Bon Voyage - Pack up and Board the flight

Bon Voyage     - Pack up and Board the flight

 

                

                              

 

The French phrase “Bon Voyage” means “Have a nice trip”.    It is generally used to express farewell and  good wishes to a departing traveler.

I really wanted to write a travelogue about my first foreign visit, but since I already have an established medium of expression like BlogSpot finally I settled for a note in my next post.

           

I was really thrilled when my boss announced about foreign leisure holidays are in the offing and have been sanctioned by the Marketing Director.  There was excitement and jubilation amongst our team members.  For some of us including me it was a first time experience abroad.  We thanked the Delhi based travel agent who has taken care of our elaborate tour plans and arranged for visa formalities to take off to Bali, Indonesia via Singapore.

We have planned a five day foreign tour program.  All of us have purchased some Singapore dollars and Indonesian currency for the shopping and additional individual tour expenses. We being the loyal employees worked entire day on that weekend Friday and left after office hours to the Mumbai International Airport bundled in two “Innova” Toyota cars with our luggage to board the flight to Singapore.

Our group of eleven people comprised of eight men and three women, most of us were Digital Marketers, and others handled Media and Brand promotional activities such as Research and Advertising.  Our team was a blend of youth and experienced professionals.

Our team of eleven was high in energy and intellect.  It appeared that the team was a carefully hand-picked eleven.  It was like a dream team selection for the cricket World Cup.

A famous travel quote –

“Man cannot discover many oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore.” Andre Gide.

The flight from Mumbai to Singapore was comfortable and the Singapore Airlines crew awesome. After reaching Singapore Airport we ran to get into the Sky Train to board the flight to Denpasar.  Denpasar is the capital city of  Bali.

 

Our tour operator’s guide “Sukarto”, the local Indonesian welcomed us at Bali with folded hands and greeting us with an Indian “NAMASTE”.   Namaste is a Hindi word for traditional greetings.  Bali is an island and Province of Indonesia.  Sukarto was our guide and constant companion for the entire Indonesian tour.  Sukarto found to be knowing many Hindi words and familiar with local dining and other important landmarks.  Throughout the tour he remained useful and guided us with his historical data as well as modern knowledge about Indonesia.

          Sukarto in his tempo traveler took us to the Ayodya Resort, Bali where we were put up for five days of our tour.  “Ayodya Resort” was a beautiful place with the buildings built in acres of land with flowers, butterflies, chirping birds and snakes in the water, a giant swimming pool and two hundred meters from there lies the ocean in its abundant splendor.

The lobby of Ayodya Resort was spacious and breezy with high ceiling and wooden carvings.  I was provided with an individual Villa with a rear opening towards a garden balcony.  The Villa had a small refrigerator, a coffee maker and a bath tub.  Just outside my Hotel room stood a statue of an eagle with 9 ft. height, broad and gigantic.   When I saw the statue of Eagle for the first time, it struck me the Hollywood motion picture title “Where Eagles Dare.” Eagle an American Army Symbol and National Bird of America.

The Hotel was full with many tourists from western countries have been put up there.

During the tour every night we used to assemble at the Hotel lobby and brain storm about how good we can excel in our portfolios and strengthen the department, really mixing business with pleasure.

Let me recall the tour program and itinerary though not in chronological order.  However, the entire tour program was discussed in Mumbai and made the deliberations and was subsequently handed out to the tour operator.  The travel agency ensured the strict compliance with our tour program.

After checking in the Hotel we all had a shower and refreshed with putting on fresh clothes and gone out in the city sight-seeing.  The town was planned in Hindu culture with many gigantic statues from the Hindu epic “Mahabharat” to be seen there.  The statues were 22’ X 16’ in size.   The township was neat and clean and we could see in the pathway many big dust bins made of wood featuring Owl, Kiwi, Squirrel, Rabbit and Monkey which was an amusing sight.  The Hindu Sanskruti was seen everywhere including in the Ayodya Resort.
 

                                             

                                      

 The next day we went to Tanjung Benoa beach and indulged in adventure water sports.  There was single Jet Ski and group Banana Boat, an unpowered inflatable recreational boat meant for towing.

(The images shown in this post are not real.  The tour photographs are withheld for the confidentiality of the members involved.)

