Bring out the Disney Princess in You ~ A Play Date With Dove

On the 8th of May I received a call from Vineet from Team Indiblogger asking me if I would be game to be a part of the #DovePlay event on the 11th. I explained that I stay hundreds of miles away from Mumbai where the event was supposed to be held. To my utter surprise I was informed that Dove and Team Indiblogger were pairing up to fly in some lucky bloggers from all around the country to Mumbai, just for the event!! My excitement knew no bounds and I answered with an affirmative.

Not to mention, I was super excited to go to Mumbai not just to attend my first Indiblogger event but also to meet my blogger friends whom I had interacted with only virtually till then. Bloggers from Kolkata, Delhi, Indore, Ahmadabad and Bangalore were flown in to Mumbai early on the 11th. I knew we had rooms booked for our stay at The Mirador hotel. What I did not know was the royal treatment we were about to receive from the moment we landed in the city of Bollywood. Everyone of us had a car waiting to escort us from the airport to the hotel where all us bloggers hugged and introduced ourselves before we were taken to J.W. Marriot, Juhu where the actual event was taking place.

Images- Indiblogger

We arrived a little late (thanks to the Mumbai traffic) and registered ourselves and received our name badges, baggage tags, team tags and route maps and activity detail sheets. It was really nice to see how thoughtful the organizers were who took care of our heavy bags while we had fun chatting, sipping wine and running around. We them moved over to the counters with quirky accessories for us to pick up. Now, what do a bunch of women do when they find such amazing props and a swarm of photographers? Yes, you guessed that right- they pose away to glory.

The banquet hall was decorated with beautiful lamps and the place sure looked like a fairyland with everybody dressed in white. We were taking our seats with our cups of coffee and glasses of wine when I spotted Vinita, Janaki and Anuradha. I knew them and Pankti from Indiblogeshwaris but it was lovely to meet them in person!! I also met Nivedita, Soumya and Pooja whose blogs I had been reading for a long time. They turned out to be awesome-r in person :)


After the photo sessions, we all settled down as our host of the day, the extremely pretty and talented Freishia Bomanbehram from NDTV Good Times' Hangout Amreeka took over the stage.

Selfie Time- Freishia, Me and Pallavi. Picture Courtesy- Pallavi

 We were asked to split up and divide ourselves according to our groups. The attendees were all equally divided into 12 groups of ten members each. I belonged to Team 2 and my team mates were Vinita, Shayoni, Pallavi, Suman, Sam, Michelle, Tanyaa and Tanya's mom, Bienu (we had a member less). We were quickly asked to name our teams on a hairstyle and we named ours "French Braids".

Team French Braids- Vinita, Me, Sam, Pallavi (in front), Shayoni, Suman (at the back) and Tanyaa
Picture Courtesy- Pallavi

Next up was a quick introduction session where we got to know our team mates a little better. We were asked to give our partners a compliment. The extremely sweet Suman wrote "Beautiful eyes- Mrignayanee" on my badge :D

Pictures- Indiblogger and mine

The next part was my favourite bit from the evening. We had two zumba instructors up on the stage to get us warmed up for the next few hours of exhilarating fun that we were about to experience. I for one have two left feet and can't dance at all. The only dance I can do is the chicken dance and twerking and that is exactly what we did.  I can't explain how amazing those 20 minutes were. The catchy beats got everybody on their feet, even the initially reluctant ones. Imagine a hall full of women all dressed up dancing and twerking to the tunes of Gangnam Style!!

We had hardly seated ourselves after a crazy session of dance-however-you-want when Freishia came up again on the stage to explain to us the next few activities that were lined up for us and for which we had to complete and play with our teams. Three teams were asked to compete with each other at a time at one activity.

Images- Indiblogger

The first activity was Hips Don't Lie. All the team members were given a huge Hoola Hoop each and were asked to balance it. The person who can keep it looping the longest wins. Tanyaa from our team was a pro and thanks to her, we were the champions in this activity!!

Images- Indiblogger and Dove

Next in line was Have a Ball. Three team members were asked to step into a ball pit containing multi-color balls and sort out only the White Dove Marked balls and throw them at two other team mates who were ready to catch them in baskets they were provided. Our team proved to be a really competitive one as we threw balls as fast as we could and the others at the catching end caught them equally fast. Special mention to Vinita who didn't miss a single catch and was pivotal behind our massive score of 300+ balls in this activity. As you might have already guess, we won this activity as well !!

