Word Relish!

Today is one of those craziest days when I had nothing to do and my mind started running amok. As they say 'idle mind is a devil's workshop', well mine din't turn exactly into a devil's workshop it rather became loony. I started mouthing all the words that I love pronouncing and find very relishing. This is more of a silly post (thought I would give a glimpse of my silly side) but nevertheless interesting in a way. This list includes few proper nouns as well, which I will be listing separately.

So the list goes on like this...
- Aplomb ('plomb' sounds like a pebble falling into a puddle, though the sound is best described as 'Plop')
- Aristocracy (i just love that 'kraa' sound)
- Bubble
- Butcher
- Chivalry
- Chuckle
- Cuddle
- Doodle
- Dung (this so sounds like the background music i give when something heavy falls)
- Ergonomics (the day i saw this on the poster, i went mental repeating this all the way back home)
- Fulcrum
- Gobble
- Hippogriff (sounds majestic)
- Hopscotch (it definitely sounds juicy, i love going on & on about this)
- Mongrel (sounds great with appropriate prefix and is my favourite cuss word)
- Moron (used exclusively when I get irritated)
- Mumbo Jumbo ( well this is rather a phrase than a word but well this whole post is about my word Mumbo  jumbo)
- Nincompoop
- Poppy
- Poultry
- Puncture
- Scrunchy
- Topple
- Voilà (this definitely has elements of surprise and makes me happy whenever I say that)

And now for the list of pronouns that pleases my tongue to twist in..
- Constantinople (No more in use, I feel this sounds more cool, majestic than Turkey)
- Djokovic (The hottest stud with even hotter name)
- Dumbeldore (will remain my ever favourite name & person from Harry Potter series)
- Givenchy
- Dolce & Gabbana (Italians do have some hot names) 
- Gorbachev (I have an affiliation to Russian names, I would love to include all the Russian names)
- Massachusetts
- Pochampalli (This tiny sari weaving town in AP definitely has caught my attention)
- Timbaktu (Contrary to the metaphor of some outlandish land, there does exists a trading town in Africa)
- Vladivostok (Once again Russian, doesn't need any better explanation)
- Volkswagen (It sounds Foxy, hence sexy & sophisticated)
- Wimbledon (well with tennis being my favourite sport just cannot seem to neglect this wonderful name & place) 

I could remember only so much of my favourite words.. I bet there is more to it. Hope you guys enjoyed my silly post of my obsession with words.

The Walk of Life

WARNING: This is my true life experience with some deep insights & afraid some may find it boring.. but I assure you it would be great if you could go through it once. 

      Crowded streets covered with red betel spots & scented with the Coovum stench is a very common sight in Chennai but in walking the stretch of the road to reach the destination lays the art of enjoying every moment and thus becomes the walk of life. I walk down the streets of Choolaimedu every day to & fro from office with greying bald men yelling at me to give way for their giant perspiring bodies on wheels to speed by on the tiny footpath, adolescent men ogling, trying to freak me out with their obscene comments, the frustrating auto men always blocking my way when I am in least need of them and the ever chatty flower women have become a part of my wonderful journey. It must be a wonder how I enjoy every moment such as this. This walk has made me think out things with much more clarity; it has also taught me patience to deal things with and that the materialistic world (I have not been able to get over everything materialistic, though I have started with small things as of now) is just an illusion. I am not sure whether everyone would experience something as phenomenal as this by just walking through random streets. I have also heard people can go through such experience at different time at really odd situations. Thankfully mine isn’t odd enough not to make it to my blog. The walk back is so soothing and refreshing, I have never found out why, usually random people running into me always blow the lid off me but surprisingly ever since I have been walking in the infamous choolaimedu street everything seem to have become pleasant. My miscellaneous music collection blaring out of my earphones and the cool wind blowing on my face, going right through my nostrils brings the feeling of being alive and enjoying life every moment..It just made me realise how life has been interesting, surprising and extremely fruitful to me in comparison to the few others walking down the streets of Chennai, living off fly infested unhygienic food and dilapidated houses. All this made me feel very important, that I am not one among them. And when they could be contended and happy with whatever they have, live for that day like there is going to be no tomorrow, I should be feeling like the queen of the world. I no more worry about singing loud in the public with my earphones on because it just makes me elated to listen to it all alone (in my head) and enjoy each and every note of it. I have slowly started accepting each moment like it’s going to be the last, experiencing it with all the zeal & my spirit, doing whatever pleases me the most and trust me it feels just amazing. Life has become a lot gayer, it has brought in lot of clarity, instilled courage and every moment feels new, fresh & surprising. It becomes lot simpler living like this without any confusion because at the end of the day you would have done a series of things that ultimately makes you happy & want to enjoy life no matter what may come. It really did enlighten me, this ‘walk of life’.  

