After months of being on Twitter, we are finally on Facebook also. We have uploaded the stills from our first event “Readings and Discussions” here.

A lot has happened since our last post. We have lost people and got new ones and again lost them. We are currently under going a huge structure change internally and are about to hire more people.

We have been covered many more times in the press and radio.

Recently we were invited by Oakwood Premier to review their restaurant, Senses.

We also interviewed Shaa’ir and Func, a Mumbai and New York based duo and Neha Sareen and Ira Dubey of Chicks on Flicks on Sony Pix. Both the interviews shall be up soon. Stills from Neha and Ira’s interview can be found here.

We are in the process of strategic collaborations with a few nice blogs and websites for the recruitment and PR process. We also got a call from Nokia, who want to know more about the magazine and the entire project so that we may find a match in our synergies and work out a possible collaboration.

Cheers guys.

DNA Sunday Bangalore: regarding online activism, both thetossedsalad.com and greenpune.org were covered

DNA After Hours Coverage

also covered in sakaal times…need to scan…

at TTS, we have decided to do something every month. last month we had our first event (images and press coverage still to go up for which i have been a bit busy).

this month, National Entrepreneurship Network is celebrating a week dedicated to ‘Go Green’ and entrepreneurship. and we promote each and every aspect of lifestyle. couldn’t be a better time to launch the social initiative.

so we came up with GreenPune.org, primarily to promote the Green Lifestyle. we shall cover what steps the govt, corporates and individuals in Pune are taking to make the city a better place to live at the same time greener and compare & implement green activities happening across India and the globe.

looking forward to your support. cheers guys.

• Randhir Khare is a multi faceted person. An author, poet, performer and artist, he shall perform from his book on poems which he translated while staying with the Bhil tribe.

• Samir Karnik, director of the movies Heroes, Nanhe Jaisalmer and Kyun Ho Gaya Na will also screen first public clipping from his next movie with Bobby Deol.

• Vatsal Sheth, Bollywood actor having done lead roles in Just Mohabbat and Tarzan will be a part of the panel too.

• Nivedita Saboo is a fashion designer running boutique stores around Pune called “Neo Couture”.

You all are invited.

Looking forward to seeing you.

December 19th 2008, Sahil and me landed in Bombay for the annual IIT-Bombay fest Mood Indigo. Reaching Bombay was one hectic thing we had to go through as there was a confusion regarding the bus timings due to which we had to miss the first two buses and then board the third one finally.

On reaching the Powai campus and on completing the registrations and other formalities, we headed towards the accomodation and right after dumping our bags at respective places, we went on a campus tour just to get a feeling of what was actually awaiting us.

Mood Indigo seemed dead this year although it was the 50th year for IIT-B. The crowd was depressing and the organizers themselves were in a maze. Mismanagement of events and cancellation of many more put the crowd off. Unlike the yesteryears, the campus wasn’t brimming with life.

When the general feeling of the crowd was conveyed to them, the feelings of the organizers seemed juvenile and vulnerable as they could not take in criticism in a positive way but literally misbehaved with us. I understand that our magazine is not as big a name as TOI or The Indian Express and that we are just five months old but that doesn’t mean that one has the right to misbehave with anybody by telling us “you are black mailing us in the name of Press”.

It is surprising how the misconcepted biggest brains in the country behave when it comes to handling practical situations like these. Any sensible person would have actually taken the criticism and made use of it to improve themselves but it seems that IITians think no end of themselves hence they claim that they are mature enough and do not need to prove it to anyone else.

On the eve of completing 6 months, TTS is organizing an event called ‘Zivotni’, which means life the Czech Rep, on the 25th Jan (sunday) tentatively. In the hope of promoting lifestyle, 3 sessions have chalked out where a food+wine session, book reading+panel discussion session and a rock band performance will happen in 3 diff spheres of lifestyle.

Event Hightlights:

• Confirmed presence by Samir Karnik (bollywood director of heroes, nanhe jaisalmer fame) and Vatsal Seth (actor of just mohabattein and tarzan fame) are in place. Samir Karnik will also be showing an exclusive clipping from his next movie Roshan featuring Bobby Deol.

We are in talks with more guests about the same. Passes for the full-day event shall be available for free from mid-jan.

Also a re-designed site shall see the light on the completion of 6 months.

It was a simple evening over a Lays Cream and Onion big packet, curd and one Thums Up which triggered our energy emotions to such an extent that we decided that it is about time that the then-to-be-launched magazine got its name.

First job was to decide as to what will be the content of the magazine all the ideas which came up in the brain storming session was quickly jotted down in an now-lost A4 sheet and the whole process was so mind-boggling!

We came up with the most innovative as well as the silliest of ideas and it was surprising how in a matter of 20 minutes there wasn’t even a centimeter of space left without a pencil mark.

