The Softest Pillow

There is no greater pleasure in the world than a clean conscience and a feeling that no ghosts from the past are out to haunt us. Most medical issues are psychosomatic, that is, their root lies in mental tensions and troubles. If we are on a path of truth and have nothing to do with lie, we obviously stay far away from the ugly web of lies and deception and there is no weight on our heart and mind. So, an important step towards good health is truth, which leads to a conscience as clear as purest Kinley water. However, every coin has two sides and truth too can have some serious side effects like the wrath of our own kith and kin that we have to face, and the troubles we create by making things clear. I am reminded of an incident where truth led to a broken relationship but nevertheless, I am proud of what I did.

When I was in 11^th standard, a good friend of mine suddenly got attracted towards a boy in class 12^th and soon became his girlfriend. Her studies started going downhill but unconcerned, she was day by day glowing in his love. They started having their lunch together and after school too, would talk for a long time. Once day, she casually told me that how they would visit ice cream parlors and food joints together and the watch he gifted her. All along, her studies suffered but love stuck, she ignored everything and craved only for his company. One day she told me that an excuse of ‘extra-classes’ had come quite handy as whenever her mother enquired about her late homecoming, she would avoid the trouble easily. 

Once day, I happened to visit her home. Her mother was a nice lady and asked me about her low performance despite regular extra classes in school. At that point I felt like things were going out of hands and revealed the entire truth before her mother. I told her that extra classes are only for 12^th graders and that my friend, (her daughter) almost every day spent time in coffee shops and gaming parlors with a 12^th grader. I made my friend show that watch and gifts that boy gave her. The mother did thank me and after that started keeping a strict check on her but she broke our friendship calling me a ‘traitor’ and never spoke to me again. However, I did notice that in the next term, her performance was not below average.

I am happy that I could save my friend from a useless delusion and at such a crucial point of age and life, her focus came back to her studies. My conscience is clear and I still think that I did the right thing.

 ‘A clear conscience is the softest pillow’

This quote is my favorite. I have seen it turning out to be true, like a science experiment!

Check out this girl’s journey towards a clean conscience.

I agree to ensure (to the best of my abilities and circumstances) that this blog post remains accessible in an un-altered state for a minimum of one year.

Image from: http://www.quotessays.com/images/conscience-quotes-3.jpg

  

Two Acrostics

Slowly to earth arrive the flakes

New and spongy as bits of cakes

Over and over I watch the scene

White delight is just so serene!

Blues and reds flicker in sun 

Innocent chirps boom in lawn

‘Robin’ I’ve named my tiny bird

Dear friend of mine it has become

Image from- animals.desktopnexus.com/wallpaper/967344/

Let's Go!!

Vacations are usually banal without kids who not only add spice to our lives with their innocent chirping but also have their own way of looking at things and hence and make us see the events, people and situations from various interesting angles. I remember as a kid I used to love holidays and family trips to various places. My curiosity would cross its threshold and I would wander here and there goggle eyed! That was fun! I remember going to an ancient temple once in a remote place. The rustic village life and the huge inscriptions of temple walls so interested me that I forgot about the ‘puja’ and wandered all the time staring at the inscriptions and images!

These days, the life has become so hectic that it has become almost imperative to go on vacations. Just like adults, children too are highly stressed- from school to extra activities like tuitions, hobby classes, etc. All take a toll on a child’s mind, making him/her irritated and mentally lethargic. The best way to recharge the batteries and spend quality time together is to go on vacations to a nice destination- a hill station like Coorg or Sikkim, or to a good beach place like Goa. If I were to take out kids of my family to a nice vacation I would choose s a good hill station, for I love hills and forests, and I am sure children would love such a place too! There are many vacation partners like Club Mahindra that provide nice destinations and vacations.

There are various activities, I would choose for the kids like boating and zoo visits, apart from games like swimming, horse-riding etc. Taking long walks in pristine lands is also a nice activity. I also wish kids should attend some sort of workshops as well, like those teaching some local style of painting or puppetry for example, or any such workshop so that they get a feel of the real culture of that place apart from learning new things. In this era of virtual world and simulators, keeping children busy is not much of a difficult thing if you have some virtual-reality technology available. Video-games and simulators can easily keep them busy and happy!

