Random rumbles to get rid of men's evening stubbles

This post is a part of the 'Shave or Crave' movement in association with BlogAdda.com

So our very own , my personal favourite Blogadda organised this Amazing amazing evening for women to relax and think to the fullest , what they can do so that men crave and agree to get rid of that awful evening stubble , which they think makes them look sexy . ( Ew.) Now , you know how men are , so adamant . But these are the few things , that "could" make men crave , so much , that they would do make the impossible , possible ! :P

These are my ideas :

1. Sports wala Khel :
Every man has this one favorite sport , that he really really loves , more than he loves women also . In India , its mostly football or cricket . And ofcourse , we women , hate discussing about who scored what and which country lost to whom or which tournament is next and which cricketer is the best . But , if you really want him to get rid of that horrid stubble for an important evening party , promise to watch the tournament with him or discuss his favorite sport with him , with interest .
And , he's sold .

2. Chup wala quiet :
Its a well known fact that women love talking ( in my view , its expression of feelings and creativity , but men , think its annoying ) and men want to just not care . If they ever open their mouth , its either to discuss sports or ugh , discuss sports . So if you want to make your girlfriends jealous at the evening party ,by flaunting your guy minus his horrifying stubble , you will have to promise him that you will not talk . And only listen . I know , I know that's difficult. But try toh karo.

3.Despo Wala Cheap:

Men love massages. Anything without the talking would be absolutely delightful .So massages. And what better place than Sukho Thai ! Like today , we women got this opportunity of a foot massage , men there are absolutely craving for it .Tell him , this is his opportunity ! All he has to do to get a massage , is shave off his evening stubble. 

He'd grab this one ;)

4.Mummy Wala Darr:

Admit it , he is never going to be as scared of you , as he is of his mother. At any age , the terror of a complaint to his mother , is going to bring him shivers . So go blackmail him , tell him you are going to tell his mother all that she doesn't have to know . He will have an absolute clean shave , no evening stubble . (For that matter no morning , afternoon or night stubble as well , if there is any ever :P) . 

P.S: This is the quickest and best way . It will never go wrong . Be mean girls ;)

All these thoughts came to my mind only because I was so relaxed after the Sukho Thai Massage ;) Do visit the nearest Sukho Thai Centre and relieve your stress :) 

Cheers !

Things I can't figure..

1. Why , oh why would we call address alternate person we met as  "Sir" ? I thought , its a term reserved for a person you respect . But unfortunately , more often than not  , we say it out of obligation. Or so i think?

2. If things dont happen like the do in movies or books or television, how did they think of putting them in movies or books or television?

3.When you sense somebody not driving well ( According to your judgement that is , whatever standard that might be) , why do you say ''Must be Woman driving !''
  Oh dam , i forgot men were born with perfect driving skills .

4.Somebody famous once said ,"What goes around , comes around". Hello , Mr. Famous ! You forgot to mention goes around what to come back around it ?

5.Why is it necessary to eat absolutely horrible food to remain healthy? Why cant cheese make you glow ? Or lets put it this way ' Why is it that all bland , boring and sad food is healthy ?

6.Why do we have to say '' Let your hair down'' at parties? What if my face is way prettier than my hair?
  (P.S. : Please consider people who have curly hai , no ?)

7.And our favourite , ''Blood is thicker than water'' . Tumko kaise pata ?

8.WHy brownie points for excellence? I lke cupcakes more . Tsk.

9.'' Am i talking greek and latin?''.
No . LOL. You dont know either.


You are not supposed to judge me because i put this up. Not allowed.




P.S: The author's view are personal and not intended to offend any person , whosoever. However , if this offends you , too bad. :P

The Untold Answer .

