joint implies new savor and variety.
Apart from being foodies, status symbol also plays an eminent role. Teenagers might pick up Subway compared to a
local vada pau stall because eating a sub is cooler than eating a vada pau. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">So, one shouldn’t be surprised to see
the remarkable augmentation of the </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">fast
food chains</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> in India.</span> </div>alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-68772950266331749412011-10-24T06:36:00.000-07:002011-10-24T06:37:38.494-07:00Never. The. Less.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">My dad who usually doesn’t
do this, today, while munching some cucumber suddenly asked me about my new
blog post. I thought the kind of posts I was posting these days wasn’t really
his genre. But since he asked, I had to answer which I didn’t because I didn’t
have any. Even this isn’t supposed to be a post considering I am not writing it
for that purpose. These are just words which because of the technological
advancement are getting typed instead of flowing out of a pen. A fountain pen
precisely. I personally feel the posts that are the most random and are
absolutely unplanned are the most effective. They in a way define your thinking
which in turn defines you. The world outside is judgemental and so it shall
judge you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">And mind you, these
judgements can be based on anything. Use a few vulgar or abusive words in your
statement and those words will be the basis on which you will be measured as a
person. A judgement is formed and no matter how hard you try you cannot escape
it. Social media makes you handicap that way. You can’t really go out there and
be open and bland with your views because “what will others think?” it’s pretty
obscure how this world functions. Whatever you do is implicated in ways beyond
your imagination. You have to express your anger in words that do not hurt
other’s sentiments and still make an impact. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px;">The mere point of the whole
situation is lost. Okay, here’s an example for you. Judge yourself.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Example : Gaddafi was a f****ng B*****d. Glad he’s dead.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
And<br />
Gaddafi was a bad man. Glad he’s dead.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br />
Well the first option makes
an impact for me. Could be anything for you. Depending on how you perceive
things and people.</div>
</span><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">These are just a bunch or
words that will make for another blog post. Was trying to write something on
the lines of stream of consciousness. Don’t know if this fits the bill. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-33521582029474842952011-10-06T03:33:00.000-07:002011-10-06T03:43:03.531-07:00How Much We Understood Cinema<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">What
an immense day it was! But before I describe The Day, let’s have a peek in the
flashback. It was the evening of 4<sup>th</sup> October, 2011. Everyone was
constantly changing their DPs. There were constant status updates expressing
the excitement and nervousness for the next big day. Each and every KC SYBMMite
was making sure that every single thing was in place to avoid any eleventh hour
glitches. I was literally begging everyone to like the Facebook Page of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Milegi-Na/158352387588268">MilegiNa?</a> and at the same time was thinking of statuses to put up and keep the page
active. I was also tweeting about the same and failing at the same time to get
retweets. All of this was happening when I got a text from my team member. It
read, “We have to be in college tomorrow early because the editing is still
left.” Tsunami, earthquake and volcano occurred at the same time. WHAT!!! But
there was nothing much that I could do at that time, so I agreed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Bas.
Flashback khatam.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Now
let’s come to 5<sup>th</sup> October, 2011. What a mammoth day it was. I
reached college at 07:14:56 A.M. Simran and Hiten came in around 8:00:02 A.M.
and at 8:00:004 A.M. we started with the remaining editing. (<i>Wondering why I am being so specific about
the time? Know this, BMM students are very particular about time because we
waste that a lot in the beginning and that is the only thing which we don’t
have later</i>.). There was a virtual chaos and I was absolutely clueless about
the happenings. As time passed, everyone started coming in wearing confidence,
excitement and nervousness. All of them were ready with their CDs and PDs and
we still had 25% editing left to do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Since
the clock is known for not stopping, that damn thing didn’t stop even yesterday
in spite of knowing how desperately we wanted it to stop. The screening started
at the scheduled time and everyone settled in their seats. We were still
downstairs, editing. Our teammates were constantly SMSing us giving us the
countdown. 1<sup>st</sup> movie over. 2<sup>nd</sup> movie over. 3<sup>rd</sup>
movie over. Ugh! I don’t know about others but I was losing out on my patience
but still tried to keep my calm. (<i>Is this
a paradox or an irony here?)</i> When the 4<sup>th</sup> movie was playing on
the 4<sup>th</sup> floor, we were wrapping up on the ground floor. Next movie was
Milegi Na? and we were ready. *Phew* Just like the rest, we too were wearing
confidence, excitement and nervousness.
