You always complain people don’t understand you and are unmotivated coz everyone you know or come in touch with thinks you are crazy. And you want to give up… hang on read this:

Think different

(It’s the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do!)

You think you are crazy, you dream of changing the world don’t want to settle for less, you want more and believe you can do this? If you do then world needs you…no matter what your dream be no matter what your age is, no matter how many people think of you as loser or are against you! Just hang on there, pursue your dream, do what you think you can do and more importantly do what you want to do. Coz world needs people like you..

You complain that people don’t understand you, just stop and think for a min:

How can they? They are different and they don’t feel and think as you do. You belong to a different species yes!! species as  we humans can be categorized in many, we r so different from one another. so if your mom thinks you are wasting your time contemplating world change! Or your dad thinks you are a loser…just wait a sec and think have they changed the world no? Then stop expecting them to understand you!

No one cares what you say ? Don’t worry they will come along, those who laugh at you today will stand up and applaud your success one day..just hang on a little, follow your dream..coz u r different and you know that and world will accept this fact!

Celebrate yourself, think different because you can!

I look into your eyes
and realize
that we are no more
it shakes me to the core
makes my heart beat faster
am afraid of my own laughter
I want time to go back
when u and me used to be we
honey m scared
of not others but me
don’t know how to say
time has come to part our way
Love that existed
is coming to an end
how and when
even i cant understand
but I am not the same
and you have changed
it’s not the world
neither distance
i guess everything
starts with an end
but i won’t say a word
i don’t know why
don’t want to be
the one to say
will wait till u realize
change in look of my eyes
Honey I shall wait

We love to avoid things that disturb us, problems that challenge us; events that hit us hard, people who hurt us…some go ahead and completely deny its existence. We close our eyes and push it under the rug and it’s not just for things we don’t care about. We love denial and have learned to live with it or should I say we have embraced it fully in our lives. I got a bitter taste of it when I started reading about child sexual abuse, I always knew such people exist in our society and know people who have survived it but I always thought of it as a problem limited to some homes and a few sick people. However, reality is different…. Situation is scary and our attitude is not helping it.

When we look back in our childhood days we see innocence, laughter, carefree attitude and a love for everything almost everything but that’s not true for all of us.  There are people around us who are scared to look back coz someone broke their trust, someone close to them, someone they trusted, someone they called family.  Yes, there are a large number of children who are sexually abused and most of the times by someone close to them.  In an age meant for playing with dolls and learning alphabets, someone played with them used them as a toy for their sexual pleasure.  This is a heinous crime that is being committed in every second household; a criminal is closer than you think.

Our own children are suffering in our homes and we are so indulged in our own lives that we can’t listen to their silent cries for help. Someone we trust is breaking it under our own nose. A family member, a father, a mother, a grandfather, an uncle, an aunt, a cousin…it can be anyone. It scares me…With increasing number of crimes against children situation is already out of control and on top of that we are happy being asleep. Sexual abuse scars the soul,breaks the spirit and wounds the heart.

What are we doing? How are we going to deal with it especially when are we going to deal with it??!!It’s time to open our eyes and see the naked truth…child sexual abuse happens and it happens in every nook and corner of the world. But, it’s unacceptable, how can we let our children suffer? How can we let some sick man/woman ruin his/her life? Can we? No we can’t. It’s our duty to save our children; it’s our duty to save our future. We owe it to them, more importantly we owe it to ourselves and we owe it to world. So let’s take responsibility, let’s make world a better place for all of us.

Raise your voice against child abuse; change the world…one child at a time.

Being an Indian I can totally relate to this video although I feel it’s a little exaggerated. When I was a kid my parents used to ask me to concentrate on my studies and constant checks on grades and performance in school was something we could not avoid, and it’s not a story of one family. This is more or less same in every household as a friend of mine puts it I was born at 6 am and at 6:06 am my father said my son will be a doctor!

