Shopping is now a child's play #FlipkartKids

7 months back we were blessed with baby boy. It was a happy moment for us with so much of excitement. The day my baby was born, I was running to all the shops to get clothes and other stuff. I took five days of leave although we get only three days of paternity leaves. Still leaves were insufficient for me. There were lots of shopping to be done apart from taking care of baby in such a short time. I was not very well aware of eCommerce websites particularly for kids, although I used to shop online.

I started exploring some websites and found variety of products for my baby. Infant clothes, socks, toys, diapers etc everything that I needed was available online. Within an hour I could purchase almost everything I needed for my kid. Delivery is also efficient so I didn't need to follow-up with the customer care or delivery guy. This helped me a lot in saving time and spending more time with family. Most of the time working in an IT industry is hectic and parents do not get time. Nowadays eCommerce website has made our life easy and it helps us to be with family and shop at the comfort of our house.

As kids grow, we need to get toys for them, and its very difficult to find such toys in local shops.

Recently I got an opportunity to attend  #FlipkartKids IndiBlogger Meet to witness the launch of Flipkart Li't Stars - India's Biggest Online Kids' Store at the Blue Frog (Lower Parel).

The event directly started with lunch to energize us.

Later a man dressed up in Chhota Bheem costume made his guest appearance and danced for a while.






This was followed by Kalpana Behara who talked about how she started blogging and her experience as a blogger. She put forth some questions to parent blogger and there was some good debate happening.

Somebody rightly said in the audience that today's kids are very lucky that they can buy toys from the comfort of their house.

Later Flipkart panel had a debate with the bloggers regarding the new trends in the market and how FlipkartKids is catering to all the parent needs. There were questions and answers pouring from the bloggers and it was going good with meaningful conversation.

While all were expecting a rock band show as it happened before in an event at the Blue Frog. And surprisingly history repeated itself with an unplugged version.



There was an Ad Mad show competition after the rock band. We were told to make a team of ten and present an Ad. We as a team were blank at the start and finally one of our team member came up with a wacky idea of "Spider-man weds Barbie". We were clueless on what to be presented but it was fun while we performed without any rehearse.

The event ended with our closed fist moving up and down in air and shouting "Hu Haan" along with our host Anoop. That is how he wakes us and keeps the excitement high throughout the event.



Flipkart gifted us with a cuddly Chhota Bheem toy. And here comes a selfie with our toys.



Flipkart being a trusted brand would now jump into kids category and #FlipkartKids will help get brands to the parents with discounts. This really excites me as against getting the product from shop which is time consuming as well as costly.

iGenius Young Singing Star experience #YSS2

I was roaming on the streets of Mahalaxmi to do some bit of photography at Dhobi Ghat. And got a call from BlogAdda to confirm on my presence at the iGenius event. While I was away from email for some days, I must have probably missed my invitation. I quickly headed towards Vivanta by Taj at Cuffe Parade to enjoy Young Singing Star.

The jury Salim Merchant and Shraddha Sharma were already seated. All the kids looked excited and were introduced one by one while they performed. The 10 finalist were exceptional and some were so good in singing that it gave goosebumps. Many times, I tried not looking at the kids to feel the soul of  the song and felt as if the songs were sung by some professionals. Everyone was stunned by the performances and were applauding without the need to remind as it usually happens in other events. 

While the performances were outstanding from the 10 finalist, there were many other things that was commendable. The event was so well managed that I never felt that there was something missing. Instead it was going smoothly and audience were enjoying each moment. The timings were perfect and no problems in the infrastructure which could stall the wonderful show. All were so excited about the event, that #YSS2 started trending in twitter which was a good thing. 

Shraddha Sharma from YouTube sensation performed on stage with her sweet voice. Everyone was hooked on to her. There was again a second round for the 10 finalist and later before announcing the winners the most awaited Salim Merchant did a live performance with one of my favorite song. 

Manik Nangia (Chief Digital Officer - Max Life Insurance) and Devraj Sanyal (Managing Director - Universal Music Group and EMI South Asia) encouraged all the 10 finalist and thanked all the team for making this happen. They pointed out to Pooja Sodhi for all her hard work since its inception. And I tried looking back to see her but couldn't find her. Then finally when the team dispersed, we got a chance to meet her and share our experience. She is very lively personality and looked really satisfied as the event got over well.

Tannishtha Puri (Junior Category) and Maithili Thakur (Senior Category) were declared winners. They have won an opportunity to record their own album. Some pictures from the events. 

And when the blogger team got a chance to go to the stage to interact with Salim Merchant, this is what happened.

It was a wonderful experience to meet such genius kids perform live on stage.

Maxlife Insurance I-Genius Young Singing Star Season II is actually a unique corporate Initiative to Reward and Recognise Young Singing Talent in India. Its a platform to recognize and reward Talented children across India. Their efforts are commendable as it is not a easy task to shortlist 10 finalist from around 2.5 lakhs entry across India.

Thanks to BlogAdda for giving an opportunity to attend the Grand Finale of iGenius Young Singing Star - Season II and making my day awesome.

"I am blogging to share my experience of the #YSS2 i-genius Young Singing Stars Season II in association with BlogAdda"

#BNLF hangover

Its been more than two weeks and the hangover still persists for #BNLF. It was a two day event with a difference that changed the way I think. I had written a blog when #BNLF was just an agenda at BNLF.com

The day invitations started floating around, all were awaiting the big day. A month before BNLF was something sort of waiting period for all of us. I can sense this through the tweets, comments and blogs.

Finally the day came in and I joined the team with lots of excitement. It wasn't for one speaker that made my day but all the speakers were fantastic in their own way.

BNLF started with a powerpack performance. It started with flash back of #wordup event.

Excitement started as we clapped while they rocked the staged. There is always a mystery man who is never introduced in the band and dresses up like a Ghost. I think with out him the band is incomplete. Hope to see him some day in future events with face revealed at the end.

Image source: IndiBlogger

And just as I hooked on to the twitter to tweet a few lines, #BNLF was already trending at 6th place.