I would also like to make the kids write down their travel experiences or rather create a lovely scrapbook with the pictures and experiences (in words) nicely arranged together. This way they do something creative but more than that, this habit of writing their original experiences themselves will go a long way in helping them in their studies and career.

Vacations are never tedious and boring with kids, we just need to keep their energies glued to the right things. For this, the most important thing is to choose a good travel club like Club Mahindra that provides everything needed for memorable vacations. From almost all the exotic destinations of India and abroad, you can choose the one that suits you the best based on their various parameters.

For a perfect vacation for yourself and your kids, visit- membership.clubmahindra.com/TeddyTravelogues

I agree to ensure (to the best of my abilities and circumstances) that this blog post remains accessible in an un-altered state for a minimum of one year.

Imges from- 

swimmingpoolguide.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/swimming-pools-kids/

membership.clubmahindra.com/TeddyTravelogues

Two Clerihews

Two Clerihews on Jack Dawson, the hapless hero of the movie 'Titanic' and Kim, the protagonist of the novel 'Kim' by Sir Rudyard Kipling.

Cupid struck rich Rose and poor Jack

Their love was pure but luck it did lack

They met on ‘Titanic’, the ship ill-fated

Jack drowned but Rose lived till eighties!

 An Irish boy was known as Kim

His life took an interesting turn

A monk made him one fine day

His travel aide, as the people say

Woven Stories

This is my first Newspaper Blackout Poetry which is an interesting form developed by a Texas based artist named as Austin Kleon. I first saw this form on Mirage's blog and decided to give it a shot! Please click on the image to read clearly!

I m possible!!

Fear or darr as it is called in Hindi, is akin to a poisonous sting that paralyses us and puts a full-stop on the journey ahead. This way, not only we are forced to abandon our dreams but also it gives us a certain deep set feeling of defeat that diminishes our self-confidence. So, the most important thing one has to manage in order to grow and realize those dreams is victory over fears. The dictionary defines ‘fear’ as ‘a panic and distress caused by an impending danger’ and also as ‘anxiety’ and ‘dread’. So, in a nutshell, fear is the feeling that prevents you from moving forward in life and taking risks, even the most calculated ones. This can mean an end to all the hopes we pin from ourselves. I too have faced various such situations, big and small, where I gave my best to overcome anxiety and fears to emerge as a winner. I would like to share such an instance here-

When I was in tenth standard, I decided to participate in an elocution competition named ‘voux-populi’ that was to take place during the annual school function. The topic was something related to railways if I remember correctly. However, a day before the contest, a plump senior girl along with few of her friends walked up to me and interrogated me about the preparations and points I was going to include. I did not reveal anything but later came to know that she was a senior teacher’s daughter. Around two hours before the contest was about to begin, I was busy practicing with my friends backstage when they arrived again and started bullying us and other participants too. They bragged about the facts and figures she was going to include and how we stood nowhere near to her caliber as well as approach her mother had, and also that she won last year as well, and that we were going to face humiliation for sure. Honestly, I could feel the pressure and a feeling of letting go that creeps inside slowly. Even though I practiced again but I could feel I was fumbling and wasn’t willing to go up on the stage. When the competition began, I saw how confidently and aggressively she had spoken but I decided to give all that a miss. However, I felt as if I was guilty of something, of dashing hopes I had pinned from myself, the time and effort my parents and friends had given for me and decided to give my best shot even though a paralyzing fear had gripped me. I did not want to stay guilty to myself for years to come. So, I went on stage and focused on winning and without bothering about anything, gave my best. Finally, when the results were announced, I won the second prize and she got none. One of the judges later revealed that she lost because her speech had so many facts and figures but no originality of thought at all, and her manner was far too aggressive.

After that, even to this date, I never fumble on stage or under psychological pressure or antics of any sort. In later years too, I actively participated in fests and this incident of overcoming the fear of psychological pressure still makes me proud! That little shiny trophy and certificate still make me smile!

