A letter from a Daughter to her Daddy

Dear  Daddy,

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for both of us. It is the time that my life is going to take a big turn. I will be tied in a knot with a guy of your choice, and I believe your choice is the best!! I have always wished that you select my life partner because it’s only you who knows what I want, better than me.

Today, as I am just a few hours away from the moment when I would become someone’s wife, my heart is filled with gratitude and my mind is filled with memories of 23 amazing years of my life that 

I spent with my family. 

My life till today, as a daughter, a sister, a granddaughter, a friend, a student has been great and I have put all my sincere efforts to play my roles perfectly. I could do this only because you were with me, to guide me, to protect me and to encourage me.  Without your support and guidance, it would have been difficult for me to understand how to balance myself playing such varied roles as a single person at a single time. Thank you, Daddy, for teaching me to maintain a balance between various roles.

Childhood has been the most beautiful phase of my life. You gave me all the freedom to do whatever I wished to do. You let me free to play till I was tired, to read till I felt bored, to eat till I was full and to sleep till I came out of my dreams. You never compelled me to do anything. Thank you, Daddy, for letting me do everything I wished to do.

The big Teddy Bear that you bought for my birthday!! I still have it on my bed, because it comforts me. I know it is not the Teddy that comforts me, but it is you whom I see in the Teddy that puts me to sleep every single night, assuring that I am safe in its hands. You have gifted me umpteen number of such things in which I see you. I never asked you what I wanted, but you always knew it!! You bought me every little thing which I wanted, even before I knew that I wanted it. Be it storybooks, girly stuff, mobile phone, Scooty or even the car that you gifted me on my 21^st birthday. You never gave me the chance to ask for something. Thank you, Daddy, for reading my heart and for fulfilling all my desires.

Every time I had to go out to some place, you were there with me to accompany me and to ensure my safety. But you have also made sure I went out and explored the world alone, to teach me to deal with the world. Giving me this opportunity to go out by myself, you helped me shape into a strong and independent individual. Thank you, Daddy, for giving me freedom and for making me independent.

You took care of me when I was sick. You caressed me when I fell off my bike and injured my leg. You encouraged me to perform well when my grades were low. You celebrated my success more than I did. You surprised me with lovely gifts. You did many things for which I will always love you.

Today as I see my would-be husband, I wish and pray that he should be like you. His love for me should be conditionless and pure. He should accept me as I am and should be with me in every phase of my life like you did.

I know we won’t be together from now, Daddy. But I will always be your daughter. You will always be in my heart. I promise I will be a good wife, a good daughter-in-law, a good sister-in-law and also a good mother. I promise I will fulfill all my duties and responsibilities towards my in-laws. I promise I will be with you and mother when you need me. I promise I will make you feel proud of me.

Now I want you to promise me that you won’t miss me, you will always take care of yourself and mother, you will always smile when you think of me and you will always love me the same way as you did till now.

I know that my surname would change from now. But my first name will always reflect my identity as your daughter. I am entering a new family for sure, but from now on I have two families to share my happiness with.

My heart is heavy, not with sorrow but with happiness. My eyes are full, not with tears but with dreams. It's time I say goodbye to my family with whom I grew up. You will all be in my heart, my thoughts and my prayers.

Always your daughter,

Daddy's Girl 

Mobile Apps transforming the Retail Sector

Smart phones are considered to be one of the best inventions of the 21st century and the innumerable easily downloadable applications have greased the wheels of their usage. The greatest impact of the mobile applications has been seen in the e-commerce sector. Technology being so ubiquitous and colossal, the world of commerce and e-commerce have seamlessly merged. Shopping experience has been redefined with the novelty of mobile applications. These have empowered the customers to opt from a wide range of choices. Be it price comparison or customer support, today customers have the benediction of a fulfilled shopping experience via an app. These apps range from those that advertise the latest goods to those that remind the customer of the names of their favourite brands.

Statistics show that 88 percent of respondents use mobile shopping apps. With mobile app usage on the rise, retailers can’t afford to miss out on the growing opportunities for mobile revenue. In order to bring their products directly to their customer’s phones, retailers have started working on mobile apps. In fact, 45 percent of consumers use their phone for in-store price comparisons, and 65 percent of consumers have retailer applications on their phone. These apps help consumers compare prices, navigate store locations, check inventory, scan bar codes to see product reviews and get location-specific deals or even redeem discount vouchers even while in-store. This illustrates an intersection between the digital and physical shopping experience.

As the use of mobile applications increases, the expectation of consumers for improvement of interface increases proportionally. To meet the expectations of potential mobile application users, retailers have buckled out by analysing data, accessing it in the cloud and performing meaningful analytics. Today, consumers are just a click away from their desired product available at their desired store.

In an effort to keep their customers more informed about their desired products, retailers through the mobile apps now send personalized and timely offerings. By analysing the customers purchase history, retailers can also suggest the latest arrivals and brands of the same product or similar products. In addition to a higher level of consumer engagement and higher conversion rates from integrated mobile offers, local retailers benefit by providing home delivery option.

Mobile apps are empowering retailers like never before. They can easily up-sell or cross-sell, or create targeted personalized offers based on real-time information collected while interacting with customers in-store to enhance the customer experience. The monitoring of traffic and statistical analysis of the overall productivity is now done with great ease using the apps.

Another factor that lures consumers towards using mobile apps for purchase of commodities is online payment. Mobile payments are on the up with smartphones powering card-based transactions through apps. Online payment for products and services via credit or debit cards through mobile devices has cut out the card altogether. The number of mobile transactions was estimated to be near 50 million in 2015.

Change is afoot with the emergence of digital wallets that link users’ payment cards to their mobile apps. At a time when the financial services industry is going through some fundamental shifts, the technological development brought through the introduction of mobile apps has spurred up the overall productivity and performance of both small scale as well as large scale retailers. The fact that the largest e-commerce merchants do not carry any overhead costs for physical stores allows them to hold down prices for customers.

The hunger for online shopping knows no bounds. The rise of mobile wallets, promotion, discounts, comparison shopping and many other perks has totally transformed the way retailers and consumers interact. The voluminous varieties of products being made available in the app and the timely notification of availability of desired products when in stock have caught the pulse of a typical consumer.  

With these advancements leaping up, small scale retailers are also equally benefited by cutting down store maintenance costs and also by the opportunity to compete with bigger brands. Online commerce is being replaced by mobile commerce. Consumers want convenience, portability and security. Offering all these, mobile apps are on the go and they have not just transformed the state of retail sector but have become the driving force. Consumers demand mobile applications that are updated constantly, personalized and unique to meet their needs. Hence notable efforts are being put into improving the mobile app quality, experience and engagement.

All these changing dynamics are causing retailers to rethink their strategies. Retailers have pulled up their socks to improve the critical shopping experience via the mobile apps because it makes up 20 percent of their total annual revenue. The goal is allowing customers to make purchasing decisions on their favorite devices and over their preferred channels. 

It is not just the retail sector that has transformed but the total shopping experience, as mobile apps have accommodated consumers with the pleasure of shopping from where they are and enjoying free deliveries to their doorstep!! 

A CAKE OF JOY !!

Celebrations are very special moments in our lives. A happy occasion always brings our families, friends and well wishers together under one roof to rejoice and make merry of those wonderful moments. Any happy occasion is incomplete without food. And when it comes to special occasions, a sweet dish is a must!! Let it be birthday, a success party or anniversary..a CAKE is what makes it a party. Some of my friends ( I would call them beginners in cake baking) wanted to learn to bake an egg-less cake. So, here is a special recipe for my special friends.
 

Firstly, let’s just check out all the ingredients required for our cake. Since you haven’t decided what type of cake you want to bake, let me suggest it for you- let’s bake a simple egg-less sponge cake.
So the ingredients are as follows,
1. All purpose flour (maida)- 1 cup
2. Baking powder- 1 teaspoon
3. Baking soda- 1 teaspoon
4. Sugar powder- 2 to 3 tablespoons
5. Butter ( or ghee)- 1 tablespoon
6. Milkmaid condensed milk- ½ tin
7. Tuti – fruity (different colors)- as many as you like

Ok, now we have our ingredients so let us prepare the batter. In a big bowl, dust 1 cup maida to ensure there are no lumps. Now add sugar powder, baking powder, baking soda and mix them well. Add milkmaid and butter. Mix them well using a whisk or a spoon. Keep adding little water until the required consistency is obtained.  You need to make sure that the batter is neither too thick nor too thin. Now add the tuti-fruity and also any dry fruits that you want to add. Mix the batter well till it is free of lumps or any air bubbles.

