Saturday 31 January 2015

Let Your Skin Breathe With Garnier

A child like soft, clear at and flawless skin is a dream of every woman. Skin problems arise when the dirt and germs come in contact with the skin and block its natural pores causing pimples. A pimple then leaves a spot as it goes away. Therefore treating it right at the onset is the wisest move.
Mine is an oily skin and if Shakespeare was alive he would have written my agony as "Why lord dost so unkind to gift thou such an oily skin?" Well I ask the same everyday. Being a single independent woman I try the best to put maximum hours of my day into work and work includes travel. They say women in olden times didn't have a scar on their face but how would they? They never faced tons of pollution!

The other problem with women like us is time or where is the time? My mom has lovingly gifted me a Chandan stick with a base to rub on,melt it and apply on my face for a clear skin. She lovingly did this and still does when I am home but when away at the end of a 12-14 hour job plus commute I just cannot manage it. I also do not have the time to spend hours in the beauty parlor.

The story now on is however not the Shakespeare ode to the unkind continued but my journey into maintaining a clear one each day. As I said I had an oily skin, so oily I can shine without a moisturizer like one of those models in a commercials but it has its own offsets. People like me tend to catch the pollution fast which sticks to the face and only thing that can help is repetitive washing of the face. That certainly is possible if one,'s job is desk and chair but mine involves field work and travel. As you know we how clean our Indian roads are, within 15 minutes of stepping outside the house I am victimized, my skin cries to breathe fresh air. The result four years ago was severe skin eruptions marking my face. 

Nobody hires a person who looks like a can of dripping oil and I faced a lot of rejections because I had traveled far for interviews and one cannot be Aishwarya Rai unless one travels by AC car and just steps out for business. On second thoughts most of such women don't work. So for the Aam aurat the solution has to be economical and practical. Also being in a profession demanding 12-14 hours of work I cannot go now and again to keep washing my face. The result of this was having a bad skin with pimples leaving marks on my fair skin. I consulted with multiple skin specialists who prescribed medicine after medicine but nothing to cure. Then when s friends mother who was a skin specialist saw me she could understand my pain and had just one solution Neem soap.

Neem has been known since the Vedic times as a medicinal plant. It was a logical choice but there
was just one short coming, soaps render skin dry and the skin look s malnourished. From severely oily I wanted to go healthy not the bereft. So I started trying neem face washes and my eyes fell on Garnier's neem face wash. It is specifically designed for oily skin which helps you remove oil, fights germs and cleanses deeply to remove all the exposure by pollution to your precious skin. You can check all the details about this and more products from Garnier here: bit.ly/GarnierPureActiveNeemWebsite


I started using it about three months ago and my skin is much better now. It doesn't dry like using soap and doesn't get oily too soon, so you can work without bothering too much. So no pimpleas and no marks as they claim. The results of a clear skin are obviously more confidence at work and love with myself. Thank you Garnier for being at my rescue and taking care of skin. I believe in me because of you. 

This blog is a part of Garnier Pure Active Neem contest by Indiblogger: bit.ly/GPABlogLinkIndiBloggerActivity


Thursday 29 January 2015

Demystifying The North Eastern Cuisine

Sneha Lata Sakia armed with pots and pans is all set this Sunday onward with her pop up on Northeastern (NE) cuisine, to live her dream of getting more people acquainted with the food from the region she belongs to. Being someone who loves food since childhood, she has tasted all kinds of cuisine including rarest type of meat like wood worms and fried wasps which hardly any mainstream Indians have heard of. 


Romance with food turned into a serious affair when the food lover decided to go a step ahead, into cooking what she loved to eat. She loved experimenting, trying a different batter for conventional dishes, but her attempts were laughed at, at home. However it was at work when her lunch boxes were often stolen and snatched, she found her first encouragement. Motivated she started reading cookery books and trying the recipes. She says “My cooking improved over time and here I am today, yet I do not like to call myself as an expert. All I can say is I love cooking and the and am still learning.”

Most of the of the North Eastern dishes have zero oil. There also is less spice but lots of herbs in their diet. In a festival called "Bihu", 101 varieties of Green herbs are consumed, so for a health conscious generation Northeastern food is undoubtedly the right choice. It not only cuts calories but also provides internal cleansing like a spa therapy does externally because you consume natural herbs. If you don’t trust me just try it once.

