tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26244637249279025962024-02-07T02:11:00.289-08:00SaumyaReviewsA blog full of interactions and reactions featuring college celebrities, entrepreneurs, authors and more.Saumyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12854568554475474724noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-8560946643154682942015-03-23T14:01:00.002-07:002015-03-23T14:33:22.850-07:00I wish I had a smartphone!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have never used a smartphone before. Earlier I didn't have the requisite money. Now when I have, I am too comfortable with the basic Nokia phone that I have been using. Most of my friends who got costly phones have been making fun of me, calling my tiny phone names that ideally it doesn't deserve. But they are true as well: I miss out on so many things because of my oldish phone.</span><br />
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Two of my friends have turned into ace photographers because of using their phones. They had never held a camera before but because of the high quality cameras in their phones, they had started clicking every little things of interest. With a smartphone, it was easy to instagram them and now they are quite famous there too. I have been always interested in photography, ever since my parents had bought their first Yashika camera when I was seven year old. But the cost of getting rolls and thereafter printing hindered my indulgence. When I came to Delhi as a seventeen year student at Delhi University, I was inducted into the photography club. I didn't have a camera of my own, but I learnt whatever I could with the mediocre college camera. I just wished that I had a phone with a camera, so that all the interesting moments that I just wished I could capture, but never could would be snapped and preserved for eternity, besides sharpening my eye for details.</span><br />
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Over the years, i have started clicking with borrowed cameras and have created my own FB page called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/SaumyaSnehilCreativity">Saumya Photography and Artworks</a>, but I don't always have an access to a camera and many moments that I wanted to capture have gone amiss, which shall not happen in case I have a smartphone with a smartphone camera. Consider this picture, which I clicked in Chandni Chown, just because I happened to be with a friend who had a camera phone.</span><br />
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<a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/p206x206/10157225_821239914556397_220059135_n.jpg?oh=264d6ce369b33fc1867c569abd955282&oe=55BDB80A&__gda__=1433645635_43a0dc0f589a4bcf4223deee9d159e52" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xap1/v/t1.0-9/p206x206/10157225_821239914556397_220059135_n.jpg?oh=264d6ce369b33fc1867c569abd955282&oe=55BDB80A&__gda__=1433645635_43a0dc0f589a4bcf4223deee9d159e52" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is during such a state that I encountered the advertisement of Moto E. It's tagline itself says: <i>#ChooseToStart your smartphone journey with the all new Moto E</i>, which makes me very excited about it. Upon seeing its description, it turns out that it's one of the sturdiest phones ever, and at a price that completely takes care of my wallet. </span></div>
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<a href="https://www.indiblogger.in/images/indivine/campaigns/motorola1/mainbanner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="348" src="https://www.indiblogger.in/images/indivine/campaigns/motorola1/mainbanner.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Image courtesy; Indiblogger</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is:</span></div>
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<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Shock proof, water resistant</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">All day battery life, something that I can't stop feeling happy about since it'll be able to compete with my basic phone along with all the additional features it is providing.</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Smart design, which makes Moto E a very presentable device</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Different coloured holders, which makes me feel like having a new phone every few months,</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Quick Capture: My favourite of all the features. it allows me to shuffle between the front camera and the back camera by just a small shake of the cellphone</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I can't wait to start a new life. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">P.S. Do check <a href="http://www.startwithmotoe.com/">Moto E</a>, I'm doing the same, here: <a href="http://www./">www.</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://startwithmotoe.com/">startwithmotoe.com</a></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Here's a great product description:</span></span></div>
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Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-3625882115665142632015-03-14T14:02:00.000-07:002015-03-14T14:05:03.653-07:00Friends Forever, Friends Together<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">The story belongs to the time when I was in my 3rd grade. I had a best friend then, he was called Ranjan. We struck great friendship in class 2 and though our sections had changed in the 3rd grade, we still remained the best of the buddies. Ranjan was the son of Acharya sir, one of the strictest teachers in the school, who taught us Hindi. Acharya sir didn't like the fact that Ranjan was friends to me - a below average student, and often contemptuously remarked in front of me to Ranjan to befriend the class topper Ankit and be around him, rather than me. Though it hurt my childish sensibility but it failed to affect our friendship, which grew stronger with time. </span><br />
<br style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Ranjan's birthday was an important day in my life. It had been my endeavour to make sure that his birthday turned out to be very special, and from months before, I used to start preparing for it, thinking of the right gift which would spark up a brilliant smile on his face. My grandfather came home during that time and he brought me a big box of assorted Hajmola candies, around 500 of them and I realized that those candies might be the perfect gift for my dear friend. The day before Ranjan's birthday, I packed 50 candies in a box of a moisturizer used by my mother, wrapped it in gift paper, wrote "Happy birthday to my best friend, - From your Best Friend" in my horrendous cursive handwriting. I engraved a thin-line on the top of box to enable Ranjan to later use the box as a gullak, a piggy bank, to collect coins. I had told Ranjan on the previous day that there is a birthday surprise waiting for him, which made him bubble with excitement. </span><br />
<br style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">The day arrived, I stealthily took out the gift packet from my bag during the lunch time and just when I was about to go to see Ranjan in the adjacent section, students around me having caught hold of me, shouted in unison, 'Saumya has got a gift,' and snatched the box away from me, ripping the wraps like monkeys. I screamed and yelled that it was not for them, but for Ranjan, my best friend, the birthday boy, Acharya Sir's son, but they didn't care. Hajmola candies commanded more respect than Acharya sir, apparently. I tearfully watched my gift being squandered in the hands of the wicked few. The class comprised of 40 students and each one of them stole one candy each, leaving behind 10 candies and a wretched moisturizer box behind, which I collected with my disappointed hands. I didn't know how to face Ranjan, who was waiting deliriously for my present in the other section. </span><br />
<br style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;" />
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Dejectedly, with those ten candies wrapped in a four-line ruled sheet pulled out from my English notebook, I plodded to the other section. Ranjan, upon seeing me, rushed forward with a hopeful smile. I handed over those ten candies cloaked in the paper with dismay, which he opened with utmost delight and upon seeing what was inside, all he could do was flash an ear to ear smile, a smile which I had never seen on his face, a smile that was full of amazement. I was too perplexed to say anything. He hugged me and said, 'You gave me the best gift of all - Hajmola candies, these are my favorite. I had never had </span><i style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">so</i><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">many of them together.'</span><br />
<i style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;"><br /></i>
<i style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px;">Written for <a href="http://housing.com/">housing.com</a> that asked me to write about my most memorable day. This is it!</i></div>
Saumyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12854568554475474724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-57697535553772207112015-03-14T13:19:00.002-07:002015-03-14T13:22:10.900-07:00Two Drops of Tears<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It was the Parents Teacher meeting of my class 12th, and as always my Dad was accompanying me. With me always being one amongst the top three rankers of my class since the late childhood, my Dad had got used to praises from the teacher during such meetings, which was quite gratifying experience for me as well as my Dad.<br />
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But that time, the case had been pretty different. I had performed dismally in almost all the subjects except Maths, and my class rank had crawled down to stand amongst the bottom fews.<br />
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Those days, the mighty preparation for JEE with numerous everyday assignments and test-papers left me completely enervated to concentrate on the school studies and thus, the result was more or less expected. But, I feared that my Dad would feel bad about it and might scold me, since he didn't know how much pressure the studies for JEE had on me. As we entered the class-room, my class-teacher immediately stood up from her chair and with a worried look on her face, approached my father.<br />
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'Mr.Pathak, your son is going nowhere. See the decline,' she said, pointing at the dismal marks in different subjects, 'the highest is 99 out of 100 in Chemistry and Saumya has got just 67. His rank has slid down to 24th, from 2nd in 11th class. This is not what we expect from him. He's certainly not studying. He's lost his spark.'<br />
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My Dad looked at me with a serious face. I was expecting a reprimand, a reproach echoing my teacher's words, to hit my ears.<br />
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'Madam, don't you worry about Saumya. He's working hard, I can assure you. He will do better the next time. And mind it, he has not lost his spark. It's right there.' My Dad said with a reassuring smile as his palm caressed my head softly.<br />
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The teacher was dumbstruck. She had nothing more to say. Handing over the report card, she moved back to her chair and greeted other parents. My Dad put his arms around my shoulder and asked, as he always used to do when I secured a rank, in a delighted tone, 'So, which ice-cream do you want to have - butterscotch or chocolate chips?'<br />
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I looked into his eyes, smiled and blinked. I had butterscotch, with two drops of tears, thereafter.<br />
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One year later, I topped the boards as well as cleared the JEE. That time, he had butterscotch, with two drops of tears. I did #StartANewLife.<br />
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<i>Check <a href="http://housing.com/">Housing.com</a>'s new video:</i><br />
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Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-3530667985140868222015-03-06T01:23:00.002-08:002015-03-06T01:23:18.277-08:00How I Pampered My Uggi?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Most babies like to laugh. There is not a more pleasing
sight than a laughing baby. And not a more annoying sight than a wailing one.
Don’t you remember that one annoying baby in the bus or the airplane or the
cinema hall who made your life miserable? Most often, crying babies are either
hungry, or hurt, or wet. When babies are with their mothers and fathers, with
milk bottles, would they be hungry? No. If it’s a healthy baby, would they be
hurt. Very rarely, they would be. So why do they cry? It’s because they are
wet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I have a baby. His name is Utkarsh, and we call him Uggi.
Uggi was born exactly a year ago, the same month, March. The last one year has
been quite a journey for me and his father. Uggi is not a crybaby. He enjoys
going out. Take him to a mall, let him see the fancy lights and smell the
soothing fragrance, he will pass an ear to ear smile that outgrows his face.
Take him to any well lighted place, Uggi turns crazy with happiness. What he
hates, and what we hate too, thanks to him, is taking him to a cinema hall.
Once we took him to a cinema hall and we had made wear a diaper, a common
brand, and he kept crying. I tried to feed him, but he was not interested. He
wasn’t hungry. He didn’t seem to be in pain either. His hands kept inching
towards his diaper, as if urging us to remove it for him. I opened the diaper
to find out that despite the promise of keeping my baby’s bottom dry and
sealed, the diaper was damp. His buttocks were wrinkled and red. We were angry,
so were the people around us because of our wailing Uggi, and we stormed out of
the movie theater and rushed to a Chemist’s shop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We asked for a brand that could seal the pee, that could help
keep my baby dry. There wasn’t one he said. It was not until this year that I
found out that finally there is a brand which can help Uggi remain the outdoor baby
that he is, who loves going out, who loves lights and cinema, who loves the dryness
promised by the new Pampers Baby Dry. Its Magic Gel locked in moisture so helps
Uggi’s skin remains dry and healthy for up to 12 hours. Besides, Uggi never
complains. It’s like a baby diaper pampering him, true to its name.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/HTlVOdovIZ8/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HTlVOdovIZ8?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<o:p><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Written for Indiblogger's Happy hours. Check Pampers: </span></o:p><a href="http://www.rewardme.in/tag/Pampers" style="background-color: white; color: #990000; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://www.rewardme.in/tag/Pampers</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', Verdana, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">.</span></div>
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Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-70159526568329923812015-03-05T01:14:00.000-08:002015-03-05T01:14:18.720-08:00The Story of My Motorcycle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 13.5pt;">As soon as I graduated from
college, I fought with my parents to allow me to go full-time with my start-up.
They didn’t approve of my choosing an uncertain course over the secure path of
campus placements and there was an unsaid tension between my parents and me. I
became taciturn during that phase, and would answer in a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ over the
phone to my parents’ anxious questions, often evading most of them. Since they
lived a thousand kilometers away, they were understandably concerned about my
well-being. Most of their questions were directed at my company and almost
always ended up calling it futile. I would hang up, frustrated. Fighting it out
with abject poverty, I painted a rosy picture of my life to my parents saying,
‘I am making a decent half a lac rupees a month,’ so that I would be relieved
from at least one end, while figuring out a revenue model that worked for my
venture. </span></div>
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It was the end of the second month of full-time entrepreneurship and a very
difficult time for me. I had rented a 2 BHK apartment in Malviya Nagar, made
one room the office and the other, the living room. The rent, shared between my
partner and me, was fifteen thousand rupees per month besides an additional
three thousands for electricity<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My
partner’s parents knew<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>his dismal
financial condition and they<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>supported
him, whereas my self-respect forbade me to ask for my parents’ help. As the
date of paying the rent came closer, tension in the house grew. My partner
started pestering me to arrange the money, and I retaliated by asking him to
generate money from the venture instead. Owing to my slackness, the rent was
delayed and my landlord, an astute Delhi businessman, got pissed and gave us a
notice to pack our bags. We begged him for one more day and my partner stopped
speaking to me for a day so that I knew it was entirely my fault. I decided it
was time to let go of my ego and ask for my parents’ help. But before I could
dial the number, I saw an unread message in my inbox. It said, ‘Rs. 60000
credited in your SBI account’. It was my father.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;"><br />
My eyes became wet as I dialled my father’s number. He answered on the third
ring and said, ‘It’s your birthday next month. You always wanted a motorcycle.
