#Colgatemagicalstories: When I had a Trip into the Magical World Of Ocean

The Magical world of Ocean…

I always thought “Creativity” isn’t at all a suitable word for my darling son. He is intelligent, bright and bit more naughty than his peers. He is crazy about gadgets; love to explore the new apps in the virtual world (Yeah, these days quite busy with the PokemonGo), an avid reader and a fanatical fan of “Geronimo Stilton” books.  As a typical Salman Khan fan, he would love stunts more in a movie than the story or the idea. He would imagine himself as one among the Avengers (mostly Tony Stark-The Iron Man) and would have his versions of rescuing the world from aliens. One of his most cherished wish is to become a Power Ranger in SPD (Space Patrol Delta) more for riding those ultra electronic vehicles and weapons than fighting with Grum or any intra galaxial war...

Little did I know that he had a wonderful imagination of weaving stories and exploring the oceans? As I registered for the #colgatemagicalstories I had an idea to make him bit creative. But I was taken aback by his stories….

Read his story in my poetic expressions….

When I had a Trip into the Magical World Of Ocean...

I always wished to become a Prince
Of a Kingdom in a far fetching Land
To enjoy the freedom of doing things
Whatever I feel or I want

The Oceans often attracted me a lot

As they look amass with mystery and fun
I wish I had a voyage to sail through it
To explore the magical world

It seemed as if My Wish was granted that day

As I had a beautiful Ship at my disposal to use
To sail through the thrilling world of watery land
In the midst of chilling whispers of blue

As I cruise through dividing the wind in part
My thrills had no boundaries to obstruct
I had a sound of someone calling me with my name
And I found it was “Quimzy -The Octopus”

 

He looked so friendly as if knew him before
He winked his eye and say Hi! to me
We became friends: I was happy to have him in the ship
I loved his company in my magical trip

I never knew that there was much more fun
Awaiting me ahead in the oceanic land
As I saw dancing Dolphins welcoming me
With a theatric and amusing sounds

 
They danced and danced paving my way
To a far reaching coral reef land
I saw a beautiful palace at a distance
In the midst of wonderland

A voice came from where I don’t know
That I should step in to the island of coral reef
To meet up with a beautiful princess - MERMAID
And take her along with me explore the magical trip

I did so, and she was happy to join us in our voyage

We did lots of fun and frolic things

Dancing Dolphins and singing octopus

To the tunes of waves of oceanic strings

 I heard a sound so familiar to me

Calling my name again and again

It became bit rude and disturbed my joy

I stopped my Ship to see who it was then

It was Mom, shouting at me to wake me up in the morning

Asking me to get ready for the schools as much possible as quick

I realized that I was in dreams sailing through the sea

And meeting up with creatures living in the deep

 

That was really a magical trip and a wonderful dream I must say
Treasure hunt, fun and mystic things you will find on your way

Visit Colgate Magical stories at their website and Let your child unleash his/her creativity
http://www.colgate.co.in/en/in/oc

A Freedom of What I always wanted to …

It was a rainy day. The children in the class were making noise. There was no teacher in the class. It was just before the last period. Everybody had packed their bags as they knew that no class was going to be there. Suddenly Neeta Mam, entered into the class. Kids weren’t happy. Obviously, who would love to read in a rainy afternoon?   Neeta Mam was strict. She wouldn’t let the class enjoy. Instead she would start teaching a lesson.


But Neeta Mam, was different that day. Probably the rain outside had poured some drops on her moods as well. She said there would be no lesson. Instead she would talk something different. Kids were happy.


So kids, I want to know, what you wanted to be….? She asked in a cheerful voice.


Doctor, astronaut, film actor….etc. there were random prompts in the class. Then she said everybody to be quite, and answer one by one.  A little girl was sitting in one of the corner benches and asked her friend sitting in the same, what to say…

Arre baba, you say what “You always wanted be...” Just the way I always wanted to be a dancer”. she said dancing her eyes.  She was learning Odissi those days.

Bewildered I(yeah, the girl was me)  had no clue that day on what I always wanted to be...honestly  I didn’t know much about the professions/careers. The only thing I knew I loved reading and I always wanted to study more and more…


When my turn came, I said the same. The entire class burst into laughter.  It looked so stupid. Study! Who loves to study or read especially kids? It was innocent but true. I always enjoy reading. And I had a fantasy to study more and acquire all the degrees under the sky.

