Why Do We Disrespect Women ???

I was waiting for the day to get over, and was planning to pack my bags to home. Three twitter updates spoiled my mood completely for the day. It was on an issue, on which I have always spoken of. It’s about disrespecting women.

Read these three news items:-

“In a strange ritual 2,000 women, who were believed to be 'possessed' by evil spirits, were given severe, blood-oozing lashing in public to 'free them from these bad elements' in a village in Tamil Nadu. The whipping ritual included girls as young as 10-years-old.This strange ritual continued for five hours at the annual festival of the ancient Sri Achappan Temple on the Vijaydashmi day.
One girl was whipped for not showing interest in studies. The parents believed that the lack of interest was because there was an evil spirit residing in her. One girl received lashings for not attaining puberty on time and another for her irregular menstrual periods !!!”

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/new/NDTV-Show-Special.aspx?ID=365

“A 23-year-old hotel management student has claimed that she was abducted, gang-raped and filmed the act by four men after taking her to three states in about a month !!!”

http://indiatoday.intoday.in/index.php?issueid=97&id=64304&option=com_content&task=view§ionid=4

“Frances Gomes, a father was convinced that if his daughters left his flat, they would be raped or "corrupted". So he kept his daughters, 27-year-old Barbara and 21-year-old Elizabeth, locked up with their mother for 7 years in Mumbai !!!”

http://www.ndtv.com/news/india/locked_tortured_by_father_for_7_years.php

No justification (whether be it tradition, mentality, illiteracy etc.), can approve any form of disrespect to women. Can someone give one good reason, why such instances happen, in every form of society, be it rural, or urban.
As my title goes, Why do we disrespect women ???, I am still searching for an answer.

Here I am sitting in my office @ night…

Here I am sitting in my office @ night…
Thinking hard about life
How it changed from a maverick college life to strict professional life…...

 How tiny pocket money changed to huge monthly paychecks
But then why it gives less happiness….
How a few local denim jeans changed to new branded wardrobe
But then why there are less people to use them
How a single plate of samosa changed to a full Pizza or burger
But then why there is less hunger…..

Here I am sitting in my office @ night…
Thinking hard about life
How it changed…..

How a bike always in reserve changed to bike always on
But then why there are fewer places to go on……
How a small coffee shop changed to cafe coffee day
But then why its feels like shop is far away…..
How a limited prepaid card changed to postpaid package
But then why there are fewer calls; more messages……

Here I am sitting in my office @ night…
Thinking hard about life
How it changed…..

How a general class journey changed to Flight

Credits : Mr.Pravesh Mathur

Convocation @ Alliance...

Last week we had a memorable convocation ceremony .Governor of Karnataka, Mr. H R Bhardwaj, Minister of Higher Education for the State of Karnataka and Mr. Ganesh Aiyyar, MD, Caterpillar witnessed our convocation. It was memorable for many reasons.

Now we all were Post-graduates. Two years of PGPM in Alliance Business School were finally over. Convocation was an official ceremony to announce that now we all were MBAs. Also, presence of such high profile Chief Guests and getting certificates through them, made the ceremony glittering. Moreover for the first time, we got the chance to wear robes and hoods for the ceremony.

But, I guess more importantly, for all of us, it was an opportunity to re-unite and remember our golden days of post-grads. We all had so much too share. Our lives after college, our short stints in corporate culture, our economic independence, our experiences and what not! Too much to share in just a day!

We all were feeling nostalgic on visiting our campus, and meeting our dearest friends. Felt like revisiting those memories again, spent with friends in college. I was missing those never ending lunches and dinners at the food-court, our one-night stand exam preparations and those butterflies in stomach before interviews. I was missing the unconditional support of my friends, the laughs and tears we shared. I was missing those times when we fought with each other, times when we were united against the administration on some or other issues. Was missing those projects we did together, those competitive rivalries, and the festivals we celebrated together.

Moment I was back home after the event, I realized, that all those good days are now over. I wish I could have brought them back. Few came to be a part of convocation; few weren’t able to make it. Yes we were able to meet few our old friends, but frankly, we still weren’t able to spend quality time. Thus I am waiting for many more reasons to meet my old good friends.

Millionaire Homes, Luxury Living Redefined

After its immense success in Bangalore and Chennai, Millionaire Homes is now in Hyderabad on 19th and 20th of September, at Novotel. For those who all still unaware with Millionaire Homes event –

Millionaire Homes – the Luxury Living & Lifestyle Show is an exciting new concept in consumer driven business shows: The event is designed as a platform for connoisseurs of lifestyle and fine living to experience some of the finest concepts in luxury living. The event will showcase a host of realty and fine living options from some of the leading home builders across the country. The show also introduces guests to the finest high-end products and services for homes.

