Saturday 20 December 2014

Love.... If It's meant to be!!!

It was 6 in the evening she was continuously looking at her phone, chatting impatiently on whatsapp. The coffee house seemed quite empty for a Friday evening, she was waiting for her friends who were supposed to be there 15 mins back. Avantika hated late comers, so what if she was late always or often :P And finally there they were Raj, Karan, Riya, Roma & a guy who she had never seen before.

They were friends from last 10 years technically grown up together, chaddi-buddies type. Years passed on nothing changed in their friendship, if anything changed it was their age ;) they all came from a different background but this did not matter to them. they were an extended family for each other, each other's 3 a.m. friend. The meet-up today was special karan's sister was getting married & these young amateur's had taken a big responsibility to make this wedding a big success.

While everyone was busy noting down essentials to start the preparations of the wedding. 15 days were left for the ceremonies to start & they were still stuck at the 1st ceremony to start- Kachchi misri (sindhi wedding ceremony). The venues were booked 6 months back they were finalizing the decorations & food, while everyone had their whims & fancies. But they had to finally come to a conclusion. As everyone was busy writing down the details, Avantika seemed to be in some other world from childhood she dreamt of Yash Chopra type wedding ooh sorry Love Marriage.

She was busy figuring out who was the new boy in the herd, suddenly her day dream was broken by karan's irritating voice well actually he was introducing Avantika to the "new guy in the herd" he was Karan's & Raj's cousin Abeer. He was a Electronics grad from a top IT institute & now pursuing his dream in MIT, he was charming, had quite a body like model, his eyes were light brown; deep felt like falling in love with his eyes at first time you see, A guy who felt like who just walked out of a Karan Johar or Yash Chopra Movie.  

Let's move over the introduction scenario. Every detail is finalised for the 1st ceremony. It is divided into 2 people team: Raj-Roma were to look after food, Karan-Riya were to look after guest list & props, Avantika-Abeer were to look after decoration of the venue. As the day came close for 1st ceremony the schedules became hectic, it meant less time & multi tasking. While the other teams to be going on well with each other, Avantika & Abeer seemed to be a bit off, only 5 days were left & they had not yet decided on the decoration theme.

They were on a different page they needed to decide on something. And Abeer made the move & finally they decided to play safe & go with traditional decorations. The Kachchi misri was about to start & all the 6 were busy till the last minute details. It turned out everyone loved the setting & decoration, the food. Everyone was happy, they were happy. Avantika-Abeer were smiling. There was something about them, they were not friends yet, they were the people who were trying to make this moment special for 2 beautiful souls.

To be continued...

Sunday 7 December 2014

To Hyphenate or Not to Hyphenate?

Hmmm does the post title ring any bell what the post would be about?  Well as December is "The Wedding Season" the atmosphere around the city seems to be pretty band, bajaa, baraat type. December to February is the Big Fat Indian Wedding time, when all the relatives come around, loads of mithai, loads of flowers, chocolates & finally loads of shopping for the Bride & for the friends of the bride.

It's like begani shadi mai abdullah diwana, no doubt it is your friends wedding or cousin or sister or brother etc.,, but we are excited as we get an excuse to celebrate ;) to shop (p.s. for gals). Everyone looks forward to this season it is a season of Love for the 2 who are getting married & for others who are going to benefit from the wedding!!!

This season brought a question in my mind, what after "The Wedding" in store for the bride & the groom, meeting the relatives for dinner, lunch taking some time of work, honeymoon etc.., but what about the actual Change. Few days back i came across an article which was on Women hyphenating their surnames after marriage. Was an interesting article, i kept thinking about it..

Goggled few more articles on the same subject, came across a study which was carried in US about how men felt women still keeping their maiden name after marriage, the response was quite a setback as we look at US as the trend setter or advanced as compared to India. About 90% Men honestly said that they would feel hurt or their ego would break into pieces if their wives stick to their maiden names even after marriage. And asked whether they would hyphenate their wives name the replies were again the same.

10% of them said what's in the name till the time i know she loves me & she wants to spent the rest of her life with me it does not matter. Wow quite an eye opener in terms of US. I'm just thinking if this same survey is carried out in India what would be the response??? hmmm.. In India where we have this tradition of Girls adopting a different identity after marriage, in itself is a good excuse for net letting the Girls decide for their own future course.

