Our #TwiceAsNice Friendship

Apoorva and me

When Apoorva told me about the #TwiceAsNice blogger activity by Garnier, I knew why she chose me. So, here is our story which makes our friendship #TwiceAsNice.

Summer 2k13, was not just another summer. One fine afternoon when I was a freshman at college and dropping this newly made friend to her destination, I discovered that this girl is not just another fellow freshman, with whom I’d be sharing my rest of the college life, in fact she’s very cool and interesting. Throughout those 20 minutes, we shared a lot of things with each other. Our conversation was full of ‘Oh! I love that too’, ‘Hey that’s my dream destination’, ‘Even I find it shit’, ‘Seriously! That’s my favorite band too’. Till the time I dropped her to her destination, I was like ‘Dude where were you the whole time?!’  No I didn’t say it on her face though. So, what next? Life became Twice As Nice.

Our leisure time was to sit on the stadium benches or under the tree shades and talk about life and dreams, and how would an excursion to NYC be afforded in the cheapest possible way. Lectures were not that important but Madilyn Bailey’s youtube covers were. And that was a savior to boring classes. Pen should or should not be in the bag, but earphones should have to be an obligatory object, as I had to keep Apoorva updated with all the hottest jams of the season, and new single releases, and she would show me the coolest Vlogs of the week. While our classmates were busy sharing notes, we were sharing music, and by sharing music I do not mean Yo yo Honey Singh’s ‘blue eyes hypnotize teri karti and menu’. Sorry not sorry, but we judge Yo Yo Honey Singh fans more than we judge students from ‘school of kandizz’. We didn’t care about our forever broke state, but more about how much would we earn if we become famous and go on a world tour. Sweltering heat didn’t bother us, as the 15 minute walk in the sun would give us ice cream from the faculty canteen, homemade pizza and rum balls from german bakers was more delicious than double cheese pizza and butterscotch mousse from Dominos, ‘Sup bitch?’ seems more polite than ‘hi, how are you?’, the lamest handmade valentine’s day card was more beautiful than any other fancy and expensive cards from Archies.

In a nutshell, everything seems #TwiceAsNice, when you’re with the best person, not for the world, but for you. It does not matter how similar and different you are from one another, but what matters is that you should help each other grow as a person, excavate the best in one another, opinions should be different but on combining the conclusion should come out as the best. Inspire, learn and laugh at each other, and that’s what I find #TwiceAsNice in a best friend.

Although our nature and thoughts contradicts a lot, but that’s what makes it #TwiceAsNice, just like the Garnier Pure Active Purifying facewash and face scrub range.

Deeply reviewing our products.

To be honest I’ve been an ardent admirer of Himalaya herbals products and I won’t shy away from saying that I’m a first time Garnier client. So yesterday when I got my package of #TwiceAsNice Garnier combo nicely packed which me and my bff tore off like animals, i.e Pure Active Neem Purifying Face Wash and Pure Active Apricot Exfoliating Face Scrub, I was quiet impressed.

Two amazing Pure Active products sent by Garnier.

First let’s talk about PURE ACTIVE NEEM PURIFYING FACE WASH:

Men’s skin is oilier as compared to women. Since I have a very oily and acne prone skin, trust me I’ve seen it all. This face wash was very gentle on my skin. The texture of the product is gel based and it is of a translucent greenish color, the smell is a blend of mint, neem and tea tree oil. The facewash lathers well, is foamy and rinses off easily. I loved the way it cleaned all the oil and dirt, leaving the skin smooth and fresh. The skin was oil free for hours, and T zones were shine free for several hours. Tea tree oil and neem is a boon for people who suffer from a lot of acne and zits, therefore this facewash is an easy remedy. This can easily be a substitute to my Himalaya neem face wash or it can even dethrone it.

