22 Crossroads

Author's Note: I have been given to understand that this piece makes me look like a douche. Well, I am not. This piece was an exercise in writing, and I hope (and pray), that I am not judged on it, by girls. Special mentions for Rosemarie Urquico for writing that wonderful piece, and for Tapas Shrivastava for making me want to write one myself. Thanks to Rohini Lall for the spark that ignited this particular piece. Date a girl who loathes herself. Date a girl who spends her money on comfort food. She has problems with closet space because she has too many high heels bought in moments of madness. Date a girl who has a list of failed relationships, who lost her first elocution competition when she was twelve. Find a girl who is depressed. You'll know she is because she has that long lost look in her eye. She is the one wearing crushed pajamas in the cafeteria, the one who is fidgeting with her cell phone, contemplating whether calling her therapist third time in a day woul...

There was a time I used to be young Sang with the choir when the school bell rung There was a time when promises were kept There was a time I wasn't unstrung There was a time I could name the stars In Orion's belt and the ones afar There was a time when my shoes did shine There was a time I fought for marks There was a time I loved traveling in trains In sleeper coaches with betel stains There was a time when Maggi was cherished There was a time I danced in the rain There was a time I used to be rich 10 bucks I'd have, would lend out six There was a time I tried to be honest There was a time when I was a snitch There was a time I knew my F.R.I.E.N.D.S I shed a tear when "The Last One" ends There was a time I knew multiplication tables There was a time I didn't have to pretend There was a time I had the stomach to cover the distance that somehow grew There was a time I used to hate girls There was a time I used to love you.

An established brand changes its brand design/ logo, and there you have it – the eternal debate between the old and the new, the classy vs. the peppy, the understated vs the wannabe. Usually its just a manifestation of people wanting to cling on to something they loved, but sometimes the rolling stone gathers a bit too much moss. GAP and Tropicana have learned the lesson the hard way , and judging by the initial reaction to Airtel logo (on Facebook and elsewhere), I guess things might just be heading in similar directions. So what is the deal with a brand logo? My very limited experience of presenting in a couple Ad-Design competition had me memorized (more or less) my introductory speech when the logo part came in. A logo is judged on its aesthetic values – the colors , the fonts , how it fits with the overall brand image , on reproducibility and on the story it tells (I believe that every logo should have a story). But I guess, in the end its just one thing – RECALL VALUE, RECALL VA...

कुछ रातें ऐसी होती हैं अधखुली आँखें आधी सोयी, आधी जागी ख्वाबों की दस्तक पर चौंक उठती हैं कुछ रातें ऐसी होती हैं रेडियो वाली लड़की हंसती है, खिलखिलाती है बेनाम उस आवाज़ से जाने कितनी गिरहें खुलती हैं कुछ रातें ऐसी होती हैं खिड़की में चाँद और करवटें, और करवटें डेढ़ पहर रात्री चांदनी में कटती है कुछ रातें ऐसी होती हैं ज़हन में कुछ शब्द आते हैं अधूरी जो नज़्म बनती है उजाले से डरे दिल का सच अँधेरे में बेख़ौफ़ कहती हैं कुछ रातें ऐसी होती हैं धुंधलाने लगता है सब चांदनी फीकी पड़ने लगती है सब अधुरा सा रह जाता है अधूरे ख्वाब, अधूरी नज़्म अधूरे गाँठ, अधूरी रात सुबह की पहली किरणें रात के स्लेट को साफ़ कर देती हैं कुछ रातें ..... For those whose hindi font is not working Kuchh raatein aisi hoti hain adhkhuli ankhen aadhi soyi, aadhi jaagi khwabon ki dastak par chaunk uthi hain kuchh raatein aisi hoti hain radio wali ladki hansti hai, khilkhilati hai benaam us awaz se jane kitni girhein khulti hain kuchh raatein aisi hoti hain khidki mein chand aur karwatein, aur karwatein dedh pahar raat chandni mi...

Preface: This is a sequel / prequel to " Stupid Roses ". Do read that as well, if you haven't already. He glanced around the room. He did not want to be late. There was something missing but he could not figure out what. A dozen or so items lay on the table, neat and tidy. He ran through the list once again. Chopped onions, mashed garlic cloves, tomatoes, capsicum, coriander leaves, butter, salt, pepper and of course eggs. Ah, chilies, he had forgotten green chilies. He rushed to the refrigerator. He did not want to be late. Not tonight. She could handle this on her own, she told herself. Vials of various sizes were spread around. The pills, at last. She gulped down two at a time. This should ease things down, for a few minutes at least, though she could never be sure. They came in waves – these attacks, in ebbs and flows – and they were becoming far more frequent; and punctual. For now, though, she was calm. In the distance, the second hand of the wall clock was loud as ...

A lot of you keep asking me, “ tu din bhar karta kya ha i ” (what do you do all day in your free time). Here’s the answer. In what follows, most of the lines were spoken in the head, some aloud. And it’s not this coherent in original, it’s been paraphrased. “ I need a plan. I really need a plan. I need to retire, retire early. I can't work for long. I should retire by the time I am 40. Yeah 40 seems reasonable. That gives me 16 years of working life. Spend a couple years doing MBA, and I am left with 14 years. Not bad. I hope I will be able to retire at 40, and not get bogged by social obligation. Obligations? Will I have a family to take care of? A kid maybe? [No comment on this status update yet? Why isn’t anyone online?] Hmm, I can have a kid. How old would he be then? Around 7 I guess. Yeah 33 seems to be a good age to have a kid. And when the kid is 7, that’s a good time to retire. Give my nurturing instincts a way to express themselves [chuckles to self] . Seriously, 7 is a ...

Disclaimer #1: I am going a bit off the cuff with this post. Reader discretion is advised. Disclaimer #2: This one too is dedicated to Dr Stephen T Colbert and that brings us to tonight’s WORD: ACTIVE LEARNING . Now folks, every time I am home, I see this commercial on TV - this (kinda hot?) Mom bragging about how a certain DTH operator helped her learn English. Most of you would have seen it. And well, the first time I saw it, when she makes that transition and says pro-"noun"-cia-tion initially, I said to myself, Its pro-"nun"-cia-tion for god’s sake. Thankfully the ad makers took care of that. So, why am I discussing pronunciations here? Well the simple fact is that most of the people get that pronunciation wrong. This is ok, considering it’s not our first language. People also get "restaurant" wrong. Hell, even I don’t know how to pro-NOUN-ce " restaurant ". You see, French may be damn seductive, but it’s not the most phonetic of languages. ...