#MagicOfWarmth - Diwali, truly a festival of lights

It was about 10 years ago when I and my neighbors had a fight. We knew them for over 5 years and were our good friends. My mom used to share our happiness, sorrows and almost every moment with them. They used to come and celebrate my birthday in our house and we used to celebrate their kid’s birthdays at their home and it was the same for each and every festival where we used to get together and enjoy our lives. I was a friend of the smallest daughter in their family and we used to play with each other daily. Ten years ago, there was a fight in the building where our neighbors were against a store employee from the same building. They quarreled and the store employee said that we were too supporting him instead of our neighbors. The employee was lying so that we too breakup and he was just trying to create a rift between us. Our neighbor did not believe us and these misunderstandings became even worse as time passed by. We kept ignoring each other, celebrating every festival alone in the house and each day was becoming terrible for us as we had to face each other every time we walk out or enter our building. While conversing with other neighbors too, this topic used to be brought up and we just did not share the matter with anyone but one thing was good between us that we both did not talk ill of each other. It was just a distance that kept us away but we still had that respect for each other as we were already friends for 5 years and relationships don’t break so easily. Whenever there were functions in the building, it started getting awkward when we used to come face-to-face with each other but we used to still smile and then move on from the place to not make it a bad situation in the function.

It had been one whole year that we did not speak to each other and I and my parents had gone down to celebrate the festival of Diwali. I began lighting diyas and bursting crackers in the building and our neighbors watched us from far. The wife of our neighbor walked up to my mom and wished her Happy Diwali offering her a piece of sweet. My mom at first refused and smiled but my neighbor insisted that she have it. The smile on her face made my mom’s heart melt and she hugged her. My neighbor said that she wanted us to forget everything that happened and start a new friendship which my mom too accepted. However, I being a kid was hesitant to make friends again with the daughter of the family but the daughter came up to me and caught my hand which was holding the phuljhadi. It was a feeling of warmth that was felt on the auspicious day of Diwali and it was truly a festival of lights for us. We gave each other a new chance and till date, we are living happily and celebrating every festival together.


I’m blogging about my #MagicOfWarmth moment at BlogAdda in association with Parachute Advansed Hot Oil

MagicOfWarmth - Best Friends Forever

I was new to my school as my parents had shifted from our earlier place and settled in a new place. Everything was new for us, neighbors, friends and I developed a great friendship with a girl from my class. She was my best friend. We were so good friends as we both had similar views on things and both of us were very stubborn. We were in the sixth standard and it was when we fought over a small issue like all kids do and I was very angry on her and she was as well angry with me. We stopped talking to each other and she went and told a girl about a secret conversation I had with her and that girl got so angry with me. I promised to then never forgive my friend ever and I made friends with another girl. I so disliked her for that and whenever I used to see her, I used to ignore her and she too used to ignore me. My new friend used to tell me that when I and that girl were so good friends, how did we fall apart? I told her that she may have never considered me as a true friend and that is the reason that she betrayed my trust by giving out the secrets that I had told her because I trusted her enough to say those things to her. I was too hurt that I told my new friend that I may never again trust each other so much and even though she is my new friend, I couldn’t share any secrets with her too. She could understand me and we used to go and come from school together.

It was after a week that my old best friend came upto me with a sad face and tears in her eyes. I ignored her and walked away but she held my hand and hugged me tightly. I did not hug her back and looked away. We broke the hug and she said:

“Sorry Erika, I really did know what I was doing. That moment, I was so angry that I just said what I had in my heart. I know I broke your trust by tell the other girl about our conversation but that I did at the spur of the moment. I was an idiot to do so. I know that you wouldn’t trust me anymore but I’m really sorry. Till you don’t forgive me, I’ll keep telling you sorry.”

I keep silent for the moment and the bell rang. We all entered the class and she kept looking at me with regret in her eyes. I could see that she was really sorry for her deed but I still did not believe her. It was then in the break that my new friend came to me and told me about the conversation she had with my best friend and asked me to forgive her. I couldn’t control myself then and went and hugged my best friend. There was so much warmth in that hug that we forgave and forgot everything that happened.

