Making Road Safety in India a Priority

'Two cops killed as drunk cabbie hits barricade.'
'18-year old Delhi University topper run over by a speeding car.'
'Noida biker dragged to death by a speeding car.'
'DTC buses cause 239 accidents in 5 years due to rash driving.'
'Hit on head in road rage, man in coma.'

Headlines such as these are a regular affair for us. Open any newspaper on any given day, and you will find news on similar lines filling up the city section. In fact, if I were to be brutally honest, I will say that there are times when headlines such as the ones I have mentioned above fail to leave any impact on our hearts and minds. We just glance through them - untouched, unmoved, indifferent - and move on to other bits. Or may be sometimes if the accompanying image is grotesque enough, we might let out a shudder or two, and lament about fate to the unfortunate victim in passing, and then move on. The point I am trying to put across is that - we just move on, we never learn from them. Do we?

No, you are wrong if you think drinking and driving is the only mistake one can do.  Or that besides drunk driving, speeding on the road causes accidents. Many other big and small negligences on the road can not just cause accidents but also cause great inconvenience to others on the road.

High time we learn some driving etiquettes 

Road rage, cutting corners, overtaking, unnecessary honking, jumping traffic lights...and yes, Yo Yo Honey Singh blaring out of those rolled down windows. High time we learn some driving etiquettes and make road safety a priority. Here are some steps that can go a long way in helping with road safety:

1. Buckle Up! Always, always, always wear your seatbelt while driving. Even if you are just taking a short trip down the road. One cannot emphasize the importance of a seat belt enough. And now just the driver, ensure that everyone in the vehicle is buckled up!
2. Indicate Your Intentions! Always use indicator to make fellow motorists aware of your next move on the road. But of course, use them judiciously, and not just to justify your sudden/rash decision to take a turn or stop in the middle of the road.
3. Feeling Drowsy? Take a a Break. While on long drive, if you are feeling even a wee bit sleepy while driving, please take a short break to refresh yourself. You can also opt to go off the road and take a short nap, before resuming your journey.
4. Do not drink and drive. This sounds rhetorical, but we all know many a gory accidents on the road were result of a tipsy driver behind the wheel.
5. Keep that phone away. Many a terrible accidents have been a result of that quick and easy text/whatsapp message one wanted to send, or that innocuous phone call one wanted to take or make.
6. Following lane discipline is another must. Many unpleasant incidents on the road can be avoided if people use some common sense and follow lane rules. If you wish to change lanes, please use the relevant indicator to let the vehicles behind you be aware of your intentions.
7. Say a big NO to tailgating. Always maintain safe distance from the vehicle in front of you so that there's enough room between the two vehicles in case the vehicle ahead has to brake suddenly.
8. Go easy on the horns please! We are a country obsessed with honking! Whether there is space enough to allow us to pass, irrespective of the fact that the red signal has caused the traffic to halt...we honk. One annoying habit we most definitely need to get rid of.
9. Be courteous on the road. Since we all know good gestures on Indians roads are hard to come by, whatever little comes your way, acknowledge them. And yes, please return the favour too. This will help make Indian roads a happy, or rather a less angry place.
10. Please obey ALL traffic rules. Yes, all. It's very tempting to jump that red light in the middle of the night, when you see that straight empty road ahead of you, and say to yourself - 'oh, how does it matter, there's no traffic at this hour,' but then you never know on which empty road another such vehicle, ignoring similar red lights will come down to meet you head on. 

There are several other measures that can help reduce unfortunate incidents on the road, but even if follow the ones listed above with diligence, it will go a long way in ensuring safe driving experience for us all. So let us promise ourselves to do our bit in ensuring that Indian roads are a safer place for us to drive on. 

While the onus of learning and following traffic rules and driving etiquettes to the tee lies on us and us alone, the Nissan Safety Driving Forum (NSDF) initiated by Nissan Motor Company Limited, has taken up the exemplary task of sensitising people about road safety measures. Under its Blue Citizenship CSR umbrella, NSDF works to build awareness of safe driving in India. Let's us hope that a combination of our own efforts and the expertise and guidance from NSDF helps us make road safety not just a temporary concern but a permanent habit.

