dKing Unleashed

Book Review: Faster, Higher, Smarter - Utkarsh Rai

2016-09-20T09:59:00.000+05:30

I have not read many books in this genre so I was really not sure what to be expected here. While I have heard of several that address a similar point, Utkarsh Rai's book - Faster, Higher, Smarter is targeted mostly at middle managers and people who are going through a transitional phase in their career. This also happens to be one of the first books that I have come across to have been written by an Indian addressing the bull by its horns.

Split across 8 parts, the book aims to address different sets of values and some people management methods.

Managing Self
Managing your Manager
Managing your Team
Managing your Peers
Managing your Managers Boss
Managing Managers Peers
Managing Others
Managing the Acrobatics of the future.

The book often takes leaves out of the author's own life and how he managed the situation. There is also an honest attempt to capture the various problems some high fliers faced during their early career and how they managed to make the best use of the situation in their favor.

The usage of simple language and thought provoking quotes at the start of each chapter motivate you to aim higher and achieve better than the best. It gives you a connect with the situations that are described and makes you feel the pang of not having had such a book earlier in your career.

The book tends to slow down and lose pace several times in the course of reading and sounds monotonus. However, the non-fiction genre is never meant to be kept exciting and has a different audience to address who are used to such a tone.

The book is recommended read no matter what stage of your career you are in. It does a decent job of guiding you ahead and preparing you in terms of what to talk, how to talk and how to be ahead in your career.

This review is a part of Flipkart Sponsored Book review program. To pick up your copy of this book just click here

About the Book:

Title : Faster, Smarter, Higher : Managing Your Career
Author : Utkarsh Rai
Publisher : Rupa Publications India
Genre : Non Fiction / Management
ISBN : 9788129137500, 812913750X

Hangout with Honda - Honda Connect

2016-01-27T22:51:00.000+05:30

Honda invited us over a few days back to hangout with them and learn what they have been up to and what's new with them. I have been following up with the auto industry and have been kind of fascinated by the way the cars behave now. The cars that are manufactured now have ECUs which are computers in their own word. The data from these can be read from a port that has been in all cars that were manufactured since 1996 in the USA. This port is known as an OBD2 port (On Board Diagnostics Version 2 Port). Wikipedia and Geek My Ride say that there is a treasure trove of data that can be unlocked and read. At best, to put it in short, this can unlock a minimum of Gas Efficiency, Car Location from an on board GPS Module, decode engine light reasons (Defect Tracking Code) etc. Using this, Honda has come up with an app that provides this information and more.

Honda Connect available from Google Play Store and iTunes provides the below features:

Track Fuel Efficiency
Track the trip details
Identify the location of the parked car
Identify the Service History and provide Service Reminders
Provide a method to contact the dealer to schedule an appointment.
Provide a direct connection with the Honda Call Center.
Send your location details to your loved ones so that they can track you when you are travelling there by reducing the pain of knowing where you have reached.
Distress Identification and Help from Honda
And many more features

We tested the application in real time to know how it performed under various conditions. We were given a Honda car and the application installed in our phones monitoring the car that we were driving. We were simply amazed by the sheer accuracy and the speed at which the enter set up performed including the Distress Id and Help. We induced a defect into the running car. We were told that the same car is visible on a dashboard to the employees at the Honda Call Center. They have a turn around time of less than 5 mins in each case. We received a call in less than 2 mins and the exact problem was explained to us. We were also directed to the nearest dealer and told that they would be expecting us. All in all, it was a pleasant experience using the app.

The Curse of Surya by Dev Prasad – A Review

2015-08-16T14:13:00.001+05:30

A reporter, an Oxford professor of Archeology, an old man and the underworld – all in search of one elusive stone, the Shyamantaka. The story is woven around Sangeeta Rao, an Indian working for a Singapore based TV Channel and Allan Davies an Oxford based professor meeting by chance at the monument of Love, the Taj Mahal ending up being branded as terrorists after they are found seated next to a real terrorist who kills the main speaker at a conference held at Krishna Janmasthan, Mathura. Turn of events leads them on a wild goose chase across the country with the SP of the area, Nisha following them close on their tail. Events and cryptograms unfold one after the other leading to several connected more events. What happens to the trio, Sangeeta, Allan and Anton the old man who claims to be on a search for the Shyamantaka for the Govt. of India is the crux of the story. Read on to find more.
Tenzing, an undercover Tibet Liberation Front member, employed with a Singapore based TV Channel, is found murdered under mysterious circumstances. Sangeeta and Susan, both colleagues of Tenzing are off on a vacation the next morning from Singapore when an early morning call from her boss sends Sangeeta flying to India to cover an event of International importance involving the Prime Minister of India and President of Singapore meeting at the Taj Mahal in Agra. At the other end of the globe, a flirty Allan Davies is called by his boss and packed of for an assignment to India with a file that has all the details of the assignment as well as a new identity, Professor of Archeology at Oxford, reason being the Religious conference planned at Mathura where the location of Shyamantyaka is poised to be revealed.
Shyamantaka, a stone given by the Sun God to Satrajit in the Dwapar Yug has remained hidden for centuries at a stretch. None had been able to identify the location of the stone until date when a Hindu Swamy claims he has located it and plans to reveal the details to the world. The stone has the potential to tilt the powers of the world in favor of the possessor. Naturally, this evokes interest from media, local public and the international underworld alike. Everyone with just one wish. The need to own the stone.
At the conference where the Swamy was supposed to reveal the location, he is assassinated by a terrorist. Sangeeta and Allan who had no connection to him suddenly seem to be catapulted to the center of attention for only one fault. Being seated next to the terrorist and not raising an alarm about it. A wild goose chase takes them into the hidden chambers of the Krishna Janmasthan temple where they discover an underground library aging back to Kansa’s time. They also meet Anton over there who claims to be appointed by the GOI to locate the stone for them. They have the SP of the area, Nisha tailing them and catching up on them fast. Thinking on their feet, they locate a cryptograph which supposedly would lead them to Shyamantaka and stage a quick exit under the nose of Nisha. A disappointed and wounded (sic) Nisha decides to chase them to the end of the world to retrieve them and bring them to justice.
With a few quick contacts from Anton, the trio manage a cross country ride to Rajkot in a chartered plane where they are intercepted by Nisha’s contact. He tags the luggage with a GPS tracker so that Nisha can monitor their movements. In the meantime, Anton manages to divide Allan and Sangeeta. The trio discover a way to reach the stone in an old and dilapidated well in Dwarka. Anton tricks the couple and flees with the stone only to pay for it with his life. A disappointed and trapped under the well Sangeeta and Allan soon realize their folly that not only had they been tricked by Anton, but also that he never had the original stone. The two manage to get out of the well by sheer wit and presence of mind to meet a guide who takes them to the real Dwarkadhish Temple where they get another cryptogram to solve.
Solving one after another cryptograms and in the process falling in love, the couple explore the depths of the sea bringing alive the palace of Dwarka in its pristine glory and also to retell the story, history and importance of Shyamantaka. Does the couple succeed in retrieving the real stone? Do they manage to escape the clutches of Nisha and reach their countries safely? Does Nisha manage to nail down the real culprit? All this and more lies in wait for you to read and find out in the book, “The Curse of Surya” by Dev Prasad.
Dev Prasad is a senior IT Professional having a varied experience across several national and multinational organizations. He has written quite a few books and has won awards and recognition for many.

Big Basket Launches Coffee on Demand, Calls it fresho

2015-08-10T01:24:00.001+05:30

Big Basket recently launched a new brand of on demand coffee service called ‘fresho’. The service is aimed towards providing the best, most authentic and the freshest coffee that a customer can get. The market is crowded with a multitude of coffee brands but none of these are as fresh as being ground on the day the product is delivered. Being an ‘on-demand’ service, the coffee is ground only after the customer places the order. This not only ensures that the coffee is closer to being authentic in taste but also reinforces the age old practice of south India where traditionally the coffee was bought from stores that stocked freshly roasted beans would be ground only when the customer asked for it at the store.

