Stealing fragrance from granny’s garden

The term ‘evocative travel experience’ takes me straight forward to my granny’s garden. During summer vacation, I would visit my grandma. I and my brother would jump together on the idea of travelling to granny’s home. Apart from loads of love and fairy tales (which come inherent with grannies), what fetched us towards granny’s place was her fragrant garden.

Yes, she had a tiny, beautiful and sweet-scented garden located in the backyard. A lawn that had lush green carpet of soft grass and was filled with beauties like Milk and wine lily, roses, mint, basil and Henna. Every morning granny would pluck some Henna and Basil leaves and crush them in big copper jar filled with water. She would sing beautifully while doing this. Me and my bro would wake up with her soulful & sweet voice enveloped in freshness of fragrance from her garden.

She would sprinkle the Henna and basil water at us while we would stand closing our eyes, feeling the morning dew freshness, which had blooming essence of mint, lilies, roses, Henna and of course, the Holy Basil. Nothing could beat that freshness… the joy of inhaling Mother Nature’s natural air freshener is beyond explanation. It actually requires words from the book of heavens to express how lively and gorgeous that fragrance was.

*Stealing the Fragrance*

Granny moved in with me because she had turned really ill. Dad couldn’t let her stay in our ancestral home anymore. She needed special love and care. But, she wasn’t happy staying away from her garden. She used to miss her daily routine of waking up with Uncle Sun and taking an aromatic bath (Yes, she would bathe with the scented water aka water with henna leaves and rose petals...aha! What a gorgeous granny I had), followed by worshipping lord Shiva, which was situated in her garden only.

She didn’t like the smoke could sense in city’s air. She claimed that she could feel carbon being tossed down her throat. This made us sad. We didn’t want her to feel suffocated L

Me, Mom, Dad and Bro, we all had sleepless nights to find out solution for this. Finally, my brilliant brother came up with the idea of stealing the fragrance from granny’s garden.

That was it, we travelled to granny’s place, with a clear intention of taking each plant, flower and fruit with us, which had essence of hominess. The plants in flowerpots were easy to transport, but the challenge was to arrest the fragrance of that entire garden somehow… But we were prepared to take up that challenge…with a glass bottle.

Yes, that glass bottle/jar was supposed to be our potion bottle. We carefully plucked the leaves of henna, mint, Holy Basil, lily and rose. We put all the herbs in that jar and tightened its nob so that not even the air can steal the fragrance.

While back home, we asked Granny to open the bottle and smell it. She carefully twisted the nob and a fresh and divine fragrance from the heavens, which has been struggling to be free, blown out in the air.

The bottle stayed with granny as long as she stayed on the earth, with us. And, my father placed it in her hands when she was leaving this world forever.

I never smelt anything as refreshing and gorgeous as granny’s garden. With loads of efforts, we were just able to steal a pinch of it. The herbs were so common and easily available in the surroundings. But the way granny had placed them together, had turned the scent so special…

Ah! I wish someone could steal such fragrance and fill it in a spray for me. I would love to visit my granny’s garden again and again, by just pushing the spray knob.

***

I would sincerely like to thank Godrej Aer and Indiblogger for bringing up this idea to Inspire a fragrance. 

PS: This post is my official entry to Inspire a fragrance contest organized by Indiblogger in association with Godrej Aer

Guys check out Godrej Aer's official page here. They have some awesome fragrances for your room, car and life, I would say. You can also checkout their facebook page. Also, don't forget to catch #InspireAFragrance on twitter. 

A Date with Social Banking: I explored JIFI did you?

Oh My God! Banking is Social...

Banking has always been a social thing, what's the big deal about it?

Yes, the yellow ball with fancy headphones is absolutely right! Social people do things like Banking, which makes it a social thing automatically...So what is this fuss about? 

"Yenna Rascala Mind it! If you dunno what social banking is, go find it!"

Oh! That's Fraud..Oops Sorry Frog Dada and he thinks that he knows everything under this blue sky..Don't bother...Ignore him...

