A nomination from an author blogger

(much as i try, i am unable to decapitalize the below texts, they don't appear that way in the draft, so  please excuse)

This blog of mine has been nominated for Leibster award by Mrs.Usha Menon. The nomination gathers more value because it has been nominated by a very distinguished, dedicated,  active and young blogger.  Yes, Usha ma’am at 77 is young at heart  with a positive and liberal outlook and it clearly reflects on her blogposts. A retired educationist from Directorate of Education, New Delhi and the author of the book “Reverse Gear”, an autobiographical  book which sort of draws analogy between her professional and personal life, the ups and downs faced by an average working woman.

 That is not all, having learnt to use computer recently, she has already written insightful, inspiring and creative posts numbering more than 200 in a short span of time. And is a regular contributor to “Write tribe’ prompts in the form of Haikus, nonets, shortfiction in 100 words, 55ers  etc.,

 Thank you, Ma’am for the nomination, I consider it a privilege to be nominated from a creative and popular blogger like you.  

To accept the award,  I must complete the following.

 Linkback to the person’s blog that have nominated you. ( done)

 Nominate 10 more bloggers whom you feel are deserving and have less than 200 followers and you pass the award on to them(I know very few bloggers and most bloggers I know are more popular and famous with more than 200 followers .So, I am tweaking this and nominating all my favorite bloggers)

Answer all questions posted by the nominator(will do)

 Create10 questions for the nominees (done)

Contact the nominees and let them know that they have been nominated for the Leibster. (will do)

Now, over to the questions by Mrs. Menon for me

        1  Why do you write?

I write for various reasons. To express my thoughts , ideas and note down all things that touches, inspires and affects me.

       2 Why did you start blogging?

To  stash my memories, happenings, travel tales, food tales and all that simple things that I experience. My blog mostly records only happy moments and is a written document for my children to read later on in life.

      3  What do you prefer, love marriage or an arranged marriage? Why?

 I favor both type of marriages as long as it is not an arrangement for convenience and is a life long committment.

 In love marriage, there should be matured love, understanding, adjustment ,trust  and maturity to handle  the marriage.   In arranged marriage,  the people involved should like each other and it should not be a marriage between and for families only.

      4  Does Politics interest you? Give reasons.

Votebank politics does not interest me. But, constructive politics does interest me for the simple reason that it helps in nation building and as a citizen I am benefitted.

     5 Which is your  favourite TV  programme?

I am not a regular  TV viewer but I randomly watch  all  travel, food  and music shows on TLC, Travel Trendz,  NDTV good times and a tamil DD channel called Podhigai.  one serial I like watching is Rajshri productions “ Pyar ka dard hai…….”.  When I am unable to see, I follow written updates. All these are my favorites

     6 Three things which are most important for you in life?

         1) My family  which includes immediate and relatives like uncles and aunts

       2) happiness

         3) Money ( not filthy enough to own an island or a private yacht, but sufficient to lead a pretty decent life)

         
    7 Which is your favourite News Paper?

 National daily ‘ The Hindu’

     8 At what age a child can be given sex education?

  Thanks to Satellite television and other media, today’s children are well informed. So, as early as 9 or even earlier depending on the environment they grow in.  But it should be imparted gradually and  taught  as a natural biological process without any awkwardness, not as a taboo or sin.  The children should be taught about good touch and bad touch as early as ‘3’ or when a child is able to understand what is being told.

    9  Which character has influenced you most in a novel? Why?

‘Swaminathan’ of RK narayan’s ‘Swami and friends’ for his innocence, simplicity and naughtiness and almost everyone faces problems like him in childhood and can relate to him.

    10. Which country do you wish to live for ever?

             Bharat Varsh

Now the questions that I have drafted for my favorite  and leibster deserving bloggers.

1. If you could learn one skill, what would you learn?
2. Your major goal in life?
3. What’s your favorite motivational quote?
4. How do you de-stress yourself?
5. The  traditional food you like most ?
6. Your favorite game in your childhood?
7. Do you think technological advancements have made us less creative. YES/No. justify your choice.
8. In today’s scenario. If you were to raise a child,  How would you raise him/her?  A sheltered life like in a bubble shielding him/her from the various problems or would you let her/him  freely to explore, experiment and learn by exposing them to the harsh realities of life and be independant.
9. IF you were to narrate an inspiring story of a person from history/fiction/ real life to a 10 year old. Whose story would you choose to narrate?
10. If a  confused teenager came up to you asking for advice on what career choice to make. What would be your advice?

