Kids and their Imaginary World with Colgate Magical Stories

Kids and their Imaginary World with Colgate Magical Stories

Everybody agrees that childhood would be the best part of anybody’s life and there may be many reasons for that. For me the best part of childhood is the bliss of creativity. The mind of a child is like an empty white board and during the early days it is very important to help them learn new things which becomes the foundation for its future. They not only learn quickly and also start to relate. Everything that they learn gets stitched into a part of unique beautiful story. This awes me!

Hence whenever I get time I sit and listen to their stories and I love this storytelling activity mostly because I do this with my photography. Recently I got 4 packs of Colgate toothpaste which has some cartoon animals which could be cut out for #colgatemagicalstories. My young 2.5 year daughter just loved the colors and with a couple of my neighbor’s kids started working on the crafts exercise of cutting it out based on the dotted lines. After that we started the interesting game of storytelling. I split the team into two where in each team could come up with their stories based on the characters.

It was amazing how the kids narrated the story about how Pirates attacked Blackbeard ship with the help of sword fish which made a hole and eventually sunk the entire ship in the middle of the ocean. The Sea turtle saved the drowning Blackbeard and took him on his back. Once reaching the shore he met Sadie who promised to help him get his treasure. Sadie first created a map to find it and then started planning on how to defeat the pirates who had sting rays, barracudas, sharks, and lion fish on their side. She got her fiends Star fish, Octopus, Puffer fish, Sea horses, and her best friend killer whales and dolphins. She had a big meeting on the coral reefs and they were all set for the battle. The dolphins helped in taking the Blackbeard into the sea along with Sadie. They were safely followed by the Killer whale. On the other side the Pirates attacked them with their soldiers. The sharks were literally shooed away by the killer whale and the dolphins are the barracudas. The octopus with its tentacles strangled in the sting rays and also fought the crabs. The puffer fish showed its might against lion fish and won the battle. The parrots of pirates tried to mislead but the star fish helped the dolphins to navigate and get through to the bottom. Finally they got the treasure and Blackbeard stored some treasure for his friends in the underwater caste. For Sadie, he created a mermaid like statue outside the castle to commemorate her friendship. At last Blackbeard bid goodbye to his friends and went home with his share of treasure.

The story narrated by them may be simple but the beauty is how they identify the strength of each animal, understand their abilities and build a story around them.

Please do encourage kids on such fictional story telling exercises which becomes a very integral part of the child’s nature, personality and future.

If you want to learn more about #colgatemagicalstories and the 4 attractive pack, visit http://www.colgate.co.in/en/in/oc

Here’s the video as well: https://youtu.be/mw5p5xLYDOo

Airtel 4G - The Fastest Network Ever

Airtel 4G - The Fastest Network Ever

Food, water, clothing, shelter and Internet – These are the basic needs of the common man of todays modern world. Moving ahead, now slowly mobiles has become the sixth need. Considering that, how far are we with the mobile internet requisites? Not far at all! Mobile internet penetration is far more faster than the desktop or broadband connection and India is one of those nations which has the most prospective markets. As per a study, India is the 3^rd largest smartphone markets in the world and with the current mobile internet users as 200 million plus as of today, the base is going to grow more than 300 million by the next two years.

While the growth story of mobile internet markets in our nation is on the highway, the “need-for-speed” is also on the rapid upsurge. The testimony of this is the decline in the 2G user base vis-à-vis the surge in 3G customer installed base. Why is this phenomenon? We as users have made this paradigm shift from the basic conventional feature phones to smartphones. The usage of the phones just as a communication (calling or sms) device is a story of the stone ages and now we use it for a host of services like social networking, internet messaging & chats, email, online gaming devices, movies or video streaming, photography, music and a host of other useful things. Perhaps all these are not possible without a good consistent mobile internet speed. Airtel fills in this gap and the telecom giant which is also the No. 1 in India, is now the first in the country to roll out 4G services. Airtel is launching its 4G services nationwide across its 296 cities and this truly is going to be a game changer because they are offering the lightning speed internet at 3G rates. Can you believe this?

I am an impatient individual and this speed in mobile internet connectivity is like a boon to me. Wondering how all will I use it? Here we go:

• Browsing speed: I am a freelance candid photographer and it is very important for me to show my prospective clients my portfolio or share albums with them. Now this is going to be easy by means of hosting it up on websites or social networking domains through mobile.
• Downloads: Downloading reference materials, photographs, music will be a hassle free work.
• Video calling and conferencing: Video calling or conferencing requires better connectivity and hence I have to use my laptop to connect through Wi-Fi. Airtel 4G addresses this shortfall and I can meet & talk to my clients directly through my mobile apps, anywhere.
• YouTube and video streaming: I watch a lot of videos or movies online and predominantly I do it with my home Wi-Fi on. With such crazy speed through Airtel 4G, I don’t need to worry about buffering and can watch videos seamlessly, again anywhere.
• Office on-the-go: I can use my mobile as an office-on-the-go and can manage my work through my mobile.
• Hotspot: With most of the smartphones having this “hotspot” feature, you can create your own Wi-Fi with the incredible 4G speed.
• Internet Radio: I listen to radio while driving and if you need to use internet radio stations, a good connectivity is quite indispensable. With a 4G service, internet radio is as smooth as silk.

