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Travel With Family – Fun Times

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
Vacations are always fun. One should take time out at least once a year for a nice cozy vacation. They are even more fun when you have your family around. Exploring new places, travelling across countries, getting to know new cultures, new people – everything about a vacation is fun and exciting. The excitement starts a long time before the actual vacation in fact.
When I was a kid, my parents took a vacation twice a year – once in summer and once in October (we have a huge Puja Holidays). I don’t even remember where the first few vacations were because my mum says I am travelling around since the age of 5 months. But I definitely have seen innumerable photos of our travelogues.


Well, I have heard many a times from my mom how I troubled them during their trips as a kid. From howling in flights to not waking up or not even wanting to eat. I always turned fussy while travelling! (I really don’t know why – I love travelling now). But I always travelled with my most favorite companion whenever we travelled in train – my little teddy. As a kid I was inseparable from my teddy whom I called ‘Teli’ because I couldn’t pronounce D that time.

But the most embarrassing story has been the in numerous times I have puked! Yeah you read that right. Every time we visited any hill station I had to puke, like every time we travelled through hills. I love visiting hills but I hate the long winding roads with hair pin bends. Actually even now ill prefer visiting a beach than a hill – but I still love hills.

As I grew up my tantrums lessened! I started co-operating a little more. I specially looked forward to the times when we planned a vacation for weeks – which country to visit, which tour operator could do bookings, what all we can do – and when to start shopping!!! Yeah there used to be these two distinct shopping times – one before the vacation and one during the trip! My dad always wondered why we wanted to load our bags with new clothes from here and then again buy another suitcase from the other place and load it again with all the shopping from the trip. But that itself is fun.

Before every vacation I automatically didn’t have anything in my wardrobe – or didn’t like what I had. And as far as I remember we have bought extra suitcases from all destinations that we visited except from some countries like – Egypt, Greece and some others.



But that’s all part and parcel of having a great vacation. Finally what someone wants out of a vacation – happy faces, happy souls. And family vacations give you just that. Happiness and love all around. Kids can be fussy but they are always fun, they too need time away from their school, studies, classes as much as we need breaks from the mundane work life. When I have my kids I would like to go on long fun filled adventurous holidays which they can enjoy and also learn. But I hope they throw less tantrums unlike me! LOL.

This post is written as part of IndiHappy hours in association with
http://www.clubmahindra.com/teddytravelogues/.


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Rise above Fear – It’s all in your Mind!

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
We all have some fears in the deepest corners of our minds. Some we are okay to show some we are embarrassed of. Sometimes you just don’t like talking about your fear, you are relived that people around don’t know about this fear of yours. But is it really permanent? I don’t think so.

It was way back in childhood when I started travelling by a flight and the stories of it aren’t too pleasant. My mom tells me when we were flying to Delhi, I was some 6-7 months old, I had created quite a ruckus in the flight with people coming over and complaining to my parents to make me stop crying! I don’t blame them. This one I don’t remember because of my age of course. But there has been several instances, when I was little grown up – may be 5- 6 year old, when I used to feel shit scared just as soon the flight used to take off. I always had a feeling this aircraft is going to go down and we’ll die. I really don’t know what it was. I remember coming home and complaining it to my grandmother that I don’t like my parents, they make me travel in a flight! Poor lady she used to bribe me with loads of chocolates just before any travel and told me “whenever you feel scared have a chocolate and think about me, think about the good times you have playing, think about your friends”  Such a sweet lady she was.

But believe me, it was easier said than done. I have tried all of these things of having chocolate, reading book – anything to divert my mind – nothing worked back then. I figured out only way I could be okay with the take off phase was if I slept. So the first thing I did every time I boarded a flight was fasten my seat belt and just go off to sleep, without changing any position of the seat. Those days Air India and Indian airlines were kind enough to give blankets and pillows unlike today’s cattle class travel. And this started working. I used to sit in between my parents (so that they could catch hold of me if the aircraft broke!) I had clear instructions for them, “I’m going off to sleep, wake me up only after take-off, not before!”

