Optimism Is Contagious Too

Today I got to learn about a new name in Real Estate industry called Housing whose #LookUp Mantra changed my perception about this boring business into a colorful, positive and hopeful one. Knowing more about how Housing is nurturing optimism through human emotions attached to their home-their shelter; I also felt motivated to share a story of positivity that I had left a long lasting impression on my mind...

I am a person who don't feel hesitant to accept my realistic situation in front of anyone. At times, I am prompted to complain of what I have got in life when something falls short of my expectations. But still I keep doing my fair share of 'good deeds' because I hear mom saying this with lot of conviction that "we should keep contributing in noble causes. Because this is how we create good fortune." 

I came to understand mom's words much later, when I met a cheerful lady Binni (name changed) few months ago at my work place in reference to an educational adventure event that our institution wanted to organize for students. Since I met Binni few times more before the event date also, I felt myself quite comfortable in her company discussing about the proposed event. I am still clueless what was attracting me towards her charismatic personality.  

On the day of the event, as me and my colleagues reached Shivalik Hills with our students to participate in the adventurous activities, we were greeted by Binni and her team not with bouquet of roses, but with heart warming smiles. The leading lady had made fantastic arrangement of an array of multi-sport activities and was herself engaged in perfect execution of most of them.

Frankly, I was enjoying and learning her methodology to keep even the most unruly children in utmost discipline in such a humble and polite way. The command of her soft yet gripping voice had the impact of the order of an chief commander on the children. I presumed her to belong from an Army background in the past from her body language, firm voice and professional mannerism. 

Watching and admiring her for next 3-4 hours on the event day were actually enough for me to fall in love with her. So when she took a break from her involvement with children and sat to have lunch with us, I could not resist myself appreciating her for her jovial personality and effective work planning, saying "I really appreciate how you manage to be so lively, peppy and contented all the time. I wish I could be as happy as you.."

I never expected that I had hurt her Achilles' heel. Her expressions liquified the very moment and she narrated her heart-breaking story to us...Binny had faced severe exploitation by her in-laws since early days of marriage and had been a victim of worst case of domestic violence by husband. Bearing the teachings of her parents in her heart to be loyal to husband till last breath, she tolerated all the injuries on her body as well as on her soul for many months without uttering a word from her mouth...  

Binny had not thought in her wildest imagination that her husband would ask her for compulsive sex determination test in the fourth month of her pregnancy and would throw her on the road mercilessly in such condition knowing that she is bearing a female child in her womb. She was left with no option, but to go to her brother's house who was the only caretaker in the town. Her brother & Sister-.in-law (bhabhi) were really supportive at the moment and consoled her to stay there till her issue is resolved.

The misery didn't end here, but actually got multiplied when she gave birth to a baby girl suffering from Thalassemia that caused the infant deadly blood disorder due to abnormal formation of haemoglobin..... As Binny finished her sentence, we realized there were tears uncontrollably rolling down everybody's cheeks including the lady herself. Her struggle was intensified when sister-in-law refused to allow her live at their place realizing that they need to invest big sum of money frequently for baby's expensive blood transfusion treatment.

Life had taught Binny to be emotionally strong and self-dependent after so many jolts, so she bid good bye to her caretaker and began with utilizing her own skills to earn her livelihood. She began with organizing a small scale summer camp in an educational institute and earned great appreciation for her work. The handful of money earned that day boosted up her confidence and fueled the spark of not giving up for any challenge. Life was not a cake-walk immediately, but gradually she managed to survive for her own self and for her daughter.

As she stopped talking, we needed not to console her; but to my sheer surprise it was Binny who wiped our tears off and stood up with a winning smile on her face.

Her legal dispute is still in the process in the court, but today Binny is a well-known name as one of the most successful and reputed Event-Managers of the town.

I am convinced that Binny's happiness and present fulfilling life is a result of not giving up and continuing to make causes for good fortune even at the crucial moment, because this is how we come back to the realm of Faith and Optimism :)
This story is exceptionally motivating to me and taught me to be optimistic, so deserves to be shared.

This post is written for Indiblogger's HappyHour campaign in association with Housing.

Get A Better Car With Quikr NXT !

