TANISHQ WEDDING AD (2013)

A wedding is considered one of the most important days in a person’s life. In many cultures it serves as a complete transition into adulthood, a permission to be a new family. Through out the ages weddings have been used as an expression of happiness, success, duty and prosperity. In the marriage ceremony, a couple makes a public declaration of lifelong commitment to love each other. A commitment, by its nature, is a challenge. Saying ‘I will’ to those vows obliges you to forgive and be forgiven. It will be tough at times! So marriage is a risk, but a risk worth taking. There’s plenty of evidence to show married couples are more likely to be healthy, wealthy and wise.

 A wedding ceremony is something which every girl dreams about. It is and will be one of the more memorable events in her life. Lot of emotions arise inside her. There is the anticipation of new life, excitement to share life with someone else, then there is fear of the unknown, mixed with certain anxiety about what could go wrong, and if she is an Indian, then those cheesy romantic scenes and songs of Karan Johar's movies make a tiny home in her mind. 

No wonder Indian jewellery companies make advertisements that almost always focuses on weddings or allied events as the trigger for purchase. Now, watch this advertisement:

Tanishq, an upper-middle class brand of jewellery from the house of Tata, has given us a lot of creatively visualized ads with Aishwarya Rai swirling and simpering in surreal landscapes in the past (which apparently Sanjay Leela Bhansali got inspired from...lol). However, in this ad, the brand cuts through a lot of cultural clutter and gives us a refreshing perspective on two ideas - one, that it is perfectly normal for the mother of a young child to remarry, and for the groom to accept the woman and her child as a matter of course; and more importantly, by choosing a non-fair, not very young looking woman as the lead in the ad, Tanishq breaks away from the extant advertising and cultural norms. 

When i first saw the ad, i was a bit shocked noticing the fact that a commercial can be so bold to make a statement which, in Indian society, is still not very acceptable. But they did it and have done it with elegance. It may not be the best ad but it is good to notice that we are getting matured.  

I loved how the ad makers played with us when they give that split second shot of the groom looking angry. The audience starts to think "ahhhh, this one's gonna be an evil stepfather..." and then he surprises us all by carrying the little girl with a smile.

 I liked the ending where the child innocently asks "aj se daddy bulaoon (Shall I call you daddy from today?)"...heartfelt ..truly! 

A huge salute to the agency who did the ad, the guys who approved the budget and the teams that did the convincing.

A SEPTEMBER EVENING

My favorite months are March and November. November 'coz that's when my birthday comes and March 'coz... ummmm... May be 'coz I have the right to have a favourite month for no reason (sarcastically rolling my eyes)!!! But for most of the part, I don't need a reason to like something. But this September evening, I feel good that it is September. I don’t think it’s 'coz of the season. The rains are a little silent now but I am not sure if they are completely gone. I still feel cold in the nights and at the strike of 6.30 in the mornings (That's when I usually go for shower on weekdays!)..Then I notice how cold, cold is. Otherwise I just drown myself under a pile of blankets or clothes, whichever it is I find sprawled on my bed.

Everyday, I can see the evening turning into twilight through the glass windows at the other side of the office. And then, there is this blindning (darn, there is no such word but i refuse to correct it!) sun. Why can’t it always be this way, throughout the day? The sun up there and twilight down here. That way we can still have days, just darker and more walker-friendly.
 
I don’t know what suddenly made September so dear, but I feel it is that window I look at to see the changing color of the day, is the reason for my growing love towards September. The color that makes me want to jump out of the office and soak in the outdoors, and one that makes me want to drown under that pile of clothes sprawled on my bed.

IGNORANCE IS INDEED, A BLISS!

My friends and family complain that I'm a forgetful and a teeny weeny ignorant person (strange thing for a woman!!). I am not like Aamir Khan in Ghajini but I do forget things. But finally, I learnt that it is good to be ignorant to a certain extent. Whenever I read or hear about something new, no filters start working on my head. I read it as it is written, I hear it as it is told. However, I have learnt that there are people in this world who tend to pass it all through a filter of prejudices and opinions and all they have read in the past, before letting any of that in. They doubt everything. So you see, I can see the goodness in something faster than them. I may sound innocent or naive (you can call me stupid too) here, but if it takes so much work to trust anyone or anything and you have live your life till the end with a suspicious and alert mind, would you ever be completely happy?

