Bring Back The Touch

An indiblogger initiative along with Parachute Advansed Lotion #BringBackTheTouch.
It was their 50th wedding anniversary.Their marriage had lost the sheen it had years ago.Revathi wondered whether Ravi even remembered their wedding date. She kept thinking about their dating days. It was different.But things had changed. After two kids and their responsibilities had come up, their marriage had totally taken a different turn.Revathi was lost in thoughts as she did the house hold work. It was 11am and Ravi had left for work.

Revathi had decided to rest for a while before cooking up for lunch.She knew Ravi would be home by 1 for lunch. She wondered whether she should cook something special. She wondered whether it would remind Ravi what was special about the day.She took a nap and woke up to rush straight into the kitchen to whip up something edible for lunch. By 1 everything was ready.Revathi had decided to cook something simple but it turned out to be an elaborate affair. She arranged the food on the table and waited for Ravi to come.
The bell rang.Revathi rushed to open the door for Ravi.Her life had become monotonous,She thought.She served food as Ravi sat hungrily to have the lunch. She expected Ravi to appreciate her cooking .But she knew Ravi never did that. The last time he ever did was during their college days when she would cook up an omlette during their night outs. She sat next to him and saw him eat. She felt happy as Ravi had no complaints about the lunch. As she was about to leave Ravi held her hand and asked her to have a seat.It was years since something like this ever happened. Ravi still kept holding her hand .That was the touch Revathi had longed for since years. "Happy 50th Wedding Anniversary" wished Ravi and handed over abox of chocolates. "You remembered?" , exclaimed Revathi in excitement.Ravi hugged her tight as tears of joy flowed down her cheeks.

Bring back the touch in your boring monotonous lives.Bring back the love like many such couples like Nimrat in the video below as well as Revathi and Ravi. Rekindle your romance with a lovely touch.

Toilet For Babli - A Domex Initiative

An initiative by Indiblogger and Domex to give dignified lives to kids.




The country is plagued by so many issues – social,health etc etc. But one of the most heart wrenching issues that we face is lack of toilets for our country men. This is not just the case in villages but also Metropolitan cities like Mumbai. If you are a Mumbaikar and you use local trains for commuting to and fro, the very first sight in the morning that you see is of people defecating in the open near railway tracks. When I say people, it includes every gender. Most of us who would be reading this blog am sure would have their own toilets and wouldn’t have to defecate in the open. Just imagine one morning you are asked to go and use the main road or the area around the track as your toilet . How humiliating it is to bare your ass and defecate in the open when there are lakhs of eyes viewing your bare ass on their way to office. The thought itself is disturbing.


Apart from being a matter of humiliation, It also questions the very development and progress taking place in our country. The year 2014 boasts of India’s successful mission to Mars, but the very shameful fact is that, though we have been successful enough to achieve the impossible , we are still a failure when it comes to providing our very own country men the basic facilities of sanitation . We have all seen public toilets or pay and use toilets but the condition of the toilets are so pathetic that it is difficult to step inside. The thought of using public toilets makes one sick.Apart from the fact that the number of public toilets are very few for people to use, the ones that are available are dark, smelly ,not maintained properly. People in villages as well as cities also avoid public toilets for personal safety as toilets are at a distance from the house and going there can be risky late nights. There have also been crimes reported ,of women being raped, men being robbed,kids being kidnapped and raped while using the public toilets in the dark. These are some of the main reasons why people avoid using the existing toilets and prefer defecating in the open.

 The lack of sanitation or open defecation is also the main cause of several health hazards like diarrhoea ,typhoid as well as other intestinal infections. Recently we have also seen our Prime Minister promising public toilets for every village. He has been giving utmost significance in maintaining cleanliness and hygiene in India. But is it possible with just one person shouting and blabbering about the importance of maintaining hygiene. We can eradicate open defecation as well as the health hazards associated with it if each and every individual decides to. Keeping public toilets clean after use is our responsibility. Keeping them as clean as we would want it to be when we want to use it can improve the conditions of public toilets. Politicians and the leaders can provide facilities like street lights, toilets for use in every nook and corner as well as play a significant role in maintaining the hygiene in these toilets.But again it’s all about changing the mindset of the people and spreading awareness about the significance of cleanliness. Strengthening this initiative and carrying the same thought process forward Domex has come up with this initiative which promises toilets for kids so that the kids get a chance to live a dignified life.


