For Bhopal and My Friends

With a bag in my hands and a guitar on my back, with aspiration in my mind and passion in my heart, with support of my loving parents and company of a dear friend, I came to Bhopal for pursuing my post graduation.

A city which I didn't like when I stepped here for the first time. A city where I had to spend my 2 important years. A city where I had to learn how to thrive without family. A city where I had to make new friends...BHOPAL.

You don't like the songs of A.R. Rahman when you hear them for the first time, but gradually you start liking them and soon they become your all time favourites. My experience with Bhopal was something similar. I had to live with filled nostrils and a bad throat for more than a month as it rained and rained all day-all night. I used to get so happy, even when only 1 sunray popped out somewhere from the clouds. I had to live with bad stomach as I was eating outside food. I had to make a habit of living in a PG with very less home-like facilities.

Someone has rightly said that its the company of your friends which matters the most. Thanks to my friend who had come here and joined college 10 days before I did, that I didn't have to find or look for friends. They organically came towards me. Sometimes I think that it couldn't have been possible for an introvert guy like me to make friends quickly if I had joined college before my friend. In fact, all my classmates (barring some) were so good and genuinely caring people that it didn't feel like I was among new faces. Thanks to Whatsapp group, soon a bonding developed between us and it was fun to attend the classes.

There are so many places in and around Bhopal that Ravindra Bhawan, Bharat Bhawan, Manbhavan Tekri, Mahadev Pani, Bhojpur Temple, Kaliasot Dam, Kerwa Dam, Shahpura Lake, Moti Masjid, Birla Mandir, Van Vihar and of course the Bhojtal-bada talaab were all visited by us in the first 2 months only. Also, the DB Mall, Haat Bazaar and New Market became our places to hangout. The storage capacity in my phone and digi-cam had already started getting full with so many clicks all around. Soon, I began to realise that I had developed a very wrong perception about Bhopal in my mind. But this was just the beginning.

Previously I felt that I will not be able to leave home and gel with the new life. Soon, it became difficult to leave Bhopal. The atmosphere of this city was water and I was a soluble.  There was something in the air (No! Not carbide gas) that I got mixed-up quickly and then this started to happen-

A group of 4 and a trip to Sanchi by train.

A group of 5 and a trip to Delawadi-Salkanpur by 2-wheeler.

A bunch of good friends and a trip to Ujjain-Omkareshwar by car.

Same friends, same car and a trip to Pachmarhi.

Same friends, some other car and a trip to Indore.

Madhya Pradesh (HINDUSTAN KA DIL) was even more amazing than as depicted in the advertisement, just because of the company, just because of those friends. Not only roaming or visiting places, but we also used to study together during the exams. Exams during the winters were fun. We used to gather in a park and study so that warm sunlight provides us some vitamin D. The annual inter-departmental competition (Pratibha) in the college was also a great learning experience. Breaking all boundaries of Seniors-Juniors, we used to work, prepare and participate as a team to bring accolades to our department. Such was the understanding between all of us that both achievements and disappointments were equally enjoyed. Apart from college days, the weekends were spent at a friend's flat where pizzas weren't ordered. Rather, all the vegetables and necessary items were bought. The girls of the class were transformed into chefs and boys into helpers. What a bliss it was to eat together, watch TV together and have fun without any pre-occupied tensions! Sleeping on the rooftop of that friend's house under an open sky, or I should say chatting for the whole night on various topics about what are we going to do in future or how do we find each other without taking it too seriously or getting hurt, was a feeling of extremely pure friendship! In the words of a very good friend of mine - "raat ka safar aur tootTe hue taaro ko dekhne ka anubhav jo hum sabhi ko mila vo ek khwab jaisa hi tha". Yes, we actually saw falling stars, 3 of them during the same night. That doesn't mean our trips ended. Bhopal's Manav Sangrahlaya, Tribal Museum, Saer-Sapata as well as Raisen Fort, Maihar Mata Mandir and Satna were still left to visit and we covered them all. 

