The Review Post

Change is good, and inevitable as the wise say. And hence, I'm headed down that path with this blog. I'm bidding goodbye to spots checks & stripes. With the hopes that what's to come will be better. It isn't going to be teary or morose, in fact I have only to thank this space. For bringing me out of writing hibernation and making me believe I can do this. For over a year, it has been my motivation to come back and keep posting. I bid adieu but only to come back with something different, something interesting and of course something original. Cheers!

AWOL as usual. Sincere apologies, this time was particularly long. I had other business to take care of, you know marriage et al. :) And as husband and I walked into the sunset hand-in-hand he sweetly asks - you're not going to write about this on your blog, right? I just smiled at him. And this is the beautiful part about marriage that people gush about I guess. The understanding. Because at that point in time there was one thing we were both pretty certain about - I was definitely going to write about it! :P How could I not?   If my life were a novel, this is the part where the most important character makes his entry - the hero!   That said, the hero has made his entry and will be a common occurrence in my posts henceforth :) At the expense of his embarrassment, welcome to the blogosphere husband dearest! It's going to take a while to reorient myself. So while I scoop for something interesting to write about, I'm leaving you with a couple snapsho...

I'm feeling rather poetic these days. For those of you who missed the first one of the season, here it is - my ode to India and more specifically the former state of Andhra Pradesh. I was truly torn by the incident. Having said that, I moved on from the sombre state of mind to a slightly more lighter tone with this limerick I jotted down in what I'd call a "burst of creativity". It was an informal dedication to a person I didn't know too well. But despite that I thought I did pretty well (so much for modesty) :P In our time of need, you always paid heed. We can't thank you enough for all your deeds. We look up to you for inspiration anew. You will always be what we call the coolest new-age guru ! Read with with the swagger of a rapper. I ended up singing it in the Eminem (think Slim Shady) kind of way.  Tell me what struck you as a good tune that would go with the limerick!

Cut her, break her, divide her. On any other day, I'd have said, she will rise again. But not today. I am but one person. And I want to make a difference before they destroy her completely. But how? The stealth, the dirt and the audacity of a handful of people conspiring to annihilate this country is beyond me. We can see. The people of this country can see through you. Yesterday, democracy was being torn to bits before me. And all I could do was watch in frustrated silence and helplessness. I am but one person. And I watched my country gently weep. *In memory of a state called Andhra Pradesh

So I'm back to being a copywriter again. And I've discovered that it makes me happy :) Extremely happy! I was born to be advertising's child, or so I'd like to think :) Someone once asked me, "So you're a writer in an ad agency, I've heard you work on extreme timelines and deadlines? Are there many copywriters there? And what qualifications do you need to be a copywriter?" I was ready to pour my heart out about all my hardships and then this is what I wrote: Dear XYZ, Yes I do work in an ad agency and there are writers there, not many though. There are no qualifications as such, if you can write, you can be a copywriter (but you have to be good, HAVE TO!). A lot of it is experience, and that people pick up from client exposure and number of years in the business. But you gotta be crazy and real tough! Advertising is a crazy world and you gotta love it that much to be in it - that's my learning. :) If you ask me, a job in advert...

Happy new year everyone! Welcome to 2014 or the year of the Horse (according to Chinese astrology). Apparently this year is good for luck, in general. That might sound like good news to most of us, but in the light of my last post, doesn't seem like it for the AAP. Now, while I wish them luck, I really hope they stop the drama and start the work. They seem to be more and more consumed by the party they've made alliance with - not so much good news for us. So let's hope the horse swoops across to change the luck and fate of this nation this year :-) Having said that, 2014 seems to have begun at quite the galloping speed - already 16 days in - feels like we were preparing for new years just yesterday! I hope the year remains as eventful. To put it in true Bollywood terminology - hanste hanste kat jaaye raste. (Pardon the filminess, it's just so innate :-P) There's nothing new about new years, in my opinion, especially when it comes to resolutions. Every y...

There was a movie called Nayak - The real hero  many moons ago. It was a remake of a South Indian film about a common man who is made chief minister for a day. It was - in the true South Indian cinematic sense - dramatic and starred Anil Kapoor in the title role. When I watched this film for the first time, I remember thinking - AS IF! Aise thodi hota hai? But I loved it for how idealistic it was. It was nice to think maybe, just maybe, there will be an end to stereotypical politicians, that a hero will rise and change the  chalta hai attitude and actually say nahi chalega, badlo ise. Or better yet, hum badlenge ise - which is everything the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) stands for. As Arvind Kejriwal swore in as Chief Minister (CM) of Delhi today, I felt goosebumps on my skin. What a struggle! And what an overwhelming result! His first speech as CM was liberating, reassuring and had one overarching message - we are the Aam Aadmi Party and we are here to help you. I mu...