I’m blogging about my #MagicOfWarmth moment at BlogAdda in association with Parachute Advansed Hot Oil

Lapland Mail - A Gift from Santa

Christmas is a festival of Love and here in India, we celebrate Christmas with lights lit up in the house and decorations all over. Giving gifts to our loves ones is considered a tradition which is passed on from one generation to another. Today when everything is done via the internet and using computers, we still send Christmas letters and cards to our loved ones as it represents our care and feelings for them that cannot be replaced via a e-cards/email. Lapland has helped me this Christmas to gift my loved one a beautiful letter, a certificate and an activity sheet.

Lapland Mailroom is website that lets users order Christmas letters for their kids that can be personalized with messages for their loved ones. 

You can choose to order the following:

1.      Only a letter

2.      A letter along with an activity pack

3.      Baby’s 1^st Christmas package

You get a FREE Nice Child certificate with all orders placed on the website worth £2.95 as it is running a magical offer currently.

You can choose from the following 4 letters:

Letter 1

Letter 2

Letter 3

Baby's First Christmas:

And customize any letter by entering your details as shown below:

There are 2 mail package offers you can choose from:

Here is the package I received from Lapland Mailroom in exchange for an honest review. It included the letter with an activity pack worth £8.95.

When I placed an order on the website, I received a notification via email that they’ll inform me when the order will be ready for dispatch and asked me to check the postal dates on the website. The website has all the required details and they deliver the package within 3 days after you place the order. The delivery is Worldwide and I received the package within 2 weeks of the date of dispatch.

I really liked the package I received from Lapland mail room and kids too would love their parents to gift them a cool activity pack that they can color on and a letter that will be memories for them (especially because this letter is written by Santa Claus). The Certificate is a nice gesture for our kids that they will love to own with their name printed on it. The prices too are pretty affordable and the shipping process is simple and fast.

LGV20 - Searching my Identity

It’s hazy out here. Can’t see anything clearly. Why am I feeling so weak? Am not even able to move my body and stand still. Wait a sec! Where am I?

Ouch! My head hurts badly. Blood? I can see blood on my fingers when I touch my neck. This means someone hit me and brought me here to die? Who was that? And when did this happen? Why can’t I remember anything? I was not here all my life and I must have been somewhere else. But where? And why can’t I remember my name? What’s my name? Have I lost my memory?

1 hour passes…

I look around and find myself in no-man’s land. How did I reach here? Why is there no human being to be seen for miles? Am I alone on this island? Just water, sand, trees and me? How will I manage to come out from this place and reach my home?

I sense something in my clothes and I remove the thing that has been vibrating for a long time. I notice it’s a #LGV20 mobile and since my clothes are completely wet, the mobile too is drained completely. It must be off but let me try switching it ON. I touch the screen and notice that it’s still ON. That’s great! After remaining for a long time in water, still this phone is working perfectly. The brand is LG V20. Great phone!

So now that the phone is active, let me find out details about myself as there is no ID proof nor any information that can identify me in my clothes. No wallet and no ID proof. This phone must have skipped those kidnappers’ eyes as it was deep inside my pockets. Don’t know how I will manage doing this but there will be some information about me on this phone. Oh Damn! It’s locked. How will I access it? Wait! It asks for my finger prints. I touch the sensor and hey, my phone is now unlocked. Yippy! Thankfully it did not have a code as when I can’t remember my name, how can I remember my code. Haha!

Damn! There’s no signal here which is why I can’t even dial any number nor use the internet. Now let’s check the folder. There are so many folders here and hence let’s check the personal folder. I can see that there are many pictures and selfies. OMG! I don’t know how do I look to find myself in these pictures. So let’s click a picture. Snap! The picture has come out so beautiful and clear with the focus on me.

It gives me a geo-tagging option too. So that means the pictures too which have been clicked earlier are geo-tagged. Yes, they are. Uff! Finally some clue. Thanks to #LGV20. It tells me that the location in mainly South Mumbai and most of the pictures are tagged in one location. May be that’s my home. Zooming further I can see myself standing in front of few shops. Thanks to the clarity that I can see the name of the shop and its address so clearly.

