"Is your name A..... Y.......?" I asked a woman who was standing beside me from the past couple of minutes in a government office.
"Yes." She said with a bit of surprise in her voice.
"You are from H..... city." I asked as it was clear she didn't recognized me.
"Yup. But how do you know?"
"I was your batchmate in Home Science college."
"Who? I....mean.....In which group you were?"
"My name is Chandrika Shubham." I told the names of my group members so that she could recognize me.
"Ya....Somewhat I can recall now. You have changed so much."
"Like what?"
"You looked like a doll in the college days and now..........."
Her mind was busy noticing changes in my physical appearance where as my mind was busy finding the answer of question 'WHO AM I?'- a ever-changing body or never-changing soul or ever-changing as well as never-changing GOD!
I ordered a book from amazon.in. The cost of book was
Rs. 275 and Rs. 30/- were transportation charges totalling to Rs. 305/-. I paid
Rs. 300/- from the gift voucher and remaining by using net banking. I book the
order on 23rd May, 2016. The
delivery was to be made on 28th May, 2016 to 2nd June, 2016.
On 2nd June, the post man came to deliver a VPP. I was shocked to
see my address correctly written over it and I have not ordered anything
through VPP and was not expecting any packet through VPP.
He asked me to give Rs. 321/-.
On seeing the sender’s name which was written not so
neatly on the packet, I told him , “I have made the payment to Planet V company
through amazon.in. Let me call the sender’s mobile number.”
I called the number but nobody picked it up. Just to
confirm, I switched on my laptop, checked my email about the payment details and
found that I was correct. The payment was already made to amazon.in. In the
mean time a person from Planet V called back. I told him, “I have made the
payment then why should I pay again.”
“You have paid the money? Let me check.” I heard the
voice over the phone. “You pay Rs. 321/- and we will refund what you paid
earlier.”
“How will you refund the money when it was paid to
amazon.in. And moreover, the packet doesn’t have any bill or sticker or envelop
of amazon.in.”
I told the postman, “I do not want this and please
return the book.”
I complained the matter to amazon.in. After a week I
get the refund of my book from amazon.in and from that money I bought Kundalini
– An Untold Story and The Wellness Sense, two gems from Om Swami’s jhola. Well
said, whatever happens, happens for good! :)
Today I went to attend exhibition-cum- workshop. The exhibition-cum-workshop
was on a specific topic. It lacked attractive offers, lucrative products or sexy
models. Anybody who didn’t have any personal or professional interest in the
subject would definitely feel bored to death.
At the end of the event,
cocktails were served starting from the opposite corner where I was sitting. Before
getting up, by mistake I peeped in the mobile of a middle aged person who was sitting
beside me and was typing ‘Kuch samaj mein
nahin aa raha hai per maza bahoot aa raha hai’ (I can’t get anything but thoroughly
enjoying the event).
To
attend Indiblogger Meet is always fun, sharing of information, showing
creativity and above all enjoyment! I attended the first Indiblogger Meet of year
2016 in Delhi on 15th May. #CatchUpOnGrowth Indiblogger Meet at
Lalit, Delhi was also of unique of its own kind as I got the chance to meet
blog buddies and to attend the launch of a brand new product i.e. HorlicksGrowth+, a revolutionary development in the field of nutrition sciences. It
offers advanced nutrition for growth and development in children during their
crucial years of growth. It was great to participate in discussion on
child development with experts, talk about blogging with blog buddies and to
know more about their blogs. I had nice time in face to face meetings, sharing
experiences, interacting and playing games during the event.
Registration
and warm welcome from Indiblogger Team, was followed by the buffet lunch. The
meal was tasty, not too spicy and lavish. I got the change to meet nice
bloggers from various fields from fashion to food. It was awesome experience to
meet new bloggers face to face who wrote on different subjects whom I earlier knew
only virtually as I had read their blogs.
Horlicks
Growth+ is the first of its kind to provide nutrition solution to the children
of age group 3-9 years to catch up the lost growth in terms of weight and
height. It contains specific nutrients like whey protein, growth amino acids
and vitamins, minerals from natural sources to trigger the growth in children
who are leaner and shorter of their age.
The programme began
with the introduction session from the selected bloggers such as Shilpi Dutta, Nimi Arora, Dr. Mandira, Arvind
Passey and Reena Batra who shared their experiences with children and what they
had learnt from them. It was hosted by Anoop. An interesting and informative discussion was
organized in which the moderator was Natasha Badhwar who was a mother of
three children, media professional, entrepreneur, avid blogger and the co-owner
of Ochre Sky, an online fashion brand. The discussion panel included Dr. Rajiv Chhabra, HOD of
Paediatrics at Artemis Hospital, Gurgaon who had worked with Max Hospital, St
Mary's Hospital, Seth GS Medical College & Rajiv Gandhi Cancer institute
& Research Centre, New Delhi and did his post graduate program in
Paediatrics Nutrition from Boston University, USA, Ms Satinder Kaur Walia
who was running her centre named 'Learning at Potential' a centre for psychological
and educational assessment and Dr .Jyoti Batrawho was the Head Dietitian at Batra
Hospital and had also worked with Artemis, Fortis, Max & Paras Hospitals.
