Shouut

Good Morning Syndrome

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Tue, 19 Dec 2017 11:09:00 +0530

Good Morning everyone :)

If you are familiar with the pictures then you are probably hit by good morning syndrome.

People get up late and when they reach office after surviving the traffic, it's already afternoon. So probably they started posting 'Good Morning' messages. The other reason could be that they do not have enough jokes to forward (Pun intended).

These messages became mundane after a period of time and hence they started forwarding animated images and videos with 'Good morning messages'.

Every time 'Good Morning' messages are not bad as it helps to keep in touch with loved ones. It's helpful for those who talk less due to shy nature or lack of time.

At personal level, I have kept image download off in WhatsApp. This helps me to filter out images just by looking at the blur images. I even save on data by not downloading images or videos that come with tagline of 'Good Morning'. Now you might think in the world of Jio data who the hell is talking about saving data which has been free or dirt cheap since a year. To be kind enough I actually reduce the traffic on internet and thus serve the society :P

On technical front 'Good Morning' pictures or videos actually consume data which is a plus point for service providers as they earn money out of it. For some it's being in touch with loved ones. I would prefer simple 'Good Morning' text typed rather than pictures or videos which are directly deleted or ignored by 90% of the WhatsApp users including me.

Learning Alphabets with Baby

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Sat, 21 Oct 2017 01:02:00 +0530

Happy Deepavali 2017

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Fri, 20 Oct 2017 00:57:00 +0530

Every Deepavali, we have mixed reactions from people who support crackers and the others who try to save environment. Both give strong reasons to defend their point of view. There are lots of videos floating to support crackers and remove ban on them. Crackers are considered to be a part of our culture. Some say that crackers are now adding to the polluted city and harming us.

The discussion is actually endless like in topics called politics, we throw videos in Whatsapp on each other to support a party.

I see Deepavali as adding colors to life by building relationship, cleaning and decorating house, meeting people, throwing away hatred, giving baksheesh to someone to see their smile and having sweets with family.

Wishing everyone a very Happy & Safe Deepavali and a Prosperous New Year to a great life ahead.

Gateway of India

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Mon, 2 Oct 2017 00:22:00 +0530

Baby's Playground

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Thu, 21 Sep 2017 00:03:00 +0530

Life in a Metro 2

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Sun, 28 Aug 2016 23:13:00 +0530

It was Thane again for me. The target was to reach by 3 pm.

I left office from Goregoan East at 1 pm. I made it a point to take small buffer this time and not as big as I did last time although it helped me. I did not have the liberty to add those buffer time.

I stepped out of the office and was happy to see no rains. This time rains were in my favor.

I usually avoid rickshaws near my office as they refuse most of the time. But still I asked each one of them politely and each one of them refused politely. Finally I started searching for Ola and Uber cabs as usual. Does it really matters if rickshaws go on strike?

I had almost walked half a kilometer while I was booking a cab. Quickly booked Ola micro, thanked God as there was no surge price. With no time, I called the driver to ask his location and he told he is at Inorbit Mall i.e. Goregoan West which is very far. I asked him, will he manage to reach in 10 min for which he replied, "Saab, Bahut traffic hai". I understood and cancelled the ride. Ola app still has to fine tune its application.

I opened up Uber but there was no cab available except for SUV or Uber Black. I tried Ola mini this time and got one quickly again. He reached in 5 minutes and the trip started with traffic.

Traffic is something which people have to accept in Mumbai. This will add on when the Metro work start in Western Express Highway. I was already late and got restless to reach Borivali as I had to catch a bus there after. He dropped me at Magathane depot.

I had to catch the AC 700 bus to Thane but instead got a NON AC bus. I just stepped in the bus and asked for a ticket. He refused and told that this bus doesn't go the destination. I confirmed again but he was sure that it will not go to my location. I was confused as the same bus had dropped me last time.

I got down to return back to the same depot after walking for a Kilometer. I then started inquiring again with other conductors who told that the bus goes to the place but have to get down at a particular location and then take a rickshaw. The previous bus conductor was unaware of it. As per the rule the more late you get, the more problems come your way to make it really late.

