"Z" for "Ze end" and "Zillions of Thanks!" - My A to Z reflections post : The April Experience

Before I embarked on this journey of  "A to Z" I was skeptical , conscious and little scared as I felt I would never be able to make it to "Z". I have been blogging from nearly 5-6 years. Initially it was just a once in a blue moon blogging which started with my first poem "here" . I started with poems and slowly progressed to short stories , articles and much more. I still remember that amazing evening when a fellow team mate encouraged me by saying that I should move all the poems from email drafts and rusted folder with title "personal" on my office desktop to a personal blog :) Those were initial days of corporate life and I had my doubts. My language was bad and my skills were minimal and who will read it on my blog ?

He insisted and after too many thoughts I went ahead and created my blog on "Infyblogs" (blogs of Infosys where I worked.) I was surprised to see the response. Slowly my network increased and as every one suffers due to mundane working hours there was an instant connection and a "feel good" factor when ever I read the blogs. It was my respite in office and I can't narrate in words how much I miss that space now !  I made many friends and also enemies via blogs but all in all the roller coaster ride was a life time memory. I am still in touch with them via few groups on FB.

As part of the A2 Z challenge "Corinne" the best cheer leader ever came up with this brilliant idea of creating a group "A2Zers" which motivated me in every possible way. I loved all the Pablo tales and the rest of the posts too :). There were sunny days , balmy days and also rainy days but no complaints and no regrets as I am about to end this journey. Zillions of thanks to all those thoughtful people who bothered to read my lengthy posts till the last full stop and traveled that extra mile to comment. It definitely boosted me. I came across many bloggers out side India. I really enjoyed reading Deecoded by Dee (http://deecoded.blogspot.in/) and Kristen's blog (http://kristenhead.blogspot.in/) which were a mix of all emotions. Commenting for sure was challenging and I couldn't cover many blogs which I wanted to due to difference in timezones and due to lack of time. I did what all I could and made it sure that I atleast visit those who visited me. All in all it was a great journey and I would love to travel through the same path again next year. Have to see how it goes. I am both happy and sad that the journey is ending. Happy as I can give more attention to my husband and sleep little more :P  Sad as there won't be something entertaining and exciting to look forward to from tomorrow!

Anyway I want to keep this post as short as possible so that many read it :)   Lastly a big thanks to Corinne and also a special thanks to "laxmi" for her unfathomable support and appraisal and needless to say I love the way she weaves magic around words!

I simply loved the every day tid bits by Cynthia (http://cynthology.blogspot.in) . Will for sure be missing them. Liked Preeti's posts and her thoughtfulness to read and acknowledge back (http://mywhitewindow.blogspot.in/). Enjoyed Roshni's Kiddo's tales. Revived my own childhood ( http://www.bigaandlittlea.com/) . Got tempted by Ruchira's travelogues (http://nirjharani.blogspot.in/) . Loved the out of the box thinking of Shilpa (http://shilpaagarg.blogspot.in/) and thoroughly enjoyed her comments too :). If Sridevi's (http://sridevi-datta.blogspot.in/) poetry made me thoughtful Vidya Sury's every day posts and ideas (http://vidyasury.com) increased my knowledge! Missed her comments due to her vacation :-/.  Had fun interacting with Priya and reading her .( http://iwrite-myblog.blogspot.in/). Vinita 's posts made me laugh and also think (www.blogwatig.com). Janaki's poems were warm (http://www.janakinagaraj.com/). Few of Meera Srilakshmi's posts (http://meeraah.blogspot.in/) were my favorites! I used to wait for a thoughtful and straight from the heart post by Naina Madan (http://whilethecoffeebrews.blogspot.in/) even if it was posted late some times :) . Nandana's (http://cheerfultornado.blogspot.in/) posts are always enjoyable . Loved Shail's clicks at http://shutterbuglady.wordpress.com/- and needless to say Lucy stole the show.  Bhavya's story idea is great and am still waiting to see how it ends today i.e. the "Z" day (http://ursilence.blogspot.in) .Some day Some where's Suzy Que (http://suzysomedaysomewhere.blogspot.co.nz/) took me every day to some where  !

