Which one are you? : Blog # 267

Which one are you?

Every morning in offices across the world, there are two kinds of people going to work. One, who are walking towards their dreams and the other, who are walking away from their dreams. Which one are you?

When it comes to relationships, there are people who are guarded, who approach them cautiously. Then there are people who gives it all that one has got. They love with as much compassion that they let go of their ego, don’t mind getting hurt and are ready to be broken if that is what it takes. Which one are you? 

Some of us live our lives constrained by boundaries of what others think are the rights and wrongs of the world. Some of us live our lives by what our heart tells us and walk those paths where our thoughts take us on. Which one are you?

When given a responsibility, there a people who own it. They want to do it so perfectly that people say that no one could have done it better. Then there are others who just want to crib away to glory. Which one are you?

Many are comfortable in a crowd. They feel at home right in the middle - holding fort, looking people in the eye, spreading a smile, shouting a cheer. Then there are those who find their own corners- watching from a distance, indulging in the comfort of one’s own silence, content and still. Which one are you?

For some, people are more important than everything else. The relationships, their complexities, the boundless happiness they gifts them with, the sadness which visits once in a while, the sacrifices needed to sustain it makes them happy. Then there are others who thrive on success, on what they do, on how respected they are. Which one are you?

Experiences enrich one’s life, believes some people. They move, travel, take chances, meet people. They look for new journeys for oneself to go through. Then there are others who find happiness in possessions. They yearn for new things, buys them and finds happiness in them. Which one are you?

All that is needed for some people to be happy is a book, a cup of tea and a hammock. And for some, all they can see is a larger house, a bigger car and a better phone. Which one are you?

When some people smile, their smile reaches their eyes. When they appreciate, it elates you. When they speak, it goes straight in to our heart. Then there are those whose silences could hurt too.  Which one are you?

                                                                                    Arun babu

What Game of Thrones taught me? : Blog # 266

What Game of Thrones taught me?

Having been nudged by my friends for long, I decided to start watching the series, ‘Game of Thrones (GoT)’. To say that it is gripping is a 2 floors below-basement statement (not just an understatement). If someone tells you that they started watching GoT, more often than not, they will be sleep deprived for the next couple of days. The story line is a refreshing departure from the tried and tired American city based youngsters and their woes. It is set in an entirely different era and the filmography really transports you to a time long gone by.

But what really upset my expectations was 'death' in GoT. It is so blunt and frequent. The first time it happens, you wonder if the writer of the story has committed a grave mistake. You are shocked to see that a character whom you thought was pivotal to the story is done away with such abruptness. There is not even as much as a fifteen minutes of shock or remorse from the other characters. Then you forgive the writer for the sin for the story goes on with all its layers and nuanced intrigue in place.

You continue watching the series and BANG! the next death. You are reminded of the deceit you felt the first time. You feel the series cannot go on! It is about 1:30 AM. You wonder if it is worth watching the series any more. But the love for story and the way in which the end of each episode is designed keeps you going. The next time it happens, you aren’t shocked as much. Slowly you realize that you are getting used to the deaths.

May be it is this closeness to life that the series has in this regard which makes it so intriguing. Isn’t death as shocking and as untimely in life too? How often have we heard that a death was completely unexpected and that it couldn’t have happened at a worse time? We also think a death brings our lives to a grinding halt. But life goes on. As much pain a death causes to our churned minds and as much remorse it engulfs our souls with, we move on. The world moves on; quite often reminding us of our acute in-consequence in the larger scheme of things of the universe.

Apart from the reality of death, there is much more that Game of Thrones manage to portray perfectly about life. Be it the complexities of human relationships, the addiction to power and money, the lack of trust, the intense love and the equally intense betrayal, of friendships, of families, of traditions, of clans and much more. But what stays with me is the unpretentious portrayal of death without any paraphernalia whatsoever.

Last days of College : Blog # 265

Last days of College

It is that time of the year when one gets to hear a lot of thoughts on the college life coming to an end. Thanks to my very young Facebook friends circle, I get to hear it a lot louder. Oh what a bitter sweet time it is! I still remember the last days of both my college stints – Bachelor’s and Master’s. 