About Nissan Safety Driving Forum

The Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., conducts the Nissan Safety Driving Forum (NSDF) in India as part of its safety driving promotion activities. The program began as an annual activity in 2012. In its initial phase it covered three main Indian cities – New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai – and since then has gradually expanded to several additional cities across India. This year, NSDF would reach 8 new cities – Chandigarh, Jalandhar, Jaipur, Vadodara, Nagpur, Chennai, Mangalore and Kochi. In addition to sensitisation of wearing seatbelts, NSDF also conducts live simulated experiences to understand how safety features function through a simulated car crash. A 360-degree turn over highlights the use of seatbelts, while sessions on road safety emphasises on road etiquette to stay safe.

This post is a part of Nissan Safe Driving Forum campaign in association with Indiblogger.
Photo courtesy: Zee News

Blogging to Help Feed a Child

The ubiquitous looking kid working in the dhaba I had stopped at was done serving tea to the table assigned to him, and sat in a corner with a forlorn look in his eyes. I kept looking at his sad face for a while, and then got lost in the maze of travel photos I had in my phone albums. The reverie only broke when I suddenly had a feeling of someone peeping at my phone from behind my shoulders.  It was that same kid, now giving me a sheepish grin at having been ‘caught’.

What a heart-warming grin it was, lighting up his face, bringing many a twinkle to his eyes.  Still grinning, he commented how ‘badhiya’ the photos were, prompting me to pull a chair for him and asking him to sit and check out more of the ‘badhiya photos’. In between showing him the travel photos, I learn that his name is Suraj and his parents are daily wagers working on a road maintenance project down the same highway.  With pride in his eyes he shares that he has studied till class 2 and that there were two peacocks and 5 rabbits in his school.

School was fun for Suraj, but unfortunately it did not last long, for his parents could neither afford the school fees and stationary expenses, nor could they earn enough for the family of 4 to have three square meals daily. And so the school had to be abandoned for the sake of stomach.

The desolate and bereft look was back on his face.  All of 11 years old, he was working full time now, at the dhabha, doing miscellaneous  tasks all day long – all for a salary of Rs 500 per month and free food.  How incredibly sad is this. While we pause not a second before doling out cash for that sumptuous meal, or that overpriced donut, there are kids who go through such relentless struggles to just stay afloat. School is nothing but a fanciful idea for them.

While this incident I have written about presents a bleak picture about hunger winning against education, the Akshaya Patra Foundation is making ‘the fanciful idea of school’ a happy reality for kids like Suraj. This NGO runs school lunch programme across the country, with the vision – No child in India shall be deprived of education because of hunger.

Hunger has eliminated the word classroom from Suraj’s world. Can we all not come together and help remove the word hunger from every classroom and every less privileged student’s heart and mind? Yes, we can, and here's how -

• By being conscientious and thoughtful in how we spend money.
• By not wasting food.
• By donating to the noble cause of eliminating classroom hunger. 

You'd be surprised to know that Akshaya Patra feeds a child for one whole academic year for Rs. 750. Isn't that incredible, the fact that the amount you would probably spend on your one restaurant bill can help a child stay in school for one year. Hope this inspires you to donate for this worthy cause. And yes, I am doing my bit too - for every post I write, Blogadda will sponsor meals for an Akshaya Patra beneficiary for an entire year, as a part of Bloggers Social Responsibilty. It's a happy feeling to know that the words you are weaving will help feed a hungry child, and will help her stay in school for another year.

I am going to #BlogToFeedAChild with Akshaya Patra and Blogadda.

Movie Review: Bhopal - A Prayer For Rain

A poignant retelling of the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, a sombre reminder of government's indifference

Runtime: 1 hr 36 min
Language: English
Director: Ravi Kumar
Cast: Rajpal Yadav, Martin Sheen, Kal Penn, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Joy Sengupta, Mischa Barton

Bhopal - A Prayer for Rain is emotionally overwhelming. It's one thing to read about the Bhopal Gas Tragedy and quite another to see the dramatized version of the catastrophe unfold in front of your eyes. The film is a poignant retelling of the events leading up to one of the world's worst industrial disasters, when over 40 tonnes of lethal methyl isocyanate (MIC) leaked from the Union Carbide plant in Bhopal, leaving more than 10, 000 dead and thousands maimed.

