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“What Xerox is to photocopier and Colgate to toothpaste, Maggi is to noodles in India .”  -The Economic Times (2003) Had Julius Maggi been alive today, he’d definitely be a troubled soul, if the recent controversy surrounding the elevated levels of MSG (Mono Sodium Glutamate) and Lead (a toxic metal) in Nestlé’s flagship offering “ Maggi Noodles” is anything to go by. Strange enough, this controversy failed to elicit a response from Arnab Goswami and the likes! A mind-boggling slugfest to mislead & misinform and confuse & confound the public is being carried out serendipitously. Nevertheless, it is inevitable, this controversy will occupy the national conscious for a very-very long time. The brand Maggi, hence acquired by Nestlé SA in 1947, includes bouillons (a broth made of strained water in which beef or chicken has been cooked), soups, seasonings, sauce and the ubiquitous NOODLES. Nestle India had reported a nearly 24% increase in its first quarter net prof...

Saffron or Kesariya , as the color symbolizes, is a sign of sacrifice, renunciation of materialism and quest for light and salvation. As a color of choice for the drapery of sages, it emblematizes the renunciation of earthly and carnal pleasures to search for the ultimate truth and achieve a greater purpose in life. Saffron is, in fact, at the heart of Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma . Sikhs adore it and Buddhist monks adorn it. Curiously, saffron as a drape is forbade for the male Muslims as per the Sunnah . Some say, it’s a global symbol of sex. Be it Cleopatra or Alexander, The Great - none could fight shy from eulogizing its virtues. Pingali Venkaiah, the architect of India’s tricolor, might have had some noble intentions in his mind while choosing to place it at the very top of our flag. The saffron, for now, seems to be on the prowl; ready to engulf the other colors that constitute a complete India. The Saffron Brigade, as the BJP and Sangh Parivaar is (in)famously known ...

God conceived it as an essential human virtue- Adam followed it but Casanova abused it; Romeo popularized it and Shahjahan externalized it, Devdas died for it and Chadramukhi waited for it- It is a feeling no one can ever hide or escape from! “It’s only in the mysterious equations of LOVE that any logical solutions can be found” says Russel Crowe in The Beautiful Mind!! In the innumerable ways that love can possibly manifest and express itself, kiss is one such form that, in fact, supersedes all the others. A “kiss of love” is that ethereal carnal perception which transcends a troubled soul into an idyllic paradise of pure and immortal love. Someone has rightly remarked, “A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous.” One can “kiss, but not piss” on a road in a western country-while the reverse is true in India! I neither completely agree nor half-heartedly disagree this notion so firmly rooted in our desi minds. So, in India, PDA...

Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India, conducts an All India PG Entrance examination annually for entry into post-graduation of Agriculture and allied disciplines viz., Veterinary, Dairy, Fisheries, Food Technology etc. in 20 major subjects. This entrance examination is meant to fill up 100% PG seats at CIFE (Central Institute of Fisheries Education, Mumbai), IARI (Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi), IVRI (Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar) and NDRI (National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal) and 15% seats in 5 CUs (Central Universities), 1 deemed-to-be-university and 56 SAUs (State Agriculture Universities). The notification is issued in the month of December every year and the exam is conducted in the month of April (usually 2 nd or 3 rd Sunday) of the next calendar year at 49 test centers spanning India. It is a pen-and-paper based test wherein 160 questions (150 ...

Sitting in the HA1 compartment of Navjeevan Express for the very first time in my life- a meld of emotions cross my mind- happiness at being selected to CSIR-CFTRI, sadness of leaving behind my friends at Anand, the confusion of what’s next and the joy of re-uniting with my family back home. WTF? A year of only 18 days? How can that be? Even if we were to be the denizens of mercury, one calendar year would have 88 days- the least for any planet of the solar system. Don’t jump the fence such sooner. You read it, you get it! Let me remind you that in my last blog titled “ The Call That Never Came ”- I had shared with you all, my mysterious CAT-2013 adventure that landed me with a morsel of mud in the mouth. The story begins so… Riding high on the back of my excellent GD/PI performance of IIM-A, in which I was damn  sure of being selected, I gave a casual attempt to the prestigious 19 th All India ICAR PG Entrance Examination-2014. I was, after all, #...