Kiran Bedi and No Marks - II (maybe there is a reason)

Aman bought this link to my notice. Thanks love.

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Kiran Bedi says -
“Beauty is like spotless character and this cream redefines beauty by not making you fair, but giving good and clear skin. It is an honest product just like my causes."
She added,
"A portion from the sale of each pack will go to drug addiction and women welfare centres.”
She wants to add a hall to her drug addiction centre with the proceeds.

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Maybe it makes some sense. Maybe I was too quick to write that post.

I am ok with the second statement but first one still sounds ameturish to me. Being from the marketing domain I still maintain that there is a major mismatch between the product and the brand ambassador.

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Having said that, the fact that a part of the proceeds will go for a good cause is impressive. Now we have to wait and see if people will really buy the product.

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I again want to reiterate that I have nothing against her; in fact I respect her for what she has been. But as a marketer I can’t help but analyze the combination.

What is wrong with Kiran Bedi?

A few days back I was interviewed by UTVi for a show which is yet to make its appearance. Among a series of questions that I was asked one was if I had any female role model.
Me being me said that I don’t have a role model but one woman I admire would be Kiran Bedi. Not that I ever wanted to become an IPS officer. But because she stood for what she believed and excelled in what she did in a largely male dominated field.

Now yesterday I saw this commercial where Ms Bedi was selling the god forsaken cosmetic cream called “No Marks" - I mean what the hell was that??
I haven’t ever seen such a miss-match between the brand and the brand ambassador.

For someone who has won enough and more accolades all her life, has stood as a symbol of women lib, has done the more than half the country proud, this “No Marks” endorsement doesn’t make any sense.

Fine so everyone has the right to earn money but even then how can anyone explain this disaster.

Ms Bedi – I had titanic regards for you and I am thoroughly saddened with this act of yours. You could have chosen something better.

Gulal – this ain’t any review

I don’t believe in writing movie reviews. And this post is no different.
All I am trying to do is urge my readers to go watch Gulal.
It’s worth it.

After burning holes in our pockets by buying silk curtains for the new house (that’s dope for another post!!!) Aman and I decided to unwind with some movie. It was already 6 pm and chances of getting tickets for a 7ish movie were dim. Never the less we thought of giving it a try and viola we got the tickets for a 6:30 pm show of Gulal.
After a quick shot of caffeine we went inside the theater only to find that 70 % of the seats were unoccupied. Yes 70% seats were empty in a multiplex, on a Sunday evening in the first week of movie’s release.
Wonder why? Because the movie has no Khan, no cheap humor and no larger than life star cast. The fact that the movie didn’t receive any marketing prior to its release has played such a dominant role in people ignoring it.
So the basic premise of logical thinking holds true – how ever good or bad your product is, it is of utmost importance to position it well.

Anyways, let me not digress. The idea is that although the movie has been low profile and not advertised and marketed much, it still deserves a viewing.

Anurag Kashyap is at his best. And so are Kay Kay Menon and the other guy who plays Ran Sa. (I don’t know his name and no time to Google).
Movie hits you hard. It’s a story of love, treachery, greed, passion, innocence, fear, sadism and power.

Statuary Warning:
The language is abusive so avoid taking children for obvious reasons and parents for you might get uncomfortable, and if you belong to the cadre of viewers who cannot tolerate the swear words then excuse yourselves from watching it.

For others do watch it for the awesome lyrics, mind-blowing performances and astounding story telling!!!

Little one is not so little anymore

My younger sister has just started working. Now it’s a completely different story that I find it hard to believe that this little kid is going to office every day. She is yet to finish her course but the company where she got placed insisted that she start work right away. In normal circumstances her B School wouldn’t have agreed but I guess recession made them go with company’s decision.

With this all hopes of her having a good vacation at home before starting out with her corporate career came crashing down. She shifted to Mumbai the same day and joined office next morning.

Unbelievable!!! Coz for me she still remains the little one who loves to sleep. It’s hard to imagine that this brat dresses in formal business attire and reaches office on time. It’s equally hard to imagine that this little one will have her own money from next month. Now this little one is staying all by herself, managing her life on her own. Most of you wouldn’t find any big deal in that but I do because for me she still is my little girl.

This little one wants to surprise mom by getting her a new AC this summer. If this statement made me teary eyed god knows how mom will react to it.

I still clearly remember the day when she got a gold medal in Javelin throw in school. She was in Class 2 then. I still clearly remember how Dad and I dropped her for the painting competition and she made us so proud by getting the first prize. I still clearly remember the day when she wore a Sari for the first time for her school farewell and how stunning she looked. From painting lessons to being an athlete, from playing basketball to learning karate and yoga, from learning shorthand (yes even that) to being an exceptional swimmer, from trying her hand at cooking to being an excellent dancer this girl has been there and done that. Add to this the fact that she sings like a dream. With all this I had never imagined she would do well academically also.

Today when my little sister is almost an MBA and has kick started her corporate career there is no one who is happier (ok fine mom and dad are close!!!).Here is wishing her a very bright and a fulfilling career ahead.

I don’t feel happy this women’s day..