PURE ACTIVE EXFOLIATING FACE SCRUB:

Exfoliation is very necessary as it removes dirt and dead skin. Hands down this is the best facial scrub I’ve used. It smells heaven. Very less scrubs have this creamy and lotion like texture which apart from scrubbing away dirt and impurities, moisturizes the skin too.

I would recommend every men and women out there to try out these two amazing products by Garnier as they are #TwiceAsNice for your skin.

Now check out Apoorva's blog as she has written a similar post : Our #TwiceAsNice Friendship

For more details visit : www.garnier.com

Or Garnier's official Twitter handle at: @GarnierIndia 

TANU WEDS MANU RETURNS: TRAILER REVIEW

Kangana as Tanu and Datto

She can be anything but lackluster. The trailer of Tanu Weds Manu Returns has got me roaring and hooting for the leading lady Kangana Ranaut. Amidst all the star cast she grabs your interest. She, like a chameleon easily slips into any character. Skip to 00.57 and man, the haryanvi lingo and the look she’s donning up, I bet neither a Katrina nor a Kareena can do what she did. Tanu weds Manu returns is directed by Anand L. Rai, whose last directorial venture was Raanjhana. R. Madhavan once again plays the lead, Manu, the decent and shy lad. The movie has the same ensemble star cast reprising their respective roles and is a sequel in a true sense. The quirky and fun trailer is a sure shot winner and is grabbing a lot of attention on the internet and will surely put you in anticipation. The trailer shows Kangana in two avatars, one as Tanu and the other as Datto aka Kusum. But it is Kusum who takes away the limelight in this one. The movie begins from the same point where the first one ended, that was the eventful wedding of Tanu and Manu. Their marriage is not working out and Manu is judgmenting over a divorce, on the other hand Tanuja Trivedi’s parents are searching for a new groom for her and we see her wearing just a towel to the groom seeing ceremony. The spoiled brat Tanu is back. Manu is falling for the haryanvi girl Kusum, and Raja Awasthi played by Jimmi Shergil is back in Tanu’s life. Deepak Dobriyal who plays Manu’s crazy friend Pappi is also seen in the trailer reprising his role and he’s amusing. But it is Kangana who is slaying. The plot seems super interesting and on the grounds of its genre romantic comedy the movie seems like a conqueror. The background music ‘Banno tera swagger laage saxxy’ seems like another chartsbuster. After a long long time I saw an interesting trailer, and my expectation and anticipation level are high.

Well this movie has got a lot of swag and I’ve already saved my date for 22 may.

This movie will once again be a successful directorial venture for Anand L. Rai, after the two super successful Tanu weds Manu and Raanjhana, as Tanu weds Manu is a big franchise now. The movie also has south super star Dhanush in a cameo appearance.

Produced by Krishika Lulla, the movie will be distributed by Eros International and will see a worldwide release on May 22, 2015. Don’t miss the trailer, watch it now HERE !

PEACE IN SOLITUDE?

MY POV:

My thoughts and reflections on solitude.

“Do you ever feel like escaping this town for a while. Going to an alienated place. Living in seclusion. All alone in peace. I feel that very often”

Do you ever feel like escaping somewhere? Maybe because you are too bored of watching and being around these humanly figures, bored doing the same thing everyday, bored because you are having fun, the same fun you had last weekend with your friends, and the coming weekend is already planned in your head or maybe because you’re bored being a human and you probably want to slip into another living organisms body.

I’ve always been surrounded by people since childhood. I love human beings, they are great! Trust me. We humans search for the existence of other human beings, it’s a human nature. Since childhood we search for a company, maybe because of the fear of becoming a loner or maybe because we always need someone to walk by our side in the school corridor, maybe we always need someone to sit by our side, someone to hold our hand, maybe because we’re always trying to fill those empty spaces and gaps in our life, which probably is the biggest fear in a human life, empty spaces. We’re always trying to fit in.

Demanding a space for ourselves in this universe, in this earth, in someone’s life and in someone’s heart.

