Munni of all Trades

Award winning Lifestyle and Travel Blog by Khushboo Motihar

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Get Set BOLT!

I got an opportunity to visit the Bolt arena in Phoenix Kurla and I was really excited to check out Tata Motor’s latest offering, Bolt! J

 

Five features that really excited me were:

    It has three exciting aspects of DriveNext, DesignNext and ConnectNext which are unique for a car at this price point.

    It is very spacious and you have an option to completely close down the back seat to make way for your luggage.

    Bolt has collaborated with MapMyIndia to give the car state of the art GPS navigation facility.

    It is equipped with, the top-of-the-line airbags and ABS with EBD and CSC as standard.

    And its engine, well it it is too good to be true. A Revotron 1.2-litre turbocharged Multi-point Fuel Injection (MPFi)that has three different modes, Sports, City and Eco.

 

It comes in a petrol and diesel variant as well in five colour options, namely, venetian red, pristine white, platinum silver, dune beige, and sky grey.

What I loved about this car that it is perfect for a family outing and yet it is stylish enough that you can drive it to your office with pride. It is priced reasonably and has great financing options, too.

 

The seats are really comfortable and I think both the driver and the passengers will definitely enjoy a relaxing ride.

 

 

 

 

 

The Bolt has been created keeping you and me in mind. We all have different modes don’t we? An angry mode where we drive a little carefully so that we don’t ram into someone. A happy mode where all we want to do is go as fast as we want and an environment friendly mode where we want to do our bit for the nature by not wasting fuel. It has all this and more!

I admit, I failed in science in school and I don’t know what is horsepower. But what I do know is that Bolt is really fast, yes as fast as its namesake, Usain Bolt. The minute I opened the window, I could hear the wind whistle at the car (Bolt is pretty, isn’t she)

It was lovely going through the features of Bolt with the team who was happy to assist. They had some cool games going on in the arena, too and I must say that the atmosphere was upbeat and fun. Tata Bolt is an amazing car and I am sure you agree. 

Omved Protective Face Moisturiser Review

Today I am going to introduce you to a brand whose products I had never used until I started using the Omved Protective Face Moisturizer couple of weeks back.

About the product:
Omved Protective Face Moisturiser is an emollient that keeps your face supple and moisturised. Use regularly to protect sun-damaged skin and reduce age spots and scars.
Ingredients
DM water, avocado oil, almond oil, glycerin, jojoba oil, salicyclic acid, ashwagandha oil, oils of lavender, yland ylang, jasmine, sodium benzoate, glyceryl stearate and cetyl alcohol. The best part is that it has no parabens, sulfates, silicones, petrochemicals, glycols, phthalates, synthetic colours or perfumes

Price: Rs 790 for 100 ml. 

My review
In the last few months I am trying to make a conscious effort to use natural products and I was really pleased to receive Omved Protective Face Moisturizer for review.
The moisturizer comes in a pump style bottle that is easy to use. It is white in colour and its fragrance is beautiful. Omved does not use synthetic fragrances and this is definitely good to know. The moisturizer is very light and it absorbs really quickly. I was really impressed with its lasting power, too. You will have to reapply the moisturizer only after 6 to 7 hours, which I think is great.
One grouse that I have with products that are meant for normal to dry skin is that they tend to make the skin very greasy. But I am happy to report that it is not the case with Omved Protective Face Moisturizer.
Pros
Love the fragrance
Easy to use pump style bottle
Non greasy formula that absorbs quickly
Travel friendly
100% natural
Cons
None come to mind J
Overall verdict: Omved Protective Face Moisturizer is one product that is going to permanently feature on my dressing table.
Have you used any Omved products? What has your experience been like?

#KhudKoKarBuland with Aditya Birla Insurance

I have always been the wildest child in my family; never following the rules and raising hell whenever I got an opportunity. I was always a free spirit who loved to live today and not worry about tomorrow. But things changed a few years back. I had got admission in my dream college but the fee was too high. I could’ve opted for a student loan but I did not want to get into a debt. I stayed up many a night kicking myself mentally for not saving up when I could have.
After thinking for over a month, I made a difficult decision. I would work for a year, save up and try and pass the entrance exam once again. March came and so did my birthday. Every year, my parents would present me with beautiful; a book, a pretty dress or my favourite chocolates. But that year they did something different. They gave me an envelope. I slit it open to read the contents of the papers and after reading the first few lines, I could not help but cry.
They had secured the admission in the college of my dreams long time back. After hugging both of my parents and calling my friends to give them the good news, I sat down to speak to them.
My father spoke up, “Khushboo I believe that our destiny is in our own hands and I always believe in saving for a rainy day. Over the years, I have sacrificed little pleasures of life to set up an education fund for you and your sister.”
My mom said, “We wanted you to realize the importance of planning ahead in life so that you can fulfill all your dreams and that is why; we let you mull over for a month. Now, we know that you have learnt your lesson”
That is when I realized that one can achieve great heights only when one meticulously plans and saves for the future. Aditya Birla Insurance talks about this wonderful concept in the ad that I have showcased at the beginning of the post.
 
