Harud by the lake

We, i.e. P and I, love Kashmir. It's the place, the food, the people and the stories which have struck a chord with us. 

The last time we were in Srinagar, Kashmir; for me it was for a really short time. Only 2 days. It so happened that P was working there. When his work got over, it was a Thursday. So we decided that he would stay back and I would join him over the weekend. Those were the last few days of Autumn, sometimes in  early Novermber. It was about to rain and then the red leaves of the chinar trees would start  to fall, heralding the onset of a bitter winter.  Since last 3 years I was planning to be in Kashmir during Autumn, when the Chinars turn red!Every year something would come up and I would miss it. 

Kashmir has it's own charm during all the seasons. And we fell in love with the beautiful Harud (autumn) there. The slight chill in the air, the dry leaves in the trees, those big chinars with their red/brown leaves - everything added to the beauty of this heaven on earth. For those 2 days, we  roamed around the city at our own pace. Walked around the Nishad Garden and Chinar bagh. Sipped Kahwa from roadside small eateries,visited the famed sufi shrine of Khanqah-e-Moula .Looked for Rainbow bakery and had their amazing walnut brownie.We even  made plans with our friendly and trusted Auto driver Manzoor bhai to go to Downtown Srinagar at 5 am to have Harissa,a winter specialty served by just a handful of restaurants in the morning. But alas the last thing we couldn't do because on that day, our last day in Srinagar, there was a bandh called for and Manzoor bhai refused to take any risk by taking us there.

Slightly disheartened we came to Daal lake for a stroll before we left the city. We just sat by the lake, doing nothing just looking into this beautiful lake that defines the city. There were very few "tourists" that early in the morning. The sky was still gloomy after the previous night's shower. As we sat there, the sky slowly started to open up. There was still a light mist in the distance.For Kashmir the last 2 years had been really dismal in terms of tourism. Hotels and Houseboats were empty, shikaras were running into losses. The Shikara owners we got talking to told us how  bad the previous "seasons" were.

But still there was some hope; that the coming year would bring in peace and people will be back to enjoy a Shikara ride on Daal lake. We looked towards the lake and as we were about to leave, P said " Let's take one selfie with the daal lake". We looked out and P hit the click button on his phone, just in time to capture the Shikara in the frame too.

It was a beautiful moment captured in our minds and in P's Selfie Camera forever. 

Selfie with the Shikara

Just like this beautiful moment, there are many more special moments that we want to keep frozen in our lives forever. Here comes Mobiistar ; who has entered Indian market with plans to develop the smartphone segment in India by understanding the consumer need for a selfie smartphone and their desire to gain more enjoyment at great value. The main highlight of the Mobiistar handset is the integration of a dual selfie camera on the front with the ability to capture images in a stunning 120-degree wide-angle shot. So next time we are in Kashmir we can capture a wider image with the stunning mountains around. For that matter anytime we want to click a selfie, we can plan a wider shot with whatever we wish to capture. How cool is that! 

Mobiistar will soon be available on Flipkart. Do check out Mobiistar on Flipkart to enhance your Selfie Experience.

Khajuraho - An Incredible Experience

The train U P Sampark Kranti from Delhi pulled into the Khajuraho railway station by 7.30am, about  an hour late from it's  scheduled time. P and I got down and as expected someone already asked " Auto Chahiye? 100 Rs. lagenge dropping ki liye" ( do you need an auto? Rs. 100 to drop at the market." We stepped out of the station only to be hounded by more men asking the same thing. We chose a random auto and sat.
Once out of the small station, it is a long straight road till the main area where the Western Group of temples are located. About 7 kms.  We crossed the Airport and our hotel Ramada on the way. P and I had already decided that we would do a recce sort of a walk around these temples on the day we arrive. Then we would decide what to do and how.

Khajuraho Railway Station

August is still " not the season". There were sporadic rains too. But that had made the whole temple premise lush green. As we crossed the security gates and entered the garden area, it was love at first sight for us. We were impressed with the way the whole premise was maintained; even during this " off period".

