Author

Kanupriya

Just Keep Moving Ahead

August 28, 2016
I just so agree to this! Something that I have always believed in. Something that has always led me to some path, may not necessarily  to the preferred destination but at least helped me move ahead.
And yet again I am at roads where I am not getting answers to what next in life but all I know from my past experience is that – I must keep moving ahead!
Yet again I am at a phase where fate seems to be really cruel but all I know from my past experience is that – I must keep moving ahead!
Yet again I am in a situation where negativity seems to be dominant all around but all I know from my past experience is that – I must keep moving ahead!
Yet again I am in a plight where helplessness is overpowering me but all I know from my past experience is that – I must keep moving ahead!
Yet again I am in a state where I want to quit fighting with adversities, stop moving ahead but all I know from my past experience is that – I must keep moving ahead!
Yes, sometimes acceptance is the only option you have and moving ahead is the best thing you can do – without thinking too much on what, why and how. 
And I thought a lot about whether to make this post live or not. Does it communicate my weaker side? Does it communicate my emotional turbulence? Well, heck yes, even if it does, so what! For once I want to write posts that communicate the real state of me. After all, as I always say we are human beings who are supposed to have different shades of life, not sure why in today’s environment we are expected to behave like hard coded programmed robots exhibiting only positivism and optimism and happiness (read projected happiness in  virtual world) and blah and blah and some more blah.
Yet again I have learned, any shade of life is ok as long as we work towards getting out of it and perhaps the only way to come out of any state is to move ahead!

Where to find good book recommendations?

April 18, 2016
Just finished yet another book by an Indian author and I am wondering what it was actually! Calling it a book or story would be such a slur as it was nothing but nonsense after nonsense printed  in black & white. And I also wonder why do I even waste my time in completing such shit pieces of work, damn this very irritating habit of mine that doesn’t let me leave things half way. But what’s worse is to realize that this book came highly recommended in most of the reading sites and I wonder how? Well, book marketing has surely picked up in India, isn’t it? Incentivize few reviewers, spend some marketing money and voila you have words after words spread across media in favor of some crap piece of work. Being a marketer as well as blogger, I am also aware of the dynamics of how it works. There is no harm in marketing any good product, anything new needs a bit of push but unfortunately I think in case of something as precious as books, going this far is really irking me a lot now.
My words might be sounding rude but I am actually quite disappointed with my last 5 reads. If you all remember, I have been a big supporter of Indian fiction and have always proudly mentioned my preferences for Indian stories and authors but I think it’s time for me to change my preferences now. Whether you believe it or not, last few of my reads have all been centered around either of the two themes – a 30 something career oriented girl desperately trying to get hooked on to a man, takes all possible measures to woo any / all kind of men and finally settles down with the one who has money and all. In the last book that I read, the main character slept with 7 men in a period of 6 months, lost her job, but is perfectly fine to lose her job as long as she finds a good catch (read man). Now in which city / culture in India, unmarried women date & sleep with 7 men in 6 months? After few pages, I was feeling sick of reading that book and being a woman felt pathetic to realize that the book was written by a woman only! All of it look such desperate, forced projection of so called “modern”, “new-generation” Indian women. And the second theme, wait… do I need to tell you about the second theme? It’s the same – a boy at IIT meets a girl and it’s love at first sight, blah blah & some more blah. Uffff, I know I am picking up wrong books but then all these have been picked after recommendations on Twitter, Goodreads etc. I definitely was looking for some light reads or romantic fiction but in the name of comedy or romance, all I could get my hands on was racy sex, almost porn content and comedies which were disgusting to the core.
What happened to the good writers and stories? What happened to healthy comedies? And what happened to pleasant love stories? With a heavy heart I think I have decided to not read any Indian author book for next few months except the mythology ones. I agree, mythological stories these days are quite well written and engaging for sure. But for other genre, I am going to stick to non-Indian writers for now . I am also thinking of trying my luck with Hindi Classics. I have really not read much of Hindi literature and I think it’s time for me to delve into some old gems.
If I find something really good, I will get back to you with my review of the same. Until then, if you have any recommendation for good  fiction, do let me know of the same. By the way, which site do you refer to for book recommendations these days? Any pointers please? Any site which is not heavily influenced by paid media yet? Look forward to your suggestions please 🙂

Hello World!