Allow me to gift you one. With the money transferred, buy it for yourself. It
would help you in your business.’ Unable to say anything without giving away
that I was crying, I cut the call and sobbed uncontrollably. The money he
credited sustained me during the next six months of pathetic poverty. I
struggled hard, the windfall in my bank account reminding me of my duty towards
my parents every day. Six months later, I found an investor for my company. For
the first time in life, I was in a condition to buy a motorcycle for myself,
which I did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Garamond; font-size: 13.5pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-IN;">When my father came to Delhi
last month to inaugurate my venture’s new office on my birthday, I made him sit
on the pillion of my six-month old motorcycle while going to the venue. He said
to me, ‘You have maintained it really well. It does not look like it’s a year
old.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-30657183269538473002013-03-12T05:30:00.004-07:002013-03-13T08:03:35.709-07:00In Conversation With Solo Traveler Akram Feroze<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3plTTLvhvU5yv0sOr4dNKUMU0tZAvJ8HgI_LlXykLw24FAqpDYBflkS8NO2YVFu7J27vW_pK1DHjt92kFoWMvoaageTgOfw-gzC1qqkX1WZHwxXKA9j_j4NN4eQu8t4P1ENNstkWHtI4w/s1600/376766_3146231513208_1391248901_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3plTTLvhvU5yv0sOr4dNKUMU0tZAvJ8HgI_LlXykLw24FAqpDYBflkS8NO2YVFu7J27vW_pK1DHjt92kFoWMvoaageTgOfw-gzC1qqkX1WZHwxXKA9j_j4NN4eQu8t4P1ENNstkWHtI4w/s200/376766_3146231513208_1391248901_n.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="text-align: left;"></span></div>
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<b>Akram Feroze</b>, a solo traveler living on Robert Louis Stevenson's saying - “For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move.” He is also a theatre artist, director, and a solo traveler. He has been traveling across the country for more than two years now. He is often locomoting on his bicycle but every now and then he takes a break from his cycle and hitchhike for a while.</div>
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___________________________</div>
<b><u><br /><br />Let's read about a traveler's perspective of the world and life with an insight into his journey:</u></b><br />
<b><br />1. Before we begin, tell us about yourself in a nutshell. </b><br />
<br />
=> I am Akram Feroze, a dropout, hailing from a small town Jagtial, in Karimnagar, a district of Andhra Pradesh. I love food, talking, rains and fantasies. I am emotional, excited, and I strongly believe in living in the moment. Theatre is my passion, something which makes me complete.<br />
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<b>2. Interesting! What is your earliest memory of being enchanted with travelling? </b><br />
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=> In my 12th Standard, an elderly man (must be in his 50s) from Yugoslavia came to our college, he was travelling across world by foot, I don’t remember his name, but that was something which has always been in the back of my mind, though it never came out openly until one day. Then there are always those fantasies built in school days when you’re sitting idly bored of your monotonous life thinking of something to do. And in my case I had rarely journeyed out of my town.<br />
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<b>3. You dropped out of college, what was the reason behind that impulsive act?</b><br />
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=> Well, you can say it was pretty much an impulsive act, I was pursuing my graduation in Genetics, but one day in my second year I suddenly discovered my love for arts and social sciences, I felt like leaving genetics and pursuing my graduation in arts or social sciences, and more over I was not coming in terms with certificate education but had no choice, that’s how the system works. Though I could not drop out in second year, but in the final year I had one of the toughest phase of my life, a relationship failure, which had broke me completely, I could not come in terms with the reality, I was shattered, it was tough emotionally, tougher than I could handle myself then, if not for few good men like my professor Moloy Goswani, my story was dead end. I was fighting with myself, trying to rediscover myself, and then there was a moment when I felt “I should allow myself to be what I am, if I want to drop out, I shall drop out”. And now I feel that, that impulsive decision helped me to relive what I believed in internally.<br />
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<b>4. What made you take the sudden leap to going solo with your bicycle? Was there any plan?</b><br />
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=> I come from a middle class town family, where savings are more important than living and traveling is a dead culture. I had generally travelled from my town to Hyderabad city that too only for my graduation apart to that I had not seen much of life around. Those fantasies were building inside, I want to see life away from that 4 walled room, away from boundaries of my town, beyond the Hyderabad city, beyond the reach of states, and I was not coming in terms with society, which judged me with my success and failures, It was strange for me as if I was carrying a burden of theirs to succeed, I wanted to break free, I wanted to move away from the world of insecurities and quick judgments, and that’s when I heard the call of my Fantasy from the back of mind. But financially that’s something my family could not afford, after a thorough thinking I decided to hit the road by walk, and travel across the country for 2 years, but when I revealed the idea to my parents, after 2 months of discussing the idea, my Dad suggested me to go on a bicycle. Nah there was never a idea of bicycle before, it was just a day before the start of journey that I bought a cycle and hit the road, before that I had cycled in my school days years and years ago. And for 2 years travel, I could not find a person to leave his job and join me, so I had to start solo. Forget about finding a person, people were laughing at the idea in itself.<br />
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<b>5. How difficult was it for you to convince your parents to take the difficult road when a comfortable one was in option?</b><br />
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=> It was difficult, damn difficult. It took couple of months of regular talks to convince them about the whole idea. I didn’t want their son to be a run-away from home; I wanted them to understand that I can do this, and there is no wrong in it and I will be happy doing it. But it was more of a crisscross of culture, I was trying to explain them a complete different way of life, and they weren’t willing to accept the idea. It was like you are trying to explain a staunch follower of one religion to change to another. And then they had the worries of my security, they had n number of “what & ifs”. What if you are robbed? What if you fall ill? It was tough, because even I didn’t have the answers to those questions; all I had was a blind faith in my dream. I convinced them to allow me to try for 15 days on the condition that they will allow me to continue if I survive those 15 days well. I suppose I am doing awesomely well that till now I have their confidence to keep me continuing with it. And my whole travel journey is just not my own feelings but it is also a journey of my relationships.<br />
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<b>6. Definitely, convincing our parents for allowing us to do what we want to do is tougher that doing the thing itself. And the very fact that you didn't give up shows how firm you were with your decision. </b><b>Well, tell us Akram, at any moment were you scared to be alone on the road? Did you have moments of insecurity? </b><br />
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=> Scared? If you are beaten by drunkards in some unknown village, don’t you get scared? If you are arrested for murder cases, don’t you get scared? If you are having lunch with robbers in an unknown village, don’t you get scared? When you find snakes in your bed, don’t u get scared? You stay with unknown people who get drunk and start fighting among themselves with knifes then don’t you get scared? When you see a truck run over a body scattering blood all over the road as you pass, don’t you get scared? I certainly do, I have my fears and insecurities. You constantly have to keep on over coming them.<br />
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<b>7. You wanted to break-free and see more of the country as you had not traveled much before, and even traveling is not a comfortable endeavor, like you just told us how unpredictably scary the journey gets, what is the motive that keeps you going? </b><br />
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=> “Motive” does travelling require a motive? Anyway as I said I wanted to see life beyond the boundaries, learn from people and share it back to them. Travelling is an evolving process, it has changed over a period of time, like at first I was trying to do theatre, then I was learning theatre, then I started exploring cultures, then I got closer to grass-root issues, it has been a process, I can only say the motive is to learn and share, and what I am learning and sharing, I will leave it to road!<br />
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<b>8. Traveling is indeed a learning process. How has it changed you as a person?</b><br />
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=> Immensely, what I started as a 2 year tour across country became the way of my life in itself, I don’t see the end of road now, that’s why I break free from my cycle for a few months and hitchhike across the country and come back to cycle again. I no longer have a urge to settle, or have a house or own a car, when I can sleep peacefully and happily at any footpath I don’t understand the need of a comfortable cozy bedroom, I won’t say I have completely broken the shackles of materialism, but I certainly realized the difference between needs and wants. And the biggest learning has been the meaning of love and freedom, it has completely changed my thought process, I love people or things even if I am not attached to them, it does not matter if the person or thing is with me to love it. I can be detachably attached to the same. And the other important thing traveling teaches you is compassion, and a journey like this takes you closer to people and their issues, like I was always away from politics reforms which was like a boring front page news, suddenly that becomes the most important, and then when I look back and say I wanted to break free, I realise that I have rather become more sensitive and responsible about the same freedom. And I believe these changes would keep happening as you keep learning new things on road. Traveling in a true sense is nothing but a mere reflection of life.<br />
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<b>9. Traveling solo is as dreadful as enchanting; you must have been through different kinds of troubles, what keeps you going? </b><br />
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=> “Awesomeness” If you look at my posts on Facebook, many times you will find “Awesome Feroze”, I constantly have to motivate myself, I constantly have to seek inspiration from myself, people might say its self indulging, it might be, I can be inspired by XXX person or thing, and start my journey, but when you are all alone on road, struck, tired and frustrated, you break down crying on road, no one comes to pat your back and say “get up chap , you are doing well, keep moving” you have to look back at the day when you broke free and went for your dreams, to remind yourself, you had the courage to do it, you are awesome and you can do this too, to start extrinsic motivation might work, but to sustain it, it has to be intrinsic motivation. I constantly keep going back to day1 or zero, because it was tough and when I remember that I survived through that I know that can do this too.<br />
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<b>10. I am sure you must have explored India from extremely rural areas to the extremely urban ones, how would you describe what the combination brings out to be named India? </b><nr> </nr><br />
<nr><br /> => Now to answer this, I will tell you about an experience, I was paddling in Tamil Nadu in the south east coast of the country, I saw a beautiful church, the whole church looked like an architectural masterpiece, I was just struck with the beauty of the church, and as I paddled another 50 to 100 meters, I saw a women standing in front of a small hut, barely able to cover her sagging breast, with a baby in hand crying for food. I was lost, I was shaken, tears flowed down, and I didn’t know how to react to the contrasting nation I saw in few minutes. We are a lost nation unable to answer which is the right way ahead, we are lost in oppression , I am not talking just about the oppression by rich and powerful, but also oppression exhibited by the oppressed, we are lost in cultural transformation. There is a complete disconnect in the ideologies, in the culture and way to look forward between the urban and rural. There are land struggles, natural resources struggle, and people’s movements which the urban world just cannot connect to these struggles, because it does not pinch them directly and also there is a lack of understanding of rural nation. I could only say even being a strong cultural nation; we are still evolving with the culture. Yes a traveler like me have been able to survive without much cash but on kindness and love of people, that speaks a ton about the nation’s cultural greatness, but that does not mean we don’t have caste discrimination, child marriages, women oppression, labour exploitation, blind rituals, and all these are also a part of our culture, that why I say we have a long </nr><br />
<nr>way to evolve as a nation and that can happen when the urban and rural are ready to look eye to eye and make a map for what sort of development we as one nation seek. And as a traveler, I shall keep the hope that it will happen soon.</nr><br />
<nr><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/iQ1VPvQa4To?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe><nr></nr>
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<b>11. Tell us about ‘The Cycle Natak’? How do you associate it with traveling? </b><br />
<br /> => My Bicycle Journey Is called as <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheCycleNatak?fref=ts" target="_blank">The Cycle Natak</a>. I had been doing theatre before the start of my journey, and theatre is my passion, and like travelling fantasy, Cycle Natak was also a fantasy, I was introduced to theatre very late in my life, which was during my graduation when I moved to city. Before that being in town, I had never watched a theatre. And I used to hear the olden tales of how theatre groups travelled from villages to villages to perform theatre, so once I decided to travel for 2 long years, I didn’t want to disassociate with my passion for theatre, so I thought I would try performing theatre wherever possible. And once I decided I was gonna travel on cycle, the fantasy grew like “A man on his cycle came to my village stayed here, performed theatre and he went away in air”. Though it’s a fantasy, but I keep trying to do that wherever possibly I can.<br />
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<b>12. How do you collaborate with different people at different places for your moving theatre (Natak Mandali)?</b><br />
<br />
=> Like me, even my theatre has evolved through the journey, at first I used to do random monologues, which used to fail as I had no idea about folk and classical theatre which is preferred in villages, moreover having no scripts, no props, no costumes, no makeups , no stage, I was a complete flop show, then I started meeting various theatre groups during the journey and learnt whatever I could from them, then I worked on playback theatre involving the villagers stories and making them act casually, it was more fun, and as I traveled more, I got involved in grassroots issues and social problems, and I started doing theatre workshops with students in school, slowly got them in confidence and along with the students I do street theatre mostly which is very effective in reaching the message to the villagers, sometimes I train local organizations on how to use theatre for a change. It has been a process, and I am still learning the better way to collaborate and perform. Journey is long, so I am taking my time and moving on.<br />
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<b>13. What drove your passion for theatre? </b><br />
<br /> => It was my maternal grandfather, with whom I stayed in city for graduation; he was a playwright, though he is best known for his short stories in Urdu. He introduced me to theatre, being a trustee of the biggest theatre foundation in Hyderabad, he used to take me to shows of Naseeruddin Shah, Arundhati Nag, Anupam Kher, Girish Karnad, plays of Habib Tanvir and the best of India theatre, I was awestruck with theatre, and I started experimenting in college.<br />
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<b>14. You travel on a shoe-string budget, how do you sustain yourself through the journey?</b><br />
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=> I keep it simple, never stay in hotels, never buy clothes and accessories, even a torn t-shirt work for me for days, I avoid eating in hotels. I suppose travelling on bicycle or hitch hiking has helped me here, most of the labours who give me food, see the stinking t-shirt and connect to quickly, if you are going by a car and say that you are looking for food, I doubt many would offer the hospitality. Though I do require cash sometimes, for a few things so for that I work as an unskilled labour, in agricultural farms or construction units, sometimes as a fisherman, sometimes as a teacher, or trainer, and sometimes I use my skill of theatre in workshops. And I don’t travel in public transports (unless there is an emergency) so that helps too.<br />
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<b>15. You have a huge fan following for your courageous endeavors. How did people take your decision initially? Were there any acts of cynicism or criticism towards you? How do you deal with it? </b><br />
<br /> => Fan following is terrible, I am strongly against that culture. Fans are required when you have to sell something, I don’t have anything to sell, I just have to learn and share. More over I would prefer people who admire and appreciate my efforts honestly and add critical value to the learning’s. And most of them have come late in my journey so they weren’t a part of it initially. But relatives and friends were a part of that cynicism and criticism initially; it was tough then as no-one was ready to show any confidence. At a friend’s gathering before the start of journey, I was the butt of jokes for everyone. It was very frustrating. The only thing I could do then was laugh with them and get more determined. Anyway I had never understood this society’s way on how differently they perceive a human being when the person fails or succeed. I better live my dreams, because the experience I get out of it cannot be weighed on a balance of success or failures.<br />
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<b>16. You hitchhike, you seek help from strangers, you are always on an adventurous and an unpredictable ride, tell us about one interesting incident that you would never like to forget.</b><br />
<br /> => It is the most difficult question, because there are so many stories and to select one is always difficult. Well, I guess I have to choose one and tell you. I was hitch hiking from Jaipur to Mumbai, at around 10 o clock, after a trolley auto dropped me 120kms before Udaipur, I was looking for my next lift, after a long wait, a car stopped, I asked him for Udaipur, he signaled to get in, after ten minutes of silence, I decided to break the ice, and I introduced myself to him and as I asked about him, he shouted furiously “Don’t talk or else I will throw you out of the car!” the way he shouted it scared the hell out of me, I kept mum for some time wondering where was he driving in this night and I couldn’t make out the road, so I thought I will update about my whereabouts on Facebook, in case something goes wrong, I put my hand in my pocket looking for my mobile, he shouted back, “remove your hands, remove your hands from pocket or else I will beat you up!” I at once removed my hands out of pocket and I told him it’s nothing just my mobile, I took out my mobile and showed him, and then he replied I am dropping you in the next town, just get down. Even I felt I should get down, as soon as he stopped his car I got down saying ‘thanks’. After getting down I wondered was he more scared or me? :D It sounds funny, but it was dam scary then.<br />
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<b>17. Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line?</b><br />
<br /> => I do not know where I am tomorrow, most of the days I don’t know where I will be sleeping or eating at night. It is impossible to tell anything about 5 years down the line, I have left it on the road to decide, like a obedient student, or a son or a lover I will move wherever it takes me. Don’t be surprised if you see me on road all my life, as I am madly in love with the unknown roads and the mysticism it unfolds!<br />
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<b>18. Traveling enchants everyone but not everyone is able to go for it for different reasons. What would you say to aspiring travelers? </b><br /> <br />
=>“Just pack your bags and move” stop looking at travelogues, stop wondering if you’ve the required stuff, start with whatever you have, road is an amazing teacher if you are open to learning’s, mind it I am telling this to travelers and not to tourists. There is a huge difference in both. As a traveler, you should be ready to move out of insecurities and fight with yourself and slowly you will fall in peace.<br />
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<b>19. Do you think traveling is something that should be pursued by Indian women? What would you say to the ones who wants to travel on a shoe-string budget?</b><br />
<br /> => Travelling should be pursued regardless of gender, and why shouldn’t women pursue it? It’s a right to freedom of everyone. Though with all the crime news it makes traveling look unsafe, and people keep on talking about sexual perverts, psychos, but that is not the most important thing to think of, with psychos it can happen anytime, anywhere, to anyone you need not be travelling to experience that, it can happen to males too. But the major issue to think of will be the cultural cult, those cultural groups who are not ready to accept the cultural transformation. In India, women freedom is curbed and the shameful part is that it is done in the name of culture. Hence that way I strongly believe women should travel, and I don’t know how they would be received. But even if they’re not received very well, one has got to be humble and determined to move forward, as they will be building a new culture, and travelling on a shoe-string budget gets you closer to people, and new culture can be built only by winning the hearts of people. So for all aspiring women travelers my suggestion is same “Pack your bags, the road will guide and teach you."</nr><br />
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<b><u><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">Rapid-fire round</span></u></b><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"> : -</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Favourite book :</b></span><b><br /><br />=> </b>My facebook time :D I just love reading the updates and get inspired, I am not an avid reader, Panchatantra remains my fav for it teaches the common sense.</li>
<li><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: "Trebuchet MS"; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Trebuchet MS";"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"><b> </b></span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b>Your role
model : </b><br /><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;"><b><br />=></b></span><span style="font-family: Wingdings; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Wingdings; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS","sans-serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt;">My Grandfather, Kadir Zaman.</span></span></li>
<li><b>One hobby you
wish to inculcate :<br /><br />=> </b>Might be
reading.</li>
<li><b>One thing you
regret :<br /><br />=> </b>Nothing,
everything is a process. On a lighter note losing mobile phones and losing all my
contacts at different places I visited.</li>
<li><b>One place you
would recommend us to travel to :</b><br /><b style="font-weight: bold;"><br />=> </b>Andaman and
Nicobar</li>
<li><b>Favourite
cuisine :<br /><br />=> </b>Any meat, I
am a non-veg lover. Though the best I have ever tasted is Meat Soup in the
small village of Karen tribal community in Andaman.</li>
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<li>To connect with Akram Feroze : <a href="https://www.facebook.com/akramferoze?fref=ts" target="_blank">Facebook: Akram Feroze</a></li>
<li>To check out The Cycle Natak's page: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheCycleNatak" target="_blank">The Cycle Natak</a></li>
</ul>
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Thank you Akram for sharing about your experiences and spreading inspiration. :)<br />
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Saumyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12854568554475474724noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-85585695848198652862013-03-07T10:46:00.002-08:002013-03-07T11:00:40.553-08:00In conversation with author Shubham Choudhary <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: left;"><b>Shubham Choudhary: </b></span>Shubham Choudhary is a Final year student of MNIT Jaipur, pursuing B.Tech in Electronics and Communication. Being an active blogger, he has written over a hundred articles, stories and </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">poems. His works are based on hillarious observations of the daily life. Besides writing, he likes to travel and read biographies and fiction. He also has a deep interest in music and has taken training in the field of Radio Jockeying as well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My EX Fell In Love is his debut novel. He has also got a short story published in an anthology by Grapevine India Publishers. He is actively involved in the start-up TalEx India. He has written for many websites, noticeable among them being, Youthdiaries.in, Bewakoof.com, News That Matters Not and TheWittyShit.com. He has also been awarded the blogger of the month award by YouthInc. </span></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7947743523400277"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><u><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Let's read what he has to share with us :-</span></u></span></b></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7947743523400277"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before you became an author, you have been an avid blogger, your blog ‘Crap Reloaded’ famous for wit and sarcasm has been featured for its various hilarious blog posts. What has been the journey like? </span></span></b></div>
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.7947743523400277"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;">=></b> That takes me back! Man I am talking like a forty year old. But it does, that time I was more regular with my blog. From one post to another, readers kept growing and I kept loving all the appreciation I got. I still remember some of the posts that crossed the so called ‘barriers’ of likes and re-tweets. Honestly, I owe the book and everything I do in the field of writing to my blog. I have actually seen myself grow as a writer, maybe one day I’ll grow up enough to write better.
