Video Wednesday: Nostalgia

One of my favourite places to travel is down Memory Lane. I’m not making a wise crack, I really mean it. Childhood is a beautiful place now that I look back. Of course when I was a child I wanted to be all grown up. :D

I have so many memories of those times, the things we ate, watched, played, felt, saw, experienced,… When I look back it seems the world is changed and so different from the one I knew. (And yet at most times the only world I know is the one I live in.)

In keeping with the feeling of nostalgia I’m enveloped in, here are couple of videos of things from my childhood. But first a list of 20 things I remember (partly thanks to the videos :D), things that make me smile; smile wide.

1. pepsi colas


2. Mario bros


3. Chandamama magazine


4. covering school books with brown paper


5. going to the neighbours for phone calls


6. Malgudi days


7. Brainvita


8. Air Mail


9. fake Phantom cigarettes


10. Bajaj ads not just of scooters but also bulbs


11. the Surabhi program


12. the rubberband game


13. hopskotch


14. Amul icecream


15. spinning tops


16. piggy banks


17. T-series tapes


18. Hero ink pens


19. Nataraj HB pencils


20. Goldspot

 

The 'Jab Bachche They' advertisement by Paper Boat
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJIrU9jZo4M

 

Woh Din - A tribute to the 90's by EmotionalFulls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ1zZ8VaN7M

 

Old 90's INDIAN Ads on DoorDarshan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x2wA6jQEB0

All nostalgic? The videos make you all gooey and soft inside, don't they? What do you remember from your childhood? How many things do you associate with from my list? How many can you list? ;)

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Video Wednesday: Rats, Socks, Cameras and Letters

I’ve come across a few really nice short films recently. Not sure if these can be called films, or are they just clips? Well, no matter what, each of them has made an impression - some funny, some touching, others baffling, stunning and what not.

One thing though common to all is that watching the video led me to hit the Subscribe button on Youtube. Let me know if you reacted the same way after watching them. :D

Khat by Fully Emotional

A grandfathers advise to his new born grandson in a letter. Sounds cliched but I listened to it twice and want to keep coming back repeatedly, for it’s not often that you hear such sound advise.

http://youtu.be/h_yJ0wfRiIY


Kamera by Purani Dilli Talkies

A little boy aspires to be someone who will put smiles on peoples faces. Then one day he finds a camera in the land fill and life is never the same again.

http://youtu.be/Y0nPCc1ZpIY


“OP” Stop Smelling Your Socks by Sriram Dalton

Remember I said baffling at the start. This is the video that has be baffled. Watch it to know why. :D

http://youtu.be/VVQP-IpZZaU


Eli - A Sexy Tale by Black Money Productions

This one I saw sometime back on a recommendation by Che. It’s in Tamil but does have subtitles. Worth the watch with an awesome end but to really get it, you have to follow the story!

http://youtu.be/cm_-F3owiP0

So those are my selections for this week. Have you watched anything interesting recently? Any recommendations?

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Video Wednesday: Emma Watson and the HeForShe Campaign

Along with the rest of the world I first came across Emma Watson in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone where she played Hermione Granger. Of the three main characters I remember attaching more to Hermione more than the others. I guess this was a carry forward from the books but she struck a chord.

Over the years I watched her through the Harry Potter series and to a large extent wrote her off like I do most child artists. I usually expect child artists to grow up and become snooty mediocre actors. But Emma Watson proved me wrong.

Her choice of movies after Harry Potter had me sit up and notice her as a an intelligent woman. (If you haven’t seen 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower’, you should.) Her life off the screen had me in awe as she studied and followed the dreams she had before and outside of Harry Potter. She did get blinded by Hollywood.

Then I came across this… Her speech at the UN when introducing the HeForShe Campaign. It isn’t just the campaign that is beautiful, as I listen to her talk and I realise that here is a woman to reckon with, a girl who has grown up into a woman who knows she has the power to be heard and uses it to change the world.

The word ‘feminist’ has become a negative one in the last few years, a word most women do not want to associate with. Emma in her speech made me proud of being a feminist by reminding me of all it means and all that it isn’t. Kudos Miss Watson for reminding me that I'm a feminist and proud!

http://youtu.be/gkjW9PZBRfk

This video is an excellent follow to the video I shared earlier about gender policing and the work the organisation No Country for Women is doing. Emma Watson is the UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador and will advocate for the UN Women’s HeForShe campaign in promoting gender equality.
Here’s what she had to say about her about her appointment.

“Being asked to serve as UN Women’s Goodwill Ambassador is truly humbling. The chance to make a real difference is not an opportunity that everyone is given and is one I have no intention of taking lightly. Women’s rights are something so inextricably linked with who I am, so deeply personal and rooted in my life that I can’t imagine an opportunity more exciting. I still have so much to learn, but as I progress I hope to bring more of my individual knowledge, experience and awareness to this role.”

What do you think of Emma Watson's speech? The HeForShe campaign?