Having joined my first job in Gurgaon, far from both Bhopal (my alma-mater) and Jaipur (my hometown), whenever I miss Bhopal, I start going through all the images/pictures which we captured. A strange feeling strikes my mind every time that when a person crosses the mark of 21 years of age, he starts looking for friends who are here to stay, who will be with him to support him, who will be his friends forever. In the course of looking for these true friends, he tends to forget what great time he spent with his old friends. He makes many mistakes. He is too quick to judge people. There are a few quarrels over petty issues. There are a few misunderstandings as well as compromises. Time passes by, he grows up, some friends fall apart and some become close to heart. Finally, he reaches to a point in his life when he looks back and sees that all what he did was a mere stupidity. The time he wasted on all the useless things could have been utilized in living to the fullest and enjoying with all those people whom he left behind or judged as - not good friends!

That time will never come again but just because of my friends, this song (Bhopal and the memorable time) is now amongst my all time favourites! I had to twist my words to - The city which has become my second home. The city which will be missed forever. The city where I spent the best 2 years of my life. The city where I found family in my friends...BHOPAL

B- Beautiful (Because of its greenery, its culture and the friends I made here) 

H- Hilly (Almost like a hill station with areas named as - Arera Hills, Shyamala Hills)

O- Optimistic (Teaches you to build a positive side of life)

P- Progressive (Rapidly developing)

A- Astonishing (Because it can surprise you)

L- Lake city (A huge lake in the heart of the city and other water bodies/dams)

P.S.: For all those friends who made my 2 years in Bhopal memorable and also for those who somewhere feel related to my words...The voice messages I received this birthday from all of you ignited in me the feelings to write this. Thank you and miss you all.

When my sister got away from me....

There are brothers who tie the laces of their sisters' shoes. But have you ever removed your sister's socks after she returned from school? There are brothers who fight and quarrel with their sisters and throw away each other's things. But have you ever set up your sister's wardrobe by putting her tops and jeans in proper position? There are brothers who can't remember their own friends' names (forget about birthdays). But do you remember the names and birthdays of your sister's each good friend?  The answer to all my questions is the same. Yes, I am that other kind of a brother who did all this. May be because I am 6 years younger than my sister (which is a big gap). But hey! Don't you dare think I was forced or ordered to do all this as I am a sweet little brother. Nope! In fact I am so sweet that I responsibly did all these things as my duty towards my elder sister. Awww shooooo shweeeeet... :) :p

Now before you all get diabetes let me talk about my sister who by the way doesn't need much of an introduction. 'PaRULES the world' as she used to say on her FM shows, is a lovely, caring, sweet, drama-queen, selfie-queen, over-emotional, over-the-top, over-everything 'woman' (she is a mother of a 2-and-a half year-old now so can't call her a 'girl' anymore) who since my childhood has been my friend, my tutor, my withstander, my support-system, my secret-holder and everything that a sister ought to be for a brother. From helping me in my studies in first standard to getting me my first internship, from making me learn the lyrics of a song to buying me a guitar, she has always been there for me. There may be a lot of age difference between us, but she never made me feel so. In fact, sometimes my over-protectiveness made her feel that I am the elder one. :D

Whenever I got a scolding from either Mumma or Papa, she would try and freshen up my mood and I did the same for her. Her singing, her dance, her oration, her writings, her all-rounder skills since her school days were something from which I have learnt and acquired so much. I was a proud brother of a Radio Jockey about whom I could flaunt among my friends. Those were the best days. Every weekend she used to bring pastries, burgers and chocolates for me. I received all her frippery and used gadgets (specially NOKIA N-series phones which were quite a swag those days. YO!). She also used to give me my pocket money. While sleeping, we used to talk till late at night and chat about different things going on in each other's lives. Now, we both just wish that those days could come again.