 We traveled by boat to an adjacent stretch of land for para    sailing.  The para sailing for me was one of its first kind experience.  The 800 ft. high parasailing with strings attached to your gloved hands was a thrilling and adventurous sport for me.  All of our team members participated in the para sailing.  We almost spend the second day of our tour in the beach and beach water sports.

In the evening we have gone to Benoa Harbour for Sunset Cruise Dinner. The luxury cruise was most beautifully decked up.  Our team was in their best of motivation and inspiration to enjoy the cruise trip.  The Dinner buffet was sumptuous with continental dishes.  One of our colleague sung a Hollywood number with the cruise band.  The cruise had various entertainment programs including beauty contest and dance numbers. Some of our team mates turned out to be excellent dancers and received applause from the audience for their dancing skills.  

I personally enjoyed the star studded and moon lit night sky from the upper deck of the cruise.  I was lying down at the edge of the deck on the seat with 9” width attached to the rim of the deck and clasping on it to avoid not to fall down and looked up in the sky and enjoyed my dream come true i.e. the poet in me was admiring the ocean waves and the beautiful star studded sky.  It appeared that there were zillions of stars in the sky. When nobody was around I started singing my favorite tunes and really enjoyed the beautiful nature and sky from the upper deck of the cruise.  There was moisture in the atmosphere and cool breeze was blowing making it really exotic.   If there is a heaven on earth, it’s here, it’s here.  This was a lifetime experience one could not have afforded to miss out.

The Bali Township was Spik n Span and the natives were spotted in neat and tidy clothes.   In some respect Bali was most liberated country by virtue of the personalized body treatments.  When you think of Bali an image of Bali’s traditional “Hand-fan” comes to our mind’s screen. You can see in the street corners big roosters being kept for sale in huge baskets.

Indonesia is predominantly an agricultural country.  Many of the plants, trees, fruits and vegetation resembled India’s southernmost strip Kerala.  May be a land which is parallel in South Asia separated by the sea.  Indonesian currency is called Rupiah and INR 0.0048 can fetch an Indonesian Rupiah. US Dollar 1 = 12,873.93 Indonesian Rupiah. Balinese is a unique culture.   The Balinese are an extremely devout and spiritual mix.  Balinese culture was strongly influenced by Indian, Chinese and particularly Hindu culture beginning around the 1^st Century AD.  In Bali there are over 10,000 temples. 

 

The third day, at 2 a.m. we started from the Ayodya Resort to Batur hikes in two vehicles.  We reached the starting point of mountaineering around 4 a.m.  Many other groups including the Spanish, French and Americans joined us in the mission Batur hike.  We had put on our casual jeans, tea shirt, sports shoes and all of us carried a pen torch to grope through darkness.   The upward journey was adventurous and had difficulty in trekking mount Batur.  I was one of the first to reach the top of Batur hike with great energy and excitement.  Batur heights of about 2063 meter to scale up and experience the white rising sun in the earliest morning hours was amazing. 

To conquer the Bali heights and capture the Sun in all its majestic glory was a fantastic and thrilling experience and an amazing awesome sight.  The Sun appeared like a white round bread popularly known in Kerala as “Vatteppam”.  The Vatteppam is a round shaped big white sweet bread made out of rice flour, sugar and yeast with one inch thickness made in a round mold. You feel that a mission accomplished when you are on top of the challenging heights.  The view from there is a life time experience.  You sit on a cliff’s edge dangling your legs down and there lies the mountain valley in its horrifying vertical depth. A glance down gives a spine chilling experience for your adrenaline rush with your heart pounding in your mouth.  We had an energy drink, a thick and nutritious milk shake along with a filling banana split sandwich on top of the Batur hike.  The descending order trip was easy even though we tried not to slip and to maintain body balance. 

The afternoon we spend visiting a temple and rice terrace gardens at Jatiluwah.  The rice was cultivated in step by step terrace paddy.  It was an unforgettable experience and an eye-pleasing sight. The team members kept on clicking photos throughout our tour including the Jatiluwah panorama and we all shared the invaluable and beautiful images clicked by all when we returned to our office desk which was a prized possession.  My contribution of photos was worthwhile too.

Many of us could not adjust with the Indonesian food.  The smell of the food was tummy turning and I have ended up settling for fried rice and Egg Omelette for most of the time when we were on tour.

One day we have witnessed a beach wedding next to Ayodya Resort.  Beach wedding is a novel idea and the patrons were well dressed in suit and gowns and the wedding area in white sand and breezy open space was well decorated with plants, flowers and gigantic bouquets.