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Video Wednesday: Awesome Threesome

I’ve been away from my blog again. And it’s been the same reasons, I’ve been ill with a blaady common cold for a couple of months now and it’s just making life tedious and then there is also that part of me struggling to write because I can’t seem to make it all fall into place. I can’t seem to find the perfect answer for what my blog is about.

Anyway, those thoughts are for another post. Video Wednesday is one of my favoured posts because I want to share and talk about so many videos I come across and Facebook is too short lived a platform for that.

So without much further ado… Here’s some videos I’ve come across recently that struck a chord…

Not a simple hula hoop…

http://youtu.be/EGuvNtS5kb8

Rachael Lust is a 26-year old mom from Ohio who started hooping first in 2011. Today she is quite a phenomenon, and if you've watched the video you know why. :)
Rachael Lust on Facebook


Push Button to Add Drama

http://youtu.be/316AzLYfAzw

TNT a TV channel in Belgium launched themselves by placing a big red push button on an average Flemish square of an average Flemish town. And when that button gets pushed, full drama happens. :D

Day in the life of India

http://youtu.be/8qcjfCrkaAs

This hilarious yet thought proving film by Boot Polissh Films has won the won a Gold at the Spike Asia 2011. Directed By: Shujaat Saudagar Written By: Swati Bhattacharya Actress: Paromita Vohra
Boot Polissh Films on Facebook

Which one did you like the most of the three?
Have you come across some simply awesome videos recently?

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Friday Review: Quikr - Another Classifieds Site

A couple of weeks ago I came across an activity on BlogAdda to review Quikr, the offer was to buy something worth Rs.5000 or less, blog about it and get the amount reimbursed. Sounds cool no? So, I applied and got selected. (OK, I gotta say this, so here goes - This post is a part of Quikr activity at BlogAdda)
However let me say this upfront, I didn't buy anything even after a lot of searching, but since I'd done all the homework, I figured 'review toh banta hai'. :)

Let's begin where it all begins, at the beginning... :P
In the hope of buying something [for free :D] I headed over to Quikr. The site prompts the first time visitor to choose the city they live in, it offers a match and a lot of options.



Choosing a city causes the pop-up to disappear and the next pop-up to appear.



The pop-up for choice of city made sense but the pop-up about the latest TV ad was irksome. I didn't need to see that or waste my time getting past it! I'd have preferred heading into the site directly.



Once past the TV ad, I landed up on the main page. The page is well laid out and quite clean. A quick route to seeing something is offered along with category choices for buying. There are also the most popular categories listed out if you need it.

Clicking on the Sign-in/register option led to another pop-up which gave me options to login or register. The sign-up process is simple and short with just the right questions being asked. You'll need to intimate if you are an individual or a business, provide your email id, mobile number, current city and create a password.



Since a login is not needed for buying and really only needed to tracking a sale, an extra step to register or sign-in makes sense. However I'd have liked to see the city being choose by default, especially since I choose that as soon as I landed on the site.



The buyer or seller can verify themselves by giving a missed call on a number provided using the mobile number given at the time of registration. I'd have preferred an MS or a call from Quikr to the number I gave as my calling them didn't work out and I couldn't complete verification.



Completion of registration took me to 'My Dashboard'. Like I said before registration works best for selling, the dashboard does not have much utility for buyers, unless you have email alerts for products maybe.

Sign-up complete I headed back to the home page to see what I could find to buy. I had a couple of things I wanted in mind. 1. a Bose speaker with iPod dock, 2. a Kindle

Quikr offers three ways to find a product -

1. Search


The search option which when you start typing gives you recommendations.

2. Categories


A grid of categories to choose from on the home page that help you find your product of choice. Clicking on a category brings up a list of further options to choose from in the category.

3. Alerts


Creating an alert for something you want.



I chose the Electronics & Appliances category which led me to further choices between laptops, kitchen appliances, and other options. There is also a fast search option where you can choose the appliance, the locality and your budget to get quick results.

Next I chose the music systems option. Quikr offers further options to refine your search in the sub-category. You can choose the brand, the price-range, the condition, the location and posting time to help you condense the results.



A choice of Bose and pricing in ascending order led me to a few Bose docks. Most of them were out of my budget but I did find one at Rs.4,000. (A quick note - the brand option to refine search worked but most other options didn't make any difference to the results, especially when I tried defining my budget.)



However as soon as I sent the seller a message, the ad disappeared and I couldn't find it again after. :(

After this hiccup, the search began anew to find something to buy and I next headed into a search for Kindles. This time I choose to search using the search bar.



I got 26 results but when I tried sorting based on price, I got thrown out with the message "Unfortunately, there are no ads in this category right now."



Not to be deterred I started to manually scan for price on the list and started calling sellers in my budget. I called 4 people selling kindles and each one of them said it had already been sold. :(

And with that ended my saga of trying to buy something on Quickr. But before I go into a list of pros and cons, let me also list out my experience with the Quikr mobile app for android.



