Fresh out of my oven – baking for the little one đ
Movies that cheer you up anytime :-)
January 17, 2013Today I tweeted something about movies in the morning and it instantly reminded me the number of movies I got to watch in 2012 in theater. Guess how many? Well just TWO! Now who know me, know very well my movie stats till 2011 but then things change and have changed a lot since the little one has arrived. Though the good part is that we have started to spend more and more time at home these days playing and having fun with our little one. We both always loved watching good movies at home but these days our DVD viewing has gone up considerably. Where else will you get the comfort and convenience of watching movies with multiple breaks for diaper change, milk refill, play time etc. Yes, a two and hour movie is watched somewhere between 4 hours to 4 days depending upon what mood our little boss is into .
And at the end of hectic days coupled with all these breaks in between, all you wanna watch are movies that can cheer you up. You know those comedies that make you really laugh, rom-coms that bring a smile on your face and those girly-girly movies that you can never get bored of! Yeah those and my movie quotas generally consist of such movies these days, movies that just add some light and fun moments in my life. All my old preferences for world cinema and serious movies have been saved and well preserved for later stage in life. As of now, only movies that can cheer me up !
Hereâs a list of five girly (caution: I repeat these are truly girly :P) that I watched in last few weeks and despite the fact that all these were re-watch for me, I still didnât get bored of any .
- Confessions of a Shopaholic: Hee hee, whatay delight! Well as per what people say about me, Iâm not a shopaholic I think but then Beccy does bring a smile on my face. You donât need to be a shopping addict to relate to her, some part of her is definitely real, after all which girl does not like new stuffs ? And to add to that Hugh Dancy as Luke Brandson is absolutely droolworthy!
- Sleepless in Seattle: It must be my nth watch and I was still not bored of it! Iâm sure anybody who likes to watch mush must have watched it. In case you havenât, please stop reading this post and go watch it now!
- A Walk to Remember: When I had first watched it, I was totally surprised. I had expected it to be just another rom-flick but it was much more than that. I watched it again few days back and didnât use the forward button at all.
- Julie & Julia: I just spotted a copy of this movie and for my love for cooking & baking and the fact that I am in kitchen more these days for the junior dude made me watch it again. Watch it for the love of food and the passionate chef inside you; you wonât be disappointed for sure.
- Music & Lyrics: Hugh Grant & Drew Barrymore⌠do you need any more reason to watch a rom-com than these two?
Iâm a huge fan of Hindi cinema too but I wonder why donât they make good light movies that one can think of re-watching again. The last hindi movie that I willingly watched second time was Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and after that none! There are many from other genres in Bollywood that I can watch again but comedy? Well, I think none! Not at least any recent one.
So, which are your cheer-up movies that can lighten your mood anytime you watch them? Share it here and in case I have not watched it, I would love to whenever I get time next.
Haylos :-)
January 14, 2013Wish you all a very Happy Makarsankranti, Pongal, Lohri & Bihu. One day, so many celebrations! But then that’s the beauty of rich cultural diversity like ours. So, how’s the new year treating you? Like every year, this year I couldn’t wish you on time. But then as they say wishes are never late… so, wish you all a very HAPPY NEW YEAR too!
You know I miss this space a lot, I really do! There’s so much that I want to share, so much that I want to discuss and so much that I want to express but… sigh life seems to be running by these days or shall I say flying by and that too on a jet plane! I read, heard & knew that life will change after entering mommyhood but would it change so much? Well, I had no idea! While I try to cope up with one thing, the second springs up within a blink! But I do wanna write on this space more regularly now, as for a person like me writing is the only medium that always helps me express my thoughts more clearly. Have been writing a diary ever since I learnt writing I think and have been blogging for more than a decade now. I so hope and wish that my this passion does not die like many others in the rut of life :-(. So, hoping to get back with my next post soon!
Bbye for now, will be visiting my favorite blogs to read updates from your life there.
The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi
December 1, 2012
After reading âChanakyaâs Chantâ by Ashiwn Sanghi earlier, I was quite looking forward to his new book âThe Krishna Keyâ. To add to that, the video ad of the book made me all the more excited about it. So, was it a delight or a dud for me? Actually neither! At times, the book was too gripping whereas at others I lost interest due to too many details. When I say âtoo manyâ, it was actually âtoo manyâ. But I have to give credit to the author for the kind of research he has done to write this book. Absolutely brilliant! Itâs simply amazing and praiseworthy to note that in this age of shortcuts or quick-lits, someone has actually put in this kind of effort to write a book like this. Kudos to Mr. Sanghi for the same!