And the movie began. Incierto Productions Presents…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgctrnpe-69HDoezMdoWmE4Jr42C3-uDuhPGCVUz2zd3igs6BLwsoz7V3AsMLysTvKzRoQAyR-c5NT-TrNluytqWnA0Zid36SYl8IC8EWR3XXNT2vW_ysQfQWlJzcY_crZ07uFKnVaqZ5M/s1600/09.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgctrnpe-69HDoezMdoWmE4Jr42C3-uDuhPGCVUz2zd3igs6BLwsoz7V3AsMLysTvKzRoQAyR-c5NT-TrNluytqWnA0Zid36SYl8IC8EWR3XXNT2vW_ysQfQWlJzcY_crZ07uFKnVaqZ5M/s320/09.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That's My Team</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">What
happened after that is difficult to put in words. That feeling, that moment, it
was all magical. Everyone was cheering and clapping and encouraging. Hiten had
proved it again. Milegi Na? managed to grab the Best Director and Best
Screenplay award. Hiten, Rinky, Aishwarya, Simran, Navreen, Alisha Bhimani,
Fatema, Hesha, and Vinod made up for the best team. All the fights, clashes,
frustration, everything vanished amongst the applause. And then we went to Mc
Donald’s to celebrate Milegi Na?. After all Food is what Indians usually think
of when they think about celebration.</span></div>
</div>
alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-85473338658692187752011-09-30T13:23:00.000-07:002011-10-03T07:23:56.034-07:00BMM Veracities<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">It’s
1:50 A.M. right now and I am wide awake. Since teenagers are known and expected
to be awake this late, there is nothing interesting in the first sentence. But what
if I tell you that I am up so late working on a project which I know will not
help me in any way in the future. But I have to do it anyway because my
professor thinks it’s cool and the education system thinks it is their sole duty
to enforce an absolutely vague project and make me work on it or else I might
just fail the nation and die in hunger and poverty. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwxGIpm6E5kAS3GF_MPpaNdECG-vU9g7oI9ab_OOqzEnvstgcH0lxB4AXTz-xBupf1wem2CuJae-8lZ3VjTNMb97qjSqUvmwxClWdgqgQoOJHPWeGogCpChyphenhyphenX4-YdSJKAcCvsD71-SMgE/s1600/imageseveryone-is-a-genius_small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwxGIpm6E5kAS3GF_MPpaNdECG-vU9g7oI9ab_OOqzEnvstgcH0lxB4AXTz-xBupf1wem2CuJae-8lZ3VjTNMb97qjSqUvmwxClWdgqgQoOJHPWeGogCpChyphenhyphenX4-YdSJKAcCvsD71-SMgE/s320/imageseveryone-is-a-genius_small.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">When
I joined KC BMM, I was on some cloud. I lost the count midway so can’t tell you
which cloud that was exactly. BMM was all I wanted to do (and still want to). According
to me it was the coolest course ever (it still is…well, at least KC BMM is). <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">The
course is a lot more than what I thought it was. It made me realise my true
potential. I didn’t know I could be so determined and could work at a stretch
of 10 hours just because I wanted to. If I work like I worked today, my dreams shall
become reality very soon. It has been 8 hours now and I am trying to do
something which people take hardly 2 minutes to do. It’s a cake walk for them
and when I tried eating a slice from that cake I gained 5 Kilos in a second. That
was not a very good punch there, right? I know. Just for the record, I am
trying to do page lay outing in Adobe InDesign. Somehow, somewhere, I thought
it would be fun. If fun implies compromising my sleep and dark circles under my
eyes, then I’m sorry, I’m a happy sadist. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">For
all you sane people out there, you’ve read enough. Believe me. You don’t want
to read any further because I am not going to write any further. Forget good,
even if a decent writer reads this blog post, he will jump out of the window. Good
for me. What can be better than your competition killing itself? Again a bad
punch. I’m sure God must have shot a kitten in its face somewhere for this. Sorry
kitty. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-5419747034349348422011-09-27T10:24:00.000-07:002011-09-27T10:26:09.705-07:00And The Mausam of Flops Continue...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiu-IvFEn0rshtd9_VpFZiO9gA6hpRj4PXqg34Bcn3EKHAiyC8JMuTF-I8O40VNu-WZIxC8xbHR48y4qvxFpXUDkcNgSHXIUTfAX9m_tf24pyOe6vAAYT45zr68Ee9XJi4ZuXZc0x0Dp8/s1600/Mausam-Movie-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiu-IvFEn0rshtd9_VpFZiO9gA6hpRj4PXqg34Bcn3EKHAiyC8JMuTF-I8O40VNu-WZIxC8xbHR48y4qvxFpXUDkcNgSHXIUTfAX9m_tf24pyOe6vAAYT45zr68Ee9XJi4ZuXZc0x0Dp8/s320/Mausam-Movie-Poster.jpg" width="224" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">If
love stories are like these, then I dare not ask one for myself. Mausam was one
movie I was like raring to watch, really. I watched the trailer for like a
bazillion times and also liked its songs. Also, it was a Pankaj Kapoor film so
the expectations were higher than the height of the Eiffel tower.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">All