A scene from the film
Photo Credit: Bernard Coughlan/Film website

Bhopal's devastating true story is brought on screen through the fictional character of Dilip, a rickshaw puller (played brilliantly by Rajpal Yadav) who lands himself a job at the Union Carbide plant, despite not being qualified for the role. He cannot thank his stars enough, for this job will not only give him a chance to make ends meet but also save up enough for his sister's marriage. Only he cannot see the writing on the wall - there's been no rain and the farmers don't need the pesticide that the plant produces. The demand for pesticide has declined, and so the company is cutting corners to save up on the cost of running the plant. There are warnings that the plant is a ticking time bomb and going easy on safety measures will prove fatal. But neither Warren Anderson (splendidly portrayed by Martin Sheen), the CEO of Union Carbide, nor our well fed, and well bribed politicians give two hoots about the warnings and it's implications on the lives of the over flowing 'Third-World' junta.

While the people who matter turn a blind eye to the danger that the Carbide plant poses, Motwani, a local journalist (played by Kal Penn) doggedly goes about his efforts at exposing the safety irregularities there. But given Motwani's penchant for 'tabloidesque' journalism, nobody pays any heed to his stories about the 'disaster-in-the-making' Carbide plant. So when the disaster eventually strikes one ill-fated night, it's too late for the neighbouring slum dwellers to attempt an escape. Thousands die writhing in pain, out on the streets and in the government hospital, while the doctors figure out the antidote for the poisonous gas. Those who survive are in for a fate worse than dying, for their lives are wrecked forever. Maimed by the deadly gas, they are left in the hands of a callous and corrupt government that goes all out to protect CEO Anderson, who on his part refuses to take accountability for the disaster.

The films ends with a montage of the dilapidated Union Carbide Plant in Bhopal, abandoned, but still a nightmare for those living around it. The end credits enlightens the audience about how 'Union Carbide has never apologised' and that it offered 'only $2,000' compensation per victim. Presented as a docu-drama, Bhopal - A Prayer for Rain is grim and hard hitting. Both Rajpal Yadav and Martin Sheen are remarkable in their respective roles as the country simpleton and the hard-nosed firang industrialist, and outshine the rest. The other actors too gel well with the film, but for Kal Penn, whose heavily accented Hindi makes him look the odd one out in the ensemble cast. 

The film's worldwide release on 5th December marked the 30th anniversary of the tragedy. Unfortunately, 30 years on, the deaths from this man-made disaster still stand devalued. Bhopal continues to suffer from the after-effects of MIC poisoning, and the families of the victims still await justice and compensation. Apathy remains the only constant in their lives - from then to now.

Will You Shave...Please?

This post is in response to blogger Nandini Deka's tag for the #WillYouShave campaign. Her humorous take on shaving, or rather, not shaving gave me giggles galore, and I could not help but laugh imagining God, the almighty, wringing his hands in exasperation as all the not-so-eligible womenfolk dump the idea of marrying an unshaven God, and decide to head back to earth instead. God's grand swayanwar, which was planned as a heavenly event turns into a dumb squib instead. 

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In my last post about the importance of shaving and grooming, I had written about a true incident where a so called blind date borne out of a matrimonial website goes awry when the groom-to-be Sarthak turns up unshaven, sporting a shabby stubble. The bride-to-be Snigdha is clearly not impressed and this first impression leaves her in doubt about how to proceed  further regarding this matchmaking effort by her parents. 

Now many of you would say how important is shaving in determining how good or bad a person is. Indeed. But imagine going out for a formal meeting, employing extra efforts in putting your clothes and looks together, only to find that the other person has a pretty lethargic and casual approach towards what you considered formal and important, so much so that he does not even bother to get rid of his unkempt stubble before dragging himself down for the meet.

Stubble trouble

So our lady Snigdha was naturally dejected that Sarthak came in looking so ungroomed, and this showed on her face. Sarthak too could sense something was amiss, the chemistry they had developed over phone calls was missing now when they sat facing each other.

The small talk between them too sounded forced, and this got Sarthak thinking.
'Is something wrong, Snigdha? Am I missing something?' he asked in a concerned voice, since he had taken a liking to the lovely looking girl sitting in front of him.

'Umm...nothing...just that your beard is...well, do you always keep it this way?', she asked in a matter-of-fact tone.
'Errrr...no, not at all! I prefer the neat, clean shaven look! This is just for an amateur play I am performing in. It's scheduled for Saturday evening.'
Snigdha heaved a sigh of relief! 'Thank God! You will look much more handsome without this stubble! Once the play is staged, will you then shave it off please?' she laughed, her cheeks blushing a deep red.

This post is a part of #WillYouShave activity at Blogadda, in association with Gillette.

