Munni of all Trades

Award winning Lifestyle and Travel Blog by Khushboo Motihar

Random Ramblings

My neighborhood is becoming pretty!

I have walked past DS school in my neighbourhood a number of times and never bothered to turn around and give it another look. It was a good school which in need for urgent repairs. Unfortunately, lack of funds meant that this could not be done. But last week, as I was walking past the school, I came to a halt. I stood there for a moment, staring and then whipped out my phone to start clicking photographs. The place had transformed!


It had a new paint job and cute little cartoons adorned its walls. The school management had come together and had raised funds through various  events to give the generation next a better future with world class amenities. And they have done a fine job I must say!

Vikram Bawa, who is a fashion photographer has chipped in, too. He is planning to conduct workshops for the children and will be gifting a few photographs to the school to raise funds! Isn’t that wonderful? J

 I wish DS school all the best! 

A Healthy child for a Happy home

A child’s smile can light up the world and his tears and sometimes even  lack of it, can send people into panic. When I was born, I was told that I did not cry at all. The doctors told my parents that I was unable to breathe and I had to be kept in the incubator for two weeks. I was a very weak, frail child who would always be quiet. My parents, scared that something would happen to me, were extremely overprotective. Thus I grew up in a very ‘safe environment’ with no exposure to dirt or dust.
Only when I was old enough to join kindergarten, was I allowed to be a little free. But that had an adverse reaction on my health. My immunity was extremely low and I would fall sick very often. Soon, the doctor’s clinic had become my second home until my grandma intervened. She scoffed at the allopathic treatment and told my parents about Ayurveda.

Instead of taking pills daily, I started incorporating Chawanprash and amla into my diet. When I refused to eat amla, grandmom made amla candies and amla achar to make me take it. They would smear Chawanprash with butter on bread and make sandwiches for me to eat.
My lunch dabba would be full of fruit salads, curds, fresh vegetables and roti sabji. Slowly and steadily my health started improving. I got the colour back into my cheeks and stopped looking weak and delicate.
I participated in races, especially the biscuit eating ones, and would often walk away with the first prize. My home, which used to be dull and grey suddenly seemed to be full of life. I started appreciating the nature around me and would rush to the nearest park to build sand castles every day. Yes, I was allowed to indulge in sweets, junk food and ice creams but I always had wholesome meals to ensure that I was well nourished.
My mom had a smile on her face instead of worry lines on her forehead and my dad was full of joy. And when my sister was born, all of us, even the 4 year old me, ensured that she did not get as sick as me. Both of us grew up to be strong strapping young children who were heard and not seen. J

Ayurveda and ayurvedic products have become an integral part of my life and I cannot think of having breakfast without a slice of bread smeared with butter and Chawanprash every day. After all, thanks to Ayurveda my house became a happier place full of joie de vivre.
If you want to learn more about the benefits of Chawanprash, do visit https://www.liveveda.com/daburchyawanprash/.

Zesting one step at a time

I was sitting in the library, all morose, working on my dissertation when Blogadda sent me an email. “You are going to Goa to experience the all new Zest” it said and I squealed in delight, so much so that my librarian kicked me out. But I didn’t care. I was going to Goa. GOA! For the first time in life! I travelled 10 hours from college, got into my flight and finally, I reached well, GOA! Ok I was excited and you can excuse my English for a while.
Do you want to look at the photos? Here you go!





Keep it Simple Silly

The best ideas in the world are often the most elementary ones; they stun you with their simplicity and they make you realize that even an individual can bring about a radical change in someone’s world. One may think that students don’t have the resources to do something for the society, but not every initiative requires money and Skip a Meal goes on to prove that.
So what is Skip a Meal? Well, the students of my college skip their meal once a week and that food is sent to two nearby orphanages. It’s a brilliant concept, isn’t it? Now, this initiative does not stop with food, the children in the orphanage are provided food for thought as well in the form of educational lessons and extra curricular activities.

I had been a part of this initiative, passively, for the past one year. Skipping my meal whenever required but hadn’t really bothered to go and visit the orphanage. The thing with passive participation is that you tend to lose your drive to do good. It is only when you see your actions bearing fruits that you become passionate again. So last week, I had an opportunity to visit the orphanage and meet the wonderful children over there.
 
Now, I can write pages on what a good time I had and how touched I was to see a simple idea being successful, but then I remembered something. A picture speaks a thousand words right? So, I am going to show you a few pictures that will tell you all you need to know about the initiative. And you are going to love the pictures. You know why? It is because they have been clicked by the children in the orphanage themselves. They were so fascinated by my camera that all of them wanted to learn how to operate it. I managed to teach a few of them and I will definitely return next week to teach them a little more. J
Enjoy the photographs!

After saying a prayer, thanking God for the food they are going to eat, their meal is served. It is simple dal, roti, rice and sabji but it is much better than what these children have to eat daily; chilly powder in some water and chapattis.

 

Omkar wanted to click the photograph of his friend and he ran to fetch him and made him pose just the way he wanted.
These two beautiful girls are best friends.

 

 

 

After their lunch, the children are taught basic English

 

 

And then it is time for some fun
This time around they learnt to make Origami frogs, a present for all those who skipped their meals.

 

He barged in the middle of our mini photoshoot, but Daulat, the young man behind the camera loved this shot so much that he begged me not to delete it.

 

Time for these young ones to show their dance moves

 

Laxmi and her friend pose for one last photograph before they bid goodbye to us.

