Meri Mummy :)

She is a housewife
she is not associated with any NGO
and yet helping others is her motto
Hitler in my life she is
doing everything perfect tops her to do list
deep inside I know, for me how much she has sacrificed
It's our secret I never say this to her .... sshhh
That she is my life.

My mummy is a homemaker, you dare enter our home with any bad intention and you will have to face her.
My dad and my brother calls her Phulan Devi whereas I call her Hitler for all her principles and all her rules.
One man army she is, she manages home on her own, she is not associated with any NGO but she has her own way of contributing to welfare of society. Every year she arranges scholarship for girls from underprivileged families, those are willing to work hard and give their lives a new direction. She helps approximately 2 girls every year and that is a lot for one lady to do.

At times I feel my mother is just perfect, and I am a not so perfect daughter for that perfect lady. Apart from managing home and her social welfare activities,4 years back when my father got really sick though his disease was not life threatening, thank god for that, but he was in bed for more than 2 months my mom even managed his business and that to very well.Even after having both of her hands full with so much, she always has time to keep an eye on me. Although I always fight with her for this, I mean I am all grown up, she can be at ease now, but no she has to be the Hitler of the house..... But I know one thing...She is that strong hand in my life that I know will pull me out of any situation in my life, and this superman strong hand will never get old, never get weak. No entrepreneur no millionaire I dream of becoming my mother someday, doing every job light, simple and perfect.

On her birthday this year I am planning a surprise gift for her; a Mia jewellery, that I think would define who she is, exactly the way she is 'beautiful, strong and perfect'. A gift that says As beautiful as your work. In her own words, this should be perfect gift for her.

Memories

Right from when we are children, we start associating with fragrance.....  wo mummy ki khooshboo ...... purane ghar wali khushboo... 

Even before I open my eyes in bed I can recognise my mom from the beautiful fragrance of mogra flowers in her pony and my dad from his old navy aftershave.
I have a very medical condition (according to my parents) that I can not wake up on my own, not even with alarm, my parents have to wake me up, and their smell is the first smells I breathe in every morning. :)
I start feeling restless if I have to go away for even few days. Even when I can video call them there is something missing ...... and that is their smell.



Our purana ghar is some 30 kms from city and has gardens in three directions from that small house, we have flowers , vegetables and different kinds of fruits growing in those gardens. I have not been to our purana ghar for 8 years now, one thing that I remember very prominently of that house is the variety of fragrances that embraces you at different hour of the day, in different seasons.
In summers fragrance of mango and chillis, in rainy season it was green vegetables, and the best season to be there is winters; season of flowers <3 .... roses, mogra, raat rani, and one more white flower with thick leaves I can't remember its name at the moment were my ba's ( my great grandfather) favourite ones.
This summer I went to phal baag ( that is fruit garden of our city ) and the mixed fruit smell there reminded me so much of our purana ghar.

And then the smell of my beloved baba ( my grand father ), he never used any deo or perfume, all he used other than soap was neem leaves in his bathing water. I have never slept with my parents right from my childhood ( I mean from as long as I remember), I have always slept between my dadi and baba till the time I got my own room and after that whenever I was scared at night of anything. I still remember his smell, just by that smell I use to forget any bothering thought and I miss that smell every time I want to hug his and complaint about my parents.... I use to go to my baba with my parent's complaint for all others I go to my parents.

 













With photographs we generally associate a particular memory but with smells we associate our loved ones or a place, we have hundreds of memories with. Just by a particular smell a complete film of nostalgic memories starts rolling in our mind.

PS: The post is an entry for a contest by AmbiPurIndia

A Great Drive - entry for Michelin Pilot Experience by Salomi Gupta

My last trip to Pune was a year ago...
Today weather in my hometown, that is in Indore is beautiful and it made me miss Pune and my friends even more.

Going back in memories I remember every detail of a similar day in Pune, don’t worry I am not going to bore you with with every detail of that trip, will tell you just the few necessary one.

We were in my friends flat watching movie, weather had turned out to be really romantic from last few days ..  yes ‘romantic’ is the perfect word to describe it , absolutely no sun yet it was not dark, not hot not cold weather, drizzling all day long, days like this, I hated being single :\

4 friends, 1 car, all girls, an urge to go out and it turned out to be such adventure …...

we loaded car with chips and cold drink we stocked for our pajama party and we set off first to khadakwasla dam and then to Lonavala.

