Love you Mom!!!

I miss you mom.... I miss you so badly.....

I never thought you will leave me and go....

Why did you go so soon from my life???

When I saw you still, I was broken and I cried hardly to make you awake from your sleep. But you never heard me. You didn’t respond to me. You were asleep. I could hear the funeral song which was playing in that eerie atmosphere. I tried to understand the meaning of the song. It sounded to me like a story. An angel came and asked my mom to follow him; he didn’t even give her the time to prepare. She begged him saying about her husband and kids, but the angel was so cruel it didn’t allow my mom to say good bye to us.

My tears became meaningless when I understood that you will never come back. I felt my life came to an end. Then I realized I am still living without you. I never thought about death so seriously. I have witnessed deaths of my relatives, friends, and strangers. But I never thought this monster will come to my family.

Now I am realizing the instability of the life. We are running behind so many worldly things without understanding our destiny.

Mom, I want you....

Please come back...please...coz I love you so much...

TWO STATES!!!

I am an honest fan of Chetan Bhagat and his writings. More than an Indian English Writer, I would prefer to call him as the king of chick lit novels. Chick lit novels actually gained their popularity only after Chetan’s Five Point Someone was released. I can say People developed a liking for this genre through his books. The “shift from classics to light stuff” really happened during this time. Many people like me started picking his books for leisure reading.

I read his TWO STATES recently. This book is the latest to his list. A blurb in the back side of the book caught my attention. Probably I would have related it to my life ;)

Love marriages around the world are simple:
Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy.
They get married.

In India, there are a few more steps:
Boy loves Girl. Girl loves Boy.
Girl's family has to love boy. Boy's family has to love girl.
Girl's Family has to love Boy's Family. Boy's family has to love girl's family.
Girl and Boy still love each other. They get married.

I would like to add one more point to the same.

Boy and girl should be from the same religion/caste/state/family background :)

Even though, this book touches only the family affairs, it made me think a lot about our current religious and community norms existing in India. Religion is not our choice, it has already decided by our folks before our birth. However, our constitution gives us the privilege to choose our religion; it is always elders’ choice. By the way, don’t think I am blaming our age old practices.

I would like to borrow a thought from Ganesh and Savi. They believe that religion/caste is a system that is created by our ancestors to keep us in the social order. This would give meaning to the practices we perform under an extreme power, the God Almighty. Sometimes, I too like to believe the same. If caste or religion doesn’t allow you to think like a human, then better believe this concept.

Along with the author, I wish a change in our current scenarios. Why religious and state boundaries restrict us from the existence. Don’t think I too fell in love with a North Indian Guy like the protagonist. (See, I am also stigmatized).

I was just wondering, when we will make it to the normal concept of marriage ;)

Boy loves girl. Girl loves boy.
They get married. ;)

Lost symbol effect!!!

At last I found the lost symbol ;)

The much awaited moment was ended when my Anna gifted me with Dan Brown’s Lost symbol (my Rakhi gift). I dint get the chance to read it first because Pinki had already booked it. Let me say, this book is awesome!!!

Whenever I read a Dan Brown book, it develops some sort of strange interest in me. Each sentence awakes the info seeker in me….and I feel am the one, who is searching for the so called precious info in the story. I know my imagination is too kiddish.
If I keep my fantasy stuff apart, Brown's style keeps the pages turning as readers try to connect the dots, which is the crucial thing in this book. All his thrillers are known for its style and its relation to Christianity.

Narrating a story is something really great and I lack that art. That’s why am so much interested in reading those kinds of books which are very strong in narration. The plot, situations, and characters move along with you when you read through the text. Isn’t it a great art? (Off course it is!!! I am struggling to create continuity in whatever crap I write :)

And another important fact is the book’s relation with catholic conspiracies. Being a catholic, am interested in Catholicism and it’s so called ‘church secrets’. The plot is set in such a way that the Symbols and mythology provides a fun chance to toy with conspiracy theories. I never knew there were so many secrets behind the Catholic Church. (Hope it’s not true :)

The book didn’t consume my much time as The Lost Symbol' does not require much effort to read. Some words did need a Google search; still it never spoiled the continuity of the plot.