We started with the Chitragupta temple and then walked around the Kandariya Mahadev and Devi Jagdamba Temples. There were very hardly about  5 - 6 tourists inside and we were the only Indians. P and I already knew that we would need a guided tour for sure to learn more about these exquisite structures. Sometimes rather than reading or googling, the magic that a local guide can weave with his words makes the place more fascinating. We spent about an hour and came out to have breakfast right in front of these monuments; at Raja Cafe. This one features in almost all the travel guides and you cannot miss this. Sitting in their rooftop area under a huge neem tree overlooking the temples, we enjoyed a sumptuous English breakfast.

Kandariya Mahadev Temple

As we came out to get an auto to our hotel finally by 11.00am ; we found the same Auto driver, Dipak, who took us from station. This time we asked him about his charges to show us around. Dipak brought out a whole rate chart. Whenever I and P travel somewhere like this on weekend breaks, we completely take things slow. We do everything in our own pace the way we like and that not necessarily mean going everywhere "recommended". Both P and I could not sleep well in the train. So we  planned to take some rest before heading out. We asked him to come pick us from the hotel by 4 pm and show us the Eastern group and Southern group of temples.

Dipak came exactly at 4pm. The weather was gloomy with an  overcast sky. He took us to Chaturbhuj Temple first.There were the guard, 2 women cutting the grass around the temple and 2 tourists besides us. This temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and this is the only temple, among all Khajuraho group of temples, that do not have a single erotic sculpture. From there we went to the Duladeo temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Again here except for the security guard, we were the only visitors. This temple is located just next to Khodar river. But we were told that this year it still had not rained properly. Hence there was less water in the river. The overcast was growing stronger by then and we knew it would rain any moment. P and I were really keen on the Sound and Light show at the Western group. But weather was sure to play a spoilsport.

Jain Temples

The Jain temples are in the Eastern part of Khajuraho. By the time we reached the Jain temples, the sky opened up. It was pouring heavily. We sat inside the temple premises till the time the rain stopped. After about 20 minutes the rain got lighter and we continued our "sight seeing"to the Vamana temple. This temple dedicated to the Vaman incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Again we were the only ones along with the security guard. Seeing our interest, he started describing the sculptures on the walls. There is a sculpture of Varaha another of Lord Vishnu's incarnation. It was already getting dark and was the time to officially close the gates. So we left hoping against hope the Sound and Light show will be on for the evening. But alas! It was just not our evening. We sat at Raja Cafe and munched something before heading back to our hotel.

Varaha Statue

Next day our train was only at 6.20pm and we were hoping for a late check out. But the hotel was completely full on Saturday because of some conference and we had to change our plan a bit. We had a leisurely breakfast and packed all our stuff and left for the Western group of temples by 11am. This time we wanted a detailed tour with a guide. We met Mr. Narendra Jain near the gates and fixed on a charge of Rs. 800 for a detailed tour of the Western group of temples. Mr. Jain kept his word and showed us around thoroughly. He said that the erotic sculptures make for only 3% in the whole lot of sculptures. That's strange considering how Khajuraho is known for the erotica mainly. The walls of the main temples Kandariya Mahadev, Lakshmana temple , Devi Jagadamba temple etc are adorned with exquisite sculptures depicting regular life during those days and of course the very famous erotic sculptures. There is a huge Varaha statue in a small temple in front of the main and most intricate temple of them all - Lakshmana temple. The statue is made of stone and there are some intricate sculptures cut in the whole body. That was surely one impressive sculpture.

The Temple Garden

The walls of the temples and with the description by Mr. Jain, it dawned upon us that those days women had such a strong role in the society. They were educated, strong,into sports, not afraid of their carnal desires. There were many sculptures of women with a scorpion over their thighs and in Mr. Jain's words " Scorpion or bichchu is the symbol of sexual desire. Remember the song "Daiya re Daiya re Chadh gaya paapi bichchua"." Suddenly the song from "Madhumati" had a whole new meaning for us. P and I were most amused. After a complete tour, we came out thoroughly content.

The Bichchu / Scorpion

Apart from the temples, one can go to nearby water falls too like Raneh and Pandav. We thought of going to Raneh; but then we were so overwhelmed by what we just learnt that we wanted to sit and enjoy lunch rather than again going somewhere. This time we went to Indiana for lunch. Since Khajuraho is frequented by foreigners, most of the cafes offer international cuisine and really good dishes. We had pasta for lunch. Even after lunch we still had time; we had to decide between 2 museums ; Archaeological museum or the Tribal art museum. We zeroed upon the Tribal art museum. There was no one in the Tribal Art Museum. The lone person / security guard / care taker opened the doors and switched on the lights and fans when he saw us coming. It was free entry and we wanted to click some photos. But the care taker said there was a fine since the entry fee was removed. There were some interesting tribal arts were on display. we covered the exhibits in about half an hour. I strongly recommend one should visit this small museum to get a glimpse of the different tribes of Madhya Pradesh.

As the train pulled out of the Khajuraho station exactly at 6.20pm that evening; it carried in it 2 very impressed travelers. We enjoyed this short trip to Khajuraho, a UNESCO World heritage site. Both of us would love to be back for the famous Khajuraho Dance Festival.

The Royal Emblem of the Chandelas

The Quote I live by

WOW Post May 7 2017

I have never really given a thought on what is the “One Quote that I live by”. But thanks to the WOW (Write Over The Weekend) prompt I am here sitting down and trying to figure out that one special quote that I live my life by and the realization is quite an eye opener for me too.

At different stage of my life I have been inspired by different ideologies and thus must have tried to live my life that way. Why “must have”? Because I am also not quite sure. While trying to be the good daughter, good student, good sister my life revolved around just being that – “Good”. Yes in my teens I rebelled too. Wrong move. But that’s one learning phase of life.

Now finally I can say I have found the “One quote” for me and this is it.

I have come to believe in that. While I cannot claim to be extremely non materialistic; however I am trying to be a reasonable one. In life it’s all about finding the balance, isn’t it?

I have to admit my other half has a very important role in it. Being an extremely non materialistic person, some of his traits have also rubbed off to me. There was a time when the word “Sale” would excite me. Now I shrug it off. Not every sale I have to land in the nearest super store or mall. I don’t mind people seeing me over and over again in same clothes. I don’t care if I do not have the latest phone or any gizmo for that matter. I now look forward to spending time with the people I love in the cozy warmth of someone’s or my home rather than partying in some loud over crowded place. I love it when people share their stories ; talk and laugh. I cherish the moments I spend with my other half.

I now know where to draw the line in my professional front too. Once upon a time I was too engrossed in my work and did not realize that I was giving it more attention than needed. Now I am out of that zone. After all you only need “this much” to be happy and I am glad I have realized that at the right time. “This much” may vary from person to person and I have found my “this much”.

We have started to print photographs rather than posting on Instagram or Facebook. Sometimes we sit and look at those albums. Unknowingly I find myself smiling as I flip through the pages of our photo albums. This is one thing we have stopped doing completely till few years ago. Digital cameras smart phones social media – who prints photographs anymore! We do; now.

This is what I have come to live by and I hope to do so for the rest of my life. 

 ‘This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.’ 

Flipkart Launches Flipkart Little Stars

I am very naïve when it come to online shopping! yes. I don't have any "apps" downloaded in my phone which people browse and shop - just like that. I tend to tread very cautiously in this online shopping arena. Having said that I also must admit that both I and P are big time bibliophiles. Especially P who goes berserk whenever there is a sale at CrossWord or Landmark. Or else these online stores to his rescue. Hassel free and quick, easy payment , easy delivery and most of the times  great offers too! Thus Flipkart has been an integral part of our life ALWAYS. Of whatever I have shopped online 90% are through Flipkart and I have to say I am "not so naïve" when it comes to online shopping on Flipkart!


