Category: Guest Post

No Excuses: Work Hard

What’s stopping you? Are you too tired? Didn’t get enough sleep? Don’t have enough energy? Don’t have enough time? Is that what’s stopping you right now? Don’t have enough money? Is that the thing? Or is the thing that’s stopping you? Excuses sounds best to the person when the person is making them up. Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Wake yourself up or at least wake yourself from inside. Its game on. It’s go season. It’s time for you take advantage of the access and the resources that you have in your country and your community. You got a problem with your life? You got a problem with your environment? Do something about it. If you want go get it.

Recognize the excuses are not valid. They’re conjured up, they’re fabricated and they’re lies. And how do you stop the lies? You stop the lies with the truth. And the truth is you have time, you have the skill, you have the knowledge and the support, the will power, the discipline to get it done. The best of everything good in life begins with a challenge. Everything is uphill that’s worthwhile. And it’s not going to come to you and it’s not going to fall in your lap and it’s not going to be something that, wow, it just was so simple, its always going to be difficult. If you want it, you got to get it. This is your chance. This is your shot. This is your moment. This is your time. This is your place. This is your opportunity. There is no such things for tomorrow but we only got today. It’s your dream if you’re going to have it than get up and make it happen. If you are going to possess it rise and grind. You still got work to do.

Nothing in life is worth it unless you’re taking risks. But giving excuses make your dreams falling apart. Self discipline and being able to perform and being able to keep your life on schedule and being able to keep commitments and promises and meet deadline is essential for success. Start by being responsible. Responsibility comes up with the way of thinking and being. You know your ability. Take the responsibility of improving yourself. Your skills are the best companion for you. Work hard to improve your skills. Don’t expect many but manage your expectations. Self empowering is all you need. Motivate yourself for day-to-day tasks. Don’t let any negativity enter in your mind. Take back your time, wasting it will make you weak.

Everybody messes once or many time in their life. But giving up is not an option. You need to build yourself. You need to improve yourself. Don’t lie about anything and specially when it comes to improvement of your own worth. Personal accountability is also important. Think, what needs you to improve, believe in yourself and then do it without giving an excuses.

“A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.”- By: Nelson Mandela

Growing level of competition good for youth

A horse never runs so fast as when he has other horses to catch up and outpace.-Ovid

Competition!competition!competition!No matter,if you go to a school,or an higher institution, or you are a job aspirant (government or private),or you own a shop, you work at any sector;a certain level of competition will hang on your head to gear you up at every point of your life. And if you try and escape from the monster, in one way or the other, it comes back to you, to remind your purpose of existence over this earth.But the real question of the hour is, does competition pumps up a person? Or does it make them feel more distressed? We all are surrounded by innmuberable questions, that makes the most intrinsic parts of our lives, but eventually fail to answer them. Who scored the best? Who is this year’s CBSE topper? Who all got the promotion? Why did you not achieve that rank? And etc etc etc. finally making, either the person think upon it, do to better, or sadly making them disheartened over their loss.Living in a society as this, who wants nothing but success, it has now become common phenomenon to see people competing against each other, sometimes winning, and sometimes failing. The extent to which their winning and losing matter, does nothing, stretches the line of demarcation about how good or evil the competition becomes for them. The term, healthy competition, which is getting more and more popularity today, may seem convincing, but it actually does not matter, unless the person understands its literal sense. So, consequently, the question is still the same, directly or indirectly, how good is competition for the youth? Whether you are a youngster, or a child, competition begins right from the day you step out of the womb of your mother. But, for an adult or youngster, it becomes much more difficult to get up and walk along the path that they have choose for themselves. If you are a school pass out, first thing you have to do is try and get the best carrier path for yourself, and the tussle doesn’t end there, to get the right job becomes another duty. But, if you are fighting for a competitive exam, dedication and struggle is all, that you have to do, but if you fail, the responsibility comes upon you, and to kill your motive, “words of the world” are enough. And if you are seeking for a job, you have to be perfect of all. Leading to more and more compitiveness among the youth.Talking about the goodness of competition in youths’ lives, it is totally dependent upon the perception of oneself, so as to be a burden of oneself, or just get pressurised over what hasn’t been well, yet. The term, healthy competition, which has been called upon many a times to motivate people, has worked out for those who really know what it is conveying, but the people who have less dedication towards what they want, and are confused as to what to do, ones they fail, are more likely to be disappointed with their own expectations. Putting all your heart and soul into something and still not getting out the results, and seeing everyone else moving ahead, is like a jerk to the soul. But, still working over it is the indication, that you are progressing in life, cutting through all the rough routes you have been into.