It won't be wrong to say that some where our society has evolved a bit as we can see women have started hyphenating their maiden names with their Husband's name. But is that really a great thing? I have this question in my mind would the guy who will marry me would he be ready to adopt my surname or hyphenate??? hmmm the answer could be debatable.

I have never understood the concept of adopting the Husband's name or changing my entire identity for a guy who has entered my life now or almost after 25 yrs of my life, why should i bother or adjust to those changes??? why can't for change he take that step??  Call me a feminist after reading this article but it's a hard hitting reality that a Woman does lot of crucial sacrifices on the name of marriage, or new life.

I can understand that a woman does not has that liberty if it is an arrange marriage but what about Love marriages?? when you already know someone for such a long time will that He be able to accept this decision of yours, will his & your family will be ready to accept this decision? Adjustments are always there in an arrange marriage or love marriage, there is no such thing that love marriages require lot of adjustments.

I would definitely want to keep my maiden name even after i get married, because i have been know all this time of my life as Ms.XYZ than why should i change it now?? i would not even bother to hyphenate come on that's my identity my colleagues, my school batch mates or college batch mates or people from my industry know me by this name than why should i change my name just because 1 new chapter is going to be added in my life??

While researching for the same i cam across an article published in TOI in 2012, where the High court passed a judgement where women can keep their maiden names on all their official documents & every where else. I'm not against those girls or women who want to adopt their husband's name well good luck, but i would surely like to retain my identity what I have been known as from so many years.

Readers views are fully respected, if you have something to say please leave a comment below, would like to know the thoughts on this from our generation specifically!!!


Saturday 29 November 2014

The Wedding season is here!!! #Wedding #IndianWedding

Ok so everytime i login in my FB profile i see this feed xyz getting married or engaged, seems the season has arrived!!! brace yourself single people or people who are committed but are way back in the league for more such stories.

Well I'm not against it com'on my best-est best friend is getting married too, I'm happy & excited for her. Looking forward for the celebrations. Most of my batch-mates be it school, graduation or post grade are getting hitched, at such times i think what am i doing with my life? where is my life heading???

Maybe these are the same questions that occur to people who are experiencing the same thing like me. Such times or situations force us to think about our own course of life. When people around you start getting hitched you bound to question yourself- if you are in a relationship you try to re evaluate your situation where is the relationship heading or if your are single you try to think about the perfect Mr.Right or Ms.Right.

We start to evaluate our each & every decision, our career choices, the food that we eat. This period is quite irksome for girls, for guys what i have seen is a bit of same. They have the same pressures as us actually for them it's a bit more being financially strong, being a good son & good husband in future :P

The only 1 mantra that can get a bit peace is to enjoy other people's band bajaa & baraat, till it's your turn & stop thinking & evaluating your own life. Things will happen when they are destined to happen!!! Till than Adios!!! Enjoy the wedding festive season :) :) :p

Saturday 22 November 2014

Programmatic Marketing. #Programmatic #SEM #PPC

Well the people who know what is programmatic marketing, good for them for them who don't know (P.S. even i was one of them). Let me define you technically what does programmatic marketing or buying is -programmatic marketing campaigns are automatically triggered by any type of event and deployed according to a set of rules applied by software and algorithms. Human skills are still needed in programmatic campaigns as the campaigns and rules are planned beforehand and established by marketers.

Isn't it a cool media buying platform specially for Brands, where they can buy basis on impressions or inventory & as I'm aware it is real time bidding process. So does this mean there is a tough competition to Search marketing Google display network? . While having a one on one meeting for 2015 strategy for our clients we had this discussion what the future holds in digital. RTB maybe introduced long time back in other international markets & used aggressively but in India it is not used that aggressively, Brands & even publishers are trying to understand & getting to know about the process.

Even I'm trying to understand the entire process, studying about it, reading researches as for someone who is more into branding campaigns in search or digital platforms where your clicks are the game & Avg cpc, RTB or Programmatic can be a breath of fresh air. The programmatic site re-targeting would be an amazing thing to try hands on, the learning can be a break through for the brands which are only into awareness campaigns.