As I grew up, the dream remained the same though trimmed up bit by bit as per the profession I thought of and also the subjects of interests. The first profession I liked to be was “Doctor”. The reason was “the sophisticated look of a doctor attracted me a lot” and biology being my favorite subject.  But it didn’t happen…

There were many things came in between. Sometime I wanted to be a badminton player, sometime a scientist. I acquired some of the degrees I wanted but there are so many still there, unfulfilled. I tried out to make a career in certain things which clicked momentarily but never linger. With time I understood certain things are beyond human control.

But one thing always stayed the same “I always wanted to study or read…whatever it may be, whatever I wish to”. So finally, one fine day  I realized that I had achieved what I always wanted to.  I  found myself in my own fantasy land where I can read whatever I want to, do study/research on whatever touches my mind/interests and pursue a course if  I feel so…

A freedom of what I always wanted to….


Sometime I really wonder why I didn’t stick to a profession. Why did I face the inescapable circumstances to pursue them? Was it a conspiracy by the universe? Because, had it been so, I would have been constrained to give much of my time and a big part of myself  to the same and left with little time to enjoy what I always wanted to…

Sometime Destiny has its final say…I guess.

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

Falling Raindrops and Blessings in Life!!

Drip Drip Drip melodic Raindrops

They whispered on my ear as they fall on the Earth,

Falling is not always declining or moribund…My dear

As falling from heaven is homecoming for us

As I saw them welcomed by the whole world

With soulful songs of ecstatic hearts

I trail the memory lane of those nostalgic moments

Quiescent memoirs of fantasy land

The dancing peacocks to the tune of pitter patter raindrops

Magical aura of rain kissed emerald vista of mother earth

Under the canvas of white and grey vapors

The dim fading sunlight seep through the hazy clouds

The rhythm of downpour on the cradle of hills,

The whistling farmer ploughing on the fields  

The sodden droplets from the green leaves

The dripping roofs and the flooded fields

Looking at the puddles my glances struck to my static feet

The Splattering water from the puddles

Beneath the crazily stomping little feet

And the sound of clapping and laughing

That once held my spirit unbounded and wild

All reminded me those days of fun and blissful time...

With rain...it makes me feel that the child in me is still alive

Neither the Rain changed itself nor did the soul in me ever grow up

The Sheer Drops again said me that...

Without rains, the earth dries up

And without blessings, Life becomes a Drought

With rains we all have our own memory lane. We all grow along with the rain filling out the scrapbook of our life with colorful drizzly memories so passionately collected over the years somewhat innocently and sometime unknowingly.

I could remember my delightful gestures and twinkling eyes looking at the increase level of Rivers, ponds and other water bodies with every shower of rain, but today I understood that the fullness that comes with rains is the supremacy of blessings in life.

Rain pawns, Paper boats, Puddles, colorful - Umbrellas Rainwater, Fun, Floodgates of Nostalgia. 

#ShareTheLoad: United in Heaven, Divided on Earth!!

Scene 1: Its lunch time, Neha went along with her with her colleagues to the Cafeteria of a private Organization.

A colleague asked looking at her as she was holding only her wallet and not the “lunch box”, “hey Neha, where is your lunch bag today? Haven’t you brought it?”

“Nahi yaar…yesterday prepared the presentations till late, so couldn’t wake up in time in the morning?”And then she had her lunch from canteen

Scene 2 : Its Lunch Time, Rohan was at his desk when his friend Ajay called out

“Hey Rohan, let’s have lunch yaar”

“Han Han…coming, coming” Rohan said while getting out of the desk

Rohan and his colleagues sat together in a table in the canteen and opened up their lunch boxes.

Arre Yaar…main bhul gaya, I have to get something from canteen…”

“Why, haven’t brought dabba, Neha se jhagada hua kya…?” one of them said blinking one eye.

“Abe sale, aisa kuchh nahin hua. Last night she slept late, so couldn’t prepare dabba today as she couldn’t wake up in time in the morning” Rohan said laughingly and went to have something from canteen.

