Magic is there when you look for it
Yes, the simplest formula that we all forget as we let the years take us from one dream to another is that magic is there when you look for it. We stop looking for that magic because childhood forever isn’t what most adults dream about. But the truth is that a child is there within...
Cosmetics from a male perspective
Let me begin by saying that I simply do not agree with Carl Jung when he pronounced that a beautiful woman is ‘a source of terror’ and ‘a terrible disappointment’. Though I’m unsure if he chose to call them a terror because of the time and money involved and a disappointment because most would end...
Movies and munching is expensive
Well, this is what I overheard when I last went to see a movie at a cinema hall in CP. What this person probably meant was that a ticket to see a movie in a PVR is cheaper than the popcorn and coke that they sell inside. I learnt that evening that what these people...
BOARDBOYS on the streets
There must surely be at least a few readers here who will remember the board boys of the past… no, not the guys who wear black suits and ties and discuss the importance of hawala through the panama route. I am talking of the bare-foot advertising soldiers that many cinemas were fond of hiring. My...
Life is short, wear to spread smiles
In the mid-nineties every Indian family that we saw in London around the Thames walk wore clothes that conformed to what the people in the West wore and so Specky, my wife was probably an exceptional case in salwar-kurta. Did this make her feel odd? No. She was comfortable in her ethnic dresses and the...
The new media ecosystem
The media, like any of us, is dynamic and constantly evolving. This is probably one reason why we mortals are so fascinated with it… online or otherwise. This is quite unlike archaic laws in some countries that go on existing without even attempting to reinvent themselves. Even cultural beliefs in some ways stand still and...
Awards need to initiate meaningful conversations
What do businesses love to do? Whatever little exposure I’ve had of the corporate world, I have always felt it was conversations with their consumers that they loved best. It is the consumer that talks about the product innovations it needs, the changes in communication strategy that must be thought of, and a change or...
Ration the potions with notions of nation
Ruckus. Babble. Chaos. Irreverence. Arrogance. Protest. Bullying. Questions. All this and more happens every time the nation starts defining any concept… it could be anything stretching from nationalism to terrorism. All that one never really sees are solutions, answers, a convergence of ideas, and an acceptance of dissent. All that is never there are people...
What if… monarchy returns with a bang
Voltaire wrote: ‘I would rather obey a fine lion, much stronger than myself, than two hundred rats of my own species.’ I am not sure if he was actually talking about monarchy or something else… but isn’t it funny that even in political parties in a democracy one sees the rats obeying the lion? In...
What if… all smart gadgets were banned
‘What will happen if all smart gadgets were banned?’ I asked Specky, my wife. ‘Hmmm… interesting,’ she began, ‘we’ll navigate correctly without the GPS guiding us through all the wrong routes.’ This made us smile. She then mentioned that listening to the music of nature just might become a reality then… I said, ‘You are...
What if… we ceased to stay amazed
Amazing! This is one word that says all it ever needs to say without needing even an exclamation mark. You see we are living in times when from dawn to dusk everything is amazing to someone or the other. Not that I have any objection to everything being amazing… but I sometimes get this distinct...
Navigating through a poet’s mind
This is Nitin Soni, the curly poet, who has just published his first poetry book ‘The Broken Boat’ allowing me to explore the way his mind sees and perceives life. In times when people are writing novels and short-stories, you have published poetry… There are a lot of people who talk about writing, about art...