I found the Quickr app in the Play store and clicked install to get a list of permissions the app required. The list of permissions is really long, even longer and scarier than the Facebook Messenger list!



I'm still undecided on whether I did the right thing when I gave the app all those permissions.



The app works quite like the site and is easy to use. However I think the app would work better for selling than buying as you could take a picture of the product with your phone and upload it right from there along with details.



Selling anything on Quikr is a simple two screen process. The process as it is is easy and quick but since I haven't sold anything, I can't say much about the quickness of the sale. :D

Pros -

• The site and app are simple and easy to use.


• The system to setup something to sell is easy.


• The layout of the site and products in easy on the eye.

Cons -

• Most products though listed are already sold. A way to track and remove sold items from the site would be helpful.


• Some of the filtering options do not work when scanning listings.


• Though the catalogue is extensive and categorised, finding what you want is still difficult. Searching is easier but even that does not work to perfection.

Overall -

Quikr is just another classifieds site, nothing specific that makes it stand out or be special. For that matter it would makes sense both when buying and selling to spread the net and use other classifieds sites too. That said Quikr could be a useful site, sometimes. :D

Have you used Quikr? Bought or sold anything? What did you think of it?

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Friday Review: God is a Gamer by Ravi Subramanian

Title: God is a Gamer
Author: Anurag Anand
Paperback: 324 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books India (September 12th 2014)
Genre: Fiction
Read: Paperback
Stars: ***/5
Buy On: Amazon | Flipkart - eBook/Paperback

Summary: (Goodreads)
Aditya runs a gaming company that is struggling to break even. A banker slips off a highrise building, plunging to her death. The finance minister has made some promises that he is finding hard to keep. The LTTE has unleashed terror in America that sends the FBI on a wild goose chase, bringing them to Mumbai.
Enter Varun, parttime drug dealer and fulltime genius. He turns around the gaming company before disaster strikes. Meanwhile, the investigators plunge headlong into the shady world of bitcoins and the Dark Net, websites that only exist for illegal transactions—drugs, sex and money. God Is a Gamer culminates in a stunning climax where money means nothing, assassination is taught by the ancient Greeks, and nothing is as it seems.

My Review:

Note: This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!



Cover: Eye-catchy!

Paper and font: Ebony on Ivory!

Readability, language: Easy on the Mind.

Why did I choose this book: A book on bit coins sounded interesting, so I thought 'why not'.

A simple email scam sets off an avalanche of scams, murders and complications. A US Senator is assassinated, an ATM heist is pulled off, a bank is put in jeopardy, a virus is released, virtual money is stolen, a bank chairman is murdered, and there is more. How all of this ties in, is what God is a Gamer is all about.

When I first came across the book, I remember the name striking me as an interesting name. Having read the book, now, I don't see a connection between the title and story. The cover though well done is a typical thriller cover, not unlike the Dan Brown's and Tom Clancy's. The blurb is very unsatisfactory. It has more praise for the author than info on the story. And the little that is said, is said in such a convoluted manner that it muddles more than intrigues.

I have to concede that the plot is new and yet... I felt the plot was just too thick, Subramanian has packed the story with so many twists and sub-plots that after a while I was all lost. There was so much happening and the story was told in bits as it unfolds across the world in various peoples lives.

The story spans across countries but centers mostly around Mumbai and Washington DC. Subramanian's descriptions of the cities are quite bang on, especially Goa and its hot spots. Yet some how it all feels disjointed.

The story is packed with characters, so many that sometimes I forgot who was who. I couldn't figure out who was the hero or heroine even at the end of it all. There were just so much happening to so many people.

I took a day off to read the book and sat glued to it through the day. Thinking back it wasn't because the story was that gripping but rather because it was all so complicated that I really wanted to get to the end and see how Subramanian tied it all up. The story is like a magicians knot, complicated, tied up, twisted and convoluted but one jerk by the magician and it all straightens out.

Subramanian hops about all over as he tells the story in small bits as it unfolds. This did make for difficult reading as I tried to parallel process all he was saying. Added to this were the intimate scenes with somehow felt out of place to me, almost like the author had to meet a target and so put them in there. The language though is simple and easy, the pace good too.

If my review seems all muddled, it's because the book left me all muddled. There is just so much happening. I'm not sure if so many sub-plots were needed. There is just one too many a scam. A thriller doesn't have to be so complicated, does it?

The cover carries the text 'Is revenge a crime?'. This doesn't make sense until you read the last four pages. Subramanian makes complex complicated knots on a storyline through the book and tries to untangle with a flourish at the end. Well, he did manage untangle them and explain it all, but was there a flourish, that is debatable.

A book for YA and above. Over all a good book if you don't intend to use your mind while reading it.

About the Author:
An alumnus of IIM Bangalore, Ravi Subramanian is a banker who has used his industry knowledge to write five bestselling novels. He lives in Mumbai with his wife and daughter. See his other books on his website - www.authorravis.com.