An interactive and informative session with bloggers took place in which the
bloggers actively participated. The panel with illustrations and examples
answered the queries of bloggers about child growth, nutrition and eating habits.
They emphasized on developing a healthy habit in children to eat healthy food
which should be made interesting so that children relish them and love to eat
them. Moreover, children should be allowed to eat junk food once in a while but
before that child daily nutritive requirement of nutrients should be fulfilled
from the healthy food. Therefore, healthy food in the morning and junk food at
night could be given.
The product was launched by Amaan Khan who is
the Marketing Lead for Horlicks for the Indian Sub-Continent at GSK Consumer
Healthcare and earlier has rich Sales and Marketing Experience across FMCG,
Healthcare & Personal Care categories across multiple geographies. Horlicks
Growth+ is clinically proven to support ‘catch-up’ on lost growth in terms of
weight and height reduction in children of age group 3-9 years.
Soon after the
launch of the product we were offered to taste it. It is available in two delicious
flavours chocolate and vanilla. I love the taste of chocolate flavour. It was
so flavoursome that one mug was not enough I was wanting more. I am quite sure
children will love the taste and flavour and will not be fussy about drinking
it. It can be given to children in hot or cold milk or water. It can’t be mixed
in juices or soups as the product contains milk powder. It can be given to
child in between the meals or before sleeping so that normal regular food is
not compromised. It is a boon for fussy eaters
for their weight gain and overall growth. It is intended as a nutrition
supplement not a meal replacement and is a nourishing beverage to be taken as
part of a regular diet. It contains whey protein, essential amino acids such
as Arginine, Glutamic acid, Leucine and Lysine 16. It also contains Calcium,
Iron, Vitamin D, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and Zinc which are extremely important to
help children catch up on height and weight in the short duration of only 6
months. It provides immune nutrients like Vitamins A, C and
D, which are all known to support a healthy immune function. It is a
nutritious and flavoured healthy drink clinically proven to nourish children
who have fallen behind with their weight and height.
Dr. Aditya Kaushikhead of Medical Affairs for Indian Subcontinent at GSK Consumer
Healthcare, was a physician (MBBS, MD), had clinical and industry experience in
Medical & Regulatory Affairs & Clinical Drug Development and also
chaired the OTC Industry Association committee at FICCI enthusiastically answered
the questions from bloggers related to nutrition and make up of Horlicks
Growth+. He suggested that parents should consult a physician for the amount
and time framework for giving the Horlicks Growth + to child according to age
and reduction in child’s weight and height.
Tea time
was the best time to interact with the bloggers of various fields under the same
roof. I got the chance to meet the fellow bloggers to discuss various aspects
of blogging. After it, all the members were shuffled and were asked to make the
team of ten members. I was in Team No. 4 and was given measuring tape, T-shirt,
mug and Horlicks Growth plus as props which were to be used while making an advertisement
of not more than 30 seconds. It was a great fun with the team while making a
clipping of advertisement.
All of us enthusiastically took part in selecting
dialogues, situation, and scene background. Shooting it, was real fun! Never
done it before but thoroughly enjoyed creating that masterpiece.
No grudges
that our team couldn’t win but it was master piece for us as it was the beginning
of vlogging. Moreover, I believe that participation in more important than
winning a game.
Holding
the gift from Indiblogger and Horlicks I came out of the hotel with memorable
and knowledgeable experiences. On reaching home I
found, Horlicks Growth+ pack in the bag. This is the best product in the market
to trigger growth in children who are falling behind on the growth curve (in
terms of height & weight). For buying, it is
available at all leading pharmacies, modern trade retail chains and selected
grocery outlets as well as online. Horlicks Growth+400g pack costs Rs. 575/- only. So much in so less
price!
I am looking forward to next Indiblogger meet to have fun, to share information and to exchange knowledge.
“So,
when are you going to attend Yoga and Meditation Course?” Mrs. ‘V’ asked.
“I will
be going by the end of July and coming back in mid of September.” I replied.
“What will
they be teaching you?”
“My
first course is a basic course about yoga and meditation which is of one month
duration. And second course is about advance course on meditation and is of 15
days. During the first course they will give sattvik food to eat and may allow once in a while to talk on phone
and to check emails. But during the second course they will give food without
salt and sugar and most probably will not allow me to use mobile during the
period of 15 days. To clear the first course is there preliminary requirement for
attending the second course.”
“Is it
really worth attending?”
“I
checked on internet that people who have attended these courses have various
experiences in meditation during the meditation class. The students are asked to
do pranayama for 8 hours per day.
With the result, the students have some unique and rare experiences while
meditating.”