Memoirs of unconditional love

What does unconditional love mean to you? Is it the kind of love you find in your lover, parents & family? Is it something that radiates from your near and dear ones despite your inabilities and negativity?

Well to me it's all the above as well as the kind of love that radiates from a living being no matter in what state of mind you happen to be in or whether you happen to acknowledge it or not. I have experienced it in different forms coming from various walks of life at various points. I have also seen at a point when complete strangers feel that unconditional love for each other and i have wondered if it is forced upon or it just flows out? Everyone must have experienced that sensational moment at some point of life. The unconditional love of the parents, siblings and lovers though doesn't have any boundaries I personally think is bound by their relationship to the person concerned whereas that of friends are not bound by anything, they can choose to leave or come back anytime though we do expect certain things from them. I have been immensely lucky to have friends who have not chosen to leave me behind and instead showered me with boundless love. I ain't any god to deserve such love yet the journey has been wonderful. The love showered by my parents, family has always been of great support, been a strong backbone but what some friends have done for me is unaccountable. They have not done any herculean task (all credit for such tasks goes to the parents) for me to write about it here but the small things that they have done has made some big difference. Be it making me laugh like a lunatic, make me plead on all fours or pissing the hell out of me they as well as me have had our fair share of fun and I have always seen that glimpse of the so called immense unconditional love. It has been two months now past college and I have still not been able to come in terms with the fact that I have been stranded among grim faced, rigorous working men and have completely lost sight of those familiar grinning jobless faces. Last two days made me realize that I had not completely lost sight but had just become short sighted. And again it was love from two amazing individuals who came all the way from a great distance away to see me (which by itself according to me is a herculean task), spent some time and laughed like old times. Had it not been for priya and sadhana I would have lived in an illusion of having lost sight and would not have realized the greatness of that unconditional love which these both individuals showered on me especially the latter for coming all the way down on her birthday to my workplace just to see me (I know you could not contain yourself from seeing me :P), i was just bowled over and brimmed with happiness and tears. I have never been so touched by such an act. It made me realize number of things which I had earlier considered trivial and neglected. All this reminded me of Brett Dennen's 'Blessed', truly 'blessed is this life, I am gonna celebrate being life'. I know its been an overdosage of LOVE but hell yeah!! everyone has that impeccable moment in life and it definitely impacts us more when it comes in small packages and once in a blue moon!! 

BLIMEY!!

Well, its been quite sometime since I posted any blog. I did come up with some ideas but unfortunately nothing materialized. I have finally decided to take a leaf out of my brief tenure as a visual merchandiser, the umpteen number of observations that I make. It has always amazed me how some Homo sapiens composed of the same DNA like any of us develop to have some extraordinarily brilliant minds and out of which some end up coming up with mind blowing concepts for Ad campaigns; the right pitch to sell any kind of product. Any company will meet with great success if they have such distinguished Homo sapiens. Brands like Diesel, G - star have such incredible men behind the wheel steering the brands to the right direction through their prodigious Ad campaigns, window displays and posters.It is one helluva work to put in so much of innovative thought and executing it effectively which definitely isn't a piece of cake for everyone!! Hence hats off to these crazy innovators. I would like to show the world few of the incredible displays & Ad campaigns from some of the great minds which am sure will make everyone go BLIMEY!! 


The interesting things that can be done with rubber balloons including preventing piling on of population!

This is my personal favourite.. now now don't get me wrong. 
The caption, the cute balloon doggies all are bang on and eye catching and I hope will stop the unwanted increase in our population.

I bet all the guys would love to watch one such Marilyn Monroe effect. This Lanvin window display sure does get everyone's attention.