 
People can go forth fearlessly when they truly believe in #KhudKoKarBuland

 

Book Review: Orphans of the Storm

The stories of the Kashmiri Pundits have been told by many, yet very few have been able to capture their pain and their agony. Orphans of the Storm makes an attempt, too. But how successful has the author, Ravi Dhar, been in portraying their lives. We will find out soon enough; but before we continue, let’s get to know the book better.

About Orphans of the Storm
A novel about a boy who finds his family completely devastated by the outbreak of militancy in Kashmir valley. It’s about his efforts to support his father’s efforts to eke out a living in the ‘migrant’ camps of Jammu and to educate himself. In the inhospitable environment of Jammu, though he succeeds in earning a Master’s degree in English, he sees no hope of settlement. 

He gets selected as a Lecturer in English in Nagaland University, where he falls in love in the midst of an overwhelming environment of political intrigue and racial conflict. The abrupt end of this love affair hits him hard. But as if this was not enough, he gets isolated in the campus politics that views him with suspicion for proximity to both the groups of faculty. The murder of the Dean draws him into a shell. Life begins to smile yet again when he completes his doctoral thesis and happens to travel together with his future wife from Nagaland to Delhi. The breakdown of the train by which they are travelling gives them the time to come close and by the time they are travelling back from home, the bond between them is already sealed.
My Review
Orphans of the Storm is the story of Sidhhart, the youngest boy of Nund Pundit family, whose family is destroyed one fateful night forcing them to leave their village and become migrants in Jammu. They are treated like second citizens in their own country and are not even given basic facilities for survival. Siddhart, who once carefree, is now burdened with the responsibility of his family. Years pass and Siddhart develops a keen interest in literature that takes him to Nagaland.
This book tries to talk about the pain of the Kashmiri Pundits, their suffering and the author also talks about life. Though the story is well written, the editing could have been better. There are many instances where poor grammar disrupts the flow of the story. Also, in certain instances, the changes appear to be very sudden.  Initially, it is difficult to make sense of the characters that are being introduced continually but one gets used to them as the book proceeds.
Better editing and a crisp storyline would have made Orphans of the Storm a much better read.

Simply Complicated: Book Review

Today I am going to review Shreya Prabhu Jindal’s Simply Complicated. As always, before we dive into the book review, let’s get to know a brief synopsis of the book.
About Simply Complicated
Simply Complicated is a story that revolves around the lives of five young adults, Aastha, Sameer, Rahul, Padmini and Karuna. Recently passed out of college, they have been working for a couple of years. All in an age group where life becomes confusing as they try to sort careers and personal lives, this story is majorly built around their relationships with each other. They all reside in Gurgaon and South Delhi.

My review
The books starts off with an incident where Aastha is molested in a pub, which leaves her shaken and scarred. The story that fast forwards to Aastha, Sameer, Rahul and Padmini’s present life where we see Aastha is still fighting her demons even as she tries to maintain a normal façade most of the times.
Rahul and Padmini, who are very much in love, have constant arguments as Sameer is trying to figure his next move especially, since Karuna’s parents have found the perfect match for her.
Out of all the five, Karuna and Sameer’s story seemed the most realistic. I could identify with Karuna’s problem of having overbearing parents who want their daughter to be the ‘perfect Indian girl’. Sameer came across as a good friend even if he wasn’t always the perfect boyfriend.
Aastha’s story on the other hand seemed a little too far stretched to me. Her constant interference in her friends life and adopting holier than thou attitude made me dislike her character. But on one level, my heart went out to her especially when she had one of her attacks in the middle of the night.
Rahul and Padmini seemed to be characters just out from a movie script and I was not really fond of their constant fights and then making up.
This is my opinion on individual personas but let tell you that when you intertwined all these characters together, the book definitely made an interesting read.
The group’s holiday in Goa is a major twist in the book as find that Aastha realizes that she has feelings for Sameer. Sameer on the other hand has reasons to believe that he has probably hurt Aastha and that their friendship will never be the same again.
I loved the fact that Shreya chose to give the book an open ending where one does not know whether Sameer and Aastha end up together or whether Rahul and Padmini decided to get married and live happily ever after.

The book is an easy read and a good time pass, I must day.