Mumbai Magic - The one with the Acrobat

While roaming around Colaba market on foot one morning, I came across two street performers putting on an acrobatic show. I wasn't surprised considering I'd seen several of those back in Delhi. The show usually unfolds thus. One of the performers beats a drum, calling out to people to come and watch the spectacle, while another (usually a small child) climbs up the pole and walks on a tight rope, often holding props. A collecting bowl is set out on the ground and onlookers are expected to drop in some money if they like what they see. The little girl whose performance I witnessed that morning was balancing little lamps stacked over her head and carrying a long pole in her hands, even as she balanced her weight perfectly on a rope suspended mid-air. The sight of a small child successfully pulling off such difficult antics was fascinating. And at the same time, distressing.

The girl most probably didn't go to school, since performing in the streets can't be just a weekend job. Being able to keep her balance on the tight rope while carrying numerous props must be a very hard job and must definitely take a toll on the child's physical health as well. Devoid of education and a secure environment to develop physically and psychologically, she was probably forced to perform in the streets in all weathers to earn a living for her family. Such a child is sure to define her worldview and the future course of her life within the confines of such a hapless existence. This inhibits the development of her overall personality and stops her from realizing her full potential in life. I couldn't help but feel really dispirited at the sight. Even greater was the weight of the realization that I could do nothing to help the child in that moment.

I spent some time thinking about the issue later. Spotting an injustice isn't difficult; you can most easily point out the various problems faced by the world and the people around you. But what about the solution? In this case, what are the alternatives in front of the street performer? Poverty and a general lack of sensitivity towards the developmental needs of a child are the major reasons that drive parents to make their children work. It is the responsibility of the parents, thus, to make all possible efforts towards their child's wellbeing and education. They could take up extra work to earn enough so that the child doesn't have to work. She could in turn be enrolled in a school or at the very least, a vocational training center so that she could learn to read, write and use her skills profitably. Essentially, promoting education and awareness are the only effective ways in which such children can be helped. I may sound like an idealist, but in fact I do understand the various constraints faced by the child's family, the government and the society at large in addressing this problem. However the solution ultimately lies in the willpower to act despite all odds, doesn't it?

I just wish the little girl finds a better life and happiness in her future. Meanwhile, I should probably conclude this more-serious-than-I-intended post and sign off for the night. Stay tuned for some more Mumbai Magic. You can find all the posts here.

Mumbai Magic - The one with the Monkeys

On one of our days in Mumbai, we decided to take a one-hour ferry ride to the famed Elephanta Caves. I was quite eager to visit the caves, having read so much about them in my art and history classes and their being a UNESCO World Heritage Site as well. Interestingly, friends and family in Delhi had discouraged me from wasting an entire day at the caves since they were just "broken stone statues and ruins, nothing of much interest". I guess appreciation of art isn't as commonly found in people as one would think it ought to be.

The ferry ride was delightful, with the endless Arabian Sea all around and seagulls racing with our boat as we headed to our destination. On reaching Elephanta island, a toy train transported us to the foot of the caves. From thereon up the hill, all I could see on both sides were endless troops of monkeys. Older monkeys, little infant monkeys, adolescent monkeys - it was a total riot. During the uphill climb it was a scary prospect for me to go anywhere near them, as my little experience with these primates in Delhi said one must not get too close to them or, heaven forbid, ever brandish one's camera in their faces. They'll lunge at it and before you know it, you'll be left camera-less and probably scratched at many places. So I kept my camera tightly clutched to my side and left the monkeys alone.

About half an hour into my exploration of the caves, however, I had a moment of enlightenment. These hapless inhabitants of Elephanta island were in fact totally harmless. They were too bored to even care to jump at you or try to scare you off of their young ones. They were all really calm and self-absorbed, the older ones single-mindedly picking lice off of each other and the little ones frolicking around. I went up close and clicked as many pictures as I liked without so much as a sideways glance from a single monkey. Needless to say I was surprised, but pleasantly so.

Mumma monkey feeding her child with corny treats.