The next part is baking. Take a big, round bowl such that if you fill the batter in it, it should fill only half of it. This ensures that there is enough space for the bake to rise. Apply ghee or butter in the bowl on all the sides. Fill the batter in it and shake the bowl a little or tap it on the table. This makes the batter sit equally in the bowl. Now heat the cooker on high flame for 5-8 minutes. Place a stand or a small bowl (smaller than the bowl containing the batter) and place the batter bowl on it.
Don’t pour water in the drum.
Don’t put any lid on the bowl.
Don’t put the gasket of the cooker.
Just close the cooker with its lid and simmer the flame. Bake the cake on medium flame for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, open the cooker lid, insert a knife (or toothpick) into the cake to check whether it is ready or not. If the batter sticks to the knife, let it bake for some more time. After you see it is ready, remove it from the cooker. Now run a knife along the edges of the bowl and overturn the bowl on a plate to remove the cake. You can garnish the cake with tuti-fruity or dry fruits of your choice. Let it cool for a while, you can also refrigerate it for some time. Now your cake is ready to be served !!

The basic procedure of baking any cake is the same. You just have to change (or add) the main ingredient, like for example, for baking a chocolate cake you have to follow the same above procedure but just add cocoa powder to it, and for a carrot cake, add grated carrot to it.  

Enjoy every bit and every bite of it. Share your cake..share your happiness :)

NEPAL EARTHQUAKE

A home filled with kids, laughter, and joy is the best place to live in. It is not just an erection of bricks but is an assortment of years of hard-earned money, emotions, and memories. But the thought of losing this home is worse than a nightmare. Technology has provided us with much advancement to make this world a better place to live in. Even with all our technology and the inventions that make modern life easier than once it was, it just takes one big natural disaster to wipe all that away and remind us that, here on earth, we are still at the mercy of nature.

Over the past few centuries, we have seen many such calamities and devastations and we have also developed strategic steps to detect them. But the degree of havoc and loss of lives that these calamities have caused is still atrocious. What life has got in store for tomorrow is an unanswered question. What we have today is the truth of our life. Years of efforts give a family, a home to live in. And an uneventful and unwelcomed natural calamity can extirpate not only a single town but can shake a whole nation. 

A landlocked country between India and China, Nepal is known for its mountain peaks. The small country contains eight of the 10 highest peaks in the world, including Mount Everest and Kanchenjunga. This beautiful country is an amalgam of flora, fauna, Himalayas, ethnic and cultural diversity. The capital of Nepal, the city with a rich history, spanning nearly 2000 years, Kathmandu is the gateway to tourism in Nepal.

This beautiful city was buzzing with activity and beaming with tourists from all around the world, until the most devastating earthquake shook the entire country, bringing all the activity to a screaming halt. 

A powerful earthquake shook Nepal on 25th of April,2015 near its capital, Katmandu, killing more than 1,900 people, flattening sections of the city’s historic center, and trapping dozens of sightseers in a 200-foot watchtower that came crashing down into a pile of bricks. The massive earthquake has left thousands of people homeless, hungry and torn down. It was estimated that 1,931 deaths occurred in Katmandu and the surrounding valley and that more than 4,700 people have been injured. But the quake touched a vast expanse of the subcontinent.

It set off avalanches around Mount Everest, where at least 17 climbers died. The earthquake, with a magnitude of 7.8, struck shortly before noon, and residents of Katmandu ran into the streets and other open spaces as buildings fell, throwing up clouds of dust. Wide cracks opened on paved streets and in the walls of city buildings. Motorcycles tipped over and slid off the edge of a highway. Four of the area’s seven UNESCO World Heritage sites were severely damaged in the earthquake: Bhaktapur Durbar Square, a temple complex built in the shape of a conch shell; Patan Durbar Square, which dates to the third century; Basantapur Durbar Square, which was the residence of Nepal’s royal family until the 19th century; and the Boudhanath Stupa, one of the oldest Buddhist monuments in the Himalayas.

