Visit to Adlab Imagica and Lonavala! November 15, 2013

Mumbai has been home for me for 26 long years and after shifting to Delhi post my marriage I have grown more fonder or rather nostalgic about Mumbai. Everything about it brings in memories of growing up days – Food, Friends, Shopping, late night outing and above all security…. which has become joke in Delhi!

Although I am content to be at home when in Mumbai for a vacation for Children’s sake I decided to explore it bit more

and traveled towards Pune for this amazing amusement park called Adlab Imagica which is near the city of Khopoli on Mumbai-Pune expressway. I expected some decent crowd since it being a vacation time in Mumbai but when I reached the place the crowd was too overwhelming and beyond my imagination. The overall concept of the park has been styled keeping in mind the the Disney Land and other

international amusement parks in Asia. The theme park has 21 international standard rides, including one based on Bollywood film ‘Mr India’. For every rides there is quite a waiting time cause of the crowd. Although I am not that fond of rides. I have to accompany my 4yr old son in the elephant Tubby Merry-Go-Round which rises above the ground and I am glad I sat with him for we both enjoyed it a lot.

Apart from merry go round and boat rides there is not much younger ones can do but there are host of options for older children’s – mine especially loved the Nitro ride which is touted as India’ largest roller coaster ride.

In the evening we signed off post buying some merchandise from the inside shops and headed to Fariyas Hotel at Lonavala for overnight stay. Fariyas hotel is a resort with there own Water Park which the kids enjoyed thoroughly. Heading back to Mumbai we stopped at the local chikki wala and did some chikki shopping.

The ride back to Mumbai was exhilarating and it was refreshing to watch the Lonavala Ghats and sunset. A much needed break ended with beautiful memories to cherish for life.

Chawri Bazaar to Ballimaran – Heritage Walk February 25, 2013

The concept of Heritage walk which I have been participating in quite recently satisfies two interests of mine – Travel and History.  History being something which I had left in school and thought not to pursue it any further for I found it very BORING, maybe due to the way it was disseminated! In Delhi, you’re never too far from a historic monument. A heritage walk is a great way to know more about them

This week walk was from Chawri Bazaar to Ballimaran and it began at 5:30 pm sharp. The group of 20 people was lead by Sohail Hashmi who is a writer, founding member of SAHMAT and ANHAD and a filmmaker.

We turn into the Sirkiwalan Road that leads towards Lal Kuan, the first things we talk about are the Hauz Qazi Police station and the Trams, both have ceased to exist anymore. Post that we walked past the famous Kheer shop where we enjoyed this delectable Kheer. The story of this Kheer selling shop is that its owner 3^rd generation ago was Yadav converted Muslims and they owned many cows. The amount of milk produced set them off to start of Kheer [solely] business which is being carried out from generation to generations. I had a ½ kg packed for home since the kheer was to die for. Here onward we proceeded to the Masjid Mubarak Begum, built in the early part of the 20th century. Mubarak begum was a courtesan who later became very powerful and influential due to her marriage to a senior British officer. Continuing down Sirkiwalan we reach Excelsior Cinema, with a capacity of 450 and the most expensive seat around 20. The Excelsior, opening probably in 1938, is perhaps among the oldest surviving cinema halls in Delhi & this is the place where you can watch old and long-forgotten masala movies. Before it turned into a cinema hall the building and its then owners played their part in the rebellion of 1857.

A little ahead on the same side of the road is Hamdard, started by Hakeem Abdul Majeed, as a humble shop selling herbs for the Unani system of medicine in 1906 today it is the largest producer of Tibbi medicine in the world.

Opposite Hamdard sits bade miyan selling his seekh kabab, however he opens his shop after sunset and we turned up early and could not sample his delicacies.
We now turn into Gali qasim Jaan, the street where all the Hakeems lived as did Kalesaheb. Kalesaheb earned a living by dispensing talismans. Bahadur Shah Zafar and his queens were devotees of the peer.

