My childhood….

As a kid I remember having an uncanny desire to check out the unseen. Life was so full of adventure! Days when my bed post turned into an imaginary bike, on which I would ride like the cat woman; about whom I would ve read in the comic book the previous day!.. Days when my mom’s kumkum paste would turn into my red lipstick just like the one on Madhuri’s lips! Days when I would sit on my dad’s scooter and imagine myself to be wearing sari and dangling a handbag like mom!.. or sit in the car when no one’s watching and act as if am speeding away like an F1 racer! .. days when I would switch on music and dance like the heroine in the latest movies not to forget the number of times I tried imitating Aishwarya and Sushmita’s crowning moments….!

Mom’s handbag was always fascinating…. I would search it totally when she is back from office.. I even get the smell of her leather bag when I recollect those times..:)… She always used to get a chocolate for me … Saturday morning surprises from dad when he gets back from his week long trips.. he always would bring halwa or chips or something from wherever he goes..

I remember how excited we used to be about balloons, danglers and stars! …about Onam, Vishu and Christmas! About the new clothes mom and dad would get for my birthdays..!

How tasty everything felt when back from school hungry! All those times I used to sneak out and throw the left over of lunch so that mom wont scold me (sorry mom! Now I know how much of pain you took to make sure I get the right nutrition!). About how tasty that ‘forbidden’ sip up used to taste!

The story about ‘Hansel and Gratel’ was my favourite.. I ve spent days and nights imagining the house that was made of cupcakes, icecream and cherries… in fact I used to go to the library just to pick it up to see the illustration!

Those were the best days of my life.. carefree… mom/dad/bro to call for everything.. no in laws, no tension ;) … wow! … but yes, it was because of those days that this day happened…. Thanks to all in my life… most of u, just ROCK! :D

Passing thought

I ve known many land lords in my past, who have demanded to be looked upon for the simple reason that a certain bit of paper gives him/her the authority over particular measurements of land. People hoard gold/cash/ other valuables just to ‘feel’ rich. I know people who have lots of cash in their account but will not ‘live on it’, coz that’s their confidence to live on.

Well, all of us are different and I am no exception to the follies of these ‘feelings’. Tell me why people spend thousands, billions and trillions to buy fancy homes, fancy cars and fancy dresses or even fancy shoes (read Jimmy Choos likes)?

Our want to a better education, a better job or a better salary is always intertwined with our desire to ‘own more properties’ or ‘to become rich’ or ‘to be considered rich’!  Are u nodding your head in disapproval? Ok... Would you give away those riches you piled for years to someone totally in need (let’s say homeless kids/ women?)…

If you get to travel in an aeroplane next time, don’t miss to take in the aerial view of the land below, does nt it look so teeny weenie? Looking down one might just wonder why people spend sleepless nights and restless days to earn that extra buck just to pay up the head crushing EMIs, so that they can own one more house in the city! From so far above all those crore worth houses look like matchboxes!....... is it really worth all what these guys toil for?

Or can we really ‘own’ these lands or houses,  what if ‘The Earth’ itself is someone else’s property? Well… crazy thoughts!??

Tiger and the Pig

I heard this story from my daughter’s story collection. It goes like this:

Once a tiger who was very thirsty stopped over for a drink from a pond which had sparkling pure water.  While he was drinking, a pig which was passing by also stopped for a drink from the same pond. The pig was stinking so much that the tiger turned and left the place in a huff. Seeing the tiger turn away the pig thought the tiger is afraid of him and became overconfident enough to call the tiger for a public ‘stunt’. The tiger turned him away again because he just could nt stand the stench. Nevertheless the pig’s overconfidence grew coz he still thought that the tiger was scared of him… the story goes on…..

This left me thinking about certain people we meet in our daily life, who repel away the other men with their character as stinking as the pig! Some people have such repelling nature that people feel it wise to not react to what they say and they just grow on it. It’s like a vicious cycle…. Only self realization can help such men/ women!

KA 51 N 6887

If I could dedicate 3/4^th of my blog to a single subject, I would do so for my (ex) ‘blue car’, a Fiesta Zxi Diesel, upon which this combination of alpha numerals belong.

She was like a toy car to us. I remember the day my then fiancé, now hubby brought her straight from the showroom to my office, to pick me up for a long drive. I still have the taste of the ‘bajji’ in my mouth, which we had during that very first drive. On my wedding day, with my eyes welled up with tears (after symbolically waving bye to my parents, bro and sis in law) and chest swelling in anticipation about the new life ahead, she took me safe and sound to my destination.  A fun filled ride to our honeymoon locale, grocery shopping, all the trips we made, vacation journeys back home, celebrated with us on the day we came to know we are gonna be proud parents soon, shift to the new house… the list goes on.

There were many points through the last 3 years when we were told that we might need to move overseas, everytime till the last time we turned it down, the top priority being our unwillingness to part with our blue car. I have sometimes felt jealous of her coz of the attention my hubby showers on her. But I loved her nevertheless. She was our pride, our constant companion and a reminder to all our good times.

When we had to finally part with her, we tried our best to find her a good friend who would take care of her the way we did.  Sitting 14000 miles away from her on the other side of the globe, when her keys were handed over, we could not hold back our tears for a true friend who never let us down! I hope our paths never cross again, for I cant see her in someone else’s care.

Consumer is King!

