Saturday 24 January 2015

Of Love, Love and Love!


“Life is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear; too long for those who grieve and too short for those who rejoice. But for those who love, Time is eternity”- Henry Van Dyke

Love is indeed the most beautiful expression of the human race. It is one feeling which transcends boundaries, can pierce through people without the use of a weapon and can make anyone’s heart melt in a matter of minutes. Thus love needs to be expressed, not hidden. But unfortunately, the case is right opposite in reality. We can counter the whole world if need comes, but when it comes to love matters, we are very vulnerable. I first saw her in my orientation class. We both were studying the subject of Chartered Accountancy, and she instantly caught my attention the moment she walked into the class. She was wearing a black top paired with faded blue jeans. I simply couldn’t resist looking at her again and again into the lecture. So much that, at one point, the faculty of the day Mrs. Barkha Shah looked at me glancing at her and instantly gave me a sharp look, as if saying “I know what you are thinking about.”

I wanted to befriend her, know her name and quickly. The orientation program was a 3- day program and I knew I had to strike quickly to make an impact. The only thing working in my favour was that the third and last day was the best day it could be to open my heart towards her – Valentine’s day.

It was not until the break on day 1 that I managed to talk to her. I was sipping tea at a stall below the center, and to my luck- she came there. I knew I had my chance, to make it or break it was upon me now. I instantly broke the ice by asking her about how she was finding the whole program. She said it was ok. The next thing I asked her was the most awkward thing anyone can ever ask to a girl whom you have just met few minutes before- “What are your plans for Valentine’s day?” My friend standing beside me was giving me tough looks- as if telling me “I told you not to mess around now you are going to get slapped.” To my surprise, she gave me a shy smile and said- “Not much. What about you?” I knew I had lit up a spark there. We somehow exchanged numbers and then started chatting vis text messages. As its said- some people are just meant to meet in life. We became thick friends and started spending most of the time together.

Come day 2 end and my heart was in my mouth thinking what should I do she might be already having a date for Valentine. Chanting my favorite god’s name, I picked up my phone at 11.55 pm at night. To my surprise, it wasn’t busy, which in our country is impossible if the girl has a date. So finally, we spoke for around half an hour during which I asked her about tomorrow’s plans to which she said nothing. That was my moment. Gathering all my energy, I burst out “Aastha I like you. Will you be my valentine for the day?” For a moment she fell silent. My heart stopped beating. Then came an instant reply “Well umm, I guess yes. Not a bad idea!” I jumped with joy, as if I had won a battle. I had indeed. The battle of love.

This post has been written for the Close-Up Cupid games contest by Indiblogger.

Thursday 22 January 2015

The waste of India


“Different people's houses smell like different weird things. God forbid someone should come and nail down what my house smells like. It'd probably be a litter box... sweaty socks... and burnt bacon. That probably is what it smells like..” - Wendi McLendon-Covey

While most of us may not know who Wendi McLendon- Covey is, we all can imagine the kind of disgust he has tried to portray about the aspect of littering our own home. To litter is a disease which is not at all uncommon for the people of our country. It comes as naturally to us as breathing. With a population of more than billions (and counting!), it is not surprising that lack of awareness has caused dear to the cleanliness of our country. Since times immemorial, chewing of ‘paan masala’ (considered manliness) has shown it signs on innumerable walls of our country! Take for instance this below picture:



So they said they are going to transform Mumbai into Shanghai! Well, not if people keep dumping filth left, right and center. In fact, the places where there are signboards of not throwing garbage, filth etc witness the maximum dump of garbage.The whole world is considered dustbin for that matter in our country at our disposal. If all the garbage that people dump in India was to magically get converted into notes, not a single poor would have to stay hungry for the rest of his life! If we ourselves don’t keep our country in a clean condition, what else can we expect of tourists? No matter what we inherit or no, one thing Indians have inherited over the ages is the philosophy of “Never mind.” Whether making the once-clean juhu beach a daily defecating zone, or throwing garbage openly on the path to our heritage structures, there is no stopping the great Indian litterbug.

