I read this article in Hindustan Times' sunday magazine Brunch. It was about the way sarees are in fashion since almost 3000 years now. Some the figures there really caught my eye.
1.) According to a survey by textile industry, sarees account for more than one-third of total garment sales in india with an estimated value of about 53,459 crores.
2.) Only garment that has recorded a growth rate in sales of 8.8% from 1998 to 2006 when the sales for other garments had fluctuated.
No wonder sarees are considered "Evergreen"
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
The Indifferent "Me"
It happened yesterday evening(arnd 6:50 P.M on 28th July'08). I was about to leave with my flatmate for gym. He was talking over phone and i was waiting close to our bike when i heard a lady shouting,"Arre roko koi. mera purse le ke bhag raha hai. Arre roko"
I was there on the pavement. This incident happened right in front of my eyes about 30 metres away. The son-of-a-bi*** purse-snatcher was coming towards me on his bike. I had all the time on this earth. I could have hit him down, could have noted his bike number..but i did nothing. Instead a minute later, when my flatmate put his phone down after hearing the hullabullo and asked me what had happened, i smiled at him and said "kuchh nahin yaar. koi banda aunti ka bag cheen kar bhag gaya".
My friend said,"Anurag, saaleya koi to reaction de. Tu to aise behave kar raha hai jaise kuchh hua hi nahin."
It was at that moment that i realised my indifferent attitude to surroundings. That lady,in late 40's was frantically crying, asking for help from everyone. Ladies had gathered around her to console her and there i was, a young and gym-attending healthy but in-different person,smiling and talking to my friend as if it was routine.
I dont know but i might have panicked, brain and body might have stopped co-ordinating for those few seconds. So i can tell myself that it's ok if i couldn't do anything. It could have happened to anyone. But what was really disturbing was my smiling and casual attitude after that. And i didn't even realise it on my own. My friend's comment made me realise it later.
This post isn't to showcase that my sense of guilt is killing me or that i feel really sorry for that lady. Its just another day at office for me with coffee cup and SAS. Its just to reflect on how i have been moulded in my attitude like so many others who only care for themselves. It's said that its in these kind of moments that a person's true character is revealed. These moments are a true reflection of one's self. Sadly i didn't get a very good feeling about myself.
I often hear the off-repeated saying,"every single person can make a difference and if it happens, this world will be a lot better place to live". Here i had a chance to do something, but sadly i didn't.
I often look at our politicians (some of them, not all) and hate them for their indifference to their constituency or people in general. I must have spoken this a million times,"In logon ko koi farak nahin padta." I wonder whether mujhe koi farak padta hai. If tomorrow i become a politician or for that matter a business leader, will i care for my people? Will i be willing to put society's welfare or organization's goals before my own?
Just hoping that i will be...........
I was there on the pavement. This incident happened right in front of my eyes about 30 metres away. The son-of-a-bi*** purse-snatcher was coming towards me on his bike. I had all the time on this earth. I could have hit him down, could have noted his bike number..but i did nothing. Instead a minute later, when my flatmate put his phone down after hearing the hullabullo and asked me what had happened, i smiled at him and said "kuchh nahin yaar. koi banda aunti ka bag cheen kar bhag gaya".
My friend said,"Anurag, saaleya koi to reaction de. Tu to aise behave kar raha hai jaise kuchh hua hi nahin."
It was at that moment that i realised my indifferent attitude to surroundings. That lady,in late 40's was frantically crying, asking for help from everyone. Ladies had gathered around her to console her and there i was, a young and gym-attending healthy but in-different person,smiling and talking to my friend as if it was routine.
I dont know but i might have panicked, brain and body might have stopped co-ordinating for those few seconds. So i can tell myself that it's ok if i couldn't do anything. It could have happened to anyone. But what was really disturbing was my smiling and casual attitude after that. And i didn't even realise it on my own. My friend's comment made me realise it later.
This post isn't to showcase that my sense of guilt is killing me or that i feel really sorry for that lady. Its just another day at office for me with coffee cup and SAS. Its just to reflect on how i have been moulded in my attitude like so many others who only care for themselves. It's said that its in these kind of moments that a person's true character is revealed. These moments are a true reflection of one's self. Sadly i didn't get a very good feeling about myself.
