Kya tumhe yaad ha....

An old forward but good one.........................................

When gulli-danda and kanche (marbles) were more popular than cricket ...

When we always had friends to play aais-paais (I Spy), chhepan-chhepai and pitthoo anytime ...

When we desperately waited for 'yeh jo hai jindagi'...

When chitrahaar, vikram-baitaal, dada daadi ki kahaniyaan were so fulfilling ...

When there was just one TV in every five houses and

When bisleris were not sold in the trains and we were worrying if papas will get back into the train in time or not when they were getting down at stations to fill up the water bottle ...

When we were going to bed by 9.00pm sharp except forthe 'yeh jo hai jindagi' day ...

When Holis & Diwalis meant mostly hand-made pakwaans and sweets and moms seeking our help while preparing them...

When Maths teachers were not worried of our mummys and papas while slapping/beating us...

When we were exchanging comics and stamps and chacha-chaudari and billu were our heroes ...

When we were in nanihaals every summer and loved flying kites and plucking and eating unripe mangoes and leechis ...

When one movie every Sunday evening on television was more than asked for and 'ek do teen chaar' and 'Rajni' inspired us...

When 50 paisa meant at least 10 toffees ...

When left over pages of the last years notebooks were used for rough work or even fair work ...

When 'chelpark' and 'natraaj' were encouraged against 'reynolds and family'....

When the first rain meant getting drenched and playing in water and mud and making 'kaagaj ki kishtis'...

When there were no phones to tell friends that we will be at their homes at six in the evening...

When our parents always had 15 paise blue colored 'antardesis' and 5 paise machli wale stamps at home...

When we remembered tens of jokes and were not finding 'ice-cream and papa' type jokes foolish enough to stop us from laughing...

When we were not seeing patakhes on Diwalis and gulaals on Holis as air and noise polluting or allergic agents ....

the list can be endless...

on the serious note I would like to summarise with ...

When we were using our hearts more than our brains, even for scientifically brainy activities like 'thinking' and 'deciding'...

When we were crying and laughing more often, more openly and more sincerily ...

When we were enjoying our present more than worrying about our future ...

When being emotional was not synonymous to being weak...

When sharing worries and happinesses didnt mean getting vulnerable to the listener ...

When blacks and whites were the favourite colors instead of greys ...

When journeys also were important and not just the destinations ...

When life was a passenger's sleeper giving enough time and opportunity to enjoy the sceneries from its open and transparent glass windows instead of some superfast's second ac with its curtained, closed and dark windows ...

I really miss ... do u ?

You are what you wear

I am a Lazy person. Especially, when it comes to getting ready and going out I am damn lazy. I hate traveling as I feel exhausted. Stepping out of home is more of a task for me than fun. Whenever I step out I hardly care about what am I wearing. Partially it is because of my sheer laziness and partially because of my attitude of choosing convenience over style. Being a strong believer of simplicity I don't care much while picking up the clothes as long as those are comfortable and not look extremely bad. I used to believe that while you are traveling people dont know you so you can wear any thing.

But I realized now that actually the same reason that people don't know you well forces you to take care of what you wear all the more. As people identify you with what you wear.After all your clothes will give them the first impression of your identity. I know it sounds silly .Like you I also believed that what difference it makes, When you don't know him and most likely not gonna meet him again . But it makes a difference ,I presume no body wants to get a rash treatment from a security guard or for that matter from a auto rickshaw driver. After all those guys know nothing about you than your style. it becomes very embarrassing when in front of others those guys ignore you .Believe me your attire has a role to play in their behavior.

So take a minute before you step out of your house. You may not be visiting any one but still you expect a decent treatment from the people on the way.

Some one has chosen an appropriate punch line for his/her boutique "You are what you wear"

Fools' Paradise

Have you ever seen two people deep in thoughts discussing about a BIG business Idea!!!!!!

I am sure u would have come across them at least once in your life time. (Amway is very famous in India.usually I see their agents at CCD).Yep!!! I am talking about a marketing agent of an MLN(Multi Level Networking)

For me I share a close relation with these MLN associates. Yes they call their agents “Associates “.Term looks more lucrative. Isn’t it!!!! Yep!!!! That’s the beauty of it. These agents or so called associates are very well versed with their strategies. If you get a chance to listen to them ,you will feel like why the hell you were doing so much of hard work and earning just peanuts. Why did you spend years in studying hard and earning good grads, degree or clearing entrances. As ultimate aim is to become rich and famous. Look at these guys ,they are earning moolas. They will make you believe that you can be millionaire in no time. They will never speak in hundreds or thousands but always in six digits.yep they will start from you number ‘01’ and before you realize the magic they do with numbers, you will be somewhere on moon, counting millions/lacs.

As I said initially I share a close relation with them .My first job was with a MLN firm. Though, I was working in back office in technical department. But I was lucky to get a chance to meet our associates. At times there used to be gatherings .Attendance of all employees used to be mandatory. As it helps to know about business. Being techie it helped us to know the importance of software we were making. How critical were these as a small misfit of simple ‘if/else’ can change the flow of money. Before I divert towards technical side of it ,lets come back and talk about associates.

These associates are really great sellers. I think they are better than any marketing people who have business degrees. The enthusiasm they have is noticeable. They have great selling (fooling) capabilities. They are confident. They are confident of their product .Atleast they look confident.Now why are these MLN companies are making so much money .Basically they target middle class/poor people.who have big dreams but less resources.Everone wants to earn more and more. These guys show them BIG dreams. These Associates generally approach people to whom they know. So they don’t need to spend much energy in finding out what their client actually wants. They know the weak point and strike directly there. On the other side new person (bakra) trusts his friend .As they know each other. And since he is already in business and shows that he is making money or atleast he has a list of candidates who have become lakhpatis and crorepatis after joining this business. Few of them have also left their jobs. All these things make the poor fellow believe that he is going to be at least better than his current situation. If spending a hew hundreds can earn him lacs they Why Not!!! And here he is trapped. Once he pays to Associate, Associate gets his commission but this poor fellow is excited for a while. But does he really possess the skills of marketing (fooling) .If he is lucky he might be able to sell the idea to others and get out of it. But somewhere down the line there are hundreds of people(Associate) who were promised they will get their money automatically as soon as someone joins them. They are never able to do that and loose their hard earned money.

Yes that’s a fact. hardly 10% of people make money from these shortcuts. Yes!!they make tons but there are many more who get deceived. They can’t even complain as its up to them to fool others and get their money .Yes!!that’s the idea of this business. You get fooled by someone and you are suppose to fool others. But It not every ones cuppa tea.
Suddenly this idea of writing about MLN came to my mind as after coming to US first call I got was from an associate who wanted to earn me easy money. Moment he started talking about his great business ,I asked him is it MLN.I could make it out from the way he was speaking .Basically the way he was selling the idea to me without explaining anything about business. I was amazed as I thought this was a business for county of poor people like India. But people are same always and so is Money.
Everyone wants more and more!!!