My living room’s makeover with Bed, bath and beyond

Ever since hubby and I moved into our own pad, we had wanted to design it according to our own taste and personality. The flat, like most ready to move houses had plain cream walls which more often than not, made me feel very dull and old. We wanted to have a youthful appeal to our living room, since our house was always buzzing with friends and parties. However, as soon as the thought of a makeover would come to my mind, I would start fretting about so many things.

• Who would do the run around to shop for the right shades of paint, home décor items (we both have pretty hectic jobs in Mumbai)
• Since we had recently relocated, we hardly knew any local guy who could do the painting job for us. Without fleecing us!
• I would often visualise the kind of space I wanted – lively, youthful and refreshing. However, after a hectic day in office I would be often, too tired to decide the entire look in my mind.

Few days ago, I discovered the all in one solution to my makeover concerns –

http://www.bedbathmore.com/

The more I discovered the website, the more it seemed my living room’s makeover would be a reality soon.

http://www.bedbathmore.com/ is one stop solution to all your décor concerns.

Ideas, expert advice, paints, décor, furniture – the site offered everything at one place!

I soon got glued with their décor district and began to read the numerous articles on how to give a perfect makeover to your house.

Once I was done, it was time for some action. I chose the theme lemon cooler for my living room, since I was looking for a refreshing and youthful appeal. Finding the perfect shade was easy since the theme automatically offered the shades close to the look I wanted!

I quickly went to the paint finder tool and after selecting the shade, tried few looks for my living room.

To my surprise, the tool not only helped me select the perfect shade and preview the look, it also helped me calculate the approximate costing, offered product comparisons and….also offered to find a local professional to convert your dream look into reality! Wow! Was I dreaming? No!

So, what are you waiting for? Come to http://www.bedbathmore.com/ and find all your décor solutions at one go!

 I am participating in the #PaintFinder activity in Association withBlogAdda & Bed Bath & More“

Pampers pamper our li’l ones with Softest Diaper Ever

Motherhood blessed me three months ago and since then, my life revolves around my little bundle of joy. Keeping him happy and comfortable has been my whole sole priority. After all, it’s the mother baby looks up to in moments of happiness and trouble.

Since my baby arrived at the onset of Mumbai monsoons, my biggest concern was how to keep him dry and comfortable. Using a cloth nappy meant having to deal with frequent nappy changing and a cranky baby. Hubby and I began exploring options in diapers however; we weren’t too comfortable using diapers for long hours since we didn’t want our baby’s soft skin to get affected.

In the middle of all this, when BlogAdda invited me to the preview of Pampers premium care pants, my reaction was “Who knows about diapers more than a mother” and I was super eager to know the mystery behind #SoftestForBabySkin.

Finally, on the designated day, I landed at JW Marriott, which incidentally was also the venue for WIN Awards 2015. After spending some amazing time at the ongoing sessions and meeting my fellow bloggers over a lavish lunch, the BlogAdda team quickly signalled us to come to a separate area for the event. The entrance itself brought a wide smile on my face as it read “World of soft” and carried a picture of an adorable baby everyone looked at and went “Awwwww”

As the BlogAdda crew led us in, we were welcomed by the Pampers crew who promptly asked me to pose against a lovely wall which had been created especially for the event. I loved the placard “Softest diapers, sweetest mom” and soon felt like a diva posing to shutterbugs!

We quickly rushed to the main hall where the main event was about to begin and the set inside instantly made me feel as if I was on a TV show!

Inside, there were many bloggers and mommy bloggers with their lovely kids. I also spotted a table titled “Demo Zone” and was very curious to know how the demo could convince moms that these diapers are the best for their children.

 

No sooner had we settled that a beautiful voice caught our attention. I had spotted the gorgeous Mandira Bedi in the hotel lobby but didn’t know we would be lucky to have her at our event! 

She soon appeared on stage and opened the event in her signature style.

There were four chairs on the stage which meant three more celebs had to be there. “Who would be the other 3 surprise guests?” we all were wondering. Mandira soon welcomed the other panelists for the event –

Tara Sharma – Actress and celebrity mom

Ajita Gopal Seethepalli – Child sleep consultant

Dr. Wei Sing Long - Pampers R&D Expert

The event began with the panelists talking about the importance of good sleep to a baby’s comfort and development. Celebrity moms Mandira and Tara shared their personal experiences of being Pampers moms and that how soft and dry diapers can help in the overall development of the baby. During my sleepless nights with my baby, I often wonder how celeb moms manage their kids, so when Tara spoke about the challenges she faced as a new mom, I could totally empathize with her.

