Walking Together – The Half Way

“Hi, this is Mr. Perfectionist will you have a coffee with me? Sushmi was little infuriated. It was canteen of IISWBM College in Kolkata. Sushmi had come to meet her friend Priya.

Priya with her college friends was playing “Truth or Dare”. It was Sumith’s turn to introduce himself to the first girl entering the canteen. Sumith was a perfect example of playboy and was always proud of his looks and his style. His presence was always seen between beautiful girls.

Sushmi was a simple girl.After completing her graduation was working in a banking firm. She was pursuing her MBA course through distant learning.

Priya being a best friend of Sushmi, they used to often meet in the college canteen.  Sumith and Priya also being close friends, Sumith was always around when they met in college. There was something unique in Sushmi which Sumith found different from other gals with whom he used to flirt. They soon became friends and all three used to hang out together. Also they started group studies for their MBA preparation.

Their weekends were full of Movies, Outings and Dinner.

Sumith was very fond of books and always used to attend Book fair that happens every year in Kolkata. But this time his companion Priya was out of town. He thought of asking Sushmi and to his surprise she said yes. So this was their first outing alone.

Discussion of books went on followed by their personal talks. From likes to dislike, school to college they discussed everything about their life. All his girlfriends were also discussed .Although flirt but still Sushmi found him cute and a good person. He dropped her at home in a cab and waved goodnight. They had a lovely evening together.

Later as time passed they started meeting often alone. Both used to love ice-creams and hence their meet would always end with an ice-cream in Scoop parlour. Sumith used to flirt with Sushmi but both of them knew that he was just kidding.

Whenever they used to meet in a group, Sumith would always have that extra care for Sushmi and would make sure she is comfortable. Sushmi enjoyed this special care.

Once MBA was completed, Sumith got job in a famous airline company in Middle east. Although sad both promised to always contact each other. That time phone calls were expensive, so they would always mail each other. The complete day was shared through mails. Sushmi was always eager and excited to read Sumith; s mail. On other hand Sumith would also never miss a single day. On mails also Sumith used to flirt & Sushmi would reply pls not me .They were far yet were together.

They both had started liking each other, used to miss each other but still never thought of giving a name to their relation.

Sumith was back from Dubai after two years. Both of them decided to meet in the Book fair. Both were very excited and were impatient to meet each other. They were very happy to see each other and shared a warm hug. They also went to their favourite Scoop Parlour. It was 10 pm and was time for them to leave. Both were not wanting to go home but Sushmi’s family was little strict and hence they took a cab.

Suddenly Sushmi heard Sumith saying Are we compatible”? She was little surprised but still said yes. She asked the same question to him. But Sumith only shook his head. She still questioned him “Sumith, are we compatible? Are we compatible”….but there was no proper reply. The cab stopped near Sushmi’s house. The only words that were then heard was “Sushmi What Next, and …..

…And Sushmi looked at his face and got down from the cab.  She never turned back nor Sumith called him.

Sushmi kept on thinking “What Next …What Next, but could not find any answer. Were they scared or were they not enough matured to give a name to the relation…this only they knows. But somewhere the relation was end.

No one is aware whether Sumith and Sushmi will ever meet in Life.

But as it is rightly said that some relationship are not permanent and always remain half in Life.

Still, Life moves.... So be happy .....

-Jainita- 

“I am sharing a Half relationship story at BlogAdda in association with #HalfGirlfriend”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmlBnmyelHI

Space was never such Magical

“Mumma, it’s time for story, C’mon fast I need to sleep”, these are words of my 8 years niece Aashi. She loves her bedtime stories. 

On receiving the Colgate pack of magical stories, I thought Aashi would be best in creating a cute story with all the characters in the pack. Hence, on Friday night (As Saturday kids have holidays so no tension for waking up early next morning) I gifted the complete kit to Aashi and told her, “Every day you listen stories from Mumma, so today you create your own story and tell us.”

She was really excited seeing the packet and immediately un-packed all the three Colgate kit.

But also was little confused as there were so many characters. So I explained that you can start your story and then include characters one by one.

So here she goes with her Story:

She was very blissed to see a Boy and a Girl Astronaut. So she quickly started this is Aashi and my best friend Rehan. 

