Nostalgic 90's

Sometimes you will never know the true value of a MOMENT

until it becomes a MEMORY

      The other day I was watching latest commercial Ad of Nestle , it shows some strings of old memories that warm you up with the feel of Indianness. Our past beats inside us like a second heart.

      My this post is a small effort to refresh you and take you to the journey of 80's and 90's , our some of the best fondest memories of childhood. I just hope it reminds you of those lovely days that will never come back again. I can't fit all on one page and there are possibilities I might skip few of them but friends this post is waiting for your clicks and comments. Enjoy Reading !!!

      .

When we were little kid most of us would hate eating chapattis and sabji. The Most easy to engulp food was  daal rice and I can bet it was your favourite too. Aloo sabzi , instant food Maggi, the mouth watering smell of samosa in school canteen . My mummy would sometimes give me money to buy from school canteen but I wouldn't have it and would return money to Mommy thinking that if I am saving Rs 2.50 of my parents and not wasting their so called " Mehnat Ki Kamai "I have done a great deal, Filmy but its true .We as small kids weren't pampered like today's generation and we would value and treasure even a choclate that we would get in birthday's from school.

By choclate word I remember can you recall below pics ......

Fake artificial cigarette- Kids especially Boys would  fantasize with this small mint stick . Kismi Bars - my brother  would always bribe me with this choclate and would never  give me one and Who can forget this  

  "Boom-boom boomer" jingle . And then those

 sticky tattoos of Indian cricketers wrapped inside the wrapper. I still remember it 2002/2003 when you would get those sticky Kaifs, Zaheer, Saurav, Dravid you know it was a world cup period. I thoroughly would enjoy watching cricket, I had collections of small posters and gossips written in one little book sort of scrapbook, My brother use to keep small poster collections of WWE champions like Undertaker, John Cena etc etc pics. He would decorate his scrapbook with different artistic designs as if it was a school project. Now I think how silly we were , completely insane but yes unique pieces of 1990's                                      

        These flavoured pepsi that we would get

at 50 ps and big one at Rs 1.And this icy cool Ice Gola with layers of flavours like kaala khatta gulabi, cola, chocolate etc. A kulfi thela ( cart ) with a ghanti " Tan Tan "

  

 

   In those days cable was not in trend , I mean most families would watch DD1 and DD2 . We had our sunday mornings preoccupied with Ramand Sagar's " Mahabharat " , Mowgli, . Also crazy funny couples in Shrimaan Shrimati , then Chandrakanta , our Indian Super hero " Shaktimaan", sunday morning Rangoli , wednesday evening "Chitrahaar" , Byomkesh Bakshi, Shanti and the list goes on.

                                              

     Earlier we would hear songs on cassettes , tapes , when you say radio stations so we had only one Vividh Bharti . I have heard many would record there favourite song, write and mug up there favourite number.They would maintain a copy of these songs and would revise and verse them as if it will come in final exam. When I take trip down the memory lane I also recall that many of us would say ki 

" exam paper mein gaana likhkar aaye hain , ya movie story likhi hain kuch aata toh tha nahin" Yaar I am feeling bad I missed this opportunity never tried it.  

                                                           

Do you remember Bollywood movie trendzz in that period , Govinda with his endless No.1 series, Suraj Barjatiya's family drama , Khiladi man "Akshay Kumar ", King Khan with his COOL pendant and the record breaking movie  " Dilwale Dhulaniya le jaenge".....endless memories. 

         Below are some of well known faces of Doordarshan news, when I was little kid I would try to make faces front of  TV screen thinking that the news reader will get distracted and to my belief I would left dejected thinking " ki kya concentration hain inka , inko toh sub pata chalta hoga ki kiske ghar mein kya ho raha hain, but still they don't get distracted and only  focus on their reading"
I know a hysterical thought but " Dimaag Toh bacha hain ji"

Lets come to some of famous commercial ads that have been featured since decades and the jingles will remain in our souls forever.
" washing powder nirma...", 

" aaya naya ujala chaar boondon wala" , 

" vicks ki goli lo khich khich door karo", "vajradanti (2) vikko vajradanti" ,

 " bole mere lips I love Uncle Chips", 

" Kya aap close up karte hainnn", 

" Paan parag paan masala" , 

"chubti jalti garmi ka mausam aaya", 

" excel world mein rahoonga main ghar nahin jaunga main" ,  

" school time action ka school time",

"lifeboy hain jahan" 