Buy On: Amazon | Flipkart - eBook/Paperback

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It's Not Tick Fever, It's Auto-Immune

It's been over a month since I first talked about Cuckoo getting tick fever. Che was traveling at that time and it was a extremely stressful week. I had read up on tick fever like a student before exams, cleaned house like a maniac and watched the dogs like a stalker.

After ten days of doxycycline as medication Cuckoo was due for another round of blood tests. Che had returned by then so it was possible to take Cuckoo across to Cessna while he handled the howlers. After another maddening trip to Cessna where Cuckoo peed in the car, slipped her collar and harness at the sight of the needle and generally went out of her way to give the Docs a hard time, we got the blood work results.

Her platelet count had gone up but not as much as the Doctor would have liked. Recovery was taking too long he said and things needed to be speeded up. They gave her one shot of prednisolone and put her on a 10 day course of it along with the doxycycline.

While discussing the treatment plan I asked the Doc about how we would confirm at the end of treatment that Cuckoo was not a carrier of the Ehrlichia canis organism any more. With six dogs that's a concern because if she is a carrier all the other five will always be at risk. The Doc said that to do that we would extend her treatment plan to 6-8 weeks and also run the 4Dx Snap test on her blood to confirm that she isn't a carrier any more.

4Dx Snap test... There was a test for tick fever? I promptly asked the Doc how much the test costs and why we hadn't tested her until now. The test he said was Rs.1000 and was not needed now as he was 100% sure it was tick fever.

Armed with this information I left the clinic and updated Che with all that had happened. He asked the same question, why hadn't we tested Cuckoo until now. The only difference was he wasn't satisfied with the Doc's answer, he insisted on the test being done. However the same blood sample could not be used as this test required blood serum and hence a fresh blood sample was needed.

Since we had already left the clinic there was no point in going back to take another sample, especially considering how much Cuckoo was freaking out. Two days later we got another Vet to come home and take a sample that we could personally take to Cessna for testing. This Vet saw Cuckoo for the first time that day and he had a diagonally opposite diagnosis that startled me.

He checked out Cuckoo, asked a few questions and declared that she didn't have tick fever. And I was like 'what?!' He explained that considering her activity levels, physical signs and appetite were good, the possibility of tick fever was minimal. The spots I was seeing on her neck and stomach was most likely to be auto-immune disease.

Auto-immune disease was not that simple though and didn't have a straight forward cure. Our best treatment option was steroids for about ten days in a tapered dosage he said. After that we could do a repeat test for platelet count, but the main thing was that we had to just watch and wait and hope it sorted out. There was no perfect cure.

He changed the daily dosage amount prescribed and wrote out the same prednisolone prescription. Dr. Morton didn't think a snap test was required but we insisted he take a blood sample. After he left Che and I sat down to wait out the one hour it would take the blood to completely clot before we could transport it.

The test itself is simple and quick, not unlike a pregnancy test. And just like with pregnancy tests we were pacing to see the results of this one. The result was negative. Cuckoo did not have tick fever. We had given her doxycycline for ten days for no reason. Even Dr. Ramesh now told Che it was auto-immune and that that was why he had prescribed prednisolone two days ago.

At that point of time with all this news I wasn't sure which was better and whether we had gone from the frying pan into the fire. What we did do though was watch Cuckoo like a hawk for the next ten days and gave her her medications like clockwork. The medication was a pain though as I not only had to make halves and quarters but also 1/8ths. :D

It's been a couple of weeks now and between steroids and homeopathy, Cuckoo has gotten better. The spots have gone away and have stopped showing up. After all that panic and palpitation, I may be breathing easier now but through it all Cuckoo has been herself, completely cuckoo!

Special thanks to Devisri who helped chauffeur Cuckoo to Cessna and manage her there (with a bitch like Cuckoo that is a lot!). :)

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My Week in Photos: A Howler from Cuckoo

A glimpse of the past week with a random collection of photos taken by me and Che through the week. :)

It's bath week and between Che and me we got 4 dogs done. Got two more to go!



 

Senti and William have been getting a little cozy this week. That's a new milestone in their relationship!



Cuckoo has her very own TV at home. You should see her watch with rapt attention from this vantage point...



And if you haven't had enough of Cuckoo you can listen to her too!

http://instagram.com/p/trIxHkyxgS/

Here's what busy mornings look like at Pawsible...



Che calls this photo "My Muses", but I've put it here because I love how my hair is curling and that's what I look like when I'm trying hard to catch up on some writing!



Bakri Eid is coming up on Monday and the cattle markets are in full swing... The same grounds that were full of Ganesh Idols and then Durga Idols, are now full of goats...



What had you been upto last week?

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The Saturday Tirade: My Dilemma on Bakri Eid

It's that time of the year again when I feel like I'm in a Nazi camp. After all these years, I'm still shaken and upset by the number of deaths on one day. It's Bakri Eid and I'm still struggling.