Now coming down to the book, its yet another intriguing thriller fiction that interweaves mythology and reality. Five thousand years ago, there came to earth a magical being called Krishna, who brought about innumerable miracles for the good of mankind. Humanity despaired of its fate if the Blue God were to die but was reassured that he would return in a fresh avatar when needed in the eventual Dark Age, the Kaliyug. In modern times, a poor little rich boy grows up believing that he is that final avatar. Only, he is a serial killer. In this heart-stopping tale, the arrival of a murderer who executes his gruesome and brilliantly thought-out schemes in the name of God is the first clue to a sinister conspiracy to expose an ancient secret, Krishnaâs priceless legacy to mankind. ‘The Krishna Key’ tries to provide a logical alternative explanation of the Vedic Age that could be relished by conspiracy buffs and thriller addicts alike.
Well-researched, Fascinating but Overloaded! These are the three words that come to my mind if I have to describe this book crisply. The start of the book was quite good; first day when I had picked it up, it seemed to be one of those unputdownable ones. But as the story unfolds, it isnât. If the blogosphere said that itâs like an Indian Da Vinci Code, it actually is! And I didnât mind reading one, as personally speaking I have come across very few Indian fiction that has presented thriller in a captivating way. This book definitely manages to do that to an extent. Except that I feel that at places, over stretching could have been avoided to keep the interest intact. If you try to relate to fact with fiction, or go into the mode of relating current with history then trust me it will leave you super confused. So, just read it as it is. Language was good and flow smooth but the length of the book with 464 pages of storytelling was something that I think could have been definitely relooked at.
Overall a good read but start reading it with moderate expectations. If you get into comparative mode with the authorâs first two books, then you might have higher expectations leading to disappointment. If not for anything else, read it for the kind of information that this books provides on mythology and history.
So, have you read this book? What has been your view on it? Do share the same in the comments section.
This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!
Wordless Wednesday: Godhuli
October 31, 2012
Godhuli bela!
Remembering that tranquil evening spent by the beach in Goa last month…
Remembering that tranquil evening spent by the beach in Goa last month…
Buying Facebook Likes? Paying for positive reviews? Purchasing Twitter Followers?
September 26, 2012Just few days back I had tweeted about my declining interest in some of my favorite blogs. Reason? Posts on those blogs now are obvious enough to make out that they are paid and not the real ones. And yesterday I got to read this report, which states that paid reviews are gaining momentum as social media marketing trend.
As per this recent report by Gartner, by 2014 between 10% and 15% of all ratings and reviews on social networking sites will be fake or paid ones as against the current percentage of 1% to 2%. Due to increased consumer reliance on social media sites, companies are now spending more in order to get attention and build positive content on these channels.
âWith over half of the Internet’s population on social networks, organizations are scrambling for new ways to build bigger follower bases, generate more hits on videos, garner more positive reviews than their competitors and solicit âlikesâ on their Facebook pages,â said Jenny Sussin, senior research analyst at Gartner. âMany marketers have turned to paying for positive reviews with cash, coupons and promotions including additional hits on YouTube videos in order to pique site visitors’ interests in the hope of increasing sales, customer loyalty and customer advocacy through social media âword of mouthâ campaigns.â
The report also predicts that with the percentage of false social networking reviews increasing, chances of backlash will be more both in terms of media attention and Federal Trade Commission lawsuits. You can read the summary of the report here.
Fake reviews and paid likes? Considering the consumer presence and engagement with social sites it had to happen but my question is why? If you ask me, I still have not come across even a single such sensibly executed paid campaign that I can accept or appreciate either as a consumer or as a marketer. âLike us on Facebook and win prizesâ, âFollow us on Twitter and get discountâ â digital medium is flooded with such offers and promotions these days.
Offers and promotions to attract relevant audience are still understandable as once they are associated with your brand you can try to engage them in interesting ways but buying out random followers and likes just to project a huge fan following? OK, you bought likes, have a huge fan following on Facebook and large follower base on Twitter, then what? Are they reading your communication? Are they engaged with your brand? Are they interacting with you on these channels? In most of these cases, answer is no. Then what business objective is getting served with these randomly bought followers? Even for paid content, positive posts written with a balanced approach may help to boost your image to some extent but then if it is not backed up with product / service fulfillment then what? Your same post gets backfired with numerous negative comments and ratings. And this Iâm speaking of âsmartâ paid content, letâs not even discuss the ones written in a way that self advertise those posts being fakes and not real ones loud and clear.
