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: