Upcycled Relics Courtesy Quikr.com

     An upcycle virgin. I was game to lose my title when an invite from Blogadda and Quikr came in. Shop for anything worth 5000 rs from Quikr.com and blog about your experience, the mail read. Hundred bloggers from pan India were invited to be a part of this experience and I was privileged to make it to the list.

      

The search: 

What these figures imply is that am going to be spoilt for choices. With almost a gazillion  categories to browse from and that fact that each one of them could have a treasure waiting to be discovered, I needed to get to business. So I hooked up my phone with a Quikr app and started browsing. 

    Something kitsch, something rare and something affordable, is the only brief I had in mind when I began my search. What caught my attention is that you could build your entire life off of Quikr. Listings for education, jobs, mobile phones, matrimonial, housing, finance, furniture, cars, appliances, babycare, nannies, books, cooks, holiday homes, lawyers , doctors and everything in between. It’s the one place that has it all.The category, Home and lifestyle is where I spent the most of my time. This is where I found all the three products that I absolutely loved and can’t tell you how excited I am about showcasing my purchase. 

My something Kitsch: 

A vintage Spanish trunk, wooden exterior printed with old hotel logo’s and leather stitched edges. The minute I saw it’s add under the bags and luggage listings, I knew I had to get it. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to get in touch with the seller and we froze the deal over the phone. Quikr says they strive hard to keep the trade simple and my experience proved every word of it.

    I wanted to have a real touch and feel of the trunk before I bought it, so I opted to pick it up myself. The guy who was selling the trunk was by the name Deepak Mathur from @Pedder Road. From the little conversation we had, he told me that he deals into used relics that expats from the embassies leave behind when they move to another county. He has a house full of goodies like pasta machines to coffee makers, form sparkling crystals to intricately carved statues.

    I was quite excited to go look at his treasure, which I never would have learnt about, if it wasn't for Quikr. Once he walked me though his entire collection he bought out the dainty little trunk. I have to admit since he didn’t put down size specifications on the listing; it was a little smaller than I had imagined. But the work on the trunk was impeccable, nothing like have had ever seen before. After a little negotiation a sale was sealed on 3000 rs. That’s a whole 1k less than the quoted price. Happy me! My very own vintage Spanish hotel logo trunk. Love. 

Bought under the category: Bags and Luggage

       

     

My Something Affordable:

Just a few traffic lights away from Pedder road were the Hajiali apartments, home to my next purchase i.e. the Crockband bag pack. The reason that I was super excited to have landed this deal is because I personally am huge fan of the brand Crocs, the seller mentioned that the bag was in mint condition and was purchased abroad since it’s not available in India. This little bug retails for 1800rs. In the international market, id be a fool to not pick it up for the mere 700 she was quoting. (p.s. she had also mentioned that the price is negotiable so was hoping to score a bargain)    

     After picking up my trunk I made it to Neha Desai’s place to pick up the bag pack. She was sweet enough to send the package down with her maid saving me the entire awkward trip to a stranger’s house. One quick look at the bag and I noticed a missing charm, but apart from that the bag was in pristine condition. For the fact that the bag was missing a charm she sold it for a flat 500rs. One good scrub and it was good as new, p.s. the little one loves it!

Bought under the category: Bags and Luggage

    

My something unique: 

With little money still in my kitty, I was feeling indulgent. There was a sling that had caught my attention that I had bookmarked it on the app. The seller was from design house that dealt in designer bags at wholesale rates. I narrowed down my choice on a one black classic sling for 1400rs. A quick call to them and I leant that the design house was really close to my husband’s office. The next day during lunch dear husband agreed to pick it up. Looks swanky don’t you think??

Bough under category : Fashion Accessories.

  

The Quikr Interface Experience

The Desktop site was easy to navigate. Too many ads can be intimidating so am glad they have kept it clutter free. Ranges and filters make it easy to find exactly what you are looking for.

The Mobile site is the one that I had most problems with. I didn’t have an app loaded on my phone and since I was in a no wifi zone I decided to make do with the mobile site to get the ball rolling. The issue with the mobile site was that for e.g. I was looking a mobile listing #45, I decide I didn’t like it and want to continue where I left off but, the back button took me to listing #1 and I had to scroll down to catch up where I left off all over again. The whole do over was quite painful and I hope they can squash this bug.