There are few more blogs and many more unique people whom I read as part of the challenge. The response I got back was overwhelming and inspiring. I sincerely hope this camaraderie doesnt fade . "Ze" in french means "The" ! Some native french speakers pronounce English article "the" as "Ze". Ze end always marks ze new beginning. Till then aurevoir !! ( I wish to learn french soon ;) ) and once again zillions of thanks to all the readers! Lastly two images made by me to represent the group effort we had put through out this April month!

That Pooh is definitely you Corinne:)

Miss you all !

I felt this reflects what ever I felt during the month of April hence this is my reflections post too! I will surely be taking this challenge again in April 2014 provided I have no major obstacles.

Thanks to Arlee bird and the whole  "A to Z"  family once again.
Love
Afshan.

"Y" for "You all made it possible!"

I am what I am and I write what I can.
I was alone in this field when the journey began.
Slowly I gained speed and some times I ran.
I strived a lot to be one in the huge clan.

Like  the penguin of the happy feet I didn't know my song.
Some times the posts are right and some times seem wrong.
I stopped stressing on the rhythm or a coherent beat.
I danced with my blog which was my only partner and tapped my happy feet.

You all slowly came along and I realised every one has their own music.

Playing your own song and enjoying it to the fullest does the trick.

The essence of "you" is lost when you are all set to mimick.

There is cement which strengthens the wall and to hold up a brick.

The wall of fame is a combination of compliments and brickbats.

Some times you sit a top like a humpty dumpty receiving many pats.

You feel royal and feel sunshine ,glitter and hue around you.

The world is in your fist and every thing you say feels wise and true.

The phase doesnt last long as some one pushes you from behind.

They may sense nonsense around and they are not the encouraging kind.

On those days rather than giving a piece of your mind it is always wise to turn blind.

Be strong like the wall on which you are seated and your place and pace you will soon find!

There are few who praise you to the skies and there are few who push you in to the valley.

There are few who don't hesitate to call a spade a spade and pass on opinions genuinely.

And there are few who just let you be and be with you in your ups and downs.

They accept you and embrace you during your smiles , cries and frowns!

Those special few are always close to the heart which dances in a mood jolly.

 They praise you when you need it and correct you if you have done a folly.

 When you are short of words they make you laugh by cutting a joke silly.

 They dance to their own songs but they make you feel you are in their family!!

Thanks  to the  "A to Z"  challenge ! Poetry is my strength and I wanted to test it on the last but one day by writing a poem which is straight from my heart :) Thanks to all with out whom the challenge would have been a bland one. Thanks to all the compliments and brickbats. More on the "Z" day . Till then cheerio !
This is my 25th and last but one post for "A to Z blogging Challenge 2013" !  Phew- A sigh of relief

"X" for "X" . Finding the unknown "X" , Xenophobia and much more

"X" is a wonderful alphabet even if it gives us very few options to write as there are less no. of words with X on which we can think and write.

"X" is an alphabet much loved by mathematicians.  It is very normal to find a huge equation in which "X" is "unknown" and you have to solve and find it. We have to find "Y" too some times but it is X which is the heart favorite. You always have to find it and the eureka feeling when you finally find it gives a great relief . I never liked maths. Other than simple equations like X+2=5 rest all used to scare me. Some times I used to feel that this "X" had pasted a big bold X on my face and I used to do many silly mistakes which lead to bad scores in Maths ! Years have passed and we still solve the equations and find the "unknown" . Some times I feel I should solve "X" like below 

or may be console algebra by giving some reply like below :P

I may or may not like maths but I started disliking "X" due to its desperation to be found. It is unknown till we don't assign a value to it. Similarly there are many "X-Men" and "X-Women" in our lives. No I am not talking about mutant heroes and heroines from the Marvel world. I am talking about those strangers and unknowns who keep bumping in to us every now and then. The fast pace of life gives us a chance to come across many new people. Even If I don't suffer a lot from "xenophobia" which is  an irrational or unreasoned fear of that which is perceived to be foreign or strange I some times despise strangers . I cannot randomly talk to some "X" and get friendly. Some people make friends in trains , flights , metros but I am not in to it. These days due to alarmingly increasing crimes as soon as I enter in to a bus or train I bury myself in a book or plug my ear phones and act dead to any passer by if I am travelling alone.