After finishing each activity, a few bloggers were selected for a fun interview where they were asked about the activities and the memories they triggered. I for one felt like a celebrity giving one interview after another (I gave 5 in total!! :P ) describing my childhood and the merry time I was having at the event.

Images- Indiblogger and mine

The third event we had to complete was what all of us loved the most - Dress Your Tresses!! Team members were grouped into sets of two and were given different hairstyles that they were to make on each other. Michelle was amazing at this as she did my twisted bun in less than 2 minutes. I made the twisted side pony on her which was more messy than neat (*sigh*). Again, for the third time, our team won this one!!

Images- Indiblogger and mine

The fourth activity was Jigsaw Puzzle. Each team was given a handout of a life size Dove puzzle that we had to assemble together. Each team was provided with 1000 points. The faster one completed, the lesser points lost. Guess who won this one? Yes, we did, once again!! :D :D

Images- Indiblogger and mine

After dancing and screaming with joy over winning all the four activities,we gathered up at the photo booth to click pictures with our newly made girlfriends and were then taken to the Dove Salon where haircare and salon experts from Dove were ready to give us our hair transformation we so badly needed. I reached a little late and had to do with a quick updo which I forgot to click pictures of :(

Pranav Thakkar

We then moved over to the pool side area where we had a mix-o-logy match off between the representatives from each team. Each of these members had a open bar in front of us and they had to make an innovative drink of their choice. Pranav Thakkar, an expert mixologist helped us with some insights about making the perfect drink.

We then proceeded over to the dining area as it was already 9p.m. And what spread we had there. The happy foodie in my was delighted to find my choicest favourites up on the tables. I filled up my plate with all that I liked and sat down with Suman and Pallavi, eating and chatting merrily. The dessert platter had a few Indian delicacies like gulab jamun and rasmalai and an overdose of chocolate yummies- heaven for a chocoholic like me. I had a major chocolate overdose on the scrumplicious mud pie :D Oh, did I mention there was an open bar? :P Yes, we could go up and order whatever we wanted and as many we wanted :D I was so busy eating and gulping wine that I forgot to click any food pictures :(

 It was 9:45 p.m. before any of us realized. The main results were to be announced and no surprise, Team French Braids was the clear winner. All of us members received a spa voucher worth Rs. 5000 from Dove to pamper ourselves even more. By  10 p.m. all our drop cars had arrived. Team Indiblogger had very thoughtfully arranged for drop down facilities for every one of us to ensure we reached our homes and hotels safely. We said goodbyes with heavy hearts, hugs and huge beaming smiles on our faces.

 

Images- Indiblogger and Pallavi

To say I had an amazing time that evening would be a complete understatement. I knew I was going to meet some of my favorite people but what I hadn't expected was I was going to have the time of my life. I cannot thank Team Indiblogger and Team Dove enough for the entire experience. Thank you so very much for taking me back to my childhood, making me do things I would have never thought of doing as a grown up, for all the new friends I made and for taking such great care of us the entire time.

Team Indiblogger

I'm back home in Kolkata but with a bag full of wonderful memories and goodies that Team Dove gave us. Each one of us who attended the meet came home with a really heavy goodie bag consisting of a Philips Hair Straightener/Panasonic Blow Dryer, a very pretty dove shaped hair pin and Dove's Intense Repair hair therapy shampoo and conditioner combo. We also received our Indiblogger t-shirts with "I blog therefore You are" etched at the back.

I've always been a huge fan of Dove's hair care products (especially their Nutritive Solutions range) and they have always worked for my hair. I haven't as yet tried this new one from the Damage Solutions range but I'm quite sure the products will live up to the claims. One of the many reasons why I love Dove and their products is how they use common people like us (instead of professional models) for advertising their products. Also, they do not make too many big claims that they cannot fulfill. Instead, they talk about achievable changes with their products which they always achieve. Dove does not promise to magically transform your hair overnight into Rapunzel like tresses but promises to take the very best care of your mane which the princess in you very much deserves :)

I'm sure I'm going to use this Shampoo and Conditioner combo a lot this Summer-Monsoon coz this is the time my hair acts the craziest and is damaged the most. The range is specially designed with keratin actives which work on damaged brittle and split hair to nourish them at the cellular level to avoid breakage. So now, you can have fun experimenting all you want with your hair while Dove promises to take care of your lovely tresses and keep it shining and healthy!! Know more about the Dove Intense Repair Range here.

