Habitat Eden Heights - The place you want to live in

My visit to Habitat Eden Heights came more from curiosity. Promises of ‘well thought through amenities’ to ‘wide open spaces’ were made. So, I did myself a favour and accepted the invitation to attend their launch. That being said Habitat Eden Heights was a very convincing experience. As you walk through the boulevard, you cannot miss the badminton courts, basketball courts, tennis courts, with enough green surrounding them.

These facilities are perfectly designed and I could picture myself unwinding over the weekend over a good game. It was almost nostalgic. Back in school, I remember how we used to make use of every opportunity to play. Gobbling our lunches as fast as possible so we could spend more time playing numerous sports.

As per me it is the perfect fit for a sports enthusiast like myself. A sports-zone with floodlights! Well-lit to make ‘playing after sundown’ more accommodating to my tight schedule. Another addition, among many, is the well designed and modern gym, at the sky clubhouse. What a statement!

Being architect developers, it is safe to say that these guys have put in thought to every square inch of this property. Although this property is located on Hoodi main road, 200 mts off Hoodi Circle, the homes are nestled deep within the property, keeping the traffic noise to a bare minimum.

Whitefield, is a booming part of the city. With the best of the malls close by and some amazing restaurants, that are on my list of favourites, this part of the city is the ‘it’ place to live in for a young family.

All in all, a fun day spent with loads of activities, a live RJ from Radio One and very eager families who were excited about the idea of living at Habitat’s Eden Heights. Eden Heights is a delightful home to be in a soon to be paradise.

If your interest is as peaked as mine, follow this link to know more http://habitatventures.com/eden-heights

Technolution - The Future of Smart Cities

Since the new Modi government came into power in May 2016, we have been hearing a lot about Smart Cities. There has been great buzz around which are most likely to be smart cities in India whereas government has already proposed name of few cities based on different criteria. Now all of this sounds so romantic and catchy to us but are we really ready to make our cities smart cities. Though there can be different level and type of smart cities but there are some minimum aspects that must be in every such city. Technolultion event organized by Mind Ignited was one such event where we got to know about requirements to make a city Smart city and how that smart city status can be sustained in long run.

Event started with some beat boxing performance by Emcee of the show Vineeth to get crowd excited for the evening and then it was turn of the first speaker of the evening, Mr Bernard Charles, Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer Dassault Systèmes . He has been working on Data points and simulation for last so many years and as per him the same simulation logic must be applied in case of smart cities not only to develop  smart cites but also to predict sustainably of those smart cities. Smart cities must be Vertical like human body and he cited example of Paris as such vertical city. Simulation needs lots of data inputs to predict the future requirement of a smart city, which can go to as low as where to plant trees in that city keeping future growth in mind. The Noise level, the traffic, altitude all play essential role in making of a smart city and simulation is must to predict future of smart cities on these parameters. He shared examples of few of cities globally those have used these simulation technique and have benefited a lot to cater future need of its citizen. The best part of simulation is that it can create multiple scenarios in one go and predict the outcome accordingly and then it is up to the administration on how to take decision on that outcome.

Then it was turn of Harini Nagendra, writer of Book “Nature in the City” and who has worked excessively on Urban evolution to talk about ecological viability of smart cities and what needs to be done to differentiate those from normal cities that are not so ecological. She showcased different statistics from across the world and especially India on how our cities have evolved sacrificing ecological aspect. City like Bengaluru city where precious lakes are frothing and now it is the 3rd most air polluted city in India. It has developed leaps and bounds but by sacrificing ecological aspect. A city can never become smart city if it can’t let its citizen breathe fresh air, drink clean water and let them live in less noisy environment. She explained how cities across globe have developed so rapidly in last few years but failed to cater need of a good environment.

Vishal Chahal of IBM Watson talked about what role industries will play in future of smart cities. The new advancement that will take place in Artificial intelligence will play a key role in how future of smart cities will be like.  He quoted several examples of how systems and machines will be self-activated tasking decisions on its own rather than depending on some server somewhere on cloud system. Systems will predict things in advance rather than individuals asking for it. He concluded his presentation with comments that almost all technical ingredients of smart city in future will be cognitive.