A feeling that I had been getting a lot lately was to replace my present car with a superior one. I wanted a sufficiently well-mannered car to be my perfect companion for everyday home-to-office commute. The reason because of which I wanted to upgrade my present car was to isolate myself from perennially bad roads and high-speed traffic sitting safe and secure enclosed in a thoroughly engineered car. But what always stopped me from taking an action for the same, was the little money that I had in my account that was inadequate to point my finger on a Brand New Car of my taste. My colleagues suggested me to try the True-Value Cars available at many certified dealers of used cars. That wasn't a bad idea, but my flexible (and late) working hours didn't allow me much time to visit any of the networks of such car-markets scrutinizing the appealing cars and making up my mind :( 

Overall, my plan of replacing my car kept getting delayed until one day when my son propounded me to consider Quikr for our mission of 'Car Upgradation'. Oh My Gosh! how could I forget my previous experiences with Quikr that always remained a satisfactory one, specially with the newly added QuikrNxt chat feature :) {read the detailed post on how QuikrNxt effortlessly thrills a buyer/seller in his venture}

As I mentioned about my busy schedule these days, this time I decided to download the Quikr app on my android based phone to go through some premium adverts as I wanted to utilize those short leisurely moments during work at office to find a car matching to the specifications of my dream car on my phone itself ;)

During my lunch hour at work, I logged in to the Quikr app, localized my location in Cars & Bikes Section. In no time, my eyes got struck on really maintained cars suitable to my budget. I left chat messages to the owners of cars that I liked the most via QuikrNxt regarding some negotiation of quoted prices or for requesting them for some more pics of car inside out like under the hood and boot as well as the pics of essential documents like battery warranty card, RC etc because I knew I need these pics to get the car approved from my darling hubby before purchase ;) I actually was expecting good response from sellers because I have been associated with Quikr since many months and believe in their credibility. Reaching home in the evening, the first thing that I did was to check my phone and was amazed to get replies from every single seller. After comparing the condition and price of shortlisted cars, me and hubby cracked a deal for a red colored Maruti Suzuki Dzire priced at Rs 3.15 lakhs and negotiated for around 10k in actual payment. My hubby was still keen to take a test drive to check the car controls and so texted our prospective seller if he has no objection for the same.The seller agreed without any hassles and invited us to his workplace for the trial with the car for complete satisfaction. After the test drive, we gave him the booking amount and promised to make final payment in next 2 days during delivery of car, since the seller was kind enough to get the car cleaned from a professional before handing in over :) 

Now it was our turn to be in the shoes of a seller...me and hubby decided to arrange for cash by selling our car via Quikr only because we both wanted to save on brokerage to be imparted to any agent and attract maximum amount of sale of our car to ourselves. And it could be possible via a trustworthy online classified portal like Quikr only. We clicked crisp pics of our car from different angles and highlighted all its fine details like mileage run by the car, ownership, original paint, insurance validity etc. with genuine price expected as compared to market price. Thanks to QuikrNxt, that I needed not to provide my personal contact number while posting this ad, so no compromise in privacy at all. There were numerous interested buyers, infact more than my expectations. It made me realize that there are people like me who are wise enough to access Quikr than straying in markets and wasting time ;) I was desperate to find someone who can immediately pay me a heavy packet of cash that I can directly pay to buy my new car without breaking any preterm fixed deposits from my bank. But hubby advised me to retain my patience as many of the buyers either don't follow up after initial enquiry or just keep asking irrelevant questions.. I was feeling so blessed to use QuikrNxt that there were no phone calls from such fake buyers and it kept my mental peace intact. After few interactions via textual chats of QuikrNxt, we managed to grab a great amount for our old, but adorable car that was sadly parting from us in the evening. The buyer paid some cash and for the balance gave us a crossed cheque at our residence and drove the car happily :) 

This was a really nostalgic moment to see this "SOLD" tag on my first ever car (similar to the one in the pic below.) 

1

But I was content to arrange most of the payment money for my new Swift Dzire, so again texted the seller whether we could take the car a bit early. The car service had got done by him, so he had no issues. And in the next 2 hrs or so, I was driving home my newly updated car Swift Dzire with my family.
See, how life has become a bed of roses when we have access to excellent services of thoughtfully designed Online Classified systems like QuikrNxt that exchanges old and new stuff for great money without making or receiving even a single phone call.

This post is written exclusively for Indiblogger's #IndiHappyHour #QuikrNxt campaign in association with Quikr.

