Women's day speech

The edited version of my (small) speech at the college on the eve of women's day celebrations.

Good morning one and all. First of all, i wish all the women here a very happy women's day.
I am way too small speak about such powerful entities that women are, even then, I would like to make a feeble attempt.

I believe that the 'change' that we are trying to bring, should come from with-in. We see, especially in villages, girl children are thought of as a liability whereas everyone wants a male child.
It is also one of the reasons why there is high infanticide rate in India.
Also, there is much differentiation in their upbringing as well. Boys are given full freedom whereas there are various restrictions for girls, a deadline of 6pm and such.

It has been widespread misconception about male misogyny and male suppression. I don't think anybody is suppressed in fact there is a lot of encouragement for women these days to come forward and excel in their respective fields.

Although we celebrate March 8th as women's day and am not against it, but just like we don't need a Valentine's day to express our love, I don't think we need a separate day to respect women. All 365 days are women's days! :)

Thank you!

P.S : It was off-the-cuff and not well prepared in advance ;)

December 2013!

December, the last month of the year, had been quite a learning experience for me. Along with so much happening in college life, event he blog was moving forward at a rapid pace. This was another of those rare occasions, where I managed to write posts in double digits. Making it an average of one post every 3 days. Wish I could do that more often.

1) The very first post of the month was a movie review. Review of R..Rajkumar starring Shahid Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha. Another masala film, revenge-drama, love-story and a bit of hilarity. Unfortunately, the movie wasn't well received by the critics. I quite liked it.

2) Ah, the love is cute series moved forward with a 7th post in it. Of course, none of them are actually sequels but like Bhatt camps, adding a number and another story is valid ;) Love is cute - 7 was about a young couple quarreling yet loving each other. Was fun to write.

3) This was a rather long and not-so-humorous post. Love, you can never have too much of it wasn't childish unlike many other posts on the blog, it was a bit deep. Or so I feel :P
This post was about a woman's internal dilemma to be away from the guy she loved but not being able to do it. And about how her guy was matured enough to understand it and help her with her dilemma.

4) Sweet Talk : An unexpected love story  was a really funny and a sweet movie. An author facing writers-block calls up a phone-sex service and they embark on an virtual journey which makes them fall in love with each other. Brilliantly made.

5) Then came Dhoom 3, one of the most awaited movies of the year 2013 and also one of the biggest disappointments. Aamir Khan totally takes over the franchise and all others around him are totally neglected. One he was short, two he was old, three, he wasn't thief-material. Although the film is now the biggest grosser in Hindi film industry, it was a disappointment and a big one at that.

6) Then came my first author-interview for the blog. In conversation with Manish Gupta, author of English Bites. He talks about his past and his relationship with English, his love for the language and his future plans. Was fun.

These were the articles that I managed to write on my own. The following were the induced articles based on my internship with The Viewspaper.

7) A post analysing why Google made an expensive ad campaign titled 'Reunion' in India, where most of users already are aware and use Google.
8) A post about Amazon's initiative of delivery by unmanned drones and the troubles that it may face in turning this idea into a reality.
9) A post on different smartphones and their OS available in the market as of now.
10) The final post of the month and the year where I ponder upon the evolution of marriages and divorces in India.

That was it in one of the beautiful years of the life of the blog :P
Also, the blog reached some amazing heights in the year.
It touched the Alexa rank of below 2mn in India. It garnered over 1.5mn pageviews/hits in the year. I also wrote about 70 posts in the year!
Yes, it was a wonderful year for the blog.

Let's see how the blog fares in 2014! :)

November 2013

The month of November had been really really busy for the blog. In the month, I managed to write posts on two of the main categories that this blog stands for, relationships and reviews. Apart from that, I also wrote posts on cricket, politics and careers as a part of my virtual unpaid internship with The Viewspaper, an online magazine.

1) Undercover in high heels was the third book in the high heels trilogy by Gemma Halliday. The dumb blonde continued, but due to over exposure and repetitiveness, this story seemed painful to read. There was nothing new and the things that were entertaining once, seemed annoying now. Too much of anything isn't good.

2) Love is cute - 6. Oh how I love these series. It has some of the best posts of the blog. Another incident in the lives of young couples that make us feel that love is really really cute. 