The last presentation was by Divakar Vaish who is one of the genius minds in India when it comes to Robotics and is developer of India’s first ever indigenous robot “Manav” and also word’s first brain controlled wheel chair. He explained about robotics industry has grown up on Artificial intelligence and cognitive intelligence and the next step will be to master Real Intelligence which is probably at first step of its growth. Artificial intelligence has grown up leaps and bounds when it comes to robotics and has given great results too but Real intelligence is future of robotics and machine system. In real intelligence system robots and machines will be able to take decision ion its own rather than being programmed to react. As per him it is still a long distant dream to fully conquer Real Intelligence but things in robotics industry are going in right direction. He showed few of his developments related to it where robots could replicate what a normal person does just with use of brain sensors. The brain controlled chair is one such creation and many more are yet to come soon in near future.

There were session By Saumya Lohia Agarwal on how not only Public-Private collaboration is needed to get things done, it is time for individuals to get involved actively on individual basis as well. Event also had a soulful and melodious musical performance by VarijaShree Venugopal who is award winning singer and flutist.  

More information of the event and videos can be found at Mind Ignited facebook page.

Reliance Jio - The First-hand experience

Reliance JIO, the new entrant in Indian telecom sector has created buzz like never before. Even before going live commercially without spending much on advertisement it has got on nerves of other service providers. Rolling out of preview offer of all its services including premium ones and word of mouth publicity has worked for Reliance JIO in perfect way.

I got access to Reliance JIO last Saturday and been on it since then and trying all apps along with its data services. I enabled Jion network as hotspot and connected 2 cellphones and 1 laptop with it and didn't find any data speed slowness issue. The Speed is better than other service provider like Airtel, but that is not only thing that makes JIO different. It has come up with some amazing apps for different purpose under its My JIO app. Jio Cinema for HD Movies, Jio Beats for Music, Jio Play for Online TV, JioXpress for News, Jio Mags for Online Magazine, Jio Drive for Online free storage, Jio Net for accessing its hotspot data, Jio money for Online wallet, Jio Join for Call and Chat. I tried almost all of its apps except Jio Join and Jio Money and must say that I loved few of those.

JioCinema has Movie collection in HD version and with many languages and categorized in different ways. It has movies form old era to 90s to latest released and when I watched few of those movies it played without buffering. It keeps track of movies you play so that you can resume playing it once you get time.

Jio Play has more than 250 TV channels online all of which you can access free for time being except few sports channels that needs Hotstar premium account. It also keeps history of last week shows that you can watch anytime. I played CNBC TV18 for continuous 3 hrs and didn’t see any lag in live streaming. It has channels in various languages to cater need of people from all regions.

Jio Beats is one app that I loved the most purely because of amazing content it possesses. It is online music playing app along with curated Radio. The category of Songs it has is really amazing with songs ranging from 50s and 60s till latest hits in different languages and genre, all categorized in simple way for anyone to access. It also gives you access to a good collection of Indian classical music from almost all world renowned artists like Ustad Bismillah Khan, Pandit Jasraj and Zakir Hussain. It has Sufi music, it has Qawwali, it has music for kids, music for dance, music for travelling and so many, all categorized properly for easy access and navigation. One can create playlist and download songs to play offline.

It's not about fast speed and less cost. Look at the superb curated collection #JioBeats has #Jio4G pic.twitter.com/0QxDh4Vgey

— Half Plate Momos (@adult_kid) August 29, 2016

Kuch toh log kahenge, logon ka kaam hai kahna... #JioBeats .. Free Reliance Gio rocks :) pic.twitter.com/LlXcd42i8X

— Half Plate Momos (@adult_kid) August 29, 2016

JioMags gives access to various online Magazines like Femina, FilmFare , Business today. Once you download a Magzine you can read it anytime. JioXpress opens up world of online news for users with access to curated news that can be customized easily by users too. JioNet gives you access to use JIO’s hotspot that are there at various places within cities. JioDrive gives you access to 100 GB of free cloud storage for anytime access. 

With such reasonable pricing and such vast content satisfying needs of different type of users, I think JIO is here to stay for longer run. Reliance Industries has spent almost 1.5 Lakh Crore Rupees for Jio so I hope they won’t leave any stone unturned to make it a grand and sustainable success.