Here’s a hilarious video on how a newborn child who is too innocent to even understand the meaning of filth, gets trained towards contributing towards the waste of India:



Spitting openly is another deadly virus that has hit our country since times immemorial. There is a joke spreading around that the Red Fort got its color because of stains of pan spits over it over a number of years. The situation gets even worse in states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, where you will find all varieties of filth and everywhere- on roads, inside the houses, on trains- people literally wouldn’t mind spitting next to each other if that was not explicitly prohibited!

In the end, we have to take note that we have to clean up our act, quite literally! Initiatives like Clean India campaign are just a starting step towards a cleaner India. Initiatives like cleaning the beaches, installing dustbins on platforms and all those places which are prone to attacks by the great India litterbug need to be protected. Only then will be able to proudly dram of our cities becoming as clean as some of the others of the world!

Wednesday 14 January 2015

No tension. Relocate 'Quikr'


"Home is where the heart is"



How rightly these simple lines describe the importance of our home in day-to-day lives. Indeed one of the biggest tensions one faces in life is when they are relocating to some other location, and more-so if that other location is a different city altogether. Not only the aspect of detaching ourselves from our comfort zone that we have built around around our place that we have been living in, also the thought of moving your valuables and other logistics is painful. However, not to worry now, since Quikr is here!

Quikr is a place where you do just about anything, ranging from Cars/ bikes to property search and even services such as cook services. You can also search for jobs, place matrimony advertisements, buy your dream home and a lot of other things. Please visit the Bangalore Quikr website to know more.

If I was relocating to Bangalore, I would put Bangalore Quikr to my advantage by searching it to find good jobs for myself in the IT city of our country. Also, being a foodie, Quikr.com will come to my rescue for searching for great restaurants around my area so that I can be rest assured to find a solution to my hunger pangs. On Quikr, you can find advertisement by great cooks about their specialized dishes. Also since my house will be in a renovation stage for a short while till I shift there I will find a suitable accommodation to stay in along with my family with the help of Quikr’s vast search engine. Also, Quikr will help me to sell my immovable property in Mumbai by helping me find a good price for my assets from buyers all over, so I don’t have to hunt much and wait for a long time to move to Bangalore. Indeed, a big relief to my worries.

Not only that, since I will also be interested to know about the nearby hospitals in my area as medical emergency can occur anytime and I would be totally new to the city Bangalore, Quikr will help me check out the best-rated hospitals in my vicinity. Quikr would also be a great boon to me by helping me avail tiffin services at the cheapest price and by the best service providers. After the place to relocate in Bangalore is zeroed upon and while the renovation is going on (which admittedly proves to be an expensive affair now-a-days with Carpenters charging great amount of money for basic work), Quikr will resolve my worries by finding me the best local Carpentry services available in my area. Not only that, even fixing of my internet connection as well as installation of Wi-Fi in the new place will be taken care of with the help of Quikr.

Last but never the least, Quikr will help me find the perfect maid for my mother for our new home, a task most mothers consider to be the most difficult on the planet. Thus overall, I would get relieved of all my renovation tensions by the help of Quikr’s great services. Words are not enough to thank Quikr for making life so simple!

Friday 2 January 2015

A day full of LOVE, HUGS AND ROSES




“If I say your voice is an amber waterfall in which I yearn to burn each day, if you eat my mouth like a mystical rose with powers of healing and damnation, If I confess that your body is the only civilization I long to experience… would it mean that we are close to knowing something about love?”

- Aberjhani, Visions of a Skylark Dressed in Black

How beautifully these lines describe a passionate lover's emotions for his better half! Love is indeed the most beautiful feeling in the world. True love can be only felt, not really expressed in words. Having said that, we all try to express our love in the best way possible. It is this beautiful expression called love which keeps our hunt alive for survival.