Anthropologie always tend to have some interesting as well as economical window display such as this dyed fabric spread over a ring. These displays are as a part of recycling theme.

This is the best of theirs, dyed tea bags. How more economical & creative can anyone get.

REEBOK has definitely someone really brilliant behind the wheel to have come up with a simple yet effective window display. Paris based Colette has created this. The display features all of the Reebok Pumps from the collection orbiting around the globe, a reference to the global scope of the project.

G Star Raw definitely knows how to advertise the product which they are an expert at.

Wooden denims with rotating pockets for their new 3Denims 

How can a fashion blog exist without the legend McQueen gracing it?

 This Avant-Garde installation by Zoe Bradley definitely makes head turn so does the one below with a metallic man hanging from the ceiling and giving a futuristic look to the store.

This will remain my all time favourite installation by Hermes. This window display with the scarf blowing shows their area of expertise for years, done up by Tokujin Yoshioka. True master of art. Trust the Japanese when it comes to doing something extraordinarily out of the box. 

If only Indian brands also could learn from them and invest extra on Ad campaigns and displays... they would truly become global.

I am hoping to see more such amazing ad campaigns and installation in the future and some from our Desi brands too!!! 

The Unsung heroes of Chittagong

How many in India know about the Chittagong armoury raid that took place on 18^th April 1930 or the young martyrs of Jalalabad? Little is known about the events that took place in Chittagong. People hardly know where Chittagong is? It is only a handful of people who recall the Chittagong armoury raid. Chittagong or Chattogram is currently located in Bangladesh; earlier a part of India during the British Raj. This was an important trade centre as it was easily accessible by the sea but it also was the birth of the revolutionary warriors who dedicated their lives to overthrow the two hundred year rule of the British Empire over India. 

Chittagong Revolutionaries

I read about this when I was in school in my history books though it is a shame that they had given just a miniscule detail about the famous raids that set the British government’s pulse rising throughout the country. After all these years I came upon it once again with Ashutosh Gowariker’s movie Khelein hum jee jaan se. Inspired by the book ‘Do and Die’ which was the motto of the Chittagong revolutionaries written by Manini Chatterjee, the movie was beautifully shot and was enacted brilliantly by the actors. Though the movie did not do well at the box office it did manage to carve a niche for itself in many a people’s heart. The movie moved me to tears which made me all the more determined to read Manini’s book. She is the daughter in law of Kalpana Dutta, one of the few women at that time who took part in the Chittagong uprising aggressively and who also set a great example for the rest of the women in the country. Manini Chatterjee, a well known political journalist has done a commendable job writing this book and has thrown light upon the forgotten uprising. She has given a riveting account of the dramatic events that unfolded over three years. Surjya Sen or Masterda (as fondly called by his comrades) was the master plan behind the armoury raids. This was carried out with rage as an answer for the Empire’s atrocious acts and for a free India. Though it did have some major flaws yet it sent a chill through the British raj. The raids took place at 4 places in one night and what really shook the British from the root was that teenage boys as young as 13 had taken part in these raids. As many as 40 or more young boys had challenged the might of the British Empire. With armoury raids facing a major setback, Masterda and his young comrades escaped to the Jalalabad hills. On the fateful day of 22 April, 1930 nearly 12 young boys were mercilessly murdered by the British armed forces. Their bodies were dumped together on the hills and burnt and later thrown into the sea. The bodies were not even rightfully sent to their home for a proper farewell but deceitfully thrown away. They were permanently branded as terrorists in all the police records and papers. As Manini puts it together ‘they may have not been the most skilled soldiers but to call them terrorists is a travesty of truth and desecration of their memory’

This is the time for preparation to embrace death as a friend and this is the time 
to recall lights of other days as well. At such a solemn moment what shall I leave behind for you? 

That is my dream, my golden dream – the dream of Free India. How auspicious

a moment it was when I first saw it! Throughout my life, most passionately and

untiringly I pursued it like a lunatic….. Onward my comrades, onward- never fall back.

The day of bondage is disappearing and the dawn of freedom is ushering in.

-          From Surjya Sen’s last message to his comrades.

Such was the courage and spirit of the revolutionaries that they embraced death happily for the sake of their Motherland. 