“After
returning from there, do not forget to tell me about your true experiences in meditation
that too in detail.”
“Have I
ever asked you about your sexual experience?” I inquired with bit harshness in
my voice.
“Are the
experiences not to be shared?”
“No,
they should not be, as they increase the ego-problem. They can be shared only if
the person listening has experienced that himself or has a level of knowledge
to understand those out of the world experiences.”
"Lizard! Lizard!! Lizard!!!" Ms. 'Z' screamed.
I entered the room and saw her standing on the bed. She was shouting at the top of her voice and jumping once in a while.
"Where?" I asked.
"Under the bed!" She said.
"You come down. Do not be afraid of it. Lizard will go away. If you jump on it the bed, it will hide more to protect itself." I said.
"In my hostel the lizards used to climb on my bed."
"Then you are standing totally on the wrong place." I thought.
To sooth her I said, "The lizards in your hostel must be very intelligent that's why they can climb on the bed but in our house they are stupid and foolish. Moreover they haven't master the art of climbing bed."
"I will switch of the light of my room and will go out for my evening walk." She suggested.
"That's a great idea!"
When she returned from her evening walk, I told her the good news. "I lizard creep outside the room and rushed towards the lobby."
"Was the lizard slim?" She asked.
"I didn't noticed her figure." I thought.
Seeing me silent she uttered, "May be they are more in the room!"
I love to experiments with food. This time I give a twist to appam. The recipe is as follows :-
Ingredients
Rice flour - 1 cup
Sour Buttermilk - 2 cups
Thyme - 1/4 teaspoon
Roasmary - 1/4 teaspoon
Oregano - 1/2 teaspoon
Red chili flakes - 1/4 teaspoon
Fresh Basil leaves - 7-8
Salt to taste
Mustard oil -2-3 tablespoon Method
1. Mix rice floor and buttermilk very slow so that the lumps are not formed.
2. Keep it aside for 2 hours.
3. Add the spices, salt and chopped basil leaves. Mix them thoroughly.
4. Pour small amount of oil on heated flat tawa and spread it on whole tawa with a help of a wet cloth.
5. Pour the batter on the tawa and spread it very gentle with the back of katori or tablespoon.
6. Cook it on low or medium flame than turn it.
7. Pour some oil on the tawa on sides of appam. Let it cook.
8. Serve hot with coconut chutney or tomato ketchup.
In my balcony garden, a knol khol was ready to be picked up. Although I loved to eat it raw but due to problem in my teeth I couldn't eat it raw and had to cook it to make it tender and easily chew-able. I asked in a foodie group on internet to share good recipes of knol khol. My post was flooded with delicious recipes. Most of the people said that they love the knol khol pickle very much. I thought if its pickle is so delicious then must be its chips.
I prepared knol khol n potato chips. I shallow fry the thin slice of knol khol n potato till golden brown. I take out them on paper and sprinkle salt, white pepper on it. The recipe turns out to be very yummy.
The
festival of colours – Holi is being celebrated all over India with pump and
show. Whoever loves the colours – love this festival! The enthusiasm of children
as well as adults reaches its peak when the nature is enthusiastically blooming
with beautiful vibrant flowers. In my childhood days, we used to collect
different flowers, leaves and berries from the trees, bushes and plants. We
used to grind them fresh and extract their colours to play with them. Those
colours were not only soothing for the face and hands but also give extremely beneficial
effect on applying on skin.
We used
to prepare different colours from different flowers and leaves. Red colour was
mostly prepared from palash, China
rose, sinduria. They were collected
in bulk and then dried. The dried petals were grinded into fine powder. They could
be applied on face directly. Pomegranate peels were boiled in water to obtain
red colour water. Very rarely we use tomatoes to obtain the desired colour.
The other
most commonly used colour was green as it was easily obtainable from henna
leaves powder. We used to mix it with flour to get a nice shade of green. On mixing
with water and it gave decent colour on drying. Green colour could be obtained
from the leaves of China rose and kadhi
patta. Both of them were very beneficial when applied on hair and skin.
We used
to get the yellow colour from the turmeric powder and besan. They were mixed together with curd or milk to make a paste and
on applying on skin they gave positive results. Similarly other colours like
blue was obtained from crushed indigo berries, magenta from beet root, saffron from
dried harsingar flower stalks, black
from dried amla fruit and brown from
dried tea leaves. These colours when applied on other’s face and hands were
extremely beneficial.
At that
time, playing with colours and water was fun and not terror. These days Holi colours
are made up of harmful chemicals which can cause not only rashes on skin but
also irritation on skin and in eyes. I have not been playing Holi from very
long time because of the fear of being harmed by the chemicals in gulal and pakka colour. This year, I will be playing Holi with natural
colours prepared with dried flowers and leaves by me and my friends. Moreover, Parachute
Advansed is there to protect my skin and hair.