The two experts on the panel had a more technical approach to the whole soft diaper concept. Leading Baby Sleep Consultant Ajita Seethepalli highlighted the importance of softness to a baby’s sound sleep. She drew parallel between continuous sleep and uninterrupted playtime, which has a direct correlation with the cognitive, mental & physical, development of babies.

Finally, scientist & R&D expert Dr. WeiSing introduced us to the product for which by now, everyone had become curious.

Soon, we were asked to touch the three diapers kept in separate compartments on our tables and vote for the softest diaper. While most moms encouraged their kids to take their pick, at our table we were all adults. 

I could instantly make out the one particularly soft diaper but decided to stay mum and wait for the voting results. 92% voters had chosen the same option as mine, and soon the panel unveiled the identity of this softest diaper – Pampers premium care pants!

 

Now that we had our first look and feel of the product, it was time to know the product features in detail. Scientist & R&D expert Dr. WeiSing took us through the Pampers 5 star skin protection, that make it the best diaper for baby comfort.

1.  All-around softness –

Pampers understand baby’s skin is the softest, so premium care pants have been made using soft materials to provide softness and comfort. Also, the all around waistbands and leg cuffs ensure a snug fit, minimising leakage and making movement more comfortable for baby. 

2.  Upto 12 hours of dryness –

Pampers premium care pants come with ultra dry core that quickly absorbs and locks away liquids. While this was sounding too good to be true, Dr. WeiSing actually demonstrated the technique by showing how the same material absorbed poop like chemical poured in a glass. 

3.  Baby Lotion –

Pampers understand a mom’s concerns and therefore, Pampers premium care pants come with baby lotion that helps protect the baby’s precious skin. Dr. WeiSing took cards as substitute for baby’s skin. The cards when treated with baby lotion in diaper showed no impact of pee like skin irritant poured on them indicating how the baby lotion in Pampers protect the baby’s skin. 

4.  Breathable materials –

The micro pores in Pampers premium care pants help air circulation, which allow the baby’s skin to breathe.

5.    Wetness indicator –

The only way a baby communicates his discomfort is by crying. No matter how much mom understands her baby; it is only when the baby cries that a mom usually discovers that the diaper is full. To save the baby this discomfort, Pampers premium care pants come with a unique wetness indicator that turns from yellow to blue when in contact with fluid, so parents can easily know when it is time to change.

Pampers also showed us the first look of their TV commercial and the promo video. While we all murmuring “Cho Chweet” at the sight of cute kid in the commercial, Tara had a pleasant surprise for us. She showed us some of her family videos that showed her changing diapers and her adorable kids talking about their views on Pampers. The witty Mandira Bedi was quick to add, “People these days don’t say diapers, they say Pampers!”

Next, it was time for a live demo and everyone rushed to the demo zone to take pics of the celebrity. Tara took the lead in highlighting the features of Pampers premium care pants.

Needless to say, twitter was abuzz with #SoftestForBabySkin!

Finally, Pampers pampered the bloggers and moms to the part they waited for – one to one with the celeb panellists and a lovely goody bag. It was so much fun to discover celeb moms Tara and Mandira discussing babies and motherhood with us sans any celebrity air! A real mom to mom conversation! I complimented Mandira on her post baby weight loss and she was quick to offer her expert advice, “Start working to shed that baby fat RIGHT NOW!” While I discussed the importance of comfortable diapers with Tara, Dr. WeiSing was very sweet and down to earth as I thanked her team for developing #SoftestForBabySkin diapers!

 

 

When I left the venue with my goody bag, I was all smiles, for thanks to the unique product demonstration by Pampers, I came to know the best and softest diaper for my baby’s skin!

I have been using Pampers premium care pants for my baby. Read the product review here.