I keep hearing people (look closer my friend, you can find them in your huge line of relatives) interpret simple, straightforward words to come up with inner and double meanings. My only reaction is WOW!!! How on earth, do they manage to dig so much into those simple words, I can never ever understand. Wouldn’t it be real tough for people to say every line after injecting a lot of hidden meaning into it? According to me, life is not a drama with heavy dialogues. It is just life – you live, you don’t act. You react, you don’t direct. You are you, not someone else!

But guys, people do it – a lot of people do this. It irritates me to the core. I could be standing in a park, telling how beautiful a violet flower is, and for all you know, someone may think I am trying to look at a man somewhere near the violet flowers – 'cause of course, a woman in this planet, doesn’t simply stand and admire the beauty of flowers.

Here is another one. I may say I've plans to go out next day and my listener may think any one of the following:
“It is to avoid me, from calling her”
“It is to show me she is busy”
“It is to make me jealous that I am doing nothing”
etc etc etc...... (the probable list can go on and on and on!!)
Very few take it as it was said: “She plans to go out next day”

I really hate it when I'm misunderstood. But sadly, that happens a lot. So, I try to be extra cautious when I am with such people and make it all the more worse. For it never works for me when I try to be something. You have to be nice, not try to be nice. 'Cause then you are trying to prove, to please, to convince. It doesn’t work. 

 So guys, try not to be that way and to help you with this, the only advice I will give is be ignorant, naive and probably tell your brain not to overthink (like I do!! hehehe)......

MY MUMMY'S DIALOGUES!

Okay.. I don't want you guys to think of me as an ungrateful girl. I love my parents... I really do.. but seriously yaar, there are few things which irks me about them. I do something, they have a problem... I don't do anything, still they have a problem... But again, I love them.. :-P Coming back to the topic, we all have that mother who constantly, like a broken tape recorder, yanks the same thing again and again. I heard it mom!! You don't have to tell me repeatedly every moment of my life. So, here are few dialogues which my pyaari si mummy says all the time....


1) Mein aaoon!! (Shall I come! or indirectly, it means Don't make me come): No guys.. This only looks like normal two words.. but mind ya, it isn't.. It is more scary to hear than a life threatening call from a terrorist group.
"Riniiiii.. You are speaking too loud on your phone..shall i come!!!????!!!" or "Riniiiii, You have been speaking for too long on phone..shall i come!!!???!!!" or "Riniiii.. What do you mean by you can't find those pair of socks?? Shall I come?? If I find it, then you will see what I am gonna do to you!!!"
Me: *starts shivering (with fear)* 

2) Agar tu exam mein 80% se upar nahin laayi, kaamwaali ko nikal le tujhe hi  kaam pe lagaa doongi!! (If you don't score more than 80% in your exams, then I will make you do all the household chores): I have been hearing this since the day I started my schooling...lol... It is one of her favourite dialogues. It's like I already had a job offer in case academics decides to ditch me!

3) Mein dekhoongi naa!! (I'll see): This dialogue is usually combined with the above dialogue. "Riniiii.. Why aren't you studying for your exams?? I'll see how much you score this time!!" 
My reply: "LOL"..

4) Tere jab bachche honge tab tujhe pata chalega (When you have kids of your own, then you will understand): What am i supposed to understand, mom? It's like you have already instructed my unborn kids to take revenge on me..ek naani ka pratishodh (a granny's revenge). :-D 


5) Hey Ram!! (Oh my god! Particularly Lord Rama! :-P): My mom uses this sentence, like 1000 times a day. "Hey Ram, Riniii.. Your room is a mess!" or "Hey Ram.. Maid isn't gonna come today" or "Hey Ram... It's raining outside!!". I don't understand what will Rama do in such cases.. Like, he is gonna come and clean my room! Although I  secretly pray that if he could come and save me from 'Maavan'.

6) Aaaah-haahaaa-ha!: This is the sound she makes to boost her own morale when everyone at home, except her, doesn't like what she has cooked. For obvious reasons, we (by we I mean, dad, bro and me) can't complain whatever and however she cooks. So we eat silently, giving each other sad looks. And all of a sudden, we hear "Aaaah-haahaaa-ha.. This veggie curry is sooo delicious. I bet no one can cook like me". And rest of us at the dining table think at the same time, "Yeah, no one can really cook like this!! (yiiikesss). And by any chance, if I open my mouth to complain, i would get to hear dialogue number (3) and (4) with complete details. 