Image Credits: 1

Don't Depart From The Truth

Each one of us must have been hearing tales of good old times from parents or grand parents that stressed on practicing Truth in life. But none of us has ever lived our lives without inventing stories to save ourselves from troubles. You may predict a casual, impetuous, n reckless reply "Uff, don't expect us to behave like those profoundly wise sages in these modern times. The world around is not same as it used to be centuries ago. Moreover, its better to tell a lie that can make someone smile instead of speaking the truth that hurts."

I am not different from the rest and confess here that I also fabricated the facts once, when found that it may cause me great loss... the loss of love...  I was in the midst of the process of convincing my dad to allow me for intercaste matrimony. I had worst of apprehensions in my heart about what could be the possible hurdles in the prospective alliance. The guy who had just started to work didn't earn a heavy pay packet to flaunt and impress my dad and I had heard over and over that the issues arising from financial inequality are simply poisonous in such situations. I cannot tell you how much I wanted him in my life, so exaggerated about position n earnings of my beloved (read hubby now) to dad. Dad didn't even think of inquiring about the fact trust my words completely. For next few days, I was overjoyed of my smart move. But every time I looked at dad's face, I felt guilty of ditching the most special person of my life...My perspective changed with some new thoughts on the matter. I softly apologized to dad unwrapping the hidden reality.

 After a minutes silence, dad kissed on my forehead and told me just one thing "the truth may hurt someone for a moment but the pain we experience from a lie can last lifelong... And I'm happy with this little botheration that will comfort me forever that you didn't break my faith on you" :) I suddenly felt very happy that something unpleasant has not happened or has ended before it could spoil a priceless relationship. Dad made me realized that positive always outweighs negative and there is no alternate to TRUTH. I was too grateful to dad for teaching me a lesson. We heaved a sigh of relief saying "Kitna chain hota hai na sachchai mein" :)

This post has been written for IndiHappyHours activity by Indiblogger in association with Kinley.

 

Toilet for Babli - The Safe Sanitation Drive by Domex

I was really in a state of shock to read somewhere that many countries across the globe are being labeled as ‘vast toilets’. But the reason was obvious...OPEN DEFECATION :(

I could immediately visualize the situations when most of us notice such cases during journeys that people from nearby villages / communities are defecating in fields, forests, bushes, bodies of water or other open spaces. Infact, we just turn our faces other side just to ignore the scenario. Even when my li'l boy asks me "mumma, why don't they use their TOILETS", "don't they feel ashamed" etc, I tend to snub him for being over-interferring in USELESS matters :(  But I seriously admired our newly elected prime minister Mr. Narendra Modi, when he promised- "Toilets First, Temples Later" and decided to support him whole-heartedly.


Why open defecation?
* lack of access to proper sanitation.
* cultural beliefs like building a toilet brings bad luck.

Consequences:
* contracting diseases like diarrhoea and hepatitis.
* no dignity or privacy.
 * the probable danger of sexual assault for women :(
* leads to mental and cognitive stunting.

But Domex has finally awakened me towards my responsibility. I have realized that we need to first break the silence to end open defecation. I know I cannot get the toilets constructed for those who have no access to toilets, but definitely I'm utilizing this medium to take action by donating my time and sharing these messages publicly.


About The Domex Toilet Academy
Domex, HUL’s flagship sanitation brand is currently running the Domex Toilet Academy (DTA) programme that was was launched on 19th November 2013. Its purpose is to provide a sustainable and long-term solution for sanitation that benefits the local community and helps stimulate the local economy. The Toilet Academy makes toilets accessible and affordable, while promoting the benefits of clean toilets & good hygiene. Their effort has resulted in bringing the change in the villages of Maharashtra and Orissa and we aim to build 24000 toilets by 2015 in rural areas faced with the problem of open defecation.

Look at Babli's sad face who is waiting for hygienic amenities for herself...

You can bring about the change in the lives of millions of kids, thereby showing your support for the Domex Initiative. All you need to do is “click” on the “Contribute Tab” on www.domex.in and Domex will contribute Rs.5 on your behalf to eradicate open defecation, thereby helping kids like Babli live a dignified life.

Lets pledge to make India free from open defecation with right policies and social attention and with initiatives like #ToiletForBabli and feel pride for making our villages Open Defecation Free (ODF). A social movement to revolutionize attitudes and behaviors toward sanitation in India is the only way out because practicing good hygiene is as important as worship to God.

This post is exclusively written for Indiblogger's #IndiHappyHours Campaign in association with www.domex.in
Image Source: Donex.in, BBC.com