The making of Secret Santa

A little background for those who don’t know what I am talking about, this is regarding a Secret Santa initiative that the Students of Kirti College, BMM Dept undertook as a pre event of their BMM Festival - Moksh. We along with some students of other colleges wore Santa caps and  gave out gifts to street kids on Christmas eve. The initiative got a wonderful response from other colleges as well as was covered in a leading Marathi newspaper and RJ Jeeturaaj appreciated it as well, you can hear us on air on 28^th December 2014 on Klub Mirchi on 98.3FM.

So now as that is done I would really like to talk about how all this came about and how we never thought that this would ever be what it is!

It was a random thought that came to my mind on 19^th December (5 days before the event) which I shared with Nikhil, to which he immediately said yes! I was still a bit skeptical about the whole thing and how we would plan this out. We met and discussed and decided that we would go ahead with it.  We immediately told our PR team to get in touch with all the colleges and inform them about the event. I wondered how many of them would actually take part in it. I had even told the PR team that they would have to go to each college and collect gift because calling them over to our college would not be something they might be keen on doing but it happened the other way round, all the colleges showed amazing support and came to drop of their gift all the way to our college. I remember going home and calling Nikhil up and telling that incase no one else supports us we would do it just with our college students anyway, but all my worries were washed out when the response from everyone around us was just marvelous. We received so many gifts that 2 cars were not enough to store them. There was a time when I came to college and was amazed by big big bags full of gifts brought in from different colleges and I took some time to get over the amazing response the initiative was getting.  Somewhere every person associated with this cause understood the need for such initiatives and that sometimes it gives you immense happiness in working for others. One of the PR head – Romit told me today that the way other people were responding to the initiative had given him a very positive feeling.

We went out on 24^th midnight to give out gifts and it got almost as late as 3am but there was not one person who complained about how late it was everyone was just happy that they could contribute somewhere to make a person smile.

I would really like to take this opportunity to thank each and everyone associated with this initiative it really would never have been possible to do something like this had it not been for you guys.

This Christmas would always mark as the bessstest one ever for me, and I am sure that it would be same for a lot of other people as well :) 2013 could not have ended on a better note. 

The government needs to set its priorities right!

So I read a very disturbing news today, “Government to amend law to put MP/MLAs trails on fast track”, wait! Why??? What is the point of wasting the resources on people who were given a chance and they took advantage of the power and in turn did crime.  Mr. Rahul Gandhi in a very nice political and in an almost heroic way called the ordinance nonsense, insulted the PM in a way, and showed that he is capable of doing the right things, theordinance was cancelled and Rahul was a hero in the eyes of a common man, this was congress’s way of showcasing that they don’t support corruption and crime and yet here is the news that these cases will be solved in a fast track case, like Hello! What about Shakti Mills Rape Case? What about Adarsh Scam? What about Coal Gate? What about those million cases which are pending in the court for ages! So in on one hand they show that they are supporting the right bywithdrawing the ordinance and then on the other hand they pass such laws that will help them give corrupt politicians a clean chit faster.

If we have resources for Fast Track courts then why can’t we use them to help the greater good, for the public’s welfare, to bring law and order in the country in a new quicker and effective way? 

Breaking the Stereotype

Today is Gandhi Jayanti, a day which is nothing more than a public holiday to today’s generation. They will sleep around the whole day, watch a news report about Gandhi and crib about the “Dry Day” (  the intelligent sorts have already stocked up theirhouse with alcohol last night ) yet whenever we talk about Gandhi it is a socially accepted fact that we should always praise him, why so? Because according to our history textbooks Indian Independence Struggle was all about Gandhi and others were just not that important.

So today I expectedthe Twitter world to be all talks about Gandhi, surprisingly it wasn’t! There were many negative remarks, many things said against him etc and finally I understood that there are other people who share my feelings and that it is not just me who dislike Gandhi. Though it’s a small step and whatever happens in the virtual world cannot be applied to the rest of the country considering so many in the country are not even close to learning about internet.  But so many stereotypes and a general understanding that I had in my mind about the guy on our currency was shattered today, I saw almost everything in a new light. The thoughts are changing, the opinions are changing and people are making it a point that their opinion areheard and that’s a happy thought! 

And the race for BBM for Android and iOS begins

For years now, we lived in a world where iOs looked down upon Android and Android and Blackberry in turn were in a battle with eachother to prove who is superior and the debate went on and on. Android boasted about the variety of apps available while Blackberry boasted about its communication opeitons and that it was a true Business Phone, its another story that this Business Phone had more market amongs the college going students who used BBMto its core.