March 5, 2016
Hello World! I think it’s an apt title for a post that appears on this space after a gap of almost an year. Sigh! Writing is one love that I don’t want to give up on but somehow have been badly struggling to get back to. Not that I haven’t yearned or tried to get back to my blogs, in fact the number of times I have tried to write a post but have not been able to complete… (another sigh), innumerable! Though I could manage to write couple of posts on medium but then after initial few, a long block again. Blame it on my super crazy schedule now, a demanding child, demanding job and hundreds of other demands in this or that aspect of life. I at times wonder if I will ever get some quiet moments for myself.
I also wonder if it would be a better idea to get back to a diary instead of word docs or online drafts. The moment you get connected to a digital system, it’s simply mind numbing. The number of tabs opened on your laptop or the number of notifications that are beeping on your phone – I at times wonder do I really need so many information about anyone, everyone, anything and everything. Many a times I also take a conscious effort to turn off internet and start writing few words but then damn the real life distractions that are unavoidable now.
But I definitely want to get back to writing again and this time I am trying really hard. Have also thought of adopting some suggestions by others to find some me-time. I really, really need to, if not for anything else but for my own peace of mind and for a better me. Let’s see if I am able to and if I can, I will surely get back to you with my feedback on what worked for me. Until then if you have any suggestions for me, do drop me a note in comment section below.  (Ha ha, high hopes of getting comments when not even sure if anyone of you still come here 🙂)

Look forward to more conversation and interaction with you once again! 

5 reasons why your child should read Brown Like Dosas Samosa and Sticky Chikki

April 9, 2015
Mentioned it earlier, saying it again – one Indian publishing house that keeps on bettering itself with every new release is FunOkPlease. Not to follow the rut, this team has surely managed to create its own niche in children’s book industry. And I get surprised at their choice of story lines – distinct and pertinent always!Be it Toto the Auto or Alphabet Dress-Up or Brown Like Dosas Samosa and Sticky Chikki, each one is truly a gem in itself.  I got this book few weeks back and the gorgeous cover design actually brought a smile on my face. In a world that’s obsessed with ‘fair & lovely‘, it was good to see the main character of the story ‘brown & bold‘.  Many, I mean really many reasons why I loved this book but here are top 5 on why your child should definitely read it:
  • It’s very relevant to Indian culture where we have varied skin tones but somehow the epitome of beauty has always been attributed to the fair ones. This obsession for fairness is so deeply ingrained in our society that at times I get shocked to observe it in younger girls too. In a world biased towards the lighter tone, here comes Samaira who is happy and content with her brown skin tone and would not exchange it with whiter shade for anything. So proud of you Samaira, may the youngsters understand the deep message that you’re trying to communicate!
  • Like all other FunOkPlease books, its visually very rich but must say that this has additional charm as compared to the earlier ones. Maybe it’s the fairy land or those yum food, the illustrations in this books are sure to grab attention of your little ones.
  • Presentation is excellent, I mean what better way to communicate the beauty of brown skin to kids than associating it with chocolate or milkshake :)? Such an important message but presented in such a fun way.
  • Its dreamy yet different, no stereotyping of fairies coming to save your lives, rather Samaira fighting it out, expressing her views in her own unique way.
  • Simple and easy to understand. Whether you read it out to younger kids or let the elder ones read on your own, the language is very kid friendly and engaging.
Still need more reasons? Ok, so here goes the most important one – it’s from the house of FunOkPlease, an Indian publishing house that’s trying to come out with quality content for Indian kids. Lets support them by reading their books and spreading the word if you like their content. I as a mother surely love their books. My 3 year old now knows the story of it page by page :). In fact, last weekend during one of my story telling sessions in a neighburhood library, I actually narrated this book to kids. Later, two moms came to me and asked who is the author and where can they buy this book? One of them mentioned that her daughter doesn’t like to go out and play basket ball as she thinks it will “tan” her skin. And that girl is not more than 10 years old, yes just 10 :(.
More power to Samaira and her likes, may they remain as beautiful and unique always!
Reading out Brown Like Dosa in a story telling event in my neighborhood library

                                                              

The book is available for online purchase at amazon and flipkart

Have you watched this?

March 16, 2015
Just chanced upon this video by Horlicks and within few minutes I ended up watching it multiple times. That’s the power of great content I think, more on that on my marketing blog soon. But coming back to my love for this video – it was actually relatable, totally relatable to me and full of nostalgia. It reminded me of those childhood days, full of hardships, struggles, adversities, yet full of optimism, dreams and aspirations to look forward to. Thanks to our pillar of strength – my mom who was always there like a shining star guiding us to move ahead even if it was pitch dark many a times.