This
Holi, I will play Holi festival like I used to play in my childhood. I will
play with natural colours, will fill my belly with homemade delicacies like gujjia, bhujjia, mathari, shakarpara, dahi bhalla and pakodas and
will shout on the top of my voice ‘#KhulKeKheloHoli’.
I’m pledging to#KhulKeKheloHolithis year by sharing my Holi memories
atBlogAddain association with Parachute Advansed.
In my
childhood days, I love to play Holi. At that time, I celebrate Holi to the
fullest! The joy of playing with colours and water was immense. I used to buy
gulal in vibrant colours and the latest model of pichkari available in the
market. I never forget to buy pakka colours for rubbing on my friends face and
for mixing in water which is to be filled in pichkari and for throwing on my
friends.
A week
before the day of colours, my granny started preparing gujiyas, basen papris
and bhujiyas. I loved to help her in preparing the gujjiayas. I filled it with
sweet mawa and dry fruitsthen concealed the flattened dough with a gentle touch
of water. I even prepared small papris. She deep fried them to prepare delicacies.
One day
before Holi, water was collected in big vessels and containers as there was
water shortage. On the every day, after eating snacks prepared by my granny, I
took my small bucket, filled it with water and mixed the pakka colour in it. I
went out of the house to find my friends to play Holi with them in the park. I
and my friends throw water and colours on each other and have fun. We used to have
full MASTI! In the last, when we all were tired. We sat in the park where there
is ample of sunshine to dry ourselves. My granny gave delicious sweets and
namkeens to each of us. We all enjoy the treat. At that time we used to
celebrate Holi in true spirit.
Now a
days I stopped playing Holi as these days Holi colours are made of chemicals
which are very harmful of skin and hair. Moreover I am too busy to find time to
play Holi as most of the time I am doing office work from home even on
festivals and other holidays. I always wish to play Holi like I used to play in
my childhood days and shout #KhulKeKheloHoli. But this time I have made a decision
to bring back the fun and madness of Holi in my life back. I wish to revive all
those golden childhood memories related to fun filled Holi festival.
This year,
I have decided to take care of my skin and hair with Parachute Advansed and to
tell my boss that I will not be able to do work on Holi as I want to celebrate this
festival with my family and friends. I will be preparing gujiyas, bhujiyas and
papris recalling my granny’s recipes. Although she is no more with us but her memories
and recipes are still alive with me and will always with me.
I’m pledging to #KhulKeKheloHoli this year by sharing my Holi memories atBlogAddain association with Parachute Advansed.
In a nursery, located near my house had a decent varieties of herbs, flowers and other plants. From there, I brought pok choy, lettuce, mint and strawberry for my balcony garden. All plants were growing well. More and more fresh leaves were coming from them, making me happy. In strawberry, white flowers came which converted into little green strawberries. And today, I was surprised to see a strawberry ready to be plucked! :)
I was admiring the pets in a pet shop near my house. There were guinea pigs, white parrots, bazarigars, love birds etc. Suddenly a cardboard box opened up and this cute rabbit looked out. I clicked the pic and it came out perfect. :)
There
are more than 35 tomatoes on a single plant in my balcony garden. I am happy to
see so many organic tomatoes. That was not tough, anybody can do that even you
can! I am sharing some tips to grow and get good yield from vegetables in pots.
Select the pot of bigger size made up of mud or ceramics. You
can also try growing plants in empty plastic bottles, empty tins or
useless vessels. Don’t forget to make a small hole at bottom in plastic vessels
for draining of excessive water.
Place the pot in south or west balcony where the plant can get
maximum sunlight. You can also place it near the window which gets the
maximum sunlight in your house.
Put the stones or small pebbles in the lowest layer of pot.
Set the thick layer of soil above it.
Spread the vegetables peels, washed tea leaves or crushed egg
shells.
Put some earthworms on it.
Final layer of soil covering worms and their food.
Sow the seeds and moist the soil with water.
If there are earthworms then keep the soil sufficiently moist
as they can’t sustain in soil which have less moisture.
You can select any vegetable like brinjal (eggplant), tomato,
mint, fenugreek, spinach, capsicum, chili etc. You can buy seed or
saplings from a nearby nursery.
To notice a new leave, a new flower or a new fruit on the plant
is truly very refreshing.
Planting vegetable in the balcony will also clean the air
around your house.
When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. – Marcus Aurelius
Every
morning is bliss for me! A new morning, a new beginning and a new goal to
accomplish!! I feel I have one more day to change my good morning to gold
morning. The only difference between the
bad morning and good morning is the attitude. Change in attitude makes a lot of
difference!
Mark Twain has said, “If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first.”
In winter it is a difficult task to come out of the cosy quilt
and doing hatha yoga and pranayama in the morning is as well as a tough job. Out of these two,
I find the bigger frog is to come out of the warm quilt. ;)
My
mornings become brighter with the new Colgate 360 Charcoal Gold toothbrush
which does more than just cleaning the teeth. It cleans teeth, tongue, cheeks
and gums. It frees the teeth from debris, bad breath problems and bleeding gums.