this went down the drain when I saw the movie last Sunday. WHAT A DUD! It made
absolutely <i>no</i> sense at all. I mean here I am trying to put together some
sensible words to tell you all how I found the flick, but from where do I get
those sensible words when the entire movie was senseless. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Sonam
Kapoor is all good as long as she is not in motion. She looks killer on the
magazine covers but the moment she opens her mouth or even tries to attempt
acting, she fails wretchedly. She has a face that suits the magazines and
hoardings because there, apparently you just need one expression. On the
contrary, in a movie you need to have good expressions along with good acting
skills to impress your audience. It’s not just about having a flat stomach,
girl. Please grow up!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Shahid
kapoor... Well I don’t know how to put it in words. Looks like, daddy’s kid
needs to go back to acting school. If he didn’t go earlier then that explains
his one dimensional acting. Throughout the movie, and I am not even kidding but
from start till the end he has only one expression on his face. I can’t really
blame anyone for that considering he cannot go beyond that. So yeah, no
complaints from Shahid as such but serious complaints from Daddy for his bad choice.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">The
SKs combo Sucks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Coming
to the story of the movie, there was no story. And I am not trying to make a
sarcastic comment here but very genuinely, like someone who would even
understand a movie like Aisha, I walked out of the theatre blank. At one point
they are in Punjab, then they go the Scotland, then Switzerland, then
Ahmedabad, then America, then again Punjab and from there Scotland and then
Ahmedabad and then again Switzerland…ahh! You get the point right? It was
confusing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">I
mean, we save up time and money and plan out trips and here they were hopping
from one place to the other like they are all on some ping pong stick. (<i>Remember
Daisy in Oswald…she was cute</i>).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">So
basically, I choose not to reveal the story or anything related to that (not
even the cheesy dialogues) because I don’t want people to hate my blog. Don’t
even think about doing something like that or else God will shoot a kitten in
its face. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px;">Also, you can thank me for not writing down the dialogues here.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">So
all you beautiful people out there take my advice and if you love your sanity
and money then do not watch this movie. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-15126821756399161612011-09-17T23:31:00.000-07:002011-09-17T23:42:52.319-07:00They Say It's "Life"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0avFwwYWLxuuRBHeUySWDgWL80W12zmf_tOkusJ1llD5Ex8E7i6iUu6h_qvgq8wTwNCrW-KcAdKGcBJQsM3vhoG4Pa-WzqKpAo0R_Y5kMfy_ggvdxWh7YyJayDGLTzB67SDl5cAZqUtE/s1600/The-Holstee-Manifesto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0avFwwYWLxuuRBHeUySWDgWL80W12zmf_tOkusJ1llD5Ex8E7i6iUu6h_qvgq8wTwNCrW-KcAdKGcBJQsM3vhoG4Pa-WzqKpAo0R_Y5kMfy_ggvdxWh7YyJayDGLTzB67SDl5cAZqUtE/s320/The-Holstee-Manifesto.jpg" width="238" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Today,
I am in that mood when there are a lot of thoughts scurrying in my head and
just so as to organise them, I am penning them down. Today, again it was a bad
start to the day. Got up early morning for a lecture and it got cancelled. But I
am used to it now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">When
I was telling all this to my friend, she said “life is tough. All these hurdles
will come your way. Face them now and have a comfortable life in the future.” I
will probably have to sit with some scholar or maybe a philosopher to decipher
the meaning of “life” because I clearly don’t seem to comprehend it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">According
to me, life is simple. Yes. It. Is. Simple. I was a sperm and my mom nurtured
me and brought me into this world. She gave me the best gift. Life. Then my
parents did all they could to make sure the smile on my face was intact. The sound
of my laughter was the most pleasing sound to their ears. Having said all this,
life for me is simple and also very beautiful. It is not difficult or
troublesome or tough or complicated. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">I
think I know the reason for “life” being so harsh for others. When you fail in an attempt
you put the blame on someone else. It is always because of some other person
that you are in pain and trouble. That your life isn’t perfect like it could
have been had someone given you a chance. Am I right? Does that sound right? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">If