These gimmicks (or shall I call them modern day internet scam) may help you achieve your short-term goals but in the long run? Well, I have no idea! Not only these can lead to loss of brand credibility but can backfire as well in an uncontrolled negative way. To add to that, it would also impact the core essence of social media being i.e., engagement and interaction! So, what do you think of these campaigns? Do you think social media will also meet the same fate as email or sms marketing? Can you make out the difference between real and paid content? Have you liked any page for any incentive and if yes, did you unlike the page once you were incentivized? Would love to hear your views on these.
â366 wordsâ series by FUNOKPLEASE
September 3, 2012Few days back I had written about Toto Series by this new age Indian publisher FunOkPlease. I got to read yet another gem by them â â366 words in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi & Kolkataâ and once again I am compelled to write my feedback about them. These guys definitely deserve a big shout out for their effort! Absolutely laudable and worth a mention! Undoubtedly their content is different and when I say different itâs actually different. Practical, innovative and engaging to the core! I canât tell you how impressed Iâm by this 366 words series.
â366 wordsâ showcases the vibrant cities of Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi & Kolkata to its readers in a very creative and interesting way. Each book revolves around one city and presents the history, culture, food, festivals and important landmarks through beautiful illustrations. This book is meant for kids of any age group. For younger kids (< 5 years), it can be used as picture talk book to learn one new word each day. For bit older kids (6-8 years), it can be used to help them learn and identify places and interesting facts about their city. For older kids (> 8 years), it can be used as an informative and comprehensive guide of their city and surroundings.
Loaded with information, presented in style, these books have enough activities to keep your little ones engaged – be it the ones like ‘find-the-objects-in-each-picture’ or ‘identify-the-images’ at the end of books, each page has been designed keeping kids of different age groups in mind.
A sample page from “366 words in Bengaluru”
Though the book does not mention it but I must say that this book is not only meant for kids rather even grown ups can benefit from it easily. The first two pages on history and background of city are so informative. Things like âhow did Bengaluru get its nameâ or âhow payasa combines all flavors of life in one single recipeâ from â366 words in Bengaluruâ are some of the knowledge nuggets which I definitely loved to read.
In nutshell, this series is a must if youâre looking to enrich your kidâs knowledge about your city. In fact as per me, it would be interesting if schools in their curriculums can include such books. I read all four in their series and I think I can safely say that I have not come across any similar Indian book that presents such important insights in such a fun way. Loved it and strongly recommend it to parents in my network. Itâs one of those must-have books for your juniorâs library.
Do check out more about their new collection here.
Wordless Wednesday
August 22, 2012
Oh yes I’m back to cooking, something which I really-really enjoy doing :-). Cooking was one of those few activities that I really missed during pregnancy, oh god I just couldn’t stand the smell of many food items then. Speak of pregnancy food aversion syndrome and my brutally shattered dream of ‘hogging-on-chocolates-till-I-die’ :-(.
But even though I’m back, it’s mainly low calorie or baked/grilled stuff on my cooking menu these days (sigh the post pregnancy weight đ ). This wordless wednesday consists of snapshots of food out of my oven last week. Ok, I know Nutella Swiss Roll does not qualify to be low calorie from any angle but if I just took half a bite then it would be, right? Gawd, I can’t believe my sincerity! I baked something with Nutella and still took just a bite, good gal I’m, ain’t it :-)?
Kho na jaye ye
August 19, 2012âKho na jaye ye, tare zameen perâŚâ, these words are buzzing again in my mind since yesterday. Ok, first a confession â when I had watched this movie in 2007, I actually was all teary eyed for most part of the movie. Having lived in hostels since childhood, the song âpar andhere se main darta hoon maaâ had moved me in a way that canât be expressed in words. By the end of the movie it was quite an embarrassing situation to face my husband and friends with swollen red eyes and wet cheeks. Like many others I too had loved, loouuuueeed the movie then. By chance I happened to watch it again yesterday. And to say that I âcriedâ again while watching it would be such an understatement! Not only did I cry, I actually cried buckets or rather tanks or maybe pools⌠errr letâs leave it at that. Well, this time I was not just with welled up eyes rather it was what you can call as flooded eyes. Difference between then and now? Well, last time I just watched it as a regular viewer but this time I watched it as a Mom. And trust me it had a different impact all together!