3) Then came the brilliant movie from the maverick director Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Dippy totally stole the show with her inner radiance if not anything else. Brilliant performances and a novel take of Romeo and Juliet. Goliyon ki raasleela - Ram leela was a movie not to be missed and it also went to become one of the best movies of the year 2013 in bollywood.

4) English Bites by Manish Gupta was a non-fictional auto-biographical and comical way of learning and talking about English. It wasn't just a self-help book but it did offer a lot of help to the students appearing for competitive exams. The humor was like icing on the cake.

These 4 were the posts that I had written on my own on the blog. The following 4 were different topics in the virtual internship.

5)  A post on Sachin's retirement - Sachiiiiin, Sa-chin!6) A post on the Tehelka magazine's editor's criminal activities - Tejpal and Shoma!
7) Movie review of Singh Saab the Great starring Sunny paaji.
8) List of various career options for the youth of today.

With that ended the month of November. 8 posts in the month. Not bad. 

October 2013

Well the month of October had been a reviews month. There were 5 novel reviews, all of which were reviews on request and a movie review.

1) How I Got Lucky by Farhad J. Dadyburjor was a fictional tale exposing the harsh reality about the fashion and show business. It was more of an eye-opener.

2) Besharam starring Ranbir Kapoor took after it's name and was really really shameless. The expectations were really high and the movie disappointed. But his real-life parents were also a part of the movie and they deserve an applause for their performances in this otherwise stupid and shameless movie.

3) The Cosmic Clues by Manjiri Prabhu was about an amateur detective who solved her cases with the help of Astrology. Funny and feel-good novel. 

4) Aisle Be Damned by Rishi Piparaiya was one hell of a hilarious novel. It was about his travel experiences and his various observations during those air-travels.

5) Spying in high heels was the first of the trilogy by Gemma Halliday. Dumb blonde woman who was professionally a shoe designer and aspired to be a detective. Chick-lit, funny and hilarious. Made for a nice read.

6) Killer in high heels was the second book in the trilogy. Same stupidness, same fun and same humor. Went to be a bit trite, still made for a good read.

Yeah, there was not a single post on relationships in the  month of October. I know, even I regret that. But, unfortunately, this mind cannot churn out posts as and when I wish it to. If only... :)

September 2013

The month of September was busy. Really really busy. Had lots of things going on in the mind and also in the life at that time. Somehow, I did manage to pen down a few things. A few, not many.

5-9-2013. The very first post of the month. On Relationships. Yeah, I just love it when I can think of something interesting revolving around relationships, that I can put up on the blog. If we were still together... Oh, yes, melancholic like hell. But that's life, isn't it? Sad and painful.

10-9-2013. Well, life isn't always painful and sad. It also has so many good things in store for us. Another post on relationships, this time, something with a happy-ending and something that would plaster a smile while reading. At least, I hope so. Conversation without words.

Then there was a movie review. The review of Shuddh Desi Romance.. which neither had romance nor was it Desi in anyway.

This review was followed by 3 novel reviews. Mistakes like love and sex by Madhuri Banerjee, Wrong Means Right End by Varsha Dixit and Tall Man Small Shadow by Vipin Bihari Goyal. The third one was a review on request. 

That is all that I could manage in September 2013.

I'll remember you..

Stumbled upon this song through my mail. The lyrics were really beautiful and meaningful. So thought of sharing :)

"I'll Remember You"

It has been so long since we have talked
I hope that things are still the same
hoping they will never change
cause what we had can't be replaced
don't let our memories fade away
keep me in your heart for always

You made me believe
that I can do almost anything
stood right by me
through the tears through everything

I'll remember you,
and baby that's forever true
you're the one that I'll always miss
never thought it would feel like this
I'll be there for you,
no matter what you're goin' through
in my heart you'll always be, forever baby
I'll remember you

I promise you I won't forget the times we shared, the tears we cried
You'll always be the sun in my sky
It may be fate that brings us back to meet again someday
Even though we go separate ways

You made me believe
that I can do almost anything
You stood right by me
through the tears through everything

I'll remember yooooou,
and baby that's forever true
you're the one that I'll always miss
never thought it would feel like this
I'll be there for yooooou,
no matter what you're goin' through
in my heart you'll always be, forever baby
I'll remember you

If the day should come when you need someone
(you know that i'll follow)
I will be there
Don't ever let there
be a doubt in your mind
'cause I'll remember you, you

I'll remember you,
and baby that's forever true
you're the one that I'll always miss
never thought it would feel like this
I'll be there for you,
no matter what you're goin' through
in my heart you'll always be, forever baby
I'll remember you

Forever baby, I'll remember you...

