Month / May 2016

by Surbhi

Living in the grave!

Another tear went down her cheeks as she remembered him holding her hands, sitting below the same tree that was offering her shade now. Rosa got up and began walking slowly. She reached the same rose plant where they both have clicked her favorite photo. Another tear. Wiping it down, she walked forward and saw the swing where she used to hear her own loud laughs as he pushed the swing higher and higher. There rolled another of her precious glowing tear. She knew, this place which is full of so many bright colors was also the same frightening dark place which she dreamt of every night. And still she came here every day, to relive those moments of her lost relationship which only gave her pain and sadness now. The anxiety of who will hold her hands was increasing at a monstrous rate. But today something different happened she heard a little girl calling her mother, “Mummy..Mummy…come here…look what I found…come quickly!”. The excitement of girl’s voice even pulled Rosa towards her and she began following the little girl unconsciously.

The path was new to her. Densely covered with trees and plants, the atmosphere has some amazing fragrance in it. Rosa started feeling relieved as she walked deeper and deeper. The nature was at its best here. There were thousands of colorful flowers, wild fruits and beautiful birds chirping merrily as if welcoming Rosa with their song. Happiness started blooming in her heart and so did excitement. The girl and her mother had disappeared, probably Rosa outpaced them unknowingly. Every step brought with itself amusement. Though the path became little difficult but there was no stop to the beauty it depicted. And finally the denseness of trees reduced and brightness increased as sun-rays fell over her body. There in front was an amazingly magical little pond with divine blue water and pink lotuses dancing. Taking a long breath of fresh air she felt as if she has never been so free ever.

She stood there gazing around at the beauty for a long time. As she touched her cheeks, she felt the moistness of tears that was still there. She was reminded of the dark place. She turned around to look at the path from where she came. And to her amusement she saw two hazy figures standing beside a stoned structure. She took few steps and the picture became clearer to her. The two figures were the same mother and daughter that she has lost in the path and the structure was a grave! Grave a symbol of sadness and pain that she had just came from. She looked back at the pond and again felt the same childish excitement. Looking at the pond, she gave a smile that portrayed her gratitude and happiness. She began moving towards it!

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by Surbhi

Have frequent No Make-up Days!

Yes! You heard me right! I know you all must have expected some make-up tips here, but today let us talk about benefits of going make-up free! Don’t worry, for I will be giving you those too, but for that you need to keep following me. 😉 Many of you might even fear it the most, but believe me it is not so difficult to have those no make-up days! And I really believe, it is quite useful not only to prevent your skin from ageing and staying young for a long time but also has some positive effects on your mental health too! These days should be followed as often as you can. And besides ‘My Dear Women’, you don’t need to wear makeup to look beautiful! God has designed women beautiful in a natural way! However, to push you through your hesitation, I am presenting you with some of the amazing reasons behind the theory.

1) Your skin is a living organ. Just Imagine yourself fully covered up in tight fitting clothes daily. The thought itself brings sweaty feeling to us. Even if we wear such cloths for a day, the first thing that we want after getting home, is to remove them and move in shorts or sweatpants. The same thing happens when you apply the multilayer makeup products on your skin. Your skin has pores through which it breathes in and when you apply your makeup, these pores get blocked and your skin simply won’t be able to breath. As a result, it will become dull day by day. If your makeup is not removed properly or kept for long time, it may seep in through your pores and may cause acnes and pimples.

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Also, many of your popular beauty products contains chemicals and toxins which are harmful for your skin. These toxins will cause your skin to age faster, and blemishes and dark spots may appear rapidly. This may also cause wrinkles on your skin. Just like you need break from those formal weekdays and want to wear casual comfortable clothes on holidays, grant your skin with these holidays too, by keeping them free from any make-up.

2) You will be saving loads of money! It may sound quite a materialistic reason, but according to me it is a vital reason too! If you are a woman who does makeup, you must be knowing what a hell amount of money the quality products costs. And it is not at all safe to buy some cheap low quality one for your skins. Start calculating on how much you have spent in the previous year on cosmetics and you will readily agree it is quite a lot! You can probably spend this money on something more useful and beneficial.