Purba Ray captured the stage with her amazing style. She took on with her satirical presentation which was hilarious too. Presentation was very unique and different. I was glued to the stage all the time.

Arnab Ray took us through his journey to blogging and how he manages to blog. He spoke about his experience in college days while he used to watch Mithun da movies.

Christoph Trappe spoke about authentic stories and real life experiences to explain us how to manage time.

Anshul Tewari founder of Youth ki Awaaz focused more on audience and how to monetize our blog. He believes in doing the best and wait for the fruits of hard work.

Kanan Gills was very hilarious from start to end. Through his comic act or say presentation, he made us laugh and also went through his life experiences. He was just trying to say that never give up and continue to work towards your goal.

Jeff Bullas took us through tips and tricks for blogging. He taught us mantra to success in Blogging.

Preeti Shenoy, Indias highest selling women author experience was about hardship in her early years. She started with blogging, wrote articles. Later moved on to writing books. One of her books got 39 rejection from publisher but finally reached success.

Bruce Dickinson - the front man of Iron Maiden. There were roars while he made appearance on the stage. He says "Make Fans. Not Customers" His belief is 0 + 0 = 1 if you have brains, have plan and hopes.

With all these great speakers, we relished on great food at The Lalit. Had great fun with Cleartrip activities. Took selfies during breaks. Made new friends. It was an event that took away the stress in me. My take away would be motivation, knowledge, thinking from a different perspective, networking and great memory. The hangover is still on after two weeks.

Here are some pictures of the event by Indiblogger.

Kudos to the Indiblogger team that made the so called disruptive event really disruptive. Await more such series of #BNLF

Define Bloom

Define: Bloom

The making of Shouut #CelebrateBlogging

Source: http://www.marketing91.com/

Technically speaking the blogging cycle looks some what like this. But my cycle of blogging is different. 

It all started with my first job in LearningMate. I was excited about the new roles and responsibilities. I was trying to enter the corporate world. At that time I came across my seniors blog (Jolvin and Atul). Although they were my mentors in work area they were a source of inspiration. The encouragement I got from my seniors and colleague got me into blogging. And here I am with Shouut which took off in 2006 with first blog post "KickOff Blog".

I still remember how excited it was to write a blog and then get comments from other bloggers. My first Nokia phone with a camera got me into photography. Photography became my second passion and I used Flickr to post my pictures. I also jumped into creating and editing videos during my college days. One of my friend Ozzy instigated me to start it. Here is my YouTube Channel.

Later after blogging for years, I got busy with my work and was taken away from the blogging world. Twitter and facebook took away some of my precious time. I started giving common excuse like "NO TIME".

Then a sense of responsibility was added through a marriage. I got married and luckily my wife was also into blogging. She encouraged me to get registered to BlogAdda. This eventually led to attending events, networking and finally writing blogs.

I am happy about the fact that there are various people in my life who encourage and inspire me to do the right thing. Help me to do what I like the most and let me come out of the regular work area. I celebrate blogging with all of them.

And now its time to actually #CelebrateBlogging in WIN15.

Blogging is not always a technical aspect. It has emotions, drama, action and lights. And we celebrate it with #LOVE.

“I am writing for #WIN15 – BlogAdda’s Blog Awards on how to #CelebrateBlogging! You should too!”

Training in a Mumbai local train

"Kya ye Malad ka line hai. Aap Malad otoroge" (Is this Malad line? Would you get down at Malad?) A man asked while trying to get down at Malad station in a Churchgate slow local. I told him "Ye Goregoan ka line hai"(This is Goregoan line). And he replied, "Muje subah hi patha chala ki Goregaon aur Malad ka separate line hai" (I got to know in the morning that there are two separate lines for Malad and Goregaon). I smiled at him and he got down at Malad station.

Mumbai local trains have typical rules predefined, formed over a period of time. People who get into the train without knowledge end up either getting down at wrong station or hear some sarcastic comments from other passengers.

A person who wants to get down before Borivali station will never catch a Virar local. This requires just one time experience travelling in a Virar local when the train is crowded ;)

People from Kandivali and Malad would spend around 30min extra just to get seat by catching a Borivali return train to reach Churchgate. They usually cannot get inside train during peak hours. Some good Samaritans get up at Bandra for other fellow passengers to sit. 

A train delayed for just five minutes will double the people standing on platforms and this would add to people woes. Some would dangerously stand hanging on the footboard. This is not at all a good learning.

Difference between first and second class compartments is that you would sometime get to hear sophisticated bad words in English ;) Only three person can sit on the seats while in second class, fourth person can be adjusted after a bit of push and requests. First class compartments have soft cushioned seats. All these three features are available at 12 times the cost of a second class fare ;)

It's takes just two days to get trained in a Mumbai local train and get accustomed to the "so" called rules.

What is BNLF?

What makes a day in a life of a working IT professional can only be answered by him / her. A IT professional only thinks of coding and then reporting to his/her boss, then comes his disappointing appraisal and later he / she tries to find a day out of his / her routine to find himself / herself lost. He finds a friend with whom he / she can share his / her worries, stress, and sometimes happiness . While he /she is stuck up in the day night project, he /she makes sure to get back his / her lost passion.

Is this the case with every IT professional or he / she has some life outside the scope of a project. He / She dreams to do something out of this boundaries to explore and de-stress himself / herself. He / She comes out in need to fulfill his / her dreams. Its like a chick trying to come out of the egg on weekends. And he / she starts to blog about his passion. IndiBloggers help chicks (like me) come out and do something for oneself  i.e blog and raise our voice. They create platforms to network, get all the bloggers community together. There are lots of knowledge sharing and networking. This actually motivates to do something different, explore new things and come out of the shell.

BNLF, the term creates curiosity in one's mind. What is it? It's a blogging conference. It stands for Blog Now, Live Forever. I have always been enthusiastic about blogging conferences. Indiblogger has come up with many conferences and I have attended one of the conferences in blueFROG Mumbai - Word up. It was brilliantly organised and managed. We bloggers not only got buckets of information on blogging, also enjoyed with some contests, lucky draws and cuisines. Quite similar, but bigger event is coming up with BNLF.