Thus when I received an email from indiblogger about Flipkart launching #FlipkartKids called Flipkart Little Stars , the largest online store for kids, I was excited. There are so many little stars around us, in our extended families and friends. New borns, 1st Birthdays, twins, stating of school.. the list goes on and on. Near or far and wherever they are - Online order and delivery at their doorsteps ; how convenient can it be!


The event started by 3pm at Blue Frog, Lower Parel after a sumptuous lunch. Though there were mostly ladies, there were men too and equally enthusiastic about the whole event. It started with THE favourite star of all children across the country - Chota Bheem. Chota Bheem is one successful example of Make In India; completely home grown, conceptualized and created. There were no kids, but all present  grown ups were super excited to meet and shake hands with Chota Bheem and getting a selfie clicked. He obliged everyone.

We with Bheem - Thanks Tina.

Bheem dancing and my hand shaking. Hence this image!

Then Anoop introduced Kalpana Behera who very boldly confessed that she suffers from " Intense Narsicism" about herself and her 12 year old son. She has a very interesting blog called " My Little World" where she writes about her son and every year on his birthday she writes a letter to him and posts on her blog. It was a revelation listening to her. I thought I was the only one who suffers from this Mental Block where I just donot find the words to write. Glad to know that I wasn't alone and I was really impressed by the fact that no matter what, she made sure that she wrote one post each year on her son's birthday. Like a letter to her son on his birthday.


It was the time for the panel to take the stage and Anoop introduced each one of them - Rishi Vasudev and Panchali from Filpkart team; Seema Chawla from Mattel and Bharath from Chota Bheem team. Together they put a light on the changing trends of shopping in India, the changing tastes of both parents and children in India. Parents are more aware and very clear about what they want for their children. Children in turn have become equally sure of their choices and more assertive in terms what toys, books or accessories they want at the specific time. This panel discussion was very well reciprocated by the bloggers present as they took active part and asked questions and shared their experiences. One blogger asked about the toys for differently abled children to which both Rishi and Seema replied that they were sure going to be more considerate and keep this aspect in mind when putting up toys in Flipkart Little Stars. That's really commendable. However the onus of making any children responsible mainly lies with the parents - as Seema has rightly put out ; whenever there is a new toy at home, the child can always learn about sharing that. May be with cousins or friends when they visit. I would like to add, after few years when the child outgrows the toy, he can be taught to give it to the lesser privileged ones.

#FlipkartKids

Children from all over the country can now get ready to welcome their favorite hero Chota Bheem to the Big Screen. Flipkart and team Chota Bheem have collaborated for a new film of Chota Bheem which will soon be released in theatres across the country. That announcement marked another highlight of the afternoon. In fact Bharath revealed that the most searched item of Chota Bheem is his "Dhoti". I can so relate to that as there's this son of my friend who was stuck with a tee shirt with the print of Chota Bheem eating a laddoo! His mother literally appealed to everyone to help her find that.


The afternoon came to an end with an ad mad contest. The bloggers were divided into 5 groups and all of us had to come up with an innovative ad featuring toys, accessories from Flipkart Little Stars. It was sure a fun and truly mad ad game. Suddenly all grown ups were kids again.


The session ended with the signature indiblogger sign off and it was fun like all indiblogger meets. Keeping the tradition of making a new blogger friend in these meets, I met Aarthi this time.

Us "Pic courtesy - Tina Acharya"

Here's wishing Flipkart all the very best with Flipkart Little Stars. May this little star shines brightest for those little stars in our homes.




Flipkart

3 reasons why I love BNLF and ALL IndiMeets!