This blog post is written for the Pampers #SoftestForBabySkin activity in association with BlogAdda”

About Pampers

Pampers is the #1 selling diaper brand worldwide. For more than half a century, Pampers has been caring for the happy, healthy development of the world’s babies and in turn, has grown to become P&G’s biggest brand.  Every day Pampers serves over 25 million babies in more than 100 countries around the world.  Pampers was inspired by babies.  In 1956 Vic Mills, a P&G researcher was inspired by his desire to create a better diaper for his newborn grandson, and his work led to the creation of the brand.  Pampers takes great care in developing products that benefit both baby and mom, and are committed to making a difference in babies’ lives. 

Pampers India can be reached on social media at –

FB – www.facebook.com/PampersIndia

Twitter – www.twitter.com/PampersIndia

Instagram – www.instagram.com/PampersIndia

I am a Pampers mom, are you?

As a mom to a 3 month old, I have no words to explain the joy I feel when I see my baby happy and comfortable. Being a mom is a huge responsibility, for it is mother a child looks out to in moments of happiness and trouble. Mothers understand the unspoken in their children – be it the most comfortable position that gives their baby a sound sleep, the lullaby in their soft and familiar voice the baby recognizes, or the gentle touch that soothes a crying baby.

My baby arrived in monsoon time when humidity makes even us adults irritable. Keeping him dry and comfortable therefore, had been a huge challenge for me since day one. Until he completed a month, I wasn’t allowed to make him wear diapers. “His skin is so soft, constant use of diapers would harm it”, the elders would say. Only I know how my baby and I bore the torture of cloth nappies. No sooner than I changed his nappy and rocked him to sleep, he would wake up to a wet nappy, irritated and cranky.

After a month of sleepless nights, when it finally came to using diapers, both Mr. Hubby and I were very skeptical. We wanted to use the best and softest for our kid, since our baby would spend close to 6-7 hours overnight in a diaper. After much research, we got special newborn diapers for our baby since there was no softer option available. However, we wouldn’t find these at every medical store, since not many people use them. Also, these are available only upto 5kg, which meant we would soon have to find another softer option. Whenever my baby would get irritated in extreme humidity with long hours of diaper use, I would just leave him without any diaper for few hours so that his skin could breathe.

Coincidentally, I was invited to a special preview of the Pampers premium care pants for mommy bloggers. I had done my R&D on diapers so when they claimed these diapers are #SoftestForBabySkin,I was all enthusiastic. At the event, experts introduced us moms to the benefits of the new Pampers premium care pants. Read about my experience at the Pampers premium care pants preview here.

I decided to try out the sample diapers given to me at the event.

Pampers, the number one diaper brand in the world understands the importance of softness and dryness to a baby’s comfortable development. Hence, after much research, they have launched new premium care pants.

“How are these diapers different?” one may ask. Well, these premium diapers are so soft that babies won’t actually notice them, and after using them for my baby, I can vouch they are the softest diapers we have ever used. This comfortable experience can be attributed to Pampers 5 star skin protection –

1.     All-around softness –

Pampers understand baby’s skin is the softest, so premium care pants have been made using soft materials to provide softness and comfort. In fact, we bloggers tested the softness at the event where we were to touch diapers kept in 3 separate boxes without knowing the brands. The diapers 92% bloggers voted as the softest came out to be Pampers premium care pants. Also, the all around waistbands and leg cuffs ensure a snug fit, minimizing leakage and making movement more comfortable for baby.

2.    Upto 12 hours of dryness –

While I target maximum 6-7 hours of diapers at night for my baby, at times due to me being busy with morning household chores, he ends up spending 10-11 hours in them. Whenever this happens, after certain duration my baby begins to feel uncomfortable in his wet diaper and gets cranky. However, when I tested Pampers premium care pants on him, I deliberately kept the diaper on and even after 10 hours, he seemed rather comfy in his pants, giving me a stress free morning to finish my household chores. Pampers premium care pants come with ultra dry core that quickly absorbs and locks away liquids.

3.    Baby Lotion –

As mentioned earlier in this post, my baby’s skin was our topmost priority while choosing the right diaper. Pampers understand a mom’s concerns and therefore, Pampers premium care pants come with baby lotion that helps protect the baby’s precious skin.

4.    Breathable materials –

The very reason I leave my baby without diapers for few hours a day is to enable his skin to breathe. But Pampers has solved this problem of mine. The micro pores in Pampers premium care pants help air circulation, allowing my baby’s skin to breathe.

