Wednesday, October 22, 2014

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 !


Sunday, October 19, 2014

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