Yes India has its own set of clichés; engineering and medicine are regarded as best professions. All parents want their children to have a respectable high income life and they go to any extent to make sure their child doesn’t ’spoil’ his future by pursuing arts, humanities or any such stream.90’s saw a marvelous addition to the list of coveted professions and it was being a manager, “MBA” now became the most sought after degree, ultimate status symbol. Not just doctors and engineers even those who chose humanities, commerce or any such profession started running after business schools and all of them had only one dream in their eyes finish MBA and be a manger in some multi national. Doctors and engineers are now left behind and management is the new big thing. This mass hysteria still continues and has an added angle to it, now every child or specifically saying his parents want to be an engineer first and then add MBA to their qualifications, whatever happened to medicine.

It’s in a way funny that parents try to live their lives through their children and they want to give him/her everything they ‘didn’t have’. This is not limited to parents and single families even in family gatherings out of two siblings one who pursues science and then engineering, medicine or MBA is given more importance than the other kid who is a meager bachelor in arts, as if it’s some kind of pressure tactics to make him understand that he has committed cardinal sin by not pursuing science.

Why this mass hysteria over science subjects?

It’s a phenomenon people are trying to understand for years or decades will be more apt. But, there is a simple definition to this, medicine has always been an elite profession for a simple reason that it is much more profitable than other professions no, it’s not because of any social service or for the reason that you get to save human lives, it’s more profitable and that’s the reason it is termed better. But with the advent of new India and commercialization engineering started catching up in the race big fat pay checks, more demand, government jobs and what not, engineers were most sought after grooms in marriage market, and this explains it all. But 90’s changed it , managers were new big thing and still are, everyone wants to do MBA from IIMs and live the great Indian middle class dream of a fatter pay check, a big house in a tier A city(Metros to be precise) and cars for every member of family.

Money involved is increasing day by day and so is increasing our greed, so much so we don’t let our kids decide their future, in fact, they don’t even get a say in it. Pursuing your dream is fine as long as it involves a big fat pay check and a blue collar job. You want to be a musician, writer or a teacher?? You already are a loser, no one thinks twice before deciding if a child gets 90% he/she must pursue science. I still remember when I was a kid out of merit list (which means above 90) only one girl decided to pursue arts and everyone was shocked on hearing this as if they have seen UFO and not to mention I was one of them. People want you to do well in your life and sadly by doing good they mean earn more and not live a fulfilling life or be a good human being. I believe this is the reason we Indians still think money can solve every problem.

In race of producing good managers we forgot to produce good leaders, so many kids who could change the fate of our nation are working their ass off for big multinationals and country is left in the hands of corrupt politicians who are doing a really good job in making money for their seven generations to come. In a few years we will be a nation with largest young population and all this generation knows is how to make money and icing on cake is, this is all they want to do. Yes there are a few exceptions but number is very less, all we have succeeded in producing is generations and generations of money worshiping hogs and this definitely raises a question mark on our parenting skills.

I sometimes wonder, what is that we really want?? We want better jobs, partners, homes, relatives,  shoes, clothes…in short we are looking 4 improvement in every single thing around us…why we r so unhappy with our lives?

Look around and u will find so many unhappy faces near by….people who are so well off can sometimes cry in front of you saying how much they hate their lives and their jobs not to mention their families. Have we become so cynical that we can just look for negatives in our life and the world around us?

When someone talk about anything we find so many ways to hate it or prove that it’s just not enough, we have our own standards and we judge everything and not 2 forget everyone by those standards. We laugh over those who cant measure up to our expectations and feel jealous of those who r way beyond us.

Our world revolves around us and anything better as well as lesser than that is just not acceptable and has millions of flaws. It’s not a question of accepting things as they are, it’s also a question of being judgmental…We analyze every random act of not just our relatives and friends but also of complete strangers, we don’t know anything about.

And icing on the cake is we form an opinion; a picture of them based on our judgments which I must say is not free from prejudices, what exactly is this behavior?? Is this some form of insecurity we have that makes us defame everyone else and look for flaws in everything else except us or we are still living in that high school fantasy world where everyone believes nobody is a stud except me!!!

Moreover we all have a list about everything dividing similar things in two standards based on our reach, one is things which are better and out of our reach and things we think are below our standards…For instance we go around flaunting our gadgets just coz we know everyone doesn’t have access to that is it same as eating your food in flashy restaurant with kids on streets not having enough food to eat. I am not saying stop eating your food or stop buying gadgets I am  just wondering what have all this done to human inside us. How many of us share our birthdays with those who don’t know when they were born or worse don’t have parents? Are we victims of consumerism or is it a tendency we have inherited from our forefathers!!!!

