Saturday 25 June 2016

When Panasonic Made Me Have #FunWithFood

What?
An experience with Zero-Oil Cooking and some #FunWithFood



When?
Friday, June 24

Where?
Panasonic, Gurgaon

Who can possibly refuse an invite which proclaims to innovate in food and incorporate technology in a way that revolutionizes cooking from one of leaders in the electronics space? Thus, I found myself at the Panasonic office, situated in the premises of the Ambience Island, just yesterday.


We were made to proceed to the जल Room - the office had this nomenclature of the five elements - जल, वायु, पृथ्वी, अग्नि, आकाश.



After being introduced to the ideology behind Panasonic Cooking by the means of a couple of standees, the session begun with Ms. Anushka Guha, Product Manager (Microwave), Panasonic India tracing the origin and foothold of the firm over the global landscape, as well as its market share throughout.



 ~~~ 

The prevalent ideology over the years has been about everyone preferring wholesome eating without compromising on taste, but the key to healthy eating is low calorie and low cholesterol foods. Additionally, to combat some of today’s most hazardous lifestyle diseases like obesity, diabetes, stress, heart problems and high blood pressure, it becomes even more imperative to adopt healthy cooking solutions which allow for cooking, baking and grilling ‘oil free’ food.

Panasonic’s Zero Oil technology has come about as a result of extensive research and experimentation in Japan on popular Indian & International recipes, to develop dishes that are easy to make and delight the palate, as pointed out by Mr. Shigeto Yuasa, COO, Panasonic India. Zero Oil technology in Panasonic Microwave Ovens breaks the common hearsay - oil free cooking means boiled and bland food. Mr. Gaurav Minocha, Business Head (Home Appliances), Panasonic India was also present at the session.

Zero Oil cooking is then believed to be every health conscious household's quick-fix to guilt free meals.

The Auto Zero Oil Recipe menu offered in Panasonic Microwave ovens includes recipes like Creamy Pasta with Spinach, टोकरी चाट, Grilled Mushrooms, तंदूरी गोभी, हरयाली कबाब, Roasted Chicken Legs, Paneer Cutlets, Cottage Cheese and Celery Canapes, Tamarind Date Dip, Tomato Dip, आम पन्ना and many more.

 ~~~ 

Two of the Microwave Ovens and their internal machinery were put up for display helping us to visualize for ourselves, the various features elucidated verbally, namely





  • Dual Heating power, 
  • Duct Technology, 
  • Vapor Clean, 
  • Vertical Rotisserie,  
  • Ceramic turntable 




  • Panasonic India COO, Mr. Shigeto Yuasa was quick to remark: 

    "Basic concept of our cooking range is to  enrich cooking experience & make it healthier & smarter" 

    Mr. Gaurav Minocha, Business Head (Home Appliances), Panasonic India had also quipped at one point during the session: 

    "Our product won't keep your cake's core uncooked"

    The Zero Oil Range Of Models was shown while some other utilities being provided by the new product. 



     ~~~ 

    A descriptive comparison was also drawn between Zero Oil and Slim Fry or Diet Fry Techniques and LG models in a similar category to the newly launched product's. Priced at a nifty ₹10,000, this one is a deal to aim for. 


     ~~~ 

    As a befitting conclusion to the session, many of the delicacies prepared by Chef Singh were presented to the audience for sampling. All of them were sumptuous to say the least, as a considerable amount of pre-prep had gone into presenting those to us.



     ~~~ 

    Monday 20 June 2016

    Bangalore to Hyderabad Flights Account For Most Frequent Business Trips

    Bengaluru is the new name of Bangalore that is the capital of Karnataka. Karnataka is the southernmost state of India and is a major hub of high-tech business. It is among the busiest metro cities of India and is also popular for green-spaces, heavy traffic jams and nightlife. Bangalore to Hyderabad flights are among most frequent business and personal trips because of two prominent reasons. Many MNCs (Multi-National Companies) have offices in both the locations and their CXOs (top management executives) need to travel frequently for business meetings. Many executives working in any of the MNCs in the modern Hi-Tech city in Hyderabad belong to Bangalore and on the other hand many executives working in Bangalore are residents of Hyderabad. That way most of them would be traveling to their native place on weekends.

    If I am among these executives, I would definitely like to have a single portal on internet where I get all kind of relevant questions answered regarding Bangalore to Hyderabad Flights. And along with the important information at one place, what if I also get best of the deals in airline tickets? That is where I got hooked to this page for Bangalore to Hyderabad flights where not only I got all important queries answered but also found it fascinating in the aspect of offering great deals. Obviously if you are a frequent flyer, you would definitely love to grab deals that help you in saving you some money. But above all, getting right information is the most important factor in my opinion.