Moms are magical. Isn’t it? Not that I don’t have my share of fights with her on many whats and whys and whatevers but still I think a supportive mom is all you need to make it in life. As my close acquaintances tell me – I was always ambitious, a girl from a very small town but with very big dreams, used to put in honest & sincere effort in everything I did with a hope that someday I will make it big. Many in my family used to scold my mom to not support a daughter’s wish so much, to not let me have a thinking horizon of my own, but she did. Even if she didn’t know how to support, she never stopped me from dreaming big.  Now if I think of it, she actually didn’t have any resource to support me, nor had she got the knowledge or background to provide right guidance to me. Yet she was always there, pillaring whatever I wanted to do with just two lines – “you can do it” and “don’t worry, I am there”. Just two lines – one for faith and one for reassurancewere sufficient for me to keep moving ahead. At times I wonder if any money or luxuries in life can ever be as precious as those simple childhood days? I still smile when I think of those days, sometimes a pleasant smile and sometimes a teary-eyed smile :).

In case you haven’t seen this video yet, do check it out:

BTW, which one was your favorite moment out of it? Mine – the scene where the mom is dropping the bulb for her daughter’s studies. I still remember the way mom used to save candles & kerosene for lamps so that I could finish my studies at night. Oh yes, electricity was a rarity at that place and at that time 🙂

**Nope, this is not at all a plugged post by Horlicks guys, I was genuinely moved by this #LoveYouMaa video so much that I decided to write a post on it. Power of great content, you see!

Anything, Everything, All The Time

November 27, 2014
Hola people! Whatsup? I know I know, all of you are busy like crazy in your fast running lives. Hmmpphhh, well same here. Can’t believe it’s almost December now and this year is ending too! Hope everything is going great at your end.

You know I just attended a great conference, something that I was excited about but it turned to be truly enriching to me in more ways than I had envisaged. While there were many highs about the sessions in that conference (more on those later :)) but there was this one comment by an international speaker that I thought I must share with you all and ask your views on it. As is the case with any conference these days, the speakers were hardly getting any chance to speak as almost everyone in the audience had to speak something after every few minutes, wait let me say after every few ‘seconds’. No I’m serious, people these days have to speak anything on everything and that too all the time. Gone are the days when speakers used to wait for questions, today thanks to internet and the connected smart phones in our hands, everybody in the audience is super smart. Intelligence is available just at the click of our fingers and everybody has profound observations to make on almost everything.  People want to be noticed and broadcast their respective moments of fame on Twitter or Facebook or whatsoever social site that is work-in-progress right now. Same was going on in that conference too, mid way interruptions with “I think this” or “my opinion on this is that” kind of unnecessary comments along with “let me get a picture clicked with this celeb speaker” to “let me post this on twitter before anyone else”. Finally one of the international speakers commented – “You Indians are the chattier lot. No, I don’t mean any offence to you, it’s a good thing but among all present in this room from different countries, Indians have maximum opinions on most of the things.” Well, one look at her expression and you knew how ‘good’ she thought it was 😀 :P. Few of us laughed, few were embarrassed but after sometime, we were back to being the same.

While the session ended but I kept on thinking at her comment for long. Why do we have opinions on almost everything and that too such strong ones? Why do we have such poor listening skills but strong verbal skills? Why do we have this urge to prove “I’m the best” or “I know the best” all the time? Why are we always in a hurry to speak first and prove our point? Why are we always so insecure but trying to project to be oh-so-intelligent and confident all the time? While I personally like the warmth of our relationships and inter-personal equations in Indian culture but aren’t we also too judgmental of each other now? Partly you can say it’s in our culture but I think partly it’s also the age in which we are living in currently. We know too many things about each other now and of course we only know good things about others lives as that’s what we are busy broadcasting socially in our real as well as virtual world. Nobody updates the fight they had with their spouse last night but this one dinner on some rooftop restaurant must be broadcasted to all. And the ones who are having a fight today with their spouse heave a sigh of frustration at this update without realizing that the other one had already gone through similar fights yesterday :D.
Why are we always in this deep need of exhibiting our life to others and why is it increasing day by day? Some amount of competition is good in life but why this competition and pressure for anything & everything and that too all the time? This why and that why and many more whys…