Ok ok. Yes yes. I know I know. I said I wouldn't go MIA again and that's exactly what I did. But I had good reason - there is no singular thing one can write about this festive season! There is so much cheer, happiness and activity, one's bound to get carried away and lose track of time. So take a deep breath and smell Christmas in the air. A waft of yummy treats in the kitchen to the soft hum of Christmas carols. The church bells ringing in the background and Last Christmas  playing in the cubicle next to yours (this song makes it on everyone's playlist this time of the year). I fondly remember my hostel days when I think of Christmas. The thing is, I lived in hostel for a couple of years when I was in college and my Christmas experience there, is by far the best I've ever had. When I say hostel, I mean the strict kind - where our deadline was 7 pm and if you wanted to stretch 7.30 pm. It was run by a group of nuns and they were extremely strict ab...

Hello folks! Sorry for going MIA like that. It was the need of the hour and I have got none of my content plans underway yet. BUT the happy news is - it's been a year since I started this blog! Yay yay! :) I feel extremely proud that (though at snail-pace) I have put out content that I believe in and all of it original, through the year. I have certain plans for this blog and I hope to achieve them through the next year. I don't know who my readers are, except for my 4 followers - a warm thank you to you guys :) I hope to get you some company in the following year, lots more, actually! And those reading secretly, I'd really like to know who you are - do subscribe :) A big thank you to all those who supported my endeavours and stood strong beside me through my peaks and falls. You have helped me get to where I am today. You know who you are :) And with that - here's to a year of more content, and more buzz! Cheers!

You know that feeling when you get an amazing idea, don't note it down and forget it? Yes! It's happened a million times but what do we do to change it? To NOT lose those precious gems of genius? Oh I've thought of a way! Here it is - but wait, I didn't write it down and now, I don't remember! But today, I must say I reached new heights of stupidity. Indeed. So as I was going about my day, I had a genius stroke and I immediately even thought of writing it down in my shiny new diary with my shiny new pens. But wait, what if I made mistakes? I didn't want ugly scratches in my new diary. So I decided to use a pencil. I ran to my room, fished out a new pencil from the pack (new diary, new stationery), sharpened it, got an eraser (to erase anticipated mistakes - that's right!) and reached out for my shiny new diary and... It was gone! The BIG idea - was gone. And here I am now, writing this post with a pencil, in my shiny new diary, so I don'...

I was watching Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) the other day and discovered that a university in Kolkata was introducing Love as a course from the academic year starting 2014. My mind instantly went into an overdrive about what they would teach in this course: - Different kinds of love - towards your parents, siblings, spouses and pets - The difference between love and lust - The difference between love and compassion - Bollywood love - Violent love (horror stories of love) - Unrequited love - Music and Love And the list can go on... Say if I took up the course, would my qualifications read as any of these? Mallika Harsha, Love Honours Mallika Harsha, MSc. Love Mallika Harsha, PhD. Love Mallika Harsha, MA Love Disclaimer: This an exaggeration (Love will be available as a credit course along with other unique subjects like Digital Humanties and The Physics of Everyday Life). And looking at this, who would give me a job? Arts students find it hard enough convincing...

And it left. Leaving me in the beautiful month of October with nothing to write about. That's right! In addition to being lost and confused (which is my general state of mind), I'm also blank! (And this is new because I generally have something to say about everything.) Notice how I have more text in brackets than the actual blog post. So I start saying something and I have more side thoughts than the actual thoughts. That ever happen to you? Always happens to me. My point being, for someone with so many thoughts, to go blank is something new.  Finally, when I did sit down to write today, this is what I was doing: When this is what I should've been doing: Again, point being, I have no peg for my stories and I'm seriously scraping the bottom of an empty barrel (read mind) for ideas. In case you did make it through the entire post, please feel free to drop in your suggestions! They're always welcome :)

In a hectic day of work, chores and the regular chaos, a book (especially a good one) makes me want to just sit down, unwind and enter my own world. I won't go so far as calling myself a bookworm (I know people who read way more than I do) but I enjoy a good read. Who doesn't? Even registered myself on  Goodreads.com  - this site really inspired me to read more and most importantly, share what I read. Imagine coming home to one of these! :) So I've spread my proverbial book wings to reach out to all the people of the book world! :) When I think books, I've always wished for - i) a rack full of them, so I wouldn't know where to begin. ii) Be part of a book club and have discussions about my favourite authors and my favourite part of the plot in a book. iii) Own a library and the aforementioned book club :) (I can settle for being just a librarian, too). Sidetrack Yeah I know, I know - I haven't even really worked yet and here I am ...

This is perhaps the saddest thing to happen. On the one hand we talk about a global village, one family, one world - and on the other we have a bunch of ignorant souls. Here's what happened, in a nutshell - Indian-American (Miss New York - Nina Davuluri) won the Miss America pageant - much to the adoration of the world at large and to the dismay of a select few in America. It was a moment to be proud. Not because I'm Indian, but to see how diversified the world has become. The United States of America not only permitted an Indian-American to participate in their coveted pageant but whole-heartedly and fairly even crowned her the beauty of the nation. Kudos to them! Now, coming to those select few who cannot assimilate the success of people who actually work hard. Here's what you should know about Nina Davuluri . What's sad is, hate-mongers like this exist everywhere, not just on social media, or any particular geographic location. So, we should look bey...