In everybody’s life, there have been, or will arrive, big and small instances where overcoming fear becomes a necessity and not a choice. It can be to prove oneself or to attain victory as they say ‘darr ke aage jeet hai’ that means triumph lies beyond fear. That is why we must try to overcome our fears so over the time we only grow stronger! And after all, ‘Impossible’ says ‘I-m-possible’!

Image from-suziecheel.com/heart-whisper-gratitude-challenge-day-13/

Abraham Lincoln (Sketch)

Abraham Lincoln 

(February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) 

He was the 16th president of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. Lincoln led the United States through its Civil War—its bloodiest war and its greatest moral, constitutional and political crisis. In doing so, he preserved the Union, abolished slavery, strengthened the federal government, and modernized the economy.

Info source- Wikipedia

Medium- Pencil

Acrostics

Beyond limitations when I’ll see

Emerging out of this little shell

Looking past the self made wall

Infinite confidence filled in eyes

Energy & ideas in measures right

Valiance and poise up my sleeve

Evolve I will if in self I’ll believe

          Water makes my heart jump

          And I feel the magic on my skin

          Very dear to me are these things

          Eternal calm that heals the spirit

          Simple things have boundless bliss

Images from-

www.jokeroo.com/pictures/other/902973.html

www.slideshare.net/mariyo66/energa-maremotriz-13231447

My Pious Lord

Annihilating sins with holy fires

Muses he amidst burning pyres

He can be quite a formidable foe

And the most gentle one can know

Has three eyes and two aspects

And commands the ultimate respect

Only into him, this universe dissolves

Divine celestial energy, he’s made of

I kneel down to Shiva, my pious lord

To plead for ‘moksha’, the final accord.

It is not possible to fathom Lord Shiva; He is far beyond anyone’s comprehension. He has two aspects- Shiva and Shakti. I am His ardent devotee and consider Him to be the ultimate, above everything else in the world. Another interesting thing is that only his pet bull ‘Nandi’ is said to have asked for the Lord himself as a boon, unlike others who wished only for worldly pleasures.

If we focus on God with an intention of merging into his energy, of achieving Him and not other riches, we can take a significant leap towards the attainment of Moksha, a stage where a soul becomes free of the eternal cycle of birth, death and rebirth.  

Please click here for another poem I penned for Lord Shiva last year.

Image from - http://www.whoa.in/gallery/lord-shiva-hd-wallpaper-free-download11

Clerihews

A ‘Clerihew’ is a silly and funny four line poem. The name comes from Edmund Clerihew Bentley, who pioneered this form. These poems are about a specific person or a character and the second line has to rhyme with the subject’s name. The scheme is AABB. Here, I have written three of them on Alice, Uncle Scrooge and Misha, the bear of the ‘Misha’ magazine that was published from USSR in early 90s and was quite popular. I was crazy about it! This is my first attempt in writing Clerihews; I hope you will like them! Suggestions and comments are most welcome!

There was once a dreamy girl called Alice

Whose heart was pure and free of malice

She saw a rabbit holding a watch in hand

Chased him and entered the wonderland!

 Too stingy was the rich Uncle Scrooge

He wore specs and his wealth was huge

And loved his money more than his life

That’s why he stayed single, sans a wife!

There was once a bear named Misha

He was cute and lived in frosty Russia

But he gathered quite an enviable fame

A hit magazine came out in his name!

(Image from: bunnyfriend.deviantart.com/art/Misha-the-Olympic-Bear-348450196)

Haiku Horizons- Give

This is for Haiku Horizons and this week's prompt is 'Give'

Pearly moon gleams above

Vivid aura given by sun

Love makes one glow!

Colors dance in joy

Dark gives way to a dawn

A little birdie chirps!