</span></span></span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-indent: 18pt; white-space: pre-wrap;">2.Tell us about your first memory of being inspired by writing.
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.7947743523400277"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> I have loved writing since I was a kid. English had always been my favorite subject. It became a passion when I started my blog. I think faking news and thewittyshit.com were two things that gave me the appreciation for the smallest pieces I wrote, which inspired me to write more.
</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. </span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">What made you realize your aspirations of becoming an author?
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.7947743523400277"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> </span><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The aspiration to write a book; well, it was like love in my case, it just 'happened'! I don't know how, I don't know why, I only know that once the idea came to my mind, I never though twice and went for it. </span></span></span></div>
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<b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">How did your debut novel ‘My ex fell in love’ see the light of the day?</b></div>
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.7947743523400277"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> I am a fast writer, but very lazy! Once I started writing, it was either one chapter in one day or nothing for weeks. After I got the acceptance for my sample chapters, I freaked out since I didn't have the manuscript ready. But things fell in place and one day I receive this call from my father saying you have a parcel couriered from someone. I go home and I see a book with a green cover and my name written over it. I am yet to have a better moment than that in my life!</span></span></span></span><br />
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<b style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">That sounds terrific! ‘My ex fell in love’ was released 4 months ago. How has it been received so far?</b><br />
<span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> I never keep a track of the number of copies it sold, since I didn’t write for that. But when it comes to reviews, luckily they've been too good. Even the finest of the reviewers of the country have given it pretty good reviews. Just hoping it continues and although I don’t keep the numbers, hope they’re good too.</span><br />
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>To what extent is the story of your novel influenced from your own life?
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<span id="internal-source-marker_0.7947743523400277"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQKmHFYF3tVwRrkHzetfLStqUNPGmXNLVL_i44VcdtEBIQVE3A4paq9_-iLKPOhaR3LUcaHjRZNwR0V6Fv9mMJubhyphenhyphenpfDRHmn8oiseVi_HrhU1Nefw1zUxgOrzz3Mv73LAs4Em6JXRmPK/s1600/Photo0088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJQKmHFYF3tVwRrkHzetfLStqUNPGmXNLVL_i44VcdtEBIQVE3A4paq9_-iLKPOhaR3LUcaHjRZNwR0V6Fv9mMJubhyphenhyphenpfDRHmn8oiseVi_HrhU1Nefw1zUxgOrzz3Mv73LAs4Em6JXRmPK/s320/Photo0088.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> Hardly one percent or maybe not even that much. Some thoughts of the characters might match mine, maybe one or two incidences, but the story is pure fiction. And that’s what I keep telling to all my readers. Maybe this interview will help telling them all at once, erm… again…
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Tell us one reason why your blog-readers should go for your book. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> Because the humor and the language you like on my blog in a one page article, is present in 204 such pages in it.</span></span><br />
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<li dir="ltr" style="font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>I am pretty sure about that. :) In the writing field what is going to be your next project?
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> There are three. I am back to blogging regularly, this time almost double the number of readers. So that’s one, blogging regularly. I have started writing my second book. Pretty hard topic this time, need to concentrate on that too. Plus my online forum YouthDiaries (a platform for budding writers) has been seeing a good rise in subscribers and writers lately. So I am going to be a little occupied with that too.</span></span></div>
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<b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">According to you how difficult the journey from ‘aspiring to be an author’ to ‘becoming an author’ is?</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> In one line, this difficulty is inversely proportional to the amount of dedication and honesty you show towards writing. </span></span></div>
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<b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Very well-said! Tell us something about TalEx India and YouthDiaries, what is it all about and how are you involved? </b><br />
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<span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">=> TalEx. It means ‘ex’ploring ones ‘tal’ent. I and 4 friends of mine are working on this startup. I am the director along with two more friends from IIT Hyderabad and MNIT Jaipur. TalEx basically is an idea to create a linked in network of creative people. So that the artists get their buyers and the startups and services get their work. </span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">YouthDiaries is one project by TalEx where we have successfully provided a platform to many budding writers and we also have interns all across the country.</span></div>
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<b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Besides writing what are your other passions?
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> Dancing and Radio Jockeying. I love both and have tried both semi-professionally as well. In fact I’d definitely try RJing professionally in future. Calling other things a ‘passion’ won’t be fair. Writing always stays on top.</span></span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">
<b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Do you plan to go full time with writing? If not then what are your plans?
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> I am just a newbie. Currently I can’t even think of going full time. Not because it’s monetarily not feasible, but I won’t be doing justice with literature by doing it so early. Neither would this be a wise decision for an entrepreneur like me. I need to grow a lot as a writer. Maybe after that.</span></span></div>
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<ol start="13" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEW1FWk0RQet6F_cDNgx00fGwRjhbqduWYQ48MXAnrYgSVfDipU1kToJd95-FsUT0ZUEnmy2y335uVFE8B9kOpJmrWwe3HJc6dbbbVd4PR6CNz5XvaIw01Bh7PEWd4oE1EqEHX3aSBHycZ/s1600/DSCN1625.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEW1FWk0RQet6F_cDNgx00fGwRjhbqduWYQ48MXAnrYgSVfDipU1kToJd95-FsUT0ZUEnmy2y335uVFE8B9kOpJmrWwe3HJc6dbbbVd4PR6CNz5XvaIw01Bh7PEWd4oE1EqEHX3aSBHycZ/s320/DSCN1625.jpg" width="240" /></a>
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<b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Where do you see yourself 5 years down the line?</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> No idea! I do plan to write a few good books, make good money, spend a good time learning new things and probably do post-graduation too. But all that is just a plan. Who knows what’s next!</span></span></div>
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<b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">You are in the initial stage of being an author. What is the one thing you enjoy the most about it?</b><br />
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<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> Some obvious answers include the small bits of fame, the interviews, the media mentions, the fan-mails and the increasing number of friend requests. I thought I’d love it when I wasn’t an author. But frankly, this is all just a matter of a few moments. The thing you really enjoy is when someone talks to you about the book. Like they lived it, like they know the characters, like they were in it. When someone praises Yatharth or Vikalp, I smile because I know I created them. Nothing gives a better feeling than that.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="font-size: 15px; text-align: justify;">
<b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">Would you like to give any message to our readers?
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<b style="white-space: pre-wrap;">=> </b><span style="text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">1. If you want to become a writer, do it now. There’s no next time</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">2. Ask this blog’s writer to be a little more regular, we miss the old awesome posts! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3. Read My EX Fell In Love. I won’t say it’s a literary masterpiece, but it sure would make you laugh like hell. </span></div>
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Rapid-fire round :-</div>
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<b>One hobby you wish to inculcate: </b></div>
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=> Writing! And RJing comes next. </div>
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<b>One author who inspires you the most: </b></div>
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=> Sydney Sheldon. </div>
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<b>One place you can never get tired of visiting: </b></div>
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=> Pizza hut! </div>
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<b>Favorite genre of music?</b></div>
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=> I love every kind. Rock has a slight edge though. </div>
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<b>Favorite cuisine? </b></div>
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=> Indian (Rajasthani) and Italian. </div>
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<b>Favorite movie?</b>
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=> Rang De Basanti (Bollywood) and The dark knight.</div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Thanks! :)</span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">To buy his book, click here :<a href="http://bit.ly/14yBR2X" target="_blank">My Ex fell in love</a>
Facebook Page: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/MyEXFellInLove" target="_blank">Facebook- My Ex Fell In Love</a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can contact the author here: <a href="http://www.facebook.com/awesomeshubham" target="_blank">Shubham Choudhary</a>
To follow his blog : <a href="http://www.abuginmymind.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">A Bug In My Mind</a></span></span></span></div>
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Saumyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12854568554475474724noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-28528322344127749032012-10-28T05:18:00.000-07:002012-10-29T12:15:47.673-07:00In Conversation With Tarun Chawla<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Tarun Chawla - An amazing photographer, an ardent traveller and a web-developer shares about his passions. As I believe, a photographer is a happy person, he sees happiness in everything that crosses his vision, let us read how this person made his life a story to inspire.<br />
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If I had to present all the awe-striking pictures clicked by him here, I would have fallen short of space to present the interview. So, to go through his expressions of creativity, imagination and the power to frame emotions, please click <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tarunphotography?fref=ts">Tarun Chawla Photography</a> and to subscribe to his public updates, visit his Facebook profile <a href="https://www.facebook.com/tarun.chawla?ref=ts&fref=ts">Tarun Chawla</a>.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><u><b>Let's read what he has to share with us :-</b></u></span></div>
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<li><b style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Before we begin, tell us in a nutshell about yourself.
</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> I am a 24 year old self taught photographer, I shoot, travel, code and shoot some more...
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yours is a different kind of story. An engineer, an acclaimed photographer and also a passionate traveler. How has the journey been like?
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> Journey has been tough, it's easy to quit your job and then pursue your dream profession, but to juggle between a job which is acceptable to your family & society with a job which u love is a huge task! Traveling came naturally to me, first it was a necessity because of photography, later it turned into a passion. I started traveling a lot, irrespective whether a wedding was taking place or not.
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Tell us about your first memory of being inspired by photography.
</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> Nikaa! I love her work! </span><a href="http://flickr.com/nikaa" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://flickr.com/nikaa</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> she is an amazing photographer who can capture actual emotion of women.
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>What was the thought behind choosing wedding photography?
</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> It's the only place where everyone is happy getting clicked. Else clicking emotions at any other place is not always possible.
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Being such a gifted photographer, why don’t you want to pursue photography full time?</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>
</b>=> Photography is still not an acceptable profession in society plus the daytime job where I currently work, I love it more than anything else. It gave me an identity and purpose. It made me financially sound and it would be terrible to leave the company.
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>In the midst of numerous weddings you shoot, tell us about what's your take on love and marriage?
</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> Love & Marriage, woot! ok, this is a difficult question! There are 3 separate things, love, marriage and wedding and I don’t know anything about first two. :)
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>I have read the captions you put up for the pictures you post on Facebook and I really see a good writer in you, so another facet to your personality. Any favorite lines that you want to share?</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>
</b>=> There is one sher I love. {not self written}</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Kaayam hai is zamane mai rishwaton ke silsile, tum bhi hamse kuch ley-dekar mohobbat karlo!”
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>You have been travelling since a really long time. Tell us about a place that you can’t get enough of.
</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> Ladakh! Can't get enough of going there again and again every year.
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What would you like to advise the budding photographers?</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> Please don’t take up weddings until you are sure that you can shoot at least 500 good pictures! Before getting into it professionally, practice, practice and practice. Wedding is a 'once in a lifetime' event for the couple, don’t treat it as an experience and portfolio building event.
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is the level of competition for photographers in India?</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> There is not much competition :) competition exist at two levels, first is when you compete for getting introduced to clients. Second is with well researched clients, you reach this stage when you are experienced and a bit famous. So client knows all photographers and then it's more of a choice of style/taste rather than competition.
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>There are a lot of challenges people face while getting off the ground to attain their dreams, what was the biggest challenge you faced?
</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> Biggest challenge was to create a new market, candid photography was not at all popular when I started it and it was a huge huge challenge to make people understand what I do.
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.31249383138492703" style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; white-space: normal;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What do you see yourself doing after 5 years from now?</span><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
=> Dead.</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<li><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>What! Why dead? </b>
=> I wish I knew! :|</span>
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>You come up with a different essence of emotions in your clicks every single time, even after shooting so many weddings, how do you deal with the monotony of sights in every other ceremony?
</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> No idea about this. haven’t thought much. maybe its because each wedding is different, different set of food, decor, couple, new pretty girls to shoot.
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Do you have a team of photographers for each project or you do the whole wedding yourself?
</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> I have a fixed set of people I take for each wedding, some are freelancers and rest are working for me. But from time to time, I do hire some extra talent locally when I am shooting in south India or some other location far from my base-town.
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap;">You also won the award in Kodak-Better Photography Wedding Photographer of the Year 2011 awards ceremony, how was the experience?
</span><b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> </b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">experience was good, it was a trip in Malaysia where we shot non stop for 5 days till our feet and hands started to hurt. The best part was getting to meet 5 other amazing photographers and getting to share knowledge and beer.