7) Pura dinnnn (All day): "Riniiiiiii All day you are doin' taka tak taka tak sitting in front of your computer or on cellphone..Are you running a million dollar company?? What important business have you got?? Cell phone.. Computer..Computer..Cell phone... We are also alive..Talk to us..... blah blah" 
Me: Duh!! o.O

8) Pata nahin saas ke ghar mein yeh kya karegi (Dunno, what she is gonna do at her in-law's house): This is a typical dialogue which every Indian mother tells her daughter. "Riniiiiii.. Learn cooking... Pata nahin saas ke ghar mein tu kya karegi...." or "Riniiiiiiiii... Keep your room clean.. Pata nahin saas ke ghar mein tu kya karegi..."
Me: I guess my saas doesn't know to do all these stuffs.. o.O

9) Kahaan jaa rahi hai? Kab waapas aayegi? Itne saare friends kab banaaye? Ab yeh Meena kaun hai? Ab Sunita kaun si dost hai teri? Kab bane dost? Tune toh kabhi bataaya nahin mujhe pehle! (Where are you goin'? When will you come back? When did you make so many new friends? Who is this Meena? Who is this Sunita? When did you become friends with her? I have never heard of Meena before?)
I don't think I need to explain this harrowing experience which I go through all the time!! :-D

10) Tod de.. Naa naa beta.. Achche se tod de... Sab toh muft mein milta hai.. Sab kuch tod de!! (Break it.. No no.. Beak it properly... You get everything for free.. Break everything..)
Get to hear this, if by any chance, my phone slips from my hand and falls down.. It needn't be just phone. Even a pen will do the same work, effectively!! Grrrr....

11) Yeh hotel hai kya!!??!! (Is this a hotel?): 
Me, back from college: Mummy, what's for lunch? 
Mom: Whatever I have cooked, eat quietly!
Me: Mom, not cabbages again :-( :-( 
Mom: Rini, Is this is a hotel? No no.. tell me.. Is this a hotel?? Eat whatever has been cooked!!!"
Me: I don't want cabbages. I just had them yesterday. Not again!
Mom: So, you mean to say that you want new dishes everyday? What about a slap? want to have? No no.. tell me.. How many do you want? I can give them instantly!!
Me: I love cabbages.

12) Haaaayeinnnn.. Haaaaaayeinnnn.. Sunaayi nahin de raha hai (Can't hear you): 
(Mom in kitchen and I am in my room):
Me: Mommmmm... I can't find my shrug!
Mom: Haaaayeinnnn.. Haayeinnnn..
Me: Shruggggggg, Mummy...
Mom: Sunaayi nahin de raha hai..
Me: SHRUGGGG!
Mom: DRUG!! Rini?? You have started to take drugs??? This is why i never wanted to live in a big city.. omg.. What will I tell everyone? My kids are spoilt... Btw, is it heroin or cocaine?
Me: o.O

13) Pura chor hai (Complete thief): I dunno if a person can be a complete thief or an incomplete one but that's what my mom says.
During cricket match, India is batting and there, Dhoni goes out without making any run.
Mom: Yeh toh pura chor nikla (He has turned out to b a complete thief). Aaj toh India gayi (Today, India will lose for sure)!!
Me: Duh!

This list can go on and on and on. But the above 13 are my all time favourites.. Hehe... My mom can act like a Lady Hitler sometimes (err.. may be most of the times), but in the end, she is my mother.. a sweet and the most lovable one. Love you, Mummy.. :-*

SOLVING CROSSWORD PUZZLE!!

My imaginary friend, Timmy and I are trying to solve a crossword puzzle (yea yea, you all are thinking right- Great Minds at Work!!)....

Timmy: Rini, you are slow at this.

Me: Okay, Mr. Einstein. Tell me a type of melon.

Timmy: Water

Me: Smartpants, it is a 4 letter word.

Timmy: Pani

Me: Great... So, what's the word for a mixed feeling of anger and aggression?

Timmy: Grrr.

Me: Timmy!! It's a 12 letter word.

Timmy: Hmmmm.. Then write 11 R's and prefix it with 1 G. Grrrrrrrrrrr.. That's so simple, Rini.