Regular and daily brushing and flossing maintains the good health of my teeth. Healthy
teeth make the personality pleasing. Proper brushing and flossing helps in
preventive care of teeth which is must of good general health.
With every fresh morning I start my day by doing hatha yoga (physical exercise) and pranayama (control of breath). Hatha yoga helps in making me physically
fit and healthy. Yoga increases flexibility, blood circulation, lubrication of
joints, ligaments and tendons, excellently tone the muscles, messages all
organs of body and flushes out toxins from the body. Pranayama helps in focusing the mind on a goal as well as gives
mental strength to cope up with the stress and strain in the office. And above
all, Colgate 360 Charcoal Gold gives the confidence to smile all the day
irrespective of the hurdles, obstacles and problems which I faced during the
whole day in my home and office.
I take balanced diet with more emphasis on calcium, phosphorus and fluoride
as they help in maintaining good health of my teeth. I avoid foods rich in carbohydrates,
starches and sugar as they produce plaque acids that attack tooth enamel. These
acids can cause tooth enamel to break. Hence, tooth cavities are formed. Tooth decay
should be avoided as it may lead to many other diseases.
Physical
fitness, mental alertness and oral health turn my good mornings into gold
mornings. Thanks to #Colgate360GoldMornings.
I am participating in a competition organised by Oceanwide Expeditions. Please vote for me to make me win. Please click the link https://oceanwide-expeditions.com/contest/show/6589. Click the yellow button of VOTE. Click the button of OKAY as it requires your Facebook ID. Then click the VOTE button again which is very important to caste your vote.
Your one vote is precious for me! :)
Thanks in advance! :)
I can summarize 2015 year for me as ‘Meeting
Celebrity Year’. I met, talked, had photos, got emails and books autographed by
celebrities such as Karishma Kapoor, Ranveer Brar, Aditya Bal, Vicky Ratnani,
Amrita Raichand, Swati Jain, Saransh Goila and Ravi Subramanian. Addition to
this, in the previous year I received Ramayana – The Game of Life Book 3
(Stolen Hope) with a personal letter from Shubha Vilas, the author too.
Shubha Vilas though holds a degree in engineering
and law with a specialization in patent law is a story teller par excellence,
lifestyle coach, spiritual seeker and motivational speaker. His lectures and seminars
are available on YouTube. He blogs at www.thoughtsutras.blogspot.in. In
author’s words, “As you flip the pages of these books (Ramayana series), one
thought is sure to pass your mind; never has the Ramayana been so applicable in
our own lives!”
The opening lines of the book describe about it.
Have you ever felt that
there should be a book that bridges the gap between the loyal, traditional
approach to the Ramayana and the twisted, modern but exciting approach to the
epic?
If yes, your search ends
here. Ramayana – The Game of Life is a series that attempts to present an
authentic rendition of the Ramayana in an absolutely modern and riveting
manner. This book promises to enlighten the loyalists and entertain the
modernists.
Stolen Hope is based on Aranya Kanda when Lord Ram,
his wife, Sita and his brother, Lakshman lived in the forest and met many sages
till one day Sita was kidnapped by Ravana, King of Lanka.
This book is full of beautiful sayings and quotes
which are very practical and goes with every age. Some of them I have listed
for you, my dear readers.
Life often leaves you
with limited options. Often the choice is between limited happiness and
limited void.
Time is like a mocking
bird. It waits for you to laugh at others and then mocks you in the most
embarrassing and irritating manner.
People and situations
in life appear like an ocean that seem deceptively simple but may actually
be endlessly complicated.
Just as an octopus
eats itself due to stress, a human is mentally consumed due to negative
stress.
In the absence of
somebody’s presence is revealed her true value. What presence cannot
accomplish, absence can!
In the broken
confidence of your enemies lie half your victory and the other half in
your own ability to handle your destiny courageously.
While dissatisfaction
is the backbone for creative excellence, it breaks the bones of mental
peace.
Rama also wanted to
teach the world that when one prefers the cheap attractions of this world
over God, He silently walks away from one’s life. Maricha represents the
fraud veil of illusion over intelligence that numbs the sense of
discrimination. All have their own golden deer in life.
Sunlight can penetrate
clean ocean water to a depth of hundreds of feet, because it is
transparent. Similarly, for love to have a deep impact in relationships
there has to be transparency that leads to respect between two people.
Anxiety is the worm
that eats away one’s peace of mind.
A hurt hurts the most
when the one you love hurts you the most.
‘Jeihe vidhi rakhe Ram teihi vidhi
rahiye’ (Whatever be the circumstances created by God one should be happy
and satisfied with that), this theory is beautifully explained in the chapter ‘A
Reckless Request’ by the author.
Long ago, Sita had heard
from a great sage that the center of happiness was not the world but the heart.
