Quikr - enriching our lives with the easiness of buying/selling

http://bangalore.quikr.com/

In 1995, I was newly married and I got a job in Bangalore. My wife and I shifted to the city of Bangalore which was still very much developing and at that time, wasn’t referred to as the “IT Capital” of India. The city was still very much though admired for it’s life style, it’s people and it’s food.

A new place and a new married life meant that a whole new start to life was shaping up. My wife and I had many dreams and we had many aspirations. Shifting to our new house, we bought everything from furniture to accessories to decorate our new house and all this seemed amazing at first but later we realized how much space we had occupied in the house and how it would have been a better option had we kept some space free in the house.

For the next many years, in fact till an year back some of the stuff we bought in 1995 was still with us and was still occupying a great deal of space in the house, along with which there was stuff of course that we had bought in the last 20 years – some of which we used and some, not so much.

One day my wife and I were watching tv and the quikr ad came on.  My wife looked at me and pointed towards the array of stuff we had lying around the house which we didn’t even use any more.

She said “what if we had to relocate to Bangalore just how we had to 20 years ago”? Would you want to shift to the place where we started our life with the very stuff that we bought there 20 years ago and don’t even use any more!

I knew that she had a point and realized the fact that it’s better to free up some space. If we did had to relocate to Bangalore, I couldn’t see us living in a house with so much of “extra” stuff which wasn’t coming in our use but I realized that quikr could connect me with people who will in fact find our stuff useful to use.

I posted the ad of the products that we no longer required and got array of responses to our ads. We set prices as per the quality of the product and we were amazed to see the quick responses from the people. Both I and my wife were extremely pleased that we were getting rid of the stuff that we longer required and were selling them at reasonable prices.

What next, you ask! Well, after selling the additional stuff lying around our house, my wife turned to me and said “right, it’s time for shopping with the money that we’ve earned”.

Well, that’s my story.

At least, if I do relocate to Bangalore – the very city where I started my married life, I won’t need to carry on the extra stuff with me and can live in a much more spacious apartment – just like how we’re living in Delhi.

The story of quikr is this – it helps you sell/ buy stuff and helps you connect with just the right people willing to buy/sell.

Quikr truly enriches our life and makes us free of any “fikar” and helps us Bech Quikr. 

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Telling the truth always has it's perks

Kinley AD Commercial 

We all have several stories from our childhood and our schooling days and these memories stay with us forever, in fact these very stories have shaped the individuals that we are today. This is one such story where I realized the importance of being “truthful” and “honest”.

This story is of 1972 when I was in the 6^th grade and it was a usual day in the school. But on this day, there was inspection going on and people from outside had come to visit and check the classes. We students were summoned to the school ground where we all had to stay till the school ended but many of the students started going home (without seeking permission) and I followed them and went home too, not realizing that a permission ought to be sought before going home.

Next day I came to school and saw a huge line outside the staff room of teachers. I saw that students were being punished and suspended for a week – and all these students were being punished for going to their home without telling the teachers. Further, they were all lying and telling that they didn’t go home, which made it all the more worse.

I was praying to get saved; I didn’t want to get suspended. When my turn came and my Science teacher asked me “did you go home yesterday!” – I decided that everyone’s getting punished so I shall not take the path of lying but instead tell the truth and if I do get punished – at least I wont be a liar. I replied to my sir “yes sir, I went home yesterday”.

I further added “I went home because our exams are approaching and I felt that I should go home and study rather than sit all day in the ground” – and this in fact was the VERY reason that I decided to follow others who were going to their respective homes.

My science sir looked at me in the typical teacher fashion, very strictly at first.. Few seconds later he smiled and said “good”… “you told the truth and admitted that you went home and told us the reason why”.. We understand and you have a valid reason to go home but you should have sought our permission.