Some parts of the city are like cattle fairs running full steam. There are goats, sheep, cows and camels spread out and people haggling over them. The smell of cattle hits your nostrils way before you actually see the animals and then before you know it, you are passing through a sea of animals waiting for death. Over the years this smell of cattle has become the smell of death for me.

As a child of maybe ten or so I remember sneaking out to watching a sacrifice after being specifically instructed by my parents not to. I watched horror struck and ran back in shocked and terrified by what I had seen. It wasn't the death I think that scared me, it was the slow death, the struggle and the fact that someone would take a life so easily.

Some years later my parents went through the whole ritual of a sacrifice. They brought in a goat, fed and kept it for a year and then sacrificed it. I went through those emotions of horror again, only this time it was heightened by emotional attachment. That if I remember right, it was the last time my parents did a sacrifice at home. (Now they do it in other ways)

Fast forward to now. Over the last 4 years I've been feeding my dogs raw meat. What that means in that I go to the meat and chicken shop and buy the meat. I haven't watched a cow being slaughtered but I have watched tons of chicken being killed. After all these years I had thought that I had been toughened, that the slaughter wouldn't horrify me anymore.

But that ride through the cattle filled street shook me up. I was all teary eyed by the time I got to the end of the stretch. The thought of what awaited those animals filled me with pain and sorrow.

Let me get something straight: I am a non-vegetarian and I eat almost every kind of meat and all of this seeing and feeling is not going to make me a vegetarian. It's not the killing of a few goats or cows or chicken that has me upset. It's the sheer numbers that will be slaughtered on Eid that shakes me. The numbers will across a million easily across the world.

That's a million lives taken on one day. It's a mass murder. And most of this meat will be wasted, or put away into storage, it will not be consumed immediately. So we aren't killing for food but rather killing for religion, killing for what we believe in.

How is that different from what the Nazi's did or what the jihad groups and militant groups doing? Or does the fact that they are not human lives make it ok?

I don't have the answers and I'm still all jumbled and confused in my head and heart about Bakri Eid. I don't know, I just don't know whether to rejoice or drown in sorrow, I don't know...

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Friday Review: I & Monkey - The Resto-Lounge

***Disclaimer - I & Monkey is owned by a friend but the following review has no bias because of it. What I say is what I got and what I felt. ;)

Che and I have not done a lunch together is a long time now. Let me explain that. Considering that I don't like cooking so much and Che is too busy to cook usually, we eat out a fair bit, however our eating out is more about getting the meal done (and at a cheap price) rather than eating a meal.

So, last Saturday when we headed out and contemplated a meal we would sit down and enjoy, I was all excited. A sit down meal together outside is like a date, filled with good food and quality time together. A time to unwind and rewind.

Cruising around Indiranagar we were trying to make up our minds on where to eat, when I saw I & Monkey and the decision was made. I've known Sathish who owns the place for years now and have lost count of the number of times I've have been to his first place Windsor Pub. But somehow even though I & Monkey has now been around for over a year I hadn't made it here yet. It was time to correct the grave wrong and check out Sathish's now not so new place. ;)

I walked in tentatively, not knowing what to expect and looking around to absorb it all. There were three seating areas to choose from, a tent type roofed room with warm light, a room with pub-ish decor and a bar and this little small space that was well lit with a dash of green. The host stepped up asking us where we would like to sit and I just looked at him unsure of my choice. He smiled and led us to the little white and green space that seemed perfect, I thought as I sat down, for a couple to have some together time.



It didn't take us long to make up our minds about the thirst quenching drink. :D Please note we were spoiled for choice in the liquor menu but the cocktail section beckoned and before long Che and I had settled down with a Mohito and a Black Magic. I'd never had a Black Magic before but the description listed about 5 types of alcohol and blackcurrant juice as ingredients, and I was feeling adventurous. :D



To go along with the drinks we choose Chilli Sambal Fish as a starter (after much discussion over the variety on offer). I'm not much of a fishy person but lately I've been experimenting and enjoying myself with fish. This one didn't disappoint either, and it was so good Che and I almost came to blows over the last piece and were saved just in time by the flambe cart arriving.

http://instagram.com/p/tcSKfhyxrm/

Yep, you guessed right, I was going to have a flambe. :P While Che ordered a T-bone steak, I chose Flambeed Beef Medallions as the main course. Watching the flambe was fun, as you can see in the video. :D But eating the resultant dish was way more fun. I enjoyed it immensely and polished off every bit.





To round off and complete the meal we decided to culminate it with dessert and coffee. Che had Tiramisu and an Americano while I had an Absolute Nirvana with a Cappuccino. Gawd that dessert really was Absolute Nirvana. I oohhed and aahhed my way through it, too full to eat it all and yet unable to stop until I had finished it all.