"Yenna you can't ignore me...I'll tell you what social banking means, before you bore me...Ahem, Ahem, I would like to explain it with my latest Haiku Creation"

Social Banking Haiku

Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn & sky

have something in common मेरे भाई 

They are blue & social too

Explore Banking via Social Networking 

So, Banking is Social means different aspects of banking can be explored through social media platforms as well. No wonders for the modern world, where social networking websites are turning integral party of not only human mind but human body too...!

Marriages have been social events till now…But soon, they are going to be SOCIAL NETWORKING events. Imagine...Brides and grooms vowing over social media "मैं अपने social media account और इसके सारे updates को साक्षी मानकर तुम्हे अपना life partner मानती/मानता हूँ"

And the Pundit will have only these words to say, "You may now update your relationship status to Married"

In such Scenario, seeing banks go Social is not an unexpected thing... But, how do they do it, is always  a matter of interest and concern for the banking users. Kotak Jifi- World's first socially powered bank account has given us all this opportunity to find all the answers that we have in the name of social banking...

As I got to know about Jifi, I was Excited+Worried. Excited because I wanted to explore this new dimension of banking, but Worried because as of now, I don't have any bank account with Kotak and in fact, don't have additional funds to open one either... But, then I saw this:

And I started....

It is social networking arena of banking, so signing up was easy with my Facebook account and as I logged in, I was welcomed with 100 Social Points, However, I still had to find out that what do I do with these points, but anyways, the beginning was awesome...

Once I was here, there was a lot to explore..Notifications, Dashboard, Managing points and multiple other tabs...But, thankfully, everything was well-organized for me to explore...

As I explored further through each tab...One Super Exciting thing that I discovered was- Rewards & rewards & rewards... Yes, they let you earn reward points at each step, for everything you do...Following types of points you earn...

Social Points

Transaction Points

Trade Points

And, you can use these points in different ways...for getting shopping vouchers, for helping a friend via trading and a lot more...Social points are really easy to earn..While I was checking out different tabs and filling up application forms...I added more to my social points bag...See...

Exploring Apply Now Section...Trust me, It is not at all the lengthy form filling process...

And I got the unique link to invite my friends...

Without wasting a single moment, I shared it for the benefits of my social friends...

And, I didn't want to miss the chance of inviting my friends to try out something new in banking...I wish they explore it once...

And when I returned back to dashboard, after all this, What I noticed was...Addition in my social points...Now the question was what to do with these Social Points...and that's when I found this convert button..I could convert my existing Social Points into transaction points...Wow!

Just out of curiosity...I explored what exactly these points can do for me... and that's what I discovered...

Aah! How I wish I can earn more points soon and grab some amazing deals. Meanwhile I was filling up application form for Kotak Social Bank Account and these guys have made it simpler. They fetch half of the information from your account and help you review form as many time as you want and choose to fill it later too...

Kotak JIFI at a Glance

The Socially Powered Bank Account is loaded with three major dimensions of features:

1. Social Circle

2. Earning Reward Points

3. Socially Powered Banking

I pronounce it like jiffy and there's no doubt that it makes the daunting task of banking simpler and less time taking. Banking can be done  through it in a jiffy and may be that's why they call it JIFI. 

Anyways...Here is the Good vs Bad Analysis

The Good

It is very easy to log in and earn points

You can convert social points for transaction

You can trade with your friends via these points

You can earn amazing discount

It is free to use

You can download the mobile app too

It is easy to get access to all the benefits associated with JIFI

To earn these benefits, you don't necessarily need to have a bank account with Kotak

The Bad

While exploring this, I was wondering how would JIFI people deal with the FAKE social media accounts. There are plenty of fake facebook and twitter accounts with weird names, what is they start exploring JIFI?

Similar kind of thing came into my mind while I was inviting my facebook friends...What if somebody invites fake people to earn reward points? What if somebody makes a fake account with my name or any other name and joins JIFI...Well, then how safe the idea of socially powered banking remains?

And what if I forget to logout from my Socially Powered Bank Account by any chance? Will that be a threat for my reward points or added funds?