 The initiative “Toilet for Babli” promises to eradicate open defecation and bring about a change in the lives of millions of kids. Such a noble initiative requires support from all of us. All you need to do is “click” on the “Contribute Tab” on www.domex.in and Domex will contribute Rs.5 on your behalf to eradicate open defecation, thereby helping kids like Babli live a dignified life. All that every one wants is a dignified life where in one doesn’t have to compromise for the basic amenities . Let us all come forward and take a small step towards eradicating open defecation by clicking on the link here
(open the page in google chrome)


You click and Domex contributes towards giving a dignified life to a child. Every click counts…

21. An Endless Night

 A fast paced crime thriller by team Supernova .


Read the previous part here




“Oh! dear Tara you are yet to make the tea I asked for... Quick! Come on.... you know that I hate delays " said Aryan Ahuja in a stern tone. Tara was totally numb with the news that was aired that Shekhar was the culprit and he was the mastermind behind the hijack. Her world had crashed, she had no idea as to what could be done. Her phone had started ringing non stop the moment the news was aired. She was clueless as to how she could save herself and Roohi from the hellhole which she considered was a safe house...What an irony she thought!! she had been trapped in the very same house she considered safe. Tara moves into the kitchen lost in her thoughts and starts preparing tea for Aryan. Aryan kept sending instructions which she didn't care to hear. " Darling, two spoons of sugar" said Aryan and laughed hysterically. " Shut up! Just get out of our lives " cried out Tara. Aryan was surprised by Tara's outburst and in a sudden fit of anger pulled her by her hair. " Look , am here to get all those information about Xombie that you have. You better don't make me a monster. Do as I say ! your husband is a fool, I wonder how he could risk his beautiful wife and his precious daughter's life for a bloody piece of information." 

Tara trembled in fear as the grip on her began to loosen. She could fight him out but she was losing the mental strength for the same. She was not sure what she had to do. She couldn't trust Aryan as to whether he would let them live even after the information was shared. She knew there were a lot of people involved in the same and Ahuja was just a pawn . She knew they were dangerous and she didn't wish to risk her life for the same. Tara places the cup of tea infront of Aryan. "That's like my good girl" said Ahuja... "Now as i relish your refreshing tea, you go and get all the information that I am seeking for . Go! you should be here by the time I finish this tea or else am going to finish you off", barked Ahuja red with anger Tara hurried to Roohi's room to ensure she was safe . On seeing Roohi sleep blissfully Tara broke into tears blaming herself for getting her family into so much of trouble. She knew this wasnt something Roohi deserved. 

She knew she had to fight Ahuja. But how ! how could she do that. She decided to share all the non essential details with Ahuja and decided to convince him that this was all she had and that her husband was innocent. Tara hurried with some papers out of Roohi's room and locked the room carefully. She handed over the papers to Ahuja and pleaded him to leave. "This is all that I have .


 Please leave us alone." cried out Tara. "Thats like a good girl , Give it to me.. let me see those papers ", smiled Ahuja . Ahuja went through the papers and Tara could see his temper rising. She had decided she would not give away the information whatever may come. Tara was lost in thoughts when Ahuja got up from his seat and slapped Tara hard on her face. " Don't you try acting smart with me. Am not going to fall for this kind of nonsense. I give you one more chance, go get the information" he growled. Ahuja continued ," You know what, this kind of a publicity is something that we like. Any kind of publicity is good for us. We want people to talk about us. And when you started working on the same, we were happy that we were getting a journalist covering our story for free... Hahhaha!!! This is just free publicity for us.. your stupid work amounts to free publicity.. And look at you... , you are risking your life to give us publicity.. HAHAHAH!!!! I am loving this" Tara couldn't believe what Ahuja kept blabbering. She was disgusted with her profession , she wondered where her job had put her into. Ahuja's voice disturbed her thoughts, "But you know what you did a grave mistake.. You acted smart... You collected more information that you should have ever done... You have the information about our Chief..." Tara was left wide eyed. She wondered who was the Chief of all the names she had. She never had realised that she had reached the end of her investigation because Sarkar had assigned her to an other project on priority. It had come from her top bosses and it was difficult for her to refuse. She now realised that every single person was hand in glove in this mission. "Go... Get me all the information..Come on...fast!" screamed Ahuja. Tara was too shocked to move because of all the information she had heard from Ahuja in the last 30 seconds. Ahuja was fuming and seeing Tara's no reaction to the same he was not sure as to what he would end up doing. Tara rushed in hurriedly to get all the information. She knew she had to live for her family. She handed over her spare laptop to Ahuja. And then there was a loud noise from the room followed by a shriek .


