Doing the Write Stuff!

It is not unusual to find oneself suddenly being engulfed in lots of activities!

Just when I decided to begin a separate blog dealing with the intricate, paradoxical, debatable subject of Foreign Trade Policy developments and their effect on trade and industry, I had an old collegemate call on me telling me about the troubles he had to go through in life. The events he described had so many twists and turns that it could put any bollywood blockbuster to shame.

"Write a book on my life events - it will be a hit!" he suggested, "I know you can do it". So I began with a short summary and send it off to him.

Another acquaintance who came out as an enterprising soul, who learnt about my love for writing soon revealed to me some interesting aspects of his life and I said "Wow! I never knew you...." Soon I would want to write about his noble deeds.
"I want the write-up to touch the readers hearts and make them feel like contributing to society, I know you can do that" he says. I hope to do justice, i think as i leave him with promises.

Back at my desk, I find an invitation to write for a new blog, a novel concept in which one has got to write his/her thoughts on a chosen India-related subject in just 140 words! Twitter - 140 characters. India-tweets - 140 words!

What do i do write the twisting-turning story with blockbuster potential?
Write about the kind-hearted deeds of the acquantance? Work on my professional trade-shade stuff?

The next thing that happens i find an email from blogger-friend Sakhi who has published her first book of short stories! Read about it here .

Great work! Congratulations! I wish her and begin wondering whether publishing my book is the end of a journey or the beginning of one? After publishing my First Artickles Book", I have been able to sell 3 copies of my book all in all - one via Pothi.com and 2 personally!

My good friend Anil, who knows everything, tells me, "If you havent praised Raavan or Hitler or Jinnah...nor have you hurt the feelings of this sect or the other...your book has nothing in it that makes it worthy of banning it or better still burning it...how do you expect to...again you're not a Jaswant or an Advani in fact you're not even a Praveen Mahajan!!??..."

I am convinced "I understand..I understand...but I still do hope someone buys it for some laughs it offers and for gifting it to someone who has sparce access to the internet...
Do buy my First Artickles Book!"

That's also when work beckons! Yells out to me and tells me there is some time-bound projects to attend to and all my thoughts vanish. Suddenly I begin to believe i cant do any of the stuff, i wanted to - at least not now - maybe sometime later.

So i wait for this weekend but all i can manage to do is to post my first 140-word India-tweet post! Check it out here.

Proud to be part of India-tweets! Thanks,Vinod Sharma!

Domesticating the Wild

While watching the video footage on television channels , of the Maharashtra state Minister of Agriculture, Balasaheb Thorat entering and fondling a wild animal, several thoughts and memories came to my mind.

While the media is busy finding fault with the minister with good intentions and blames him for violating the Central Zoo Authority rules, I choose to venture beyond and probe the behaviour of tiger cub.

The docile retraction of the domesticated feline inmate seemed to be a result of confined captivity. Instead of roaring and plunging at the intruders, the poor little thing preferred to be cuddled and fondled for its national audience. A huge disappointment for viewers, expecting a ferocious attack, demanding its rightful share of rugged, wild environs.

Just what exactly would have been at stake for this once-called-wild cat? Was it afraid of losing its new-found and most-loved possession, its cage? Once habituated to a cage in the zoo, where food is delivered at the appointed hour, an animal fears the challenges of the wild and becomes incapable of hunting for its own food, a fact one finds adeptly explained in Yann Martel’s book, Life of Pi.

Was the animal petrified by the entry of the most dangerous of animals, a human being? That too, a politician – a state minister! After poaching on the common man, all their life, this breed takes pride in poaching on wild animals in national forests as their primary leisurely activity.

Human beings have been responsible for causing the destruction of forests and poaching its tigers, did the animal in captivity fear the worst? Was it not a good time to spring at the powerful authority and register its protest for holding it in captivity and appeal to the general public “Mujhe aur mere jungle ko bachaao!”?

With the promise of a national audience by way of media cameras, several causes that deserved public attention could have been highlighted. Why then did it have to chose to sulk under the glare of the camera like a participant of the reality show, “Sach Ka Saamna”? Inspite of being blessed with the inability to speak, the animal had nothing to fear. Was it not the Minister who ought to have feared the truth serum, if at all?