The most breathtaking architectural loss was the nine-story Dharahara Tower, which was built in 1832 on the orders of the queen. The tower had recently reopened to the public, and visitors could ascend a spiral staircase to a viewing platform around 200 feet above the city. When the earthquake struck, the one and a half feet thick walls made of brick came crashing down, killing about 60 people.

The loss of all the rich heritage of the country has left the whole world in grief. The howl of thousands of people who lost their home, their kids, family members, their wealth and everything, shook the hearts of millions of people witnessing this misfortune. Nothing can replace the lost ones. Nothing can undo what has happened to the country. Nothing can bring back the lives of those innocent people who got crushed under the rubble. 
The entire nation is grief struck.

The world has just seen the richness of a country turning into rubble. Let us all, keeping alive the spirit of humanity, extend a hand to Nepal, to help them rebuild their nation. Let us pray for all those departed souls to rest in peace.  

RELAX AND REJOICE

It has been a tiring week. Loads of work to finish, deadlines to meet, projects to complete and the list goes on. We can hardly pull out some time for ourselves and our family. This is how most of the people spend their lives that are always preoccupied with work. And when we actually pull out some time, we don’t know what to do to feel relaxed and happy. Well, there are always these five things which everyone love to do and are so far believed to be the best ways to make one feel relaxed.

#1 Your favourite song.

When the right song rattles your ear drums, the entire meaning of life seems crystal clear. However tiring the day was, when you hear your favourite song it instantly lifts up your spirit. Music is always known to be the best stress reliever. So where ever you are, whatever you might be doing at that instant, if you are in need of some boost, just play that number.

#2 Your best friend.

Your best friend is the only person who knows how to make you smile even in the worst situation. Talking to your best friend about every tiny thing that’s going on in your mind is one way to let go of the burden on your head. This may not be the solution for your problems but this will certainly help you find a way out of because now you have person whom you trust the most to help you with it.

#3 Shopping with your mom.

This is one thing that every girl loves to do. Going out with your mom and spending time with her not only makes you feel relaxed but also makes her happy. She is the one who misses you and your company the most. Another advantage of shopping with your mom is she knows what suits you the best and she is also the best critic. Some wonderful time with your mom, shopping, eating out and those unstoppable giggles, I am sure no one would like to miss these things.

 #4 A walk with your pet.

Pets can prove to be the best companions when you don’t have people around to hang out with you. An evening walk with your pet along the empty roads is one best way to take a breather. Just let that cool breeze take away all the stress out of your mind and body. And your pet is already there to keep you in pace and give you a nice exercise.

 #5 Your favourite novel.

Books are our best friends, aren’t they? Be it mystery, romance or drama, they have always kept us involved and interested. A novel by your favourite author is just another thing that you would wish to have to keep cool. An interesting plot and good language accompanied by a nice coffee are enough to hold you for the next few hours. This is bliss!! These are just those simple things most of us would love to do when we have some free time for ourselves. It is all about doing something that can bring back your smile and keep you happy and contented about the way of your life.
Life is not just about reaching your goals. It’s about enjoying every bit of it. Every moment of
your life is memorable, every person in your life is special and everything that you do is a
memory. Achieving one’s goals is important and at the same time spending some time for
yourself and your family to relax and rejoice makes one’s life better.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

The beauty of a woman lies not in her looks but in her courage, is what acid attack survivor Lakshmi has proved to the world. This 24 years old braveheart is an inspiration to many women who have become victims of the malicious acts of some ruthless people. But Lakshmi does not consider herself as a victim but she has emerged as a fighter. 

The accident has taken away her beautiful face but has given her a new life and a new identity. Born and brought up in an impoverished family in New Delhi, Lakshmi like many other girls of her age had woven beautiful dreams. She was a wonderful singer. At a very tender age, even as a student a class 7, Lakshmi would spend hours singing but never felt tired of it. She recorded her songs and sent them to talent hunt competitions. She was waiting for a call from “Indian Idol”.

Lakshmi’s father worked as a chef in a South Delhi home. She became friends with a girl in her neighborhood and it was then when she got stalked by the girl’s 32 years old brother. He soon started proposing to her and sent her messages saying that he was in love with her and demanded an instant reply. Lakshmi ignored his messages. The result of her rejection of the proposal has left a permanent scar on her face. The man who had claimed of being in love with her had shown the most vicious form of a human by attacking her with acid while she was waiting at a bus stop located in the famous Khan market. He was in connivance with his sister who was Lakshmi’s friend. The duo ran away leaving the poor girl to die on the road. She screamed for help whimpering in pain but no one stepped forth.