Now suddenly Blackberry announced that it will launch BBM for Android and iOS and suddenly these people who took every chance to look down upon Blackberry went crazy for BBM. Even before it was officially launched, there were unofficial apps circulated, GooglePlay was fooled with fake BBMs and there were 1.1million downloads in the time span of 8hours. And all this led to Blackberry official postponing the launch of the official BBM ( according the the tweet that they sent out ). I don’t understand why we have become so impatient? There was a time when mobile phones, instant messaging, emails didn’t exist and human beings functioned  just fine. But now when everything is so quick and fast that we all want  everything to be quick. It’s a race to get everything first. The first one to post your pin on facebook, the first one to review the app on your blog or the first one to tweet about it.  And what do you get by doing all this? A few extra likes and retweets. I don’t really think its worth it. I would rather wait for the official app and use it in a hassle free way. 

Scary Thoughts!

Around 6 -7 years back, sometime in school when I first considered being a journalist the only romantic idea in front of me was doing some hardcore journalism like exposing the corrupt politician, helping the poor get justice etc etc… the same ideas and dreams which any aspiring journalist shall have. Its the scenario now that scares me, everyday as I open the newspaper I see a new case of sexual abuse or molestation or acid attack and I shudder at the thought that the romantic idea is shattering and shattering at a point that tells me forget doing something for the country I don’t even know if I shall be safe and sound this time tomorrow.

Many rallies, protests, candlelight march happened in the city. Police also showed that such things won’t be taken lightly. People are finally getting aware and still such heinous crimes continue, don’t these people fear anyone? I am atleast glad that the girls in the city are becoming stronger by actually going and complaining and not succumbing to these things. But there is a negative side to it as well which is more dangerous is the thought that what if these people who fall down to such low standards actually go a step further and actually kill the victim so as to save them from being arrested later. So basically we live in a society where our government doesn’t provide enough security, we can’t go and expose the culprits because the results may be severe and still even if we do make a police complaint and get the caught, it will still take ages to actually see them behind bars for good. 

The Police is not God to be everywhere!!!

The recent Mumbai’s Gang Rape Case has again made the city unite together to protest against such crimes and demand strict laws against such crimes to avoid further instances. Many debates, talks, rallies happened in the last 2days and people have also blamed Mumbai Police for it, I agree to the fact that after being aware of the notorious elements that were prevalent in Shakti Mills they should have taken steps to stop it.

Nonetheless I won’t take away their credit for the commendable job they are doing with night patrols which helps keep the city safe, I have mentioned innumerable times how I am in love with the city and how I find it safe even at midnight. Many a times me and some of my friends do go for late night drives, and I should mention that there are many police checkpoints put up around the city to avoid any nuisance. So once when we had gone for a late night drive, I dozed off in the front seat while my friend was driving me home. A police saw me and stopped the car and started inquiring my friend, he also asked me a couple of questions to check if there was something wrong on learning that everything was normal he let us go. At that point the whole incident made us laugh, the friend said, “ He thought I had drugged you and was kidnapping you”. But now I realize how important that incident was… how aware and how keen the police were about women safety.

Such rape incidents shouldn’t happen but putting the blame on police won’t help, they have a lot to go through and such devilish things will stop when strict laws shall be made and executed. A grassroot level change is needed, we are supposed to educate the future generation, make them respect women, sex education should be introduced as a part of school curriculum. When the basic way of looking at a woman changes shall this thing come to an end, but this is something that shall happen over a period of time. Right now, STRICT laws is what we demand!

A Negative India

India has always been known for its rich culture, varied religions, food, language etc sadly in the last couple of years India is also being potrayed in bad light. Women safety is no doubt a big question that every Indian girl faces. It started with Delhi being called the “Rape Capital of India” on social media sites. And people’s anger did kind of calm down by showing their frustration and cursing the government online. But what disturbed me today and made me write this post is this BBC documentary that I came across on Youtube - India A Dangerous Place to Be a Woman. 

 India was knows for its culture right? Culture also includes respecting women! India was always critised for its old school thinking about women but actually naming it a Dangerous Place to be a Women? Omg! I never thought that there will come a day when ill see something like this. The documentary is also wonderfully made in which the host goes and actually talks to people who have gone through eve teasing.

 

This very documentary makes me shudder, Mumbai is a safe city that way but you never know what it will be like 5years from now. It makes me wonder if I would have the same freedom I have now then. It makes me wonder if my future daughter is going to be born in same safe India that grew up in, and trust me the thought isn’t romantic. It actually makes me shudder.  