It's so interesting that 1 command can change the entire scenario, here we were thinking of targeting prospective buyers, but now we are also focusing on customer experience, where you are buying on the basis of Inventory. So it does seem that digital sellers have actually understood that it is also about Customer Experience. 





Saturday 1 November 2014

Boring Saturday!!!

No specific plans to spend this Saturday. No where to go, just being a couch potato. Scrolling through my Instagram feed watching Halloween pics of friends. Trying my hand on cooking.

In the afternoon switching channels, watching angel & demons at least passed a bit of a time. Than going through my friends feed who are right now shifted there base. Than reading articles like - visiting places before you turn 30 or late 20's or things to do before getting married.

All these things look beautiful to read, it's like a dreamy world where there is no end to expectations but when you are done with your day dreaming reality hits back.

If I leave my job & take a break for a year than who will pay for my every month emi?? My basic bills who will pay?? People who write such articles :p or people who share them? :p

We live in a world where we are used to certain lifestyle, & this lifestyle has become a basic necessity for us if we don't fit in this we don't fit at all.

Even I have a dreamy world. Where I feel like visiting Europe, Sydney etc.. We all have a dreamy world it's just that we are a bit shy to talk about it.

I'm a foodie err but an eggetarian :p love to travel, love to explore places for food or visit new places, & I don't mind if I get paid for this hobby of mine ;) :)

But that's again a mix of dreamy & reality not everyone gets a job which they love. Wish I had a job in TLC or Fox Life or a job like exploring new places, staying at most beautiful places in the world & getting paid for that :) ;) but that's my dreamy world.

Well that's my dreamy land for today till the next post adiós, ciao.

P.S. I hope someone helpful is reading this post & I get a job which pays for my hobby ;) :p

Sunday 14 September 2014

Movie, Food well that's what I do on weekends #IndianFood, #IndianThali, #MharajaBhog, #OberoiMall #FindingFanny

ummmm what do people with holidays on weekends do??? Shopping, weekend gateway, movies or FOOD?? well I'm from those people who love to enjoy a good movie - #FindingFanny & than a good lunch at #MharajaBhog. 

Well i don't do that every weekend, because i find it very boring & monotonous at times, but this time it was almost after 6 months a good movies & good food (Indian Thali). Yeah yeah so what many might not like #FindingFanny, but i found the movie to be a nice fresh story maybe it could be an inspiration from an hollywood movie, who knows?

I liked the setting of the movie from a long time i have been craving for such a place where i can settle down, I'm just 25 an MBA working from like what last 1 year & I'm so bored of this routine work life just in 1 year. I can't realize about those working ladies from last 20+ years (or my mom) for that matter. 

We all get bored somewhere in our routine working life, we just need to find that balance to keep our mind clear. In my case it is Food, movies, PLL series, vampire diaries, tweeting & off course blogging. I don't know the people who read my blog (or maybe i know a few). I just hope you find my blog interesting & engaging, & the most important you can relate to it, so i don't feel I'm the only one who is day dreamer or abnormal ;).

Oh again i lost the track of the topic sorry :P. So this saturday i was eager for watching #Findingfanny (p.s. i just love the Goan setting) Homi Adajania always comes with a fresh story -
Being Cyrus or Cocktail. BTW cocktail is my favorite movie, just love the character of Deepika Padukone, i think Homi Adajania movies bring the best of Deepika Padukone & the songs are awesome of all the Homi's movies.

Don't care what the other critics say, but being a crazy buff of hindi movies i just loved it :). So, after movie what's the next thing a couple does we go for lunch or dinner. Well we both are truly opposites but we share the love for food. Last time when i was at Oberoi Mall i had went to BBC (british brewing company) (p.s. my exp this times was worst). I saw an Indian Thali restaurant - #MharajaBhog which my mum wanted to try but i insisted on BBC, but after the excellent experience (pun intended) i had #MharajaBhog on my list.

It seemed pretty crowded for a saturday afternoon, but luckily we got a place for 2, where should i start, ummm with the stewards coming 1 by 1 they first start with keeping thalis on your table, than they come with starters, side dishes, main course, sweet, buttermilk etc etc.