For Picture Source click in the link below.
http://www.bonobology.com/Features/54/Marriage/United-by-marriagedivided-by-gender-roles-and-responsibilities

I think, from the scenes above, all of you must have understood what I wanted to say. at least the illustration says it all. Household chores still has a feminine tag attached to it. No matter what heights women achieve in their professional fields, at home they have to do (in most of the cases) cooking, dish washing, laundry etc.  We often wonder, why can’t Rohan make dabba for both of them in the morning some days? At least the days when Neha is really unable to do so? Many would agree with me that it’s not in the DNA of Indian households (mostly as there are always scopes for some exceptions) to teach boys household chores. At least when one is married, the lady is supposed to handle both office and home while for boys, often they marry to have someone handle home for them.  

Frankly, this one thing has really challenged the sanctity of Indian families. Divorces are happening these days in alarming rates. “Doing work/job” aren’t a choice for girls these days; rather it has become a necessity. The Lady has to share the economic load of the growing requirements of the family, unlike earlier times. But household chores still remain an exclusive work for women as men doing them still considered as prejudice.  Isn’t it unfair? I have friends and relatives whom I have seen becoming a robot muddling through the home and office quite exhaustively. I have some friends whose had to face the pain of a “broken marriage” just because they were unable to manage both work and home.

Honestly, if we will not take these established gender stereotypes seriously and work towards breaking them right now, we can’t expect our children to enjoy their family lives. It’s a question of the future of our children, their emotional needs and their legitimate rights to have a blissful family life.  It will happen if we teach our kids regarding these stereotypes

The following way, we can teach the Gen-next  about the outdated gender stereotypes in household chores. 

Now days both Rohans and Nehas (read boys and girls) get equal upbringing in terms of education, care and support from the family. The only difference is, still parents ask their girls to learn to take responsibility of the home, children and household chores while boys aren’t needed to learn.

The parents have to wake up if they want their children to be happy in future.  They should start teaching their boys to bear the responsibility at home.

Workshops at schools should be organized to depict, a family that works together, share the responsibilities, is a family that stays together.

New curriculum should be developed as home skills to instill young minds with the equality in sharing the loads at home.

All those advertisements should be ban that “glorifies” “Maa ki hath ki safai” or “Maa ki hath ki khanna”. It has a gender stereotype over tune to it.

Technology should be used to reduce human effort and time to do works. For ex. Washing machines reduces human effort to clean clothes. Also Detergents should be made so strong and efficient that it should further reduce the human effort for cleaning of clothes by making laundry an easy job.  Ariel has made itself like one. it should be applied to other chores as well. 

More and more campaigns like #ShareTheLoad should be created to spread awareness…

Lets teach our boys some chores. Like I do to my son, he readily ask for them though. At least I don't prevent him doing them for me thinking he is a boy. 

It’s not that everyone is like Rohan as people are changing these days. But we need a big part of the society to change, free itself from those outdated established norms.

It’s said that marriages are made in heaven to unite two people, then why should there be “stereotypes” to divide them/couples on Earth?’ The established gender stereotypes are real threat to the “sacred knots” of our society. 

Important Note: The Title is inspired by an article written by Anupama Kondayya in www.bonobology.com. and the illustration is taken from it with permission from the author. Its an interesting article. To read Click Here. 

           

 “I am taking part in the #ShareTheLoad Challenge with Ariel and Aksharaat BlogAdda.”

New Datsun redi – Go: Ideal for those who look for Fun, freedom and Confidence drive and ownership experience within an affordable budget

Recently one of my friends working in a private sector bank brought his parents to Mumbai to make them stay with him and take care of them. He has been staying here since last few years and was happy with his favorite bike for any kind of mobility around the city. But now he is thinking for a four wheeler as he wants to take his parents to visit places around the city as well as for the convenience of taking them to hospitals and doctors in case it’s a need.  

One day he asked me during a friendly talk “any new car in the market that should go well with my personality, budget and look”

Similarly another friend’s son has just joined a job and they want to gift him with a “low budget Car with sporty look” for travelling.

A relative of mine staying in a different city has just been blessed with a second child recently. Till now his family was comfortable on a two wheeler. But now he is looking for upgrading himself with a four wheeler matching with his budget and expectation. He looks for a stylish look with impressive performance.