To quote Big Basket, “Fresho Coffee is pure filter coffee ground to order. The coffee beans will be ground against order to maintain freshness. The aroma of freshly ground coffee is so invigorating that you always crave for more. The coffee is 100% pure coffee with no added chicory. It’s a blend of Arabica (35 years old) and Robusta (75-80 years old).The coffee comes from a high elevation bean which is bigger and has greater intrinsic value and is produced at the foothills of Baba Budangiri hills in Chikmaglur. We have launched 5 exciting flavors -
1-Dark Nectar - A delicately processed coffee with a naturally sweet flavor
2-Smooth Caramel - A unique coffee blend with a deep caramelized flavor
3-Exotica - A dark roasted, heavy bodied, great tasting coffee
4-Morning Dew - A beautiful blend with a touch of sweetness
5-Noir Crème - The rich, deep taste of mildly bitter coffee”

We were privy to the taste of the coffee when it was launched. A blind tasting was performed to find out who loved which coffee. As a coffee connoisseur, we did blind tasting of each coffee, both with and without sugar. Each coffee was as different as each of us bloggers. None of us seemed to like the same coffee. Truely, each coffee was as different and fresh as all of us. fresho is truely fresh and sticks to its commitment of delivering fresh and pure coffee with no added chicory which is there in most of the coffees available today commercially in varying quantities. The coffee itself is competitively priced and ranges from Rs. 46 - Rs.99 with the price averaging out at Rs. 75 per 100 gm.

The Indian Paratha Company – A Review

2015-07-12T18:40:00.001+05:30

Rocky and Mayur have ventured out to explore food from all parts of India and curate videos on Askme.com I'm contributing mypart by relishing my favorite dishes at The Indian Paratha Company and sharing my views with you all!

You can also upload your video review on AskMe (http://www.askme.com/1000-best-places-to-eat-in-india-by-rocky-mayur/) and stand a chance to meet Rocky and Mayur!

We were out on a family outing yesterday, out of the city. We went visiting places on the Bellary road that we hadn’t visited for almost 2 years now; I must say that things have changed. It was on our way away from the city when this nondescript place was spotted by my wife. At that point of time, it was fairly early in the afternoon so we decided that we would probably look back at visiting the place when we would be getting back home.
After a quick session of photographs and a stop by at the local vineyard where we picked up some fresh green grapes, we were back on our way to home when this place was again spotted by my wife. I decided to give in and took a turn back towards the place, The Indian Paratha Company, I am glad I listened to my wife and went here. This place had been mentioned by my brother as well a few months back but then at that time we couldn’t make it there. Situated amidst a natural setting of rocks and greenery, The Indian Paratha Company gives an impression of being more than just a roadside Dhaba. A delightfully well designed place that actually had no need of fans to be there since it was so breezy has 2 types of seating options; one on the outside in the open facing the road and the other inside in a covered place.
Since I was there with the kids, I had to see to it that the food there was not only fresh but not very spicy either. We were not let down. We ordered Aloo Cheese Paratha, Paneer Paratha and a Patiala Lassi to start with, just because I wanted to know what it would taste like. The girls loved the lassi so much that my wife and I got none of it. When it came to the parathas, they were very well cooked, neither over done nor any less. Also, the ingredients that were used appeared and tasted fresh. Given the taste, now that we were sure that the girls were full, we decided to further explore. We next tried the Achari Masti Paratha and one more lassi. This time, we at least got to drink half of it, the other half safely resting in both the girls’ tummies. Stuffed with mango pickle, paneer and aloo, the Achari Masti Paratha is sure to find lots of lovers. This had a totally homely feeling to it and tasted definitely out of the world kinds.
No more being able to stuff ourselves, given that we had finished the dinner at 6.30 pm in the evening, we decided to pack ourselves more parathas just in case. We packed the Paneer Tikka Parathizza (a pizza made of paratha, cheese and paneer tikka), an Aloo Cheese Paratha just to be safe and one more lassi just because we loved it so much!
I got talking with the owner of the joint, Mr. Nirmal Singh Sandhu about how he got around to getting this place up and more. You check it out and a short video review by my wife and daughter at the end of the clip below.

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Mistress of Honour – Bhaavna Arora – A Book Review

2015-06-30T23:11:00.001+05:30

A haughty child Rihana asking to buy her a brother out of desperation, an Indo British mother Pansy and an Army man for father, Major Potnis. The story revolves around the lives of three generations of Army WaGs. Spanning across two generations in detail, the story weaves intricately in and out of what the wives and girlfriends of Defence personnel live through - desperation, separation and anxiety. The story starts with Rihana d emanding her parents to buy her a brother from the market just because her friend told her so. She goes to the extent of threatening to run away from home if she did not get one. An evening of cat and mouse play followed by a night of passion, Pansy soon discovers that she is pregnant and can’t contain her happiness. Six months later, all this changes for the worse with Potnis being deputed to Sri Lanka and bad news coming by. The family faces their worst and emerges stronger.

Feeling the need to maintain a constant schooling for her daughter Rihana, Pansy soon enrolls her in one of the best schools in Pune leaving her to the love and care of her mother in law. Pansy later joins Potnis in his various transfers across India to live the life out of a suitcase. Time flies fast and Rihana is soon enrolled to Army Public School for her 10^th boards. A few days later during a visit to a famous graveyard, she meets a wayward boy who she earlier saw in a compromising position, Advik. Advik has parents who are in a troubled relationship and finds his solace in sex. Rihana and Advik share a common friend Kabir whose godfather was the best friend of Potnis, Shamsher. Kabir warns Advik to stay away from Rihana and not cause any ripples in the calm. Advik being a very close friend of Kabir promises him not to mess around with Rihana. Few months later, the boys who were in their 12^th attempt the NDA and clear it with flying colours.

Life changes for better or worse when one starts being a part of the NDA. Broken and bruised in the process of turning a boy to a man, Advik runs away from the academy one fine day unable to take it anymore. A pep talk by Rihana and his dad, Rajan, Advik is back at NDA the next day to continue his studies. Advik and Kabir are soon a part of the Air Force and continue with their training. Advik proposes Rihana and with lot of deliberation her father agrees. Read on the book to know what happens next.

Renault Lodgy – A Review

2015-06-28T18:37:00.001+05:30

We test drove the Renault Lodgy at Goa over the previous weekend courtesy BlogAdda and Renault India. A little about the car first.

The car is available in 6 colors, Royal Orchid, Absolute Steel, Planet Grey, Pearl White, Moonlight Silver, and Indigo Breeze.
The car is available in 2 engine variants, 5 Speed Gearbox mated with a 85 PS engine and 6 speed gearbox mated with a 110 PS engine.
The car is available as 7 and 8 seater versions with the base model being priced at INR 8,32,000 ex showroom Bangalore and the top end model being priced at INR 11,92,000 ex showroom Bangalore.
The car comes with ErgoDrive that ensures that the drive is ergonomic as well as powerful.

We test drove both the 110 PS as well as 85 PS versions and found that the car definitely has some meat to it.

The car comes with ample legroom and space for all kinds of knick knacks. The car also features a nifty feature where the standard boot space of 207 liters can be expanded to be up to 1861 liters by removing the 3rd Row completely as well a folding the second row flat against the front row seats. The other nifty set of features that the car comes with are:

Premium Leather/Fabric seat upholstery.
Cruise Control and Speed Limiter.
12 Volt Charging Socket for all the 3 rows.
Intuitive Audio and Phone Controls
8 way adjustable Driver seats with Armrest.
Medianav system with Rear view camera display
Dual AC with roof mounted vents for the 2nd and 3rd Rows.
Dual Front Airbags with ABS and EBD with Brake Assist.

The car performed extremely well in various conditions including Rain and Sand and managed to handle the corners very well at high speeds with reduced body roll.

All in all this offering from Renault is meant as a complete package for the upper middle class Urban user who would manage to sneak in a trip or two to the countryside every now and then.

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Image Courtesy Renault India.

I was a part of the #Livelodgycal experience with BlogAdda in association with Renault India.

Renault Lodgy – A Lodgycal Drive

2015-06-28T17:35:00.001+05:30

We were at The Leela Kempinsky over the last weekend to experience the newly launched Renault Lodgy, an MPV from their stables. We arrived at Goa from Bangalore in the relatively young airline, Air Asia’s flight on Friday afternoon. The weather was amazing right from Bangalore and the light rains kept it at an even more romantic level. When we landed at Goa, it was a different story altogether. The rains were incessantly on and there was a light nip in the air. This also meant that the visibility was also fairly reduced making it a risky drive. An hour and half later, we were at The Leela. Post a warm welcome and freshening up, we were back for a round of debriefing about the car itself and its features which fast ended with a scrumptious dinner and being back to bed. Day 1 was just about it!