Competition actually pumps any person up to work more and more over something, but giving up on it does not have to be the only option, because once you stop, starting from the scratch remains the only option, eventually seeing others moved far off.

Boycott of fairness creams is a step ahead

Recently, the death of George Floyd has caused a mass stream of revolutionary change against racism, an issue that has been suppressed for years and now has suddenly taken over the streets of almost every country and every social media platform. All kinds of people, black, white, hypocrites, old, and especially the youth is engaged in the process to find out a way to get rid of every kind of racist activity that has been going on since years.If the past records were to be seen, the fault actually lies in our upbringings and educational norms, that have resulted in the acts like, racism. From the day a child is born into this world, is the day, his/her, colour has been judged by the family members, unapologetically, till the day he dies and cremated over. Until, what the person has to go through, is the racist comments and teasers, that unfortunately kills the person from within, even if, unknowingly. Here, there, every where, from school to the work place, judged on the basis of colour.People getting along the streets, outrage over the social media, all the tireless efforts that have been put to provide justice to the victim of racism, George Floyd, is a clear message to the people promoting racism, and racist activities, hypocrites;it is not an era of early 90s, instead, as an human being, as a national of any country, all are up against the evil that have been proliferating since past many a years. The take on this incident has, even, awakend a large amount of celebrities and actors, who were earlier engrossed in the promotions of fairness products and creams, namely, Yami Gautam, Kiara Advani, Katrina Kaif,Deepika Padukone and a series of the young age actors. But, so says the grapevine –

Better late than never

The decision over removing the word “fair” from the product “fair and lovely”,by the company Unilever, past two days ago, is a huge step ahead in promoting, every lives matter, very strongly. It is definitely a step ahead towards the conformation of the idea on banishing racism, as well as racist activities. It is also likely to affect the fairness endorsing products in the near future, abiding the norms of black lives matter, along with a jerk to those who were earlier engaged in promotion of fairness products and now are proudly supporting the revolution against racism.

Now is the time to prove the reason why we are living altogether on the same planet, the need to awake the humanity and purpose of human evolution.

Is media oversueing its freedom?

No matter how much people love to read the newspapers early mornings, with lukewarm tea, there’s always a keenness among the personages to get updated information, at every point of time. And they look up towards the digital media to get all the world’s knowledge. Apart from the media platforms that have come today, that, somewhere, are more unbiased and neutral, people still appeal towards the news channels that are being telecasted on the television due to less popularity of those on social media platforms and that can only be accessed through internet and digital media.

In such an era, as this, news channels have become the best medium to convey the news of every minute, even seconds. They are always try to find interesting ways to give the best to the audiences through debates, showcasing interesting news, and speaking up equivocally. Today most of them have all the world’s freedom to speak up and provide every pros and cons of any happening around the world, and they actually does. But, unfortunately, they have surpassed all the limits of freedom and autarky, and those end up showing the news and the information that is in favour of their sponsors and government whom so ever they have sold themselves to. Always wondering the reason behind such doings? Found out, it is actually for the sake of popularity, as well as to “be the good guy of the room” whether we believe it or not, in some way or the other, they show us, at last, what they really want us to believe and perceive.

Either they telecast such news that is all hot and debated amongst political parties, or nothing at all. The use of language in their headlines, is also something that is to be worried on, beyond imagination, too pathetic and so to say, low quality to handle. And it is because of such stuff, people come under believing in those news that are even not that tension worthy, leaving behind the happenings that are to be focused on. Again, if we talk about how they have created a mess among the people, who are no one, but believes what is being shown to them, sometimes they come up with such facts and datas that are nowhere in the history, nobody has ever mentioned that.

For instance, the recent incident of Chinese troops’ standoff on the Indian borders, is telecasted on and off the television again and again, claiming that the Chinese Army has been terrified by the revert back of the Indian Army. And they are proudly claiming and rejoicing that all the way in their news, which is a really worth appreciating. But, the picture behind the scenes isn’t made clear to the public yet; it is the Chinese cyber attacks that is also a big and a disaster for Indian IT sectors, that is unluckily not been promoted to show up on the television screens of millions of Indians, leaving them untouched from the reality.

Although,media did, does, and is doing such an appreciable work all the time, every single minute, faster it is than the print media and has given all the freedom to provide information, quality information to its viewers. But, certainly, their quality, the news that they display over the television screens have got limited with time and space;certainly due to enormous pressure of their sponsors. Which is why, “news channels must start wearing sponser jackets, like Nascar drivers, then we know who owns them.