Why can’t we accept things as they are and look for beauty and not make a list of their flaws? Why can’t we for a change, get out of our air-conditioned cars and think about millions of people who don’t get oil for cooking their food!! Are we so involved in changing environment around us to suit our needs that we have completely forgotten about changing the world around us??

Why we label things and put them in different brackets. Why are we so obsessed with classification and uniformity? Why can’t we for a change accept that universe is non uniform, no two planets are alike and same is the case with people.  We can share some interests and ideas and maybe some personality traits but these are our differences that make us special!!!!

I am still looking for answers and if you have any please share…

Sometimes you see something out of blue and it reminds you of good old days. Same thing happened to me today when I was just watching some you tube videos and came across some old Indian ads, ads which we used to watch as kids and which left an imprint on our minds. So here I am adding a list of such ads, it will be a treat for most of you especially those who grew up in 90s.Feel free to add to it.

I love you Rasna: An ad which made Rasna a popular name in every home of India. We loved the ad more than product:

What a way to sell your watch: Titan ad

Uttely Butterly Amul, our very own Amul girl

Mero gaam kantha parey Amul ad featuring Smita Patil

Cadbury also gave us some wonderful ads:”Kuch khaas hai hum sabhi me”

How can I miss Hamara Bajaj –India at its best.

Don’t we all remember phrase I am a complan girl, here is the ad which generated it.

And last but the best Jaleebi ad from Dhara, personal favorite.

Hope you liked the collection.

You see things, and you say ‘Why?’

But I dream things that never were and I say ‘Why not?’

-George Bernard Shaw

40 years of Sesame Street, 40 years of combining education and entertainment, 40 years of touching lives of every child in United States of America and some other countries for that matter. No wonder it’s the longest running children’s program started in mighty year of 1969(It’s of same age as internet).

So on that day Google doodle celebrated the show by featuring a dedicated doodle on its home page. And with Michelle Obama featuring on the show and its new “My World is Green & Growing” theme, it surely has generated some good reviews for itself.

So what’s the secret?

It’s one of the most well researched shows in history of television, refreshing content, new ideas being incorporated every year. No wonder New York City has proclaimed November 10 as Sesame Street day. So in words of Bob McGrath it’s a dream come true. And looking at different versions of the show being used to spread hope among children of world it surely is.

What can we learn?

You do not need oomph to make your show success, no sex, no tears, no drama just strike a chord with the audience. Try to enrich their lives, by making it fun at the same time. Reinvent yourself at every opportunity, make it relevant. Think out of the box and work collaboratively, and it is important to focus on 21st-century skills

There is something to learn for each one of us.

A few days ago there was a huge controversy in Indian media and political circle over Shashi Tharoor’s cattle class remark.Everyone was divided in groups,tweeps/twitterati (people on twitter) came in his defense whereas,political parties including his own party stood against him,some asked for apology whereas, others asked for resignation in a not so new political drama.We all have been seeing it since time immemorial, someone says something,people interpret it in other way and next thing is a storm in teacup.

I want to clarify my stand here am neither against Shashi Tharoor nor in his favor.I don’t really care what a minister who is living in 5 star hotels thinks about common Indian man because, it hardly matters they don’t care,they don’t do anything and they make fun of you while sipping a cup of Darjeeling tea in comfort of their air conditioned homes.More on this later but point is we all are no better than cattle class,politicians eat our fodder,we have to live in so called inhuman conditions (If only someone could understand the irony of calling it inhuman with millions living in it) or I can very proudly say we are worse than cattle as they also enjoy 5 star benefits in some ministers homes,Lalu yadav’s buffalo is a class apart whereas, most of people from his own state can’t even enter within 50 meters of his home,his buffalo(ex resident of CM house) not only enjoys the pleasure of his company also lives on his mind 24X7.Am again deviating from real point,so much for being from cattle class.

