My Nose Knows!

People say that ‘Love knows no boundaries’, but I say that my ‘Nose knows no boundaries’. Recall the experience, when you were in a lift desperately trying to reach your floor as quickly as you can. Suddenly, a beautiful girl or a handsome boy enters in the lift and you say “Oh My God” !

The fragrance, their mesmerizing body odour makes you travel into a fantasy world and you forget that you have to get out of lift at your floor. The boy or the girl goes out of the lift but lingering behind their fragrance. You take a pause, gather some breath, stabilize your heart and mind and then close your eyes dreaming that why the hell the lift didn’t got stuck so that you could have spent some more time with the amazing fragrance.

Wait, life is not always rosy; it sucks sometime too and that’s what happened with one of my female friend.
One evening, as usual like a regular Monday, she was back from my office tired and jaded. She pressed the lift button quite few times hoping that this will make the lift arrive faster at the ground floor.

As she entered the lift and the door was about to close, someone pressed the lift button from outside. It was her tall, dark, handsome, sexy neighbor, a man in his early twenties. She had never spoken to him and now she was going to travel with him till 20th floor. That was enough time for her to make an impression. The man was having a laptop sling on his right shoulder and was carrying the latest phone model of an expensive brand.

While her eyes were secretly appreciating his beauty, her nose was behaving just opposite. His fragrance smelled sweat mixed with some strange chemical laden body deodorant.
My friend wanted to speak to him, but she could not speak as she had to put a handkerchief in front of our mouth and nose to avoid the dingy, foul smell.

Her ordeal was not over as there was a power cut and the lift was halted for 30 seconds. Those 30 seconds were the most important 30 seconds of her life. The man of her dream had turned into man of her nightmare.
She decided that she is never going on a date with this person.
She just ran out as soon as the lift opened at 20th floor and didn’t look back.

Love is important but Nose is important too. So, while kissing it’s the nose that meets the nose first, then the eyes and the lips.

“I am sharing my odour story for the ‘My Nose Knows’ contest as a part of the #SniffSniff activity at BlogAdda.”

Ramayana The Game Of Life : Shattered Dreams - Book Review

Name: Ramayana: The Game of Life – Shattered dreams
Author: Shubha Vilas
Publisher: Jaico
My Rating: 3.5/5

It takes courage to write a mythological book and that too on Ramayana, a story which every Indian has read or watched it on Indian Television.
But, to my surprise The Game of Life - Shattered Dreams, the second book in the series by spiritual author Shubha Vilas keeps it interesting and propels you to read it further.

It’s a story which is still relevant in the modern content of life. There are a lot of questions in Ramayana, which as a reader or an audience would have never questioned like - why 14 years of exile and not 13 years or 15 years? What was going around in Dasratha's mind? How do the people of the kingdom react to the parting of their beloved prince, Rama?
The author does not shy away from taking cues from the Valmaki Ramayana but the best part is that the author tries to present his own logical thinking and in that attempt it also encourages the readers to apply their own thinking while reading the book.
The book has got a lot of depth and because of that it requires patience to read such a book on mythology. The writing style makes a reader visualize the scenes, which is a comforting factor while reading the book.
Shubha Vilas puts a strong case through this book, that the story of Ramayana is still relevant to our lives and that to adopt its teaching is the ideal way to lead our lives. He is considered to be the greatest Dharma King of all times and we as a nation still believe, follow him and worship him.

The book emphasizes the role of Dharma in our life and why we must stick to our Dharma.
The book teaches us to handle adverse situations, manage complex relationships in our life, to curb unnecessary temptations and be positive all our life.
It teaches us sacrifice for our loved ones.
I have not read Shubha Vilas first book in this series ' Rise of the Sun Prince' but after reading this book, I want to read the first book in the series as well.

Though, as part of the story its not required to read the two books in chronological order, but I want to read it because of the way the author has presented the whole story and the idea behind important decisions and actions taken by the characters in the book.
I strongly recommend everyone who likes mythological stories, philosophy and tries to inculcate principles from ancient stories into their present day life to read this book. This book is a spiritual healer and can work as an antidote for today’s modern stressed lifestyle.

My sincere gratitude to the author and heartiest congratulations for writing such a beautiful story with right explanations and forcing us to critically evaluate the actions in the story.
My rating for this book is 3.5/5 and is a good read for book lovers.