Mary Kom: Must watch for every woman

September 10, 2014
Watched Mary Kom last weekend & to say that I was spellbound would be such an understatement! It was amazing and an absolute treat to watch for rare movie goers like me. Can’t believe I’m calling myself a rare movie watcher now but well that’s the reality of my life these days. This is the second movie that we have watched with the little one, first one being Humpty Sharma in July’14. Yes, you read it right, only two movies till now as I took him for a movie only when he turned 2.5 years old. Before that in last two and half years we got to watch only one movie in theater. On why and why not, a separate post later. In nutshell, didn’t watch any movie in theater earlier with the little one in the interest of him as well as other movie goers :). And this reminds me I must write down a post on my experience and preparations of first movie with the little dude… hee hee, I’m sure most new parents would relate to it. And after all those preparations, junior actually slept after five mins :P. 
But in Mary Kom, he was awake with eyes big wide open and I think I was not surprised. He gets so excited with any sports and esp. the one that involves ball or dhishum-dhisham. And this movie had both, a bit of football and loads, rather truck loads of dhishum dhisham. He was even trying to imitate the punches sitting on his seat. And I’m happy that he watched it. Yes, I know at such young age perhaps he does not even know what he was watching but this is one Bollywood movie which I think I will make my son watch once he grows up. It’s so inspirational and simply outstanding. And I strongly think that not just kids but perhaps every woman (India or outside, teenager or adult) must-must watch this movie. 
Not only it highlights the odds that a girl has to face who dreams differently and dreams big, it also very beautifully brings out the realities of her life when she grows up to be a woman. That passion for her profession, that love for her family; those dreams and ambition, those realities and priorities; that craving for self identity, that devotion for relationships… well, I think I can keep on writing on & on … Even though I have got nothing to do with sports profession but still I could relate to it so much as its not the reality of one woman or one profession. I think many, rather any woman can relate to it a lot. I only got back to my career full-fledgedly (wait, is it full fledged yet? Can it actually be full fledged ever? In a separate post later maybe :D) earlier this year and there have been so many moments where I just don’t know how to cope up with it any more but I’m still trying to adjust, balance it out and move on. I’m glad my husband insisted me to watch this movie. Definitely gives me more inspiration and courage to keep on following the path that I am on right now. And if I may add further, stories like that of Mary Kom should be actually included in course books, aren’t these biographies more relevant for kids of today’s generation than what they get to read otherwise?
Let cynics be busy with their cynicism but I would surely like to say – thank you Sanjay Leela Bhansali for a biopic like Mary Kom, kudos to you Priyanka Chopra for presenting it to us so beautifully. You and the whole team totally rocked it! I was actually teary eyed in some parts of second half of the movie.
And Salute to Mary Kom for living such an ordinary yet extra ordinary life. After watching this movie, now I plan to know more about you by reading your autobiography too. May you keep on inspiring us like this forever! Some might find these words to be exaggeration but still I will say that women like you deserve standing ovation from the whole nation for not only what you have achieved but for your grit, determination & perseverance. Respect and some more respect.

Talking Parrot – 3

August 25, 2014
Crazy days, crazier nights! No wonder I have not come back to this space for almost 3 months now. 3 months and I must have got at least 13 posts saved in my drafts folder and another 30 in my must-blog-on-this list but damn… this daily madness of my life. A detailed post on what’s keeping me on my toes these days in another post later. For now, let me come back to yet another anecdote in my Talking Parrot series.
Yesterday it was one of those very tiring days; by night I was literally dragging myself to finish the daily chores. It was almost midnight and little one wanted to play basketball at that hour! Oh yes, craziness like these are normal affair in my household now. I have no idea from where does he gets all this energy, I have concluded that he runs on a battery and that too something more powerful than Duracell… chalta hi jaye, chalta hi jaye types. Anyways coming down to the talking parrot series, here’s a replication of the late night conversation between Mumma & Ni:
Ni: Mumma, tya hua? Abhi thelo na piliizzzz. Pilizz, pliiiiiizzzz (He uses “T” for “K” in hindi, so thelo is actually khelo in his language as of now :))
Me: (With a very tired expression), Not now Ni. Kal subah khelte hai
Ni: (Upset & silent with a pout, looks at me intently)
Ni again: Mumma tya hua? Tum thatt dayi ho (Tum thak gayi ho)?
Me: (with a sad face) Haan beta, bahot thak gaye hai. Sach mein
Ni runs to the fridge, comes back with something in his fist & asks me to sit down.
Ni: Mumma idhal aao, neeche baitho ne et (ek) min mere paas
Me: Haan baith gaye, bolo kya hua?
Ni immediately opens his fist, shows me some grapes and brings one to my mouth saying: Mumma ye grapes tha lo, tumhara sab thatt theet ho jayega, fruit thane se hum strong bante hai na (Mumma, ye grapes kha lo, tumhara sab thak theek ho jayega, fruit khane se hum log strong bante hai na. Of course it was me who was giving me this gyaan on eating fruits the same evening). 
And lo, Mumma was suddenly all awwww & oooo & teary eyed & lumpy throat! The next moment Mumma ate that grape and hugged him in her cheerful “ole mela beta” mood. Trust me just one grape fed by those tiny little hands and with a face full of innocent love were sufficient enough to charge me for another hour to play many rounds of basketball & football matches with him.