I often hear the off-repeated saying,"every single person can make a difference and if it happens, this world will be a lot better place to live". Here i had a chance to do something, but sadly i didn't.
I often look at our politicians (some of them, not all) and hate them for their indifference to their constituency or people in general. I must have spoken this a million times,"In logon ko koi farak nahin padta." I wonder whether mujhe koi farak padta hai. If tomorrow i become a politician or for that matter a business leader, will i care for my people? Will i be willing to put society's welfare or organization's goals before my own?
Just hoping that i will be...........
Monday, July 28, 2008
Retribution, thy name is orkut
Orkut has been a phenomenol success with its extensive use in social networking a.k.a trying on new girls with "i saw your profile and just wanted to be a friend. Would you like to be friend" or "Hey beautiful, wanna be a friend" or the cheesiest one " A look at your pic and i knew i wanted be your friend"....schucks.....grow-up guys....even the dead are rolling in their graves reading this..
But thing that i like the most about orkut is the testimonial part. Express your feelings about another person. Some are beautifully written, others the usual crap like a flower or some weird drawing made with "/" ,"\", "," , etc. God knows where do people get time to think of these designs.
Anyways, when its a BF/GF writing it about the other person, its a tough one. One of the reason being that there is so much you wanna write about the other person that 1024 characters is just too less a space(hence multi testimonials from same person). Then there is a danger of saying too much and thus being too obvious in your testimonial(in case both are not ready to shout at the top their voices that they are in L-O-V-E) . Hence lines like "you know what i mean" or "I hope u understand this :) " or "remember" and so on......
Both will go through them a million times telling the other person how much it means to him/her. That its really very close to heart and will always cherish it as a loveable gift of a lifetime. But then GOD is a funny guy. Few days,months or in some cases a few years and the reality bites.....BREAK-UP....we are on a break....
And then the same testimonial becomes a pain-in-a**. Reasons:
1.) Every time you open orkut and there it is, smiling you in-the-face....if you have difficulty picturizing that laugh then remember Nasiruddin Shah in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (when his son the "Ranjour Ka Rathore" comes back home all blue and black after a fight. So sarcastic).
2.) Emotions expressed in it are now just words which mean nothing.
and most importantly
3.) You dont want your new BF/GF to know about it or if he/she knows about it, then you dont want that poor soul to go through it over and over again and then give him/her constant explanations as to what did you mean when you had written all that. All those expressions "you know what i mean" or "I hope u understand this :) " or "remember" that you had written with so many giggles are now the bane of your existence. In every fight, every argument, they will invariably come up. None of your explanations "Yaar, i didn't mean anything", "Voh to aise hi likha tha", etc. will work. Finally a few tears or a day or two of "BREAK" might work. But then you wont be able to stop yourself from thinking" What the fu** was i thinking when i wrote that?".... ha ha ha
Way out, tried and tested one, delete it. Out of sight,out of mind. Next time argument ho to just say,"Mujhe nahin pata tum kis baare mein baat kar rahe ho, i cant remember" and just pray that the other person suffers from amnesia about the same.
So my conclusion, dont write testimonials if you later can't take a little pain-in-a**. Keep your feelings limited to messages, emails, love-letters,cards,etc. Because beta "Yeh Duniya Gol Hai" and "Is zindagi ke paapon ki sazaa isi zindagi mein milti hai".
Happy orkutting :)
But thing that i like the most about orkut is the testimonial part. Express your feelings about another person. Some are beautifully written, others the usual crap like a flower or some weird drawing made with "/" ,"\", "," , etc. God knows where do people get time to think of these designs.
Anyways, when its a BF/GF writing it about the other person, its a tough one. One of the reason being that there is so much you wanna write about the other person that 1024 characters is just too less a space(hence multi testimonials from same person). Then there is a danger of saying too much and thus being too obvious in your testimonial(in case both are not ready to shout at the top their voices that they are in L-O-V-E) . Hence lines like "you know what i mean" or "I hope u understand this :) " or "remember" and so on......