    There are two airline brands that fly from Bangalore to Hyderabad – JetLite and JetKonnect. JetLite has 21 weekly flights from Bangalore to Hyderabad and so has JetKonnect. That means there is a total of 42 flights in a week which itself speaks about the high volume of commuters that need to travel within these two business-oriented cities. There is a high demand of seats on these flights and at times people have to check for a seat in the subsequent flights if they don't get it in the flight of their choice. The first flight that leaves from Bangalore to Hyderabad is JetLite at 6.50 AM that suits well to the top level executives to yield a maximum productivity time during the day without any compromise with the official working hours. The last flight that leaves from Bangalore is JetLite at 9 PM.

    Airport code of Bangalore is BLR and that is Hyderabad is HYD. The new name for Bangalore airport is Bengaluru International Airport and the one in Hyderabad is known as Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. If you are seriously looking for economical Bangalore Hyderabad flights, then you must check the flight schedule and book your travel on Cleartrip.com to get the maximum benefit out of it. You get a large option of domestic airlines like JetLite and JetKonnect to suit your flight booking. As mentioned, the first flight from Bangalore to Hyderabad is at 6.50 AM and is JetLite S2 3801. The last flight that leaves Bangalore for Hyderabad at 9 PM is JetLite S2 3741. You will be delighted to find the best offers and deals for cheaper flights from BLR to HYD. 



    Following is the current schedule of Bangalore Hyderabad Flights:

    Bangalore-Hyderabad Flight Schedule



    Departure (Bangalore)   Arrival (Hyderabad)   Airlines   Days   Flight no.
    6:50 AM   8:25 AM   Jet Konnect   Daily   2801
                     
    6:50 AM   8:25 AM   JetLite   Daily   3801
                     
    5:10 PM   6:50 PM   JetLite   Su   3838
                     
    5:10 PM   6:50 PM   Jet Konnect   Su   2838
                     
    6:05 PM   7:15 PM   Jet Konnect   Daily   2744
                     
    6:05 PM   7:15 PM   JetLite   Daily   3744
                     
    9:00 PM   10:35 PM   JetLite   Tu, We, Th, Fr, Sa, Mo   3741
                     
    9:00 PM   10:35 PM   Jet Konnect   Tu, We, Th, Fr, Sa, Mo   2741


    Friday 3 June 2016

    Fun. Freedom. Confidence.

    Fun. Freedom. Confidence. The ultimate Urban Cross - Datsun redi-GO - the capability of a crossover with the convenience of a hatchback. If you love driving and seek fun while maneuvering on four wheels, I am sure you would be a speed lover. And if you add freedom and confidence to fun then probably the journey is all about speed, safety, confidence, highways, long routes, good company in the car, and so on. Why I chose highways is because whatever be the quality of car you drive, it is bound to go haywire in urban geographies. High amount of traffic, undisciplined driving, not following rules and regulations, congested and broken roads, etc. are some of the speed-breakers that mar your thrill, fun, and freedom. 

    What is left is the compelling situation that forces you to drive in such bonded conditions. These compelling conditions could be the location of your workplace, clients, relatives, etc. that you can't avoid despite your hatred towards these shabby conditions that you would like to avoid normally to stay healthy yourself, besides keeping your vehicle healthy. The tragic part is that cars manufactured in India are not perfectly made to cater to these poor conditions prevalent in urban areas. But what if you get a car that perfectly lives up to these conditions and promises to stay healthy and sturdy  on its own thereby offloading you with a burden of worries towards it? 

    That is when I came across the best companion Datsun Redi-Go that can help you beat your urban driving blues. This fascinating car is so feature-rich that I am craving to take this unique car out for a spin. I would like to test it within an urban landscape and what would be better than driving it in Delhi where it can pirouette on single lane roads and four-lane roads? It is a different story however, that even on multi-lane roads you see the left-side lanes being blocked due to encroachments and that too in a weird manner, more often than not. 



    I would love to test Datsun Redi-Go for mileage, speed, efficiency, safety, agility, performance, and power. If I have to select three top features of this car that make me want to take this unique car out for a spin, it would be: 

    I love to highlight safety as a top priority while driving. The Reinforced Crash Protection Shell feature is fabulous. It is a high-strength body shell for absorbing the impact towards passenger safety during any untoward incident. Its body structure is designed to provide optimized torsional rigidity and stiffness. It is UN94 crash-performance compliant. It has better frontal offset crash performance. This feature is powerful enough to provide you with a lot of confidence while you are driving your Datsun Redi-Go. All this makes it a safe, secure and reliable car. 


    The second feature that I loved is its Small Turning Radius that makes it perfect for a spin-off on urban roads that are always inconsistent in terms of lanes, size, condition etc. This feature will help me in tackling the abruptly parked vehicles on the road as its compact design provides the ultimate maneuverability This design makes it capable of a full turn-around with a mere 4.7 meter turning radius. 


    On urban roads where we have heterogeneous commuters and vehicles ranging from cycles and hand-pulled rickshaws to heavy carriage trucks, the feature christened High Stance comes in handy. The elevated or heightened stance on the unique, powerful, technically strong, and sturdy Datsun redi-Go will keep your head and shoulders above those around you. That will help you enjoying a wider view of the road and the surroundings.


