Saturday, June 6, 2015

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Friday, April 24, 2015

Ingredients for celebrations

kolte-patil-blogadda-celebratelife

#CelebrateLifeAtIvy by owning a dream home at Ivy estate, an 85 acre estate with 34 acres of greenery and open spaces. Join the 1600 happy families already living here. Check out this walkthrough video and decide for yourself.


A good life is one filled with celebrations. You cannot keep living without being thankful to all that you're getting in life. And once there is an opportunity for a celebration, you mustn't let it go. There are many things in life that make it worthy of celebrations and here I would like to list a few out. Just see if in your checklist, these things exist or not-

1. Good friends
A good life needs to have friends in plenty. Because, in words of the legendary Barney Stinson from the popular TV series, How I Met Your Mother, 'No moments in your life are awesome if you don't have your friends to share them with.' 

If you have good company, every moment can be a celebration. Every place is the right place and every way leads to the fun alley.

2. Money
Yes, money can't buy happiness but, it can buy everything else which comes pretty close to happiness. If you have enough money, you can celebrate without worries.

3. Good books.
Now those are the real treasure troves. They are your best companions and can enrich your life to no limits. It is indeed a cause for a happy life if you're surrounded by good, useful knowledge.

4. Happy family
One's family's happiness is an important life goal. If they are happy, a big part of your worries is taken away. 

5. A good home
A good house where you can relax and work at your own pace. A place which you can proudly call yours- is an indispensable ingredient to a happy life. 

6. A good ride
A ride of choice is nowadays a necessity. It reflects not only your personality but also shows the amount of elegance and power you wield. It can be a cruiser bike, a sports bike or a sedan, but it is needed.

7. A perfect partner
Life is incomplete without true love. Poems and ballads have been written on it, can't stress it enough,

8. Good food
All your money goes to waste if it can't extinguish the fire in your belly. Good food is like God talking to you. Food is as spiritual an experience as any other.

9. Adequate leisure time
The mind needs to indulge but, it also needs to unwind. A time to just lie with a book on a beach on a summer evening is also required from time to time.

10. Inner peace
All these things are just the fireworks needed for life's celebrations. The ignition or fire is provided only by your inner happiness. If one is content and happy from the inside, it shows.

Sharing the load

I am writing for the #ShareTheLoad activity at BlogAdda.com in association with Ariel.


In old family albums, the happiest pictures are those in which everyone is smiling, looking at the camera and there aren't any grim, worn out faces. A way to ensure perfect family albums is by sharing the load. In today's day and age,when women are taking equal responsibility in the economic affairs of the home, it is time for men to step up and take responsibility of the household chores too.


When I dream of a house, in the future, when I am married, I cannot fathom the idea of coming to home and seeing my wife immersed in the chores of the household. It wouldn't only fill me with guilt, but will also create a sense of alienation in the relationship. You cannot treat someone like a servant and then expect to be friends with them. I intend to be my wife's best friend and for that I need to share her load.


How beautiful would it be to learn to cook the breakfast, toss some salads, do the dishes and wash the clothes while the radio plays one's favourite song and the significant other looks at you with admiration.


I want her to say that she is lucky to have found me. It is the race to winning the 'Best Husband' award and one has to do whatever it takes to get there. Of course, there is more to it. When you're helping share the load, you, as a couple, work like a functioning unit. The environment at home is not that of complaining and whining but, of whistling and smiling. You find things getting done smoother than before. Also, the kids get to see the true sense of a marriage which is companionship.


Our patriarchal setup has created too many dads who just read their newspapers and order for their morning tea as the mother runs around the house. It is time we changed that. It is time we created dads who hugged the moms from behind as she chopped onions in the kitchen, dads who cooked the curry as the moms doled out those perfect rotis for lunch. We need more dads who did the dishes and moms who went grocery shopping. We need dads who changed nappies and moms who drove the car. There needs to be a change. This change will create better dads and moms and in turn, better homes. We need to share each other's load.
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Thursday, April 16, 2015

Will of Steel- Blogadda Post



I’m voting for Laxman Rao’s #WillOfSteel and blogging on BlogAdda to help him/her get felicitated and eventually enabled by JSW.