Day 2 started fairly early at about 6AM. A quick look outside brought in further fears about the kind of drive that we were going to have. The rains hadn’t stopped over night and it continued to pour even at this early an hour. An hour later, we as a team discussed our strategy and who would drive. Our team, consisting of Aditi, Ragini, Prateek (yes, my brother) and me, had only two drivers, Aditi and me. Of the other two, Ragini was totally a non Driver and Prateek had very less experience leaving the baton on our able shoulders. We finally hit the road at about 9AM with the Sun still playing hide and seek while the rains played the havoc. We had a planned route of 71.6 KM to cover, 35.8 KM each side. Our initial plan had been that Aditi would drive on our way back and I would drive on our way up towards The Lalit Ashok at the other end of Goa. In order to make our drive fun, each team (a total of 10 teams participated, we being the 10th) was given a set of 10 tasks alike that had to be completed before we reached The Lalit Ashok. We had great fun accomplishing those tasks and even managed to film a video of threatening BlogAdda team into giving all of us a Renault Lodgy each. We started back from The Lalit Ashok to a relatively breezy Goa and nearly no rains thankfully. At this point of time, we could finally keep the windows open and take in some fresh breeze. We drove in a very casual and relaxed manner on the way back leading to us almost forgetting our way back. Thankfully, we had the BlogAdda team coming right behind us. Post the drive, we relaxed for a while before being back for an amazing experience of a Live Band and Dance. Neha managed to hijack the band and had the dance floor crooning to her voice. I must say, she is one hell of an amazingly talented lady! The night was really long on Day 2 and found it difficult to let go of us. We managed to finally catch up with some much needed rest only by around 3AM in the morning.

Day 3 started off really late and it was soon time to check out. Our flight to Bangalore got delayed by around 2 hours which meant we were almost the last ones to leave the hotel. A turbulent one hour long flight later we were finally back in Bangalore. The drive back home felt even longer because I missed the girls badly over the last 3 days!

I was a part of the #Livelodgycal experience with BlogAdda in association with Renault India.

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Ambi Pur Air Effects Room Freshener

2015-06-25T23:42:00.001+05:30

I recently received another parcel from Blogadda that had nothing to do with body odor but all kinds of odors in general. It was Ambi Pur Air Effects’ Blossom and Breeze fragrance of room freshener. While Ambi Pur is no new name in the crowded market of room fresheners or car deodorants, it is certainly a niche product.
I tried this on my daughter who had just come back from school. There is a corner of the house that we stay in which smells of humidity from the wall. Now every body is aware about how much a humid wall smells and causes the house to smell. I had sprayed some Ambi Pur blossom and breeze in the room just before she came back from school. Like me, she has a very sensitive nose and can identify offensive smells from a mile away. I covered her eyes and carried her into the humid room and asked her what she smelt. She just loved the fragrance and never once realized that she was in the room with the humid corner.
In another instance, I had a friend who had visited me when my wife was not at home. A little about my wife needs to be told here. While she is ok with my drinking or socializing, she really hates the smell of cigarettes in the house; it’s another thing to tell that I don’t smoke but several of my friends do. Now this friend happens to be a really close one and was visiting me after long. He tends to have the habit of lighting up a ciggie every few minutes and tends to feel very uneasy when he can’t get a smoke. I did not have the heart to stop him from smoking in the house since there was a lot to talk and catch up between us. He must have been at home for quite a few hours and during that duration he had smoked up at least half a packet. Now, we are all aware of how a house would smell when one would smoke just one cigeratte. Here, we had had at least five to six being smoked. My wife, as usual, gave me a call enquiring if the dear friend of mine had left and that she would be getting home in probably half an hour’s time. This time, I had to request him to stop from lighting up so that I continue to stay in the house. A few minutes before the dear wife of mine arrived, I sprayed Ambi Pur Blossom and Breeze in every corner of the house just to be doubly sure. Not only was the smell very well gotten rid of, I was not thrown out of the house either!
Now, both my wife and daughters have become so very fond of the fragrance that they now want\ to spray it all around the house and don't like it when it fades away. BTW, the fragrance lasts a good half an hour before eventually being taken over due to the constant air circulation. If it were to be left in a window less room, it would have definitely lasted a lot more longer. So that’s the Ambi Pur room freshener from the latest range of Ambi Pur products.

I am blogging for #SmellyToSmiley at BlogAdda in association with Ambi Pur.

Steelbird AIR- Helmet with Ventilation System

2015-06-25T19:39:00.000+05:30

A exotic range of AIR helmet with ventilation effect

Steelbird Helmets a leading name in helmet industry and already a big hit for its innovative designs, curves, and sturdiness. The very first time in India has come up has launched helmet with ventilation system under the brand “Steelbird Air”. Steelbird Air is perfect for summer and keep you head cool while you are on ride.

The Steelbird AIR designed by an expert team in Italy with ventilation system that is REALLY made for Indian summers. It has 3 Air-Ventilations for inflow of AIR and one Exhaust for hot AIR to flow out. There are well defined air channels provided in the EPS for inflow and out flow of the air.

The most unique feature of the Steelbird AIR is its revolutionary ventilation system. Cool AIR goes in through these three ducts and the EPS rigs ensure that the AIR does not get trapped, but circulates, cooling the head. Using the special exhaust vents at the back, the warm air is let out - leaving behind a fresh cool ambience for an ultra comfortable ride.

Steelbird AIR offers remarkable options in 14 brilliant colors and trendy designs. The Quick release Visor Mechanism can be dislodged easily by the rider. Giving riders a option to change the visor easily a darker visor for a bright daytime riding and transparent visor to enjoy the city at night. Both will be at the fingertips of the rider.

The watertight visor will keep you feeling dry and comfortable. The rubber lining secures the visor firmly, making it ideal for riding even in the rain. Normally Lower Ratchets in other helmets are permanently fixed and these need replacing, it’s inconvenient. Steelbird AIR provides Screw Free Ratchets which is user friendly and can be changed easily – extending the life of the helmet.

Mr. Shailendra Jain, Group Head – Sales & Marketing, Steelbird Hi-tech India Ltd. said, Priced at Rs. 1199/- onwards Steelbird AIR Helmet is Produced with :- High Impact ABS Material Shell, Multi Density EPS - High Density and low density for more Safety, European Standard Micro-Metric Buckle, Hygienic interior with Multipore Breathable Pedding, Neck Protector For Extra Comfort, Extra Comfort Pedding, Replaceable Interiors & with Polycarbonate Anti Scratch Coated Visor.

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Nivea Men – Body Deodorizer

2015-06-16T23:58:00.000+05:30

I'm using my investigative skills to uncover the mystery of #SniffSniff at BlogAdda. The fourth parcel arrived today at my house. After making me run around half the city like a detective, the mystery has finally revealed itself. It is a new deo. A scintillating new deodorizer from Nivea. This was launched by Arjun Rampal recently in Mumbai and has become an instant hit. Finally a respite to the odor that all us men sport no matter how we travel; bus, train car with the AC in full blast mode or a bike. The new deo comes in a new and advanced avatar that makes sure that the body odors that we suffer from are bid a good bye to.
While the debate of gas wala cans and no gas deodorants continues to rage like a forest fire which shows no signs of dying down; the new deo from Nivea comes in the gasless avatar making sure it lasts many sprays and does not harm the environment either. The deo features a non alcoholic base making it absolutely safe for the skin and does not cause irritations in case of sensitive skin. I tried it on myself and it sure seemed to have appealed to my audience, my daughters.
The deo comes in two cool masculine variants – Ice Cool and Energy. Use it to #BanBodyOdour right away.

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3 Mysterious parcels and Odors. What is the connection after all?

2015-06-14T22:38:00.000+05:30

I recently received 3 mysterious parcels that spoke of nothing but smells. Some good, some offensive; mostly offensive. the first was a card. It showcased a picture of a man on both the sides with a poem in it.

Clothes Clips are for the clothes line, not your nose, as for body odor, tweet/blog about how you control it using #SniffSniff in your prose!

If I were to talk about it, I have actually been through these problems myself. Back when I was in college I used to end up on the other side of the fence often just because of the body odor. It was so bad that when my washed clothes would be ironed, instead of the smell of the detergent or even the perfumes that I doused myself with, they would smell of my sweat. This was followed by several suggestions by several people. One asked me to apply kattha (One applied to Paan) in my underarms. Another asked me to soak Beetle Leaves over night in warm water and drink that water the first thing in the morning. The third was even more outrageous. It asked me to drink my own first, early morning urine. Finally a visit to an Ayruvedic Doctor helped me get relieved of the problem. One week of treatment and some churans later, I was cured, albeit temporarily. I was asked to repeat this treatment every year else I would be back to square one. It’s another story that I did not go back for it. Once was more than enough.

The second parcel was even more interesting. A pouch of coffee beans. Amazing smell if I must say. Nothing more with it. If I have to draw parallels, I have always smelt coffee beans when I have tried perfumes on testing papers. It has left me wondering what is really going on.

The third parcel was even more interesting. It was a mask. This was getting on my nerves now really, While on one side, the parcels stumped me, on the other, it made me feel like Detective Byomkesh Bakshy who had to investigate and uncover the secret behind these mysterious parcels at any cost. I'm using my investigative skills to uncover the mystery of #SniffSniff at BlogAdda. Let us now wait and watch what this ends up with. While I am sure it has to do something with the olfactory senses, I am really excited now.