I cannot trust any one easily and I absolutely talk crap when a stranger initiates a random conversation. Later I wonder if it was me who spoke all that . Few conversation snippets I had with few random people are like below.

Once I was going home from hostel for holidays. There was an old man sitting opposite to us and unfortunately we had a train-crossing  signal and our train halted for more than half an hour. Old man started talking to me and my friends who were all girls about the importance of education and getting jobs and how to be strong individuals and how it is most important for a girl to earn. He suddenly looked at me and told, "Tomorrow when you get married you should also be able to stand on your feet!" He was talking as if he was possessed. My friends were giggling and I was feeling sleepy due to his perennial gyaan (lecture). I nodded and couteously smiled every time . The train was not moving but his words were definitely speeding up. From college to country to politicians to cine actors to superstitions the man spoke everything.

At one point I wanted to ask him , " Ye sab aap muft ka gyaan dete hai or paise lagte hai iske?" (the famous jab we met dialogue by Kareena Kapoor which means do you preach all this for free or do you charge?). From that second I was literally scared to respond or start conversation with some "X" . Instead I will die of boredom . If I have nothing to do I can even count the number of electric poles in the station or just get down and explore  it but I can never talk to strangers! I acted as if I dozed off and by God's grace train moved that fateful day.

Due to hostel life I used to travel frequently and I have had "X"treme "X"periences with few "X"es . Oops Its sounding like my ex's ;-) . I meant some "X" again! Few Seniors who were strangers used to rag us in trains. Few random people used to ask random questions to which other than giving polite replies there was no escapade.  My book reading habit immensely increased due to my journeys and half of the credit goes to Xes! This is the only good outcome of the interaction with all those Xes.

Not all Xes are bad. Some Xes leave us in peace and are definitely not very nosy. Two days back I met a girl working in Wipro in my sleeper coach bus. She suddenly asked if I belonged to Hyderabad. As my experiences were not great in past I replied hesitantly. She initiated the conversation and we spoke a lot. Strangely I didn't get bored. We discussed job market , bench rate in IT companies , monotonous work , Infosys Vs Wipro and so on so forth.  She said as if she is giving an explanation that she is the only child and hence she talks a lot when ever she finds a person with whom she can talk. I smiled and said , "It's ok. I would have been bored . Good that I have company." We spoke little more and slept off. Mine was the first stop and hence had to bade good bye when I suddenly realised I didn't even ask her name. We hurriedly exchanged names and email ids :P 

I am sure I might not mail back but who knows we might bump in to each other. This is a small world of  X, Y, Zs.

Hence all the "X"periences were not scary and didn't lead to xenophobia. What are your "X"periences ? Are you Xenophilic or phobic ?

Do you usually talk when some "X" intrudes ?

X is interesting when you shed it and shift from XL to L.

X is not so interesting when you realise you have a fracture in the X-ray.

X can lead to disasters when even a single alphabet is misplaced in the X-chromosomal chain.

X again gets interesting when you know that Xerophilous plants are those which grow in deserts and in limited supply of water ;) This reminds we used to have a plant opuntia at home ages back. Its flowers are so welcoming even if it has thorns - The plant reflects "life" a lot :)

Good day!

Am so glad I finally found "X". This was much tougher than the algebraic equation :)

This is my 24th post for "A to Z blogging Challenge 2013" ! 

"W" for "Wishlist" and "Wonderla"

As the challenge is about to end my brain is getting roasted so much so that cannibals can have it as their favorite dish. Anyway today I am keeping it simple and silly by bragging a bit about me . I want to list down my wish list here with my top 10 wishes which are like below. I want to fulfill few immediately and few can wait!

1.) I wish to read more and more books. I face few changes , challenges and too many obstacles at times and I get carried away and the book I am reading hibernates forever. I am reading "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott  from the past 4 months . God knows when I will be finishing it. I am planning to schedule and read at least 2-3 books for month. I am a slow reader and hence cannot challenge my self a 100 books a year !