This particular mother-child duo was taking turns at nibbling on an ear of corn. The way the mother monkey was so intently feeding her child was heartwarming and I stood there smiling at them for quite some time. Until, out of nowhere, a larger monkey jumps into view and starts staring hungrily at a guy who had just bought a roasted corn cob from a local seller and unfortunately hadn't had the good sense to walk away quickly with his corn still intact. The big bad monkey, clever as he was, snarls at him once, and the poor guy realizes his game is up and gives up on any hope of having his meal. The beast, knowing too well that he has succeeded in his intent, calmly walks over to the boy and snatches the corn from his hands. Left with nothing else to do, the guy looks at us with an embarrassed smile even as the clever monkey struts off into the woods to enjoy his spoils in peace. This was such a hilarious scene that I won't forget it for a long time to come.

Notice that look of utter satisfaction on the cunning ape's face?

Elephanta was definitely a great experience in its entirety, with the awe-inspiring sculptures, rock-cut architecture and sheer grandeur, but the most fun I had on that journey was in observing and clicking these cute primates rolling about all over the place. Their antics made for an enchanting sight and some wonderful photographic moments as well. I couldn't choose any one picture to accompany this blog post, so here are three of my favourites. Keep coming back for some more Mumbai Magic.

To catch all the posts in the series in one place, visit here.

Mumbai Magic - Here we go again!

A very happy new year, everyone!

I know I've been away for far too long to make an easy comeback. In the last one year, I have lived an entire lifetime staying in a hostel, giving countless number of exams, watching a lot of good movies, doing copious amounts of freelance writing and traveling extensively. And unlike last year, I refused to pull myself back this time round and made it a point to do whatever made me happy without pressuring myself too much. It was a tough yet largely satisfying year. But if there's one thing I haven't been able to do so far - that one regret - it is of not having written anything meaningful on my blog this whole time. And that has saddened me more with every passing day for an entire year.

I've come to realize that the more freelance work I've been doing - marketing, branding, travel, website content and anything else I get - the faster my brain has been losing its creative skills. I cannot remember the last time I wrote a really good, creative piece. My blog tagline reads, 'Fiction. Poetry. Books. Music. Travel. Photography. Love. Nostalgia. Sarcasm. Et al.' And yet there's none of that to be found on my blog anymore. I get story ideas often, but they seldom translate into blog posts. Even when they do, the translation is not half as good as I'd have liked it to be. Just too much of inertia has set in. I feel like my creative juices have run dry. And since I am rarely ever satisfied with my own work now, how can I expect anyone else to like it?  No wonder I've lost a majority of my readership too. All in the pursuit of a greater cause, a glorious career, I always reasoned.

But I am relatively free from studies now and would really like to revive my fledgling blog somehow. The question is, HOW? It seems like such a Herculean task now, with my own impossibly high expectations to meet. I need inspiration.

The year 2015 has been exceptionally kind to me so far - I've just come back from a delightful Mumbai sojourn and two more trips are in the pipeline for the coming weeks. So I thought, what better way to kick off my return than with a travelogue? Not just another run-of-the-mill travelogue, though (because that is just not how we roll). Starting tomorrow, I'll be posting one picture each day with a story or anecdote to accompany it. Through the lens of my camera, I'm going to try giving you all a glimpse into Mumbai the way I saw it and felt it. It might also give my tired blog a new lease of life. So just stay with me and keep feeding me back with what you think. Email me at wtmp.angel@gmail.com, leave me a word at +Mahimaa Kohli or a tweet @mahimakohli. You could also catch me on Facebook. I could really use some encouragement right now.  So don't hesitate. Hit me up with your thoughts!

The Taj Mahal Palace and the Gateway of India - because what else could possibly symbolize Mumbai better than this classic duo?

P.S. I got a brand new Canon EOS 600D, so the pictures now are going to be better than ever. Yay! \^_^/

What do you do when you're given ₹ 5000 to shop for free?

