When The Muse Strikes

If Kolkata is the City of Joy, then perhaps Agra is India's City of Love. Situated at a distance of 200km from Delhi, Agra served as the capital of the great Mughal Empire during the peak of its power. Today, Agra is best known as the home of the world's greatest monument for love - The Taj Mahal.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit Agra and soak in its history. Over the course of a day, I visited three monuments: The tomb of Itimad-ud-daula, the Agra Fort and of course, the celebrated Taj.

I plan to write about my Agra visit in a three part post - each post dedicated to one of the three monuments mentioned above. I know that reams and reams have been written about these already. But I hope that my take will be unique enough to make it an interesting read.

All photographs featured in the posts are taken from my camera - except perhaps for a few at the Taj. The camera battery had dwindled by then. I may have to borrow pictures from the net.

Hope you will like these posts....

Awards and recognition are always wonderful, especially to an attention hungry Leo like myself. But when it comes from a fellow blogger, it is all the more sweet and coveted. Thanks Rachna for conferring this honour on me. Right back at ya!!

As a recipient of this award, I'm expected to link back to the person who gave me this award I also have to write 7 honest things about myself. That's going to make me think very hard now! But guess it could be fun.

1. I am your typical Leo-aggressive, determined, passionate and a bit of a drama queen. I am rather 'take charge' in a situation and also a control freak.

2. I never do things in half measures. I love and hate with equal intensity. I have high expectations of people that I love and feel bad if they do not measure up to it - impractical and unrealistic I know. But there you are. But for those that I hate, I ignore them and / or cut them out of my life totally.

3. I am generally straight forward and say things openly, frankly and probably rashly also. I have been told many times to temper my words. I try - can't say I succeed much.

4. Quick tempered - surprise! surprise! I flare up easily and say things which I regret later. I used to think I cool off easily also - but turns out that I'm actually a sulker!! I need to be coaxed and cajoled to get out of my bad mood. Bad girl!!

5. I'm articulate and like to think that communication is my strong point. I can speak several languages. I can speak in any situation and do not get fazed by public speaking. Perhaps my writing is also not-so-bad?

6. I am a loyal friend. I choose my friends with care and try to stand by them when they need me. Not to say that I mince words in telling them if they are in the wrong. But I will still stand by them. And my friends will vouch for this.

7. Although I do not believe in gender stereotypes, I like girlie stuff like clothes, make up, cooking and shopping :)))

So, those of you who know me - do you agree with these 7 things about me?

I'd like to pass on this Award to three people:

Meera : My sister, my friend and a recent convert to blogging. Am super impressed at how well she has taken to this new passion of hers.

Sandhya : I find her writing very sweet, gentle and rather maternal.

Partha : A recent friend. I am amazed at his enthusiasm for writing and creating when most others like him would not be.

Keep up the blogging!!

The day started ordinarily enough. I traveled to Noida this morning to our partner's office. Come afternoon, my colleague and I went to YMCA near Connaught Place to check out their conference facilities. On the way, we passed Jantar Mantar, the epicenter of a people's movement that India has not seen in a very long time. The lure was irresistable. Weaving through traffic carrying busloads of supporters, we walked towards Jantar Mantar.

The scene we saw was amazing.

Hoardes of people had gathered to express support for this 73 year old Gandhian who has vowed to carry out a fast-until-death unless the Jan Lokpal Bill is passed. Men and women of all ages were gathered together, carrying placards, banners, effigies and shouting slogans against corruption. Cries of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and 'Vande Mataram' rend the air.

The diversity among supporters was amazing. Elders were a-plenty. Old men walking slowly, aided by sticks. Women from rural areas and the urban elite from Delhi. Drum beats boomed out, breaking the inertia of apathy. Standing together, supporting a cause.

As I write this note, the news flashes that the govt. has agreed to constitute a joint committee to draft a bill by 30th June and that Anna Hazare will break his fast at 10 tomorrow. I do not know if this movement will end corruption. Most would question if a law can end this deep rooted malady. Many others would just rather watch the IPL. To them I would say - Better an an optimistic fool than a jaded cynic.

I am very glad I got an opportunity to observe and express solidarity with what some are terming as the largest movement of civil society after Independence. I feel almost afraid to say it - but maybe we can believe in Belief again?

The whole country is rejoicing at India's victory in the World Cup semi-final. Why? Coz we beat Pakistan! Emotions really run high when India plays Pakistan. Facebook messages ran amok with jubilation when India won. "Chak de India" and "Yippee!" and "Go Dhoni's Dashers! Go!". It seemed as if the World Cup had been won already!

Except one message which read "Take that for 26/11 and more". I thought it was in poor taste. People did ask the person not to spread hate. But he/she was unrepentant. Will winning a cricket match assuage the hurt and set right all that has gone wrong between our two nations? I always believed that games and culture can actually build bridges and bring people together. Let a game remain a game and let sportsmanship prevail.

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Some days back, when I went over to my sister's place, my 13 year old niece invited me to stay over for a 'girl's sleepover' since her dad was touring. I said I couldn't since I have a husband at home and needed to get back. She didn't reply but I guess it did not go down well with her.

My sister later reported that my niece had a complaint. She said, "I think Chitti likes R uncle (the husband) more than me. She's not loyal to me anymore!". My poor baby! I went over the same day and ragged her about it. Each has their own place and is irreplaceable!

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On Thursday, we were busy with a team meeting, when 5 men in white khadi shirts and vesti barged into our office. Addressing my boss, the oldest of the lot said: "Saar...Ai yam the Congress blah blah committee chairman. Ai yam ye vury honourable man"....