One thing you should know 'Lonavala is the ultimate hangout in rainy season for Pune and Mumbai people'. We just wanted to have maggi and corn at Lion’s point, and this was the ultimate motivation which got us through that trip.

Beautiful lion's point in normal days without fog..

As soon as we left Pune around 5 kilo meters after toll naka we had 2 flat tyres simultaneously.... all girls in the car 1 flat tyre we would have tried to deal with but 2!!!...... after brainstorming on what to do. We finally stopped a car for help. Soon we realized that there were all guys stinking of beer in that car….. we were tongue tight no idea how to react.

Finally one of us said ‘we thought its our friend's car, sorry’. Thank god second car we stopped had few college students of our age , among them were 2 girls, we finally relaxed as they agreed to help us with our 2 flat tyres. We finally reached Lonavala, Lion’s point, it was amazing as always you can not see beyond few feets because of fog and hot maggi and corn at that beautiful place was worth all the troubles worth it.

Thank god nothing went wrong at least till we entered Pune. As soon as we entered Pune again something happened to our car and it stopped. All transportation strike it was that day ...which means no bus, no taxi to drop us home. Thank god we were in Pune we called up few friends and they came for help.

Road welcoming you to Lonavala.

That's it, That trip was the most adventurous trip we ever had. Most amazing as well.

That was the best trip of my life <3.

A chance to win a trip to Michelin Pilot Experience at BlogAdda.com

meaningful life ...

One of the amazing videos on the idea caravan is the presentation be Mr.Arunachalam Maraganantham, a school dropout and his story of how he turned his normal life into a meaningful life.

Few things that I loved about Mr. Arunachalam... His sense of humor, way of putting things and his immense love for his wife.

In India, no matter how modern we might become few things are still considered as taboo...... talking about sex..... female and male body parts ....... and the one that every girl has to face every month... her menstrual cycle a.k.a periods.

Let us imagine a case where a college girl just came out of her college, entered local bus, calls her friend in a bus itself. Due to network problem she has to say few things loud every now and then when her friend was not able to her her...... This seems to be a usual scenario isn't it ....... now image the girl is asking her friend if her period is over...... imagine if she says this sentence loud 'Is your period over ????'  since you and I know what exactly she was talking about we won't react in an absurd manner but people in that bus would definitely start staring her as if she has just said there is a bomb on this bus.

OK, try this yourself, if you are a girl, when you are with your friends out in a public place in between of your normal conversation just randomly say the word period loud enough for other people to hear you....... and you will know what I am talking about.... 
In our outrageously conservative society, outrageous because we adapt all the outrageous ways to stick to our conservative society norms.. in this society females lack the basic education of their body ...... they do not understand the importance of hygiene in a female's life ... how dangerous infections can be but no they don't want to use sanitary napkins they will use rag cloth, plant leaves, husk, saw dust and even ashes. 

I know this problem every well as few of my second cousins live in a remote places in Rajasthan, every time they go to any city they buy packets of sanitary pads in bulk as they can not dare to go to any local shop and ask for sanitary pads in their village and when they run out of sanitary pads they use rag cloths and wait for next trip to a near city. Though they are aware of the hygiene issues and can afford sanitary pads but then again comes the society norms to push them back to use cloth instead.

Mr.Arunachalam identified this problem for the first time some time after he got married, he got to know the problem of affordability for hygienic life for his rural women and decided to help them. He faced opposition from his own wife and sisters first then his mother and society. His wife even produced a divorce before him but this did not stopped him.

He tested sanitary pads on his own and became the first man to wear a sanitary pad, thus after some courses of trial and error he came up with a suitable design which was low cost thus affordable for rural women.

His story is truly inspiring. How he turn lives to millions, he created direct employment for 7000 poor women and shifted 1.5 million women from unhygienic way to hygienic sanitary pads and called it silent " second white revolution ".

With his witty style he discusses the need for a meaningful life in a black and white world, colourful world being the metro cities.
He says for a business all you need is a problem, don't chase money just solve that problem because solution to that problem is what you can call a business.

To see the whole video click here or watch here itself video is available below.

PS: This post is an entry for contest by Franklin Templeton India

Break all barriers ... use Internet to your best

Usman Riaz, a young Pakistani boy making his mark in this world with his amazing musical techniques.
Coming from background inclined towards art, it was no surprise he too was seen keen in music. Usman started his classical piano classes at the age of 6, started learning guitar at the age of 16 ....... and 4 years later at the age of 20, he composed his own song "Firefly".

