What Is Love???

The other day, I saw a couple going on the road holding hands, oblivious of the world around them. They just seemed to be so engrossed in one another that they hardly cared where they were or how many eyes were watching them. And then a thought just crossed my mind. Is this what love is all. Is this what poets and novelists have written so much about? Is this what turns people’s lives into a heavenly bliss. And then I answered my own questions. Yes this was what has inspired beautiful poetry, and romantic tales. This is what makes the world go.

If you have never experienced being in love, you might wonder what binds people who fall in love. It is not just an emotion that surges up their hormones. It is the feeling of becoming complete in somebody’s company. It is the freedom of being your real self and being accepted and appreciated for that. It is the fun of experiencing some part of every relationship in this one strong bond. It is the tutor who teaches you tolerance, patience and forgiveness. It is the friend who remains with you every time and everywhere, bringing brightness into even the darkest corners of your heart.

So open your hearts and let the fragrance of love blossom your crushed emotions. Give yourself the best gift that you can get. Free yourself from inhibitions and see the world changing in front of you. Don’t shy away from the most wonderful feeling of all, that God has bestowed us with. Love does not hurt, it never causes pain but the condition is that you have to be selfless. Only if you become selfish, will you experience the traumatic side of love. So give yourself just one chance to get out from your frog well and welcome a new dawn with open arms and open minds!      

My Face Off With The Reality Of Losing Our Home During MY First Visit To Kashmir

It was August 2010 and I was setting out on my first visit to Kashmir, my homeland after a long gap of 20 years. To say I was apprehensive would not do justice to what I was feeling at that time. I was really not sure what I would find in a valley which had been my playground and which we had been forced to leave (for many of us in the middle of the night) in the cold winter month of January 1990. Even though my sister had gone back on a short trip a couple of years earlier, I was really feeling jittery about setting foot in a place whose memories had hunted me for the past two decades.

Finally the day came when I along with my husband and my son commenced our journey to the valley. As the distance to the valley became shorter my anxiety deepened even further. It was almost dark when we finally reached the heart of Srinagar city and I was simply amazed at how churned my every emotion was. I was feeling elated, angry, nostalgic and even somewhat withdrawn at the same time. For the first half hour I felt detached from my own body watching the crowds on the streets, passing by my old school building, looking at the paths that were traversed quite frequently by my little feet so long ago.

Finally we checked into the hotel and for the first time I felt the stings of pain after realizing the fact that I no longer owned a place in this valley. I felt like someone had punched me right in my face as I understood that I was now just another visitor among the crows of tourists who came to feel relaxed and refreshed in the beautiful valley. After going into the room, I simple sat down and reflected on this situation. Whatever my thoughts had been at the beginning of this journey, this sense of having lost my identity was definitely not one of them. Never in the past 20 years had the realization of losing home and hearth struck me as deeply as it had in the span of past ten minutes.

Yes, I had felt angry at the helplessness of our entire family having to live in a 10X10 unconstructed room of a close relative for more than ten years after the exodus. But even in that period there was some hope that the child in me had not allowed to die. There was also a feeling of pain and loss when i learnt that we would have to sell off our home in the valley (incidentally the loan for which we were still paying after years of exile. But on that day, sitting in that cramped hotel room, I realized for the first time the pain that my parents and countless other people from the community had gone through when they left the valley. Maybe I was too small to grasp the complete affect of the tragedy or maybe I had been living in denial all these years, hoping against hope that somehow things would be back to what they used to be.

In the next few days that I spent in the valley, I realized why the things could never be the same again. I visited my home, which we had sold off many years ago. I felt a chill go down my entire body as I entered the ground which had been my safe haven as child. It did not resemble the home of my memories in any manner as it was so unkempt and desolate looking. I turned away with tears rolling down my face even as the local laborers, whose abode it had become now, tried to hide their smirks and the expression of amusements, as they saw my pained look.

Everywhere we went in the valley, we were mostly welcomed with fake smiles and insincere attempts to show love. But some people were confident enough to let us know that we were always welcome as visitors, to spend the money and enjoy our days like other tourists. But these people also told us bluntly that we should forgo of any ideas of returning to the valley on a permanent basis as they would see to it that this never happened. Many of them even had the audacity of telling us that they had suffered more in the past 20 years than the KPs who just had to bear the pain of leaving their homes.

By the time our duration of stay in Kashmir ended, my dreams of returning to the valley as a daughter of the land had been mercilessly crushed. I had come back as a disillusioned child and was now leaving as a broken adult whose hopes of a homeland had been snatched brutally. I don’t know if the promise of a separate homeland for the displaced Pandit community in the valley would ever be fulfilled. But I do know this, even if we get that Promised Land, living in the valley will never be the same as it used to be because while we can rebuild homes, it will take generations to fill the gaps of hearts!