In the evening we dined in the Kemangi, an Indonesian and Italian cuisine restaurant at Bali.

Our team members posed for photographs in great inimitable style and resulted in invaluable treasure of memories. 

                 

The fourth day, we had gone for scuba diving.  The Atlantis Bali Scuba Diving Center was providing Scuba Diving service since 1996. There was a pool next to the sea where the expert scuba diving trainers given training to the team before diving in the sea.   The sea almost to the shore had under water marine life and a ship debris.  The stone studded coast itself had deep dark blue water.

After Scuba Diving we went for a candle light beach dinner.  The long beach with a stretch of 2 km had decked up row of tables with white cotton cloth and chairs.  There were singers with musical instruments including the local musical instruments performing at your table and was willing to play a Hollywood and even a Bollywood number on request.  The candles were lighted on all the tables.  The awesome sea food was served there.  Alongside the sea shore, there were many stages erected within the span of 200 yards performing local cultural programs.  The candle light beach dinner was gratifying and the visuals were amazing.

One of the Restaurant in which we have dined called Bali Nusa Dua Convention Center conducted the 63^rd edition of the Miss Word Beauty Pageant 2013 a few days after our visit to Bali. We were photographed with the Bali’s traditional Legong and Barong dancers and the orchestra team which performed in that dining joint.

During the tour when we visited the terrace rice paddy we could also visit an adjacent coffee plantation Bali Coffee processing and farming.   We could see how the coffee beans were grown and how they packed coffee powder in different measures of weight.

The fifth day we did some shopping in Bali and bought some souvenirs, Bali coffee and a diary and traditional Bali fan and boarded the flight from Denpasar Airport to Changi International Airport Singapore.  The Singapore is the cleanest city in the world.  If you litter anything on the road, you will be fined by the cops.  The Singapore Airport was a modern monument and seen quite beautiful.   We returned to Mumbai from Singapore and landed in Mumbai in the middle of the night on the last day of Ganapati idol immersion.  The Ganesh festival is a ten day long festival in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India worshipping the elephant headed god Lord Ganesha.  The festival is celebrated with great gaiety and grandeur.  In the last day of the Ganesh festival the bigger idols of Ganesha were taken for immersion in the lakes and sea water.

The tour in general was amazing and superbly satiating.  The tour was studded with some of my life’s most cherished moments.

I must congratulate all my team members for the excellent team spirit shown by them and making the tour great fun, adventurous and most memorable one.

When we departed from Bali, the tour guide Sukarto wished me goodbye with “See You, Sir”.
 

Bonjour - It's Coffee Time

Bonjour   -    It’s   Coffee Time

      

                   

Good Morning….…..  Wake up …………… It’s Coffee Time..!!

Bonjour is a French word meaning “Good day”.

The Cockerel in the native land announces that it is Good Morning  - the time tested wakeup call still lingers in your memory - even as the city life denies that alert button of good morning from the domesticated cock.

You can see the sun rise from a closer angle in this writer’s native town.  I am prompted to do a post about my daily routine that used to be. The freshness of morning with the purified air and the due settled on the grass and flowers, the nature has something more to offer there.  The fragrance of the exotic colorful flowers in your courtyard garden is highly stimulating. The sun rays peeping through the coconut leaves or from the hills is a pleasant scenario and it caresses your body to make a healthier appeal, the Vitamin ‘D’ effect. The Sun, in the open sky, in shining armor smiles at you in this beautiful morning.

The Cow moo-moo’s in the morning, and the milker gives fodder to the cow and start milking its udder is a rare sight.

The “Suprabhatham” chants from the nearby Hindu temple was always endearing in those good old days.

The Murphy radio makes you to listen to the light songs from the radio station of your choice. It may be a morning lesson in classical music.

In the city life your lovely wife wakes you up with the bed coffee.

 

As a routine, I search for the newspaper before attending to the other morning chorus.  The morning raga is never complete without scanning for the news items.

After a refreshing and rejuvenating bath gets into well creased and ironed clothes before setting off to attend the official duty.  Knowing fully well that well-shined shoes are an essential accessory to any sharp outfit, and will make a good impression when you walk into a room, my hands will reach out for shoe shine shampoo.

The lovely mornings offer you another day in this world for you to conquer and meet the challenges of daily life.  The special mornings are stepping stones to make a difference in your life.  When you set out of the home, wife sees you off with a pleasing smile by saying “Have a nice day”. 