Five years ago, the time when I completed my school, she got married. Even during her courtship I used to get jealous of my brother-in-law as my partner-in-crime, my leisure-mate was taken away from me. Once at night, I cried in front of her telling her that she had no time for me (which was a little childish on my part). She made me understand, "beta mai tere paas hi hu hamesha, kahin nahi jaa rahi" and we both wept it off. I got too emotional when she entered the marriage lawn on her wedding day, dressed up well in her lehnga. Beautiful she looked.  Also, can't forget the day of her 'vidaai' in Bulandshehr and the subsequent night when I slept alone for the first time and cried so much. (Don't know whether I have told her about this before or not.) Since then, something got changed in me. I became more emotional. I felt lonely. I used to roam around alone during the first month in my college. It was hard to make friends. But as they say, time is the best teacher which gradually taught me to live without my sister's physical presence near me.

The same brother-in-law whom I was envious of turned out to be a great human being and a person who deserved respect. A caring and hard working man who gelled quickly with our family and is always in a sense of bother of how to keep his family happy. Days came when start of my summer vacations and Didi's birthday lied on the same date. I enjoyed going to her and Jiju's place in Delhi. Be it Vikaspuri, Patpadgunj, Bulandshehr or Greater Noida, all places were fun. After my sophomore year, when Didi was expecting, I lived with her and Jiju in Delhi for a month and did my internship in the same office where she worked and was serving the notice period. That was the time when I spent some special moments with both of them. We ate together, worked together, watched movies, went to shopping malls, recorded songs for uploading on the net. I used to help them with their daily tasks. Became more responsible. Learnt a lot. Handled things on my own. Travelled alone and got to know what life in a metro is all about. Also a year back, during my another internship, I did not live with them but used to go to their place on weekends, though Jiju insisted that I must not take a PG and he would drop me every morning to the nearest metro station, but I had to as my office was far away from Greater Noida. (Another incidence which tells about how caring my Jiju is!)  

During Diwali season in 2012, Didi delivered a healthy baby boy. Mumma was already with her and Papa and I rushed to see the little one. First time in my life I got the chance to hold just a 4-day-old baby. My nephew, Kartik who is a cute-little kid with a sharp mind, is so  adorable and too much fun to play with. He has acquired all the qualities of his parents, both positive and negative. HAHA :D  The priorities do change after a girl gets married and even more when she becomes a mother. But my Didi always has time for me. Just a little "oye kya kar rha hai" on Whatsapp makes me feel okay there's going to be a long chat now! She is also the first person to like/comment on my profile picture. Even if I may've got over 100 likes on my DP, she would say, "Don't know why I didn't like this pic."

Its 2015 now. It's been 5 years that you got away from me. You will be completing 3 decades of your life 10 days from now and I am about to complete my student life. But, my prettyprincess26/ wackyparul/ rjparul, your Nannu/ Mannooo/ Punti is still dependent upon you for everything (won't leave you until you get me a good job :p). We may have grown up, our long conversations at night may have turned into 'Whatsapp chats' but I promise the LOVE between us will be the only constant thing till I die. This sacred bond between you and me cannot be broken. I love you and you'll always be my first girl friend.

Happy Anniversary!!

P.S.: I have written this to make you smile and feel proud of, not to make you cry. O.K. so ssssmmmmiiiilllleee :) :)

10 reasons which prove that when its India-Pakistan, it's not just Cricket...

1. The most anticipated day this February was not Valentine's Day: 

This February, all the males were more interested in planning about at which friend's house they will gather for the INDO-PAK game. And the females looked more concerned about how to cut the cable connection's wire.


2. Pakistan's inability to win against India in World Cups:

The score-line says it all. INDIA 6 - Pakistan 0. Forget about the match, Pakistan haven't even won the toss against India in any World Cup.

3. Dropping catches is synonymous with Akmal brothers: 

 Whether Kamran or Umar, both the wicket-keeping batsmen dropped huge opportunities what could be game changing ones. While Kamran dropped Sachin in 2011 WC, his younger sibling dropped Virat this time when he had not scored even a half century. 

4. Virat Kohli - the new Sachin: 

The 'run-machine' might be wanting to thrash her beau Anushka's Pakistani boyfriend after watching the film 'PK' that he poured all his anger on the Pakistani bowlers and scored the first ever century by an Indian batsmen against Pakistan in a world cup game, a feat even Sachin couldn't achieve.