But I never understood if I was scared of flying, or was scared of heights or scared of dying? It confused me as I was growing up. I have traveled to so many hill stations and never had such a feeling looking down from top of a hill. This bothered me throughout my childhood. This is also the time when I was learning swimming and was pretty good at it. I loved being in waters. In my teens I used to keep this fear muffled inside because I was too embarrassed about it.

One such time we had visited Thailand and were in Pattaya for a few days. I saw people going up in these colorful balloons over the bright blue sea and was quite attracted to it. I went up to dad and said that I wanted to do it. He was taken aback thinking me, who is so scared of flying, is thinking about parasailing!!! But I was quite clear I wanted to do it. He said ok, only if I was going in that thing with a trainer. I agreed to whatever he wanted. And there I was all strapped up for my first ever parasailing. I was exceptionally calm and quiet before this moment. I somehow felt this was going to be okay. This parasail was being pulled by a speed boat and I had flown quite high. I was still calm and was enjoying the beautiful turquoise blue sea from top, the wind through my hair. Not for a moment did I think I’ll fall and die. As I descended I felt very excited that I did fly! How could I? Where were my fears? As I watched the next group of people in queue going up I realized – I am probably not scared of flying at all. All the time I was up in the air I felt if I fall, I’ll fall on water, I know swimming nothing will happen. May be I had a fear of falling down on land or something. After that moment I went up few more times, alone, and each time enjoyed the view and enjoyed the sport.

Image Source: Banana Watersports


Interestingly after that I have not felt scared of the take-offs! I only got scared when we were flying back from London and our flight was in an air pocket and it dropped a considerable height within a few seconds. Other than that I don’t remember any incident of flight fear in near recent times and I’m a frequent flier now!

Fear is in the mind and there is no harm in confronting it. And just as Hrithik says, “Darr Ke Aagey Jeet Hai”


Watch this amazing video by Mountain Dew. I love the way they fly down in that flying suite.

Visit https://www.facebook.com/mountaindewindia for more awesome videos. 

This post of mine has been written for Indi Happy Hours in association with Mountain Dew India.
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Blog to Feed a Child

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
Is there anything worse than watching a child go hungry. There are thousands of them here in India who fight to get a single morsel of food a day. Do we think closely on this often? While at the restaurant, or at a brunch do we even think before loading up our plates that how many stomachs might sleep hungry that day?

Children are the future of the country. They need care, nurture, and nutrition to grow into able future citizens. But how would you end the classroom hunger? How will you ensure that children will not go hungry? Classroom hunger will end with the availability of mid-day meal in every school. There are many underprivileged children who are sent to school only because the government schools offer mid –day meals.  

Wouldn’t it be great if we could do something to help the situation? What if you had the chance to feed a child wouldn’t you do it? I came across this initiative by BlogAdda in association with Akshaya Patra who promises to feed a child for each blog post that we write, and that’s not all – they’ll feed the child for an entire year. The Pen is definitely mightier than the sword, isn’t it?(or in this case the key board).

All you need to do is blog about it and you can feed a child for an entire year. For every blog entry Blog Adda will feed an Akshya Patra beneficiary. I think they are doing a commendable job and I must applaud them in this initiative. AkshayaPatra which started mid-day meals in a handful of schools today feed 1.3 million children across India.




This blog post of mine is written for contributing towards this great initiative. I’ll feel happy knowing I have helped to feed a child for a year. And you could do it too. It doesn’t take much but definitely makes you feel good. 

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




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The Blind Date

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
Rhea had never imagined she would be a part of this kind of a crazy Freshers. When she had started from her little town in UP she was excited about studying in the national capital. This college was particularly famous for its ragging but it now will tight laws this notorious practice was much less. Now the seniors retorted to a more friendly banter.

As a part of the freshers ragging she was set up on a blind date at a cafe next to the college campus. Her friends teased her with those – ‘you may get your prince charming’ and ‘you are lucky, girl’ comments. Could this possibly be a start of a friendship or something?