2.) I want to travel around the world. The places I want to cover for sure are India, Europe , China , and Australia. Europe for alps , grasslands and for the romance they can offer. I particularly want to visit Switzerland and Italy. Italy for its culture and food. China for its traditions. Egypt for history and to watch pyramids. Australia to feel romantic again :)

Australia- Sydney

london eye

Before travelling around the world I want to cover all the dreamy places in India - Kashmir (Leh-Ladakh) , Kerala , many North East places, Goa , Pondicherry and many more.

Kerala House boat

Ladakh

3.)  I wish to get my poems published . Its not just a wish. I want my poems to be published by mid 2014 atleast. Trying for the same.

4.) I wish to get a job. Actually I desire to shift gears to writing but have to see how it turns out for me and ya I wish to get rid of my laziness!

5.) I wish to buy a small resort hill side or sea side and spend my old age there. If not hills and mountains I would love to stay in a house with a beach view or a river view, calm and peaceful away from the buzz of the city! My dream resort should be something like Vythri resorts in Wayanad Kerala .It is a honeymoon resort . The image gallery always steals my heart. Below is a glimpse of the resort.

                                 

I know buying a resort needs butt load of money but fingers crossed to atleast save and buy a teensy weensy resort :)

6.)I wish to get rid of few of my fears. I did rafting in Manali and felt good about it. I am highly scared of heights and couldnot attempt paragliding.  I have paragliding , snorkelling  and trekking in my list. There are few more like trying few adventure rides in an amusement park :-/ and also singing infront of a huge crowd. I tried once in college and due to fear was not able to give my best.

7.) I wish I get a chance to shake hands with SRK ;) and spend some time with him. A coffee , 5minute chat or anything is fine to me and I hope I don't need an ambulance when I look in to the sparkling brown eyes when I am inch away from him. Oooooh. My heart is already skipping a beat ;) . I also want to ask many questions one of which would be- how he resists all the brick bats? Needless to say I will get all witty answers and I would make sure to get 1000s of pics clicked with him.

8.) I wish to open a restaraunt or a take-away along with my husband who is a great cook. We even decided the name : "Khan's kitchen". Not sure if its already taken. The specialities of Khan's Kitchen are Haleem , Hyderabadi Biryani and grilled chicken. He makes the bestest grilled chicken I ever tasted.  His veg dishes taste equally good.

9.) I want to sign my own book and give the first copy to mom and share the limelight with few who are near and dear!!

10.) Last but not the least I always want to be in touch with my bestest girl friends. I need them to stay sane. 

PS: All pics above are googled.  I dont own them.

Wonderla and "Water" rides:

Wonder la is an amusement and theme park in Bangalore which we recently visited and became kids again. There are water rides and land rides in wonderla. As we went late we could only do water rides. We were totally drenched and had loads of fun. There was a wave pool , slider , rain dance and many more rides. It was all rain , splashes , waves and unlimited fun. Reverse osmosis treated water is used and it is clean and safe. Few snap shots from wonderla are below

An apt pic to show the fun around

Water slide. I was too scared to try

Wave pool as good as the sea!

If you are in Bangalore wonder la is the best place to visit in summer. It surely is a wonder land!

This is my 23rd post for "A to Z blogging Challenge 2013" ! 

"V" for "Vizag"

Located in south east India in the state of Andhra Pradesh Visakhapatnam/ Vizag is a port city which is also called "City of destiny." It is the second largest city in A.P. and luckily my in-laws city. As it is my favorite place I can visit quite often! It has a huge ship yard , naval base and a steel plant. Slowly IT giants are also trying to get their space in the city. It is called "Goa of the East Coast." Today I am here to present you few magnificent snapshots of beaches in Vizag. The city is situated among the hills of Eastern Ghats facing Bay of Bengal.

There are many beaches in Vizag. The below are my favorite ones . I shall start with Bheemunipatnam/ Bheemli which is just 3-5kms from my In-laws' house. I deeply love this beach as it is mostly vacant . You can spot fisher men here and there but they mind their own business and it always feels like I own the beach ! Late evenings beach gets crowded and it is the only busy time for all the vendors who usually sell coconut water , chat , corn , bhelpuri or anything chat pata and spicy. I sit for long there just to admire God and his creation.