Some great personalities are expected at this event. Anshul Tewari, the founder of award winning YouthKiAwaaz, with the help of his blogging skills, gave the youth of our nation, a platform to express their views on subjects like politics, society, etc. Being blogger, I definitely got to learn a lot from him. Another speaker whom I am desperately await is Jeff Bullas. He would be the one who would give lots of insight into social media marketing and blogging. I couldn't resist posting his interview from http://www.jeffbullas.com/bio/

There are many more such global speakers who would give in-depth techniques and insights from their experiences and this would definitely motivate all bloggers to grow.

I tried to save a day from my work schedules to attend this event BNLF by Indiblogger.

The Kumbh Mela Experience

It is considered to be the largest peaceful gathering in the world but I perceived it as chaos gathering where stampede happens and then a breaking news. I was invited for a documentary "Conversations at the Kumbh Mela, Allahabad, 2013" Premiere by BlogAdda which changed my perspective.

The excitement took me along with my friend to Nehru Centre, Worli. We reached on time and found ourselves inside a exhibition where we got guided tour of the exhibit. The pictures were very lively and vibrant. Being passionate about photography, I  found it interesting.

We got a warm welcome from BlogAdda and finally sat inside auditorium for the movie to begin. Although the movie was a documentary, it was interesting. It was well edited and had a story. It was a whole new experience for us to know about Kumbh Mela.

Being naive to this Kumbh Mela, watching the movie was like experiencing it virtually.

The movie took us through interviews from different people. There were various shots like people pouring milk to Ganga, dipping one self in river based on some belief. The lost and found counter was doing a great job for people. Remembered movies from 80's. Other areas like sanitation, ambulance, police chowki were well taken care.

We were glued to the screens for 54mins. Later we had interaction with the movie crew members. It took around 6 weeks of video shoot. Editing and making of movie took around 2.5 years as the team was involved in other activities. Lots of questions poured in and the director Yashodara (Director of the movie) gave answers to all the questions.



Everyone appreciated the work and there were praises more than questions from the audience. Yashodara spoke about how they managed to take interviews. Their excitement to shoot, coincidence, luck, team work all helped them to complete the movie. It was supposed to be a planned shoot but happened to be a unplanned one as they just went with the flow. For them it was like going prepared for an exam and questions asked were all unread ones.

A quick snap with the team after the discussion :)

Movie in all has instigated us to attend Kumbh  Mela in person. And off-course await a second part to the documentary "Conversations at the Kumbh Mela, Allahabad, 2013".

“I am unraveling the mysteries of Kumbh Mela by participating in the #TheKumbhMelaExperience activity at BlogAdda in association with Anugraha"

Nivea Men Deodorizer product launch to #BanBodyOdour

It started with #SniffSniff and an event to remember.

Body odour repels us but we do not let know the person as it might embarrass, hurt or anger him / her.

An event was organized by BlogAdda in association with Nivea Men to launch a product for men which was kept under wrap for long.

I was eager to attend the event just out of curiosity and to meet the surprise celebrity. It was raining cats and dogs with traffic jam but nothing could stop me from reaching Four Seasons - Worli. I got a warm welcome from BlogAdda. Networked with few bloggers and the event started with fun activities. 

Animesh Gupta, a Psychologist and a trainer got us into fun activities and I couldn't resist taking pictures.

The activity later led to a discussion. There were questions and answers raised as to why body odour happens. It's a natural chemical reaction within body. Points like how to maintain hygiene and take care of diet to control body odour were discussed. Most of us just spray deodorants but very less are aware on how to use a deodorant. I was surprised to know that a good deodorant should be applied before we go to sleep and not after morning bath. He also taught us how to tell a person that he/she smells bad in a candid way.

Finally the much awaited superstar Arjun Rampal gave a surprise entry and spoke about his experience on bad body odour and how they had to bear with it in their profession. He answered few questions from the bloggers but the product was still a mystery.

We had a lunch break to network with other bloggers while the stage was being prepared for the press conference. The event started with a hilarious on screen video by Suresh Menon followed by a presentation on deodorant. And finally the product was launched by Arjun Rampal. A new TV commercial was also shown for the first time on screen. This was not like the regular deodorant commercial where in girls get attracted to boys just for the fragrance. This one was different and funny.

Nivea Men Deodorizer (not deodorant) claims to be skin friendly. It helps to remove body odour by not camouflaging but removing it. It has cool and light fragrance. It lasts for a day. This product sets it apart from other deodorants through its innovative formula.

The event in a nutshell was beautifully executed considering the time limit.

I attended the #SniffSniff product unveiling event by BlogAdda in association with Nivea.

My nose knows to Sniff #SniffSniff

My Bollywood experience says that a dog is required all the time to sniff on bomb or criminals. And here comes the huge dog sniffing around and giving clues to the police in the movie. This probably makes a suspense thriller movie for us. While this experience ends here let's get back to real life experience where we need not sniff but bad smell repels us in any situation. And here starts my story.

It was a new day, new morning and commencement of new found job. All documents were ready, my attire was set and I was ready for the day.

In early years of my career I had the habit of watching Friends episodes on my laptop every morning. The excitement of the new job didn't let me hold back the urge to watch an episode today either. The episode was " The One with baby in the bus". More than baby's story, Phoebe's song enticed me. It goes..
Smelly cat, smelly cat
What are they feeding you...
Smelly cat, smelly cat
Its not your fault!

Little did I know that the song will stay in my brain for the rest of the day.

I was introduced with a buddy who would help me out get accustomed to new job. He had just reached office rushing through the traffic in a crowded train. Here my office buddy was very helpful and polite. Although he met me after settling down but there was some kind of body odour which was making me uncomfortable. He had explained me all the process and told to call him for any difficulties while he went back to his desk. He was very helpful but I never called him back for any concerns. It was a conscious decision where in I never felt like calling him back for help. Later on, I was really stuck up in a situation wherein I had to call him. I tried behaving as if I understood everything I heard from him while I was just trying to get rid of him.