your answer to that is a ‘yes’ then I advise you to sit down with a cool mind
and think. Go back in your past and figure out what went wrong. If you can’t
then I’m sorry for you. But if your answer to that is a ‘no’ then you probably know
what I am talking about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Humans
are strange. I have accepted this fact. When we win we give the credit only to
ourselves. It was our hard work, our struggle, our anguishes that gave us the
fruitful result. But this scene changes when we fail. Our failure is never just
because of us. No, there is always someone else’s hand in our collapse. If was
always because of him/her/they/them that we were defeated in our attempt. Why is
it so difficult to accept failure? Try this. You failed because you didn’t make
the right choice. You failed because you didn’t listen to your heart then. You failed
because you were too vulnerable to the situation. You failed because you did
not stand firm on your belief. You failed because of YOU. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Any
story that you tell about yourself causes suffering. There is no authentic story.
For once, stop blaming others and point that finger which you point at others
so readily at yourself. The “life” which you say is so arduous and difficult will
make a lot more sense. You will feel better by just accepting your defeat. You will
be happy. People around you will be happy. You have smiles and pleasant
conversations for those who don’t know you, who have no interest in you. And nothing
but sharpness for those who feel your pain and who want to be with you. If you don’t adapt quickly amidst changing
circumstances, you are going to end up in biology books as that dead fish that
couldn’t leap.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Statements
like “try try till you succeed”, “accept life the way it is” and many more are
baseless. These statements might have worked well for people in the ancient
times but today they are just a bunch of words. We’ve been fed lies for too
long. Lies about life, about love, money, success, happiness…it’s the bequest we’ve
been handed. When you don’t get the result even after trying a bazillion times,
try doing something else. Figure out another way. Do not accept life the way it
is. Change it. Make it better. Don’t stop in your tracks only because you are
worn out, for souls that can be saved must be. J. R. R. Tolkien says, “Faithless
is he that says farewell when the road darkens”. </span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">If
you can't keep the faith through tough times, it's not faith.</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">In
the end, it’s not what you do or create, it’s what you live and breathe. Let your
life unfold within your mind and not in the sphere of someone else’s reality.
Think about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">I
guess I have said enough. This is my way of looking at things. You might have
different views. Also, I have packing to do. Going Udaipur tomorrow on a
college trip. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-31439311816284222552011-09-09T06:59:00.000-07:002011-09-10T07:41:03.309-07:00Marooned<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0p-jp9xlsQBkU0hImkGPHr78frTQ93OQvzOg7d3PKjXLz9863iMlQfzvWf_zK2cJVwFTM4bopzFBaFpNvAa5yXQFm0Y1plIqe5rTMCedXNmXQpeCITYk9f0jul5VUdIfb5OsgMQCVkM/s1600/memories-time-and-fortune-life.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh0p-jp9xlsQBkU0hImkGPHr78frTQ93OQvzOg7d3PKjXLz9863iMlQfzvWf_zK2cJVwFTM4bopzFBaFpNvAa5yXQFm0Y1plIqe5rTMCedXNmXQpeCITYk9f0jul5VUdIfb5OsgMQCVkM/s320/memories-time-and-fortune-life.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">There are times when I stand
convinced that time is a flawed concept. ‘Time heals everything’ is nothing but
just three naive words put together with no authentic meaning attached to it.
Man probably came up with this to ease his pain. Although deep down his heart,
he is aware that time had nothing to do with the healing. Instead it was
‘Realization’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Perhaps he took that course
of time firstly; to prove those three words true and secondly, man adores sorrow
and pain. Without those, life would become tasteless for him. Sorrow and pain
are like Sodium and Chloride in his recipe of life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">But the matter of fact is
that time had certainly nothing to do with the recovery of the wounds which
once upon a time seemed they would worsen. The realization I talked about could
have cropped up that very moment or maybe in a few days, months, years or maybe never.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Very casually people ask me
if I have ‘moved on’. Allow me to ask what does ‘moving on’ imply? They ask if
I am ‘over it’. Please edify how do you ‘get over’ something? Does it infer
that all the memories you built in the course of time just vanish like that?