Both will go through them a million times telling the other person how much it means to him/her. That its really very close to heart and will always cherish it as a loveable gift of a lifetime. But then GOD is a funny guy. Few days,months or in some cases a few years and the reality bites.....BREAK-UP....we are on a break....
And then the same testimonial becomes a pain-in-a**. Reasons:
1.) Every time you open orkut and there it is, smiling you in-the-face....if you have difficulty picturizing that laugh then remember Nasiruddin Shah in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na (when his son the "Ranjour Ka Rathore" comes back home all blue and black after a fight. So sarcastic).
2.) Emotions expressed in it are now just words which mean nothing.
and most importantly
3.) You dont want your new BF/GF to know about it or if he/she knows about it, then you dont want that poor soul to go through it over and over again and then give him/her constant explanations as to what did you mean when you had written all that. All those expressions "you know what i mean" or "I hope u understand this :) " or "remember" that you had written with so many giggles are now the bane of your existence. In every fight, every argument, they will invariably come up. None of your explanations "Yaar, i didn't mean anything", "Voh to aise hi likha tha", etc. will work. Finally a few tears or a day or two of "BREAK" might work. But then you wont be able to stop yourself from thinking" What the fu** was i thinking when i wrote that?".... ha ha ha
Way out, tried and tested one, delete it. Out of sight,out of mind. Next time argument ho to just say,"Mujhe nahin pata tum kis baare mein baat kar rahe ho, i cant remember" and just pray that the other person suffers from amnesia about the same.
So my conclusion, dont write testimonials if you later can't take a little pain-in-a**. Keep your feelings limited to messages, emails, love-letters,cards,etc. Because beta "Yeh Duniya Gol Hai" and "Is zindagi ke paapon ki sazaa isi zindagi mein milti hai".
Happy orkutting :)
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Good song, Bad song
"Kabhi kabhi aditi zindagi mein yun hi koi apna lagta hai"...song of the moment. Had heard a lot about this song. I heard it a few times but didn't really like it very much. Today was just surfing net. This song was playing in the background. I heard it once, repeated it..and then repeated it like a million times. I was enjoying it a lot.Song is so simple and it strikes a chord with every heart.
That is the best part about all the simple things in life, like a hug from a friend before a campus interview , late night card games, crouching around a bed and watching movies (every kind :) ), birthday bumps, silly arguments, lewd jokes, biking in rain, opposite sex talks and accompanying release of frustration, sachin's batting with Tony Greig as the commentator, etc...They instantly appeal to your emotions. You dont have to try hard to relate with them. We humans are born with all these innate emotions and when displayed well in a movie or a song, that thing becomes a classic. Think of the best movies that you have seen and you will be able to remember some parts of those movies, be it dialogues or scenes, that you could relate with and thats why you enjoyed them so much in the first place.
Now why didn't i like the song at first. Answer was not tough to find out. I heard and saw the complete song(along with the accompanying crying-girl and loving friend) for the first time while watching the movie itself. I knew it was a sweet love story. Amazing time spent in college, love for the other person in your words, eyes, actions, everything. Love in its purest form. And as the old saying goes,"Doodh ka jala chaach ko bhi phook-phook kar peeta hai".. Right from the start of the movie i was in a rejection mode. Just wanted to watch the movie, because everyone had recommended it, but didn't want to get involved. Any scene where i felt that there was a lump im my throat, i fast-forwarded it.
Today at this hour(it's past 12 at night),surfing the net and listening to the same song playing in the background,couldn't stop my mind from wandering. I can bet that every person who likes this song has at one point or other put himself / herself in the same setting and giggled at the prospect of dancing and singing in front of friends...with "aditi" being "the one" for whom you wanna do all this. You wanna make her smile when she is sad, you wanna wipe her tears and make them yours........
song says, "Rote hain hum bhi agar teri aankhon mein aansoon aate hain"....you think of moments when you were all in tears listening to her over phone or in person and she was telling you why she is sad...