The incident reminded one of a visit to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai, some years ago with my wife’s cousin and her little ones. While we were watching a leopard perched majestically, atop a low tree at the centre of a huge cage, a youngster standing besides us called out to him "Rajaaaah”. The animal immediately recognized his jungle call and seemed delighted to hear his voice. He came prancing excitedly like a child, and got himself fondled by the caller through the net mesh of the enclosure, until what seemed like eternity. “I have fed him since he was born, but I had to leave the city for my village” the charming visitor explained to us. He invited us to pet him while he held him by his nose and we felt somewhat elated by that experience! After thanking him for this unusual opportunity to fondle the wild cat, we left feeling enriched.

There have been numerous stories about animals not forgetting people who have tended to them in their childhood or period of ill-health. Similar stories can be found on the internet. One such incident about a lion embracing a female attendant who had nursed him back to health can be seen here.

We, human beings: evolved, civilized, educated, sophisticated, advanced, liberated, blessed with superior abilities, ends up easily forgetting the hand that feeds and nurtures. There’s certainly a lot for us to learn from the lesser ones amongst us -these animals!

Innovative Hoarding and Ad impacts

Advertisements impact our lives. Not just in forming our purchasing habits, but also in changing the way we think and live. Some ads boost our morale, while some simply entertain. But when a new mobile service had the daunting task of announcing their arrival on the Mumbai airwaves scene, Aircel broke into new ground. Have you ever seen an outdoor hoarding been put to use by the general public? Kudos to Primesite, Aircel’s ad agency for being innovative when they put up this hoarding near the Milan Subway, which provided a inflatable raft, which could be used when the place gets flooded. “In case of emergency - cut the rope”, said the hoarding.


Milan subway has been a landmark – always submerged once Mumbai experiences rains. All TV channels have begun camping here since the last 4-5 years. So when the water rose waist high, the lay public here did cut the rope as you may read here. We can only hope that whenever we are likely to face any adversity or difficulties, there is always some help available at close quarters.


Last night I met my friend from New Delhi, who told me that our honorable Prime Minister has been greatly influenced by another telecom ad, Idea Cellular - “An idea can change your life”.

How can you say that, I asked. “Well, the latest Idea Cellular ad keeps saying walk and talk all the time. So our PM has walked, though former minister, Yeshwant Sinha alleges ‘not just half the way but all the way to the Pak camp’, though all may not agree here” he said, “and…and… he also wants to talk – walk and talk, walk and talk, walk and talk!”

“Ahaaa!” I say, upon being enlightened.

“Our PM has been toying with several ideas ever since”, he continued, "Having roped in Nandan Nilekani, the corporate head honcho of Infosys into his fold, the PM checked on him whether he could work on a computer program that could generate error-free, trouble-free joint statements in future!"

“While Nandan has begun working on the development of this computer program of great national importance, our PM has been working on other ideas that can change our life”

“Such as?”, I ask eagerly.

“He wants a mind reading machine to read the scheming minds of our neighbours, who keep bumping into us at Sharm-El-Shaikh or wherever”

“Oh, that would be of great help!” I exclaim.

“Well that is exactly what everyone in the Indian Government also exclaimed – you know if they ever knew what our PM was thinking about or contemplating – we could have averted this bad drafting episode”, he said.

“We have such great people capable of drafting here in India” I added enthusiastically, hoping our PM would, sooner than later, send out word for me, though I know there would be many in the fray.

“I am completely in agreement with our PM that we must keep talking to Pak, keep them engaged”, he said.

“How about sending a team consisting of Navjot Singh Siddhu, Rakhi Sawant, Cyrus Broacha, Karan Thapar, Shekhar Suman….they can all talk until eternity, cant they?” I asked. Feeling outsmarted by this one, my friend sensed it was time to leave.

“Stay on, tell me some more inside stuff, dear friend”, I coaxed him.

He then pulled me closer, in a hushed voice confided:
“Our PM had been waiting for a SIM card from the US, which Hillary Clinton delivered during her visit here recently – nobody knows this - not even the media”

“A SIM card? Why do we need a SIM Card, don’t we have several of them here?” I asked.

“This is a special one for our country ................
the Superpower-In-Making Card for India”, he concluded.

So that we can walk with our head high....and talk, I thought!
What an idea Sirji!

Blogger's Postscripts:
1. This blog does not encourage you to walk while you talk on the cellphone. There have been several criticisms about this ad campaign - the unsafe manner in which pedestrians are busy talking on cellphones without being watchful of vehicles or potholes on the roads could be disastrous. My personal choice is not to walk when you talk.

Read more about the walk and talk about talks with Pak head straight to my friend, Vinod Sharma's blogpost here.