Image: http://www.istockphoto.com/photos/full+moon#119e4eb

5-7-5 syllable pattern

Book Review: The Mouse Charmers

     Title:          The Mouse Charmers

     Author:      Anuradha Goyal

     Publisher:  Random House India

     ISBN:         978-8-184-00492-2

     MRP:          Rs 299/-

It would be hard to pinpoint one because I enjoyed reading this book for several reasons. This is not the kind of book you can skim through or read while munching or waiting for someone in a noisy café; rather, it is more of a repository and knowledge bank on the online industry in India with several charts and case studies. Needless to mention, the author has done a commendable job! Also, being an entrepreneur myself (I run an online company) I enjoyed every bit of this book!

This book talks about ‘Mouse Charmers’ and the title is very apt for the theme as it is about the various entrepreneurs who made it big with dot com companies or in electronic business world. The author has taken into consideration only the B2C e-companies dividing them into three categories, viz,

• Commerce   
• Content
• Connectors

The Commerce section includes studies on the online giants like Flipkart (aka Big Daddy), MakeMyTrip (travel), BigBasket (Groceries) and CaratLane (jewelery). The Content section includes cases on sites that do not sell physical goods but provide and sell abstract content. The studies included are on Zomato (food review), Games2win (online gaming), Images Bazaar (digital images) and Chai with Lakshmi (interviews and chat content). The third and the last section- Connectors consist of studies on portals that connect customers in some way like Shaadi.com (matrimonial portal), Rang De (microcredit), Common Floor (real-estate) and our very own, IndiBlogger that has given me this awesome book for review!

Each story or case study has been well explained in terms of business models and various factors like capital, technology etc. The author also sheds light on lesser known facts, like not many of us know that Flipkart’s founders initially wanted to start a price comparison site but ended up changing the face of Indian e-commerce! The tables and data along with statistics provided make this book a delight to read. The language is simple and flowing and the categorization provides a well defined overview of the Indian e-commerce industry.

Another thing the author observes is the presence of few women entrepreneurs (Glass Ceiling of Digital World/page-319). She says she came across only three women founders (not women employees) out of all the ones she spoke to for this book and two were in the content based businesses.

Did you know?

• CaratLane has one lakh solitaire diamonds and more than 2,000 designs!
• Shaadi.com has 350 million views per month!
• Flipkart’s A/B architecture allows 20-25 experiments to go on simult.!
• Zomato operates across 11 countries and 35 cities!
• IndiBlogger has more than 35,000 blogs listed!
• South India leads in e-commerce biz.
• Lakshmi Rebecca won the international ‘Manthan Award’ for digital initiatives for Chai with Lakshmi!

And there are many more awesome facts about the ever expanding market of Indian online retail that will astonish you no end! Get a copy, you won’t regret.

Why Don’t You Shave??

The stubble that grows like wild foliage on a guy’s face can turn things upside down. Think of a man who looks prickly as a cactus, trying his best pick up lines to woo a lady but she simply gives a royal ignore just to avoid his thorny face! That would be a huge insult. So, apart from basic essentials like good clothes and shoes and also, no body odor, there is one more thing that attracts a woman prima-facie. This is a fact that looks attract first and then only one gets to see the beauty and care of heart. The face gives a good peek into our habits and levels of discipline. A man with an unshaven face looks like a free radical, a vagabond or a couch potato just like a girl with uncut and untidy hair looks like an uneducated moron or a lazy bone, too sloppy to even manage her own self! Gone were those days when stubble was considered a sign of manliness. Now, as the concepts themselves are changing, stubble indicates a man too indolent to take care of himself, a depressed soul or a philosopher cut off from the real world.

A few years back, one of my friends got into a relationship with a boy who came from an extremely well connected business background. I remember it was a hot afternoon of July and I was sitting in the canteen with my friends when I saw her coming with a guy wearing a T shirt and jeans. She came towards us and excitedly, with a child-like enthusiasm, said “He is here!” We stared at each other in silence and looked at the boy standing beside her. He looked more like her driver or someone, just out on a bail. “He is the one I was talking about…remember?” she said, blushing a bit and pulling the mannequin like boy a bit closer towards the table.

