It's a Doggy Dog world :D

I am a Dog lover. I am a sit on the floor in white pants, leave my family behind on a walk, ignore my friends and run after a dog, kind of lover. It's the only species in the world who will make you laugh, help you cry, never say anything to you when you are frustrated, cuddle with you when you sleep even after you get mad at him/her, eat the same food from a packet 365 days of the year without complaining, go for a run with you willingly without any complaints and love you unconditionally.

I feel sad to say that I don't have the opportunity to keep 'Man's best friend' as part of my own family, but the hope of me owning my own place gives dreams of raising my own critter. The other day I was at home watching Marley&Me, and the dog in that movie is adorable. I could actually imagine the joy that dog brought to the set everyday. The burst of energy on the set. The motivation that dog had to wake up every morning. The charm he had to move an entire audience to love him even more.

A few weeks ago I was on my way home from work and met a stray on the way. All it took was one second to realise that poor guy was hungry. Now I'm no believer in giving alms to beggars (I'm sorry but i just don't believe in it) but I do take time out to feed a dog. And there is one thing in this world you must try. Feed a dog. Take 5minuets out of your day to buy a 4 rupee packet of Parle G (no one said that the biscuit has to be fancy) tear it open, and feed it to him one by one. And there is one thing you will experience. And that is undying gratitude. All it takes is a wag of a tail. The pant of a tongue and a tiny twinkle in the eye. And you know you have changed someone's life forever.

Sometimes i wonder what goes on in a dogs head. What does he think when his master comes home? I bet he goes "Oh! Here he comes! Quick! Wag your tail! Jump up on him! Then he is bound to give you a doggy treat! Dammit! i would give me my own doggy treat if the shelf it's kept on wasn't so damn high!" Or if you go to the park, "Run you fat bastard! That flab won't go anywhere unless you run! If you get a heart attack then who the hell is gonna feed me!?" (I know that's mean! :D) Or when they see a hot female dog they go, "Bow-wow-wow-wow-wow-wow".

My walks on marine drive are the best. It doesn't just give me the chance to re-connect with myself, but with dogs. My friends hate the fact that i run away mid conversation and hug a golden retriever, but heck! Who gives a damn!

Try loving a Dog! It's one of the best things in the world!

It's a crazy mixed up world, it's a Doggy Dogg World - Snoop Dogg.

It's all about the Gay-Way

Last night I was watching Brothers&Sisters, which I am kind of ashamed to say is one of my favourite dramas. I could probably sit all day long and watch all the episodes from all the seasons, and probably cry over certain scenes where Nora actually shows her motherly love. But when I watched a particular episode, it got me thinking about homosexuals, because a son in that family happens to be a homosexual. And it occurred to me that some many people are not ready to accept the 'Gay-Way' of life.

It's a wonder how some people discriminate homosexuality. Actually, from perception, i believe the term 'Homosexual' should technically be speaking done away with. To me it's such a bad term like 'Arachnophobia'  or even 'Root Canal' for that matter. Painful right? :) So imagine what a gay person feels. I personally don't have a gay friend. (I like using the term gay because it makes me feel that they are happy 24X7) But I accept them with open arms.

I say boohoo to the people who don't accept the 'Gay-Way' of life. How can you say that we belong to a free, modern, ever-changing world, when you yourself can't accept the fact that people change too? It's sad for parents who think that they have raised a child who is a devil child when they come out of the closet. Coming out of the closet is the toughest, I guess. I wouldn't know. But I feel sad when children are afraid to tell their parents that they are gay.

In my opinion, how can you discriminate people who are like you. In that case don't say that you are modern. Don't use a cell phone. Don't use a microwave or a fridge or anything modern. Life is all about acceptance. Take in what the world is. Know what is right and wrong. Know where to discriminate and where not to.

I know this blog post wont make much of a difference, but I wanted to speak my mind. If a God fearing person believes in going to hell for turning away a poor person, then turning away a person who is gay does the same damn thing. Think twice. Be equal.

We’re just the same don’t you know
We’re just the same don’t you know
Looking over there
He looks different, she looks different
They might even be different
But we’re just the same, don’t you know
We’re just the same, don’t you know
We’re just the same - Howard Jones

Who wears these shoes!