When you are finishing your Bachelor’s degree, there is a huge sigh of relief that FINALLY, studying (not learning) is coming to an end. One gets to bid adieu to a decade and half long academic endurance. Even then, there is a bit of heart ache – of losing relationships – of some friendships and of some even more dear ones. One cannot say that one is a student anymore. One cannot walk in to those college gates throwing caution to the wind. One cannot get in to those little fights only to become closer than before. But the enticement of the real world is equally appealing. There is this exuberant impatience to tell the world that I have arrived. I think the possibility of a higher education is what makes the farewell of a bachelors’ course less painful. Also, they are blissfully unaware of the real world that is awaiting them – of responsibilities, of work and most sadly, of routine.

A post graduate course is an entirely different ballgame. It is truer if you have a bit of work experience. For those who have worked, they know for certain that college and academics is any day better than working. It is like one has to go through a harsh winter to appreciate a warm sun. Ashan (my beloved friend from MBA) told me that the ones among us with work experience doing MBA are here on a paid holiday of 2 years. I couldn’t agree more. The deadlines are flexible, responsibilities less harsh and office politics replaced by the warmth of friendship. The intensity of manager's authority is replaced by the warmth and affection of professors which in my university was truly different. Our bunch of professors are really a cool lot. What more can one ask for? May be that is why PG farewells are more painful.

There is a sense of acute awareness that one is walking out of the college gates forever. I still remember looking back at my beautiful campus and letting out a deep sigh when I walked out of those gates. I knew I will never be the same again to that place; nor will my alma mater be the same to me. It is like one of those moments in a relationship where you realize something has changed irrevocably. We will both look at each other differently. It is not that the fondness has become any lesser. It is just that time and distance will come in between however much we try.

For all those friends of mine who are spending your last few days in college, pause and look around. Walk in to a loud group, Join a hearty conversation, Go on a long walk, Hug your loved ones, Get a cup of tea and talk to a friend for long, Take time to say your good byes, Say your thank you-s, Tell them how much they mean to you, Just walk around. Warmly embrace the spirit of college life for you know the winter of real world is coming ;) 

p.s. Pic (of the mighty elephant hills in the shadows of which we learned MBA) lifted from my friend, Gobi Jagan's album. I am sure he won't mind :)

More blogs on My Alma mater ~ http://praisesnbrickbats.blogspot.in/2012/04/asb-memoir-potpourri-ofmemories-6-asour.html 

Desire Path : Blog # 264

Desire Path

             Have you seen those small mud paths amidst the grass right next to elaborately laid out walk ways? Those are called desire paths. Those little walkways which emerge by virtue of people choosing to walk through often. It might be either because it is a shorter path or it has a bit of an adventurous appeal about it or just for the little pleasure of stepping away from mainstream, as my friend Abhishek often says. Whenever I ask him as to why he made a rather different choice about something, he tells me “Oh, the other choice was too mainstream for me!” How I love that word, ‘Mainstream!’ :)

            All of us have desire paths in life. A path we will be happy to walk through often but we are unable to, due to various circumstances or constraints. If you look at it, both the desire path and the concrete laid walkway are taking you to the same destination. Yes, the desire path is much humble in its appearance. There are no elaborate staircases or handrails approaching that path or going away from it. It is like one of those old acquaintances of yours who doesn’t speak with great eloquence but you know that whatever is being spoken is right from the heart. You need not guess as to what exactly did the words mean in the context. Nor does one compel you to read between the lines.

            What the humble path also tells you is that the walk is not going to be easy. It cannot provide you handrails to ensure your safety while navigating the quagmires of life nor does it promise you shade in times when intense rays of hardships beam down on you. But isn’t it these little desire paths that we take in life which helps us beat the monotony and routine of life? Isn’t it those detours which infuse life in to our living? Don’t you think such small trips will help us derive a sense of contentment?

            An interesting thing about the desire path is that it is compassionate. You might wonder how? By design, it is small. It cannot have too many people walking through it without being concerned about the others. Those who choose to walk should be accommodative of each other. You will need to slow down for others or to step aside at times too. It is more collaborative than competitive.

          In a laid out path, there is space for two lanes – one for those who walk in and one for those who walk out.  There is hardly any collaboration here. Whoever walks fast, gets ahead without bothering about people who are walking along or behind. Isn’t that what is at the core of our world’s problems today? We are concerned for only our class of people – those who are as educated as us, those who earn as much as us, those who speak like us, those who look like us, those who worship like us. What about those who are unlike us? Isn’t being human reason enough to spare a thought for them?

            As busy as we are in our lives, let us take the desire path once in a while - for us, for them and for the world to be a better place.