Read the next part here


 Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.

Chapter 9 : Batch Of 2020

A tale woven by  craftsmen in the Team 'Supernova'.

Read the previous part of the story here

Jennifer kept thinking hard what Sasha was expecting from her. She kept thinking what had possibly gone wrong that summer. Jennifer had just joined Damania Engineering College. Jennifer was a bright student and was an ardent art lover. She was someone who had no plans in her life. Everything she did was spontaneous and had to be total fun. She was totally different from the other girls in her college. On the first day, she remembered how she had come in late and how she had to be seated around an extremely feminine and stylish girl called Alka. Alka and Jennifer were different as chalk and cheese but something had clicked between them. Their friendship slowly became the talk of the college. They would bunk lectures, hang out in the college and have fun. They would go shopping together , hogging around in all the eateries and would act totally crazy when around.

Alka came in from a upper middle class background whereas Jennifer belonged to a middle class family . But this never affected their friendship. They were like soul sisters. Every student in their class wanted to hang out with these cool chicks in the college. Slowly and gradually they became a group of 5 , all kids of influential parents except for Jenniffer. Alka and Jennifer became hostel roomies too. Jennifer had shifted to Mumbai for her engineering studies but her interests lied somewhere else. She always wanted to do something exciting, like covering crime journalism. Alka , she just wanted a degree.All that she had to do was manage her dad’s flourishing business.

 It was just a month after their joining that their seniors had announced a Fresher's party. This year the college seemed to have announced Fresher's party. Everyone seemed to be excited for the party. The party was just a polite and decent way introduced by the seniors to rag the freshers and that too in front of the teachers. The date was announced and the venue was declared for the party. But Jeniffer’s group already had a plan set for the same day. They had decided to hang out in a friend’s farmhouse that weekend. And now this fresher’s party had come up.It wasn’t a tough decision choosing which party to attend for a gal like Jennifer who had her own rules of life.The other 4 in the group followed whatever Jeff (as her friends would call her lovingly) said.


They bunked the Fresher's party and headed to the farmhouse in Lonavla which belonged to one of their classmates, Mohit. They had decided to party all night. Booze and drugs all were arranged to add in more fun. . Late night the gang of 5 headed to Lonavla. Jennifer remembered, that was a night of fun. Alcohol flowed in abundance. No one to control over her. She was a free bird unlike in Cochin where her dad would control her every movement. She remembered him as a control freak.

On the other hand Alka was totally high on booze. She was getting close and cozy with her boyfriend of a month who was also called in for the party. Alka was totally out of control and Jennifer poured in more alcohol for her. Jennifer screamed in euphoria, “Have it more babes, Lets rock the party!" In the next few hours, the party became wild. Everyone in the party was lying around drunk.

Alka was having a wild time with her boyfriend. But Jennifer knew that was a night they all wanted away from their parents, they wanted their own world of fun. Jennifer had no guy around to hook up with, so she decided to hook up with the first love of her life, her camera. She clicked pictures of the party of everyone doing stupid stuff. She laughed thinking how the pictures of her classmates were going to embarass them once they came back to their senses. She knew, they were going to beg of her to clean up those pictures. But Jennifer had a rule, " Nothing clicked by her camera ever goes to the trash. It stays with her no matter what". She decided to explore the farmhouse and ventured out. She was drunk but she didn’t care about anything. Jeniffer had an eye for beauty and unusual stuff.  She went "Click Click Click " capturing whatever she saw..
The next morning as she woke up She found herself in the farmhouse with a heavy head and severe headache. Everyone around her was tensed. She woke up and dragged herself out and asked her classmates what had happened. Jennifer remembered someone saying " Alka was dead" and that is when reality struck her. How! What ! What are you saying?? Jennifer had screamed.She couldn’t believe what she had heard.But everyone seemed as clueless as Jennifer was. Jennifer had regretted making this plan and heading to Lonavla for a night of fun. Jennifer had a faint picture of Alka going out with her Boyfriend. That was the only ever image in her mind that she had of Alka.