Finally I could make it to BNLF (Blog Now Live Forever), the mega event for bloggers by IndiBlogger. Yes. I thought I wont be able to. You know with a day job and the other things ( read household chores). But I could and aren't I glad about it. Actually to say "glad" will be a little too less. I am super happy, excited and very very thankful to P who agreed to stay in a mess of a house for one more day. You see we were home just 2 days back from a week long vacation to hometown in Assam. I kept the cleaning part to the weekend as usual; forgetting about the BNLF. Then I realized while cleaning my mail box that I have to attend BNLF this weekend. P the good guy he is, said no problem. But I am also not a bad girl either. Hence skipped the second day to clean the house and the whole mess! You see marriage or any relationship it's is all about this only, right? You adjust somewhere for the person you love / care for.


Nonetheless I woke up quite early on Saturday 31st Oct which I normally don't do. Weekend after all. I reached the venue, The Lalit near airport at 8.45am. There was already a queue. There were people woke up before me. Wow. Wasn't I impressed. The morning crisp air was bubbling with the enthusiasm of the bloggers. I plunged in too and what a day it turned out to be.


Here's the 3 reasons why I so loved attending the BNLF even if only Day 1.

The stage is set

THE Bruce Dickinson

1. Blog Now Live Forever / BNLF was epic. From the day I received an email few months back I knew I had to be there. This was going to be THE event for bloggers. And then with the line up of speakers and sessions this was sure a not to be missed event. I promptly signed up and confirmed my attendance. It was inspirational listening to all the speakers. Those witty but honest confessions of Purba Ray, Arnab Ray, Kanan Gill, Preety Shenoy and the insight of  Anshul Tewari, Jeff Bullas, Christoph Trapp and Bruce Dickinson really made an impression on me. All the speakers talked about things we as bloggers would surely take home as guidance. I learnt so much and looking forward to more such sessions.

2. I admit I am a very lazy blogger. One can have look at my blog and can easily make that out. I am really ashamed of it and trying hard to "do something " about this. However somehow it's just not happening. Yeah I have a full time day job. I know it's not correct to be this inactive and hence whenever I get the chance to be in these wonderful blogger meets I try and be there. Meeting all those enthusiastic bloggers really inspire me and I come home energized and super charged. This goes in fact for all meets and BNLF was the biggest of all.


3. Living in a city like Mumbai and with a full time job, I find it a bit difficult to physically meet people to stay in touch. Thanks to phone, whatsapp and social media that atleast staying in touch is possible. I have met some wonderful fellow bloggers over the years in such meets. Some of them out of the city. I knew many of them would be attending this event. Thus I met Maniparna from Kolkata after an year. Met Zainab and Tina too. Though they are from Mumbai, we hardly meet each other. There I met these lovely bunch of ladies Somali Radhika and Irene 

Kanan Gill recommends "THIS" book

Cheers to the whole team of Indiblogger for #BNLF. More power to you!


PS:: All photos by Zainab Attari. Thanks girl.

At the launch of Dabur Vatika Jasmine Coconut Hair Oil - IndiBlogger event.

Go Green - Says so many of them these days and they also mean so many things. Like going vegetarian, going environment friendly, being responsible etc etc. Green is the colour for such good things in life then how come Green is also the colour of the vice called " Jealousy"? You see that " Green eyed monster" " Green with jealousy" sort of stuffs. But trust IndiBlogger when they invite you to a meet and ask to "Go Green" that this would be something different / total "Hat Ke". And with they told us to come memorizing the lyrics of the Cult classic by Pink Floyd "Another Brick in the wall (Part 2)". So all set then, Saturday 10 Oct from 11.30 am at Ville parle .We i.e. women bloggers from Mumbai, are Going Green while Dabur Vatika launches their " Vatika Jasmine Non-Sticky Coconut Hair Oil".
 
I reached the venue just on time. Searching for familiar faces among the beautiful women there, I met Tina Acharya. It was her first IndiBlogger meet. We started talking and by the end of the event, we  already made plans to meet at #BNLF again! There was Natasha whom I knew already. We had met in one of the IndiBlogger meets about a year back and then stayed in touch. IndiBlogger meets are always the best place to meet fellow bloggers, make new friends, share ideas and so much to learn. I was attending one after missing out on quite a few. Wasn't I glad that I could make it. 

the lovely ladies

As the event started and the IndiBand took the stage. We sang along " Another Brick in the wall" . After so many years Pink Floyd..whoa; I so loved that.

