Brands Brands Brands! So many products to choose from. Often we are confused what brand to choose from. But how do we really make a decision? Is it really the product that appeals to us or is it the brainchild of the team who created strategies to create the positioning, branding and marketing of the product. Right now even there are several products that can be rated 5stars for their quality and use but yet unknown to many. Pause for a moment and imagine yourself in the supermarket or mall you visited recently. Can you recollect all the brands you saw or perhaps you must have even missed out even looking at some. 

Branding in today's day is very important. Its like a relationship. You don't keep in touch or your presence is not felt, the relation turns dull and nearly forgotten. Marketers have to be on their toes to keep up with the latest trends. Many times we purchase a product just cause someone close used it and recommended it or sometimes you liked the ad so you brought it.

              One such example can be seen in mobile phones. 10 years ago, first came Nokia which was considered to be durable, had good looks and a easy interface. Then came Samsung which was considered to be a China make phone and untrustworthy because of its breakable parts and the phone often getting hung. Then came Sony Ericsson with its amazing audio clarity and stylish looks. And recently Micromax entered in which was known as a China phone, untrustworthy, cheap parts and much more because of its low price that made everyone doubt the phone cause of the well known notion that " If its cheap-it must be not good". But this was in the span of 10 years ago. What about now? Things have changed. 

Nokia was known as old fashioned and that its too formal some months ago, until they came up with Lumia and repositioned themselves as trendy, stylish and cool. Sony Ericsson- Who's that? Samsung is leading the market with its smart phones, style and looks. And now Micromax  is getting the attention it deserved with its Style, looks, durability and priced well. 

So what were we thinking back then. Was it branding or are we just simply fools?

Once again its time to enter the Mumbai local train where millions travel daily. Every minute the crowd increases and consider yourself lucky if you manage to get a seat. Its not as easy as it seems. To enter the train you need to learn the skills and sometimes even get out the daredevil in you when its jam packed. Feels as compact as a sardine tin and within that millions of lives, millions of stories. Traveling in the train will always show you something new and interesting. Different characters, emotions, styles, reactions, stories and much more. Don't be surprised if you' re suddenly a part of a fight you never expected to happen. Every person you see there has a story to tell. A little boy asking his mother who entered the ladies compartment " Mom, when will i be able to travel in the gents? ". A mentally challenged kid kicking everyone around him and heartless people yelling and annoyed at the mother for bringing him in the general compartment. A old lady who's son died at a young age, so she had to work in her old-age to survive and to her tragedy she lost her purse carrying all the money she collected. A woman who had to balance herself near the edge of the doorway and risk her life daily because of the extremely packed train just to sustain her family and her kids education. Amchi Mumbai local is filled with drama and all the mach mach of the little slice of life.

Read more stories on everyday experiences in the local train:  http://mumbailocaldrama.blogspot.in/

Amongst the billions of women living in her country, she was one of them. Sweet, dressed in a simple salwar stitched with the most ordinary material. She played with her friends and stood there smiling with her glossy eyes that had so much of innocence in them. Little did she know that her father was upset and angry when he came to know his wife gave birth to a girl.In a straw hut she lived with her parents a younger brother and elder sister. Instead of sending her to school she was made to help her mother with household chores and take care of her younger brother while her mother and sister would work as a domestic maid and come home only till late evening. While her father would sit to gamble the entire day, he would come home drunk and often it led to a fight between him and her tired mother and would often land up beating and abusing them. After a few years she was made to work with her mother as her eldest sister was married off at the age of 13 to a man who was more than twice her age, as he helped them financially. Her brother was sent to school and was given the best treatment as he was supposed to be the one who would continue their family generation and earn for the family & make them rich one day. So,  he was allowed to speak rudely to his sisters and whatever he demanded was given to him. This girl on the other hand was now 15 and when a man came to ask her hand in marriage, she was given away. No doubt he had a good job and seemed to be a nice man.But the one day proposal match was  too less to find out about the person he was inside. So when she was married she was harassed for dowry by her in laws and her husband too, who hit her to take out his frustrations. Her life was no less than a jailed criminal behind bars.For no fault of hers. All she knew was that she was hurt from inside and yet always blamed herself thinking she must have done something wrong to upset others. Little did she know the life she was living was not the life she deserved. Because she was living the life that millions of women in her country are leading everyday of their lives so she felt it was a way of life. Sad to know that her father died due to excessive drinking and her brother got married to a girl from the city and sent his love in the form of money to his old, ill- health mother, to live by herself alone. For no fault of hers she lived a life she herself dint expect, afterall she did the best she could do for her son. To make things worse her son even though as he lived in a city, he carried on the same culture of being male dominated and treated his wife just like his father treated his wife because he was brought up that way,  a fault that was not his own too. The little girl who smiled with glossy eyes, her children, looked and smiled with the same innocence, as they had no idea how their future would be, for no fault of theirs. 