 These are the top-of-the-mind usages as far as I am concerned but I am sure there will be far more for many more individuals. So why wait? Just tweet #GetAirtel4G with a hashtag on Twitter and you get you’re your 4G sim sitting at home, delivered at home!!

Watch the Airtel 4G ad here:

Say No to Crash Diet and Yes to Good Health with Dabur Honey!

Good Health with Dabur Honey!

Which is the most common resolution during a new year? Yes, it is losing weight. I know most of us would have planned this for decades now but not many are successful. It requires a lot of self-motivation and consistent efforts in order to get the desired results and it isn’t easy.

Keeping a good shape is extremely important and it has become much more important now because the quality of life we lead and the type of food we eat. With what I have experienced, it is very easy to put on weight but very very difficult to shed. There is no single mantra to reducing weight however it is a blend of solutions which when adopted can give us the best results. A balanced health diet and a solid workout is the best mix anyday. There are many fat reducing things available in the market like oils, sauna belts, tablets, health drink powders etc. but their tall claims are all questionable and debatable. We all need to understand that there is no short cut to success and one of the most famous & dangerous solution for this is a “Crash Diet”. Yes, you read it right. It is dangerous! Now let me tell you why:

What is a crash diet? It’s basically a plan to cut down your meal and make it restricted. May be even severely restricted.

• Usually we eat mostly calorie rich food (and hence the fat!) and the basic idea of a crash diet is to consume very minimal calories so that no fat gets a chance to stick to our body. In such cases the metabolic rate comes down drastically and your body refuses to work.
• The objective of a crash diet is to burn fats but sometimes the diet becomes so intense that it ends up burning up the tissues and muscles as well
• Such diets have psychological effects which instigates stress, anger and irritation. For e.g. imagine if you are eating fruits or veggies while your colleagues are having a ham burger or chicken biryani for lunch at your workplace. You will go mad and irritated. Secondly you feel hungry all the time and want to eat anything and everything.
• Remember, you are/may be missing a lot of important nutrients very key for your body in your crash diet. This works negatively on your body.
• You become lazy and just a small work would like moving mountains. Energy levels plummets

There are many more negatives about such crash diet plans and therefore I never encourage it. I always believe that crash diet can only be a quick fix but it can never be a permanent solution.

So what is the alternative? Following a healthy nutritional diet, with a little bit of workout.

Now what is a healthy nutritional diet?

• Include a lot of green leafy vegetables in your meal
• Have black beans weekly. It is a great source of protein
• Make Oats as one of the meal options. It is rich in fiber, enhances metabolism and burns fat.
• Have a lot of fruits in the form of fruit bowls. Keep changing the fruit mix
• Change the oil. Move to Olive or Coconut oil for food
• Drink loads of water
• And last but not the least include honey as a part of your daily routine. It is a natural sweetener and a super substitute for sugar. Read why honey is better than sugar here. It reduces fat big time and also improves blood sugar controls, boosts immunity.

When it comes to honey, I cannot think of a better and household name than Dabur honey. People can be easily duped in honey but Dabur honey is authentic and of premium quality. There are tons of delicious and easy recipes using Dabur Honey and which can be well used for healthy supplements. You can get the recipes in this link 

  

Say no to crash diets and yes to healthy ones! Eat well, Stay healthy!

UC Browser for fast and the impatient!

Cricket is a religion in India and there is no doubt now that it is “the” most followed or practiced sport in the country. The passion, the obsession, the craze, the enthusiasm with which people are engrossed in this sport is unmatchable. Earlier parents used to comment “kya khel roti dega?” and prohibit their children to practice a sport but cricket has changed the entire scene & belief. It not only is a sport but now it is a major source of income for billions of people.

Cricket is not the national sport but one would certainly get surprised if they look at its patrons and their craze. The game has elevated to this level from the day India won its first world cup in 1983. The Gavaskars, The Kapils, The Amarnaths of the game have inspired the nation and now cricket is much more than a sport. It was that part of the era when televisions started telecasting the cricket matches. It was the only sport by large which was getting featured and the success was far reaching. People started following the sport, the sportsmen, the statistics, their personal life and everything.

For me I am an avid cricketer and I track the sport very keenly. I want the information on my fingertips and easily accessible. Many a times there are tons of commitments which may compel you to skip seeing a live match but that’s the last thing I want to do. So what’s the solution?