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<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Moving on from your photography to IT profession. Tell us what exactly do you do and how passionate are you about it?
</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> In IT, earlier I used to make iPhone applications but later I switched to web based application {read: i make websites}. Currently I work as a developer with ophio, </span><a href="http://ophio.co.in/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #1155cc; vertical-align: baseline;">http://ophio.co.in</span></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and do everything from coding to talent acquisition.
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And yes! I love my job! I have always had interest in web & technology, this job gave me an identity and direction where I used to technical skills to max.
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<li><b style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What has been the best advise you have received till now?
</span></b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> A friend of mine, Kanika, gave me this advice when I needed it the most. “Don’t brag!”
</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">__________________________</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rapid Fire Round: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Favorite Cuisine?</span><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">=> Bun Maska & Chai. Don’t know what cuisine they fit into!</span></div>
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<b style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Favorite Hang-out place in Delhi? </span></b></div>
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<b style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">=> Teastall at Sector 3, Noida</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Favorite Gadget?</span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span></b></div>
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=> iPhone</div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Favorite Singer & Song? </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">=> Singer: Qazi Rizwan</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Song {not by same singer}: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGmbxs9rMqM&feature=g-user-u">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGmbxs9rMqM&feature=g-user-u</a>
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<b><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Any other hobby you wish to inculcate? </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">=> Gyming!</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The one who inspires you? </span></span></b></div>
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<b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b><br />
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<b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #1155cc;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">=> </span></span><a href="http://flickr.com/nikaa" style="color: #1155cc; font-weight: normal;">http://flickr.com/nikaa</a> </span></b></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 15px; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">She is an amazing photographer!</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Had you given a day off from all your chores, what you spend it doing? </span></span></b></div>
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<b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b><br />
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<b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">=> Yes I have, I visit ladakh for a stretch of 7~8 days, twice a year. During this time I am not available via phone, sms or any other medium.</span></span></b></span></span></b></div>
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Saumyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12854568554475474724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-15641063598220049072012-09-17T10:12:00.000-07:002012-09-17T11:44:46.314-07:00In Conversation With Edupreneur, Ayush Bansal <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ayushbansal.dnb" target="_blank">Ayush Bansal</a> - An edupreneur, who is very passionate and devoted towards his dream of making India a better place by empowering the underprivileged youth. He is the Co-founder, Director of Medhavi Foundation which is working for the cause of education.<br />
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What else should I write to introduce him, in one word he is an 'Inspiration'.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/MedhaviFoundation" target="_blank">Medhavi Foundation</a><br />
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<u><b><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">Let's read what he has to share with us.:-</span></b></u><br />
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<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Before we begin, tell me in a nutshell about yourself.<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> I am a young (age-23) social edupreneur working with an objective to empower under-privileged youth of India. Its been almost 2 years, since I completed my education life from PESIT, Bangalore and ICFAI Business School, Gurgaon. I work with the motto of “work hard, party harder”. I love music, concerts and most importantly, I love my work.
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<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On the basis of your educational background, you did MBA after completing BCA from PESIT. When did you realise that social entrepreneurship is your true calling?<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> I have been involved in many social projects from my graduation days in Bangalore. And since then, I had this intuition of doing some social contribution in a magnified way. I would say, second year of my MBA was the time when I thought of walking into the field of social entrepreneurship.
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<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You also worked with Evalueserve and Prayatna School of Excellence before becoming an entrepreneur yourself, how was your experience?<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> I worked with Evalueserve for about 16 months as an equity research analyst, and it was a great learning experience for me in terms of getting fit into the corporate level and understanding company management and process. Fortunately, I got a bigger role as a fresher in this field which helped me to learn tremendously.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />And Prayatna School of Excellence was a bigger chapter for me, where I got a platform to get close to the ground realities of social problems and come out with solution for the same.
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<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What inclined you towards edupreneurship?<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> Poor Indian Education system, absence of a powerful learning platform. You see there is this huge problem in Indian Education sector, and I see that as an opportunity.
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<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like all other ventures, there are challenges while getting off the ground with limited resources. What was the biggest challenge you faced and how did you overcome it?<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> Human capital is one area where I have faced challenges. Getting funds, money for any good project is not a big deal in India now, but getting dedicated people on your board is a tough task. When you have a vision of reaching out to 5 lakh under-privileged students, you need to have lot of good people on board. The tough part is to incentivize them so that they stick around. I would say, I am still struggling on this very part and trying to come up with solutions.
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<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">At any instance, through all the struggle, did you ever feel like backing out and taking a job rather for your own security?<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> Never ever did I feel like backing out. I was rather thinking opposite, backing out from my job & getting into full time entrepreneurship, which I did when I was in a job. :) And I would tell you this is the most difficult part, when you are in a well settled job, getting fix cash flow in your account, and suddenly you have this crazy idea which you are passionate about, which just doesn't make you sleep, eat etc. That very moment defines your life when you take that hard step to back out from a salaried job and get out to roads on your own.
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<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I have seen it’s generally very difficult for entrepreneurs to convince their family to allow them to pursue what they want to. How difficult was it for you? <span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> Yes, it gets more difficult when you are a social entrepreneur and you belonging to a business family. Being an entrepreneur, it’s very important that the first buyer of your idea is your family/girlfriend/friends. You need to sell your idea to them first. On this part, I would say, my dad has been very supportive, and we together have taken steps to go forward and settle my life in phases and actions.
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<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Being a edupreneur you’re working not only for your own dream but also for our country’s dream. How has the journey been like? <span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> The journey has been smooth with few bad patches. But I was fortunate to have Pravesh Dudani, my co-founder who has always showed me the right way to go ahead in those difficult times.
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<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Entrepreneurship can be a success or a failure depending on a number of factors. What would you say is the most important factor?<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> The 2 most important ingredients of entrepreneurship: A.) An idea/project which solve a problem, and you are dead passionate about executing it. B.) A strong team which think in line with you.
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<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And rest things, they just come by your way. But the most important is an idea and the team. I meet a lot of young people (B-schools, young grads, IITs, eng etc.) who wants to be an entrepreneur, but they just want to be one. It never comes out only with willingness to be an entrepreneur, but one should have a valid idea and a team.</span></span></div>
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.9918024169746786" style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqRg1Q0ad-H_5l-fmsS6sCJHB3xHKRm9K4tMikG4cjWzVqh1SkWmyMr7HJLWReJV-0rH3oSHgkKSElbB8wplbREf_BxMvIacfPl3sh4Rnfbi0B56bPU0BTNdVIDUY5bhCFEesjplqPcJ6V/s1600/576887_153476974790420_536024096_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="177" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqRg1Q0ad-H_5l-fmsS6sCJHB3xHKRm9K4tMikG4cjWzVqh1SkWmyMr7HJLWReJV-0rH3oSHgkKSElbB8wplbREf_BxMvIacfPl3sh4Rnfbi0B56bPU0BTNdVIDUY5bhCFEesjplqPcJ6V/s320/576887_153476974790420_536024096_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></div>
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<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How can social entrepreneurs attract talent when there aren’t high salaries and options?</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> There has been a shift in the field of social sector. People in this sector are being now called as ‘’social professionals”. Its the buzz. There is no shortage of cash inflow in your account. And I completely go by that. No donor mind give funds to a non-profit body which has high budget for its employees and management, no one mind paying a lac salary to a person who is impacting lakhs and lakhs of under-privileged. There has been a positive shift in the way people used to think about joining a social organization, and it has not been very difficult to attract people in this sector anymore.
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<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How did the idea behind Medhavi Foundation come up? How did you collaborate with Mr. Dudani, the co-founder? <span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> Its a long story, and a very complex one to be narrated here. Would love to speak at a stretch and let you know about how did we come up with Medhavi Foundation. Co-founder, who is Pravesh Dudani, an IITian and a serial entrepreneur, he is a gem of a person. I am fortunate to have a person like him as the co-founder of Medhavi Foundation. We are family friends and belong to the same place (neighbors to be very specific). Pravesh is very senior to me, and I have always gone to him at time of taking guidance and support. I have always been discussing with him on the part of what’s happening on my side. At the time when I was about to initiate project EduDisha, I went to him and had a long discussion. Fortunately he was working on the same domain in for-profit business. That was the inflexion point where we decided to work together for this project and then ultimately went forward to start Medhavi Foundation. All that we have done this far wouldn’t have happened if he was not there. Its very important to have a team, and he is my team :)</span></span></li>
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<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How long did it take to execute the whole idea of empowering underprivileged youth of India through Medhavi? <span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> 15-16 months is what it took us to come up with a structured project. It took us 3 pilot projects which validated our idea, the problem we were solving, and the impact we were creating.
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<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A lot of people are interested in volunteering for NGOs. So, for the readers to know would you please describe the whole motive of Medhavi Foundation?<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> Medhavi Foundation is a youth led non-profit organization which is working with the objective of empowering underprivileged youth of India. A section 25 non-profit company (NGO), with registered office in New Delhi. It currently operate in 3 states of India: Delhi, Haryana and Jharkhand, working with 20,000 govt. school students (std. 9-12). The company currently has 3 full time people in the core team and 200+ volunteers from premier B-schools, corporate and psychology colleges. </span></span></li>
</b></ol>
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<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tell us about the project EduDisha.<span style="font-weight: normal;"> <br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Project EduDisha - MAGE program provide under-privileged youth (std. 9-12 student from a low income family) a trusted platform where he/she is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">M</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">otivated, made </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ware about viable career options, scholarships and financial educational schemes, given personalized sustained </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">G</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">uidance and helped to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">E</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">nroll in a higher education or vocational institute.
</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span></li>
<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You are also a Yatri. Tell us what all Jagriti Yatra is about? How has it evolved you as a social person? <span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> </span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jagriti Yatra is an ambitious train journey of discovery and transformation that takes hundreds of India's highly motivated youth on an 15 day national odyssey. The aim is to awaken the spirit of entrepreneurship.The vision of Jagriti is to inspire young Indians living in the middle of the Indian demographic diamond (Rs 40 - Rs 120 per day) to lead development by taking to enterprise. Jagriti Yatra helped me to come closer to the ground problems, meet people who have done so much in the field of social sector, and get inspiration and guidance from them which absolutely evolved me a social person.
</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br class="kix-line-break" /></span></li>
<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What can government or society do to encourage more social entrepreneurship?<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> There is nothing much the government can or should do. I believe it should concentrate on what is should really do. And, social entrepreneurs like me should assist govt. in their initiative of country development rather than creating a parallel body.
</span></span></li>
<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Where do you see yourself, I won’t go too far, say three years from hence? <span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=>At the end of the 3 years, I would see Medhavi Foundation changing lives of at least 1 lac under-privileged youth of our country.</span></span></li>
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<li style="color: #434343; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: decimal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Any advice for emerging entrepreneurs/social entrepreneurs? <span style="font-weight: normal;"><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />=> Be cool, stay calm, believe in your idea, and execute your idea </span></span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ASAP</span><span style="font-weight: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">
_____________________________
</span><span style="color: #333333; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Rapid fire round:
</span></li>
</b></ol>
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<ul style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><b id="internal-source-marker_0.9918024169746786" style="font-size: medium;">
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Favorite Place?
<br class="kix-line-break" />=> Leh
</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Favorite Cuisine?
<br class="kix-line-break" />=> Italian
</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Favorite Gadget?
<br class="kix-line-break" />=>My Blackberry phone :)
</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Favorite Book?
<br class="kix-line-break" />=> I don’t have the patience to read them.
</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Your role-model?
<br class="kix-line-break" />=> Rahul Batulia, Founder of Rubbabu.
</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Any hobby that you wish to inculcate?
<br class="kix-line-break" />=> Like getting some time out for myself every day into activities like swimming, cycling, playing different sports etc.
</span></li>
<li style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; list-style-type: disc; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS'; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If you were to write a book someday, what would it be about?
<br class="kix-line-break" />=> Entrepreneurship </span></li>
</b></ul>
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Saumyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12854568554475474724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-49653389148653340932012-09-04T09:50:00.000-07:002012-09-04T12:03:45.411-07:00In Conversation With Mili Nair<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Mili Nair - A singer trained in western music who shot to fame in the music industry surely doesn't need an introduction. She has won accolades for singing Amit Trivedi's composition - Badri Badariya on MTV Coke Studio. Mili is a stylistically diverse vocalist interested in, and influenced by different musical genres. She has a First Concert Certificate, The Bronze Level in choral music from the Trinity College of Music London and a Grade 7 from the Royal School of Music London, all of which she has passed with a Distinction. She has also completed the Grade 8 examination in singing with the Royal School Of Music London.</span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When did you start singing?</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Before I started to talk, I used to hum tunes with ease. Perhaps I was a little more than a year old then.</div>
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<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What is your first memory of being inspired by music?</span></b></div>
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=> Music was always a part of my household. My parents were always interested in Music. It was a part of our daily life from the time I can remember and I was lucky to listen to a wide spectrum of genres from a very young age. So I guess I can say that music inspired me at a very early age.</div>
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<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What is your fondest memory of music in your childhood?</span></b></div>
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=> As a child I loved Christmas for the carol singing that we did. My fondest memory of music as a part of my life is of Christmas when I was 14 and I got to sing in the best Children’s choir at NCPA hall in Mumbai. I still look forward to sing carols because it’s such a community activity. Then there were National competitions in school that encouraged music a lot! Come to think of it I was extremely lucky to be in a school that took music and children with talent very seriously. That helped me imbibe a discipline in music that’s helpful even till this very day.</div>
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<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">When did you realise that
music is your true calling and it’s time to take a lead?</span></b></div>
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=> I realised it was my true calling as such when I was in college.
There was a rock band I was a part of and then I started learning jazz. I
got various opportunities to collaborate with big musicians in India who
were doing jazz. So when the big opportunities came by and the response
was phenomenal I decided that it was music for me as a career.</div>
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<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>How did you get initiated in
jazz?</b>
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<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Jazz is something I picked during my formative years in the country
and abroad. I got an opportunity to perform live with jazz guitarist and
composer Vinny Valentino at the Java Jazz Festival 2009 in Jakarta. One
thing I like the most about jazz is that you can break a structure, and there is a
lot of scope for improvisation. I found that jazz music opened another
world completely.</div>
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<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Generally musicians pursue
one single genre but you are influenced by different genres. How did that
happen?</span></b></div>
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=> I have been extensively influenced by jazz, Soul and R&B. I love
experimenting with different genres of music. Then of course I have
studied Carnatic music as a child and with Bollywood music all around I
guess that’s a perk of being in India. You get to hear so much!</div>
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<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Which
vocalists, jazz or otherwise, influenced you while you were growing up?</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
=> There are so many. Freddie Mercury of Queen, Bruce Dickens of Iron
Maiden, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Sting, Dee Dee Bridgewater,
Chitra, Remo Fernandes. It’s a vast list and I can go on and on but these
are the names I can remember now.</div>
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<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What are the new projects you
are working on?</span></b></div>
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=> I have written two songs and I am looking forward to collaborate
with various musicians. The songs are based on our own experiences in
life. I am hoping the album will release sometime next year. I am now
gearing up to make a mark as a song writer.</div>
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<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How did it feel to get a
chance to be a part of Coke Studio?</span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Personally
it was all a very very new experience for me, the lights, cameras and all
but I was at home when I had to just Sing my heart out with an Amazing
bunch of musicians and a Brilliant Composer. It was a WONDERFUL opportunity
to work with <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amit-Trivedi/51210492922"><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; text-decoration: none;">Amit Trivedi</span></a>! It still feels
surreal. I feel happy and blessed to have sung on 2 of his beautiful
compositions. :)</div>
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<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How has Coke Studio changed
your life?</span></b></div>
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=> At this point in my life, to be associated with MTV and Coke Studio
is actually a big deal. What Coke Studio is providing is a great thing for
<st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on">India</st1:country> to witness, to
know that something apart from the mainstream music is actually happening
in <st1:country -region="-region" w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country>.
