Ban the Malls, Go buy from some NGO

#RandomThoughts #SmallMessage

Ban the 'Malls' this Diwali and go buy from NGOs. 

It is not the NGO that came, 

just borrowed the pic from Google

My husband's company hosted a NGO in his office where they sold self-made candles, potpourri, diyas, rangoli colors and much more... My husband being him, bought a lot of stuff and came back home. Yes, some were decently priced and some were expensive but the smile of satisfaction & happiness he had on his face was priceless for me. I can also imagine the smiles this would have brought on the faces of kids of that NGO.

We all want to do something for the society and that day he actually did. And I couldn't be happier or more proud. 

I hope we all ban malls on such occasions and find time to go spend some money with such NGOs and do a good deed. After all, these are also someone's kids and deserve equal happiness.

Original post at: http://babyandblessings.blogspot.in/

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

Happy Diwali to all.

Love & Cheers

Take a pledge and Spread the Joy this Diwali

#RandomThoughts

Diwali is the biggest and brightest festivals of India and it is celebrated with our friends and families.
As everyone celebrate it with their loved ones, for me too it is a blissful time. We all get together (which we are usually unable to do) and have lot of fun - starting from lighting our house with candles, diyas and lights to eating our favorite sweets, burning crackers and having all the joyous moments.

And we are doing the same this year as well. (I am personally against fire crackers but they are fun to an extent)

Yes it is joyous but, when I stepped out of house today I realized something of utter importance. How lucky and privileged we are to have so many facilities and decent enough financial status to be able to celebrate the way we want. We can spend our partial salaries today and get ourselves whatever we desire. But there are so many around us who can't. I realized it when I saw poor children begging on the streets some hope.

"Oh, we should have bought some fuljhadi for them" my friend spoke. But I wonder do they really want crackers? Yes it will be fun but wouldn't some decent gifts like sweets or little useful things like crayons, biscuits etc. would help them more?

We were almost back to our house hence I couldn't do much. But when I step out day after tomorrow, I will surely fill up my car with little things and spread the joy. And next year, I will ensure my car if full of little gifts a week before Diwali so ensure I spread some smiles.

This is my pledge, what is yours? I hope you take similar one too and make our festival even better than before.

Love & Cheers

Book - 8 Days a Week - Story of Sales, Narcissism and Random Hookups

#8DaysAWeek  #BookReview

Read Review Policy Here

Title: 8 Days a Week

Author: Niraj Satnalika

Publisher: Half Baked Beans

Pages: 120

Price: Rs. 199

My Rating: 2/5

Blurb:

Rohan aka Ron was super excited to join sales department in a leading financial services company post his amazing two months internship experience. Just like a drug peddlar, Rohan peddled with complex financial products ranging insurance to credit cards to mutual funds. However, little did he knew that his life as a sales person would change his professional and personal life for the better and worse. Read on to unfold the mystery.

Review:

To start with, I don't think I was the right reader for the book. As stated in the title of the post, the book totally revolves around sales, narcissism and random hookups - and especially from a guy's perspective. I could not cherish reading this book completely.

The cover of the book is attractive and by the time you reach the end of the book you realize the essence of the title as well.

Talking about story, it is fine. The flow is good but I seriously believe that there are certain connecting dots that are missing. However, I respect author's writing style.

It primarily revolves around one character and his life story from his college to his job. How he spends his college life, how he gets a job in a leading bank, how he meets and fails targets and how he hooks up with various women. There are various other characters that are introduced but none have been explored or developed properly.

Looking from Sales lens, the book reminded me of 'Rocket Singh - salesman of the year' movie. I liked this section regarding how the sales world has been explored and how tough is getting sales done (especially of credit cards). The arguments, learnings are rather interesting.

Moving on narcissistic part, the book is written by a guy so of course it revolves around his perspective. How he is the epicenter of everything and how girls throw themselves. No where is he seen interested in anyone, instead others fall on him - it might be possible but it is rather weird. Throughout he is looking for random hookups and not caring...

And hookups - Wow! they are not at all tastefully written. There are some weird sex-scenes mentioned in the book which make you wonder - WHAT? I can tell author was motivated by 'Fifty shades of Grey' and he has done a terrible job in replicating it. Even some of the dialogues are exactly similar, which makes it hilarious. I was like 'really dude' at least change the dialogues please. Ha ha!

Lastly the book. It has many grammatical mistakes and editing issues. A good proof reading can make this book a smooth read...

Anyways, all in all my rating is 2/5 mainly for author's different writing style, for humor and good sales angle.

You can find the book here.

Love and Cheers

True Hero...

#RandomThoughts #BeAHero

Any selfless deed can make you a hero.

You don't need to climb mountains or take a bullet to be one.

If your heart is pure enough & you do something that helps someone,

In my eyes, you are a 'True Hero'

PS: Written for Indispire Edition 140:What makes a person a hero? Can anyone become a hero? If yes, how? #BeAHero

Love & Cheers

A Kind Gesture from our Prime Minister...

#RandomThoughts

I am not the one who likes to write about Politics but I read a news article yesterday which motivated me to share it with everyone...