But what if I demand a space for myself, and do not want anyone to enter my territory. What if I do not want to socialize, and be left alone, do not want any company, do not want anyone to talk to, I'm not talking about shutting myself down somewhere, but because all I want is to talk to my own self, discuss some issues, a little chit chat, getting lost in an ocean of thoughts, imagining dirty, dreaming with eyes open, counseling my vocation, etc. Would it hinder my image of a ‘social animal’? We get so much busy with other human beings all day that it is sometimes only a few minutes in the nighttime we get for ourselves and enjoy the peace of mind, and that too if our cell phones aren't beeping. Ya right, thank your smartphones later.

Sometimes I feel like eloping somewhere or becoming a loner for sometime. To see how is it to eat alone, walk alone, talk alone, travel alone, and breathe alone. This urge to go to some lost land all alone, becoming an alien and getting lost is inevitable. That magical imagery they show inside a time machine or a black hole or a crystal ball often used by the witches or that hollow ring filled with light, it has always attracted me. I feel like diving inside it and see where it will take me. Will it take me to some other land or will I get lost somewhere. If becoming famed and legendary is desired by humans, then I think we all should be hit by oblivion too, for once. Yes, oblivion should happen in every human beings life. But how will it happen? No idea.

Since I took this road less traveled, which means less honking horns, less automobiles, less shouting vendors and no traffic, driving to the college is the best part of the day. I drive slowly, the morning sun is beautiful; the music in my earphones is more enjoyable and that 15 min drive is one of the best parts of the day. All because that road is less traveled and secluded. Morning coffee during the winters in the back porch, late night movie marathon, 2am snacks, mute lip syncing the late night music in our headphones, deep coversations with ourselves,etc. These all are the moments we enjoy in solitude.

Solitude helps us find ourselves, have a conversation with ourselves and knowing what’s going inside us. We are just like a pencil, no matter how fine and beautiful the wooden exterior is, it does not matter, what matters is the graphite inside it. We should pay heed to what’s going inside us and how can we beautify our inner self, and sometimes seclusion is all we need to find ways. 

Akshita's POV:

2'o clock at night; they say owls wake up at this time!! Then why am I awake at this time? I doubt! maybe to find PEACE IN SOLITUDE. I have always been a person who has cherished being around people. Be it school, college I have always had a group of mine. It is only a few days back that I realized how amusing it could be do just be on your own. How peaceful it was to be all alone; in SOLITUDE.  I have been a part of a reputed school in Dehradun; where it was believed that after recess you need to meditate for 5 minutes and find Peace of Mind, so that you can concentrate on your studies better. Try to find peace in solitude!  But it was never so. In those five minutes most of us would close our eyes, giggle around, think of next class and somehow or the other tease each other. Years later; a few days back in Rishikesh at around 1 at night, lying alone on the sand; just looking at the stars I realized what really Peace in solitude meant.

Solitude to me is when there is no barrier on our soul, on our thoughts. It is when our soul and thoughts just grow wild; when our soul empowers all the materialistic things in this world. At such a point it does not matter how many people we have present physically around us; we find PEACE IN SOLITUDE! Being in solitude never means locking yourself in a room. You could be with five people around you yet communicating best with yourself in your mind and trust me when I say this you will surely find peace in it.  If solitude did not exist imagine the entire world of invention inside the mind and soul would not exist. A lot of people do not find peace in solitude and what they face is depression. Therefore it is very important that we stay calm, think about our life, find peace in Solitude and then just break the silence and share that thought with someone.  After that night in Rishikesh I found answers to a lot of my questions; which I desired to ask life or rather myself. But then it was very important for me to share those answers with one of my best friends. And the Peace in my mind completed itself only when all Silence, My thought and a view from someone important made a package out of it.

Therefore at times when you find yourself standing all alone in this huge universe, do not lose hope or get depressed; let it be your time. A time when you self evaluate yourself. Stay in that state of solitude and communicate to the inner cores of your soul and mind. And then come out with a bang to tell the world about your thoughts through actions. And it is only then that you will find PEACE IN YOUR LIFE…Be it in the state of solitude or with thousand people around you.