I'm really really looking forward to my next meet.

So, have you tried this new range yet? What are your opinions?

Till Next,

Tales of the Unruly Tresses

During a late spring cleaning spree of my room a couple of days back, I happened to find this little suitcase containing our family photo albums from the time I was some 6 months old. My dad had this love of clicking pictures of me and my sis. That little box turned into this magical time machine that took me back to my childhood in seconds.

The thing that I noticed how my hair changed throughout the years. I was born with Maggi noodles like curls which magically transformed after my hair was shaved off entirely the first time for some puja. I guess all those chantings and prayers helped coz my hair miraculously tamed into nice straight locks!! 

My favourite childhood memories are someway or the other related to my hair. Here are a few snippets-

I remember how fascinated I was with my dad's razor (I was somewhere around 5 or 6 then) and was always on the lookout to get my hands on it. One fine day I did and decided to try it on my hair. For the next two weeks, I was this child-

*facepalm* :P

On a completely unrelated note, I once sprayed dad's shaving foam all over my face and came out of the bathroom singing "Jingle Bells" , almost giving my mom a mini heart attack :D (You see, I was quite the perfect kid :P )

I was a huge Shammi Kapoor fan as a kid and I can distinctly remember the 6-7 year old me sashaying my pseudo dupatta-hair (you see, I always had cropped hair, so I had to make do with my mom's black dupatta) and dancing to the tunes of  ओ हसीना ज़ुल्फ़ों वाली जानेजहाँ....

Have you seen that super cute movie, Ramona and Beezus? In case you haven't I highly recommend you do. If you have already, do you remember the tiara Ramona made with those prickly burrs?

Source

I had once collected a couple of them to throw at my classmates and well Karma decided to teach me a lesson and to cut the long story short, I had to get a crazy hair cut which made me look like this-

Source

While I really miss doing crazy things and playing pranks on people, what I miss most about my childhood is how healthy and lustrous my hair was back then.
Growing up and shifting to a new city and change in climate affected my hair badly and I could see the visible signs of damage in them. Reel over to the present day, my hair is way thinner and a lot less bouncier than it was before. Add to all that damage and pollution the lack of time to take care of my hair. earlier, mom used to regularly oil my hair which is clearly not possible considering my hectic schedule. But the hair needs to be washed and pampered to keep them healthy.

Thanks to Sunsilk's new hair care range,Natural recharge my hair can remain healthy and shiny even when the child in me can do the whacky experiments. I got a sample to try from Indiblogger and I've already used it a couple of times and I'm already addicted to the fresh herby smell and the minty color of the shampoo and conditioner. what I really loved about this shampoo and conditioner duo is that it does not dry out my hair even after everyday use and leaves my hair smelling fresh and squeaky clean!! ^_^

This post was written for Indiblogger and Sunsilk.


Till Next,

Happy Hair, Happy Me. Thank You, Tresemme!!

'' I just wanna be myself

And I want you to love me for who I am

I just wanna be myself

And I want you to know, I am my hair

 I've had enough, this is my prayer

That I'll die livin' just as free as my hair ''

When Lady Gaga sang these lines, I think she was talking for every girl out there. Our tresses are our identity. Flirty, independent, carefree and gorgeous, those cascading manes define who were are.

Source : Google Images

We all love (and drool) at those gorgeous hair styles that those celebrities flaunt at the red carpet events and keep sighing and wishing we could try and carry them with as much ease and elan. And those Disney princess tales where our darling princesses like Rapunzel, Jasmine and Ariel had the most outrageously beautiful tresses adds to the wish for the perfect ramp ready hair.While our dear celebs might have their own stylists and hair dressers at their disposal 24x7, we mere mortals have none but ourselves and our girl friends to help us achieve those gorgeous looks. 