" vicco turmeric nahin cosmetic".....I know you must have started humming now. And this vicco turmeric Ad still you can see them in some movie theatres as fillers .Before movie starts girls giggling around in haldi function

 " hai kundan si (2) hamari bano , roop ki rajdhani bani hain bano" ohh my my completely psychotic . This Commercial surely deserves this tag " Bachpan se Pachpan tak"

There are still many in the queue , I can bet that if you ask to sing any of these jingles to a man in his last breaths , he will first humm and then die .

 Who can  forget Our super intelligent , man with brains " chacha chaudhary " and the body builder man without clothes " Sabu" made our childhood days wonderful , we would have latest collections of all these comic series...

                        


I can see a smile on your face ..... Friends I know there are lot many memories piled up in our mind' s eye and  to compile it in one post is impossible. So please drop in your cherished memories below in comments ...As Someone has rightly said "Memories of childhood were the dreams that stayed with you after you woke.

    

                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Hey friends join #ProtectHerHeart campaign with Saffolalife

      Someone has rightly said " You can only be Healthy from outside , when you are happy from inside "
      I am a happily married woman, I belong to a happy Marwari joint family. We have a culture wherein we get up early in the morning and set with our daily domestic chores. What I have seen in most of Indian families , a lady's lifestyle revolves around her prime responsibilities towards her family and in this busy schedule she forgets to take care of herself.
My lifestyle also resembles with the theory above . But slowly I have realised that it's all about how you prioritise your day.
   
      I recall My father-in-law's words he says that ' Our body is just like a car which needs fuel and maintenance time and again and if you don't take care then you have to payback the dues' . You know it's a give and take policy , if we work tirelessly day and night to achieve our goals with the help of our body then we have to pay returns to our body by keeping it fit and fuelling it with good healthy food.

     The initiative #ProtectHerHeart sponsored by Saffolalife is a kick-start awareness campaign towards our healthy lifestyle.I feel happy and privileged that I am becoming a part of this campaign.

Below are the day to day habits that I will try to imbibe in myself and in my husband:

1 )  I read in Rujuta Diwekar's book that the basic and primary mantra to keep oneself fit and healthy is that start eating in regular intervals that is in gaps of 2 hours . In this way you won't be over eating and also won't be starving for long hours. Previously when I was working in a SBI , due to heavy work load  I would starve for long hours and this actually resulted to obesity.

When I actually worked with this pattern of small interval eating I realized it does miracle changes.
Though these days Puneet (my husband) and I , we both are not regular with our routine but thanks to Saffolalife and Blogadda for your initiative.

2) Eating good amount of vegetables:

    Eating different types of vegetables is a must when it comes to diet planning. Puneet never like eating boiled vegetables daily ...so in our diet plan I have decided that some vegetable curries I can cook by using Saffola gold oil , my doctor has recommended , Saffola oils have less fat percentage and  controls cholesterol.

3) Walking , Yoga , meditation.

I have seen recent commercial of Saffola oil , isn't it lovely....Early in the morning walking with your loved one, isn't it lovely !!! We have experienced this  ...but I promise to continue with it. 

Recently I have learned some yoga exercises with the help of my neighbour and some YouTube links , its a magical way to keep your mind and soul in peace...I am not good with meditation but I promise to work on it...I have heard Its the best medicine to increase concentration.

4) Food tips : 

   a) Nowadays I have started keeping good amounts of nuts in my bag , they are just like a powerful little numbers that edge off the hunger on the way back home from work . They are just a tasty snack , 10 nuts in one serve.

   b) I am already working on taking good amount of water . I drink 2 litres everyday but my target is 3 ....Wanna beat me ??....then join the race...

   c) Restaurant meals: 

    I really want to work on my this habit and yes even I want Puneet to be serious about how to plan day diet when we are going out for dinner . It can be done by having fruits and some nutritional food in lunch and will never forget to exercise specially that day. This will surely compensate my extra kilojoules dinner diet.

5) Last but not least: My family

  I really want my family to accompany in this fitness mission and yes I know this can only be achieved by my initiatives... 