Jennifer tried to think hard what had happened next... She remembered her running crazily to find her camera and go through the pictures. The camera had last snaps of Alka and her boyfriend on the road outside the farmhouse .They were seen cozying up in his swanky new car .

Jennifer cried out loud. Shekhar and Cyrus rushed to her help and asked her what had gone wrong. Jennifer had realised that Alka's death had some connection with the whole Sasha thing. Jennifers camera also had some pics of unknown strangers in the party and their was one face who was in every snap of Alka's. He was always in the background or somewhere around Alka. Jennifer had wondered who the guy was then but she hadn't paid heed to it. But somehow she now felt that fellow had some connection to it. Jennifer opened up everything to Shekhar and Cyrus about the party and everything she could remember had happened that night. She also told about the unknown stranger she had seen in the party. She also expressed concern as to who he would have been to Cyrus as he was also in the party.

 Cyrus remembered that it was indeed a tragic night and he never ever talked about that incident every to anyone. It was sad that a gal from the party had met with a tragic end and everyone in the party were grilled for hours by the police. That was one night he never wanted to be associated with and was reluctant to share whatever details he had with Jennifer and Shekhar. But their life was in danger and he had no choice. He had to share whatever he knew with Jeniffer.

Cyrus opened up. “There is something I want to share” , said Cyrus and paused thinking whether he was doing a right thing talking to two unknown strangers about that night. But did he have a choice?
He continued,”I do have an account of the party detail by detail written on my blog. You can read it there . I have also shared some photographs of the people from the party. I am not sure whether they would help us but you can go through it” . Jennifer tried surfing the net for Cyrus’s blog but realized that the network was jammed . “ Shit! This isn’t working. We are all going to die”, cried out Jennifer.

Cyrus tried on his laptop and then realized their efforts were in vain. He browsed through some files and folders to find whether he could find the blog posts saved as drafts on his  laptop.
“ Jeniffer, I think I have found it. This is the one .” said Cyrus. Both Shekhar and Jennifer peeped to check out the pics and the post.She was surprised with what she found. She kept staring into the screen . She became all pale and white. Did the post hold any clue to Alka's murder? Was the stranger found ? Was Cyrus sharing everything that he knew? Could their lives be saved… hundred thoughts ran across Jennifer’s mind.



The story continues here ...Read on

“Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.”

Chapter1 : A Strange Journey

A tale woven by  craftsmen in the Team 'Supernova'.

Read the previous part of the story here

As the train chugged along , Shekhar pondered how his life had changed totally with the birth of Roohi.  His life totally revolved around her these days.

Roohi was Shekhar’s nine year old daughter. Roohi was born after 7 years of his marriage with Tara. He kept looking outside the window and was lost in his thoughts about his marriage and life.

Tara and Shekhar were college sweethearts. Shekhar had fallen for her the moment his eyes fell on her. Tara was  different from the other gals of his college. She was tall, beautiful and carried herself very elegantly. She was someone whom every guy wanted to date. Some how cupid struck and love had blossomed for the young couple.  Both Tara and Shekhar were different as chalk and cheese but  there was something that kept them going together. Shekhar wondered what was that , that kept them going strong then. He broke into a smile lost in his thoughts as he remembered the old days when they would bunk lectures to have golgappas from a nearby vendor. Tara used to love them. It reminded him that it has been days that they went out on such a date . He missed those long walks in the rain , sharing tea from the same cup .Suddenly his thoughts were disturbed by the sounds of  “ Chai ! Chai”. The railway vendor served him tea .He was untidy and had worn torn clothes. Shekhar was too lost in his thoughts to worry about the hygiene.