And to be a part of it is like a fantasy fulfilled. </div>
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<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My personal
favorite is Badri Badariya. Tell us something about the song.</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIAc7lQD1Iid9RJ-mVR7uQh0plWuNB9UQjF7Ic4NeFvpqgAw6edyrPZPn9U0YIVbX9MSlN8kNFRDzJb5oIGW8k5qwmj7W16xUTnp7aZxw_XToZ7Ghz37tfNgEa8ZtOMi4v3qxqYWkf3WJ/s1600/391282_10151083122465769_1700214942_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEIAc7lQD1Iid9RJ-mVR7uQh0plWuNB9UQjF7Ic4NeFvpqgAw6edyrPZPn9U0YIVbX9MSlN8kNFRDzJb5oIGW8k5qwmj7W16xUTnp7aZxw_XToZ7Ghz37tfNgEa8ZtOMi4v3qxqYWkf3WJ/s200/391282_10151083122465769_1700214942_n.jpg" width="200" /></a>=> This song has the most extreme contrast of notes and as a singer it
was a challenge. Working with Folk artist Mame Khan was a blessing! What a
voice! This song is all about fresh romance, it depicts love during the
rains. On how no one can escape the feeling of romance in the air!<br />
<br /></div>
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<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Also tell us something about the song Yatra.</span></b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Yatra is a song that talks about the
ultimate journey of life. It’s about the dreams that move you forward
while the memories keep you rooted.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
It’s got a pop-rock feel but it also has influences of
Africa in there. It’s an amalgamation of genres and it has been merged
together just to see that it seamlessly flows.</div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How
was the experience of working with A.R Rahman? </span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
=> A defining moment was when I was called by him for the Telugu film
Komaram Puli and Raavanan. It was a great experience!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">How hard is it for the
budding musicians to enter the industry?</span></b></div>
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Pretty hard actually. But with Youtube, Facebook and other social
mediums it’s easier now for musicians and songwriters to get their music
to a wider reach and if that does well it will definitely get noticed by
music directors who want new voices. There’s also some luck required! </div>
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<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Who is your
favorite jazz musician?</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
=><b> </b>Can’t name one so I’ll
name a few who are my favorites. There’s Ella Fitzgerald, Dee Dee
Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, Diana Krall, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock to name
a few from a very large list of favorites!</div>
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><b><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<!--[endif]--></b><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What is the
best compliment you have ever received?</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
=> That my voice brings happiness to people! That is the greatest reward!</div>
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<br /></div>
<!--[endif]--></b><b><o:p></o:p></b></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Of all your own songs, which
one is your favourite?</span></b></div>
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=><b style="font-weight: bold;"> </b>I’m in the process of
writing my own songs and will release them soon. Otherwise I have loved
singing on Amit Trivedi’s composition Badari Badariyan for Coke Studio@MTV
Season 2.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Owing to the
fact that you are married, tell us about how easy or how difficult it has
been for you to manage time with both of your professional and personal
life? </span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
=> It’s a great journey. Music has become an inoperable part of my
life. But it hasn’t been without hard work. I am married and my husband
Hamesh is also a musician and that is an added advantage. In fact he’s my
biggest support system. Yes crazy schedules and work keep us really busy
most of the time but we both are doing what we love and respect each
other’s profession and lives. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What advice
would you give to other musicians trying to get off the ground?</span></b></div>
<span style="background-color: none; font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> I would just say that it’s important to improve and focus on your
strengths. Believe in Yourself, believe in your music and the rest will
follow!</div>
<span style="color: #444444;">_______________________________</span></span></li>
</ol>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/6eP7jzhfXwQ?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; text-align: left;">*Her projects include working with A.R Rahman, Harris Jayaraj, Deepak Dev and Amit Trivedi.<br />*She has sung on numerous advertisements, which includes the Maaza campaign for Coca Cola.<br />*Her recent work for Harris Jayaraj's Hit 'Rettai Kathire' is currently topping the charts in Kollywood.<br />*Mili has also sung for India's Leading Dj, DJ IVAN for his First International Release "Music Is My Life"<br />*The remixed version of 'Aaja Aaja' in the movie 'Ek Main Aur Ek Tu' has also been sung by Mili. </span></o:p></div>
</div>
</div>
Saumyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12854568554475474724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-82227198794514008632011-12-17T08:09:00.000-08:002011-12-20T11:59:54.639-08:00An Interview with the entrepreneur Ritesh Agarwal<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b>Ritesh Agarwal</b> - An entrepreneur, an author, and a part-time scientist, indeed a child prodigy; what shall I write to introduce him, he leaves me amazed with his dynamic profile. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pDsTrnawG_mHmUSyhPcDj8k8l4Re7sKRAXCw1XkUNGkCdzRKprNat5HlFVYTIdz2Tv_0jSZeqxpVL5_Ja4PyQZ9bMyquqvKmkG8uai6nn8aMQ1flg8iSUc7HQT2qaA3mzJ5MxVxWsy-q/s1600/135674v2-max-250x250.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4pDsTrnawG_mHmUSyhPcDj8k8l4Re7sKRAXCw1XkUNGkCdzRKprNat5HlFVYTIdz2Tv_0jSZeqxpVL5_Ja4PyQZ9bMyquqvKmkG8uai6nn8aMQ1flg8iSUc7HQT2qaA3mzJ5MxVxWsy-q/s400/135674v2-max-250x250.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.worthgrowth.com/home" target="_blank">Worth Growth Partners</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"></td><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
<tr align="justify"><td class="tr-caption"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Let's read what he has to share with us:</u> </b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>1. On the basis of what I know about you, you are a child-prodigy! To begin with tell me about your<br />earliest childhood dream, what you wanted to be when you were a kid?</b></div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Deep sea diver, a traveler and Banking as a full-time profession, these were the things Ivisualized myself doing. I know I have to justify: Why Banking? It was because I felt that Bank is the only place which had the combination of sexy formals, less work, more money and more time for your better half</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
(Yes, even then I used to think of a family. Chuckles!) </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>2. You were just 13 years old when you started working with Bharti Airtel Ltd. Tell us about the project on which you worked?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=>“ROAR WITH SPEED”-The project that I was leading at my concerned areas. It was the boom-boom time of telecom. We were designated the tough project of 1 million consumers in10 months and YES, WE ACCOMPLISHED. First Success ;)</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br />3. Being just 13 year old, how did you get into such a project? What made you initiate your career at such a stage of life?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Glamour of working there coupled with a non-sync of character and thought with peers made way. I wanted to do something different since childhood and the right people opened up right doors. Rest all is as they say - BURRED.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>4. You also worked with GSK and Astha International before becoming an entrepreneur yourself. How was your experience with it?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Lovely Corporate culture & experiences - It was there that I learnt what it is like handling a team, what does being the boss feel like and what it means to get people to work ‘with’ you and not ‘for’ you.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>5. You were 16 when you got invited to the Mini Lindau-Asian Science Camp to interact with Nobel Laureates and students across the globe and discuss scientific research. How was your experience with it?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> “Renaissance”-That took me to the next level. Many around me might not acknowledge but that sort of an exposure changed me. That was the time my heart spoke-“I Have Arrived” Haha..</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>6. You started Worth Growth Partners, an International Business Services Company when you were just 16. That’s something incredible! How did the idea come? What brought out an entrepreneur in you?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> This is interesting. A German Friend wanted to expand to India and understood nothing about how it works here-especially because of the bureaucratic red-tape. I said I would do and once that was executed-till date there has been no looking back.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>7. You have also authored- “An Encyclopedia of Indian Engineering Colleges”? What made you think of writing it?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> This was again Entrepreneurship. Here’s the blog about it: <a href="http://www.riteshagarwal.com/2/post/2011/05/first-post.html" target="_blank">Entrepreneurial Author</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>8. You are an author, an entrepreneur and also a part-time scientist. What do you like being the most and why?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> None. In case they are the options: Entrepreneurship is any day the best thing. The idea is to spend every minute creating and delivering fun and value. If there isn’t an option - being a person whom people perceive as lovable would be the answer.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>9. Where do you see yourself after 10 years?<br /></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> I play the Sachin way-“Take one ball at a time”. So overall I can just say that I may not be single then.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br />10. Tell us about your ‘Hospitality disruptor’ project. What is the whole idea behind it?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> That is my dream curation. Can’t reveal a lot of details but for the initiation it brings back the Indian Culture of staying in other’s home rather than hotels in a big-big commercial ways. The results, as they say, only time will tell. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>11. You have also registered at U of London’s India Center as a regular student. What are your aspirations with it?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Haven’t got time to be there since long; I try to teach at Amity generally as a visiting professor.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>12. Just because you do a lot of things you seem to be a busy man. How do you define ‘fun’ in your life?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Spending quite evenings at my home or grooving away at clubs I love clubs like Agni or Aqua-although I don’t drink. They are contrasts which define me and hence are the reason that I can get along with any person and snatch across a talk.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>13. Tell us in a nutshell about who is Ritesh Agarwal in reality. Someone who likes to play basket ball and raft at Rishikesh or someone who is building his own stair-case to endless success?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Hey, do you follow me Saumya? You know so much. On a serious note - Both. I just spend time the best way I can by appropriate means. In case it is work-I love doing it and enjoy then - similarly when I play basketball I love shooting those 3-pointers back to back..</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>14. From your profile you seem to be an amazing dream-chaser. There are plenty of dreamers on this earth; what would you advise to them?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Start working for your dream or somebody else will someday put you to work to chase his’-ahead you are intelligent enough.</div>
<br />
<u><b>Rapid fire round</b></u>:<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Favorite cuisine?</b><br />
<br />
=> Punjabi.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Favorite place?</b><br />
<br />
=> Mussorie.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Favorite book? </b><br />
<br />
=> The Dork Series by Sidin and Harry Potter.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Who inspires you? </b><br />
<br />
=> Larry Page from Google Inc<br />
<b><br />Q: Favorite music?</b><br />
<br />
=> Jazz is generally the genre</div>Saumyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12854568554475474724noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-33392563657078040392011-12-16T03:49:00.000-08:002011-12-16T06:52:19.527-08:00An Interview with the music-composer Salil Bhayani<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span dir="ltr" id=":88" style="text-align: justify;">Have
you ever tried to come up with a tune on reading a lyric? A majority of
you will have no as an answer. Well, some of you may have. </span>And in case you had, you would agree with me when I say that it's one of the most difficult thing to do<span dir="ltr" id=":88" style="text-align: justify;">. But, not if you are
gifted.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span dir="ltr" id=":88">Presenting the most different interview till date of a super-talented and extremely humble music composer, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000478412015" target="_blank"><b>Salil Bhayani</b></a>, who is also a</span> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">final year student of UICT, pursuing B.Tech, a vocalist, a pianist and a writer with passion towards philosophy, music and science.</span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9hXMjvOd0BwZyeR8IiTJ9OwV_NmMiB5CZNqOdfK_3CYvWlIjva586E3C5exw3qPKpxuFAqFCBQ51oQf2gECjwceyo7o5bl1SwTz_oPxkUI5GO6ELKjV4a335MH7eiutFGKFxMBdrP98U-/s1600/387212_327447217281223_100000478412015_1373239_1366260313_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9hXMjvOd0BwZyeR8IiTJ9OwV_NmMiB5CZNqOdfK_3CYvWlIjva586E3C5exw3qPKpxuFAqFCBQ51oQf2gECjwceyo7o5bl1SwTz_oPxkUI5GO6ELKjV4a335MH7eiutFGKFxMBdrP98U-/s640/387212_327447217281223_100000478412015_1373239_1366260313_n.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Salil Bhayani performing jazz piano at NCPA</span></b></u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<u><b>Let us read what he has to say about his life and his passions:</b></u></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>1. You
are a final year Student of UICT -Mumbai, pursuing B.Tech. in Oils, Oleo
chemicals and Surfactant technology. How do you find yourself fitting in
with this, don’t you feel like being completely devoted to music?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">=> I have a great liking for science and I think science and math would be
a part of my life throughout. My friends who have never seen me study
in my four years of college wouldn’t agree to that but I have never
considered what I am made to do as part of fun. Fun is what I do
voluntarily. It can be the same thing that I found boring earlier,
but it has to be voluntary.</span><span class="Apple-style-span"><br /><br />I do feel like devoting myself completely to music. I shall be doing it in a matter of few months.</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span">
</span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>2. Give us a glimpse of your background. Do you have anyone in your family who has been related to music in any way?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">=> My
grandfather is a great musician but he was more of an academician and
never pursued music as he could have. My father never got a chance to
learn though he is a natural. My mother has learned a bit of music too.
So it’s in the blood.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>3. You started composing when you were just 13 years old. What made you think of giving music composition a try?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">=> My
mother is solely responsible for me being a composer. She saw a friend
of mine who is an artiste create a painting interpreting one of the
poetries written by APJ Abdul Kalam. She thought that if one can paint a
poetry, why not compose music to it? That’s when she gave me my first
song(A gujarati prayer), which I consider one of the best I have done
till date. There is a lot of innocence and devotion in it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>4. You
have composed about 30 songs of Gujarati and Hindi languages. Tell us
about one experience in the journey of so many compositions that you can
never forget.</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">=> The
journey has been really picturesque. I have seen myself paint on an
aural canvas. The art of composing has been very different than singing
or playing piano. The process of evolution is very different. In
performing arts, the skill is directly proportional to the no. of hours
you put into it, but with composing, your first composition can be way
better than what you composed today. It’s just like writing a poetry.