Body smell is something that needs greater attention while we are outdoor with friends or in office. We take at most care of keeping ourselves clean, body odour is something that happens due to climate or body condition. While we sweat a lot in this summer, we try to look cool by wearing our sunglasses. But all that looks cool may not attract people or girlfriends ;)

And we move on to deodorants. Sometimes gas spray or no gas perfume. It's today that new products have come up which helps us live in style and get us rid of body odour.

“I am sharing my odour story for the ‘My Nose Knows’ contest as a part of the #SniffSniff activity at BlogAdda.”

Ek Nayi League by Kapil Dev

Well groomed Kapil Dev is standing in the middle of the venue with a pleasant smile. He is surrounded by teams. Each team has 3 members who are indeed celebrities. From sports persons, politicians, artists to actors, the teams are a mixture of all domains. They are here to test their intellectual ability. All are excited and nervous at the same time. Having a face off with Kapil Dev has brought goosebumps to them. But the sheer excitement of playing with the legend of cricket and other celebrities lies above all.

The show starts with a loud cheer of the audience seated surrounding the venue. Their excitement of watching Mr Dev live on the sets cannot be hidden with all the efforts. They shout out KAPIL KAPIL KAPIL till the legend asks them to quiet down by raising his hand.

Kapil Dev welcomes everyone to the show and gives his regards to the viewers watching the show on the television. He introduces every celebrity participating in the show as team members. Some of them are so known that they don't even need an introduction. But as part of gratitude, Kapil Dev doesn't miss anyone. After the introduction, he heads over to the rules and format of the game. Its a quiz show with questions, answers, scores, eliminations and more. Its more about the intellectual abilities of the participants. So anybody using their heart instead of their brain will be out of the game in no time.

The league goes on for multiple weeks and the winning teams will stay on the game. The team which survives till the end becomes the winner. The prize money for the winning team will build the eagerness in every team member to stay till the end.

This is what I think the Ek Nayi League would be about. Kapil Dev has created a lot of curiosity around the league and got not just his fans, but everyone excited about it. His entry into twitter was the first surprise for his fans and announcement of this new league is the second. But the sad part is that in none of the tweets, he or his team has disclosed what this new league is about. Instead it is let on the users to guess what it could be.

Everyone has their own guesses, but nobody is sure if their side of the guess is correct. There is also a contest for the users to guess which is put up on the website of Ek Nayi League. The winner will walk away with a whopping amount of Rs. 1 lakh. The league is also trending on twitter with the hashtag #EkNayiLeague. Curious fans are unable to resist themselves from tweeting about it. Let's wish the best to Kapil Dev and his team for the new league.

Kellogg's Recipes

Recently I found an advertisement by Kellogg's which tells you how much you can make out of corn flakes. The dishes and shakes you can make are very delicious. I never knew that a basic nutritious food like corn flakes can be transformed into a delicious yet nutritious one. A good recipe is the one that is yummy and can retain the taste of its main ingredient. Recipes showcased on the website of Kellogg's are mouthwatering and tempting.

Here are those which tempted me to the core - Almond coconut shake, Almond strawberry cornflakes, Apple cinnamon cornflakes, banana praline cornflakes, black forest shake, basil curd dip, chikoo banana cornflakes, cherry vanilla milkshake, choco cornflakes peanut chikki, choco mint cornflakes, corn peanut dip, chocopeach cornflakes, cornflake dahi upma, cornflakes ki churi, cornflakes mushroom soup, fig and apricot shake, cranberry and almond cornflakes, crunchy fruit salad, corn flakes thandai, honey nutmeg and banana cornflakes, jelly shake, grapes and anjeer corn flakes, grilled cornflakes plocenta sticks, kaju kismis corn flakes. Alright there are many more. I don't intend to list all of them here.

Kellogg's has come up with really innovative recipes which even some one like me who can't cook can easily prepare without any hassle. The best part is that the food is nutritious. It can be eaten for the morning breakfast and can also fill your stomach when you get hungry at 4pm. Not just during the day, the recipes are so easy and quick to make that you can have them at 3 am in the morning.

The recipes I liked the most among all the dishes listed on Kellogg's website, Facebook page and YouTube videos are the Shakes. The milkshakes look so delicious that nobody can resist them. Milkshakes have always been my favourite. Most favourite of them is the banana milkshake. And the sweetest surprise by Kellogg's is that even banana milkshake can be made out of corn flakes. Now, what can be more nutritious than a banana milkshake with corn flakes.

I, being a health conscious person never finish a day with at least one dish with full of nutrition. Till now, I used to opt for fruits, salads, milk etc. Whenever I do not wish to eat fruits, I simply pick a boring fruit and make juice or milkshake out of it. This way I do not skip a day without nutritious food entering into my and family's health. Now I have another ingredient to make my day more nutritious, and that is cornflakes.

You can find the Facebook page of Kellogg's "anaaj ka nashta" here: https://www.facebook.com/anaajkanashta It provides quite lot of information about Kellogg's and its recipes. Also, find the YouTube page of Kellogg's here: https://www.youtube.com/user/kelloggindia You'll find the delicious recipes in the form of YouTube videos. One of the videos is given below:

Happiness - From Life

We often plan big and in this race of being an ace in the future, we forget the present. Our dreams, life opportunities, international travel plans, wishing to have luxurious life makes us miss the small daily happiness. Although a bright future is not something to be ignored, the happiness should neither be put on the backseat of this ride called Life.

Here's a story that I had heard long time back. A guy walking on the road sees another guy riding a bike and thinks that if he had a bike he didn't need to walk on the road. The man on the bike while watching a person in the car hopes that if he had a car he wouldn't need to ride the bike. Meanwhile the person walking on the road looks at a man on a wheelchair. He has no legs. Looking at him, all 3 men walking on road, riding bike and driving car realize how lucky they are to possess the basic luxury of having a safe and healthy life. Similarly, although we have the basic reasons for happiness, we often ignore them and keep mourning for more. Recently I saw an advertisement which showed how a bottle of Coca Cola brings happiness to life. 

Here are few happy moments in my life..