Then came the officials from Dabur India who shared an over view of the product. This Coconut oil along with the fragrance of Jasmine and nourishment of coconut oil enriched with vitamin to help lock hair moisture. Thus this oil aims at giving you manageable and less frizzy hair.

 I believe we all women have this little connection with Coconut hair oil in some way or the other. Our mothers and grand mothers all advised us to apply Coconut oil for betterment of hair. I must have followed that till my teens. Then that rebellious bug bit me and I had to do things the way I like; not how others ( read Parents & Grand Parents) told me to. So along with many things, applying Coconut oil ritual was also lost somewhere. I solely cannot blame the R bug here. My laziness is to be blamed too. Staying in hostels with no one to check on my hair care routine, I lost that habit. Then I grew up and along came the stress part. In professional front, personal front, social too. I have naturally straight hair. But my hair tends to get frizzy and when I comb I would lose so much hair. Hence most of the time I keep my hair tied. I apply coconut oil a night before shampoo. The day I shampoo my hair, it remains bouncy for sometime but as the day ends, I have knots in my hair. I DONOT want to apply oil after I wash my hair. Please..! who wants to look chipkoo to work or to go out! Solution - tie my hair when it gets dry even after wash.

Dabur vatika jasmine coconut oil

Yesterday after I washed my hair, I just applied a little bit of the Dabur Vatika Jasmine Coconut oil, just to see if that works. The oil was not sticky at all which is very unlike most coconut oils. I liked the fragrance and even though my hair looked little oily, it wasn't entirely chipkoo looking. I had less frizz and very less knots at the end of the day. I am game for this one.

Diwali of Love, Light and Life

Have you seen the wonderful film made by Pepsi ?

#GharWaliDiwali ..Yeah Ghar Wali, the one spent at home, with family.

I came across this last night. The daughter who is now a wife and a mother, her parents who are now left with the memories of many diwalis of her growing up years; who now see , "touch and feel" their daughter's presence through video calls! This lovely film brought back so many memories. Memories of a childhood spent in a quiet sleepy little town tucked in the North Eastern part of the country, Dibrugarh. Of course Dibrugarh is no longer the little town it used to be; but my and my siblings childhood were spent here. Dibrugarh plays an important part in our lives and will always remain.

Our dad was not good at showing or expressing his emotions. Busy with his work, he would often forget our birthdays and at times which standard we were in! We ; I and my younger sister and brother. Ma would make it up. Being the wonderful cook she is, she would cook up a storm in all festivals, birthdays or just impromptu girls gang get-togethers in our teen years. In an Assamese family Diwali was not celebrated like the way it was celebrated in Northern or North Western part of India. No special sweets or laddoos were made. We did that during Bihu, the mail festival of Assam. In fact in Eastern India, during Diwali Goddess Kali is worshipped; not Goddess Lakshmi ! For us Diwali was more of a festival of lights and crackers and having fun with neighbours.

In Dibrugarh, we had a big house with a big kitchen garden. During Diwali dad would ask Madhu, our house help those days, to get a Banana tree ( which is actually a stem) cleaned and decorate it with bamboo hollows cut into 2. That decorated Banana tree/stem would be placed near our gate. In the evening Ma would get the diyas ready on the dining table. We used to light small earthen diyas ;  maati saaki as they are called in Assamese. I and my siblings would get busy in rolling cotton and then filling up the diyas with mustard oil. In big plates we would get the diyas and place them one by one on those bamboo hollows which were embedded into the banana tree. And then as darkness would fall, we would start lighting the diyas one by one. Madhu would help in lighting the diyas placed on top. The gate would be thrown open. Every house in the neighbourhood would light the same earthen diyas.  All our friends would go from one house to another to see the lights.Our small neighbourhood would lit up like a star.