The acid has melted her face and her ears very quickly. A politician’s driver came to her rescue and admitted her to a hospital where she stayed for the next 10 weeks. She has undergone more than ten major surgeries. The mental trauma that she has gone through for more than 8 years is scarier than a nightmare. She had to stay indoors all the time and none of her relatives or friends have ever come to see her. The beast who took away her beauty was let out on bail to enjoy freedom. He got married and returned to his normal life just within a month. But for what he had done to Lakshmi, even a lifetime wouldn't be sufficient to bring her to normalcy. She tried to pick up a job but got nothing but rejection. “People will get scared if they see you” is what she was told when she approached for a job at some places.

The world seemed so unwelcoming to her. With a hundred questions in her mind, she felt like all the doors have been shut for her. The only support system she had was her family, her doctor and her lawyer. She had received great help from the couple at whose house her father worked. They paid for her surgeries and are still with her giving her support and boosting her spirit. It was only when Lakshmi and her family were recovering from the attack that her brother came down with tuberculosis and adding to this grief, her father passed away. For the second time, Lakshmi faced a big blow and was totally shattered. She became the sole bread earner for the family.

Even after so many difficulties, fate must have played its wicked game but it could not dwindle her courage. She pursued her case in the court. Her lawyer filed a petition in the Supreme Court asking for a ban on the sale of acid. She thought of many other women who have gone through the same pain and agony that she had gone through. Slowly, she got in contact with other victims who lost their vision and hearing. They were poor and helpless, like her. They couldn't afford to buy a new face for themselves. The society had not accepted them and instead of helping them, they just made the world around them look darker for these victims. The undeterred young woman Lakshmi did not lose hope. She started an online petition and received great support when 27,000 people signed it. She submitted the form to the Home Minister and was successful in putting her assaulter behind the bars for a term of seven years. Her fight for justice is not over.

She has taken a vow to fight on behalf of every woman who has become a victim of acid attack. Her legal fight will continue until justice is done to every victim. The Supreme Court has ordered states to pay Rs.3 Lakh as compensation. But this wouldn't suffice the medical costs for the umpteen numbers of surgeries that these victims undergo. She started a campaign called “Stop Acid Attacks” and has received enormous support from public and also from many celebrities and political figures. Lakshmi was awarded the “International woman of the year 2014” by US First Lady Michelle Obama, for the great work she has been doing in the support of acid attack survivors. Lakshmi, is the Director of Chhanv, a support center for acid attack survivors in India.These women here are putting all their efforts to make their lives better. All they expect from this world is some support and a smile when we look at them. They have dreams like every other person and they also keep the courage to make their dreams come true. They are the superwomen of our country and every citizen of this country is proud of them.

MY SALAD DAYS

So much to say

About the days

When I walked this way

And gave out a "yay"!!

A little desire

Filled in me the fire

And took me so higher

I could give my best

I am free of regrets

Know what I got to say

About the best of my days

Yeah, they were my salad days!!

I walked along a lonely street

No one to share my anguish with

You came up to me

To befriend me

Now when I turn around

I find happiness abound

Life looks so beautiful

Everyday is adorable

Yet there is so much to say

About the best of my days

Yeah, they were my salad days!!

Now that I have seen
what life has got to give
hear to me once
its out of experience
each day is a new day
filling our life with every ray
come along, walk this way
life goes on come what may
I shall remember these days
as the best of my days
yeah my salad days.

How Microsoft has impacted my life and how I plan to bring a change in the society being an MSA.

Hi friends. I am Sowmya Garimella, from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam and this is my story on how Microsoft has impacted my life and how I plan to bring a change in the society being an MSA.