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I tag my blogger friends –

Nandini Deka, who writes at Nandini Speaks,

Swarna Rao, who blogs at Swarna's Diary, and
Khushboo Motihar, who writes at Munni of all Trades to share their take on #WillYouShave activity. The word limit is 300 words. When you write, please mention that you picked the tag from me.

Here are the suggested prompts for the write-ups –

For men - 

• Missed chances - Stories or instances where you missed out on an opportunity because of a non-shaven face.
• Luck of confidence - Will you leave your fate in the hand of destiny or will you step up and say yes to a well-groomed face to be your best every day.

For ladies - 

• An instance when stubble came in the way of a man's chance to make a good impression.
• An instance when a well-groomed look ensured that they stuck gold on an opportunity given to them.

This post is a part of #WillYouShave activity at Blogadda, in association with Gillette.
Photo Courtesy: www.etsy.com

Bye Bye No Shave November!

This post is in response to blogger Khushboo Motihar's tag for the #WillYouShave campaign. Her matter-of-fact take on lazy men turning up unshaved for formal meetings only reiterated what my thoughts on the issue.  And it's not just us, many bloggers of I've interacted with share the same sentiment that men with unkempt beard or stubble leave a not-so-perfect impression.

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November is gone, and it has left me feeling happy and well, relieved. Relieved, yes you read that right. I am relieved because I can now hope about seeing more men embracing December with a clean shaven, spic and span look. I have had enough of seeing quite a few of them dressing up their laziness in garbs of fancy causes. So bye bye to ‘No Shave November’ and a warm hello to squeaky clean (hopefully) December! 

For all of you have not heard about the concept of No Shave November, it’s a custom of ‘not partaking in the use of a razor for the entire month of November’. This custom is more heard about in the west, where men let their facial hair grow free in the month of November. Of late No Shave November has been associated with spreading awareness and raising funds for cancer research, but the men I see around me seem clueless about the cause, and use the hype around ‘No Shave November’ as a nice excuse to not shave for a month!

But you know how the wise men say that sometimes one has a to pay a price for aping the west and following trends blindly. Something exemplifying this age old wisdom happened with an acquaintance   recently. This will read like a quite a cliché, but in the last week of November, he was short-listed for a face-to-face interview with the HR Manager of a top notch finance firm. Now this yuppie type had been upping his so-called coolness quotient all through the month of November, in the name of showing solidarity with 'No Shave November' month, though slyly admitting that it gave him a valid excuse to avoid shaving.

No Shave month is gone, pick up the razors please!

So he arrives for the interview, immaculately dressed, but for his shabby beard. Needless to say, the beard comes up for dissection in one of the interview questions.

'So you say you are following a trend, Mr. Rao. Does that imply that you will keep following all the trends that come up, and will put them before company's priorities and code of conduct?'
Ah, too bad for Mr. Rao, all his confused babble of yes sirs and no sirs and sorry sirs, failed to change the Manager's decision in his favour. 

This post is a part of #WillYouShave activity at Blogadda, in association with Gillette.

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I tag my blogger friends –

Nandini Deka, who writes at Nandini Speaks,
Swarna Rao, who blogs at Swarna's Diary, and
Ranjith, who writes at A Light Hearted Talk to share their take on #WillYouShave activity. The word limit is 300 words. When you write, please mention that you picked the tag from me.

Here are the suggested prompts for the write-ups –

For men - 

• Missed chances - Stories or instances where you missed out on an opportunity because of a non-shaven face.
• Luck of confidence - Will you leave your fate in the hand of destiny or will you step up and say yes to a well-groomed face to be your best every day.

For ladies - 

• An instance when stubble came in the way of a man's chance to make a good impression.
• An instance when a well-groomed look ensured that they stuck gold on an opportunity given to them.

This post is a part of #WillYouShave activity at Blogadda, in association with Gillette.
Photo Courtesy: shavingemporium.co.uk

#AbMontuBolega Campaign: Let's All Speak Up!

O you uncleji, behind the tree,

That’s not a suitable place to pee,
Urinals are the best place I say,
To relieve yourself in a hygienic way.

They made the roads to walk and drive,
You’ve turned them into a spittoon you see,
High time you learn some manners clean,
And get rid of your spitting spree.

Montu, from the #AbMontu Bolega Campaign has been inspiring people to speak up, and you can see that I am inspired too - inspired to be vocal about the causes that are close to my heart. Corruption, gender bias, eve-teasing and on top of the list is the apathy towards public cleanliness. I understand Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan is the flavour of the season - with one celebrity after another lending their name to the cause, and showcasing in the media how they are doing their bit for a cleaner India. But since the cause had already been in my personal causes agenda for long, the frenzied public interest in 'cleanliness' after Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi launched the campaign only just about amused me.