Here's an intro taken from the site-

LAXMAN RAO


NOMINATED BY VISHAL ZAGDE

Meet Laxman Rao. He sells tea on the roadside in Delhi. He is also an author, having penned 20 novels in Hindi so far. What’s more, Hindi is not even his mother tongue! Laxman originally hailed from Maharashtra and has settled down in Delhi, running a tea stall. His interest in writing manifested in the form of a book in the late 70s when he published his first novel Nayi Duniya Ki Nayi Kahani.


You can also vote for your favourite nominee by clicking here

Why Laxman Rao?

What I liked most about Laxman Rao's story was his love toward his craft. Writing is not the easiest of skills and it cannot be easy for someone to work as a tea-seller while knowing that he is also a master craftsman. I honour the art of writing because I have tried it and I know how difficult it is to put your head to a story and make it come true.

The fact that he is doing it in Hindi is even more heartening. In an era where Hindi novel readership is steadily falling and hope seems bleak, it is people like Laxman Rao who need to be encouraged so that our language has its rightful place in society.

If by voting here, I can bring about change in the life of one such man, I am very sure it is all worth it. Writing as a craft is also much close to my heart. This guy has written 20 novels and it is no mean feat. It is like trying continuously like an ant with a sugar cube, and rolling down the wall and yet, picking oneself up and preparing for the next novel. We might not find his books in a bookstore, we might not find him good enough, he in fact may just be a mediocre novelist but, the tenacity makes me want to salute this guy.

Also, the Indian pride also goes a few notches up when someone indulges selflessly in the art of storytelling because that's what we Indians do. We are the tellers of stories. Long, short, happy, sad, musing, amusing stories. We are filled up to the brim with stories and it is such a happy thought that one such guy is taking it seriously. He deserves much more respect that probably what he is getting. He should at least own a bookstore where they serve tea to the seeking mind. He should own a library. With years of wisdom in him, I wish he were just to sit somewhere comfy and write his next novel instead of selling tea on the streets. Not that selling beverages is beneath him or anything, it is just that he deserves the leisure a mind that is full of stories desires. There is much better use for those rags that he probably uses to clean tea stains. They can be sticky notes on his idea board and we might be looking at an opportunity of helping the creating of something unique, something rare- a timeless novel set in India.
 Instead of Ram, this time, I wish that may the force be with Laxman.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Quickr Nxt- Selling a car!

This is an entry for the Indi Happy Hours campaign for http://www.quikr.com/

Prompt- If you were to replace your existing car with something better, how would do so usingQuikr NXT

Selling and buying second hand stuff, especially vehicles is a big hassle. Thankfully, the second hand car market is now evolving. From the dubious agent who would sell you dingy matchbox of a car at an atrocious rate, we now have services like Quickr where you can have a record of the whole deal for your reference.

Online second hand marketplaces have changed the arena for good. Now, you do not need to worry about people backtracking on their promises or trying to dupe you. Of course, much like in the real market, you need to have a keen mind to strike a good deal. 

If I wanted to replace my existing car which is a Tata Nano with something better like, say, a WagonR, how would I go about it? 

Thanks to Quickr, I no longer need to go to the shady area of the city where lots of used cars are parked haphazardly and wait for the dealer to finish his extended lunch and pay heed to my demands. I would just get my car serviced and cleaned. A waxing session can be arranged to put on that extra sheen. After that, I would take photos of my car from different angles, inside out. 

Also, I will get all my papers like registration, insurance and PUC ready. I will also prepare their soft copies so that they can be mailed to the potential buyers. After that, I will calculate my car's MSP (Maximum Selling Price) using the online tool. Once I am ready, I will post an add. The amount quoted will have a margin for the potential buyer to bargain. The good ol' trick of quoting 99 thousand instead of 1 lakh shall also be put to use.

Once the ad is up and running, I will chat with potential buyers without compromising with my privacy using the QuickrNxt Chat feature. My number shall remain private and the car will be sold to the person who offers me the best deal.

The profit margin for me will be higher here because there will be no high brokerage to pay. 

Now coming to the buying part, I will search for my desired vehicle in the search box on the quickr site. Now I will look for the desirable traits in the search results like-

By individual Vs By dealer
First owner Vs Second/ Third

Once I meet the owner at a location convenient to both of us, I will look for completeness of all papers and also the condition of the car. I might also let a trusted mechanic of mine check the condition of the car. If the owner insists against any of the examination procedure, I can easily abort the deal. 