After the daily hectic life during the week we often wait for the weekend to arrive. The same applies to me. I try to make it the happiest days of the week. Happiness for me is watching movies with my wife. We both being movie fans, regularly hit the theatres for the latest movies. The experience gets even more happier if we get a discount on the tickets :D
Being a foodie I always crave for food. So I keep a track of newly launched restaurants in my nearby areas. And as soon as I know that there is a new one, I grab a friend or my husband and hop into it. My wife is not a foodie like me but she comes along whenever I need her. That brings me a lot of happiness. Also whether the restaurant is good or bad, the joy of having a new dish at a new place gives me the ultimate satisfaction. It gets an icing on the top if there's buffet as well. For all of us, buffets are always inviting. Well for me, its just more than that. The variety of food makes me crazy.  Welcome drink, starters, main course and the desserts every time gives me the best experience I need.

Spending time with my mom also gives me the ultimate happiness. As I stay away from my mother, I hardly get the chance to meet her. When you suddenly depart from a person you are used to spend a lot of time with, getting back to him/her gives you a lot of satisfaction. For me, its my mother. Staying at a distance, its difficult for us to meet regularly. So I reach out to her occasionally and spend some quality time with her.


These were some of my happiness moments. What are yours?

I Accept Wash Bucket Challenge

After a long busy day at work I reached home. Hoping for some peace and mind diversion from the hectic day, I headed towards the bedroom. From the drawing room, passing through the kitchen where wifey was cooking my favorite food - Rajma Masala, I landed in our dark struck bedroom. Switched on the lights and got my mind blown with the view in front of me. Even the horror movies didn't scare me as much as that view did. Being a follower of cleanliness, the last thing I would expect at my home is a pile of clothes. But there they were lying lazily, some on the floor and some peeping out of the laundry bag. My patience meter was falling and anger meter was going high. I rushed to the kitchen with all the power I had. But as I was heading the Rajma Masala did it's trick. With a loving voice I asked my better half, "so many clothes for the weekend? Weren't they washed during the week?" For which she replied "I hardly had the time after office hours. And I always wash clothes during the weekends. Didn't you know?" My eyeballs moved silently from left to right and I replied in a low pitch "No".

No, I never knew when the clothes are washed, when the floor is cleaned, when the dust is blown because I was never into these household chores. But today I raised my hand, kept it in front of a glowing led bulb and took an oath - that henceforth I will help my wife with domestic work. Washing clothes - to start with. I didn't wish to jump onto difficult work like cooking, so that we don't stay hungry for days. I instantly looked at our washing machine and challenged it "now onwards I'm the master and you are the slave". It stood there silently. So I assume it agreed to me.

Next day, as usual I got up on a Saturday morning to grab the newspaper headlines aiming to change the condition of my nation. the washing machine was staring at me. So instead of grabbing the newspaper I grabbed the laundry bag and opened the lid of my top load washing machine. But what next!!

The only time I used it was 3 years back. I am always excited to use new gadgets, new clothes, new energy drink, new restaurant and everything that's brought home for the first time. The washing expert was also like my new born love. I had read the whole manual, asked a thousand doubts to the person who had come home to explain its working. But today I felt like I am using a new machine minus the manual as I was in no mood to search for it. So my wife was the only answer to all my queries. From her, I quickly understood the method to operate it and washed the bucket full of clothes.

Taking up this job was not difficult for me but I always ignored it out of laziness and dependency. Today I know how easy life gets if the jobs are shared. Washing clothes was earlier a tedious task because of lack of smart electronics. But today its become easier, takes less efforts and is less time consuming. So there is no reason to deny from taking up the #WashBucketChallenge Choose a washing machine with good features, a good detergent powder and you're done. Aerial Matic has been our savior since years. I am prone to clothes without stains and Aerial Matic just helps us with that,  Here's me, Aerial Matic and my washing machine :)

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Look up for a positive life

Resting on our beach chairs, we #together looked at the clear sky. No traces of the clouds, the sun was shining mildly. In our minds we wished that the clear sky, turquoise water, smooth waves and pleasant climate of Mauritius could accompany us for life. Well somewhere in our thoughts we knew we were asking for something not possible to achieve at this stage of life. But one thing I was sure that will stay in my life forever, is my wife. With her, thousand such getaways and vacations were on the cards. The peace and enthusiasm I felt could never be achieved by me on my own. My mind was fresh and ready for any upcoming challenges. But it was not always this way.

Before this trip to Mauritius, I was totally a different person. I had almost given up on my abilities to tackle difficult situations. The work pressure had totally changed the way I used to look at life. Most importantly all the work pressure was simply not worth even my attention. Working late nights, being seated on the chair in front of the computer screen for hours, no time for relaxation, being tensed most of the time kept me away from family, friends and from myself too.

Photography was something which helped me release myself from any kind of pressure. But in this situation, even my favorite hobby couldn't help. Earlier I would go on streets of Mumbai, gear up myself to click the best picture and take the impressions of the scene into my camera. Even when I am resting on my bed, I would simply pick up my camera and take best possible shots randomly. This gave me peace and let me stay contented with my favorite pass time. But this time the work pressure and extra responsibilities had taken away my sweet time of photography too. The time left for myself would be just enough to catch up on some sleep. My camera which always stayed on my table smiling at me was now kept in a closet inside a box not even in my sight.

After all the efforts and giving my 100% into my job, I found that the reward I deserved was not even close to what I actually got. The negative remarks made me lose all hopes. Even after the work pressure decreased, it was difficult for me to take it off my mind completely. I started expressing my frustration on my loved ones.

My wife noticed my frustration and the cause of it. She secretly planned a leisure trip. The trip had to be special and not the usual one where we explored new places. This one had to rejuvenate my enthusiasm towards life and bring some peace to my mind.

The trip lighted up the optimistic side of me and motivated me to not lose hope at any stage of my life. It gave me the strength to keep investing full efforts into whatever I do. This was possible #together with my wife. Few days back I came across Housing.com which encourages you to be optimistic and look up to life positively. Do have a look at their website http://housing.com

Take A Bold Step & Start A New Life

Its a fact that taking up challenges brings the best out of you. The challenge just has to be the right one. But I never believed this fact, till I actually decided to take up one.