The Android App was a breeze to work with, easy navigation, responsive and swift. All my purchases were made via the app, because it made connecting to the buyers hassle free. The only glitch I faced with the app was that it crashed a few times. And when I clicked on a few ads they didn’t open and took me back to the listings page. Apart from that the app experience was the best for on the go shoppers like me.

The Quikr Alert: 

A little tool to keep you updated with what you are looking for. For instance if I have a phone in mind, then I can fill up the form and setup an alert. So the next time a phone with the exact specifications that am looking for becomes available then the app will send me a reminder informing me about the same. Now that is neat! I’ve just created an alert for a used iPhone6. Let’s see how long before this one rings in...

This review would be incomplete without a sellers perspective. 

Below are screen shots of their responses about doing business with Quikr.

  

Tips before you Quikr:

Remember that you are dealing with individual sellers and not Quikr, so tread carefully. If you do opt to personally pick up the products personally like I did, then its best to meet the seller in a public place or take along a chaperon if your pick up is from someone’s residence. Check and then double check before you buy. You don’t want to be ripped off now do you?

    Quikr thrives on the philosophy that, one person’s trash is another’s treasure!  

It truly is Buyer and seller ka perfect match! I’ve personally scored great steals and treasures with my Quikr experience. 

Hope you find the same.

Happy Upcycling u’ll!

This post is a part of Quikr.com activity at BlogAdda.com

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 !

Healthy Children, Happy Homes A Dabur initiative.

Am a mother of a four year old,

I have my pediatrician on speed dial. My medicine cabinet is filled with syrups and tonics of all exotic flavor, cherry, pineapple, orange and mango. But every time I have to reach for them it breaks my heart runny nose, and occasional cough, have become such a common occurrence.

I still remember the day when all hell broke loose. V was down with his common bouts of fever, had just put him down to sleep. I went to finish come chores and came back to find him shivering and cluttering his teeth. The mercury was a little shy of 104. His little cheeks had turned red, not the good kind, the kind that is enough to break every parent’s heart.

He was immediately put on antibiotics. He got better the next day. It was nothing more than a bad case of the viral he explained. But I fail to understand why the viral the crops it evil head every few months. This only means that the infections are getting stronger, and our bodies weaker.

Growing up, I had never heard of diseases such as the hand foot mouth. I was applauded to know that something like this exists, little nasty boils that took over my son tiny knees and elbows and throat. He didn’t eat, as swallowing become painful. All he did was cry for the next two days. It was like my entire family froze. Dad didn’t go to office, mom took over the house, and my husband came back early to keep him entertained. The whole episode lasted for more than 5 days, in spite of being on antibiotics.

Am a part of a moms support group, during one of your informal meets; we had a speaker, a pediatrician and a member of the local lions club. We all had just one question, why is that our kids are falling sick ever so often. We clearly must be doing something wrong because as growing up our parents didn’t make as frequent trip to the ER as today’s parent.  She explained, most of the preschool are air-conditioned toady. One little sniffle and it is easily passed on to twenty others. She pointed out an amazing fact that never picked up on. Your child never falls sick during the holidays, but as soon as they start school the infections seem to catch on. That is the main contact of infections for the little ones.

The second thing that she asked us to watch out for is the Antibiotic abuse that is on the rise. And it’s the doctors to blame who prescribe antibiotic for viral infections. This abuse is slowly raising an entire generation of people with a serious case of Antibiotic resistance. Antibiotic resistance occurs when antibiotics no longer work against disease-causing bacteria. This simply means that if you are antibiotic resistant and if ever in life you battle a life threatening infection chances are that due to the over abuse your body might not reach to the medications.

There are only two option out of this situation, she said either home school your kids and make sure they live in a little shielded cocoon, or you build a strong immune system that is resilient to growing infections and its manifestations.

Nature has given us great super foods that do wonders in building a strong immunity. An hour in the sun, some playtime in the evening and good intake of fruits and vegetable along with a spoonful of Dabur Chavanprash is enough  Take them religiously and your trips to the ER will slowly reduce. That’s all you really need to build a Healthy Child And a Happy Home.

 

Log on to https://www.liveveda.com/daburchyawanprash/. 

To find out more about its super food and how you can build on a solid immunity.