It was like i actually felt like a Princess the way their service was it was commendable, i don' think there stewards even get a second to breathe. There communication system is awesome, before you even look up for ordering more the steward just pop's up in front of you. The food is bliss, i have tried Rajdhani, but #MharajaBhog is something i would like to visit every time as they have fresh menu every day unlike rajdhani, the service is awesome.

Though it is a vegetarian restaurant but i promise if you eat here once you are bound to return, even if the sabzi is not your favorite you are still going to enjoy, because the food is just like cooked by an Indian Mother with loads of love. Just like a mother puts lots of ghee ;) if your diet conscious than too you can try to cheat at least once for such a yummy Indian Thali.

Monday 1 September 2014

Is life only about #Excelsheets

What if you make a mistake in 1 cell & than your ruined for the rest of your work.
Why is an excel sheet so important as if companies would go bankrupt, people are forgetting in ancient times when there was no excel sheet & calculator there was human brain & a book.

Y does it has to be about 1 cell being wrong, 1 data being wrong. Life has actually become all about excel sheets, updating spend reports, performance report's.

At times I think my life is restricted to 1 damn cell of an excel sheet.

#Excelsheetspathetic

Saturday 23 August 2014

It's Saturday!!!!

Yes it's Saturday & i have nothing much to do except for watching Mardaani, & planning my next trip.
Well i read an awesome statement somewhere " Take vacations as many as you can coz you can always make money, but u can't always make memories" but to make these memories you require those monies :P

Guess people forget in philosophical setting to be practical. But won't it be nice to dream that off & to fulfill those dreams, so basically save up a bit of your salary, even if you could save at least 1/4th of it for next 3 or 4 months you can at least make a good & economical trip to some awesome places in India.

At times when i watch a hindi movie or even a hollywood flick i just wish i could just fly off to that beautiful place for some peace. In a city like Mumbai where we are on run every second to catch a local, a bus or a metro, to reach office coz our lives have become like a Robot - get up in the morning at 7 get ready leave home try to catch a train, metro or get stuck in traffic try to reach office on time & than evening's again run coz trains so overcrowded even if you are a minute late.

We run to reach on time in office or home, we are always on the run when in Mumbai. & the best way to distress ourselves is get drunk at a great pub till late hours & than get up on  sat with a hangover. Well that idea sometime back went down well with me too, but than i realized I'm 25 right now & i haven't seen even 1/4th of India forget the world.

I can get drunk or be sloshed for the rest of my time left on this earth, but i won't get this time back to explore India for starters. Naah I'm not here to give advice to follow suit but i definitely wanna explore!!

Sunday 17 August 2014

Random trip for Food

The trip started as usual with me being on time by 1 minute (jab we met style, but not really). With tthe thought that Surat would be a place like some village not much a developed city or town.

How would anyone start their day or trip after arriving at their destination?? looking out for tourist spots or anything else, well we went looking for food - khamni & the famous Locha of Surat. Locha though a weird name for food but still it was a very heavy Locha, a baked flour kind of food filled with loads of Amul butter & spices, to accompany it with green chatni & onions. It may be heavy for Bombay stomach but it was a pretty full breakfast to start off.

Though our may reason for a trip to surat was FOOD. Obviously when in gujarat you should never miss their food, try every damn dish, that's the least you could do to respect that land :P  Well our next stop was dumas beach which actually has nothing to be called as a beach but still people their call it as a beach.

Dumas beach maybe missing a bit of water but Peace was available in plenty & fresh air :) After all this typical surti dishes it was turn of some exotic dishes at Kafe Red (VR Mall) which has plenty of yummy food on their menu, totally international standards. From sizzlers to Mirchi Shots everything was pretty yummy. My advice to peolpe traveling to Gujarat you should seriously stop by Kafe Red Eatery & try some mouth watering food.

And how can we forget of shopping when we are in Surat ;) so after tons of shopping bags & awesome dinner at Kafe Red it was time for some serene moments to capture the last of Surat Moments as we had a train to catch at 1 am. The Marind Drive of Surat was so beautiful, serene & calm just like our very own Marine Drive of Bombay. The last glance at the Tapi River just summed up the trip to Surat.

& to end such a beautiful trip on a sweet & icy note we had Sitaphal shake at a very famous milk shake spot near the Surat station.  Kuch din toh Guzaroo Gujarat Mai!!!!