Lost Love

 Kya pyaar kiya toone bhi, meri zameen hi le gaya

Jab chhod ke gaya toh asmaan bhi le gaya

Kya kahun, kisse kahun ....

Bikharne ka dard, Zindagi hi nahi rahi phir bhi zinda rehne ki baddua de gaya ...

7 Years and I am back !!

This ain't the usual posts that I do but just a self shocked acknowledgement that it took me 7 long years to be back to my blog !!

When I re-read my own posts, I realized how much writing eases me to express my emotions and blogging helps me through the complicated phases of my life. These 7 years have witnessed so many changes in me, so much I have evolved - my perception towards life, my thoughts, my personal growth !!!

Reading all my old posts today just makes me feel so happy and content for the person I have evolved to through the plethora of experiences in the last 7 years ☺

Well, I know it's not New Year but I want to make this resolution today that I will blog so much more often 'coz this is literally therapy and such a nostalgia reading my own posts of the past !!

Bas Yuhin

बस युहीं 

कुछ ऐसे बात  की उसने , कि खुद को ही भुला बैठा 

उस आवाज़ कि गहराई मे , शब्दों को सच मान बैठा 

शाम की ओस की बूँदों कि तरह , हवाएं उड़ा ले गई उस खुशबू को 

टूटा हुआ बिखरा सा था मै , उस सहारे को साथ समझ बैठा  । 

ऊँचे घरों को तांकते हुए , हाथों  लकीरों को नापते हुए 

धुंदली सी दिखती है , सपनों की वो मंज़िले 

हार की चादर ओढ़े , मर्ज़ी को किस्मत समझ बैठा । 

कोई पूछे क्या है अंत , तो बढ़ने का प्रमाण दिए सशक्त हो बैठा 

पीछे मुड़ के देखा तो , अपनों को ही दूर कर बैठा 

हवा ने रुख यूँ बदला , कि आँखों से सपनें ही ले उड़ा 

खाली पथ के नुकीले कंकड़ , उन्हें मंज़र कि सीढ़ी समझ बैठा 

हर मोड़ पर मुड़ जाती हैं , वादा कर धोखा दे जाती हैं 

ख्वाइशों के झूलों को , ज़िन्दगी की हक़ीक़त समझ बैठा  । 

Towards Zero

My heart is full of silent screams
Of anger and of pain
My eyes are always filled with tears
Day, after day, after day
My hand reaches out for help
But all that’s there is empty air
So I fall down into darkness
Where no one can hear me wail
I feel like a wild beast 
Locked inside a tight cage
I claw and tear at the walls
And show the entire world my rage
I shall never know the bliss
Of silence in my life
All I feel are the wounds

Made by a sharp knife

Shhhhh..... Secrets !

" Man is not the devil because he keeps secrets, the sin lies in the secret itself "

The power of secrets is such that as much as I want to hate them I don't 'coz I am scared of the undefeated aura of secrets.

 Mankind always loses to them !

You say you are ready to hear my secrets, you ask me everyday; the secrets of my mouth I can do part but the secrets of my heart can not be dragged from their deep pit where I chose to no longer shine my heart. 

I hate secrets !

They manipulate my emotions and numb my brain, hallucinate me with the vision they want to show and eat my soul of assumed truths and feigned lies. I feel shivering, I feel shaky. Secrets are indeed scary ! My secrets are neither dirty nor scandalous, they are mere glimpses of my shadow following me everywhere.

I don't get afraid, but I do have a fear !

Secrets are the immortal troop of scary witches, they follow you to eternity ! 

Quarter life crisis : A trip to enlightenment

Imbibed with the sudden need to change, aspiring new commitments and the constant feeling of being trapped in your own dilemma of making choices, that pretty well summarizes the quarter life crisis I am going through. 

At 26 with an average paying job not of my choice at all, a complicated relationship and loads of responsibilities, I never  really expected if something as in-comprehensive as "Quarter Life Crisis" does exist and then one fine day I see a plethora of emotions flowing through me, trying to comprehend the reason behind every single wrong thing that has ever happened to me and I find myself totally clueless.

A solo midnight trip to Lonavala with head full of tensions and eyes full of tears as I drive down the Expressway, the lightening in the sky indeed feels scary for me to believe that if I died today probably I would land up in hell, if it ever existed. A flashback runs through my mind and surprisingly I only see how awesome I have always been and the smile on my face keeps broadening with every single moment of the flashback running through. 