(Lyrics taken from Lyrics Universe)

There was this hilarious incident that occurred yesterday. I was just laughing when a friend commented, now go write a blog post about this.

I was like, What the.. I don't write about everything that happens with and around me.

I donno what offended me more. His comment or the stupidity of it. Moreover, he doesn't even read any of my blog posts.

As I said, friends can sometimes be a pain in the ass!

August 2013!

The month of AUGUST 2013 has to be the best month for the blog so far. Ended up penning down 11 posts in the month. Making it an average of a post every 3 days. Cool. Am glad. Am so glad.

Also, managed to read 5 books and a short-story in the month and also write a review for each.
Watched Chennai Express and also penned down my thoughts on the movie.
August 15th saw me getting paranoid about the independence and also got me wondering whether we really got any independence or not.
Also, wrote 3 posts in the category of relationships, that the blog actually stands for!

BOOK REVIEWS:

1) Amreekan Desi - http://jigar-doshi.com/2013/08/amreekan-desi-novel-review/ by Atulya Mahajan.

2) Wise Enough To Be Foolish - http://jigar-doshi.com/2013/08/wise-enough-to-be-foolish-novel-review/ by Gauri Jayaram

3) Silver Is For Secrets - http://jigar-doshi.com/2013/08/silver-secrets-novel-review/ by Laurie Faria Stolarz

4) Hiccups - http://jigar-doshi.com/2013/08/novel-review-hiccups/ by Harsh Pande

5) How To Gracefully Exit A Relationship - http://jigar-doshi.com/2013/08/gracefully-exit-relationship-novel-review/ by Frank Love

SHORT STORY:

The Monkey Talk http://jigar-doshi.com/2013/08/short-story-review-monkey-talk/ by T. Lucas Earle

RELATIONSHIPS :

1) It's friendship when - http://jigar-doshi.com/2013/08/its-friendship-when/
A post about best friends and how they usually behave with each other.

2) Best Friends - http://jigar-doshi.com/2013/08/best-friends/
2 friends in love with each other, yet not letting the other one know that they love. a bit of a sadness in the post.

3) Just leave me alone - http://jigar-doshi.com/2013/08/just-leave-alone/
post break-up, one of the conversations. painful again.

10th August: Chennai Express - Not a review : http://jigar-doshi.com/2013/08/chennai-express-not-a-review/
This post has brought in the maximum traffic to the blog even after writing as many as 7 posts after this post. Also, it still keeps bringing in traffic to the blog.
Power of Bollywood, SRK, Deepika, Rohit Shetty and Team! ;)

15th August:
Are we really independent? http://jigar-doshi.com/2013/08/are-we-really-independent/
few questions that we need to ask ourselves. and a few changes that we need to bring in ourselves.

So, the month ends on a high.

September is going to be busy. Very busy. So, I know there won't be much time for writing. But, then again, when compares to August 2013, all months would feel like less productive only!

Adios!

The blog...!

Have been away for a while now, I know. Just been busy in the real world and also the reel world.

Just 3 posts last month, that is July 2013.

Was having my final exams and so couldn't blog much.

So, the first post was under the category of relationships, as usual, titled I..still..love..her..! 
Yeah, as the title itself suggests, it was a melancholic post. And if you go through the posts of June 2013, May 2013 and April 2013, you'd realize that there was so much melancholy on the blog. At least I felt so. And I wanted to break-away from it. The melancholy, that is. And I told myself that I won't be writing another melancholic post for a while at least.

