Love is not Enough

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 5/14/2013 4:07:00 AM

';;; Fiction: A Diary Page How is it possible, I wonder, for a mother to ignore the signs? When it comes to being a parent, love is perhaps not enough.  One has to make sense of the sighs, decipher the silences and decode the monosyllables. I think I was a good mother, and if you ask my husband or our daughter, they would agree. I make no excuses for my lapses, but it is also true that the guilt pangs clawing my heart will stay for a long time to come. A note from An(...)'

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The Uncle Factor

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 5/9/2013 4:46:00 AM

';Google Images At a time when powerful maternal uncles have become increasingly indispensable, I miss a benevolent influential uncle. Since my mother was not blessed with a brother, I don’t even have an uncle, leave alone a powerful one. When I watch the meteoric rise of the accused Railgate nephew, there is a sinking feeling which engulfs me. Imagine the perks of an influential uncle heading a ministry, or a powerful uncle in the sarkari establishment? I could easily bag contracts(...)'

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To Kill A Rocking Word

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 5/2/2013 12:52:00 PM

'Words can kill as good as a gun, but we seem to be killing words without guns. While most kosher words are dead, others have lost meaning. Some have been mutilated so badly that have become jokes. For example, look at what we have done to the word enquiry. ‘An enquiry will reveal all’, says supremely efficient Shinde in his signature bumbling style. Hello sir? Even the most naïve in remote Jharkhand is aware that an enquiry equals sham. Despite the grammar and spell check, if any wo(...)'

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Tongue Twitch

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 4/25/2013 5:38:00 AM

';;;; One has to hand it to our Rohtak girl. She knows how to grab limelight.  ‘I am lonely and looking for love,’ she says. Fair enough. Mallika Sherawat stars in a television show ‘Mere Khayalon Ki Mallika’ which is a spin-off from the American reality dating game show ‘The Bachelor’. The show revolves around an eligible bachelorette and a pool of romantic suitors, including a potential husband for the bachelorette.   Sometimes I get the feeling that we are being moc(...)'

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Hype and Hoopla

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 4/19/2013 2:53:00 PM

';;;; The trigger for writing this post is a candid conversation with a young man who joined a consultancy firm last year.  While in college, the chap was disillusioned with love and now he is miserable in his job. “I need a change. Pronto,” he says.Some things in life are so hyped that most of us don’t feel the ‘awesome’ we were supposed to feel. It all begins with college. Remember the urgency to discard school uniforms and whiff the free college air? Once in college, it dawns(...)'

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Look What I Found!

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 4/9/2013 4:32:00 PM

';;;; I am sure it happens to you. There you are cleaning your cupboard and you unearth old trivia which transports you to another time. Like when you come across an autograph book with emotional farewell notes from school buddies or when you find a handmade card crowning you as the world’s best mommy! Suddenly your heart gets wrapped in nostalgic mist of distant memories.I don’t usually enjoy nostalgia. It’s imprisoning. It makes me sentimental. Though it doesn’t surprise me one bit(...)'

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I Me And Myself

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 4/1/2013 4:52:00 AM

';;;; ‘Great minds talk ideas, average minds talk events and small minds talk people’. Call me what you want, I am going to indulge in some people talk. Chances of upsetting relatives and friends are high. I hope to sail through the magic of privacy settings. Now don’t get all judgmental, it is human to crib about something which repeatedly tests your patience. That today is first April, that John Abraham’s movie ‘I Me Aur Main’ is ready for release and that Sajid Khan has proc(...)'

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Background Score

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 3/24/2013 8:31:00 AM

';;;; It breaks my heart when Arthur Schopenhauer says, “Journalists are like dogs. They begin to bark whenever something moves.” Not fair.  On the judgment day of Sanjay Dutt’s trial, television crews camped near the court premises to give us the first sound bite. Reporters were seen adjusting their cameras and tapping their microphones to avoid any last minute glitch. Just when Satish Maneshinde, Sanjay’s lawyer began speaking, there was chaos as reporters jostled and wrestled(...)'

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Every Child Matters

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 3/20/2013 8:48:00 AM

'(This is a guest post written by Goutam Gurha for a social endeavor by ISB and iDiya http://www.isb.edu/idiya/)   The paradox of our times is that we have premium hotels and luxurious condominiums on the forefront but ugly slums in the background. We have air-conditioned schools for the affluent but no access to education for the underprivileged. Nowhere else do we get to see the stark contrast the way we do in Gurgaon, the Millennium city. How many of us care to find what(...)'

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Best Sellers

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 3/10/2013 11:57:00 AM

'thecatsite.comEver since I began my literary journey, writing has pepped up life in more ways than one. With the boom in e-commerce, we bloggers and aspiring writers seem to be in demand. While A, B & C (Amish, Bhagat and Chauhan) became published writers and made their millions, most of us earn zilch from writing. We don’t mind it at all. It gives us hope - someday, maybe... As Amishputra Tripathi says, if you are a writer, the first step towards success is rejection. It comes (...)'