-Then who's fault was it anyway?

Cold was the morning and so was her heart. She sat on a rickety stool and gazed outside the window through the tiny holes of the laced curtain. It took her back to the days when she saw her kids playing on the lawn, laughing and running about and how she would call out to them from the window to have lunch. The day she saw her son bring in their new car and the memory of seeing her son smiling and so happy, reflected on her face too. Not forgetting the day when she bid goodbye to her husband who went to the ship and never returned for their anniversary.  Also the moment when she first saw her daughter walking in with her boyfriend and the same path she walked away after she was married. The wind blew, scattering dried leaves all over the lawn that was once green. In a flash, here she was, old, feeling like just till yesterday she was the same pretty young girl who had all the energy in her to do what she wanted. She knew everything had changed and soon she would be praised for the person she was as she would be known as the lady who is no more. Silence were the words, deep were the thoughts as she lived one day at a time.

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Gone are the 365 days and here comes the new year. burring away the past, sorrows, tears and all the bad, bring in the new year to gives us new hope, dreams, aspiration, smiles and more. Slowly the past fades away from our lives as the coming days become more vibrant. Each one of us need to think for themselves what they want. The coming year to be paced as same as the previous one or to be better and be socially conscious and responsible, doing something not only for themselves but serving others. Apart from blaming others, we need to be the change. So this coming year, let us all decide for ourselves whats best and without being selfish, let us together create a environment that is united and help to spread love, joy and happiness.

After the week long stock of stored groceries its time for the market to be set once again. Every area in India has its own 'market day' every week, where you get the best bargains, sufficient enough to last the entire  7 days or more. While a few local sellers get their stuff ready and set out their carts , some of them just lay down a old sack with neatly stacked vegetables freshly plucked from their own farms or gardens. Some of them use the Indian weight of measures while some of them who are barely educated carry on the old tradition of selling it in small portions like two hand fulls. In a moments time everything is set and layed out & one would not recognize that its the same road of yesterday.The sellers yell and shout out their best offers & prices. Hundreds of women and men with their cloth carry bags march to the market.  Their eyes and ears have to be sharp as each one sells it cheaper than the other to attract the crowd. What you by for Rs 20 here may be sold for Rs 10 a few steps further. So everyone out there is on their quest to get the best buy. There is so much of noise- traffic and chaos all over and if you are suffering from Agoraphobia this is definitely not the place for you to be. Admist the rush you have to make your way through, just like in a game, dodging and making sure you don't bang into anyone and drop their bags or you'l land up in a tiff. Every seller has his own story and your mind begins to wander, especially when you see the kids with pitiful eyes sitting with their mother to sell a few homegrown vegetables or a old lady who can barely walk and see, selling bananas from her backyard tree. Not forgetting that some women haven't forgotten their roots and even though they have big bungalows and are rich owners, they keep the culture and family tradition alive of selling in the market like a simpleton. So much to look at and so much of vegetables and fruits to buy, a day in a market in India has a experience of its own. Everything gets sold out by mid- noon and people wait for the next week for them to come back again.

Sweet are the memories when dad would take us for short trips. Once he took us for his friends wedding to a remote village in the heart of Alibaug, a small village on the outskirts of Maharashtra. Being kids, me and my brother became the center of attraction as we were known as the children from the city. We were greeted by his parents and neighbours and not forgetting they would give us whatever we asked for. However little they had they gave it with all their heart. They were farmers and we lived under their thatched roof which was surrounded by fields. Soon it was time to leave and we bid good bye with tears in our eyes. Days passed and years too and the memories  faded away while a few moments remained.
                 After so many years again we visited the same place. Everything around changed, us too, but not the people there. As soon as we entered, the old man came running to greet us with tears in his eyes. He couldn't stopped smiling and shouting out " they are come" by taking our names. He then called out to his wife and they spoke about the good old days & how we roamed around the house and played when we visited them as kids. Not forgetting they made us stay for lunch and their hospitality was overwhelming. It made me compare everything to the city. People earn and with so much yet are self- centered and here with little that people have, they give their best. True happiness lies within the art of giving. And they gave us something that many cant, they gave us so much LOVE. Beautiful was the day and precious were the moments that will last forever.