The Capital rules them all!

You may love it, you may hate it....oh no, you will find it very hard to hate it, and you definitely cannot ignore it. This is Delhi, the capital city of our beloved country, the place where ideas are formed and broken, dreams are fulfilled and shattered, where anything can happen. The city of limitless possibilities.

I have never lived in Delhi but I have been there many times, and the city occupies a special place in my heart. And over the years I’ve watched it change, and behold, it’s become beautiful.

Let’s talk about the Design first. Delhi’s got something to cater to every need of people. On one hand we have some of Asia’s largest malls (City Walk!), and on the other hand we have Lajpat Nagar where you can just spend the whole day shopping for inexpensive items.

And the food. If you haven’t tasted the chole bhature found on the streets here, let me tell you, you’re missing something in life. From the street food to the swankiest of restaurants and the most diverse variety of cuisines from all over the world, you can find everything here.

Which brings us to the most enchanting aspect of this city: its diversity. Being the capital, it’s home for people from every corner of the country – you can never feel out of place here. At any street corner, you can find Hindi, Telugu, Punjabi and Assamese among many others – being spoken simultaneously. And there are a fair amount of guests from around the world as well. The composite Delhi culture we have thus has a charm of its own – it comprises parts of every culture and blends them in an absolutely unique way.

And last but definitely not the least – the rich heritage. The Red Fort, Qutub Minar and Humayun’s Tomb are majestic to behold. Jantar Mantar gives us a glimpse at India’s rich scientific knowledge. There is no shortage of tourist spots in Delhi – if you want to have a nice time with friends or family and witness the memorial of India’s brave soldiers, you can visit the India Gate. If you are spiritually inclined, you can visit the Akshardham Temple or the Jama Masjid. The Gurudwara Bangla Sahib is a must-see too. Or if you just want to take a break from everything and have a quiet time, you can spend time at the Lotus Temple. And there are still many more to add to this list.

Coming to the most important aspect: Drive. To visit all these, you need to get around, right? Delhi has got one of the best roads in India – and if you’re someone like me who loves to drive, you will find it a pleasure to live here. It’s well connected to the adjacent places too – my personal favourite being the DND Flyway. I was amazed at the first time I took the metro rail here – it’s absolutely world-class. And pleasantly clean!

Delhi is definitely a city that’s #madeofgreat. And if you’re in a Tata Motors car, it will certainly enhance your experience. To know more, log on to http://madeofgreat.tatamotors.com/.

This post was written for Indiblogger's contest: The #madeofgreat Zonal War

Made of Great

In the (rather short) course of my 20-year old life, I have had the pleasure of meeting quite a lot of people. Of course, some weren't a pleasure, but the most were, and a few of those are indeed memorable. However, there is one person who has left an indelible mark on my mind, and I would like to share her story now.

Lakshmi amma.

She was our household help for four years, until we moved to another locality. She was around thirty years old, and I hardly ever spoke to her, so most of what I know about her is from what my mom told me about her, and a bit of what I overheard when they were speaking.

She was married at a very young age to a much older man, which is not very uncommon especially in the poorer sections of the society. She later had four kids with him, three of whom are daughters and the youngest one is a son. She practically doesn't know about the whereabouts of her husband - he comes home once in a few days, and most of the time he's heavily drunk. Her body bears testimony to innumerable insults inflicted upon by her husband. Thus, she is faced with the responsibility of raising up her four kids all by herself.

Getting enough money for just the basic amenities is a struggle for many in India, and that's the one word that sums up her life - "struggle". She toils incessantly from morning to evening in a large number of houses, and works as a night-shift labourer after sunset. Above anything else, she is determined that her kids should never have to face a situation like hers, and therefore her first priority is to ensure that they go to school, no matter what hardships she may have to face for that.

For her single-minded resoluteness despite harsh circumstances, she sure is made of great.

This post was written for the indiblogger contest #madeofgreat. To know more, visit http://madeofgreat.tatamotors.com/
What do you think of Tata Motors' association with Lionel Messi? Do answer in the comments below!

The Elixir called Honey

Food. It's one thing we can never live without. Thus not surprisingly, the quality of food we eat has a profound influence on our lives.

You must've often heard of the term "balanced diet" when referring to healthy food habits. So, what exactly is a balanced diet? It is a diet that consists of right amount of essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, minerals, roughage and water required by the body. The importance of a balanced diet for the maintenance of good health cannot be understated.