But I have been able to connect myself to my compositions and there is a
very high amount of honesty in each one of them.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>5. Which is the first song you scored music for and which is your favorite song among all your compositions till date?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">=> My
first composition as I mentioned above was a prayer in Gujarati. I have
no favourites as such. I have a select few which I like the most, but
no particular song is a favourite.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>6. You are learning vocals since the age of six. What is your first memory of being inspired by music?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">=> Since
I have been into music since a young age, I can’t recollect my first
memory, but there have been infinite instances of inspiration.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>7. How
do you come up with a tune? Is it through the process of experimenting
with an instrument or you are just knowing what to play?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">=> 99%
of the times, I just sit with a keyboard or simply a tanpura and try
different tempos, time signatures, permutations with notes before I come
with something definite. So it </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">is </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">a process of experimenting, but more so with my vocals rather than an instrument.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>8. What's the best piece of advice you have received in the field of music composition?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">=> Fantastic question. The best advice I have received is to be honest and rest all will take care of itself :)</span><br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>9. Music
is something where you have endless things to learn and practice. Tell
us about your Guru Shree Sanjeev Chimmalgi, and what you are learning
from him?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">=> </span>I learn Hindustani vocal classical music. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">There is
nothing I can say about him that can describe the magnanimity of his
persona. I say this with a perception of him both as an artiste and a
guru. And he is a genius at both. Very rarely does one come across people who
can be great artistes as well gurus at the same time. Learning under
him is not just an honor, but a true blessing. I only pray to God to
give me the capacity to imbibe his teachings to the fullest.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>10. You
are also learning Western classical and Jazz Piano under Mr Clifton
Rodricks who is a jazz and blues pianist. What made you decide to learn
this specific instrument?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">=> Piano
is an extremely dynamic instrument. Learning piano teaches a lot about
orchestration, owing to it’s wide range of frequencies(Harmony aspect)
and it’s percussive mechanism(Rhythm aspect). Moreover, I have seen my
grandfather playing a harmonium. I had a small keyboard myself which I
still have. So I can relate best to the instrument. It’s very necessary
to be able to relate to the instrument to learn music, rather than just
developing a skill set to play it.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>11. You have lately performed jazz piano at NCPA. How did it go? </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">=> It
was one of the most rewarding experiences I have had. One, because of
the grandeur that place has, and second, the grand piano, which has a
stupendous sound and touch. A real pleasure to play on.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>12. You
have won several awards and appreciation from great legends of the
music industry. How do you feel about everything you have achieved so
far? </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">=> I don’t
really know how much I have achieved. I know how much I want to. And
these appreciations and accolades have made me sure that I will achieve
what I want and to keep at it no matter how much time it takes and how
much disappointments are lying in the path.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>13. What advice would you give to other musicians who are trying to get off the ground?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">=> I really am not in a position to give advices to anyone.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>14. Do you compose music for lyrics or vice-versa? Or is it a mix n match of both?</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">=> I do not compose lyrics. So it’s always music for lyrics.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>15. Apart from the fact that you inherit the legacy of music from your family, who else had been a source of inspiration for you to enter the music world? </b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">=>Mr
Narayan Parasuram has been the greatest source of inspiration for me.
He is one of the finest music directors(Music Director for the film
Jajantaram Mamantaram) and musicians, and he has never spoken inspiring
words to me about doing music and achieving things. He has encouraged me
by assuming that music is what I am going to do, which is a rare kind
of inspiration to get.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b></b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>16. You
also like reading and creative writing. Tell us about what you like
reading and what do you like writing about?</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">=> I
am deeply interested in philosophy. Rather than describing what exactly
I like reading, I shall just name a few authors which will make it self
explanatory: Ayn Rand, Harper Lee, Richard Bach, Rabindranath Tagore, Alice Miller, Desmond Morris etc to name a few. I also like reading science. I write about music, philosophy, life and preliminary technical articles related to science.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>17. What all do you see yourself doing in 2012?</b></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">=> I
see myself working for a lot of music related projects and preparing
for my Trinity Guildhall Piano Exam grade 5 and ABRSM Jazz Exam Grade 3.</span></div>
</div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b><u>Rapid-fire round:</u></b><br />
<b>Q: Who is the god of music direction in India according to you?</b><br />
=> No Gods really. I would say Mozart/Vivaldi if they were Indian.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Your style of music?</b><br />
=> Classical, Indian and Western.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Favourite singer?</b><br />
=> There are lots.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Favourite instrument?</b><br />
=> Again, nothing in particular.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Favourite place for music.</b><br />
=> An anechoic room.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: What do you like being more: a music composer, a pianist or a singer?</b><br />
=> Definitely music composer.<br />
<br />
<b>Q: Who is your role model in music industry?</b><br />
=> Shankar Mahadevan.<br />
<u style="font-size: 16px;"><b><br /></b></u><br />
<b><u>One of the Hindi Compositions by Salil - Mera Mann</u></b></div>
</div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; vertical-align: baseline;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/dDV8rGxyiMY?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span></div>
</div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">
</span></div>Saumyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12854568554475474724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-29145188548291894012011-12-14T00:43:00.000-08:002011-12-14T01:18:45.851-08:00An interview with the pop-artist Nikita Choudhary<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b style="text-align: justify;">Nikita Choudhary </b>- A 3rd year computer science student, good at programming and a gifted artist who inculcates pop art as her passion, which is a totally different genre, rarely pursued by Indian artists. She chooses to paint portraits of those celebrities' who have always enamoured us and have been an integral part of our life in terms of inspiration, admiration and in some cases, aspiration.</div>
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<b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQv4NUq_rmIS5ImQmXVnnyH0Qsp4LTt4_co1tOLG6nYGXodkX0r1gJtVEzi3A9wT3w7s6cjOFzWG8AkTzLnFOgBZdO4tzxKwltbDctg6zc9OaC9dSoBAeAlV1VO8EQ0rn_3ED-o8KdtOp/s1600/279364_2230319673452_1111657914_2694910_2729474_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjQv4NUq_rmIS5ImQmXVnnyH0Qsp4LTt4_co1tOLG6nYGXodkX0r1gJtVEzi3A9wT3w7s6cjOFzWG8AkTzLnFOgBZdO4tzxKwltbDctg6zc9OaC9dSoBAeAlV1VO8EQ0rn_3ED-o8KdtOp/s400/279364_2230319673452_1111657914_2694910_2729474_o.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2230319673452&set=a.1431177295392.61925.1111657914&type=3" style="text-align: center;" target="_blank">Einstein by Nikita Choudhary</a></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="text-align: left;"><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Here goes a very interesting conversation that I had with her:</span></u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b style="text-align: left;"><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></u></b></div>
<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Tell us where you’re from and how did you get started in the field of art?</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><b> </b></span></span></li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> I was born in Bikaner then my family moved to Jodhpur for my education. Funnily, it all started with scribbling in notebook when I used to get bored during lectures. Then one day I saw an art work of Syd Barrett and I told myself “M gonna do it” infact, that was my very first painting as an artist.</span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RYR9QyjgWtfpxNqCi9RPAJ4pHLsTZYGZiIIAe40G3IdLPyXHlDWr5-Hg1s8Mv7yiy4rEUA9UXl-oet0cj1LFDhdZFpD9NU0WZVz3HaT_zSmRfu9XGYwDl7yq4XL1i4-HnrzQAGMk37jj/s1600/My+first+painting+of+Syd+barrett.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9RYR9QyjgWtfpxNqCi9RPAJ4pHLsTZYGZiIIAe40G3IdLPyXHlDWr5-Hg1s8Mv7yiy4rEUA9UXl-oet0cj1LFDhdZFpD9NU0WZVz3HaT_zSmRfu9XGYwDl7yq4XL1i4-HnrzQAGMk37jj/s320/My+first+painting+of+Syd+barrett.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2177722318551&set=a.1431177295392.61925.1111657914&type=3" target="_blank"><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Syd Barret - First painting.</span></u></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<ol start="2" style="margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">How did growing up in Jodhpur affect you as a person and an artist?</span></b><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"></span></b></span></li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> Honestly, I never liked this place. So, mostly I used to spend time with myself rather than hanging out with friends. It definitely helped me a lot. I got more and more time for myself and I kept practising on different art forms.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<ol start="3" style="margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">What is your family background? Were there any artists or creative sparks in the family?</span></b></li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> Not at all. No one in my family is anywhere close to art. They all are into entrepreneurship. I am the exceptional one.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<ol start="4" style="margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">How has your work evolved over the time since you begun?</span></b><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"></span></b></span></li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> I’ll just say “NOW I CAN PAINT”. Yes, when I started, I didn't even know how to hold a paint brush and use colours. Now, I am pretty much confident and now I just play with colours.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKs9IJOBDDbXbTFgYpPj3rVxM3I6AAJtVMw0U_vxshaSZBUhjpcltlCZss27MLfLweKmHkFgXnbDGdsz97qyLf3ToWDMsZotq3C4D13owScjj7AfvtIZFos7_OTNwBlW5AZ6O5VjV-qzh/s1600/393752_2714183089735_1111657914_3105719_432151329_n.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCKs9IJOBDDbXbTFgYpPj3rVxM3I6AAJtVMw0U_vxshaSZBUhjpcltlCZss27MLfLweKmHkFgXnbDGdsz97qyLf3ToWDMsZotq3C4D13owScjj7AfvtIZFos7_OTNwBlW5AZ6O5VjV-qzh/s320/393752_2714183089735_1111657914_3105719_432151329_n.jpg" width="248" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2714555899055&set=a.1431177295392.61925.1111657914&type=3" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Ronaldo on Canvas by Nikita Choudhary</span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ol start="5" style="margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">How would you describe your paintings in words?</span></b><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"></span></b></span></li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> My paintings describe me. I paint what I like, what I feel, my emotions and feelings. You can always make out from my paintings what was I feeling at that time. My paintings are what I am and what I love.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<ol start="6" style="margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">What do you hope the viewer will take away from your paintings?</span></b></li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> More than the beauty or how it looks, I want them to see the emotions on the face of the person I'm painting and the story behind it. I believe, every face tells a story about their hard work and struggle. I want people to read that.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<ol start="7" style="margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">You have painted a lot of celebrity portraits. What exactly draws you to that specific style instead of say photo-manipulation, or abstract design?</span></b></li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; min-height: 11pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> It’s all about your own ideas, what you believe in and what makes you happy. I have seen and read about many art forms. For me pop art and abstract art was something very new. People generally don't work much on it because you can always use photo-shop and different picture editing software. But what if you add pop art with abstract art? It becomes all a new thing. Here, even a small idea of yours own make a lot of difference.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<ol start="8" style="margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">What styles would you like to further inculcate in your art?</span></b><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"></span></b></span></li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> Once I learn more I want to go for allegory. It is what writing is for a writer. The only difference is writer uses words to express and in allegory, figures and portraits are used to express something.</span><br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></div>
<ol start="9" style="margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">How do you feel about having 2000 subscribers on facebook? Isn’t it an amazing feeling to see so many people liking your work? We would love you to share your happiness here.</span></b></li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> People generally ask me if am some local celebrity and I just laugh. Initially when I started I didn't know so many people will like my work. It was shocking for me to see so many people commenting on my work and asking for it. Yes, you love it when your work is appreciated. Some even criticize but you can’t stop working. People make fan pages and websites. I find it really very hectic. Artists are very lazy. For me, my own profile works as a fan page or website. People can connect with me directly. It makes me really happy when people personally text me writing about my work.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0B_fqVc_gBneS_-7K8aW_H8zFgZYQhVFhAlRsmFJ0bgj6aLXp3rr8cWQqy2hThWdZ3wfDzRSxN59fVsT3zMyQyv7SuzYqAu4be0cEOhI9CLRHteZKW9IuqLZfj5L0ttHXNuZ7ca2ZMgXL/s1600/IMG_0637.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0B_fqVc_gBneS_-7K8aW_H8zFgZYQhVFhAlRsmFJ0bgj6aLXp3rr8cWQqy2hThWdZ3wfDzRSxN59fVsT3zMyQyv7SuzYqAu4be0cEOhI9CLRHteZKW9IuqLZfj5L0ttHXNuZ7ca2ZMgXL/s320/IMG_0637.jpg" width="227" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2704477607104&set=a.1431177295392.61925.1111657914&type=3" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">On Canvas by Nikita Choudhary</span></a></td></tr>
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<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">How did you start getting offers from music merchandise stores in the country? You told me it all happened in 2 or 3 months.</span></b></li>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> Yes, I started with this in October. Initially, I used to paint on white sheets. Then I moved to canvas. I had friends from music and fashion industry. They started talking about my work and I guess that's how I got in contact with everyone. By the end of November, I started getting offers from different stores to sell my paintings to them. To be very honest, I am not a professional artist. I just paint because I like it. I am not that skilled. So for me, getting into such things at this stage was not a good option. They wanted me to paint according to them and I obviously didn’t want that.</span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Tell us about your deal with music merchandise in Bangalore </span></b><b><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;">| <wbr></wbr>Hysteria?</span></b></span></li>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> I used to sell my paintings on my own. People used to contact me asking for the paintings. In the beginning it was all good but it got very difficult when too many people started asking for the paintings. So I decided to sell all my work to one person/place and people can buy it from there. I then called the owner of Hysteria and made a deal. They’ll be framing the paintings, selling my work at their stores from January. For me it was such a relief. All I have to do now is send all the paintings at one place.</span><br />
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<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">What upcoming projects do you have?</span></b><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"></span></b></span></li>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> I am designing logos for few bands, doing their album artwork. I am also working on few new paintings which are again based on entirely a new concept.</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> For the new concept, I will be using plaster of paris in my paintings and I will also paint pop art with more colors and of people who are not just into music or movies but other fields too.</span><br />
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<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">You are a Computer Science student doing engineering from Jodhpur Institute of Engineering and Technology. Why did you choose this subject for your graduation?</span></b></li>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> I was good at programming when I was in school. I hated mathematics and all other subjects but computer science was something I loved learning. To me, college didn't make any difference but the subject did because I knew, in the end, I’ll end up handling the family business.</span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSvwubaR4ptFag75KoD-h3L-CMXRaIJjomjjxxugbsxBQ0RawEzeCb7XF8SDhPIWa82xhc-OmSpzSKecSFFjRuU2K1T1oj77sFreVYz518c-BFk7e3iLWWKq8ttMxM3uUwOreXeOFWgH-k/s1600/Photo+on+2011-12-04+at+14.44+%25234.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSvwubaR4ptFag75KoD-h3L-CMXRaIJjomjjxxugbsxBQ0RawEzeCb7XF8SDhPIWa82xhc-OmSpzSKecSFFjRuU2K1T1oj77sFreVYz518c-BFk7e3iLWWKq8ttMxM3uUwOreXeOFWgH-k/s320/Photo+on+2011-12-04+at+14.44+%25234.jpg" width="239" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2704478287121&set=a.1431177295392.61925.1111657914&type=3" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Nikita Choudhary with her painting</span></a></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #222222; font-size: 11pt;">15.</span><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"> You progressed so excellently in art. Are you still continuing with the passion you had for programming?</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> Sadly, no. Everything requires practice and dedication. After getting into art, I couldn't give much time to it. I still enjoy programming but I don't get much time to do that. More than programming, I enjoy painting and I spend all my time in doing that.</span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 11pt;">What are your plans after your graduation? Would you go for a job or would you pursue your art and take it to another level?</span></b><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"></span></b></span></li>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">=> Definitely I am not going for a job right now. I’ll join an art school after my graduation. Right now, I want to learn more and more about different and rare art forms and make a new art form out of them.<br /><br /> <b>17.</b> <b>Then what about handling family business? Would you participate in that?</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><br />=> </span>It is up to me. I always had an option related to what I am studying right now but art is no where close to anyone in my family, so I'll be working on my own. It's going to be a whole new start for me.</span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEird-hq8hCngJ1FSjune2MBSRo7weEmsApJyHH-aV6AAOT34NM8N7eImczM_YuAOqoVmlDjmpsr1zTXgsgnULoosoM7ggHT9TFYJ_S4ji8ZIwJnJ7vJXEHH2SH9wVLDWuAzkKxgScsGkZ-8/s1600/271452_2180010655758_1111657914_2623797_812486_o.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEird-hq8hCngJ1FSjune2MBSRo7weEmsApJyHH-aV6AAOT34NM8N7eImczM_YuAOqoVmlDjmpsr1zTXgsgnULoosoM7ggHT9TFYJ_S4ji8ZIwJnJ7vJXEHH2SH9wVLDWuAzkKxgScsGkZ-8/s320/271452_2180010655758_1111657914_2623797_812486_o.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2180010655758&set=a.1431177295392.61925.1111657914&type=3" target="_blank"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">By Nikita Choudhary</span></a></td></tr>