It was a lot, and I mean a lot coz Che and I sat there for a while before we managed to get up and move again. :P It was a meal I enjoyed in all the aspects, ambiance, service, flavour,... The food was so good we couldn't rush through it and that meant some amazing time and conversation together. The bill was about 3,500 bucks but it was worth every penny.

I'm looking forward to another trip to I & Monkey, after all there is so much to sample yet on that menu. ;) If you are looking for a place to unwind, catch up and eat some awesome food, I & Monkey is the place to go to, especially for lunch. :)

My Rating -
Ambiance - ✷ ✷ ✷ ✷ ✷
Music -        ✷ ✷ ✷ ✷
Food -          ✷ ✷ ✷ ✷ ✷
Service -     ✷ ✷ ✷ ✷ ✷
Price -         ✷ ✷ ✷ ✷

 

I & Monkey - Website & Facebook

Phone - +91 80 40923656 / +91-80-40923657

Location - Indira Nagar, 12th Main

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Video Wednesday: Because Rape is NOT Always About Sex

I had come across this documentary some time back and I remember it making me sit up. I did the usual things we do when we find things we like online; I shared it on various networks and forgot about it soon after. Then while generally surfing yesterday I found it again, only this time I found it on the makers page.

Amrit Vatsa has an interesting blog that caught my eye. He tell stories but not just in words, he tell video stories of people in all of three minutes, well mostly 3 minutes. :) He has quite a collection of 3 minute stories and you should definitely check them out. But this post isn't about that.

This post is about a story he told a while back, a story about how rape is not always about sex. Shreena and Ria have a powerful message to spread, and it is one I really like as it is about equality in it's true sense. Every time women seem to fight for equality, we are trying to get what men already have, or do what men are already allowed.

As an idea that has disturbed me for a long time. I don't want to constantly strive to be a man or even better than a man. I just want to be. I want to do what I want to do; not because I have to prove a point but because it make me happy. I don't want to be a tom-boy coz I'm I am boyish. I don't want to ride bikes because men do it, or travel alone because men can do it. I want to do all I do because I simply want to. This applies to even such mundane things as cooking and cleaning!

It's a slightly convoluted idea but there in for me lies equality. As a child my parents never told me I couldn't do something because I was a girl. I was allowed to do everything my brother did and more but it wasn't as competition of girl vs boy. There were things I was told that I was not allowed but never because I was a girl. Well, so I remember it, or maybe it was just me fighting to be me and not be labeled a girl.

So why am I sharing this video, well, because I want to push Shreena's and Ria's idea, I want equality for boys and girls, men and women. I'd like a world where we can just be who we are without having to fit into molds, or live up to norms of how we should be. I want to remove the definitions of man and woman and what each is allowed and not allowed. I want to see men cry openly without shame and women scratch their crotch in public without getting scorned. :D

http://vimeo.com/102474256

If the above video does not show up for you, you can click and see it on Amrit Vatsa's Vimeo channel.

Shreena Thakore, Ria Vaidya, and Rishabh Singh run the campaign No Country For Women with the intention "to change the problematic attitude of a country toward half of its population". They are fighting for gender equality and the removal of gender-based policing, violence and discrimination. Their work involves a lot of workshops across schools and colleges, distribution of written and audio-visual material online, and implementing effective long-term solutions. Check out their website if you would like to invite them to your school or college, have a discussion or just donate towards their idea.

What kind of a world do you want? What is your definition of equality? What did you think of the video?

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How to Manage Tick Fever If You Have a Pack of Dogs

In my last post about Tick Fever I said I learned tons more on tick fever management from the Vet and friends who also have packs. But before I get to the management, I'd like to talk about why management is important.

Tick Fever is spread by ticks when they bite on prey. The bacterial organism is passed into the host through it's saliva. However not all ticks carry the organism - Ehrlichia canis.

A tick ingests the organism when it feeds on an infected host. Once the tick is a carrier it will infect and transmit the disease to all dogs it feeds on after. And it doesn't end here, the bacterium is also passed on to offspring when the carrier tick lays eggs.

This is not a small matter when you realise that ticks can lay up to 3,000 eggs at one time. That's an army carrying tick fever!

Management of tick fever isn't easy but it isn't impossible either. Being diligent, careful and vigilant constantly, will take you a long way in keeping your pack safe. Here's some of the things I was told to do and I did.

No Hunger:
The sick dog should eat as much as he/she wants as it needs all the nourishment it can get to fight and heal, however make sure to spread the meals.
Cuckoo seemed to be in very early stages of Ehrlichiosis as her appetite hadn't dropped at all. She ate her scheduled meal and then asked for more. With her medication and healing cycle she needed as much energy as she could generate so I fed her as much as she wanted. But I spread the meals out so she didn't eat too much at any point in time and throw up. She ate three meals and showed a preference for chicken rather than beef but she was eating her beef quantities too. The chicken I guess was easier for her to digest.
Along with this I was giving her a mug of chicken soup a couple of times through the day too. The soup would give her energy and also hydrate her.