Well, let me first admit the truth that my first and last love among subjects was marketing and HR was a willful choice I made, after considering a lot of factors. So my fellow HR pros, do not get surprised if u happen to read this! J

Here, I ve jotted down something relevant to what we studied, related to the 5 Ps of marketing. Just for info, the 4 Ps of marketing namely Product, price, place and promotion are pillars of thought utilized by the marketers for forming their marketing strategy., trying meanwhile to satisfy the 5^th P, people. Can people be satisfied? An effective marketer might be able to wrap up all the 4 Ps but the 5^th, will be very very tricky!

Back in the Indian retail scene, something similar to what happened in US, in 80’s, is in process. If you know what I mean that is the moving of the retail giants into the Indian neighbourhoods. Can the poor provision stores run my ‘Daamu chettan’ or ‘chetan bhai’ survive time? Does it benefit us better to have these retail giants in place of petty shops? well… I would like to point out; to a great extent, as a consumer, ‘yes’.

In one of the marketing lectures, I remember my prof making a statement that the saying “Consumer is King” applies greatly to the US markets where choice is plenty. I had to see it to believe it! Every brand on the shelf is fighting the one similar to it, placed right beside. If the slogan/ pricing/ artwork on carton/extra additives etc. does not match or exceed expectations, it ll just not be lifted off the shelf! Well, that’s the story of the products, the retailers by themselves are no different! They bring out flyers almost every other week, trying to beckon all with marvelous ‘Coupon offers’ (reducing initial marked prices to beat competition) savings and festive season offers. When the biggies compete the after effect is big savings and such a situation is beneficial to the consumer.

I feel at times they even take the phrase “…King” overboard for eg:, here  they have a return policy that is unbelievable!. Be it electronic/toy/clothing/bedding/telephone etc. etc., if one does not feel that it fits the bill, they can return it anytime(there are shops offering 90 days upto even 365), no questions asked!!! (Note: Legally the shops are expected to receive any returns within 90 days time) I was agape seeing this at first thinking that such action can cause serious loss to the manufacturer, especially in electronic and telephone departments. Because whatever is returned by the consumer can be sold again only as refurbished, and that too at half the price! Sometimes, the stuff returned will have absolutely nothing wrong, except that it dint suit the customer’s ‘taste’. Once I commented on a blog about the return policy in US, and the author was prompt to delete it away!!  J

The advertisements that are aired in the media try their best to create some kind of retention in the minds of their prospective consumers; sometimes by creating very good ads and sometimes by creating horrible ones.. I still have nt got a clue why the latter!??? Personally I feel the best place to advertise in US would be in one of the weather watch sites. The traffic would be really high there because of the unpredictable weather pattern in US.

Biggies starting up shop in India is but inevitable in her run towards becoming ‘big’.  These are but signs of a developed country and India is just on her way.

The first snowfall

It happened on a cold November morning, of the year 2010.

Well, snow was not actually the top item on my list when I landed here in US, but it was so, for my hubby. After having my lil one, everything else in life, falls short of making it to top!!! The thought of winter left me worried of freezing in the cold/falling sick etc., and since snow was a part of it I secretly loathed it!

One day, responding to my hubby’s excited voice on the phone screaming “its snowing..its snowing..”, I lazily pulled aside the blinds and what was before me left me speechless for a while! It looked as if I ve entered into the screen of my TV when some movie was playing on HBO.. coz that’s the only place I ve seen something like this before!!! The roof of the building opposite to our patio was covered in white.. the leaves were bowing down with the weight of the snow falling on them, the bud of the plant nearest my window had a ball of snow on it, like a lollypop!

Whooopppie! I could feel the bubbles of excitement in me.. my wide grin broke into peels of laughter… like someone was tickling me! So my hubby proudly remarked as if he had the power to foresee my future…”see, I told u, u ‘d love it!!!”….i replied in submission, “Yes boss, you did!” J

I laughed to myself, just enjoying the sight of it! I had earlier tried to imagine how it would all look when snow finally falls… but, Mother Nature beat my imagination!

I commented on facebook that I was thrilled and someone immediately told me that “In time…you are gonna hate it…” Let me say, like everything else beautiful in our lives….maybe, snow will also be taken for granted in time……….. But its beauty never questioned!…J


PS: These snaps were taken from my cam, that day.

The 100 Feet Road Experience

Anyone who has been to Bangalore would most probably have been to the 100 Ft Road (Airport), Bangalore. It has a few of the city's finest shops/ fashion designer outlets/ sports shops/ beauty parlours etc. etc. and almost all branded eat outs and even a pub. And here is also where my friend D and I spent our best times of youth, window shopping!!!

Wait! We are not one of those girls who would make the counter wala dump all the clothes and then say, no no.. we never did that!!! Naaaa!... we would very politely say, before he/she pulls out stuff, “No thanks! I was just seeing!”???  ha ha ha! ‘Seeing’!!!!! J

We were just out of college, drawing out first few salaries and trying our best to limit our shopping to ‘window’. I am not claiming that we did…but we tried out bestest best. Every Saturday morning it was thrilling to get decked up, catch an auto, land up in 100 Ft road and eat our break fast (sometimes it would just be bread and jam from back home)…go around checking out shops, have my fav chicken tikka sandwich and Chocolate shock (I guess I got the name right) for lunch from CCD…. Do more window shopping and then head home finally to call it a day!

Our days at the 100 Ft Road finally ended with me getting engaged to my present day hubby… I had to keep my dates with him thereafter…. J

I can easily say those happening days at 100 Ft Road were some of the finest in my life.. Thanks D… You are my friend, dearer than the dearest… wait… should I call u sister…naaaah! Then we might ve fought.. not a sis… just so close to my heart… miss you!

PS: D also met her sweetheart soon after and is happily married now, missing 100 Ft Road as much as I do!