Brand

A brand is a name, term, symbol, design or any other feature that makes different your goods or services from other sellers. It is used for marketing, for advertising and for business recognition so that they can create their brand equity for an object, for the customers, shareholders and owners. Generally brands are distinguished with the name of the store brands. Most of the people thought that brand is a name of any product which is popular among the people like Nike football or Van Heusen ladies bags, etc. But this not what brand is about. Here the name Nike and Van Heusen is the brand as they not only sell a particular product but they sell a variety of product with using this brand name.

In modern era, it is a concept of expanding your business or marketing and communication techniques which make a company different from their competitors with a goal of making a lasting impression in the customers mind. Also a brand valuation is important. It is a monetary value to your brand which allows marketing investment to be managed properly. This further increase shareholder value. However, it is very important to have customer trust on the brand. This is purely depends on behavior and performance of the brand as well as with their stakeholders. Communiacation plays a vital role in making the trust of the audiences on the brand. For making a good brand it needs to be properly managed and owners should keep the basic points in their mind. It is a huge responsibility of the owner to make their brand aware among the audiences. This needs to be strategized with a proper research.

The key points that make a brand are:

  1. Brand’s Identity- its a visual identity through which customers make an impression in their mind such as logo, design, color, etc.
  2. Personality- this include the characteristics and qualities that make it different from their competitors.
  3. Product Design- designing of your product through which it displays what the product is about. It also includes logo and trademarks.
  4. Brand Communication- communicating with the customers about your product and expanding your brand identity.
  5. Brand Awareness- telling customers about your brand so that more and more customers buy your product.
  6. Brand Loyalty- it is a feeling of buying the same product repeatedly because of an positive image in the customers mind.
  7. Brand Management- it is about managing of your brand properly with an aim to achieve its objectives while using some efficient strategies.

To make your brand identity good then the brand owner has carefully mange their brand to create a good market value. However, making a brand is not an easy task. It needed to be properly looked upon as well as properly researched about the customers and the products they wanted to buy from the market. Also the owner should also have good image identity which differentiate its from rest of the companies. Hence, a brand is made successful when its customers have a positive image in their mind.

Why Netflix and chill, when we can Ramayana and chill

It was 24th of the March, 2020, a disastrous year for all of us; when our honourable Prime Minister declared a complete lockdown for three devastating weeks, and eighteen year old heart of mine just sank off wondering, searching, lost as to how will I be able to make the time fly to sink back into beer and skittles.

But then! remembering that all I need to do is just not to attend any family meeting about abundance of topics, just stick with the most amazing invention of human civilization, mobile phone, and Netflix and chill with a large number of web series in a row which were unseen earlier. Watching every series, one after the another in a row and chilling more than what I planned for, from Money Heist, Resurrection, Lelia, little things to every single show, talking and sticking to every social media platform, after all the fatigue, finally got to be in the middle of people who were gonna just bully me and talk about all the time I waste when I can actually sit back sincerely and watch television. The shows that are being retelecasted after such a long were forced on me, as if they were hanging me on a new job.

Continuously watching the serial for two, three, and even four days, I couldn’t help but watch it with all of the world’s courosity, it actually made me indulge in itself. The dialogues, the characters, the picturization, every “damn” thing, so to say seemed so realistic to me that it grabbed my whole attention to it. And I can’t actually find another suitable way, just to Ramayana and chill. Obviously, it is one of the holiest books ever written in Indian history, besides that, the actual picturization just revived every thing that was long and lost somewhere in the past. Be it Shri Ram or the Ravaana, each and every character had to say something, had to convey something that is really worth praising, watching for.

Ending up with all its episodes, it really felt that, sometimes the best way to live today is by learning from yesterday. That made me realise, and I think all of us must have realised till now, one thing,

Old never gets old, and new always remains new.

It is always our generation that is stuck and bored using every modern day technology and comfort, while those who have always been living with their customs stick with them, can never,but cherish every day of their healthy lives.

Women’s Rights Are Human Rights

On 26th August, Women’s Equality Day is celebrated in the United States to commemorate the 1920 adoption of the 19th Amendment to the United States. This amendments prohibits the states and the federals government from denying the right to vote to the citizens of United States on the basis of sex. Women’s Equality Day was first celebrated in 1973. On this day an official holiday is also given to celebrate it. This day is celebrated to remember the suffragists and the efforts made by the women’s for their rights.

