Those impactful words

Sania was walking fast and almost broke into a jog. Though she kept walking and walking through the long and winding corridor, she felt she was getting nowhere closer to her destination. Wiping the sweat over her brow she marched towards the end of the corridor and stopped. It was marked ‘ICU’.

For a whole two minutes, she stood outside the door wondering whether to go inside or not. She looked at her toes, wondering if she would find her answer there. She closed her eyes, and taking in one deep breath, she pushed the door open.

She entered and stood rooted to her spot, transfixed. The continuous beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound that punctured the deafening silence of the hospital. That, along with her throbbing heart, refusing to go back to its natural rhythm since the found the news.

There he was lying with an oxygen mask over his face and breathing deeply. Eyes closed, he looked serene sleeping on the bed. She wanted to touch him, but she just could not move. It was as if her legs had turned to lead, she could not move them towards him.

Sania was abruptly shaken out of her reverie as a voice behind her said out loud, “…just check and see if the breathing is normal. And…excuse me what are you doing here?”

Sania turned around to see a hospital nurse in her pristine white uniform march in with a tray full of implements that looked like tweezers, and various kinds of scissors. Uncannily she couldn’t see the nurse’s face.

“I-I-I-I-I was just…just” is what Sania could manage. Stammering, Sania flushed and before she could say anymore the nurse changed her voice to a more irritated one and hissed-

“PLEASE do not enter the ICU without permission. Only relatives allowed. You don’t belong here. Now go!” said the nurse as she pushed Sania away and slapped her arms.

‘You don’t belong here’ kept ringing in Sania’s ears as she was brought back to her senses by her friend who was shaking her arm.

“Sania! Sania! SANIA!!! Are you okay? Get up! SANIA!” yelled her friend as she dimly opened her eyes. Now wide awake and looking at her friend, Sania realized that it was only a dream.

Sania felt rather humid to which she realized she was soaking with perspiration, all over.

“Are you okay Sania? I think you had a bad dream. You were yelling in your sleep. Are you okay?”

‘You don’t belong here’ was still ringing in Sania’s ears. That voice seemed so familiar. Why wasn’t she able to recognise it? And why couldn’t she see the nurse’s face?

“Hey, I’m fine Tashi. Thanks for checking on me. I’m fine” lied Sania with a wry smile. Tashi looked worried. But Sania’s head was elsewhere, fixated on those four impactful words ‘You don’t belong here’.

To Be Continued…

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Navigating through the journey of Women's hair

If I tell you I was born with fantastic hair, I would be lying. Because I wasn't.

Perhaps the only time you would catch me ogling salaciously at a woman is for the gorgeous, shiny, sleek and blessed head of hair she carries. And I confess, am attracted to a fantastic head of hair.

And it is no joke, that 97% women think her hair could look much better. 

No woman might be completely happy with her hair. Fact.

Every woman likes the other woman's hair. Fact again. (Afterall, the grass is always greener on the other side)

Don't you agree ladies?

I too am from this majority. Though I am not a beauty and fashion blogger, and neither are those two my forte, I wanted to throw some light on the relation of an Indian woman and her hair.
Having learned genetics, I know the colour, texture, length, growth of one's hair is almost predetermined. And speaking of genes, the family I belong to, is not blessed with a good head of hair.

Moreover, as women, just as we navigate through the various phases of our life - adolescence, working life, marriage, childbirth, menopause- in which our hair too goes rigorous cycle of imbalanced hormones, stress, and lack of adequate nutrition, lack of sleep and more that affects our hair.

Personally, if you ask me when did my hair look the best ever in my life? I would say Pregnancy.

Yep. No kidding.

Getting pampered silly with rest, proper eating habits, adequate sleep, those multi-vitamins pumped into my system, my hair fall took a back seat, sipped on some folic acid and vitamin E to bestow me with thick, luscious tresses.

And then came childbirth.

Which brought back the horror and more. When my baby turned 6 months old, there was more hair on the bathroom floor than on my head! Eeeeks.

With every fallen hair, my heart sank.

Right now, close to my thirties, I can imagine how my hair will be a few years down the line. I cannot defy genetics and think that it will all of a sudden become thick and lustrous. I cannot think it will be akin to one of those lasses in a hair oil/ hair shampoo/ hair conditioner video, flicking my lovely long hair in people’s faces.