And so I pledge to join #ProtectHerHeart initiative and will make my and my family's heart happy and healthy.

      

Aarushi - Hemraj murder case - Has justice been served ??

         

              It was 16 May 2008 , one of the horrific night when a bright student of DPS noida turning 14 after 8 days Aarushi Talwar , was murdered her head was smashed and throat was slit . A day later second body of their servant Hemraj completely swollen and difficult to recognize was discovered at the terrace of Talwars house.

            My sole motive behind writing this post is that I strongly believe that this is something which  can happen to anyone amongst us .  There is a part of the society that strongly feel that Rajesh and Nupur Talwar are innocent and yes I am one of them .

            I have heard many people giving dumb opinions in this case, its a juggernaut where people have created their own perceptions and investigations .

Some say Talwar's were
wife swappers ,
Rajesh Talwar was having an affair
Aarushi was found in an unacceptable position with Hemraj and so Dad killed them.
Out of four Nupur and Rajesh were alive and so are culprits.
CBI say that Talwars didn't grief and so suspects

System has crunched the story in as many way as they can to make the Talwar's murderers of their only daughter whom they loved beyond anything.

I am not saying that I am 100% correct in what I am trying to prove by this but yes I can guarantee that this case has lot many loopholes.

So without getting into the Ifs and buts of this case I would directly try to bring certain loopholes of in this case .

           On the morning of 16 May 2008 when murder news broke , Talwars house was filled with lot many visitors known unknown  the complete house was swarmed with relatives , press, strangers. Each visitor was doing its own investigation  The biggest blunder and mistake was that the crime scene was not cordoned by the police so their were possibilities that clues swept away .

In narco - analysis test Krishna (Rajesh compounder ) showed deception in his statements which hinted that he had some connection in this case , Also when police raided Krishna's house they found a pillow cover which had samples of blood stains of Hemraj.
But later they were proved incorrect by CBI quoting it as typographical error.

Bharti Mandal maid who worked at Talwars place and who was also first eye witness after Rajesh and Nupur deferred from her statements.

Also since 2008 , three different CBI team have taken charge each showed their own versions of investigations in this case. Which shows again a very big aperture in this case.

I have highlighted very few loopholes in this case there are still many hidden mysteries in this case.

           So my earnest request to you all is don't think like a mute mind please try to look into this case from other perspective . Try to read reports and references available on different links . Also I will request you to read Avirook's book 'Aarushi' which addresses to the flaws of this case .He has extensively interviewed Major three institutions in connection to this case ie; Judges , CBI officials and key witnesses. He has done an in depth research in this case . This book has created an out rage amongst people against the system.

As there is one famous quote by Marcus Aurelius which states ;

" Everything we hear can be sometimes a opinion , not a fact .
  Everything we see can be a perspective , not always the truth "

In 2010 Court filed a closure report stating as lack of evidence , but In 2011 Nupur Talwar appealed for reopening of the case but little did they know that they will become prime suspects in this case. Now, The Talwars have been sentenced to life imprisonment by the lower court , appeal is pending at Allahabad High court .

Would like to share Avirook Sen's experience with Talwar's at Dasna jail .

( Nupur Talwar greeted me with a smile and before I could finish saying ' How are you? ' she smiled and replied ' We are veterans here now. We're experienced ! We are doing fine.....' and then Rajesh Talwar in a much quieter way replied ' We have to make do ....what choice do we have ? Just trying to understand why we are here , what is our destiny. ' )

Rajesh now got an opportunity to set up a small dental chair in the jail clinic, he is always in a state of disbelief by the thought that they have been called as murderers of their own child ' Aaru ' and servant 'Hemraj'. Nupur now looks devastated , ragged and tired . No proper food to eat and the Talwars always wonder what Aaru would feel if she saw us like this.

  Words written by Rajesh in his diary
 " Just no way to prove innocence. No one has proved anything in this case. Just that they are not satisfied by our reply . I miss Aaru so much. Can't imagine she's no more. I can feel the pain that she must have felt, and it leaves me helpless. I couldn't help her at all "

Don't dream your life , live your dreams....