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 32; the thirty-second edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for the month is 'An Untold Story'

She sat there with her daughter ,being disturbed by his loud snores. They were softly chattering about the day's happenings. It was well past midnight . It was no unusual day . Alice was a busy career oriented woman  and always multi tasked , juggling between her personal and professional life . She had no option . The thought of quitting her flourishing business to stay with her daughter often crossed her mind . But she forced herself to think otherwise . This often left Sara , her daughter , confused . After all Sara was only 13 , well almost . Her birthday was a week away and like it always happened , her mother would yet again not be with her on this day .

It was a big day for Sara . She was going to enter her teens . Being the youngest among her classmates , she had seen fancy parties and dreamt of a similar party for herself . She would , undoubtedly get  party of her choice . Her mother was a rich business woman and money was never an issue . But it pinched her that like her friends , she wouldn't have a nice family portrait clicked on her birthday . She stared at her father , his snores angered her little self . She barely liked him . He never made any effort to get close to her either . She looked into her mother's eyes . She wanted to ask that question , but she was afraid , it would be rejected again.

She said to Alice " Mom , would i get what i ask for this birthday , as my gift ?"

Alice said " Ofcouse sweetheart , you will always get what you ask for . "

"Mom ,  Why do i have no grand parents like my other friends have ? Are they dead ?"

"Sara," said an agitated Alice ,"Have told you to not say this ? Why will you not obey your mother ?"

"If they are not dead , where are they ?"

Reality dawned upon Alice . She realised that her daughter was growing up . And as she matured and started understanding situations , more questions would bother her ,and she was bound to ask for answers . It was time , Sara had to be told the truth .

"Sara , listen to me carefully . I am going to tell you An Untold Story , that part about my life that you have never known , nor has anybody in this town . For them , i am a victim to the earthquake and have lost my family and belongings there .  I met your father when i came to this beautiful city of Illeana when i was only 20 years old . I had nobody by my side and he became my closest companion and biggest confidant. We soon fell in love and got married , only for me to realise that he is a gambler and has lost all his belongings . I fell out of love , but i had no where to go to , nobody to turn to . This town was now my everything ."

"But mom , you should have gone to grand pa , since you say he is not dead..."

" Do not interrupt Sara .
   I am no victim to any earthquake .  I was infact the Princess of  Goana ."

Sara's jaw dropped . But she refrained from commenting , remembering her mother's earlier agitation.

"I was a pretty young girl , engaged to a handsome prince ,Steve from Sanparse . He was young and handsome . I fell in love the minute i saw him . Or maybe that was infatuation. We were instantly engaged . I felt a little glitch from my father . He loved me thoroughly and i failed to infer why he felt unhappy when such an important event of my life was going to take place . I chose to ignore , thinking to myself ,'Ignorance is Bliss'. Probably this was the biggest mistake of my life .

Two months later , in a grand function , we got married . Ours was a small , but strategically situated country. It was war time . Goana's border was the ideal place to initiate a war , but my father was an efficient king . He ensured no outsider was allowed to enter .

Thousands of guests from the neighbouring country came to visit our country for my wedding . Little did we know , these included Steve's guests , who infact wanted to use this day as an opportunity to use the the country's border to launch their first missile and initiate a war . The unimaginable happened .

The wedding hall was suddenly captivated  , the guests became hostages . I looked at Steve , he was involved . I turned to my teary eyed father . A streak of guilt ran through my body . I realised that somewhere down the line , my parents were aware of the fact that something was wrong .

All of us were thrown into a dungeon like dingy room . We were kept there for months together , with minuscule amounts of food and water , barely enough to survive . Everyday , some people were taken to the palace to do odd jobs like sweeping the floors or changing the curtains . One such day , my parents got chosen . I refused to let them go , I offered to go instead , but they did not care . An unusual thing happened that day . The guard erroneously left the door to the dungeon open . While the guards were away , the others decided to take this opportunity to flee from this dungeon. I was in two minds . How could i possibly leave my parents at the mercy of such ruthless people , but i thought i could come back to help them once i was away .