Well, I did keep my word, as my next post, was not only not melancholic, but also cheerful and a bit sensuous, if I may use the word. Titled, The First Kiss, it was also the longest post I have written in my over 2 years of blogging. Over 2290 words.
It was also widely appreciated and was even selected as one of the best posts among the Blogadda.com's WOW category, "...And I blushed!

The last post of the month was a review. A book review to be precise.
Review of Keigo Higashino's Salvation Of A Saint.  A perfect murder. No signs of violence. No clues. No mistake by the killer. A perfect crime. Pure logic wins over the case in the end.

Upstream Color (The Movie) : My Thoughts..

Just watched Upstream Color (2013) written, directed and produced by Shane Carruth. It's the most shockingly disturbing science-fiction movie I've watched in a long time! Although not similar to Contagion, something on the same lines about a deadly virus that passes from humans to pigs to orchids.

A thief injects a drug into various people and robs them off their whole money. The victims remember nothing and are left to lead almost wretched lives with no money and an unhealthy body where the parasite keeps growing inside the victims.

Among the lot, two people are attracted to each other and they begin to stay together to support each other. Unknowingly they stumble upon some lines from the novel Walden by Henry David Thoreau and as they pursue it, they finally catch the culprit. 

Although the movie is only 96 minutes long, it's so chillingly slow that it becomes painful and disturbing to watch it. As the plot keeps unfolding, you begin to get disturbed more and more, yet you just don't want to switch off. You stay until the end to find out what is exactly happening on the screen and why is it happening.

It's a must watch but you got to be very patient and stay till the end to actually enjoy it. 

P.S : I thought of giving it up so many times and switching it off mid-way, but I sat through it. And I don't regret it a bit.

3 reviews on request so far!

Hello there! I've been away from here for a long time now, I know. Life has kept me busy. There is so much happening both online and offline that it is next to impossible to manage more than one blog at a time. Added to that the endless hours we all waste on all the social networks out there, makes it even more difficult.
Anyway, now that I have a little time and pretty much nothing better to do, am back to updating this blog.

So far, I have received 3 novels from 3 different authors who write novels in 3 different genres, requesting me to review. I was on cloud nine when I got a mail from an author who is settled in London! Just imagine!

First novel, Once Upon The Tracks Of Mumbai, written by Rishi Vohra who resides in Mumbai. It was his debut novel whose protagonist was an autistic kid who spends most of his time in railway stations and near tracks. Was a sweet love story and I totally enjoyed reviewing it.

I was next contacted by Sangeeta Bhargava from London requesting to review her third novel, After The Storm. I was totally overwhelmed and couldn't believe it. I mean, it wasn't like my blog was so famous or something. So to get that request from an author who is based in London was totally unbelievable.
The novel was wonderful, set in 1941 and later and a love story of an English teacher and an Indian student was very nicely set.

Although, it was Ms.Sangeeta who contacted me first, I received the novel Offside from Kiran Vijayan before I could receive After The Storm! Kiran contacted me after about a week but I received his novel first. It was a debut novel too and was based around football and puppy love. Was a sweet one.

So, these have been the 3 reviews on request so far. Waiting for other authors to send me their novels so that I can have fun reading them and then post a review on my blog! :P

Such a small small world..

"A" and "B" were classmates in college X in city H, but never talked or got in touch. A was good friends with C who was good friends with B who got A and B into contact. A was good at B's mother tongue in a place where it was seldom spoken, so A and B had great time speaking in B's mother tongue and had great many conversations.
After a while, A and B got busier with their own lives and din't stay in touch.

After 2 years...

A shifted to city W, joined another college Y, made new friends.
A became friends with D and E who were classmates even before joining Y. D and E were classmates of F before joining Y. D and E tell F everything about A and no F has never met A but has just seen A's pics on FB. Needless to say, D, E and F are girls.

So, F joins a course in H. And B (remember?) happens to have taken up the same course too. So, F and B become friends and get talking. F happens to mention that she hails from city W and that instantly rings a bell in B's mind and she enquires if she happens to know A. And bingo! F actually knows A, although not literally, but she knows A through her friends D and E.

Such a small small world!!

Needless to say, am "A"! :D

March 2013

Whattay month it has been!