Source : Google Images

For me, a bad hair day ruins everything. I love trying new up dos every now and then to take a break from the boring pony tail look and when I can't leave my hair open due to the crazy weather here. But managing these unruly strands of hair (which seem to have a life of their own) is a Herculean task. Moreover, my hair is that boring straight with barely there curls towards the ends and are extremely fine stranded which makes styling them even more difficult. And add to that the fact that I absolutely hate (read I'm scared of) using hair styling products and heating,straightening and curling instruments. 

Source : Google Images. Collage done by yours truly

The last winter was a disaster for my hair. I hate winter because it turns my hair extremely dry, knotty and gives me itchy scalp and dandruff. Added to that a change of shampoo made my otherwise almost tame hair into a unruly mess. My hair turned brittle and rough to touch which gave me nightmares!!

Enter Tresemme hair products into the scene. Now, you don't need to worry about your crazy hair which turns into a bird's nest the very minute you step out of your house. And you don't need those hair styling instruments apart from your pretty hair accessories to add that glam touch to your hair. I have been a fan of Tresemme products from the time they were launched around last year and was eagerly waiting to try out their Split Ends Remedy shampoo and conditioner and when Indiblogger gave us members to try and see for ourselves, I immediately applied for a sample. And boy, I am in love...this thing is just amazing. This is going to stay in my hair care regimen permanently.

Even though I don't exactly have split ends, but my hair did seem pretty damaged and rough which was the first step to splitting. I knew I needed to do something before the ends started breaking apart. After having applied the shampoo and conditioner religiously for quite sometime now, I can actually see the difference it has done to my hair. My hair looks visibly healthier and is much softer and pretty much manageable.

The shampoo has tiny pretty glitters in it. The conditioner is a plain white colored one with a creamy texture. The best thing about the conditioner is that it doesn't weight down my hair unlike other conditioners and leaves them airy and with a faint and lingering fragrance.  Now, my hair is back to being smooth and shiny and is way more manageable so that I can easily try those celeb hair dos without frying or losing my hair. No cutting short of the pretty long ends. Yay!! 

Now, thanks to Tresemme, No Knots, No Split ends, Just long happy hair!!
This post is written for Indiblogger and Tresemme who believe that long hair should have beautiful ends and that ending should never be cut short.

Did you try Tresmme yet? If you haven't I really recommend you do. Do let me know if you liked it  :)

Till next,

Smelly Air to Smiley Air

What is the first thing that you think of when you read the title of this post?

For me, it immediately reminds me of Phoebe's epic song, Smelly Cat from my favourite TV show, F.R.I.E.N.D.S    

For those of you who have never heard of it, here it is for your hearing pleasure-

Smelly Cat

Smelly cat, smelly cat, what are they feeding you?

Smelly cat, smelly cat, it's not your fault.

They won't take you to the vet.

You're obviously not their favorite pet.

It may not be a bed of roses.

And you're no friend to those with noses.

Now coming to what this post is actually about - Smell and memories associated with them.

Smell I believe is the most powerful way to rouse your memory. Just a waft of fragrance reminds one of an obscure and random incident from the past which you could never have remembered consciously. It is like this floodgate of memories which breaks with flashes from your past running one after another in a slideshow mode, beautiful ( and sometimes not so beautiful) memories fleeting like a film right in front of you as you stand still, eyes closed, inhaling the scent through your nostrils, taking it inside of you, into your lungs.

I, particularly have a very strong sense of smell. The smell of certain things evoke a very strong reaction. It gets so enveloping that sometimes I can feel the scent running through me, down my spine, giving me goose-flesh. There are so many memories that I can associate with an array of smells.

It was only last evening that I was coming back home when the bus stopped at a traffic signal close to the footpath which had a row of florists one after another selling all kinds of beautiful flowers and amongst all the mishmash of perfumes from those flowers, my nose caught one in particular- the smell of a rose. I despise anything artifically rose scented but I absolutely love the smell of a fresh rose bud. I have had this love for a very long time, as long as I can remember. My mom tells me how I used to be completely wonder struck at the sight and smell of roses, red ones in particular whenever I saw them. There used to be this particular florist's that was close to a shopping area where we used to live in Vizag. I (as mum tells) used to instantly get glued to the nearest light post to the shop, holding to it and stood there standing and smelling the rose for as long as I could before my parents would come and pull me from there. I faintly remember how the amused shopkeeper had many a times offered the four year old me a red rose. 