Now, to get the award, you  bloggers have to help me.

I nominate all my favorite bloggers – Sowmya( soul space)

                                                               Swapna (Petals)

                                                                Rama ( time, time..)

                                                                Gils( will try to bring him back)

                                                               Ramesh ( business musings)

                                                                Shilpa ( a rose...)

                                                                SG ( shoot the breeze)

                                                                 shachi(expressions) 

                                                               Renu( anoobhooti)

                                                             & last but not the least Usha ma'am again

I can understand if you don't want to write the answers on your blog, but would appreciate if you write it here in my comments section.

so, any takers? 

        

Healthful and guiltless snacking by SMARTEATS

Snacking is a part of  daily living in most homes. Most of us have  a snack menu for daily living. Due to paucity of time or no time, many are unable to focus on the quality food needs especially when it comes to home made snacks.  Snacking can help ignite energy by giving our body a fuel boost. Eating healthy snacks, in little proportions can help avoid  feeling over hungry or overeating syndrome that often leads to depletion of energy and leads to overweight.

The snack time between meals, many generally end up eating bag of chips or greasy snacks loaded with fat, salt or sweet content. Especially this type of snacking is more prevalent in work places where meetings double up as snack time and even the mini work breaks  and hunger pangs drive  the associates  to the cafeteria loaded with greasy samosas , bonda, bajji, puffs or coke cans.  

When served in a combination, a fried salty snack like a samosa  with a sweet may end up like a mini meal calorie wise. Moreover the white sugar, refined food devoid of minerals, vitamins and nutrients may lead to obesity and adverse problems.

So,  Should we forego the yummy temptations and avoid snacking altogether? 

No, there are many healthy and tasty alternatives if we care to look around. As a rule of thumb, food should be recognisable as something that grows naturally in a field, on a farm or in an orchard, before it’s packaged up and sold – no preservative or processing is necessary. Smarteats is one of them. It was by chance, I saw a call from a fellow blogger  Sangeeta Khanna on a bloggers network and immediately wanted to try the same. I received a smart box containing 6 packets of smarteat all neatly packed and in perfect condition all the way from Delhi. The box had a pack of:

Very berry strawberry: yummy dehydrated  strawberries without any preservatives or artificial colors or flavours, with a shelf life of 9 months. They were like yummy candies, a good substitute for kids who love chocolates.

Fruity Granola Bar: So soft and chewy. It had the goodness of oats, almonds, coconut, apples, grapes, peach( all dehydrated) with honey and brown sugar.

Magic masala roasted nuts:  A combination of subtly spiced cashews and almonds. 

Yummy Jaipuri Mixture:  a roasted mélange of watermelon seeds,peanuts and spices.

Walnut brownie Biscotti- A whole wheat brownie with flavors of dark chocolate and walnuts, almonds, brownsugar, curd etc.,

Fruity Cashew Caribbean cookies : A healthy whole wheat ccokie with crunchy bites of cashews and real fruits like grape and seeds like melon.

When the pack arrived and I tempted my children that  I have got Smarteats, they asked if it was similar to  MCain’s  wedges or like McD’s finger fries.

When they saw the contents, they were least interested initially.  when I told them to try the products, they reluctantly tried and guess what?

 My fussy daughter said the Walnut brownie biscotti was simply delicious and my son who hates nuts in his snack box loved the subtly spiced cashews and almonds.  Overall,  I enjoyed all the products  especially the strawberry  candies and granola bar were simply melting in my mouth despite the crunchy oats. Added to the advantage of  taste was guilt free healthy snacking. 

The above products are from Smarteats. The  co-founder Avni Garg  of Smarteats calls  this  “Healthy eating movement” towards making us and our children, healthier and happier.  Sangeeta, a well known nutritionist and blogger is the recipe scientist who develops and find snacks which are delicious, unique and healthy. These are 100% natural(No artificial flavor, color, preservative or sweetner is used) and made from whole grains only. They have 0% transfat and are high in micronutrients, fiber and have balanced calories.

They are online at www.SmartEats.in and have vibrant community at  www.facebook.com/Smarteats.in