In this era of online retail, it is such a huge relief to be able to shop for all kinds of necessities, no matter how big or small, from the comfort of one's home. Given Delhi's extreme weather conditions, rarely interspersed with pleasant days, going out for shopping has become such a Herculean task that I absolutely abhor setting foot in crowded markets and prefer buying all I possibly can from the Internet. Now there is quite a lot of competition in the online buy-and-sell market, but I believe Quikr.com is fast outclassing its competitors to become the ultimate one-stop shop for anything and everything you wish to buy or sell, from used stuff lying around your home to that car or pet animal, right up to commercial products that you own a business of.

It goes without saying, then, how joyful a moment it was when I received an email from Blogadda inviting me to participate in their latest activity wherein I'd have to shop from Quikr.com for ₹ 5000 (that will be reimbursed later on) and blog about my experience. Here goes then.

I logged in to Quikr with the intention of finding a second hand smartphone, preferably Micromax, to keep at home as a spare phone for emergencies like the breakdown of one of our personal phones. I keyed "Micromax mobile phones" in the Search box and chose the filter "Ads posted in last 24 hours". I also customized my search by selecting the price range of 0 to 5057 rupees (the nearest figure to 5000 that I could manually set). Finally these results showed up.

One of the mobile phones I was interested in buying, as the location and price fit the bill well.

I found 3-4 phones that fit my requirements, so I noted down the numbers of the individual sellers from the respective ad pages on Quikr and called them up one after the other to inquire. It was however my bad luck as none of the phones were still for sale - they had all been sold already! Dejected, I began racking my brains for some other things that my family members or I could possibly need. And then it hit me - exercise equipment!

This time round I tried a different approach. Browsing through the various sub-categories listed under "Home and Lifestyle" category, I selected the "Sport - Fitness Equipment" subcategory. I also applied all the same filters as in the previous search (although I later increased the price range to 6000 to get a wider choice of exercise bikes). I further opted for the filter "Posted by Dealer", for I thought it more prudent to purchase brand new exercise equipment as it would be sturdier and also carry a warrantee.

Left Side Panel where you can choose different filters and categories.

After much browsing, I zeroed in on an exercise bike which was listed for ₹ 5,500.

The Quikr listing of the exercise bike I selected. It was listed at ₹ 5,500 when I made the deal, but the price has been removed now.

Although it exceeded my limit of free shopping, I thought what the heck! If I'm buying something, I'd rather buy the best I can find. A meager 500 bucks that are not reimbursed won't make any difference to the pleasure of owning the Air Bike Platinum Dx. So I called up the dealers, KS Healthcare, on the number listed in the ad and inquired about the product. A time and date for delivery was fixed, and even though the delivery came more than a day late due to paucity of staff, the bike eventually arrived at my place yesterday.

The price tag of ₹ 5,500 as listed against the bike earlier has since been removed, however. So if you'd open the same ad page now, it doesn't quote a price at all. The phrase "Contact for Price" is mentioned in place of price on all the listing pages across the website, as the one in the screenshot below.

I assume it must be something between the dealer and Quikr.com. I personally paid the dealer the exact amount I had seen the product listed for (I wish I could've bargained though! :D) The bike is tentatively perched in the lobby of my home for now, and it works just fine. The delivery guy gave me a proper receipt with the taxes etc in place, so I'm warranted against malfunctioning of the bike for at least a year.

My shopping experience on Quikr was an interesting mix of good and less than good. Here's a quick low-down:

Plus:

1. The site lists almost everything you can think of buying or selling for everyday use as well as specialized purposes. Be it Diwali shopping for gifts or regular shopping for electronics, home furnishings or even real estate, you'll find it all there. My mom, personally, has become a huge fan of Quikr.com lately.

2. It also has a provision for listing services (which I've earlier made use of by listing my father's services as a doctor) which makes its coverage of people's needs much more comprehensive.

3. The provision of various filters and categorical division of products makes it mighty easy to sort through undesirable stuff and find a product matching your requirements quickly.