I keep moving and checking other folders and signal reception. There are so many audio and video files too which means that its storage capacity is really good.

Hearing some of these audio and video files, the voices are so clear. I can even hear the background noises clearly. I keep hearing the bus noise from the audios and videos which means that these files have been recorded mostly in this area.

I keep moving and checking other folders and signal reception. But damn! The battery is getting over. What will I do now? It asks me to swap the batteries and I does as the instructions say. Oh wow! The battery is removable too and now again I can use the phone as before as it has a complete charge.

With the help of the compass sensor, I manage to walk further in the direction of the main road and here I have reached the highway.

On asking some people about the locations shown in the mobile, I finally manage to reach my house and get my real identity. It’s amazing that with the help of this mobile, I learned the way back home and saved my life. Thanks #LGV20.

Image credit: http://www.dlbgadget.com/lg-v20-price-specification.html

You can checkout the features and specs here: http://www.lg.com/in/v20

Or buy it here: http://www.amazon.in/LG-LGH990DS-V20-Silver/dp/B01MZXEACC

Questions and Answers #DearZindagi

Dear Zindagi,

                        I owe you a lot of things as you have made me what I am today and today as I look back the past memories, I’ve noticed you have been with me through such a long journey and we have together faced so many ups and downs during this journey where sometimes you felt weak and sometimes I felt weak. However, there have been many times I’ve tried to ask you questions and complaints and since you’ve never answered me, I’ve found those answers on my own. Here they are:

1.      Why are you so short?

From the time you’ve come into my life till this day, everytime I’ve only noticed that you’re moving too fast and before I can catch you, I fear that you will slip away. My childhood days have passed long ago and it’s been such a short duration that I can barely remember. I many a times feel that I could have had a longer childhood but those days can never come back ever and that’s why I have this complaint.

On asking myself, here I found an answer to my question. Life is not short but we ourselves do not respect the time we have in hand. We ourselves spend time in doing things that are not so relevant and hence feel that our life is short. We cannot change our past but those days too were in our hand where we could make it different and consider each day as a gift of God. We could spend each day to the fullest and give it the importance it deserves. This way, we wouldn’t consider life short if it had to be utilized fully.

2.      Why do we face so many challenges?     

In our day to day life, we constantly face challenges whether it’s from work or from our personal problems and these challenges keep us so busy and tired that we forget how days pass and instead we want the low period to get over as soon as possible. Why can’t life be easy that we can live happily and not face so many problems?

The answer that I got from my subconscious mind was: Life is not easy or same for one and all where there are rich and poor people but everyone does face challenges in their life to keep their life stable. If there are no problems, one wouldn’t realize that importance of happy moments and take life for granted. We can live a happy life but we should also learn how to overcome these challenging moments to become a better person.

3.      Can we ever change your duration?

I’ve seen people who don’t even get a chance to live and the others, who survive, die so fast. It makes me lose trust in you sometimes as I don’t know how long will you be with me and I keep asking myself the duration so that I know how many days I have left. I’ve been also told that we can increase your duration by praying or believing in human Gods. Is it true?

The answer that I got was: There have been many human Gods who claim to increase your life duration with the help of different mantras but ultimately, they are not sure about their own life duration. The one who comes into this world has to go away as life is limited and the only thing we can change is our destiny so that we can make our life memorable. Destiny is in our hands and there’s a dialogue that I recollect here: Zindagi lambi nahi honi chahiye, sirf badi honi chahiye (life shouldn’t be long but instead it should be big).

Love you Zindagi,

Regards,

Erika

I am writing a letter to life for the #DearZindagi activity at BlogAdda

Thank you Dear Zindagi

Dear Zindagi,


There have been so many things that I've wanted to tell you before but today I got a chance to express my feelings to you and communicate with you. There have so many times when I've opened my eyes in the morning and thanked you that you are still present in me and with your help, I am able to spend the rest of my day happily. Today, I want to thank you for the following reasons:

For giving me such beautiful parents:

Zindagi, you've been here only because of my parents and my parents have been here, because of you. You came to me as a gift from them and how much ever I give them in life, I can never give them back the same or something more meaningful than you are. Life is something that's precious and that's what my parents have taught me always. Life is the biggest gift that we get from our parents and then give our children and it’s now in our hands to make it better and become an independent human being for our parents.