UC Browser is the name! Now I don’t need to compromise on my obsession i.e. cricket and I can watch it anytime, based on my convenience. I do not need to skip office on a match day with some lied sickness reasons. I can watch it in office on my mobile and keep a tab on the scores. UB Browser even makes you a star. Let me tell you how. I am a candid photographer and I cover a lot of marriages. I was covering one such marriage outside the city during an India match and my only resort for the match updates was the UCBrowser - UC Cricket. I was able to get the scores with jet speed and I became a single point of contact in the entire marriage hall for the live match scores. Everybody were around me watching the match and it was that sweet moment of temporary stardom. Similarly sometimes I take a walk in the park or beach and watch the match in the open air. This attracts few cricket enthusiasts around and a quick opportunity to make friends.

As far as features are concerned, UC browser is packed with tons of features, this browser works with lightning speed and it is highly dependable. This browser is ultra-smooth with a great ease in terms of navigation. Typically people who love desktop browsers will not be disappointed for sure. If you want to explore it further, why wait? Download it immediately from the stores and have fun!

Watch the UC Browser's interesting ad here: 

Kellogg’s Chocos ke saath ‘Khuljaye Bachpan'

An African proverb says, “Honor a child and it will honor you”.

We all live in a modern world, and the world around is really fast. Time is far most the scarcest resource in our life. We end up spending all the time in making money and in the scheme of things, family takes a backstage. The relationship between a parent and child is a very special and crucial one in life. Like it is said, you work with the clay when it is wet, similarly a child’s mind and personality gets molded in the way you want. Children are totally dependent on us i.e. parents for existence and hence it’s a completely 168 hours/week job. There are certain attributes that they develop from genetics however the most important things in life comes into them only through experience. And it is this experience that I want to talk about which directly comes from us or the society in total. I will take an example of a very close friend of mine and how he is shaped up with the help of his parents in such modern times. This concept is called as buddy parenting and it is not only new, but the need of the hour.

First things first! The most important thing that you can gift your child is your TIME. Nothing can replace it whatsoever. My friend is a single child and has working parents. Despite their busy schedules, they ensured that he gets ample amount of time with them. Here we need to be very clear that we are not talking about the quantity of time but the quality of the time with the child.

Second is the ability of being a friend. It is not only important but now it has become a mandate for a parent to become the first best friend of their kid. My friend’s parents were superb here and they were the people who would hear it first from him. Be it about an issue in school or be it his new crush! In this process of being a friend, a parent learns so many things in life. Let’s take the technological aspect which is very easy and aptly fits today’s scenario. Most of the parents learn invariably the mobile phone operations from their children who are in the age bracket of 8-15 years.  My dad is a carom champ and he taught me the nuances of the game during my childhood. This learning journey in the form of a pal strengthens the bond and brings a lot of comfortability to the relationship. The Raj (ShahRukh Khan) – Pops (Anupam Kher) relationship in Dilwale Dulhaniye Le Jaayenge not only looks good but it fills the gap exactly.

Third is encouraging the special skills in child. I understand and endorse that education is important but skills which are beyond the classrooms are equally important. My friends dad is from the army and involves my friend all the physical training he undergoes like swimming, running, badminton or soccer. My wife is a professional Carnatic vocalist and she involves my daughter in her vocal classes to kindle that interest in her right at a very nascent age. 30 – 40 years ago a career in sport was considered to be stupid idea and parents used to say “khel khana nahi dega” but look at today! Khel khana hi nahi balki aaj bahut kuch deta hai! Every child has a special skill and jt may be in any form. It is the responsibility of the individual parent to foster it and help its growth. Can you imagine what would have happened if Sachin’s parents were not supportive, if Saina’s parents were conventional.

All in all, net-on-net, the modern child and its needs are completely different. Hence it is important that we communicate with them right from breakfast table to bed. This may be difficult, but it is vital. As it is said, today the gadgets have distanced the individuals but here we need to strike a balance and see how we can use the gadgets to bring the family together. Everyday tell them you love them. Everyday give them a hug. Reward them for their efforts. At the end of the day, for the world you are just one person but for one person you are the world!

Happy parenting!

Visit this link: https://www.facebook.com/mychocos

Here's the video:

Mera Wala My Airtel App

Today mobiles or tablets have become indispensable objects and I would not be exaggerating if I say that mobile devices are now a key part of everybody’s life. There are thousands of mobile handset manufacturers but very few quality network providers and in that space, Airtel who call themselves the "smartphone network" has been the customer’s most preferred choice. 