Sneha Lata Sakia with her friend Karen Yepthomi from Nagaland who runs a popular restaurant serving the cuisine of the land; Dzokou – The Tribal Kitchen, have come together to solve the myths and mysteries around their cuisine and give us healthier diet options. When asked about her motivation behind the popup Sneha Lata Sakia states “Ever since my childhood days, people used to ask me whether we eat snakes and dog meat. As a child it used to irritate me as I never saw mom cooking snakes and dog meat at home. Still when I meet people, few ask me about my daily diet. One of my friend once told me that she doesnt like Northeastern food as it stinks and she can’t eat bamboo shoots. My popup event is to break this barrier of mindset that our food is way more than bamboo and eating snakes etc” 

    The Venue: Dzokou - The Tribal Kitchen - Hauz Khas
The USP of this Popup however is the fact that there is no discrimination against vegetarians (like me) as they will also be served a full meal lovingly cooked by the ladies who wish to delight the taste buds of their vegetarians friends as well. NE cuisine does include many interesting vegetarian dishes like curries made with Banana Flower, Colocassia leaves and stem, Banana stem , Yam , Rongpuri Potoato ( red colour baby potatoes), Ashgourd , Bottle gourd and Pumpkins. I am really looking forward to it.


Talking about future plans Sneha says “My journey of showcasing my cuisine to the mainstream has just began. I used to invite my friends who are keen to know about my cuisine, at my home ( in small batches). This pop up among large group is encouraging me do more such events in future. I will keep promoting unexplored Northeastern cuisine till my last breath."

So food lovers in Delhi give your soul a shower of food cooked Northeastern style with herbs this Sunday at the Popup event at Dzokou, Hauz Khas Main Market. More details about the venue is here: https://www.zomato.com/ncr/dzukou-tribal-kitchen-hauz-khas-delhi

Further details about the popup can be found here:

Monday 19 January 2015

Dunkin Donuts CP Relaunched

Connought Place or CP as we lovingly call it is the heart of Delhi. Centrally located, full of places to eat, chill, hangout and shop is the most favorite stroll, shopping and meeting places in Delhi. Janpath being one of mine especially with food. Being a fan of fast food donuts and burgers top my list. The choice therefore always was Dunkin. FYI- if you never had a Dunkin Donut do visit them and yes their burgers are a must have. If I have to rate the best chain that serves burgers, my favorite will be Dunkin always.

                                                                    Here it is! DD at CP

I was a little upset when their CP outlet which all my friends and relatives visiting Delhi have been treated at, post a Dehi darshan trip closed down. However the good news was before 2014 ended they restarted all new, with an all new menu, well that is a double treat.

Being a regular at Dunkin with Brute Tough Guy burger with a Dunkachino being my favorite meal. you will mostly find me at their Select City Walk outlet on weekends, before my movie shows. Therefore this post is solely about the latest additions to their menu which are a must try:

The Vegetarian Wraps:  I am not a fan of wraps as most chain when it comes to vegetarian wraps do not do justice to it. They either are very low on spice or have less mayonnaise/cheese. They donot give you a creamy fulfilling effect. When I tried the Dunkin wrap I was amazed. It was rich in spice, not very hot but a blended in spice, perfect for my Indian taste buds. Also its filling was creamy and fulfilling. I had to reconfirm if it was vegetarian, was that good.

                               Vegetarian Wrap: Try it once and love me for suggesting it ;)

The Naughty Lucy Burger:   After having found the right bun to cheese to condiment ratio in all its earlier burger, I believe I had found 'My Precious" however Dunkin evolved a step further with The Naughty Lucy burgers. It has a thick patty centrally filled with cheese, layered with flavored mayonnaise and packed with some veggies at the base. The cheesy flavor of a bite sets in your mouth, mingling with the crunchy juicy veggies creating a blend that can be called just "heavenly".

                              The Naughty Lucy Burger...I am hungry everytime I see it :P

 Ugly Strawberry, Bluberry and It's A Mistake Donut: Indians are sweet tooth so after you visited heaven with a Naughty Lucy burger with your favorite flavor of Dunkachino I would suggest trying these two flavors if you are not a conventional chocolate lover or like me you tried all the other ones. The Strawberry donut has a mix of strawberry cream with chunk of Oreos, a combination that can never go wrong. Its a mistake donut, on the other hand not just has an interesting name but also a different combination. A caramel layer, sprinkled with chilli flakes topped by a guava jelly. It's a mistake worth making. The blueberry is my most favorite donut, I cannot not suggest. It has a spread of blueberry cream with a rich center topped with blueberry jelly. Once you have it, you wouldn't want to have anything but this.


                                              The rich donut platter at Dunkin Donuts

So if you have a difficulty deciding your donut at Dunkin, bookmark this page or connect with me. It's my favorite burger place. Do get the shopping stress out by relishing these at the CP outlet. Happy getting naughty with the Lucy ;) :P.

I thank Vani Ganesh from Perfect Relations for keeping me up to date with the Dunkin menu.