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!

Shave or Crave – How I Made my Husband Crave for Shave

This blog post is written by my wife, Puja Rai who literally used to make me crave every time she used to see my evening stubble. She has posted this article on my, sorry our blog as I being a dedicated husband can’t overrule my loving wife’s order
So it’s all hers now -

My man is a nice husband, a good friend and a passionate person about his interests, but what I hate the most in him is his evening stubble that he brings along with him when he reaches home after battling the Mumbai traffic.

I am sure that many women like me would be suffering from this “Stubbleomania”. I don’t know whether this word exists in the dictionary or not, but that’s what my husband says that I suffer with this syndrome.

I decided to make him understand the importance of being a clean shaven guy in a woman’s life.
And why not, doesn’t he want me to be nicely dressed and look hot and sexy.

I prepared a 3 rule chart on what all he has to sacrifice for not shaving his evening stubble and handed over to him, as he came back home from work.

Husband – What is this piece of paper?
I – Ohh...You are an Architect and an MBA and working in an MNC…I guess you understand English better than me.
My husband who is used to my weird sense of humor didn’t seemed puzzled at this sarcasm as he knew I would be having much more surprises for him.
Husband – Ya, it’s fine...I can read it but I am asking what does this mean.
I – It means “Shave or Crave”
Husband – Ok...The first line reads “Bedroom lights will be switched off at 10 pm”; He seemed to be really happy on reading this ( must have thought more romance in the bedroom now) Sweetheart, Does it mean...you want more and winked at me ?
I – No...YOu dirty mind. This doesnt mean "everything is Rosy and we will be getting Cozy". This means we will sleep at 10 PM. There will be No Love and No book reading for you in the night. Do you understand ?
‘What’! He seemed surprised at this but he understood that he will miss reading stories before going to bed.

Husband – Ok…but what is this second rule…that we will order our food from the restaurant at least 3 days a week. You know honey’, its so expensive to order food from the restaurant these days. I have to pay for our monthly EMI, household budget and so many other expenses. And even if you still want, we can go for a romantic dinner on weekend. Main aur Tum aur Mumbai ka Samunder....
I made a sorry face and said to him.I can go out with you but not with your stubble.
Do you know “Your clean shaved look is the more expensive than this food from restaurant. Why don’t you take care of this...Huh?

Husband – Ok...No bedtime kisses...I mean don’t you think we will miss this most ?
I – I don’t know but at least I will be saved from your unshaved bruises.
He must be thinking that I have gone crazy, but I am feeling sharper today. I think I will be able to nail him to remove his evening stubble every day.
Husband – Yeah...I think I will manage with all three rules as I don’t want to waste my time shaving my evening stubble as I shave this piece of hair every morning. You women will never understand that how much it pains.

I – Don’t worry, I have got a surprise for you and she gave me a packet.
He opened the packet and found a Gillette Fusion Razor for Men, one of his close up photograph with an evening stubble and a card with a poem written inside.

Can I read this card for you and I snatched the card from him while he was appreciating the new Razor he got as a gift.

My Dear Husband,
You are the most important man in my life,
I am your only Wife, and I guess I am right!
So why don’t you listen to me,
When I say I hate your stubble,
As this pinches my palm,
When I touch your cheeks,
And bruises my face,
When I try to kiss!
I hate your stubble,
So please listen to me,
If you don’t shave,
I will make you Crave,
for love, hunger and wisdom,
When you are back home,
After finishing your work,
And beating the traffic,
You will miss my smile,
If you still don’t want to shave,
Then don’t crib but just crave
as I will still love you,
But you will miss something….
Your’s loving Wife

After reading this, I could see the color of my husband's face changing. He straight away went to the bathroom and closed the door. He had taken inside the Gillette Fusion Razor that I had gifted to him and came outside after 5 minutes sporting a prefect clean shaved Gentleman look.

I smiled at him.
He came to me, made my palms touch his smooth cheeks and he said:

My Dearest Wife,
I know you and I can’t resist you,
So I promise……………………………
That I will shave
Every morning and evening
Till I live with you
Because I don’t want to crave
Till I go to my grave,
And keep you happy
And smiling till we live forever....

We both hugged each other and now he is a happy husband without an evening stubble.

This post is a part of the 'Shave or Crave' movement in association with BlogAdda.com