A Long To-Experience list, just one life!

It was a bright sunny day of March. To reach the destination, I took varied means of transportation that comprised, changing a bus, two autos, and a strode to be taken in the end. After boarding off the second auto, I had to walk down a long road. Unfortunately, the auto dropped me at a wrong place saying, "bas yaha se seedha nikal jaao madam, aaram se pahunch jaaoge". But, after taking few steps I was sure that I was lost, I dint find any other transportation available. Anyway I kept marching ahead on the road. Suddenly, close to a widespread construction site beside the lone road, I saw a bunch of men standing. As I neared, I found them grinning and staring at me. They must be 7 or 8, I remember. I looked around to the farthest point my eyes could reach and found nothing, no other human, or any vehicle.
"What if, they do something to me? I can't do anything in spite of being bold. Perhaps a bleak shout in that isolated area." The thought seized me. Out of my surprise, my heart throbbed for a while. With that growing sense of fear, I walked down the road. Anyhow I reached to the institute, gave my entrance test and came back home.
Though nothing bad happened, but at times, just a thought of it scares me for moments. I never found myself so vulnerable or helpless in my whole life. Even all the money I had couldn't have saved me, if...something wrong had happened.

PS: For the first time in my life, I literally felt, to be a woman is a curse.
(Image courtesy: Aaliyah - Enough Said Cover image)

It's Hindi Diwas last month on Sept 14th and being an ardent linguistic person, I felt obligated to celebrate the day for the love of Hindi. I chose twitter as it's the place where I get instant feedback and some intelligent conversation.
Few weeks before the event, I wondered whether #HindiDiwas too make it to the trending saga of hashtags on twitter. (It did not, Sigh!)
Nevertheless, with all the vague anticipations, I started tweeting. RTs & mentions kept flowing in and I found a sudden transition of Indians into regionalists, asking me to stop imposing Hindi 'on them'. The people I engaged and the outcome, to an extent was more negative than how I expected it to be. Well, it was out of my surprise, because I surely wasn't promoting Hindi but tweeting facts about Hindi language. All I meant was that Indians should respect Hindi which is the official language of India, but all I concluded is that an Indian prefers English over Hindi and if you dare to favor Hindi, the same person will start favoring different regional languages in India and bicker about Hindi. Though I still don't get the idea behind such a split thought-process. People can blurt out that Hindi isn't our national language, but have no idea that it's the official language of India. At one point my mind went to a state of disbelief and confusion that how to respond to them. Though I responded anyway because it's a social media practice that one should respond every conversation, provided the argument makes sense. (by fitting into 140 characters if its twitter.)
How can you be so proud to be an Indian if it sounds 'cute' or 'not-a-big-thing' to you when you fumble while speaking Hindi, but embarrassing if its English. When 41% of population in India speaks Hindi & those who understand it are more than 65%, why there isn't one language that can be learned, spoken and taught to every Indian just like other countries? Why can't Hindi be eligible for this (Or Sanskrit for that matter. No, it isn't funny). It's curiosity and curiosity is quite human. Anyways, if people can keep fighting over 'India' and "Bharat" we can surely see more such things peeking up.

Anyways, at the same time on twitter when I had having such confrontations coming by, I did get some positive feedback and appreciation too, across the country. I considered this as a success for all my endeavors.

PS: I love languages, be it Hindi, Telugu, Bengali, Urdu,... French or Latin, and... I Love our India.


Image courtesy: Screenshot is just one example taken out of my twitter handle. I've kept the image here this large intentionally to make it legible.

This time, I am here with a guest blog post on love. Interesting, ehh? Here the term memoir is being expressed in a subjective manner. Have a read and smile if you find it worth.

Here it goes:

At times, when they keep telling her to forget him and that the time will heal all the invisible wounds she has, she perplexes, nothing but just perplexes with a faded smile thinking...How can I?!.
She has made peace with it that the past would never make a comeback. The good old memories. She keeps on wondering that why is it just not happening, why is it so hard to safeguard her present by a haunting past?