How in United States Women’s Equality Day celebrated? This further as follows:

  1. On this day National Organization of Women held huge rallies and marches in U.S. cities with the use of huge banners on the Statue of Liberty to honored the women’s who made voting possible for the women’s.
  2. This day also honored women who labored for long hours during the World War 1 whereas men were in battlefields. This honor are for the women who worked in factories of ammunition, weapons, supplies, etc.
  3. This day was introduced by Congresswoman Bella Abzug who made it possible through a Presidential Proclamation.
  4. Various ways are adopted to celebrate this day. By writing a thank you letter to influential women, children who were learning about the historical female figures, and by participating in parade or activities organized by the local government.

Some of the facts related to Women in America:

  1. Wyoming is the first state which grant women the right to vote.
  2. Nurse Clara Barton establish the American Red Cross.
  3. The first female mayor of American town, Susanna Madora Salter was Argonia and Kansas.
  4. The first American women Martha Washington to appear on U.S. postage stamp.
  5. Charlotte Woodward is the only suffragette who got witness women to being able to vote.

By celebrating the day for women’s equality America shows their respect for gender equality. Not only in America Women’s Equality day is also celebrated in many more countries. As men’s are important for the country’s progress than women’s are equally important for country’s progress. There is no meaning of celebrating these days if you do not understand the crux of the meaning of equality. A modern world needs a modern thinking. And gender equality begins with an individual mind or thinking. It is an individual perception of treating another person. This type of thinking cannot be changed so quickly. It needed to be properly looked at. They are need to tell about the equality, the importance of equality and the perception need to be changed.

Representation of women on various boards will give powerful messages to all the women’s who are left behind. A good message for the women’s who fight for the rights of the women’s and their struggle will not go on ease. People need to study that struggle as well as messages behind their struggle. Gender equality is important yesterday, today and also rest of the days.

“Both men and women should feel free to be sensitive. Both men and women should feel free to be strong.”- By: Emma Watson

Paving the path towards practicing Self Love

Alright so here I will be sharing some of my thoughts on how to take those initial steps to embark upon this beautiful journey of practicing self love and compassion on a daily basis.

1)  LET GO OF EXPECTATIONS
I know this can be tricky and quite hard for most of us because everything that we do has the desire of a certain outcome attached to it and if the outcome is not as expected, disappointments follow which lead to anxiety, it anger and the list of the negative feelings just go overboard. Instead you can have standards you like setting standards is what I allow in my life and what I don’t but don’t expect anything from anyone and from life in general. Try to go with the flow and you will soon start accepting the way you are and the way everyone else is and it being so much of peace, trust me. Just do your job letting go of the desire of the fruit- preached the greatest Lord Krishna in Bhagwad Gita.

2) DON’T TOLERATE ANYBODY’S UNNECESSARY SHIT
Now what I actually mean by it is that you are not supposed to bear with anybody projecting their hatred and frustration upon you especially if there are a closed one and if they matter but this just goes out of context if they are just random people on social media or those people whom you don’t considered to be friends. If they talk ill, let them, because their words define them and not who you are. But, on the other hand, if somebody close is treating you badly then you are not supposed to sit quietly and accept it. Rather communicate and gently do that because you don’t want to spoil the relationship, remind yourself that you want to mend the things and yeah thats how it goes. Because your comfort and level of peace has to be your highest priority. And and and, consI just read in a book, sorry can’t recall the name as of now, maybe “Codependent No More”. It said that you only tolerate the level of shit to the extent from others to which you make yourself go through. So be gentle and kind to your own self because if you don’t say anything bad about yourself then you won’t take it from others as well.

3) SETTING AND ENFORCING BOUNDARIES
Now this is again a tricky one. Boundaries are often created by us to protect our inner energy and tranquility. As we all know that we are human beings and we can have bad days too. It’s completely normal. So on those days, we might even act quite cold with our loved ones who genuinely care for us so we should the try and communicate with them that we are not in a position to talk rather than just venting out on them. Also, know that it is completely justified to ignore calls, not answer to texts, not be available for every hangout etc if you don’t feel like. You have to protect your little heart and its wishes but not by being rude and non-compassionate and that’s how self love functions.

This article is inspired by The Self Love Fix podcast on Google, make sure that you give it a try.

(3) 15 Date Ideas That You Can Do At Home

As promised, the final part of the #LockdownDating series is here. Hope you all have a fun time reading.

11) A NETFLIX DATE
Go on binge on your favourite series together with your loved one by your side and enjoy it to the fullest. Keep the romance rekindling with feeding each other popcorns loaded with extra cheese. Whatta cheesy date, right? But trust me, does wonders!

