TV and Reality

If I Could Create A TV Show, I would vouch for a reality show.

When it comes to reality TV, I am a dolt since I don't quite understand why these people in the show leave their "normal" life and try to mimic a scripted life on screen and portray that it is theirs.


If it had been a show such as Bold and the Beautiful or the Young and the Restless, I would understand that the characters are playing specific roles. But, seriously coming to a show where you portray your life as if it is real...drives me nuts!

But surprisingly such shows are a mega hit, which concludes that it brings in a lot of dough to the producers.
Money is the king!

How about putting my thoughts aside on scripted shows on the sideline and create an outline on how to start a reality TV show? I am sure I will gather enough funds for my retirement, and make unemployed people stars of the century.

1. Pick a bunch of unemployed people from the employment center. Make sure they bring in their families too. There should be a couple of kids who are smart to understand the directions such as when to cry and when to laugh.

2. Rent a camera and their handy dandy stuff needed to shoot and employ some of the dimwit people to work for it when not in the show. After all, these guys just have to point and shoot, when someone pretends to act crazy!

3.Make your home like your TV Set. All the actors are in custody and do not leave that home until they are kicked out by polls, which would occur every week.

4. Ask the above players to talk or walk or act strangely in that home. Some can even curse or strip to get attention. The stranger they behave, the more time they get to stay in that home.

5. Then time it for two months. Kick everyone out of the house until one remains. Finish the production.

6. Market your Show as one of the wackiest ever seen while advertising the weirdest moments of the actors.

7. Voila, it will have a buyer in no time.

8. Air on television, and before you know it; you will be asked to shoot more of such shows.

There, your future is bright!

Mantra for today: Have the presence of mind to go with the present times!



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This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

Wordless Wednesday #118

When love is in the Air. Even nature starts speaking that language.

Psst...Saw this growing in some random location on the sidewalk.

Mantra for today: Positive vibes can be caught on like an infection. 

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Secret to a Healthy Heart

The man is a social animal and ought to socialize, but with company around, there are times when egos tend to mingle along as well. This could result in exchanges of words that could put a strain on relationships. Continuous bashing of words with an individual could turn ugly and lead to hatred.

The impact of hatred
Hating someone is injurious to one’s own health since it causes anger within, and this annoyance can take a toll on one’s health if it builds too high.

Why Forgive?
Mental balance applies towards good health. Since health is wealth, forgiveness is the way to go. Forgiving someone is like having a mental balance by letting go of any resentment or grudges towards an individual, which will help to explain the conscience and is very crucial for resolving relationships.

There are a couple of C’s involved in burying the hatchet:

Categorize
Many a time, we are not aware of why we hate someone and continue to walk on a path that disturbs one’s mental and physical well-being. We should be able to recognize the pattern that arises when we come across a certain human being. Once we are able to categorize the pattern, we can move to the next step

Cause
We should try to search within ourselves about what and how the individual has hurt us, and why we hate them. Finding a cause helps us to bring closure within ourselves, and we can open up to discussion within the self, and even with the person whom we hate.

Confront
Coming face-to-face with the person whom one hates is a challenge, but confronting the individual will lead to peace of mind and a sound sleep at night. Brave up and face that person.

Conversation
Once in the presence of the individual who is hated, start a conversation and communicate about what bothers you. Being frank about what and how that person’s behavior irks oneself will help both discuss issues, and will eventually lead to clarification.

Contrite
Apologizing to the disliked person can do wonders for one’s physical and mental being, bringing happiness and contentment. Keeping one’s egos aside and expressing remorse is the key to forgiveness.

Be Compassionate with yourself
Once you forgive a person, be patient and kind to yourself. Time is a big healer, thus, give a chance to heal—physically and emotionally. Express your pain and anxiety, and do not keep it bottled up. Appreciate the goodness of people around you, and visualize a new life with positive energy each day. This will help to shape each day free of pain and suffering.

Caution
Once you made amends, set your boundaries to avoid repeating history so that you do not get hurt again. Be sure to keep a good distance from the person who triggered chaos in your mind and made you lose your sleep at night. Since we cannot change an individual, it’s smart to keep away from them.

Humans want to walk on the forbidden path, and there are chances that we can get attracted to people who have raised our blood pressure previously. Thus, retrain your thinking by wishing well about the person whom you just forgave. Hope the best for him while being intelligent and making wise decisions on your mental well-being.

Conclusion
We all share this planet, so it’s important to make amends with yourself and learn to forgive those who hurt your feelings. Forgiveness is yours, and to live a life without forgiveness is choosing a life full of pain and stress.

Mantra for today: You are doing yourself a favor by learning to forgive others.

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Book Blitz: Color Me Rich by Mohan Deep

Color Me Rich 

by
Mohan Deep

Blurb 

A sensitive love story of a handsome and talented struggling painter Akash Saigal. What happens when he marries an extremely rich and beautiful artist and art investor Zenobia Taraporevala?