Casio WK-7600 – The Perfect Keyboard To Help Musicians Give Life To Their Creativity

The Ultimate Music Instrument

Coming from a family with a musical background, my familiarity with various musical instruments is quite old. That is why when I first set my eyes on the feature packed Casio WK-7600, I instantly recognized it as one of the best instruments created by the company. This workstation keyboard is capable of enhancing the musical creativity of music composers and performers. In addition to offering all the regular features of Casio keyboards, instrument comes loaded with some additional features which make music composition and recording an extremely enthralling experience.   

What I liked most about this professional digital keyboard is that it comes fitted with an AHL sound source that offers a wide choice of 800 built-in tones. In addition, I can also store no less than 100 of my original tones, which I can recall instantly when needed. To ensure the sound quality of a real piano, the instrument comes fitted with 76 keys   which are touch sensitive and shaped like piano keys. Moreover, the instruments gives me the freedom of playing my favorite songs in their most natural and realistic settings, with the help of more than 300 musical presets that are built into the keyboard.  My duets have obtained a real life like quality all thanks to the flexible playing experience offered by the layer and shift functions of WK-7600.

Another major advantage that the Casio keyboard offers is that it enables me to record my own music pieces with the help of the microphone input feature. I can then listen to my compositions through the 2-way speaker system with high-output and even use them to create other musical pieces. Moreover, I can compose and save music on an SD card or keyboards internal memory and use the same during my live performances. The enhanced broad rhythmic selection with 250 orchestrated accompaniment styles helps me to add greater vividly to my compositions.

Overall, this keyboard from Casio is a must have for musicians who want to experiment with their creativity. The keyboard offers the satisfaction of creating piano quality music and enjoying the attractiveness of a great design and premium build quality. It is a perfect gadget for musicians who like to flaunt their instrument while creating great music.  

All You Need To Know About Fragrance Samples

We all love perfumes as they not only make us feel fresh but also help in making people take notice of our presence. This is especially true for the younger generation, whose eagerness to attract the members of the opposite sex makes them rely heavily on various beauty products including fragrances. While most people are quite choosy and use only perfumes of only a few select varieties, there are others who are willing to experiment with different brands and fragrances. These perfume enthusiasts generally buy every fragrance they can lay their hands on, and try to use each one differently to impress someone really special.

No matter how much you love perfumes, buying them is expensive, which is why they are often categorized as luxury items. This can pose a big problem for perfume enthusiasts with limited budget options. Thankfully, the problem can be solved by procuring fragrance samples. This can be done by getting in touch directly with the manufacturers and distributers or by requesting for the samples at a supermarket. This enables perfumistas to try out a wide range of new fragrances at extremely low prices.

About Fragrance Samples

Before learning about the places where you can procure fragrance samples, it is important to understand what they actually are. Fragrance samples are essentially the extremely small packages of perfumes used by perfume manufacturers to lure customers into buying the full versions. Although most fragrance samples are of the same strength as their full version, some companies also provide samples having somewhat stronger strength. There is no specific reason for this and mostly depends on the individual marketing strategies and packaging policies of perfume companies. Even the smallest packaging of fragrance samples contains enough perfume to last up to three-four applications, which makes them extremely economical. 

Use Of Fragrance Samples

Fragrance samples can be really useful in more than one ways. They can be used by people to try out whether or not the fragrances suit their unique natural smell. Since all fragrances don’t mix well with the natural scents of individuals, it is important to seek those that upon being intermixed with these scents create a refreshing and appealing fragrance. They can also be used by young people to be presented as a casual gift to their partners to learn about their favorite fragrance and then gift them a full version of the perfume. For people, who like to wear a perfume, whenever they go out, fragrance samples can prove extremely helpful in adding variety to their collection.  

Obtaining Fragrance Samples

Depending on whether you are seeking free samples or are ready to buy them, there are various places which provide samples of not only the most exotic fragrances but also the recently launched ones. Given below are some places which are most likely to offer the best fragrance samples.

1. 1.  Perfume Shops: Perfume shop owners generally receive enough samples of various fragrances which they are willing to share for a minimum price.
2. 2. Distributors: Distributors have countless samples of wide range of perfumes for which they may or may not charge money, which depends entirely on their individual character and method of doing business.
3. 3.  Manufacturers: Manufacturers are bound to respond to any request for fragrance sample as such requests generally mean prospective customers. They are also most likely to provide these samples for free as a way of alluring people into buying the full versions.
4. 4.  Online stores: Like most other products, fragrance samples are also available online and can be easily ordered. However, online stores generally don’t offer the samples for the entire range of full versions.