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3) Natural is always beautiful. Nobody can decline this. You may look more glamorous on wearing the makeup, but remember that natural will always be more sexy, more fresh and most importantly it will be more you! And to boost it, the natural look is the new trend that is catching up its pace very fast. So why not to participate in the trend which is also more beneficial to your skin? And you will really be pleased by the compliments you get, since you know that was not for the fake you but for the real you!

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4) You will have more time to yourself, if you really dump this routine of yours! Makeup is not a quick paced regimen. And sometimes it takes a very long time, especially when you really have to get ready quickly. It may make you run late with your appointments as well. How frustrating it feels when you can’t match the foundation color to your skin color or when you simply don’t find a perfect lip color to go with your dress! You can use this time of yours to do something more productive. And what more will you want, then to have that time for your exercise or that leisure time just for admiring the nature. And for me the most irritating part is to remove the makeup at night when I am feeling damn sleepy. Think girls… you can have those extra minutes to sleep in mornings!

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5) You will start loving yourselves with all the flaws. This is very important for every woman. If you love and respect your body and look, then you will be at peace with yourself and there will be more happiness and satisfaction in your life. Obviously it means flashing your flaws but slowly you yourself will admire the beauty of your natural face and so will others. And its really true that men do admire women with natural looks. Slowly, it will boost up your confidence to a much higher level. And some or the other day people will catch you without makeup, so why to hide your beautiful face now?

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6) You can roam worry free. Yes, it is my personal experience that whenever I go out with makeup on my face, I am ever the more conscious about it. I tend to worry a lot like ‘has my lipstick spread’, or ‘has my Kajal smudged’, or ‘is sweat ruining my complexion’ and many more. It is most irritating when I go out for dinners or lunch parties and I usually find my lipstick spread on my teeth after eating! Just go makeup free once and see the difference on how much more you will be able to enjoy!

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Hope I have inspired you enough to pick up this lovely habit of going makeup free few times each week of your life!

 

 

by Surbhi

Keep your cup empty!

Raven stopped by her desk. It was already one hour past the leaving time. Florence was hurriedly pouring down her thoughts in form of words, answering a question asked at her blog forum. Looking at her, Raven said mockingly “ Hey still working? Come on Florence, we all know you are the best person for the age old technology our bank works on! It is never gonna be changed. We are not at some International ABC Bank that we need to be make ourselves a supertech! Why do you waste your time exploring these different technologies and what does this blog of your serves? Give it a think-over, you can always enjoy that time of yours partying with us” he winked and smiled. And before Florence could think of an answer, he took his jacket and went out of the door whistling carefree! She gazed at him till he disappeared from the corridor.

Re-visualizing what just happened she laid back on the chair and started thinking what would she have answered him. A small doubt started blooming in her mind but before it could take its monstrous form, her phone rang. She picked up the phone unwantedly and answered “Hello”. Suddenly the voice of the lady grabbed her attention, the words coming out were making some very unexpected sense. “Hello Florence, this call is regarding an opportunity at an International ABC Bank. We consider your profile to be very suitable for an opening of Technical Head. In-fact our manager seems to be quite impressed by your knowledge and technical expertise! Would you be interested?” Her automatic reaction was “Yes, yes of course. I.. I would be glad.!” Sensing a very positive excitement, the lady at the other side gave a slight motivating laugh and then said “So let us meet tomorrow at 10 am at our office in ……” Florence unconsciously interrupted her and said with a childish excitement “I know..I know the address”. She was trembling and short smiles bursted on her face.

But something amused her and so she asked “Out of curiosity, if you could just tell me, that how did you shortlist me, as I never have even uploaded my profile on any job portal.” And Florence was astounded by the answer the lady gave, “Our manager is an ardent follower of your blog and so am I! Its very enlightening!”. The rest of the words faded, as her face brightened up with a wide smile, a smile of happiness, a smile of relief that all her doubts were put to rest. She felt pride, that she always had for herself internally. Pride for what she was doing, ‘Keeping her cup always empty’!

Empty cup

by Surbhi

The Death Bed Test!

Lying on his luxurious Mahogany bed, Rupert Stewman was in a rewind mode. Memories of his entire life flashed by, as he judged himself in each of them. It was as if he was evaluating his life, trying to feel a certain kind of satisfaction and pride in what he did. Unfortunately none of those feelings were coming to him. He stopped closed his eyes and then again opened them and began looking at his castle like house, his beautiful bedroom, the silver glass of water, the nurse sitting on the sofa reading a magazine and tries hard this time to feel happy. Again, an unsuccessful attempt! Their was a knock on the door and a man with muddy clothes and some chalk dust on his face entered the room. His looks suggested otherwise, with a royal touch to them. But there was something different on his face, bright glow, an immense calmness and a an enlightening satisfaction!

