Sunday, March 26, 2017

A girl in the town


She was looking at the emptiness. Her eyes seemed like connecting points and were moving towards infinity and searching for the end. The thoughts were in a chaotic jumble. She was splashing around them to find that one up in the air.  But all her efforts appeared bootless. The one impetus that could make her come out of the aloofness was inaccessible. But this is not what she would have imagined of when she first came in the town. Her eyes had the quest for her dreams. And the only one she had to count on was herself. But that singularity never bothered her the way it is occupying her now. She always knew that the course was going to be tough but one thing she was sure of was that she was not going to miss any beat. But how did she fail to hit the floor? Where was the fault? Whether on her side or somewhere else? Or did she really fail? All these thoughts were brewing in her mind. And she needed the rejoinder. Too early too soon. 
Suddenly, one day, she got a ping. An anonymous person had few words for her to say. He had bought back to the present what was lost in the past. Her veiled world and the rhetoric recounting of it couched in her own specific style. Back in time, she used to phrase her thoughts and hopes in verse with rhythms and flow. But that flow went down the level with others in queue coming up.
It was 11 o’clock in the night. She was just scrolling through her social media page. Out of the blue, a message notification came. She went through it. He was unknown to her. But his words brought some footprints from the past in front on the template of her memory card. That high opinion for her words bought back something which was lost in her a long ago and she really missed that part of her.

The words were like, ‘hey miss.. Though we don’t know each other but I feel connected to you when I make my thoughts dip into your words.. The way you commit words to paper, you make reader’s heart feel the true vibes behind it.. You just don’t jot down few precious moments but you make others rewind theirs’s too.. And that’s valuable.. keep doing this..  and now, allow me to pen down  few of verses of yours..”

“teri aankhoon ke khwaab ab meri zindagi ki tasweer ban gaye, chand lamhe jo tum thehre mere aangan mai wo pal mere liye taqdeer ban gaye”,

“Mere shaam-o-sehar mai tera saayaan bahut hai..
dil ki aarzoon mai khud ko tera paaya bahut hai..
dil-e-nadaan pyar mai magroor-e masroof hai..
ki khud ko haqiqat se mehroom rakhwaya bahut hai..
ae bekhabar massom sun jara (di-e-nadaan)..
wo jod chuka hai khud ko kisi aur hi ki kashti se..
ki tere kinaro ka uske sahilo se faasla bahut hai..
keh uss maazzi se jo kheeche hai teri kashtiyoon ko..
le jae unhe meri leharo ke daayro se kahi door..
teri doori mujhe dard degi har hadd tak ..
par teri nazdikiyoon ne bhi mujhe tadpaaya bahut hai”


And now she had that smile back on her face. Yes she worth it. Yes she had not failed. Yes she was meant to stand-up again, give a beating to falls and rise again to where she always wished for.


This was not the end, rather, a new beginning……………..

The #TigorStyleBack Meet Experience - High on Style

The #TigorStyleBack Indimeet Experience
The brand Tata has been always close to my heart, whether it’s my job or blogging.
In the corporate world I was born and brought up in the Tata family hence whenever I attend a Tata event the vibes and feel are always homely.

After a power-pack performance in the SUV segment, Tata Motors is back to blow away the Compact Sedan sector with their super stylish, “Tata Tigor”.



The moment I got the mail from Indiblogger for the event invite I was in the state of bliss. Delhi being the venue excited me more as it was the first time I was going to visit the Capital of my country.


60 bloggers and influencers from all over India were invited to attend the event.
I got lucky to get a seat next to a renowned travel blogger of India, Divyakshi.
Had a great time knowing the insights of travel blogging and eventually I got some nice tips too. On the airport the Tata Motors had already made arrangements to escort us to the venue. For the first time in my life I had someone hold a placard with my name on it at the airport, the feeling was just awesome. As I always say the brand Tata stands out when it comes to hospitality as they put in their max efforts to make you feel special.



Tata Tigor is all about style and so was the venue 1AQ which is situated in Mehrauli, the heart of Delhi heritage area consisting of spacious art gallery, well-manicured gardens and a unique art and design shop.



Every bit of 1AQ was maneuvered stylishly to match the theme of Tata Tigor.
Right from Styleback Studio, Styleback Square, Styleback Gallery, Perfumer to Coffee Brewmaster, there were various experiences curated specially for the bloggers.
The food served too had a lot of creativity in it with some amazing mocktails and gastronomy based deserts to treat our taste buds.






From the classy exteriors of 1AQ we were transited to the plush interiors of Hyatt Andaz.
The look of the hotel was royal and soothing. We got our room keys and dived into the bed as we were a bit tired. The room was quite spacious and luxurious.