One of the Bheemli beaches. This one is most vacant

This is Vizag beach road. My friend asked me if I clicked this in Mumbai :)

This was at the harbor road.

One should have Mirchi bajji and garam garam (hot hot ) Onion pakodas and soda from soda hub while lazing on the beach road.

Totlakonda Buddhist complex

The above magnificent view is at Totlakonda Buddhist Complex. It is about 15 kms from the city on the way to Bheemli. It is 128 mts above sea level.

The Telugu name Thotlakonda is derived from the presence of a number of a rock-cut throughs hewn in the bedrock of the hillock (cisterns).Thotlakonda was well within the influence of ancient Kalinga region which was an important source of dissemination of Buddhist culture to Srilanka and various parts of south-east Asia. It provides an insight into the process of Trans Oceanic diffusion of Indian culture, especially Buddhism.(Source : wiki)

The monasteries of buddhist monks and the calm and peaceful sea surrounding them gives a sense of peace. The view is breath taking too . It is as good as the Dil chahta hai view of Goa:) There are many other scenic spots like Pavuralla konda and Bavi konda which I didn't visit yet.

The below is the snapshot from DCH movie.

At the Buddhist monastery remains

vast and lavish greenery of Totlakonda

The rooms of Buddhist monks. I don't think any other place
can be as holy as this . The only sound came from the
splashes of distant waves.

Rushi konda beach is one more awesome beach of vizag. It is little crowded. Nevertheless best place for love birds , friends and kids. At few points the depth is unpredictable and many accidents happen here. Hence one should be careful after entering the sea.

Late in the evening the waves started roaring.
Beyond this point the sea is dangerous and every
one is warned not to go in to sea beyond the rocks!

This is my favorite capture at Rushikonda !

Sunset at RK beach

Yaarada beach is the mother of all beaches in Vizag. It is 35kms from the city . One can see the Dolphin's nose on the way to Yaarada beach. The way is uphill and then down the hill with beach in between the hills. I have never seen such a beautiful sight in my life. Lush green shrubs around, sharp rocks and roaring waves made me fall in love with nature all over again. It is not advisable to swim or go in to depths here as currents are unusually high. Many people tried swimming and got drowned it seems. We did not go to depths. The sea was deep even at the starting point which scared me.

Milky white Yaarada beach. This proves the intensity of waves

Our foot steps. walk ,jog, walk steps

A high wave attacked us and my husband was standing on
a 4-5ft rock which was totally covered by the water. 2-3 waves were speeding up
when he was thinking of ways to escape :P

The Araku Valley, 112 km (70 mi) from Visakhapatnam, is a tourist destination. The Araku hill station is at an elevation of over 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) and known for its gardens, valleys, waterfalls and streams.On the way to the Araku hill station are the Borra Caves, (from Wiki)

Araku valley is inhabited by different tribes and best place to visit during summer. If you go there bamboo chicken should be tasted for sure. The bamboo when kept on fire oozes salt which gives a spicy salty taste to chicken. Its unbelievably yummy, For 500 /- you will get unlimited chicken sufficient for 5-6 people. Below are few snapshots from Araku.  Araku is close to orissa border.

At botanical gardens- Araku

Tree house cottages in botanical gardens

Bamboo chicken at araku! Image is googled 

The below pic is taken at Chaparai water cascade-  which is 11 kms from Araku. It is a water slope where people enjoy sliding . It is harmless but it is better to be careful on the slippery rocks. In the below pic the heart you see on the rock shows Swapna and Sadhu's strong bond of love :P .Where ever we went this heart followed us. It was engraved with chalk or brick on trees and walls at every hair pin bend of the road. If you happen to visit Araku do check out for these names and let me know :)

Me at Chaparai

Chaparai slope

Sunset at araku valley

Some other snapshots of vizag which I googled as I don't have pics now.

