Conflicting Minds

From the simplicity of comforting and familiar beverages to adventurous and indulgent experiences, flavors can be familiar, welcoming, distinctive, addictive and above all deceptive! Taste is more than just flavor. It’s what drives people to purchase their favorite flavors in foods and beverages. Adventure and indulgence go hand in hand as consumers travel and are ready to explore, this is where fusion pairing come into play. Social media have influenced with play of colors and textures to try and drive new consumers and penetrate existing ones. Innovative recipes with do-it-yourself meal and cocktail kits for house parties are seen on a rise. Curiosity more than necessity is now the mother of invention – conscious health consumers also need taste delivering the same experience and flavor as indulgent foods do to crave for more. There’s much more joy in simplicity with ingredient play and association to a reference flavor or aroma tried before and has remained in memory for long....

Roses are red and with different hues, Bloom in splendor and all the dews!   Roses are one of the most popular flowers around the world, often seen bloom in various parts of the world. The Loire climate in France is particularly well adapted to roses, and you will often see them in gardens in Touraine. The colour of roses can be combined to form an attractive picture with subtle fragrances as well. The queen of flowers has been grown in China and Persia for over 5000 years. Roses have a powerful symbolism that has developed over time. Several legends are linked to roses. In Greek mythology, the rose was a nymph brought back to life by Chloris (the goddess of flowers), embellished by Aphrodite, perfumed by Dionysus, and given all its charm by the Three Graces. As for the rose’s thorns, Roman mythology saw them as Cupid’s arrows. In the language of flowers, in the garden and at the florist’s, rose colors convey a very precise meaning. · ·      Red roses: the ...

It is all about mixing and matching these days, that’s how creativity and innovation takes place. An interesting way to collaborate and learn from cross-industry expertise, I always used refreshing alcoholic beverages to inspire developing fragrances in the citrus space, like a Mojito based shower gel, with zesty grapefruit, mint, basil and bitter lime, bergamot hints of clean, refreshing cues. I came across some enthusiastic mixologists and bartenders over Instagram and social media. Just like the Yuzu ingredient is trending and now Bira comes with this flavored beer, I am not surprised to see things turn the other way round. Recently, at the Phoenix Mall, Lower Parel, Mumbai (India), one of the most popular fragrance brands ‘Jo Malone’ conducted this amazing PR activity to get consumers smell their fragrances, experience, and dive into some refreshing ingredient-based cocktails. Successfully, this enthralled the audience and not forgetting inviting newbies into the sensory spac...

“I have a dream” was the speech by Martin Luther King and one of the popular songs of ABBA. Well, in my case, it’s good to have a dream, see them fulfilled that too the way we want them to. Yes, not the end objective but the process, too! In all my sanity, I dreamt of becoming someone, achieving something and making my parents proud. But some situations are out of our control. They are temporary, not permanent, but that leaves regrets. We encounter failures, pressured to make mistakes and blame ourselves, people and circumstances. It’s all about belief and crossing those barriers in life. When there’s change, there’s discomfort. Only then we learn, we grow and improvise. Turning points come not only when we deserve but negotiate with life. Challenge daily and face struggles to reach our goals is the ultimatum. I don’t just dream; I have a vision! When you have clarity and work around ways to get to the outcome. There’s a strong vibe and positive energy that helps us thrive and we emerg...

Brands are known to build relationships with people and today as the pandemic got everybody homebound, it's a way of brands assuring, protecting and delivering quality products & services. Food, Health & Hygiene sectors turned this to their advantage, more and more products, new launches, emerging formats to address convenience became the talk of the town. From the virus affected panic phase, we entered into the so-called 'New Normal'. Brands portrayed the fear factor and stood to their beliefs. In such strong times, we learnt to build patience and resilience to come back to living our life the digital way.  From making it relevant to people and delivering product benefits to address their needs, brands have also connected emotionally and touched many lives. Innovative product offerings and E-commerce services came up with speed, agility and capturing mind space in our lives. Thriving in this situation and striving for excellence are the factors that brands still ma...

  Fragrances drive emotions and sentiments, taking you back to memories and inspire. They make a mark on your sub-conscious mind, works as a mood reliever and works miracles. Ancient perfumery was born when fragrances were created manually from scratch and today, technology is driving it and has taken it to the next level. Our sentiments are connected with scents, very subjective...scents we like, appreciate and are addicted to. Scents build familiarity and create strong associations to live stories, incidents, seasons, people, places and childhood times. Brands create mind space aiming at emotions, similarly even fragrances are intuitive and inherent to our daily lives. We are exposed to various smells and products that we use our everyday lives make an impact. Being Scenti-mental is being a part of this circle of emotions…there’s no better way to touch lives than this !