Even though everyone else was being suspended for 1 week, I got away by just a note in my diary from my science teacher and that’s all.. I wasn’t suspended and I attended regular classes and all this because I decided to tell the truth and not hide behind a lie. Hence I say that telling the truth sure is hard but it always has it’s perks – this is just another story from my childhood which shaped me to be a better individual and a truthful one. 

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Fear is just a state of mind...

The #RiseAboveFear film by : Mountain Dew

Like MountainDewIndia on Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/mountaindewindia

Being a trainer, I’m often asked during my training conferences about “fear” and how one can overcome it. Further, having a degree in Psychology and giving training on self-confidence – people tend to relate the things and ask me – does fear have to do anything with confidence? My answer always is – of course.

You’re fearful of something when you’re not confidence of confronting it or getting over it/overcoming it. I for instance have always had the fear of water – it has always been a goal of mine to learn swimming but I haven’t been able to build the confidence to go through with it. Similarly, some people have fear of heights, some people fear the airplane, some fear spiders/lizards/cockroaches – there are all type of fears and phobias but this “fear factor” wont last long if we gear up and face the music.

Thinking about it, we’re in contact with our fear all the time. I for instance take a bath every day – is that too hard for me! Of course not. Then why can’t I go in a swimming pool and learn swimming, it’s just a mental state and the continuous fear circle inside me that makes me think that NO – no way at all am I going to be able to learn swimming.

The greatest friend of fear is “giving up”. Yes. Giving up on your fear is the worst possible case scenario that one can map out. If you’ve fear of something, at least have the motivation to say that yes – some of these days I’m going to overcome it and build yourself the confidence to do it. I for instance know the fact that some of these days I will get over the fear of water and will definitely learn swimming – I do not let the thought of “NEVER” pop into my head.

I know the feeling of overcoming my fear because I did overcome one of my fears. 15 years back I had 2 fears in my life – 1) I was fearful of swimming and 2) I extremely feared driving.

Whenever I would sit with a car instructor to teach me driving, I’d always mess up one thing or the other. In fact it got so worse that one day when I gathered the guts to go out alone driving – I drove 1 KM with the clutch still locked and the smell of “burning” coming from the tires – that’s how fearful I was of driving that I even forgot to unlock the clutch but then my boss (yea, it’s one of those stories where boss is helpful) – my boss said to me “Manoj, think about yourself in 20 years from now when you’ll have a grown up son.. Would you want yourself to have a car but not know how to drive it! Can you let the luxury of driving cars slip away from your hands! Don’t let this fear get the better of you”… And that actually changed my perception.

I was deceptive of the fact that I could drive but in a BAM – the fear was over and in the next 6 months, I overcame the fear of driving. Now in fact my son has a similar fear at the age of 17 but I’m pretty definite that when I give him my boss’ speech when he turned 18, he too will #RiseAboveFear.

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Travelling to my wishlist destinations through AirBnb

Credits : IndiBlogger for the banner and AirBnb for the images

"We travel not to escape life but for life to not escape us" - is a befitting quote for every person who knows the significance of travelling. The willingness to travel miles without feeling a hint of tiredness is the true characteristic of a "traveler".

"Travel is the only thing that you buy that makes you rich" - is another quote that for me signifies travelling is a mere few words. Via travelling one sure does spend but earns way more in return - we earn memories, we earn happiness, joy, freshness, - we get blessed with a new motivation to live life and hence travelling truly is what makes life worthwhile.

https://www.airbnb.co.in/ is a website that enables you to look for your dream destination anywhere around the world and complete your "wishlist". You can book your stay at hotels, homes, guest houses and villas all around the world - just pick your dream destination and airbnb is here at your service.

In addition, if you've a room or house of your own which you would like to rent airbnb helps you in this regard too. It sure is a fascinating site right! Do visit.. :)

I've been checking out the site for the last few days and as you enter the site, you're welcomed with the quote "welcome home" and for a traveler every place in the world is home. :) Moreover, the feature of adding your favorite destination to your "wishlist" is a feature of the site I truly love.