I have always lived with my parents. I have never lived alone or away from home even after I started earning. Reason being I thought that its not required for me to stay alone when I have a family who needs me. Many opportunities came but I had put down all of them when I got to know that I have stay away. But finally one day a similar opportunity came and I decided to accept it. It was not out of pressure or any other issue. I simply thought that this will increase my confidence to live by myself if I ever needed to.

I was asked to stay in the outskirts of Bangalore city. But I was also warned that the place is isolated from rest of the city. It had the least transport facility and least connectivity to the main city. I accepted the offer and packed my bags with all necessary items. Within 2 days after the decision was taken I was on my flight to the destination where I will be staying for the next few months.

The place was just as per the warnings and suggestions given to me by my colleagues and acquaintances staying in Bangalore. Being in a crowded place in a city like Mumbai, I have been used to people around me, a general store and restaurant after every few steps, crowded malls with people wandering around, vehicles with loud horns, traffic signals and so much more. But all this new place had was empty roads with few people and even fewer vehicles, 1 roadside eating place and 1 smokers shop which sold cigarettes, toffees and biscuits. I bet his maximum income came from his smoker customers.

I used to stay in a house which was pretty decent one. Way back at home, even a hot glass of water was given to me by one of my family members, whereas here I was responsible for all my work. As days passed I got used to the lifestyle there and actually started enjoying it. The peace and calmness could never be found in a city like Mumbai. I got to meet a lot of new and different kind of people.

This stay taught me to cope with difficult and unknown situations and accept challenges as they come. It taught me to stay independent and not rely on anyone for my daily basic needs. It gave me the strength to interact with different people and gain knowledge from them.

Housing is a service which gives a chance to #StartANewLife. Do have a look at it: http://housing.com

Hey Happy Baby!

"Youth smiles without any reason. It is one of its chiefest charms"
- Thomas Gray

What makes us Happy? There are lots of things, situation, and people who make us happy. If we ignore the materialistic world, it’s when our baby smile that make us happier than any other. We play with our baby and we forget about the stress in office.  A small cute smile will alter the environment of the home.

And when a baby cries we do so much of funny things to calm down and get a smile on his/her face. We play around it, we start making funny noise. Enact animals, dance like never before, and sing to get a smile on his /her face. These small efforts to get the smile back make us happy again.

I play around with my brother in laws daughter who is just two months old. Adults speak and communicate to others while we are in pain. But babies cannot speak and they express their feelings either by smile or by crying loud. Mother is the best person who comes to know why her child is crying. But sometimes it’s very difficult to know whether it’s crying due to hunger or some other issue.

My niece is very small and cute. And suddenly one day while playing with her, she started crying. I started to calm her down. I tried making faces, created different noise, moved my hand around and showed her soft toys but she did not stop crying. Then I called her mother and told she might be hungry. But she was not hungry. Did I do something wrong? Did I hurt her by mistake? Finally got to know that she has urinated and that made her cry. Hence it’s a signal for us to change the diaper. Most of the time we do not come to know the reason and we unknowingly make baby cry.

New researched products have now come into the market that gives a helping hand to the working parents. Pampers has launched baby dry pants. They claim that it can keep baby dry for 12 hours and this would help baby to smile always. And when a baby smiles it automatically brings a smile on our face. This would be very useful during night time, wherein baby will have a sound sleep and parents could sleep tense free. People can try this as a sample product for free and is available at Reward Me http://www.rewardme.in/tag/Pampers.

The Baby Dry Pants promises dryness from inside since its magic gel locks in moisture keeping baby dry and healthy from inside. This is really a boon to the parents

So lets go smiling with the baby.

I Look Up to - An Enthusiastic Life

There are many people and many things that we look up to. It brings positivity and optimism within us. Even in the most difficult times of our life, a ray of hope and positivity gives us the courage to face the situation. The problem which used to be like a burden on our mind, after being optimistic, it becomes as small as a matter which doesn't even bother us. Life gets so simple and worth living that we feel gratitude towards our source of optimism and we tend to return to it whenever we get stuck in frustrations or problematic situations.

One such ray of hope is Housing.com. as the name implies, it is a website you can look up to when you are in need of a house. We all know that buying a house has nowadays become just next to impossible with the rising prices. A common man with average income cannot afford to buy a house. Housing.com is a platform for the most common to the richest man. Any size, any location, any price, you'll find it here. From the most crowded cities to the least populated ones, housing.com is someone you can look up to. For more information about it you can click on the following link: https://housing.com/lookup.

My ray of hope which I look up to on daily basis is music. The soothing rhythm helps me forget all my worries and problems instantly as soon as I hit the play button of the music player. My mobile phone is loaded with collection of my favourite music. Most of them are from Bollywood movies and by my favourite singers. I hardly listen to the lyrics, all my attention stays on the music, rhythm and voice of the singer. It gives me the ultimate peace that I and my mind needs. Some of my favourite songs are from the movie Yaariyan - Is dardè dil ki sifaarish.., Bachna e haseeno - Khuda jaane... Apart from Hindi movie songs, Marathi songs as well fill up the joy within me; like from the movie Balak Palak - Harawali paakhare, Timepass- Mala ved lagali and many more.

It has happened many times that i get frustrated or irritated because of work load or clashes at home or just feel lonely. Also sometimes the routine day to day life gets so boring that we need a break from everything - May be a weekend trip or a weeklong vacation. But because of our commitments we often do not get the chance to go for such outings. Still I try my best to plan out at least a short trip so that I can forget all the pressure and give myself a soothing break. It could be a leisure holiday or a medium level trek or just exploring some new place.

So when I feel low or lose my enthusiastic mood, I look up to music and vacations. What do you look up to? Let me know in the comments below.

Ramayana - The Game of Life - Shattered Dreams Book Review

I received the book Ramayana - The Game of Life - Shattered Dreams written by Shubha Vilas from BlogAdda. It is the 2nd part of the series written by the writer. The 1st among the series is Rise of the Sun Prince which is a national bestseller. When I first saw the book, I wondered what's so different about the book. It must be the same Ramayana written ages ago except for changes in few words. After all, the base story cannot be changed. But when I started reading the book, within the first few pages I understood that although the story is the same, but the presentation done by writer is completely new. Nobody must have ever written mythological stories in this way.