Once the content was decided, we jumped to deciding names for the magazine -

1. Kaleidoscope - A kaleidoscope is a tube of mirrors containing loose colored beads and pebbles or other small colored objects. The viewer looks in one end and light enters the other end, reflecting off the mirrors creating a juxtaposition of colours. (sahil came up with this name…..was rejected because it was sounding too cliched then).

2. Terrra cotta - Terra cotta (Italian: “baked earth”) is a ceramic. Its uses include vessels, water & waste water pipes and surface embellishment in building construction, along with sculptures. (sahil again…..the name was rejected because it was more appropriate for a sculpture shop)

3. Mauve - Mauve is a pale lavender – lilac color; one of the many in the rangeur of purples. (sahil again! he was probably influenced with the Mauve nightclub in KP, pune. Anyways, this one was rejected because I am sure the Poonawalas would have sued us then

4. The Tossed Salad – instant hit! the name was given by me after all!!! attitude!

Anyways there was a rough survey kind of a thing which was held in which we asked friends around to choose from the four given above. Many said that the name seemed to be too big but then that was the only URL available and so we stuck to it. And by the way, people did appreciate the innovativity which lies behind the name.

we started of as small as possible with a basic content structure, waiting to grow-in both, team and content wise. now that we have achieved this, we’re planning of re-doing the layout for now. and if time and effort permits we’ll go in for a new look too.

currently we house our articles and reviews under 4 sections. events and interviews come separately. people navigate through the sections chronologically.

now we will have only 4 broad sections with articles, reviews, event coverage and calendar and interviews under each section. each article will be categorised under the specific topic which belongs to a particular section. with this the readers are able to find information relating to their interest faster.

we also plan to add an author’s profile at the end of each piece instead of just their name. will also provide an author’s archive, so they can dig their fav author.

with limited infrastructure, we’re looking forward to achieving a lot. and to top it, i’m the only one to work on the development. i need to understand css grids in a better manner now.

fingers crossed.

Good Morning everyone and thank you for giving me this chance to speak to
you..  This day is about you. You, who have come to this college, leaving the
comfort of your homes (or in some cases discomfort), to become something in your
life.

I  am sure you are excited. There are few days in human life when one is
truly elated.  The first day in college is one of them.  When you were getting
ready today, you felt a tingling in your stomach. What would the auditorium be
like, what  would the teachers be like, who are my new classmates – there is so
much to  be  curious about. I call this excitement, the spark within you that
makes you  feel  truly alive today. Today I am going to talk about keeping the
spark shining. Or to put it another way, how to be happy most, if not all the
time.

Where do these sparks start? I think we are born with them. My 3-year old
twin boys  have  a million sparks. A little Spiderman toy can make them jump on
the bed.  They get thrills from creaky swings in the park. A story from daddy
gets them excited. They do a daily countdown for birthday party – several
months in advance – just for the day they will cut their own birthday cake.

I  see  students  like  you, and I still see some sparks.. But when I see
older people, the spark is difficult to find. That means as we age, the spark
fades. People  whose spark has faded too much are dull, dejected, aimless and
bitter. Remember  Kareena  in the first half of Jab We Met vs the second half?
That is what happens when the spark is lost..   So how to save the spark?

Imagine  the  spark  to  be a lamp’s flame. The first aspect is nurturing
- to give your spark the fuel, continuously. The second is to guard against
storms. To  nurture,  always  have  goals.  It  is human nature to strive, improve
and achieve  full  potential. In fact, that is success. It is what is possible
for you.  It isn’t any external measure – a certain cost to company pay
package, a particular car or house.

Most of us are from middle class families. To us, having material
landmarks is success  and  rightly so. When you have grown up where money constraints force everyday  choices,  financial  freedom  is a big achievement. But it isn’t
the purpose  of life. If that was the case, Mr. Ambani would not show up for
work. Shah  Rukh  Khan would stay at home and not dance anymore. Steve Jobs
won’t be working hard to make a better iPhone, as he sold Pixar for billions of
dollars already.  Why do they do it? What makes them come to work everyday? They
do it because it makes them happy. They do it because it makes them feel alive.
Just getting  better  from  current  levels  feels good. If you study hard, you
can improve  your rank. If you make an effort to interact with people, you
will do better  in  interviews. If you practice, your cricket will get better. You
may also  know  that you cannot become Tendulkar, yet. But you can get to the
next level. Striving for that next level is important.

Nature  designed with a random set of genes and circumstances in which we
were born.  To be happy, we have to accept it and make the most of nature’s
design. Are you? Goals will help you do that.

I  must add, don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give
you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful.
Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good
order.

There  is no point of getting a promotion on the day of your breakup.
There is no  fun in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if
your mind is full of tensions.