The quote " You are the sole reason for your existence " never seemed so true !

Oooops ! I forgot the catalyst of the story who played a vital role for making me experience what quarter life crisis is. A guy who supposedly is a friend, a good friend perhaps but is on tangentially opposite dimensions with me when it comes to thoughts and principles of life. I sometimes wonder even after being with so many guy friends for so many years now, how can somebody still boggle me with his thoughts. 

So in brief, the context is that this guy even after being in a committed relationship was looking for somebody who could share the "Friends with Benefits" equation with him and knowing that he is a good friend, I asked him if he ever had a choice between choosing me as a friend or end our friendship by being friends with benefits, I was shocked, totally shocked when he actually said that

 " A sex deprived man will always choose friends with benefits, that will make me super happy"

Now this was that ting moment when I realized how different people can be. I really want to thank him that he came to my life because had I not known him, I would have been never able to know this side of the world, this side of life. No, atleast I am cent percent sure I will never fall for a wrong guy, all thanks to this man who showed me how people can think. 

I am still friends with him and I hope I will always be friends with him because it is really important to have such kind of people in your lives who will keep reminding you time and again that the world has nothing to do with your emotions, if somebody is with you, probably there is some or the other benefit in disguise that he is gaining from you.

Learning for the day " Listen to your mind not your heart when you are making your decisions 'coz the mind sees the truth but the heart is blinded by love "

 

2 minute death of the 100 year old Maggi !

The truth is not known; the barking media has not left a single stone painted green to elucidate the doubts in minds of the guardians of those thousands and lakhs of overgrown children staying in hostels and studios surviving on Maggi for days converted to years now; the nutritionist fraternity in the new age spornosexual cities have revised their business expansion strategy in tapping the potential new breed of clientele and the worst hit of all are the lane of tapris with an annual turnover of over a crore serving the entire south campus in Delhi with their menu plating comprising only of rampant Maggi delicacies !!! 

The facebooks and the twitters of course are seeing their timelines trending with the Nestle employees going gaga over the irresponsible hue and cry made in the media over the much debated and supposedly claimed false reports; the 27-28 year old social media active generation flooding their thoughts on the clean record of the brand for generations now are displaying all the loyalty to Maggi very much in line with the all-time favourite tagline "Main aur meri Maggi" and the society conscious brand name celebrities recording their withdrawal from any kind of association with Maggi all over the social digitized media space to avoid any negative image building in the public; indeed 2 minutes of debacle and the downfall of the product that has truly been an integral part of the growing years in 90% of the Indian households.

What could be the comeback strategy for Nestle ???

Maggi, that comprised of almost 20% of the Nestle turnover in India with around 8-9% contribution to the top line is undoubtedly the market leader with approximately 60% share in the ready to cook market in India. The impact has really been huge.

·         Negative brand image now trans locating to other products of Nestle ( reports of larvae being found in Nestle milk ), Nestle immediately has to strategize on the PR front to stop immediate negative publicity

·         The entire Ready to cook market has shrunk due to rising consumer doubts, competitors like Top Ramen, Yippie, Wi-Wi etc are fighting to grasp the market share of Maggi and thus retain their current revenue lines even in the momentarily declining market, also to establish their brand leadership once the market has regained.

This of course has hit Maggi majorly but there is a slight ray of hope as in the process of gaining the top spot, these competitors are bound to play dirty games of negative brand building of each other and thus losing confidence of the consumers by the created lose-lose situation which will lead to Maggi regaining its trust in the consumers by coming out clean with all the health regulations.

It is critical that Maggi deviates the focus of its competitors while it is fighting its own battle of proving the standards on the hygiene grounds and comes back strong to establish its supremacy again in the ready to cook market

·         Maggi as a brand has always been known for its “easy and quick” perception, now Nestle has to portray its efforts in the direction of “We care” and “Your health is our priority” to regain the consumer confidence. This could be achieved by partnering with audit teams and publishing their reports through their mouths both offline and on media, not only for Maggi but for the entire product line of Nestle

·         TV campaign on taking ownership of the quality and showing concern for the consumers as a part of  “You & I, the perfect Maggi family” is the need of the moment

·         Brand “Maggi” celebrity endorsement on “safety of consumers and hygiene of product” should be done on an immediate basis, it is needed not only for the entire market stability but also for Nestle as a company

PS - Maggi has always been my personal favourite, a constant support of the times I was staying out of home. I do wish it a comeback soon, provided my health and integrity in quality is not at stake.