Dove Play Date - The Best Indiblogger Meet

I have been excited from the minute I saw the email from Indiblogger about the Dove PlayDate that was planned on 11th May.  I had quickly registered and called up my blogger buddy the one I met at the first Indiblogger event. This was an all ladies event held at the JW Marriot Mumbai and the dress code was anything in white!

The first thing we do at every event is register (this was the third event and I'm now getting a hang of it).  The faces are starting to get familiar and I like that feeling of familiarity.  But there were and are always many many new faces.  

As soon as we registered we were given badges with our name and a wristband with a team number.  All of us were being clubbed into teams. We were handed a map of the area and a list of the activities planned for the day.  It was all so beautiful especially the hall as soon as we entered.

 After the intital introduction we were split into teams and asked to name our team after a hair style.  We were 10 ladies and the name we finally decided on was Messy Buns.   There were a few ice breaker games followed by a quick 10 minute Zumba workout.  The workout was invigorating and set the mood for the games ahead.  

We were then explained the different games we would play and taken to the different setups.  They were all team building games. One was finding dove balls and tossing them in a basket which was quiet exciting.  Next was a hairstyling game where each lady had to pick a hairstyle and do thier partner's hair. My partner did this very pretty pony and I did her hair in another type of pony (now I wish I had clicked her pic!)

After that was a jigsaw puzzel where we had to put part of a Dove poster together.  We completed it in 3 minutes and felt quiet proud.

Team Messy Bun

 The next section was one of the best - Dove Salon where we could get pampered, relax, get a hair cut or styled.  Most laties from the team decided to curl up thier hair.  I went it for a quick trim and the hairdresser suggested I should blow dry my hair straight.  While the stewards served us delicious wine.  It was indeed very relaxing.

However our team had then to go and complete a final task called Hips don't lie - a Hula Hooping activity. None of us were any good so we just got the default score for this.

The last contest of the day was Cocktail Making.  None of us ladies in our team had ever made one.  I assumed we would be given instructions and stepped up for the task.  The judge explained what is absolutely necessary for a good cocktail - Ice, Lemon, Sugar and the Spirits. He also explained what is a large (60 ml) advising that the drink should not be strong and the different types of glasses to be used. We had a choice of three spirits to choose from - Rum, Vodka and Gin.  I had tatsed the Cosmopolitan once and had quiet liked it.  I was told it was a Vodka based drink.  So I decided to replicate it with a little twist.  I put together Raspberry juice, less than half of that large measure and added lemon juice.  This was a drink that had to be shaken - so I was advised by the assistants so I added ice and the mixture to the shaker and after some shaking poured out the drink in a Martini glass.  I added a bit of mint and we decided to name the drink 'Sassy Berry'.  When it was time for the results I was excited but since I had made a drink for the first time thouhgt I might not win and it would be okay.  To my surprise I made it third! I was really happy. Even thought it was a third place but it was something I did for the first time.

After the last event there was prize distribution for the team with maximum scores. Our team did not win but we all made some friends and it was great getting to know them.

This event was about the new Dove Intense Repair Shampoo.  I have been and advocate of Dove for quiet a few years and this shampoo is the best so far! It really takes care of your hair and let you WHATEVER you want - Iron it straight or make them curl - Dove will take care of the damage. Here's a link to the Dove page with more details on this new shampoo.

Everybody was talking about how this was the best blogger event and it was! It was also one of the most interactive events I ever attended. 11th May was also Mother's day but its made everybody at the feel special.  We were all women, mothers or potential mothers :) DovePlay made our day!

My Samsung Galaxy Note1

I am very attached to my gadgets. They are extentions of me and it hurts a lot when they break or are stolen.  My last lamenting post was when my first camera fell and crashed its lens to bits.  I love taking pictures and yes it almost made me tear up when I saw my camera wasn't going to be fine again.  I bought a new camera and blogged about it too.