The moment you step into your office, the security guard greets you with “Good Morning Saheb” or “Good Morning Sir”.  You enter the office with a fixed smile on your face, and wishing your colleagues Good Morning.

At the office desk you settle down by offering a prayer “Hail Mary” and quickly go through the top flagged mails in your laptop computer.  Your Diary notes for the day and prioritizing the tasks being the next step.  Scribble important tasks on the colorful post it and pin it up at your work station soft board. By the time, you can see the office boy at your desk with a Cup of Coffee to re-energize and stimulate your daily routine.  

Rest of the day in the office is spent excelling in your work as nothing left desired.

When we discuss about morning, it prompts me to think and reflect about the sun who gives you the light.

Sun is personified in many mythologies, the Greek called Sun as “Helios” and the Romans “Sol”.

The enormous effect of the Sun on the Earth has been recognized since prehistoric times, and the Sun has been regarded as a deity.  The Sun temple in Konark is famous.   Konark Sun Temple is a 13^th Century Sun Temple at Konark, Odisha, in India.  Hindu devotees worship Sun as god.

The Sun is by farthest the largest object in the solar system.  It contains more than 99.8% of the total mass of the solar system (Jupiter contains most of the others).

Earth’s movement around the sun is the basis of solar calendar, which is the predominant calendar in use today.

Sun is at present 70% Hydrogen, 28% Helium and the remaining 2% Metals.  The Sun is the star at the center of solar system.  The nine planets in the solar system are Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

To continue with the daily routine, Sunday morning is special because it reminds you that your spiritual needs have to be taken care of by attending a Sunday mass in the Church or a visit to the Temple of your deity for the Hindu brethren. The much fancied afternoon siesta on a Sunday, you deliberately avoid and finds time to read or write and listening to music.  The Sundays are always a special day not only because it is a national holiday but also being a Christian it has an added meaning.

The parish council meetings on a Sunday occupies a major share of your time  and the plans to celebrate parish day feast preoccupy your thoughts.

The Saturday morning is generally lazy ……you enjoy a longer sleep before finally get out of the bed.  A routine upset for sure on a week-end morning.  The day will be different by a visit to a nearby mall which you enjoy by driving your family there to watch a movie, do some shopping and to dine in a swanky restaurant in the evening.  The family gets your share of care and attention during the weekends as compared to the busy schedule during the week days.

The weekends are the time when you meet your friends especially the family friends.  It reminds you that you are a social animal and there are social obligations in your life which merits your attention.  You may visit an ailing old family friend in the nursing home or a hospital during the weekend.

Love is a feeling in the heart that completes the soul.

Have a beautiful day.

Finally, I would like to post few more lines about the Sun.

The Apex of the Sun’s way, or the solar apex, is the direction that sun travels through the space in the Milky Way, relative to the nearby stars.

The Sun, as seen from low earth orbit looking into the International Space Station. 

This Sunlight is not filtered by the lower atmosphere, which blocks much of the solar spectrum.

In 1666, Sir Isaac Newton observed the Sun’s light by using a prism, and showed that it was made up of light of many colors.    In 1672, Newton investigated the refraction of light demonstrating that the multi colored spectrum produced by a Prism could be recomposed into white light by a lens and second prism.

Contrary to the popular misconception, the Sun is white rather than yellow when viewed from space or sufficiently high in the sky and thus prove the Newton’s theory.  The writer have seen the Sun from Bali (Indonesia), Batur heights of about 2063 meter to scale up and experienced the white rising sun in the earliest morning hours.  To conquer the Bali heights and capture the Sun in all majestic glory is a fantastic and thrilling experience and is an amazing awesome sight.  You feel that a mission accomplished when you are on top of the challenging heights.  The view from there is a life time experience.  You sit on a cliff’s edge dangling your legs down and there lies the mountain valley in its vertical horrifying depth. A glance down gives a spine chilling experience for your adrenaline rush with your heart pounding in your mouth.

The life and time finds you in a peaceful and happy existence.  The 24x7 is well spend to turn the calendar of months and years.

In pursuit of a creative existence, with hope and dreams, your days passes with passion for excellence.

Don’t worry about the past.  Live in the present and avoid the anxiety about the future.

Bonjour - Have a nice day…..!!