Grab your copy @

amazon.com | amazon.in


Prologue ( A teaser)

J J School of Art, Mumbai.
Taking a charcoal pencil, Akash Saigal started drawing the wood-and-stone structure, popularly known as „Kipling Bungalow‟. He was sketching sitting on a bench on which, in another era, K K Hebbar, M F Husain, Syed Haider Raza, Sadanand Bakre, V S Gaitonde, even Dadasaheb Phalke had sat with their sketchbooks, sketching the house where the author of The Jungle Book was born.
Ganpat Gupte appeared along with two of his gang. Gupte was the nephew of a minister, or so he claimed, and had the arrogance that comes with power. 
“Ae Akash, kae karto?”
Akash looked up at the trio and said, “Nothing much. Just a drawing.
“Okay. What is the day today?”
“I should have known.Tere ko blue shirt hai na?”
Akash didn‟t get the connection, but Gupte‟s chamchas laughed knowingly.
The three boys sang in unison, “Monday, blue shirt. Tuesday, black shirt. Wednesday, blue shirt. Thursday black shirt. Friday, blue shirt. Saturday, black shirt. Sunday...laundry!”
If Akash was hurt, he didn‟t show it. He laughed sheepishly and continued sketching the bungalow.
But he would never forget this.

About the Author 

Mohan Deep, is an Indian author, painter and Feng Shui Master. Mohan Deep is the author of ‘The Mystery and Mystique of Madhubala’ (1996), ‘It’s My Life’ (Novel) (1997), ‘Simply Scandalous: Meena Kumari’ (1998), ‘Eurekha!’ – an unauthorized biography of Rekha. (1999), ‘Four Options’ (2000), ‘Feng Shui for the Bold & Beautiful, the Rich and Famous’ (2001) and ‘Nehru and the Tantrik Woman’ (2002). After a sabbatical of a decade, during which he touched upon the lifves of people as a Feng Shui Master, he is back with The Five Foolish Virgins, a book of fiction, to be launched in April 2013. Mohan Deep is arguably the only Indian author to write what is often described as controversial, unauthorized star biographies in India. Columnist-journalist and former editor of 'Illustrated Weekly of India', Khushwant Singh called him 'a truly gifted gossip writer'. “The maverick writer”, like columnist-reviewer-poetess Tara Patel described him has also been called William Goldman of Bollywood’s stars (By Behram Contractor, the Editor of Afternoon Despatch & Courier) (Source) Kitty Kelly of India (By R K Bajaj, the Editor of ‘The Daily’). Interestingly, almost every book he has wrote/penned has invited controversies for its bold content.

                          

         

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Celebrations on a Valentine's Day

 February 14th, many people exchange cards, candy, gifts or flowers with their special “valentine.” The day of romance we call Valentine's Day is named for a Christian martyr and dates back to the 5th century, but has origins in the Roman holiday Lupercalia. 

What amazes me that the male human who majority of them have no sense of planning a romantic evening are thrust upon this celebration. Thus, leading to most of them with a burden and stress for that special day.

We changed the table and our 9 fun ways to celebrate V-day

Uno: The most memorable Valentine's Day I ever had was; when we flipped the whole scenario, and I was supposed to surprise my better half with stuff while he would sit and praise for everything that I did. However, I was expected to act classy and bring out the best in that evening.

This was decided a month before the D-Day, and the man never brought it up or agreed to the above. Result: I thought the ball of surprise is in his court. 

Anyhow, the D-day is around the corner, he reminds me of the "decision", and just then my whole day was put on hold.

Dos: I quickly picked up the phone, asking for reservations at any restaurant, but even with a slack in the economy, these business establishments serving food and drinks were overly booked.

Tres: Anyhow, I thought I just go out and buy some gift and landed up paying double the price for it. Roses were incredibly priced as if they were gold plated, and his favorite cologne was sold out in many stores. My day went in planning stuff and little on my work.

Well serves me right, cause I was the one who asked for that change.

Cuatro: Evening comes, I bring "take out" from a fancy restaurant which took me an hour to get it. 

Cinco: Came home and placed it on an elegant dinnerware stating "I cooked it."

Seis:  Set the table with lights, Gold plated roses, Champagne, and some soft music.

We sat down to eat our "home" cooked meal, to which I repeated umpteen times more to console myself that I had planned out the evening well.

He started to dig in his plate while I watched him and I was hoping that my better half would appreciate my "home" cooked meal.

No response.

Hmmm

I put the fork in my mouth, and to my dismay found the food utterly bland.  "Eww, What happened, this was a good restaurant, and I waited for an hour to get my order," I said out loud!

There, that was the end of my white lie. I was blushing so hard that even the Red Roses were feeling embarrassed seeing my color since they thought they were the ones to bring in Romance in that room, but not now.

My better half broke the silence by a loud laughter, and I could not resist but, joined in.

No doubt that lead to the release of my stress hormones and love was back in the room.

Siete: The soft music synchronized with our heart beats and soon we were dancing arm in arm.

Ocho: Reminiscences of 'how we met', 'the awkward moments' made the whole scenario light up as we chuckled over our clumsiness and uncoordinated skills. 

 Just then the door bell rung. I jumped out of fright since it was not in the itinerary. While the better half nudged me to answer it, I opened to find a LARGE RED packet at my doorstep with a string hanging out. Instructions were to pull the string. Curiosity caught the cat, and I was quick to follow suit.