P.S- A warm welcome to my friend Akshita Vohra, for featuring in my blog! 

Our thoughts are not contradictory. It is a mere perception of two different minds on solitude. 

Her blog - A MINIATURE IN THE UNIVERSE

THE THEORY OF OUR WORTH

‘But in the end we’re all humans asking ourselves questions that we don’t understand and answers that we don’t want to tell’. 


Did you ever come across a time in your daily life when you think about yourself, yes yourself. Not any random crush, or your zits popping out every other day, or your balding process which is happening faster than apocalypse, or your next shopping strategy,or your next tattoo, or things you jerk off to, or your insanely atrocious and quirky fetishes, or ‘I want to be a flying mutant’ thoughts, or ‘I so want to get high’ thoughts, or ‘this is why I’m broke’ thoughts, or ‘I’ll start from tomorrow’ thoughts and so many other thoughts that everyday boggles and reside in our walnut shaped brain.
 
Well everyone has their own thoughts, where they can discuss their darkest selves to themselves without getting judged. But here I’m talking about thoughts which usually get eaten and sidelined, thoughts about your worth, what you are really worthy of. Your real self. When you go deeper in your thoughts you kind of search for yourself, about your presence in this world. The purpose of your existence, which still demands an answer. Those thoughts which you want to skip for that moment, but you know they'll still haunt you again. They put you in a perpetual low, where sometimes the universal healer ‘music’ fails; because music itself demands an answer and you’re not ready to share these wildest thoughts with anyone.

Controlling the stream of these thoughts is hard. They just flush out from somewhere, leaving us bewildered. These momentous thoughts are asked by our inner self. The self who even we don’t know exist inside us. That inner self demands the reason for its presence inside us. It interrogates us and we deliberately ignore the questions, because we're scared, scared to answer our own self and in order to foil lying we stay silent.
 
Don’t you think we need to answer back our ocean of thoughts? Not to anyone but to ourselves.
There is a reason for our existence. Even a little ant knows its worth, so why don’t we.

I’m not a saint who can question and answer myself. But I know one thing, because we are born as Homo sapiens and not as Macaca fascicularis or Aves or Canis lupus familiaris ( I hate science, but that wont stop me from using it here), we are more worthy. We took more than 6 million years to evolve and these traits which we have developed did not emerge in any one species.
 
So am I resting my case on this conclusion that because we are born from the earth as humans, that’s our biggest reason of existence? And the rest depends upon how we shape ourselves and use the hard work of 6 million years in finding our worthiness. Well actually I’m just confused.
 
But I have something more to say(read write).
 
I like the night time. Without the dark, we’d never see the stars. I watch this one particular star in the sky almost everyday with my friends, a midst all stars it’s the most beautiful one. And somehow watching it everyday since the last two three months it has become symbolic and its existence in the sky has become crucial for us. We see it flaring up, caving in and going out of sight. And sometimes when it gets obscured by clouds it isn't visible at all and then we search for its existence. But then again the next day it is still the brightest star in the sky, flickering and twinkling and proudly flaunting its worth being a star.
 
‘We all are stars’. Someday something will happen to us and we will burst open, just like the stars. We might turn into a supernova. And we’ll actually realize that suddenly we have become more beautiful than we were ever before.
 
We will emit light, yes we will. And in this great great galaxy with millions of stars, we will have our own worth.
 
 Here I will rest my case.
 
So sit back and relax, put your hand firmly on your chest and talk to yourself, tell your inner self that it might rain a few days, cloudy the other, windy and thunderous too. But the sun will be shining for the longest time. And in the night time when it is dark, somewhere in the interstellar space, there is another star in the making.
 
P.S- I would love if you shower some love on my recent poll and give your votes. Looking forward to it.
 