just replace the cat with a mini me :P

The smell of books is something I am completely addicted to. Every new academic year when my dad returned home with bags with my news books, I would hurriedly open the packet and smell each and every book and carry them everywhere with me. I love scampering around old bookstores, finding the oldest books and flipping through the yellow pages smelling the amazing romantic smell (yes, I can smell romance as well), older the book, yellower its pages and stronger the scent.   My maternal uncle has a personal library with books that are more than 50 years old and some even older, from his own childhood. Every time I visit them, I spend my entire time sitting in that old room with shelves containing books every where, reading some and smelling some. I love flipping through pages, caressing them and smelling them when I read books. Books are after all supposed to be absorbed in entirety, tasting them with all your senses (except maybe tasting them literally) and not just read with your eyes alone.

Yes, I am a book sniffer.

Another very favourite smell of mine (yeah I am that weird, I have favourites in odours as well) is the smell of baked food - cakes, pastries, cookies etc etc. Every time the smell of a freshly baked cookie enters my nostrils, it instantly takes me back to my childhood when my mom used to bake us cakes and "nan khatais" (it is a kind of eggless crispy cookie/biscuit) .Well my super sensitive nose was of course bad news for my mum for she had to always think of new hiding places for all these goodies she prepared or the little mouse that I was, I would sniff around everywhere in the house in search of them and gobble them as fast as I could. 

Freshly baked goodies ^_^

As a Bengali the Durga Pujo and the time associated with it is of special significance to us. Also during this time, the air has a magic about it. it smells of a hundred different things all somehow associated with the pujo. The faint scent of the fragrant shiuli flowers from the backyard early in the morning, the smell of chandan and incense from the pujo, the fragrance of the jasmine, mogra, marigolds and all other flowers from the garlands around the pujo mandap, the intoxicating smell of the dhuno from the dhunuchi dance in the evening, the aroma of the delicacies cooked during those four-five days all combine together for a sniffers' delight.

That is a dhunuchi

So what are your favourite smells, the ones that revive any special memory from your past?

This Post is written for the "Smelly Air to Smiley Air" contest at Indiblogger sponsored by Ambipur. Check out the Ambi Pur Facebook page for the amazing array of room fresheners available in different scents and different varieties to keep your rooms smelling like cherry blossoms whenever your want. Just a few sprays and you can easily get rid of any unwanted odour, be it the the musty stench during the monsoon or the despicable smell of discarded socks in an instant.

 Till Next,

P.S.- All pictures (except my signature of course) are google finds.

The Perfect Caravan - The Perfect Childhood

How would the world be if the greatest of inventors kept their discoveries and inventions just for themselves instead of giving it to the world? Sharing your happiness does not decrease it but increases it multi-fold.

"One idea can change the world."

What is the best childhood memory you have? Mine is reading out passages from Enid Blyton's Rag, Tag and Bobtail and Other Stories to my kid sister during our bed time. We would cuddle up together on our bed and I would read her out a couple of passages as we took a flight together into the magical world inhabited by goblins, fairies and elves. I remember and delight at how I taught my baby sister to read and spell words from our Dr.Seuss and Blyton books before my sis was formally taught the alphabets. I used to make her sing along with me as I read aloud poems like The Midnight Tea Party and many other rhymes I had learnt.

Can't thank my parents enough for not subscribing to the
cable connection for our TV till I was grown up.

I was introduced to the wonderful world of story books when I had by chance happened to find an old hand-me-down copy of Blyton's Tell Me A Story which belonged to an older cousin of mine. The five year old me was so fascinated by the colorful illustrations in the books which helped me imagine and make pictures inside my head how creatures like elves, brownies and pixies looked like as I read along the stories. It has been more than sixteen years since and I still have the book with me. That was the beginning and I haven't stopped gorging on books ever since. My mom often caught me hiding and reading my beloved Famous Five books behind my textbooks. Every year with the money I got on my birthday, I would go to our local book store and come back with my hands full with bags filled with story books. Our school library card permitted just one book a week and I borrowed the books my friends has issued from the library and read as many and as fast as I could.

A few pictures from my very first story book

A few months back, a friend of mine happened to send me a surprise gift package. I literally cried out of joy when I opened the package to discover my very favourite books from childhood, the entire set of The Naughtiest Girl inside it.