After having a quick nap we got freshened up as it was time to head to the ballroom where the new Tata Tigor was going to be unveiled.
The session started as the who's who of the Tata Motors Marketing team took center stage. They explained us about the striking features and the amazing design of Tata Tigor and what all the car houses in it to suit the needs of a common man.



Cocktails and dinner followed the presentation. Band performance, lip-smacking food and exotic cocktails drew the night forward which was amazing.


 Finally it was time to retire to our rooms as we had to wake up early for our first-hand driving experience of Tata Tigor.
The morning started with a sumptuous breakfast which was followed by the flag-off of all the cars. We were divided into a team of 3 or 4.
Petrol variant of Tata Tigor is what we started with. Our first pitstop was a beautiful point at a hilltop which had a panoramic view of Gurgaon. After clicking some scenic pics with the Tigor we headed towards the Heritage Transport Museum which was our intermediate destination.

After hopping onto some mouthwatering sandwiches we went inside the museum to explore the heritage of Indian transportation.
The experience was nothing less than amazing. I will cover my experience of the museum on my Travel and Photography blog -
Explorerlens
It was time to leave the museum and head back to our hotel in the diesel variant.

Finally after reaching the hotel we had our lunch and made our way to the airport to catch our flight back to Mumbai.
It was one hell of an experience what we always expect from a Tata event and the icing on the cake was it helped me trigger my style statement to a different level.
I met some of the best in the blogging business, Divyakshi, Stuti, Sanjay sir, Monish, Hemal, my rommie Antarick, Zainab, Anamika, Shubham to name a few..!!

The Tata Tigor Car Review
Attractive and classy exteriors and interiors, loaded features like awesome sound system and superb cooling system, spacious cabins and plenty of boot space make this all new Styleback Compact Sedan from Tata a player to look out for in its segment.
The only not so cool factor is the engine which could be a little more peppier and refined.
If priced properly, Tigor can easily become popular among the masses especially the middle-class segment.
Read the detailed review of Tata Tigor here




Saturday, March 11, 2017

UP and other states polls result: The beginning of new era in the realm of Indian politics


The results of just happened state assembly elections, especially Uttar Pradesh were crucial in many aspects. The equations were quite raw till now and the opposition had a boat to sail in the ongoing “Modi current” of the Indian Ocean (Politics). But now, raw has redefined itself to regal. And the current has changed its height to Tsunami (Modi tsunami). The BJP has swept Uttar Pradesh (Uttarakhand and to some extent Manipur) state polls today. The results put our flashback moments back to 2014 Lok Sabha battle, where Mr Narendra Modi single-headedly won the heart of the nation’s individuals (as per most of the media officials statements). Since in the UP elections, the BJP has not declared its Chief Ministerial candidate (like Bihar), the win is obviously connected to the Modi factor but do it subtlety explains the people’s verdict? Whether the people had made up their mind for the reason that is the lack of the other reasonable alternative or they really had an inclination for the BJP (known for communal politics which do play a major role in the mind of UP people) is still in vague. Let’s try to figure out some of major reasons behind the triumph (Trump way) over C(ongres + SP).

·        The BJP owes much of its success to its party chief Amit Shah who built a very successful strategy and intercepted the people’s emotional string really well (broad coalition of castes viz alliance with sub-regional parties, induction of Swami Prasad Maurya, Rajnath Singh as chief campaigner etc.).
·        Bihar is not repeated in the UP and local leaders were given their due importance by the saffron party (Keshav Prasad Maurya, Uma Bharti etc.).
·        Absence of chemistry (between SP and congress) needed to create history and the reaction resulted in non-accommodating by-products.

Effect Analysis
The focus point of anti-BJP (to be exact in words anti-Modi) campaigning was the aftermath of demonetisation. Since UP has considerable amount of rural voters who were worst hit by the “today’s pain, future-gain” note-bandi policy of the BJP, the opposition tried to yank its winning chariot with that whip but common people’s pulled them out of the cart and placed Modi in it. This would give confidence to the Modi government to take even more drastic measure in the name of greater good in coming months and years like the demonetisation.

Presently, BJP has 56 members in the Rajya Sabha, a number just below by 3 to the Congress’s strength but thanks to these elections outcomes, the numbers will now be revved up to around 80 for BJP in the upper house which will tilt scales in favour of BJP to pass many of the legislation that were, otherwise, opposed heavily by the Congress.

Owing to all the favourable conditions on the political scenario, now, BJP (or Modi-led government) have to prove its worth to the people and make them believe that yes, they are here for the betterment of the whole and not for any particular layer. Otherwise, we will meet soon. The risk card is now on the table. Let’s hope that people has not voted for the Hitler this time and communalisation would not become the new normal or liberalisation would not lose its gravity in Indian democracy, otherwise, we will meet soon.



