For the love of KeTTles & POPsicles!! :-*

Twin and I- we share a common love for Food, Travel, Soaps, Art & Fashion! (we also watch and like the same movies, ogle at the same hot man, listen to each other's playlists on repeat and exchange the same remarks about people and events!). and how can I forget read the same pulp fiction- we HOARD on books on Vampires and fiction (chick-flicks included)  and are pretty sure we could auction off a library at teh rate that we are going! So when, we had to exchange our notes on the W.I.P (short for work in progress) report of our lives we had one common exclamation point- CHANGE! 

We were bored of working our ****s off to glory Kingdom come and frustrated because we got paid peanuts for it. Our peers were sprinting through the marathon and we were sitting glum, beside the side fence, watching the Earth spin by.  

Now, we have both known each other to doodle through our college classes, pretty-up our accessories' collections; and beam at the joy of getting to shop! I would be conceited in saying this, but let's be honest; we have a pretty solid foundation for sense of styling - clothes, make-up, hair, accessories; you name it! 

Double chocolate coat that- we love colours and spend hours of our weekends, re-modifying things at home, re-decorating what is lying around and fancying knick-knacks out of the craft lying around. As much as we love Forever New (our favorite fairy-land clothing store); we go bonkers at hobby ideas! 

So...it all began when one day we entered this kitsch store with home decor stuff; you know of these plenty of upcoming retails that we all love shopping from for the funkiest gifts. There was this one 'kettle' painted and hanging at the entrance of the door which just caught our attention. We go "hmmmm...wonder what's that for?" and the lady attending to us says " oh! its just something for your window garden ....to hang as a decor..". We approved. And of course the next progressive question was "how much?", and she returns a sweet smile quoting a '700' for it. We each heaved a sigh and looked around for things we wanted to pick up, and we did. A lot!  

There used to be this place on carter road that we both discovered through online newsletters and Time-Out magazine, when we most needed it; Aloha Paletas ( paletas in spanish for popsicles). We loved their strawberry cheesecake popsicles and the Fruitilicious popsicle. Bust sadly, it got shut and we din't even realize. We missed it dearly. 

While rummaging through work scenes, our dreams, Ian Sommerhalder and those peers of our who were sprinting  across the field ( and many more successful entrepreneurs whose works we see displayed and getting sold online and many stores) over her subway and my LSD cupcake- we go "why not?!". 

So that's when Beautiful Freaks started. For the love of Kettles and Popsicles and our project to make pretty things, we are taking our baby-steps! 

And as KING JULIAN would say: Surprise Freaks! Shke it! Shake it! 

O Kantabai, Oh Kantabai!

To be or not to be; that my friend is really NOT MY PROBLEM...! Just get me a MAID, will you?!!

In Mumbai, you know you are PRIVILEGED,  when you have:

Water. Money. AND. a BAI.

What is a Bai ? 

 A 'Bai' is this mystical thing of wonder ; because God loves us, God sent us a part of heaven and she was called- 'Bai!'

She cooks, she mops, she sweeps, she washes, she cleans and at many a times wakes you up, when you are over-sleeping; she is that thing that keeps you going; the weapon that empowers you with so much DEPENDABILITY; you worry less and less about the house so that you can without a sweat be that waste-paper basket for the rest of the world to spit on. Pardon my French but , when you are your boss' bitch at work, she is yours at home! 

So, when all said and done, she is the Savior, YOUR SAVIOR and you DO NOT mess with the 'Masai ah!'

You get one shot at redemption, and absolutely no shot with a 'Bai!'; good, bad, fat, ugly..whatever! 

 Imagine my torture, when my Bai quit! (No, I had nothing to do with that tragedy!)

That one week, without my Bai, blinded me, crippled me: I went into serious depression and often had nightmares about sitting on top of sink- full of Dirty dishes! 

It burned me to see the house untidy, and normally, I can't even spare of speck of dust; but now all I could dream of was rolling in layers of dust. And Laundry! Ah! The terror! 