Women are like shoes. You may think why, but I will tell you how they resemble that little accessory that adorns our pretty feet. When you sit at your desk at work some days, and do nothing but think about random thoughts, the ephinaneous moments that hit you during those moments are the ones that make you think the most. Yesterday I sat at my desk doodling away to glory, when I spied a pair of shoes that make me reflect on life. And now I shall explain my random theory in detail J

The slipper/flip flops aka the Converse-

The flip flop is one of the most comfortable pair of footwear known to man. If you ever have to run down to pick up something or maybe run to the bank when you are at home, lounging around, the flip flop is the number one item you will most likely pull out from your shoe rack, throw down on your floor, shove your feet in and make a dash to your destination.

The same way, the flip-flop resembles our mothers. She is our comfort zone. The one person, when we are in need of help in a hurry, we always call. She is the one person who knows us very well, and knows how to keep us comfortable. She is the one who we can call in the middle of the night, when I doubt or when the baby is sick, and ask anything. She listens when we cry about a skinned knee, a sick child or maybe even a broken heart. She cradles you in her arms when you are burning with fever. She makes your favourite food on your birthday. And plus she shows our how pretty our feet really are!

The pair of running shoes/the All Stars-

They are one pair of Adidas or Nike running shoes that are always in your closet. The pair you wear the first thing in the morning. The pair of shoes that hug your feet tightly and make sure you are comfortable no matter what type of surface you a running on. The ones that don’t make you feet sweat. The shoes which you wear when you go for a hike and you don’t feel an ounce of pain in your feet.

This pair of shoes is your best friend. The one who is there for you through thick and thin. The one who tells you when you have put on weight and who tries and helps you shed the pounds. The one who shops with you for hours and hours and still never gets tired. The one who sits with you at a coffee shop and checks out hot guys with you even though she has a boyfriend. The one you call first after your heart is broken. The one you call immediately after the first date with the guy of your dreams and tell her how he kissed you. The one whom you tell about how you want to marry that guy and have kids with him. The one you make maid of honor on your wedding day.

She loves you no matter what. She will bitch about the girl who makes you feel bad or even fat. She will stand by you, even when the whole world is against you. She will tell you when you are wrong and share a drink with you even when both of you are on a diet! She is your partner for life even though you may have a husband. She will always have your back. And she is the type of shoe that you never want to throw out and hoard for the rest of your life.

The pair of pumps/the Aldos-

They are the pair of shoes that look pretty and cute and are comfortable to wear. They are expensive but worth the price paid for and they are your comfort pair of shoes that you wear to work. The one that you wear and walk to work because that’s the pair of shoes that help you to get a good day started. The shoes that motivate you to go to work every morning and keep your mind off things that are hindering your thoughts.

This pair pumps is your sister. The sibling that helps you forget all the stupid things happening in your life. But the one who comforts you in times of need. The one whom you can easily steal money from and she won’t mind. I used the term expensive for the fact that the younger sisters (like yours trulyJ) always extortion the elder one for things that are not relevant and very expensive, and somehow get them anyway. She is the one who takes you out for a treat. The one who brings you things as surprise. The one who talks about your own parents and takes your side because he understands what you are going through.

The high heel shoe/the stilettos aka the Jimmy Choos-

This pair is everyone’s favourite. Everyone vies for a pair of heels that make your legs look like a killer pair when you wear them. The ones that you look at in the window and walk in the store and ask if you have that shoe in your size. The one that everyone will envy. The ones that can be bought only with a debit or credit card.

This pair of shoes is your boss. She is the woman every lady wants to be. You aspire to get her position. But she is also hard to please. You have to take care of her and please her just the way you have to take care of your expensive heels. You have to make sure you do everything her way. If you wear her for just the right amount of time, she will be good to you. However, if you end up wearing her for a very long time, at the end of the day, she will end up giving you shoe bites and back pains. After all, you shouldn’t over do yourself with the boss, right?

The gladiators/the Tresmode-

I know this pair is in fashion right now, and every bimbo in town is wearing them.

 But when I try this pair of shoes, I think of the tomboy. She is that zip up pair that you feel comfortable with. The one who reminds you to kick back and not worry about the cute guy and to not try too hard to make him fall in love with you. The one who tries to be so boyish in front of the guy they like but cant help to be all girly in front of them. This pair of shoes may have belonged to men in the earlier centuries, but hell they make a girl’s leg look freaking sexy! And I love them!

