"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.