I created a wishlist of my own and here I'm going to share it with you all, enjoy! :)

1) FULHAM ROAD cosy double bedroom : since childhood I've been fond of London and it's iconic buildings - be it the buckingham palace or Big Ben, moreover I love the architectural brilliance of the city - simple and stylish, that's why it has over the years become one of my favorite places to visit. The Fulham Road cosy double bedroom is the place I've opted to stay at in London because of it's looks. It perfectly apprehends the city of London and the look of the building is just ideal for someone like me who loves the overall beauty of London for architectural gems like these.

2) The tipical hearth of ancient Bari : for those of you who have watched the movie "Godfather", you sure would have fallen in love with the culture and tradition of the country that Italy is. The well refined people, the cuisine, the simplicity and to top it all - the larger than life persona of the country is unparalleled. The place I name above for my stay at Italy is the perfect place for any one whose in love with Italy to live in. This building for me signifies the true "beauty" of the country that Italy is.

3) Unique Cob Cottage : Cob Cottage located in Mayne Island, BC, Canada is a place I'd love to visit someday. For some reason it's places like these that enlighten the traveler inside me, it's hidden gems like these that makes a traveler's journey worthwhile and not to mention the amazing beauty of Canada that makes it all the more special.

Do join AirBnb and invite your friends and earn credits which will help you in your bookings to your "wishlist destinations" all around the world - inviting friends sure has it's perks. :)

My AirBnb Wishlist

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#AbMontuBolega- a campaign which highlights the importance of speaking up

Credits : Strepsils and IndiBlogger

Strepsils recently launched their campaign "#AbMontuBolega", now you'd surely be wondering at this point what this campaign is about and how does it affect you, right! Let me explain you about the campaign in brief.

The campaign emphasizes on the important aspect of raising your voice and not just being silent on the issues where your opinion matters. In India, we usually let the situation collide from our hands because "chalta hai" but it's this chalta hai attidue which must, shall and will definitely change.
Montu is the character in the campaign which highlights the importance of speaking up and how things can be put into right if you come forward and speak for the right. Similarly our country India currently finds itself on the crossroads of a change - we've 2 options.

1st option is to watch and see things being done and hoping for a change or 2nd - "be part of the change, we want to see in the world". We as Indians take pride in saying that we're a country that has a great history and traditional values but doesn't one of these values emphasize on cleanliness of life, cleanliness of surroundings, cleanliness to welcome the goddess Saraswati and Lakshmi - why are we then not following on the values of life, on which our earlier generations spent their lifetime following.

I remember my great grandfather sweeping all the waste around his house and even thought he used to wake up at 4:00 in the morning and go to his farm and then come back in the evening tired, he still found time for the things that MATTERED. Such were the values of our previous generations then isn't it our responsibility to make for a better environment for the NEXT generation?

The aim of swacch bharat is an aim of a billion people and this aim can only become a reality if we're willing to put in the hard work - now I don't say that give your 24x7 to cleaning and don't do anything else but ask yourself the fundamental question - how long does it really take to clean the surroundings around you, be it even in the radius of 100m around your house or even 50m, a start is so crucial for a campaign like this.

When an individual starts cleaning 50m around his/her house, few more come forward and start cleaning 50M around their house and then a circle builds and before you know it this 50m turns into a nation and then into a "World of change".

This is a welcome initiative from Strepsils and it must help us "raise our voice" and speak for the betterment of our country, gone are the days when we used to sit silent.. It's time to come forward and be part of a revolutionary change.

http://www.abmontubolega.com/ is the site where you can speak and be HEARD. Further, do also follow Strepsils on Facebook and Twitter to be up to-date with this initiative. 

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#CleanIndia is an India that's on the path of development, let's be part of this

A country of billion people is bound to be faced with many issues but in our country I feel one of the most major problems is that of poor facilities of toilets in villages particularly.