Borra caves.They come on the way to Araku. Must visit. Image is googled

Sub marine museum on the beach road. Image is googled

This is view from Kailashagiri where you have the idols of Siva Parvathi. Image is googled

Kailashgiri view taken by me with mobile years back when I went
with friends

The rope car ride at Kailash giri

I am re-posting a poem "Life in Nature" which I posted a few months back when I was mesmerized by these magnificent beaches.

The deep blue sea is timeless, restless and endless any day.

Who doesn't want their good times to stay?

Funny to see the timeless sea surrounded by sand.

It slips away like time even if you hold tight in your hand!

Sky and sea are merged with an invisible border line between.

Our hearts are intertwined with strong strings unseen!

Sand, trees, rock, hill and sky surround the sea making it beautiful.

I need you and only you to be around me and make me feel beautiful! 

The waves roaring loud, rise high and fall down.

They look small in front of a swimming fish which won’t drown.

The waves are in a rage when they hit a stone.

We create havoc in hard times and we moan!

The sky is huge interspersed with sun moon and clouds here and there.

Our life is big interspersed with challenges and smiles here and there.

The effort is endless and for a life time we make a living.

The huge sky is tiny compared to a flying bird’s wing!

The clouds too turn grey once in a while and shed the rain.

The smiles may turn to tears once in a while to shed the pain.

The sun sets every day between the hills only to rise again.

We fall down and get up to fight even if we are in strain!

Many movies are shot in and around Vizag and sea follows you where you go. Now don't you think Vizag is the Goa of East coast ? There are many more gorgeous places and beaches which I haven't covered yet. My favorite holiday destination any time  is the "City of Destiny."

"U" for "USP - Unique Selling Proposition!"

I thought a lot for some unique  "U" word. I thought about unity , umpteen , urgent , ubiquity etc ! Finally I found USP the most unique word. Actually it is an acronym with too many abbreviated forms. Do refer to this site to know more - http://www.acronymfinder.com/USP.html ! I here want to concentrate on my favorite of all the words - Unique Selling Proposition . Dictionary defines it as

1. The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot, or does not, offer. It must be unique—either a uniqueness of the brand or a claim not otherwise made in that particular field of advertising.
2. The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions, i.e., pull over new customers to your product

I am not here to discuss about the brands or their ads but we will have a sneak peek in to that too. USP can be used for humans too who can sell themselves excellently projecting their unique traits and qualities. They can market themselves successfully if they possess some unique traits which no one possesses . There is no limit to talent and there is always a necessity to keep our brains active and functional. There is hell lot of competition every where and to be unique is a real challenge .

You must have faced this question quite often  in interviews : "What is your USP ?" We manage some how in interviews as facing an interview needs faking many a times . Once an interviewer asked me if I did anything different from others during the farewell party in college.I stumbled in the beginning and then replied I was one of the organizers and I gave an idea to give rose flowers and gift portraits and photo frames of their favorite movie actors to girls and of actresses to boys! I was not sure if it was a unique thing to do but the interviewer seemed impressed. The lady in the panel bored her eyes in to me and was sulking continuously. The gentleman was happy by my answer. He again questioned , "Was the idea unique ?" I replied , "Ya. It was." He again stressed , "Did some one implement the same idea before?" 
I acted as if I was thinking for a second and then replied, "No. It was a new idea and our seniors were happy!" He moved on to next question.

Now who knows whether any one from previous batches implemented the same idea or not. I was just faking confidently . I got the job after a long interview but the interview got me thinking . I was in dilemma. I am an extremely honest person which always lands me in small / big problems. That day I questioned to myself. Which is more important ? Being honest and saying that it was not a very unique idea or faking and projecting it as the most unique idea? Slowly I understood that many project their ideas as if they are most unique and brilliant like our politicians usually do. Depending on the kind of people we are dealing with we need to fake uniqueness at times. 

The USP gives us a UPS -uninterruptible power supply to face the world , to survive in the competitive atmosphere and to just easily do the day to day chores sometimes!

