Even trusting your known can be dangerous in India!

What is happening to India? Or should I ask what is happening to human kind... Every time we pick up a newspaper we see it flooded with crimes. If we are not killing humans then we are killing animals and even mother nature.

Our lives are getting so corrupt, so defenceless and insecure. You do not know what will happen next. Having a little money or little fame is the  most dangerous thing today. One might think how come suddenly I am getting so philosophical and emotional today, well there is a reason.

Only recently, someone I knew was murdered in their own home in broad daylight. Yes the incidence is specifically from North, where although everyone say situation is improving but it doesn't seem like. Well, rest of India or say world is no better these days. Everyone is scared to open their doors even in the morning, you never know what will happen. And same happened with someone I knew. 

She was the most generous woman and her daughter was a bliss to life. I have never seen her complain about anything and she always smiled & helped others. Her husband is the kindest man. 

However, just being good and generous is not enough in today's world, she was murdered anyway along with her daughter. And by no other but her own next of kin, and would you dare guess the reason? The reason was nothing else but money and greed. 

Yes, India is not safe, and yes we don't open doors of our houses for strangers but should now be a situation that we don't let our families in? Well I guess we should because you don't know what will happen next.

I am appalled and massively distressed ever since this happened, I can't even imagine what her husband and other children must be going through.

Yes I am depressed but I am right to be. I am not sure what can we do. The police and government can't control everything. People blame police but how can police know what goes on in a household. Well, if the harsh truth is to be told, this is the naked truth of not just India but also of world, no one is safe anywhere now. You just can't know what will happen next. 

If we think of solutions there are none. There is a huge percentage of human population who considers money over everything. They wont shy away from killing anyone, not even infants. Well, we are so deep in shit that I don't think that even God himself can help us. All we can do is now is pray that before any mass extinction calamity, human race just do not eat and eradicate each other...

May God be with us...

Book Review: Hurry Om Hari

#myreviews

Title: Hurry Om Hari

Author: Parul Tyagi

Publisher: Half Baked Beans

Pages: 130

Price: Rs. 175

My Rating: 3.25/5

Blurb: 

Haven't we all heard this at least thousand times in our lives? (Okay you must have heard more.) The point is we are all in a hurry to make something. Be it careers, relationships, excuses, success, cover ups, babies, lives.

Om and Hari.

Their dreams may be at the far ends of a rope, their journeys may be markedly different from each other's but their desire is common - to make it on their own!

What makes this even more tedious is their race against time in doing so. They are the dreamers, the strugglers, the under dogs, the go getters, the nerve wreckers, the charmers and....... they are You!

My Review:

I came across the title while I was searching for some nice read and found many positive reviews on-line about this book. Honestly I am not disappointed to decide to buy this one (considering my last read)

Hurry Om Hari is a fast paced, nonchalant, refreshing love story of two individuals who although want to be together but decide to live up their dreams first.

Om and Harini (aka Om & Hari) meet, fall in love and then set on their own paths to fulfil their destinies. Their families support them and more so they support each other. I really liked the chemistry and understanding, something that every relation should have. Also, the support and care the families show.

For characters, they are well defined and linked. All characters have their purpose in the story and they fulfill it without any miss. 

The story is likeable and in compliance with today's scenario. The way it is written, you actually fall in love with the characters. Its engrossing and makes the book unputdownable.

Really enjoyed the book and would recommend it as a fair good read. 

The only little issue is the with the language here and there but given the story and everything, we can ignore them

My rating: 3.25/5

Hope this helps and you enjoy the book too...

You can buy at:

Till then
Take Care

Book Review: Fifty Shades Series

#fiftyshades         #myreviews

Have heard a lot about this book and about it's journey from self-publishing & POD to best seller. Honestly I was intrigued to see what the fuss is all about and after reading it I understand now.

The book series revolve around typical Mills and Boon's characters, a super handsome, Greek God type ultra-rich intimidating man and an average, timid woman. The only difference between this and typical M&B books is that where its romance and tasteful erotica in M&B, it's BDSM & hard-core sex in fifty shades. 

Looking at the characters, the characters are well defined and written in the series. You actually get attached to them and many would fall in love with Christian & Ana (the lead characters). Other side-characters are also well spaced, there is no one who is just looming around the story and not participating enough. 

When it comes to story its very basic. Standard love story with some twists and turns of Christian's past. Honestly apart from his past rest all was sadly predictable and at times miserable. Again and again it was reminding me of Bella and Edward from Twilight, just that he was an overprotective vampire and here Christian is an overprotective boyfriend and husband. For me, I missed the originality in the characters.

Regarding the intimate sections of the book, honestly they are not tastefully done. They are not erotic, rather its very raw and gross at some points. After a point all I did was turned over pages to get over it and read the love story which was more interesting to me.