Me: Wow. You are so good at this, Tim. What's the place which is filled with confusion, mess and uproar? Mind ya, it is a 6 letter word.

Timmy: Sweety, I don't think I have to tell you this one. You know this very well... ;)

Me: Oh yea, how can I not know this.. it is My-Room! 

SUICIDE: WHEN IN DOUBT, DO NOT CHECK OUT!

There was no reply, no reply at all. He must be busy; he must be busy with his ex-girlfriend he once so passionately spoke about. I was in torment. I cannot live like this, waiting for someone who doesn’t bother, who always finds excuses why he couldn’t call me. We lived in different states. We hardly met. How am I supposed to reach him? The anxiety and agony was too much to bear. It made me forget about the boy who had a crush on me, my parents who would love me to the end of their lives, and my sister who is my best friend. People who were still in my life, inspiring me, pampering me, loving me, missing me. And about me, that I was in one of the best colleges of India where people dreamt of studying.

I swallowed 10 tablets of Death, thinking never to look back again. I swallowed them fast before I change my mind. Now I was at peace that slowly that pain would end. I started analyzing everything. My life in college, my friends, my career, my parents, who loved me beyond everything, unconditionally. They sacrificed a lot for my studies and always made a point to fulfill my every demand. Oh, and when my time came, I repaid them like this. I started to think about my younger sister-she was in school. She loves me too. I remember when I got admitted to this college and had to shift to Gujarat, she used to call me and cry every day, she missed me like anything and it almost took a couple of months to get her back to normal. Poor thing, she would have to live without me now, throughout her life she would just miss me and couldn’t do anything about the pain. Was my love for the boy greater than the love of these people? No. but it was too late now.

I was scared now. I was scared of how much pain I am going to cause to the people who considered me their pride, love, life, everything. They never abandoned me, they never cheated on me, and they were always there whenever I needed them. They loved me without any conditions, any expectations. And what did I do? I stabbed them in their heart. Now their hearts would bleed for me. I have almost killed myself now, for a boy who doesn’t bother. God, what did I do? How can I undo this? I was already losing my mind. There was nobody home. My roommates were out. I could have called them, and told them, “please come, help me”. But what could I have possibly said that I have tried to kill myself. Could they ever reach in time? I was sure now that nothing could be done.

I was losing it, losing what people call life. I was waiting for that moment when my brain would stop thinking, stop remembering things, because it was painful. Painful, that I would die, without telling them goodbye. I have wasted my life of which I could have done so much, I could have been a fashion designer, I could have launched my label, I could have fulfilled my dream. I have killed that one chance which I was given in the form of life. I have closed my door towards God’s gift and I am dying. Weird, why now? I should have thought it before.

My vision was getting blurred. Were those tears that made it difficult to see or the pills did start taking their toll? Darkness, yes darkness was invading my universe. I was blinded. My eye lids were so heavy I couldn’t keep them open. Blackout.
Faintly, what I remembered was that I was in the washroom, vomiting. My friend was standing outside and crying and shouting. Finally, I fell on the floor and TOTAL ECLIPSE.

There were people who were tying my hands and legs, because I was crying and shouting out of pain when they were inserting a pipe down my nose and throat. Gosh, it was painful, suffocating. I wanted to break free. Am I dreaming? Am I dead? I murmured,” don’t tell to mom dad please”

After 3 days in the ICU, when I opened my eyes after what seemed an eternity, I saw my dad standing there at the door; I realized that I was still alive. They saved me. My friends took me to the hospital in time. I was saved. My dad sat by my side. He had tears in his eyes. I said,” SORRY, I AM SORRY PAPA”. And we cried together.

I don’t have any one line moral to tell you folks. I realized what is important when I had a brush with death. Don’t let any failures take charge of your emotions. Suicide is no way. It’s just a tragedy that leaves scars on your loved ones for a lifetime. Don’t even think about it. SAY YES TO LIFE !! 

 

Disclaimer: The above is not related to the writer's personal life.

BACKGROUND MUSIC IN LIFE.........

It is amazing how music can change the whole atmosphere around you. Not only yours, but others around you.

I am at this crowded bus stop, all the rush and hush of the city at its peak. The buses, the cars and bikes, the people – it is total chaos. Ping, comes the music player. Pong, plays the song. And then you look at the same crowded place, the same people and vehicles. And you get a totally different feeling.