He came near to the bed and asked him, “How are you now father?”. Rupert looked him, it was his son David and instead of answering he closed his eyes. He thought of that day and each day when he had insulted his own son and labelled him ‘A useless’. He had never approved of his son dedicating his life to slum children and not working for his vast empire. He looked at the same glowing and content face of his son everyday, but never did he realize what today he understood. He opened his eyes and said, “Son I may not be there tomorrow when you come to meet me, but I want to say that I am proud of you. You did attain the secret to happiness at a much younger age as compared to me who just realized it on my deathbed!” The words sounded confusing to David first but after few seconds his eyes were full of tears!

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by Surbhi

A Kaurava who fought for Pandavas!

This is a story lesser known but the one that sets high morals. And the hero of the story: ‘Yuyutsu’! Many of you might not even have heard of this name, but he was the only Kaurava who survived the war of Kurukshetra! But if all 100 sons of Dhritarashtra died then who was Yuyutsu? Wondering, right? He was too, the son of Dhritrashtra but not from the Queen Gandhari but from a Vaishya dasi Sugadha!

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It all started when Gandhari was facing problems related to pregnancy and couldn’t give Dhritrashtra sons even after 2 years passed when sage Vyasya gave her boon that she will give birth to 100 sons! Fearing that he might not ever have his heir through Gandhari he produced a son through Sugadha. However, he was born on the same day as Duryodhana and younger to him but elser to all the other sons of Gandhari.

Being the son of a dasi, he was never respected and always insulted by all his half brothers. And may be, this is why his name is not known much nor does it find much of a mention in the epic. Evil being always brewing inside the Kaurava clan, Yuyutsu was the only one who paid a conscious attention to remain aloof of it, while none of his other brothers gave way to their inner calling! He chose not to follow the path of evil practices as his brothers.

He was a righteous man and an intelligent one too! He knew that Kauravas have no chance in front of Pandavas in the war of Kurukshetra. And as it was said, that everybody would have freedom to chose the sides in Mahabharata he chose Pandavas side. But he didn’t let it in open to Kauravas and passed on the information of their wicked plots and strategies to Pandavas. Infact he even saved Bhima’s life by informing Pandavas that Duryodhana planned to poison the water.

He was a smart one and sided with Pandavas just before the Kurukshetra war was to begin. And thus, he was the only Kaurava who stayed alive after the Mahabharata war. Also his rightful conduct made him the supervisor of Hastinapur as Pandavas retired and Krishna left earth. This is the story of Yuyutsu, the only Kaurava who fought for Pandavas!

 

by Surbhi

Sshhh….Marilyn is whispering her beauty secrets!

Every beauty aspiring girl have at least once looked, at the famous Marilyn’s flying skirt vintage photo and had dreamed of having such an iconic beauty. You must have too! Marilyn Monroe is and will always be one of the most awe-inspiring beauties in the world. A lot of it came from her undefied confidence and boldness, but there were some really amazing beauty secrets, that kept awake many men for nights during her raging times and even now! She was idolised then and will always be remembered for her timeless beauty! I am a big fan of hers and always aspired to achieve her beauty, but beauty is part of your personality, you inner strengths and your very human nature that is hard to copy! What I managed was to gather her magical beauty tips for our outer beauty. And alas, they are super easy and super effective! I am spilling them out for you my lady loves. Try to adopt them in your beauty regimen because if though you all may not trust me, at least you trust Marilyn’s beauty right? Even though let me encourage you first….

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Now, are you all ready to hear her beauty secrets, of course you will be! Let us start:

1) You must have noticed the glow on her skin, which made her suddenly distinctive from all others. She is actually famed and revered for this radiant glow on her face. What was the secret behind this? Well a really simple idea, she used a hormone cream! Yes, she used to apply PHelityl Cream on her face. And then she used to put another layer of powder foundation on top of it. This was the formula behind her shining face. You can achieve it too, but with a much simpler and more healthier way of mixing a pearlescent primer and a liquid foundation and then applying it on your face!