Everything till now was nothing unusual ...... what made Usman Riaz different from other musicians was his way of learning .
At the age of 16 he wanted to start learning other instruments as well, that was when he faced the problem of teachers, since he could not found a teacher that could teacher other than eastern classical or western classical music. He explored a new way of learning. He started learning guitar from youtube videos. Having the knowledge of musical notes from his prior learning of piano, he would try to guess the notes in videos he watched on youtube, at times he would pause the video and see the finger positioning on the guitar ....... and this is how he learning guitar. And then he started exploiting youtube to the fullest, now he can play all the string instruments, he can do both hand tapping, he has directed a musical short story, he taught himself painting and many more things...

The story of Usman Riaz is not less than a moral story.
Not every problem has to be about people living below poverty line, today largest portion of population may it be any country in this whole wide world belongs to middle economic class or are living in under developed areas and yes, they too have problems in their lives.
The biggest problem that the children or youth faces in these situation is how to get a proper coaching of what so ever they want to pursue in their life.
But they do not realize that the biggest advantages they have that our ancestors did not had is internet.
whatever you need to know or need guidance in, in whatever form you need it, you get it all on internet .... all we lack in is the vision of internet as our ultimate source of information.

You want to know or learn something just go through the internet ...... You might not get into harwards but you will get videos of all Harward professors on internet.
Not every student can get into IITs and IIMs but if you want to learn what they learn all you need to do is browse it you will get their notes on college's website ..... yes they don't mind sharing it with you. Students need to be enthusiast to make that effort and collect whatever all those videos and notes available and do some self study.

All the students living in hostels it is futile to join cooking classes but a video of boiling eggs or making simple meals really would help ...... well this one comes from a personal experience 

You want to learn musical instruments like Usman ...... do what he did, no need to put thousands of rupees in tuitions just browse teaching videos and learn it yourself.
Today internet has nearly demolished that factor of miles from people's life. You can attend meetings, talk and see you loved ones siting half way across the world similarly you can also learn from any person receding anywhere in this world.....
If you can not afford a particular professional course, use the services of e-learning, websites providing e-learning services provides you with complete study material, you can clear your doubts with their experts and a bare minimum charge.

So the moral of the story is:- don't let anything get in the way of what you want to learn, just exploit internet ....break all barriers ...... use internet to your best .

PS : This post is a contest entry to indiblogger's contest by Franklin Templeton Investments

At Franklin Templetom Investments it is believed that powerful ideas of today are the true investments for a better tomorrow. I was really impressed by the video of Usman Riaz here have a look, for link click here or go through the video

When the going gets though, She chickens out .........

The line goes perfectly for me I guess, I can count those few things I have actually completed.....

Whenever I take up a job to do or even think about it.....

Initially it is exciting but after some time it is not so exciting and with time it becomes rather repelling .....

Today something horrible happened which made me really upset ..... I started my blog for the pure love of writing, sometimes my grammar is not correct ...... my vocabulary is horrible as it is ...... but still i love writing.

One of my friends has been trying to convince me to start freelancing ..... well my first thought about it was .... why not ..... not that I am in urgent need of money but who minds more shopping ;)

So I changed my linkedIn status to freelance writer and filled few forms ...... lucky or not.. I got a call today on sunday !!!!!! the thought of it threw the whole idea to phase 2 .... not so exciting now are we ???

But the worst is still to come the guy asks me to work for him for free for 2 months!!!!!!

Can you believe it ...... I know I love writing but still.... it was not about money, the guy talked as if I am some filthy slave and I am lucky he called me from his busy schedule specially on sunday ....

For a moment I thought That's it ...... no more writing I can't choose writing over my self respect ..... I was so hurt that I was on the edge of deleting my blog, luckily I din't.

I know I don't have many followers, I don't get a hundred votes on indiblogger I hardly manage to collect a few ....... I don't know if anyone out there is even reading .... or am I sending my posts to void ????

Then after a few moments of silence and finishing 2 bornville dark chocolates ( big ones ) I thought F**K him and his offer ...... he came in the middle of my sunday to make a difference ..... I am not going to stop writing just because some jerk called and said all those things to me ...... in fact I am going to write at least 3 post every week.

Once I get in the flow of writing at least three post every week, I will take that one task that I really need to do and that is to loose weight .....

And all this because I have a mother who keeps nagging about how I leave things in middle if I face a single hurdle ........ today I am taking a resolution, I am not going to wait for New Year for it .........  I won't chicken out, when the going gets though atleast not this time :)

So here is my first post for this week :)

Take Care of your Eyes

Who does not want to have beautiful eyes...... though you can not change the color and shape of your eyes,

but you can enhance their beauty be taking good care of your eyes.

good care gives your eyes life ... makes they look bright and attractive .