Movie Review: The Imitation Game

Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch
                    Keira Knightley
                    Matthew Goode
                    Mark Strong
                    Charles Dance
                    Allen Leech
                    Matthew Beard
                    Rory Kinnear


Directed by: Morten Tyldum

The Imitation Game is a movie based on life and work of Alan Turing, a man you would want to bow down to as the device you are reading this  post on is courtesy his life's work. He was a British Mathematician, Cyptologist and one of the most important researchers involved in development of Computers. He is infact referred to as both father of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. The film begins with Alan Turing being recruited into the British Intelligence Agency MI6 that was trying to decode the codes by Enigma, the Nazi coder which was then considered unbreakable. The strategy was to decipher the code each day via human efforts. As the codes changed everyday it was impossible to do so without artificial intelligence and Turing was quick to realise it. Therefore inspite of following his colleagues into a dark tunnel where a faint beam might appear someday, he decides to use his imagination into developing algorithm and computation for the first time. 

The road is not easy and he is met with all odds but he does manage to get the funding. He builds it but it doesn't work in one go, when do experiments anyway? The trouble shooting, the failure, the time line crunch, the suspicion of being a spy and above all being a homosexual which was considered an offence then. The movie has amplitudes of inspiration as Turing sits endlessly by his machine waiting for it to work, his belief against odds in his work, living physically till the end with his machine and taking in everything, even hormonal therapy as instructed by the law just to be with his machine will give one a feel of what it is to have a purpose and love it till the end. A life of a real scientist has always been of hardship and this movie gives you a full zoom into Turing's emotions for his work and pain. There is also a hint of friendship and love, albeit of a different kind, though a kind that is a boon for the soul born for a purpose. Benedict Cumberbatch plays the most convincing Alan Turing. His work on his speech for the role is commendable. 

The movie is based on a book "Alan Turing : An Enigma" by Andrew Hodges. His code breaking machine named "Christopher" by him and more popularly known as "The Turing Machine" saved about 14 million lives and helped the allied win World War II. The machine and the mission was kept a secret and hence Turing never was celebrated in his lifetime. He however was sent to prison for being gay, one of the worst ever treatments to the best minds. The movie will make one think a lot on these lines as well. 

If you need the inspiration that you have been lacking, especially scientists. go watch this movie. 

"Sometimes it is the people no one imagines anything of who do the things no one can imagine"

Friday 16 January 2015

Movie Review: Ugly

Directed by: Anurag Kashyap
Starring: Ronit Roy
                 Rahul Bhat
                 Tejaswini Kohlapure
                 Surveen Chawla
Language: Hindi   
Run Time: 128 Minutes

Ugly a much awaited movie from the maker of the movie that made its place despite of being one of its own kind "Gangs Of Wasseypur", undoubtedly we really waited for the next one from Anurag Kashyap and "Ugly" it is. What is also special about this movie is it was the first film screed at the 2014 New York Indian Film Festival and screened under Directors Fortnight section at 2013 Cannes Film Festival.  It released late as Anurag still fights the court case since 2013 for this movie, against putting the line "smoking is injurious to health" when an actor smokes in his movies.

Ugly is a story not less complicated than his previous movies and this is one thing Anurag should be credited for, his experiments with twisty scripts. A girl child "Kali", the daughter of Shalini - a forced to be a housewife (played by Tejaswini Kohlapure) and the step father Shoumik - an aggressive and honest police officer (Ronit Roy) gets kidnapped and as evident from the trailer, it is a story into finding her. The movie begins with Shalini trying to commit suicide but is interrupted. She is portrayed as a depressed woman, dominated by her husband who rules her life but has no interest in her. Kali is picked up by her genetic father Rahul (Rahul Bhat) as is she every Saturday for a movie. Rahul is a struggling actor who though having tried his hand at acting for a lot of years in the film industry hasn't made it big. He struggles with poverty and debt. When he stops at his friends place who is a casting director Chaitanya (Vineet Kumar Singh), he leaves Kali in the car and goes upstairs. When his friend reaches his place  he tells her Kali wasn't in the car. They try searching for her in the nearby vicinity, find a guy with her phone who in a traffic accident as they try to chase him. 

The matter goes to the police and Ronit Roy keeps a tab on each suspect as he goes into the wild goose chase. The story then moves as Chaitanya tries to cash in the situation by making calls as a kidnapper. One isn't sure whether its him or Rahul's latest girlfriend a small time actress played by the hot Surveen Chawla. One sways through the past when Rahul and Shalini were together, how they split up, her ending up with Shoumik who had loved her since college. It reflects how things change with situations, money and human needs as each character's true colors slowly zoom into the front. Each character has done a phenomenal job, especially Ronit Roy, Tejaswini Kohlapure and Rahul Bhat who as leads couldn't have been better.  

The best thing about story isn't just about finding her but finding the truth about each character and to what extent each one goes in a situation as grave as this. The idea of course is extrapolation into human psyche under extreme conditions, which is unpleasant and "Ugly". The meaning of the film title justified at the end in so many ways if not co-incidence is a genius. The film aces in terms of script and could be watched more than one time. Another great twisty tale from Anurag Kashyap that would engage you.  Highly recommended. 