It's bizarre to see people harping about cleanliness while recklessly littering on the roads, dumping garbage bins in public parks and using random public walls and trees as urinals. How disgusting it is to walk on the roadside and see urine trickling down from the walls onto the side-walk! Yuck! And then there are those idiots who conveniently roll down their car windows to throw whatever-they-want-to on the roads - right from fruit skins, to empty bottles to wrappers and used tissues! Filthy morons! And on a wavelength similar to these dimwits are the pan, tobacco and gutkha chewing cretins who regard the roads and the public walls as their personal spittoons, spraying them with the disgusting chewed out concoction. Trust me, the next time I see someone peeing on the roadside, or spitting out on the road, I am going to lecture them hard about how the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan will lose it's drive if people like them continue with their bawdy habits.

One also needs to voice their opinion to the government in this regard - and ask them to lay down strict cleanliness codes and ask the public to adhere to them. There must be heavy fines for those flouting these rules. Only then can we expect the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan to be a success.

About #AbMontuBolega Campaign

Strepsils' #AbMontuBolega campaign aims are motivating people to voice their opinion loud and clear, without inhibitions. The protagonist of the campaign is Montu, who has inhibitions about expressing himself in front of his family, friends and colleagues. The campaign captures his journey through various interesting situations in his life where Strepsils provides him with a healthy voice and courage to speak up on issues which matter the most to the youth of today. So let us all join Montu in clearly and fearlessly voicing our opinion about the causes we stand by. It's time we all come together and speak up.

You can follow Strepsils India on Facebook and Twitter to learn more about the #AbMontuBolega Campaign.

Ungroomed Groom? A Big No!

Snigdha looked at her reflection in the washroom mirror. Perfectly arched eyebrows, big kohl-lined eyes with a hint of mascara on the lashes, and glossy pink lips - the light makeup look suited her. Generally she was averse to makeup, but given the occasion, she had decided to put some effort in looking presentable. And now as she looked at herself in the mirror, a smile of satisfaction lit up her face. Touching up her lip gloss, she mentally complimented herself for the effort she had put in, in preparing for this first meeting with Sarthak, the guy her parents had shortlisted for her from a matrimonial website.

They had been talking for two weeks now, getting to know each other before meeting in person. And finally the first face to face meeting was fixed for today in this cafe, close to where Snigdha lived. Taking advantage of the proximity of the meeting point, she had arrived early, to get some extra time for her nervousness to settle down. The tactic was worth it, as half-an-hour on her own here had eased her up and now she eagerly awaited Sarthak, looking up every time the café door opened.  When it did open to let Sarthak in, Snigdha was taken aback by what met her eyes, for the man in question had sauntered in wearing what looked like two day old stubble!

 Stubble is trouble

The unshaven look was a big turn off, to say the least. It seemed suggestive of a callous attitude towards personal grooming and hygiene. ‘This is not how one comes for a first ‘date of sorts’, careless about unsightly black and white stubble,’ she mumbled under her breath. Ungroomed - this was her first impression of Sarthak. And for obvious reasons, it turned out to be the last too.

*This post is inspired by a real incident, the names, of course, have been changed.
**This post is a part of #WillYouShave activity at Blogadda, in association with Gillette.

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I tag my blogger friends –

Ranjith, who blogs at A Light Hearted Talk,
Manjulika Pramod who blogs at Pendown
Nandini Deka, who writes at Nandini Speaks,
Swarna Rao, who blogs at Swarna's Diary, and
Khushboo Motihar, who writes at Munni of all Trades to share their take on #WillYouShave activity. The word limit is 300 words. When you write, please mention that you picked the tag from me.

Here are the suggested prompts for the write-ups –

For men - 

• Missed chances - Stories or instances where you missed out on an opportunity because of a non-shaven face.
• Luck of confidence - Will you leave your fate in the hand of destiny or will you step up and say yes to a well-groomed face to be your best every day.

For ladies - 

• An instance when stubble came in the way of a man's chance to make a good impression.
• An instance when a well-groomed look ensured that they stuck gold on an opportunity given to them.

This post is a part of #WillYouShave activity at Blogadda, in association with Gillette.