We always look for something new in the market. So also cars even if there are already countless options available. Taking the requirements (mostly urban middle class) and expectations of new car buyers with their petite budget into consideration I think the new “Datsun redi-Go” fits well into it. 

It’s a good looking car with impressive fuel efficiency and performance. The features are designed in such a way that a buyer would get more than his/her expectation.

Datsun redi-Go is a Japanese Cousin of Renault kwid - which has already set a highest selling record in India – as it shares lots of DNA with it.  I mean, both cars are based on Renault-Nissan’s CMF-A platform and, like the Kwid, 98 per cent of the redi-GO’s parts have been locally sourced.
So guys, here is a new car is all set to hit the roads. before buying a car explore Datsun redi - Go as it claims wonderful features and styles. There are some features that catches eye of a new buyer for sure in new Datsun redi - Go

The Exterior or Look

Just imagine a guy in his early twenties who has just worked out his biceps and triceps and six-packs. He would look lean, sporty with youthful fervor…right! Same goes with the Exterior of Datsun redi-Go

When it comes to looks, Datsun redi-Go is quite attractive. The smooth and sleek external surface with tilted vibrant and deeply chiseled lines gives an impression as if the car like a youth in twenties has worked out on its biceps, six packs etc.  It has a striking premium eye-appeal with a solid, silky yet a well-built stout exterior that defines strength and sportive zeal.  The high-mounted chrome grille up front with the large, upswept startling headlights and a masculine bonnet makes its profile unique, quirky and stands out.

The Interior

It seems the first impression of stepping inside the car would give a feel good and pretty impression as it has sporty and stylish interiors. It looks spacious, well-ventilated and eye soothing.  The dashboard layout is interesting. You get a single-DIN entertainment system with Radio, CD, MP3, USB, Aux-in – it’s all here in one convenient audio system. It offers the high front seats with fixed headrests with support on the sides. It means you can sit tall, and the seats aren’t adjustable. The steering wheel has a nice and sporty shape and the contours offer innate clutch. The glass area is generous with an immense overall visibility too. The rear seats are spacious and comfortable. It offers an adequate boot space – 222 ltrs – that’s enough for a monthly grocery shopping.   The textures and fabrics are classy and sporty giving the feel and comfort of a sports car.

Fuel Efficiency and Performance.

With a 25kmpl as it claims and with an i-SAT (Intelligent Spark Automated Technology) Engine that automatically adjusts spark timing in response to fuel quality and power requirement, its surely assures a peppy and zippy drive on road with some longer duration, while reducing your effort to hold the steering a knocking-free, smooth performance Moreover it has an impressive ground clearance - 185mm of ground clearance - and small turning radius - 4.7-metre turning radius –  that makes the drive easy and ideal in narrow and uneven roads of the villages and small towns and small and crowded lanes of the cities. The car has been designed to offer good fuel-efficiency and adequate city usability, rather than outright performance. It’s an Easy Car to Drive especially for new drivers like me. 

The new Datsun redi – Go has been designed keeping the highly demanding nature of the Car buyers in India. Most of the Car buyers look best features available with expensive cars within their budget. So Datsun  redi- Go has cleverly offered itself with those features in a satisfying manner while keeping the cost reasonable. It’s an ideal option to go for especially for those who want to upgrade themselves from replacing their motor bikes or first time buyers or those who look for a second car for daily use while keeping their SUVs or MPVs and expensive cars for special use. Its economic fuel efficiency, sleek and robust design and impressive interior with the general need features make it a Youthful Car. One will definitely get a better car ownership experience with an affordable budget with its peppy and zippy drive experience and economic fuel efficiency.

If I get an offer for a TEST drive of new Datsun redi – Go, as a resident of Vashi, Navi Mumbai I would love to take it in the Palm beach Road – our own Queen’s necklace- that surrounds our locality.  As it offers an easy drive with economic fuel efficiency and a small radius – I would take the drive to discover the genuineness of its claim. After all I have learnt driving recently; I would like to see “How easy the Driving experience is with it”. 

Fun. Freedom. Confidence. The ultimate Urban Cross - Datsun redi-GO - the capability of a crossover with the convenience of a hatchback

     

Image Source - CLICK HERE and GOOGLE IMAGES