We going for a picnic to space. Mumma look my space suit, this is so nice in green color.This spaceship will take us high above in the space. Chalo bye Mumma, Bye Aunty we shall now return after we visit space. The best part of this was Mumma we are getting late so please pack my snacks and bottle fast. J

So here we go byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee and after some time she said Rehan we have reached space. It’s so cold here, I forgot my jacket should I go back? And then as per her Rehan says, don’t worry take mine I am a gentleman (So cute…)

Then she spotted UFO, so she hurriedly called Rehan who was wandering in the space. Look at this UFO, I have seen in “Koi Mil Gaya”, this is called UFO Spaceship all Aliens stay in this. 

And there one Alien comes out, Rehan was very scared (as per Aashi she is more brave as Girls are Best). So she pacified Rehan saying don’t worry we will do Friendship with this Alien and he will perform all Jadoo. 

 So all three became friends and they named Alien as “Jadoo”. All of them started playing “Catch-n-cook" and are enjoying the cool environment of space. 

Suddenly Aashi and Rehan were hungry so they ate their snacks which her Mumma had packed. Even Jadoo was hungry but he needs only “Dhoop” (Sun-light). So all three were thinking from where to get sun-light for jadoo. 

Now comes the entry of third pack of Colgate. Aashi, Rehan and Jadoo sat in their Spaceship and decided to meet sun. On their way they heard someone saying, “HELP, HELP We need Help”, this was Saturn & Jupiter Planet. Both Aashi and REhan had studied Solar System recently in their class, hence here was a nice cold-war with the order of the planet. Finally they both were convinced that Jupiter is 5th and Saturn is 6th planet in our solar system.

Here comes twist in their story.

They told them that there is a Comet who has gone mad and is destroying everything in space and have kidnapped our Sun.

Jadoo was tensed and started crying. “How will I get food now, my all powers will be waste without sun-light”.

Aashi and Rehan calmed Jadoo and everyone together were all ready to fight with Comet and get our Sun back. Aashi was little scared seeing Comet as it had become like a red ball more powerful then sun. But she is a brave girl, remember :)

Aashi and Rehan started searching for weapons with which they can fight against comet. Jadoo remembered that there are some nuclear bombs in this space which once one astronaut had brought and then did not take it back. 

Aashi, Rehan, Jadoo, Saturn and Jupiter all started searching for such bombs and they succeed.

So all went ahead to fight and cannoned this bombs to comet. Comet was broken into pieces and there was a loud sound of its explosion. All were very happy and relieved. Jadoo was also very happy as now all his powers are charged up.

All the planets and Sun thanked Aashi & Rehan. All started singing and dancing. Let me not forget to tell you Aashi loves dancing and so she had purposely put this dance in the space.

Now was a time to come back, so Aashi and Rehan said good-bye to everyone. They hugged jadoo and asked him also to return to his home. They sat in their spaceship and zzzooop were back to Earth.

She was very happy after she was back as she has created her own story and now will narrate the same in the school to Rehan and other friends.

I was also happy and amazed with the story she had created. Thanks to Colgate who gave this opportunity to make this kids creative.

Lots Of Luv,

Jainita 

“I’m blogging my #ColgateMagicalstories at Blogadda in association with Colgate.

IT RETURNS in Few Clicks

 “Month end billing pressure is killing me now and on top of that today is the last date of filling the tax. I should have given to any agent….did a mistake …God help me out”…atrocious was my situation until I remembered a hoarding of H&R Block for e-filing platform for tax filling.

I quickly typed H&R Block and came to the home page. The Login was simple with email ID and a normal 8 character password. I started filling my basic information. I followed the instructions mentioned by them and kept on inputting details step by step. Thankfully the steps were very clear and simple to follow. Atlas I could complete my tax filling on time and was astonished as I did it myself. I had a sign of relief and walked up for a coffee break J

I found my colleague puzzled seeing me so happy and excited that I completed by tax filling. On enquiring I found she never files income tax and has no knowledge on importance of it.