Wednesday, March 8, 2017

HIDDEN TEARS



We were talking to each other like always. Her smile, her carefree attitude with calibre to handle responsibilities and her unparallel ability to understand situations always made me at an angle with her. Though we had that generation gap factor between us yet the kind of bonding we shared was more than friends. A part of me has always yearned for her presence in the office corridors to speak out. So today also we were opening our box of thoughts in front of each other like any other day. She took the upper hand in initiating the topic. And with the flow of words coming out from both the sides, I suddenly found tears flowing out of my eyes. And needless to say, from the other side also. The story she told me about the sudden demise of her husband and incidents around it brought the most emotional aspect of me on the front foot. 

It is the story of late 90’s. Liberalisation has already happened in India but still there were few parts in the country where social dogmas were prevailing. And in that era, a love story happened. Not like the usual ones but quite an unusual. Silence was the main pillar of this story. The two talked too rarely with the words but their eyes told tales without reservation. Their marriage was the next step in their undeclared love. Everything seemed like happy-go swing. They roamed different places with love in heart and modesty in eyes. After a year, their love blossomed with a flower in their hands, a sweet baby girl in the lap. Their happiness was at the seventh heaven. A few months later, they shifted to their hometown with the family. Life was on track horizontally and the verticals were not seen anywhere. On one evening, they turned up at an official function and her husband was greeted by everyone for the hard work and efforts in professional life. After all, he was the esteemed IES officer. 

But what the next sunshine might bring in the life, only destiny could have the cognizance. 

The family headed towards a temple to pay their homage boarding an early morning train. It was like any other morning but with an extra fun element. There were talks, there were laughs and there were cries of a little two years old baby. The train halted for a while at a local junction and the father got down to fill up the bottle of water. He was involved with the task and didn’t realize that the train resumed its journey. As soon as he perceived this, he ran to catch it up. The train went ahead while picking up the speed and so did he to narrow the gap in between. She called at the top of her voice from the train, “Go back, and don’t push yourself so hard. You can board the other one.” But the fate has already decided with the next coming sequence in the story. He succeeded in clutching the handle of the doors. She got her breathe back and backed on the seat to relax. But wait, the other second she saw him hanging on to the door with single hand and making himself lowering a bit to take the papers back that dropped from his pocket. And the next second, a high pinched scream was heard reporting from the train and it echoed to quite a far. She had lost her everything. The past two minutes of the day had changed her entire drawing on the canvass. He skipped the stairs and slipped down the train. He was no more now. The cry of the mother admixed with that of the baby though the toddler had no idea how things shifted the other way. And her mommy was on the floor with the expressions she had never encountered before. 

The young lady was only 21 years old when all this happened. Yes, fortune kept on rolling its dice on the game of snakes and ladder of life and she was bitten hard this time. The time slowly moved with its pace and things began to take casual outlook but with different angles. She had not received the mental support needed at that hour of time from her husband’s family side. In spite the vice versa happened. She could have remarried but she chose the tough path, the path to move ahead alone with her daughter or more of, for her daughter. She also took the decision to support her in-laws’ family despite the fact that the respect she deserved would not emanate from that side. And she did all this with smiling face and shine in her eyes. 

Today after 20 years of struggle, she achieved what she aimed at. Her daughter has completed her CA in her very first attempt and is working in a reputed firm of Mumbai. Her in-laws’ had realized what she left behind to take all of the family ahead. And her face exhibits an expression of contentment and rejoices. She has not failed. She passed the exam of life with the distinction grade as a mother, as a daughter-in-law and most importantly as a human being. But still the loneliness of her life and sequestered tears of her eyes make its appearance when somebody close to her heart exchange dialogues about the past happenings. She made her mark on almost everybody’s heart with her 440V smile but that has not taken away the incompleteness from her. 

Today on the occasion of women’s day, I want to give her due credits on behalf of the life and applaud her for what she has sustained while going through all this, her self-respect and integrity. No matter how small her achievements seem to the world, she is one of those hidden gems in the crust of earth which gleams more radiantly with time when camouflaged with stones.

This is for you ma’am and for all those women who bear the diseased mentality and still move on to change it with their love and honesty.

You bear the load when other looses the hope,
You gear the ones who see in you their support..
Your smile twinkles in the darkest night,
You fight the situations bigger than your might..
You come out with seven colours,
You bring the rainbow of achievements out from others..
You fall, you stand up again,
For you journey is your prize and never calculate for the gain..

Saturday, March 4, 2017

You and Me to WE..



The moment I discovered you was the moment when I lost myself.. Forever..
Being we is so simpatico than I and you dissever..

Slowly the kindness in you mingled with innocence in me..
At long last, the individuality of us restyled to togetherness of wannabees..

You are strong yet serene, I am modish yet pristine..
You are intense yet pacific, I am sassy yet at peace..

The two in us was at war like never ending..
We sought that stillness in each other’s companionship.


And one of those fine days we did engineered it..