You  must  have  read  some quotes – Life is a tough race, it is a
marathon or whatever.  No,  from  what  I  have seen so far, life is one of those
races in nursery  school,  where  you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in
your mouth.  If  the  marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same with
life, where  health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only
worth it if  there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve the success, but
this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One  last  thing about nurturing the spark – don’t take life seriously.
One of my yoga teachers used to make students laugh during classes. One student
asked him  if  these  jokes  would  take  away something from the yoga practice.
The teacher  said  -  don’t be serious, be sincere. This quote has defined my
work ever  since.  Whether  its  my  writing, my job, my relationships or any
of my goals.  I  get thousands of opinions on my writing everyday. There is
heaps of praise,  there  is  intense  criticism. If I take it all seriously, how
will I write?  Or  rather,  how will I live? Life is not to be taken seriously,
as we are  really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited
validity. If  we  are  lucky,  we  may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just
2,500 weekends.  Do we really need to get so worked up? It’s ok, bunk a few
classes, goof up a few interviews, fall in love. We are people, not programmed
devices.

I’ve  told  you three things – reasonable goals, balance and not taking it
too seriously  that will nurture the spark. However, there are four storms in
life that  will  threaten  to  completely  put out the flame. These must be
guarded against.

These  are disappointment, frustration, unfairness and
loneliness of purpose.

Disappointment  will  come  when  your  effort  does not give you the
expected return.  If  things  don’t  go  as  planned or if you face failure.
Failure is extremely  difficult  to handle, but those that do come out stronger. What
did this  failure  teach  me?  is the question you will need to ask. You will
feel miserable.  You  will  want  to  quit,  like  I wanted to when nine
publishers rejected  my  first  book.  Some IITians kill themselves over low grades –
how silly  is  that?  But that is how much failure can hurt you. But it’s
life. If challenges  could  always be overcome, they would cease to be a challenge.
And remember  -  if you are failing at something, that means you are at your
limit or potential. And that’s where you want to be.

Disappointment’s cousin is  frustration, the second storm.  Have you ever
been frustrated?  It  happens when things are stuck. This is especially
relevant in India.  From  traffic  jams  to getting that job you deserve, sometimes
things take  so  long that you don’t know if you chose the right goal. After
books, I set  the goal of writing for Bollywood, as I thought they needed writers.
I am called  extremely lucky, but it took me five years to get close to  a
release. Frustration  saps  excitement,  and  turns  your initial energy into
something negative,  making  you  a  bitter  person. How did I deal with it? A
realistic assessment  of the time involved – movies take a long time to make even
though they  are  watched  quickly, seeking a certain enjoyment in the process
rather than  the  end result – at least I was learning how to write scripts,
having a side  plan  –  I  had  my  third book to write and even something as
simple as pleasurable  distractions  in  your life  – friends, food, travel can help
you overcome it. Remember, nothing is to be taken seriously. Frustration is a
sign somewhere, you took it too seriously.

Unfairness  -  this is hardest to deal with, but unfortunately that is how
our country  works.  People with connections, rich dads, beautiful faces,
pedigree find  it  easier  to  make  it  –  not  just in Bollywood, but everywhere.
And sometimes  it  is just plain luck. There are so few opportunities in
India, so many  stars  need to be aligned for you to make it happen. Merit and hard
work is  not  always  linked  to  achievement  in the short term, but the long
term correlation  is  high,  and  ultimately things do work out. But realize,
there will be some people luckier than you. In fact, to have an opportunity to
go to college  and understand this speech in English means you are pretty damm
lucky by  Indian  standards. Let’s be grateful for what we have and get the
strength to  accept  what  we  don’t.  I  have  so much love from my readers that
other writers cannot even imagine it. However, I don’t get literary praise.. It’s
ok. I  don’t  look  like  Aishwarya  Rai, but I have two boys who I think are
more beautiful than her. It’s ok. Don’t let unfairness kill your spark.

Finally,  the  last  point  that can kill your spark is isolation. As you
grow older  you will realize you are unique. When you are little, all kids want
Ice cream  and  Spiderman.  As you grow older to college, you still are a lot
like your  friends.  But  ten  years later and you realize you are unique. What
you want, what you believe in, what makes you feel, may be different from even
the people  closest  to  you. This can create conflict as your goals may not
match with  others.  . And you may drop some of them. Basketball captains in
college invariably  stop  playing basketball by the time they have their second
child. They  give  up  something  that  meant  so  much to them. They do it for
their family.  But  in doing that, the spark dies. Never, ever make that
compromise. Love yourself first, and then others.

There  you  go.  I’ve  told  you  the  four  thunderstorms  -
disappointment, frustration,  unfairness  and  isolation.  You  cannot avoid them, as like
the monsoon  they  will come into your life at regular intervals. You just
need to keep the raincoat handy to not let the spark die.

I welcome you again to the most wonderful  years of your life. If someone
gave me  the  choice  to  go back in time, I will surely choose college. But I
also hope  that  ten years later as well, your eyes will shine the same way as
they do  today.  That  you will Keep the Spark alive, not only through college,
but through the next 2,500 weekends. And I hope not just you, but my whole
country will  keep  that spark alive, as we really need it now more than any
moment in history.  And there is something cool about saying – I come from the land
of a billion sparks.

Thank You!