I am sure team JIFI has some solutions ready for my concerns...Waiting for these doubts to be cleared soon, so that I can dive in the blue world of social media banking...With Mr. Frog!

***

Am I missing something? I must have because there's a lot to explore and too less I could do in few of my trials. But, I have my account ready and I am sure I will keep exploring more of this brand new style of banking. Meanwhile, you can watch this video and feed your mind with more knowledge...

This post is my official entry for Explore JIFI Contest organized by indiblogger in association with Kotak JIFI. And by the way... #JiFiIsHere

Thrilling things to experience in Oman

Why do we want to go to a particular place? What makes us steal some moments of leisure from hectic work life to plan a holiday to a place we call "Dream Destination"? Well, there might be thousand different answers to this question, but the crux always remains the same-The desire to explore all the wonderful things about that place, you have heard about or read about through various sources.

So, why do I want to visit Oman? Ah! There are nearly 100 things to talk about, but I really don't want you to suffer panic attack while you read through my Travel Bucket List for Oman. So, I would rather keep it short, actually TO-THE-POINT. Here are some of the most adventurous things, which give me complete sense of awesomeness and help me explore the joy of travelling. Certainly a particular place is famous for having some marvellous things, which no other place can have...and here are they for me, in Oman:

 Majalis Al Jin Cave

Look at the picture and tell me honestly....Would you ever want to miss the opportunity of being (actually hanging) in such place. That is what you call- A Hangout...eham..Actually Hang in! Lets make it little better...Hang-In-Between.

I am sure it would require training under professionals before trying out this heart pounding stunt. But, I want to do this... I am sure, the experience will remain in me...Forever!

Wadi Bimah (Snake Gorge) 

If trekking has been part of your passionate traveling dreams, you certainly don't want to miss this Snake Gorge hiking/trekking in Oman. In fact, it involves 3 Kms of swimming and gets you enough opportunity to enjoy the thrill of jumping in the transparent green waters of caves, filled with tiny watered pools.

Wahiba Sands

Oman is a beautiful place, where you can discover joys of relaxing at the seashore or be mesmerized by looking at the imaginary snake lines on the golden sands of Wahiba. It takes few hours of drive from Muscat, obviously through Golden and beautiful sand dunes to reach at this wonderful place. Stand there, look at the empire of sand and sunlight falling on it magically. Interestingly, you can enjoy Night Camps on these Sand dunes...Forget about the Golden Sun, its totally worth seeing how the sand reacts to moon light :)

Tiwi Hole

Tiwi Hole, located in Hawiyat Najm Park is the place, where I can sit for hours, actually weeks or may be months (of course when I have by DSLR camera and loads and loads of lunch to munch along). Its greenish blue water and picturesque site has everything to attract any wanderer forever. By the way, the name TIWI is really cute! Isn't it?

PS: These are the first and foremost things I would want to do once I get to visit to the wonderful Oman. As I warned you earlier, the list is long enough to make you faint instantly...So, let's keep it for later. 

And yes, If you wish to explore more travel attractions in Oman, feel free to visit the official website of Oman Tourism 

By the way, I have written this post for Experience Oman Contest organized by Indiblogger, in association with Oman Tourism

Ah! How I love these guys!

Bringing fantasies to life with my SuperPowered smartphone

यात्रीगन कृपया ध्यान दे... आपके (Actually मेरे) सपनो को साकार करने वाले जादूयी Smartphone कि दुनिया में ले जाने वाला ये दूसरा और आखिरी Chapter है...अगर  आपने पहला chapter नही पढ़ा है तो यहां अपने Computer के पालतू चूहे (mouse) का इस्तेमाल करते हुए क्लिक कर सकते है...यहां Click Here

CAUTION!! Don't click anywhere for translating above paragraph! 

Super Powered Smartphone and funky fantasies

As you know I have talked about all the awesome SuperPowers I want to be present in my smartphone to turn my lifestyle better....Actually near to perfect...So in this post, I would rather talk about all the SuperPowers that might help me turn my dreams into reality, through a smartphone...Ready? J

I dream a lot...While awake, while asleep...I just do it all the time. The dreams with wide open eyes are constructive and goal oriented, which obviously require honest and equal efforts for their fulfillment. But, the dreams that are woven beneath closed eyelashes are little bit different, they are abstract...There are no constructive rules working behind them! So, they definitely have nothing to do with HardWork...They just need a magic wand to be completed. Well, that gives me a clear reason to dream of having SuperPowers that can do the needful!