Photo courtesy: iamdavegray.com

Toilet For Babli: A Domex Initiative

On any early morning train journeys, while the scenes of the landscape soothes our mind and heart, the sight of people defecating around railway tracks fills one with disgust. One quickly turns the eyes back into the compartment, while inwardly cursing the people for being so gross and shameless for choosing to relieve themselves out in the open. And not just these people who live around railway tracks, many of our household maids and helpers too belong in the 'defecate in the open' category and no matter how much you explain to them about the health hazards they are exposing themselves, it falls on deaf ears. Open defecation is one of the biggest concern of India. Around 597 million people defecate in the open, thereby increasing the risk of microbial contamination of water (bacteria, viruses, amoeba) which causes diseases like diarrhoea. 

Lately there has been an intensive focus on making people aware of the safety and health risks of defecating in the open. Open defecation is one of the biggest concern of India. Around 597 million people defecate in the open, thereby increasing the risk of microbial contamination of water (bacteria, viruses, amoeba) which causes diseases like diarrhoea. Here are some quick facts that illustrate how lack of sanitation impacts health - 

• Almost 28 million school children across India do not have access to school toilet facilities.
• 7 states in India (Orissa, Meghalaya, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar) account for almost 50% (13.8 million) children without access to toilet facilities in schools.
• 20% of deaths among children under-14 are due to diseases caused by poor sanitation and hygiene.
• India has the highest numbers of under-five deaths globally.
• Only 6 per cent of rural children less than five years of age use toilets.
• 443 million school days are lost every year due lack of access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene. 

Besides these facts, there's another embarrassing fact adding to the Indian Open Defecation Crisis - 

626 million Indians defecate in the open - the highest number of people practising open defecation in the world.
Now how disgusting and embarrassing is this!

To deal with this -lack-of-toilets menace, leading cleaning products brand from the house of FMCG giant HUL (Hindustan Unilever Limited) has launched a large scale initiative to make villages open defacation free zones. This initiative impacts young and old who have to defecate in the open, where they are exposed to bacteria and viruses which leads to dangerous diseases like diarrhoea.

The initiative has been launched in Maharashtra and Orissa, and will gradually move to other states. In this inclusive campaign, every concerned individual can make a contribution, and that too with just a click - for every click contribution on the Domex website, the brand contributes Rs. 5 for the noble cause.

This video made for the Domex initiative too does it bit to create awareness about the hazards to open defecation - focussing on the point that toilet is not just a necessity for your beloved child, but also for million other kids like Pappu and Babli who have to defecate in the open due to lack of toilets.

You too can bring about the change in the lives of millions of kids, thereby showing your support for the Domex Initiative. 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 and Pappu live a dignified life. Spread the word, improve lives!

About The Domex Toilet Academy
Domex, HUL’s flagship sanitation brand, currently runs the Domex Toilet Academy (DTA) programme. Domex Toilet Academy was launched on 19th November 2013. It aims to become a sustainable and long-term solution to provide sanitation that benefits the local community and helps stimulate the local economy. The Toilet Academy makes toilets accessible and affordable, while promoting the benefits of clean toilets & good hygiene. Our effort has resulted in bringing the change in the villages of Maharashtra and Orissa and we aim to build 24000 toilets by 2015 in rural areas faced with the problem of open defecation.

Bring Back The Touch, Pretty Please

What a coincidence it is that I come across this beautiful #BringBackTheTouch campaign by Parachute Advansed Body Lotion right after I am done reading an interview of actress Kalki Koechlin, where she talks about her days as a down and out student in London and terribly missing home and friends. In passing she mentions how in India people are so warm and inviting and you can touch each other to express affection. This observation somehow stayed with me even when I had put the newspaper away.  Isn’t it so true, touch indeed works such wonders when words fail or seem superfluous. And the #BringBackTheTouch campaign puts it across even more succinctly – Words can lie. Looks can deceive. But a touch… it reveals the truth. And the beautiful video here featuring two brilliant actors - Nimrat and Parambrata, portrays these same words through a lovely little storyline.

Where warm words fall flat, songs of the past fail to evoke nostalgia, it's the loving touch that does the trick - rekindles the spark, reignites the passion. Much mush, no? And why just between couples, sense of touch can work as a great therapy in any relation.