And YES , Enjoy Everything Free…. Only if you get access to a Jio Sim :)

SuperNova Gaming Carnival - Bengaluru Edition

NovaPlay, one of the leading Indian brand when it comes to computer gaming recently had “SuperNova Gaming Carnival” in Bengaluru. The carnival that attracted hundreds of gaming fans took place at Loft 38 Indira Nagar on 3^rd July. The event had not only pro gaming fans but also casual game lovers like me and fans were not let down by NovaPlay team as the event was not contained to just gaming, it had music, comedy and some seriously cool sports entertainment where few of the game enthusiasts got chance to dress like their favorite gaming character and showcase their love for these characters to fans.

 

This gaming carnival is multicity and will be happening in other cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai. The carnival recognizes best gaming talent in India and the best of those talents will be getting awarded with cash prizes worth 5 lacs per city. To make event of high standard and fair to everyone, all the competitions are being judged by FIESTA, official eSports governing body of India. In Bengaluru edition of event, 150+ teams each of 5 members took part in preliminary rounds and finally 8 teams made it to finals.  

Amitesh Rao, CEO of NovaPlay who himself was taking charge of event said “We are delighted to launch first of its kind multicity gaming carnival intended to create a larger gaming community in India. Such events will give a platform to professional gamers to showcase their talent and get recognized to a bigger audience and I am sure it will help in taking Indian gaming industry to a new level soon”.

The main goal of hosting such events is bring game lovers who are scattered all over to a common platform and give them a sense of pride of being the best in country in gaming aspect. As per NovaPlay this is just one of the event and they are going to take many more such initiatives to cater the need of game lovers all across India. The event had Abish Mathew, member of team AIB performing some amazing comedy gigs to make game enthusiasts laugh. This was followed by DJ night with DJ Blot and Vachan Chinnappa.

More details about NovaPlay and all such events can be accessed at www.NovaPlay.in and also on its Twitter account and Facebook Page.

- All Pictures credit to NovaPlay Facebook Page.

Urban Forest : Serenity of Forest Within Luxury of City

Each one of us loves nature and wants to be close to it as much as possible. Ask anyone whether they love nature, the greenery and the peace and fresh air around that greenery and almost all would say a big YES. In an ideal world all of this would have been possible easily but in fast growing societies where greenery is getting sacrificed for development, it is getting really tough to maintain such natural environment in our neighborhood. We have to travel hundreds of Kilometers from our cities to see the forest and enjoy its green cover. The natural environment that should be with us every single day has now become a far distance reality and we see it once in week or once in a month when we go out of our cities for trips.

Urban Forest, a project from Alembic Real Estate Developers is one unique residential apartment project that is planned in a way to bring Forest and nature to your neighborhood. It is being developed to give both, comfort of a nice home and the serenity of forest. The importance of living around greenery and forest has clearly been top priority of Urban Forest Project development group and they are working hard to make sure that it is not just for a showpiece. I was invited by Alembic real estate as part of their event and the Model view of Urban Forest project which I got to see there showcased the clear idea behind the project. I don’t know which other project from any other builder in Bengaluru has so much focus on providing complete green cover around apartments. I even got chance to see a model apartment and outside view from rooms looked scenic and soothing to eye.   

Urban Forest Residential Project Model  

There are many unmatchable advantages of staying in apartments that has such surroundings like the Urban Forest:

• It makes you more immune from all sort of pollution of city which in turn helps you in being physically and mentally healthy. 

• It has been scientifically stated that greenery reduce negative energy from its surrounding and it helps in person becoming calmer.

• It can help in creating great bonding among neighbors especially among kids as kids love to play in such environment.

• One won’t need to travel every week or month away from cities to see the greenery and enjoy its beauty, all one need to do is step out of home and enjoy the nature.

• It makes you more aware about nature and its benefit, you start loving it more and then end up in trying to protect it as much as possible not only in your neighborhood but also in other parts of city. It makes the kids aware about value of greenery and helps them in becoming a responsible citizen in future.

The Inside view 

The picnic was organized by Alembic real estate team for its existing clients and potential clients at its Urban Forest project location in Whitefield. The event was not only to showcase the project with a model 3 BHK apartment but also to make people aware about what being close to nature and forest can bring to their life. The event had many activities for kids and even some for their parents. Activities like Pottery, crafting, creative sandwich making, all at a place that had trees, green grass and spacious ground which is becoming very rare to find in a city like Bengaluru.