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2) Her eyes makeup was really elemental in enhancing her beauty. Marilyn used an unusual way of making her eyes more attractive. It was later known to be her trademark idea. She used her signature style of a double cat eye accentuated with white eyeliner. She applied a white pencil liner to her inner eye water line! How simple!

3) She was a sleeping beauty. Yes, she truly believed that sleep do wonders to the skin. And this is even what I myself has experienced. The first thing she did was to cleanse her face with simple hot water before going to bed. She loved to sleep in a extra large bed under a big heavy comforter for at least between 5-10 hours and even some extra hours on holidays.

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4) She loved Vaseline! Yes, she considered Vaseline to be an ultimate moisturiser for her skin and never ever forgot to apply the first thing on her face before applying any other makeup! It not only formed the base of her makeup, but she also used it to highlight her cheekbones and brow bones.

5) She had a fad for sparkling eye lids! She believed it to be a way of making her eyes more sexy. She applied a little dab of vaseline or even a worked them up with drops of coconut oil to make them look shimmering. And I love this trick too! It really give your lids a wet finish look.

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6) She maintained her body figure by adopting to weight training regimen. This enabled her to stay fit and in perfect shape. She also preferred a high protein diet. She used to drink hot milk with two raw eggs whipped into it, as her morning breakfast! You can do it too gals, for that perfect body!

7) She loved puffed and fuller lips! And to make them appear so, she would ask her makeup artist to apply at least 5 shades of lipsticks. She preferred darker shades on the outer corners and lighter shades hued up on the middle of the lips. She would then have a gloss put up on them, at last. And what wonderful effect did this trick of hers created. Have a look…

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Isn’t she perfectly beautiful woman? And we all love her not only for her beauty, but for her acting skills, the dream she showed to thousands of women then, to have self confidence and self esteem. She is an empowering woman idol for all of us. And we can at the very least try her experienced beauty tips! So are you ready for becoming the next beauty queen with these simple tips?

by Surbhi

The Truth behind the Shrewd

Shakuni

Sometimes he is called the mastermind of Kurukshetra, sometimes he is refereed as the villain of Mahabharata, he is Shakuni. Famously called Shakuni Mama. But this extremely intelligent and wicked man has a gruelling history behind him which explains a lot about his behaviour and strategic formulations. Though a devilish mind he has his reasons to carve out the entire Mahabharata by brain feeding his nephew Duryodhana. Let us get today deep into his interesting and a rarely heard story.

Shakuni was born to the King Subala of Gandhara. He had 100 brothers and was the youngest amongst them. His sister who later went on to become wife of Dhritarashtra had some Dosha or fault in her Marriage Kundli. It was said that whoever she would marry first will die after the marriage. And so she was married to a goat first which was sacrificed after. Later when Bhishma Pitamah brought the proposal of Dhritrashtra for her, she got married to him. However Shakuni never approved of the marriage of her sister to a blind king and was angry with Bhishma Pitamah for bringing such a proposal.

The fact that Gandhari was first married to a goat and was a widow came to light before Dhritarashtra after marriage. He could not take on the fact that he was her second husband and decided to punish the Gandhari’s family. He imprisoned her entire family along with the King Subala and starved them gradually. With a very meagre diet each of them knew that none of them would be able to survive long. And so they decided to give each of their portions of meal to their youngest brother brother Shakuni so that he could survive to take their revenge. Also to ensure that he didn’t forget the avenge he twisted Shakuni’s leg and we still remember his famous limping walk. The King requested Dhritrashtra to let go Shakuni and promised him that he would be taking care of his sons, The Kauravas. Dhritrashtra took pity and saved Shakuni.