                                              

       we are responsible,

      for what we are

           and whatever we wish to be,

            we have the power to make ourselves

          My this post is dedicated to those “ who believe , feel and want to make their dream come true, but somehow because of other priorities in life their dreams have been dispersed”

          I am reading  “ The complete works of Swami Vivekanand “ In this book what I realized that Swamiji’s  teachings , his works , his principles are all based on only two facts of life Humanity and Truth .

          In my this post and also in all the related post I will try my level best to relate his thoughts and facts with ours. I hope my small effort can be answers to your hidden doubts. And you know what even I am looking out solutions to many of doubts about life and also about we the puppets

          Swamiji  says “What we are now is only the result of our past actions and whatever we wish to become in future will be because of our present actions “

          Friends we all have some dream in our heart and mind , Like when I was young I would always dream to opt mass media as my career but u know how our family structure is, being a Marwari girl and living in a Marwari society where u are surrounded by businessmen , engineers , CAs .

I always feel that I did one mistake in my life I always would listen to others and not to my heart but you know what,  I can’t blame my parents , my surrounding my society for that as I didn’t had guts, daring to believe in my dream. Just because of my parents , just because someone doesn’t feel the same spark in my dream I changed my decision, my path of life and now I repent on my past decisions .

          I realized “what I am now is only because of my past actions and whatever I wish to become in future will be because of my present actions”

And so now instead of repenting I focus more on bringing my life back on track , Friends It’s not about Dreaming big, It’s all about believing in your dream and taking small baby steps in that direction.

          I don’t know whether my these words have the spark that burns your dream more clearly in your mind’s eye. But trust me friends, do what you dream, don’t stop dreaming else time will come when you won’t be able to dream.

You know what ,  “If you are not happy then you can’t make others happy “ 

And so here comes the answer to all your worries ,frustration,depression.To make oneself happy start doing small things that keep you happy from inside.

          Like generally  I have seen many of friends who have become housewives after marriage have a certain negativity in them as in they feel demotivated and complex with their working friends. So my honest suggestion to you my lovely , sweet ,cute housewives is please remove this poisonous thought from your mind that if you are without a job or u are not earning then you have spoiled your career or life. 

Trust me all men and women in a society are not of the same intelligence, capacity and luck. I know it’s difficult to accept but yes it is true. I will ask you one question Is this the only petty motive left in your life. Find out the motive energy / power that prompts you that can reanimate you / make you feel young again, start breathing new life , rejuvenate yourself …..

          If you love dancing join a kathak class , a zumba which is in trend , love drawing  join some  creativity class ….love music join singing class , guitar…etc; If you are a doctor by profession and now at home start writing blog or with the help of a techy friend make an app and share your knowledge to the world outside.

Oh come on !!!! 3 day a week not a big deal Right!!!!

In worst case chalo at least an hour a week ….

Now don’t give excuses ….like I don’t have time, My family won’t permit….etc,etc.

It is an excuse that you are giving to yourself not to others .Friends its only you are losing no one else. As someone has rightly said “ To advance we should have faith in ourselves first and then in God”

“ kal kisne dekha hain jo karna hain aaj karlo “

          My special request to youngsters who are choosing different career options and are completely confused  In Bold I would say “ Please follow  your passion , your dream, your eternal motive  trust me you will be successful in real terms“

          As what I feel successful is a person who loves his/her work and not the one who earns good but still not happy and satisfied in life

     

Can Rail Accidents be avoided???

           After yesterday’s nerve- wracking incident that occurred in the remote area of Madhya Pradesh ,when two express trains derailed within seconds while crossing each other during flash floods that undermined tracks. This tragic incident has killed 30 people and left many injured.

           

            Friends , I was forced to write about this when I had a debate with my husband over this and then the question struck to my mind.

            Can Rail Accidents be avoided???

            

            I will be taking you to a series of facts and figures and will also request you to share your thoughts in the same.

           So tell me normally after such accidents what type of reactions we see among our politicians , it is a jocular and also a serious truth and trust me you will feel the same in a minute:

Reaction 1: government comes up with its traditional strategy to be more specific  "Compensation strategy" In pure hindi language (piditon ko Muavza )

Reaction 2: Blame Game starts Opposition demands resignation of railway minister which is a common culture / trend after every rail accident.