The Fun place for all activities

The kids were given different tasks from Pottery to dance to sandwich making and they were all thrilled to get involved in all of those. They danced, they sang, they mimicked and all this made the event as refreshing as the surroundings at Urban Forest project location. The happiness on face of kids while doing activities and calmness and relaxed expression on face of parents was enough to make us believe that how much they value a calm and green environment.

The creative Sandwich making contest was one of the best activity which didn't just involve kids but also their parents. They got few mins to make a sandwich with as much creativity as they can and finally 4 winners were given prizes by Alembic Real Estate team.

The event had some really yummy Barbeque lunch for all of us and it was a different feeling of bliss to eat super tasty Barbeque lunch in an open green field surrounded with big trees.

                                

 

The event was about to end but before that we got to to know that they have organized a musical event while we were enjoying our lunch and it turned out to be a Guitarist playing some melodious tunes for us. Those tunes and songs made the event extra special in which everyone who loved singing got chance to participate and Emcee of the event kept kids engaged till the last moment.    

The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness - John Muir

You can find all details about Urban Forest project and Alembic real estate at http://www.alembicrealestate.com and also can connect with them on Facebook and Twitter. 

The Social Media Week Bangalore 2016

Social Media is new and old both at same time when it comes to how people perceive it and at the same time how they use it. Many people who have got mastery on it in last few years when it has still been evolving find it easy to deal with and others who failed to gauge its worth find it really tough. Social media has given voice, power and sense of ownership to people who use it passionately day in and day out. It has been used successfully in social issues, political issues, cultural issues and many other areas of our lives and has made a great impact on how things are looked at.

Social media week is collaboration of all such groups and individuals who have used or using Social media platforms magnificently to make a change either for themselves and their organization or to the society as whole. The Social Media week Bengaluru organized and hosted by R Square Consulting that took place on 9th and 10th of June at Leela Palace had people from all walks of life who use Social media platforms to make an impact. The event had who’s who of marketing industry like Prahlad Kakkar, Twitter made celebrity Ramesh Srivats, well known cricket journalist Prem Panicker and also had people representing social media based groups/campaigns like #SaveWhitefield and Menstrupedia. It had speakers who are working on Artificial intelligence related to social media to speaker like Sandy Carter who works with Startups for IBM, people who know all details related to various social media platforms like Snapchat and Twitter and also person like Film Director Pawan Kumar who has used Social Media brilliantly to promote his movies like Lucia and U-Turn.

I am sharing some of the details about the sessions I attended during these two days of Social media week Bengaluru.

Building brand through Story telling:

The event started with well acclaimed ad Guru Prahlad Kakkar’s session on how the brands should ditch their love of PPTs if they want to create a positive and everlasting impression. PPTs have never been engaging with audience, the audience love the brand they can relate the most with and there is no better way to relate than having a brand story with human touch. He cited example of a very old ad of a Chocolate that used Cricket and its celebration to make people love that Chocolate brand.  As per him Brands should look to Indianised if they want to succeed here and same applies on startups as well. When it came to use of technology and social media in brand building, his clear message was “Do not let technology steal the real value or content.” To break it in simple way use the technology for sure but don’t marry it, give it just enough attention that works for you. His session left many people in crowd awestruck and I am sure they all went left that room with some clear understanding of building a brand from scratch.

The Maveric Prahlad Kakkar

#SaveWhitefield :

The #SaveWhitefield campaign started with some individual who like many Bengalurueans were pissed off with bad roads, bad traffic and bad system. They created online campaign and propagated it through Social media platforms. It didn’t become successful in one go but it surely attracted some eye balls and slowly and gradually because of perseverance of team and with efficient use of Twitter and Facebook it came in lime light and became a huge mass moment forcing administration to do things which they had turned blind eye upon so far.

Now this campign is surely blend of both offline and online campaign but I don’t think it would have been this much successful if it was nor for social media and its wonderful use by SaveWhitefield team.

You can find all details about this campaign at http://savewhitefield.com 

Nitya Ramakrishnan And Utkarsh Singh

Menstrupedia - Breaking Social Taboo : 

Menstrupedia started by Aditi Gupta is to fight with stigma that has been attached with periods, a normal physical process that females have to go through. This stigma doesn’t only prevail in rural areas but also in many urban areas. Aditi Gupta who herself had to go through all this societal embarrassment decided to make people aware about all this through various offline and online campaigns. She along with her team had done campaigns with various schools, colleges and other groups to make people aware that periods are natural just like any other normal body process and there is nothing to be embarrassed about. Mestrupedia team have launched online and offline comic book to explain more about it so that it can easily be understood by people.

