Hey that’s an Indian ….

Sometimes I wonder if people envy Indians or just think that they are dumb. People from all around the world perceive Indians in only 2 ways , either as the citizens of a country filled with diversity or as the land of the poor. As an Indian I feel that whoever we are we sure are blessed .

  All around the world people talk about India as a beautiful place. We  have so many different religions, casts, languages, cultures, traditions,dances, cuisines, etc.India’s Taj Mahal is also a well-known monument throughout the world .Our country  is the land where yoga was started and people come here to gain health and peace of mind. But on the other hand people feel that Indians are incapable of competing with the rest of the world. Shows like Outsourced and The big band theory seem show Indians in very bad light . Just because English isn’t our mother tongue doesn’t mean it is necessary for every Indian to have a mother tongue influence in the way they talk . In Outsourced they show an Indian call center which apparently  is not a factual representation to the  actual call centers we run. There was an incident when call centers began , that the Americans knew that an Indian was answering their queries so, they would literally rape them with abuses, but do they know that we do all the sales, accounting,in short all the back office work for these big companies which enables them to work smoothly and grow immensely in their own country. We Indians can do whatever we want if we choose to . Indians have contributed by giving the world the best doctors and engineers , India is also one of the biggest IT hubs in the world.It also has the largest number of newspapers and magazines published in approximately 21 languages. This is how diverse our country is.

In a scene of a Hindi movie ‘ Namaste London’ we see how the actor explains to this Britisher about how India has changed over the years and how the country is developing . He mentions the time when a Catholic women (Sonia Gandhi) steps aside for a Sikh (Manmohan Singh) to be sworn in as a Prime minister by  a Muslim (APJ Abdul Kalam) President of a country which has an  80%  population of Hindus. They also mentions the humility of Indians by saying that whenever we meet someone we join our hands in respect as we don’t feel that anyone is inferior or superior to us.  The video also highlights how a lot of English words have their origins from words in Sanskrit .

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-95XN5szWK0

My basic aim of writing this post is to tell my fellow Indians that we might prefer Reebok or Puma to an Indian brand , but we should always be proud that we are a part of the BEST country in the world and respect our country not be ashamed of it.

Jai ho !!!!!!!

Donation boxes in buses $$$$$$$$$$

Buses being one of the cheapest & flexible means of transport a lot of us college students use them to commute. The government has been kind enough to have the facility of issuing bus passes and the people who have chosen to make use of this facility are the ones who have a less tortured journey. But the others sure do face the demons of the buses – the conductors. Often you can hear their bag jingling with change but they claim to have none and either force you to give them the exact amount or give you a discount on the fare and make you travel without a ticket, which is an offence. Travelling without a ticket is illegal and if we feel that our country is corrupt then we should start by correcting these small errors  that we face in our daily lives. We being bighearted people often even let go of the change but that is because it doesn’t change our lifestyle but what we don’t understand is that the way we are made to part with those few rupees is by being cheated. I  might sound stingy at this point , it’s not about the money  but what makes my blood boil is the  audacity of  the conductor  to tell you that it is alright to travel without a ticket and if you oppose that you receive a nasty look. I feel bad for our conductor friends who need to toil all day to receive their extra income so maybe we should just set up donation boxes in buses to reduce their work!!!!!!    This would also save them the headache of keeping an account of their undeserved money and the guilt of their sins committed.

Opportunities are often like pop ups

 

Walking out of class on a Saturday morning I say hi to ma’am not realizing that the  ‘hi’  would turn into an invitation of an opportunity. Jumping up to every possible new experience I did the same this time too. Working with an art director, WOW that would be fun. We were in charge of the props. Till a few days back I didn’t know that every small object we see on-screen was  found & got  with so much effort. Running around for something like a key chain may sound insane, but in the professional world attention to detail holds prime importance.

We were on our toes till 9:30pm, but that’s how it works in such a field. The day was surely tiring and not to miss the upset parents waiting at home for an explanation of why you crossed your deadline. Now that was another challenge, convincing them that it was necessary to stay out late & explain to them the importance of it. The same happened the next day, running around for more stuff & eventually we reached the location for the final shoot.

It’s easy to criticize an ad/movie/serial but trust me shooting it is nowhere close to easy & can often get frustrating. Such a line of work most likely has no timing & often you are up for more than a day or two together. The actors are always seen as the stars but once you get an insight into the industry you realize that the real stars are the people behind the camera. That doesn’t only mean the director but each & every light man, art man & the canteen (food) person too. Another thing I learnt was everyone has their own role making an advertisement but once everyone’s role is done & they leave, winding up & clearing is left to the art department.

Sounds stressful & sure is  but what makes it worth it are the perks and the priceless experiences you get with it. Something as small as  eating out and then while paying you realize that it has been taken care of sure does give you a sense of happiness. Though it’s a crazy job but if it is something you enjoy  it’s worth the time & effort. This crash course in the world of media &  a 3 day internship was full of fun, excitement, body aches, late nights, toppled routines & a bag full of good memories and experiences. Having a good friend to go through this journey was surely an incentive.

So opportunities do come knocking at your door, but they often just unexpectedly pop up into your life & add the missing colour . A weekend always meant movies, out with friends, family time or just TV time but this one was surely not a usual one but a great surprise !!!!!!

An evening in GOA !!!!! ~~~~~~

Goa a well known holiday destination which most of us would have visited. Water sports, sea food, sand castles or just sitting on the beach n watching the sun set are things we would often do. I being an adventurous person choose the water sports . The water scooter being one of my favorites i decided to start with that. Let a few friends go first n from d shore it didn’t look like they were going too fast. But whats the fun if you aren’t going to be speeding on it. Not realizing how rough the sea was i told the guy that i wanted to go farther n faster than all the others. As I was enjoying the experience n telling him to go faster the waters decided to show me their true colour  & the next thing i see myself swimming towards the scooter n thats when the guy realized that a big wave had knocked me off. I jumped back on & knew i had a bunch of people waiting to see my reaction.The first thing i said was “it was AWESOME”.

One fall didn’t stop me & we headed to the banana boat . Every time that exciting thing choose to drop us  we jumped  right back on to it  & eventually we swam to the shore which was 2km away. After that fun filled time we had an amazing dinner  at the beach & headed back home.  The aches , pains & wounds the water gave me were worth the adrenaline rush &  didn’t stop me from going and swimming with the dolphins the next morning.  Wow I feel like we spent more time in the water than on the beach but it sure has added to my scrapbook of memories.