It keeps you glued page after page. With the amazing writing style, the writer allows the readers to literally visualise the whole scenario they are reading. It fits in well for reader of all ages. The simplicity in language keeps you within the flow of the story, the suspense created throughout the book in every scenario makes it interesting and facts present in the book enlightens you with the truths of Ramayana and Hindu culture. It gives you the truth about origins of modern day facts in an interesting manner – like why is Dasagriva named Ravana, why is Ravana’s son named Indrajit, why does the peacock have a multitude of colours, why the food offered to crows reach the donor's ancestors, why chameleon has the ability to change colours and so on. You'll find answers to many more such ‘WHYs’. Since I have caught my senses and understood the customs that Hindus have to follow, I have always questioned their originality.

I must admit that although I am interested in mythology, this is the first time I have read a whole book on the subject. Usually I just opt to read some parts which interest me or watch it only if enacted in plays or television shows. In such shows, I get entertained with the visualisation and dramatic appearance of the characters, whereas, in books, I always noticed that just series of words and sentences describing the situation didn't bring about much interest in me.

It is not just about the story; the footnotes give an insight about the story being told. It speaks about the implications of the current scenarios. So it is not just the story, there are morals and human behaviour facts too. Human relationships and their nature are given utmost importance and explained how to cope with them. One of the footnotes I liked goes here..

Different words spoken by different people in different situations have different impacts.
When a surgeon says, "Sorry," it evokes fear.
When a pilot says, "Mayday," it creates panic.
When a policeman says, "Stop," it causes anxiety.
When an astrologer says, "But," it elicits concern.

Well all-in-all, a great book and definitely a must read.

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Apne Dum Par...

Like bringing up a child is a big task for parents, it is also important to make children realize the importance of doing their work themselves.

When I was in school, my mother used to take me to school and take me back home like any other parent. Later on as I grew up, she allowed me to go on my own while I used to see friends' parent still coming to school. During my admission to first year of college, I used to see parents roaming around with their children to look at the notice board, get application forms, stand in queue and get details from other students. My parents gave me the freedom to take my own decision and select the college of my choice. Of course they used to check the reliability and grade of the college through other sources. But I was wondering why other parents were always with their children during admission to first year which was a simple process. Later on during my admission to Engineering college where there is a big queue to get to best of the college considering our percentage in the HSC examination, my parents came since they were very eager to get me admitted to the best of the college. After confirming on the college, my parents told me to take the necessary steps and complete the formalities while I could still see some parents coming to their college after taking a leave from their job.

While I was wondering on such a different behavior from my parents, I slowly realized that my friends are not independent. They fear traveling by train. Need rickshaws for traveling to long places. They cannot take decisions on their own. And finally develop fear at work place that requires leadership and teamwork.

This got me into thinking how my parents intentionally put me to work in developing myself without any aid or support. Unknowingly it helped me to make myself self dependent when I grew and take my own decisions.

And recently I saw an advertisement from HDFC Life #MyFamilyMyPride ad film which is quite a fact of life.

Apno Ko Apne Dum Pe Jeena Sikhao is a new initiative by HDFC Life which teaches us about how we should be using this principle of life to make our children independent. They are one of the leading life insurance company in India. It offers various range of insurance solutions that meets different customer needs. Several products and services are available and can be purchased based on  ones need. Their website gives more details on the same. 

This advertisement by HDFC Life is something that we need to teach and learn our self. It has different options and services which can help the customer to take protection for their family through investment plans based on ones need to lead life Apne Dum Par.

Make the Axis Acquaintance - The BlogAdda event

I registered an event with BlogAdda for the 'Make an Axis Acquaintance' program. It was an attempt by Axis Bank to make us familiar with Axis Mobile Application. While my objective was just to get some insights in to mobile application from Axis bank, my experience in the event was completely unexpectedly awesome.

Before the event could start we had some sandwich and coffee. Later on, we joined the conference when all the participants came in. 

We were seated in Axis bank corporate high-tech conference room. Promod Mulani (Head of digital and mobile banking) gave us a live account demo using his iPhone. While I was excited about first tech event from Blogadda, the Axis team was equally excited to give us the presentation. The demo was not a powerpoint presentation but a live account transaction demo displayed on our personal screens. 

Security in-place
 
Demo started with security features and one minute mobile on boarding of the new user. Security is of utmost importance in today’s world and it has been well taken care by Axis Bank. This important aspect of the mobile app impressed me since it is tagged to ones registered number with Axis Bank.  While keeping security aspect in mind, the time taken for on boarding in mobile was quick. This really helps the customer since I personally had faced an issue an year back with mobile app and left it half way and uninstalled it.

Minimal clicks required

Usability or the user experience is the area where in lots of research and efforts have been put by Axis bank. One example is the customers are shown the account balance upfront on login. It has been taken care that the customer uses minimal clicks to do any transaction.

Schedule Later

I always forget to pay credit card bill so I usually pay when I receive the bill which defeats the purpose of keeping a credit card and getting a 50 days credit. Axis mobile App provides a pay later i.e. schedule later button in which I can schedule on the day I receive the statement. I even have the option to make part payment. This feature is something that is most thought off to get into customers mindset.

Money Transfer made easy

Adding beneficiary name from axis account is just like syncing your Facebook account to mobile contacts. It’s as simple as adding a contact number. If we want to transfer money to a person having axis bank account, we just have to add his mobile number and the app would retrieve all other information. And money can be transferred instantly after adding beneficiary name instantly using IMPS like in other bank accounts which takes 12 hrs for activation. This also brings in doubt on security issue but it has been well taken care off.

For transferring to other bank account we would require the account number of the beneficiary. Beneficiary account holder picture can be clicked and cropped and added instantly. This adds to the security when transferring to some other person  as well adds to the emotional value. From usability perspective adding a picture quickens our transfer process while transferring to the same account again. We have experienced this in Gmail where in it shows the picture of the person to whom we are transferring. Subconsciously our mind does not read the name but sees the pictures. A very well thought user experience at the right place.