This time though its more personal - My phone, my Samsung Galaxy Note 1 was stolen from my backpack while I was on the train station.  Not sure when it happened but when i realised it was gone I was more than emotional.  It was not just a phone, it was everything, it had everything about me, and I had lost all contact with the world.  I felt violated.  I hadn't lost it, that would be careless.  It was taken from me and yes that made me cry. The cops were not helpful and they did not register the complaint when I went to them within the hour it happend.  I felt weak and absolutely alone.  I was on my way to work but I was too disturbed to do anything. After wiping away the tears I realised that first thing I had to change all the passwords to the apps on my phone.  It was a Friday - 14th March 2014, a day before the Ides of March.

Ever since I had bought the phone I had completely ignored my laptop and had even disconnected the internet connection since my phone did everything. I had to find a cybercafe.  It was while searching fot a cybercafe I realised that there weren't so many around.  The ones i had seen a few years ago had shut down.  I guess its not just me.  Everyone can access almost everything through even the simplest smartphones these days why would anyone go to cyber cafes? After looking and asking around for about 30 minutes I found one.  Upon entering I saw that the equipment was ancient.  The old fat monitors were still ok but the system had  windows XP on it and it was running at snails pace. The browers were outdated and it was excruciating to wait for each page to load and get the password reset process completed for all the accounts.  The entire process took me about an hour.  I was late for work, there was a fun event planned and I was suppose to buy the gifts but this whole episode had put me off.  I reached office and was feeling very disconnected.  I had lost all my contacts.  The only numbers I knew were that of my brother and my cousin.  I called my brother and cousin informing them what happened and that I wouldn't be reachable for a few days. I was feeling sick and a little stupid.  I had a smartphone and I wasn't very smart about the security I hadn't installed any security app to manage a situation like this.  I never thought anyone would steal - take the the phone from my bag!  Lesson learnt the hard way its very important to have a mobile security app, something that can track your phone and that can also erase all data remotely when stolen.

That weekend  was spent in phone hunting.  Its very confusing when you have to buy a new phone but don't want to spend as much as you did last time since there are many budget phones but then you also want quality that you are used to already.  At last I ended up buying a Moto G recommended by a friend. This phone is not bad - its actually quiet good in its price range.  Its got a 1GB RAM, 16 GM internal memory, dual SIM, Quad Core processor, perfect screen size that I was looking for and beautiful. :)  I doesn't compare to the Samsung Galaxy Note1 but then I did buy a Moto G.  Even though its not a Note its smart and sleek and this time I have the security option to wipe out data if (which I hope not) it gets stolen.
 
After losing the Note1 did not want to spend that much again on another phone.  So I bought a phone that had a smaller screen so it fit in my pocket and still had almost all the necessary functions. And I got a missing  phone complaint filed too - that was an achievement. I am yet to completely fall in love with my new Moto G.

Would I recommend my new phone? Yes, but if you do not want a big screen phone and within budget. My other option was the Micromax Canvas Turbo but the screen was as big as the Note and I wanted something that would fit in my pocket.

Samsung Galaxy Note1

MotoG

IndiBlogger Events - A first

I was welcomed into the Indiblogger community for almost year and yet I wasn't able to attend any of the meets or events that took place.  I was either out of town was too late to book a seat.  Until one day I saw an e-mail invitation for a Sunsilk sponsored film screening - Real FM a short film by Anurag Basu. The event was on a Friday evening and the invitation was sent just couple of days prior to the event. I was excited and wondered if I was going to make it to the event or if I it was going to be full already.  I followed the link and there were seats available! I was so excited I think a little 'Yay!' escaped through my lips :D  It was a working day and I work UK hours usually i.e. IST 1.30 pm - 10.30 pm mostly.  It was short notice and I wasn't sure if my boss would approve the flexi work day request.  Since I wasn't able to ever attend the events due to some or the other reasons I really wasn't sure I'd make it.  But I did, the boss agreed even though it was one day notice.  I know some might think I get excited too easily but I thought that getting to attend any of these events was jinxed.  