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Top 5 famous Restaurants in Delhi

2015-06-05T12:00:00.000+05:30

New Delhi is the capital of India and it surely deserves to be occupied with best of the restaurants and hotels. Delhi is no short of most alluring and spectacular bistros where you can dine in with your family. For all those that are moving to Delhi for a vacation, here are some of the recommendations of best restaurants where you can find most scrumptious food with perfect ambience, take a look below:
1. Ricos: For anyone who possesses a special thing for great ambience and likes to relish Italian, American or Mexican cuisine, Ricos is just the right place for you to visit. You don’t have to worry for the affordability, given the modish ambience and multiple cuisine offerings as you will find Ricos quite reasonable and pocket friendly. This place is beautifully decked with photogenic décor, making you fall in love with its pleasurable environment. It is among the most occupied bistros in Delhi.
2. Café Delhi Heights: Café Delhi Heights is not exactly situated in Delhi; it is actually a part of Gurgaon. People who like to spend some time with their loved ones in peace and at the same time relishing their taste buds with most amazing food come here at this bistro. It is actually a luxury restaurant given the price of the food here. Here you can find most amazing Continental, American, Thai, Italian food etc. You can preserve this one for special occasions if you are a routine diner.
3. Khan Chacha: People from north love to relish Mughlai and ever so spicy North Indian food. Delhi is a city of people with mixed races and thus it is essential to house all kind of cuisines. You can visit Khan Chacha for most authentic and delightful Mughlai meals. It is an affordable place to visit where you can find good quality food for two in just Rs 650. It is situated in Khan Market at Delhi and serving luscious Mughlai taste to many individuals residing there.
4. Nazeer Foods: Nazeer Foods is another treat for lovers of Mughlai cuisine. This place is also renowned for serving best North Indian food in Delhi. You don’t have to carry huge amount along-with while planning a visit at Nazeer Foods. It is also named under the category of most affordable places to visit at Delhi for best food. Other than North Indian and Mughlai, you can also find best of Chinese food here at the bistro. It is the finest place for all the Punjabi families living in Delhi.
5. Zu Tisch: New Delhi is no short of most delectable cuisines and one of the biggest examples is Zu Tisch. This bistro is one of a kind where you can find rarely found German and European cuisine. There are not much restaurants in Delhi that serves German and European food so it makes this bistro different from others. It is situated at Greater Kailash and rated among the expensive bistros in Delhi.

The Taste of Yauatcha

2015-04-28T17:33:00.000+05:30

The awesome Yauatcha restaurant has come up with a new Toy Menu that is equally awesome with loads of new Cantonese Food

Specially designed for pronto lunches, preset for you to enhance the value of your time and for those who value the time with family and friends.

Price :VEGETARIAN SELECT ₹888 PLUS TAXES PER GUEST

MEAT SELECT ₹988 PLUS TAXES PER GUEST

Days: Monday – Friday

Time : 12 noon – 4:00 pm

Venue : Level 5, 1 MG Road Mall, MG Road, 1MG Road, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560008.

YAUATCHA

Yauatcha is a Michelin-starred dim sum teahouse from London and is present across India; Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi and Kolkata. Aimed to be an affordable luxury brand, Yauatcha is a Modern Cantonese restaurant and believes in upholding their standards and quality to ensure the guests have a wonderful experience.

California Pizza Kitchen – New Range of Pizzas @ 249

2015-04-15T12:23:00.000+05:30

CPK recently launched 7 new pizzas from the previous food festivals that they had held. These are the ones that the patrons at CPK have loved and liked so much. Comprising of 3 Veg and 4 Non Veg options, the pizzas are presently on offer at just Rs. 249 each until the end of May, 2015.
We tried the new Veg Pizzas (we are Vegetarians only) and here is our take.

Spicy Cilantro Pizza : Mouthwatering pizza topped with lots of Cilantro
Kasundi Paneer Pizza : A fast moving Thin Crust Pizza with lots of Paneer
Capriciossa : Thin Crust Pizza topped with lots of Paneer, Olives and Basil.

This was followed up with mouthwatering desserts. Sadly, by the time we got to it, I was so full that I barely managed to do it any justice. To top it, it really looked so beautiful that I had no heart to break it! :(

Tiramisu
Red Velvet Cake and more

Fresh Treats at California Pizza KitchenCalifornia Pizza Kitchen has won legions of food experts for its innovative, fresh, great tasting pizzas & unparalleled experience. CPK has always been serving innovative recipes brought to life with fresh, high quality ingredients and it now brings an exciting introductory offer presenting brand new pizzas just at Rs. 249++Give the mundane meals a break & indulge in all the new scrumptious 9" pizzas to spice up your weekdays. Choose from a variety of fresh & novel hearth-baked pizzas throughout theday Monday throughFriday at an amazingly economical price.
Enjoy the Apollo Pizza wrapped with the goodness of Marinara sauce, relish the sumptuousness of Kasundi Paneer Pizza with the Kasundi flavoured paneer or grilled garlic chicken, try the lip smacking Rustica, indulge in the zesty Deli Style Bistro, meat lovers can dig into Tijuana Chicken Pizza, experience the authentic flavours of Capriciossa and surrender your senses to the captivating Spicy Cilantro Pizza.Witness innovation meeting perfection as you try the fresh & novel additions to the list of pizzas. Rush to California Pizza Kitchen at Whitefield, Indiranagar, or Koramangala, 16^th March onward every week from Monday to Friday to avail this exclusiveoffer valid for a limited period only.

Asus Mobile's Valentine's Day offer.

2015-02-27T17:25:00.000+05:30

Mobile manufacturing company Asus have come up with a special valentines day offer. The offer is valid exclusively on Flipkart.

To buy the phone you can visit the Link.

To mark the occasion they have come up with an ad.

Speed up and Get Stylish with Philips!

2015-02-06T18:33:00.002+05:30

Speed up and Get Stylish with Philips!

o Vanity will finally pay off with #PhilipsSpeedStyle

o Flaunt your stylish best this Valentine's

o Winners get the chance to meet Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor

Philips India, the leading lifestyle brand for male and female grooming gadgets, brings to you this Valentine's Day an opportunity to show your styling prowess and get rewarded for it! Beginning 5^th February, participate in #PhilipsSpeedStyle and get to meet Arjun Kapoor and Alia Bhatt! Philips India invites you to style yourself, smartly and speedily, using the Philips styling products, post your picture and voila! – get a chance to meet your celebrity Valentines. With Philips styling gadgets for men and women flaunt new styles and deliver a new style statement, everyday!

Philips SpeedStyle stations will also be set at the following colleges-

· Bangalore

o Jain College – JP Nagar – 9^th February'15

o Jain College – KR Market – 10^th February'15

o Garden City College – 12^th February'15

To participate in #PhilipsSpeedStyle, visit the Philips Men (https://www.facebook.com/PhilipsMen.in) or Philips Beauty India (https://www.facebook.com/PhilipsBeautyIN)Facebook page and logon to the SpeedStyle tab click on the participate button and select a Philips Styling product for use. The SpeedStyle app will first click a pre-styling photo. The participant will then have to use a styler/trimmer/straightener and style themselves as fast as possible. Once done, the participants will be required to click a post styling picture and upload on the SpeedStyling tab. The interval between both these uploads will be automatically recorded and the participant's pre and post styling photos will be posted to their Facebook Timelinewith the #PhilipsSpeedStyle.

Ms. Anurita Chopra, Marketing Director – Personal Care, Philips Consumer Lifestyle India says, "Youngsters love latesttechnology; new styles and can't wait to try them out! Therefore we bring grooming gadgets suited for their lifestyle and personalities, delivering quick styling with effective results. Through #PhilipsSpeedStyle we are giving youngsters an opportunity to celebrate Valentine's season with all the things they love- styling, speed, social media, selfies and gadgets that make new looks possible! Philips is providing the freedom and gadgets to style; all you have to do is bring your speed and show the world how stylish you can be using the Philips SpeedStyle app!"

Check out these cool videos on YouTube that are bound to pique your interest!

One can also participate in #PhilipsSpeedStyle by visiting Philips SpeedStyle stations at

· Infinity Mall, Malad, Mumbai (7^th and 8^th Feb)

· Great India Place, Noida (14^th and 15^th Feb)

Philips SpeedStyle stations will also be set from 5^th to 20^th February at the following colleges-

· Delhi

o KMC – 9^th February'15

o SRCC – 10^th February'15

o Ramjas College – 11^th February'15

o Khalsa – 12^th February'15

o Hindu – 16^th February'15

· Mumbai

o MMK College – 9^th February'15

o Thadomal – 10^th February'15

o Atharva College – 16^th February'15

o Thakur College 18^th February'15

The most stylish and speedy of the lot will get to meet the young and vibrant brand ambassadors of Philips! Grand Prize winners i.e. one female and one male will meet Alia Bhatt and Arjun Kapoor respectively. Everyday lucky winners will be picked - one female and one male who will win Philips goodies and vouchers for fun dates. The participation for the campaign closes on 20^th February'15.