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<b><u><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">Rapid-fire Questions:</span></u></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;">Q. Favourite Place?</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><br />=> Venice</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><br />Q. Favourite Art Museum?</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><br />=> The Louvre museum, Paris.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><br />Q. Favourite Painter? </span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 11pt;">=> Nature</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><br />Q. Favourite Portrait that you have painted?<br /> </span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;">=> My first painting, art work of Syd Barrett</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;">Q. Any other hobby that you wish to inculcate?</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;"><br />=>Reading</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;"> _______________________________________ </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyxof3NB871YmD94OTj6fmztk_wOBJKMGiTq6CVN4N1hvpVCIxhYxdF7QKidntHI_FSSs1mSN6CpKNMWhXHFORZhZzQeAgMB9uZUZ6pbxrKTvN7-aFqZJff8F4KDmdaGgWFEo0KdWT-5H/s1600/278846_2228450426722_1111657914_2692314_6507430_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhyxof3NB871YmD94OTj6fmztk_wOBJKMGiTq6CVN4N1hvpVCIxhYxdF7QKidntHI_FSSs1mSN6CpKNMWhXHFORZhZzQeAgMB9uZUZ6pbxrKTvN7-aFqZJff8F4KDmdaGgWFEo0KdWT-5H/s640/278846_2228450426722_1111657914_2692314_6507430_o.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit; font-size: 11pt;">To know more about her and her paintings, subscribe to her on facebook by following the link given below.<br /><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ChoudharyNikita" target="_blank">Nikita Choudhary</a></span></div>Buzzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17811082747400612065noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-22304576668563516202011-12-11T14:20:00.001-08:002011-12-14T01:00:26.914-08:00An Interview with Bhavook Bhardwaj<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Bhavook Bhardwaj – </b>An economics honors student, an acclaimed
footballer, an excellent photographer shares about his passion towards photography. As we say a photographer is a
happy person, they see beauty in everything that crosses their vision and the lenses of their camera, let us read how
this person made his life a story to inspire.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFLg0wpW0SAqodTqND1cBCy_4EoEse4mShCpspgpNMaJFIa7Y9URMZnIoyKwzPaIUG6iYNdpuMrpmsF65iW_j1DpFM03t-ErL1XXIT65i5l-zqvcToQ4UETOS4nyrLVUy-k0fls05BgE0/s1600/282052_199920256730143_194703807251788_435805_7824021_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFLg0wpW0SAqodTqND1cBCy_4EoEse4mShCpspgpNMaJFIa7Y9URMZnIoyKwzPaIUG6iYNdpuMrpmsF65iW_j1DpFM03t-ErL1XXIT65i5l-zqvcToQ4UETOS4nyrLVUy-k0fls05BgE0/s640/282052_199920256730143_194703807251788_435805_7824021_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/Epi3tome" target="_blank"><u>Epitome </u></a></td></tr>
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<b><u>Here goes a very delightful conversation that I had with him:</u></b></div>
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<b>1. Photography is an amazing hobby. How did you start
with it? </b></div>
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=> Yes it is, indeed! I wanted to start it long back, but
I didn't have a camera at that time. I started saving money for it and gradually accumulated
cash over the time and bought a semi-pro digital camera. Thereafter, I started
with serious photography.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjjqx6vBmQzvNXcNPcK6rnHOIPkzFTmkGsr7hB7k3Dj3Bf1abG-cSDMIBdAnhoauoHvRHZFAqU7S4DNI41gHHauDaSGlwho82wVeXiXvYJ1e3B2Q_uayfAyPqxYs6n5e3SNdM0snS0nCi/s1600/249373_196348993753936_194703807251788_426379_3385362_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjjqx6vBmQzvNXcNPcK6rnHOIPkzFTmkGsr7hB7k3Dj3Bf1abG-cSDMIBdAnhoauoHvRHZFAqU7S4DNI41gHHauDaSGlwho82wVeXiXvYJ1e3B2Q_uayfAyPqxYs6n5e3SNdM0snS0nCi/s200/249373_196348993753936_194703807251788_426379_3385362_n.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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<b>2. How would you define creativity through your
photographs?</b></div>
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=> Creativity is hard to define. Everyone perceives it in
their own way. I may seem creative to one person and at the same time dull to
another. If someone finds my work creative, I will be greatly obliged to him/her!</div>
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<b>3. How difficult is it for you to bring out something new in
your pictures every time?</b></div>
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=> It is not difficult at all. At every point of time we
come across various moments that can be captured. All that is needed is to
have a vision, a perspective towards such things. After all, each photo tells us
a story which is unique in its own way.</div>
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<b>4. Tell us about your Facebook page ‘Epitome’, why this
name?</b></div>
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=> Epitome is the page that has been started by me and 2 of my friends
who are photography enthusiasts as well. This name was chosen by me because the
word ‘epitome’ means perfect example of something and in this case, 'something' refers to photography. Our aim is to create a whole new level of photography.</div>
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<b>5. Which is your favourite subject in photography? What
inclines you to that particular type of photography?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNg3uThBGRsDqipwEsbP7r8Z9rJho2xdcM6B-8epavVvMF5_IA4Mbc7M4XrID6N7DDZ8gu0Pxvtklwt4Ac6V1OVGHIVpjrNzbB3Uzv5iC0Bl8X8GzTfC4BbtdD8Qy96fjxFVUT38z7FxGs/s1600/312216_239479369440898_194703807251788_541019_1781617617_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNg3uThBGRsDqipwEsbP7r8Z9rJho2xdcM6B-8epavVvMF5_IA4Mbc7M4XrID6N7DDZ8gu0Pxvtklwt4Ac6V1OVGHIVpjrNzbB3Uzv5iC0Bl8X8GzTfC4BbtdD8Qy96fjxFVUT38z7FxGs/s200/312216_239479369440898_194703807251788_541019_1781617617_n.jpg" width="188" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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=> Conceptual photography, I have an inclination towards
it. Well, what inclines me towards it is nothing but fascination. I am really
fascinated by conceptual photos for example I have a photograph clicked by me
which shows India Gate through a transparent globe. It has been appreciated by
various senior photographers for the concept. And its caption reads ‘In its
hundred years as capital of India,
Delhi with</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
its spirit has indeed captured the world!’. You can have a
look at it. =></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>6. What does photography mean to you in life? How would
you define your passion towards it?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
=> Photography means a lot in my life. I have great
passion for it. It is one of those things which I can do and learn forever and
never be tired of. It has not been long since I have started photography but I
am sure I would never stop doing it in my entire life! There is so much to
learn, so much to do in this field.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>7. One tip you would like to give to the budding
photographers?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
=> I myself am a budding photographer, but to those who
have started I would like to tell them that I feel a good photographer is the one
who puts in his efforts and imagination in photography. Never imitate others, have
a vision of your own.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>8. How do you inculcate photography in your daily life? Do
you carry your camera everywhere or you go to places with the sole purpose of
photography?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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=> As I told you, every moment comes up with something
worth capturing. So daily life is full of interesting photographs, if you look
from my point of view. Not always, but I do try to carry my camera wherever
possible. You can see from my photographs, most of them will reflect day to day
life instances only. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<b>9. You say your first passion is football. Tell us about
your interest in sports.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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=> Yes it is! I have been playing football since class 6th.
It is my first passion in life. Presently I play for a club ‘Collegians FC’. I
have been into sports for a long time. I have represented my school team at the
zonal level and state level in badminton, table tennis, and football. I was also
the sports captain of my school.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pEWrfSSPDJudPJO1IYQuMLjCrGen5xmJeu_K3E_YTrLtYTIjmQq4-_St1ErPX9RrQdVp3V8QrqSk077hhrsIqQPRBoLCYvIT30h1hPHr-W5Fk8RrLzWDtptkTDtiWHmANsquJiK-yDFJ/s1600/300608_213413092047526_194703807251788_470975_1762007_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="261" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0pEWrfSSPDJudPJO1IYQuMLjCrGen5xmJeu_K3E_YTrLtYTIjmQq4-_St1ErPX9RrQdVp3V8QrqSk077hhrsIqQPRBoLCYvIT30h1hPHr-W5Fk8RrLzWDtptkTDtiWHmANsquJiK-yDFJ/s400/300608_213413092047526_194703807251788_470975_1762007_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<b>10. You also mentioned it to me that you are planning to
take up tour management as a part time job. Why tour management?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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=> Yes. It is the perfect job for a travel, photography
and food enthusiast like me. It’s the only job where you get paid for traveling.
Getting to see new places and explore them, their cuisines, that's all that I want!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<b>11. What are your future plans with photography? Would
you pursue it as a hobby or would you get into it professionally?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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=> Photography is more than a hobby to me. I would love
to get into it professionally.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>12. Is photography a talent inborn in you or you took any
training?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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=> Neither a talent inborn nor lessons from somewhere. It
is something that I have developed over time with observation and curiosity.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<b>13. Being good in studies and studying Eco. Hons. You
must have come across a lot of nerds. What would you say about the importance
of passion for something other than studies to all the nerds alive</b>? </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
=> A life without a passion is like a camera without
battery! Or like a football match without a football. Earning money, studying
etc won’t give you the ultimate happiness of life but pursuing your passion
would certainly give – that’s all I would like to say to them.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<b>14. 5 years ahead what all do you see yourself doing?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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=> Seriously speaking, I really don’t know! Let’s see
what life holds for me.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
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<b><u>Rapid fire round: </u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Q. Fav. Photographer?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
=> Bhavook Bhardwaj! :P</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Q. Fav. Sportsperson?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
=> Lionel Andres Messi.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Q. One thing about photography that you love the most?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
=>The happiness when someone appreciates my photography!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Q: What would you rather be? An economist, a photographer
or a footballer?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
=> Footballer!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Q: Fav. Cuisine?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
=> Italian.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b>Q: Fav. Place for photography purpose?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
=> Old Delhi.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>To go through his page - click on </b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/Epi3tome" target="_blank"><b>Epitome</b> </a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYbdzVswmd_p4XCceZBnDGoD7NRsZTiKBoCd_BWMBwOyATzVj7vGFdNBaKupOyZsNAk5kE_fwQVp8Jb0E6-ovSvGfDLHByOUEm54-kzszGuWTCkcOYkWK9v9QxoNKGT6-j3n0lDKbfO6Ne/s1600/381714_254643494591152_194703807251788_570803_255435052_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYbdzVswmd_p4XCceZBnDGoD7NRsZTiKBoCd_BWMBwOyATzVj7vGFdNBaKupOyZsNAk5kE_fwQVp8Jb0E6-ovSvGfDLHByOUEm54-kzszGuWTCkcOYkWK9v9QxoNKGT6-j3n0lDKbfO6Ne/s320/381714_254643494591152_194703807251788_570803_255435052_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
</div>Saumyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12854568554475474724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-21752186961012710862011-10-30T04:17:00.000-07:002011-12-14T01:00:16.601-08:00An Interview with Hemant Kumar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
We all love comics and miss our childhood because those kiddish stories don't interest us anymore. We cry over this but some people like Hemant Kumar find a way to bring comics back in our life by writing on topics of our interest and presenting them to us through his website called<a href="http://lithosphere.in/"> Lithosphere. Stoned.</a> This comic artist is mastering his 'jackness' in all the trades like Philately, Law, Art and Entrepreneurship.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lithosphere.in/"><img border="0" height="254" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi89cei7h4ylRA3-WopyX2WuSkadVowGG_PaVKslY2IGje2HmTlw2y38-crpSmsJ73pADqc-hIKjs33IY3jz_DuKLjH1_g_8lIu1zAh_ju0eSMYgbR0FUzTXo6XBzoi3YJfOPVMuYpTjDEF/s640/Untitled.png" width="640" /></a></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://lithosphere.in/">lithosphere.in</a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u><br />
</u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u>Here goes my conversation with him :-</u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><u><br />
</u></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>1. Your story is somewhat uncommon. A student of Law and a Comic Artist. How did the journey go? </b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> I always found comic artists cool. Having my own comic was a childhood dream; law and comics might sound leagues apart, but I guess everyone has different personalities within them.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>2. You have been an avid quizzer, you have interest in reading, philately and a lot more. </b><b>What do you enjoy doing the most?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Haha. It’s like choosing between one’s children. The greatest love I have is for knowledge, it doesn't restrict to any two or three things. I’d do anything that I can lay my hands on. Just because I get to grow as I do it.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>3. Where do you see yourself after the completion of your graduation in law</b>?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Placed well as a lawyer. That’s of primary importance. I’d continue with the site and other things that I keep doing, things that I can find myself passionate about.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br />
</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>4. Taking law as a graduation subject needs some aim behind it. What is your dream with </b><b>your subject?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Law was planned way back in school. It provides me with satisfaction on many fronts. I get to play a role in society-building. There’s enough money. What fascinates me is the power to build lives, decisions, society solely by my words, my ideas and logic. It’s a superpower greater than what superheroes have.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br />
</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>5. What would you rather be - a comic artist or a lawyer? </b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Both. Also a writer, a restaurateur, a musician, a painter and much more.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>6. A wide variety of interests you have! Well coming to your passion, Comic-making. How did you start it? What inspired you?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> I used to follow cartoons as a child. Illustrated books, and comics published in newspapers used to fascinate me. I guess that was the seed for this plant, Lithosphere. </div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br />
</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>7. How do you come up with ideas for comic stories as well as drawings? How difficult is it </b><b>for you? Are the stories fictional or they are also based on what you experience in your daily life?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> It works both ways. Things I see, observe, combined with my imagination and thought process helps me make a comic. See, every comic has a meaning, I don’t make comics to make people laugh, but also to convey a strong yet subtle message. Fits well with the crude drawings and poor humour. So there’s a lot of thought that goes in.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
When I decided to start with the comic, drawings was a difficult phase. My Friend Shruti Katyal helped me with it. Abhishek Monga, a dear friend helped me make the site. The art work is inspired from the popular ‘Warli’ art of Maharashtra.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br />
</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>8. Tell us one interesting instance that occurred while making comics?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> It happens very often. I work on my stand and my mom takes a lot of interest in my work. But it gets very difficult when I have to draw an adult comic. Have to do all the work hiding away from her. Sometimes it's fun! :-D</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>9. You told me you write a bit. Tell me what kind of a writer you are. And being a writer; </b><b>what do you like reading the most?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> I write for fun. Experiences, observations, at times evaluations of the physical world and beyond. I read almost everything, I do avoid the romantic genre, because there are so many more things that can make you sick in the gut, why to use a book for that?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>10. How did you come up with your website www.lithosphere.in? What made you name </b><b>it ‘Lithosphere. Stoned’?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> ‘Litho’ means stone. And ‘Sphere’ connotes the material world around us. So through the comic I try to portray the material world, as I see, in stone tablets. That’s the comic’s layout!</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>11. As I read about you, it was mentioned that you are fond of studying various religions. Tell us what interests you in this genre.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> Not that I particularly love to study religion, but well, yes there’s something about it that attracts me. So I thought that it’d be intelligent if I actually went ahead and understood this one thing that attracts people from all places since forever.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br />
</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>12. You have been to ‘BQC’ once. Tell us about your experience.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> It can be summed up in two words : ‘We lost.’ But it was life changing, met a few pretty girls, understood how important it is to capitalize on opportunities and met more pretty girls. :D</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br />
</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>13. How many comic-stories have you written in totality? Have you ever published them or </b><b>thought of publishing them in print media?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> The site has about twenty five comics as yet. It’s a new venture, just the beginning. And I’d be glad to have my matter published. Its every artist’s dream I think to have access to the greatest audience. Print media, for comics, is probably the best source to get them. But I’d like to retain the website as well, its helps retain the independence.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>14. You have mentioned on your website that your comics are about Law, Religion, Women, </b><b>Love and Science. Tell us about one subject on which you like working the most.</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
=> I encounter all these issues every moment as I conduct my life and feel amazed how dumb-ingly difficult can all of these things be. I make comics based on experiences and thoughts and these things take up most of my brain-space. That left is used in trying to figure out why does the Facebook layout change so frequently?</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b><br />
</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<b>15. Where do you see your website www.lithosphere.in by two years?</b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
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=> *Fingers crossed* I see attracting a huge audience, with better content and sharper comics. Some hate-mail to make me feel I am doing good and a ‘LithosphereComics parade’ or something similar taking place in Delhi. Just that, I am not very ambitious. ;)</div>
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<b>16. You are also involved in Freelancing. Tell us about what you have done lately.</b><br />