That every time you hear of it you do not fight the urge to break down? You
forgo all those moments and ‘move on’ because apparently you are ‘over it’. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">But then again, doesn’t this
same man also claim that ‘memories never fade’? Is it an excuse to the argument
that you have moved on but apparently haven’t completely recovered? The scars haven’t faded yet?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px;">It’s true that we try to run
away from memories that bring grief and make our heart ache. But then the same
heart also tells us that no matter wherever you go, no matter whatever you do,
no matter however hard you try, you will fail every time. It will make sure you
fail.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Now maybe in your defence
you’ll say ‘life is complicated’. No. Life is not complicated. Life is simple.
It’s your life and you know best that <i>your</i>
life cannot be complicated. It has nothing to do with time or memories. These
elements rather make your life beautiful. <i>Intention</i>
and <i>wish</i> are the elements that decide
what you get out of yourself. Do not say that you did not choose this for
yourself. Cause if you didn’t then who?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-19884221173714591172011-09-01T05:12:00.000-07:002011-09-01T07:40:00.335-07:00Bodyguard. Needn’t I say more?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-2lF4Vi7yzFEHUeehEKb_-JhE7uPdlX16w-Ifb-OUXInpuFNC3UldaunFwgNWGeT-bYDQk7kkLMaIuMFE3oiQEGpkxGGKGDLmWCNV1ScI2O1doRF0nkzuYlzKyFJ7VQXXlE35OqXrhw/s1600/Bodyguard-Salman-Khan-Movie-2011-bollywood-kareena+kapoor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-2lF4Vi7yzFEHUeehEKb_-JhE7uPdlX16w-Ifb-OUXInpuFNC3UldaunFwgNWGeT-bYDQk7kkLMaIuMFE3oiQEGpkxGGKGDLmWCNV1ScI2O1doRF0nkzuYlzKyFJ7VQXXlE35OqXrhw/s320/Bodyguard-Salman-Khan-Movie-2011-bollywood-kareena+kapoor.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px;">Few things I would advise
you to carry along if you are planning to go for this movie:</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18.0pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Rotten Tomatoes</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Rotten eggs</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Shoes, chappal, etc.</span></li>
</ul>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px;">Well, these are just a few
suggestions. You can come up with your new innovative ideas to display your
anger and frustration. I am too lazy to rack my brains for that purpose. But if
you are the cool temperament types, you know the lazy ones (like me) then just
carry a blanket. That’d be it. Instead of massacring your time and energy
yelling to express your irritation, just wrap the blanket and go off to sleep. That’s
exactly what I did. After 20 minutes, the peeps around me could hear my loud
snores.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Nothing and I’m very serious
here, NOTHING about the movie was good or new. Since I was napping throughout,
my friend who is a die-hard Salman fan literally took the pain to tell me the
story. Imagine my relief. Thank goodness I dozed. But then again, you can’t
expect logic, meaning, class, humane or anything realistic of any Salman flick.
As far as Kareena Kapoor is considered, she could pull off that kind of role
even if she was sleepwalking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">There is this buzz that this
could have been Salman’s hat trick. After Wanted and Dabanng. But then wasn’t
it? Well for me it was. All three of them were futile. And all three of them
were superbly effective in giving me an abysmal headache. I swear I’m not
making this up but I actually got temperature after watching Dabanng. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">And what’s with this craze
of Salman taking off his shirt and boasting his body? Believe me; I like it
more when Taylor Lautner removes his shirt to show his 8 pack *drools*. Now
don’t you judge me by this. I don’t like Twilight. But I like Taylor Lautner.
Yes, I do. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Anyway, coming back to
Bodyguard, I have to mention this. I saw Not-So-Lovely Singh (read: Salman
Khan) do this move in some song where he is making his muscles do the dancing.