It's an old adage that generally whatever is good for the tongue is bad for the body, and vice versa (bitter gourds please!). Yet, honey stands out as a glaring exception. We've all loved honey since our childhood, but do we know of its wonder benefits? Well, our ancestors definitely did. Cave paintings in Spain from around 7000 BC depict beekeeping, showing that it was clearly in vogue even from back then.

Honey plays an excellent role in weight management; the tradition of a teaspoonful of honey with warm water in the morning is known since the old times. The sweet taste of honey is a brilliant substitute for sugar - while containing fewer calories than the latter. It also helps in proper digestion of food and is a good source of energy as well. And last but not the least, honey keeps your skin bright and glowing!

The medicinal properties of honey are well known too, the most popular one being its use for simple cough and cold relief. There is also a widespread misconception that honey should not be taken during summers. This has been found to have no scientific basis - on the contrary, honey actually keeps our bodies energetic by providing a rich source of carbohydrates.

Nowadays, crash diets are becoming a common habit among middle-aged professionals as they simply do not have sufficient time to fit in a balanced diet in their busy schedules. This is certainly not a good habit and leads to a myriad variety of health issues in the long run. It does not provide enough proteins, essential vitamins and minerals but is overloaded with carbohydrates, resulting in an unhealthy mismatch. A spoon of honey a day - together with balanced meals, of course - has the potential to go a long way in improving the overall quality of life of these individuals.

Recognizing the importance of honey in our diets, Dabur presents the concept of Honey Diet - a sweeter alternative: taking just one spoonful of honey in the morning with a glass of warm water. For further information on this and to plan your daily diet, please visit http://www.daburhoney.com/ and start your journey towards a healthier life now!

Starting a new life... what it feels like to be in medicine

It is often said that if there's anything at all that is constant in this world, it's change. It can be such a heartening thing as well as a depressing thing at times - no matter how good or bad the moment might be, it's never going to be repeated again. Many of us loved our school days, but ultimately the goal of school is to learn from it and move ahead with life. I'm a twenty year-old who's been living in the same city since kindergarten, hence for someone who's viewing me from outside, it'd be rather difficult to pinpoint one particular moment in my life that was a paradigm shift or something which set me on a totally different track. However, when I look back upon the rather short course of my existence on this planet, I find that change has indeed hit me - in a gradual yet very substantial manner - my 20-year old self would find it hard to recognize my 15-year old self; and no, I'm not talking about appearance of course. Which forces me to think - what was so great about the past five years that led me to, if I may put it that way, "start a new life"?

Well, the biggest visible change is of course - joining medical college. In a lot of ways, college has changed me and opened me up in a way I never thought was possible with me. Let me share with you what really goes on in the mind of a student when he/she is in medicine and is on the path to getting that "Dr." prefix before their name. Of course, each profession has their uniquenesses, but since I'm in medicine and have experienced it, I choose to articulate that here.

Well, the first day you walk in to medical college and bam! You find yourself in a room full of dead bodies lying on tables. Let's be honest - this might sound scary to some but once you're in it, it's actually intriguing. The feel of having to cut open those persons - yes, real persons, who once were full of life and had their own stories to tell - to observe and learn what literally lies inside us, is well, surreal, when you think of it. And then you get absolutely submerged in the ocean of anatomy, physiology and biochemistry - the syllabus is enormous. It's when you actually begin to have real respect for doctors - for having gone through so much, and well, that's just the first year. Those who were toppers in school are now more than happy to just scrape through over 50%. In the first ever internal assessment test which I wrote after joining college, a grand total of nine students passed (out of 150), yours truly not included.

Then comes second year. It's comparatively more relaxed... and by this time, you're quite familiar with the college; you've made friends with the seniors and the newly arrived juniors... and you get closer to your classmates, so college feels much more familiar. If you're lucky, you get to go to Pulse, an annual fest at AIIMS, Delhi - we couldn't go, but I've heard it's pretty amazing. This is also the time when you start going to the hospital and start interacting with patients - and for the first time, get face-to-face with real people's problems and poverty, and how far we need to go before we can call ourselves a developed nation. You get in touch with different types of people from varying cultures - the beauty of our country - and how all those barriers stand absolutely nullified in the doctor-patient relationship. You also get acquainted to the challenges you're about to face... get to see a few surgeries, a few people dying right in front of your eyes, a few postmortems. It becomes commonplace. You talk to your female classmates about medical stuff which you'd get slapped for if you were to talk about that to any non-medico.

My third year has just begun. Let's see how it goes :D

So yeah, in short, medical college has really made start a new life. What's your story?

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