-pratik

Happy Birthday To Me!- 'You Have Been Loved'

Its Dec 15 and its my birthday! Well what made me write at 1:26 am. I know everyone is awake till late on their birthdays, yeah right! Phones blowing up. But I’m not writing because I’m awake, its because I feel happy! Birthdays are there to make you feel happy. Or I should say you are born to feel happy. Because you deserve to be happy. I'm literally astounded at the love and happiness I have in my life. Talking about my birthday wish, well do I need any, I'm already so much blessed. But I guess, a new pair of sneakers, a cool beanie and adding back nutella to the grocery list won't hurt right. I just love the concept of birthdays. It amazes me, in a weird way though. Just moments ago you were 18 and then the clock says ‘hey its 12!’ and BOOM! You’re 19! You can actually see yourself become a year older in no time. Amazing right. I know, thank me later.
So I’m feeling happy and I’m feeling kind of blessed. I know I’m no different, everyone feels the same on their birthday, you get wishes, you get calls from the most unexpected people. It’s kind of a good feeling.
There are certain people in our lives, who give us such significance and value in their life that you feel bloated sometimes. You feel full. There is this feeling of being blessed. Being blessed by people, who actually pay heed to you and pray for your good luck. Who do a little something to see you smile. To whom you are a little more meaningful than others. Who do their level best to find out what’s bugging you up. Who are actually more excited for your birthday than you are. Who bless you with such heart touching words that you couldn’t help but let loose your tear glands. It makes you feel special, a little more worthy. You curse that time you were cursing your life, feeling miserable about stupid annoying things, fighting with your own demons, living in your own insecurities, surrounded by people but still lonely at heart. At that moment you just forget such things ever exist. You just let go. Your birthday turns their happiest day. There are these hundreds of happiness capsules that burst open in your body. Whether it is the ‘most coolest sweatshirt’ gifted by your bffs as an early birthday present, or the ‘most special birthday message’ you received from a dearest friend, or an old friend whom you haven’t been in contact for a while saying ‘do meet me on your birthday cause I have something special for you’ or those words written by your best pals in their status for you, which they never said cause you’re too cool to talk heart to heart with each other. You feel like, you lived!
I wonder why do we feel miserable, when there is so much love we’re getting from all around. And we should value the love we’re getting. I believe water and electricity can be wasted but love shouldn’t be, because love is something which cannot be regenerated. So try to treasure the love you get from people and give back. Conserve love. And that's how I feel today.
Well I don’t like the whole idea of growing up. But just because I’m a year older now than I was, few hours ago. Let’s just say I did some growing up. Well, this year will be good. Wont worry, life’s a journey. Will enjoy the ride. No hurry. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in advance.

“How dare we sit and cry and be and watch the world pass us by”

What World Are We Living In?

Gauhar Khan

Day before yesterdays newspaper was a bit of a shocker for me. The headline read ‘Gauhar Khan slapped for wearing a short dress’. The headline sounded a bit faulty and misconstructed or maybe the words were a bit erratic. I read it again. I wondered, how can someone be slapped for wearing a short dress? Gauhar Khan was slapped by a man, named Aqil Malik during the shooting of a reality show, for wearing inappropriate clothing.

After reading the whole news article, there was a bit of an outrage inside me. A feeling of boundedness, a feeling of enmity and a feeling of remorse. I cursed that man, I cursed the society for having such men, I cursed the nation for having such societies, and I cursed the whole world for having such a nation like India where a person can slap a women on what she wears. Why is a women being slapped? Gauhar Khan, a strong woman. My personal favorite in the last Bigg Boss season. An artist whose fearless fights on the camera and her ‘taking her stand’ capability made her win the reality show, was left in tears. Yes, this is what happens when you are slapped in front of a crowd of people. The incident has left her bewildered and shes still figuring out ‘Why? Why? Did he slap me?’

My head was popping with questions.