Ghalib lived his last years in the same street, in one of the desolate Havelis owned by the Hakeem. What remains now where Ghalib stayed is very dilapidated structure which has been turned into a museum of personal artefacts and works of Ghalib. There is one funny story that was told to us by our guide Sohail Hashmi which goes like this: During the anti-British Rebellion in Delhi when Britishers were executing rebel Muslims, some soldiers climbed into Ghalib’s neighbourhood and hauled him and asked if he is Hindu or Muslim? To which Ghalib replied, “Half?” The colonel asked, “What does that mean?” In response, Ghalib said, “I drink wine, but I don’t eat pork.
We are now in Ballimaran the whole sale market for bangles, spectacles, sun glasses and shoes.
The opticals market here is one of the biggest in the city and is the perfect destination for your brand fixation. Our day ended with traditional Veg/NonVeg home delicacies served by a humble host. Over all the evening was laden with historical stories woven around each heritage structure and dream food.

Atlas Shrugged! September 20, 2012

Atlas Shrugged from Ayn Rand is my All time favourite & Dagny Taggart is who I identify with. Here are few ways that I identify with her:

1. Alt A + Alt I the Haters – Here ‘A’ stands for Avoid and ‘I’ stands for Ignore. Bottom line is that you can’t please everyone at the cost of you being unhappy.
2. Don’t defend, Just Do it  – At every baby step or major leap in life that you take there will be dissenters. Worry not, focus on your goal and create new roads for yourself instead of expecting the provider to mend the path for you. It’s useless to argue and to wonder about people who would neither refute an argument nor accept it.
3. Don’t Let A Man Boss You Around—Unless, Of Course, You Like It – Ok I may sound like feminist but I am not. I have my rules around this too. No work should be divided as per the gender. While growing up there was lots that I wanted to do but was discouraged as traditionally it belongs to man’s domain…HAH!
4. Applaud Good Work – I am all for work done well and appreciate the fact the same needs to be acknowledged and convey the person that his or her achievement is the greatest gift a human being could offer to others.
5. Go With Your Gut – Womens are known to have strong 6^th sense and that’s called intuition by many. I am for Gut feeling – not to trust, but to know. If I feel something is going to go wrong and don’t have enough clarity on what to expect, usuallyI trust my gut and go with that and most of the time I am correct 🙂
6. Just Do It – Execution is what I value most and consider that every inventions in this world has not only great thoughts going into it but also actions; Only those ideas see the day of light which gets executed well.
   

Pinterest May 17, 2012

What started of as a curious play around has grown into a  BIG product to flaunt your social graph on.  I’m talking about Pinterest.com, which I would simply define as “Scrapbooking“.

Visual always appeal people and having your virtual board wherein you can categorize and pin photos which speaks thousand/million words is really cool.  Its more appealing to Women audience as we are known to be extremely expressive and leave no opportunity to flaunt/demonstrate the same at any given canvas, be it at  Home, Office or Virtual World.

Businesses are cashing on it by quickly jumping on Pinterest bandwagon by setting up virtual store and promoting there products on it.

To make your task of pinning easier Pinterest has incorporated “Pin It” Button as extension for Browser. Once installed in your browser, the “Pin It” button lets you grab an image from any website and add it to one of your pinboards.

Here’s Pinterest Etiquette: Try to…

• Be Nice!
• Be Creative. The best pinboards mix products, art, recipes and images from all across the web. Try not to pin everything from a single source.
• Give Credit. If you blog about an item you found on Pinterest, it’s nice to credit your fellow pinners by linking back to the original pin.

Do you Pinterest?

Find my Pins here: http://pinterest.com/moushmis/

Happy Pinning!

Mothers Day Special

My daughter made sure that I feel special on Mothers Day by hand drawing this card. Although she was apologetic for it not to be turned out good and blamed her little brother for messing it up 🙂

Needless to say I feel SPECIAL everyday by just having you around!

 

Corbett-Nainital Surprize June 1, 2011

 

It was my birthday and a long weekend. What better present could I had asked for then a surprise weekend vacation to long due Corbett National Park. It was a vacation with  a purpose. We went their with our

couple friends to participate in Marathon organised by http://runningandliving.com/ on completion of the 75th year of Corbett Park.  It was awesome day amongst the natural surrounding with birthday celebration to follow in the night.  We also managed to steal some time for boating in Nainital. Overall rocking time with family 🙂

 

Affirmations February 14, 2011

Yup!! you heard it right. I am reading Louise L. Hay’s book ‘You Can Heal Your Life‘ again… It gives me positive outlook to life & happy picture to whats happening around me. Affirmations keeps me afloat..during time I am confused or at crossroad. It grounds me. It makes me realize the potential of its existence & manifestations of my thoughts around me. Another Bible that I always prefer to keep with me is the ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne.

