The Big Bad World of Blah.

An aspiring copywriter's food for thought:

"I have always believed that writing advertisements is the second most profitable form of writing. The first, of course, is ransom notes..." - Philip Dusenberry.

There's NO Place like Home.

Picture this, two eager beavers sticking to the windows of an aircraft, their hearts thumping with joy as Chennai's little buildings grew in size. That was Ren(my roomie) and me, the Sunday last. Yes, Yes... I'm in the land where the roads are cleaner(it's all relative), the routes are familiar(i'm direction challenged), the sambhar is spicy(I'm loving it) and the feeling of belonging is more than apparent. There's so much to do, people to see, places to go. This city is a part of me. period. I don't want this to end. Ever.

Happily Ever After.

No, this is no magical love tale but just a day of trials and tribulations in a court martial conducted by one of our professors. Post the horrors of the morning which included late starts, messed up presentations, a million unnecessary interruptions and the likes... the conclusion was purrfect! Justice had been done to 20 odd from the 60 who endured a seemingly never ending day. We met at Rakshit Doshi's place and had the time of our lives. High spirits flowed and became one with conversations. We never seem to do away with truth or dare but I must add a few daring souls like Mel, Suri and Shuchika brought some much needed life to the silly game. Conversations further blended mellifluously with the hummable tunes we all love. Post this; Pankit entertained the bunch with his Shayaari sessions, which would have had some dead poets stirring in their grave. :) Yours truly fell asleep at this point as I had barely slept the night before. The rest is all hearsay. Apparently Saket and Shuchika shook a leg and how! There were a few others who almost fell off the wagon, courtesy the after effects of you know what. Strangely enough, Rakshit Bahadur was found sleeping in the balcony. Its only at such crazy dos that you meet a paan eating Chinese guy who can levitate - Van, Rakshit's buddy. Such events of the night could have only been matched by a wonderful lunch at Shiv Sagars followed by my very first Gola session at Juhu beach. I like the pace of it all. I'm starting to give Mumbai a lot more thought but hey, I'm going home on Sunday... and no one can take that away from me! Tra la la!

See More. Hear More. Know More.

The Sunday that passed by held quite a few surprises. The journalism students from XIC were hosting an evening bash for the rest of us. Train halts and twists in routes notwithstanding, I managed to make it to the campus an hour late. No worries there. The party had just about begun. I wish the students had shown more enthusiasm by showing up for starters. Apart from a smattering of students from ADMA, only the journo crowd hung around. Clannish bums that we are, we further chose to segregate ourselves into comfort zones comprising familiar faces. The bash was just about fun for the music didn't measure up, yet, the highlights of the evening were Saket and Devang's dance moves, Rakshit and Saket(there he goes again!) role playing and the stage performance by Shammy, Melroy, Austin, Yours Truly and another couple of people from journalism. Heck, I don't even know their names so one can imagine how much intermingling did take place! Post the party a few of us headed to Mocha to simply while away some more time.

This trip was different, truly speaking. First up, the crowd composed of people who didn't hang out with each other, who just about said their hi's in college. Socializing with variegated groups does refresh your perspective. The singing bug refused to let us go, so we ended up serenading all of Mocha with 'Nothing's Gonna Change My Love', 'You're Still The One' and a few more Hindi numbers. A few hit the notes, a few others didn't. Big Shmuck! Kudos to us for we even managed to drown out the music playing. Post a few courteous nods of appreciation from the on lookers, we settled into a game of truth or dare. Yes, yes. We managed to get past the customary 'Whom do you dig' phase to some meaningful insights. We unearthed our opinions about each other, which I have attempted to sum up:

Devang - King of Good Times who desperately needs a haircut.

Rakshit - Able Leader of the brat pack.

Dipti - Beauty with Brains. If only we could hear more from her!

Austin - Twisted! If you're wondering... it's a wonderful thing to never think along a set path.

Pulak - Respect comes naturally when you're as sensible as him!

Shuchika - Being blunt has never been as much fun. :)

Chitra - Anything can be set right with a smile.

