Friendship....are they serious!!!

What do you think of this advertisement?

It portrays the notion of friendship with a background score of eternal friendship song of bollywood. But, somehow, I disliked it a lot. I might be labeled as ‘living fossil’ but I strongly disagree with the subtle message circulated in the garb of an advertisement meant for promoting sale of Sedan class cars.

Are they trying to say that if only you belong to some affluent family or your dad owns a luxury vehicle, you can have bunch of friends.  I am not sure how a kid of present generation of 6 – 16 yrs would perceive this clip but it stealthily tries to distort the notion of friendship for sure. The kids actually behave like some ‘yes men’ who sport fake smile while sharing their belongings or helping each other with an ulterior motive of getting a ride in the big sedan by the end of the day.

Is it not the first glimpse of that class who would grow up into ‘Janta nahin mera baap kaun hai!’(Don't you know...who is my daddy!!) breed? I feel agitated with this kind of media promotion because I believe that media does pla!y a strong role in our lives .It has some impact or other on the mind of its viewers however the degree of impact depends on the IQ, EQ and maturity level of the person.

Earlier also when I wrote aboutthis advertisement with so called new age ’cool’ lingo and posted it in my FB page, many people( some of them were parents!) termed me as too sensitive and over-reactive. But somehow, I just do not feel comfortable while watching this kind of stuff. Might be I am turning into a ‘living fossil’ in real sense!

Children See....Children Do!!

I came across this beautiful video in Facebook which is so thought-provoking. 

A small incident happened few days back established the message conveyed through this video.

I was rushing to drop Mishti to her daycare. The lift of our building was dysfunctional that day. So, I had to carry her through the stairs along with her bags & my purse. All the while she struggled to wriggle out from my hold so that she can run down the stairs on her own. After reaching near the gate, I realized that I forgot my phone at home.
Quite unconsciously, I hissed 'Shit, Shiiiit....'. I was so irritated that I had to climb the stairs carrying Mishti again and it was already late.

The moment it came out of my mouth I realized my mistake. Mishti was looking at me intently! And then she started jumping up and down shouting “Chhit, Chhit”. I felt so ashamed of myself. I distracted her attention to some moving vehicle on road to stop her loud ‘Chhit, Chhit’ but she continued to do so.

I learnt my lesson. These kids pick up our behavior, words & body language so quickly. This is the second instance of this kind; firstone happened when Mishti was bit young. I have to be more careful about it.

Picking up a nice quote from Facebook:

Don’t worry that your children never listen to you, worry that they are always watching you.

Tick-Tock, We’re 30 : Book Review

Snap shot:

Interesting, isn’t it, how someone is always utterly attractive to someone else? For every male tree frog, there is a female tree frog whose dry skin and warts and bulging eyes are the most divine. And to you, Lara Bagai, a karela is a thing of beauty, Nishad comments.

So he remembers I love karela. So what?I take it your interest in frogs is purely academic?
I snigger. 
'I promise you I am not in danger of being madly besotted by one anytime soon,' he half-smiles.

The clock is ticking towards Lara’s thirtieth birthday and the whole gang is coming together to celebrate it. It’s a pact they made back then to meet when they all finally turned that age. So far, so cool. What isn’t cool is the other pact Lara had made one tipsy evening with Nishad. To marry each other if neither of them were hitched by then.

The last thing Lara wants is to give Nishad the pleasure of knowing he was right about Ranndeep being so wrong for her. Ranndeep, all-male, pro-motor racer whom shed been so sure of at the time. So there was only one thing to do. Lara would have to drum up someone else to pass off as her love interest for now. Enter flamboyant Perzaan, Turkish dude full of surprises. With the reappearance of Ranndeep and the gangs other quirky characters, its a week of audacious hookups and mix-ups. Chances are you’ll be guessing right till the end who ends up with whom, if ever.

My take:

The snap shot of this book is more than enough to kindle interest in your mind to read it. Whacky but believable characters, easy-flowing language, hilarious goof-ups, myriad emotions and a gang of friends hook you to this book till its end. The story shifts gear midway and flows smoothly giving way to an enjoyable tale of tangled relationship.

The bunch of friends and their reunion moments would make you nostalgic and might be you can end up whining to meet your old buddies to let the leash free of your inner wackiness. All the characters are reflection of real people whom you can easily identify with and therefore you can relate to their life, desire and aspirations.

However, the over-detailed persona sketch of various characters remains as mild dampener but somehow it did not affect the flow of the narration much. Too many characters and their intricate life moments sometimes becomes too confusing and apart from the mix-ups in the story, I had few mix-ups happened in my mind as well! The length of the book could have been reduced by trimming off few gratuitous facets of this book.

Overall, a one-time read which you can enjoy in journeys or bed-time with a relaxed mind.

• Title - Tick-Tock, We're 30
• Author – Milan Vohra
• Publisher – Westland
• Pages – 412
• Price – INR 250
• My Rating – 3.25/5

This review is a part of book reviews in Women's web. I am glad to be among the chosen 15 bloggers to review this book.

Mishti Unplugged - Sleep Saga!

Now days, Mishti is put to sleep by SG every night. Mishti still takes milk in her bottle while sleeping, so bottle of milk is prepared, and after changing her diaper, I sneak out of room while SG takes over.

SG: Sleep, sleep Mishti sleep baby…

Ok you want a song…..Imlee ka boota, berry ka ped, Imlee khatti, Meethe berr…..

Imlee ka boota, berry ka ped, Imlee khatti, Meethe berr….. tan a nana tanan ana a

tan a nana tanan ana a ….khrrrr khrrr (daddy snores!!)

Mishti: Ummm….daddy, daaaaaaaaaaddddddyyyyyyy

SG: hmmmm…yes yes…what… Sleep, sleep Mishti sleep baby…

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Another day:

SG: Sleep, sleep Mishti sleep baby…

I think you get bored with songs, I would tell you a story like mamma.

One upon a time….There was a Papa Bear & a Mamma bear. They were best friends and then they got married. Papa Bear worked in Quality department while Mamma Bear work in their anti department – operations.

I had to intervene here. I barge in the bedroom.

Me: What is this? What kind of story is this?

SG: This is Reality based story!!

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Few days ago, Mishti wakes up 15 minutes before my alarm goes off. Very sweetly she starts waking me…Mamma, Mammaaaaa.

I try to pacify her with one eye open….yeah beta….you play with your books (yeah, few of Mishti’s books are kept at bedside as well!)…Mamma would wake up in a while OKkk.

Mishti didn’t gulp that bait and climbs on my tummy saying ‘Tagataga’ (her version of tug-bug of horse riding). I still choose not to wake up. She gets bored.

All of a sudden, I feel some watery droplets tricking on my cheeks. Quickly opening my eyes, I see that Mishti is trying to jostle her empty milk bottle (she takes milk in her sleep around dawn) in my mouth.

Mammma….Dodo…Aaaaa aaaa Aaaaa!

As if she is imitating her bedtime routine with me by giving me milk & singing a lullaby!!!