With respect to writing, I was told that English people have better command on English, well I suppose that's not the case for everyone. The words across 3 books are very heavy, I wonder if thesaurus is behind them. There are some basic mistakes in the book and one which is really funny is, there is usage of certain words or phrase at length and forgotten later, for example, for certain pages Christian uses eh after each sentence and then he forgets to use them after sometime. The prologues are very vague and don't easily like to story, plus the epilogue could have been skipped or could have been written in much better fashion

You might wonder how come this book is a bestseller, and the answer is simple, it provides access to written porn in broad daylight. Watch the movie to understand why I am saying so (but let me warn you, it's a terrible watch). However, the story (if ignore some issues there) is good and hooks the reader, one can read for that.

For me, I chose to see what al fuss about and I am disappointed. I could have spent my week reading rather something more interesting and actually romantic

Jurassic World Movie: My Reviews and thoughts

#jurassicworld    #myreviews

I have been very excited for this movie ever since I watched its trailer and honestly I am not disappointed. Jurassic world has taken the science fiction adventure to all new different level.

It was a interesting watch and at some places it got a little scary, well you know what I mean, not the ghost scary but chilling your nerves kind. The movie is a pleasure to watch in 3D, in normal 2D it will look like another normal sci-fi but a good 3D will just blow your mind away. The graphics of the movie are simply awesome and not at any place would you feel it's all computerized. Hats off to the team doing this job. 

The movie revolves around a theme park which doesn't have normal regular animals but some mind-blowing dinosaurs. It is set in 24 years after the tragedy of 'jurassic park', the movie that was released in 1993 and had set its own new records. If you may say, the story is same, some rogue dinosaur gets on a killing spree and there is chaos and death everywhere. Although the story is in these lines it has been very nicely done. Also I found the end super nice, usually its humans who hunt down the rogue dinosaur, but here 2 dinosaurs fight against each other and its a damn good sight. Also, some of the dinosaurs are so big, it will leave you in the awe.

The characters include Chris Pratt (who trains dinosaurs and actually fights alongside them, it's kindda cool), Bryce Dallas Howard (park manager and harassed aunt of two boys who choose to spend a day in theme park when a dinosaur attacked. She could have had a better hairstyle), Nick Robinson & Ty Simpkins who are the two boys around whom the story revolves. We also have an Indian actor Irrfan Khan, who is the owner of the Jurassic world (honestly very proud to see an actor in such high profile movie. No doubt he is one of the best and he did a fine job in acting but maybe he could have done a better job with his accent, many Indians were not able to understand him, it was a shame)

Overall, if you are a fan of sci-fi movies it is a must watch but only in 3D. Some scenes will make you laugh yes, but most others will freeze you and keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't miss out as you will only regret it watching it on DVD

All in all, a very fine watch, I would rate it as 4/5.

Hope the review helps

Till then

Take Care

NGID Experience @ Nielsen

#NGID      #miscellaneous

How lucky we are? How privileged are we? We never ask such questions to ourselves, these are the thoughts that only occur when we meet or surround ourselves with people who are not as lucky as we are...

We hear and read every day about how there is a mass population in India that suffers with unthinkable diseases or who struggles to meet their ends, but are never able to relate to them just by reading. The experience of being among them, interact and spend some time with them is an eye opener. Yesterday Nielsen celebrated its 4th Global Impact Day where the entire Nielsen family globally went to various NGO's, hospitals, orphanages etc. to spend time with the patients, children in there and to give back something to the society. Our group went to Vimla Centre, Versova, Mumbai which treats Leprosy patients and hosts school and hostel for under privileged kids. It was an engaging and enlightening experience for everyone, to say the least. But it was more than an experience but kind of a life-altering event, as one can put it, for me.

It was fun-filled day with lots of activities. Needless to say, the organizers of the event did an awesome job. The day began with introduction to the organization, where we met with greetings and taught children about the 'importance of health & hygiene'. We then met the Head Sister of the organization who came to India 45 years ago from Italy and stayed here forever just to help and assist the patients of Leprosy, kudos to her dedication. After that Nielsen engaged in multiple activities starting with entertaining patients with stand-up comedy act, which with no doubts brought smiles to people's faces.

Nielsen also hosted a drawing competition (for the kids of different age groups) and one cannot believe the talent that is hidden in India. Some paintings were so beautiful, they can easily out-win today's 'modern art' that people buy for hundreds' of thousands these days. Though we gave out prizes for the winners of the competiton, you can clearly see that there was no jealousy amongst those who couldn’t win a prize. They all clapped whole heartedly as a name was called out and cheered up. When the winners were asked if they will share their prizes with others, there was no hesitation in anyone saying an instantaneous ‘Yes’ and you can sense that there was no sign of selfishness and they genuinely cared for each other. Someone has rightly said that Children do have a pure heart.