Tips for Beautiful Eyes

• Eat beta-carotene rich vegetables and fruits –carrots, spinach, papaya, mangoes.

• Take at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep to avoid puffiness and dark circles.

•  Drink plenty of water.

• Get an anti-glare screen fixed on the monitor.

• Blink your eyes in between and do not stare at the computer continuously.

• Always remove your eye makeup before going to sleep.

• Always keep your eyes moistened to avoid infection from contact lenses.

• Splash cool water twice a day on the eyes to clean and refresh them.

• Always use a pair of sunglasses with protection against UV-A and B rays to protect your eyes.

• Go for eye check up once a year.

Home remedies for beautiful eyes

• Grate or crush a cucumber and take out the juice from the pulp. Add a few drops of rose water to this juice and use this to get rid of dark circles. Apply it around the eyes and wash it after 30 minutes.

• To get rid of the dark circles under the eye, mix five drops each of almond and coconut oils and massage the eye area with this mixture. Grate half cucumber and apply as an eye pad. Leave it on for 15 minutes and then wash off.

• To treat dark circles around the eyes, you can also massage a little coconut oil around the eyes.

• Another treatment to treat dark eyes is to gently dab cotton soaked in warm tea without milk around eyes.

• Keep a cotton wad, dipped in chilled cucumber and potato juice, on your eyes for 15 minutes to ward off tiredness and puffiness. To strengthen and elongate the eyelashes, apply castor oil every night.

• Grate or crush a cucumber and take out the juice from the pulp. Add a few drops of rose water to this juice and use this to get rid of dark circles. Apply it around the eyes and wash it after 30 minutes.

• To get rid of the dark circles under the eye, mix five drops each of almond and coconut oils and massage the eye area with this mixture. Grate half cucumber and apply as an eye pad. Leave it on for 15 minutes and then wash off.

• To treat dark circles around the eyes, you can also massage a little coconut oil around the eyes.

• Another treatment to treat dark eyes is to gently dab cotton soaked in warm tea without milk around eyes.

• Keep a cotton wad, dipped in chilled cucumber and potato juice, on your eyes for 15 minutes to ward off tiredness and puffiness. To strengthen and elongate the eyelashes, apply castor oil every night.

New Olay Total effect cream + serum duo review

I don't have aging issues.... yet. But I did have sun spots and hyper pigmentation problem due to sun exposure and needed to start moving away from acne creams that were over-drying my skin and start focusing on toning and moisturizing while sun-protecting my skin.
My skin is typically combination skin which means acne cream would make my cheeks dry and sun screen would make my nose forehead and chin oily and patchy :\

I was to post this review within 7 days of receiving the product ...... but I believe in fully satisfying myself before posting review....

I am always in pursuit of skincare products that will give me great results. I'm a bit of product freak I purchase skincare products right from drugstore to high end stores like dermatologist and boutiques.
I had to go out of town for 5 days and I ran out of my sun-screen and since I had to go to Kota, Rajasthan sunscreen was a must. And it was way to late to order my combination skin sunscreen from a medical store in Mumbai.
I had Olay Total Effects cream + serum (SPF 15) with me that was in a small enough packing that was easy to carry, I knew this could turn out all kinds of adventurous but I had no choice. I was about to start using this product after I came back from Rajasthan.

What official site says about product :

Olay Total Effects Cream + Serum duo - fragrance free is the most concentrated Total Effects formula for anti-aging skincare, designed to fight & signs of aging in one step, for visibly younger looking skin...

Signs of aging :

1. Lines and wrinkles
2. Loss of firmness
3. Visible pores
4. Uneven tone
5. Uneven skin texture
6. Dryness
7. Dullness

Application instruction:

• Apply liberally and gently smooth onto your face and neck.
• Apply 15 minutes before sun exposure.
• Reapply at least every 2 hours.
• Use water resistant sunscreen if swimming or sweating.

Regular use of products guarantees :

• Skin has a soft, smooth and youthful appearance.
• Reduces the look of fine lines and wrinkles.
• Protects skin with broad spectrum SPF 15.

Price : 369

Quantity : 20 gms.

Shelf life : 3 years.

My Experience :

I am in my mid twenties with combination skin. I have used the former original Olay Total Effects 7 some 2 years back and liked it as a moisturizer, although not as much to repurchase it as I found it way overpriced.

