No One Killed Jessica - The Gutsy Film Deserves A Standing Ovation!

New Delhi, 1999. India won the Kargil war. Jessica, a young charming model who was doing bartending at a big shot party is shot dead. She was shot dead only because she denied to serve a drink. The perpetrator Manish [Mohammed Zeeshan Ayub], son of an eminent political leader pulls the trigger and kills her in a fit of rage.

With more than 300 high-class people present in the party, many of whom were eyewitnesses to the crime. Manish looks all set to go to the gallows. But fortuitously, it doesn’t quite transpire that way. Two determined women, Jessica’s sister Sabrina and the aggressive TV reporter Meera decide to get the better of the culprit, Manish. For seven years, the case goes through numerous phases of legal hitches. Witnesses turning hostile, other few, who don’t, become inconsistent with their accounts.

Manish is proved not guilty, leading to a severe public upheaval and persistent campaign by the media, which at the end of the day leads to a life sentence for Manish.

The movie unleashes innumerable emotions in you. It jabs your ethics and makes you think. The Jessica case got a lot of coverage and its hard facts are well known. The film makes you feel angry, sad, irritated, and bitter about the numerous defects in our administrative and legal machinery. But more than that, it fills you with hope and self-assurance.

No One Killed Jessica belongs to the distinctive hard-hitting, gut-wrenching type of cinema. Script-wise, the director has tried to remain exact to the incident that occurred during that unfortunate night and also what came about consequently, but besides showing reality on celluloid, he puts in the thrill component to the plot line, which makes it very viewer-friendly. The events have been chronologically set forth and the brave story of two women who opposed the system hits you like a ton of bricks.

On the whole, NO ONE KILLED JESSICA is a moving story of two women's resolve for justice. It's more of an absorbing adventurous movie which has the right quantities of dramas, tautness, angst and thrills. The emotional and disturbing journey, the strength of the common man and the persistent effort of the media have all been most interestingly put together. A lot of films have been made on genuine incidents, but haven't struck a chord so effectively. NO ONE KILLED JESSICA should shatter this spell. This film truly deserves a prolonged round of applause.

Advertising v/s Marketing : What's The Difference?

Advertising and marketing are both very different yet very essential components required for an organization to grow. Identifying the difference and practicing them well can put your company on the path to substantial growth. Often people confuse marketing and advertising.

Let’s look at the basic definitions of Advertising and Marketing.
Advertising : Advertising is bringing a product (or service) to the attention of potential and current customers. Advertising is focused on one particular product or service. Advertising is typically done with signs, brochures, commercials, direct mailings or e-mail messages, personal contact, etc.

Marketing : Marketing is the wide range of activities involved in making sure that you're continuing to meet the needs of your customers and getting value in return. Marketing is usually focused on one product or service. Marketing activities include "inbound marketing," such as market research to find out, for example, what groups of potential customers exist, what their needs are, which of those needs you can meet, how you should meet them, etc.

Now after going through these definitions it is easy to comprehend how the difference between advertising and marketing can be puzzling to the point that people think of them as one-in-the same. So let’s try and break it down a little bit.

Advertising is a part of marketing. It is a subset of marketing. Advertising includes planning strategies like which media to use. Should it be done through television, radio, billboards etc. It is mainly used to inform the target audience about a certain product or service. It tells them the products or service's advantages and benefits for them to be cajoled to buy the product. Advertising is the most expensive aspect of marketing process.

Marketing is a process that takes time, and can take days to research to make it effective. Marketing includes all the pricing, distribution, sales strategy, market research, media planning, and customer support, etc. all these components must be arranged and put into practice to achieve the best result possible.

Several times I’ve seen marketing to be considered as the big pie and advertising along with research, planning etc. as just a slice of that pie.

Basically, the main goal of both is to enhance consumer awareness.

And It's 2011...

As another New Year approaches, the usual resolutions like losing weight or taming your career come to mind. According to me, it is also the time to mull over on how to help oneself become a better individual by cultivating certain areas of my life and to not to repeat the mistakes that I committed this year.