Castle @ home neither on the land nor on the water - an amphibious nest and Utopia

Castle @ home neither on the land nor on the water   - an amphibious nest and Utopia

 

  

                                                                        

                                                     

                                                                                  

          

Food, Oxygen and Water…What is next ……A Nest.    Home …Sweet Home.

Whenever I think of a nest, my mind gets occupied with the buildings immersed partially in the water, the boats and bridge in the horizon of Geneva, Switzerland.   Not only because Switzerland has world’s best bank but also Switzerland being the most beautiful tourist destination.

The amphibians always attracted me.  Amphibian is an animal that lives part of its life in the water and part of its life in the land.  The crocodile, frog, salamanders, toad, octopus, sea horse, newt, star fish, snake, caecilians and tortoise are some of the amphibians.

The amphibians are “cold-blooded” or “ectothermic” animals, which means they are dependent on external sources like sun to maintain their body temperature.

Some of the Amphibians like the turtle and tortoises live more than 100 years.

A frog can breathe through its mouth as well as through its skin. More than 75% of toads and frogs in the world live in tropical rain forests.  The emerald tree boa can strike a bird or a small mammal in complete darkness. Depending upon the size of the meal, anacondas can go several months between the meals.  It exemplifies the saying like a snake who has swallowed its prey.

The Merchant Navy Sailors can be safely described as having an amphibious existence.  The Sailors live six months in the sea and six months in the land.

A famous quote –

“It is precisely because we resist the darkness in ourselves that we miss the depths of loveliness, beauty, brilliance, creativity, and joy that love at our core.”

-           Thomas More

Sir Thomas More (1478-1535), venerated by Roman Catholics as “Saint Thomas More” in 1935 was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, Statesman and noted renaissance humanist.

Sir Thomas More’s best known and most famous treatise “Utopia” talks about castles in the air.  Utopia is a controversial novel written in Latin in 1516.   “Utopia”, in the novel means an imaginary island with a perfect social and political system.  Utopia was envisaged as an ideal political system in which policies are governed by reason.  An imagined place or state of thing which is perfect is called Utopia.

Utopianism is the views and habits of mind of a visionary or an idealist sometimes beyond realization.

A Utopian Society is a community possessing highly desirable or near perfect qualities.

Utopia can be described as Eden of Garden, Paradise, heaven, bliss, Shangri-La, Happy Valley et al.

The “Castles in the air” - definition is extravagant hopes and plans that will never be carried out.  Just imagine the image of a castle in the sky.  Such an existence is only a Utopian dream.

Castles in the air and Utopia are both side of the same coin.  It is a day dream.

Build a castle in the air means that you make plans that have little chance of success.

Castles in the air are plans that have little chance of happening.   e.g. - “My father built a castles in the air about owning a private jet plane”.  Another version can be “he is always building castles in the air without doing nothing in practical”.

The unrealistic people always build castles in the air.

Build a bridge of friendship and not castles in the air.

While talking about realistic dreams, my mind goes to check the most famous English writer William Shakespeare’s  seven deadly sins or vices in his Drama “Hamlet” like Sloth, Lechery, Envy, Greed, Pride, Wrath and Gluttony.

The above vices are highly condemnable and to be strictly avoided.  The above mentioned sins are observed in bad elements of the society and the people with good and decent upbringing must avoid falling into the trap of such satanic temptations.

Utopia can also be regarded as a fool’s paradise due to the stretching of unrealistic cravings for perfection personified.

The castles in the air created in our visualization is a crime as lethal as Shakespeare’s seven deadly sins or vices.  The illusion is most deceptive and can be regarded as a sin or vice.

              

                                     

A famous quote by Sir Thomas More -

                          “An absolutely new idea is one of the

                            Rarest things known to man”.

We must in our daily life, set realistic goals which will help us in leading a virtuous life.

We must avoid Utopian culture and building castles in the air which has scant respect for realistic terms of existence and always lives in an illusionary world, a fantasy land.

To Infinite Vanity and beyond - Beauty tips

To Infinite Vanity and beyond -  Beauty tips

 Beauty is more than skin deep.

Beauty is a precious asset.  Beauty enhances a person’s desirability and sex appeal.  Beauty deserves a second glance.

         

               

                    

Beauty is pride of the beholder and other’s envy.  Beauty is one of the main characteristic of your personality.