I remember Martin Luther’s famous speech of “I have a dream…” - was the hope to freedom for America. Today, when I look back on how our nation India fought for freedom, it reminds me of a united India – a country who really wanted slavery, casteism to end. The question is: Are we really free today? And we think and debate on this every year on Independence Day. Surprisingly, we have fallen not risen to the freedom we fought for. There is nothing impossible, we have the best of resources, be it agriculture or industries or even people for that matter, talented and prosperous. Indeed! We have no dearth of people. It’s ‘WE’ who can make it work. We have so many opportunities to prove that we can stand tall neck to neck with other nations. Faith as little as a mustard seed, when sown right, it will grow and bear fruit. It will bring harvest and joy to our Mother Land, to make our country proud! Driving away all negative forces and winning against all odds, be it our national games or a...

‘Technology’ as stated in the dictionary means application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in the industry through a machine or device. We all know that technology has brought in advancement and progress to human civilization; has made things easy, quicker and much more accessible. And the power of this is its speed and influence on us! From computers to mobile devices, the power of transmission of information to other means and across the globe is phenomenal. The power on a ‘click’ or a ‘button’, the whole idea generation along with the entire creative process, operated by manpower and supply of energy is just incredible. The dependency on technology has made man lazy and succumb to visual pleasures rather than indulge in face-to-face expressive conversations and formal polite language. We feel the world is changing, things around us are evolving, market and consumerism is dynamic, the greed of more and more emerges from the seed of ‘the spirit of lack’...

If only Shakespeare knew “What’s in a name?”…there would be an answer to this rhetorical question. Name given to any person, place or thing stands as a unique identity and because of its distinct features, it builds recognition and recall. Brands are all about these, they become an identity which is memorable - it could be good, bad or ugly. They have a personality, a distinguishing character and n imagery. Brands play a very important role between reality and perception, what values they stand for and how we perceive them to be. Just like how we want to be noticed, pampered and treated royally, brands need attention and care, too. Visibility and trust are key factors to a brand’s survival, and they become part and parcel of our everyday lives. Brands have found a home in our hearts and minds, and have to constantly meet up to our expectations to retain the position they have earned and fought for. Brands promote themselves as symbols or catchy lines to attract attention and kee...

For the love of food and food for love, food for thought, food to survive…I just kept wondering, if not fed, then we’re dead. We all eat to live, but the trend or in fact evolution changes to live to eat. It’s much more than mere survival, Honestly food matters, nothing else but weight, body or brain, in sunshine or rain, it’s food that gives us nourishment. I remember correctly while doing my environmental studies, flora and fauna and whole food chain cycle. It makes me feel satiated when I’m full, but did it really fill my mind, my soul. No it’s not spiritual food I’m talking…it’s much above the peak of Maslow’s pyramid of self-realisation…haven’t we all been through this stage…now what next? Maslow’s no more. Hunger is temporary and so is food. Likely, as the great ad man Ogilvy said ‘Stay hungry, stay foolish’. Wait a second, he said ‘foolish’, not all ad men are insane or foolish, or is it that all outside this creativity, out-of-the box brilliant minds are not creative, are ...

You must be thinking what took me so long to write. Dating, courtship and wedding plans kept me busy, too tied up, all excited. Well, it never ended there, the real thing is what after that. I know I’m mocked for not so good writing and asked to refer grammatical & awesome looking people who made their visibility seem interesting, like all bestsellers may not be good reads but are marketed that way. Coming to the point, writing is a stress buster relief to me, when I have just no one to talk to. Of course, I miss my parents, grandpa & the house I lived there. I thought of calling them up time and again to say I miss them, but stopped there thinking they would seem worried. I’m not happy or what or it just gets to the other zone. My best friend’s all getting married and running around, I didn’t want to bother her, I know it’s tough. I haven’t planned it all. I knew pretty well about responsibilities marriage entailed and wanted to pretty much make it better. Our home, setting ...

My Ideal V-Day Dream Date would be a cool Vespa ride, passing through the places where I first met my love, where we dated, shopped and had quiet moments just watching the sunset. A scooty ride would be ideal where, we can have stop and have our road-side snacks and cutting chai. A brisk walk in the lanes, with memories of joyous times and times we fought. The places and times we used to wait eagerly to meet each other, what excuses and gifts, promises we made. In small little things, we found our joy, crazy incidents that took place in our lives. The first unexpected showers of rain and how we managed to catch the last train. Time just passed by so fast, we didn’t realize. Every joy-ride we have is an ideal date.

The world is one big family. We have our differences, but we have something in common. We are born in families, to cultures that are destined for us. Does that mean we are better than the rest? If all cultures promote the values of good upbringing love peace and united as a family, then we are no different. We seek love and attention if we are deprived of or denied of it. We seek acceptance of being ourselves, changing for the good and not ourselves for others. We live our lives and but we live for others. Our every action and behavior influences our loved ones. We stay with and away from families-joint, nuclear and singles. We miss that every little aspect of sharing and being together. We fail to understand each other because of communication gap, distances and viewpoints that have changes, evolved over time. Transformation has taken place in bits and pieces. We haven’t really thought and made an effort to bridge the gaps. Technology has made conversations happen easier not build ...