I know this breaking down might help you identify and connect with you ‘shoes’J! And as always I’l end with a kickass song!

My friends all say don't got to pieces
I say that's fine but if I lose
I want to know who's in my foot steps
I want to know who wears these shoes- Elton John.

A salute to my fellow Pundits….

I write this blog as a tribute to my colleagues at my office at ‘Pigtail Pundits’. I’m going to miss you guys like crazy! All the times where we have spent all our working time working and joking around. But I want to thank each and every one of you! Without you’ll, my working at Pigtail would have been such a bore! 

To my darling Trupti. Our friendship means a hell lot to me! Our time at KC and here proves that we are not only good class mates or co-workers! It also means that our “relationship” has gone to the next level. All the times of sitting and gossiping and backstabbing “YOU-KNOW-WHO”. Without you, the top floor was just quiet! I’m sorry for all the times shish and me have pulled your leg or played our stupid spanking games! But you know we will miss all this. Oh! and your ‘HOT-BAI’S’ bhaji. :P even though you are the baby of the office, I love you for your openness and straight-forwardness . You are the best ever! I can’t wait to work with you again baby! :)

To Shishir. I can’t stop laughing to think how much fun you and I have had! Being my next door neighbor at work! (and I mean literally for the fact of being in the next booth). I’ll miss you and me making Trupti our number one target! Especially with all that vodka and whiskey! And your mom’s vegetable pulao! OMG! No one cooks that amazingly, ever! And whenever I look at dhaniya I will always think of you! :D thank you for showing me that I’m not the only person in this world who thinks that pulling out dandruff from one’s head is not disgusting! And for teaching me how to do my own eyebrows my pulling out my eyebrow hair with my own fingers. Thank you for taking up all the boring work that I could never do! And I will try my best to put your name in the Guinness book of world records for creating the most number of headlines for SEO work. And I know my dabba cloth will not be there anymore for your daily picnics! I’ll miss you and tupu so much! And never forget my theory about tea bags! 

To Chetu. You are the best designer I know! I wish you the best in life always! I will never, ever forget your moms pickle rice. All the times I stole your dabba just to eat that one dish your mom used to send every once a week. And the amount of PASS-PASS you have fed all of us! I will never forget your naps on the stairs and your drugged looks at us after lunch! Your wagging tongue. LOL!!!! Believe me, if I could work with you guys again in other firms, I would do it in a heartbeat! The Amul Shrikhand business will never go out of business as long as you are alive. But I still want to know how you maintain that figure!? It will always be a mystery! 

To Rohini! You amaze me! You are Wonder Woman in your own way. Your guts to face any fight, your way to use a touch phone. The amount of chapattis your mom sends! And the rajma! Shishir, tupu, you guys would agree, right? You are one bad ass female whom I totally love! Be this awesome always! Daddy is so proud of you :D. and don’t wash your hair everyday! Remember my words. You look awesome. Don’t lose any more weight. You have a figure to die for.  Thank you for all the rotis you have gotten us as a filler whenever we have run out of them. And the many cakes you have got to office and we have stolen away from you. Thank you teaching me how to cheat and chat in office.

To sandy. I would have never known this much about hookahs and trance music if I never met you. The amount of chewing gum you have given all of us will suffice us till the end of the world. And the aam acchaar from the canteen! I WILL NEVER EVER FORGET IT THANKS TO YOU! 

To Praful. I will never forget the potato bhaji and fried potatoes! Your moms prawns rice and jam lunches! Thank you so much for joking in the office always. And your never ending list of girlfriends! I hope you find Miss.Right :D. Don’t worry, she is out there! 

I wish all of you the best of luck in your futures and I hope we will all work together soon someday! I love you guys. I will miss our gossip sessions on the stairs and out in the gardens about our usual topics and bitching about the ASS. For all the sandwiches and bhel plates, coffees and biscuits, walks to the atms and running for the trains. You guys have made my first working months memories. You guys are always awesome! You made me smile in my 7 months here. You have been my family and home away from home. I hope you guys feel the same that I do. I love you guys always….

