The Himalayan Earthquake That Struck Nepal, Tibet and parts of North India

 Nepal, parts of Tibet and several states in North India were hit by a 7.9 magnitude earthquake on Saturday morning that has resulted in widespread devastation and loss of life. People are scared, there are many who are still alive but not yet rescued from rubble, others who might be safe but have lost contact with their friends and family.

At times like these, it is very easy for rumors to spread, especially through social networking sites and apps like Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, etc. Immediately after the earthquake, there were rumors being spread which resulted in widespread fear which kept people out of their homes and offices. Here's the Indian Express Report on Rumors that were spread. Please do not spread rumors using social networks.

Instead let's use these platforms for aiding rescue and relief by spreading relevant information about helpline numbers, information about fund donations, donation of material, etc.

The most important and extensive information on everything that general public, rescue and relief workers, volunteers and government agencies would find very useful is from The Humanitarian Data Exchange website, which UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Asia and the Pacific is using to direct it's operations in the affected areas.

Here are few other options for you to support in rescue and relief:

1. All the relevant information about this earthquake on United States Geological Survey webpage

2. To locate or know about missing person, please follow The Logical Indian's FB post where they have compiled a list of things you can do if you are trying to know about a friend/family member or are looking to volunteer.

3. Here's Quartz India's post showing how you can help.

4. You can follow The Guardian's Rolling Report on Nepal Earthquake.

5. Here's MEA India's press release mentioning contact details of the Control Room they've set up in South Block in response to the Nepal Earthquake.



6. You can follow NDTV India's Live Updates on the Earthquake.

7. Indian Express's Report on Predicting quakes yet to come of age.

8. Here are some useful twitter accounts to follow regarding information related to the earthquake: Shiv Aroor

Narendra Modi

Vikas Swarup

Sushma Swaraj

Embassy of India Kathmandu

Asian News International

 Sitanshu Kar

Do follow the twitter hashtags like #NepalEarthQuake and #NepalQuake to keep receiving all updates and information about this earthquake.

Can There Be a Ever a Delight That is Guilt Free?

Can there ever be a guilt free dessert, so that I can relish it as much as I want without spending hours muling over it, repenting....I asked.

I looked around and searched where can you find these? The sad part only at very few places which had ultra limited menu.

Going for some I realized you could always feel the difference. The sugar free dessert would never taste as rich as a sugary one. I just was sure that was the case with every place. So when Le Meridien Delhi told me they had a huge collection of sugar free desserts for the conscious soul, I was sure it wouldn't be as great as the sugar ones that Longitude so lovingly serves. With a set mind I went to taste them.

We were warmly welcomed to the space where water falls against the glass creating patterns that soothes the soul, called longitude. The time being perfect for coffee what we saw was an icing on the cake, yes 'coffee art" where they tried to create India on coffee. Beginning with Delhi's pride, The India Gate, followed by Taj Mahal, on my demand and the best one was The face of "Buddha" which looked so lovely that we just took photographs. We didn't wish to spoil or even move the cup to disturb what was so lovingly and artistically created.

India Gate: Delhi on your cuppa...

With Love...A warm natural cuppa...

An attempt to create the Taj Mahal, the pride of the nation....Yes on your coffee...

Lord Buddha......The cup you adore.

                                                        And finally my cuppa....

Now was the turn to taste the delights and hoping to be guilt free. We were served Blueberry Cheese Cake, Fresh fruit flan, guilt free chocolates and cookies.

All the items were of soft and fresh. They just melted in the mouth but best part of all, if you weren't told they were sugar free you just couldn't guess that. The chef had not only made a good sugar free dessert but had taken care of the fact that satiety wasn't compromised. His hours toiling in the kitchen trying to optimise the right concentration of ingredients so that you do not have sleepless nights worry about your waistline later, were 100% success. Not just me but nobody could say without knowing what we had here was indeed sugar free. We were awed , amazed and happy for finally after searching for a lot of options around Delhi, here was something truly guilt free! Its not a lot of times that one is happy when one is proved wrong, but there I was.

                                                       Sugar Free Delights :) :) :)

We enjoyed the delights double and chatted with each other till late and left guilt free, only to be friends for a long time. I was personally touched by the hospitality of Le Meredian Delhi, This is one more reason I prefer to go there when given a choice. I wish the entire team all the best with their new experiments and I am sure you would explore them soon to have a guilt free time.

                           Healthy sugar free cookies to go with your tea& coffee


The following are the items now available on their menu at all times.

                  Cake         

·         Blue berry Cheese cake                                              kg        1700

·         Mocha and milk chocolate cake                                 kg        1800

·         Fresh fruit flan                                                               kg        1650   

·         Orange Raspberry delight                                          kg        1650

·         Black forest roulade                                                   kg        1750

     Pastries

·         Green tea Mille feuille                                               pce      250     

·         Orange & Quinoa Bavarois                                  pce      250

·          Pecan Raspberry ganache tart                                  pce      250     

·         Key lime ten grain pie                                          pce      250

                Praline

·         Amaranth & almond rock                                        pce      55


Do share your experiences if you have tried these...

I thank Mounisha Chakraborty from LinOpinion for the

 warm invite & hospitality.