The line that i wanted to hear over-and-over again,"Aditi voh jo bichadte hain voh ik din mil jaate hain"..Because i know that day onwards i will watch movies like Jaane tu ya jaane na and absolutely love them. I wont be stopping myself. I wanna enjoy every movie the way i enjoyed Partner.
"maana kabhi-kabhi saare jahan mein andhera hota hai,lekin raat ke baad hi to savera hota hai"
Its a good song.. :)
That is the best part about all the simple things in life, like a hug from a friend before a campus interview , late night card games, crouching around a bed and watching movies (every kind :) ), birthday bumps, silly arguments, lewd jokes, biking in rain, opposite sex talks and accompanying release of frustration, sachin's batting with Tony Greig as the commentator, etc...They instantly appeal to your emotions. You dont have to try hard to relate with them. We humans are born with all these innate emotions and when displayed well in a movie or a song, that thing becomes a classic. Think of the best movies that you have seen and you will be able to remember some parts of those movies, be it dialogues or scenes, that you could relate with and thats why you enjoyed them so much in the first place.
Now why didn't i like the song at first. Answer was not tough to find out. I heard and saw the complete song(along with the accompanying crying-girl and loving friend) for the first time while watching the movie itself. I knew it was a sweet love story. Amazing time spent in college, love for the other person in your words, eyes, actions, everything. Love in its purest form. And as the old saying goes,"Doodh ka jala chaach ko bhi phook-phook kar peeta hai".. Right from the start of the movie i was in a rejection mode. Just wanted to watch the movie, because everyone had recommended it, but didn't want to get involved. Any scene where i felt that there was a lump im my throat, i fast-forwarded it.
Today at this hour(it's past 12 at night),surfing the net and listening to the same song playing in the background,couldn't stop my mind from wandering. I can bet that every person who likes this song has at one point or other put himself / herself in the same setting and giggled at the prospect of dancing and singing in front of friends...with "aditi" being "the one" for whom you wanna do all this. You wanna make her smile when she is sad, you wanna wipe her tears and make them yours........
song says, "Rote hain hum bhi agar teri aankhon mein aansoon aate hain"....you think of moments when you were all in tears listening to her over phone or in person and she was telling you why she is sad...
The line that i wanted to hear over-and-over again,"Aditi voh jo bichadte hain voh ik din mil jaate hain"..Because i know that day onwards i will watch movies like Jaane tu ya jaane na and absolutely love them. I wont be stopping myself. I wanna enjoy every movie the way i enjoyed Partner.
"maana kabhi-kabhi saare jahan mein andhera hota hai,lekin raat ke baad hi to savera hota hai"
Its a good song.. :)
Friday, July 25, 2008
Human body is 1 cm. taller in the morning than in evening.
One of my friends Rishab Nanda during one of our bantering sessions told us that human body changes in height during the day very much like our weight and that human body on an average is 1 cm. taller in the morning than in evening.
Cant tell you how much fun we made of him ripping apart his stated fact with our illogical and sarcastic comments. Nanda as usual was at his sincere best,moving around his mundi trying to convince us and we were as usual making fun. At the end all he said was, "Maane ya na maano, but it's true".
Then today around 7:30 in the morning i get a call from him. "Haan chotu(he addresses me like that) , uth gaya hai". I had slept at two at night, reason being the usual extended period of "Friends" watching. Anyways i manage to say,"Haan uth gaya hun, bol". He says," TOI(Times Of India) ka Delhi Times section khol and go to page 4." Obediently i do that.
Sitting there at the bottom right is the usual section "Fact of Matter". It had,"Human body is 1 cm. taller in the morning than at night." After reading it only words i could utter were,"Then what". Then he reminded me of that unfortunate day he had to suffer our comments and become the subject of ridicule. I had totally forgotten about all that we said that night but that poor soul was still carrying it in his heart. Boy you should have heard him after he made me read that,"Kaha tha na tum logon ko us din. Maan hi nahin rahe the. Ab padh le khud."
Chalo i was happy that though i had a heavy head when i reached office, with sleep deprivation, atleast someone was feeling light with something very humiliating off his chest.