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Meaningless Is Awesome

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 3/6/2013 1:08:00 PM

';;;;  “How was the flight?” I call a friend after she lands in Bangalore.“Cool.”“How’s the weather?”“Awesome.”“And your office?”“Sexy.” I realize that cool is a sexy word with awesome usage. And the word sexy is so awesome that it can be used in cool ways. The funny thing about sexy is that it can be innocent, deliberate, offensive and complimentary depending on the subject and the context. Type the word on Google and it leads to images and videos which can be a night(...)'

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Enough Soup, Try Some Soap

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 3/1/2013 5:41:00 AM

';;;Television has changed, but not enough. We continue to be fascinated by dark diabolical women.  According to Ekta Kapoor, various ‘Chudail’ and ‘Daayan’ sagas are in response to the American ‘Vampire’ fixation.The leading lady of daily soaps is an epitome of goodness and sacrifice. A romp in bed is forbidden, unless, someone laces her drink with the yahoo potion. Afterwards she feels guilty enough for the entire state of Delhi. Rather surprisingly, she calls her husband Mr. (...)'

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Enough Chocolate, Try Some Soup

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 2/22/2013 5:05:00 AM

';;;; ; ; Why you wonder, why is there no sense of justice? Bad is happening to good people.  Good is happening to bad people. Blasts are happening to the common man. Scams are happening to the powerful. And nothing is happening to the economy.Power is happening to Mr. Gandhi. Lay-offs are happening to professionals. And nothing is happening to Mr. Kalmadi. Jokes apart, with so much injustice around it is tough to repose faith in faith. And yet despite all the negativity, f(...)'

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A Lost Concept?

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 2/11/2013 4:26:00 AM

';;;;;I feel privileged to be able to write for Purba Ray, the czarina of blogdom. Followers of her blog A-Musing know that Purba is an immensely gifted writer.  No wonder, her readers have no option but to resign to being sucked by the whirlpool effect of her wit, sarcasm and self-depreciating humour. Yep, she’s that good. Click Here and read my post on Purba’s blog A-Musing.Here is a snippet: A Lost Concept? ;;;; ; ; ‘Who is your role model and why?’ used to be a common e(...)'

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Republic Day Ramblings

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 1/25/2013 10:19:00 AM

';;; “Going for ‘Matru ki Bijlee ka Mandola’,” says one. “Need to take the kids for a haircut,” says another. “How about beer at the bird sanctuary?”This is how most of us will celebrate the 64th Republic day. Again.As a child I wanted to watch the parade - live. Not anymore. Patriotism is hard to measure by the ability to watch state tableaus or patriotic movies. Nevertheless, I salute those who brave the chill to practice and perform in foggy mornings. Not the ones, who arrive in r(...)'

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I am the Boss. Or Not?

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 1/17/2013 11:25:00 AM

';;;; Pic Courtesy : ebay.comAt social gatherings father used to introduce my mother as, “Meet my Mrs,” or “Meet my wife.” He would refrain from taking her first name even though she was a good five years younger than him. Mother did not take offence as it was a matter of propriety. She knew that father was not  belittling her identity. However, during private conversations parents had an endearing terms for calling each other. As we grew up, they opted for the more conservative(...)'

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No Reasons for a No

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 1/10/2013 8:49:00 AM

';;; Son calls up from Pune this morning.“What happened?  Is all well?” I ask.“Yes…all well. What will happen?”“No, I mean, health ok na?”“Ma…why do you think, something is wrong with my health?” You will know once you are a parent.“No, it’s just that you don’t call at this hour. So how are you?”“ Ma  Wanted to ask you something...…can I buy a small second hand car?”Here comes the punch.Soon after passing out of his engineering, son has recently started working as a GE(...)'

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A Road Less Travelled

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 1/3/2013 5:33:00 AM

';;;; Pic Courtesy: FacebookThe world, it seems, is bombarded with negative news emanating from all around. If the morning newspaper doesn’t make your gut wrench, the evening news on television will make you throw up. So I decided to trawl the net and look for positive happenings. I read about Manish Bharadwaj, an award winning engineering graduate from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, who also holds a PhD degree in wireless technology from the Massachusetts Institut(...)'

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Too Little, Too Late

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 12/24/2012 4:10:00 PM

';;;; Last week captured a true snapshot of the nations mind. Angry. Frustrated. Why is our leadership not in consonance with the national mood? Why am I not able to believe when my leaders try to assure me?Why do my fingers flip the channel each time I see them debating national issues on television?When tragedy struck the United States, Barack Obama addressed mourners after the shooting incident. Except that his countrymen did not have to sit on the streets for a week for(...)'

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Decoding Charm

Author : Alka Gurha      Blog : Freebird      Date : 12/10/2012 5:15:00 AM

';;;; I often hear Zara-wearing, Blackberry-punching, pen-wielding women swoon over the likes of George Clooney, Shah Rukh Khan, Ranbir Kapoor and Shashi Tharoor. More recently, women at blogger meets have been ‘oohing’ and ‘aahing’ over the charming Chef Vikas Khanna. When this Khanna dude won the title of ‘New York’s Hottest Chef’ he said, “Cooking makes a man sexy. A guy who cooks can take care of his women.”I don’t agree though.  If that were true, my local halwai would be a(...)'

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