I am so much impressed by the writing style of Brown. But I read a few reviews criticized the narrative as witless, adjectivally-promiscuous and addicted to using italics to convey excitement. Is that really true? I don’t read many thrillers and not familiar with the adept thriller writers. If you can invoke interest through your own writing style, then why need to follow other writers. I did have great time by reading the book, then why to worry about the critics.

Let me tell you one thing frankly, I didn’t like the ending :(
but no comments ;)

All the best Boss!!!

It is almost one year since I joined Congruent. Ganesh helped me to find this job and he is my boss too. I am kinda of enjoying the life here. This office is so different from my previous one, where I started my communication career. I feel happy when I think about this organization. It teaches me a lot and does give me the opportunity to flourish my career.

Marketing department is the best in Congruent. Rashmi, Subu, Durai and myself are so fortunate to work under Ganesh (he heads marketing). He encourages us a lot and never complains about anything. My other colleagues feel the ‘J’ factor for us.

For me, he is a role model. I adopt many things from him, especially his sincerity, commitment in work and passion to train his subordinates and all (it’s actually a never ending list:). I have noticed one thing that he never hesitated to appreciate anyone of us even in our small achievements.

You know some people say they have the greatest boss, but they don't unless they work with mine. My boss is more than just a boss, he's my friend. He will do anything for anyone and is always there when you need him. If All Bosses were like him, the World Would Be a Happier Place.

It is sad thing that he is leaving to another firm for a better career. It gives me disappointment but I would like to wish him a great career.

Wishing good luck in your new job dear Ganesh!!!

Oh my God who’s gonna come next??? :(

Twitter, a new trend among the social networking sites has grabbed a lot of attention from people all around the world. When I first heard the name Twitter, I found it funny but interesting. Later Ganesh asked us to start an account, we (Durai, Rashmi and myself) loyal subordinates, promptly joined Twitter. The novelty in the words and functions made it more interesting.

The creators have developed it as a simple tool that makes it user-friendly. Though, it took almost 4 months to understand the concept behind this micro blogging site. The more you explore it, the more interesting you find it. Funky tools, statistics, information…

So what is Twitter? It is a free networking service that lets you keep in touch with people through an exchange of quick and short messages. Suddenly we realize the power of communicating in 140 characters.

I am an active tweeterer, do tweet everyday and have 500+ followers  for me it’s just a past time and a popularity contest (Ganesh likes to pull my leg a lot). While preparing a presentation on Twitter for Ganesh I realized that Twitter was not a simple “past time” tool, but an effective and impactful business/marketing/PR tool. During my research on Twitter, I found a wide variety of information about Twitter. That just fascinated me. It is interesting to note how businesses are investing on Twitter for promoting themselves.

It is mind boggling when you look at the plethora of Apps that have been developed for Twitter.

Even though, people call twitter a simple site, I cannot say it’s just simple; it has a whole lot of tools which makes it unique and complex. If I talk about the concept of an ideal social site, that would vary from person to person but a few characteristics of your choice will be same as mine. Twitter is ideal to me because of its strong tools and perfect services. Isn’t it fabulous that small site can do whole lot of things than any other social sites giants.

Back to the role of twitter in business, that’s what our presentation is all about. Experienced hands say that Twitter helps corporates and business organizations to build their brand effectively. If one can follow the basic concept of Twitter i.e., Follower/Following effectively, that can make extensive changes in your company’s brand image. Twitter provides corporates with good marketing opportunities that can be translated in to business or fame.


So try twitter, Learn Twitter and tweet, tweet and tweet to make your network bigger (visit my boss’ blog to learn about twitter)


By the way, I put together the presentation well!!! (Got a brownie point too)

Networking through Social Sites!!!