Whenever and wherever your heart stabilizes, that is when and that is where
happiness is born. Since Sita’s heart was stabilized on Rama, Her happiness did
not depend on where She was – Ayodhya or the jungle.
These are my favorite lines from the book and are
so true to the present context that happiness is not outside rather inside us.
And we have to discover it!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this immensely
insightful book whose strength lies in its simplicity and lucid writing. This
book is like a priceless gem which is to be preserved, conserved and read again
and again to absorb its deep teachings in our lives.
Like Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s movies, this movie too
has marvelous and grandeur sets. This movie is based on the historical novel ‘Raau’
authored by N. S. Inamdar, a Marathi novelist. This romantic story is about the
Maratha warrior Peshwa Bajirao and his second wife Mastani. Ranveer Singh as
Bajirao looks like a warrior walks like a warrior and talks like a warrior. I
must say one of his best performances. Priyanka Chopra as Kashibai, Bajirao’s
first wife looks very attractive and does justice to the character. She has
less scenes but her acting impresses much more. Neither Deepika Padukone’s looks
nor her acting impresses. On a classical song while dancing her face
expressions are very poor. The weakest point of the movie is that her face
expressions more or less remain the same throughout the movie. Milind Soman is
a great surprise. He acted in at least one movie. Tanvi Azmi as Bajirao’s
mother acted very well. The rest of the actors also leave their impression on
audiences.
The aaina
mahal set is amazing and its reflection in Kashibai’s room’s curtain is quite
impressive. The war scenes look real. The scenes created with graphics and the characters are
blended too well that everything on screen looks real. Music and songs are melodious. The background music is pleasing.
Costumes are attractive and eye catching.
First half is gripping and the second half is ok
type and climax is bit weird, too lengthy and too slow. If the end has been
changed the movie would have been far better. Even then it is a must watch on
BIG SCREEN!
On 8th Nov, 2015, I went to ATM of HDFC
bank located in the society where I live. I used SBI Bank card to withdraw Rs.10000/- and to my utmost
surprise only Rs. 9500/- came out. In place of one thousand note there was one
five hundred rupee note. Five hundred rupee was inserted between the thousand
rupee notes. I noted the number of that ATM branch and called the mobile number mentioned on a slip attached to the ATM as there was no security guard. The person on phone suggested me to file a complaint in the bank whose card I used to withdraw money. I complained to the customer care of SBI bank as I used SBI card to withdraw money regarding the refund of Rs. 500/-. But my
complaint was rejected saying that the 'ATM transaction was successful'. I felt cheated.
I request you to be careful while withdrawing money from ATMs. If any of you have
faced the same problem and wish to file a case in consumer court then you can
contact me.
In less than 24 hours, I finished the novel ‘The
Bestseller She Wrote’ by Ravi Subramanian. Because of my busy schedule it took
me additional hours to read it otherwise the book is so gripping and
interesting that it can be read in merely 4 hours. I find the time to read it
because of the personal touch from the author who sent me a signed copy of this
novel. What to say more that the author is so humble that he dedicated this
book to the readers!
This book is dedicated to
all my readers. Especially those who glimpsed their reflections in its pages.
Aditya Kapoor, paperback king had everything name,
fame, money, good job and nice family till he met Shreya, young ambitious management
trainee from IIM Bengaluru who wished to be a successful author like him. Lots
of events took place when their worlds collided and the story moved with a fast
pace taking interesting and breath holding turns. It is a story of love, trust,
passion, lust, betrayal, rejection and redemption.
Some of the lines that I liked from this novel are
as follows:
I don’t say anything
doesn’t mean I don’t notice.
I hate it when people
don’t give a book its due respect – most of all, people who are, or want
to be authors.
He has over 8000 books
lying all over his house – on shelves, packed in cartons, some even
warehoused. So much so that when you walk into his house you may feel like
you’ve walked into a bookstore.
Someone once said, “Find
what makes you happy and go for it with all your heart. It will be hard,
but I promise it will be worth it.”
A book is an
expression of an author’s creativity. Do not demean it by calling it a “product”.
There has got to be a difference
between peddling a bar of soap and selling a book. A book is a lot more
personal, a lot more involving.
And as far as
marketing my books is concerned – it’s simple. If I spend a year writing a
book, I will leave no stone unturned in making sure that everyone knows about
it, and buys it. I don’t mind my books adorning bookshelves as long as the
bookshelves we are referring to are not in bookshops, but in people’s
homes.
If after reading my
book, you hate it, please write to me. I can’t refund your time, but to
make up for it, I will gift you ten books of your choice. Think of it as
kind of a money-back guarantee.
Oh …oh…oh…Stop, stop, desi John Green! Stop dreaming. It’s
not easy to write. Even if you write rubbish, it takes time, effort and
skill. Do you realize that?
Then why is your face
looking like a roasted brinjal?
Over the last few months
she had read and re-read all his books. And here he was, a couple of feet
from her, breathing the same air.