Reality – it will be normal for sure. Greying around the edges of my scalp.

I find the salt and pepper effect that just greying hair gives to someone is quite interesting. It appears to give them an air of wisdom.

Unlike men, women are a bit lucky in this department. They cannot blame genetics for the complete loss of hair! Bald women are rare – or so I thought.

Once on visiting the holy temple of Tirupati, my perception changed. Here, after offering prayers to Lord Venkateshwara at Tirumalai hill, there is a popular ritual of offering one’s hair to the Lord. Not a lock of hair, but the complete head of hair.

And outside this mass barbarization offering, you can see not only men, but throngs of women who have offered their hair to the Lord.

And where does all this hair go to? Sold off in an auction to make wigs, hair extensions abroad.

Traditionally, in India, most women have always maintained long hair, mostly with limited intervention through chemicals of shampoos and conditioners. I was told by an elderly lady, that in their day and age, women keeping their hair open was frowned upon as it symbolised a woman who is either a mourning mourning or one who is mentally ill.

However, this trend is slowly changing. More and more people are slowly accepting short hair with coloured highlights. Even in workplaces, an open culture is receptive to hair styles of women. And with more acceptance, the market is teeming with newer and finer treatments, products and experiences to style one's hair.

And I feel this is just the beginning. More is about to be explored.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

#100StoriesofOptimism - The Impact of Organic Farming

In my earlier post I shared Mark D’Souza’s inspirationalstory of being compassionate towards a small group of elders who had no support. His initiative of helping these elders by serving them fresh, home-made food daily, on his own touched a chord with many. That is the impact of positivity and optimism – making a difference.

And so as promised, my initiative – 100 Stories of Optimism – has a second story. It is from lesser known Maharashtra, populated by farmers and their families.

Now in India, we know how farmers are in turmoil due to the unsuccessful yield to their crop. 

Thousands of farmers are left with no choice but to either sell their land or hunt for jobs. And some farmers, who have no other means of living, burdened by the notwithstanding pressure of mounting loans and lendings, take the extreme step of suicide.

Yet, there is hope.

Some farmers have taken the positive leap of faith in farming by educating themselves and taking a chance in trial and error with certain methods of farming.

A farmer who took the positive leap of faith in farming methods is Rajendra Mane.

This impactful story is about Rajendra Mane from Pandharpur in Solapur, who adopted organic methods of farming to boost the production of pomegranate and grapes. Like every other farmer, Rajendra Mane was using pesticides and chemical based fertilizers to treat his crops. But after year or two of unsuccessful yield, made worse by the unpredictable weather conditions, Rajendra Mane sought advice on organic farming methods to have a successful yield of pomegranate fruit.

In the above video, Rajendra Mane talks about how invested a mere INR 10,000 in raw materials and is now reaping upwards of approximately INR 10 Lakh worth Pomegranate fruit yield per acre. And instead of chemical based pesticides and fungicides, Rajendra Mane employs the usage of organic pesticides – cow urine, cow dung, slurry, neem oil and more such environment and crop friendly substances.

Not only did this move keep Rajendra Mane’s Pomegranate crops pest free and disease free, but also reduce his costs of purchasing comparatively expensive pesticides and herbicides.

And the stats are staggering. Thanks to some planning and space management, he is able to plant 1500 plants instead of 300 plants in an acre of cultivable land.

And he recommends this form of farming and the usage of organic substances as fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides or fungicides. Not only are they relatively easy to source, but are cheap and go easy on the farmer’s pocket.

Some lessons we can pick up too:

If possible, we can implement organic farming in our neighbourhood. Say a 5 ft by 5 ft patch of land is arable, receives adequate sunlight and has access to water, one can use it to plant a small vegetable patch.

Even using potted plants in your verandah or balcony. But do use organic means of farming, that is environment friendly.

Do share your comments on this story in the comments section below. I’ll be back with another #100StoriesofOptimism, till then always be on the look out for hope, it’s right around the corner!

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Turn your good morning into a Gold Morning

'An early bird catches the worm'.