4. One doesn't even have to register on or login to the Quikr website in order to make purchases (though you will have to do so if you are a seller). It is quite a welcome change from the usual online retail websites where you have to register, login, save your contact and payment details etc. Hassle-free shopping, dealing directly with the seller - I loved it.

Minus:

 1. You might have guessed already - the listed prices of the products tend to change/disappear from one day to another! One moment a product appears on top of the search results, and 6 hours later that same product may be difficult to find even after applying suitable filters. I do not know the exact mechanism behind these listings, but Quikr administrators could probably do something about this. It just makes browsing difficult if you plan to do it in 2-3 sessions, that's all. No grudges.

2. There needs to be a mechanism wherein Quikr guys ensure that an ad of a product that has been sold off is removed from the website immediately. I had a hard time buying a phone as every person I called had already sold their product. It cost me unnecessary call balance and time and energy, and to what avail? None.

3. There is some flaw in the dating system for the ads. Every one of the people I called regarding the phone claimed to have put up their ad several weeks/days ago, while Quikr.com listed each of those ads as having been posted within the last 24 hours. In conjunction with Minus #2, this makes for a less-than-pleasant shopping experience as it chips away at the buyer's time and energy and leads to frequent disappointment. This should positively be worked on.

In short, if I were offered to take a go at it again, and this time with no promises of reimbursement, would I shop from Quikr? HELL YEAH. 

* * *

(This post is a part of Quikr.com activity at BlogAdda.com)

Book Review: Wings of Courage by Sanjay Kumar

It's been a while since I wrote on the blog. Let not that make you believe I haven't missed writing. It's just that, whenever I had a story idea in mind, my internet went for toss. And when the internet was working, I'd no longer have the time or inspiration to write. I had all but given up on this blog, when along came motivation in the form of a book review that I lunged at to break free of this spell of literary inactivity. 

Wings of Courage is a novel that aims at making its readers sit back and think. It puts forward the author's vision for a better India of tomorrow - low on crime and hatred, high on humanity and justice. And it does so by means, not of the Shashi Tharoor-esque visionary writing and idealization, but through a fictional thriller of a plot that draws on recent real-life incidents to drive home the author's idea of an ideal India. 

Penned by debutant author Mr. Sanjay Kumar (you can find him here), the book comes at an opportune time as India is currently witnessing a massive social upheaval buttressed by people's assertion of their rights as citizens and human beings. The Indian society is afflicted by a host of issues today - atrocities and discrimination against women, corruption in politics and public services, road rage, bribery, honour killings, social apathy and a general lack of humanity. These social evils aren't isolated incidents, but have deepened their roots into the very fabric of our being and thus affect us all as members of society, making our world a scary place to live in. Normally a country's government and security agencies would be concerned about ridding the society of crime and social ills, but when the political class itself has become an integral part of the entire setup, the onus of social change and reform comes down to the common people.

What our society needs today is for these very common people to realize what an infinite potential they hold inside them to change their life conditions and those of the world around them. Wings of Courage is a worthy step by the author towards fulfilling his responsibility in that direction and bringing awareness to young readers. By picking up incidents that have come to light in recent times, evoking public hue and cry and mobilizing the youth towards social causes, the author establishes an instant connect with his target audience - the youth which is full of energy and dissent towards social and political injustices.

The story starts with an introduction of its main characters Saksham, Divya, Asif and Aditya, a group of final year students looking forward to lucrative corporate careers, far removed from any realization of how the big bad world out there works. Their lives and friendships are transformed forever when Asif and Saksham board a bus one night. Here the author has successfully tried to give a fresh perspective on the recent tragic gang-rape incident by recounting, from the eyes of two passengers of that fateful bus, the events that preceded the gang-rape of the hapless young woman on 16th December 2012. The realization and the immense guilt that follow the next day when Saksham and Asif hear of the incident that occurred after they alighted from the bus the previous night, set the base for a series of episodes throughout the rest of the book where Saksham demonstrates the potential of a responsible common citizen towards ridding the society of its problems.