Finished up my 1st Sem exams in February. Started March with a vacation. Went to Saputara, a hill station near Surat, Gujarat with 17 cousins altogether. Later, got myself busy with the management meet Cynosure 2013 organised by our college. And post that, got busy with organizing farewell for our seniors. All in a month’s time.

But, the main highlights of March 2013 would be 2 emails from 2 different authors.
One, from Sangeeta Bhargava from UK, London. The author of “Letters to my Baby” and “The World Beyond” had just published her 3rd novel, After The Storm. And she asked me if I’d be interested in reviewing the novel. Of course, I was and she immediately sent me a copy of her novel.  Which I received on 31st of March, 2013.
Second email was from Kiran Vijayan whose first novel “Offside” had just released. He too asked me the same thing and I immediately agreed. He sent me the novel and although I received his email later, I received his mail first. Got his mail on 27th March, 2013. That’s why the review of his novel was up before that of ATS.
2 author signed copies in a month! Woohoo! Was and am still on cloud 9! 

And March 2013 had also been a good month for blogging because I managed to write as many as 6 posts in the month!

The first post, on 3rd march, was Break up, another post in the category of relationships and thanks to my friend who asked me a wonderful question that got me thinking. “What would you think of a guy who just had a break up without any fight?” was the question. Also, asked the same question to a couple of my other friends and their views have been incorporated in the post too.

Second post, on march 14th, again was under the category of relationships. I will get over you,  which was more of a continuation or a reply to “I miss you, Hell I still love you…!” It’s not true love if it doesn’t hurt..!

Third post, on March 16th, was the first ever Free Giveaway on my blog. Giveaway of 10 BigFlix movie coupons. I still have a few. If you want, do ping me! The coupons are valid upto 30th April, 2013, so hurry!

Fourth post, on 21st March, was again under the category of relationships. This post was kinda cute in itself. Titled Love at first meet  it was about the conversation between a couple who had been made to meet each other by their families. Yeah, arranged marriage. Turned out pretty well.

Fifth post, on March 26th, was again under the category of relationships. Definitions of love by a besotted lover has so many definitions of love. Totally inspired from one of the conversations that I was having with a friend. She asked me about my opinion on love and what I actually thought about love. That conversation resulted in this post. 

And the final post of the month, not under relationships this time, but a review!
The review of the novel Offside by Kiran Vijayan that was sent by the author himself!

That marks the end of March 2013! 

2013 so far..

Ah, things have been terribly busy.. 2013 has been a roller coaster ride so far.. Post graduation studies, exams, so much to do and so little time.. Endless movies, hanging out with friends, college life.. It’s all taking a toll.. Am so dead tired by the time I return home that I rarely get the time to write or even read..

which explains the dearth of posts this year.. There haven’t been many..

the very first post this year was on the topic, that my blog actually is made up of, relationships - a simple post, a conversation between a guy and a girl, a simple non-personal conversation leading to a tuffle between the two.. and how straight forwardness of the guy ends up hurting the girl.. side effects of love

Oh, it’s February already!!
Yeah, could manage only one post in january 

The second and third posts have been on the subject creativity and these are compiled by one of my lecturers.. Convergent and Divergent thinking and Personal barriers to creativity.

Again, returning to my forte, relationships, the continuation of the most successful series on my blog The “Love is cute” series.. a cute and romantic post, Love is cute – 4, about a young and mischevious couple and their cute cute antic talks. No love is complete without a little jealousy.

The last post for February, category relationships, Bitter Sweet conversations. Maintaining long distance relationships is no mean task. No, really. Especially with the girls. They make mountains out of moles, you know. Just an instance where it happens. A third person becomes the subject of conversation which leads to a small disheartening of the girl. But then, all’s well that end’s well!

So, that’s it for now.. january and February 2013!

Adios Amigos!

my own website!

Hello all!
I am visibly and understandably very very very excited!
Finally managed to build my own website. Was tough, had to deal with stupid set-ups which were nothing less than greek and latin to me, but was fun, altogether.
Now, I have a basic website on my own name, i.e., www.jigar-doshi.com and this begins a new journey with loads of new experiences and memories. :)

Do visit, do share, do ask your friends to do the same!
Thanks in advance! :)

Cheers! :)