Millionaire Homes is very unique in its positioning. When everyone will find a Home Mela where all the builders come and showcase their properties, Millionaire Homes maintains its niche. Properties showcased in Millionaire Homes are luxury properties worth crore and above. Never ever a show has been show hosted in India of this nature.

To be successful, such niche events need unique and experiential marketing. Every other Home Mela depends on ATL advertising through newspaper ads, radio and hoardings to catch the attention of the masses. Millionaire Homes is marketed completely through BTL (Direct Marketing). Dun & Bradstreet (D&B), who have conceived and produced this event, have a huge commercial database of companies and HNI’s tagged on various parameters. In-house call center of D&B call these HNI’s to understand whether they are interested in buying such properties now or not? Accordingly, all interested HNI’s are exclusively invited for the event. Thus D&B has been able to bring in 1500 – 2000 HNI’s per event, interested in such luxury properties.

Moreover, to create the right ambience for these HNI’s, D&B also hosts various sub-events in evening like art-auction, musical concert, wine tasting session and fashion-show. These sub-events acts as incentives for these ultra HNI’s to attend the event and evaluate these luxury properties. If you are visiting Millionaire Homes, also watch out for exclusively designed booths created for each of the exhibitors.

With this initiative, D&B creates an interactive platform for leading luxury and premium brands to engage with customers in an exclusive environment. With a growing number of Indian's joining the ranks of the wealthy with the propensity and ability to spend on fine living, Millionaire Homes presents an excellent opportunity for luxury brands to be associated with this event and engage these customers.

“Khatron Ke Khiladi” – Level 2

Akshay Kumar and Colors Channel are back with the next season of their highly successful show, “Khatron Ke Khiladi” – Level 2. Frankly, I was never so interested in such reality shows. A similar show called, “Is Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao” had just recently ended on Sony. I always thought “Khatron Ke Khiladi” would be on the similar lines to “Is Jungle Se Mujhe Bachao”, “Roadies” and “Stuntmania”. Moreover, neither the celebrities participating in the show were appealing enough to watch the show.
These shows, being featured on the major channels at prime time, leaves you without much option. And thus one can’t avoid having a glimpse of these reality shows. Even I had too. Interestingly, I was surprised and entertained. The stunts in “Khatron Ke Khiladi” were fearful, gutsy, exciting and innovative.

Full marks to Colors and the team of “Khatron Ke Khiladi”, for raising the standards of the show through such nail biting stunts. I would recommend you all to watch “Khatron Ke Khiladi”. It’s surely a level above to all other reality shows.

IPL – An Inside Story: Cricket and Commerce

I recently finished reading this book penned by Alam Srinivas and T R Vivek. This book gives you a complete insight into the cricketing saga called Indian Premier League. How the idea IPL originated, the politics behind it, and how it became a success have been interestingly plotted in this book. It shows that with the mix of few intelligent decisions and luck, how Lalit Modi pulled of this event with unmatchable success. This book also beautifully covers the after effects of IPL on the Indian cricket. It also covers the stories of turnaround in the lives of Lalit Modi, Shane Warne and many small town Indian players who got a chance to prove themselves in this IPL. It describes each event associated with IPL in complete detail, from bidding process to the controversies around it. Sometimes the author deviates from the core issues, but then, if you are a cricket fan, you will enjoy it. The book could have been better if it would have been updated with the second season of IPL also.


My Ratings: 6/10

Sonu Nigam is back…!!!

Oops…when was Sonu Nigam gone??? Yes he was there in the industry, but I guess even he was thirsting for a hit song.

Sonu is back with “Don’t say Alvida” in “Main aur Mrs. Khanna” featuring Salman Khan. It’s a hummable melody with trademark Sonu’s style of romantic singing. Moreover, he is been given chance to sing ”Chiggy Wiggy” with Kylie Minogue by A.R. Rehman for the movie “Blue” featuring Akshay Kumar. Again it’s a fun loving song, sung in patented Sonu’s Punjabi style. Both are hit with audiences.

Today’s music industry, when bundle of new voices are discovered every day, one needs to be consistent. Since he became selective in choosing songs, we got a rare opportunity to hear him. Yes he came out with few albums (Classically Mild, An Evening in London) but they were also quite niche in genre. I guess, he was exploring his singing skills by trying different genres and languages. Hardened fans of Sonu Nigam’s singing (include me in this list), were desperate to listen Sonu Nigam in contemporary form of film music. Music directors like Vishal Shekhar, Pritam and others have been very generous in giving songs to every other singer except Sonu Nigam. His loyalist music directors like Anu Malik and Sajid Wajid were also losing their sheen. Shankar Ehsaan Loy and A R Rehman use Sonu Nigam only when they realize that no one but Sonu can give justice to a song.

Nevertheless, he back with flurry of songs and I hope he continues to sing more. His singing inspires many amateur singers like me. Keep singing…Sonu Nigam.