5. Afridi might be missing Gautam Gambhir: 

In taking a quick single, Afridi's throw hit Virat's back so hard that it looked like Afridi knowingly hit Virat. But surprisingly Virat just passed a smile and did not utter a word. Afridi might have really missed his favourite sledge-partner Gautam Gambhir when this happened. So did we.

6. Loud crowd powered India's missed opportunity: The crowd was so loud at the Adelaide Oval that Dhoni couldn't hear the call his team-mates shouted and missed an easy run out opportunity when he flashed the bails of the stumps at the wrong end. Poor Dhoni, his hair are turning grey also his hearing senses. 

7. BigB - the lucky charm: It doesn't matter whether Amitabh Bachchan did commentary for just 5 initial overs. Whenever Bachchan sahab holds the mic, India wins. Last time he did commentary, India won and saved '3 guna lagaan' in 'Champaner'.

8. No Paksitani batsman likes to bat with Misbah: Whether it is T20 WC 2007, whether it is WC 2011 or whether it is WC 2015, no Pakistani batsman likes to bat along with Misbah-ul-Haq and he is the lone soldier who fights till the end. C'mon guys, be afraid of speaking English at the presentation but at least bat with your current captain. 

9. "The Great Pakistani Suicide point": The bowler, Mohd. Irfan is so tall that the whole Pakistani team might have thought of jumping from his shoulder for doing suicide after losing from India again.  

10. "Na ishq mein na pyar mein, maza hai sirf Pakistan ki haar mein":

The trolls, the memes, the funny Whatsapp messages that rocked the social media after India's comprehensive win over Pakistan made this statement loud and clear!!

My Review:- "NH 10"

In this male dominated world, comes another female dominated movie just a week after Women's Day. 

A young urban married couple going to spend their weekend in some resort in Haryana on their way at NH 10, come across a bullying folk of men led by Darshan Kumar (who played the role of Priyanka's husband in Mary Kom) beating a girl and a boy who seemed to have flown away from their house. When no one dares to stop them, breaking the shackles, the educated couple try to take a stand. But the matter gets worse. The girl (sister of the man beating her) and the boy (her lover) are killed. Now the eyewitnesses of this cruel event are trapped and have to run away from what ends in their life's worst nightmare. Anushka's husband in the film, Neil Bhoopalam gets hurt badly and there remains no way better than Anushka taking the responsibility to try and come out of this mess.

In this edge-of-the-seat thriller, Anushka is amazing in her expressions and Neil does correctly what he is asked to. The movie is an episode of 'Honour Killing' which throws spotlight over the rampant social evils prevalent in this part of India including domestic violence and cruelty against women. It takes courage for a young actress to come up with such a movie in her debut production venture. But the Cricket World Cup and bad weather have taken their toll on the box office collections of this movie. I request all the girls out there to go and watch it, it will fill you up with energy and courage.  

Talking about Cricket reminds me that another line up is getting really strong- KAHAANI, HIGHWAY, MARY KOM, MARDAANI and now NH 10. WOMEN POWER!!      

My Review:- "P.K."

"Who is PK?" Is he 'Pawan Kapoor', is he 'Parvez Khan' or is he 'Peter Kurian' ?? This BIG question has been dwelling in the minds of all Aamir Khan fans and Hindi movie geeks since this first poster of PK(naked Aamir with a transistor) launched. 
So, here's the answer-- He is none of these names I mentioned above. He is just a cute 'outsider' researching on human values, culture and tradition with his Bhojpuri dialect, peeping ears, big-green eyes and colourful-weird clothes. In his journey, he comes across people of different religions and some eye-opening instances. His goal is to contact with the real 'GOD' and disconnect all the 'wrong numbers' which come in between.
It is said that it's Aamir Khan's experimentation which delivers masterpieces one after the other. It is said that in Rajkumar Hirani's films, the director is the 'real hero' and both these notions are hence proved with PK.
The songs are purely situational but 'Love is a Bhaste of time' will come along u outside the theatre. You may find similarities with Akshay Kumar and Paresh Rawal's "Oh My God" in it but there are a lot more entertaining n funny sequences/dialogues. Anushka Sharma, Sushant Singh Rajput, Saurabh Shukla, Boman Irani, do justify their characters and Sanjay Dutt apart from his role is just a bliss with his moves in 'Tharki Chhokro'. In PK's language- इस फिलम को टुकुर-टुकुर देख लेना वरना तोहार 'लोलवा' हो जाइ..!!