You can find all details about this campaign at http://www.menstrupedia.com  

Host Pallavi And Aditi Gupta

There were around 20 sessions covering all aspects of social media ranging from pure technical aspects to pure fun aspects supported by various case studies and I will be sharing details about some of those awesome sessions in upcoming posts very soon. 

- Event pictures Credit to SWMi Bangalore Facebook Page. 

Raising Children in the healthiest way possible

For any parent their kids are the most precious person on earth and they do everything possible to make them the happiest kid in the world. Parents take care of all the necessities required to raise their children, many times trying things which are beyond their capacity. Despite all this many times kids found lacking something or other which in many cases can hamper their growth in future. These deficiencies can result in child being physically and psychologically weak or not up to the expected level.

For any parent it is the worst nightmare to see their kid not growing properly. A physically weak kid can fail in many fronts in life which are clearly visible to us in daily life. If kid is not healthy physically, he will never be successful in any other thing. Weakness can kill the best talent in any kid. It can stop kids from trying new things in life which could have made them better and also it will pull down kids confidence to lowest level, hence it is utmost important for kids to grow healthy physically and it is the most important duty of parents to take care of this need of their kids. Many surveys has been done in India in recent times that had thrown startling facts about level of physical unhealthiness in Indian kids of age 6 to 14. One of the point in survey (IMRB) was that around 30% of children in India miss school for more than 5 days in a month due to illness. If child is physically weak then he or she is the most prone to being ill in any circumstance. This one point is more than enough to tell us why it is most important to make your kid grow healthy physically.

Now sometimes we see kids who look really healthy physically but are actually weak from inside. This happens due to lack of some essential micro nutrients and vitamins which are not easy to consume as those are not available in food we eat regularly, but these needs can easily be fulfilled by feeding kids with health products like Horlicks Growth + . As per me a psychologically weak kid can succumb to pressure quicker than a physically weak kid because the support provided to physically weak kid by their parents will be more in such cases , for a simple reason the physical weakness is visible to naked eyes but psychological weakness is not. It is must for any kid to be mentally strong keeping in the mind the tough competition he or she has to go through both in school and outside in neighborhood and it is primary duty of parent to make their kid healthy mentally too.

To conclude it,I just want to emphasize on point that all parts of our body play important and essential role in functioning of our body and if any of those parts is not grown up properly it badly affects the other parts even though those are healthy. For any building to be strong its base has to be rock solid and in same way to for any kid to be strong in future he has to be grown up healthy both physically and mentally.

One can access some really useful information related to kids growth at https://growthplus.horlicks.in .

Datsun redi-GO - the capability of a crossover with the convenience of a hatchback

DatSun redi-GO is all set to be launched this month and seeing the excitement around it I think it is going to get a good response from Car lovers. While reading about the new car I got to see some specifications which can make it worth to be tried. It has 800CC engine which is high on fuel efficiency and if one is frequent traveler by car, not only on weekdays but during weekends, fuel efficiency of engine can be extra beneficial when it comes to cost of driving .  With mileage of 25.17/KM it surely gets thumbs up from me. I would love to test it on weekends gateways of Bengaluru which are around 80-100 Kms of city. It will help to test the mileage and fuel efficiency not only on highways but also inside the city boundaries. To make any drive safe it is must that driving that car is fun and not stressful.

Being fond of design and space when it comes to be inside of a Car, I can see that Datsun redi-GO has very spacious and meticulous interior. It has a flamboyant type of interior which will give me confidence and soothing experience while driving this car. The Good boot space is like must for be being a tall person and this car has taken care of it. So be it long journey are short journey, the comfort level will be same while sitting in the car or while driving. One of the main reason people buy car is to live some extra happy moments with their family even when driving and the spacious design of this car can easily be comfortable for 4 people even during long journeys. To make any drive safe it is must that driving that car is fun and not stressful so that attention doesn’t get diverted on unnecessary stuff and comfort level of Datasun redi-GO is trying to fulfill this requirement.The stress level while driving in Bengaluru traffic is too high and if a car can provide extra comfort level it will be appreciated by many. 