With the name olay comes a surety about the quality of the product, so I need not say anything about its quality.

Whats new in "new" Olay Total Effects 7 is the serum part and of course the SPF 15 it contains.

Look closely and you can see the swirls it makes in the bottle.... sadly no swirls when you pump it out, all you get is same white cream...no orangish swirl :( 

One pump is enough for both face and neck.

And this white cream is amazingly rich, smooth texture, get absorbed in skin as if you were never applying anything .... but if you ask my mom who is among No.1 fan of Olay products ... she loved it.

and I fell in love with this cream on my tour to Kota as I mentioned above. It is an amazing sunscreen, it just sinks in and is so comfortable to wear,other sunscreen gives you a sensation of something heavy applied on your face. My mother is already using olay total effects 7, the new one and she says "this one is as good as it comes" It is not oily in texture which makes it usable for all skin type specially for combination skin 

It does not attract dirt believe me this is a major positive point , It is good for pre-makeup moisturizer base and makes make-up last longer...

Reduces visibility of pores, wrinkles and pigmentation; which makes you look younger

The only negetive point that I found was it's SPF which should atleast be SPF 30 for India.....

I did not liked when I had to purchase a sunscreen just because I was going to water park the other day...

I would rate it 3 out of 5.

Body Shop : Rainforest Coconut Hair Oil review

Diya Mirza unveiling rain forest hair oil for Body Shop

We all know the goodness of coconut oil, our dadis and nanis and other elders often tell us to use coconut oil for any and all skin and hair problems.... but the problem till now was purity. Every product that claims to be pure coconut oil fails to stand up to our expectation ( in my case my dadi's expectation ) After using every oil all she says is in our days we use to get things pure ... koi milawat nhi hoti thi.... kya zamana aa gaya hai..

Some 20 days back I received BodyShop rainforest coconut hair oil that again claimed to be pure .... yes virgin coconut oil, they claimed it to be.....me and my dadi has been using Body Shop's Rain forest coconut hair oil for last 20 days. And I feel glad to write its review :)

"We all know the goodness of coconut oil, but now is the time to know the goodness of virgin coconut oil", says Diya Mirza, brand ambassador of BodyShop while unveiling new product of Body Shop; Rain forest Coconut Hair Oil.

This luxurious hair oil provides nourishment for all hair types. It contain organic pracaxi oil and community fair trade organic virgin coconut oil.It does not contain any silicones or colourants. 

Quantity : 200ml.

Price : 675/-.

Availability : easily available at any body shop outlet, also available online.

Product claim : with regular use this luxurious, nourishing oil leaves hair feeling stronger, smoother and softer.

With medium consistency applying becomes easy ..... its USP according to me would be its amazing soothing fragrance, like pure sweet coconut oil... don't worry it won't give you headache, its fragrance is mild not strong.... mild and soothing it is.

It gets completely absorbed in your hair and as a result no pillow stains......yes no pillow stains!!!! and your pillow does not smell like oil after you wake up :)

For best results apply warm oil, that is after heating it a bit.

According to me oiling is one solution to any hair problem one has..... I oil my hair like thrice a week or whenever I am to take head bath, a night prior to that day I oil my hair from root to tip and wash the next day.

Over night oil treatment works best for me.... but for people having oily skin or having acne problem I would not suggest overnight oiling. 

Anywhich way Body shop's Rainforest coconut hair oil gave very me good results, no chip chip ;) , amazing fragrance, no pillow stains, smooth hair after wash..... and one more thing, it makes my hair looks straighter..

I might sound silly to you but really it made my hair look straighter, it gave my hair kind of bounce for which I have to  use conditioner and sprays. I might get superstitious here but seriously according to me it makes me look more like  diva  <3

Worth trying atleast once, I am sure you will fall in love with it like I did <3

Rating : 8/10.

(It is costly)

I just want to go back to that classic era of romance

I wanna go back to the generation when a guy had to get permission from the girl's parents to ask her out.

I wanna go back to the generation when a guy would physically call her and talk to her, not text her.

I wanna go back to the generation where your first kiss would be with someone you have been dating for months, not hookup with a guy you meet in a club.

I wanna go back to the generation where a guy would give you his varsity jacket.

I wanna go back to the generation where a girl can get any guy just by wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of sneakers.

I wanna go back to the generation where the guy wanted the girl, not always just the sex.

I wanna go back to the generation where couples slow danced, not grind.

I wanna go back to the generation where love actually made sense.

When you think of romances, don't those same classic movies keep popping into you head?