Ad Review: "Vodafone M-Pesa"

Ad Name: Vodafone M-Pesa (click on the name to watch the ad)
Brand: Vodafone
Agency: Ogilvy India

About: A young guy, with helmet in one hand and an out-of-order scooter besides him on a raw way of a small town, calls his elder brother who works in 'Dilli' and asks how is the weather there. The elder brother quickly guesses that his brother has done something wrong and he is in need of money because the younger one called him only either when he wanted money or when he did something troublesome. On being asked what has he done, the younger brother makes silly excuses that he took Daddy ji's scooter for a ride but a tree came in between. He emotionally asks for some money from the elder brother promising that he would return it soon. The 'Dilliwala' brother gets soft-hearted and hands over the money to him on a condition that the younger one would never ask for the weather again. Now as the money is received, the younger one gets over the elder brother and says that if he had bought him a motorcycle, this wouldn't have happened. The elder brother in anger tells him to hang up the phone.

Relevance: The ad implies that the consumer of M-Pesa works away from home in big cities and sends money to remote places across the country. But, sending money in the conventional way can be a very slow process or even unreliable. Here comes the product's benefit that handing over money is as good as handing it over oneself. Usually we call our relatives/friends when they are at a distance from us. But in the ad, both the brothers are shown standing at one place which conveys that transfer of money through M-Pesa is as quick, safe and convenient as transferring it personally from one person to another.

Recollection Factor: The ad strikes a chord with viewers from all age groups. The elderly can be convinced by showing the application as a new form of money order. Parents can be educated that they can instantly transfer money to their children staying in hostels. Professionals can be educated that this is the easiest way of transferring money to their parents who are staying in another city. A minor percentage of the population has started using this service. The market potential is much bigger.

My Rating: 4 stars :) 

Ad Review: "Bharat Matrimony"

Ad Name: Bharat Matrimony Happy Marriage

Brand: Bharat Matrimony

Agency: Lowe Lintas & Partners

About: Eating together with their son on the dinner table, the parents ask him about why the daughter-in-law hadn't turned up from office. The son says that she might be having some important work as it doesn't happen daily. The father, though hesitantly, again asks his son what was the need of her job when the salary of his son was enough. Next shot establishes the daughter-in-law entering the house but on listening what her father-in-law was questioning to her husband, she quietly decides to listen to the conversation without stepping in. The son replies gently to his father, "Even after your retirement, you go to the college for giving lectures, why? Because you like doing it. In the same way, my wife does a job not for earning money, but because she likes doing it." The strong statement of her husband, in support of her, gives a sense of pride and smile on the face of the wife. She finally enters the room and the husband is shown serving food to her. Another shot shows a black and white screen, taking to flash back which establishes that the girl had filled the Bharat Matrimony form on the website with a detail that she would like to work even after marriage.

Relevance: The ad shows why bharatmatrimony.com is the Most Trusted Matrimony Brand (According to the Brand Trust Report, 2014). Bharat Matrimony with Lowe Lintas has done a brilliant job in hitting the issue of women who aspire to work even after marriage. The ad focuses on the thing that needs to be highlighted that happy marriages are not a matter of chance but a matter of choice. In India, we many a times come across such cases when the girl who worked before her marriage, was forced to sit back at home and was imposed the tag of 'house wife'. The ad is an eye-opener for all such families who didn't let their daughter-in-laws work. 

Recollection factor: The tagline 'Find someone who cares for what you love' is perfectly depicted in this ad. The strong supportive statement the husband gives brings smile to the face of every female viewer and makes the male viewers learn what actually their wives want from them. Care, support and lots of love.

This advertisement has already won a lot of awards and acclaim. No doubt it will be remembered for a great period of time.

My Rating: Full 5 stars.

(P.S.- click on the Ad Name to watch the ad)