As we talk about the importance of touch, I must mention my best buddy Satyoki here. There are times when we are out together and during conversations some arguments take a serious turn and we develop a cold stance towards each other - avoiding eye contact and just conversing in bare minimum words. And in between all this coldness, suddenly he puts out his hand to hold mine as we cross a busy section of the road or tread an unfamiliar area. I cannot express in words how reassuring that touch suddenly seems - all the stiffness in our stance dissolves. It's like the other person cares for you and is reaching out to you and then all arguments and anger becomes irrelevant. Touch indeed has such an immediate affect. You cannot remain indifferent to it's influence.

One can use all the tangible ways to express love, affection, warmth and concern, but sometimes just a simple, gentle touch transfers all that much more effectively. A gentle loving touch that says you love, you care, you are concerned. A loving touch that reassures and convinces the other person of your presence. So touch to keep the love and passion alive in your relationship, and it will work wonders for your emotional well-being. But of course. :)

Health is Fun with Sunfeast Farmlite

'Health is the greatest wealth.'

'Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live.'

'Good health and good sense are two of life's greatest blessings.'

Since childhood these eternal pearls of wisdom have been making a regular appearance in my life.  While at school, the teachers never missed out on any opportunity to reinforce the importance of health, and how 'health was the real wealth', at home my parents used similar idioms and expressions while force-feeding me and my younger brother all kinds of 'healthy' vegetable concoctions (read karela and other green vegetables). Every time my brother and I would gulp down those mouthfuls of bitter karela, we would mentally curse the know-it-alls who had nothing better to do than invent atrocious food items like karela and shove it down the throats of hapless children like us.

And since those traumatic karela days, I developed an aversion to all lofty pearls of wisdom like 'health is wealth'. All sorts of product advertisements espousing some health benefit or the other at best evoked either a smirk or an indifferent shrug from me. But his indifferent attitude only lasted till about a few days ago. Yes, you read that right, till about a few days ago. So what happened a few days ago that caused this change of perception, you might be wondering, and rightly so. So the answer, ladies and gentleman, is that a few days ago I came across this super fun and entertaining campaign by Sunfeast Farmlite, creating awareness about the combination of health and fitness through their 'Health is fun with Farmlite' films.

Sunfeast Farmlite is the new biscuit range from ITC Foods and this one boasts of a 'perfect combination' of taste and health - with wheat and oats, and raisins and almonds all coming together to create a healthy and delectable fusion cookie.

Fun and Fitness Go Together

Sunfeast's 'Health is fun with Farmlite' is an engaging and entertaining amalgamation of fun and fitness fundas, focussing on the fact that fitness can be incorporated in one's everyday chores and these chores and seemingly routine activities go a long way in helping one to achieve set fitness goals.These points have been beautifully put across through the Farmlite Bytes Film Festival - a collection of fun films about fitness! While the playlist of this festival boasts of interesting short films, my favourite from among the many fun videos is the Striker Strikes Back by Manu Singh.

Striker Strikes Back is a quirky and fun take on your mundane game of carrom. Oh I forget, it' NOT your mundane game of carrom, it is in fact the Carrom Premier League, where the 3-times world champions white coins have put up a tough game against the black coins and their 'striker' is the relatively unfit and lazy Dubey ji. Now since Dubey ji is not so quick on the board, all his attempts to woo down the 'Queen of Hearts' fail. Alas! Disappointed, but not yet giving up, Dubey ji eats healthy, tones down, and in no time is fit enough to tackle the black and white coins. And lo and behold, he wins over the Queen of Hearts too! See the lesson there? Winning is so much fun and easy - you've just got to be fit and healthy!

Another fun and super quirky video is the one inspired by the many tele-shopping network advertisements - you know, the ones featuring models waxing eloquent about their lives before and after using a certain product. This fun video titled 'Homework Kiya' by Anurag Goswami centres around this obese bhaisahab who has lost all his self esteem thanks to his bulging belly. Adding insult to injury, even his wife is not too happy with the 'not-so-fit-and-smart' husband, choosing to ignore him more often than not. Sigh. But then bhaisahab wakes up to the importance to fitness, does his homework and makes it a point to make an effort to get fit. He does not have the time or the inclination to go to the gym and sweat at the machines, so what does he do? He eats healthy and helps the wifey with the household chores!