Look in the mirror and take a closer view of your beauty.  Watch your photograph and appreciate your beauty for endless number of hours.  You spend long hours in front of a mirror as similar to the long hours you spend in a music store or book store or an outlet of your choice.   Click as many photographs as possible because the time and tide wait for none.  One day in all likelihood beauty will do a vanishing act from a person’s body.  The smooth texture of skin is only a youthful experience.

A famous quote  -

“Beauty is eternity gazing at itself in a mirror.”  -  Khalil Gibran.

Do you love your reflection in the Dressing Table Mirror?  If so, you are gaining in confidence.  Confidence is the trait of a magnanimous personae.

The origin of beauty can be date back to Paradise.  God has created handsome Adam in his own replica.    And he created beautiful Eve from the ribs of Adam. The Paradise was full of beautiful creatures, chirping birds, animals, reptiles, beautiful flowers and fruits and streams.

          

The fairness, smooth texture of the skin and a voluptuous body all leads to the definition of beauty.  The natural beauty of a person is blessed with and merits admiration, and for the less fortunate ones, cosmetic beauty is waiting.  A makeover and cosmetic surgery are the in thing in today’s contemporary world.  Many people enhance their looks via plastic surgery.

                    

A famous quote –

“Love of beauty is taste.  Creation of beauty is art.”       -    Ralph Waldo Emerson.

The craze for beauty has resulted in spending good money on fashion, cosmetics, hair styling and even plastic surgery.

If you really wants to know the beauty of your celluloid dreams a.k.a. the film actors then catch a view in the morning when they are just risen out of the bed.  Not every actor is blessed with natural beauty.

A pleasant exterior and a charming personality is an advantage in life.  Most of the people love the company of glamorous and beautiful people.

A butter smooth texture of fair skin is always regarded as a beauty quotient.

It is often said that “beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.” 

Beauty Pageants

A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on the physical beauty of its contestants, although such contests have evolved to also incorporate personality, intelligence, talent and answers to judges’ questions as judged criteria.

The most famous Beauty Pageant in the world is the annual “Miss World” competition organized by Julia Morley. There are also Miss Universe, Miss International and Miss Earth beauty pageants.  The Miss World competition was created in United Kingdom in 1951 by Julia Morley’s late husband Eric Morley.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan won the Miss World pageant in 1994 and in the same year Sushmita Sen won Miss Universe pageant.  Priyanka Chopra too won the Miss Word title in 2000.

The Annual Femina Miss India contest winners are selected to represent India in the International Beauty pageants.

The vanity van of film actors are filled with the beauty enhancing products.  It contains Make up brushes and cosmetic kit, a mirror and appears something like a studio apartment to rest and relax.

A famous quote - 

“Everything has beauty.  But not everyone sees it.”            -    Confucius.

The international fashion magazine like “Vogue” is famous for cosmetic tips and apparel and accessories suggestions.

The famous Hair Spa, Hair Styling and Cosmetic giants are L’Oreal, OLAY and OLX.

L’Oreal

The L’Oreal group is a French Cosmetics and beauty company.  The L’Oreal is the World’s largest cosmetic company with registered office in Paris.  It has developed activities in the field of cosmetics, concentrating on hair color, skin care, sun protection, make-up, perfumes and hair care.  The company is active in the dermatology, toxicology, tissue engineering and bio-pharmaceutical research and is the top nanotechnology patent-holder in the United States.

L’Oreal is famous for Face Products, Hair Color, Lipstick, Cosmetics, Hair Spa and Shampoo.

Personal Care Products

Personal care products which we use in daily life matters as much as specialized beauty products such as  branded cosmetics.  The toilet soaps, hair oil, hair colors, hair style gels, facial cream, perfumes, nail polish, hand wash liquid soap and paper soap, mouth rinser  etc. are equally merits prime significance in enhancing one’s beauty and good looks.    Pedicure and manicure also deserves a mention for good etiquette and manners.

Godrej Consumer Products, Johnson and Johnson, Unilever, Dabur, Marico are some of the companies which manufacture the premium brand personal care products in India.

Beauty is more than skin deep.The inner beauty of a person reflects in his or her face as well.  The face is the mirror of the soul.

The concept of beauty is changing rapidly with the various kinds of makeover treatments. 

Beauty is indeed a good gift of God..!!

 

A Valentine's Day Note and a Cupid's Arrow

A Valentine’s Day Note and a Cupid’s Arrow

            

          

Love is the essence of life.