Don’t these young boys deserve immense respect for what they have done as to free India from the British’s clutches just so that the future generation spend a peaceful life? Don’t they even deserve to be remembered for their unwavering spirit and fearlessness to challenge the mighty British Empire? Yet I speak with great shame that people hardly know about this and fail to acknowledge it. It’s a great disgrace to these young martyrs’ memory. 

The history books should include such revolutionary moment’s and revolt’s detail to instil patriotism and pride in the today’s youth. People have long forgotten these vigorous young, zestful heroes filled with love for their mother land and have replaced them with the reel heroes. More people like Manini and Ashutosh ought to come up with forgotten Indian history to keep the patriotism spirit alive and all of us must take pride in remembering and hailing these great revolutionary heroes.  

Vande Mataram!

Bravo!!!

Blaž Kavčič (Slovenia)

On 7/1/2011 I got this marvellous opportunity of watching an outstanding match between the famous Czech republican Tomas Berdych and the lesser known Slovenian Blaž Kavčič at the Aircel Chennai open. Thanks to Arun I could make it to the match without much hassle. I was elated the moment I stepped into the centre court though the stadium was nearly empty, the Indian express (Lee-Hesh) had just finished a practise match and were relaxing along with Tipsarević pacing up and down the court. Gradually people started filling in with their placards for the match at five. Announcements were made and the heroes were welcomes. A towering Kavčič made the entry in a florescent outfit followed by the crowd's favourite Tomas Berdych. Blaz raised the heat in the court, trying his best to overpower Berdych, he did manage to garner in a few points and won a game or two but his numerous double faults added on to Berdych's winning streak. Though Berdych was the much loved one, Kavčič won the spectators heart with his style and technique of playing as well as sent the crowd hoisting up their seats. Berdych was proficient in his tactful aces, exquisite forehands making the match delightful. His planned strategy gave him an astounding straight set win over Kavčič taking him through to the semi finals. Berdych was definitely boosted by the loud Chennai மக்கள், particularly a boisterous middle aged man who just couldn't cease screaming 'easy now tiger, we want more aces Berdych'. Thanks to, I would like to call him 'easy tiger', if not for him the evening wouldn't have been as entertaining as it turned out to be. The court was chock - a -block by the end of the match, waiting eagerly for the next, Indian express show. The players, the umpire, the crowd & easy tiger animated the stadium making it a day that will never be forgotten.

A Game of Badminton?!?!

This winter vacation has been immensely refreshing, starting off with being kicked out of a house party.... Chennai is enjoying a cold, lazy winter which just makes it difficult to propel yourself out of the bed, unless until jabbed into. My maa has always been an amazing energy package, a very dynamic woman herself she keeps me wanting to do the same. She prodded me to do the household chores which I did out of sheer exasperation and to please maa but i always retired back to my good old books. As a kid I was always out on the roads, boisterous & an avid sportsperson. Since moving to Chennai I have been denied the very joy of sweating my heart out at any kind of sport. I have always had the greatest regard for sportsmen, big or small. Sports always keeps a person balanced, generates positivity & helps take life as it comes. Just these thoughts alone bubbled up my energy. I finally ended up asking maa for a game of shuttle badminton for which without any slightest hesitation I got an affirmative yes. Badminton has been really close to her heart during her youthful days. We decided on a game of badminton every evening, it started on a great note. I could feel myself & maa transform into lively kids and directing our whole energy & heart into the game. I was amazed at my maa's liveliness & the focus on the game, badminton for sure made her powerful & hungry for more. We played till we drained. A game after nearly four years refreshed me totally & I had a whole new take on everything. The first day was accompanied with a painful arm but i enjoyed it as well. Badminton shook up the child in me who had been hibernating all this while. The tremendous joy that comes from it cannot be put up in words. My dear friend Arjun doubled up my joy by throwing his soul in putting up a tough match making it all the more exciting. I have seen sports bringing about a whole new dimension into a person's world be it maa or anyone else for that matter. It leaves you yearning for more. Badminton of all will remain the closest to my heart as it was the first sport I learned as a child. I have a lot of memories with this wonderful game that I'll cherish for the rest of my life. Sports must be made an integral part in everyone's life for their own betterment and the Indian government has to take an enormous step towards making it happen.