Philips recognises the changing needs of the modern, evolved consumer and understands the need and emphasis on carrying new looks and changing styles more often than ever. Philips steps in as your style partner and allows you to quickly and easily style yourself at home using products like Philips KeraShine Straightener, Philips KeraShineAirStraightener for women and ProSkin Advanced and Laser Guided trimmers for men.

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving people's lives through meaningful innovation in the areas of Healthcare, Consumer Lifestyle and Lighting. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips posted 2014 sales of EUR 21.4 billion and employs approximately 105,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. The company is a leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as male shaving and grooming and oral healthcare. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.

Bon 6 - The unboxing - #BonTheOriginal

2015-02-06T15:30:00.001+05:30

Over the past few days, I have been telling you that I have received a box that claims to be Bon 6. Given the instructions, I was supposed to unbox it today. I just did that. Check out for yourself what I found.

Let me repeat once again the Specs of Bon 6:

BON6 has super surround sound!!!
BON6 runs on Chocolaty 2.0 OS.
BON6 has Auto Charge.

Bon6, the latest iteration of the Britannia Bourbon is now crispier and crunchier resulting in a super surround sound when you take a bite of it. Its chocolaty heart, aka Chocolaty OS is so yummy that it transports you to a magical land so very unknown! A sparkling exterior with lots of sugar sprinkled on it, it is so very tasty that I could not compare it to anything eatable next! Chocolate is known to be not just a great "pick me up" but also a great aphrodisiac! So literally, auto charge! the next time you plan some fun, make sure you pick something right!!! ;)

Unknown parcel received at home; Claims to be Bon6

2015-02-04T12:07:00.003+05:30

I have been working out of Trivandrum for almost a month now. It was strange when today somebody called me up enquiring for the directions to my home. He said it was a parcel that had been sent for me! After receiving it, I received a call from my wife that it is a box and tends to appear like a phone. While I tend to review quite a few devices, I assumed it was just that! But then, I had not received any review requests in the past few weeks and even when any of them came, I politely turned them down. This was however a bolt from the blue.

Take a look at the packaging. It makes me wonder what it is and if I should open it at all.

Anyways, it is said that curiosity killed the wild cat! Similarly, my curiosity got better of me and I opened the parcel. It says it runs on Bon6.

Specs:

1. BON6 has super surround sound!!! Woah! I would love to watch movies with surround sound!

2. BON6 runs on Chocolaty 2.0 OS. I have never heard of it. I wonder which version of Android it runs!

3. BON6 has Auto Charge – Does this mean no more begging anybody for chargers???

All these features sound too good to be true, however, the instructions inside the parcel asked me not to open the box until two more days! I just cannot wait for the unboxing of the mystery box, but then, just 2 days to go! I have asked my wife to keep it away, hidden in safety!

Other than this, all that I got was this -> http://www.bontheoriginal.com

Press release: Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad to Commission India's First Hi-Speed Rural Broadband Network in Kerala

2015-01-10T15:17:00.001+05:30

Department of Telecommunications

Ministry of Communications & IT, Government of India

Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad to Commission India's First Hi-Speed Rural Broadband Network in Kerala

Bangaluru, 10th Jan 2015:

Hon'ble Minister for Communications & IT Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad will be commissioning India's First Hi-Speed Rural Broadband Network in Idukki District, Kerala under the Digital India Programme at a function to be held in Thiruvananthapuram at 12th January, 2015 at 5.30 p.m.

Hon'ble Chief Minister of Kerala Shri Oommen Chandy will be the Guest of Honour at the function which will be held in the august presence of Shri P.K. Kunhalikutty, Hon'ble Minister for Industries & IT, Govt. of Kerala, Shri M.K. Muneer, Hon'ble Minister for Panachayats & Social Welfare, Govt. of Kerala, Shri P.J. Joseph, Hon'ble Minister, Irrigation, Govt. of Kerala, Shri V.S. Achuthanandan, Hon'ble Leader of Opposition, Kerala, Shri V. Muraleedharan, State President BJP, Kerala and Shri Joice George, Hon'ble Member of Parliament, Idukki.

The event marks a key milestone in ushering in a new era of Digital India. NOFN is the largest rural connectivity project of its kind in the world. It seeks to link each of the 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats of India through Broadband optical fibre network. On its completion, NOFN is expected to facilitate Broadband connectivity to over 600 million rural citizens of the country.

NOFN, which is being funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), Department of Telecom, Ministry of Communications & IT, Govt. of India is envisaged as a non-discriminatory telecom infrastructure, which will bridge the gap in rural telecom access.

NOFN will enable each of the 2.5 Lakh GPs to have 100 Mbps of bandwidth, thereby facilitating the delivery of various e-Services and applications including e-health, e-education, e-governance and e-commerce in the future.

In the first phase NOFN shall be extended to cover 50,000 GPs, with the balance 2,00,000 GPs expected to be covered in a phased manner by 2016. The project is being implemented by three central PSUs (CPSUs) namely BSNL, PGCIL and Railtel in the phase first.

A key feature of the project is that the GPON equipment used in the project has been indigenously designed and developed by C-DOT and manufactured domestically. The project will be centrally managed by BBNL through a high capacity Network Management System being developed by C-DOT.

With the commissioning of Idukki, the district, which is relatively inaccessible and has a large tribal and rural population, will become the first district in the country to have all its GPs connected through NOFN. It is expected that the establishment of NOFN would open up new avenues for access service providers like mobile operators, cable TV Operators etc. to launch next generation services, and spur creation of local employment opportunities encompassing e-commerce, IT outsourcing etc. as well as services such as e-banking, e-health and e-education for inclusive growth. This will also enable delivery of various services such as local planning, management, monitoring and payments under Government schemes at panchayat level.

Digital India is a flagship programme of the Central Government which aims to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy. The provision of broadband connectivity to every citizen is one of the key objectives of Digital India, and the commissioning of the NOFN network at Idukki is expected to mark a significant step towards realization of this ambitious vision.

Amrut Distilleries' Whisky Tasting Event

2015-01-10T09:53:00.000+05:30

Amrut Distilleries recently held a blind whiskey tasting at The Glass House, Lavelle Road, Bangalore. Being a scotch aficionado, it was an opportunity I personally looked forward to since the stakes involved were high. The eventful afternoon was brought to life by Mr. Ashok Chokalingam introducing us to the art of blind tasting of whiskeys from around the world. He is a renowned whiskey expert who was also voted whiskey Ambassador for the year 2012, by the Icons of whiskey.
Ashok guided us trough the samples of whiskeys, each time explaining how to appreciate your whiskey and walking us trough different ways to ensure we understood it right. With ample helpful insights, he brought us to understand the smokiness of oak barrel, the sweetness of caramel, the punch of citrus or the spiciness of anise just by nosing the drink and then by letting our taste buds rejoice the glittering whiskey.
We started off with nosing the aromas in the first glass. It smelt a little strong. This was followed up by warming up the glass and the liquor inside with our body heat for a good few minutes before nosing it again. And boy, it was stronger and richer in citrus and wild berries. The taste was sweet, smooth, and almost too sweet. Rolling it around my mouth followed by swallowing it gently, it left a feeling of being smooth in the mouth with no burning in the throat and a short caramel finish.
The flavors and complexities of the whiskeys were interesting and overwhelming as we moved along the glasses. One smelt of bananas but turned out to taste like vanilla and spice. Another was sweet as liquorices with flavors of bourbon, but in reality made in India! We spoke of factors affecting color, taste, how soft water and peaty water make their differences with Ashok guiding and helping us with dollops of hints and directions; all the while trying to keep the event fun and informative but not overwhelming. While no water was allowed, soft drinks were a definite taboo. We consumed several drams in a little over an hour, and though I would have personally liked more time to understand the drinks, huge pangs of hunger struck.
We moved on to the rest of the glasses. We needed to score the drinks as well on those parameters. The exercise took longer than I anticipated. It was almost 4pm as we were totaling our guesses and scores to see how the whiskeys had fared. The crowd highest was Jim Beam, but got the lowest from me! There were three of Amrut whiskeys in the tasting, single malt, fusion blend and peated whiskey, with JW Black Label, Glen Morangie and Jim Beam being the other three whiskeys in the tasting.
In 2010, Jim Murray named the Amrut Fusion single malt whiskey as the third best in the world
The blind tasting ended with evaluation of the score cards here the most popular choice was Jim Beam followed by- The Amrut Fusion and the Amrut Peated Single Malt then on the list was Johnnie Walker Black Label and Glen Moraingie.
‘Amrut Distillery’ has won numerous awards worldwide and also won the third best whiskey in the world title. The fact that such fine whiskey is made in India makes me proud and the distinct taste has put it on my favorites list.