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Lately I worked with an adverisement firm, as a content writer. I used to draft the content and tag lines for ads which gets published in several medias: posters, pamphlets, internet, content for websites, tag lines for brands etc. Also used to help design the layout of the ads, the art work and stuff.<br />
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<b>17. Before we end up, I know about your interest in philately. Tell my readers about how you</b></div>
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<b>developed interest in philately? How should one get initiated into this interesting hobby?</b></div>
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=> Stamps provide a huge creative content in such a small space. That amazes me. Been collecting them since I was in primary school, got a few gifted by my uncle. Now I have a rather huge collection.</div>
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<u><b>Rapid fire round:</b></u></div>
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Q: Favorite Place?</div>
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=> Has to be Delhi.</div>
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Q: Favorite Comic Characters?</div>
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=> There’s a constant fight between Batman, Uglythieve, the</div>
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devil from my comic and Calvin.</div>
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Q: Most inspiring person for you?</div>
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=> Circumstances, not people.</div>
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Q: Any new hobby that you wish to inculcate?</div>
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=> Music.</div>
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Q: One thing you would like to tell us about your site :</div>
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=> It's usually wittier than my answers in this interview.</div>
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Visit his Facebook page <a href="https://www.facebook.com/lithospherecomics">Lithosphere Comics</a> to know more about him.</div>
</div>Saumyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12854568554475474724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-11374904786346296082011-10-26T13:27:00.001-07:002012-04-08T09:30:23.147-07:00An Interview with Abhay Shukla<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Abhay Shukla - A pass out of IIT-Delhi, an acclaimed blogger, a story-teller and an entrepreneur has been involved in a multitude of projects ranging from engineering to writing. His venture<a href="http://iitstories.com/"> iitstories</a> brings brilliant stories of IITians and their start-ups.People complain about the lack of inspiration and motivation in life; whereas he creates it and inspires!<br />
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<b>Here goes an amazing conversation I had with this extremely down to earth man</b> :-</div>
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<b>1. Before we begin, please tell me about you in a nutshell</b><b>.</b></div>
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=> I am a writer by heart and an engineer by profession who is trying to figure out how to work out both. In the process i am developing instincts of creativity.</div>
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<b>2. Yours is a different kind of story. An engineer, an acclaimed blogger and now a story-teller with a difference. How has the journey been like?</b></div>
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=> The journey has just started. Probably I will be in much better position to answer your questions after 4-5 years. But the journey sure seems to be exciting.</div>
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<b>3. What do you enjoy the most amongst the three?</b></div>
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=> I enjoy writing stories the most. With them I am in my own world of creation. Often I imagine myself in place of the characters and feel for them before writing, and it is then that sometimes I get the most incredible feeling, the true experience of joy.</div>
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<b>4. You went for a job after finishing your graduation. Why did you leave it? Were you able to write during that time? </b></div>
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=> I was working for an I-Bank but I was much more interested in engineering so I decided to quit. Also writing in those days was tough but it's the same even now.</div>
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<b>5. Coming to your second passion, blogging. How did you start it? Who inspired you?</b></div>
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=> Blogging was something I came to know about in IIT. I used to write stories in diaries and I wanted to share them with friends and readers and blogs seemed to be just the convenient way. Soon I started writing on the blog <a href="http://pagefiction.blogspot.com/">The Pagefiction.</a></div>
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<b>6. You write short-stories. This is something rare in the blogging domain. What made you write your first story?</b></div>
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=> Most of the short-stories I write are inspired from real incidents. I remember writing my first story <a href="http://www.pagefiction.blogspot.com/2008/11/kiddie-times.html">Kiddie Times</a> which is about how my brother and his friends planned to escape from home. I wanted to keep the story from disappearing in the sands of time and that’s just how it was all kicked off.</div>
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<b>7. Were you an engineer turned writer or did you write since childhood?</b></div>
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=> I started writing poems when I was 13-14 years old. This continued for about 6 years until my interest in short stories arose and I decided to give it a try.</div>
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<b>8. I’ve heard that during your IIT days you wrote this highly praised story, “How I met Haseen”. Tell me more about it. Was it a real story? </b></div>
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=> <a href="http://www.pagefiction.blogspot.com/2009/08/how-i-met-haseen.html">How I met Haseen</a> is a short love story with a really tragic ending. At the end of the story you just know what a true love feels like. Everytime I read it I feel my heart pounding for the characters in it. I think if you read it, you will figure out yourself whether it is true or not.</div>
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<b>9. I would definitely go through it! I have heard that your friends have asked you to make it into a novel? Are you giving it a thought?</b></div>
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=> Well I have got many requests and suggestions about writing sequels to my stories and if possible to turn them into novels. But to me writing is a very emotional matter because every piece of it has got a piece of me. I am working on a story but I am giving it enough time and space to build on itself rather than me trying to put deadlines.</div>
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<b>10. Tell us one interesting instance that occurred while writing stories?</b></div>
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=> Meeting <a href="http://www.aavs.biz/">Nitin Donde</a> and Ms. Manorama Jafa who helped me understand a child's mind remains the most interesting instance that has occurred since i started writing. They practically taught me how to write stories for children.</div>
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<b>11. How many stories have you written in totality? Any thoughts about publishing?</b></div>
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=> I have about 40 stories in my collection but no right now I have no plans to go for publishing. </div>
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<b>12. How do you weave stories? Do ideas flash and imagination takes care of the rest or it’s totally derived from what you’ve experienced?</b></div>
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=> Usually I am stuck with a lot of abstract ideas and when I find that one of them needs a necessity to be expressed, I weave it around a real life experience. This is how it works for me most of the times.</div>
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<b>13. Tell me about your recent venture, iitstories? I must say it’s a wonderful website, in terms of content and aesthetics.</b></div>
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=> Thank you! I sincerely feel that IIT system lacks inspiration and students there lose sight of what they want to do with their lives. iitstories is an effort to share stories of people who can become inspiring characters for such students. It's focused on highlighting the diversity of fields like engineering, research, business, entertainment, journalism, music etc which IITians have chosen over the years and doing really well. </div>
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<b>14. Do you see any business prospects with it?</b></div>
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=> <a href="http://www.iitstories.com/">iitstories</a> is still in its development phase. We are considering few ideas, lets see how it unfolds in the coming months.</div>
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<b>15. Now that you’ve left your job, how do you plan to go forth with your venture as well as writing? </b></div>
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=> I am not a regular time writer, so taking the venture ahead would be the prime objective in the coming days. Meanwhile i will keep working on my stories. I hope you will see some great work in the coming time.</div>
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<b>16. Before we end up, I know about your passion for animation. Tell my readers about the entire experience of animation. In IIT, how did you get interested in animation? Are you still pursuing it? </b></div>
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=> Animation was something that caught me in my final year. I wanted a more expressive medium to convey the thoughts I wrote in my stories so I decided to explore it. What really gave me the kick was when Prof. <a href="http://www.aavs.biz/">Nitin Donde</a> liked my story so much that he decided to make a 3-min animation movie <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6n4BNjjFBk">Aitbaar</a> on it. For me it was one of the happiest days as it opened the world of children stories and animation to me. We have some plans in that area but they require dedicated effort so time is a problem right now.</div>
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<b>17. What does inspiration mean to you? How important is its role in one’s life.</b></div>
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=> In very simple words, inspiration to me is like taste in food or color in a picture. It is something that make your work and life much more beautiful and meaningful.</div>
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<b>18. What next? 2 years down the line, where do you see iitstories, your stories and yourself?</b></div>
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=> Coming 2 years will be really challenging and will demand a great deal of learning from my part. I wish to see iitstories ignite a few brilliant minds into pursuing ideas they are passionate about. I wish to see my stories grow in numbers and certainly attract more regular readers. And for me, I just wish I be here to tell you about another of my ventures.</div>
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<u><b>Rapid fire round:</b></u></div>
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Q: Favorite Place:</div>
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=> Home</div>
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Q: Favorite Cuisine: </div>
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=> Not much of a foodie but kheer is my favourite </div>
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Q: Favorite Gadget:</div>
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=> Camera</div>
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Q: Favorite Book: </div>
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=> Fountainhead</div>
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Q: Most inspiring person for you: </div>
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=> Presently I am very much inspired by Harish Hande</div>
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Q: What do you like being more? An engineer or a writer? </div>
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=> Writer</div>
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Q: Any new hobby that you wish to inculcate.</div>
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=> Learn music</div>
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Q: If you were to write a book someday, what would it be about.</div>
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=> Let it be a surprise</div>
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To end it all; I am sure those who haven't gone through his writings yet must be very willing to read what he writes so here goes the link to his blogger profile - <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/05086619195629772152">Abhay Shukla</a><br />
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Followed by the animation movie made by Abhay and his team!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/F6n4BNjjFBk?fs=1" width="480"></iframe></div>Saumyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12854568554475474724noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2624463724927902596.post-80331261713523914112011-08-13T05:46:00.000-07:002011-08-24T11:45:18.127-07:00An interview with Harsh Snehanshu<div style="text-align: justify;">Harsh Snehanshu - the author of bestselling novel "Oops! 'I' fell in love!", released in 2009 and has sold more than 30000 copies, whose sequel "Ouch! that 'hearts'.." has hit the stands on 4th August 2011 is a graduate from IIT-Delhi, and has been an entrepreneur since 2010; his creative venture, popular as "thewittyshit" is another piece of his and his partner's creativity. Having read "Oops!" a year ago and "Ouch!" in a go last night; I just couldn't stop myself from having this extremely thrilling conversation with him.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>Here goes our conversation :</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>
<br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>1. You are an active blogger; so what made you start writing?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> I started my first blog, Synergy, which is still active just to share my experience at IIT with my school friends. It was just the urge to share what was totally new and exciting in my life. Later on, it became something like a public diary for me where I used to write my experiences, thoughts until I started writing stories. I made another blog for stories, Graffiti, once I realized my penchant for the same. Blogging has given me a lot, and I still owe all the credit to it, for making me a motivated writer.</div><b><div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div></b><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>2. Your debut novel “Oops! 'I' fell in love!” was very well received by the Indian readers. How was your experience with it?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> I’m very happy with how it turned out to be. Readers liked the kind of whacky humour that it contained, the college life thrill and the erroneous love story that it contained. It helped me learn a lot as a writer. I would recommend every aspiring writer to attempt writing a novel, not just for publishing, but for the sake of learning, since every reader brings in a lesson with him/her to you and thus, you evolve as a writer and understand what a reader wants.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>3. After “Oops! ‘I’ fell in love!”, what made you write its sequel; which has been recently released?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> After Oops, I had no such plans of writing a sequel, since I had already started working on another interesting plot, that was a love story of two entrepreneurs. But owing to my limitations as a writer, I realized that I could do justice to it only after I have experienced entrepreneurial life myself. I stopped the plot in between and switched on to writing the sequel, which was something that didn’t require much efforts on my part, since I’d plenty of college stories to tell.</div><b></b><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>
<br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>4. A 14 year old girl suggested the title of your second novel, namely ‘OUCH! that ‘hearts’..’. What is the aptness of the word ‘Hearts’ in the suggested title to your story?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> Yes, Arpa, one of my prized readers, came up with the title. I had conducted a competition for the same; I’d received over 150 prospective titles for the book and I chose Arpa’s suggested title because it was the catchiest, the pun on ‘hurts’ and ‘hearts’ made it apt because it suited the plot well, as this book had a sad ending and thirdly, the word ‘Ouch!’ seemed to be the perfect match for a sequel to ‘Oops!’.</div><b></b><div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>5. Which one of your own two books is your favourite and why?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> I like the second one more, because I have written it well, I gave it more time and more energy. However, if you consider which one did I enjoy writing more, I’ll say the first one, since it was miraculous how it emerged and how it took shape from within a dorm room.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>6. You prefer to go for trendy and off-beat titles for your novels, what would you say to justify your preference?</b></div><b></b><div style="text-align: justify;">=> I agree. The titles are a bit off-beat. I think, it justifies the plot. Humorous and racy plots require catchy and exclamatory titles. I would go for a serious title, once I write serious fiction.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>7. Tell us about your one experience in the journey of writing the two books you would always like to remember?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> Queen of Venice. Read the second book to find that out. Wait for the third book to get to know the entire story.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>8. What do you think readers like the most in your writings?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> They like to laugh. And I make them laugh.</div><b></b><div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>9. Do you believe that ‘Ouch…’ would be as successful as ‘Oops..’ or even more than that?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> I believe it’s going to surpass ‘Oops!’ in a very short time. The stats are already showing that. The first impression is almost sold in less than 7 days.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>10. What do you think the youngsters who go for light-reading actually want out of a writer?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> Wholesome entertainment. A story that’s rivetting, well narrated and something which they could relate to.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>11. What would you say to your critics?</b></div><b></b><div style="text-align: justify;">=> Thank you, if you’re genuine. You helped me evolve as a writer. Thank you, if you’re not genuine. You helped me evolve, as a person.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>12. What would you say to aspiring writers?</b></div><b></b><div style="text-align: justify;">=> Read. A lot.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>13. When is your next novel coming?</b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> Part 3, the concluding part of Kanav-Tanya trilogy, hopefully to be out by January, next year. Besides that I'm working on another plot called 365 days and I'm searching for a publisher for my 32 short-stories.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><a href="http://www.flipkart.com/author/harsh-snehanshu"><img src="http://profile.ak.fbcdn.net/hprofile-ak-snc4/188012_163600190368774_4385305_n.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 180px; height: 239px; " /></a></b><div></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><u>Rapid-fire round:</u></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Q. What is writing to you?</div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> Passion.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Q: One thing/person which gives you goose bumps is</div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> Grandparents.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Q: One movie which made you cry is</div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> The Notebook.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Q: One word you would say to ‘Chetan Bhagat’.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> Thanks!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Q: One person you envy is</div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> Zuckerberg</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Q: You wouldn't have been a writer if you didn’t have -</div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> Patience</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Q: Writing has made you a better</div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> Writer</div><div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Q: One ingredient in your books which is the secret behind your success is</div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> Wit</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b>
<br /></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Q: One recently published book you liked the most written by an Indian light-fiction writer of 19-25 age group is -</div><div style="text-align: justify;">=> I too had a love story by Ravinder Singh.</div></div>
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<br />Saumyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12854568554475474724noreply@blogger.com0