Switch off your debit card instantly

You even have option of Switching off the debit card. This is a cool feature which I had never heard off. Usually there is process in other banks to deactivate the card temporarily. Usually we have to call the call center and go through some verification process to deactivate the card. But this App gives us the feature at our finger tips.

Reward points redemption

Redemption of reward points is now a child’s play in Axis mobile app. The royalty program gives points on various transactions. All the points collected can then be redeemed on application itself. The coupon is delivered instantly in the inbox without any delivery charges which other bank charges for delivering the coupons after 20 days.

Some more...

The mobile application also provides any loan details which we have with axis. So we do not have to worry to search any details. It’s all again in the application.

The Google map gives details on nearest hotels with discounts that axis bank offers. A add-on feature where in we can decide on the restaurants while on the go.

Apart from above there are lots more. I have mentioned few of the discussed features. It’s really a application that gets bank in our pocket.

The whole idea of the application is to give customer an enriching experience and not just a way to transact in the bank. It has eased the customer’s pain of going to the bank in a world where everyone has an excuse “time nahi hai”.

After a knowledge sharing and an interactive session on the Axis mobile app we went for a lunch. Lunch was refreshing and had some good time chatting with the other bloggers.

Axis Bank mobile application is a  feature rich mobile App for enriching customers future.

This post is about 'Make the Axis Acquaintance' meet conducted by Axis Bank in association with BlogAdda.com 

Being Befikar

There are many things we wish to do if the constraints and worries are removed. These constraints are mostly created because of lack of time, limited money, intruding society and many more. We all want to be carefree and do whatever we want in life. Yes, we want the freedom. But the basic necessities like the Roti, Kapda, Makaan and some luxuries don’t give the freedom.

I found this amazing video which teaches how you can easily plan and not let your freedom and wishes be buried due to lack of time and money: http://bit.ly/BefikarUmarBhar

Here are few things which I have always wished for if given the freedom:


Get my photography skills polished by an expert
Photography has always been my hobby; lately however because of lack of time and equipment I haven't been able to practice it. A good DSLR camera and an expert to coach would anyways require me to invest time and money which if given a chance, I would love to.

Travel all around the world
First place I would love to go is Mauritius. Although I have already visited the beautiful country, but before I start my world journey, I would like revisit the same place I have visited earlier. Next priority would for the 7 wonders starting with our very own Taj Mahal. Then follows the beaches of the world and exploring the fishes swimming in the water.

Own a mansion
Being a resident of Mumbai city, small flats, crunched houses are all I have seen. Although owning a flat is difficult nowadays, it is not completely impossible. But owning a huge mansion and staying in it is like a dream for me. Numerous rooms, huge garden, enormous parking space with a dozen cars, well-equipped gymnasium, indoor sports ground, well my list will never end. But I would love to have it all :D

Freedom to eat without the fear of ill health
Too much sweet leads to diabetes, too much oily food leads to high cholesterol, too much salt leads to high blood pressure. We all know that sickness and food are directly proportional. But if given the freedom to eat anything and how much ever we want without the fear of facing those big health problems and fear of spending big money to solve the problems, I would love to do so.

Become an actor in Marathi movies
The strong storyline and characters in Marathi movies have always enticed me and urged me to join the film industry. But not just any film industry, it has to be the Marathi one. I want to create a strong base for myself in Marathi movies like some of the great actors have – Swapnil Joshi, Subodh Bhave, Priya Bapat and other great actors. But the life responsibilities never permitted me. Right since I have been pursuing my education, the only motive was to earn whereas stepping into movies needed lot of patience before I even start earning.

These were some of my wishes which I would like to pursue if the constraint of time, money and responsibilities are removed.

Quikr NXT - A new trend among buyer and seller

The name Quikr implies to do something quickly. Buying or selling old items has now become easier through online medium.

Quikr has helped me sell my old gadgets while I upgrade to new ones. After posting free ads on Quikr, the calls that come from buyers are really a pain to receive during office hours. More than the calls are the variety of people who start negotiating and getting the price down to ground.

I was trying to sell my mobile phone Samsung S2 in excellent condition. A guy called me up and started negotiating to get the price down from Rs 12,000 to Rs 5,000. Although he was good to talk, he wanted to purchase S2 at unrealistic price. Finally I came down to Rs 10,000 as the final price. He was nowhere near it but still was trying to make it to Rs 8,000. When price was not reduced, he wanted some freebies along with the mobile. I told him I am selling a used mobile, and it already has all accessories. Although this call was a long one, I finally sold it to some other decent buyer who checked the condition of the phone and paid Rs 10,000.

While I was selling my HTC mobile, a guy called me up and started explaining how HTC mobile do not have market value. He gave me some good knowledge on why I should reduce my price from Rs 10,000 to Rs 5,000.  While I was explaining him that it is not the regular Rs 15,000 phone but worth Rs 25,000, he tried to discourage me by explaining the resale value of HTC. Finally I sold it for Rs 9,000 to some other guy.

Another major problem is request coming from buyers to share WhatsApp number so that I can send pictures of the product even though its uploaded on Quikr. But even after sending pictures there seems to be no response.

My phone book is simply filled with names like HTC-Kurla, HTC-Malad,  S2-Kandivali after different buyers call from various locations. Many times real buyers are missed since I forget to save their numbers during office hours.

Now that Quikr has come up with chat called Quikr NXT, it has reduced a lot of fancy customers and has made life easier for me to sell my used gadgets.

Quikr NXT came as a savior to me with:
  • My number safeguarded against bargaining and irritating buyers
  • I can share pictures through Quikr NXT to real buyers without sharing my WhatsApp number
  • Keep track of all the buyers

Recently I got a ping from buyer regarding the price and I replied back at my convenient time. The ping came to me as an alert in email and later on I had a chat with the customer while I was travelling.

Quikr NXT seems to cater to all problems faced by sellers and buyers. It would soon become next WhatsApp for buyers and sellers.

So Quikr NXT – No fikar. Chat Quikr!