No Sallu, even your muscles can’t dance. My vote still goes to Pappu. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">To conclude, The Kareena
Kapoor, Salman Khan Starrer Bodyguard is a big dud. My advice would be: Don’t
go for this. Don’t waste your bucks on this one. Rather sleep. Your dreams won’t
be as boring as this is. In the Bodyguard style - <span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="color: black;">‘<i>Mujphe</i></span></span><em><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"> ek ehsaan karna, ke aisi
aur koi movies mat banana</span></em><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black;">.’</span></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">P.S. – This is my personal
opinion. You may disagree to it. But that will still not make Bodyguard a
“good’ movie.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com2Mumbai, Maharashtra, India19.0176147 72.856164418.7774257 72.5403074 19.2578037 73.172021399999991tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-52607770713219442452011-08-30T02:16:00.000-07:002011-08-30T02:23:09.569-07:00Eid - Then And Now<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKy00Gq09Knxw3KUStjolkfayN6ejvfPH6YvW2_qiK7Qdk3RZPuVO7GE5QrEjvimUwPsSt-QgrC5wfUehcT2XHN69QgRRUX0iisr89te9WtFFV762zJZMtAR_WqbZcYhl_-KQ7zQiYZ2U/s1600/Eid-Ul-Fitr-muslims-islam.jpeg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKy00Gq09Knxw3KUStjolkfayN6ejvfPH6YvW2_qiK7Qdk3RZPuVO7GE5QrEjvimUwPsSt-QgrC5wfUehcT2XHN69QgRRUX0iisr89te9WtFFV762zJZMtAR_WqbZcYhl_-KQ7zQiYZ2U/s320/Eid-Ul-Fitr-muslims-islam.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646577070661676418" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The fresh aroma of shirkhurma was mouth- watering. As a child, I used to keenly wait for<span> </span>this time of the year. I walked into the kitchen to get a peek at the various items on the menu. My mom was taking freshly fried samosas out from the frying pan. I could hear my stomach grumble. I didn’t have enough patience to wait for her to serve it to me. But then again, didn’t have a choice either. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Except for the royal delicious breakfast, nothing about the day was extraordinaire like it once used to be. I had my day’s schedule in place and so did my mom and dad. The day had its significance when we were young and most importantly when we were in Udaipur. We all used to frenziedly wait for the 30 <i>rozas </i>to end. And then it would be all about smiles and laughter and colour. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The eagerness I had to wear the new apparels and grab the fanciest looking purse and walk out elegantly holding my dad’s hand to visit all the relatives and friends. The proud feeling I experienced every time someone would complement me or my dress. And of course <i>Idi. </i>How can I possibly forget that? That was the core reason to carry the purse. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">The whole morning we used to spend visiting and greeting people. Then in the afternoon, we all used to gather at my maternal grandmother’s house for a fancy lunch. I must tell you, she is an awesome cook. I used to meet all my cousins there and we used to devote the entire afternoon counting our <i>idi </i>and showing off our dresses and doing other girly stuff. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">In the evening we used to have a friend’s rendezvous. Usually, we used to go to some resort or someone’s farmhouse. Just like the breakfast and lunch, the dinner also used to be imperial. Wondering why am I mentioning food so much? Well, I’m a foodie and believe me on this, these food items tasted much better than what they cook at MasterChef (I am obviously exaggerating here). <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">It used to be one of the finest and the most awaited days of the year. Something I always looked forward to. We moved to Mumbai eight years back and I don’t miss anything about Udaipur as much as I miss this jamboree. Here, the only thing that hasn’t change is the food. I get the noble courses here also. But I miss my friends and my cousins and my grand mom’s hand cooked food. Still waiting for that year when I’ll be jammy enough to celebrate Eid-Ul-Fitr with everyone with the same excitement.</span> </p>alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-5495307654588989462011-08-27T23:18:00.000-07:002011-09-08T06:35:16.934-07:00Vasai Turns VaSEA<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 13px;">I slowly opened my eyes to check my cell phone. No, not for the silly forwards but to check the time. As soon I pressed the button and saw the time, my half close eyes were wide open and I jumped out of my bed like a ninja. Sh*t! I was late! Not losing the ninja spirit, I rushed through the process of getting ready.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">It was pouring outside. And I had this indecisive urge in me to bunk the lecture. Just when I was about to execute the thought, my mom very innocently stated that one word which scares the hell out of every student. It is the devil’s word in a student’s life. “What about your <b>attendance</b>?” and that was it. The image of the black list popped right in front of my eyes and heartbroken I toddled out of the house. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">It was pouring unremittingly since yesterday. Vasai had become VaSEA overnight. The monster of water had drunk the entire residential sector. There were no rickshaws and unlike always, there were very few people on the road. They were obviously sleeping. Why would anyone wake up at 7 on a Sunday morning? Unless he/she is a BMM student. In that case anything can happen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">I was in no mood to put my feet in that dirty <i>gutter ka pani </i>so i decided to walk back. Just then out of nowhere a rickshaw came and stood right in front of me and the rickshaw wala very chivalrously asked, “<i>Station jane ka hai?” </i>it never happens on other days when I am running late and desperately in the need to rush to the station. But today it happened. With the hope to catch the desired train, I hopped in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Dashing through the water and fighting the fake waves, the rickshaw slowly made its way ahead and dropped me to the station just in time. My happiness knew no bounds. I managed to reach the station on time in spite of the water and the rains. I would be able to catch the train I want. I wouldn’t be late. Thrillingly I ascended the stairs of the bridge and just when I touched up, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I took it out to see a message from the CR. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">The much-adored-professor cancelled the lecture. It was as if the whole world around me had come to a halt. The word ‘cancelled’ stuck out. I was devastated. Why? Why? WHY??? For a moment I forgot where was I standing and my instant reaction was I looked up and said this out loud “Dude, was this your idea of some sick joke?” and it doesn’t end there. I kept staring up for 5 seconds as if I was ever going to get a reply. But all I could see was a blackish roof swathed with spider webs. Subsequently I looked straight in front of me and saw a cute guy staring at me and then looking up wondering whom was I talking to. Embarrassment happened. I looked at him and smiled sheepishly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">To avoid more embarrassment I tottered away and feeling like a complete idiot. Helpless I crossed the station from west to east, took a rickshaw and came home. Not to mention I wasted 20 bucks in this whole process. <i>Don’t you give me that look now!</i> Even if the world economy is doing exceptionally well, a student is always facing recession. And in crisis like these 20 bucks getting washed away is not a happy prospect.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">I reached home and as soon as I entered my bedroom I saw my sister sleeping. In my last post I very finely told you how she looks when she sleeps. If you haven’t read it then do it now. Just the one below this. Go. go. Read. And by the time you read that, I’ll go complete my quota of sleep.</span></div>
</div>
alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-11283459105347639812011-08-27T02:10:00.000-07:002011-08-27T02:12:23.534-07:00Just Another Lousy Morning...<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">I awoke to the ear-splitting ringing of the alarm clock. Not something I fancy hearing at the beginning of the day. The sound is thunderous, exasperating and absolutely out of rhythm. It’s like someone with a ghastly voice is yelling right in your ear. I hopped out of my bed completely alarmed and shut the damn thing off. Stupid clock!<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">I peek outside the window. The sun was still asleep. And I was up already! Then sluggishly my eyes crawled to my pillow and it was as if there was some inordinately strong magnetic force activated between me and the pillow. I fought the urge to put my sleepy head on it as I knew well that if I gave in to the temptation, my day which should start now would start in the afternoon.<span> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Mustering all the energy, I gently lifted myself up and almost begging my joints not to go against me, I stepped forward. Yes, it IS that arduous to get up on an early morning when you are supposed to be snoring away making it difficult for anybody around you to sleep. I can sense you thinking why I am giving you such lousy explanation of a just another crummy morning. Well, you see, I am just trying to increase the word count here. Bwhahahahaha. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Anyway, so after a lot of whining, I managed to take an early morning bath with hot water. It would be suicide to use cold water to take bath on a cold rainy sleepy morning. And I love myself enough not to try such scary stunts. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">And when I walk in the room I see my sister with her mouth wide open and hands thrown away as if they were…they were…they were…ah! I am not good with comparisons. Point is she looked as if she hadn’t slept in years and was completing the quota THIS VERY MORNING.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">Whining, cussing, I packed my bag, took my camera (I mentioned ‘camera’ specifically because it’s new and I am just bragging about it. That is one of the activities girls do best.), put on my shoes and just when I was about to walk out of the door, my phone woke up from its sleep.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">For 3 seconds, I kept wondering who it could be at this hour. Then I thought why use my demented brain thinking something so silly like this. So I took out my phone to avoid all the thinking. It was my friend and guess why did she call me? The project cause, of which I had to kill my much adored sleep, was cancelled. Fail Happened. <o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:9.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"">I was in a dilemma. Didn’t know whether to be happy or to be angry. To avoid more pressure on my brain, I simply changed into my night suit and went on a ride in my much loved dream world.</span></p>alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1577086913481680633.post-36948149249331146882011-08-22T03:34:00.000-07:002011-08-22T03:50:03.254-07:00Anna On Ann Shan: End Discussion Save Nation<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikM3u9OEf2MKDJXZuSO0mp-vIzaIxMGlFx2aqX6bcj7833ouPmY0hWIEDsOZYvFYehFveMqCMzHC3UNpsdmYFdoXVoRFBrTP5cAZmr5v4rGyNMUPbR5p4a3xiYMOjHzyCr5VSu-cYnebg/s1600/quit-corruption.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikM3u9OEf2MKDJXZuSO0mp-vIzaIxMGlFx2aqX6bcj7833ouPmY0hWIEDsOZYvFYehFveMqCMzHC3UNpsdmYFdoXVoRFBrTP5cAZmr5v4rGyNMUPbR5p4a3xiYMOjHzyCr5VSu-cYnebg/s320/quit-corruption.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643630353676339906" /></a><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">Wake Up