It is difficult to feel positive about life when things don't seem to go the way you want. Like all people I too have moments when I feel low but then there is a lot more to life. Abraham Lincoln's words come to mind, "We can complain that rose bushes have thorns. Or we can rejoice that thorn bushes have roses". We all have a tendency to look at the negative but it is so much better to look for the positive in our lives. I know it’s easily said than done. But there is no harm in giving it a try.

Another very important thing that I have learnt is to stop expecting others to change for me because each person has his or her own life to lead, and though you can advise them, their life will be their own. Even in love you have to feel sufficient in yourself rather than worry about being hurt or not being loved enough. As they say, “Life is short, so enjoy every single moment of it.” What we have today might not stay with us tomorrow so let’s cherish it.

It is also essential to be yourself otherwise you will lose track of who you are meant to be in life. Sometime we are swayed by other people or we change ourselves so that people love or like us more. This is when words of Oscar Wilde, "Be yourself, everyone else is taken. It is only by discovering one's true self that you can find your true journey in the world. You have to start liking yourself for others to like you. It’s better to avoid inferiority complex. It just pulls you down.

Every individual should welcome change in life. That is what makes life such an interesting journey. As you grow older you grow wiser and each age brings with it a new beauty and experience.

In conclusion, the words of Jesus, "Pure Love is a flood which covereth all things. Nothing can stand against it, for it floweth from the Eternal Sea" it encourages us to think better and make better persons of ourselves as we grow afar the limits that we set upon ourselves as humans.

Have a kickass 2011! Enjoy! :)

Knocking Our Doors - The Sacred Month Of Muharram

With the observing of the new moon the Islaamic New Year is steered in. Muharram, the first month is one of the four holy months that Allah has talked about in the Holy Qur’an, with which the Muslims begin their lunar Hijrah Calendar. Muharram is so called because it is a holy month and to confirm its sacredness one can read the Allah's words "so wrong not yourselves therein…" mean do not wrong yourselves in these sacred months, because it is believed that sin committed in these months is worse than in other months.

Muharram is so called because it was improper to fight during this month; the word has stemmed from the word ‘haram’ meaning prohibited. Muharram is not a festival in the celebratory sense as it mourns the Karbala tragedy when Imam Husain, grandson of Prophet Muhammad, was martyred in the early days of Islamic history. Their death is a sad day for all Muslims, especially the Shi’a, who hold grieving rituals to recall the virtuous qualities for which the brave martyrs stood and the grave calamities that they thus had to bear. The remembrance of this brutal massacre (Battle of Karbala) begins on the first day of Muharram and reaches its highlight on the 10th of Muharram, the day of the battle, known as ‘Ashurah’.

The massacre of Hussain took place on the tenth day of the month of Muharram; hence, the occasion is called Ashura. It is perceived as a day for public expression of grief. These episodes brought about the division of the community into two sects - the Shias and the Sunnis. The Shias consider Ali, Hassan and Hussain as the just heirs of Prophet Mohammed and mourn their death during Muharram. At the appearance of the moon, people clad in black assemble and recite sorrowful verses over sweetened cold drink, in memory of Imam Hussain. They observe the entire month as a period of mass mourning. There is no celebration or expression of joy of any kind. Women are expected to abandon all adornments. Public enactments of grief, portraying scenes from the Battle of Karbala, are carried out in Shia mosques on the first ten days. This is done to express the brutalities that Hussain suffered during the battle of Karbala. The Sunnis, on the other hand, celebrate the occasion on a quieter note and indulge in calm and silent offerings.

Profusely decorated Taziyas (bamboo and paper replicas of the martyr's tomb), elaborated with gold and mica are carried through city streets. Mourners beat their back mourning and weeping over the murder, accompanied by drum beats. Young men beat their back crying "Husain! Husain!" in collective sorrow.

To conclude I would like to say is the best tribute that we can pay to them is to do some soul-searching. Do we have the right to be called the followers of the Prophet Mohammed? Have we really understood the message of Imam Husain? Are the tears for Husain drawn merely by the scenes of mere bloodshed? Are we ready to shed aside our differences and respect each other’s views during our religious talks during Moharram?

When we will have all the answers and when we will follow the path that they have told us to, only then will we be able to comprehend the significance of Karbala.