                                                                                                                        Arun babu

Never Do Nothing : Blog # 263

Never do Nothing!

            I don’t know if the title of this blog is a widely used phrase. But I heard this for the first time from Madhu Trehan, senior journalist of the media-observer cum commentator Youtube channel, ‘NewsLaundry’. I am yet to come across a more inspiring phrase which conveys the message with such brevity. Many a time, people try to inspire others by talking to them. But at times, the conversations go in circles and for durations longer than the gestation period of an elephant. In this day and age of 142 characters worth of twitter eloquence and conversations that are reduced to whatsapp emoticons, one shouldn’t expect one’s audience to be very attentive and patient. Therein lies the relevance of this phrase.

                  In the times that we live in, it is very easy to think that we all are doing something worthwhile. Thanks to the social media, it cocoons us in to the false belief that we are all leading constructive lives. Often, one needs to step back and see if we are really taking an effort to evolve over time. It is about making oneself better than one was the previous day, month or at least the previous year.

                  Being a better person means different things to different people. For some, it is to stop doing something. For others, it is to start doing something. It could be to learn a new language, earn more money, coach oneself to a new skill, explore new places, start a hobby, be part of a cause , play a sport or anything that your imagination gifts you with. The point is to change by oneself before a change forces itself on to you.

                  By putting oneself continually through such experiences, we become more open and willing to let in newness – be it of people, challenges or experiences. We gradually reduce our mental inertia and resistance to change.  Being part of new experiences helps one tide through the monotony of life. It also gives us small milestones to conquer in this long journey thereby providing pit stops of contentment. In less euphemistic words, by never doing nothing, Life becomes easy!

Arun Babu

A Big Bear Hug to Nivea! : Blog #262

A Big Bear Hug to Nivea!

If you haven’t seen the new Nivea deo Advertisement, watch you must. I cannot even begin to tell you how happy it made me to see this refreshingly new and different Ad. I have always loved advertising. All you get is a handful of seconds. In that, one need to convey a story or a message AND make someone buy your product or at least make them think about the product. The sheer joy of creative challenge! In many ways, Indian advertisements are rich in content and portrayal. The abundance in content might owe to our varied cultural ethos – the advantage of having many little Indias within India. The portrayal or the visual nuances should have evolved over time.

One product space where there was an acute lack of creative talent on display was the deodorants. All that our prolific Ad agencies could come up with were a bottle of gas, a few naked women and these bare chested men drawing those women to them like moth to fire just because they have used the deodorant. The very same concept repeats only change being in the surroundings. Oh yes, one product did try with a horse and then molecules and awesomeness et al. Frankly, I missed the point. I couldn’t GET that Ad at all.

            And comes, our dear dearest Nivea. Just when I was about to press ‘Skip Ad’, Nivea takes me right to the beginning of mankind. I wondered why and was curious! It goes on to say Eve snubbed Adam with a hand wave because of body odour. Then it talks about Maharajas and the handshake, long lost friends and the high-fives and fist pumps etc. The Ad implores the audience to #Banbodyodour and get back to the endearing and sincere bear hugs.

            It delights me to see so many little things woven in to a minute worth of time. They have touched up on how human interactions have evolved (of course on a lighter vein), what we can do to make them more intimate and why we should use their product. Thank you Nivea for liberating us from the oft repeated monotony of humans hurling at each other among smoke just because of some scent! Thank you Nivea for giving some sense of meaning and soul to the story line. A big bear hug to your team!

Link to the Ad : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pXmQAZvQHI

Arun Babu

Indian Railways – One hell of a ride! : Blog #261

Indian Railways – One hell of a ride!

India has the world’s third largest rail network in the world. To know how great this organization is, you also need to know that we are the second most populated country in the world. A whopping 1.25 Billion Indians use this network to commute.

Now usually, large transport networks around the world make a booklet available to help passengers. We do not under estimate our passengers that way. We know they will learn things on the fly. Come on! what is life without some adventure and adrenalin rush? There are a lot of things you need to know if you were to use this mammoth of a service. There are some hidden tacit knowledge which Google might not be able to tell you. There might be some interesting questions that come to your mind like “Who is that guy in black blazer in the train and which disco is he going to? Is he Barney?” This blog is an attempt to answer such questions.