 

Sanjay Dutt Surrenders – Media makes it a TRP race

Going to jail isn’t a very happy tast to do for anyone and the past couple of days you could easily see Sanjay Dutt trying to get him out of going to the jail, failing so he gracefully accepted that he HAS to go jail. A difficult task for him, his family and people who are close to him. But our Media doesn’t seem to understand where to draw the line. His building was filled with Media people, they followed his car till the court, trying to overtake Sanjay’s car so that they could get one shot of him. Don’t they understand that that is one of the most private and intimate moment for him with this wife and sister? Isn’t just following the car and giving live updates of where he has reached enough? Is really actually peeping inside the car justifiable? And the drama doesn’t end there, once Sanjay reached the court it took him almost 20minutes to reach from his car to the court entrance. Why you ask? Because our media people had surrounded his car completely. He came out and pleaded them to give him way so that he could go it but it went unheard. Do we really have to give him such a hard time when he is already going through a lot? And if that still wasn’t enough, they even started showing montages with the song “Nayak nahi Khalnayak hoon mein”. A certain regional news channel even made fun of the journalists running to take Sanjay’s byte, fully aware that one of their journalist was a part of the crowd as well but non the less as long as they are able to show the so called “Exclusive” footages its all fair (according to them).

Sometimes I prefer those olden days with only few TV channels and news twice a day, atleast that diminished the chances of making news just a way of getting more TRP and actual journalism was done.

I am a Media student, and I aspire to become a journalist and cover all these events, But I shudder when I see people going head over heals and not understanding that there are some lines that are to be followed. 

A Step at a Time – Ring the Bell

Violence against women has been around for a long time, we read about it in Newspapers, see it on News Channels and also talk about it and at the end it’s always, “Alas! What can we do about it; it’s not in our hand.” The most we do it discuss it on Social Networking Mediums and believe that’s enough and we have done our part. It’s this violence against women, and by that I mean the Domestic Violence that is prominent in our society that has helped give women the lower status as compared to the man. And somehow it has now even gotten into the mental psychology of the man that he can treat his wife and to an extend even his girlfriend the way he wants.

Indian society has always given women the second status, what’s with the girl leaves her house and goes to her husband’s house? (Not that I am against it, but why can't we even consider it the other way around?)

It’s true that Education plays an important role in shaping how a man behaves with his wife and other family members. I have seen many so-called educated men who treat their wife as if they are inferior to them. But being an aware and responsible citizen of India it is our duty to stop something like this if it is happening with anyone.

For starters, it is very important to make it quite clear that a certain type of jokes which portray domestic violence shouldn’t be entertained, same goes for any jokes about Rapes also.

If someone in your building/work place is facing Domestic Violence at home then talk to them, make her feel safe talking to you about it and then if possible even try to talk with her family members. Of course don’t interfere in their personal issues. But a general idea that such a thing is not good.

Talking about Domestic Violence in public gatherings and with your friends/co-workers won’t hurt as well.

And the easiest and the best way to stop a domestic violence is the “Ring the Bell” you can always get more information on this on http://www.bellbajao.org/

My Experiments with Cooking

This vacation I had decided to just relax and do absolutely nothing after all this is the last vacation of my life after this it would be all hunt for jobs and start earning and listen to mom say “Its time you get married!” so this last time I am going to do everything that I love. It started with me making a Harry Potter Wand!!! That was something I wanted to do for a long long longgg time but somehow it just didn’t happen but I am glad cause when I finally did it, it is just the best! Ill do a post on that soon. There are many other Potter related things that I am planning on doing but for now lets start with that I did today.

            I realized that its high time I start cooking, and cooking good! I don’t know I never got this feeling before that I should learn how to cook, but now suddenly I wanna know the receipe of everything that I eat. So what I ended up doing was subscribing to all the Food related channels on Youtube, Following Food Blogs etc etc. I guess this is something related to actually “Growing up”.

So today I decided to make Veg. Hakka Noodles. Quite a basic recipe really,

1.boil the noodles.

2. cut all the vegetables that you want to put in (onion, capsicum and cabbage for me)

3. drain the noodles and keep aside

4. heat up oil in another wok and put all the vegetables in and toss it up.

5. add the noodles and mix them up real nice.

6. add soya sauce, vinegar and salt.

7. add schezwan sauce if available.

8. toss up and serve J

For me, I did make a couple of mistakes like the salt was less and I sorta over cooked the noodles, but I guess I should be allowed these silly mistakes, I am still learning no? But other than that It was perfect. And in the adrenaline rush which went up inside me when my mom said, “its actually pretty good” I even cleaned all the vessels J

TRESemmé Ramp Ready Hair - My New Hair Product!

One aspect of me that I have a Love-Hate relationship with is my HAIR!!! I have dry, freezy curly hair and they are just impossible to manage, and to make things even worse I had straightened them like twice which has damaged them even more. I was always on a search for that perfect shampoo, conditioner, and serum to make my hair atleast remotely presentable. And thats where TRESemmé Ramp Ready Hair comes into picture, I had applied for the free sample on Indiblogger.in and was amazed with the effects it had on my hair.

It made my hair smooth, manageable and made my curls bounce :D. I am a loyal customer and if I like something ill keep using it, my previous shampoo was good but this was one step above it and I guess the time has come now to change my shampoo :D

What society are our Kids Going to Grow Up In ?