Love is a sacred sacrament.    The life without love is a porridge without salt.

The Valentine’s Day is celebrated across the world with the couple exchanging gifts, candle, card, chocolate, candy and flowers.  Many regard this as a candy floss romance.

On Valentine's Day  couple dine together in a romantic and novel atmosphere.  A candle light dinner is considered as the most romantic escapade.  Some of the married couple reserve a hotel suite to celebrate their love towards each other.

Saint Valentine was the greatest protagonist of love.  He was executed in AD 269, February 14^th.  To commemorate the message of love propagated by Saint Valentine, the Valentine’s Day is celebrated across the world on February 14^th.  Many countries in the world observes “Valentine’s Day” as a holiday.

The Roman Emperor Claudius II, summoned Saint Valentine the popular priest from a Roman empire who admonished the doctrine of love, and offered Claudius’ support to spread his message of love, in case Saint Valentine accepted pagan religion.  Saint Valentine rejected the proposal and became a martyr in the altar of love. 

Emperor Claudius II, was infamous that he even stopped the sacred sacrament of marriage, fearing that the new recruits to his ambitious army will be demotivated from joining the army if they are enjoying a happy married life.  He was the first of the most brutal anti-love protagonist.

The falling in love is a beautiful experience.  However, the younger generation including the teenagers are often misguided about the beautiful and divine meaning of love.  The tender age is definitely a constraint to find the ideal partner. The person falling in love must be able to judge the future of their love to remain in an everlasting beautiful relationship that may lead to a blissful family life. 

The best friends to partners in life. 

The family as an institution is a stronger unit in India.  The arranged marriages we notice in our society that many a times are most successful than the blind love marriages, as the parents with an eye to the prosperous and happy life of their children chose the bride and groom from well settled and acceptable socio-economic strata of the society.     The western people are attracted to the strongest bond of family relationship prevailing in India.

We live in a society which believe that virginity is the greatest gift to the partner in marriage than anything else.  A puppy love often find the partners indulging in pecking, necking and kissing in public places like band stands, beaches and parks and resulting in losing the precious gift your partner in marriage solicits.

Our conservative society does not approve one night stands and live-in relationships.    Such a physical relationship will often  end up in the trauma of abortion and related psychological disorders such as nervous break-down and depression.

The ideal partners for life selected by adult and matured people result in long lasting relationships with the support of one’s family and friends.  This kind of relationship is cemented by social network of the couples like family friends and relatives.  The religious as well as other festivals in the community ensures stronger bondage.

The honeymoon of  married couple between the satin sheets on the bed and champagne bottles and the filled wine glasses, chocolates and flowers and other precious gifts exchanged  expressing their love for each other is a tailor made sequence of an idealistic society.

The Valentine’s Day is celebrated by elderly couples of the world fraternity as well.  Like I stated in the beginning of this post, love is a beautiful state of mind and becomes even more beautiful in consummation of marriage.

Indian society by and large is not a permissive society which does not promote puppy cub’s love from a Cupid’s arrow.  The physical attraction of two beautiful people is a romantic unison which has to be selected with due care and screening of the partner for a steady and strong bond of relationship resulting in blissful existence.

You must be wondering  in the modern times when some of our younger generation rebels doing a war cry for sexually liberated lives and the permissiveness of unnatural relationships with a philosophy of variety is the spice of life and  tries to find a rooting for such dogmas in our society, why I am so caution exercised to find a time tested existence of relationships in our society.  Because the broken marriages and a disarray of  resultant children losing both parental love and care is a plague that threatens to shatter the very own social fabric of our society. 

The eternal love preaches selfless and avoidance of self-oriented elements of selfishness in a relationship.  It is quite possible in an attractive person’s life the love interest often crops up.  The polygamy and wife-swapping are not  accepted practices in our society. 

The lovers exchange love notes with sms and beautiful pictures and cards.  In ancient India the Dove and Swan were used as the messengers of love.

The bondage of love between two opposite sex people is a sacred relationship.  The Gay and Lesbian relationships and such marriages are widely unheard in our conservative Indian society.

Mostly the handsome and beautiful people fall in love with the attraction to each other.  However, the beauty lies in the eye of the beholder.  I advocate the love between two matured and adult partners well equipped to choose their partners in life.

A steady relationship, the soothing, caring and comforting love is most desirable in a person’s life.

 Long live Valentine and the beautiful relationship of  Love..!!