I can deal with dusting and cleaning, cooking, washing the dishes ( all of which I love and enjoy), but sweeping and washing clothes.. *screws up face* give me a neighborhood to organise and clean and I will do it; but ask me wash a napkin and I will break into a fight for life! 

As does the poor state of West Bengal feel for Mamta Di's reign of power; frustrated yet amused at the pathetic excuse for a leader, I wasn't too far behind, with the loss of my precious 'miracle-worker'. 

But like they say, at the end of every cloud is a silver lining; she re-appeared- a New and improved- my magical technology  - the new 'Bai'. And she is fondly called 'Leela' ( hindi for 'miracle'). What a co-incidence *grins ear to ear*

I can finally breathe, sleep peacefully and re-take my stance with the key-board as I blog about this thing called 'Kantabai'! 

"Waah re prabhu! Teri Leela Apram-paar hain!" 

Those in favour; say "Bai!"

Pretty 'Little' Memory o_0

At times like this, I just sit down and stare at the world in front of me : Utter Chaos! While everything and everyone around me is going haywire and ballistic, I watch.  ( an expression popularly termed as 'Spaced-out')

In an attempt to grasp some twisted sense of the mayhem, my mind begins to tick. The telephone ringing, the fax machine beeping, the rhythmic click-click of the computer key-boards; everything fades away. A sudden urge to strangle workload emerges. Then for a minute or two, I feel numb, while a feeling of nostalgia sweeps over me. Around the corner of my mind a little girl comes running into my head. I clear a little space for that child as she keeps tugging me.

I finally give up and focus my attention on her; her tale begins and we take a little ride down the memory lane. The ironic thing about memories is that while they are yours to keep, but very seldom yours to control.  And while the occurrence of a memory is often instigated by a stimulus in the physical environment; this one, from my childhood,  is the dearest to my heart and the most vivid. I chose to remember it because it gives me silent solace-the day when I said "Thank-you Mo-m-my"! 

Now, was it a Friday or a Saturday? As, a child I have always liked Fridays, since it was the only day in a week to play an extra hour on the playground. Besides, Friday evening also meant no homework and two whole days for the weekend ( a luxury we no longer can afford). Yeah, so, coming back: I am most certain now that it was a Friday afternoon. 

The last bell for the day had gone off. There was a buzz of excitement echoing in the alleys. School was over for the week. It was time to run back home and into those comfortable PJs  with your favourite cartoon characters printed across, your munchy and deliciously flavored popcorn in the bowl, role playing your cartoon heroes as yo watch them battle the evil forces...

But Alas!  Conniving fate had malice planned for me. Just as I was about to board my school van, my urinary bladder gave away. I had to attend to nature’s call  or else it would be all “boo-hoo!” and “ shame shame!” for me.

I half jogged, half ran, and half skipped avoiding collisions on my path, all the way to the juniors’ restroom. I must have accidentally bumped into my second grade art & craft teacher only to hear her shriek, “AAARRRGGHH!” on my bewildered puny face. But, truth be told, I was enjoying her pain and grinning from within. She had always been horrible to me, calling my beautiful drawings as etchings of a potato. 

However, that is just a passing mention. The real story is what happened next.

Continuing with my misfortune of unaccounted for interruption of my Friday fun time by my sudden bout of nature’s emergency, I went to the restroom finally. HAH! Relief. It’s amazing how nature can curse you and then reward you for the same. Upon completing what I had to, I started frolicking my way back to the school ground, quite confident that my school-van would be waiting for me to make a re-appearance after I had scurried away surreptitiously.  Instead, what stood before me was a silent, empty ground; not a leaf was stirring  in the atmosphere; over the entire stretch of my tiny eyesight there was sand and only sand. I stood there, I think, for five minutes wondering whether this was one of those sequences in a horror movie where the evil lord tries to take over the world and contemplates on beginning with me. 

