Pinkathon - An Awareness to spread

In the wee hours of a Sunday morning, I witness an ocean of young girls, middle aged women and women in their 70's assembling on the roads of Bangalore city to spread the awareness of Breast Cancer and to lend their support in motivating each other and many more about the importance of fitness in their life. They all joined hands with Pinkathon - 3km, 5km and 10km Marathon run organised by SBI.

The registered women, oops sorry, they now are The Pink Sister's as they would fondly like to be addressed, assembled for the warm up session from Sameer and his team who flew down all the way from Delhi to be a part of this noble cause. The vibe and energy in the stadium was magnificent. The joy of feeling good and feeling empowered was clearly the aura. Zumba fitness on peppy music saw all the Pink Sister's sway.

The show steal-er was definitely the hot and a true gentleman Milind Soman. He strongly supports and cheers for the good health of all the women. He's takes utmost interest and promotes awareness on women's health on a large scale. He addressed all the women and flagged off the Pinkathon Bangalore. The man is so fit that it was enough to motivate women to stand at the start line for the run.

Milind Soman

To hear to some of the heart clenching cancer survived women talk about their battles with such a life threatening disease and coming out of it and how, leading a healthy and normal life as any of us today makes us realize how important it is to keep ourselves fit, to be familiar with our own bodies and be alert to even the slightest deviation from it's otherwise normal functions and anatomy. Sending out the message loud and clear by one of the cancer survivor - "Its important to stay abreast about your breasts" was the need of the hour. There definitely was no shying away or even a single moment of awkwardness from the talks and phrases involving a woman's anatomy.

I urge all the women today to be self aware about your health and motivate all your female associations in friends and family to inculcate a healthy lifestyle.

Run for awareness, run for pride and fly with the wind!! Join hands to completely eradicate Breast Cancer.

Stay healthy. Stay fit and love yourself.

An endless, enjoyable drive - My Honda Mobilio

As I walked past the busy street of Lavelle Road in Bangalore on a sunny Saturday afternoon, I couldn't stop myself from giving a second look. Giving a second look to a guy is so passé. I saw this magnificently build white car - Honda Mobilio parked at a bistro. The gleaming sun rays made it look all the more desirable. It instantly hit the right chords in my heart and I decided to go in for a test-drive.

There's absolutely no second thought that a premium brand like Honda would let me down. I had sky-high expectations from this car with the looks it possessed. Let me start with the external features. This is not the first of it's kind in the MPV category, but is comes across as a less boxy design. Personally, I like the Honda logo which is bigger in size and placed at the center of the superior quality steel chrome bar. The ground clearance of this vehicle is class-leading. The bumper is sleeker and the chiselled look on the sides make it a proud Honda prodigy. It has broad and extended wheelbase and a tapering end which satisfies the ask for both people's carrier as well as the sporty look. It has the best in class, stylish hatch which instantly gives it a sophisticated rear.

The first thing you notice as you step inside is the space. There is enough leg room. The dashboard of Mobilio is on the same platform as Honda Brio and Honda Amaze. The seat behind the wheels is adjustable top-down and front back which is a plus point for people belonging to different tallness. The seats are slimmer and can be folded into various combinations making it very flexible. It definitely provides an option to those who are planning to live out of a car. The higher versions of Mobilio have more added features. I really wished the plastic quality on the dashboard was on par with the exteriors. For the brand that Honda claims to be, the finish could have been much better.

The interiors

However, that did not deter me from test driving the car. I am not an expert who specializes on technicalities, but for all the women out there aspiring to drive an SUV/MPV, I certainly have some inputs. I drive a petrol version, i-Vtec (S) precisely, which is 1497CC. At idle, you can hardly hear it and at revs, it's pretty smooth. The clutch to gear shift is extremely effortless. I don't really fancy driving an automated gear shift car. Mobilio has a 5-shift gear box which I thought could have had 6-gears considering the top speed it touches.The certified fuel efficiency for Mobilio is around 17.3kmpl, unless I drive in bumper-to-bumper traffic. I really feel quite secure as I drive through the Bangalore traffic in Mobilio. Although, quick lane changes are not greeted by an MPV car, you still experience the pleasure of driving it. Being, a Honda class car, Mobilio is reasonbaly powerful and for all the top speed lover's, you will not have a problem cruising at a three-digit speed.

I don't measure my driving pleasure only on speed. For me, it's more of comfort and safety along with speed. Mobilio fits the bill completely and I enjoy my endless drive every single day.

Cupid - Confused and Uncommitted

On Valentine's Day, if there's one being who is ultra-busy is our own Mr.Cupid with the halo on head and bow and arrow waiting to strike at the mushy lovers all over the world. Awww.. how cute!! The demand for him to be available is sky high. To how many can he reach out? How many couplings can he actually succeed in making? That surely is a million dollar question.