The first impression he gave us is not even worth mentioning. In spite of his well fitted branded clothes, he looked like a drug addict or someone, too lazy to take a bath. His stubble and unshaven face spoiled the entire joy of meeting a friend’s special someone. He sat there quietly and gave us a quite smile. I do not remember if anyone initiated a conversation with him. After some time, they left and later that day, my friend called me up. She wanted to know my opinion about that boy. However, just like my other friends, I too did not like him much, mainly because of his unshaven face and sloppy looks. I do not know if she continued her relationship but it is highly unlikely that I will ever take that kind of a boy seriously in future if, by chance, I come across one. 

This post is a part of #WillYouShave activity at BlogAdda in association with Gillette

Amrit tagged me for this post

Speak Up With Montu!

I sincerely believe in the power of team work. After all it is this synergy only that makes the work happen in reality. There are many issues that plague our society at this point of time. Even after the advent of technology, things hardly have gone better as far as cleanliness and sanitation are concerned. The electronic junk and the hell lot of plastic waste that we have been generating for the past few years is posing a serious threat to our eco-system, to the cities and towns we live in. Take a stroll down any busy road and the first thing you will probably notice will be the heaps of garbage lying here and there along with the waste like empty plastic bottles and paper cups, flying like free radicals all along the road. This can be stopped and it will only take few simple steps towards the solution, which is ‘recycle and reduce’. 

There are various ways to make India ‘Swach’ and trust me, this does not involve a long broom and a mask but only some spare time and a dash of creativity. Prevention is always better than cure so it would be far better to avoid the stage when we will be forced to sweep through the streets and before the garbage becomes as toxic as it can, we should recycle the waste first hence reducing its quantity. Let’s start with recycling. As per dictionary this term refers to

•         Convert (waste) into reusable material.
•         Return (material) to a previous stage in a cyclic process.
•         Use again.

So basically, when we reuse a thing, say an empty bottle or a bag, we are recycling it. This not only generates less waste per capita (per head) but also reduces your carbon footprints in the long run that means you end up doing something worthwhile for the ecosystem that sustains you. It is like giving back something to your parents or maybe like donating a helpful amount to your alma mater. Hence, recycling, I think, would be the first step towards ‘Swach Bharat’. 

This is a small fish I made using a waste CD and waste plastic sheet and it was fun! Plastic bottles can be used in gardening and for making decorative vases. The Internet is flooded with such simple and interesting DIY craft ideas. Papers must be recycled and you can use the back of calendars (the plain white side) for book covers and waste A4 papers for random sketching or for making grocery lists. Another important thing is to reuse stationary. It is illogical to throw an entire pen just because you do not wish to take up the gigantic task of buying a new refill! Come on! Imagine if millions of Indians will reduce their carbon footprints and waste every day, we will become ‘Swach’ within a very short span! 

There are many ways to reuse the things we throw into the bin, that too without any segregation, every day. That empty bottle with a wide neck can be a good pen-stand if painted something upon and that old fashioned sari can be a good cushion cover. Donating things that are no longer in use instead of disposing them in garbage is another good idea. Old clothes, old toys and books, I think, must be donated to the needy. This way, in the long run, we won’t be bothered with the heaps of garbage parading themselves on the road sides.

Now, there is no need of bearing the agony within yourself for you can speak with ‘Ab Montu Bolega’ campaign brought to you by Strepsils! Just visit this amazing website http://www.abmontubolega.com/ and say whatever you have to regarding social changes. You can join Montu in speaking against socials plagues at FaceBook and Twitter as well! So, just pop and Strepsils and bolo whatever you wish to and please do not forget to recycle and reduce the waste!

‘Kyuki Bin Bole Ab Nahi Chalega’ #AbMontuBolega 
is a campaign that empowers people to speak up, raise their voice to make a difference against the ills that plague our society.   

I agree to ensure (to the best of my abilities and circumstances) that this blog post remains accessible in an un-altered state for a minimum of one year.

 Images From:

http://www.socreativethings.com/9-creative-ideas-to-reuse-plastic-bottles/

http://www.eco-generation.org/ambassadorReportView.jsp?viewID=1110

http://sketchosphere.blogspot.in/2010/09/cd-fish.html