One affirmation that I absolutely love is:
“In the infinity of life where I am,
all is perfect, whole, and complete.
My unique creative talent and abilities flow through
me and are expressed in deeply satisfying ways.
There are people out there who are always looking
for my services.
I am always in demand and can pick and choose what
I want to do .
I earn good money doing what satisfies me.
My work is joy and pleasure.
All is well in my world.”

Lazy me!! September 14, 2009

Lazzzzzzyy…….yeah thats what I have been all this while wid no blog post for months. I find twittering to be more easier then writing a blog as few lines quenches my thirst for writing. But not any more as the inspiration adrenaline is runnning high today, wat wid 2 1/2 yr old coming out with her own blog @http://rhearajan.com. Now thats where the zest to write is coming from or is it compulsion??? Whatever I’m just happy to be back and kicking.

Lots have happened while I was away. My daughter is super excited about the fact that she’s going to have her own sibling in december. Also work has become quite meaningful & fulfilling. Twitter & facebook has become my companion,when friends and families are not around. I think the curiosity of knowing whats happening in others life make these social networking(twitter/facebook) site quite popular. And for an introvert its perfect gateway to be abreast of whats happeing around them. So happy twittering and facebooking.

KidZui, the Internet for Kids! March 19, 2009

Are you worried about the unwanted content that your kid may stumble uplon while browsing on the internet? Don’t know what website to engage your kid with? Worry not! Soon your kids will be exploring over a million kid-friendly games, websites, pictures and YouTube videos with Kidzui.

Kidzui - Browser for Kids

Expand your kids online experience with KidZui, the Internet for Kids. This is a free application that should keep your kids happy online but for extra features you will need to purchase a subscription. KidZui is cross platform and works with Windows Xp/ Vista, Firefox (Win/Mac/Linux), and Mac OS X.

Real parents and teachers review content for KidZui so your kids can surf independently. To express themselves online you will first need to create avatar for your child. After creating your kids account they will need to login anytime they want to use KidZui.

They can tag content and share it with parent-approved friends. When locked down, KidZui prevents kids from closing the browser, downloading files, or opening other applications. If the child tries to enter in a not so appropriate URL into the browser they will get a friendly message advising them of other content they can look at. This is a great way to let your kids independently explore without worrying about them using the adult Internet, or accidentally deleting important files.

The free version has a lot of cool features which should be adequate for most users. With a paid subscription you will get unlimited history of the kids Internet activity, unlock more user interface enhancement, and have access to a feature called Homework Helper. If you are looking for a fun way to help keep your children safe online KidZui may be the perfect option.

Self-Education January 28, 2009

Self education is how I would describe my way up to the ladder (both professionally as well as knowledge wise). I always believed in a notion that a person is more knowledgeable if he/she has taken formal training in his/her chosen discipline. I tried fooling myself by taking up a few courses here & there but all of them failed to give me the real world knowledge.

There are three disciplines that have been useful in my self-education: Reading, practicing, and collecting. There are many long lists of suggested reading for UI design, and there are a host of great blogs covering different aspects of designs.

I began by creating directory of bookmarks carefully categorised for easy access. Tools like delicious, Google notebook, & my own blogs became repository of all the precious links that I thought I’d require at some point of time.

But needless to say that most of the time I ended up googling rather then remembering to open my carefully stacked treasure. Although the habit of collecting never went waste as I got the opportunity to browse through them for some inspiration, whenever I got some time.

Collecting isn’t enough in itself. Paying close attention to what thinking goes into a product creation and applying those observations to my work is what makes this exercise pay off. I put this into practice with a my current job and this led me to exploring more growth oppportunities. Not limiting myself to one stream but participating in the entire cycle of product creation.