“Censor board” is what
my dear friends nicknamed me in college. Their reason was valid, no curse words
or dirty jokes were allowed in my presence. Well, they were considerate, else
they would have called me behenji (a girl whose conservatism borders on being
orthodox). I laugh at that now. Though my thoughts have undergone major
metamorphism over the years, but at the core, I have changed little. Temples
still attract me more than pubs. Family is priority over everything, including
my career. At parties, mine is the only glass filled with soft drink clinking
between dozen wine glasses, and sadly it annoys a few friends. Sometimes, I am the
only one crying at an emotional scene in a movie.
I thought I was one of
the endangered species on the verge of extinction. So, before my nightmare could come alive I wrote my debut novel “45 days in a cancer hospital”. The protagonist is
a simple girl who is shy, smart, sensitive, resourceful, helpful and humble; in
short, she is Indian. She is an author who stays in a cancer hospital to write
real life stories of cancer patients, but is intrigued by the mysterious death
of patients. Going out of the way she solves the mystery of prematurely
dying patients. There is also a love story interwoven (sorry, no cheesy
scenes). The book got longlisted for Crosswords Books Award 2013. It was a
proud moment for me since my debut novel was longlisted for such a prestigious
award.
I was overjoyed as people
still love stories revolving around Indian values. I don’t belong to endangered
species as there are many people #MoreIndianThanYouThink around the globe. Sharing and
representing Indian traditions, stands with me and every Indian, Lufthansa, a
German airline that is #MoreIndianThanYouThink. Right from the moment you enter
the flight an Indian aura surrounds you. A sweet voice welcomes you with a
“Namaste”. Indian flight attendants with well-versed Hindi will be there to
assist you throughout the journey.
Garam chai awaits you
once you get seated. Yeah, seriously! The
drink without which our day remains incomplete and the lack of which can even
cause us headache. Fresh aromatic Indian food will make you feel at home.
After a refreshing hot meal, you can indulge in Bollywood
blockbusters, Indian radio channels and Hindi newspapers.
And finally, when your destination arrives you can only
wish the journey lasted a little longer.
Can’t believe? Watch
the below video where the coach instructs
his cricket team to act like Indians, to win over them; think, relax, eat, walk,
and even dance like Indians. So, when they fly, they fly like Indians, in
Lufthansa airlines, and of course, they enjoy it.
I am sure, now you are intrigued to know more about Lufthansa
airlines. You can visit http://bit.ly/2oQTj8q
to learn more about them.
Wow thats cool!!!😎
ReplyDeleteThanks Ani
DeleteNice information miss censor board
ReplyDeleteThank you Asha!
ReplyDeleteI am confused about the central message of this post. Is it giving a glimpse of your first novel or is it about Lufthansa's Indian spirit or is it about your pleasant discovery of not being an endangered human... thoughts are nice but would have made more sense to split these into three blogs to keep readers' focus.
ReplyDeleteNice question Deval. Actually this an entry to Lufthansa contest wherein we needed to spread the message of Lufthansa's Indian way of working and how our Indian values helped in achieving something in our own life. Hope this answers your question.
DeleteThat makes sense now. Thanks for explaining. I do want to suggest as a reader that there seems to be the lack of a central theme to this idea. The reader struggles to find out how spending time in a cancer hospital is related to being Indian. Not to mention some non Indians may take it negatively for their cultures. There are so many nice English movies that deal with emotions around cancer. I just feel that emotions around cancer care and being Indian are not related. I have spent six years in Germany and am happy to give you ideas around how that particular culture is more welcoming than we think it is. For now, just some food for thought!
ReplyDeleteI was not talking about spending time in a cancer hospital as being Indian. I was talking about the protagonist, the way she carries Indian values. There are people who loathe Indian values inspite of being Indians. If someone greets by saying Namaste that person is being made fun of. I think a person should never be ashamed of their own culture, this is not only for Indians, for anyone. The protagonist of my novel reflected Indian values and that is what I was talking about. And of course, being sensitive to a disease like cancer can never be just Indian, it is global. Even I have seen the English movies dealing with emotions around cancer and they are just awesome. By appreciating Indian culture, I don’t intend to hurt non-Indians. I respect each and every culture, including my own. Anyways it’s always nice to know the other perspective. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your views.
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