Reaction 3: Then comes a list of commitments and promises

"Indian government has pledged to invest blabla amount to modernize this that and has introduced etc etc plans."

and last but the most famous reaction is 

Reaction 4: Politicians suddenly become visible on social sites with their weepy words.

As below:
Following

@narendramodi

The two trains accidents in Madhya Pradesh are deeply distressing . Deeply pained over the loss of lives . Condolences to families of deceased.

 Very funny I must say…..Isn’t it…

I know I am a bit harsh but won't hesitate saying that its shameless to say but Our Indian Railway which has the fourth largest railway network in world has become handicap and we people have become habitual of bearing the brunt of the cuts.

                According to Indian Railway statistical Publication,

                25,006 people died and 3,882 were injured in a total of 28,360 railway accidents across the country in 2014 and this is an incremental figure .
                In 2013 we invested INR 39090 cr  for modernization of rail system
                    2014 – INR 43443 cr
                    2015 estimated as INR 1.27 Lac cr.
                 Also our government has spent INR 1288 cr as compensation to victims .

                Now the funniest part is almost 85% of trains hardly have a fire safety Alarm and even if they have you know what is the condition.
                   
               Many a times accidents occur on bridges during rainy season. The reason is no regular inspection of bridges and tracks. More over some of the bridges are very old and unable to carry fast speed trains or even a normal train . Resultant yesterday’s accident.
            
               In contrary to this Japan Railway Company is renowned for its safe and modern railways.

               According to the link below , they claim “ Zero “ fatality and injury since 1964.
http://english.jr-central.co.jp/about/safety.html

               But actually there are few of train accidents in japan like the one in 2005, 1990 and only one or two more  so I should say when compared to Indian figures its 
NEGLIGIBLE 

               Some Interesting Facts :

                Japan has developed a very sophisticated high-technology detection system called TERRA-S (Tokaido Shinkansen Earthquake Rapid Alarm System), in short , Earthquake Detectors  to safely bring all train operations to a halt in case tremors detected.

              And we hardly have fire safety alarms on rail track  so modernization of what type of rail system the government speaks of. 

              Now still will you say that giving an excuse of a natural calamity is a valid justification. I know we can’t avoid such accidents completely but atleast we can reduce the intensity of such incidents.
                
              In US , China, Uzbekistan , Japan ….Positive Train Control (PTC) is installed . It is a technology designed to slow or stop trains automatically if engineers ignore warning signals it is just like an automatic braking system .
                
              Its true that we don’t have such high speed rail systems , also this needs a huge investment , maintenance and shortage in manpower combination of all these is making our rail system cancerous .
               
              At last I would only request to the system especially to our government
                                 "Sir stop showing us a Bullet Train Dream, 

                             we only want to feel a safe rail journey dream….
                                        Please don’t become culprit and 
                                  don't make us victim of this mass killing."

Maa - a little granny

Maa - a little granny

     When I see lying her on bed helpless and dependent it just makes me feel reckless and torned sometimes I feel its unfair injustice to a soul who has sacrificed all her life sometimes for her husband , sometimes for her children , sometimes for her grandchildren and many times without reasons .

      She met with brain stroke 2 years back and since then she has been fighting with her immune , Few days back doctor diagnosed her with some more complications . She is having a stone in her gall bladder and also a cancerous tumor located in the busiest area of her body.

      She has become fragile and is tired fighting with these sea changes. Doctor has infused a permanent pipe in her nose from which she has to take all the food inside to be more specific liquid food. 

      Lying on bed she now smiles at every visitor sometimes she tries to cry tears roll down but words don't spell out. Numb , motionless at times she gazes , sometimes she recollects her childhood days and recalls her mother. 

      I would say she raised 8 children 4 of her own and the other 4 her grandchildren under some of most trying circumstances in life and also with some weird nature of her near and dear ones finally all are grown up and laying their part at best. Now when she could reap the benefits of her investments , sit back relax and enjoy her life, see her grandson's kids playing around and can feel how much her grandchildren love her, she is dazed and is now remote from this plastic world.

      Roles are now reversed, she needs to be taken care like a baby, fed time and again. Don't know for how many days she will take to recover but with all our support and love she will win this victory. Its been hard to share this but its a tribute to my grand mother-in-law, to acknowledge her sacrifice, her dedication and devotion.