In the end it would not be wrong to say that fragrance samples are a great way of not only checking out the latest fragrances available in the market but also for getting close to the people of opposite sex.

Acne Prevention Through A Healthy Diet And Good Living!

For ages, every human being has aspired to look beautiful and acne prevention is a problem that has been faced by millions of people cherishing this desire. Hence, just the first indications of acne make people to start looking for its remedies, so that they do not loose their attractiveness. In the modern times, numerous acne treatment options have flooded the markets. However, most of the times, a majority of people find these products and procedures to be ineffective. So how can we prevent acne, if it can truly be prevented at all? Well, the answer to the above query is that yes, acne can surely be prevented. And for that, one does not necessarily have to take expensive acne medication. The most natural way of ensuring acne prevention is to introduce some basic changes in one’s everyday diet and lifestyle. Given below are a few tips that can guide you about the changes you need to make to get acne free, beautiful and radiant skin that lasts forever. Changes In Diet Diet plays a vital role in everything related to the health of our body. So undoubtedly, diet is one of the key factors that can ensure acne prevention. There is definitely no acne medication in the world that improves your skin’s health to the extent a proper diet can. So follow the below tips to make your skin healthy and acne proof. • Reduce your daily oil intake. • Reduce the intake of foods containing peanuts, chocolates or caffeine. • Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables as they contain minerals and vitamins that are vital for maintaining your healthy skin. • Increase your fluid intake by drinking water and fruit juices in large quantities. Changes In Lifestyle Changes in one’s living style can be one of the most effective acne treatment options. Listed below are some things that you need to avoid in your everyday living for acne prevention: • Try not to be oversensitive or too emotional about anything as it can lead to causing acne on your skin. • Do not overstress yourself as this leads to high production of oil in the skin that causes acne. • You need to ensure that you get enough sleep that helps your mind and mind to relax completely. • Ensure that you follow a hygienic lifestyle to ensure that our skin always remains dirt free and in turn pimple free. Acne is just like any of the various other diseases that can infect your body and like any of them can be prevented with proper care. The above tips will definitely prove quite useful for anyone who is looking for acne prevention.

Maclaren Lacoste Ryder

Apart from style and luxury, Maclaren Lacoste Ryder is also built for comfort and practicality. It has all those features that all parents look for while buying a stroller for their little loved ones. Maclaren Lacoste Ryder is best in its class when it comes to seating position, superior safety and comfort features.

Pros: Maclaren Lacoste Ryder is built with superior quality aluminum frame which is light weight but very sturdy. It is equipped with a foot operated parking brakes, shopping basket, four seating positions, full recline, water resistant hood and rain cover. Its JPMA certified, has a life time warranty and complies with ASTM safety standards. Its 6” wheels, adjustable leg rest along with front and rear suspension makes it the most comfortable stroller in its class. Seat can be removed and washed. Compact umbrella fold, carry handle and viewing window on the hood make it handy to maneuver while traveling. The silver lining is that it comes with a Lacoste sportswear ensemble that includes a 100% cotton pique knit polo shirt and sun hat.

There is no downside apart from the lack of an adjustable handle. But with loads of features and practicality, this is by far the best stroller available in the market

What Is New In Nintendo DSi

Game lovers the world over are not new to Nintendo gaming consoles and with the recent release of Nintendo DSi they have been introduced to bigger and more interactive screens. These latest DSi screens which have been named as DSi LL feature a large 4.2 inch screen in addition to two styluses which vary in size with one being short and the other being long.
The most attractive feature of the new Nintendo DSi is its Wii Fit, which is a video game package that features wide variety exclusive elements. It is being speculated that the Wii Fit will the greatest USP of DSi LL as it is designed to keep the gamers glued to the gaming console. The package also has numerous other features and add-ons which have been inbuilt into the package to make it possible for players to restart their workouts.
Another feature that might increase the popularity of the latest Nintendo DSi is the balance games provided in the package. Also the new package offers the players with the flexibility to choose the kind of games and game specifications as per their set workout schedules. This has been made possible in DSi LL by providing the players with a wide range of customizable game specifications that can be synchronized as per the work out routines of the players.
The Wii Fit package of DSi LL also features six strength oriented fitness activities in addition to some yoga workouts. The package also comes with an artificial intelligence feature that enables players to select the time frames and user specifications that are most suitable as per their personal preferences as well as fitness goals.
The new Nintendo DSi has been received well as per initial feedbacks and the features that are being most loved by the users Skateboarding and the Wii balance Board units.