Next was dance competition where Nielsen employees danced with the kids. Few of us first taught them some steps on a song and then they performed those steps on stage in front of everyone. The smile that we saw on the kids' faces when they danced was priceless. Some of the steps they did were looking better compared to their trainers. We were amazed to see the talent that these kids had and if given the right environment and facilities, they can do wonders in their lives.

For the first time in my life I loved a group of children, they were not like the spoiled brats we see everywhere today; these were the kids who value the importance of love, belonging, every single bite of food & every sip of water. They danced like no one was watching and honestly it was a blissful sight. We also donated things to the patients and they just didn't say 'thanks' but they had thanks in their eyes and smile. It's moments like these that reflect all your other moments in an instance. It is these moments which force you to ask the question to yourself- do you really do enough for the society?

We spent almost a day with the little kids & the patients and the love, courtesy that they showered on us, I have never witnessed it before. We all post on Facebook, read in papers on how we should be grateful for things we have, but after meeting these people, I honestly realised what it is like to be grateful. The smile they had when we talked them, the content they felt after sharing their stories was simply priceless. 

When we were leaving, kids said Good bye to all of us by leaning against the balcony and we can clearly see the happiness in their eyes along with the hope that these guys will visit us again. I hope that I do not let them down.

Every year Nielsen family go to such places, and every year many of us think that we will come again, we will do something for the society but unfortunately daily routines don't allow us to do so. I hope this year, at least once more I would be able to do such thing again, because when we visit it's not just the people in these homes who get a smile and content, its us too who feel blessed.

My thanks to Nielsen for hosting such day every year, through this you don't just leave a positive imprint on the society, but also on your employees...

By Kritika Sharma & Rajat Kumar Sharma

Dil Dhadakne Do Movie... My Reviews and Thoughts

#DilDhadkneDo   #MovieReviews

A simple warning: my review contains not a lot but some spoilers. You have been warned :)

Few weeks ago I saw a post saying 'after zindagi na milegi dobara this is another movie where all stars will be seen partying' and it is exactly the same. The movie although starts from Delhi but ends up in Greece.

For starters I didn't find the movie as great as it has been hyped. Characters are very good but story doesn't bind them properly. It stars Ranveer Singh, Priyanka Chopra, Anushka Sharma, Rahul Bose, Farhaan Akhtar, Anil Kapoor, Shefali Shah and Aamir Khan. The screen provides some fresh and unique couples who are not so easy going, all have complicated relations, just like it is predicted for all high class societies.

Talking about characters, the best character is of Ranveer Singh, he clearly stole the show and the heart of his audience. He is the only character who will make you laugh throughout the movie. The next best character, or equivalent is of Aamir Khan, he is the voice of Ranveer's dog Pluto and does wonders in his narration. Priyanka, as usual looks glamorous and beautiful but they could have done a little better with her outfit. Most of them were simply weird. Anushka, Farhaan & Rahul are simply side characters who are crucial but not the important ones, or in other words, could have done with other stars

I also liked the acting of Zarina Wahab. She plays the role of Rahul Bose's mother, Priyanka MIL. Oh God, I am so glad my MIL is not like her. She is shown one hell of a woman who complains all the time and has all sorts of illness, starting from Vertigo to Asthama. I guess she must keep a handbook of illness at hand to state the next one right on time. Its hilarious.

The story revolves around Mehra family and their business 'Ayka' i.e. Ayesha (Priyanka) & Kabir (Ranveer). It is their parents (Anil & Shefali) 30th anniversary and they plan a cruise from Turkey to Greece. One thing which is ironic in this is that Ayka is almost bankrupt, still they go this super-expensive cruise with whole lot of other high class people. At one point it was mentioned that per couple it is around 8000 Euros. It is a lot of money. Anyways... they are a non-loving, almost bankrupt family but still go this cruising trip

A lot happens on the cruise, like Mehra Mama-Papa who are not at all in love, papa always having an affair and mama always criticizing start understanding each other. After years of bickering and unfaithfulness they come to an understanding. Sister Mehra decides to get a divorce because she was forced into the marriage for a business deal and brother Mehra falls in love with a Muslim bar dancer and over-boards the ship to find his true love. All this sound a little cheesy but it is kind of well put in the whole movie. You kind of understand it.

There are various other side stories which fill in the gaps but major is around these four characters.

The music of the show is a little average, usually the songs you expect with such cast movies is great and epic but here they don't do justice, neither do the dance moves. They should have done a better job here

All in all, the movie is one time watch. But if you want to watch it for your all time favourite characters like Rahul Bose, Farhaan Akhtar etc. then it is not worth 400 bucks. My rating 3/5 only due to Ranveer Singh and Pluto

I hope this helps

Till then

Take Care

San Andreas Movie: My Reviews & Thoughts

#sanandreasmovie       #myreviews

Note: my review contains not a lot but some spoilers. You have been warned :)



It has been few weeks since the release of this movie, I held back due to all the bad reviews that were pouring from all over. However, when I watched it today, its not so bad. Yes, 3D version of the movie is not up to the mark and  the story is kind of predictable, but isn't it the same for all the natural disaster movies?