How do I get started on a train journey? – Well if you are among those who believe in travelling with dignity, you will need to have a ticket. You may book it either through a railway station or through the website – www.irctc.co.in .Now, if you are trying to book it through website, get some Chinese bamboos, a laughing Buddha, arrange your table as per feng shui - all that will bring luck to you because you need a hell lot of luck to book a ticket through this website. Am I being too harsh on them? Yes! Ok then, it works wonderfully well during normal hours. The problem occurs when you want to book a ticket on short notice. But isn’t most of our travel on short notice? So I am not being too harsh on them, am I?

How to book tickets on short notice? – Through an option called ‘Tatkal’ for booking tickets a day before your travel. So if you are travelling tomorrow, you can book a ticket today under ‘Tatkal’ option for a higher price. Timeslots are allotted on the website to book Tatkal tickets depending on the class of travel you choose. For AC (Air Conditioned) classes, booking is from 10:00 – 11:00 AM and for Non – AC classes, it is from 11:00 AM.

There are classes of travel? – Yes, in AC compartments, there are three types – 1^st AC, 2^nd AC and 3^rd AC. They are also known as 1 tier, 2 tier and 3 tier AC compartments. The tier is indicative of how many berths are present in a coupe. If there are 3 berths on one side of a coupe, it is a 3 tier compartment. If there are 2 berths, it is a 2 tier compartment. You get the drift, right?

Now coming to the Non AC compartments. This is interesting. Take a notepad and pay close attention. There is a first class,sleeper class, a sitting class and a general class. A first class is one where you have the privacy of a closed room and it is luxurious .A sleeper class will have berths on which you can lie down. This is essentially a 3^rd AC compartment with the AC taken away and the glass windows replaced by iron grills.

The sitting class as the name implies is to sit and travel. You won’t be able to lie down. This has 2 variations – CC and 2 S which stands for Chair Car and Second sitting respectively. Chair car will have AC and 2S will not have AC.

The general class is one when you travel without reservation. If you are one of those who love to travel on an impulse, this is the class for you. You take a ticket from the counter at the railway station, hop on and travel. Statutory warning – This class will be extremely crowded and travel will not be a very pleasant experience.

How do I spot my train at the station? - Each train has a 5 digit number and a name to it.

Names will be mostly with the cities between which the train commutes like the one is picture here is Chennai Express. The name will be written on a board on the first and last compartment of the train. If you are lucky, there will be an electronic display of name on all compartments. At the station, it will be mentioned as to on which platform does each train arrive. You need to look for 'coach position' chart which indicates where exactly on the platform does each compartment arrive. Many a time, this chart will be missing at the station. How do you figure then? Ask the shopkeepers on the platform. They will be more than happy to tell you.

Ok I have found my train. Now, how do I know which is my seat? – There is a train attendant for each compartment who will guide you to your seats. Yeah right! Are you kidding me? It is a complex set of codes which one needs to decrypt to understand where your seat is located among the 1000+ seats in a train. All we will tell you is S11, SU 64. Now you know why all the Indian kids are great at coding & decoding? ;). The meaning of this alpha numeric string is as below:

S11 -  Sleeper coach number 11. If is it B2, it means Third AC coach number 2. If it is A1, it means second AC coach number 1. If it is CC4, it means Chair car coach number 4. If it is D5, it means second sitting coach number 5. FC stands for First class.

SU is Side Upper. It has other variations – SL is Side Lower, LB is Lower Berth, MB is Middle Berth and UB is Upper Berth.

64 is your seat number. If you are 6 feet and above in height, pray and hope that your seat number is not a multiple of 8. If it is a multiple of 8, it would mean that your seat is side upper which is shorter than other berths and you will find it difficult to sleep.

Why do other people come and claim my seat? - There is a PNR number which you can use to check the status of your ticket. The status of your ticket will be any of these three – CNF (Confirmed ticket), RAC (Reservation against cancellation) and WL (Waiting List).  

If it is CNF, rejoice and revel; you can travel with a berth/seat allotted to you. If it is RAC, you are sharing a berth with a fellow passenger. This is when another person comes and claims that it is their seat. Calmly and patiently, tell him/her that it is RAC. If there are any other seats vacant, then the TTR will come and allot the free seat to either one of you and the berth becomes yours. If there are no free berths available, you will need to sit and travel.

Who is that guy in the black blazer? – Good question. He/She is the Ticket Examiner(TTR). If you see a person in a dashing black suit and a crisp white shirt, don’t ask him which disco he is going to. Because, he is not! He is just doing his job of the ticket examiner and that is his uniform.