Love you Maa and we all pray that you recover soon.......

A transgender.....

Hey Hi!!!

 I think my last post was not very convincing so hardly had any views

Now I am up with my new post

Yesterday I was on a local train , I met someone with a masculine look but a feminine  feel, yes you guessed it right she was a transgender her name " Madhuri", she entered in our ladies compartment she was wearing a fancy sari and yes with a heavy makeup worn-up asking for money and giving blessings around . Mostly Indians believe that blessings and curse of transgenders are unusually potent and so people give them tips in return of blessings.

So Madhuri went asking for money , she got tired and then she sat besides a lady that lady was a beautician she owned a parlour , so Madhuri started sharing her past with her she said that she was born in a poor village near Solapur district in Maharashtra southern India. She says her family cast her out because of her womanish behaviour and she ran to join a hinjra group .She was a belly dancer and she used to dance in parties and dance bars but she met with accident and she has rod in her one leg  now . Now this is the only source of earning for her, that beautician was patiently listening to her then Madhuri said " Main pehle bahut sunder thi par accident ke baad main bahut kharab dikhne lag gayi " She wanted to go for some hair treatment and also she wanted to go for facial hair removal laser treatment  and then she started showing her hair to that beautician all the ladies sitting in the compartment started staring at her in weirdness. The Beautician  suggested her some therapy and then Madhuri asked her number and address.

U must be thinking what's so different that I am so keenly discussing about her with you there is only one single thought that came to my mind " why we treat them indifferently ..... they are just like us"

I am Missing

Dear Neel,

             These days a lot of misunderstandings have arisen between us , besides me I know there are many priorities in your life , I still remember our lovely dates , our night call discussions , your love, care, concern but now Life has changed suddenly, we have no more morning tea discussions, Dinners are dumb, our talks and walks are dull and boring, we are staying under one roof but but haven't met for many days...

Please come back ....M waiting for you...

Your's ,

Veena

Major Mukund Varadarajan.... A fighter...

Major Mukund Varadarajan

Still he waits !!!

With Gritted Spirit in his heart

He is ready to take a bullet that doesn't have his name on it.

Ready to die

                     For a man who just had returned home from a normal day

                     For a wife waiting to watch her favourite reality show

                     For a girl who is busy in planning for her wedding

                     For a daughter who wants to have her favourite fast food

                     For a small child who is busy in his exam preparations 

                     For a student with high aspirations of his career

HE IS READY TO DIE FOR YOU, 

On 25 April 2014, Major Mukund Varadarajan, Company Commander, received information about the presence of three terrorists in village of Shupiyan district of Jammu and Kashmir. This group of terrorist had targeted polling officials on the polling day. These terrorist were staying in a hideout 

Major Mukund  evacuated civilians from the target house and acted ferociously to bring down the target house , his constant rigorous attacks forced the terrorist to move to the out house which was located in the targeted compound.

        Major Mukund showed exemplary courage and crawled in proximity to the outhouse. The officer throwed a grenade inside the cement outhouse killing one terrorist instantaneously. Another terrorist present in the outhouse open fired at the Major . Ispite of being seriously injured, the brave soldier crawled and killed the second terrorist . Though Major  was evacuated but he succumbed to his injuries.

    Maj Mukund Varadarajan was awarded with Ashok Chakra for his impeccable leadership and approach

         He left behind  an adorable 3 year old daughter, a lovely wife and a weeping mother. A small video of Major Mukund playing with her daughter was shared on the news channel , in which he was listening and reciting a patriotic song with his daughter . That song had verses that scripted meanings of bravery and patriotism

We salute to this Son of India....Jai Hind!!!!

   

My first post.....

I am just a normal girl...a working lady ..and a devoted housewife and daughter-in-law..
I stay in Mumbai and travel daily by local.....after we cross Ghatkopar on the way to kurla
I always find atleast 1 fight daily in that route ... mostly fight starts with the word "Push" or "kyu Push kar rahi hain" But you know all these fighters don't know the reason behind this...This is because of Newton's first law " 

Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.

Because the track in that route is shaky so the train shakes and because of which the people inside shake ...lolzz its funny but true. In Mumbai people vomit there frustration , anger in local trains only what say...!!!!