Nueve: The box popped open with helium balloons and a special gift. I did not have to guess on this one. It was from my Valentine indeed.

What made it even more special was that I was not expecting anything from him. On the other hand, I was disappointed at my planning, execution. 

Mantra for today: Expectations always lead to disappointment.

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This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

Mirror Mirror on the wall...

"Mirror Mirror on the wall."
"What do my eyes say after all?"

Eyes?
Seriously!

Eyes say it all.

The sorrow
The glee
The sadness
The anger
The longing
The desperation
The satisfaction

“The soul, fortunately, has an interpreter - often an unconscious but still a faithful interpreter - in the eye.” 
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

Eye movements are so closely tied to the way we think and act that they can even reveal information about our personalities. Although science has a theory behind the above: The answer has to do with the actual eyeball itself.  Everyone has a different structure of lines, dots and colors within the iris of their eye.  Some people may have similar eye color to each other, but the lines and dots on the iris are as unique as a fingerprint.
Although they vary from person to person, there are certain patterns contained within the iris which are widespread, and scientists at Orebro University in Sweden have proved that these patterns correlated with specific personality traits.

Sometimes when my mind is full of thoughts thus, confused whether to go left or right or to jump in or out or just can't figure out what to do next.
I tend to look at my reflection.

When I look in the mirror, I look into my eyes, and voila! By its emotions, I can translate my thoughts and the most appealing to me at that moment catches my attention. The eyes feelings once translated can be acted upon. It works wonders since I usually feel the heart beats get steadier, mind focussed, and breathing becomes normal. The eyes never lie and they are truly the window to the soul.

Mantra for today: “I like you; your eyes are full of language."
                                                                         Anne Sexton

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This has been a Finish the Sentence Friday post. This week’s sentence is “When I look in a mirror…”
Your hosts:
Me, (FindingNine.com) and this week’s sentence thinker-upper, April of April Noelle.

Finish the Sentence Friday is a link-up where writers and bloggers come together to share their themselves with a particular sentence. If you’d like to stay ahead of future sentences and participate, join our Facebook group.  Link up your sentence prompts below!

Review of The Brown Sahebs by Anupam Srivastava

THE BROWN SAHEBS 

BY 

ANUPAM SRIVASTAVA

Blurb 

The Raja of Teekra, a dusty and forgotten kingdom near Lucknow, gets lucky when the British Resident visits him but also brings with him a leading revolutionary. The Raja enters India's struggle for freedom and is rewarded with a berth in the cabinet of free India. He is shocked to see the ministers and officers living and operating like their imperial masters but is suitably rewarded for his silence. As he begins to enjoy the good life of Lutyens' Delhi, the British capital which India's freedom fighters abhorred, he faces only one adversary in his plans—his journalist son Pratap. A novel that will blow you away with its depiction of love, passion, intrigue and betrayal.

My Review

The Brown Sahebs is a plot that takes us back to the time when India was being ruled by the Britishers. Daulat Singh, the Raja of Teekra, a kingdom near Lucknow, is expecting a visitor for which the whole town is embellished and about 5000 partridges are bought for the Resident's hunting expedition. The Resident arrives with his wife, a leader of the freedom movement and an Oxford Graduate. This meeting is the beginning of a revolution which changes the lives of the Raja and his son, Pratap. 

Mystery begins!

What enticed me was the relationship between the father and son. It was just like today's times when pride overtakes thy love thus making the blood thicker and it's own enemy. Sad but true facts!

The flow of the story can be a little bothersome as it is slow and not smooth especially in the beginning. It was a struggle to stay hooked on to it. The book is researched well since the details of the time and characters are brought out well. Although, the plot has history, fiction, the struggle of power, love triangle, and a climax to keep the reader engrossed. 
This book could be of interest to those who love history and fiction. 

Buy @

|amazon. com | amazon.in | amazon.co.uk | Flipkart |

About the Author 

Anupam Srivastava was born in Lucknow, India, where his novel, The Brown Saheb's first part is set. However, he never lived there as his father and mother, Ashok and Veena Srivastava, lived in different parts of India. However, Anupam spent some of his childhood and most of his vacations in Lucknow where he flew kites and learnt about the craft of pigeon-flying. He went to a boarding school near Delhi, the Motilal Nehru School of Sports, Rai, where he played cricket but earned his college colours at St Stephen's College, Delhi, in cross-country running. He studied English literature (BA Hons and MA), won the college annual poetry prize while pursuing his MA, and being sure his vocation was writing and journalism, became a journalist with The Times of India in 1993. In 1999, he was awarded the British Chevening scholarship by the British government.

In 1999, he left journalism to work with the United Nations Population Fund in India in communications. Subsequently, Anupam worked with Oxfam India Society, Unicef and other development agencies. The Brown Sahebs is his first novel and tells the story of India not taking off its colonial clothing even as it became a democracy.

Anupam is married to Radhika Srivastava, and they have two children who figure in his children's novel, A Family Secret.

Stalk Him @