How can a women be slapped for allegedly wearing skimpy cloths? What mentality do ‘we’ Indians hold? Why even after 67 years of independence we aren’t independent with our thoughts? Why is this slap case not hyped enough? Why? I see less number of celebrities supporting Gauhar Khan and where have all the ‘women right activists’ gone?

What is the whole outcome of this incident? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We continue to do what we were till another and more severe incident takes place. Do we need another incident like the ‘Delhi Gang Rape’ case to take a stand.

Almost 2years after the Delhi gang rape case, I see no change. Girls are still getting raped, publicly molested, eve-teased, slapped, etc.

On the other hand Aligarh Muslim University has taken a wonderful step and has banned girls from entering inside the library as it distracts the boys. Seriously I want to laugh my ass off on this. This is whats happening in our country.

On the name of morality and religion I think men are dominating over women. If dress is the only reason why a girl is being slapped and raped, then why is a 3 year old girl raped?

If a muslim women like Gauhar Khan is slapped for wearing a short dress, then why is Salman Khan still un-slapped till now for shedding his shirt on every movie he does.

Some communities wont let the change happen.

Today if a famous celebrity like Gauhar Khan can be slapped so easily, then what about the women who are walking on the streets?

I have a lot of questions that need to be answered. I want the government to take a step and find a solution. To start a strong campaign. To spread the need of education. To think over the existence of men who are slapping and raping women. There is a long way to go! 

Alas! Next day we’ll read another such headline and speculate ‘What world are we living in?’

The Fault In Our Stars - Book review

The book, the fault in our stars will take you on an emotional ride. Trust me its no Harry Potter neither it is a Twilight. Its just an out of the way simple love story of two cancer patients. He is battling with osteosarcoma that took one of his legs, on the other hand she is fighting with tumors in her lungs. Despite the lead characters suffering from cancer, this is not a cancer book, but rather a love story. Hazel Grace Lancaster’s life revolved around her favourite reality show Americas next top model and her third best friend after her mom and dad Peter Van Houten, the author of her favourite book An Imperial Affliction. However it takes a turn when she meets Augustus Waters. They both seem perfectly suited for one another. They aint your average teens. They have cancer, and spend a lot of time thinking about oblivion ,metaphors,life and how their death would have an impact on those who love them. Hazel who considers herself a grenade, fears when she’ll explode , she will kill everyone along with her, including Augustus. The story tells that no matter how badly you’ve been hurt before, you feel the pain again and again when you get hurt.

John Green is brutally honest quoting lines such as- “ the thing about pain is that, it demands to be felt” and “ the fault dear brutus, is in ourselves and not in our stars”. While the book also contains lines such as- “ im on a rollercoaster my friend that only goes up” and “ ‘okay’ will be our always, okay? okay” which you will definitely underline with a pencil, cause you might want to read these lines again and again. 

The fault in our stars will make you laugh and cry at the same time . you will fall in love with the characters so much that you will feel their pain, their helplessness, though they are happy in their little infinity, but still they desire to live with each other forever. 

While Augustus wants to leave a mark in this universe, he fears oblivion. Hazel do not want to hurt the universe and thinks about people who died but will never be remembered. They both have their own perceptions. 

From swaping their favourite books to their trip to Amsterdam to their first kiss at Anne Franks palace, everything seems imperfectly perfect. 

Its not a love story of a normal boy and girl , it’s a lovestory of a boy and girl who despite dying a little each day are making the best of their remaining time cause they are happy in their little infinity. 

The ending is not at all happy, it gives you tears. Its not that kind of book. Its harsh, its  sweet, its emotional , and….its honest! 

The fault in our stars is a great book and I recommend it to all who haven’t read it yet. John green makes u fall in love with the characters in the most beautiful way. The ending will definitely make u cry. The words are so powerful and touching. Don’t read this without a tissue nearby.

The story is sadder than the titanic. But there are many ways to write a sad story and this is a funny way.

- Pratik Aswal