In the modern day scenario, we are all on the move and mobile internet is used more widely than the traditional online methods. The need of the hour is information on the fingertips and mobile apps plays a very vital role here. For any business, irrespective of being large or small, it is important to have a mobile app for its growth in customer base and business operations. Be it financial institutions or entertainment hubs or travel and holiday providers or restaurants or hotels, everybody have their own private mobile app and through this modern day solution, it not only increases the visibility of the business, but also boosts the turnover in a significant way. In the same lines of mobile applications, the telecom giant Airtel have their own mobility solutions and it is one of the best intuitive apps that I have ever used. Here are the top features of their My Airtel App that I think give them the edge over others:

1) Airtel Surprises: It’s a brilliant marketing win-win idea by Airtel. With every recharge through My Airtel App, the customers get discount coupons from a host of vendors like Café Coffee day, Flipkart, Amazon.in, VLCC, Myntra, ebay.in and PVR Cinemas etc. With a strategic association with India’s largest coupon and marketing platform “mydala”, Airtel Surprises is a fantastic initiative not only for the telecom vendor but also for its customers. Adding to the fun, they have this “shake and win” feature where one has to shake his/her mobile to get the offers. That’s marketing at its best!

2) “I want to”: This is my personal favorite. This feature in My Airtel App helps you pay the bill, recharge your packs, buy games, look at your balance, verify your data consumed, the recharge history, all at click of a button. One just needs to create a shortcut to the home screen and then with one tap, it’s ready for use. Highly customizable, this is incredibly useful for people who want to get things done quick and fast.

3) Service Request: Gone are the days of customer care numbers, and emails and this feature comes as a fresh air! Through the My Airtel App you can lodge or file a complaint just and also can check the status of your request/complaint at your disposal. This is think is a great customer engagement model facilitated via #MyAirtelApp

4) Safe and secured payments: As I said earlier, we are all on the go and we would prefer everything right at our fingertips. Paying bills, making purchases, sending money everything online sounds great and can be made through My Airtel App. It has given us the facility to store our credit card details and the feature is completely secured by PCIDSS certification. The checkout is ultrafast and it is highly intuitive.

The Airtel mobile app, My Airtel App not only has been a tremendous marketing tool by making the customers aware of the new launches, new features but also it creates a new engagement platform. Here I think Airtel has a perfect score in the area of mobile app and has done great preparation to grow in future.

Dil nahi Dimaag: The mantra of Ek Nayi League!

In the last few weeks if we had been watching the IPL, none of us would have missed these ads on #EkNayiLeague.

If you have, here are the ones for the quick view:

Featuring one of the Gods of cricket, the captain of the world champion Indian team, Kapil paaji is creating a huge amount of suspense all around. Ek Nayi league – Kya hai yeh? is the buzzing question!

Although new to the Twitter platform, the personal handles of Kapil sir himself @therealkapildev and the leagues exclusive handle #eknayileague is brimming with posts from variety of audiences. The wild guesses includes singing competition, dance competition, talk shows etc and like many others, even I am scratching my head figuring out what this can be all about. I did a web search with #eknayileague as the key word but unfortunately there isn't much available on the internet as well. In each of his ads he says Dil Se Khela toh Hit Wicket and Dil Se Khela toh aapki Googly meaning if you play with all your heart, you are setting up for failure. Wow! That’s a little weird but a very important hint which needs to be taken into consideration.

I am pretty much sure that this is going to be a television series and more of a reality show however the theme is where the speculation is all about. After rounds of permutation combinations, considering a few points and hints, here are my guesses:

Guess #1: He being a sportsperson himself, in some videos he has spoken about Yuvraj, Sania and MS Dhoni. Here are the videos to view:

So, can this be a sport show with small games or sport to be played which is more about the brawn than heart? Getting together people from all walks of life and getting them compete in some physical sport for some prize money.

Guess #2: In one of the videos he also talks about Comedy nights with Kapil star Kapil Sharma aka Bittu and how he bowls googlies (read as questions!) at people coming to the show. Here's the video:

So can this be a talk show with some real questions to some of the stars from various fields? A chat show where it's about answering based on brains than heart!

Guess #3: By saying Dil Se Khela toh Hit Wicket and Dil Se Khela toh aapki Googly he is actually asking people to use the brain more than the heart. Hence can this be a quiz show like the Kaun Banega Crorepati however something specialized in sports involving prize money.

Guess #4: He is asking everybody to follow him on Twitter and hence could this be an online saga?

We need to make a very important note that our honorable PM has congratulated Kapil Dev for this effort and wished him the best of luck. Hence I think this going to be for a good cause and it is going to bring the society together. As a person, Kapil sir is a social brand in himself and it definitely will have contribution back to the society. Whatever be it, I am looking forward for the truth unfolding and the event’s gala release.

Keep following the website http://www.eknayileague.com/ and the twitter handles @therealkapildev and #eknayileague for more updates!