As the story progresses, the protagonist Saksham goes on to become a new-age hero - a harbinger of change. In collusion with the Almighty (yes, there's a slightly unreal twist to the story - Saksham can actually talk to God!) he tries to understand the problems of the world and to find out solutions to them. Several common problems like hit-and-run, petty corruption, bribery, political apathy and farmers' plights have been dealt with in a comprehensive and solution-oriented manner by the author. The book is gripping, interspersed with philosophical discourse, romance and even a hint of idealistic banter, yet not so much as to bore the reader. The end is a bit too dramatic for my taste, but it seemed like the only suitable end to the story and hence, gets a pass.

Having personally been involved in social work all of my adult life and being a reader and an observer, I know how deeply rooted our society's problems are. And yet they aren't irreparable. It could be a change as little as turning around your personal life, or as big as cleansing the country of corruption, but it's ultimately the action you take that matters, and not mere knowledge or intention. For me that is the mantra of the author that comes out well throughout the book.

The book is 312 pages long, priced at INR 250 and can be purchased here. Considering that it is the author's first book and his treatment of such sensitive subject matter is laudable, I would give it a rating of 3.5 on 5. Keep writing, Mr. Kumar!

Humans of India - Show some humanity towards the elderly, could you?

It was a cold winter night in the middle of January. I'd been trying to settle into an early-to-bed-early-to-rise regime for some time and my body clock was taking its own sweet time falling out of the erstwhile awake-all-night pattern. So despite having been utterly exhausted and lying in bed for well over two hours, I was wide awake when, at four in the morning, I heard a shuffling sound in the room. I opened my eyes and looked up somewhat cautiously. I couldn't see anything at first, but as my eyes gradually adjusted to the faint light of the AllOut, something came into view. A tall white figure was roaming around tentatively. For a couple of seconds it loomed large over my head like a wraith. My blood ran cold. I stayed as still as I could under the blanket, my eyes fixed on the figure all the time. It seemed to have lost its sense of direction; I heard it bumping into pieces of furniture twice before disappearing behind the curtain into the lobby.

I was left to wonder whether it was even real or just my morbid imagination playing games with my tired mind. As I was trying to figure out what to do, it suddenly struck me like a bolt of lightning. It was my grandfather. It had to be him! It was so typical of him to wake up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. For a second I felt stupid for not having thought of it earlier. (Wraiths? Seriously?)

As I lay there mentally berating myself (while secretly thanking my stars for no scary surprises) I heard another loud bump that brought me back to my senses. I jumped out of bed and groped my way into the lobby where I found grandpa fumbling around in the dark. I flicked on the light; he was taken aback and instinctively recoiled from me. I could sense how visibly shaken he was. I told him very gently who I was and where he was, and saw his expression gradually turn into one of relief, along with a hint of a sheepish smile. He told me how grateful he was for my having found him, else as he put it, "I would have kept lumbering around the house all night long - perhaps fallen down a few times and broken a bone or two". It was a depressing thought to picture. I escorted him back to his room and after making absolutely sure that he was safe, I went back to bed. But his scared and helpless face haunted my thoughts all night long. It made me sad, worried and, quite frankly, gave me the creeps too. It would suffice to say no sleep was had that night.

Why I am reminded of this bygone instance today is a particular article I read this morning in The Hindu. It was aptly titled 'The myth of Happy Old Age' as it very blatantly pointed at the sheer indifference and apathy with which people are treating their elders in India today. It made my heart bleed and my soul cringe to read through the lines - the nauseating reality of old age abuse recounted by elderly persons who are either forced to live with humiliation and penury in their own children's homes or left to die in old age institutions. HelpAge India, a charitable organization that has been tirelessly working for the welfare and rehabilitation of India's aged population for decades, recently released a report on elder abuse in India. The report is scathing in its disclosure of some shocking statistics on elder abuse in major Indian cities, which is surprisingly more prevalent than most of us would think.