 

Skip a Meal truly is a wonderful initiative, isn’t it? And you can help it grow.

Shower some social media love by sharing this initiative across social media platforms

Reblog this post so that it can reach maximum people

And if you would like to donate for this cause, sponsor a child’s education or buy some essential things for the children, do send an email at skipameal2014@gmail.com or send an email to me at kbmotihar@gmail.com and I will put you in touch with the people concerned. 🙂

10 step journey from Hate to Love

Indo Pak relations, for me, was a topic that belonged to the textbooks. I never gave any thought to it, apart from rolling my eyes when there were any talks of “peace”. Why? I guess it was because I was told terrible stories about the Partition. My relatives had suffered during those days. Mention Pakistan and they would either get nostalgic and start telling me wonderful stories of their childhood in Sindh or would get anguished, with tears in their eyes.

I remember once as a part of my college project, I had spoken to my aunt about Pakistan. She started off with a smile describing their house, the fruits that grew in the garden, the weather, the kulfi wala who would give them extra malai and so many wonderful things. But soon, I could see anger flashing in her eyes. She was just 12 when Partition took place and within a week, she had to run away from her house in the middle of the night with a few possessions that she could hold in her tiny hands. She still regrets the fact that she did not get a chance to say goodbye to her friends. Life in India for refugees was difficult, but slowly things started changing for the better and my aunt and her family managed to settle down in Mumbai.

These stories and little nuggets of information that I came across throughout the years actually shaped my outlook towards our neighborus. I looked upon them with suspicion, convinced that they were all the “bad guys” and we, i.e. India were the “good guys’.

It is funny how little things can completely change your perspective. For me, it was the Zindagi Indiblogger meet.

I had come across the channel before when it was running test signals and the content seemed interesting. The language, surprisingly was beautiful. It was only when I got an email from Indiblogger that I realized that Zindagi was a new channel that would air Pakistani content.  I must admit I was intrigued. 
And it was this curiousity that made me cancel my tickets, beg the travel agency to give me tickets for the 21st (yes, the day of the meet) after 8 in the evening and convince my parents to let me attend it. Did I regret my decision? You will find out soon enough.

On 21st, I left for The Leela with my pretty friend Nithya (You will see her photo soon enough) in the Metro. Boy was I excited.

 After filling our tummies with wonderful food, Nithya and I, along with our new blogger friends entered the ballroom, waiting in anticipation for the meet to begin.
 


To my delight, I realized that the Indiblogger team had done something magical. The Mumbai and Delhi meets were going to be hosted live and we could see and hear each other. Truly a #JodeyDilonKo idea!
These are the awesome technicians who made this possible!



As excited I was about the meet, let me be truthful. I wasn’t going to forgive Pakistan so easily. I still had a little bit of hatred in me. It was in this meet that I began my 10 step journey from hatred to love.

Step 1: Making an attempt to hear the other side
I had taken a small step towards trying to understand Pakistan’s culture by attending this meet.

Step 2: Keeping an open mind
Hatred won’t get you anywhere, an open mind and willing ears will take on a true part of self discovery

Step 3: No scoffing
The minute I saw Imran Abbas enter, I thought, ‘Here’s another pretty boy trying to promote his films” But I was so wrong!



Step 4: Admitting that you could be wrong
When I heard Imran talk so passionately about his country, patiently answering all the questions and trying hard to make us realize that there was no difference between us really, I realized that my hatred was unfounded.

Step 5: Opening up to new ideas
A close mind can only increase hatred, an open mind can bring in some wonderful ideas; like what Zindagi is doing. They are trying to bring two countries together through the medium of television.

Step 6: Taking baby steps
A problem as complex as Indo Pak relations can hardly be solved over a blogging meet. However, taking baby steps in the right direction is essential in the hope that one day, all will be well.

Step 7: Embracing each other’s thoughts, values and culture
The TVC’s of the shows made me realize how similar and how different our cultures are! It was an eye opener. The forum discussion towards the end was wonderful and I got to know many new things.



Step 8: Letting love germinate
Once I was past my silly hatred, I could not help but admire Pakistan’s beauty, its language and its culture.  
Step 9: Realizing that we are just separated by an imaginary line
When a few bloggers got up to speak about their experiences in Lahore and Karachi, I was touched. Their stories made me realize that the two countries don’t hate each other. They are just separated because of the selfish political interests.

Step 10: Love can conquer all
At the end of the meet, I was brimming with joy. I could now finally love my neighbours, without feeling guilty. This meet proved that love can truly conquer all. 

I forgot tell you about my most favourite moment! All the bloggers singing Happy Birthday for our blogger friend! You can look at her beaming face on the screen. 🙂

If I have to sum up my entire experience, I would probably depict it this way J


Here’s a little information about them. 

Starting June 23, Zindagi will bring viewers in India stories from across the border, starting with stories from Pakistan that embrace universal emotion.

Entertainment is seamless as it cuts across boundaries and across all strata of society. With the message of ‘Jodey Dilon Ko’, Zindagi will touch hearts and break barriers to relate with people living across borders.

With a variety of shows, written by award-winning novelists, literary stalwarts and adapted from famous novels and books, Zindagi aims to showcase stories of those from across the world that share similar cultural backgrounds, morals and values that are also intrinsic to India.

Its philosophy is “Vasudhaiva Kutumbukam- The World is my Family” and aims to united people in India and across the world with shows produced overseas.


This post has been written as a part of a contest hosted by Indiblogger and Zindagi. For more information, you can check out zindagitv.in