'Early to bed, early to rise
Makes the man
Healthy, wealthy and wise'

What's interesting about these two proverbs is that they both advocate the fruitful benefits of rising early every day. Though I am not a staunch advocate of this principle, I am a believer that waking early does get things done and is beneficial in the long run.

There are many who get up early and go to the gym to elevate their body fitness levels. In addition to them, there are even those who do yoga or go for a walk or meditate are firm advocates of the proverb 'In a healthy body nestles a healthy mind'.

However, I feel the most important thing that I wake up to every morning is the thought.

Yes, one thought can make your day or break it.

So I strive to keep my thoughts positive and free from any frustration as that one thought can snowball into a dozen more unpleasant thoughts that can ruin one's day.
And who likes to ruin their day? Nobody does.

That is my simple mantra on turning my good mornings into gold mornings.

And with that clean, positive thought is the need to add a touch of gold to our daily morning ritual - oral care.

#Colgate360GoldMornings is the bling you need to charge your day, along with that positive thought.

So while getting the best in 360 degree oral care from the new Colgate 360 Charcoal Gold Toothbrush, from the best oral care experts in the world - Colgate Palmolive - add the Midas' touch to your morning ritual.

As they rightly say, well begun is half done! :)

#SpreadtheVibe by serving kind helpings

In a day and age where nursing homes and old age homes have become the unwritten norm to voluntarily or involuntarily send one's aging parents to, there are still quite many senior citizens who are comfortable living on their own, with meagre means and demands.

But undeniably, they are either in a pitiless state, ignored or are dependent on other's mercy for the simplest of chores, be it making a telephone call. But what's more important is that they need one's companionship more than any materialistic demands.

Mark D'Souza serving kind helpings to one of his seniors.
PC: dontgiveupworld.com 

And that's exactly the void Mark DSouza hoped to fill.

I read about his deeds of kindness in Mumbai Mirror's Heroes where he was one of the nominees to be considered as one of the winners. He might not have won, but his deeds are so selfless and touching that he is the not hero, but superhero to me.

This man is not just another elderly man. In fact, he says "When you grow old yourself, only then can you understand the difficulties that come with it"

.

After his parents passed away, Mark wanted to do something for senior citizens like him. And so backed by his wife (who gave him her savings of Rs 5000 to get started) he started cooking full day meals for elders who can't cook or fend for themselves for sustenance.

He cooks and serves simple meals to the elderly, with less oil and spices that is served with a generous dollop of love - one that not only feeds the stomach, but feeds the soul. And he does this at no charge whatsoever!

All by himself, he does not have any strong backing but does it purely out of his own choice and the goodness of his heart. He was simply spurred by the thought of helping those who cannot help themselves. The same philanthropic thought that occurs to us upon reading or hearing a situation of distress, was the same thought that provoked Mark to take action and reach out to those needing aid.

He is called Guardian Angel by all of the 30 odd seniors he serves food daily, come hell or high water. And what does Mark receive in return, the smiles of their content faces knowing that they will be sleeping on a full stomach.

What inspires me about Mark's story, is that he may not one who is affluent by wealth or powerful by stature, but his simple and thoughtful act of kindness to those helpless, unrelated to him and with no ulterior or underlying motive is truly heroic. There may be many who would throw wads of cash to self run NGOs and wear t-shirts that signify 'blatant show-off' of so-called philanthropy, but there is nothing more heart rendering than an act of kindness that is selfless and soul touching.

This is one such positive story that tells us that the world is not so bad after all. It has angels like Mark. Such and more positive stories of change are showcased on Youth Ki Awaaz.

And so inspired by this story and this chance given to me by IndiBlogger and Youth ki Awaaz's #SpreadTheVibe campaign, I appeal to my readers to share such wonderful superhero stories with me that will be published periodically on my blog: Survival of the Optimist under #100StoriesOfOptimism

#100StoriesofOptimism Project is my pet project endeavor to showcase stories that promote hope and optimism when there are many people who think the outlook of this world is very bleak.

Through 100 stories, I am to touch many lives and inspire them, just how Mark inspired me, to instill the faith that there is good in this world after all!

And the Award goes to....

Another year. Another quagmire of headlines that ruled the roost. Keeping in line with tradition, it is time for me to announce the most deserving of the year!

P.S. These awards cannot be returned! :P

Gkam's Award Ceremony 2015

And the winners are....