May be I am thinking too much, she thought.

Her eyes scanned almost every person entering the café. The guy in red T-shirt… the one with the cap…. Or the one reading a book at the couch? Who was he?

She looked at the guy entering the café in grey T-shirt and three quarters. Unkempt hair, weird looking stubble, sneaker laces open – he looked like he came straight out of the bed. Rhea quickly sipped into her mocha latte and took out her phone. Thank God he was not coming to her table.

“Rhea, right?” A deep voice interrupted her whatsapping moment.

She looked up only to realize the dizzy looking guy was standing right in front of her. She could only manage a feeble yes.

“Hi, I am Harry” he introduced himself.

“Harry??” Rhea didn’t know whether she asked that with inquisitiveness or disgust.

“Yeah… not Potter… but Pathak…its Harish Pathak.. but friends call me Harry”, he replied.
Over the next 20 minutes Harry spoke about himself in his fake American accent. Rhea had a different answer in mind each time but told something else just to be polite. After half an hour of his blabbering on his foreign travel, his IAS dad, his love for cricket and Salman Khan came the dreaded moment when he asked  – “So, how did you like me?”

She had felt like running away from the table many times when he was talking. And now she thought may be just a straight smile would do.

“So, you like me baby?” asked Harry mimicking Salman Khan’s voice and style

“Bhai, rehn de style. Tu thoda shave hi karke a jata, ajkal to who bhi do rupay mein ho jata hai”

She left Harry in a startled state when she left café. She couldn’t believe she just said that to one of her senior. But that Harry, ‘not Potter, but Pathak’ guy deserved just that.  



*******

This post is a part of #WillYouShave activity at BlogAdda in association with Gillette.
My Friend Anmol Rawat tagged me in his post and this is in response to that. That’s not all, he has asked me to tag some more people too on this. 
So I tag the following people. 
1. Preethi from Tulips & Me
2. Soumyaa from Call it a Tale
3. Stephen from The Solitary Writer
4. Indrajit from The Rise of the Phoenix
5. Vinodini from Ifs Buts ands etcs 
6. Anmol Rawat from Anmol Rawat Blog
PS: Don’t forget to mention that you were referred by me me in your post.


Topics for Guys:
  • Missed chances- Stories or instances where you missed out on an opportunity because of a non-shaven face.
  • Luck or Confidence?- Will you leave your fate in the hands of destiny or will you step up and say yes to a well-groomed face to be at your best everyday? #WillYouShave.
Topics for Girls
  • An instance when a 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 struck gold on an opportunity given to them.
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Clean India – Let’s make this Dream a Reality

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu
Let me start this post with a question. Those of you who travel abroad do you get a disgusted feeling as you exit from the Indian airports on your way back home? I am sure you do. Just after airport premises you are greeted with filth and garbage on road, dust, ridiculous honking, people spitting out of their vehicles and what not! Yes that exactly is the situation in the country behind all make believe curtain of glamour, progress, IT etc etc. You take any top city in the country you will get the same picture everywhere. Now think what a shock it would give to an expat or to a tourist. It should give the same amount of shock to us as well. We should be ashamed that even in this age we are just about okay with all the filth and garbage lying around us on the streets or spitting in public or defecting in open.

It’s time we stand up, clear our throats and speak up – #AbMontuBolega. Things don’t change overnight, one doesn’t wake up one morning to find all clean roads and no dirt, dust, filth anywhere around you. It is we who litter places so it is we who should make it better. In fact we need to bring a change in the mindset of Indians that – You just can’t litter the roads or public places.


When you catch someone doing so and you go up and confront the person he is most likely to say “Yeh tere baap ka road hai kya?” [Is this road your father’s?] These are the times you feel like giving it back to these mindless people.

When I was travelling to Mumbai for work I was quite excited about the trip. Our office guest house is on the 11thfloor just next to the beach. But all the excitement of the sea view room went up in the air just as I opened the curtains of the window. That beach was nothing like a beach instead I could only see a stretch of decomposed black garbage. It was so repulsive that I had to draw back the curtains. The feeling was very similar when I went to Juhu beach one evening. Thousands of people on beach having fun is okay – but the amount of used water bottles, plastic wrappers, food plates lying around will make you think – how uncultured and insensitive have we become? 

