That day, everyone was inside the Taj...

26th November is a date we should not forget easily, and India should not spring back to normalcy .. a word which often connotes that we have forgotten the pain, the sorrow and the fear rooted in all our hearts.
At this point in time, we need to know very well who the enemy is. The enemy is not the devout Muslim neighbour you have or the man who visits a Hindu temple without fail everyday.
They are as innocent and as victimized by this tragedy as we all are.
This is not the time to point fingers at every Khan, Abdullah and Yusuf, rather it is time to look at what our leaders are doing to keep us safe.
Can we afford to go on quiet, voiceless and scared for our lives anymore than we have? Why are we letting the people we 'chose', to keep burying thoughts of our safety and dignity of life under their sacks of gold?
We need to protest now, more than ever.
The attacks on the south, elite Mumbai has now awaked the section of society which thought they could never be un-safe. It has closed the gap between those who strut on Page 3 and those people nobody knows and cares for. A socialite having a meal at Wasabi is now as vulnerable as a rickshaw puller in the middle of a crowded market.

This awakening has done the fine job of stirring those who very well could but wouldn't do a thing to talk about terror, to raise questions to our government and to protest this way of life.

We need to shake our leadership now.. the one that dismisses such acts of gruesome violence as a "chhoti ghatna".
We must let our prime ministers who read out speeches echoing their "heartfelt pain" (from notes prepared by their undersecretaries) know.. that they will need to do more.

Leadership needs to realise that they exist because we chose for them to stay there and it is high time we remind them that we are who they need to serve before they serve themselves. We are not hostages to our government and will not be hostages to any terrorist from now on.

Be the Change you want to See... something I read somewhere and something that I couldnt get out of my head. We need to be that Change now.. more than ever before...

What works at the workplace..

Blogs being blocked in office aren't the only reason why I've started writing more infrequently these days. Laziness is a usual another. The lack of an topic exciting me is a third. Writer's block would be a fourth. And the sheer monotony of office life is what caps it all.

Going to office feels to me like what it must feel like going to school for a student of class 3. The subjects don't interest me, the teacher is not interested in me and the class-mates are as interesting as a joker would be, to a person who plays one everyday.

Honestly, I can imagine that the person who first spoke about work-life balance held the same regard for his office that a cat holds for a dog who's caught it by it's neck.
Everyday of work makes me think what could possibly be a factor that would make me want to enjoy the hours when the workplace has its teeth firmly on my neck.

• Is it more money? Not sure, though I won't really be vehement in refusing it.
• Is it more work? Everyday without fail, I make a pilgrimage to my line manager's desk, smiling and this is what our discussion sounds like:

Trainee: "Hey, good morning! Is there any work for me today?",

Manager: "Did you do what we discussed yesterday?"

Trainee: "Yes sir, I did make that one phone call you asked me to make to the agency to follow up on their work. They sent the designs. They're here on your table"

Manager: "Good, anything else?"

Trainee: "Umm.. Sir, what do I do today?"

Manager: "Umm.. Let me get back to you on that one. Thanks. Great job on the follow up! "

He smiles. I smile. I go back. I grumble. I surf the net. Cycle repeats in the next 2 hours.

So Would I like more work? Hell, Yes!!!!

• Is it only more of any work I'm looking for? Well, I'd appreciate if it were interesting, but it seems lately that the definition of interesting varies from convincer to convincee. The other day my line manager walks upto me and says,

Manager: "I've been looking all over for you! Have some really exciting work for you today. You'll love it!"

Trainee: (Ears perked up and eyes wide open like a dog who just saw a juicy bone dangling before it's eyes) "What is it Sir?"

Manager: "Take this CD of ads. It has 3000 ads in it. Categorize and index them and save it seperate folders. And here's the fun bit, you can also watch them!!! So, how does it sound?"

Trainee: (Think cloud) "Brilliant! Let me get my hands on that CD right away and rip off the cover so that I start the exciting indexing process. Oh and I never thought they'd let me watch them! Today is my day!"

FYI, I love ads. I love watching them, I love thinking what could be a better idea. But watching and indexing 3000 of them for a reason yet unknown..

Maybe it's not just more work, maybe the kind of work I need is far different from what I'm getting. Maybe more strategy, more brand building, more consumer/market interaction, more innovative or maybe just more active than passive.

But unless such a time comes, I guess the ads should keep me entertained.

(They certainly do, come to think of it, especially the ones in the Indonesian language where milk is called 'susu' and hence ads that scream about Cappucino mixes with "Sugar, Coffee and lots of thick creamy susu" make for much forwardable attachments!" ;)

PS: If you are my manager and reading this blog.

The above blog is pure fiction and I love the assignments you give me which make my work life precious and enjoyable in immeasurable ways.

Regards, Priyanka

Back to my Genre!

Comments to my previous post remind me of what a certain music director exclaimed in a music talent hunt show on tv. Here's a re-'Cap' : "Tum apne genre me raho, jo achha karte ho, wohi karo, don't try to experiment.."Mujhe tere ghar me roti chahiye!!!"

To all the Reshammiyas who read this blog nd consider it worthy of commenting upon. Thanks :) Will try and stick to sardonic remarks on life as we know it :)

Happening New Year!

Hey all!

Looking at the fact that this is my first post this year... obviously proves that I didn't make a strong enough resolve to keep writing! Really do apologize about that, but laziness and blogger being blocked in office and laziness do not help my case too much! :(

If the first 13 days of the year are anything to talk about, the year ahead sure seems to be headed backwards, more so than ever.

Mob violence or Mob 'Justice' as some prefer to put it, seems to gaining momentum as the new, in-vogue route to expressing oneself. This year, it was seen in many forms and for many reasons....
Be it 70 men expressing their untamed libidos on two women, or a crowd of 200 meting out justice to an apparent 'husband killer' by stripping her and beating her in public. Whether it was people burning churches to proclaim their own religion's superiority or mobs burning halls and banning the screening of movies in their state, just because the actor in it had 'dared' to talk about the Narmada issue.

I guess I shouldn't be worried about the fact that people are 'creating justice' without a consideration, knowing that those there to preserve rules have as little regard for them as anyone else. Be it extorting birthday gifts from followers or Bharat Ratnas from the government, everything is pardonable, everything is acceptable and everything seems to be getting worse.

The country is spiralling into a pit sans morals, sans ethic and if nothing is done about it soon.. sans hope.

Anyway, wish you all a Happy New Year.. Hope for a smoother journey hereafter! Cheers!