How will you know that you have reached the station that you want to get down? – Other rail networks around the world might be resorting to usual methods like announcements or electronic displays. But not Indian Railways! We do things in Swag! What the passenger needs to do is to ask people sitting next to you, pray and hope that they were keeping a watchful eye on the stations passing by. If this doesn’t work, look outside. There will be one yellow board somewhere with the station’s name on it, like the one here. So if it is night time, how do you know which station it is? Follow the same process except asking the person sleeping in the next berth.

            Is this blog an exhaustive description of the wonder that is Indian Railways? Absolutely not! These are some of the many queries that occur to a first time traveler. Inspite of all its foibles, Indian Railways have kept our vast country connected and on the move and continues to do so. We are mighty proud of our railways!

Other useful railway sites :

A one stop shop - http://www.indianrail.gov.in/

Site for passenger trains' information - http://erail.in/

1942, A Love Story : Blog # 260

1942 , A Love Story

Having got some quiet time amidst my travel, I was listening to this Hindi song, ‘Ek ladki ko dekha to…’.It is composed by R.D.Burman for the film, 1942 a love story. The Lyrics are by Javed Akhtar and the voice is lent by Kumar Sanu.Adding to the beauty of the song is the effervescent presence of Manisha Koirala & Anil Kapoor.  

Being someone who is striving to become a writer, what amazed me is the depth of Javed Akhtar’s vocabulary. I must say it a vast ocean of priceless pearls. I mean how on earth can a person describe a girl so beautifully!!! The similies used here are hold your breath, 24 in number. And the beauty of it is that it is written in the simplest of words.

Javed Akhtar goes on to write that he saw a girl who is like

A blossoming rose,

A poet’s dream,

A rising sun’s ray,

A doe in a forest,

A moonlit night,

A sweet conversation and

A divine lamp……

 If you thought that is it; it is just the first stanza.

The song goes on to compare the girl to a wonderful morning, a winter's sunlight , playful waves, the musical pleasantness of Veena, a dash of all colors come together and  to the fragrance that a cool breeze brings along.

We are not done yet! The final stanza of the song talks about the girl who is like a beautiful dancing peacock, a thread of silk, a fairy’s song, a sandalwood flame, an ornate beauty, an unblemished mist and a slow and gradual engulfment of intoxication!!!

Javed Akhtar went on to create many more master pieces. But none else has managed to create as much wonder and admiration in me about the creative magnificence of this artist than this particular song.

Many a time, we set boundaries for what we think we can achieve. All one needs to look at is brilliant creations like these to know of the boundless power of our blessed minds. All we need to do is to set the imagination free,

Like a drifting cloud,

Like a gliding feather,

Like a rising fume,

Like a hovering eagle,

                      Like a twisting whirlwind,

                        Like a mid-summer rain,

                                    Like a child’s prayer,

                                                Like a mother’s love,

                                                            Like a lover’s gaze…

Arun Babu

Alumni Meet? Go! : Blog # 259

Alumni Meet? Go!

I read somewhere that every generation thinks they are smarter than the previous one. And the very same generation thinks they are wiser than the next one. There are very few places where this plays out with utmost affection than at an alumni meet without losing even as much as an ounce of fondness for each other.

Those of you who would have revisited your childhood home at a time when your bygone childhood feels too distant, would know how exactly going back to one's alma mater feels like. There is an abundance of fondness and gratitude towards that place for the sweetest of memories that it has gifted you. There is a sense of familiarity with the people and the environment around which makes one wonder how oneself has changed in many ways and how we all are still the same in as many ways.

An alumni meet somehow plays out to be a windshield and a rear view mirror all at once. Seniors from earlier batches with the wisdom that life has given them shows us what lies ahead. Their success inspires us to aspire beyond boundaries set by one’s own juvenile mind and their failures reassure it is OK to try and fail .It tells us that the beauty of life is in its resilience. The juniors remind one so much of one's recent past. At times, it reminds one how exactly similar oneself was or rarely, how completely different the current set of people are.

The ones who are luckiest are the present batch. They are blissfully clueless about being in the best time of their life. And rightfully so. Else nostalgia will lose all its romantic aura, isn't it? Their big worries which you have been through and have realized over time, aren't really big enough to fret about. How the mysterious ways of life don't let them see how little the worries in fact are; may be so that they can laugh about those little worries later on.