Over the past three decades, computers and software technology have seen great development. As a kid I was always fascinated by this magical machine that could play songs and movies, could paint colorful pictures and had games too. It was my best playmate. Back then I didn’t know how these things actually worked.  I praised my own self for the masterpieces that I made using the MS Paint. I love writing stories, articles and poems. I was introduced to MS word by my dad. He taught me how to use the MS Word and to save my work. The different fonts, colors and styles that MS Word provided added beauty to my work and the good thing is I am using MS Word to write this article. It always ensures that I haven’t made any errors J

We were taught computer science at school. That was where I learnt that all the credit for the splendid work I have been doing all these years actually goes to Microsoft. Eventually we were introduced to MS Office with MS Word, MS PowerPoint and MS Excel. Slowly we have learnt to use them and this made our work easier and effective.

Microsoft has offered a wide range of software and hardware products to meet the needs of users from various disciplines. Microsoft Operating System started with Windows 1.0. Later versions like Windows 2.0, Windows 2.1x, Windows 3.0, Windows 3.1, Windows NT, Windows Xp, Windows Vista, Windows 7and Windows 8 came up with further improvements in each version. The latest Operating System is the Windows 8.1 OS. The features of this operating system are just amazing. I really like the start menu with colorful tiles and the facility of adding apps of our interest on the start screen. The search engine by Microsoft, “Bing” added another feather in the cap. It saves lot of my time by making the searching process easier.

The Microsoft Virtual Academy has been of great help to me in learning new things and in expanding my skills to a great extent. The free online tutorials provided here are designed by industry experts. The Self Assessment questions at the end of each class help us in evaluating our own selves. Not to forget, the Windows smart phones are a sensation in the world of smart phones. Giving a tough competition to the Android phones, Microsoft has developed an amazing range of smart phones with Windows operating system. I feel unlucky that I don’t have a Windows phone. But Microsoft has again won my heart by making available its apps in the android mobile store. I have downloaded almost all the Microsoft apps which fulfill my requirements. OneNote, MS Office, OneDrive, Bing Search etc are few apps that play a vital role in making my daily chores simpler. I was asked to give a seminar in my class as an assignment for the next day. I forgot about the work and went to college without the presentation. Ten minutes before the class started, my friend reminded of the work. I was dumbfounded for a moment but then I realized that I had the whole MS Office in my phone. Bing Search was there for my rescue too. I quickly downloaded all the required info and started my presentation using my MS Office Mobile app. I completed my work in time. This way, Microsoft products have played a major and a vital role in my daily life helping me in all my works.

How I plan to bring a change in the society being a Microsoft Student Associate:

 

As an MSA, I wish to educate people about the various products by Microsoft and various benefits of using them. For this, I would organize tutorials and boot camps for students through which I can bring to their knowledge various useful tools like Windows 8.1 enterprise preview, Windows Virtual studio etc. I would also like to bring out the useful resources available in Microsoft Virtual Academy. I have been greatly benefited by these tools and so I wish to share the same with many other students out there who aspire to learn new things.

At Andhra University, there a many students who are talented and are budding web developers. I plan to organize seminars, workshops etc. which would help students learn about various Microsoft products and tools.

I am looking forward to work with Microsoft. I am sure it would be a great learning experience too. I assure that I will put in all my sincere efforts and live up to everyone’s expectations.

                                                            Thank You!                 

Knowing Gandhi.