That is how i came to this town . This is my past . Every week , i travel to Goana , dressed like an army man , to meet my parents . The guard , who left the door open that day , did it on purpose . He could not bear to see so many people suffer . Unfortunately , he was beheaded for being careless . The other guard , is also a nice man but is scared for his sake and will not let the prisoners leave . But nonetheless ever since i went there for the first time and requested him to  allow me to see my parents once a  week , he obliges."

She stopped . She sobbed uncontrollably . Sara felt awful . Tears ran down here eyes . She hugged her mother .

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. Introduced By: BluBluBling, Participation Count: 1

A girl with flamboyant mannerisms , if only

12th August, 2005

Dear Diary Dearest ,

Today is the day when i feel like just giving up.

I have no more to write to you. 

I wish i could once again decide that Hope is why we are alive . But not any more .

Yours always , 

Best friend .

He had read this again . His heart sank , yet again. After all , he had seen her evolve from a chirpy young girl to ... he did not even want to mention it .

...

Samir was always extremely fond of his sister , much of a fatherly figure for ten year younger Anushka .They came from a conservative family from Punjab . Her love for food , and zest for life seldom surprised him . He had seen his baby run around the paddy fields , hopped enough just to get hold of her little hands , see her laughter roar under the splendid blueish orange sunset  , the magic in her sparkling eyes , you could say it lit the field . He would often proudly mention to his buyers that it was her who  brought life to his green lush fields . He loved how her heart reached out to the the workers on the field , and how she had no air about being the owner there . She always got along her share of gulab jamuns to the field to share it with their kids , it gave her an immense sense of joy .

He would get goose bumps at the thought of how he would wake up each morning next week and convince himself to go work at the same field , with the same people , growing the same crop but yet remarkably different , missing its magic because she would be gone ; to another world , to start her married life . Their culture and atmosphere forced his supposed modern parents to get their minor daughter , married . The fussy grandmother's apprehensions about hurting God by not following the ritual of getting a girl married by the age of 15 and moreover , facing the social stigma from their relatives and villagers , just added to peer pressure on naive Anu's parents . They got her engaged to 14 years older , Rakesh , a rich spoilt brat who's family owned a 100 acres of land , at a distance of  about 40 kms from Anu's village ; because his family did not demand dowry . Her parents were so overwhelmed with the fact that they got away with the demand they feared most in their life , that they failed to infer why that had happened .

Nonetheless , next week , the lavish wedding took place with a lot of relatives , food , drinks , lighting , colour  , clothes , flowers , friends , music and a lot of happiness . Or wait , was everybody happy ? Well , the grandmother was ecstatic . The parents were teary eyed yet experienced bliss . Little Anu , loved the attention and gifts she got , much waiting to open each one of them . But Samir , he did not seem happy . The speed at which the affairs had passed by , got him thinking . He would wonder all day and his mother would pat his back to say , he was just apprehensive about the thought of staying away from her . On that day too , he had similar feelings . But he knew it was not just apprehensions . He knew something , somewhere was wrong .

Two months passed by. As the ritual says , the girl's parents and brother have to visit her and shower her and her new family with gifts , as an expression of gratitude for accepting their daughter . The minute they stepped into her house and he embraced her , Samir knew something was bothering his darling . But Anu refused to nudge . She refused to let out her sufferings in the house , about how her family treated her like a maid servant and beat her each time she would make a mistake , while cooking or ironing the clothes or doing daily chores of its like . Little did she know , it was just the beginning . Samir felt an unusual pain but was helpless .

Thereon , each day each minute he thought about her , wondering what had gone wrong . As per the rituals , her family was not allowed to see her for the next two years since an astrologer had mentioned how that could negatively affect her married life . Forced to behave as per social customs , he failed to do anything . Two years passed . He was euphoric to see her .