    That is not the end. There are plenty of other such features that make Datsun redi-Go my first choice to beat the urban driving blues.  I would any day prefer swapping my Car with redi-GO given its best-in-class composition! :) 

    ~~~ 

    P.S.: All images attributed to Urban Cross - Datsun redi-GO.

    Wednesday 1 June 2016

    Of Swaps And #ShareTheLoad...

    Student life is full of curiosity. I too have been so, throughout my journey so far. Probably, this factor brought me to the Engineering stream where I am at the verge of completing my journey and stepping into the professional world to start a new journey. When I was too young I used to feel a lot for my mother who was a teacher by profession. She would wake up early in the morning, finish house chores, get ready, and rush to her school. On the way she would be planning so many things that she had to do after reaching home later in the day. On her way back she would again be recapitulating her agenda of the rest of the day, giving her plan a better shape putting timelines to each of her tasks in the agenda. I am sure her plans never reached completion as per the stipulated timelines because by the time she would reach home, there would be ten more unannounced, unarmed and unanticipated tasks waiting to be added in her task-list.

    #ShareTheLoad was not even in the air during those days in my family or society. Rather it was completely opposite. Men who would share the load of house chores with their wives would be criticized and mocked for performing the tasks that are meant only for women. Such was the gap between the genders as far as the home chores were concerned. And it was so wide that nobody would dare to fill this gap in such a biased atmosphere around. When I reached my secondary level studies I started feeling strongly about it. I decided to revolt against the system. After all, it was important to light a candle at home before making an effort to bring light to the society.

    It was fairly easy to take my brother in confidence. We decided to collaborate to bring a change at home in a big way. The plan was to change our father's mindset to break the barriers of inequality at home. We convinced Dad to swap places with Mom for two days and he agreed quite easily thinking her life would be fun for him. He used to boast a lot about how loaded he used to be at office and how his boss relied so much on him for all important tasks. He had an impression that Mom was not as loaded as him in spite of observing her doing all chores related to the house, each day. But those two days were more than enough for him to realize that his boasting about a loaded office was actually a fact at home too. He, and in fact, the whole family was completely reliant on Mom for every small or big thing at home. That day onward, Dad promised to bring a big change at home and #ShareTheLoad with Mom in every house chore. There’s been no looking back, ever since.

    ~~~



    I am taking part in the #ShareTheLoad Challenge with Ariel and Akshara at BlogAdda.

    Being The Change, To #ShareTheLoad...

    The task is to inculcate the message in the next generation. The message is about breaking the walls of inequality between the genders and sharing the load of life and house chores equally. For years, it has been about the woman of the house owning the responsibility encompassing all responsibilities within the four walls of the house. It has been all rooted in our senses, heart, blood, and mind that a man is not supposed to contribute in house work right since our childhood. That is what we are observing for last generations.

    Prevalent thought, men will become women if they do laundry, or cleaning of the house. And those who have guts to defy this thought have had to face taunts within the family, society, office, and where not about performing feminine tasks.

    Nobody bothered to break these barriers created around women. On one hand, the load of responsibilities kept weighing in on women. They were allowed to step outside, join office, earn, contribute to family income, work full time; but still the responsibilities inside the house remained with them. They had to manage it on their own without any help from men of the house. And it went on silently. Women never raised a voice against it. Those who dared to, were silenced. Even when kids of the house raised their voice against it they were silenced with a reason that it is what it is supposed to be like.

    Probably it had to be absorbed in the minds of those who felt it to be wrong. But for how long? Gradually the demon of inequality had been raised so high to a level that it became difficult to resist the abolition of gender inequality by people on the other side who were favoring this notion rather than opposing it.

    Being a teacher, I knew that the easiest way of doing a thing is 'doing' rather than preaching about it and wasting time. I started this chain of inculcating the message from my school, to my students itself. The benefit of starting from school was that at the same time, this thought-provoking message will reach many homes together. Even if it creates and impact in half of those homes, it will mean a lot.

    I started teaching my students about why they should not tolerate gender inequality at home and how to overcome it so subtly and positively that the tides are forced to change their direction on their own. The students understood it faster than my male colleagues at school. A number of relevant posters were made by my students to spread the word around. They even started this mission at their respective homes in their own small ways.

    These students started sharing their stories in school with me, on how they gradually offloaded this jinx out of their parent's minds. Raghu, my student in Class 7 told me that he helped his mother in washing the utensils last night. Vidya, my student in Class 9 told me how her brother amazed their parents the last evening and forced them to start thinking about breaking all the barriers when her father called her to clean the table and her brother did it despite her father telling him that it is not the job of the boys or men of the house. The impact was invincible when her father declared that now onward the laundry of the house was on him to #ShareTheLoad with her working mother.

    So many stories started pouring in day after day. Each one was accompanied by unique and amazing realizations. The ripple was strong enough to reach and impact the male colleagues who also ended up supporting the notion to #ShareTheLoad.

    ~~~



    I am taking part in the #ShareTheLoad Challenge with Ariel and Akshara at BlogAdda.