But as the story progresses, hero comes into action…..Cold winds brushed against the hem of my polka-dotted pink skirt. From across a mile, I heard the lazy creaking of the sea-saw and the swings dangling aimlessly in the air. It is innocence that makes you look for joys in the simplest of things. When I heard the sea-saw and swings clanging with their melodious sounds, I anticipated that the park was calling for me. I ran towards it like a king to his lost kingdom and got into my usual pre-occupied stance, thinking I was the sole ruler and the park was the world left for me to conquer.

I must have been engaged in my strategies for conquering the playground, figuring out the ingenious mechanical technicalities behind the magnificent movements of the various games for almost two hours. To a four year old, even a playground seems magnanimous and imagination can spice up the fun. And then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere I felt like running to my room and wrapping myself up in a cozy blanket and a spongy bed. It was then I felt the need of being home, being with my parents, safe and sound. It was then I knew I felt scared.

I could swear I might have cried to wake up the dead people, yards away! That's when I heard the familiar voice of my Mother call out my name from behind. I turned around to see a panic-stricken face that was now beginning to calm down at the sight of her daughter. I almost sprang on my mom, hugging her tightly, feeling her body’s warmth against mine and said, “Thank you, mummy!”

A SENSIBLE Read

Finally something that makes sense!

Following up, on all that I have been jabbering, I urge you to read this article ( a friend by the name of Sai recommended, after he read my blog posts)...
Follow a Career Passion? Let It Follow You- By CAL NEWPORT


It makes a lot of sense doesn't it?! ;-)

What will I be??

'So going forward, are you looking at raising funds? Will you be taking the IPO(Initial public offering) route or PE(private equity) investment route?....What is the investment per unit? ..What is the CAPex? Break-even time period would be? ....'

Picture myself, a year ago: I would have been doodling away on a virtual notepad in my mind, while all of these 'finance' jargons would have been darting in the room, in which I would be sitting. I would count every tick-tock of that wrist-watch on my hand; get fascinated by the bubbles rising in that glass of water placed in front of me; made note of all the facial quirks of  the people talking; and in my head , rebuked at every grammatical error in what every body said or typed. Mounted on a high horse of content, I would be smirking at all sitting in the room, pitying them for the lack luster of their lives; wondering how so very boring these people must be in their ambitions in life.

While in fact, the truth of the matter would be very simple; NONE, of what was being said would have made sense to me. And quite so, not because the subject or the people dealing with the subject were beyond figments of comprehension, but only because...well,I would not have had the capacity to understand, relate and deduce.

Interestingly, that has changed over the past two years. What I initially, begun by considering the 'ick' part of my job, has now become that very thing that I look forward to. As a communications personnel, my very job requires me to be capable of situational adaptation. But, sitting in an investor meet for hours on end yesterday, I could actually (A.C.T.U.A.L.L.Y ) understand what was being said; I had remarks of my own, I could opine. In the recent past, working on corporate FAQs and preparing for presentations for the board of directors, etc, board meetings, monthly reviews and annual plans, attending business conclaves, has taught me not just about world-economics, but something important about IDEAS. 

See, the thing about IDEA is that there is no great or average to an idea. It just is. It's independent of  right or wrong; it's not about how much you scored on that test; how fortunate you were born; or where you work. It's about 'what' do you do about it!  All of us have Ideas; but some have the courage to follow it and some let it sit like an un-used battery; had it been used it would have fueled some gadget and who knows it could have been useful. 

Once in a while, I hit up on something on the net or read about it in papers and magazines; that someone, somewhere has come up with this brilliant IDEA which is now taking over millions. Somebody, I used to know, today is doing what she always talked about and she is creating something beautiful. I am sure, when they started off, the world may have laughed them off; there may have been no validity to what they were doing. The whole 'Gangnam' rage; what's with that?! It's funny, but, it's endearing in it's own way! More importantly, he is FAMOUS. 