I get into a bus and even as I am being crammed by a dozen others sharing my same spot, it is really great. Not the cramming, no. The music effect. I look at people I pass, through the windows. And they all seem to make movements to match my song. Like in the movies where you have these songs in the background to bring the effect. It works in real life too, if you have a set of ear phones with you all the time.

A man rushes after the bus, another just stays still outside a shop, a third glances at his watch, a fourth signs a paper. A lady seems to scold someone, another just stands at a bus stop. A boy picks out his mobile phone. Two old men walk, talking. The tired expressions, the bored ones, the cheerful ones – they were all perfectly fitting into the rhythm of my song.

Pause. The song is over. The real world noises are back for a few seconds. Pong, the next song begins. This time, a love song. Wow. Cool. I now choose my actors. I see someone on the road, and then look at the next person of the opposite gender and imagine they are “the lovers”. A man becomes the hero of two women, a middle-aged lady for a twenty-something fellow. There is a girl rushing towards my bus. A guy far away is parking his bike, I imagine, looking after the girl who (might have) just ran out from the shop. He has a secret crush on her. He goes back, she is inside the bus. Maybe she looks back, I can’t see her.

But there is a problem when you play love songs. Pretty soon you forget about all your real life actors from the streets and buses. You end up imagining scenes with a single person taking the lead role. No doubt, it is yourself. You picture your every movement is now on screen being admired by your one-and-only – that slow smile, that gleam in the eyes, that slight swaying of the hair – that sudden brake in the bus and the sudden fall!

It is absolutely lovely. Adding background music to real world. It is amazing, really. And you wouldn’t even need an MP3 player if you are imaginative enough. You could play it in your mind. Although, I must warn you, it could land you in trouble – cause you end up acting to your song and the onlookers who cant hear the music, may – just may – raise a brow or two. But chances are, if they have known you too long, they will know not to find it unusual to find an overly-expressive girl being overly-expressive for no reason at all.

INDIAN SLAP..... MIND IT!!

I still remember the other day when i took an auto rickshaw to reach from point X to point Y, when in the middle of my journey the engine started sputtering. The driver clearly had a gold medal in chewing tobacco. Without caring about any traffic, he promptly pulled up and started to check the engine.  He quickly decided to execute an engineering miracle. I was inside the auto when i heard "phataaaaaaaakkk" three to four times. I got down to see what really happened. And there he was, SLAPPING the engine.. and signalled me to get back in. Sure enough the engine roared its way back to life.

 

The truth about us, Indians, is this. We are the "slapsters". Whether it’s a battery down remote control of a TV, an old radio catching dust in the corner or even our kids, we can fix anything with a slap. 

Guys, think really hard. Why is it that when an object (living or non-living) goes weird, our first instinct is to give a tight slap? Is it because we saw that was the only way to keep our hot tempered Sreesanth focused on the cricket match without giving monkeys a bad name? Or is it because we have grown up listening to the classical slapping sound of Zakir Hussain’s Tabla? Or may be it is because that was the climax of most of our TV shows and the credits started to roll... A thought to ponder over...

Or is it because we are a big time attention seekers? And a slap is the best way to get it? Indian men never punch each other when their cars meet with an accident on the road. Most, and by most I mean 9 out of 10 men, act like they were going to land a punch but let loose a tight girly slap. Slaps and bullets make more noise thus attracting a bigger crowd. 

During school days, our teachers used to slap us and never really punched.. Not even the hardcore sports types. Taking a punch is manly for guys, but getting slapped degraded their reputation 1000 times over. Is it that we are all slapping each other to avenge our humiliation from childhood? 

Slapping has a much more revered place as compared to other forms of violence, if you look down the history of Indian culture and vocabulary. People are more likely to say “Kaan ke neeche bajaaoonga” (Ill give you one tight slap below the ear” as compared to “ek ghoosa padega toh battisii bahaar aa jaayega” (Ill knock your teeth down with one punch).

But seriously guys, our Indian slap deserves some kind of credit. I don’t know if our lives would go on smoothly without it being employed everyday in almost 2/3rd of our daily activities. But its just another thing we’ve started taking for granted. Let's not talk about it to the millions of women being abused by their husbands everyday.