Shakuni had also prepared a dice using the bones of his father and it is said that this Dice had magical abilities as his father’s soul resided in it. The same Dice was later used by shakuni to win the game with Pandavas. He never forgot to take a revenge and every moment he was with Dhritarashtra’s sons, he tried to gain their trust. Eventually he became their confidante. He instilled hatred and anger for Pandavas in Kaurava’s mind. He constantly brainwashed Duryodhana and prepared the Kauravas to fight against Pandavas knowing that Kauravas would never be able to win the battle and would vanish in the war. And we all know for what happened in the war of Kurukshetra. Shakuni even on the losing side emerged successful in taking his revenge.

by Surbhi

A silent Witness

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‘A silent witness’, he is called despite being the most powerful one of the era. One of the most lesser known legend of Mahabharata epic, he is Barbarik. Born to Ghatotkacha and grandson of the great Bhima, he was destined to become a great warrior. Lord Shiva had blessed this brave fighter with three infallible arrows and a special bow was granted to him by Lord Agni Dev. The first arrow had power to mark all the objects that Barbarik wanted to be destroyed. The second arrow was supposed to mark all the objects that Barbarik wanted to be saved.The third arrow then was used to destroy all the objects marked by the first arrow. In this way, Barbarik was considered to be almost unbeatable. Mahabharata being on verge of starting, he expressed his keen desire to her mother to let him watch the battle of Mahabharata. Her mother granted her the permission but took a promise from him that if he ever felt a urge to fight in the battle, he would have to do so from the weaker side of the battle. He agreed to it.

Knowing of his special powers, Lord Krishna became interested in knowing the reality. He met Barbarik in form of a Brahmin. He asked him the question as to in how many days he can finish the battle. To this, his reply was that he can do it within one minute with the help of just three arrows and a bow. Mocking him, Lord Krishna asked him to display his strength by tying all the leaves of the tree nearby. As Barbarik started meditating,Krishna plucked a leaf and hid it under his legs. Unknown of this fact as Barbarik released his first arrow, it marked all the leaves and began revolving around the leg of Lord Krishna. As he lifted his leg the arrow marked the remaining last leaf as well. Seeing this Lord Krishna was astonished. He asked him as to which side of the battle he planning to fight. Barbarik answered that he is thinking of fighting the war from Pandavas side as their army is smaller than Kauravas and he has pledged to fight from the weaker side.

As the reality dawned upon Krishna, he understood that if Barbarik joined Pandavas, the Kauravas will become weaker as Barbarik is a great warrior and then he would have to turn to Kauravas side to fight the battle and in this way he would simply be oscillating between both the sides till he destroys everyone and is left alone. He tells this consequence to Barbarik and asks his head in charity in order to bar him from getting engaged in the war. To which Barbarik agreed but also expressed his great desire to watch the greatest of the battle.Listening to this Krishna agreed to place Barbarik’s head on top of the mountain that overlooked the battlefield. And so he witnessed the entire battle and is thus called as ‘A silent Witness’!

by Surbhi

Look for Higher Purpose!

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Placing each finger after a long pause, Raven was thinking, when would the last hour pass. After every word he glanced at the clock. Finally switching off the screen, he laid back on chair and thought ‘Anyways I am going to get salary. There can be no work as uninteresting and meaningless as this!’ Suddenly he saw his manager entering the floor, and number of people dressed in country styled clothes, each carrying boxes, followed him. He jumped in his chair and switched on the screen, pretending to work. The Manager clapped and all heads turned towards him. The silence roared as everyone looked with curiosity towards the strangers. The manager then said aloud with a wide grin “Hey all from Agri-Help App Development team, here are your delighted customers, our very own farmers. They have come here to thank all of you for providing them with such a useful app. Please accept there small gifts of fruits fresh from their farms.” Raven looked with eyes wide open as one of the farmers reached him and gave him the fruit box. The expression of gratitude on the farmer’s face astonished Raven and then slowly, a vivacious bright smile spread on Raven’s face, as if he just now attained enlightenment!

by Surbhi

Where is Happiness??

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Florence was sitting on a layback, looking towards the ceiling! Events she covered today flashed one by one. Feeling depressed she closed her eyes. Her heart refrained her from writing those awful and disgusting stories of violence and inhumanity. But time was ticking, she will be getting a call in 2 hours to remind of the editorial deadline. She switched on her notebook and started surfing today’s events to select one. ‘A gang rape, A drug abuse victim, A bank robbery…..and then a loud sound of beep, already feeling frustrated she turned to her phone readily. It was a tweet alert. She gazed at those 140 characters that were forming a magical sentence. A wide smile spread across her face. A smile which seemed to be portraying a sense of relief and happiness. She immediately started typing ‘Not GDP, but Happiness! UAE appoints its first minister of Happiness.’ And she thought out loud, “Maybe I should put in a Job Opening request for a ‘Feel Good Content Writer’ too!”