SuperPower fantasy#1: Wireless integration of smartphone with my brain's dreamweaver app

Believe it or not, I see wonderful dreams. They are no less than the most adventurous flicks I have ever seen. Sometimes they are much better than those flicks...No, I am not flaunting...It happens...You don't believe me? Okay let's read about few of the latest dreams I have seen J

Dream#1- I jumped from a 90 feet cliff... No I am not kidding and swam midst of four crocodiles. Comeone! Don't call me फेकू yaa.. After all, it was just a dream, sheer imagination...But, you have to admit, it's interesting!

Dream#2- I was riding a bicycle in the air and travelling towards moon. How? Well the bicycle had parachute attached to it...A SPECIAL PARACHUTE that takes you upwards...उड़न खटोला समझ लो...Happy? Convinced?

Dream#3- I was traveling in a SPECIAL (mind you) special plane, which halts on every bus stand in the city so that यात्रीगन ahem passengers can get out and use the basic amenities...मूलभूत सुवीधाये such as सुलभ शौचलय and जल प्याऊ etc, available on Indian Bus Stands only J

Well, that's a hell of interesting content that deserves live recording and that's what I need a smartphone for. I need it so that I can make a library of all these ऊट पटांग dreams and enjoy their premier whenever I wish to. So, here's the wishlist for my Super Powered smartphone :)

Live recording of my dreams while I wander through a sound sleep, I want the magical smartphone to capture all the abstract images I see in my dreams. And, when I wake up, I wish to see all the recording in AVI or MOV format. 

Archives of all the dreams I see while sleeping, so that I can enjoy the show, whenever I wish to and show it to my friends and you guys too. थोड़ी समाज सेवा कर लेने में क्या बुराई है? There's no harm in doing little social service...right?

The Nightmares! Well, I need the records of darker side of my imaginations too! It will at least help me feel GOOD about all the POSTIVE things I have in my life. Imagine how interesting it would be when a smartphone would be able to turn me positive and optimistic. 

SuperPower fantasy#2: Smartphone that can migrate me to Cartoon World with its SuperPowers

Okay, this one is simple and doesn't involve any of my efforts, not even dreaming. I want a SuperPowered smartphone, which can safely take me to Cartoon World. I really really have been fan of cute cartoon characters. Whenever I used to see my favorite cartoon show during childhood days, I have had this fantasy of entering to their world, playing with them, talking to them and enjoying to the fullest. 

I am sure, a super smartphone will help me to enter to the world of my true childhood friends, who still make me feel that LIFE IS EASY J

That's all....Am I asking for too much?

This is my second post under ASUS-In Search of Incredibles Contest organized by Indiblogger in association with ASUS. 

To know more about ZenFone ASUS by click here! Not certainly an imaginative smartphone I have talked about above, but the features explain that this phone is loaded with wonderful features that can be named MAGICAL! See its one of the wonderful features here:

Psst..! It can do low light photography so beautifully!

Go checkout Zenfone, Its Intel Inside!

An Updated Lifestyle via Smartphone with Superpowers!

Okie! Why do we need SuperPowers? To spice-up our struggle-filled life? To achieve or do what we can't in our normal lives? To get better than others (दुनियादारी है भाई!)

These desires are motivational force, which empower us to think, imagine and create wonders! Considering that SuperPowers don't exist or there's no 'thing' called Magic would be ABSOLUTELY WRONG!

A perfect combination of science & technology and boundless imaginations of human brain is bringing miraculous range of SuperPowers for mankind. The world is a platform and showmanship of vivid creations by humans is simply brilliant. So, one should never give up imagining! In this twenty first century, technology and innovative ideas have turned weirdest of imaginations into reality!