5.    Wetness indicator –

The only way a baby communicates his discomfort is by a cry. No matter how much mom understands her baby, its only when the baby cries that a mom usually discovers that the diaper is full. To save the baby this discomfort, Pampers premium care pants come with a unique wetness indicator that turns from yellow to blue when in contact with fluid, so parents can easily know when it is time to change.

It has been a week since I have been using Pampers premium care pants for my baby, and I can say that this is the softest and the most comfortable diaper I could have given him. Since pampers premium care pants come in all sizes, I am relieved for I can continue to use these for my baby as he grows.

Seeing my baby happy and comfortable is all I want as a mom, for a happy baby makes for a happy mom.

I am a Pampers mom, are u?

This blog post is written for the Pampers #SoftestForBabySkin activity in association with BlogAdda

Try the new Pampers premium care pants at http://www.amazon.in/b?node=7212667031&tag=pampers-blog-21.

Pampers India can be reached at –

FB – www.facebook.com/PampersIndia

Twitter – www.twitter.com/PampersIndia

Instagram – www.instagram.com/PampersIndia

ACEF 2015 – The dope to CSR

Corporate Social Responsibility or CSR has over the past few years, become more than a section in Indian Company’s Act. Technically speaking, the section mandates corporates with a networth of more than five hundred crores to spend 2 percent of their annual profit on CSR activites. However, in the era of cut throat competition, smart corporate have realized CSR too, can be used to gain competitive advantage.

Having been involved in many CSR activities during the span of my career, I have been witnessing this increasing focus on taking CSR beyond just charities. So, when BlogAdda offered us the ACEF 2015 event, I was all eager to get my dose on CSR.

Asian Forum & Awards For Excellence in Branding, Marketing and CSR, or ACEF is an annual event to recognize the best in CSR. Running in its 5^th year now, the event has industry stalwarts share insights on the avenues that can be explored and success stories. This year, the theme of ACEF was “Integrating Brand Marketing with CSR”.

As I landed up early at the ITC Maratha Central on 12^th morning, I realized I was one of the few early birds. However, soon delegates started pouring in, from students to corporate from varied industries and a wake up tea session followed. Allan Rodrigues, VP Hansa PR was at his wittiest best as he opened the event. All eyes were on me as Allan suddenly gave me 2 minutes of fame by highlighting my live tweeting skills!

A morning session usually has people struggling to wake up and get their attentive selfs, however, the opening session from Sanjeev Kotnala, founder and Head Catalyst – The Unconsult Way had the audience listening in rapt attention. His session, “Where marketers need to grow” emphasized the role CSR has in building goodwill for the brand. The focus for any corporate is taking the biggest pie of market share. However, if companies use CSR to build brands, and involve internal stakeholders as well, CSR can be the path from Perception – Preference – Premium.

Saurabh Uboweja, Founder, CEO & Director, Brand Strategy – Brands of Desire took us through the session “Creating Strong Brands versus using CSR to create Strong Brands”. Creating feel good factor for internal and external customers about CSR and link it with branding should be the mantra for smart companies, for consumers trust brands that do more CSR than those who don’t. He also spoke about the relevance of CSR to be taken as an integral part of value system and culture. Taking the audience through many success stories, the session concluded on activist positioning as the next focus.

As growling stomachs were in no mood to compromise anything for lunch, Sangeeta Robinson’s session began on CSR: It’s correlation and impact on the Brand. An expert orator, Sangeeta knew how to keep the crowd hooked, so she kept the session alive by quoting case studies from her career span. CSR is going beyond the business and good CSR can help build relations with community, create shared value and also generate future business. The impact of her session – people who were looking at their watches waiting for lunch as her session began were by the end of the session, compromising their lunch time to take tips from the expert.

Another session squeezed before lunch time, faced the threat of low audience participation. However, the session by Vikas Singh, AVP – Brand Marketing, Dainik Bhaskar Group saw the highest response from the audience. The session, titled “Building a Strong Brand in Cluttered and Commoditized Print Media Space” was full of interesting clippings from successful ad campaigns. The highlight of the session was the #livenonegative campaign by Dainik Bhaskar that focussed on highlighting the positive aspects of news rather than just getting mileage on dragging the negativities.