 Was little worried to know the reason for not filing the tax “why should we give our earned money to government, how will it benefit us. Its complete waste of time and money”. Honestly I felt little sad for India, that even educated people are less studied about importance tax filling.

I explained her that with the money we give as tax is one of the source of income for the government. With this money they provides fund for various infrastructure and welfare projects. This helps to increase the standard of living in the country.

Also this is very important for our personal benefit as well. She was little curious when I used the term “personal benefit”. This is one of the important document required while applying visa for another country. Secondly if we wish to apply for any loan then IT returns record is one of the primary requirement.

IT returns for loan? Yes, now-a-days many of us applies for housing loan. For this last three years tax return is required, even if we are co-applicant. After hearing this point she was getting convinced to fill the IT returns. Later I learned that she was planning for a housing loan in near future.

She also quickly opened the HR Block website and filed her IT returns.

Thus with few clicks I and my colleague filed our IT returns and completed our job on time. 

So pls file your Tax Returns on time and enjoy the benefits :)

“I’m taking the #TaxPledge to file IT returns with the easy Income Tax efiling option from H&R Block at BlogAdda.”

TREK- A real good FUN!

“Walk, walk and walk ….”This was my definition of trekking, until I experience my first trek to Rajmachi fort. I would always prefer an outing which would rejuvenate my energy level (both physical & mental which drains out thanks to busy Mumbai life) with nature and some fun. Hence decided to go for an outing once monsoon begins in Mumbai.

2016 heat had become agonising and we all were waiting for rains. Well our prayers were answered on 19^th June where we all had our first rain bath in worli sea-face. 

Then came the plan for trip to lonavala, but one of our friend (Neha) proposed trekking rather than picnic. Since final go was for an outing we all decided to trek this time. (Frankly speaking I was not much keen but thought of giving a tryJ)

Deciding a place was another challenge as all wanted to be little easy and enjoy more. After exploring though google we all finalised Rajmachi fort near Pune. After the destination next was the route as reaching rajmachi has two ways, one through karjat and second though lonavala. Lonavala won the battle and we all were set to go. 26^th June 2016 was “The Day for the first trek of my life with other 8 friends.

 Food is major question while trekking as we all are JAINS (so no potato, no onion).But all gals were ready to make food in the morning which could be carried on top for eating. I found little vague but supported the experienced people. So JAIN Poha, Upma, Maggi and moong chat was ready by 7am. We all started our journey at 7.30am and before we took halt for a tea break (at our regular lonavala food court) delicious Maggi was in our tummy J

Tea Break

Passing through Della’s we went ahead on our way to Rajmachi fort. We had hired tavera, which we drove till vehicles were allowed. As frankly we had checked in google that it takes 45-50 min climbing to reach rajmachi fort.  Our actual walk, sorry trek started at around 9.30 am.

Gals and photos always goes hand on hand. And we were around 5 girls so clicks at every junction was obvious. Let me tell you the climate was very pleasant and luckily it was not raining. So we took pics in all poses with every possible background.

Suddenly we realised that its 11am and we have not yet reached half the way. We asked people passing by and were amused to hear that trek is actually not started. We need to reach one village which will be another hour and then the fort. So in total we had another 2-3 hours more to reach the top. All our phones were hijacked by kevel (my hubby) so that we could reach by at least lunch time. No doubt in between he used to have some mercy on us and clicked few pictures. J .

But still we were enjoying the trek with beautiful climate and fun with our Kumar (one of our friend did not come but husband joined us).We had melody, pulse toffy and khakara (Jain) breaks in between.

We were at village by 12.30 pm. truly speaking we all were exhausted and tired. We could actually feel that trekking is not that easy and after the village it was more difficult. We tried some short cuts to reach early. The only mantra was to reach fast and have food…ha-ha yes we all were too hungry…..

With the naara of “Chale Chalo “we reached the top of Rajmachi Fort. 
During childhood days had painted many sceneries with green and blue, but today could live these colors completely. This part of nature was different. The cool breeze made us feel energetic once again. The blue sky with drizzling water took us to new horizon. The blanket of green grass was a feeling of motherly earth. We were mesmerised by this atmosphere and wanted to capture every memory to re-live again & again. It is said that hard works always pays, each moment we spent on the top was incomparable to the hunger and tiredness.