Then came the fun part. Bursting crackers. Dad always maintained that too much of noise and air pollution must be avoided. He would get us very basic stuffs like phool jharis , flower pots , chakras, twinkling wires etc. He would get us those small red phataka which in Assamese we referred to as "Jolokia bomb". Jolokia meaning chilli as they resembled long thin red chillis! No big sky rockets or those fancy sparklers which burst into a big bouquet in the air; as he would say that those sky sparkles might fall on  someone's thatched roof and it might lead to disaster. Not that it never happened. There was a colony of people near our area, who mostly had thatched roofs. In one such case, a family had lost all their belongings. And guess what; almost every neighbor uncle would say the same thing to his children and we all would end up with similar crackers. Talk of being dad!

I and my sister were scared of bursting those jolokia bomb or red chilli phatakas. Our brother was even smaller. Again Dad to rescue; he asked Madhu to cut a bamboo piece into 4 sticks. Then there would be a small cut in one end of the stick. You were supposed to hold the stick from one end and fix a Red Chilli Bomb in between the small cut in the other end and then light it. Simple. Its safe ,far from you and you also had the fun of bursting a bomb! Much like the way these days people carry those fancy sticks ( sorry but I don't know what they are called) to place their mobile phones or small cameras to click selfies.

Spread the Light...!

Our family albums are full of Diwali photographs. Over the years, we moved to a bigger city; eventually sold off that place and settled in Guwahati. Then slowly we; I, my sister and my brother, all started moving out. First for higher studies, then job and then finally marriage. As dad would say " leaving the nest to fly into the horizon". The cities got bigger; but the houses got smaller. While studying in Gwalior, I celebrated hostel Diwali. While working in Delhi,I celebrated Diwali with room mates and friends. Now in Mumbai its with husband. In Diwali, we try to be at home together. I still light up few maati saaki / earthen diyas. I try to make sure they do not get lost in the glittering, shimmering lights pouring in from all over. And then of course the Kandil. Every year for last 3 years, we both would go and get a Kandil for our home. That's now a part of my #GharWaliDiwali.

Dad left us 9 years ago. Thank you PepsiCo for this wonderful little film for taking me back to those many diwalis from my childhood.

May this festival of light spread love and togetherness everywhere.

https://www.gharwalidiwali.com/

 

Ek din Zindagi ke naam

It was planned that I would be in Delhi during the weekend of 21-22June. Then Husband dropped the bomb that he would be working full day on Saturday 21st June. Now that's wrong. What do I do in Delhi on a hot summer Saturday in June? As a blessing from the skies there landed a mail from IndiBlogger in my inbox informing about a interactive session with the team of the new Channel which was to be started from Monday. Zindagi from the family of Zee. The uniqueness of this channel - It will show some wonderful stories from across the border; from Pakistan. This meet was to be held in both Mumbai and Delhi simultaneously.Howzzat. In Delhi the venue was Taj Palace hotel in Man Singh road.

I registered myself for Delhi meet. Even though I was slightly apprehensive at first as I didn't know anyone in Delhi whereas in Mumbai many of my blogger friends would have attended. But then it reminded me of the day when I went for my first IndiBlogger meet without knowing anyone and now I have some really lovely bunch of fellow bloggers as friends.

The event started a little late. But please donot let that dampen your spirits. We were connected with the bloggers in Mumbai by a huge screen. Nihal, from IndiBlogger Delhi and Anoop from Mumbai did a wonderful job of connecting the bloggers from both the cities. There was a fun debate. The perennial debate between Delhiwale and Mumbaikars.
Q.Which city has the best public transport? ; Which city has more number of good looking men; Which city has the best weather.
Both Delhi and Mumbai came up with interesting details in support of their respective cities. All the while everyone had loads of fun. I, for one, a Mumbaikar sitting amidst Delhiwalon was having a good laugh.
Then came the creative head of Zee Zindagi TV and came along with her one of the lead actors from Pakistan Imran Abbas.   We all can surely hear the loud welcoming given to them all the way Delhi. Also joined us on the screen was Ms. Sultana Siddiqui. A very respected and well known TV producer and director. It was really wonderful to hear them talk about the life and the stories inspired by life in our neighborhood country with whom we share a bitter sweet relationship. Imran Abbas sang " Dharti sunehri" from Veer Zara which said so much of both the countries. While looking at the promos of the serials from Pakistan, one thing which I find heart warming is that we are so strikingly similar. They just look, talk , walk, wear, eat just like the way we do. There was no need of dubbing the serials because we speak the same language.