A Campaign Beyond the Clichés

Sunfeast's 'Health is fun with Farmlite' is engaging and entertaining, to say the least. Going beyond the clichés of showcasing the subject of health and fitness in a serious light, this campaign focusses on a fun approach - of using light-hearted short films to enlighten the audience about importance of fitness and how one can achieve that through everyday activities. Besides the films discussed above, the other films in the playlist too are entertaining and connect fun and fitness in similar vein. And they are all driving the same point home -

• Health and fitness need not necessarily mean sweating out in fancy gyms, twisting and turning around mean gym equipments; trying out some routine household chores too can help you burn those calories!
• Dance! From garba to classical to freestyle - whatever suits your fancy - try it! It will not just drive your blues away but will also help you keep fit and active.
• If dancing is not your thing, and the idea of exercise too bogs you down, then go for nature walks, hikes, treks! Connect with nature, walk down those winding trails and see how it works wonder on your body and soul!
• Eat Healthy - But of course. And oh yes, you can absolutely stay away from the awful karela if you wish, for now there's a lot of other healthy (and tasty) stuff to compensate for the not-so-missed absence of karela. Besides the grains and vegetables, and fruits and nuts, there are fusion snacks too - snacks that are balanced combinations of taste and health, say something like Sunfeast Farmlite.

By the way, have you tried Sunfeast Farmlite? If you have, then do share your review of these healthy munchies! I personally love the oats and raisins combo!

This post is a part of 'Health is fun with Farmlite' campaign on Indiblogger.

Healthy Child, Happy Home!

Rehaan, the explorer!

This is my four year old nephew Rehaan – happy, curious, and wondering, ever ready to learn new things and experience all the excitement that the as yet limited exposure to life offers him. He loves the outdoors – take him to the park and within minutes he’s all over the place, trying all the rides, exploring the park, curious about the trees and flowers, the little insects, the butterflies, in short he has a wondering mind that wants to know everything - why the butterfly gives no butter? why the flower is pink but the leaves are green? why the dog barks but the duck quacks? And like most kids, he will sulk when it’s time to get back home.

Checking out a raccoon at the zoo

'Can I hold it please?'

Mom look, an opossum!

Rehaan loves animals and at the zoo, is absolutely a sight to behold  - with his animated curiosity about the animals - why the elephant is gray but the zebra has stripes? The parrots are so colourful but the swan only has white? At times, it's difficult to keep pace with him - questions, observations, answers - all mingled up in the conversation that we adults often dismiss as kid talk.

Nothing less than a dinosaur cake for me please!

You must be wondering why I am singing paeans about Rehaan.  He's just like any young kid, you must be wondering. Yes he is. Very much so. But he's also a super healthy child, not prone to falling sick, thanks too his super immune system. Touch wood and touch Dabur Chyawanprash for that. Hahah, I kid not. My mom and Rehaan's dadi (grandmother), calls it a rambaan for all those big and small illnesses that children come down with. Constant colds, runny noses, fevers and flus, stomach bugs - it's very rare that Rehaan bugs us with these issues thanks to the daily dose of a spoonful of Dabur Chyawanprash every day.

How Dabur Chyawanprash helps

Children's immune system is quite prone to taking a hit since they are exposed to a variety of food substances with all kinds of preservatives, additives and artificial colours added to them. These food items look attractive to the eyes but more often than not, have adverse effect on the digestive system. Besides this, with different kinds of pollution the kids are now exposed to, their immune system needs super boosting to help take on various infections and diseases. And times tested herbal mix Dabur Chayawanprash has anti-oxidant properties and helps to strengthen your body's internal defence mechanism - the immune system - thereby protecting you from day to day infections such as cough, cold etc.

Chyawanprash, a time-tested, age-old formulation has a number of herbs like Amla, known to be one of the best antioxidants, Giloy (Guduchi), known to have immuno-modulatory properties, and has more than 40 other natural ingredients.
Dabur Chyawanprash’s magnificent brew of Ayurvedic herbs strengthens the body’s natural defence mechanism by stimulating your NK cells* (Natural Killer Cells). NK cells assist in fighting with virus and bacteria in your body, thus giving us increased immunity from various infection.

Let's swing it!

And so this is why I have presented Rehaan as a perfect example of a healthy, happy child. One look at Rehaan, and everyone is content that he's growing right - happy and healthy. A healthy child makes for a happy home. Everyone knows that we need to not unnecessarily worry about Rehaan falling sick - for all that ashwgandha, guduchi, satavari and the many other magical fancy herbs in the Dabur Chyawanrash are doing their work to ensure that Rehaan and of course everyone else in the house remains healthy. So with Dabur Chyawanprash around, one can always count on increased immunity from infections. On this healthy note, here's wishing you a healthy and happy Diwali! 

This post is written for Dabur India's #ImmuneIndia blogging drive in association with Indiblogger.