I finally got a AC 700 bus after waiting for 10 min. I remember the quality of this bus but I did not have options as before. People have started ignoring this bus and the bus usually goes empty. This time I managed to take a picture of the interiors.

Although it was not raining water was dripping from the AC vent. To save the seat they had put plastic sheet. I shifted place twice to find a better place to sit in. The bus was vibrating even on roads without potholes. I feared that some of the parts might fall on me. I could see screws fallen off from the top.

I cannot avoid the bus but this time I estimated the time wrongly. I started my google map to to check how far I am from the destination. It showed 45 min away. I wanted to make the delay as small as possible.

I reached the destination and I could see rickshaws to Thane station and no body ready to take me to my location. I moved ahead to search for rickshaws. It started drizzling slightly. I prayed and got a rickshaw in time. I started my google map and saw the destination 5 minutes away.

Finally I reached at 3:30 pm.

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

Life in a Metro

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Tue, 23 Aug 2016 00:24:00 +0530

I had put alarm for 6:45 am and purposely missed it to sleep a bit more considering that I would reach on time to a place. Subconsciously my mind had recorded my wife's statement that Thane is just a station ahead.

I quickly tried to have breakfast so that I leave home by 8:00 am. But as usual I was delayed by 35 min. Still I had enough time in hand to reach Thane at 11:00 am.

While we experienced a sunny day yesterday, it rained heavily today as per the rule (Rains come when not expected). My shoe got wet while I reached bus stop. To my dismay there was no share auto or bus. Buses were either full or going to some other place. After waiting for around 20 min got rickshaw to station. And I suddenly remembered that my railway pass had expired 4 days back. I quickly started my OLA app to find no cab nearby.

I had to take a quarterly pass in order to reach Borivali. And in the train I suddenly felt heavy and was sweating all over. Had a quick water sip to relieve my thirst. I was praying to God to take train to platform no. 1 as it was near to the overbridge connecting to Borivali east.

But as per rule train stopped at platform no 8. I had to walk 1.5 km to reach platform no. 1.

Finally after reaching Borivali East, I checked time. It was 9:30am and I was supposed to reach Thane by 11:00am. Rains were intermittent. I tried to book OLA again but the estimated fare was 1000 bucks. I dropped the idea of travelling in a cab and joined the queue at bus stop. Then started enquiring for Thane bus. 700 AC bus came and one told that quality is very poor and recommended to catch some other bus but since I was running late I had no options.

Quality of the bus was indeed poor with broken parts inside (Do not go by picture above). The bus conductor shouted "the fares have been reduced, please come". Very few people stepped in. It was known fact that BEST AC bus is China made and warranty has expired. There is no maintenance done as well.

I was sitting near window and water started dripping inside. Some complained to conductor. But he did not have an answer.

I finally reached my destination just on time since I had calculated enough buffer time.

No wonder life in a Metro is interesting to read.

Nutritious and healthy life with #QuakerBowl

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Sun, 17 Apr 2016 23:39:00 +0530

"Time Nahi Hai" is the common excuse we get to hear now a days from all. Urban life has become so fast and hectic that there is no time to look into our health. While health is deteriorating with no or less exercise, people resort to wrong food during breakfast and snacks that adds to the problems. We hear about cholesterol, heart attack and high BP. All these come from wrong lifestyle and wrong diet.

#QuakerBowl event organized by Pepsi Co and IndiBlogger was a healthy event that gave all participants an insight into the health benefits of Oats in a fun way. Event started with Celebrity Chef and brand ambassador of Quaker Oats Vikas Khanna. There was hooting around while he entered the stage.

It was fun and knowledge sharing quiz session by Vikas Khanna. The right answer earned a bag of goodies. While he was sharing his experience a smile was there on everyone's face.

Quiz session followed by blind folded soup taste and the ingredients had to be written in a minutes time. It was a laughter riot on stage with the participants while Vikas was checking the ingredients written by male participants.