At times I wonder if moments like these are sudden or seeded in life. As they come unexpectedly on days when you’re really down or frustrated. And one such moment, just one is sufficient enough to make you realize that all this effort is worth it. Totally, absolutely worth it! :). Thank you God for this blessing in life!

The Unsocial Social

May 15, 2014
Have you seen this amazing short film titled ‘Lookup’ by Gary Turk? In case you have not, you must! It’s an eye opener in true sense and just so pertinent for our times. 
We just shift our gaze from one device to another, one conversation to another, one action to another and one interaction to another but sigh… all those seemingly realtime actions or interactions are actually so virtual! Just how conveniently we have,
  • replaced gestures like appreciation or acknowledgement with Likes? So much so that if a real moment to appreciate comes, we fumble!
  • prioritized the need to share a good moment more than enjoying it? Or wait, was it actually a good moment or was it how we would like it to be projected in our virtual world? Perhaps too busy in our screens to even realize it!
  • fixated our eyes on our screen so much so that even in a real social circle, we are actually busy interacting with our virtual social world?
How many of you have actually got 10 tabs open in your laptop right now? Psstt… I do!
How many of you start googling some information about the actors or plot while watching any movie?
When was the last time you sat at your dining table or went to bed without your mobile?
How many of you talk to any person in front of you as well as browse your mobile device simultaneously?
How many of you go to a restaurant and after few lines of conversation get back to your Facebook or Twitter app?
Well, these and some more, few more, more and more Whens and Hows and Whys remain unanswered in our lives. Considering the love for digital media that I have, it’s very surprising that a post like this is coming from a person like me but then I do think on this quite often now. I wonder many a time as to why did I put my book down just because of that notification for some stupid whatsapp joke? Or that comment trail alert on my mobile app for Facebook? Definitely that was not more important than the piece I was reading or the post I was writing. Why isn’t that group of friends on my next table in this coffee shop chatting more in real life instead of taking pictures, uploading and commenting on their respective screens? Wait, whatever little real life conversation that they are having right now is actually revolving around those comments and likes on those pictures in their screens!

Why do they call it social networking when all it does is make people more unsocial? Why…

India Unlimited: Book Review

April 7, 2014
I think I have read a short story collection after really long and that too thankfully turned out to be good, something that I enjoyed throughout. India Unlimited – as the book cover rightly says is a collection of short stories from a nation that’s caught between hype & hope. Authored by Kulpreet Yadav, this book has 31 short stories set against the backdrop of evolving India.
Enthralling, Engrossing & Enjoyable – my 3 word reaction for this book would be these! Even though I’m not very much of a short story person but still managed to finish the whole book over a weekend. Interest in one story led to another and so on. Things that I loved about this book:
  • Intense emotions presented in such a simple language.
  • Poignant plots, some of the stories never looked like initially could be concluded in a short story, but they did and that too beautifully.
  • Variety of themes, I mean this book actually presents gamut of varied emotions in 191 pages.

It’s difficult to decide whether I liked Billu’s story in A Familiar Stranger more or Ram’s emotion from The City of Mirrors but amongst all if I have to go for one, I think I would pick the first story of Not the only Peanut Seller Who Hasn’t Heard of Osama Bin Laden – it’s nice and simple and emotional or The Beautiful People which is again simple yet very hard-hitting. Did I not like anything about this book? Nothing very strongly but yes, definitely found 2-3 stories to be quite vague.

Overall, a book that I enjoyed and surely recommend as a quick read for your weekend. Even if you are not much into short stories but enjoy reading stories about human emotions, then you’re definitely going to enjoy it. Do give it a try.
You can read more about the author Kulpreet Yadav at his website and this book is available for INR 159.00 (as on today) at Amazon.
*This post is based on review copy sent by the author. Opinions expresses in this post about the book are solely mine.