One day while reading the newspaper, I came across a clipping about a course on Gandhian philosophy being offered in a University. I felt that was the right opportunity for me to seek the answers to all my questions I had in my mind for all these years. I got myself enrolled for the course. It was the first day of the course and when I entered the classroom, I realized that I was the youngest student in the class. All the others were in their sixties. They might have joined in order to get rid of the boredom of their retired lives. The class was quite interesting. The professor who came to teach us was a person with an appearance that demanded respect. His name was Professor Ranga Rao. He was a man in his fifties, with a pleasant smile on his face. He started the class putting forward a question for all the students in the class. The question was very simple. “What do you know about Gandhi and why did you join this course?” The answer that most of them gave was that they knew Gandhi as a freedom fighter and that they came here because they admired him and his principles. Finally, it was my turn to answer. I stood up and said, “I know Gandhi as a freedom fighter and as the father of this nation. But that is not all that we have got to talk about him. The reason why I am here today is, I want to know who Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was and how this Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi became Mahatma. Through this course, I intend to find the answer to all those questions I had in my mind since my childhood”. Listening to this, Professor Ranga Rao bore an expression on his face that said that he was both surprised and also pleased to hear to something different than the routine responses from the other students. After a moment, he asked what my questions were. I said “ what would have happened to our country if Gandhiji was not thrown out of the train? Would he still fight for the freedom of our country?” There was a mysterious silence in the room.  My question left everyone amazed and some gave me a stern look which said “have you lost your mind!!” I ignored them and sat down and waited for Professor Ranga Rao to speak. He appreciated my interest to find out the real man within Gandhi and said that I would get all the answers by the end of the course. The course started with a brief introduction about Gandhiji’s family and his childhood. I must say that it was through Gandhiji’s life story that I learned that no one is born great but their deeds make them great. As a kid, he was no different from the other kids of his age. Though he was not interested in sports and physical education, his desire to stay with his father and serve him was a unique quality he possessed. After we were done with the first day’s class, Professor gave me a book “The story of my experiments with Truth”, the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi. I started reading it as soon as I reached home. I was totally in love with that book. It gave me an insight of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the person I was in search of. I was amazed by the way Gandhiji had accepted and written in the book, all the mistakes he had made throughout his life. It needs lots of guts and great courage to tell the world who you actually are and what kind of personality you possess. Throughout the course, I have known and understood a person who had a diverse personality that could make a nation fight with its mighty enemy. The honesty with which he confessed his mistakes, let it be his eating non-vegetarian food without the knowledge of his parents or be the forceful behavior that he showed towards his wife to educate her and to convince her to adopt the Western culture of dressing and dining, each and every instance shows that he is a man who has made truth as his language and honesty as his religion. As a man with great will power, incredible charisma and undeterred belief in the truth, Gandhi has risen to be the Father of the biggest democratic country in the world freeing it from the clutches of the tyrants. These qualities made him grow from Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi to MAHATMA. My experience of learning the real man within Gandhi answered every single question I had in my mind.          

FRESH WINTER SALAD

Ah! Winter reminds me of those hot aloo pakoras, paneer pops, and asparagus soup boiling hot with its outstanding “khushboo” pulling me towards it. But as soon as the thought of calories and fat content hits my mind, I take my hands off them. My wish of enjoying these steaming hot delicacies sitting in the balcony with my family, taking pleasure of the cool breeze….vanishes with the very next thought of calories.

Calories is just another factor most of us are concerned or conscious about rather. Every teenager is conscious about his or her looks and physique. It is not only the matter of physique but also health. With winter ahead and flu in its rage, it is very important that we think twice before we eat anything. I know most of you will be truly upset with my suggestion of avoiding the “junk food” sold out there in those “always crowded fast food centers”. But when it comes to health, nothing else seems important.  

So guys and girls, let me suggest you a simple, healthy and delicious winter dish. In Oscar Wilde’s words,” To make a good salad is to be a brilliant diplomatist—the problem is entirely the same in both case. To know how much oil one must put with one’s vinegar.” But don’t you worry! Because I am here to direct you with your oil and vinegar. And one more thing guys, this is a very good option for all those who are on a diet. You can make this fresh in the morning and carry it in your lunch box and avoid outside salad's which are still high on calories.

The ingredients that you require to prepare the Fresh Winter Salad are:

• 1 Orange peeled and separated in individual slices
• 2 carrot peeled and cubed
• 2 small guava’s cubed
• 1 cup of lettuce leaves chopped roughly
• 1 cucumber peeled and cubed
• Juice of 1 lemon and 1 tsp of lemon zest
• Pinch of salt and pepper
• Pinch of crushed dry mint leaves.

See that all your ingredients are ready. Wash the fruits and vegetables thoroughly before you cut them. When you have completed peeling your fruits and vegetables and have sliced them, mix them all in a bowl. Sprinkle salt, pepper and dry mint leaves. Add lemon juice and lemon zest. Toss it well. Serve it in a serving tray garnished with lemon zest and dry mint leaves. And there you go! A healthy and delicious Fresh Winter Salad. Try it out at home and believe me you will love it. It has got a variety of both fruits and vegetables in it which will help you increase your resistance power. The citrus fruits or Vitamin C which are the main ingredients of the salad are very essential for enhancing our immune system. Lettuce leaves is an excellent source of vitamins A, B1, B2, and C, folic acid, manganese and chromium and also adds a good flavor to the salad.With all such nutritious ingredients, your salad will give a perfect start for your busy day. So friends have a beautiful and healthy winter ahead!