Good morning nande...have a great day ahead.
P.S: For those interested in facts of this can check the link http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_we_are_taller_in_morning_than_in_evening
Cant tell you how much fun we made of him ripping apart his stated fact with our illogical and sarcastic comments. Nanda as usual was at his sincere best,moving around his mundi trying to convince us and we were as usual making fun. At the end all he said was, "Maane ya na maano, but it's true".
Then today around 7:30 in the morning i get a call from him. "Haan chotu(he addresses me like that) , uth gaya hai". I had slept at two at night, reason being the usual extended period of "Friends" watching. Anyways i manage to say,"Haan uth gaya hun, bol". He says," TOI(Times Of India) ka Delhi Times section khol and go to page 4." Obediently i do that.
Sitting there at the bottom right is the usual section "Fact of Matter". It had,"Human body is 1 cm. taller in the morning than at night." After reading it only words i could utter were,"Then what". Then he reminded me of that unfortunate day he had to suffer our comments and become the subject of ridicule. I had totally forgotten about all that we said that night but that poor soul was still carrying it in his heart. Boy you should have heard him after he made me read that,"Kaha tha na tum logon ko us din. Maan hi nahin rahe the. Ab padh le khud."
Chalo i was happy that though i had a heavy head when i reached office, with sleep deprivation, atleast someone was feeling light with something very humiliating off his chest.
Good morning nande...have a great day ahead.
P.S: For those interested in facts of this can check the link http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_we_are_taller_in_morning_than_in_evening
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Dark Knight:A must watch
Watched Dark Knight last night. True to reviews and box office collections, movie is simply superb. Movie is gripping right from the start. Christian bale(Batman) with his heavier-than-bachhan voice, Heath Ledger(Joker) with his lip-sucking performance, Aaron Eckhart(Harvey Dent) with his awesome two-face, every performance,make-up,stunts are worth a watch...throw in a bat mobile, fancy gadgets, a handsome billionaire and you have got yourself a party.
Joker clearly steals the show. His lip-smacking performance, flowing hair, all painted face gives you smiles throughout the movie. Best part is that he is not the usual con, wanting his share of moolah and in the process getting caught. He wants more than that. He wants to give Gotham City a villain to remember and fear.He wants to bring anarchy to the city. As he says,"Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order and you have got yourself chaos". Line at end of movie is definitely gonna go down as one of the best,"Either you die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain".
Funny thing happened toward the end of the movie. While boys at the end of movie were raving about batman and his daredevils, a girl next to me commented,"Kya movie thi yaar,car se bike ban jaati hai"...Stupid girl, he has the bat mobile..it doesnt matter if it's a car or a bike.
I had always heard that girls dont generally enjoy superhero movies. After this incident i am inclined to think whether they understand them. Batman, spiderman, James Bond..is not just gadgets or stuff. Its the whole aura of power that these people carry. As Chandler says in TV series Friends,"James Bond is England’s most powerful weapon. Jet setting heartbreaker on her majesty’s secret service. A man who fears no one; with a license to kill."
All in all, a must watch. 9.5/10 on imdb.com means something. Enjoy...
P.S: Amidst all the beauties that hollywood has, why did they choose this one is a little hard to understand. And what's with this hardly-any-kiss throughout the movie. Hollywood,we love you for what you are. Dont take that away from us.
Joker clearly steals the show. His lip-smacking performance, flowing hair, all painted face gives you smiles throughout the movie. Best part is that he is not the usual con, wanting his share of moolah and in the process getting caught. He wants more than that. He wants to give Gotham City a villain to remember and fear.He wants to bring anarchy to the city. As he says,"Introduce a little anarchy. Upset the established order and you have got yourself chaos". Line at end of movie is definitely gonna go down as one of the best,"Either you die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain".
Funny thing happened toward the end of the movie. While boys at the end of movie were raving about batman and his daredevils, a girl next to me commented,"Kya movie thi yaar,car se bike ban jaati hai"...Stupid girl, he has the bat mobile..it doesnt matter if it's a car or a bike.