I see musical prodigies around me; I am filled with wonder and wish fullness.  Sure  they were born with a natural talent, but I think everybody has one: the only difference is they were STRONG, and now they are famous. They have honed their skills and now they will only do what they love, what they know, and be great at it! They did not wait around for 'chance' or 'opportunity' to come pick them in their limo!

Sure, today, I wish I could be an investment banker! I think it's something I would have grown to love...I wish I had done something about my music...

My take from this; tomorrow, when I  meet an investment banker, I will be in awe of their job and respect them, also knowing that I am at a vantage point from where I appreciate their work, probably more than they do; and I get to do my own  investment banking by means of my work and personal finances *grins*! I am happy making musicians  famous; I am sure there is as much a demand for an 'audience' as is there for a talent! It's important too! ;-) 

So, "What will I be?"...A Billionaire! Hey! That's my IDEA! :-D 

Here's to two great ideas, Facebook and Dualist Inquiry: 

Facebook: The thing that connects us

The Music Project: Dualist Inquiry (for Tehelka)

MOTLEY 25!

Promises lost : Promises kept...

"What happened Aishwarya? I remember you used to write a lot, once upon a time", remarks the 'best-friend'. I think to myself, yes, I also thought Avril Lavigne was my idol...and get heart-broken over things that did not matter in the long run.  

But now, I have hit the 25th hurdle; and I laugh off at the blonde Avril, pay my own bills, have my views on politics, and count my blessings (the few that I have).

Years have passed, and people, I, we have grown apart from the people we once used to be; there's nothing wrong in that. Change is necessary for evolution, and in most cases, sustenance. Some of us may have changed as drastically as our personalities, some of us may have turned coarser with the due roughage of time, while a few of us may be closer to being what we always dreamt of being. 

It's been a journey; starting from the naive hopefulness for this wonder-roaring splendour called 'life' only to end-up at the cross-roads. Finding the one and losing it: crying over love and self-doubt may have filled the dashes of adolescence. Then comes the much touted part of life; getting a job! You think, now is the chance for me to shine; all those recent years that I spent my life obsessing about this question mark- I will now find the full-stop to answer it. For some they make it to that run of the pen point which inks the right answers; while most of us run out of ink. You find yourself spinning in that whirlpool of nothingness; dilemma and confusion to give you broken company. 

As a way to defend one's being, our inherent reaction for preservation is denial or escapisim. Very few actually take the route of  reality. Then, as luck would have it; you Fall in Love; perhaps with work or with someone who should ideally keep you happy. 

The story so far... but here's my version; while the past maybe crippling but the crux of the matter is everyone has had some part of their lives that they would want to delete. I have come across people that in their own selfish ways have disrupted a lot about my life; I have cried more over friends than love. But I am learning to make peace with it. While, I have seen the bad, I have also seen the good; seen myself for what I am, how I am, my strength and my weaknesses. My failures have only gotten me closer to getting where I want to be. It's only when you accept that life is what it is that you can truly move on. 

I live through my experience; each one makes me stronger and wiser. 

Today, I live in a rented house in this urban mystery called the Maximum City ( Mumbai). I have my share of ups and downs. But I am more earnest, more sincere, more aware and mostly ; capable of being a real person. 

I haven't found the answers to all my questions but I am more closer to finding them, than I ever was. There is no guarantee that I ever will, truly, but I am trying.... Following your dream isn't a two plus two equals to four. It's random, twisted and sometimes depends upon what alcohol you were drinking the last night. 

I once read that everybody has a destiny to fulfill; some are born to conquer, some to love, while for some it's an emotional quest. Eventually we may not get all of what we wanted, but, we do get a little of what we wanted and a little of what was rightfully needed. 

Just have a little faith; go find something that makes you smile. 

The best memories that I have are the ones from the figments of my imagination- I dream that I am going to wake up to a vast expanse of green fields and lavender farms; i romanticize about foreign lands and cultures I am yet to see.....