For a country that takes pride in saying that it's developing, can we have the majority of our population that resides in villages without a toilet in their houses and the defecation in open.  Is this what our country has to show for it's development? Shouldn't we ensure to do our bit in combating this massive problem and finding a solution to it.

Thankfully, there is a solution and a ray of hope.

#ToiletForBabli is one such initiative that takes pride in providing toilet facilities to people in Indian villages and this initiative is administered by Domex, which has the mission of building over 24000 toilets by the year 2015, now this is one such initiative that we all must be part of.

You can imagine how a country that aims to become developed one day, can we actually allow the next generation of our country to grow in a place where defecation in open isn't dealt with!

Recently we've had our honorable Prime Minister talk regularly about the #SwacchBharat mission and it's therefore fitting to say that if our Prime Minister CAN, WE CAN TOO. Let's aim big and let's achieve big.

Modi says that people tell him that he only talks about small issues like buildings toilets but I say, isn't it a necessity of life to at least have a toilet in your home! Can a girl child be allowed to grow in a village where she doesn't even has a toilet in her home. Open defecation is not only a social problem but beyond that, it's something that stops from the next generation developing.

Girl child in villages are not sent to school or don't go to school because their schools don't even have a toilet and if a school doesn't has a toilet, can a girl/women actually feel comfortable in such an surrounding? We need to ask ourselves the fundamental question - shouldn't the building of toilets be the priority for our country going forward?

I as an individual take this pledge that I shall do whatever in my capacity to ERADICATE the issue of open defecation and I do truly feel proud to be a small part of Domex initiative and let you be a part of it too.

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.

With hopes in our heart and the dream of an India where open defecation is a problem sorted out by the efforts of each one of us, let us thrive to bring about a change in our country. Jai Hind! :) 

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Dabur Chawanprash : A Class Apart

 

https://www.liveveda.com/daburchyawanprash/ 

Logo of Dabur Chawanprash by : IndiBlogger

Being a father myself I know how important it is for my kid to be fit and at the top of his fitness at all times. More so because he’s my son, I know that he values fitness equally as I do. When he was young, he used to play cricket with me and used to be always worried about me playing it safely and not hurting my son – be it through my batting or bowling, his safety and protection was always and is going to be the most important thing to do in my “to-do” list. 

When he was young, I always used Dabur red-oil to do him a proper massage and being 2-3 years old, he always enjoyed. I cannot forget the sight of him walking for the first time, the sweet little legs of my son, him running towards me – I said to my wife “we sure did take care of him well, he’s walking at 9 month old” – which did signify the point that my kid was healthy but to ensure that his health remains to be in a good and proper condition – I turned to the most trusted brand of all – Dabur and their product, Dabur Chawanprash.

Without doubt it’s been with the family for years and it’s been with us ever since. My son loves Dabur Chawanprash and without exception takes 1 spoon of it every day, it’s a matter of great importance that your kid develops healthy habits during starting ages because these habits continue with them for the years to come and if they’ve the habit of eating healthy and taking in the required nutrients for the day- then, they sure are on the right track of life. 

I always stress this point to my son “be healthy because health surely is the wealth” – with money many things come but health doesn’t. In fact, during the evening I along with my son, we both have 1 spoon of Dabur Chawanprash after dinner – which sure has now become a habit of ours, a habit we’re proud of.

Claiming that Dabur Chawanprash is the secret of our fitness will be no “melo-drama” – it sure is true and those who’ve been having Dabur Chawanprash for years would agree with me without any exception.

Great things come to those who are at the right place and at the right time and without fitness, you can merely be at one point, rest assured of being NOT at the right place in the right time. To further enlighten my point “dabur chawanprash is a part of our life” – each morning must start with it and each day must be properly filled with it. 

The habit of Dabur Chawanprash must be instilled in our kids from a very young age because they must grow up with the habit of Dabur Chawanprash every day – for a healthier and a fitter them.  

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