The great Indian lover, or might I as well say the global match maker is confused. Ask Why? Because his existence is diminishing with the ever growing technology taking his special place. How often do we say like in our very desi Hindi movies the kabootars (pigeons) carrying the message of love? How likely is it that people today write love notes and surprise their loved ones today?

Gone are the days where songs like "Kya yahi pyaar hai" was on top of every lovers playlist. Today it is substituted with "Baby Doll mein sone di". Where is the essence of love? I know, it's replaced with lust. Love is more like having the hottest chick in town as your arm candy. But with this chick, do you really plan to paint the town red? Not Really. Has the cupid changed his definition or is he confused and uncommitted?

When cupid strikes, how in the world will I know it is you? It's important to have some tricks up your sleeve and not always fall prey to the Red Roses, the Heart shaped lip-smacking dark chocolates. These are just sudden outburst for the day. But will it continue for a lifetime? Our Cupid doesn't have a prepared answer. Sorry.

Not so long ago, cupid explored the parks in search of budding love stories. If the park benches could talk, the love stories that bloomed through a conversations on a bench, they would become epic short stories. It's hard to believe that parks are no more public spaces for love. The paranoia it brings to our lovers by the activists, scares the shit out of people in love. The solution? Parks have been conveniently replaced by Pubs today. You find girls and boys as young as 11 in pubs having a drink and talking with the F-bomb in every statement they  make, like it's their birthright to use the word and impress one another. No surprises here simply because there's no enough commitment. They love the no strings attached. Yeah right! Then why crave for being in love.

For now, I take a leave and let Mr.Cupid clear his head off the confusion and the phobia of commitment.  

Unconditional Love – It’s only an overrated myth

For a restless person like me, to discover love, which vouched by many is the most beautiful feeling in the world – was like finding a souvenir. I saw excitement in the faces of people when they got mushy, cuddled in public places, planted kisses to show the oh-we-are-so-in-love picture. I thought yes there does exist a world where one gives and receives unconditional love.

I wanted to venture into this world and unearth some of the secrets. Slowly as I started, I had this morbid fixation and desperation.

I came across people who said "love is beyond the looks". This is the first big pile of shit. Let’s be honest and ask ourselves, how many of us have approached an ugly duckling for a conversation? How many of us have made the first move to extend a hand shake with a snobbish man? I am sure none of us. Now in situations like these, what is the love that we are talking about? Looks are essential for the conversation to take off between two people. When it comes to getting into a relationship, you for sure want to have the best person as an arm candy. Maybe, after a certain time looks don’t matter. But till you reach that phase, you constantly ask yourself “do we even make a pair?”

In a world of technology where you post your picture on Instagram and then you have hundreds of people hitting the heart button instantly makes your eyelid flutter and blood rushing through your cheeks. In a jiffy, you are friends on Facebook liking even the most bizarre post, follow each other on Twitter out of inquisition. Then one fine day you make arrangements to meet over a cup of chai or coffee. You sense there is an instant connection, violin playing in the background, love the breeze through your hair. And the mood for romance sets in. Waow, what a screenplay! Technology has made romance harder, not easier. Because once the 'rosy phase' is over, reality sets in. My second on love quest comes crashing down.

Thirdly, I try and see if I can get some respite on love from all the married couple's I have known (inclusive of my friends and folks) who have taken wedding vows promising unconditional love all life to one another. Today they are less in love and more with each other out of responsibility. They've forgotten their friends because they were keen on knowing the friends of their spouse (more apt in case of the woman in wedlock). I vaguely remember when was the last time my parents took time off to spend an evening together. For those to-be married, the courtship period is more of planning the dream wedding and not about going to a near-by park for a walk hand-in-hand.

I am sure there are more facets to love and its understanding than the three I have stated. But I feel devastated as I write this blog. Especially on love because it has diminished my expectation from anyone close. I wake up jolted and say to myself "Shit I dint even know this is something I have been in search of. And it's high time I stop!"

After many many days, as I sit to back up all the old memories, both good and bad, in my organ responsible for sensation and intellectual nervous activity, I came to terms with acknowledging that we, humans are not perfect. It is a syndrome that many of us suffer. It is a fact each and every one of us has to embrace - all of us have flaws. Period. There are handful of people whom I have met personally, who embrace the flaws in them and flaunt them as opposed to shying away from it. 

I still fail to understand the concept of being loved unconditionally vs being a doormat. Although I have tried to clear my confusion every time, I have failed miserably. It is a myth.

If you route your happiness to people, you hand them the option of blocking it.

Finally I settled in to believe - The only person who can give you and get unconditional love from is YOU.