Finally it was the Friday and I left work and reached the venue. I did not know anybody and was going alone.  I was excited till the time I got, there then I saw all these people some of them in groups, quiet a few looked like college students.  I wondered what I was there for, I had no expectations and I wanted to attend an event.  The people at the registration desk very warm and welcoming that felt nice. I signed in. The setup was that of a mini red carpet.  The e-mail did say it was screening of a short film red carpet style.  There were movie posters put up and they had a small stall for pop-corns, another section with a RJ console setup and there were photographers clicking photo! People were posing with the props - the console, microphone and headsets, some solo while some in groups.  (FB Link to the photos) I got one clicked too.  We were surprised when they printed those photos and gave it to us - oh and all of it was free! :) I wasn't the only person to go there alone.  I met another personal blogger and we got talking and turned out we had a few things in common and she seemed very nice and funny. I made a new friend.

Then the doors opened for the movie screening. Before the movie the IndiBlogger co-ordinators had fun questions where some people won moolah, or surprise gifts.  I had no luck, we were sitting in the first row and the person asking questions just totally overlooked us! Lesson learned - don't sit on the first row.

The short film was quiet heartwarming and fun.  It was a story of 4 girls - friends who get stuck in a situation and manage to save the day.  Initially I thought it was predictable but as the story built up it made us hope that they succeed - even though you know that is how it ends and they save the day. What I loved most about the movie were the songs.  They did complete justice to being a film about a FM station and all the songs were really nice. At the end of it all it was a wholesome first blogger event experience.  We were all expected to head home and blog about the event the story while not quite giving the story away.  The movie was going to be aired on MTV that Sunday.  

There was also a blogger meet held on Sunday - a second event but a first official 'Indiblogger Meet' for me.  That was a brunch event. When I reached for the event this time some faces were familiar.  The registration desk people and also my new blogger friend I had met. It felt a little familiar this time and yet there were sooo many more people that I did not know. The meet was for a Kotak Bank event promoting JiFi (pronounced jiffy and not like wi-fi) Link to photos This was a slightly bigger event, more people and had celebrity guests - Author Chetan Bhagat was there to talk about why we should have an account with Kotak Mahindra Bank.  This was a noon party and they even had cocktails being served I was surprised how people could consume alcohol at noon. Guess if it's free anytime is good. At this event it seemed a lot like these events are about free food (drinks sometimes) and a reason to blog. It made me write something after ages. :)  After attending two events and making new acquaintances I feel more responsible to write :D hehe.

Few Things I Love...

As I lay in bed I was thinking of where my life is at the moment and almost wondered how I got to this place.  There are the things I love, the things I'm good at and the things I simply do. First it was what I just do.  I'm sure every has or definitely get to this place at some point in life when you suddenly wonder how you got here.  Was it really what you wanted and maybe it was... May be after you get it there are those rare times and things don't seem that amazing anymore.  But that isn't bad I think.  This feeling only makes you realise that there is one thing less you would like to do. Then my thoughts moved to what I'm good at doing i.e. working with people!  I like to help people, make them happy, I'm good at it and nothing makes me happier than knowing that I was able to bring a smile to someone. 

Just to share a heart warming incident that was also saddening.  One evening I was walking home after a movie with friends we had to cross a road that had heavy traffic and did not have a signal stop.  People had to wait for enough crowd to gather and then everyone would cross the road together.  While waiting for that little pause in traffic I spotted a little homeless street kid about 5-6year old may be who wanted to cross the road.  It was a huge crossing and in a city like Mumbai that has beggars at every signal people did not pay attention to this little child.  I asked him where he wanted to go and he pointed his finger at a corner shop across the street.  I held his hand and helped him cross, I was curious to know what he wanted, if he was a beggar boy.  I walked a little ahead and then watched what he was doing.  He had two coins in his hand and he bought a couple of chocolates.  It’s always makes me sad to see kids wanting for something to eat.  I walked up to the shop and bought a packet of wafers and gave it to him.  He seems so happy that moment, it was a surprise :) I asked him if he wanted anything else to eat, thought I'd give him a Wada pav or samosa.  I was looking around for a food stall, saw one few feet away.  I asked him to follow me and he did.  When we got to the stall I asked him what he wanted and he pointed to a bottle of aerated drink. I advise my friends against having aerated drink and I wasn't going to buy it for this child.  The place had a sugarcane juice centre and I bought him a glass of sugarcane instead.  The boy seemed happy nonetheless.  He was happy for that moment.