As we go on
We remember
All the times we
Had together
And as our lives change
From whatever
We will still be
Friends Forever

Season of Love, Love, Love…… :)

                                               

I recently attended a wedding of a close friend’s sister. It was my first time attending a wedding alone. I couldn’t imagine the outcome that would have happened on that day, owing to the fact that I wouldn’t know anyone. But the fact of donning a formal kurta and buckling up my 3 and a half inch heels delighted me to the fullest. I rarely dress up. My profession puts me in a binding contract of dressing comfortably. To all those who come from the line of advertising, you would agree with me about the fact that formals are definitely not our style. According to me, the bigger the pants, the better. The baggier the kurta, made of the thinnest cotton/linen, the more fabulous it would be to dress up!

But, back to the wedding. It was a full blown out gujju soirée. So for the fact that it was an Indian wedding, I was banned from dolling up in my skirt or dresses so I wouldn’t scandalize the gujju aunties and show off some leg. After all, they would just think that the daughter of the devil would have walked in an runaway with their beloved sons. No offense to gujju boys (I have a lot of them as friends). Oh man! I can actually envision the whole thing happening in my head! 

It’s a total Karan Johar movie. The girl walks into the reception hall, with layers of makeup, the un-believable heel size (and I mean hooker sized shoes, with the ugly platform on the front foot)and whore-ish black V-neck dress that shoes off too much cleavage or just plain stuffed up flat breast or a very bad botched up boob job. And then she walks in, and the band breaks into song. Then magically she appears on stage and dances away. Is there anything more that I have to say? I think your own imagination can do the rest. Now my lovely gujju aunties, do you think that such a temptress could steal away your cocooned son? I’m sorry if I’m sounding stupid, but I really found this funny!

And I’ve steered away from the topic, again! It happens with me. I’m sorry :D.  Well to begin with, I couldn’t go home and change after my job, because I get over late. So the only option was to dress up at 9 am and leave. To be honest, I was excited to adorn my outfit. It makes me feel like a girl sometimes. But what I didn’t expect or brace myself for, was the trapped feeling I would experience. Every day I wear kurta pants to my job. Not to be confused with salwar pants, kurta pants are the ‘harim’ or genie pants. They are loose and when one wears them, they warm up to the feeling that the world is their oyster. 

So the tight chudidaar pants were prison! Yes they look pretty and yes they accentuate the shape of a woman’s leg, showing off the curves and the ankles and yes they look super sexy when you wear heels to accompany them! But they can top torture when it comes to spending over 12 hours wearing them! Right from 9am to 11pm. But that’s not the only drama that unfolded on that day. I ripped the sleeve of my very pretty kurta, managed to tear the bustier too and got my hair tangled in as many knots as possible. And my hair brush didn’t help much either. I think if I had pulled any harder on that day, I would have had my ripped scalp in my hands :). Sorry for the gruesome details  darlings :P

 

I work at Goregaon and the ‘shaadi’ was at Charni road. I was looking forward to attending this, so the commute of about 20kms didn’t bother me that much. But the agony began when I put on my heels. Ladies, you would agree the price of pain that comes with beauty. I decided to don on my pretty golden heels at charni road station and walked to the venue since it was just a stone’s throw away from there. I walked and nearly fell, and walked some more :O. And I finally reached my destination. The entrance was beautiful. The flowers lining the main entrance, the chandeliers that hung from the top, the lights made it all look like fairytale land. The wedding was beautiful. The only off part was when I had to fight off 1500 people to even get a morsel of food. No offense! But I had the time of my life when I met all my old friends there! A close friend of mine has termed me as ‘Gossip Girl’. Aptly named after the series, not for the dressing mind you because I’m a total opposite of that, but the fact of the amount I chat and gossip with my friends too much. 

But at the end of the day, I had a fun time. Be it the pain or the agony, somehow a wedding can make you forget everything. The smile on a couples face which not only radiates happiness, but also, most importantly Love. It just makes you want to smile too, doesn’t it? The way the bride blushes whenever her husband looks at her. All that love! It makes me nervous to think that all of everyone’s attention will be on you for one day! You won’t even be in the limelight that much on may be your kids wedding day or not even on the day you probably find the cure for AIDS (OK, maybe you might just be world famous on that day, if you ever find the cure. I’m no one to judge :)). 

This proves that love does conquer all. Be it any kind of pain or suffering, emotional or physical, nothing lifts a person’s spirit like a wedding that is filled with love. I’ll end this blog with the perfect lyrics of the song ‘Season of Love’ by ‘Shiny toy guns’:

Maybe it's all around to see
If we try
And maybe it's been inside of me
All this time
Love love love
Love love love
Love love love

Inspiration, courtesy the simple life.