He saw her . He was shattered . Burn marks on her face , cigarette butts used to burn her hands , a fragile tired girl is who he saw . Before he realised , sorrow had turned into anger . He charged towards her husband and held him by his collar. Her parents ran after him , trying to control him , and sobbing  at their daughter's state. They walked away , knowing that taking her back would amount to social outcasting . They left her , at the mercy of  those animal like humans . Samir did not have the heart to do so , but neither did he have the authority to take her away , with him , to a joyous world where she should have belonged . He made her promise that she would keep writing in a personal diary and he would read it each time he secretly came over , to give her good food . It was their little agreement that made him feel better .

Well , not actually . Each time he went there and read her diary , he realised how her situation was getting worst each passing day . But he helped her to gain emotional and mental stability to hope that there would be a day soon , where he would take her away from that awful place.

At one such visit , when he waited in her backyard , he heard screams . It was her . He sensed it immediately. Within seconds , he saw smoke coming out of her room and all of a sudden , he heard her shriek , cry in pain . He rushed to her window. Her in-laws had poured kerosene all over and put the room on fire. He managed to break in and rescue her .She held her diary in her hand . On their way to the hospital , he read the last letter in her diary . A jitter ran through his body .

It was not them . It was not her in-laws. She had put herself on fire. 

Samir broke down. He asked the jeep driver to stop . He no longer wanted to save her , for he felt her pain. He stared at her , embraced her . She gave in . There was an unusual smile on her face , which said , she had not been happier than she was today , at this point , since the day she got married ; almost like she was happy to have gone , while she was in the arms of that one person who cared . 

A million memories ran through his mind.He wondered , if they did not force her to get married , what a young girl with flamboyant mannerisms would have his sister been. He called his parents to inform them , that she was dead. 

...

Today is Anu's 12th Death Anniversary . He yet vividly remembers each moment from that day. 

Even today , reading her last letter , brings tears to his eyes. But , there is also a sense of bliss , because , she deserved to Soak No More.

This is a post is a part of Indiblogger's Contest #SoakNoMore .

Please visit : http://www.indiblogger.in/topic.php?topic=61

My black beauty , my bike

 So I really really wanted a scooter because i always imagined how i would almost fly on it , how the wind would brush past my face , how i would over take expensive luxury cars because my little kiddo whouldn'y require so much space ! And yes !  my dad got me a black scooter  ! 

 Riding it to work and back home from work is usually the most awesome part of my day . But the Mumbai rains scared me and I stopped taking the bike to work and ended up travelling by the local BEST bus to work where a zillion sweaty , tired and annoyed people crib , jostle , push and get their way into and out of the bus to get home or to work each day of their life . It just made me unhappy. Until yesterday! So I decided , since the Mumbai rains are just ditching me and never happening (not that I love them, ewww rains ! ) , to take my bike ( yeah , I don't like to call it scooty) to work ! That is when , for the first time in 6 months of having the bike ,  I realised HOW much I really love riding it and how much happiness I get in those 20 minutes of getting to work ! 

Just wanted to share , the happiest part of my day ! 

(Will post a better picture soon )

P.S: Today while my bike was parked in the building compound , a car slammed into it and hurt it badly . Let's hope it gets well soon . 
P.S.S : This post is by an immature kid in me , sharing her happiness like she got a candy !

Love . Live . Life

Shimmering bright lights -red , blue, green , yellow; garlands of flowers -the pretty red roses , fresh Lillis , blue orchids and of course , the Indian Favourite , soothing to the eye,genda ka phool ; the decked up interiors, the studded lehengas , the clutter of merry kids running around , the red nail polished manicured hands , the fragrance of the dark brown mehendi , the thumping of  drums  , the magical sound of the shehnai , the over the top decorations , the well dressed relatives , the red velvet entrance .

It was this picture perfect view , Simran had always wanted for a wedding . It was the dream day of her life , kyunki bachhpan se hi usse shaadi karneka bada shock tha by god .