Without much hassle, I would finally upgrade my car which wouldn't be possible without Quickr!

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Book Review- Ramayana- Book 2- Shubha Vilas

ISBN-13: 978-81-8495-531-6
Title- Ramayana- The Game of Life- Shattered Dreams (Book 2)
Author- Shubha Vilas
Publisher- Jaico Books
Price- Rs 350
Genre- Religion and Philosophy/ Self Help
Pages- 387
eBook- Available

In the spiritual and motivational series by Shubha Vilas, this book is a sequel to Ramayana: The Game of Life- Rise of the Sun Prince.

The Author

The author Shubha Vilas is a spiritual author who has degrees in law and engineering. He holds motivational talks and attributes his wisdom to his grandmother whose eloquent narrations of the epic inspired him to write this series.

The Cover
The cover has a eerie tragic aura to it. The lamentations of Dasaratha, the evil which had surrounded him in the form of Kaikeyi's demands and the restlessness of Rama are all well-depicted. It paints a gloomy picture in stark contrast to its prequel. The red-brown tinge to the sky signify the impending doom and calming radiance in the backdrop serves as a cryptic message.

The Plot
The first book was based on the first chapter (Bal Kanda) of Ramayana- the epic. This book takes the story forward from the point when twelve joyful years have passed to Ram's marriage to Sita. The drama has just started unfolding now as the clouds of gloom are hovering over Ayodhya.

The book begins with Dasaratha's inner turmoils and as with the previous book, there are footnotes that contain author's insights on the situations in the story. These serve as lessons for the reader who is also a spiritual seeker.

The book talks about ideals to be followed in real life. Lessons are explained through the relationships between Ram and Lakshman, Ram and Sita, Ram and Bharat and Lakshman and Urmila.

At its core, Shattered Dreams is essentially a book about human relationships and idealism. One might think that the book would be unnecessarily preachy and boring but the thing is, Shubha Vilas has incorporated delightful chunks of information in it to keep it palatable for the wandering mind.

There are boxes which contain various interesting facts along with the author's analyses. These boxes are a joy in themselves. One such box is at page 155 where Rama's composed behaviour is contrasted against Lakshman's volatility. It gives a lot of insight into what goes in the making of a hero Lakshman is called Shesha because he is always incomplete and is not anything if left alone. He is just a method by which God has tried to depict and define greatness. So, just by standing in front of Lakshman's volatile behaviour, Ram showed the world why poise and dignity are important.

The Quality
The grammatical errors are few and far apart. The font is easy on the eye and the pages are nice and crisp. Jaico has rendered the book utterly delightful and completely fitting for gifting etc.

The Audience
Who should read this book? Well, it is a book meant for all ages but most importantly, it is for people who have a philosophical bent of mind. The parts where Rama and Sita are walking in the forest with Lakshman by their side are distinctly realistic portrayals of the characters. People with a deep sense of understanding of human emotions will rejoice in these small instances where the trio learn valuable life lessons from nature itself.

All in all, a delightful read for everyone!

Thursday, February 5, 2015

Promotional Post- Fashion Dresses Online





There comes many occasions when we need to wear formal dresses and to choose formal dresses for that special evening party or other events,we always need a site where we can get formal dresses at cheap prices and dresses that looks stunning on us.

 Promtimes.co.uk is one such site which makes us work to shop formal dresses so simple and easy.They have good collection of School formal dresses too and the fabric used in this dresses are mostly lace which makes them even more alluring.

This store offers great shopping experience with the largest selection of stunning formal dresses,flattering plus size gowns, and other evening wears under one roof.

These dresses are sophisticated,unique,and definitely more universally flattering (who doesn't love a dress that makes us look slim).I think these dresses would really shine at starlit evening function or chilly winter affair.These are slinky,sexy and fun.I am sure your dress will sparkle almost as much as you do on your special day.
These beautiful dresses are available at really great discounted price.You can wear them for prom party,formal evening,military ball.These are perfect to wear in any season.They have got beading and sequin work.There are so many colors available in these dresses and you can choose your favourite color and get these gorgeous dresses at your doorstep.

They design not only dresses but also design dreams and wonderful memories with it.

This site also offers stunning formal party dresses touched by vintage inspiration.They use the best quality of fabrics to make the beautiful dresses for our special occasions.