I was living the lives
of the characters through your book. That’s the level of association it
created.
I was not reading the
story. I was living it.
Ravi Subramanian, the author is an banker who has
written books like ‘If God Was a Banker’, ‘I Brought the Monk’s Ferrari’, ‘Devil
in Pinstripes’, ‘The Incredible Banker’, ‘The Bankster’, ‘The Bankerupt’ and ‘God
is a Gamer’. He has won lots of awards like The Golden Quill Readers’ Choice
Award for ‘If God Was a Banker’, The Economist Crossword Award Book Award in
2012 for ‘The Incredible Banker’ and The Economist Crossword Award Book Award
in 2013 for ‘The Bankster’ and The Economist Crossword Award Book Award in 2014
for ‘The Bankerupt’.
I strongly recommend this book for those who love
books and for those who want to be an author.
It was fun to attend cooking classes by celebrity chef at Gourmet High Street, Leisure Valley, Gurgaon. I learned the Sugarkraft by Chef Swati Jain and chocolate gol-gappas by Chef Saransh Goila.
For SugarKraft the theme was Christmas, I and my team prepared Christmas tree, Penguin, Snowman and other decorative items like bells, leaves, flowers etc with sugar based products which have edible colors. The pieces are glued together using edible glue. Muffin decorations made by our team won a prize. In the end of contest Chef Swati Jain gave away the prizes.
I prepared a dish with chocolate for the first time and preparing gol-gappas was an awesome experience. I was in Foodies team. We prepare the chocolate gol-gappas and decorate it with dry coconut powder, for filling we caramelized the peanuts and cut strawberries in small pieces. For liquid which is to be filled in gol-gappas we took vanilla ice-cream and milk. Mixed them and serve them with vanilla pod and strawberry pieces. The ready dish was very pleasing.
Chef Saransh tasted our dish and liked the caramelized peanuts very much.
I participated in a contest on Facebook and won a free pass to Gourmet High Street, Leisure Valley, Gurgaon. I went there on 4th Dec, 2015 and first time saw the world famous Chef Sanjeev Kapoor who is owner of Food Food channel, hosts program named 'Khanna Khazana' and one of the judges of MasterChef India.
I got the chance to click a photo with Chef Ranveer Brar, Judge of MasterChef India and host of TV shows like Snack Attack, The Great Indian Rasoi, Homemade, The Breakfast Express etc.
I also got the chance to meet the Chef Vicky Ratnani who is the brother of famous photographer Dabboo Ratnani and his famous TV shows are Vicky's World, Vicky Goes Veg, Vicky Goes Foreign and Do It Sweet.
Mummy Ka Magic famed Amrita Raichand who is also an actress and I can be seen in this photograph.
Model, actor and Chef Aditya Bal who is reviving the lost recipes of India in the program 'Lost Recipes' on EPIC channel. I am great admirer of his culinary skills. Before taking up cooking profession, he was a model and acted in movie named 'Mashooka' in 2005.
It was great experience to meet all these Chefs personally whom I had admired watching their cookery shows on TV.
I was highly disappointed on seeing the results of
photos clicked by a blogger friend. Two were blurred and one was with my eyes
closed. I was feeling low as I came all the way from Gurgaon to meet Karisma
Kapoor in the ‘Snack Party with Karisma Kapoor’ which was organized in Hotel
Sheraton, Saket, New Delhi by Indiblogger and McCain. I was standing next to
Karisma Kapoor on the stage but not a single click was worth to be put on a
social networking site and to boast about it. I desperately wanted a nice
photograph with her. During the whole program my mind was busy, distracted and
not able to enjoy the surroundings because of the poor results of photographs
with Karisma Kapoor.
In the end, there were snacks. I couldn’t enjoy them
much as I wanted a photograph with Karisma Kapoor. The organizers gave four
packets of different McCain products with a cook book. That too couldn’t bring
a smile on my face. As I was leaving the hall, one of the organizers called me
and said that you could collect your photo frame from the reception desk. I
turned back halfheartedly to collect it. But my joy new no bounds on seeing a
perfect photo framed in it. That was the biggest surprise of the day! The photographer
standing right in front of the stage took the photo perfectly. Everyone was
smiling, not blinking and looking straight into the camera making it a best
click. I was smiling not only in the photo but in real as well.
I love to experiments with
food. I have tried out Aloe Vera veg, Pumpkin seeds veg, no oil tinda with Italian flavors, gol-gappas filled with sprouts, fried gavar ki phalli, cucumber cake, banana
spinach smoothie and raabri prepared
from channa flour which are all off
beat recipes. This time I decide to try out a new dessert recipe. Dessert is a course
generally used to conclude the main meal. In dessert there can be many foods
such as cakes, pudding, tarts, pastries, ice creams etc. Because of natural
sweetness and distinct flavor fruits are generally added in the desserts. I give
a twist in a dessert recipe and make an eggless cake which is sweet, sour, salty
and hot as well. For sweetness instead of sugar I use sugar for
sourness I use orange juice, for saltiness of course salt and for hotness I use
green chilies. I add coconut powder for wonderful texture and nice taste whereas
mint for its refreshing flavor and cool taste. I name it as 'Orange Lozenge'.