It is the age where not only do your looks count, even how your food looks counts (for something I don't know either). I don't recall ever saying food was 'gorgeous' before Gary, George and Matt (of Masterchef Australia fame) waltzed right into my living room and introduced me to the new food vocab. Masterchef Australia - They're here & they're hungry! First up, it's odd that we watch a show that is culturally so different from ours. Then, we watch people cook dishes with ingredients we don't even consider 'food' in the first place (pheasant, quail eggs, squid ink et al.) We watch their top chefs drool and praise the food and feel good about it (can't say why). And we immerse ourselves in their 'oohs & aahs' and indulge in some desi version of comfort food while watching them cook on TV! Adriano Zumbo with his creation - The Macaroon Tower Yes, ridiculous I know. But I do it too! There's something so add...

There's little that can be said about the great floods of the North this time, except that it was most unexpected after a bout of blistering heat. Sure the showers provided the much-needed relief, but to the dismay of its receivers. What devastation. May the souls of all those who didn't survive the calamity rest in peace. Having said that, I'd like to take your attention to the image below: When news of the floods was broadcast last evening, this visual - among the many other visuals of buildings collapsing, temples being washed away, vehicles drowning - showed the only upright structure that was up to the neck in water, but didn't look like it was going to budge. I was struck - by awe - and kept gaping at this visual as if it had me in a trance. There seldom comes an opportunity where you can say you witnessed an act of God. There's something so stoic about this image (and the video), that makes you think that maybe, just maybe, this is one of those....

I have always wanted to comment on the political system of our country but often wondered where to begin. In all honesty, I even tried writing a bit about it, but it just sounded like a whiny story of an unhappy citizen. In view of the upcoming elections, this seemed like a good time. Political commentary is a tough task. What should we talk about - the microcosm of things or the macrocosm of it? For instance should I wonder how my local corporation is functioning, how is my constituency doing -- infrastructure-wise, development-wise -- or should I worry about how the country is being governed at large? To tell the truth, I really don't know. Because I'm not connected to the political system at all. From a very young age I was told, politics is not a good thing. So I stayed out of it, but today I'm being asked to vote. They say it's my responsibility as a citizen, my right to choose. So I set off in search of a candidate, I realized this a good time to put my head...

Well there's a lot that transpired through the month of March. There was a book and a couple of movies that left quite an impression, to say the least. A mobile app I cannot draw my attention away from and of course mangoes and soothing drinks that have announced the arrival of summer in full swing. That explains my brief absence from the blogosphere. Getting straight to the point, I'll begin with the book - The Oath of the Vayuputras by Amish I am great fan of author Amish's story-telling technique. He is generally precise and to-the-point with his narrative. Good, brief descriptions and explanations and a seamless blending of facts with fiction. But with this book, I thought something, somewhere was amiss. It's a good read, no doubt, but the pace and intensity were lost somewhere. Not as sharp as the first two books - The immortals of Meluha and The secret of the Nagas. The former being my personal favorite. I'd say, in the war between Good and Evil ...

This, trust me is easier said than done. There are things and people and circumstances that make you happy, but how do you maintain that state? It's a blissful one to be in, I think we will all agree. How do you keep your past from affecting your present? And your present reckons your future. It's all connected. Things are a certain way today, they will be in another tomorrow and we have no control over that, but what we can do, and should do, is remain happy. How do we achieve this feat now, you ask? Well I'm no sage but here are a few things that I think work: 1. Smile a lot :-) . At all times in fact. Sometimes you may have to fake it, but how this works is, is that while faking the smile, you may forget what upset you momentarily. And then maybe you'll realize what you were upset about was probably really silly. 2. Don't over-analyze . This is my disease. We thinkers think about everything. You see we like to be prepared. But many a time, things may n...

I do belong to this generation so to speak, but some things just bewilder me. Here's a little observation I made recently. I thought it to be a bizarre but interesting topic to opine about. So, the movies and music scene in our country is ever-evolving, like some would like to believe. And I speak strictly of what we call 'Bollywood music'. Be it at the gym, high-profile parties or birthday bashes, children and adults alike, the music is staple -- Bollywood! It's quite the phenomenon worldwide, really. British and American dance reality shows believe it is deserving enough to be named a kind of dance form that contestants can perform. Bollywood and how integral item numbers are to it, is common knowledge. As was aptly portrayed in The Dirty Picture, masses sometimes only go to watch a film for a song-and-dance sequence. I, for one, thoroughly enjoy watching the mesmerizing Helen groove to Piya tu, Yeh mera dil, and Mehbooba mehbooba, even today. That...