Photo Credits to All those who made it there and were nice enough to share them with us.

Chilis - An American Restaurant - Review

2015-01-09T09:29:00.000+05:30

Chilis, notice a missing 'L' and 'E'? If I was take it from the mobile perspective, LE stands for Low Energy and that is exactly what is missing! The staff was full of gusto and a highly motivating manager!This high energy definitely reflected on to the food which was typically American Styled. More about it below.

Designed uniquely, the place reeks of privacy and elan! You could go and plonk yourself on any table and peacefully have your meal without having to worry if somebody is overhearing what you talk! This definitely is a USP of the place I would say! While most places make judicious use of the place to ensure maximum people can be seated, Chilis ensures that while you are with them, you are very much cared for!

Starting up with something to drink from their elaborate choice of cocktails and mocktails, we were suggested to start out by trying their Mojitos and Margaritas! First up was the Watermelon Margarita followed by the Persidente Margarita which literally shook us up! This was a hand shaken Margarita made of Tequila, Cointreau and premium brandy serving two people. While it was really strong in terms of alcohol content, the way it blended with the taste of the food was mind boggling. This was followed up by Cosmopolitan. A blend of Citron vodka, Cointreau and cranberry juice, it definitely was a very strong drink leaving me totally in love with the taste of vodka blend in with cranberry juice.

When we drink, we eat. Starting with the appetizers, Chilis put forth to us a suggestion of Triple dipper with Paneer bites, Texas cheese poppers and Fried Paneer quesadilla bites. Since we were already hungry, we were game enough to try anything vegetarian. The Paneer bites were excellent and had a wonderful crunch to it. In fact, the entire flavor was intact on the inside of the Paneer and the other ingredients. It had retained a unique texture which was definitely yum! The Texas cheese poppers have always Chili’s USP so I would not go into its detail here. The fried Paneer quesadilla bites was deliciously made which resulted in it being gone in a jiffy. Make sure you do not miss it out for anything when you are there!

The Big mouth burger bites was the next to hit our table. They were good, but I found them too Indianised for the restaurant. I did not like them as much as I liked the others. The big mouth burger bites is served with onion rings, fries and a jalapeno ranch dressing which was really good. The onion rings and fries were crispy and the jalapeno ranch dressing was delicious.
We went on to order the BBQ grilled Paneer salad (actually known as BBQ chicken salad for the non veggies, also available with Spicy garlic and lime shrimp for the sea food lovers), because I wanted to taste their salads. The ingredients appeared interesting. What had appeared to be great was even better when devoured. It was a crispy mixture of grilled Paneer, cheddar cheese, pico fe gallo, corn relish, cilantro, crispy tortilla strips and a touch of BBQ sauce served with ranch dressing.
While we do personally make pesto pasta most of the time at home and know how it should taste; the Cilantro pesto pasta with veggies, which was a blend of fresh green, cilantro, nuts and olive oil enlivened in a cream based sprinkled with pico de gallo, little did we expect that it wouldn't taste like the traditional Pesto recipe.The cilantro flavour over powered everything and the dish fell flat. I am guessing it was a one off incident.
Marinara pasta with veggies was made with a handsome dollop of tangy tomato sauce with a tinge of garlic and basil. I have nothing against tomatoes but then after having eaten so much already, I decided to take a break and skip it. To top it, I found it a tad little too tangy for my taste anyways.

Chillis has a commendable fare of desserts and really deserve brownie points for that. The desserts were ordered twice and we literally jumped into them. The Chocolate Chip Pie paradise was the first to come in. It was nice and sweet and went really well with the Vanilla Ice cream topped over it.
Molten chocolate cake topped the chocolate chip paradise pie on my dessert list. We managed to report it missing and safey tucked inside the stomach in a matter of seconds. Although everyone had eaten enough, once this was on the table, each one of us were drooling. This is one dessert that you must have if you have a sweet tooth!

Pics Credit to Prateek

Press Release: A Clean sweep for Experiential Weddings by Studio Neelabh at EEMAX and GIWA

2014-10-30T23:32:00.001+05:30

Mumbai, October 2014 : Experiential Weddings by Studio Neelabh ,India's most sought after Luxury Wedding Designers & Planners known to create unique and niche signature events par excellence yet again sweeps the most prestigious EEMAX (Events and Entertainment Management Association- EEMA) and GIWA (Great Indian Wedding) awards for their incredible work most recently.EWD by Studio Neelabh is eponymous to creative excellence, serving the wedding industry for more than a decade now and winning many prestigious awards and accolades adding yet another feather to its cap.

EWD by Studio Neelabh is a Boutique Design and Plan House, specializing in the architecture of entertainment by completely transforming raw, ordinary spaces into dramatic environments, translating the clients’ visions into awe-inspiring reality. Their expertise is delivered through the perfect combination of design sense, with in depth research, architectural exactness, technological awareness and innovative, contemporary insight to transform raw spaces into spectacular ambiences and niche signature events.

‘The man who has no imagination has no wings’ such words inspire Mr. Neelabh Kapoor the creative mind behind Studio Neelabh. On this occasion Mr. Neelabh Kapoor humbly opines, “A decade old experience has been instrumental in conceptualizing, executing and producing some of the largest weddings in the recent years and such awards and accolades motivates us to keep the spirits high! I dedicate these awards to my entire team who works relentlessly in to transforming visions into awe-inspiring reality.”

Studio Neelabh always puts their best foot forward to provide a bespoke experience to their clients and the guests, with an efficient team of experts from India & overseas, to set free a seamless & flawless experience and these accolades are golden milestones in their endeavour.

Here are the detailed description on the awards and categories won by Studio Neelabh:

EEMAX Awards 2014 (EEMA Initiative): Category – Best Wedding - The Patel Family Wedding, Category – Best Space Design - World Theme Party at the Jaigarh Fort Jannat – E – Kashmir, Category – Best Destination Wedding - The Gupta Family Wedding

GIWA Awards 2014 (ICWF Initiative) - Category – Wedding of the Year - The Gupta Family Wedding, Category – Best Sangeet Event - The Gupta Family Wedding - The Patel Family Wedding, Category – Best Mehandi Event - The Gupta Family Wedding, Category – Best Wedding Reception - The Gupta Family Wedding - The Patel Family Wedding, Category – Best Destination Wedding of the Year - The Gupta Family Wedding, Category – Best Design & Space Décor -The Gupta Family Wedding - The Patel Family Wedding, Category – Best Use of Flowers - The Gupta Family Wedding

Buy or Sell anything Quikr-Quikr!

2014-10-30T23:25:00.001+05:30

Quikr has been running an online campaign that goes by the tag line, “Buyer aur seller ka perfect matchmaker, Quikr!” Something similar happened with me. I was looking for a bicycle for myself since several days now. I have put on to much of weight and the walk that I was going for was simply not enough. Also, travel to office was a very short distance relative to the other work places that I had worked at. Office commute was my second reason to look out for a bicycle. After performing enough research for nearly 2-3 weeks, I finally felt I was ready to take a plunge and get myself a bicycle. I had zeroed in on a Hero Sprint and a Btwin Rockrider 5.1. Purchasing the cycle meant going down to the stores and local shops in addition to checking out websites to find out the price of the cycle that I wanted and to try it out to see if my feet felt right when I sat on the cycle. New cycles or old, used cycle was a thing that I had to consider. While at one end, I was keen on having something that gave me an assured service guarantee as well as pocket friendly. I had found the Hero’s Sprint to have almost every feature that I desired. The new one was priced at Rs. 7.5K at every store I visited. BTwin’s Rockrider 5.1 was priced at Rs. 15K at Decathlon as well as every online store that sold Btwin cycles.

The logical next choice was to look for a second handed cycle. Budget being a major constraint, it was the apt choice. I looked out in a few of the free ad magazines available at a newspaper stall. It now appeared like people had stopped posting ads there. Next stop, online ad websites. I checked a few of them but finally settled on Quikr. I was a registered member since quite some time and had attempted to sell several items there earlier. I was never sure about how the person on the other side of the screen would be. Nonetheless, I settled in for a Rockrider worth 12.5K. The ad was posted sometime in August and was skeptical about the availability of the cycle. The main reason to choose this particular cycle was because the seller was located close by to my home.