Saket - ?!?! There's not a talent this man does NOT possess. The nice guy on the block.

Divya(moi) - Loudmouth who has fans for she speaks sense. Gufffaawww! If only my folks read this.... :D

Poulomi - Mistress of Tact. She personifies enigma.

I hope I've done justice to the conversation we had. Thanks fellas... that was a night to remember.

My Few Minutes of Fame.

Alrightie people... Kya Baat Hai, the show I described in detail in one of my previous posts airs this Friday at 17:30 p.m IST. The repeats are at 13:00 p.m on Monday and 22:30 p.m the Thursday after. Do tune in, if you have the time!

Singara Chennai

...and there are some days when all you want to do is find your suitcase, throw a few clothes in and run home, if you have to! For those of you whose heart just skipped a beat, I have no such plans. I FLY home on the 23rd of October. Oh....If only time flew!

I thought of ending my post on that note, but I do want to make a mention of all that brought about this bout of homesickness. I was engaged in a conversation with some of my classmates when I stumbled upon some of their opinions on South Indians, read Madrasis. Terrible looking, lungi wearing, boring, jaya amma worshipping bunch that we are. None of these opinions are adulterated by my flair for drama. It's unfortunate that people seem to shut their eyes tight to reality. They would much rather believe what the movies tell them. Chennai has its flaws in abundance. The rigidity of language, the oppressive heat, the bookworm mentality... all of that I accept readily, yet, if only people would learn to embrace differences. Wishful thinking, that!

Kya Baat Hai!

The Show: Kya Baat Hai

The Topic: Cricket and its Future in India.

The Panellists: Mr. Raj Singh Dungapur, Mr. Ratnakar Shetty, Mr. Ayaz Memon

This afternoon I was at the MTV Studios as a participant on their talk show, Kya Baat Hai. Given the topic of discussion, it's no surprise that I had a lot to say. We discussed playing cricket vs playing politics, the zonal selection policies, the inefficiency of the BCCI, the seemingly inane innovations made by the ICC and India's preparations for World Cup 2007. Quite some talking to do in a span of just one hour. At this point, I must veer from the cricket to gush about the host. Cyrus Broacha is one helluva talented man. He refuses to work with a script and all of his jokes, corny nevertheless, are his own. What amazes me most - the humility of the man. He sipped his chai and cracked his PJ's amidst a throng of camera and lights personnel. In a city that breathes and breeds Page 3 Culture, such a sight is like a much awaited blast of cool air at the end of a grimy day. Before I forget, I want to marry a man like him. Enough said about Mr. Broacha. Since this is an interactive show, the Mumbai audience holds a video conference with the Delhi and Bangalore crowd. All I remember from those two sections was the presence of a Mr. Rahul Mehra, advocate who filed a petition against match fixing, who has a mouth that refuses to shut. His final one 'word' was the longest I've heard in my 21 years of being. I must add, he had valid points to make especially about the BCCI's lack of accountability and transparency in operations. I spoke about the Ganguly vs Chappell controversy, as did everyone else and was commended by Cyrus as a 'woman who was passionate about her cricket'. *Grin* I also had several other opinions, but I shall leave that to you guys to witness on MTV, this coming Friday at 5: 30 p.m. I haven't the foggiest clue about later re runs but I shall put up a post soon enough.

Hanging on for Dear Life!

P.S: To any Mumbaikar reading this, pardon my rant... you guys have been there, done that.

This is a day that redefines all other red-letter days. This morning, as I attempted to board the Churchgate Fast Local Train, I was forced to hang out of the train. The train travelled at a frenzied pace and the wind was in my hair. If any of this sounds pretty, it's the next best thing to crossing a Mumbai road blindfolded. How awfully lucky! People in Mumbai must be used to seeing their lives flash before them at such frightening moments. To me what was most frightening was the ease with which I hung on for dear life, it was as if I possessed a latent 'hang out of a train' talent. Ironically, these are the first signs of me finding a foothold in Mumbai. Until the next memorable moment...