The looks of car are as important as its mileage or Engine power and when it comes to exterior of Datsun redi-GO it has beautiful headlights, nice height and length ration to make it look cool and the sporty rear design. It has beautiful LED fog lights which not only makes it safe while driving in night time in winters but also make it look super amazing. The good tyre design not only makes driving safe but also can make or break the looks of any car and company has done good job in this front.  There is prevalent concept that if something doesn’t look good from outside, it won’t get any appreciation doesn’t matter how good it is from inside. The Datsun redi-GO is made to take care both external and internal power of any Car and it will definitely get thumbs up especially because of the price range it is being launched in. The freedom to choose Car in different color options will give it extra points and I would surely love to make myself look good while sitting inside it. 

Words than can clearly be associated with this Car is Fun. Freedom. Confidence.The ultimate Urban Cross - Datsun redi-GO - the capability of a crossover with the convenience of a hatchback.

Diageo Reserve World Class 2016 Grand Finale

Diageo Reserve World Class – India Competition is a unique platform for bartenders to showcase their talent and get recognized not only in India but all over the world by winning the competition and getting a chance to represent India on world stage. Diageo’s focus on nurturing young talent in India needs no verification as this was their 7^th successful edition and in all past events they have produced new influencers in bartending industry.

The 7^th edition finale of Diageo Reserve World Class India was organized on 1^st June at Hotel ShangRi-La Bengaluru where top 20 finalist from all across India were tested on various parameters in many rounds. All of these finalists were representing India’s leading hotels and bars, some with less experience and some with more experience as bartenders. The Jury for this event had  Feroze Merchant, Head of Luxury, USL Diageo, Nicholas Ord, USL Diageo Reserve Brand Ambassador, Jamie Walker, USL Diageo Reserve Brand Ambassador, Serhan Kusakisizoglu, Director of Corporate Projects, Shangri La, Nicole Faria, ex Miss Earth 2010 and Manu Chandra, Chef Partner Toast & Tonic (Bangalore), Monkey Bar (Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai).

The Top 6 with host Dan

Nicole and Jamie, tasting to test

The competition had been running for last 6 months and bartenders from many of the prominent bars all over India competed at regional levels and 20 out of those came into grand finale in Bengaluru. The top 3 finalists were decided after testing their skills in 3 different rounds: The Pantry Round, The Speed Round and The Mystery Box Round. Each bartender went through a rigorous training procedure to survive till the end and they were equally excited to get a chance to be in Miami representing India. Jitender Singh representing Story, Gurgaon was able to impress Judges more than any other competitor with his execution and speed and finally came out victorious and got the crown of Diageo Reserve World Class 2016 Indian bartender of the Year thus getting the pass to be at Diageo Reserve World Class Global Finals to be held in Miami in September, 2016. Vikram Kumar and Dilbar Singh from Delhi/Noida impressed the judges too but were just few notches away from winning it and got the second and third position respectively.

Jitender Singh, mixing it to win

Announcing the winner, Feroze Merchant, Head of Luxury, United Spirits Ltd - a Diageo Group company said, “Diageo Reserve World Class is considered one of the most respected bartender competitions both in India and globally. The competition celebrates the best bartenders who set industry trends and standards. We have inspired the bartender community and every year have participants from the best outlets in India.

The Winning moments

Exhilarated with winning such a tough competition Jitender Singh said, “It’s a real honour to be the Diageo Reserve World Class India Bartender of the Year 2016. The platform has given me an opportunity to learn from the best in the industry and I can confidently say that I have grown enormously as a professional through this journey. It feels extremely rewarding to compete with the best bartenders in the world and represent India at the Global Finals in Miami. I can’t wait to bring the Global title back to India!”

Get access to all tweets for the event at #WorldClassIn

Why critical illness insurance is important and which one is the best?

Turning 30 is an amazing feeling! You are earning can can fulfill all those dreams of yours! It’s that stage of your life where you strive to bring out a balance between your personal and professional life. Despite your professional achievements, the work pressure, the increasing fast-paced life and hectic or unhealthy lifestyles can take a toll on your health and may lead to critical illnesses. With consistent work stress and anxiety, youngsters are becoming the targets of critical illnesses like heart diseases, cancer and kidney.