The weekend when I was supposed to meet the seller, I happened to check the Quikr ads again. A new ad had appeared which spoke about a brand new Hero Sprint. The seller, presumably a lady, had not given her right phone number but had put up her mail address for communication. she must have been afraid about her privacy I assume. Her reason to sell, according to the ad was that it was bought as a gift but it wasn’t liked. I dropped her a response on Quikr, called the other seller and told him to hold on until a few days since I was out of town.

Replies to the responses were not immediately forthcoming. Understandable since people lead busy lives and may not check every mail or notification immediately. A few days later, a response sat in my mail box. The lady had bought the cycle for her husband as an anniversary gift. There was absolutely no problem with the cycle and it was less than a week old. She couldn’t share the photographs of the bicycle but invited us over to look at it and buy it if we liked. Another program was set for another weekend.

Packed with my wife and daughters, I set off to her house. This one brought back several memories since she stayed very very close to my Alma Mater, my school where I studied. She wasn’t exactly in one of those posh apartments but in the MIG colony flats. the cycle was safely tucked in inside her house I assumed since it was no where to be seen outside at least. I knocked at her door and a fairly old lady opened the door. She must have been in her late 50’s. A quick chat with her and her husband revealed that the cycle was bought by her for him because she thought that he would like being like the young guys around just like he was young at heart. It was meant to have been a surprise. However, things hadn’t quite gone as planned. Uncle found it really difficult to sit on the bicycle. It was high for him and he was really uncomfortable.

It was at such a time that they had seen the ad of Quikr on TV and decided that there was no point keeping the cycle at home if he could not ride it. The husband and wife decided to ask their son was in the US to post the ad for them. They were not very comfortable doing it themselves. They were not that very internet savvy and hardly understood the world of internet. Now I understood why the response to my queries had been delayed.

Anyways, I requested aunty to check the cycle out and found it to be exactly the same that I had wanted to buy if I ever bought a Hero Sprint. They had bought it for the same price that I had enquired, 7.5K. A little negotiation later we settled for Rs. 5.5K and the cycle was mine. After a cup of tea and about an hour chatting up with the uncle and aunty, we left the place, the cycle safely tucked into the car’s back side.

The cycle is now at my house. However, luck hasn’t been favorable. I fell ill with a bad case of viral and have not been able to take the cycle out for a spin ever since. Hopefully, this week, now that I am much better, I shall start building my endurance and then take it to work as well! Wish me luck guys, I need loads of it!

I found the Quikr ad here.

Thank you Blogadda for initiating me to Quikr I wouldn’t have found such a great deal otherwise.

A few pics of the bicycle which has become an integral toy to my daughters. I am only hoping that this would be the case until I manage to take it down on the road. BTW, I managed to buy quite a few accessories for the cycle at a great price as well. More about it sometime later!

My New-Old Hero Sprint

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Entangled Lives – Chapter 31 – #CelebrateBlogging

2014-10-10T11:27:00.000+05:30

Read the previous part here

Days and nights suddenly seemed to be passing by fast. Jenny’s trial was due in the court. Java was however, not convinced. Jenny had confessed but then how could that have been possible. Every circumstantial evidence, had pointed towards Cyrus. He was sure of having him arrested and having him tried. Things had turned topsy turvy and not gone as he had intended. Gnawing doubts troubled him. How Jenny? Why would Jenny kill Naina? She said that she intended to kill Tara but then mistook Naina as Tara. But the murder was by a left handed person. She claimed that she was ambidextrous. He had never seen any ambidextrous properties in her. How then?

It was at such a time that his school friend had invited him over to dinner. They were having a house warming and Java had not met them since a while now. He had been looking forward to letting his legs and hair a little loose and relax for a while now. He would leave a little early from work that night, pick up a nice gift, and go there. Question was, what to gift them? His friend had been a rich spoilt brat and had almost everything that he could buy under the sun. Java finally decided to ditch everything and pick up a bouquet on the way to the house.

Having solved such a complex case had come with its own set of perks. One such had been press coverage and related instant recognition. Although this was what he had always wanted, to be known as the Mighty Java, he had not expected it to happen so quickly and easily. Shekhar Dutta who had once called his force as a bunch of fat bellied bureaucrats had written an article that was all praises. He knew that it was all hollow underneath but nonetheless. The TV crew had covered him as the cigar smoking sleuth and magazine covers were full with his full size pictures. What now irritated him was the fact that he could no longer stay the anonymous guy he had so very enjoyed to be all these years.

He silently left work on his 1975 authentic Royal Enfield that he had managed to somehow wrestle out of the force. The soul stirring thump and speed were what had drawn him to it instantly. He somehow did not find the new models to appeal as much to him. The company had made too many changes from what it was when it was manufactured by the British owners in the Madras factory. He had heard that these were collectors’ items back in UK now. “Oh the fancy of the white skinned people,” he thought. Letting the thump take over his thoughts, this was probably the only time the devils in his head had been quiet since the past few days. Maybe they were enjoying the thump as well. He quickly reached his destination, “Forget-me-not Florists.” Strange name for a florist but then they were known to be one of the best around his area. He had never had a girlfriend or a wife to know what kind of flowers to buy. He spotted a lady shopping in there and decided to ask her for her help.

“Ma’am, I am supposed to be going to a house warming ceremony and I really don’t know what kind of flowers to buy. Would you mind if you helped me?”

Initially taken aback, the lady quickly regaining herself shrieked, “Sir, autograph please! I have been reading so much about you in the papers. You solved such a complex case so easily! I am a big fan of yours!” Java was still not used to such appreciation and people warming up to him suddenly. “It would take me some time to acquire a celebrity status like taste,” he thought.

There was another lady in the shop who offered to help Java with bouquet selection. She introduced herself as Rohini. After helping him decide on the flowers and the type of the bouquet, she offered him some more tips on how he could present it there. Java, thanking her profusely asked her to join him for a cup of coffee at the nearby coffee shop as a token of Thanks. Rohini, while hesitant earlier, agreed.

Walking up to the coffee shop, Rohini asked Java about the murder at the Duttas' residence. Everyone wanted Java to recount a firsthand account of what had transpired there and how he had solved the case. Java started his monologue narrative.

Rohini was not a fan and her reasons for talking to Java were different. She was actually Roohi’s counsellor at school. She wanted to know the specifics just because she had seen some changes in Roohi’s behavior over the past few weeks and she wanted to understand what she had been through.

After Java told Rohini about his ‘success story’, Rohini congratulated him on his success, satisfied the she more or less understood the situation and what Roohi had gone through. She noted that Roohi was the one who had discovered the dead body and hence there would be an impact on her psyche. She will need to take care of that during the counseling sessions.

“It must have been a moment of pride for you when Jenny confessed and your deductions were proved right”, Rohini made a closing remark to boost Java’s ego.

Although Java had not revealed the truth to anyone, there was a strange amiability in Rohini, which made him tell things to her.

“Actually Rohini, I haven’t told this to anyone but the case breakthrough came as a shock to me. I had my suspicion on Cyrus but Jenny’s confession surprised me. Since she confessed, I had to accept it and sort of close the case but there were a few loose ends which trouble me even now”, Java opened up very candidly to Rohini.

Java then discussed with Rohini, the details of the case mentioning how postmortem had indicated that the murder had been through the left hand but the person caught was a right handed one. How Jenny had claimed to be ambidextrous etc. Rohini asked him if he had verified her claim and he replied in the negative. He told her how he still could not believe that Jenny could have murdered Naina although there was this small circumstantial evidence that Ahuja did not see anyone stab Naina which could mean the killer was shorter than Naina … and Jenny was the only suspect shorter than Naina.

Somewhere in these discussions and sips of cold coffee, Java realized that he had probably revealed too much to a stranger. To change the topic, he asked;”So Ms. Rohini, how come you are interested in the details of this case so much?”

“Sir, actually I am Roohi’s counselor at school for quite some time. I wanted to hear about the case to assess what kind of impact it might have had on Roohi and what should I take care of in future sessions”, said Rohini with as much confidence she could muster.

Java was surprised and amused at the same time. He asked Roohi what was she counseling Roohi for and what he heard then shook him completely and the cold coffee was forgotten.

Rohini told Java about her sessions with Roohi with whom she had been doing counseling sessions for quite some time. Roohi was a very quiet child in school and some teachers felt she was depressed. This led to the counseling sessions where Roohi told Rohini about her life, her parents, their fights, their careers, their conflicts and how she missed a happy family.

Rohini then told Java about a recent incident where Roohi had picked up a fight with one of the senior girls at school. In a fit of rage, Roohi had flown to the girl like a tigress and tackled her towards the school boundary wall. Strangely, she referred to herself in third person and kept repeating, “Nobody ever talks like this about Roohi’s dad. No one comes between Roohi and her dad!”