It is as heart-rending as it is frustrating to realize what an uncaring, unfeeling and detached society we have turned into. Globalization, modernization, nuclearization of families and many such reasons could be given to explain why it is no longer practicable to care for the elderly or give them a place in our homes anymore. But all those foreign-adopted big words aside, are we no longer decent enough or even human enough to love our own elders and take care of them when they need us the most? It beats me how one can expect 60 or 70-year-olds - with their cataracts and knee pain, hearing and vision loss, fatigued hearts and countless other problems that ail their minds and bodies - to fend for themselves in a world where even hale and hearty people have to bite the dust so often? It saddens me to see the state our society has been reduced to, especially so in my own country. We take utmost pride in our cultural heritage, superior social institutions and traditional roots that are unlike anything seen anywhere else in the world. And yet, if one were to take a closer look, does that connection to our roots really exist anymore or is it just a subject of rosy fables?

I must quote a few lines from the poignantly written article from the newspaper to drive home my point.

Abuse, choked within and caged in silence festers like a sore. Fear and helplessness that there is no one else to depend upon and few to report to, adds to the penumbra of silence.

They point out quietly that old age has become a commodity. The younger generation commodifies old age by seeing the old as sources of pension, property, income. The old are like the goose that must lay the golden eggs and move on. Waiting for the old to die seems an unnecessary inconvenience. Yet, when the old have nothing more to give, they are seen as dispensable. Keshav, a 65-year-old from Kolkata, complains that his wife and he are constantly abused because they do not earn. His wife cooks for the entire family and yet they have to plead for a fair share of the food. Worse, as the report notes tersely, “even requests for medicine or clothes are met with taunts of their impending deaths and termed as a ‘waste’ on them.”

As a teenager I was volunteering with HelpAge India and paid a visit to an old age home in Delhi to tie rakhis/friendship bands onto the elderly ladies' and gentlemen's wrists as a gesture of love and respect. We also put up a cultural program for them and fed them sweets with our own hands. The tears in their eyes and the smiles on their faces were priceless, though the conditions in which they lived were worse than pitiful even to a kid like me who knew nothing of the world. That childhood experience is still writ all over my mind as I write this.

Where is the respect gone that the aged once commanded in our society? Let alone respect during life, there isn't dignity even in death any longer for so many of those who are left by their families to spend the rest of their years in old age homes. Is that how we should be repaying our parents and grandparents for the care and love they showered upon us when we were kids? I fail to see how any person in their right mind could subject their own parents or family to such disgrace and suffering. It shames me to be part of a society where such injustice and indifference is meted out to the most vulnerable and weak persons without so much as a blink of an eye. A society where the poor and the backward classes are little else but votebanks, and the elderly are nothing but commodities to be used and subsequently discarded when they stop serving their purpose.

My family is nowhere near perfect. It has seen its fair share of conflict, feuds and family politics, but at the end of the day it is still family. I am lucky enough to have three out of four grandparents alive. My nanaji (maternal grandfather) passed away 5 years ago at the age of 89. I had only ever known him in his old age, so I was a witness to his slow transition into a vegetative state over the years. He used to bring us candies and imli when we were younger. Then he got bedridden and stopped recognizing us. Gradually he stopped recognizing his own children. He would greet everybody warmly, but seldom recognize anybody except his wife and eldest daughter. It was a pain to watch him deteriorate thus. Once he went out into the night without anyone's knowledge and didn't return. Search parties went out the next morning and he was eventually found, comatose, in a park. He contracted pneumonia and we started losing him even quicker after that. 6th June 2009 was the fateful day; I remember how I cried. I was surprised at my own burst of emotions.

To watch my dadaji (paternal grandfather) exhibit similar symptoms now is extremely depressing. I have lived the first 20 years of my life in a joint family with my dada-dadi having been the family anchor. Although we moved out less than three years ago, we still visit regularly and have them come over and live with us often. Festivals are mostly spent there with the entire family. Sitting with my dadi and hearing her recount stories from my father's childhood, even for the umpteenth time, is invaluable. My grandpa has always had a soft corner for me too; he always liked me for my witty quips and calls me one of 'his team'. My parents, through their own example, have instilled unconditional respect in my heart for them and I know I'll always value my elders and my family, no matter what.