12) ‎A RECREATING THE WEDDING DAY DATE
If you are a married couple then you must be having the dresses that you wore on your big day for the nuptials. What’s the wait for? Get them on and re-dress as bride and groom and relive your wedding day. Because, unlike that day, you would not be so nervous and shy today but alike a confident duo out on a date. Let’s recreate the magic of the day when you two officially became ONE and for life!
‎
13) ‎A KIDS STUDY DAY DATE
Usually it happens that one of the parents is made responsible for taking care of the child’s studies. But have you thought how interesting and fun it would be if both the parents teach their kid together. This way they would not only understand the child better but also themselves better as the parents of their little one. Family time is calling guys because as I said life is emminently about the simple joys in the company of your loved ones and very little of what is too fancy. I included this point so that your child does not feel neglected with the overflowing of romance between his parents.

14) ‎A PAINTING DATE
Grab an old T-shirt or a bed sheet and do a couple activity of painting together. Take those brushes, paints and let the colour of love unleash and unfold upon the pale fabric which is now coloured beautifully through your love. As much as you will enjoy the process, you would even cherish the outcome, the masterpiece which you would have created.

15) A SWIMMY DATE
If you have a pool in your bungalow, what’s the waiting for? Slip in your sassy skin-fitting swimsuit, wear that fancy hat and those nice sunnies. Get ready to be tanned by not only just the sun but also by the love of your life. Going skinny-dipping can be a wild move but who ever said no to it?

So I hope you got some really innovative ideas on how you can keep the spark in your relationship alive even when you can’t get access to materialistic things (very relatable with the present situation of Covid 19). You cannot gift anything to your spouse or take him/her out on expensive dates, go for exotic holidaying in lavish resorts but one thing to remember is that true love is expressed from kind gestures that the two do for each other and from within the heart conversations. All these diamond rings, flowers, foreign vacations  might bring temporary happiness but love is eternal and that is maintained through the heart’s devotion. All my best wishes and loads of love to all our readers. I pray and hope that you are all staying safe in your homes along with your loved ones. Take care.
Bub

(2) 15 Date Ideas that you can do at home

Hope you guys checked out my previous article of the #LockdownDating series where I  listed down four budget-friendly methods of  keeping the spark in your relationship alive during these times of Covid 19. Here are the other few suggestions.

5) A MOVIE DATE
Who said that you need to go to a theatre crowded with 50 other people to celebrate you and your partner’s togetherness when you can do it in the privacy of your room itself. Decorate the room with scented candles, get into your comfy pajamas, snuggle closer to your loved one and boom here goes… Watch your favourite movie or maybe a new one together in the warmth of your home & partner’s arms. Works magically for home theatres.

6) A SPORTY DATE
Backyard is for out-the-room romance. Everyone is well aware of this but have you ever experimented it practically yourself? If not then go dress up and enjoy playing some sport i.e badminton, gully cricket with your beloved partner. This won’t only keep you fit in a gym-free world right now but also rekindle that dying out flame of romance between you two.

7) A NEW HOBBY DATE
No two people are exactly similar no matter how compatible you two are. So why not try and teach other one of your favourite hobbies which your partner admires the most about you. It can be learning to play a guitar, sewing sweaters, baking cookies, lifting weights, trying entangling yoga poses or just anything. Watch how the process of being a mentor to your loved one soon turns into a moment of celebrating love.

8) A CHOP-CHOP DATE
Lockdown has kept us from visiting hair salons and I am sure you must have missed out on so many of your  appointments. So why not let your love experiment with your hair and give it a fresh, new cut? That way, you’ll free yourself off a monotonous look and also sneak in a few moments of marital bliss. Don’t forget to return this hair stylist favour to your partner too.

9) A MORNING DATE
Waking up next to the person you love the most is undoubtedly one of the most calming and grateful feelings ever. Don’t you agree too? Try planting a soft kiss on your partner’s forehead to remind him/her of how serene and blessed you feel to be with him. Go brushing together, snap some cute selfies, have breakfast together and watch your love growing unfathomably.

10) A DRESS-TO-IMPRESS DATE
By now you must have been bored in your daily wears even if they are the most comfortable pyjamas on the planet. I know you desperately want to slip into your sassy outfits that you bought long ago, wear those fancy braids, put on that awe-inspiring makeup and woo your partner just like you used to in the pre lockdown era. So what are you waiting for? Make the use of the golden opportunity when your partner is busy working from home on his laptop and get ready to dress to impress and transform a normal evening into a dazzling date.

P.S~ Stay tuned for the last and final part of this article. I am sure it is going to be an interesting one. Hope you all had a fun time reading.