Movies about classic timeless love stories.

Movies like Casablanca, Gone with the wind, The quiet man, An affair to remember have always fascinated me. The classic love that not just meant to have sex, which actually had feelings. 

Today words like romance has turns into flirting, love has turned into lust.

No one believes in love, everyone is up for hookup.

I just want to go back to the generation of romance ...... The generation shown in movies :-

Casablanca 1942

Gone with the wind 1939

An affair to remember 1957

Dirty dancing 1987

Sleepless in Seattle 1993

Titanic 1997

There are many more romantic movies, but these are my personal favourite classic romantic movies :) 

Cancer Care Camp Indore

CHL Apollo Hospital Cancer Center organized a one day cancer camp.

In this camp people got aware of symptoms of cancer, senior doctors were available to give information on the symptoms of cancer.

Full body test which generally cost Rs 6000/- to Rs 12000/- in different hospitals, was offered on a discounted price of Rs 1000/- for males and  Rs 1500/- for females.

Both of my parents went to this camp which according to them was very helpful, my mom was having some problem in her chest which could be a symptom of breast cancer according to doctors their but the tests ruled out breast cancer after seeing the reports of the test, so now she is relieved as we have already lost a member of our family to cancer and my grandmother has suffered from breast cancer many years back (now she is completely fine ).

Other than full body test other offers were available, cancer treatment is very expensive, thus 25% discount on hospital bills for chemotherapy and surgery and 10% discount on radiation was available. No doubt CHL Apollo, Indore was so crowed that day.

Thanx CHL Apollo for this helpful Camp. And for all those who do not know about this Camp, CHL Apollo organizes this Cancer camp every year on this very same day, that is 18th may. 

old lost ones .......

I have lived in my house with my parents for my whole life (till now except for last 4 years that I was in Pune).

Every friend that I have ever had knows my home.....my school friends, then my college friends and now my MBA college friends.

Recently a school friend of mine came down to my place looking very sophisticated in coat suit. For 5 minutes I could not recall his name...... All I could think was I know this face from a long time back......... school maybe......and that was when it came to my head ...... my god he is Abhishek.......... The Abhishek....... The bhondu Abhishek, my god he was looking so good, so different, smart omg! what has happened to the bhondu Abhishek I knew, living in the same colony just a lane away.

I don't know why we lost contact....... we were the best buddies till 7th I suppose after that he changed his school. But we were still in contact, we use to play in the same garden everyday ....... then what happened ..... Noticing this big question mark on my face... he asked me if I recognized him..... and all of a sudden I said 'of course bhondu tujhe kaise bhul sakti hun' and then I felt really weird for the two reasons; first, we were no more that close and second, he does not look like a bhondu anymore..........

That was the time he broke the ice and laughed real hard.... and said you have not changed a bit.....And all I could say was 'ya the silly old me', but what I was thinking was' I know I have not changed a bit but my goodness what has got into you, you were supposed to be a bhondu with weird, always a bit longer than normal hair, that annoyed look on your face, cloths always dirty. Then what happened?'

After a few awkward moments I finally asked "what happened between us, we use to be such close friends always like a knot, always together.....?"

Then he said board exams happened, our mothers happened and this stupid education system happened...

And I knew what he meant to say....

After like 20 minutes after meeting him, I finally noticed there was something in his hands........omg....... A marriage invitation card!!!! 

"Are you getting married !!!!!!!!" I almost yelled it out, as if he was committing a crime by doing so.....

Again a laugh that made me realize how stupid I was behaving.... yes he said .

Finally getting married to his girl friend of 5 years......A girl friend for 5 years !!!!!!!!! where was I then???

Some more awkward moments before he left.... and a huge question mark in my mind .......my god he use to be my best friend and I did not recognized him for 10 mins...... he had a girl friend for 5 years and I never knew it.... how absent minded can I be???.... 5 years means 1 year before I went to Pune....

we were in contact then howcome I never knew .....

Later that evening I opened my old box which had my stuff from old days..... my school uniform, that I never let my mom to give it away.. My photographs from nursery school.... junior classes ..... no matter what teachers said ..... what photographer said where to stands ..... we always use to stand together hands in hands always in the last row, for we were the tallest in the class.

And than I saw other faces in the same photographs ...... my other friends .... very good friends some still in contact some not, some are just on facebook friend list but have never communicated other then wishing birthdays....

And then I thought is there a way where we call actually connect...... and social networking sites and instant messengers was not the answers.... as they were here among us for years now but still we were never really in touch .... all these technology did was giving us contact details of the people we once knew... nothing more........