Rohini then pointed out to Java that Roohi, was a coy, shy and a very reserved girl. But these random, very rare incidents, showed the aggressive side of Roohi’s personality. It was also interesting to note that these outbursts were often related to some discussion about her dad.

“This is when I began to suspect DID”, said Rohini, taking a sip from her coffee.

“DID? What’s this DID Rohini … care to explain?” asked Java.

Rohini explained to Java about Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) and how it occurred in people.

“Mr Jawalkar, children at young age needs a lot of attention and proper care. It is very common these days for children to posses multiple personality. There are various reasons for that, for example, if the parents are always fighting in the house, or if the child is neglected of basic love and care from either of the parents. In some cases we’ve seen that the child has got everything in abundance has developed DID, see there has to be a balance. And, in the cases where a child is raised by servants and abused during childhood, it’s most common.”

“Now, coming back to Roohi, she was very possessive about her Dad and due to the constant problems at her home between her mom and dad, DID had taken roots and Roohi was experiencing multiple personalities. Roohi was shy who would listen to the jabs of other students so Roohi would then turn to Ritu who was a tigress in herself, fierce, violent and forever angry. Roohi never knew Ritu, Ritu never knew Roohi. Once she was back from the attack of Ritu, Roohi had sobbed uncontrollably at being told that she had hurt the senior girl. Roohi could not or rather, would not swat a fly. Ritu wouldn’t hesitate.”

Java’s interest had been piqued. This was all very interesting and the Devils inside his head were both chattering so very loudly, that Java had to make a loud slurping sound of cold coffee to quite them. Java scratched his head and asked, “So you mean that the other personality they develop is actually the countermeasure of what they lack in their real life?”

Rohini smiled and said, “Yes, one can say that. Usually these children are deprived, mentally tortured, or suppressed of thing which comes out in other personality. Sometimes we’ve learnt that the other personalities could be far stronger and do stuff that the host, the original person, could not have done in normal life. These personalities start speaking completely different language that they have never learnt, or possess extreme body power, etc. And people usually in India commonly call that phenomena as ‘bhoot’, ‘possessed’ or ‘mata aa gayee’ too”

Java was shocked, “Woah woah woah ... wait a minute ... are you saying that a nine year old girl suffering from DID could potentially commit a murder? And she wouldn’t even know about it?”

Before even thinking about it, Rohini replied, “Yes. She can. And, she is a potential danger to people around her. However, Roohi hasn’t reached that stage yet. DID syndrome aggravates slowly over a period of time and the behavior becomes more and more aggressive, more and more violent. Although the incident at school indicates some violence, murder is something very serious and it takes time for an untreated patient to escalate to that level.

Java said, “Roohi looks so vulnerable and innocent, I can’t believe she is capable of all these.”

“Roohi is not, but Ritu is.” – clarified Rohini

Java said casually, “Same difference.”

Rohini almost screamed, “No!!! It’s not,” then immediately mellowed down and softly said, “When Ritu takes over, Roohi is completely unaware of the fact, she has no idea what’s going on. That’s why that headache occurs, and she can’t remember anything what happens when Ritu is taken over.”

Hear this, the devils inside Java’s head began rambling and the mental machinery inside his had begun to spin at full throttle. He began to question and re-consider all the evidence and clues that he had either assigned to Jenny or ignored. He was thinking aloud with Rohini who was also helping him structure his conclusions.

Java quickly asked, “Is Roohi left handed?”

“Roohi is right handed. However, Ritu can be left-handed,” clarified Rohini.

The piece of the puzzle fell into place. Java pondered about the recent conversation with Roohi. “Who? Tara?”

For one moment during the interrogation, Roohi actually had turned into Ritu and back. “How did he, the super cop Java fail to notice it?” he wondered.

He thought about the stab wound at lower back level instead of the upper back or shoulder which is common when men/women of full height are involved. He also considered again Ahuja’s statement that he did not see anyone stabbing Naina (Roohi being much shorter was completely hidden behind Naina and not visible). He thought about the direction of stab wound and Jenny’s statement of being ambivalent which he did not believe and now Rohini had mentioned that DID personalities can be ambivalent.

Java’s head was now spinning, and everything that wasn’t making sense was falling right in place. YES. It all makes sense now. Rohini helped Java conclude the motive too. Roohi had mentioned in her counseling sessions that dad was her favorite and she did not like Mom when she fought with him or even their maid, Naina when she would try to spend time talking to her dad. Ritu, Roohi’s alter-ego wanted Naina out of the way so that Shekhar would be able be spend more time with little Roohi/Ritu.

“How did it get so late so soon?” mumbled Rohini.

Java asked her to clarify and Rohini explained, “As I had mentioned earlier, DID syndrome aggravates slowly over a period of time and the behavior become more and more aggressive, more and more violent. Although the incident at school indicates some violence, murder is something very serious and I could not have imagined Roohi or let’s say Ritu take such an aggressive step so soon.”

Java’s thoughts were right now centered on two women – Jenny and Tara. He feared for the life of the people around Roohi and also about Jenny being in remand. He had to make this right. He had to correct it, right now. He had to first warn Mrs. Dutta and then talk to Jenny. Why had the stupid girl confessed to something that she had not done?”

He asked Rohini if she had ever spoken about this to the Duttas. She replied in positive. Rohini told him how the Tara Dutta never bought her counsel and had rather told her that their daughter was not mad. Rohini found it difficult to fathom the fact that even during this rising age of the internet, people thought having DID was being mad. DID was curable. It just needed the right kind of counselling. The Duttas were not willing to believe or buy. This could have been because Tara had once claimed to Rohini that neither she nor Shekhar had once seen Roohi be fierceful or hysterical. However, only Rohini realized that Roohi was totally changing into Ritu in certain counselling sessions. However, murderous instincts had never been visible in Roohi/Ritu. The maximum Roohi/Ritu ever did was to blabber about her name, write poems, draw sketches, and pick up silly fights. “How did it get so late so soon?”

Java was now really worried. He asked Rohini if she would like to join him to go meet the Duttas right then. Rohini asked, “Do you think it would help?”

“We need to try. We would also need to have the entire case relooked into. However bad or good I may be, I cannot let an innocent go down the gallows,” saying this Java got up from the table and settled the bill immediately at the counter. Completely engrossed in unraveling threads inside his head, Java gave the cashier, a five hundred rupee note and asked him to keep the change while he himself rushed out. Rohini ran behind him. “Hey, hang on. I will come with you. Maybe together we could achieve something,” she said.

Quickly jumping onto the bike and kicking it to life, Java gestured her to sit on the bike. His helmet, he had forgotten it at the table inside. Before the waiter could realize and get it for him, Java was speeding down the winding road towards Duttas' residence. In a matter of 15 minutes, Java had reached the locality. As the bike neared the society where the Dutta’s lived, Java saw the Dutta’s in their car coming out of the society gate. Wildly gesturing them to stop, Java did not realize that a truck was rounding the corner from the opposite direction. When he did realize, it was already too late.

Lying in a pool of blood outside the society road, Java and Rohini were slowly and quietly engulfed in pitch darkness. Just as Java shut his eyes for one last time, all he saw was Roohi wave a good bye to them.

Sleep my dear friend a deep sleep,

We have many secrets to keep.

My game shall be known by nobody.

My secrets are deep, dig them not; you will be left bloody!

I care for my Dad,

Is that really that bad?

I was made for him,

He, for my whim.

I am not done yet,

There shall be more to come, you bet!

**********

Epilogue:

Was it Roohi? Was it Ritu? Did Roohi really not know Ritu and did Ritu not know Roohi? This question remained unanswered. Was it more there into Roohi/Ritu than Rohini had known?

Jenny was sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of committing murder on the basis of the confession that she had signed.

A heartbroken Cyrus was back in Delhi studying law with the hope that he would someday help Jenny get out of there.

The Duttas' life had moved on as well. Roohi was much happier now, the main reason being Shekhar’s happiness. Tara and Shekhar fought less and were generally happy now. It is said that watching a horror movie or going through tragedy in one’s lives together makes them closer. That is what has happened between Tara and Shekhar. They almost never fought now. Although Roohi at times felt jealous when Tara spent time with Shekhar, it all subsided as Shekhar was giving her complete attention, and he even appreciated her writing skills after reading her essays in her English workbook.

Shekhar still does not know that Cyrus was his son; his own blood. So does Roohi.

***********The End***********

DID is not really a disease. It is a curable Psychological condition that needs immediate psychological help. We would like to once again emphasize that a person with DID/Multiple Personality Disorder/Split Personality is not mad. Treat him with same respect and love as you would have had he been fine. You can read more about DID here.

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