As he sipped his tea, he thought how Tara’s career and priorities had totally changed after marriage. Shekhar remembered how pretty Tara looked in the wedding trousseau. She was dressed in all the fineries and she looked quite a goddess .Shekhar remembered how he couldn't stop looking at her and she kept gushing and blushing like every other coy bride. Oh! those lovely wonderful days he thought! He also realised how Tara's  priorities had totally changed over the years. With multiple miscarriages she had, she had lost hope in her life and had found peace in her career. She had become so career obsessed that Shekhar had taken a backseat in her life. And then Roohi had happened to them after so many years of their marriage. She was a cute bonny baby. Her chubby cheeks and soft  brown hair  were signs of her resemblance to Tara. Her eyes glistened every time Shekhar would take her out in the sunlight. Shekhar  was happy Roohi was blessed with her mother's beauty. Day by day Shekhar had grown possessive of Roohi  so much so that Shekhar managed the house, and Tara the office.

Roohi had grown into a plump little girl. She was a totally spoilt child . Notorious and bigtime prankster that she was , Roohi would often end up bullying kids of her age. Shekhar always ignored her mistakes. Shekhar had spoilt her big time.She always got whatever she ever wished for. She knew she could throw in tantrums and daddy dearest would give into her wishes. But her mom was different. Strict and stern , Tara had laid down rules for her. But she always believed that  " Rules were meant to be broken", something that Shekhar had taught her during one of her long conversations she had with her dad after school. And they both had laughed off Tara's rules and guidelines. Shekhar would bring Roohi back from school and spend time playing with her on weekends. Shekhar  still remembered Roohi's fourth birthday which was celebrated in such a grand way in one of the five star hotels in the city. 
She had asked for a big Disney themed party and  Shekhar couldn't  refuse.  
Those days were full of fun , he thought. He had started missing Tara and Roohi and he knew it was a long journey before he could actually meet his loved ones. The train kept moving with speed and Shekhar's excitement to meet his family just intensified every second.

Suddenly the train screeched to a halt and the tea spilt over his denim pants. The hot tea flowing down through his denims had brought him back to reality.

Jennifer and Cyrus by now had fallen sleep and the sudden jolt by the train disturbed their forty winks. Jennifer's camera fell with a thud due to the sudden brakes applied and she rushed in to save her costly camera. Cyrus looked around with surprise as to what had caused the commotion.

Read the rest at Ch 2: http://rafaadalvi.blogspot.in/2014/09/chapter-2-kick-off.html 

“Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.”

Stage & Me...

A big break I took from the blogging world and now there are so many topics I want to blog about. Will take you through everything that you missed from my life. I just switched to a new firm two months back and my heart still lies with my First Company IGATE which gave me a platform to actually identify myself and be what I am.

We had this initiative called as TGIM- Thank God it's Monday where in every Monday the employees would be encouraged to come forward and display their talent no matter how weird it was. It is a platform to provide 30 minutes of unadulterated pure fun and a place where we could hear some soothing and soulful music. An attempt to get rid of your Monday blues. The Mondays at IGate were something  that I would look forward to. I usually sang with my better half  Suchitra Vaidynathan and we earned a name for us - Chitra Sisters. I have had a blast on the stage singing with her .

I am sharing a link of the video with you guys  of one of my performance for IGATE Annual Event -2014. 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4vR73xCxDo

 

The quality of the video isn't that great but it's one of our best performances and we performed in front of 10000 odd audience and its one of the most memorable events of my life. This post is not to brag about myself but  to encourage all my readers to overcome the stage fright that each one has.

What amazes me is the way I performed in front of such a strong crowd. I was fearless .I didn't know what fear was. I didn't care how the performance was going on. For the very first time I felt I sang for myself. People have an presumed image of me as someone who's bold and someone who is fearless and so performing on stage would be like a piece of cake for me.

But the truth is I have been booed many times during my college days and many times I have walked down the stage with tears in my eyes. One such incident that I would want to share with you guys is of my junior college days . We had an elocution competition and I had to talk on some topic. I had prepared it well and I thought I would crack it. I went to the stage as my name was called. The hall was occupied with hardly 50 people. One look at the audience then and I had went totally blank. I started with my speech ,I muttered something and then I went blank. There was complete silence in the room, I was nervous and anxious .I saw the audience staring at me waiting for me to speak a word atleast. The judges asked me to finish it off and give another competitor a chance. I had tears in my eyes and I asked the judges for one more chance. And they refused. By then the audience had started hooting, giggling and I was in tears. I left the room crying .I could have left the stage forever. I could have stopped being on the stage forever. I could have left the stage forever. But it just encouraged me further .I realized two things from the incident that the stage is where I belong to and secondly I need to be the best if I wanted people to cheer for me.