It’s acceptable for me that our foreign minister of state(It’s called minister of external affairs in political lingo)thinks of us or was kidding when he called us cattle class.Mr.minister you have every right to do so and we are honored by your remarks,it’s not what I have any problem with.My problem is with those ministers and more importantly those people who fought over you being right or wrong,your remark being derogatory or in good humor.My problem is with them they took away our slightest chance of us being famous.We are in no way competing with people like you,we can’t even think of,we are common Indians our life is in DTC and BEST buses. Oh my fault,I need to tell you this, there are different classes within cattle class, one who travel in DTC/Best buses is a class higher than one who travels in roadways buses,and they are a class higher than one who travels in bullock cart (yes sir there r still people who travel in bullock or camel cart better call it cattle cart in memory of our missed chance to fame).And am deviating again,sir we will always be thankful to you, yes all classes of cattle class will always be thankful to you for thinking about us,most of your counterparts are so busy in IHC and concerts, they feel it’s not artistic to talk bout us.

But these people robbed us of our chance to fame, they talked about you being right or wrong,they talked about our politicians lacking a sense of humor (Mr.Lalu Yadav we feel sorry for you too) they talked about this being blown out of proportion,as if there is anything that is in right proportion in this nation except a huge divide between rich and poor (which is the only thing we can boast about).And now we the proud cattle class are  depressed again,Rahul Gandhi tried giving us a chance of fame again but he missed it by traveling in ac chair car from Delhi to Ludhiana,which is a distant dream for around 40% of us as it’s fare is more than total monthly income of most of us,so much for austerity and our chance to fame.

They call you one of the best ministers of our times,they make you God like,who cares if we are still having problem with Pakistan and china.It hardly matters coz Obama won Nobel even though Osama is still alive.I agree you are God, I don’t have any problem with you even though they respect you more just because you speak in English language of elite and not in Malayalam or Hindi.Such politicians who speak language of masses must be declared a threat to *political class*, they don’t deserve such a status and their voices must be ignored.I agree with all this, all I want is my chance to fame back,so that, ppl like me or of lower class can proudly say,yes we belong to cattle class.

As if anyone is listening to me,when will I understand no one cares what I want because I am from cattle class and not an English speaking,Stephen educated minister who has more experience of living in foreign land than his own sorry,my poor country.I apologize for my stupid rant please, ignore it (as if I have to ask for it).Life won’t change for people like me,we will again travel in cattle class and our wives and mothers will pray for our death in bomb blast so that our family can win a cash prize of 5 or 10 lakh from government obviously minus the share of babu class,so as to have a roof to cover their heads with.My request (it’s another word for begging in cattle class dictionary) is just that next time you by any chance remember us and decide to give us our chance to fame,please think about making a change in our lives.

“We enjoy warmth because we have been cold.
We appreciate light because we have been in darkness.
By the same token, we can experience joy because we have known sadness.”

-David Weatherford

Dear ……..;
I never thought I would be writing this letter,I never wanted to.I have always believed in being strong,being able to control myself and trust me I tried my best.But now I can’t, I really can’t hold it.My grief is killing me from inside,I don’t really know what am gonna say.Tonight my tears have washed away my ego,my pride and I can see how meaningless world is without you.

Tonight I want to cry,am writing this letter to you and I know I may never post it but I have to let my feelings out.I don’t have any other option whenever I look at those love letters my heart tells me,my life will never be same.Deep down I know I will never be able to love again,I will never be able to feel the same.But my mind refuses to believe it,it actually wants me to forget you.It wants me to believe someone better will come along.

But, I just can’t…I have lost all hope and now I can’t fight it anymore.Let these tears fall from my eyes,I may actually feel better.I know am being foolish but I don’t know what to do,since time immemorial I have always loved you..and now that you are gone my life seems like an empty road waiting for it’s only traveler to come back.I don’t know if you remember but two years ago this same night you promised me you will always be with me…those promises of together till death do us part,how stupid I was to believe it.

I know it was my mistake,but I never knew you could leave me like this…..

I know there is no second chance and you will never come back,but I can never get over you.Am losing myself in this deep sea of pain and I may never recover,and now even my false smile has failed to hide pain in my eyes.I don’t want anything, just want you to know that

I still love you.