The fellows had come asking for money and assured us that they would 'stand by us'. My boss sat them down, had a nice chat about sundry things and refused the money. Smilingly he said what was in effect 'Do your worst. I'm not giving one naya paisa'. The fellows had to go on their way.

When I narrated the incident at home, my concerned husband retorted:"Better be careful. What if they throw acid at you?!"

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We hang our washed clothes to dry on the open terrace of our apartment block. Everybody does. Each flat has been assigned two lines where they can hang their clothes. The down side is that clothes get stolen on a regular basis. I have so far lost one rajai (which I had hung out to air) and two lovely handloom dupattas. Today I discovered that two more items are missing. A T-shirt and capris which are well washed and soft and which I love wearing at home.

If there is something that I detest, it is a thief. Only the lowest scumbag would take something for which they have not worked and which is not theirs. Really!

P.S.: Did I go overboard with the pictures folks?

If you're a Holi lover, you're going to think I'm crazy. But the truth of the matter is that I do not really enjoy Holi.

Way back when I was child living in Kolkata I suppose I must have liked it. I remember preparing the night before - filling tubs with water balloons to chuck at hapless strangers from the safety of the terrace-and always missing! I remember trying to pitch a bucket of water at a 'dada' (generic name of any young-older guy) in the colony, him side stepping adroitly and somehow me getting drenched in the process.

Cut to a few years later, Hyderabad - me studying for my 8th std final exams. I had read somewhere that during exams you should do things to make you happy. So I wanted to wear the new cheese cotton (it was a type of fabric) top my mother had bought for me. It was so pretty, all white with colourful polka dots. I was sure my mood would be very good if I wore it. My mother warned me that it is Holi and wearing white clothes, especially new ones, is not advisable. I told her I wouldn't be stepping out of the house since I would be too busy studying. So there was nothing to worry about. I would regret those words.

About an hour later, the doorbell rang. I peered through the peep hole and saw a bunch of multi coloured colony kids standing outside.

"I've seen you! I'm not coming out". I yelled through the door.

"Please come out didi. We only want to rub some gulal (coloured powder)on your face. We promise - nothing more than that"

Naturally, they didn't mean a word of it. But I, poor sucker, believed them and stepped out. Only for a bucket full of black water to be upended over my head. The cheese cotton top never looked the same again.

A few years on, in college, it was even worse. A total free for all. The boys took full advantage of the opportunity, grabbing the girls and even going so far as to throw them into a mud pit that was created specially for Holi. I was horrified when I heard this. So when a guy friend came around to my hostel asking me to come out and play Holi, I told him off roundly.

As time went on, I became more and more convinced that Holi was really not my festival of choice. Quite the opposite actually. I read stories of how young women in Delhi were harassed in the name of festivities. I even saw a news feature where the female presenter covering Holi became the target of some water balloons.

So Happy Holi everyone. Its not such a big festival where I live these days. Even so, I think I'll just stay put at home and be smart about not answering the doorbell this time.

There is intellectual bankruptcy, moral bankruptcy, spiritual bankruptcy. I thought I would use my 70th post to rant about creative bankruptcy.

Way back when we had only Doordarshan by way of television entertainment, we eagerly waited for the commercials as much as the 'sponsored network programmes'. Some of the ads were so well crafted that I still remember their tag lines. Remember 'Neighbours' Envy, Owners' Pride' and the devil in Onida? Or 'If you have the inclination, we have the time' from HMT? My favourite was the Tata Steel ad with the tag line ' Ispat bhi hum banate hain' (we also make steel). The English versions had these sub tags like 'We make champions....we also make steel' and 'We make the nation's dreams come true....we also make steel'. Made me swell with pride for sure! I found the hindi version on youtube. Take a look:



Some of the commercials were not that great. But the jingles were very catchy. Here's the well known tune from Lifebouy:



What I'm getting at is that the product and the commercial were distinct. There was either a tag line or a jingle which you could immediately associate with the product. And it was total recall after that. Look at me, its been nearly 2 decades, and I still remember the ads with fondness.

These days, we have only sad excuses for commercials. It seems that creative juices among ad agencies have totally dried up. To the extent that the best they can come up with are stylised remixes of old Bollywood numbers. The worst offender is of course Coca Cola. The last 3 commercials they ran, all had rehashed, remixed Hindi songs. Here they are in no particular order:

The Diwali ad - song ripped off: Jaata Kahan Hai Diwane (Movie: CID)


The Invisible Bottle - song ripped off: Tum Jo Mil Gaye Ho (Movie: Hanste Zakham)



The Shadow ad - song ripped off: Aaj Ki Raat (Movie: Anamika)



The Brrr Commercial - song ripped off: Yeh Ladka Zara Sa (Movie: Love Story)



Not to put Coca Cola too much in the dock, here's another, from Moods Condoms. This one is really dreadful. The original from the movie Amar Prem is a Kishore Kumar classic. Rajesh Khanna brings out rueful disillusionment and acceptance of heartbreak so beautifully. And to use it in a condom ad?! Is there a correlation there?



Seriously! Is creativity dead? Back in my day - the pre mobile, pre internet and pre satellite tv days - we could put together better commercials in an event called 'Ad Zap' at college festivals! And we weren't even studying advertising.

Viewer / customer tastes have changed no doubt. And people's attention spans have shrunk. Maybe it is just that ad agencies think viewers' tastes have sunk so low that only some Bollywood connection can revive it. What a tragedy. Think of the joy of the Hamara Bajaj commercial and compare it to the hermaphrodite type model of the Aaj Ki Raat Coke commercial. Sigh! What a fall there has been my countrymen.