Stay Paranoid:
Keeping all the dogs tick free should be on top of your priority list. Keeping the infected dog tick free above all else.
I checked and cleaned Cuckoo almost thrice a day those days. I watched her like a hawk on walks, making sure to avoid bushes and grass where ticks are most likely to be, and I checked her during or immediately after every morning walk. A tick that bites her and lays eggs would unleash an army of infected ticks in my house.

Short, Clean Walks:
If your dog is up to walking, walk your dog but keep the walk short so as to not tire him/she.
For a while all the dogs were on short walks and on as short a leash as I could manage. I tried and kept them away from bushes as much as possible. Both of these were meant to reduce the chances of bringing in ticks. After all walks were complete I also settled down for a session of checking and grooming all dogs before feed time.
Cuckoo loves her walks so I couldn't deny her but a short walk made sure that she didn't get too tired or fatigued.

Cleaning OCD:
Keep your house like a maniac and do it again every day!
I was on a cleaning mania those two weeks. Every piece of bedding got brushed down everyday, every corner got swept and mopped. I usually vacuum once a week but then I increased it's frequency and did it every alternate day. I sprayed all corners and edges in the house with neem oil and the mop water had large quantities of salt and vinegar everyday. The salt and vinegar work well as dehydrating agents and should kill ticks that fall off as ticks need to stay hydrated to stay alive. Between the neem oil and salt I hoped to avoid any laying of eggs.
The garden was sprayed down with neem oil too. Not only did I spray the trees and plants but also the grass!

Temperature:
Check temperatures everyday!
Normal temperature for dogs is 102F and depending on time of day and activity it could go up to 103 but anything above that is not normal and is the first indicator of tick fever.
I checked the temperatures of all dogs everyday. It is preferred to check first thing in the morning as resting temperature is the best indicator but with William and Max it was difficult in the morning as they were restless for their walks. So everyone else got checked in the morning and they got theirs checked about noon when lethargy set in. :)

Medication:
Don't miss giving medication on time and make sure you are using some external treatment to deter ticks.
Cuckoo was on doxycycline and I made sure to give her her dose everyday without fail.
Apart from this all dogs had Protektor (tick and flea drops) Spot-on treatment put on as a first line of defense. I was hoping it would work as a deterrent for ticks. But I would still check like crazy, everyday and sometimes multiple times a day. It was almost like every petting session was a tick search session.
Usually Che and I are very particular about the dogs baths and renewal of their tick and flea medication. This time with all the shifting I had slipped up and the baths and treatment renewals got delayed. We did get it all done but just before Cuckoo was diagnosed and that was already too late!

If you'd like to know more about ticks, the Tick article on Wikipedia is a great. You can also read the How Ticks Work article on How Stuff Works. For home remedies to keep ticks away here is a list I put together some time back - Home Remedies for Ticks on Dogs

Over all it had been two weeks with shit loads of stuff to do every day but after a couple of days it became routine and I started to even have fun doing it all. :D

However things changed drastically after Cuckoo's second blood test. We weren't fighting tick fever any more but rather auto-immune disease. But that's a post for another day...

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The Saturday Tirade: Why should You DIY on Social Media

I had intended to write on another topic this week but over the week I have spoken to a few entrepreneurs who called for social media gyan and they left me steaming at the ears, so here goes...

Everybody seems to be wanting success, they want to be 'the' brand online, they want tons of followers, an abundance of likes, loads of comments, uncountable leads, and of course an epidemic of guaranteed conversions. BUT, but they do NOT want to do the work.

Not wanting to do the hard work of networking, building a community and a presence online is all fine for a company or business with a lot of money. These rich guys can hire an agency to do the work. But it's not about the money, because it's more about hiring the right agency who will do the right job, and that does take money. After all, there's no such thing as a free lunch.

But what happens when you are a start-up, a one man show or a small team with very little funds, how then do you find the funds for these agencies? How do you succeed online? How do you become 'the' brand?

I keep saying this to every business owner and entrepreneur I speak to
- only you know your business best, only you know the pulse of your product or service, only you know your customers heart, only you can be the best voice of your brand - and I haven't changed this stance in the 5 years I have been a social media consultant. This is my top reason for why you should manage your own social media. Especially when you are starting out.

Yes, I agree it's a fair bit of work but then so was your idea when you first started out in your business. Making the idea a reality took hard work, you wouldn't just have outsourced it and got someone else to do it, would you? Well, it's the same here, you're going to have to do the work to reap rewards.

And you don't have to do everything, be everywhere and all that. You can choose how much you want to do and where you want to do it. Choosing your networks well and managing your time on it efficiently will lead to great results over time - connections, relationships, and community. And these are real, and you know that for sure because you created them.

Where are the leads and money you say? These connections and relationships that you build slowly over time will create a community for you. And communities are great because over time they become your voice, they make the leads and sales happen.