And perhaps that is why I don't understand how these people sleep at night, having ousted their very own parents out of their homes and lives. Who tells their children stories and oils their hair? Who teaches their kids about Indian culture and values? Oh right. They don't want their children to learn any of that anymore. The household help can feed and clothe them, school teachers can take care of everything they need to learn. Who needs elders when you have money and modern institutions, right? The grandparents clearly don't serve a fruitful purpose anymore and need to be 'let off'. As in fired from the job. As in left to fend for themselves at the very age when they need emotional, financial and medical support the most.

As a teacher I often ask my students — a sensitive lot — to talk about their grandmothers, to give me details about stories they have heard or food cooked. Most of them seemed embarrassed, surprised with such intrusive questions; only one could talk of his grandmother’s pickles with a zest that summoned a whole sensorium. For most of them, grandparents have become occasional question marks, ritual burdens. Few have recollections of stories told, preferring the narratives on TV or the Internet. It is almost as if grandparents are like creatures out of Tussauds; features that can be ignored. I asked one student to describe the touch of her grandmother. She almost felt repulsed exclaiming, “God, she is so old and scaly.” An absence of memories and ethos of sharing disrupts the ecology of old age. Dignity has become a rare word as abuse becomes the sociological constant.

If that is what modernity does to people - make them selfish, individualistic and thankless - then modernity be damned. I'd rather be old-school and not lose out on my values and humanity. And what lessons do children really learn from such acts of indifference and cruelty on part of their parents towards their grandparents? It is no wonder that the trend is perpetuating so fast. The couples who turn out their parents are most likely to meet the same fate at the hands of their own children one day. On the contrary, a lesson of love, care and gratitude towards the elderly, if taught by example, will foster a responsible and kind future generation. It isn't for nothing after all that the proverb goes, "as you sow, so shall you reap".

Elders are a social and cultural, if not economic, asset. They are worth being honoured, respected and taken care of, not only because they are the ones who for the longest time sacrificed their desires and comfort for your wellbeing, but also because they are dignified individuals and equal members of the society. They deserve the same respect as any younger earning member of the society would command. If their age accounts for anything, it must be to accord them extra privilege, as a tribute to their years of service to society and to ease the physical and financial troubles that invariably accompany old age and retirement. That's what we, as humans and responsible citizens of society, must accomplish in order to achieve the satisfaction of having done our duty as human beings, children and parents.

For teeth that sparkle White, try the power of Black.

The last week was full of fanfare and excitement thanks to BlogAdda and their #WhatTheBlack campaign that unfolded one teeny little hint at a time. It all started with an e-mail in my inbox that said I had been selected for the activity as part of which I'll receive one never-seen-before item at my doorstep for each of four days starting 31st July. Each item was to be a hint to help unravel what the final day (the 5th) would bring to my door. Needless to say, I was instantly intrigued and stirred out of my self-imposed moratorium from social media and blogging.

There were some minor setbacks - a few bloggers didn't receive all their items (including me), there were delays and the activity had to be concluded in 4 days instead of 5 - but given the extremely short timeline earmarked for the activity and the countless products that had to be delivered everyday to so many bloggers' homes, it was indeed a humongous task that the BlogAdda team completed quite admirably. And it was a very interesting activity after all, that kept all participants constantly on the edge, making the most random of guesses until the secret of the final product was finally revealed. It made all of our minds hit the mental gym and start working out vigorously for a good 3-4 days. And that's always a good thing for writers - keeps the creativity flowing. It was a great campaign too - seriously, just look up #WhatTheBlack anywhere on social media and you'll know what I'm talking about. It was truly sensational! 

We bloggers are one hell of a powerful lot. Kudos to us!

Here's a slight glimpse of the items I received :D

*Surprise surprise!*
A beautifully wrapped black box hand-delivered at my doorstep on the first morning!

And what was inside of it?
A black painted solid egg-like object which stained my hands black :P

Peeking a little bit under its shell revealed an actual, solid DARK CHOCOLATE EGG.