Just as she waited in her room for Raj and his family to enter the mandap where her mother was waiting to pull the groom's nose , her cousin Geet mentioned ''Finally , the day has arrived when you will marry the man you chose , the love of your life , Raj .''

As she said this , Simran became teary eyed, she went into a daze ...

*** Meet Simran , the cute , chirpy , sabki favourite , dancer by day , dreamer by night girl . It almost seemed  like ever since she was a child , her ultimate aim in life was to get married to who she loved , not to somebody her parents thought would be ideal for her , because her perception about Arranged marriage was that she would be treated as a cook for the rest of her life . Although her parents came from an educated backgroud , had had an arranged marriage despite which her mother was a successful college principal , Simran's views always differed .

      Meet Raj , the handsome , dark , tall  boy . Absolutely Mills & Boons. The minute she had seen him , she had fallen in love with him . Her parents thought very highly of him and approved of her choice . Simran was overwhelmed about the fact that her parents approved with her view on her having a love marriage , even thought they had their apprehensions.

     Are you thinking , phir aakhir problem kya hai ?

    Well , what if in a very unusual situation , a girl's parents approve of her choice of having a love marriage but the boy himself opposes this view ? Yes , Raj was a believer in Arranged marriages . His parents had had a love marriage and were more than happy in their lives ! But Raj believed that it was a mark of respect to his parents to get married to a girl of their choice .

   You may call him stupid , but this very quality of his made Simran fall for him . She knew that all she had to do was convince his parents that she was an ideal life partner for him. She did all she had to , until his parents were satisfied . During this course , Raj also realised , how important it was to know somebody with whom he was going to spend the rest of his life , after all he had seen his best friend's arranged marriage fall apart . He started to acknowledge Simran's efforts to convince his parents , began spending time with her and helped her win everybody's heart .  He instantly felt the comfort with her , he could sits hours next to her without speaking a word , and this was truly magical , for Raj thought , talking to somebody for hours , to easy , but sitting next to somebody for hours without talking , without any awkwardness creeping in , indeed makes that person special .                       ***

... Chalo Simran , the boy's side has come .''

   So all went well , and here we are ! Its Raj and Simran's wedding today . There has been no drama , no fight , no convincing . It has all been smooth . Neither has love marriage conquered arranged marriage nor has arranged marriage conquered love marriage . Nobody's feelings have been hurt and yet every person , bride , groom and their families are happy.

Marriages are made in heaven , love or arranged is just a means to get to the final destination , so how does it matter ? Love ya arranged , marriage is amongst the most beautiful relation man kind will ever see .

This post is a part of the Indiblogger ' Love Marriage ya Arranged Marriage contest ' . To know more about this show that stars on Sony Television , please log on to :     http://www.facebook.com/LoveYaArrange

An Ilumaniac Evening !

Lights , camera , action .

Did you miss the best event that happened in Mumbai last week?  Did you miss Nokia Apptasting Indiblogger's Meet ?

http://www.indiblogger.in/bloggermeet.php?id=164

Lets  try and re live all those moments right here on my blog .
Go on , read through & feel mesmerised !

I was waiting for this moment , to get on  stage ! No no , I didn't want the silver wrapped gift , I just REALLY wanted to get up there .



***Wondering what I'm talking about ? Well , it was the Nokia Apptasting IndiBlogger's meet in Mumbai ! With Taj Lands End as their venue , Nokia as their sponsor and the oh so handsome Vikas Khanna and Rajiv Makhni as hosts , it just couldn't go wrong ! (Haan , haan sach toh yehi hai ki mein wahaan hosts ko dekhne gayi thi ). So I walked into this beautiful ballroom kind of hall , full of guests , registered myself and had this moment of fame where the screens said *Ketki Barfiwala just walked in- one minute ago* ! That moment was happiness personified !