Oh the character of Ishaan and scenes like the last ones where early morning he gets ready on his own⌠all these suddenly had a perspective of âwhat if our little one had to face this or what if our little one had to do thatâ. Surprising part was that it was not only me who was so emotional about it but even the husband dear who otherwise makes fun of anybody who cries reading a fiction or watching a movie was himself silent and wet eyed. Sigh we have indeed become parents I think, we now get sentimental about anything and everything around us
But the movie also made me rethink about many things related to child upbringing yet again. Imagine a special talent like Ishaan getting lost in this world if he would not have met a teacher like Nikumbh and letâs face it, in reality there are actually very few Nikumbhs existing in our society. Imagine the bullying which a child like him has to face just because heâs not good at maths or science. Imagine the kind of pressure, which a child like him has to bear to fulfill his parentsâ expectations that have been set for him without evaluating what he is good at or what does he like to do. And from where do such expectations come from? From parentsâ own dreams or through their aspirations for their child? Nah, in most of the cases it comes from comparisons! Comparison with siblings, cousins, friends / acquaintances / society / colleaguesâ kids, classmates and many more! And when does this comparison start? When your child starts going to school or starts moving out socially? Again a nah! To be honest, these days such comparisons start even before the little soul has arrived in this world. Yes right, it does start from womb! Seven months into motherhood and I think I can state this fact with full conviction.
I can see it, feel it and experience it all around me. You go to park or any social circle and there are moms discussing what their kids can do. There is a serious comparative analysis that exists for kids of any age including toddlers and babies. Oh your baby doesnât eat this but my baby does and you know this particular food boosts brain development by X %. Oh your baby has not started talking yet but mine toh started babbling at the age of Y months only, you know in preschools they check how good your baby is at speech or expression. Havenât you introduced him to this series of videos, arrey theyâre must for cognitive learning or mind training? From first tooth to width of smile to duration of sitting straight to number of steps in first walk to what he eats to how much she talks, there is this unsaid competition amongst most of the parents for almost everything â how come my baby didnât do it first? It starts from there and then slowly moves on to Mathematics scores, sports activities, board exam results, engineering, medical, foreign degrees, so on & so forth. The âotherâ child is always doing better and hence youâre supposed to do and follow what son or daughter of X, Y, Z is doing. In some cases it works but in most cases as per me such comparisons or expectations only lead to a burdened childhood and un-nurtured dreams.
Being a mother I have just these simple wishes for myself now â may I never get affected by what othersâ children are doing; may I always have the sensibility to understand and appreciate the uniqueness of my child; whatever my childâs potential be, may I always be successful in making him realize that he is indeed the most special gift god could have ever given us! Yes he is and I know almost every parent feel the same, itâs just that some have to be reminded back at certain stages of life.
Phew a long emotional rant after long but didnât I tell ya earlier that parenthood makes your emotional glands hyperactive đ
Fun Ok Please: Something interesting for your little ones
July 30, 2012I had mentioned it in one of my earlier posts about an Indian kids content website where I had landed up just by chance. After browsing through few pages, I decided to give their iPad app a try and man did I like it? Oh yes, a lot! Loved the freshness of the content so much that ordered some of their books as well and I wasnât disappointed at all. Content was indeed interesting with appealing illustrations.
Iâm speaking of âFun OK Pleaseâ, a new age childrenâs book publishers based out of Mumbai. They focus on contemporary Indian content for children in the age group of 3-10 years and offer stories set in modern context. Relatable characters, practical messages and their made for India philosophy are some of their key differentiators which attracted a mom like me to check out their whole collection for my little one. I read four books from their ‘Toto and Pattu‘ series and absolutely loved it.
Totoâs stories are all about adventure and having fun while also solving problems and helping others. Toto is a lovable, cheeky little autorickshaw who lives in Mumbai with his driver Pattu. Toto, by character is brave, kind and a do-gooder. He loves to help others and make new friends. Involving people, animals, vehicles and objects, Totoâs stories aim at building character and developing positive self esteem in children.
What I loved about this series:
- Unlike the typical bedtime stories or fairytales, Toto stories are set in real cities with a backdrop of our day-to-day lives.
- Messages are practical and pertinent to current generation kids. Morals taught are not preachy but realistic with an added punch of fun.
- Problems addressed are more of what kids face in their regular lives like hazards of watching TV continuously or repercussion of feelings like jealousy and insecurity amongst friends.
- Presentation is interesting with rich visuals that will appeal to younger kids for sure.
- Each book comes with an activity section at the end making the books more engaging and fun for kids.
In nutshell, Toto series is all about being âpractical yet funâ and âinteresting yet informativeâ at the same time. Itâs something that I surely look forward to offering it to my little one when he grows up. As of now also, he loves listening to the Toto song on iPad app. So, all you parents looking out for some good Indian kiddie content, do check out this collection by Fun Ok Please. Two of my friends have already bought the series and their kids loved it!
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