*DRUMROLL*

#thedress - Colorblind Award

Arvind Kejriwal - Clean 'Sweep' Award 

PC: followtheeatenpath.wordpress.com

Indian Cows - Why should 'Gais' have all the fun Award

Twisted it is - Img Souce: beingindian

Indrani Mukherjea - 21st century Draupadi Award

Lenskart & American Swan- Make Hay While the sun shines Award

Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam - The Invincible Indian Award 

Radha on the dance floor,
Radha like to par-tay...
Img source: mtvindia.com

Radhe Maa - Bol Radha Bol Award


White and gold ? Or blue and black? Ask around. pic.twitter.com/qBLMNDVHh7

— Hrithik Roshan (@iHrithik) May 21, 2015

Hrithik Roshan - Better late than never Award

Source: timesofweb.com

Nestle Maggi - In a soup Award

Image source: indiatvnews.com

Aamir Khan & Kiran Rao - Saare jahan se accha Award

Source: indianexpress.com

Chennai - The SOS Award

Who's laughing now? Source: scoopwhoop.com

The MahaBattle of Buxar Bihar Award - Shared between Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar

The Black Buck did it! Image Source: zeenews.india.com

Salman Khan - Biggest Indian release ever Award

Image source: http://www.thetoc.gr/

Charlie Sheen - Two and a half  Three (dreaded) letters Award

Image source: nextbigwhat.com

Facebook - Let's be friends with Ignorant India Award

Tune Mark ke saath selfie nahi liya? Image source: indianexpress.com

Chai pe bulaya hai Award and ButFirstLetMeTakeAAcchaSelfie Award- Indian PM Narendra Modi

or because Baahubali sent him Candy Crush requests!? Img Source: BollywoodLife.com

Katappa - Question of the year Award

That's All Folks!
Wishing all a very Happy New Year 2016!

This post is in complete jest and would appreciate the reader would take it lightheartedly and not otherwise.

Hurr Hurr Hurr!!! - The BNLF Fever

It has been two months since BNLF and I can't stop reminiscing those two days. (Pardon the waaaaaaay delayed post, just couldn't finish it. But hey better late than never no?)

Blog Now Live Forever being the anthem and the spirit of the meet hosted by the pioneering of Indian Bloggers' Community - Indiblogger.in and the very energetic and charged bloggers from far and wide.
The two day meet - 31st October and 1st November 2015 - held at The Lalit hotel in Mumbai, was nothing short of a revelation.

October 31, 2015
Standing in queue waiting to enter flight BNLF.

Within minutes amidst the buzz of conversations online and offline among bloggers, BNLF hashtag had started to trend on Twitter! Kickstart to the morning.

And #BNLF has started to trend on Twitter! Great start to the morning! #trendalert #BNLFAtTheLalit pic.twitter.com/yqdYobGKyC

— Gauri Kamath (@missalpao) October 31, 2015

The IndiBand Blunder In the Code set the stage on fire while belting out some solid all time hits to rouse each of the 600+ bloggers at the venue.

#BlunderInTheCode played all my fave hits - sweet child o mine, titanium, another brick in the wall. #BNLF pic.twitter.com/tHkEAAoH0a

— Gauri Kamath (@missalpao) October 31, 2015

Enter Mrs Funnybong - Purba Ray
The show began with Purba Ray taking the stage introduced by her close blogger buddy Vinita Bahl aka BlogwatiG. Draped in a sari, she started out by talking on how she should've stuck to wearing leather pants. The hilarity ensued when she spoke on the beef debacle by commenting 'Why should gaais (cows) have all the fun?'

First #BNLF keynote with @Purba_Ray introduced by @BlogwatiG pic.twitter.com/JK7Uayh39D

— Gauri Kamath (@missalpao) October 31, 2015

To be very frank I had not heard of her name nor her blog before knowing that she'll be delivering the keynote at the BNLF. But I truly found her to be as a-musing as her blog.

Next up was Arnab Ray - the great bong
Again I was not aware that Arnab Ray was the chief architect behind the Mithun Madness even though I follow his +greatbong tweets on twitter. Pardon my ignorance!

Arnab delivered his keynote on the aspect of creative writing and shared his journey from owning a undiscovered blog to one of the most read blogsposts on the internet. Also having written multiple books. All thanks to his Prabhuji.