WeChat

Then the same guy Abhishek gave me the idea of WeChat ..... To be honest I was reluctant what this WeChat will provide us that we already don't have.... for instant we can share text messages, pictures, videos on whatsapp, facebook, twitter and on many other technologies but that never did the trick needed....

Then he explained WeChat is a step ahead from all the technologies we are currently using.

It allows us to send voice messages which gives a personal touch to the message...

Features that set aside WeChat from other similar applications are :

• Video Chat/ Live Chat
• Moments
• Voice Chat
• Web WeChat
• Emoticons
• Group Chat
• Shake
• Look Around 
• Drift Bottle
• Social Connect

Now I have made my mind.... I dont't want to loose anymore of my friends..... I am getting back all the friends I have lost just because of either my ego or negligence. I am making a group rather I am making many group one of my school friends, one for my playground friends, one for my coaching friends, one for my graduation college friends and one for my pg college friends.

I am including my friend circle from school in first group which will definitely include Abhu, Bhondu, Pinky, Sweety, Parth, Dhwani, Aarti, Shashank, Parv, Naman .

I am gonna include my colony friends in second group which will definitely include Bhondu, Sumit, Raj, Totu, Rohit and Shaan .... we use to play gulli cricket with kids from local teams of other colonies...... amazing that use to be.

Third group these are friends I am still in contact with, but I would never want to loose these friends because of some stupid ego or time issue... this group will include Sahil, Anvi, Tani, Aarti, Abhu and Parv.

My graduation college friends ...... Pune is very close to my heart, everything and everyone related to my college is like a sweet memory. Loosing friends from my college would be like loosing my memories .... this group will include my girls friends my darling Kirti, Ajeeta, Nimmo, Neha, Gauri, Mayuri, Tanima <3

My MBA college friends spent more time than my parents do with me..... god knows what we do the whole day ..... but I do cherish every moment of it, this group will include Ratika, Irum, Vivek, Srishti, Robin, Omar, Raj, Chotu Raj, Shashank, Naman.

My friends are very important to me they are family that I have chosen for me. No blood ties but stronger than blood ties...... I just LOVE them for being in my life...

I would like to tell them how much I have missed them, would like to know what they did in mean time, will tell them what all I did in the mean time...... <3 I have so much to talk so much to know so much to share....

I know I am getting carried away with my emotions ....... so I will give it a rest here and will go and actually tell them how much I love them for being in my life <3

Dehydration ..... not to be ignored

People often get confused between dryness and dehydration ...... where dryness is lack of oil on the skin, dehydration is lack of moisture in the skin.

Skin dehydration can be a problem all year round...but in summers and in extreme winters this condition should be seriously taken care of.

Your skin is more susceptible to dehydration in the summers and winters due to aggressive environmental factors.

Age, location and amount to time spent outside are all factors that can impact the condition of your skin.

Symptoms of Dehydrated Skin 

Symptoms of dehydrated skin is similar to that of sunburn. The skin can feel tight and you may feel a burning sensation. It will often get irritated and has a lesser ability to heal. The skin sometimes gets flaky and shows dry lines. The texures of the skin will be rough and will not be smooth anymore. A very common sign of dehydration is itching, itching get worse as condition of skin get worse.... which can even become painful.

Redness is another common symptom of dehydrated skin, it is often misunderstood as redness due to extreme weather.

What is happening

As you age, your cells will be replaced by cells containing less water, which affects how you look.

A new born is about 80% water where as an older person is 70% water and an elderly person with visible wrinkles is somewhat 50% water.

In some people water content of body reduces, either due to external conditions such as pollution, time spent outside, extreme weather conditions, too much time spent in AC rooms or due to internal conditions.

Causes

- Poor cleansing: Any cleanser leaving the skin taut is dehydrating. Soap is harsh because it is alkaline, 

  stripping the water from the upper surface of skin that is the epidermis and leaving it exposed, unprotected 

  and subject to moisture loss. Other alkaline washes, such as foaming cleansers and alcohol solutions used 

  for oily and problem skin, are even worse since they produce clogging which ultimately becomes 

  blackheads and possible pustules.

- Skin damage: This may result from using harsh acne treatments like hydrogen peroxide, retinoic acid etc.

  These substances alter the keratinisation process ( the skin renewal process ) and weakens the ability of the 

  cells to bond together. 

- Neglect: This covers a wide area, from failure to drink sufficient amounts of fluids to applying protective 

  creams on a regular basis.