So, यूँ के जब हम से पूछ ही लिया गया है (when I have been asked) to Give your phone a superpower and tell us how it would help you see what others can't see and do what others can't do! So let's begin!!!

Declaimer: I won't ask for out of the world things when it comes to empower my smartphone with super power! I would rather ask for sweet little magical upgradations to make my lifestyle perfect J

'Mix n Match' with my outfit- THE रंगरेज फ़ोन :

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Girls are stung by STYLEBEE. What you don't believe me? Oh Please! They match everything from head to toe! In fact, I bet, if the contrast thing didn't exist in a woman's mind, you would often see ladies with black outfit wandering with black lip color and black nail-polish on! Are you kidding me!                                                   वैसे...आपकी जानकारी के लिए बता दूँ , Just for your kind information, I am a girl too. Not too obsessed to wear बाल्टी भर के मेकअप Bucket full of makeup, but obsessed enough to carry a smartphone matching exactly with my outfit.

So, the first SuperPower that I want to be present in my smartphone would be-Its ability to change the back panel color and internal color theme automatically according to my outfit.

Confused! Eh! Let me make it easy for you. I want my super power phone to turn its back panel black, when I am wearing Black outfit, Green when I am wearing my favorite green outfit, then orange, yellow, blue and the list goes on....

PS: The phone would change its color the moment I touch it for the first time, after putting my outfit on. And yes, if the outfit is multicolored, the phone has to change its back panel and inner theme to multicolor...in short, an exact replica of the outfit I am wearing. 

She's asleep, call back later:

However, putting the phone on SILENT MODE is a good idea so far to keep people from disturbing my sleep. But, hey, who would want to stick to this OLD SCHOOL idea when you have a phone loaded with magical Superpowers J

So, whenever somebody will call me while I am asleep, My super awesome smartphone would tell following things to the caller in its sweet Interactive Voice:

"Hey Dude, Listen, she's asleep and it would be better if you call her up in the morning"

and this,

""""""अगर तुम्हे अँगरेजी नही आती तो हिन्दी में सुनो...बच्ची सो रही है, सुबह फ़ोन करना ""

Or May be this*, 

"इतने रात को फ़ोन किया जनाब, आपके घर में मच्छर मारने वाली कोइल खत्म हो गयी लगता है...क्योंकि इतनी रात को तो सिर्फ़ 4 ही किस्म के लोग जागते है...उल्लू, बीमार, चौकीदार और मच्छर मार"

* This one would officially be for those, who suffer hormonal imbalance late at night and try to call their female friends! Whatever!

PS: And yes, it would be excellent if the smarty device is smart enough to read caller's name from the screen and call him/her out by his/her name...Ahh! It would be so much of fun!

Opps! That's me, sleeping tight while my super phone handles all the troubles
Yes! That's me...I wear a flower on my hair while sleeping! ANY Problem?
Image Source: www.picturespk.com

A phone that can do Music Therapy-सा रे गा मा पा:

Music is the best medicine! It lets you cry out loud when you are depressed, lets you feel like flying, when you are high and heals your brain every time you listen to your favorite numbers! But hey! Sometimes, we are too busy to notice that what music do we like. Music is being sidelined by our hectic schedules. Ignored and unnoticed track plays in the background, while we are busy typing our blogposts or office emails! Huh!

So, I want my superpower device to understand how important music it and use the magic tools to let me enjoy every tune of it like I used to do when I was a teenager. I have overgrown the passion for listening to music...I don't want this to happen. If I get a chance to have a phone with certain superpowers, I would definitely want one of them to be MUSIC POWER. 

Power to help me feel music again...Feel the pain of sad numbers, enjoy depth of meaningful songs and flow with the tunes and live every bit of it. Because I know, the day I will be able to do this, My life will be back on the track!

***

Enough for the day! That is all of MAGIC I need to lift up my lifestyle. But Yes, I do need magic to turn my fantasies into Truth...And here is the BUCKET LIST u-oh बाल्टी सूची of SUPERPOWERS that I need in my smartphone to do the needful...नही समझे? Offoh! Read the Second post here!