Image Source
  

Yes we have had enough. It’s high time that all Indians join and work towards a Swach Bharat. It is only us who can make the difference. Just picking up a broom is not enough. We need to facilitate to change the mindset of the people.

Strepsils have come up with this interesting campaign – #AbMontuBolega where they are encouraging people to speak up against all the vices that we see around us – including female infanticide, social taboos and many more. Visit their webpage, FaceBook Page or TwitterHandle to know more about the campaign or participate yourself in the change – Kyuki Bin Bole Ab Nahi Chalega #AbMontuBolega.  


This post of mine has been written as a part of Indi-Happy hours  on Indiblogger in association with StrepsilsIndia #AbMontuBolega http://www.abmontubolega.com/

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Isn’t touch a very important part in your relationship? #BringBackTheTouch

by Tina Basu
written by Tina Basu

November was here and Natasha was excited. This is the month she looked forward to in the entire year. Both her anniversary and birthday fell in November. It was time for celebrations, fun, love – everything that she liked.


This evening, unlike other days, she was back from work early. A career in marketing was daunting and demanding and both she and Rahul were engrossed in their careers in two top FMCG companies. She settled down with a mug of coffee and her iPad on the couch to catch up on news and her FB timeline. Just as she was scrolling down her timeline she came across a friend’s post on her first wedding anniversary. The post made Natasha drift into the times of her own wedding. She had met Rahul in her MBA days and after a whirlwind romance when he proposed she had immediately said a big yes. They had lucrative jobs and bright careers ahead – it seemed to be the best possible thing.

All the college romance memories brought a little curl at the end of her lips. She opened her wedding album on FB to go through the photos. She often did it to re-live the wonderful times they had spent during their wedding. Natasha went through her honeymoon pictures. They had visited New-Zealand and it was picturesque. She loved going through their photos snuggling up in a café, fishing by the lakeside. They looked inseparable in all theirs photos. Remembering the moments alone made her smile. 

But was it all same now?

Natasha drifted back to reality. When was the last time they went out for a holiday? When was the last time Rahul had held her hand and said ‘I love you’? When was the last time they just hopped over to the café, sat close and enjoyed a warm cappuccino? Natasha just couldn’t remember! There was a sudden pressure on her mind thinking about it.

Image Source

Walking up to her dresser she looked in her eyes in the mirror. Wasn’t she beautiful anymore? Wasn’t Rahul attracted in her anymore? She knew in her heart he loved her but was that love fading away with time? Where was that touch of love? They were so soaked in their jobs that there was little time for love between them. Was that how she had imagined her life with him?


Never… was the only word that came to her. 

Natasha got ready and slipped into her LBD, she wanted to look perfect tonight. Her soft skin looked bright and supple as she looked at her reflection on the mirror. 

She quickly ordered Rahul’s favorite food from their favourite Thai restaurant. She brought out the fragrant candles and readied the table for their cozy candle-lit dinner.

Natasha settled down in her couch waiting for Rahul and surfing through the net. It was 8 already and no sign of her hubby. She sent an iMessage asking Rahul about his plans for the night to which he had invariably replied “will be late”.
At first she felt hurt but then she knew how to get her Rahul back. She sent him a you tube link of a video. She knew it will work. 

Watch the beautiful video on #BringBackTheTouch  http://www.pblskin.com/

Within minutes the messenger buzzed, ‘Will be back in 20 minutes’, bringing a smile on her face.
She was determined she will bring the touch back in their lives – the touch of love, touch of care, the touch of sensuousness. She decided everyday whenever they met over breakfast or dinner she will give him a hug. She will not let him go without a hug and a kiss. 

***

This post of mine has been written as a part of Indi-Happy hours  on Indiblogger in association with Parachute http://www.pblskin.com/ # BringBackTheTouch. 


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