Rating: 4/5


Sunday 4 January 2015

PK: A Good Concept But A Failed Satire

Note: This post has dissected the movie and contain spoilers. 


Aamir Khan’s films are one of the most awaited ones in bollywood for he is not just an actor but a thinker and a perfectionist, complemented and even criticized for his involvement in the movie right from script to direction. It didn't change for PK because of the Aamir Khan - Raj Kumar Hirani duo despite the Dhoom 3 disaster. The suspense was well built, each motion picture slowly released followed by trailers, none revealing what the movie was all about. It surely worked as the movie has now ignited controversies and made 544 crores globally. But was it the best thing that could be done with the story? Here is how I see it.

Firstly an Alien, physically exactly like human lands on earth and the very next moment his spaceship takes off. You negate the logical flaw for the cause the story is aimed at, evident in the next instant when an earthling steals his pendant (the remote to the spaceship), the only way to go back to his planet. This was the "aha" moment for me, I loved the concept and the satire it hinted at. Since he is stuck here and has a mission to accomplish now, he has to communicate with people on the planet, understand how things function and get his remote back. So we get to revisit our world through his lenses. A living being who understands without words, from a planet where there is no religion or any kind of compartmentalization. The seriousness of it all presented in humor yet emphatically in Bhojpuri with a pan. The first thing he does of course is ask the question "where could he find his stolen remote", the answer to it as to most unknown is "Bhagwaan". The moment the film moved onto this track I marveled at the genius of an Indian backdrop in the story; for where else in the world would could an alien get so confused about clothing, prayer protocols, whom to pray to and what to offer in prayer? In his journey of understanding us, PK poses the greatest questions "What is the difference between the 20 rupee idol and the 500 rupee idol?" or out of confusion he asks the maker of the idol "Did God create you or you created him?"

He goes to the extent of wearing a yellow helmet so that he can catch God's focus just like a taxi is spotted from a distance. He also amuses us with the reasoning that the lord isn't listening to him and so he is lost. He distributes pamphlets with "Missing" for Gods and Goddesses, followed by his address.  He observes different religions, makes mistakes in his manner of offering prayers, thinking we are manufactured in different religious companies and in a very light manner we are ridiculed of our diversities in even in approaching the same God. The fact that each God and religion has everything to with fashion (meaning dressing style) is very emphatic.  As he tries to please every existing God in the precise manner as that specific religion dictates, the song "bhagwaan hai kahan re tu" plays and one can feel his confusion, pain and disappointment in the ways we take as normal. Till this point I felt an impact as great as Charlie Chaplin movie, I had put the team on the altar but alas! it was downhill from there.

The script goes in the direction of proving one religious guru wrong. An agent of God who cannot connect to the right person to discovering he is a fraud.  The debate is no where nearly as emphatic as the amplitude it began with. The film runs on a different platform similar to the movie Oh My God, but so mild that it cannot even be put on the same level for comparison. That isn't all, the worst thing they say about Indian film industry then follows "we just can't do without some romance". The romantic angle between Aamir and Anushka, resulting into a triangle was just not needed.

Just imagine how an alien would feel if he comes from a planet where there is no language, where ones thoughts can be read and where there is neither a currency nor something like religion, just existence of the species. This is such an amazing thought, a concept that can be used to pose very strong questions to everything that we call "human". To make humans rethink and be better at being human, to evolve.

What could have been a better script if they had to produce a bollywood romance is, an alien discovering love and relationships and their nature in our fast changing world. People their materialism beyond emotions or how circumstances change relationships, all from an alien eye would make a good story. The best script however would be the satire in the first half of the script limited not just to God but to every component of our world and ways. Money, Caste system, Illiteracy, Poverty, War, Terrorism, Sexism, the issues to address are endless. It would have sent such a strong message like nothing ever has. Charlie Chaplin I am sure would have done that with an Alien in hand. 

I agree everyone needs money to feed themselves but the creators of this movie seem to have backed off from what could have been one of the finest movie scripts just for a few hundred crores. I know you may mock me when I say "a few hundred crores" but it was the same man Rajkumar Hirani who put forward the philosophy "success nahi excellence ke peeche bhaago". Have you forgotten it sir?  Nevertheless, since the money has been made with this one, I hope the next is a creative and an intellectual pursuit. Its time we select stronger, ambitious scripts, ask difficult questions and answer complicated issues. Cinema is the strongest means to reach people in a country like ours. Lets make the best of it. As for Aamir I just feel sorry his dream for an Oscar could have come true with this film as his acting is marvelous but again one cannot, not do the experiment and expect an Oscar, right?