We then ate our home-made lunch Upma & Poha with hot tea. We started climbing down at 3 pm. And to add cherry on the ice-cream it started raining. We all felt that now our monsoon trek is complete where we experienced cool climate, with scenic beauty at the top, lots of memorable pics and now the rains.

But rains added to one more adventure in this trek. It made the muddy roads full wet and made our way difficult. Even the bikers who were returning got stuck in the mud and were unable to get through the same. Our pace reduced as we had to take baby steps in many patches in order to avoid any fortunes. But as I said it was my first trek I had to experience everything, so I fell down on that muddy slippery road having a good mud bath. Yuks but was fun J

The last half hour was fun as we had all sought of stupid jokes we could think of. I had plan to stay there and have sanyas ...Guess what everyone started having “Ghee bolvanu”i.e auction who will make me wear the garland for this gesture. Trust me it was fun were the auction went to 1 lac. 
checkout some nautanki pics...


Finally we all could see our vehicle waiting for us at around 5.30 pm. Achievement of completing the trek could be felt on everyone's face. Especially Bhautik ,who could manage complete trek without any tantrums.

The next achievement was to have proper food for our chouviar guy (Ishan), remember we all are JAINS. Having bath had also become necessary as we all were wet and I was with mud. Thanks to Ishan, we got one room in Zara’s dhaba and also had our dinner there. Check out the fresh look with all yellows :)

So was my 1^st trek to Rajmachi Fort. Although tiring but enjoyed the the adventure of trekking. 
In fact also learned that patient is very important in life to achieve any goal. Also because of our intolerant nature we generally have a blind eyes to the motivation factor that are around us to achieve the destination.

We enjoyed a lot and have lots of memories to be cherished later. 

Will surely go for another trek J

Book Review- ‘The Bestseller She Wrote’ by Ravi Subramanian

LOVE, BETRAYAL, REDEMPTION!

Brief about the Book

In today’s corporate and publishing world, The Best-seller She Wrote is the story of an established and famous writer-banker Aditya Kapoor and how he meets Shreya Kaushik, a final year IIM student. The story is all about the love story between the two leading character’s to a big smash of Aditya’s personal and professional relations.

The story of a banker-cum-author written by a banker-cum-author shows light on the below arguments…

Can one person love two people at a given point in time? Can one wisely make a choice between blind passion and ambition? Is it possible to trust someone again after betrayal?

Beauty of the Book

Aditya Kapoor is a banker turned author. He is a gem of a person and is living a balanced yet a starry personal and a professional life. Anything and everything he touches turns into gold. He has everything a man can dream of. 

Shreya Kaushik is a student with who is bold, young and ambitious. Young, beautiful and reckless, Shreya speaks her mind and obsessively chases after what she wants. And what she wants is to be a best-selling author.She is instantly expressive about the ramblings of her mind and loves to chase her dreams. Currently she wants to be a best-selling author. She is one of the top authors but now she wants to be the one. 

The book is easy-to-read. The first half of the story seemed a little slow and clichéd to me. Married guy having an affair with a younger girl who takes helps from him for a project and the wife finds out… something predictable. But the beauty is that the pace of the story changes after this.

Until then it took me almost 4 days, but the last 170 pages I finished in a single seating as the story had become exciting and the fun of reading a suspense novel was back- the genre the writer is great at and is famous for.

I really liked the way the other supporting characters Aditya, Maya and Shreya are sketched as they play important roles in the story and take it forward. The feeling for Maya, hating Shreya while admiring her guts and feeling both love and hate for Aditya is described very well.

You keep wondering throughout this time- Could Shreya’s selfishness actually lead her to take such deteriorating steps? Is Diana the culprit? Is there a different side to Sunaina? 

Critics

I was a little disappointed the way story is dragged.

Inadequate description of the protagonists shades of grey. I felt it was probably to us.

Aditya’s wife Maya is central to the story and yet, we don’t see what drives her. I feel the relationship with her husband before he meets Shreya could have been better explained. The author gives us only get a glimpse of it as if to explain that he had a happy married life and no real reasons to stray

My Rating: 3/5

Read the book if you like reading romance mixed with some suspense. The book provides some real insights to the Media business of today, the way it works, the way stardom hits the potential and ultimately how fame kills you. 