I have been thinking of writing a post about social networking sites for so long. I never had enough time to do a research on that. Last week, just out of curiosity, I checked the list of social networking sites in Google, the universal search engine, and got surprised by the numbers. Oh God, more than 350! The names I was familiar with were a handful - Facebook, Orkut, Twitter, Yahoo 360, My Space, bebo, hi5, netlog, Tagged. But the rest were alien to me.

When I started using Orkut, about 4 years back, I didn’t know what it was. I signed up coz of peer pressure. My friends said that Orkut was a great way to communicate and be in touch; unlike the old ways - chats or mails! They said it was quite transparent. “everybody can see everybody” and “everybody can read about everybody’s information”. That was more than enough for a college girl. I took the plunge and joined Orkut. I must admit that I haven’t uncovered it completely, yet. The immediate benefit that I could discover my long last friends at Orkut.

Then so many invitations started coming in. Asking me to join a network or other. I in a temptation to find old and new friends, did give to couple of requests. But I must admit that after some point it is a waste of time. I would find the same set of friends in every social networking site. Why would I need so many platforms to keep in touch with same set of friends?

Let me come back to social networking sites, what are they? Theoretically one can say social network websites focuses on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. (Am so fond of definitions:)). Most of the social network sites provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services and keep adding more features to their sites to make the sites more vibrant and popular.

Most of the social sites do follow the theory and more. You have a myriad of features to hold your interest to the sites. But still I really don’t understand how one can manage many sites at a time!!! I have many friends who use more than 10 social sites at a time and I am struggling to use just two. (Actually am an active Orkut member, but once in a blue moon, I check facebook).

On the business front, social media play an important role. Building brand through social media is gaining importance. Companies are investing in ensuring they have an impactful presence.

When it comes to individuals, “it is popularity contest” (Ganesh’s opinion), people are so keen to sign up with many sites and keep adding more friends to win this contest!!! Otherwise I don’t see any benefits out of it :) (apart from getting connected and winning the popularity show!)

I adore Sylvia Plath’s poems!!!

I don’t know when I started loving her poems. If I remember right, it was during my language classes (which was my favorite subject/class) where I was initiated into Sylvia Plath. Her beautiful verse “Tulips” captivated me. The protagonist and her thoughts are still fresh in my memory. It has taught me that nobody can.

I was not a literature student or followed poems before. But now I have developed a liking for her poems. Her words kindle my imagination, cast a spell and lead me into a fantasy world.

Sylvia Plath’s dedication to poetry and the intensity of her words is unparalleled. Her words drew heavily from her personal life making it attractive and analytical. She handled painful and intense subjects such as suicide, self-loathing, shock treatment, and dysfunctional relationships, and made it simpler to her readers to relate. The controlled flow of images in her poems captivates me.

In a strange way she had fallen in love with her depression which led to poetic madness and the outcome was fabulous.

It is amazing how a troubled passionate mind can fabricate such masterpiece!!!

Zoozoos are amazing!!!

Advertising is one of the effective communication methods that typically attempts to persuade potential customers to purchase or to consume a brand of product or service.(so fond of definitions, effect of a Masscom Degree ) It is not simply a communication medium, but its contribution to the economy of a country is notable.

Advertising has come a long way from the early street criers to the latest multimedia enabled ones. Technology is developing day by day and the communication media too. Grabbing attraction of the audience becomes a herculean task. Products and advertising agencies are competently working hard to catch the attention of its customers.

I am not a big IPL fan but being holed up in a small room with friends who are diehard fans, I am forced to be passive viewer. It was during one such boring late night IPL match that I was gifted with a fabulous vision of a few unknown little creatures. I shook up from lumber and concentrated. First, I did not understand the concept, but gradually they did conquer my mind by their innocent, naughty and kid dish nature.

Now, I follow IPL matches not for the crickets and their heroics, but to see what these tiny tots do. These tiny tots are Vodafone’s new image.