My Mom's USP is her home made masalas which ease cooking. She makes various powders and spices of different combinations which can be used for chicken , fish , veg dishes. Her rasam powder and khopra (coconut) , Mirchi (red chilli powder) and a garam masala paste are famous which can be readily used in various cuisines and they give a heavenly taste to whatever I cook. My mom's masalas are a big hit and many of my cousins and friends keep asking the recipes. I even pester her to start an Indian spices store . Along with having the title of "best cook" in the family  she is a great artist who decides the home decor. She used to stitch all my dresses till teenage. After that my tastes used to change every week and it was challenging for her due to disparity in our thoughts and tastes. She paints , does sand art , paper art etc etc. You name it. She can learn it in no time. I keep dreaming of getting my lazy bum off the sofa and doing some thing which can make the house extra beautiful and glittery. The below are few shots which show the hard work of my mom and her USP which never fails to impress us.

Sand art . It adorns the tv room.

The nib painting - This one adorns my room.

Pics are not clear as they were taken by my poor nokia ages back.

The hall planned and decorated by mom

I am not very creative and can decorate my hall using angry birds- stuffed toys or some wall hangings bought at some mall. One day I am surely going to inherit my mom's talent and stitch a beautiful saree or paint some thing. By the way I was an artist too. "Was" as I lost touch with my pencil sketches. There is a huge folder at home which has to be dusted and my treasure needs to be unleashed. The below is one of the pencil sketches by me. By the way drawing is not my USP.

I am still trying to find out what my USP is. One of my friends told my posts are heart touching and it is definitely my USP. I asked, "Do you really think so?  I can never imagine stuff and write fiction wonderfully." He said, "You can try but writing these kind of posts which are actually your experiences so realistically is your USP . There are many who can't do it." That last line did the magic :P I felt good thinking may be many cannot actually write the way I write and may be like him many like the way I write. I was feeling so wonderful that day that I went to CCD (Cafe Coffee Day)  and treated my self . That for sure looked like the starting point of what I am embarking on.

Having said that I for sure cannot write the way many do and they cannot do justice to "my" kind of posts by mimicking me. Every one has their own USP which they need to project properly which is all together a different topic to deal with :)

There are few products which project the USP of their brands and products perfectly, where as few are big bummers.

Good and bad ads :

Australia post ad :  Yep the below one is actually their ad. If you really want to touch some one send them a letter. The tag line and the pic are  unique

One more - 

For more check "here" 

The Honey bunny ad of Idea is sweet, fresh and good but it wore off soon. The caption of the sprite soft drink- Sprite bujhaaye only pyaas. Baki sab bakwaas ( Sprite helps only to get rid of thirst. Rest all are useless) is a good one though at times it gets overboard. Century ply ad  is good where a wife becomes wild gorilla and smashes every thing in reach but the wooden products stay intact.It shows the strength of the product which is mingled with fun and sense but could have been more unique. Sab sahe mast rahe is their tag line which means the product tolerates anything and every thing and stays strong!

 There are few mindless ads like  Mirinda or Mazaa ad, Sunfeast dark fantasy or amsutra or axe deo or bumchikawaowao(some deo ad I guess. I always forget what ad it is) .Many ads can always be confused with the condom or some other ads .Till the ad ends its tough to guess what it actually is for  but I guess people enjoy watching Katrina holding a slice or a girl savoring the chocolate or biting off a man who sprays axe chocolate deo.  The product gets sold. *Sigh* 

There are many creative ads and few disastrous ones. In the struggle to have a perfect USP some times creative brains chime together churning out a wonderful idea and many a times brains over work and ring incoherently which leads to meaning less ads where highlighting the product becomes last priority !

Enough of the USP gyaan people. It is always important to have some USP which helps us to stand out of the crowd. Being a part of the awesome group "A2Zers" is really a blessing as I came to know the USPs of many people. Few are amazing photographers. Few write magical poems and few weave magic around simple words. Few write excellent travelogues . Few write heart touching posts. Few teach subtle lessons for life and few keep it simple but make us think a lot. I am not mentioning all the names here but hats off to the whole group !

Lastly some thing I got as a forward mail few days back !!

Always remember - 

What is your USP in writing and apart from writing what are your other USPs ?
Once again a big thanks to  "A to Z blogging Challenge 2013" ! 
This is my 21st post-- WOW just 5 more days are left.