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">Uncles Now!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; ">It’s been more than 144 hours and the clock is still ticking. Anna Da and our mighty government have sworn not to leave their stands. It’s a shame that the government is doing precisely what the people expected of it. It is a disgrace that they claim to be ‘for the people’ because actually they are not!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">Since 42 years the government has been treating the Jan Lokpal bill as the Jan jokepal bil. Anna Da made his point at the Jantar Mantar where he showed the vexation of the public and their dissatisfaction for the functioning of the government.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">Let’s not repeat the old story all over again. The point is that Anna gave the ultimatum around one or one and a half months back that he would go on Ann Shann on 16th August.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">Instead of taking that in the right spirit and work for it, our uncles were busy collecting and polishing their archery of allegations through which they could hit and put down the spirit of Anna and the populace.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">Why is the government pretending to be deaf? After seeing the two day trailer at Jantar mantar, how could they afford to take Anna Da’s claim as a joke?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">Since past 6 days, that strong old man who just looks fragile hasn’t put a morsel in his mouth and still the government is not doing anything except discussion. What were they doing for the past 42 years then?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">Multi-million scams happen right under their nose and they are completely unaware of it. Is this the reliability of the government? All we’re hearing on the news is that the Lokpal Bill is being circulated in the Standing Committee or this committee or that committee.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">Why is the government being so arrogant? Don’t they want India to progress and be corruption free? Why are they so scared?<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">Witnessing the massive support of the nation, they are still debating. WHY? These are the same people who have given you the power which you have used to corrupt yourself so effortlessly.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">Is it that the government doesn’t care at all? I guess yes, they don’t give a damn! I remember when one of the leader very openly said that they can’t control all the terrorist attacks. They told us lucidly not to have any expectations from them.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">But again, the government should not forget that the true power lies in the hand of the public. If we can give them the power then we can also take it away from them.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">The way Anna and his followers have been protesting… I haven’t seen a more peaceful way of protest so far. Not once have the given the chance to the police to raise their hand. So government must not underestimate us.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">Annagiri can demolish corruption from the nation, while Sarkargiri will only demolish the nation with corruption.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">We are still waiting for the ever sleeping “leaders” to wake up and take some fruitful action.<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">WAKE UP LEADERS NOW BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!! Because if this continues, then I fear that they will keep debating and our much adored Anna Da will fade away.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:0cm;margin-bottom:.0001pt;text-align: justify;line-height:normal"><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black;mso-fareast-language: EN-IN">(<i>My article published in <a href="http://www.udaipurtimes.com/anna-on-ann-shan-end-discussion-save-nation/">UDAIPUR TIMES</a> on 22nd August 2011</i>)</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="font-size: small; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; "></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="display: inline !important; "><span style="font-size:9.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "Arial","sans-serif""><o:p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUgHLk6sXmk7-DyiDln_xdk_UmMw_4wzwem060G_IXEMwTAWhHy2kuvKo1sSS8hnVk27GQB8fm_FwMTMdv-3-FX_BxA5y57yCrvxnFuOeX03byOqSHHT2LYkc-GG37uM2J4ZUOZ3b9eQ0/s1600/quit-corruption.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"> </a></o:p></span></p><p></p>alisha adnanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05699907062135221290noreply@blogger.com0