A wise person once said to me,” Search for an idea in whatever you do and be inspired”. Being in advertising, its a fact that you should keep your eyes and ears open to everything around you, to get inspired. My advertising professor once told me, the world provides us with more entertainment than television ever can. I asked him how. He just said one word to me. Observe.


That’s when I realized that the greatest advertising and entertainment came from the simplest things in life. Advertising is not about how funny you are in your writing or how complicated you make an ad, so that it wins an award. Some of the greatest, awards winning ads that I have seen, execute just one thing. Simplicity. And the best ads have always been simple.


Take for example an ad done by the brand ‘Sugar free Natura’. The ad is about a man who is on a diet upon the orders of his wife. And he hates it. So on the day he has to begin the diet, his son taunts himto the core by giving him a naughty smirk and flashing his cute little dimple by saying “Papa, diet shuru”. The mom then comes to the table and sets down a desert bowl and moves away as she is busy on the telephone. On opening the lid of the dessert casserole, the father, to his surprise, finds a dessert that is definitely not for a person who is on a diet. And in his happiness, the father thinks that the wife has forgotten about the diet. But in reality she hasn’t. She has just used a low fat, sugar free substitute to make her husband happy.


Now in reality this happens in our day to day life. A wife would definitely find ways to keep her husband healthy but at the same time make him happy. The spice in a good ad is when a person can connect to the character that they see in the advertisement. The more the complicated the ad, the more people won’t understand it. Yes it is always true that humor is an added bonus to an advertisement, but if you watch the recent ads of Vodafone, where a friend saves a seat for another friend, doesn’t it remind you of your times in school where your best friend would save a seat for you so that the two of can sit together in an assembly?


Advertising is story telling in 30 seconds. But when a good story is told in 30 seconds, it can last a lifetime. That's the best part about advertising. If someone can touch a million hearts with the least amount of words and in so little time, then that is the best story telling ever. Thats the best part of advertising....


They say life is too complicated. I think that its not life that is complicated, its us. We look too much into what we do. We bother too much about other things. Advertising has opened up my eyes to see the beauty in the simple things in life. And inspired me to search for more.

The White Stallions behind The Black Horse.

The Times Of India recently hosted their annual arts festival, famously known as the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival. Artists from every age, race and art style congregate to celebrate and toast to this event. Right from contemporary to photography, clay moldings to laying out streamers on a bamboo skeleton, and even aliens make from scrap metal, this festival brings about a creative overflow of imagination and unbelieveable art skill any person could showcase.

The first time I ever attended this overwhelmingly, unbelievable fest, was a year ago. When I would think about art, I would usually visualise the usual paintings which any layman may have seen in museums or at the famous Jehangir art gallery. I never really thought about this topic really deeply or even gazed upon the fact that art could be anything or in everything. When I first stepped into this 'layer' last year, you could say i lost my ART-GINITY. I was exposed to the reality of art. the colours, the pictures, the sculptures.

I felt stripped off my old me. I donned on a new and better avatar. An avatar I felt more comfortable and confidant in. I dressed what I felt in my mind. In the past I was a tomboy, you could say (well my frnds still say tht i am one sometimes). But this festival brought out the other side of me. The wild, carefree side I never thought I could ever be. I wouldn't claim to understand contemporary art or even like some of the work that is even displayed sometimes, but I should really thank this festival for showing me what I should do with my future. It inspired me to be creative. And taking this inspiration, I joined the creative line. With a little itty bitty  thanks to a friend (Fatso :) ) who pushed me to join this line and told me I was the best and believed in me that I could do this with absolutely no doubts in me, the Kala Ghoda Festival layed out my career path for me. Copywriting.

The love for the art style dressing, the love for chunky jewelry, and most of all, my love for creativity and even my love for photography. I dont own a digi cam and wish I did own a SLR :). But then again ' If wishes were horses, the beggars would ride' right? (pun intended)

So, basically, this is just a shout out to TOI saying thanks for inspiring me to choose a career and get on my feet, and to Fatso for getting me off my ass to get on board! You guys are my white stallions of inspiration on the ride with my black horse experience!