Startup owners that I have spoken to are always looking to see how they can increase sales, but I don't find a lot of them doing things to build goodwill, connect and interact with people (notice I didn't say customers), or be themselves online. They are parts of groups but more of them have to do with entrepreneurship than their service or product.

Online marketing isn't very different from traditional marketing. It's just word-of-mouth and relationship marketing taken into the virtual world. The same old school rules apply. Don't do unto others what you don't want done to you. Build for the future, not for tomorrow and you'll be in a beautiful place.

Don't outsource. It isn't impossible to manage your own social media, just start small and be yourself. Also be consistent. And then just give it a little time. The magic will happen. And when it does I promise it will be worth it, and best of all you'll be enjoying yourself while doing it. Social is fun you know! ;)

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My Week in Photos: I & Monkey and An All New Kindle Paperwhite

A glimpse of the past week with a random collection of photos taken by me and Che through the week. :)


Elu posed in the middle of playing... Check out that look!




I see these centipedes by the kg every morning and sometimes they are recreating the Kamasutra ;D




We had a crazy thundershower that brought down my drumstick tree. And it had just started flowering. :(






I see this lock every morning on our walk. Crazy isn't it... (There is another lock on that door too, can you find it?)





Che and I had an awesome lunch on Saturday at I & Monkey




Max all curled up and cute. He's losing weight and getting so active and cuddly.



Che as a privileged customer was invited to an Amazon.in event on Sunday. Thanks to the blaady traffic we were late and missed meeting Jeff Bezos but we did get an all new Kindle Paperwhite. And since Che has one already, it's mine, all mine ;D



The last screen after the first start of the Kindle Paperwhite...



What had you been upto last week?

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Friday Review: Chatur by Subhash Kommuru

Title: Chatur
Author: Subhash Kommuru
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Kommuru Books (September 2014)
Genre: Fiction
Read: Paperback
Stars: ****/5
Buy On: Amazon.in | Amazon.com




Note: Thanks Subhash for offering me your book to read and review :)

Cover: Simple,fun and colourful.

Paper and font: Fonts are good..

Readability, language: Simple language.

Why did I choose this book: A children's book in Hindi sounded promising.

I've never reviewed a Hindi story book on my blog before, so when I heard from Subhash about reviewing his book I was curious. I got back to him saying I sure was interested in reading his children's book however my reading capability of Hindi was bad, so I wasn't sure how long it would take me to read or if I'd be able to read the book at all. He got me even more curious by saying his book catered to people like me. And I got thinking, really?

Language is important and local, regional, national, etc. languages even more so. We are becoming an English speaking country as the generations progress, not that it's a bad thing but losing our mother-tongues, our native languages is sad. With time I'm noticing less and less children speaking Indian languages and as people stop speaking them, these languages will die. A lot of them have already died. India is a country of diverse languages and so many dead dialects.

Every one has different learning styles and methods. Some people are linguists and some like me just can't grasp a language easily. Most of the languages I speak I learned as a child, and all the languages I tried to learn as an adult I speak in a pathetic manner. You should hear me speak Kannada and French! But anyway, the point is that people learn most easily as children who have amazing grasping minds. There are so many story books for children out there but how many are written in Indian languages?

Subhash's book came as a surprise in this space. I found myself enjoying the book even though it was just a short children's story. The story is one we have heard before as kids, about a lazy donkey and the illustrious washerman with the moral about hard work pays. Well, Chatur has a moral too but not this one. Subhash has put a different spin to it and it comes as pleasant surprise.

This is a story about enjoying life. About learning that greed does not pay. That play is just as important as work. That you don't have to always be doing something or climbing the success ladder, relaxing is also important. These are odd lessons, and yet, these lessons are important for our children who are growing up in a world where, there is so much expected of them in so little time, that they are forgetting to be children. For that matter we adults so often forget in our busy schedules to just have fun.

Chatur is an illustrious washerman. His work partner is Mand who does not want to do anything more then required, however Chatur wants to increase his business, he wants to get more work. But Chatur is unable to get Mand to work more, and so decides to get Atal the elephant for the job of carting his load. Will Chatur's plan work? Will his business flourish? What will happened to Mand? Well. thats the story

This is a Hindi story but both Hindi and English scripts are provided. For someone like me who speaks Hindi well but can't read it fast, the English script was helpful, it increased the rate of my reading speed and in turn my interest in the story.

The language used is simple and clear with sounds and dialogues that will make reading the story out loud to a child fun.

Illustrated by Nayan Soni, the images are simple, colourful and support the story quite well. I think children would enjoy the colours as they flip through the book. Testimonials from children seem to attest to that too!

Over all this is a good book to get for your child, especially if you read him or her bedtime stories. :)

About the Author:
Though originally from India, Subhash currently resides in the US with this wife, Sujata and their son. Website - Kommuru Books.

Buy On: Amazon.in | Amazon.com

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