Then happened a little interaction with some amazing bloggers before a very very entertaining opening ceremony , the best I've ever seen took place ! The indiblogger guys just walked in and said *Indians by birth , bloggers by choice* and made us hug and greet the bloggers around us . It was so warm and welcoming and I just had jitter run through my body ! I said to myself "wow , this is some place to be in " !

The concept behind Nokia's apptasting meet was to reveal the applications featured in the Nokia Lumia Series and about appreciating and getting to know food better and ofcourse , the relation between these two . That clearly explains why , the chef who has authored 7 cook books , owns a restaurant in New York , and who has served at the White House , Mr. Vikas Khanna , was hosting along with the man with an awesome sense of homour , who makes  the crowd happening , The  Tech guru Mr. Rajeev Makhni!

So the first round , 30 seconds of fame , Where the screen displayed the name of a few chosen bloggers ,  to get on stage and pick any one host's side , Vikas Khanna's for food and Rajiv Makhni's for technology . Every time it was the next blogger's chance , I would pray it was my name because mujhe toh bass stage par jaana tha . If I had to pick a side , I would definitely pick food , because i know a lot about food I'm totally true to my surname , Barfiwala it is ! But , mera number toh aaya hi nai ! Nonetheless , this round got me introduced to some really amazing people , whether it was the bloggers from Surat and Pune , or the blogger who loves phones too much to have each for more than a week and has had 530 phones so far , or the youngest 12 year old blogger or the most experienced , youngest at heart grandmother blogger .

Moving on , the hosts made  the evening a wonderful experience with their witty sense of humour , got interactive with the audience and introduced us to such mesmerizing features of the Nokia Lumia Series which we never knew existed ! Like did you know about the cocktail app wherein people like me who do not know what kind of alcohol would match their meal , can just read through and will get the possible solutions ! Can you believe it just got so easy ?! 

In the midst of these Poonam (Nokia Executive) came up and said , here is your chance to pick an app you really thought shouldve existed and if your app is really possible to create (Unlike Vikas Khanna's most wanted app - one that will great his beeji 'parui pauna' while he is miles away in New York) Nokia would announce the launch of such an app soon ! I wanted one but I was too excited and couldn't think of it that time ! I want an app that can help me capture my thoughts then and there so I don't forget and can blog about them later ! Like for instance I picked up some amusing thoughts  from topics discussed at this meet to write about on my blog , but I've already forgotten . I hope Nokia is listening ! I want my app!!
***

So when I got up on the stage , next to the hosts*excited* , they said this is a competition that will have a unique round as the finale , one that no competition has ever had . The excitement rose . But little did we  know that our jaw would drop the next minute on hearing , it was a Quiz ! I mean , look at me ! I'm not a quiz person . And especially if its technology , I'm challeged ! No , I really am .and so was my partner . We thought we know a lot about food , but there is so much to food ! Obviously , we didn't know ! The first two rounds were a little embarrassing because nobody knew anything! But our friends managed to do pretty well and also scored their extra points for their dance moves ! The third round got interesting as the team who eventually ended up winning (My friends!), got an amazing full score ! But the round that stole the evening was the last round , blind folded food tasting , where we had to taste a dish and guess its ingredients!it was genuinely , one of the most unique games ever!we came third , embarrassed ourselves a little but I was so happy to just be up there ! And we got really lucky to have won the Nokia charger for participating . The surprise for the evening was that the winners of this quiz would win the Nokia Lumia 610 ! Banno ki Saheli , our very own sahelis won this and the excitement knew no boundaries !

But the most adorable part of the evening was after this ! Indiablogger , the dashing baby turned five and this called for a cake cutting ! I love cake cuttings , and this cake was chocolate mousse *slurppp*. There was so much excitement , a vibrant atmosphere and heap loads of photo sessions.  Followed by a beautiful round of drinks and dinner , lots of socializing and interaction , we walked home with an Indi blogger T-shirt , and a hundred  unforgettable moments to be treasured for life !

                                                               Happy 5th Birthday Indiblogger ! We love you !