I had always heard that girls dont generally enjoy superhero movies. After this incident i am inclined to think whether they understand them. Batman, spiderman, James Bond..is not just gadgets or stuff. Its the whole aura of power that these people carry. As Chandler says in TV series Friends,"James Bond is England’s most powerful weapon. Jet setting heartbreaker on her majesty’s secret service. A man who fears no one; with a license to kill."
All in all, a must watch. 9.5/10 on imdb.com means something. Enjoy...
P.S: Amidst all the beauties that hollywood has, why did they choose this one is a little hard to understand. And what's with this hardly-any-kiss throughout the movie. Hollywood,we love you for what you are. Dont take that away from us.
Confidence Vote: Democracy is the loser
Another round of shame, another day of unabashed debauchery on part Indian MP's. From the very halls of Parliament house, place supposed to uphold our democracy and seat the people at very front of it, coverages of MP's waving money bundles given as bribes are splashed all across news channels and newspapers. One wonders how could MP's get them inside the Parliament House in the first place, considering such tight security measures. PM was not even allowed to make a speech, opposition refused to accept defeat as usual, issue of Nuclear Deal was hardly discussed, except at places in speeches of Omar Abdullah and Rahul Gandhi. All this session was about getting numbers in place, it was never about the deal or principles of parties. National interests and Democracy once again lost to party interests and politics.
Silver lining, though their sense of right and wrong may have deserted them,humour is still alive in our politicians as witnessed in speech of our very own Laloo Yadav. I simply adore this man. Has the guts to say what he wants to, the way he wants to and at the time he wants to. Do hell with opportunity, if there is something on his mind, its on mike the very next second. Just the thought of him humming in the Parliament House "Tum hame na chaho to koi baat nahin, tum kisi aur ko chahogi to mushkil hogi" amidst his speech, makes you smile. Throw in oft-used references to Mahabharat and Ramayana, shuddh hindi ka prayog, and you have got a real Indian. Hats-off to this man for giving us something to smile about on this day of national shame.
Silver lining, though their sense of right and wrong may have deserted them,humour is still alive in our politicians as witnessed in speech of our very own Laloo Yadav. I simply adore this man. Has the guts to say what he wants to, the way he wants to and at the time he wants to. Do hell with opportunity, if there is something on his mind, its on mike the very next second. Just the thought of him humming in the Parliament House "Tum hame na chaho to koi baat nahin, tum kisi aur ko chahogi to mushkil hogi" amidst his speech, makes you smile. Throw in oft-used references to Mahabharat and Ramayana, shuddh hindi ka prayog, and you have got a real Indian. Hats-off to this man for giving us something to smile about on this day of national shame.
Reading: Tuesdays with Morrie
Author:Mitch Albom
Plot: This novel is conversation between a dying professor and his student. Morrie Schwartz, a professor is suffering from a serious illness which has no available cure. He is sure to die. But instead of losing hope and dying as a defeated person, he decides to use remaining life helping others and himself and thus dying a satisfying death. Here he gives Mitch, an old student from college, lessons on life,death,family,etc.
My Views: A well written novel with a very good setting. Author has tried hard to extract emotions out of reader, with vivid description of Morrie's deteriorating condition, childhood flashbacks,etc., but sadly enough fails. Most of what is written comes out as "philosophical" and hence cliche. But then this is what philosophy is all about,it always seems cliche till the point one day one of those off-heard "philosophical dialogues" becomes an epiphany and then your world changes. All these self-help and motivational books, catharsis classes, etc start making sense and the general gyaan about life and death becomes part of your daily dose. You start empathising with a dying soul appearing on a talk show, cry as he/she tells the story of his/her life, laugh at his so-called-jokes and so on.
But i guess i am far from that stage as of now.Morrie tried and succeeded in getting tears out of Mitch,but Mitch couldn't get one out of my eye.
My learning from this book was the realisation of my teacher, someone who teaches you a lesson in life that you never forget or never want to forget. Right from the start of this novel, i knew who the real teacher in my life is. In case you haven't realised till date who your teacher is, may be while reading this book you will.
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