I know many of my friends who are so talented but fear from performing in front of people. Right from very young age parents identify the talent in their kids and put them for various classes to hone their skills. But not many parents encourage their kids to go and perform on the stage. Parents fear getting embarrassed themselves and most of the time never encourage their kids to be back on stage after one or two failed performances. I would suggest everyone  reading my post, If you think you have got it in you, just go there and perform without being bothered about the world. Your first performances may be a failure but that shouldn't stop you. Every time i get on to the stage, this incident comes to my mind and I realise that i have hardly 5-6 min to prove myself- so either I make it or break it. At times I dont even think about anything I just do it for myself. No matter what your age is, being on the stage has nothing to do with your age, you just have to be young at heart and you just have to do things wholeheartedly.

Fat to Fit...

 Not Everyone is fat by choice.No one wants to be ridiculed as a Fatso.Everyone wants to be like the perfect model on the front cover of Vogue. But yes now i do realise we are responsible for all that happens with our body. A doctor had once told me this, " You are what you eat "  and that had somehow made sense to me and had stayed in my thoughts for a longer time. And now i have totally started believing that I am what I eat. I was never a zero figure all my life nor i was an obese baby by birth. Slowly and gradually my weight kept increasing (thanks to all the corporate lunches and parties )and i didn't even realise when i turned 93. The first time the weighing scale showed 93 , I was alarmed. The warning bells had started ringing.

Apart from the weighing scale that i so so loathed to use everytime during a medical checkup, there were other factors too that forced me to lose weight. Frequently mocked and being ridiculed by people , I had started feeling depressed. Somewhere it had started affecting my level of confidence too. I was showered with so many embarrasing nicknames ( moti,fatso etc  etc) . I didn't care what people told about me, but i somewhere felt that i was losing my identity. I am a software engineer, a blogger, a singer, a dancer  but people never addressed me as“ a singer” or “ a dancer”.Inspite of being multi talented than most of them who called me names, i thought my talent was being overshadowed by my weight. I have had so many experiences wherein for stage shows I would be declined a role.Obviously the real reason never came up but it was put up diplomatically many a times. Not that I cared about people, as to what they said.It was a fight against my will power. I questioned myself whether I was this weak that I could succumb to fatty foods and risk my life when I had such a beautiful life ahead to enjoy.


And that is when i decided  I am going to walk my calories away.I wake up early in the morning and go in for a jog or a walk with my bestie Anu. If you plan to go for walks ,always have a company.  Try to rope in a friend, your spouse, your parents etc who are tough taskmasters and will see to it that you jump off the bed.You need such company so that the other person is always motivated to shed off the calories.Anu is one such task master and thanks to her I don't miss a single day.

Its been 6 months and i am 11 kilos lighter.The more I walked , the more the effects became visible and the more confident I was. You can see the change in the pic below.

Morning walks along with a proper diet plan are the best thing if you are planning to lose weight. I used to wonder whether walks are effective, but the picture speaks volumes. And yes dont start with the expectation that the results would be visible the next day... you need to have loads of patience.. you need to wait patiently with a positive attitude.Set up goals for the week and try to achieve it...
If you are on the heavier side and you think you are going through everything exactly what i have been, its time you question your inner conscience and get your life back on track. No one is born perfect but nothing can stop you from  being perfect. There may be times when you plan to lose weight and suddenly you find yourself hogging.Just question yourself what is more important to you an air filled bag of chips or your son /daughter who would be joining the kindergarten soon. Being with people who spread positivity also helps a lot in the battle to lose weight. Be with people who accept the way you are and motivate you. My fiancee accepted me the way i am ( yes with 93 kilos) and that further strengthened my resolve to lose weight and be perfect for someone who has accepted the imperfect ME! Also there is nothing like I cant lose weight or I cant do this or that... Everything is possible, if you believe in yourself...if you love your life. Start loving your body and see the results....

Trust me where there is a strong will power to achieve something in life, nothing or no one can stop you...