Their collections are always carpet ready with the perfect balance of glamour,elegance and drama.

So what are you waiting for,just sign up at their site and enjoy these advantages of shopping online!

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Sound of love

I am participating in the #SoundOfLove activity atBlogAdda in association with Bluestone

Here's the video-


Prompt- Leave behind the age old romantic notions. Flaunt your wild persona in a blog post and write about your craziest expressions of love.

blogpostimagebluestone

I guess love has always been being portrayed with the help of the same ingredients- guitar, chocolates, horse-driven carriages, heart-shaped balloons, candies and what-not! My idea for love and its expression is a bit different. I see giant hoardings with the L-word written along with flying hearts and cupid and I can only cringe. 

I think love is much more humbler than these expressions. Love does make you want to scream from the rooftops but not literally. It makes you tell people that you've found someone and you're happy. It happens within your everyday routine. You become a nicer person. You greet people with a smile, you feel nicer from the inside. 

So for me, a crazy expression of love would be a celebration of all those fine changes in my personality. It will be about that one person so, of course, it will revolve around her. But there will be no horse-driven carriages or moonlit dinners. Instead, it would just be me, trying to be my best so that she has an idea what effect she has caused. 

I would have tickets to her favourite holiday destination delivered to her as a wake up surprise in the morning. And then the rest of the day would be just me leaving notes for her. She'd find me waiting whenever she turns around. It will be a perfect day where she knows that someone is watching her, protecting her, loving her.

I would not overdo the mush. We will talk like friends. We will pull each others' leg and annoy each other. Love is not a one-sided surrender. It is a mingling of souls. So, for me, a wild expression would involve spending a day with my loved one. Cosy mornings, lazy afternoons, shiny evenings and a promise to keep it that way forever in the night before sleeping. I think that's how it is done.

For me, that promise is the biggest expression of love.

Happy Hours Post- Get Quickr Nxt



Prompt-

Get Quikr NXT!

Explore quikr.com and blog about 3 reasons why you would prefer chat over a phone call. 
With Quikr Nxt, buyers and sellers can immediately connect with each other through chat across Quikr's mobile app, mobile site and even its desktop site. This feature will transform India's online classifieds market as it enables users to communicate with each other at their convenience and request more details about the product or service, without requiring a single phone call.



So, Quickr (click here) has come out with an app that lets you chat with prospective buyers without having to divulge your phone number. Watch the TVC (top) for more. It is a decent innovation for the buy-sell online market in India because it helps one do away with the hassle of annoying phone calls. 

I remember when one of my friends was moving out from the city and he had put his stuff on sale online, he used to get inundated with spammers and trolls the whole day. He had put his laptop on sale and a caller had asked if he could just buy the skin of the laptop. There were people who had called to ask if he needed a job in the new city. It was a nightmare.

This app and website overhaul by Quickr is going to be a game-changer. Here are my Top 3 reasons why I would prefer chat over phone-

1. Buying your own sweet time
With online selling and buying, there is always an element of luck involved. If someone says the right things, pushes the right buttons, the seller is likely to cave and settle for a less profitable deal. Most of the online sellers are in a hurry. 

On phone calls, deals are finalized more hurriedly and without thinking much. The buyer, if street-smart, can dupe the seller with his communication skills and bargaining power. On chat however, you can take your own time to formulate a firm and rigid reply. While typing your reply, you have better control and view of your thoughts. This way, the deal is finalized more nicely with equal leverage for both the parties.

2. A solid proof of the deal
Phone conversations often go unrecorded and there is chance of misinformation of lack of communication between the two parties. In case of chats, screenshots of old chat conversations or archives can help clarify things related to the deal. This saves both the parties from the mental agony of ambiguous deals.

People who are afraid that the seller might not deliver on his promise or that there is no proof of a certain condition being carried out by the buyer can rest easy through this mode.

3. Clear terms
Also, in spoken words, there is always the chance of omission or misinformation. When someone writes the data down in the chat, you can use the information to research on the net, ask your friends and get the best deal possible. Most phone conversations, if not written down immediately, are easily forgotten. Clarity of terms and easy correspondence are possible only through written messages.

Also, it is not that you cannot talk on phone. Once you find the right buyer, you can easily switch to phone calls and speed up the process. So, this method ensure that you get the best of both worlds.

So, what are you waiting for? Go Quickr Nxt!
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