The most surprising will be one’s own batch mates. Many make you wonder how some people doesn't change at all and you are glad that they didn't and then there are others who makes you think that even change doesn't affect them ;).Then there are others who evolve beautifully which reminds you of that saying by Buckminster Fuller, " There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it is going to be a butterfly".

The dear professors, whom you look up to and with affection that grows with time, just the way it is with parents. One realizes how kind they were to put up with one’s childishness. How they also played along, not because they didn't know any better but just to humor and indulge our young minds dying to be seen, heard and touched.

If you are lucky, the college won't have changed much after you left. There will still be corners where you can see an earlier self of you walking from. There will still be a courtyard that used to resonate with your laughter. There will still be a canteen and a lawn where you had the best of times with your friends .The class rooms which made you think, act, laugh, learn, sleep (at times ;)) and grow. The sights that we have seen, the sounds we have heard, the people we have met, the memories we have made are what makes the place so special. To know that there are more such people who share these experiences with you across very many years makes them all the more special.

One can't stop wondering how humbling and cathartic an experience it is to just be in a place which has helped you grow and evolve. How beautiful and selfless the relations formed there are. How the jokes which had us in splits continues to be so across years. How certain things always remain the same and how certain others always undergo change. How some of the juniors have grown and how your seniors say you have too.

All that it leaves you with is the people whom you met, the stories that they told, the laughs you shared and the longing to get back to the reassuring familiarity with eternal fondness.

More blogs on Amrita School of Business, My Alma Mater ~ The Gate pass ~ For those in the know ;) ~ http://praisesnbrickbats.blogspot.in/2012/04/pink-slip.html 

Arun Babu

Stand-up Comedians of India : Blog # 258

Stand-up Comedians of India

          For the uninitiated, stand-up comedy is that art form where a person converses with the audience. As the name suggests, it is largely to evoke a laughter, and spread some humor among the audience. I am not going in to the definition of the art form for Google is still alive.

          What I would want to tell you though is about some young Indian artists who are taking the stand up comedy scene by storm. They are abundantly talented, well read, well-traveled and young enough to be open to new ideas and thoughts. Most of them make us laugh, some of them make us think and a fewer still make us act and speak up too. Now why should you listen to them? To begin with, just to LOL – to Laugh Out Loud J. If you are not a fan of reading newspapers, watching their shows can be a way of being in touch with the happenings around you. The plurality of their thinking minds will enrich your perspectives. If you are interested in public speaking, I can’t think of a more fun way than this to learn some tricks of the trade to get your audiences’ attention.

Kanan Gill & Biswa Kalyan : If you love Bollywood movies, you must watch ‘Pretentious movie reviews’ by these two. This very unconventional, refreshingly new movie reviews will leave you in splits. Their individual stand up acts are largely a fun take on the Indian society and people around us.

Kenny Sebastian : This Kerala born, brought up all over India , Army kid uses voice modulation to his advantage. His at times - self depreciating – straight from the heart – comedy has won him many fans. The fact that he can sing and play a guitar does give him an extra edge during his performances.

Daniel Fernandes : If you are among those who gets a kick from intellectual jokes, you must watch this guy. It is not that his shows aren’t light hearted. They are. But many a time, they will have a small message en wrapped in it, of course without being preachy.

All India Bakchod : This is the Yash Chopra ensemble of stand-up comedies. A group of artists namely Gursimran Khamba, Tanmay Bhat, Rohan Joshi and Ashish Shakya make up this group. Their AIB Roast had become quite famous or notorious depending on which side of the getting-offended-fast scale you are on. Their take on current affairs is richly creative and widely different from what we are used to seeing. They also have a TV show titled ‘On Air with AIB’

Aditi Mittal : Now she belongs to a very exclusive club – of  female stand-up comedians in India. Along with being a successful stand-up comedian in her own right, she also lends the much needed female voice and thought on stage like the feminine gaze we talk about in movies.

Virdas : This hugely popular stand-up comedian can be considered a pioneer in stand-up comedy who became popular among the youth in India. He is an actor too. His take on current affairs is astute, brave and irreverent.

         

          In this time and age of social media, many of us are forgetting to indulge in conversations or at least have a long enough talk. Watch these folks and you might end up getting some talking points that will help you look intelligent – not essentially intelligent though ;)