For giving me a good health:

Zindagi, there have been many times when I've fallen ill and have been thinking that you may come to an end. It happens especially when I'm not able to move and when I've been in the hospital but you've never given up on me and hence I'm here today with no sicknesses and illnesses. I’ve realized that many a times it has been my mistake that I’ve fallen ill and since then I’ve been taking utmost care of myself to keep you healthy and long. I've been having a healthy lifestyle and this would not be possible without your support.

For giving me a good financial status:

Zindagi, it’s only because of my good health that I’ve managed to get a proper education and a good job for my financial security that has helped me to keep you going well too. I have always been working for my life and it wouldn’t have been possible to come so far and lead a healthy lifestyle without you, my Zindagi. Money is in my hands but my life is not and hence I keep praying for a long life to maintain this security always as had you not been in my destiny, I wouldn't have been able to do anything for myself and my family.

For all the beautiful moments:

Zindagi, there has been many a times that I’ve shared such beautiful moments with my friends and family and you’ve always helped me in capturing them so beautifully that they will be taken with me when you come to an end. These moments wouldn’t have been possible without you and right from my childhood till my youth and now, you’ve always helped me and brought me moments that I can cherish forever. I cannot change my past nor can I predict the future, but I promise Zindagi that I'll try my best to lead a meaningful and fruitful zindagi and store in more moments with my family if you keep your love, faith and support with me.

Love,
Erika

I am writing a letter to life for the #DearZindagi activity at BlogAdda

Apps to check your heart health

I've already mentioned my daily routine in the previous post and here I would like to talk about the methods that motivate me to stay active, eat better and stay happy.

What motivates me to stay active!

1) Nestle Choose Wellness: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nestle.choosewellness&hl=en

I feel that even though I may exercise during weekends and have a healthy diet, it is important to even track your health using apps and enter your daily routine from time-to-time.

I downloaded this app few months back. The app is a great way to make a person more active and at the same time one gets rewarded for his/her achievements. The Nestle Choose Wellness app makes you do special tasks like:

 a. Take the stairs instead of using a lift and take 2 steps at once (Reward: 2 points)
 b. Replace full fat yogurt with low fat (Reward: 2 points)
 c. Share your achievements (rewards) on Facebook, Twitter (Reward: 5 points)

After performing the tasks, one gets a total score (rewards called Wellness Boosts) which motivates the person to do better and Nestle everyday adds new fun tasks which help the person to be healthy and active and these tasks are really simple to complete.

The interface is very easy to operate and one just has to click the "Fin out how" option and get started by signing in with Twitter or Facebook. It helps in achieving the goals by giving simple tasks which help you exercise and at the same time to follow a healthy diet. I use this app on a daily basis as it would benefit me to earn maximum reward points means I would become more active and thus healthy as well.

What motivates me to eat better!

Calorie counter - MyFitnessPal: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.myfitnesspal.android&hl=en

This app helps me to keep track of my calories without the need to count them manually. It lets me enter food items from anywhere by just using its barcode scanner and it uses its own database to calculate the calories which is just amazing. I can enter my own recipes and feed it in the app at anytime. It's exercise tracker counts how many calories I've burned during the day and it keeps an account of what meals do I consume regularly. This app is the best app I've had till date as it helps me add food products with just a click and it's more than fun to use this app and maintain a balanced diet. Eating was never fun until I downloaded this app.

What motivates me to be happy!

Perfect Piano: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gamestar.perfectpiano&hl=en

I love playing the piano and guitar when at home and if I don't get time to play these instruments, I try this online app that helps me create new tunes or listen to old songs via the app wherein I can either buy new tunes or set my created tunes as a ringtone. It's my most favorite app that keeps me happy and connected with my instruments and as I hail from a family whose ancestors were all musicians, it is the perfect feeling and way to keep myself happy.

I am joining the Saffolalife #ChhoteKadam initiative in association withBlogAdda and follow these small steps for a healthy heart.