I was talking to a friend a while back and she told me that during a regular shopping trip to the nearby mall with her 3 year old daughter she caught herself unconsciously being conscious about her surroundings, taking note of who was around, who was watching her, and if anyone was following her?? And guess the reason – “She was dressed in jeans and T- shirt”

Is this how we have to live? In a perennial state of paranoia? Roop says we are physically weaker so no wonder women are being treated as second class citizens. She talks about being emotionally strong. But can emotional strength deter physically stronger men out there just to take advantage?
Monika has been talking about this too but will signing petitions help?

I don’t have a solution but for starters I feel a woman is as safe as she thinks she is. Carry a pepper spray and learn some self protection arts.
We all want to live in a world which will not raise eyebrow on seeing a single female walking on the road late in the night all by herself. We all want to wear what we want without the fear of some mishap happening.
I don’t want to drag Aman with me every time I go to pick up something from the nearby grocery store just because it’s dark.

But sadly we don’t live in such a world and maybe I am being pessimist but I don’t think I ever will.

So this woman’s day I just don’t feel like wishing you “happy women’s day”

Some Clarification

This post is needed after my previous post. I had some people call me to check if everything was fine, some other mailed and smsed. And a few left a comment. It was indeed very sweet of all of you.

I went back and re read my post and felt it was rather incomplete. Yes I am disturbed, have been so for the past few weeks and the reason is not directly related to me but to 2 people I am very fond of. Both of them have lost someone very close to them.
Unexpected to the extent of being malicious. That post was a mirror of what was going through my mind.

My prayers are with both of them. Nothing anyone says or do will ease their pain or lessen their loss.

Life is not fair…

And every dark cloud does not have a silver lining.
Who ever said that whatever happens happens for the good does not know a lot of things for sure.
In the end everything is not always right and bad does happen to perfectly kind and honest people who have never done anything dreadful.
And at times there is no justice.
And things don’t make any sense.
Some things should have never happened and sometimes there is no way to make things right.
All we can do is cry. But will that help?

The House Story

I have moved into my 6th house in Bangalore in the span of 4 years. Now those who have moved houses before will know this is no mean feat.
Now before you take me for some nasty tenant who is thrown out by the land lord, I will clarify. Let me start from the beginning:

Soon after I got my first job I landed in Bangalore with 2 suitcases and 1 bag. Oracle was kind to me and provided me with a guest house for the first 15 days. Those days were spent frantically looking for firstly some decent room mates and then some decent and not so expensive accommodation. I was lucky on the second front. Got a beautiful flat not very far from office. Also figured out 2 colleagues who were as desperate to find a house and flat mates. So the three of us moved into this house with all pomp and show. Things started like rock music what with shopping for curtains and mattresses and some stuff to make the kitchen functional. But within a week this rock music became noise. The other 2 women couldn’t stand each other. Arguments led to fights which led to a lot more. Let me not talk too much on the public domain. Conclusion was drawn – those 2 weren’t ready to stay with each other, and I was left with this huge house all to myself. And the otherwise mighty me was shit scared. And mind you all this conspired within a month.
(Duration of stay – 1 month)

That’s when I decided to move into a studio apartment and stay alone. Some more frantic hunting and a lot more money later I found a place. Mom and sis came over to stay for a while to settle me in. All was fine till they were with me but as the day of there departure approached the mighty me was scared again.
(Duration of stay – 1 month)

And that’s how I moved into my third house. This house was already functional. There were 2 girls already there and they were looking for a third flat mate. The setup gave me confidence and I decided to move in with them. This house was perfect in all ways. I enjoyed my stay there. But then Aman moved to Bangalore and we got married.
(Duration of stay – 5 months)

And that’s how I moved into my 4th house. This again was a very beautiful house in one corner of the city. But it wasn’t very far from my office. It was nice and spacious and a lot airy. This house we furnished completely.
Then career took turns and I changed jobs. The new office was 24 km from this house. Bangalore traffic was another pain. It used to take me 2 and half hours to get back home. I was on the verge of breaking down and we had no option but to shift closer to work place.
(Duration of stay – 1 year 9 months)


And that’s how I moved into my 5th house in Bangalore. Much closer to work, smaller compared to the previous one and much more expensive. The house was nice. The area was much better. All was fine in here also till a last couple of months when the lack of storage space started to get on me. The kitchen was small and all my beautiful dinner sets which my mom so lovingly had gifted me were packed and kept in the loft. Even the wardrobes were small and a lot of my clothes were packed into suitcases and kept in attic.
(Duration of stay – 1 year 5 months)


So this lack of space forced us to move into this flat which by the way is my 6th house in Bangalore. It’s beautiful; it’s big, it’s spacious and has a lot of storage space. We shifted this weekend and the process drained me completely. What with professional help I still ended up doing so much work. The house is still not set and I guess it will be a week before it finally takes shape.
The balcony faces west and yesterday after a very tiring day when I sat there and saw the sun set while sipping tea and holding Aman’s hand, all this hard work made sense.

I so hope this to be my last rented accommodation in Bangalore. From here I either want to relocate to north. And if it’s in Bangalore I want to move into my own house.

Pictures will be up soon, once I am done setting up the place.

(That’s a fairly long post by my standards, I am tired so I’ll skip the editing.)