Amitha Amarsinghe, Head of Neo@Ogilvy Sri Lanka spoke about Customer Engagement through Social Media in Emerging markets. Taking us through many successful campaigns from his agency, Amitha threw light on how Social media had helped brands create the hype and get the competitive advantage.

Next on the agenda was a panel discussion on “Integrating Brand Marketing with CSr & PR”.  Jessie Paul, CEO Paul Writer moderated the event. The panel of experts, Betsy Vincent, VP – General Carbon, Nilesh Jagad, Sr. VP – Indian Centre for CSR, Hasrath Munasinghe, DGM marketing- Commercial bank of Ceylon PLC Sri Lanka, Vaishali Sharma, Sr VP MarComm Sony MAX, Umesh Jhawar, VP Strategy, Arihant Superstructures Ltd, Sangeeta Thakral, Head of Marketing & Communications – Charities Aid Foundation shared their views.

And lastly came the event everyone had been waiting for – the ACEF awards! Mr. Nirav Sanghvi of BlogAdda won the Best partner Marketing Award.

CSR is being increasingly seen as a tool to give a cutting edge to brands. While one may see it as a mere gimmick by corporate to glorify their small mandatory contributions, a lot remains unexplored by which companies can achieve the important Cs – Customer’s preference, Conscious contribution to society, Creating immense brand value.

This post is written for BlogAdda and ACEF.

#BlogAdda #ACEF

Movie Review – The Path of Zarathustra

Date of Release – September 4, 2015

Genre – Magic Realism

Director – Oorvazi Irani

Duration – 79 minutes

Cast – Oorvazi Irani, Tom Alter, Rushad Rana, Shishir Sharma, Darius Shroff, Firdausi Jussawalla

Music – Vasuda Sharma

Screenplay – Farrukh Dhondy

My View

Ever since I landed up in Mumbai, the mystery behind Zoroastrianism had me intrigued. At work, I met many people with unusual surnames and found out about the religion and its interesting history. However, since it is a very closed community, non Zoroastrians have no access to important aspects like their places of worship, Tower of silence etc.

It was for this mystery and exclusivity that the moment I was invited to the premiere of this unique movie about Zoroastrian faith and religion, my head immediately nodded in affirmation and excitement!

The Path of Zarathustra is a very unique movie, for it gives insights into the community’s faith, religion and challenges faced. The protagonist, Oorvazi (Oorvazi Irani) moves out of her isolated life after her maternal grandfather, Mamavaji (Tom Alter) passes away. However, before closing his eyes to the world, he gifts her a book which he says will help her find her true identity and answers to all her questions and directs her to go and be amongst her people. There is no belief without believers. And thus begins Oorvazi’s quest to find her roots and true identity in a community that is facing the threat of losing its identity due to a fast dwindling race. 

Oorvazi comes to Mumbai to stay with her maternal aunt Sheramasi and cousin Perseus (Rushad Rana), whose eyes still reflect his love for her. As she begins her journey to discover her true self, she discovers many aspects about her religion and in these revelations; she is guided by imaginary characters from historical past of Zoroastrianism such as Mazdak (Darius Shroff), who was executed for his radical ideas, Mani (Firdausi Jussawalla), and Zurvan (Shishir Sharma). Each character uncovers layers of the mystery surrounding the book. However, just when she thinks she has found the keeper of the book, she is told her search is yet to be over.

Whether Oorvazi finally unravels the mystery behind the book is for you to find out by watching the movie. However, as a curious outsider, the movie is an excellent way to know about the community and its beliefs. The movie also boasts of many path breaking moves, such as shooting in a fire temple.

One has to give full marks to the attention given to each detail. Excellent screenplay by celebrated author Farrukh Dhondy has the viewers transported to a different world of mystic every time one plot blends into the other. The dialogues will definitely hover in your mind hours after you walk out of the theatre. As a newbie, Vasuda Sharma’s job to the background score deserves a round of applause as it compliments the flawless cinematography.

One doesn’t come across path breaking movies like The Path of Zarathustra very often. So, whether you are a Zoroastrian or not, go for the movie as it will definitely provoke your thoughts regarding your own roots,

My Rating

4/5

This review is for BlogAdda and SBI Impresario Pvt Ltd. The Path of Zarathustra releases at a theatre near you on September 4, 2015. Check out the movie’s official website www.thepathofzarathustra.com