Cavity Vs. Calci-Bot

In the Toothpaste aisle,

Going through an entire lot of the Colgate Magical Castle packs, I frantically try to locate the Royal Family…People keep staring at me, wondering what the hell am I up to. Am sure my little show, generated interest in a half a dozen aunties and they too picked up a pack or two…

Also what didn’t help, was my 4 year old growing impatient, Mommy did you find it yet, did you find it yet, he went on like a stuck record. Few of the employees took pity on me and pitched in on my search... Five more minutes and a sales representative from Colgate handed the Royal Family to me. Finally...

My 4 yr old son Vedant and my 10 yr old nephew Khush had already made up their mind about what they wanted to do with their Colgate Cutouts. “We want to put up a puppet show,” they announced. So my Sister-in-law and I turned an old shoe box into a mini puppet theater, while the brothers worked on the script. They came up with the title, the protagonist and villain all by themselves. As a parent, am mighty proud of seeing my little genius at work, that’s the power of constructive parenting.

What’s also worth a mention is that I was overwhelmed with the kind of excitement the kids showed in this project. What also surprise me was the idea of an Alien and the element of tiny Colgate gun contraption they added to the story. It clearly shows that they can think out of the box, literally….

The Puppets in the Video were handled by my Sister in law; the story was narrated by Khush, while I shot the entire journey on my cam. We took exactly 30 takes to get it right. At times the props fell off the stick, at times Khush fumbled, at one point my neighbors burglar alarm went off and the other time my maid came barging into the room demanding to clean it.

Every retake bout in laughter, some really uncontrollable laughter. Am glad I decided to take up this project on with my family, we surely made some real #MagicalStories together. Kids love surprises and Colgate has really got it right this time. Along with teaching them Dental Hygiene its also tapping their creative cells. the kids also enjoyed seeing what children from all over the country had done with their Colgate Castle packs. It surely is a great camping.

The puppet theater now is a permanent addition to the house. They next production in the making is The Transformers vs. Minions. Look out for that..

You too can create Magical Stories with your family; 

to know how check this out: 

The world say’s Namaste!

Travel and me, we have a love hate relationship. 
As much as I love to wander off and explore, am also a sucker for familiarity. It takes exactly 102 hours for me to secretly start missing home. I can’t obviously say it out loud to myself and others but I know that I secretly do.

Food, I miss the most. Sure I have my ghatiyas, my theplas and my kachoris to keep me company, but that stash is in case of strict emergencies only. Siri find me an Indian restaurant I say. The husband gets mad. You want to eat paneer in Switzerland? One more time if I have to pretend to like that God damn Raclette, am going to lose it. Am like a little child when I come across food from my land when am away from it. Like for the time when I saw a vada pav stall near Rhine falls, Switzerland or when I came across a dosa vendor on the streets of Melbourne. But the best feeling is when you see non Indians savor local Indian food with equal love as you, that's when you realize that the world is more Indian than we think.   

People, are something I love most about my travels. A conversation with strangers and exchange of intellect  is something that I dig. I yap away with the locals while my husband holds a poker face reading she doesn’t belong to me.
I love my exchange of stories, and people narrating them are even more than enthusiastic sharing them. When I tell them that am from India, it’s like their eyes light up. It’s a great felling when someone from Finland knows so much about the land where I come from. Or to know that an adorable little couple from Germany is saving up to travel to Varanasi. Or for a French maitre d is a big fan of Bollywood. It’s a proud feeling to represent the phenomenon called India.These experiences only reinforce the fact that the world is more Indian than we think.
 I want to share this exact experience with you. So when I decided to write for this prompt, I got my friends and my friend’s friends form around the world to tell me how India has rubbed off on them.

 Here’s what they had to say:

Marisole, United Kingdom.

Miranda, USA

Malini Jagnaraine, USA

Amaris , USA

Harry, Paris.

Edwin, Johannesburg.

Diana, USA.

Teodra, Switzerland

Paul Mlynarczyk, USA.

Nidia, USA.

Michael Stewart, USA

Chad Philip, USA

Lawrence, Australia.

Christian Simpson, USA

Moyl Clydera, USA

Nina Moritz, USA

Brian Farrell, USA

C.J Hanekamp, USA

Diego, USA.

And I’ve saved the best for last,

Somewhere in a bar in Queenstown New Zealand, while a firang bartender muddles a mean Mojito, I notice a tattoo on his arm. I flipout when I  find that he has खुश रहो inked on his wrist. This picture truly defines the fact that the world is more Indian then we can imagine (sorry the picture is low on quality as i was high an alcohol)

The above post was inspired by the More Indian than you think campaign by Lufthansa, hosted by Indiblogger. Lufthansa is revamping their image to cater better to Indian customers. A home away from home, that’s a feeling people cherish most an on a voyage. As a traveler, for me you've certainly got it right!

                                                                  Photo Credits: 

               Nikhil Raikundaliya, Jayesh Awatani, Danica D'Souza and everyone else who were                                  spontaneous enough to agree to be a part of this. Appreciate it !

DRAB vs. FAB #MyBeautifulFood #Borosil

We only bring out the crockery when the guest arrive

- typical Indian mentality.

         

  On regular days, this is what our dinner table looks like…

 

BORING!!

  

If only we too could treat ourselves to a little dash of glamor everyday…

This would surely lighten up the dinner mood..

Same food but with better presentation.... 

We owe it to our selves..

For once they might even look up from their TV’S and Smartphone’s and notice the effort you have put in..

At the end of the day it’s your call ,

DRAB vs. FAB

In association with Indiblogger and Borosil.
*All the glassware featured in the post are curtsey Borosil.