This made me feel a little bit nice for that little while but I actually felt much much worse about the situation of the child.  He was a little child and he was buying candy. He should be in a safe place and playing with toys , not having to want.   I did not know if he got food everyday or not.  It breaks my heart when I see little children begging on the streets.  And worse that there is so less that I can do for them.  Giving them money is not the solution; I always buy and give them food when I can. What kind of a future would he have?  What would this little boy grow up to be? What would he learn while growing up? Begging? Stealing? One of my friend said there is nothing you can do about it.  How many such kids would you feed?  It’s not even the same person each time.  

Isn't there anything! If there is one thing I want to do absolute selflessly, it is to change the life of one person for the better.  I had told this to a friend once and he said how I would be able to support someone else while I should be thinking about sorting my life first. I'm not sure how but I hope that some day I will make it happen.

Coming back to what I started writing I'll just sum it up:
What I love - I really love to travel, read, write, cook and meet people. Oh and I can't forget Movies!!
(Note: These are just 'things' that I love doing, Otherwise it would be my family topping the list!)

What I'm good at - I'm good at helping people and making them feel good, motivating, and bringing positivity.

What I simply do - My job! Just BAU - i.e. Business As Usual at office where I work.  Gotta to something for money! :P

Its nice to be able to put a list together because at times when everything seems grey, something like makes you realise theres a rainbow within :)

A Cup of Coffee - Part 2

Those who missed part one can read it Here.

Sanjay:
He was an accountant at Chaganlal and Associates.  He was the introvert with a huge close circle of friends. It was on the way to pick up his phone from home that the rickshaw had collided with an zooming BMW.  It was a deadly accident and he did not survive.  A life had ended.

Preeti:
She had been working at the coffee house for 8 years and was now managing it.  She was good with people and liked her job. The next day on her way to work she had seen the abandoned crushed auto rickshaw on her way to work and heard about the accident that happened the previous night.  "How sad" she had exclaimed when he heard that the rickshaw driver and the passenger had died.

Rakesh:

He was a college student and visited the coffee house almost everyday with his friends.  Sanjay was one of his 'Coffee house friends' - the people that you see everyday and then eventually become friends because they met everyday. He had heard of the accident but realised that it was Sanjay only a week after when he tried calling him.  He knew about Sanjay's mountaineering trip and was numbed to hear how he had died.  Made him think how fragile life is.  He would often think about the discussions they had over coffee when he visited the coffee house.

 Rita:

She was a regular customer there and everyone knew what her usual was.  She never knew Sanjay even though both of of them frequented the same cafe.  It was going to be another usual day at work for her.  As she sipped on to the coffee she hoped to have a better day than yesterday.

Ved:
Two months later Ved received a confirmation letter.  He had finally got a job and was happy.  He would be working at Chaganlal and Associates as an accountant.  On the way to office he noticed the coffee house.  He thought to himseLf how these coffee houses seem to have become a fad.  These places might be good for coffee but they don't really do justice to Tea. 

Life - We all have face these little moments when we feel it's the end of the world or that nothing can really get worse than what it already is.  There are so many people in the world and each has their own set of worries.  Having read part one - you would realise these 5 individuals are really irritated, sad and grumpy.   Each one thinks that there is nothing worse or even if something does happen it might at most make them pause for a moment before everything goes on as it did.

The harsh truth... Life goes on...