Living in Gurgaon we see a lot of AAP fans and a lot of Narendra Modi fans. I for one is in total support of our PM and if you read 'honest news' regularly, you won't ask for reasons. (Also I don't want to go into other parties where they spend only 10 minutes in their office in the past 2 months and God knows how but spend more than 1 Crore tax payer money on Samosas).

Anyways, talking about our PM, I would like to state one reason here as to why I find him the most humble and perfect politician).

Running a country and bringing it closer to success is not an easy task. It has been mentioned again and again that our PM works for around 18 hours a day (even we don't work that long and it should be noted that he is old) and he has not taken a single day off ever since he has taken the post. He responds to each letter himself and tweets as well. Its not just this, he is brilliant, polite and also shows kindness and gratitude towards the normal citizens of India.

One of the instance that I read was when an average couple wrote to PM requesting to name their daughter, PM called them himself and suggested the name 'Vaibhavi'. Yes, he called them himself. He was thoughtful enough to suggest the name based on parents names. Now, a Modi-hater must say why is this important, but if we think about it, for a PM to take out 2.5 minutes to talk and then write an official letter is a big deal. It does not suggest he does not have any work to do... but it actually suggests he is kind and considerate. Full news here.

To many it will sound like not-so big a deal and I don't know about you but it actually made me respect him more and understand why not just Indians but whole world respects him. Hats off to you our Prime Minister and Thank you for making India a better and safer place to live.

Love & Cheers

Book - When Arya Fell Through the Fault: A Rather Unique Perspective to Ramayana

#WhenAryaFellThroughTheFault   #BookReviews

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Title: When Arya Fell Through the Fault

Author: Reenita Malhotra Hora

Publisher: Om Books

Pages: 207

Price: Rs. 125

My Rating: 4/5

Blurb:

When Arya Fell Through The Fault Is The Magical, Coming-Of-Age Tale Of Arya, A 12-Year-Old Boy From San Francisco, Who Is Ridiculed By Bullies. Anything To Do With His Ethnicity—Food, Traditions Or The Fascinating Mythological Stories He Has Been Raised With, Has Become The Building Block Of Unpleasant School Experiences. In The Wake Of An Accident That Confines His Once Vibrant Mother To A Hospital Ward—Kept Alive By Tubes And Machines—Arya Clings To The Only Remnant Of Their Bond: An Old, Battered Copy Of The Ramayana, India’S Ancient Epic Story Of Rama’S Battle Against Demons.One Night, Arya Falls Through A Fault In The Earth Into The Wild Woods, Where Ravana—The Demon King—Strategises To Destroy His Ramayana—The Last Copy Left—And Threatens To Rewrite History From His Evil Perspective. Will Arya Be Able To Save The Story Of Rama, Heal His Mother And Return Home To Tackle The Demons In His Ordinary World? 

Review:

When you look at the cover you feel so intrigued - that is the charm of the book. As it can be visualized, the book revolves around a boy who is trapped between Lord Rama, Demon Ravana and the things he loves most. The blurb also offers a deep perspective to the book, basically how a 12 year old boy is struggles in his own life and how mythology becomes his sole rescue source. I felt very much drawn to this book just basis these.'

As mentioned in the blurb, the book revolves around a 12 year old Indian boy who lives in San Francisco. The biggest challenge in his life is the racism he faces throughout. Be it is his skin color or food, he is bullied in and out. His mother, an ayurvedic doctor is a well-cultured traditional woman who tries to embrace her traditions deeply and his father is a taxi driver who is trying real hard to meet the ends. The soul purpose of their lives is to ensure Arya gets the best. In all challenges that Arya faces, there is one thing that binds him to his family and his culture - the Ramayana. He embraces the story of Ramayana to his core. The moral learnings from the epic story have such significant impact on his own life that he uses them to fight all his demons.

Another thing I found interesting is the family bond that is visible. When Arya's mother is on her death bed, it is rather touching how he uses Ramayana in an attempt to save her. Few points leaves chill to the soul.

I really liked reading this book, it is rather quick read and refreshes the mind. The characters are well plotted and well narrated. I didn't find a dull moment in the book.

If you choose to pick up the book, I am sure you would love it as well.

You can grab your copy here. My rating 4/5.

The review copy of this book was shared with me by Cyclops Literary Services

I hope you enjoy it too.

Love & Cheers

Stayed Dark for a Month

#RandomThoughts

Ever since I started using internet (don't even know the time... maybe it was the 'Orkut age').
September was the first whole month ever where I stayed away from internet. Yes... I actually mean no facebook, no twitter, no blogging, even no watsapp or anything... Have you ever done that?

It was primarily due to extreme workload that I was facing and in the beginning I was like damn! I should find time to come online... but after sometime I actually felt great. After few days I felt no obligation to post anything anywhere... no compulsion to like any photos or comment any where. It was actually interesting.

When you are not online you actually feel more alive - more connected to your family & friends... I realized it last month. All the spare time I found, which although was hardly any, I spent with my dear husband. It was just me, my family and sadly my work...

Yes I am back online now but I believe it is now the time I would spend more with my them and relatively less online and maintain a balance.

Why I writing this post? Well... I wanted to share this new found happy revelation with everyone and also suggest to do the same thing. Try & Go Dark for sometime, you will definitely find something new in your life... it can be a new hobby, a new person or like me - a new found serenity in your existing relation.

Love & Cheers