OK, so she may forget him, but how would she forget that first feeling and that he was supposed to be her 'everything' for ever.
She is all ready to forget the talks but could she destroy the whole room where she sat to have those endless conversations till wee hours ending up missing her beauty sleep?
She is ready to forget that awkward rendezvous at an airport that still means a lot because she met him their for the first time, but could she just bomb down that airport so that she wouldn't have to fly from there, ever or without recalling their first meeting?
She can delete those heart-melting songs from her playlist but could she ever ignore the lyrics she accidentally comes across to?
She is ready to forget that candle-lit dinner she had, but could she quit going out for dinners with someone else at all?
She is ready to not think about him but what to do with memoirs that are engraved in all the places they had been at, all the days they spent, and those moments she learned from to become a better her?
How could she not visit those places again, living those dates every year, and reliving those moments every now and then?

Change is inevitable so it's all right that she keeps changing as the time passes by, and doesn't look or walk in her old self in public. But could she ever turn back to what she has  transformed into, from a girl-never-been-in-love into the girl-who-knows-love?
Questions come and go in her mind but what doesn't change is its permanent occurrence. Life is a weird beautiful case that has no solution but there's a dire need to accept what it is and will always be.

मैं ढूँढती हूँ तुझे उन जगहो पर जहाँ तू हो नही सकता. (I look for you in places where u can't be)
दिल ही तो है, क्या समझाना इसको, ज़िद करता है, करने दो, खुद-ब-खुद समझ जाएगा.

खुद की मनमानियाँ कभी पूरी हुई हैं भला, ये मनमानियाँ तो खुदा की होती हैं, होने दो.
दिल ही तो है, क्या समझाना इसको, ज़िद करता है, करने दो, खुद-ब-खुद समझ जाएगा.

पुरानी किताब से सरक कर गिरा पैरो में ख़त उसका. सोचा फैंक दू,
पर पढ़ के मेजपोश के नीचे रख दिया फिर कभी ना पढ़ने को.
दिल ही तो है, क्या समझाना इसको, ज़िद करता है, करने दो, खुद-ब-खुद समझ जाएगा.


गुमे बंद लिफाफे सी ज़िंदगी, कभी तो पहुँचती के जहाँ का पता था लिखा, अब कौन उसे समझाता कि वो पता ही बदल गया.
दिल ही तो है, क्या समझाना इसको, ज़िद करता है, करने दो, खुद-ब-खुद समझ जाएगा.

बादल का छोटा टुकड़ा जो देखा आसमान मे उड़ता हुआ, सारी रात जगा बरसात देखने को.
दिल ही तो है, क्या समझाना इसको, ज़िद करता है, करने दो, खुद-ब-खुद समझ जाएगा.

अच्छा हुआ आँख फडकी, तूफान के आने का अंदेशा पहले ही हुआ. एक आख़िरी बार दिल संभाला, जो फिर चूर हो के बिखर गया.
दिल ही तो है, क्या समझाना इसको, ज़िद करता है, करने दो, खुद-ब-खुद समझ जाएगा.

उसकी परेशानियो का इलाज तो हकीम लुक़मान के पास भी नही, तू नाहक इस दिल को दोष देता रहा.
दिल ही तो है, क्या समझाना इसको, ज़िद करता है, करने दो, खुद-ब-खुद समझ जाएगा.

(Photo credits: Own painting)

More often we lose something or someone in the path of life and interestingly, we know the reasons behind.


We stumble, wander, break down and we know why.
A few vague decisions taken entirely on our own may not be fruitful and disappoint us and we know that too.

People keep on telling us that it's all our fault, it's us who put everything on stake and that we could have tried different means. It's not that they are wrong, but their ignorance that whatever #$^%!~ they are trying to console us with is something we already know. I guess there is no end to their preaching and our own teachings to us.


Nothing happens without our consent either consciously or subconsciously and we know it. When people go through a situation (anything I mean) it is necessary for them to get a little breathing space of their own. All they need is just a little bit of lone time to come out of it. Too much interaction can lead one to either be repulsive or a silent storm that would explode if pushed any further.

The gist is, if we understand anything or everything, it is advisable to understand the fact too, that in most of the cases a person doesn't need constant preaching and "talks" but a comforting silence of one's presence in his life. Ends here!