I am reviewing ‘The Bestseller She Wrote’ by Ravi Subramanian as a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. 

Rejuvenate your Love with Real Togetherness

Togetherness - a pleasant feeling of being connected to someone. Always wondered that couples during their college days are most connected. They can spend most of their time with each other. But as we grow up, we are tied with different responsibilities. And after marriage the main root for which you are together changes completely. Thanks to social pressure, work pressure and our never ending demands.

Thought of an outing was needed. I always wanted to experience snow hence Manali was our destination. The next part was a good company but unfortunately we could not find anyone suiting our dates. Still we thought of moving ahead and made a plan with the travel agent for both of us.

We started our journey in 2 tier Rajthani and reached Delhi from where we had a bus to Manali. Our journey was for 7 days where we had 3 days in Manali and 2 days in Shimla, including 2 days for to and fro.

Manali was too cold but still lovely as we went in November. 

My eyes were amazed to see blue skies, 

White Mountains, green land. 

First day we went to some temples and a

castle. It was the same castle where the shooting of “Jab we met” had happened. It was amazing.

Next day was real experience of life in Rohtang. At a height of approx. 13,500 ft. this was the highlight of the trip. The route was enchanting. We also took some jackets and fur coats on hire on the way as we were informed it will be freezing cold at the top. A mountain full of snow is an exhilarating experience. Playing in snow; throwing snow on each other, we had one of our best time. For the first time I did some skiing. The breeze intensified to a strong blizzard and we could feel the chill down the spine and breathing was becoming slightly difficult. But we enjoyed hot Maggi (that time Maggi was acceptable) and tea.

Then was rafting in Kullu. Another thrilling zone.  The ice cold water of the melted snow was electrifying when it gets poured on you. 

The best part was a drive from Manali to Shimla. The temples on the way, the hot water spring at Vashisht kund, the Vaishno Devi Mandir, the hanging bridge, long tunnels, winding roads and overall a fantastic experience.

We also experienced the toy train from Shimla to Kalka.

No phones, no work only we both and nature. Completely broke the digital world. Wished time should just stop here. We enjoyed each other’s company to fullest and actually did not require any third person in the trip.

Manali a real romantic place where we in its beauty we got lost in each other completely and had one of our best time of togetherness. 

This post is specially written for "Real Togetherness" for  http://www.kissanpur.com/.

PAMPER’s 5 Star Skin Diaper solution for all Babies

After the event, now was the time to check the product. Hey this time it was little easy for me to make my niece wear the diaper. And to my surprise I found that the features that were shown in the event and mentioned on the packets are real practical. Check out few of them:

All-around softness

Pampers understand baby’s skin is the softest, so premium care pants have been made using soft materials to provide softness and comfort. Also, the all-around waistbands and leg cuffs ensure a snug fit, minimizing leakage and making movement more comfortable for baby.

Upto 12 hours of dryness 

While I have studied from all Mums around me that generally 5-6 hours of diaper is preferred but with this we checked that for apporx 8 hours the baby is very much comfortable. This is stress free for all mums. Pampers premium care pants come with ultra-dry core that quickly absorbs and locks away liquids.

      Baby Lotion 

As mentioned earlier in this post, the lotion has its advantage to protect the skin of the baby.

Breathable materials 

Generally all elders suggest that we should leave baby free from diapers for few hours in a day that shall enable the skin to breathe. But Pampers has solved this problem, the micro pores in Pampers premium care pants help air circulation, allowing my baby’s skin to breathe. 

     Wetness indicator 

The only way a baby communicates his discomfort is by a cry. You remember how I discovered the time to change the diaper by the smell of the poo. But the unique wetness indicator that turns from yellow to blue when in contact with fluid really works. 

It has been a week now we use Pampers premium care pants for my niece, and I can say that this is the softest and the most comfortable diaper

It’s good that pampers premium care pants come in all sizes so all the Mums can be happy now and baby can have good sleep.


This blog post is written for the Pampers #SoftestForBabySkin activity in association with BlogAdda