Preparation Time – 10 minutes
Cooking Time – 8 minutes
Ingredients
All purpose flour – 1 cup
Malai (Cream) –
1 cup
Curd – 1 cup
Desiccated coconut – 1 cup
Orange juice – 1 ½ cup
Grated orange rind – 2-3
tea spoon
Sugar– 2 cup
Butter – ½ teaspoon
Salt – ½ teaspoon
Green chilies – 2
Mint – 5- 6 leaves
Finely grated almonds – 2
table spoon
Method
Sift
all purpose flour with baking powder.
Mix dry
coconut powder, Sugarfree Natura, and salt in it.
Extract
the juice from fresh oranges and sieve it. Throw the pips and use the
fresh orange juice for preparing the dish. Mix orange juice and grated orange
rind gently in the dry mixture.
Grind
green chilies, mint leaves with curd. Mix malai and curd lightly in the mixture without lump formation.
Grease
the sides and bottom of baking dish with butter.
Pour
the mixture in baking dish and sprinkle finely grated almond over it.
Cook
it in microwave for 8 minutes.
On
cooling cut them into pieces. Serve them.
Taste – It is a light,
moist cake with a tender crumb. It melts into the mouth giving the relishing
taste of coconut and orange with a flavor of mint. It is sour and sweet, salty
and hot.
Now, I can satiate my sweet
tooth without compromises.
Jaipur is my favorite city
which is also known as ‘Pink City of India’. It is the capital city as well as
the largest city of Rajasthan, a northern state of India. It was founded by
Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh II, the ruler of Amer. He shifted his capital to
accommodate the increasing population and to meet out the scarcity of water. He
planned the city according to the principals of Vastu Shastra. Jaipur is considered as the first planned city of
India. It has three gates, eastern gate is known as Suraj Pol, western gate is called Chand Pol and the northern gate faces the old capital. Most of the
buildings were constructed on the basis of rules of Shilpa Shastra. To welcome Prince Edward and Queen Victoria, during
the reign of Sawai Ram Singh this city was painted pink. Many of the avenues,
main buildings and complexes were remained pink giving it a distinct appearance
of ‘Pink City’.
Jaipur is well connected by
road with Delhi, capital city of India and Agra the main center of attraction
of India through Golden Triangle. It is a connecting city between Delhi and
Mumbai on National Highway No.8 and between Bikaner and Agra on National
Highway No.11. National Highway No. 12 links Jaipur with Kota. It is well
connected with other tourists’ places of Rajasthan such as Udaipur, Jaisalmer
and Jodhpur. Inside the city it has good connectivity with wide roads and quite
good number of broad streets interconnecting each other. Road network follows a
definite hierarchy as most of the roads run east to west or north to south. Even
through rail Jaipur is well connected to the major cities like Delhi, Mumbai,
Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai. Jaipur has the metro service for
better connectivity within the city. Jaipur International airport is well
connected with national and international flights. It also provides air cargo
services.
The places of tourist
attractions are Jal Mahal, Hawa Mahal, Lakshmi Narayana Temple, Jantar Mantar,
Amer Fort, Diggi Palace, Nahargarh Fort, Jaigarh Fort, Albert Hall Museum, City
Palace, Vidhan Sabha, Garh Ganesh Temple, Sheela Devi Temple and Kale
Hanumanji’s Temple. Sisodiya Rani Bagh, Ram Niwas Park and Kanak Vrindavan are decently
maintained parks in Jaipur. Gardens at Amer Fort are also major tourists’
attraction.
It is the major hub for
arts and crafts like blue pottery, marble work, handicrafts, antique furniture,
jewelry, bangles, carpets and metal works. This city is famous for typical
Rajasthani dishes like dal batti churma,
missi roti, bajre ki roti, gawar phalli
ka saag, gatte ki sabzi, papad ki sabzi and lahsun ki chutney. Sweets like gevar
and gujia are liked by everyone. Laal Maans and safed manas are relished by non-vegetarians from all over the
world. The snacks like pyaz kachori
and mirchi bada are the specialties
of Jaipur.
The road side greenery, unique architect and its
landscapes make Jaipur one of my favorite cities in India for a nice drive.
These days thyroid problem is increasing especially in young ladies. The medicine(s) which doctor prescribed are a way to keep this disease under check. To cure it some yoga exercises are to be done at least three times in a day. One of the most effective exercise of thyroid is Ushtraasana.
Sinhasana doesn't look pleasing but it gives extremely good results to thyroid patients. If you hesitate to do it in public, do it when you are alone at home.
Watch these videos. These exercises are very easy to do. Share it with your friends and relatives so that maximum number of patients can be benefited with these yoga exercises.