Vodafone’s approach to ads is notable. This mobile cellular provider is known for its innovative advertising strategy. The award winning pug campaign was Vodafone’s contribution to ad world. It set a new trend in the advertising scenario. The latest Zoozoos campaign is another milestone for the brand. Zoozoos who resemble huggable alien-like beings is creation of the same Indian husband-wife team that also gifted us the lovable “Vodafone Pug”.



The most fascinating thing is that the Zoozoos are not animated creatures but actual human beings. Online researches say that Zoozoos are among the most watched videos on YouTube and there are over 50,000 Zoozoo fans on Face book. Another noted thing is that Vodafone has opened an IPL microsite for quizzes and contests where one can know the kind of Zoozoo you are, as each Zoozoo character has a unique set of characteristics and traits allotted to it. Amazing!!! Do you want to check what kind of zoozoo are you, just log on to http://vodafone.in/ipl09/zoozoo.aspx

Zoozoos have been created not just identity for a brand for a masterpiece with which each one of us can relate to. I salute the creators!

Am I passionate about the word “depressing”?

I always wonder whether am passionate about the word depressing. In a way I am, I do articulate it very often. I always think the reason behind it. I picked the word from one of my unimportant conversations with my own gang. It came to me as a subtle feeling and it started dominating in my life. I found it interesting, every time when I utter it.

Actually the word doesn’t make my life depressing, but it does make me calm and cool. What a paradoxical usage? Life is like this, so many depressing facts can make you happy and help you to live the way you are. Are you making any sense out of it? Some of u can actually agree with ma points. Some of you may not even understand what I am saying?

Even u guys also will have some words which are actually depressing in nature but will give you a sort of comfort. Whenever I utter the word depressing, others take it very interestingly and start laughing. In a way am giving them a reason to smile, a smile that is so valuable and can wipe out all your sadness. If I can make others smile by a depressing word “depressing”, is n’t it the fabulous thing in the world???

This is my depressed stance. “When you're depressed, it makes a lot of difference how you stand. The worst thing you can do is straighten up and hold your head high because then you'll start to feel better. If you're going to get any joy out of being depressed, you've got to stand like this”. I too agree with the great person who contributed it to the world:)

Income tax holidays for small and medium sized IT companies.

An income tax holiday is a reduction or an elimination of a particular tax. It is a time-off from payment of income taxes. It is actually an incentive from the government to boost the business investment.

When comes to the IT industry, it has been enjoying the benefit of income tax holidays from quite sometime now. But, there are some conditions that have been imposed on the enjoyment of these benefits. ITH (Income Tax Holidays) are not given as a matter of right, but as a privilege to entities that have, after evaluation by the government, fully complied with the conditions, as prescribed by law.

From a global perspective, the IT industry is generally recognized as a research and development based industry, where they need help from the government bodies, to achieve their goals. A lot of countries like Australia, Singapore, UK, etc. provide R&D incentives for IT companies, which prove to be extremely advantageous to them.

The IT industry in India has traditionally been the youngest of all the other industries, that has rarely asked for anything but been granted none. Considering small and medium sized IT companies, they need more time to establish and start getting profits and most of the existing ones would require some more years to reach a sustainable position in the industry.

Income tax holidays are scheduled under section 10A &10B of Income Tax Act, which will expire on next year. The expiry of tax holidays is one of the biggest challenges for the IT industry, followed by increasing costs. In addition to this, the IT industry is facing two other problems. They need to move in Tier 2 locations and simultaneously have to attract adequate quality manpower. According to a study conducted by CII, these companies need an extension of tax holidays to survive in the industry.

The only hope is that NASSCOM, a global trade body, has already asked for an extension of 10 years. Most of the IT companies are in the “growth stage” of their life cycle. The IT would need a few more years to establish themselves in the industry scenario. So, the extension of the tax holidays will be an aid in their pursuit. The ending of tax holiday benefits, will certainly hit these companies. They are facing more challenges than the so-called big IT firms (right from the competition from other sectors to shortage of trained talents). The recently occurred global financial meltdown also made an impact on the industry.

By sonia