Few weeks ago I had the opportunity to watch a very wonderful little film called " Filmistaan" There the protagonist Sunny Arora who got kidnapped by terrorists by mistake and has been kept a hostage in one of the villages there says " Kaisa pata chalta ke Pakistan main hoon. Ghar, rehna, khana sab same hai" ( How would I know that I was in Pakistan. The homes, living, food everything is same)
That's what I felt when I saw the promos of the serials from across the border. Everything is same!

Zindagi comes with the message of Joday Dilon Ko - to unite the hearts.I hope Zindagi manages to bring a "Aman Ki Aasha " between the two countries and unite the hearts someday.

Another reason to watch the channel and serials : they end in 25-26 episodes. Beat that!!


 

The Dove Play Date

The time was set for 3.30pm; the venue JW Marriott; the date 11th May and The Event - A play date with Dove for the bloggers. Organised by Dove and Indiblogger. Fun part - Its ONLY for girls!!

So there I was along with 100+ other beautiful women bloggers, all in whites; different shades of it!! Few of the bloggers were flown in to Mumbai by indiblogger team from other cities like Kolkata, Indore, Delhi too. That's so cool. I even got to tweet from the Dove official handle too.

The event started with registration and we were handed over the itinerary and a ribbon mentioning team numbers. I along with 2 of the lovely ladies whom I had just met there got the same Green coloured ribbon with Team 1 mentioned.At least we knew 3 of the members of Team 1. The activites began with the emcee on stage dividing the teams officially. We had to name our groups in hairstyles and we named our Team 1 as Waves. And the fun evening began.

The stage is set

2 Zoomba instructors took the stage and urged all of us to join when they swayed to perfection. What energy.... what moves. Most of us were doing Zoomba for the first time and we all managed Oppa Gangam Style. The mood was set; everybody was geared for some fun. The first game was Hoola Hoop; which I failed miserably but had absolute fun trying. We found and threw white Dove balls among pools of colourful balls;tried our hands at hair styling each other; race against time to complete the pieces of a puzzle. We laughed, giggled , behaved like little school girls out on picnic.

After all these, we got our hairs pampered by the Dove hair stylists. Sipping into a glass of White Wine I got my hair done. Bliss.

The Team 1 -- Waves



Then there was an announcement of another fun activity by the poolside. The poolside At JW Marriott is the place to be during evening. One member of each the teams had to make a drink and name it. The in house Bartender gave us tips on mixology. Full on Mixology gyaan, we all enjoyed the fun contest to the core.
Now again back in the main hall. Dinner was served. JW Marriott put a wonderful buffet with a live pasta counter. The Bar was open too. It was the time to enjoy food, drink and wait for the announcement of the winning team. The prize vouchers of Rs. 5000 for each of the 10 team members. Team 2 won as we all cheered on. Well deserved I must say.

As we all were sitting back just sipping our glasses of cocktail or with the dessert plates; there was a flash mob. Whoa..few girls went to the middle of the hall and started dancing to Pharrel Williams' "Happy"..Girls..Weren't we happy to clap along like a room without a roof.

Clap Along Happy

Kudos to team Dove and team Indiblogger for such a wonder event. They even took care of the transportation back home too. Thats not all; while leaving we were handed over a lovely goodie bag with Dove products, a hair straightener, Indiblogger Tee shirt and a cute Dove pin. Thank you so much for this lovely Play Date.

The Goodies :D

I reached home happily singing. Husband loved my hair style and I loved the look on his face.
I declared " Yes it is Dove !"