We don’t remember what we usually did as little babies, but yes most us would have been gift-wrapped in white linen and handed over to our mothers. Pretty, petite and beautiful that white that signifies purity and elegance. Girls we are and will be, for white is our sign. Mommy usually made me wear the white frock to church. I scanned through my christening and communion photographs with the white dress put on. I always dreamt of the little white dress, very rare and worn at occasions that came once in our lives. And once upon a time in history, the white dress remains untouched. There are times I felt I could have the privilege and honor for once to porte les vetements blanche (to wear the white dress). Faintly knowing that the desire and eagerness of purity vanishes when the wait is long. Although patience takes care of it, the symbol of white is lost somewhere. Just like thoughts get corrupted, so does the white dress, which no fabric was can save, but remains virgin till the da...

I always wondered that freedom came with responsibility, and can vouch for that staying away from home for 6 years. Difficult yes, but not impossible it was. Being independent, standing up on you feet and getting on to your toes to face the challenges. Struggles and odds were part but that never stopped me from going ahead. There are no regrets, these are learnings and mistakes you don’t repeat and move on, if I look back I cherish the good times, the ugly past makes me stagnant and how can I grow. So used to being with myself, it’s not just being in love or obsessed with myself. I learnt the tricks of the trade, well I’m here to love what I do and then make money for my survival. If my passion becomes my profession, I have no interests left. Painting, music, song, dance, writing, oratory, movies, internet, experimenting with making and binging on food & desserts and I’m still slim and healthy. Diseases are all in the mindset-mental, psychological, emotional. I’m physically pre...

Every breath I take, every step I make, and then every mistake. It’s the choice I make. Talking about freedom in the context of making one’s own free choice exists. It is the courage to make take that step of one’s choice. We do make mistakes, but that doesn’t mean we stop making our choices. Choice has to be voiced. It’s freedom given to us with responsibility. And conditions apply. Whether it’s choosing a career or life-partner, buying a house or car, we all have done our research, made mistakes and made it right. Our choice is the reflection of our unfulfilled desires. The way I see it, it makes me feel independent and of course, responsible for my actions and decisions I take. Going with a goal in mind and desire in my heart, Some have been too far-fetched and unreasonable. But haven’t stopped putting efforts in pursuing them. It will materialize some day. It seems illogical to the practical and realistic. I live in a world of making dreams happen. Obstacles are bound to come my...

Ah! Finally I have a story to share, not really a story, could be perceived as news and then give your views. We are not heard is often left unsaid. What I mean is specifically the power of voice. Not that my pitch sounds good or I have to get my adam’s apple to work for me. The gall is my mouth, I have to speak. Wait…don’t push words in my mouth. I have a point to make, sometimes actions speak louder than words. Cheers! With all that 1 pint down my throat, I walk into the boardroom meet to make a point. Hey listen people, I’m here to make a presentation. I haven’t done it, I know, but those sloppy glassed eyes staring at me in tight formals seem so interested in me. I’m the center of attraction, no, no, the center of affliction. I just start with slides not knowing the game of chess, I don’t think when I make a move. No one’s going to say a word or cut me. I blabber till I’m done and now to you experienced looking nerves who wrack their brains and waiting to pounce on me. Now all t...

Welcome to the world of the rulers! Yes, the talkers, and not the doers, and we are here by default. How about a cup of coffee with a stranger? Or exchanging looks with a well-known figure? My point is I come to know you when the wavelength matches well. I ought to know is putting an impression matters all. Why the hard work and all the efforts you put in? If it’s just entertainment and all the tamasha, I shouldn’t be here. A belief in learning, growth and pushing yourself to make things happen. I need support, I need guidance. I have been assigned a job, not a challenge. My job profile describes my duties and responsibilities, it’s what I ought to do. So, what’s different and makes me stand out. I have the knowledge, qualification, expertise, and an urge to prove myself. It’s not that I’m unable to do it; it’s just that the right kind of attitude hasn’t driven it, or improvements haven’t been suggested. A sorry situation ideally! Vacancies aren’t for employment but seem for exploita...

The word ‘Spice’ is very synonymous with us Indians. We associate spice with food and lifestyle, words and stories. ‘Meetha’, ‘namkeen’, ‘chatpata’ and ‘theekha tadka’ do the talking in the way we Indians are. From mixtures of masalas we use in our cuisines to the daily gossips and news in our storytelling and conversations-have it all. Indian curries popular globally have been successful to cater to international tastebuds. With instant ready-to-cook, heat and eat powders, gravies and pastes, life has become much more easier than the time-consuming grinding processes. At the end, it’s the aroma and taste that matters. With a lot of health values seeping in today’s world, ‘multi-grain’ breakfast cereals, sugar-free beverages and light snack crackers are best-sellers for a healthy, tasty diet. Claiming to be healthy and at the same time, maintain the Indian spice is a constant struggle of how to combine taste and health. Kelloggs after a its initial brand failure in the market, made ...