- Medication and illness: Certain illnesses may cause internal dehydration and ultimately affects the skin.

  Where some medicines dehydrates skin temporarily as a side effect, some medicines does this on 

  permanent basis.

- Scrubs: The regular use of scrubs can break down cell bonding in certain skin types, which reduces the

  capacity to retain moisture. More over your skin does not require daily scrubbing, once or at max twice a 

  week is more than enough. 

- Air conditioning and climate: Moisture evaporates quickly within the dry atmosphere of air conditioned  

  rooms. Similarly moisture evaporates in very hot and cold climates.

- Hot showers: The friction and heat of the hot water remove moisture from the skin's surface, inviting it's

  damage and dehydration. Always wash the face separately using lukewarm water only.

- Diet: An excessive intake if table salt can have a dehydrating effect, so does excessive intake of coffee.

  And the biggest culprit of all is alcohol.

PSORIASIS

Psoriasis is an extreme chronic condition. This sometimes develops when dehydrated skin has a buildup of rough, dry skin, which turns into severely scaly skin. Contact a physician or a dermatologist for the best course of treatment.

Treatment

Treatments vary based on severity and on individuals.

Results are achievable when treating a dehydrated skin externally, but long-term effective results can only be achieved when internal and external treatments are combined.

Increase:

• Water intake to least two liters of water a day. you know you have had enough when your urine is clear and not yellow.
• Apply serum, it hydrates skin cells from outside and protects skin from outter climatic conditions.
• Exfoliation, but make sure that you do not exfoliate too much otherwise reverse is achieved as discussed above.
• Sun protection, sun exposure dries out the skins natural oils thus using a SPF helps.
• protective creams with a high liquid content are the true protectives. They are chemically similar to the skin's own surface film and only small quantities need to be patted on.

Avoid:

• Alcohol, coffee, sun, salt, too much of air-conditioning. These elements have an extreme negetive effect on skin.
• Use of strong creams without doctor's concern.
• Excessive bleaching.
• Too much exfoliation. 

It is very important to monitor the signs and symptoms regularly to treat it when needed.

So the moral of this whole post that you have just read is do not avoid symptoms of dehydration, tough it may sound stupid and minute but in chronic conditions it can be real pain in the A**. 

For information on oral healthcare do visit My Healthy Speak Blog

few points that might surprise you:

1. One glass of water shuts down midnight hunger.
2. Lack of water is the prime culprit of daytime fatigue.
3. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

Simple skin care

You wash your face twice a day, but you still find yourself wishing for the beautiful skin you see in the magazines. The good news is that great skin isn’t reserved just for supermodels and superstars. Want to bring out your skin’s inner diva? Here's the best skin care routine for soft, silky skin.

1. Wash
In the morning and before you go to bed, use a mild daily facial cleanser and warm water. Gently massage your face in a circular motion. Don't ignore the often overlooked neck area! Rinse with several splashes of clean water, making sure all the cleanser is down the drain where it should be, and not left on your skin.
Avoid using soaps on face and neck area, as they are way too harsh on your skin.

2. Exfoliate
Scrub, scrub, scrub... but take it easy. Apply a soft facial exfoliant to slough away dead skin cells and get your face ready for the spotlight, even if it is only in your own living room.
Use home made scrubs if possible as they give you the best results, exfoliants available in market are mostly chemicals which may give you short term good results but are not good in in longer run.
Do not scrub daily once a week is more than enough.

3. Tone
Spritz a toner on your face and neck, and wipe with a soft cotton towel to clean off any sneaky little bits of cleanser that may be left behind. You need to make sure your soon-to-be soft, silky skin is a clean slate for moisturizer and any makeup you may use.
Rose water is the best natural toner.

4. Moisturize
Looking for a moisturizer that works for your whole body, no matter what your skin type? Head to a heath food store, stock up on this natural hydrator and slather on generously.
Even if your skin is oily or combination type use of moisturizer is must, use water based mosturizers for these types of skin.

5. use spf
One of the best proactive things you can do for your skin is to protect it from the sun's harmful rays. Give skin UV-fighting power by smoothing on a lightweight tinted moisturizer or foundation loaded with SPF. Then you'll be ready for your close up, both indoors and out.

Adopt this skin care routine and your skin will be paparazzi-ready before you know it. Following this regimen morning and evening will achieve optimal results that can be seen in just a week or two. That means softer, clearer skin, reduction in fine lines, and firmer, more youthful skin.