PS: I would like to sincerely thank Indiblogger and ASUS from bringing this wonderful opportunity, where I could steal some time from routine rush and look into the imaginations sprouting in my dream world. Cheers to you people! J

This post is my official entry under ASUS-In Search of Incredibles Contest organized by Indiblogger in association with ASUS. 

To know more about ZenFone ASUS by click here! Not certainly an imaginative smartphone I have talked about above, but the features explain that this phone is loaded with wonderful features that can be named MAGICAL! 

Psst! Don't miss checking out the features of Zenfone, after all, Its Intel Inside! And it can do low light photography!!!

                             

Okay Bye

Connecting Through Car Connect: Review

Post an update on general social networking platform for your dream car and you will get a cocktail of responses! Mostly tasteless! Wanna know how? Let’s take up some उदाहरणs

Does that not make you crave for a neat and clean platform, which is exclusively made for discussing cars? Of course, a place, where you can discuss about your existing and dream cars, without bothering to answer questions like, अब्बे इत्ते पैसे कहाँ से आए तेरे पास? बेटे ज्यादा Fast and Furious ना बनो! and a lot more! 

See, every time, when people talk about cars, they don't mean to just buy them! They do it because they are passionate about such wonderful vehicles. They understand importance of revolution, which a  car or car trip can bring into someone's life. Therefore! discussing about cars and car trips is not sin! Let's do it on http://www.carconnect.in/ हाँ हाँ भगवान ने तुम्हारी सुन ली....! Now you can talk about cars and share your views about anything related to these amazing vehicles with likeminded people (ahem ahem people with समरुचि)!

I got to know about this wonderful car socializing platform through my favorite blogging network- Indiblogger! I tried it out and here's the review to help you know more about it :)

Let's

Login through Facebook, Easy! J J J

If you are truely a car lover and want to discuss about it, join this platform in one easy step. No need to enter your email, fill your details and go through that boring tunnel of registration. Just click on login through facebook and there you are! 

PS: Psst! It also saves you from the headache of checking your email and clicking on the registration link and blah! You know what I am saying!

Connect with existing social media friends available on Car Connect  J J J

You can easily trust on a new platform, when you see some of your social network friends present there already! It is wonderful to find a lounge, where you can discuss your car specific interests with your existing social media friends!

See, I found friends there! 

Review as many cars as you want J

You might not own every car under the sun, but you can learn more about them and share your review about them too. Car Connect gives you all the freedom to write your genuine reviews and get your friends and readers to interact with you about the same.

PS: All the reviews are approved by team Car Connect, thus no reason to worry about any spamming or unwanted content! Cool no?

Share unlimited trip experiences J

If you are bitten by travel bug, you have got a wonderful platform to talk about all your car trip experiences. Join the platform to talk about your road trips in your car!

Read car reviews and experiences J

Do I really need to explain that you get to read a lot of meaningful and authentic car reviews and car trip experiences here! कमाल करते हो! 

Share photos & Videos with your experiences J

Flip through your photo and video libraries to share the experiences of your car trip in visual manner. Isn't it interesting to connect with people in interactive manner?

And yes, there's something interesting on Car Connect! You get to enjoy earning some points like Bronze, Silver, Gold... Can you see at the right side of above picture, I've got bronze point L

Commenting through Disqus, Are you kidding me? L L L

That means, if you have logged in to Car Connect, then also, you will have to log in to Disqus using any of your Gmail, Facebook or Twitter credentials for commenting. However, many bloggers including me are familiar with disqus and have their accounts registered to it, so for them it is easy and simple. But still, I personally believe that if there was simple built-in integration for commenting (without requirement of separate), it would have encouraged more conversations and discussions over car and car trips. I sincerely believe that this wonderful platform will look into this matter and make this unique social hub even better. 

***

One the whole, this platform is quick to register, easy to browse and fun to use. I ardently look forward to some new and more interactive commenting integrations to be introduced on this platform! Meanwhile, I am up for sharing my thoughts about my favorite cars and car trip experiences on this exclusive platform.

This post is written for Experience Car Connect contest organized by Indiblogger in association with www.carconnect.in/ .