'It doesn't matter what you write; what matters is who you are' - great words of @greatbong at #BNLF #BNLFAtTheLalit

— Gauri Kamath (@missalpao) October 31, 2015

"Never NEVER ever pull punches. If you belie in something, say it" - wise advicw from @greatbong at #BNLF

— Gauri Kamath (@missalpao) October 31, 2015

This was followed by a quick tea break.

Next up was Christoph Trappe for his keynote on the importance of Authentic Storytelling for bloggers and businesses.

After the mini tea-coffee break, is @CTrappe session on Authentic storytelling #LIVE for #BNLF #BNLFAtTheLalit pic.twitter.com/ytdKSPzSj9

— Gauri Kamath (@missalpao) October 31, 2015

His keynote was a precursor to his training the next day on Authentic Storytelling. What I especially liked apart from his keynote, was him acknowledging almost every tweet about him or addressed to him. Very few top influencers do that.

'The best stories have conflict of some kind' - @CTrappe #BNLF #BNLFAtTheLalit awesome insights!

— Gauri Kamath (@missalpao) October 31, 2015

Anshul Tiwari was next up on-stage and I heaved a sigh of relief that I had witnessed him at Indiblogger & BigRock's WordUp meet back in 2014 and was known to me. I was yet again thoroughly mesmerized by his talk where his movement Youth Ki Awaaz was a living example on the power of blogging. Public Opinion is indeed the next superpower - his talk resonated with the audiences views. Anshul also shared a surprising fact that YKA did not do advertising, but yet is sustaining throughout the years.

Lunch followed with passable desserts (the food blogger in me could not resist from commenting on the food).
But the true dessert was Kanan Gill :)
Again I felt like I've been living under a rock all this while since I had no idea who he was, only did the welcome screams grow louder (and asking my neighbour) is when I realized that he's a popular YouTube star.
So this funny guy who was out to deliver his keynote on content in videos ended up with his journey on how he ended up making really really funny videos by discovering his passion. He illustrated his journey through a series of his actual diary entries! His talk was a laugh riot!

It's a laugh riot with @KananGill post a nice lunch (desserts passable). #LIVE at #BNLF @indiblogger pic.twitter.com/lAVc7hUJkJ

— Gauri Kamath (@missalpao) October 31, 2015

Every man wants to be loved and lovely -@KananGill quoting from Adam Smith's book. #BNLF #BNLFAtTheLalit @indiblogger

— Gauri Kamath (@missalpao) October 31, 2015

Jeff Bullas, the leading content marketer from down under.

The session by Preeti Shenoy on her journey from a blogger to a best-selling author was perhaps a dream come true for most bloggers who want to become a rockstar author.

The last and definitely not the least session was of Bruce "The Air Raid Siren" Dickinson. The much much awaited session for Iron Maiden fans. Now, frankly I'm not a Maiden fan - I've heard a couple of songs and all - and nor do I follow his pursuits. So my enthusiasm was understandably dim.

But post his session, I realised that the man is pure genius. Simple and effective strategy: 0 + 0 = 1 

That was his magic, behind being an entrepreneur, to a pilot and a brewer. All in one!

Bruce Dickinson with his 'Smartphone' - Keeping it simple.

 

Explaining how the idea of a beer came about.

November 1, 2015

Day 2 of the BNLF ushered in a new learning experience for me. We had two in-depth training workshops by Christoph Trappe and then by Jeff Bullas.

 Chirstoph started with his breakout training on Six Steps to Stop Traditional Marketing and Start Authentic Blogging.

Christoph Trappe at his Authentic Blogging workshop

 After which was lunch. We were also treated to a MasterClass on Gourmet Italian cuisine. Check out the post here.

And after that was Jeff Bullas' training on 7 steps to Blogging Mastery.

Jeff Bullas at his training session

  On attending both sessions, we were promised to be certified from the newly to-be-launched IndiBlogger's Blogging Academy - WeBlog Academy!

The IB core team that made #BNLF happen

After all of that, 2 months on I can still recall the finer aspects of BNLF. It was indeed an enriching experience and hope to put in the inputs into my blogging and overall life goals.

Thank you IndiBlogger!