P.S. You know why Time is said to be the best healer, why a person who is depressed find solace in isolation. The answer is right up there.
Finally ends here. ;)
(Photo credits: a page from my diary with a preserved gifted flower and some scribbling.)

It is not always necessary that what you chase for, is what you believe in. Your interest in something doesn't prove your belief or conformity to it.
Its obvious, its knowledge, its curiosity, its Human.

P.S: Having said that, don't be judgmental!
(Photo credits: Own painting)

That 34 minutes power outage at Super Bowl played a favorable role for the brands. Power of social media has turned much stronger with the creative spontaneity of new brands at Super Bowl. The bang on concision worked wonder for the brands through social media, costing no extra buck.

 For those who think that Super Bowl is just an annual American Football game event, must know that it offers a lot more. A total of approx. 4 hours event is actually a catapult for the brands, where they reach to a huge audience with their advertisements. It provides a chance for tremendous advertising and brand promotion. Brands churn out their creative ads which are not supposed to release anywhere, but exclusively at the Super Bowl and having said that, the recent reports say, 42% of total conversation at Super Bowl was only about the commercials.  Hence, it won’t be wrong to say, that the most important part of Super Bowl is ‘Commercials’. Again, the statement can be proved with the fact that, this year, a 30 second commercial spot cost an awful amount of $4 million and claimed it an all new record. Adding to it, this year, Coke bought three 30 seconds spots spending approx. $12 million.


Let’s talk what and how had it happened. Anyone who follows Super Bowl and advertising can easily recall the ‘Blackout’ and Oreo’s recent social media act. Oreo hit the hammer at the right time with an impressively stark idea shared on twitter, when a sudden power failure doomed the event for about 34 minutes. “You can still dunk in the dark” proved that how brilliantly social media can pull off an opportunity, to reach the audience via social media, if you are quick and attentive. Oreo gained more attention with its rapid action during blackout, then its way expensive regular Super Bowl commercial. Perhaps, this is one of the reasons of how last Sunday ‘blackout’ had been the trending Super Bowl topic on Twitter, with 231,500 tweets per minute. Oreo’s quick call-to- act went viral which received 15,698 RTs on twitter, 20,000 likes on Facebook and 1000s of like on Instagram, which has been incredible till before.

Oreo has surely set a brilliant example as to how far and fast must brands race their brain to seize and utilize an opportunity with the help of social media. That can only happen if they keep themselves updated and proactive to leverage every next opportunity.

When we say social media, we mean about a medium which has the power of instant reach, real-time engagement and flexibility. Be it real time engagement, advertising & promotion, or the crisis management, social media is the one really effective tool.

In the end, as what tide came up with its ‘We can’t get your blackout, but we can get your stains out’ ad at Super Bowl, Social Media can definitely take over such mishap and make the best out of it, along with how brands are leveraging social media as the ‘Wonder of instant advertising’.

"सुनो द्रोपदी शस्त्र उठा लो, अब गोविंद ना आयंगे...
छोडो मेहँदी खड्ग संभालो,
खुद ही अपना चीर बचा लो
द्यूत बिछाये बैठे शकुनि,
मस्तक सब बिक जायेंगे
सुनो द्रोपदी शस्त्र उठालो, अब गोविंद ना आयेंगे...
कब तक आस लगाओगी तुम, 
बिक़े हुए अखबारों से,
कैसी रक्षा मांग रही हो
दुशासन दरबारों से
स्वयं जो लज्जा हीन पड़े हैं
वे क्या लाज बचायेंगे
सुनो द्रोपदी शस्त्र उठालो अब गोविंद ना आयेंगे...
कल तक केवल अँधा राजा, 
अब गूंगा बहरा भी है
होठ सील दिए हैं जनता के, 
कानों पर पहरा भी है
तुम ही कहो ये अश्रु तुम्हारे,
किसको क्या समझायेंगे?
सुनो द्रोपदी शस्त्र उठालो, अब गोविंद ना आयेंगे|
-Unknown Author.

 Sharing this wonderful piece here.
Even at the time of Mahabharata, Woman was not "Sammaanit", and treated as a reward. Neither they wore a jeans nor the guys ate chowmein. Time has changed but mentality hasn't. And then "They" say "Kalyug hai".