Apart from the physical and mental turmoil there’s also high a financial turmoil, a critical illness insurance plan creates a backup plan to cover all your critical illness expenses.  A basic health insurance policy  might  not provide enough cover for all the financial losses you may face because a terminal illness will not just require hospitalization cost but you may need certain costs for advanced treatments. It’s not just that but you may not be able to earn  for at least 6 months because that is the time you may need to completely recover and get back to work.  Your bills, emis, expenses will increase but your income will pause for few months.

However, a critical illness plan not only ensures that the hospital charges, follow up check ups, advanced treatments, it also covers the  loss of income you face while you are recovering. Unlike a Mediclaim policy that reimburses the hospitalization costs, critical illness insurance gives you a lump-sum amount on the diagnosis  itself.  

Another major benefit is that it is both cost-effective and convenient and the waiting period is less  than 30 days . There are various critical illness riders and stand alone plans in the market. Few standalone plans only cover cancer while a plan like Edelweiss Tokio Life – CritiCare+ covers 17 critical illnesses. It provides a lump-sum benefit on diagnosis of any of  the critical illnesses pre- listed in the policy document, some of which also include an organ transplant, cancer, major burns, chronic kidney disease etc. Apart from covering 17 major critical illnesses it provides a multi claim option under which the policyholder can claim thrice. So if the policy holder is diagnosed by a second critical illness then he/she  can claim again. Also after the first claim the future premiums will be waived off understanding that you are not in a position to pay future premiums after a critical illness. 

This insurance plan is designed in such a manner that it can help the policyholder to bounceback financially from a critical illness. It’s one of the best critical illness insurance plan available in the market.

The Scotch, Music and Party

Music is the best companion for anyone who is alone but did you ever wonder what the best companion is for these singers and musicians when they are alone? Yes for many of them who like drinking it is scotch. Drinking is never bad when done in limit and it can be best enjoyed when you are just looking for some good time with nice melody playing in background.

Anushka and Nakul

During the 2nd event of USL Diageo’s #LoveScotch moment, we bloggers got chance to meet and interact with former VJ, a model and now the young singing face of Indian music industry Anushka Manchanda and renowned mind reading expert Nakul Shenoy. The fun and interactive event took place in The Permit room followed by the amazing Arbor Brewery in Bengaluru. The event started with stylish Anushka Manchanda getting behind the bar at Permit room with her other guest partner Nakul. They were assisted by United Spirits Reserve Brand Ambassador Andrew Qadri in making some exotic cocktails. First it was Anushka’s turn to try her hands on making cocktails and she decided to make iconic Johnnie Walker Black Label based cocktail West Coast Julep. We got to see her excitement even in doing this, the same we see when she is on stage performing or doing playback singing. Then it was turn of Nakul and he decided to make Sunset Cinnamon cocktail with Black Dog Black Reserve.

Getting set to make cocktails

Now it was time for us to get sense of what these celebrity guests like to drink and why scotch is their first love when it comes to drinking. For Anushka it is Johnnie Walker Black Label that is her favorite and she loves to enjoy it with her father who has same taste when it comes to Whisky. Vat69 is favorite brand for Nakul and he gets a totally different feeling when he gets chance to drink it alone or with anyone else. As per him one should try to enjoy drinking doesn’t matter how one is drinking and with whom one is drinking. When I asked about what her future plans are when it comes to singing and balancing it with her modeling and reality shows, Anushka said Singing is  her first and only love now and many more things are coming up from her in near future.

Doing it passionately like his mind reading work 

This was followed by cocktail making session in Arbor brewery with 100s of Bengalurueans enjoy their sip on a Friday night and we were some privileged ones who got to party with these celebrities and also got chance to get snapped with them. We got to drink 4 signature #LoveScotch cocktails, Black and White: Orange and Mint Julep, Black Dog Black Reserve: Sunset Cinnamon, Red Label: The Red Label Mule and Black Label: West Coast Julep.

Scotch collection that we all love

The #LoveScotch movement has finally got wings now and it is one of the unique experience for us to witness the love people have for scotch in Bengaluru and through social media we can guess that this love is wide spread all over India. Through this movement we are just trying to bring the love for scotch on to the surface, the love that is hidden deep inside in some corner of our hearts.

Here is the link to my post on 1st #LoveScotch event and all the tweets for this event can be accessed at #LoveScotch.