The news disgusted me as I am sure it did to millions others who read the news. How can anyone be so horny or rather so disgusting to rape a 5 year old actually raping anyone is not justifiable but this was just a lot of testing our patience. And not only that but he actually inserted candles and an oil bottle inside her, I mean that’s the heights of cruelty. And the man who did this was none other than her own uncle. I thought after the rape case in December and the amount of protest which happened after that the number of rape incidents will be less, but I was wrong it just seems to increase with every passing day.

I am more upset because our so called politicians who pretends to work for the people are never active in these things, to make strict laws or to make sure that the person who rapes is given a VERY STRICT PUNISHMENT AND SOON it is of no use when they are punished years after the incident, it should be quick! They always say that they will work for the country but now that the time has come when they country actually needs  some strict actions and a lesson for these people who look at women as just a sex object.

I have said this is many of my previous posts that, I always look at Mumbai as a very safe and secured city for women… but now I guess ill have to change that. I fear Mumbai will follow the path of Delhi soon ( I hope not )

 Just disgusting really, family members raping young girls, friends, classmates, co workers all seem like the same people who are just waiting for a chance to rape you. So congratulations its not only the strangers on the road that you need to worry about but also the people who are close to you and you have known for like forever are also almost the same as those strangers.

I fear the coming generations what kind of society are we going to bring our kids into?

 I also don’t understand what is the problem of actually hanging the people who rape? The country is asking for some brutal and serious punishment to those who stoop down the such disgusting acts. This will prove as an example for those who even think of doing something like this. This is what lacks in India the rules are very flexible and that’s the reason the trouble makers believe that whatever happens they wont be behind bars. 

Bargain Book Hut, Kala Ghoda

For a long time now I was searching for a book shop that will cater to my reading needs. Being a student and unemployed it was always a big task for me to actually save up money to buy books. With most of the books being atleast above 200/- rupees the task is even bigger. Obviously small book shops and the pirated books came to my rescue as it made both me as well as my pocket happy. But then again the print quality, the cover etc were not up to the mark and sometimes it was a disappointment. My quest for a cheap bookshop was always on, sales etc were again a great help. Recently there was a sale at Sunderbai Hall at Churchgate where they had a huge collection and the bargain was that 1kg books for 100/- rupees. Quite a treat for all the book lovers I must say.

And then I found this one shop snuggled up in a small lane of a busy area. I went there the first time but couldn’t find it. I went there the second time and was successful to find the little door with a small room which was filled with books, and books which were actually affordable. I really don’t know how they do it. But the books are so cheap!!! And that too little used or as good as new books! I spend a good half hour there and I never wanted to leave. The total bill for 6books was 635/- rupees with the discounted price whereas when I added up the original price it was 1465/- rupees, I saved a good 830/- rupees.. quite a treat for my wallet really :D

So go visit this shop, you’ll find wonderful books and exciting offers.

Budget Book Hut, Kalaghoda.

PS -  Do let me know how you liked the show, okay?

The Dhongi Bapus of the country.

Faith, Beliefs and Religion are something that you can't imagine India without. And we also have a tendency of generally believing that a certain Baba can solve all your life mysteries and problems, well that’s fine as long as you are happy and you are not performing any stupid rituals which are not bothering the people around you. And the reason why these “Baba” are such a hit because people blindly follow whatever they say or do, but sometimes these Baba’s behave in such a way that the whole trust of them being some god like figure just vanishes from the heart of the masses.

A similar stunt was carried out by our “much – in – the – news Baba” none other than Assaram Bapu.  When half of Maharashtra is dying for water when the worst kind of drought has affected the country and when every other person is talking about how not to waste water this holi when the baba is in the news for splashing tons of water and playing Holi with his followers. How can anyone be so inhuman. Imagine the rage the people living in a drought affected area must have had for him. What angers me even further is that people still follow him, there is going to be a similar Holi in Mumbai today, and I can't believe that people are actually going for it. Being a Bapu is it understood that you are supposed to carry out responsible actions because there are so many other people who might blindly follow what you do, and this kind of an act coming from you is just so unnerving. And our government of course has made the Bapu pay a minimal amount as a fine 9thousand something. I mean that’s not even half what he might earn in a day. He can easily waste more water and give 9 thousand something and get away with it.

Indian people, Indian Government and Indian Bapu’s have some serious thinking to do.

Thursday Challenge - Signs

Its not always necessary to go "Right" sometimes "Left" is also an option.


PS - I really have no idea what I wrote above, it was just something that came to my mind :D

Thursday Challenge - Red

Its been a while since I posted anything here, and I believe I shouldn't keep giving excuses but rather actually post things here to keep the blog going. And so I am thankful to Thursday challenge to give me an excuse and actually make me post things here.

So this week's challenge is Red!

Mawale! this is a typical White and Red dress code of Shivaji Maharaj's army.