The movie is similar to any other natural calamity movie made in Hollywood, there is a strong charactered father who fights against the nature to save his child, we have seen this is many movies like 'Into the Storm', 'Day after tomorrow' etc. Usually every movie has different calamity, this time it's an Earthquake which is the strongest ever recorded in the history (9.6 on Richter scale). The story revolves around a series of these earthquakes that occur alongside the San Andreas Fault line which in turn creates havoc in the entire area starting from Nevada to San Francisco.

The main characters are Ray (played by 'The Rock'), Blake (Alexandra Daddario), Emma (Carla Gugino), Ben (Hugo Johnstone-Burt) and Ollie (Art Parkinson). Although Ray and Blake are the focus of the movie, you see father trying to save his daughter from this disaster, for me Ollie is the show stealer. He is the best and not to mention cutest character of the movie. His perfect expressions and apt dialogues will make you laugh every time. The treat for all boys is Alexandra, she is looking pretty good in the movie and not to mention 'The Rock', he is a charm like always. The movie also has Colton Haynes (many know him as Roy in 'the Arrow') and Ian Gruffudd (from the series 'Forever'). Both of them don't do justice to their fans. Where Colton is supremely idiotic and a side-kick, Ian is insanely selfish. 

The screenplay and the story is also decent enough. The plot line is well paced and doesn't drag unnecessarily. The sense of urgency is clearly visible throughout. The special effects are pretty good too. Yes, critics have yelled stating they are not good enough, but one should not judge the whole movie based on one or so instances, anyways, I found them pretty good and rather scary. In so many instances you will find yourself speaking, "Oh Shit!" or "Oh God!". The effects of scenes when dam collapses, bridge falls or when buildings just crumbles down, will give you serious goosebumps. 

It is not just an Earthquake that hits the San Francisco city, it is followed by a bad Tsunami. Something that usually happens in reality as well. I remember from 2004 news, when worst Earthquake had hit Indian Ocean, most of the countries like India, Indonesia, Thailand etc. were devastated by the Tsunami that followed it. Similar thing is shown here, which depicts reality. I agree some scenes are a little out there but overall it was all acceptable to a naive mind

One thing that sincerely matches the reality is the fear that such events bring. After watching this movie my heart ached for the people who recently suffered this calamity in Nepal, I am sure many people felt the same. It indeed comes to 'survival of the fittest', and such movies and instances force you to sense check yourself, are you really fit? Given the condition of weather and Earth, given the global warming, one desperately need to start a fitness regime to survive in the long run.

Having said that, I would recommend this movie to everyone who enjoy a good natural disaster movie. It grossed over $140 million worldwide, people are not stupid to watch it. My rating for the movie: 3.75/5

I hope you enjoy the movie too

Till then

Take Care

Don't want to catch a cold again? Try this...

#commoncold #curewithoutmedicine

Common cold is one disease  that doesn't need an introduction or explanation. All of us have suffered it at some point in life, some a little more frequent than others.

Common cold a.k.a. Flu or Viral is caused mainly due to season change or some virus infection. People with poor immune system suffer from it way more frequently than others. I classify in one of those people who have worst of all immune system; I have taken so many antibiotics that now a normal dose of it doesn't even help. Tired of wiping my nose all the time I looked up the most effective herbal cure and what do you know, I found it.

This remedy is so effective that till the time I consume it, I don't fall sick. You must wonder why would I stop it if it helps, well call me a fool but I sometime do stop it and my cold is a brutal reminder...

What is this magic cure that I am bragging about. Well, its nothing rare or imaginative, its a simple herb called 'Pipli'. It goes by many names, see the picture and you should know what to call it.

In few cultures it is called 'long pepper' and it does have an intense taste. Thankfully you don't have to consume it raw.

The way I take it by adding it in my tea. I usually take half of the stick, crush it and boil it in water. In the initial days the flavor stands out, but in a week or so, its fine as the taste buds start to adapt.

Taking this daily (once or twice) boosts immune system and prevents body from catching cold.

For me, the biggest reason for its consumption is not to catch a cold, never paid attention to other benefits honestly. However, there are couple of others listed as well. To mention a few:

• Helps in diabetes
• Promotes weight loss
• Aids digestion
• Helps regulate menses in women
• Improves sleep & cures insomnia
• Strengthens the nervous system
• Improves lungs and aids comfortable breathing
• And so on...

I hope after reading this, you will be intrigued to try it out. Well, if it can save you a sinister cold, there is no harm in trying. Be it weather change or severe infection from your neighbor, you will be saved, just give it a try :)

Till then

Take Care