Thursday 20 August 2015

new-age back home!!!

I came across two blog pieces this week, that got me thinking in different directions..both related to new-age India! Both captured India's current mood but in very different ways.. An India I am far away from but yet yearn every year to go back to get my fill!!!

Bangalore, July 2015- As a typical (ex)-PR person, I spend a lot of time reading the newspaper (even today!).. I can't recollect when I read my last book but I still manage to spend over an hour daily reading the newspaper! It's a die-hard habit that I just can't let go....

One of my biggest agenda's when I travel back home, is to read up on the dailies everyday. Of course the choice now is way more. Every household has an average of 2-3 newspapers daily and strangely they all have different news! That's India!! The buzz and the action is way too much..Yes I long for it at times and I run away from it after I get my fill..

The buzz has only been changing over the years. If it was about capital markets and brick and mortar businesses a few years ago, today it's all about start-ups! And the sheer number of them around you, make it all seem so easy..

An interesting read I came across recently on the NDTV Blog- I'm 40 in a start-up world. What to do! Brilliantly captures India's mood today. You don't need to be a 'rich father's son' to start your own venture. You just need to be young and smart. A friend rightly said, " Silicon Valley is full of this". But for me (who has never been to Silicon Valley), this mood is exciting. It's hot today in India to run your own venture! It's fine to show off a plush home, fancy car, LV bag, an art collection...And probably my visits to the Silicon Valley of India every year make me sit up and notice- an ever changing India! Will I fit in somewhere there? Or am I still living in an India I left more than a decade ago? Only time will tell.....

Singapore, August 2015- Like every crazy fan of India's glamour world, I also followed the launch (online) of Twinkle Khanna's first book- Mrs Funnybones: She's Just Like You and a Lot Like Me, in Mumbai.

To rewind a bit, I started reading her columns when she started writing them more than a year ago. Like a typical PR guy, I confidently dismissed it as someone else's work. A Bollywood actress with this kind of wit and flair- seemed highly unlikely!! I even told friends, "wait and watch she will launch a book soon". But strangely she only got better with her columns and yes she launched a book!

Listed No 3 on Amazon India!
After ages, one could see the Indian media praising someone and writing good things (it's a rarity in India now to hear good things)... Her book launch only proved that Bollywood was her wrong calling and she had no qualms accepting it! Her answers in the rapid fire round proved she truly writes her stuff! Her writing represents the new-age Indian woman, who is confused, doesn't hesitate to ask a lot of questions and speaks her mind out even if it targets her mum, mother-in-law, husband or son!

Another NDTV blog that rightly captured her day and moment: Why Twinkle Khanna is just so damn likeable....

.......And yes I am a Twinkle fan-girl too and can't wait to get my hands on this book!!



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