DesiReflections

गिरगिट  अब मैं तुम्हारी पूजा करना चाहता हूँ,  अनीश्वरवादी से मूर्तिपूजक बनने को तैयार हूँ. गिरगिट, पूछो जरा यह भी पूछो  आखिर यह ह्रदय परिवर्तन क्यों हो रहा है ? गिरगिट , तुम अपना रंग इसलिए बदलते हो  ताकि अपने आप को  आस पास के वातावरण में छिपा सको  जिससे तुम को सताने वाला तुम्हे पहचान न सके  और तुम  अपने आप को बचा सको. गिरगिट , ज़रा इन नेताओं को देखो  जो अपनी निष्ठा के रंग  रातों रात बदल लेते हैं  बरसों तक एक विशेष राजनैतिक  विचार धारा का दम्भ भरते हुए उसके झंडे के नीचे पलते हुए  उसके रंग के चोले में चलते हुए  अचानक उसे टाटा , बाय बाय कर लेते हैं।  गिरगिट , मुझे घिन आती है  जब मैं उन्हें टी वी बहसों में बैठे देखता हूँ  वे उन मुद्दों पर अपने सामने वाले की मां बहन करते हैं  चिल्लाते हैं  दहाड़ते हैं  जिन पर अपने पुराने दल का बचाव किया करते थे.  गिरगिट , तुम  महान हो  केवल अपने अस्तित्व के लिए ही रंग बदलते हो  इसी...

Traditional Media continue to be the dominant source of information for Indians. Among those aged 15 to 34, 57 percent watch TV news a few days a week, 53 percent read newspapers at the same frequency, and about 27 percent have smart phone and consume their news on the internet, But social media is playing a far more growing role in terms changing narrative of users due to its flexibility and convenience. But this shift has posed certain threats to civil society, started fragmenting it. We will discuss about it little later, first let us understand the way it is growing. I recently saw a report in Economic Times wherein marketers and advertising experts say that major players in digital space viz.,Google and Facebook compete for digital dominance, both have become powerful advertising platforms catering different needs of business, corporates, celebrities, politicians . ‘Google and Facebook command close 80% of the entire digital industry,’ says Sam Balsara, chairman, Madison World. ...

चुनाव चर्चा  नेताओं  की हिल  गयी नाव  देखो  फिर आ   गए चुनाव  पांच बरस  बन  राजा  से  बैठे     अब याचक बन घर घर घूमें  झूठे वादों के  अम्बार लगाएं  जात  धरम की याद  दिलाएं  ऐसों के झांसे में कभी न  आएं सोच समझ कर मोहर लगाएं                              - Pradeep Gupta

If you visit Seattle and do not go to Pike Place it is something like being in Delhi and not to Chandni Chowk. The original Starbucks near Pike Place Market is most popular tourist attraction in Seattle. Many people visit this place to visit their Mecca of Coffee, the original Starbucks outlet which boasts to stay there from more than 100 years. Before talking about Starbucks and coffee, we will briefly talk about how this area evolved. At the turn of the last century, the city was a rough and tumble place and rapidly growing. As the population of gold rushers, loggers, fishermen, shipbuilders and merchants grew, so did the demand for produce and goods from the city’s neighboring farms. In the decade of 1890-1900, Seattle’s population nearly doubled, growing from 42,000 to 80,000 citizens. Farmers used to bring their veggie, fruit, milk, dairy, eggs and meat from nearby farming communities by horse drawn wagons and by ferry from the nearby islands. The goods were purchased by wholesal...

It was around 2008, I planned to do a Coffee Table Book kind of series about cities where I lived or visited. But the idea was little different, rather a new way of seeing the city. I conceived it as “View From The Top’. A very simple idea, go to few high-rise buildings in the town, spend a complete day (rather night also) and capture the mood of city in the vast expanse. At that time, I was in a rather high profile job, handling print, visual and internet media on 24x7 basis. So, this idea remained an idea. In between, I traveled many more cities across the continents but some how the project taken back seat due to my engagement in writing fiction and a very big project on Vedanta. I have been to Seattle numerous times, but never found out that you can go up this building to an actual observation deck. I tell you, you have to go here if you want the best views of Seattle. Yesterday I had occasion to visit Columbia Center, a 76 story building in the down town Seattle city and th...

Most of the  children born and grown up in western countries  know only chocolates and candies, for them sweet shops in cities any where in India is a real experience . My nursery rhyme is an ode to small Mithai shops paving way to large chain , there you will miss the local flavor रामकिशन की  ओल्ड  दुकान  यहां मिलें ताजे  मिष्ठान  लड्डू, बर्फी, गजक,  पंजीरी  कलाकंद और काजू कतरी  रसमलाई मुंह में घुलती है  मोहन भोग, जलेबी भी  है  खस्ता, ढोकला,  पानी पूरी  सेव, समोसा,  राज कचोरी  रसगुल्ले,  खुरचन,  सन्देश  जो  भी खाओ लगे है बेस्ट  जब भी हम मेरठ को जाएँ  खाएं पैक करा के लाएँ                -प्रदीप गुप्ता                   23.04.2019.

Remember the good old days when you were driving in an unknown region, you had to stop on many crossroads and ask Panwala, Chaiwala or a stranger about your destination. Tell me in last few years, while driving you ever stopped to ask about directions to your destination. Thanks to Google Maps, navigation is as simple as eating a plum cake. In last few years, staying online has become reality of our daily life.   Wi-Fi hotspots, mobile internet, and broadband connections span almost across the globe. On one hand, this gives us an overwhelming amount of information at our fingertips, makes our life much easier, one the other hand it exposes surprisingly large amounts of our personal information to the rest of the online world. Depending on the websites and services we use, all manner of data from our browsing habits through many information such as   birthday, address and marital status can be harvested from   online presence. Even if websites, connections and d...

सजी हुई फूलों से क्यारी छटा देख लो इसकी न्यारी पेड़ों पर अब आया है ग्रेस पहने नए फूल पत्ती की ड्रेस कभी धूप तो कभी है वर्षा स्प्रिंग सीजन से मन है हर्षा ठिठुरन भी अब लगती कम है बाहर खेलूं कहता मन है  saji huye foolon se kyaari  chataa dekh lo iskee nyaari  pedon par aayaa hai grace pahne naye fool patti ke dress kabhi dhoop to kabhi hai varsha  spring season se man hai harsha  thithuran bhi ab lagti kam hai  baahar khelun meraa man hai                                             -प्रदीप गुप्ता 

मेरा  फ़ेवरेट  साज  पिआनो चाहे  तुम  मानो  न  मानो   जब  जब  मैं  इसे  बजाती बोरियत  फुर्र  से  उड़  जाती मेरे  स्वर  को  यह  साधे  है   घर  मेरा  इससे  जागे  है   वीथोवन ,  बाख  बसे  इसमें  हैं धुने  बनाओ  यहाँ  बने  है   चिड़िया  एक  यहाँ  पर  आए   फ़ुदक  फ़ुदक  के  इसे  बजाए  ... Mera favorite Saaj piano  Chahe tum mano na mano  Jab jab main use bajaati  Boriyat furr se ud jaati  Mere swar ko yeh Sadhe hai  Beethoven, Bach base ismen hain  Dhune bano yahan bane hain  Chidiya ek yahan par Aaye Fudak fudak kar ise bajaaye                   -Pradeep Gupta