The final activity was to create a dish with Oats as the main ingredients. We were divided into teams. The nutritious and best looking dish wins. And guess who, our team won the prize. Yes, team 10 won the activity and we got loads of Oats and juice to relish at home.

It was a well spent nutritious morning. A morning to remember with Vikas Khanna. I missed taking a selfie for some or the other reason.

As I returned home with the goody bag, my wife was thrilled to find me with bag full of oats as she has it some times as breakfast. She quickly made some snacks and called it as Oats Green Poha. I had a spoonful and then it did not take time to finish it up.

Well technically this shouldn't be called a poha because it's made of oats. But we have to name it with something familiar to those home cooks who want to cook healthy. So here is an all healthy oats green poha made of plain oats, coriander leaves and more. I got some download from my better half to write here in the blog but all credit goes to her.

Oats Green Poha Ingredients

You can easily guess most of its ingredients. But the measurements are most important.

Serves 2-3 people

2 cup roasted Oats
1/2 cup moderately sliced onion
1 teaspoon ginger-garlic paste (adhrak lasun)
1/2 cup finely sliced potato
1/4 cup raw/roasted/boiled peanuts (seeng)
1/4 cup green peas (matar/vatana)
1/2 cup ground coriander leaves (dhaniya pattha)
4-5 curry leaves
2 small green chillies
1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon oil
1 teaspoon mustard seeds (rai)
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds (jeera)
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder (haldi)
Salt to taste

How to make Oats Green Poha?

Heat oil in a Kadai.
Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds one after the other.
Add onion and ginger-garlic paste.
Add potato, mix and add water enough to cook the potato slices.
When half cooked, add peanuts if you are using raw. If roasted or boiled it can be added later.
Add green peas and mix.
When the ingredients are cooked, add haldi powder, green chillies, curry leaves, salt. Add the peanuts now if roasted or boiled.
After few seconds of mixing, add coriander leaves paste and mix well.
Yet after another few seconds of mixing add roasted oats, lemon juice and water (if required)
Note: Add less water to make it less mushy.
Mix it well and your Oats Green Poha is ready to eat.

Do comment below if you get a chance to make it.

Shopping is now a child's play #FlipkartKids

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 01:18:00 +0530

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

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

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

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

The event directly started with lunch to energize us.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

iGenius Young Singing Star experience #YSS2

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 22:59:00 +0530

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#BNLF hangover

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Tue, 17 Nov 2015 00:51:00 +0530

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

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

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

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

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

Image source: IndiBlogger

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are some pictures of the event by Indiblogger.

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

Define Bloom

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Sun, 27 Sep 2015 21:29:00 +0530

Define: Bloom

The making of Shouut #CelebrateBlogging

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Sat, 12 Sep 2015 23:46:00 +0530

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And now its time to actually #CelebrateBlogging in WIN15.

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

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

Training in a Mumbai local train

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Fri, 11 Sep 2015 00:20:00 +0530

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What is BNLF?

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Mon, 24 Aug 2015 23:52:00 +0530

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Kumbh Mela Experience

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 23:53:00 +0530

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

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 19:19:00 +0530

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

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Mon, 8 Jun 2015 23:24:00 +0530

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

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Thu, 7 May 2015 14:41:00 +0530

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

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Tue, 24 Mar 2015 15:59:00 +0530

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

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

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

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

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

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

Happiness - From Life

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Sun, 22 Mar 2015 15:57:00 +0530

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

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

Here are few happy moments in my life..

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

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

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

I Accept Wash Bucket Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 16:48:00 +0530

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

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

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

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

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

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

Look up for a positive life

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Sun, 15 Mar 2015 20:57:00 +0530

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

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

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

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

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

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

Take A Bold Step & Start A New Life

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 16:49:00 +0530

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hey Happy Baby!

noreply@blogger.com (Prashant Karkera) — Fri, 6 Mar 2015 14:55:00 +0530

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So lets go smiling with the baby.