And THAT was the message attached to the first item - to find out #WhatTheBlack was going on from Hint #1.

And this, my friends, was received on the afternoon of Day 2 -
A newspaper called WHATTHEBLACK TIMES with its colours reversed, ie, white print over black paper.
And with odd news items hinting towards various fictitious occurrences relating to Black objects!
It had me racking my brains for a good couple of hours.

The Indian Cricket team sporting black clothes? That's bizarre and never happened before.
I kept wondering what it could possibly be hinting towards.
As it eventually turned out, it was just a ruse to throw us off the scent of the real secret :P

Another ruse - black balls supposedly being introduced in
Cricket matches in place of the conventional white and red ones.
This one had me thinking the next item would probably be a round object,
possibly a ball or something else related to cricket :P
I couldn't have been more off the mark! :P

I waited and waited the entire next day but nothing arrived. I was really disappointed to say the least. It felt almost like it used to when in my childhood days, my father would turn up at the door at night after work without a bag of goodies in his hand for me. I used to get really cross at him and sometimes even ask him to go back, since he hadn't brought me anything like he did everyday. Sigh, I miss those beautiful days of innocence. But I digress.

And so, since I never received my Day 3 objects, here's some pictures I very cleverly stole from some fellow bloggers' posts to give my readers a glance at what the third day entailed. (With due credits to the owners, of course.)

Day 3 - If it wasn't a tea cup and a black tissue! Indeed, what else could it have been!
Confused? Scroll down and you'll know why this was so obvious given what the final item was.
Courtesy my dear friend Sushmita's FB post.

And what did the final day bring with it? What's that black, bristly thing you see there?
Again, courtesy Sushmita. Go say hello to her here; she's a chirpy little fellow!

1

The all new Colgate SlimSoft Charcoal Toothbrush. That was what the hints had been pointing at all along!
And really, it wasn't so hard to guess - I wonder where my creative juices have disappeared lately. I need to pull up my socks.
Wonderfully captured here by Mr. Rahul Prabhakar @RahulRishab (Check him out on Twitter)

Here's the deal. The chocolate egg represented all the bad things that erode our dental health and cause the formation of plaque. The significance of the newspaper I'm not so sure of, but it probably pointed towards an activity we do as part of our daily morning routine. Like reading a newspaper. Or brushing our teeth (you see what they did there?) The next was a tissue paper and a tea cup. That represents your breakfast and daily morning cuppa, which stains the teeth and overall causes more damage than all you regular tea-coffee-drinkers can even imagine. So all the hints basically pointed towards an object that you use in the morning and is related to the teeth. And the final item, no prizes for guessing anymore - was none other than the new Colgate SlimSoft Charcoal Toothbrush, which takes pride in its unique micro slim-tip Charcoal-infused bristles that succeed in reaching deeper between your pearly-whites and remove plaque better than ordinary bristles.

I received the toothbrush only yesterday and I am in love with the super soft bristles that are perfectly gentle and suited to my extra-sensitive teeth and gums. This is admittedly the first toothbrush I have used in years that is originally meant for adults. Yes, you heard me right - I use kids' toothbrushes. The ones with the Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy figures and rainbow colours. No, I do not have pedophilic or childish fetishes - I just have sensitive teeth and have been recommended by the dentist to use small-headed and soft toothbrushes. Larger heads and harder bristles make my gums bleed.

But evidently not any more! Because Colgate SlimSoft is pretty light, with cotton-soft bristles and a medium-sized head that doesn't cause any stress to my teeth or gums. So I might as well supplement my daily brushing regime with this new addition (it isn't even expensive!) - of course not letting go of the cute kiddie stuff though. They're cute.

So this has been fun and an interesting week that was. I hope more such campaigns keep happening in the blogosphere. BlogAdda, I hope you're listening!

Till the next time, keep brushing your teeth twice a day to avoid that emergency visit to the dentist. And keep those pearly whites flashing. You gotta smile - it costs nothing. :)