I happened to see this video which was a part of the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012 partnered by Franklin Templeton Investments. 

Rohini Nilekani, Founder Chairperson of Pratham Books put forward a few insightful facts that provide a statistical view of the child readership status in our country-

• Our country has a child readership of around 300 million.
• The book output which caters to this 300 million readers is just 25000.
• In comparison to the United Kingdom where every child has around 6 books to read, one book in India is shared by 20 children.
•  50% of these books published in our country are in two basic languages- English and Hindi. A very small number of all these books are published in vernacular languages. In a country with more than 150 languages and with 200 million children who cannot read English, it is important to publish more books in the regional languages which can be read and understood by these children.

These statistics were something I wasn't at all prepared for. I could not imagine how life would have turned out for me had I never found the joy of reading story books. They helped me think out of the box, imagine a world that I had never seen and they made me who I am today. And to think there are children who have access to not a single book is heartbreaking. It is extremely important to tell a child how the world looks beyond the text books. There is a world full of surprises and wonderful stuff that only textbooks can never teach you. It is only with the help of these story books that you can discover them and take your flight.

Pratham Books with association with some philanthropic patrons have started with a mission to reach out to these little kids in every corner of the country and have set out with the motto of "A book in every child's hand". The dream is a huge one to accomplish but since their very foundation Pratham Books have changed the scenario for the better. Pratham Books have engaged a huge number of writers, illustrators and enthusiastic volunteers who have helped create original stories which children can easily associate with and have published story books in more than 11 languages so far.

The video clip reminded me of the time when I was in primary section and the school library was accessible only to the secondary and senior secondary students. I used to pray to God to make me grow up super-fast so that I could read all those beautiful story books I saw neatly stacked up in the library shelves. During the lunch break, I would stand outside the library door and peep inside and stare at my lucky seniors who could read those books. Little did I know then that the school librarian had been keeping a watch on me. And one fine day, to my utter delight, I found her approaching me and taking me by my hand. She made me sit on her chair and asked me why I religiously stood outside the door everyday and I told her the reason. Miss Grace (that was her name) went over to the magazine rack and brought me a few copies of Champak and Tinkle to read and told me I could come to the library and read whenever I want. That was the kindest and the best thing anybody could have possibly done to me.

A few years back, I had to move to Kolkata from Kochi and my parents were trying their best to reduce the luggage to the minimum. Naturally, my old stories books were set aside in the "leave behind" box of things. I, who was extremely attached to all my books was adamant not to leave them back. But then, better sense took over and I decided to give away my old story books to my friends from the colony. I gave a bundle of books to each and every friend I had and made them promise to read them after I left Kochi and I like to believe they kept their part of the promise and I was able to initiate a change, however small that was.

The aim of reaching out to these children and hand them each a book is a very difficult task to achieve. Pratham Books have taken huge leaps in the direction by publishing story books at extremely low prices of around Rs.25 each book. Even at this rate, the dream was a distant one. So they came out with an even better plan, the concept of a story card. An excerpt from the Pratham Books website explaining the concept of a storycard-

"The story of the Storycards is an interesting one! They are a living example of making an effort to reach the last child... Pratham Books has always been committed to increase penetration so that ALL children have access to good reading material. As Pratham's programmes began to touch the lives of more and more children through the READ India Campaign, there was a need for low cost material that could be distributed to the children. This was how the idea of creating story cards out of Pratham Books' titles germinated. In economically disadvantaged states, even the cost of a Pratham Books title would make it a discretionary buy whereas a story card can strengthen and encourage reading at a fraction of the cost and can be an attractive and motivational takeaway for a child. "

Just look at the interest and delight with which she is reading

The concept of these reading story cards is amazing as it reduces the production cost of books. The cost of producing these are fractional to the production cost of a complete story book. These are mini story books which are available each at Rs. 2 which can easily fulfill the dream of giving one story book to a child and ensure a change.

These storycards take me back to the time when I was in the primary section. Our school had allocated specific library periods for us when reading books apart from those in the syllabus were made compulsory. For us little ones who were not eligible to access the main library, our Head Mistress came over to our classes with a big bundle of these card like mini books which had fascinating tales and small wondrous articles about strange organisms like the Piranha fishes and sometimes about gardening and other amazing stuff. We used to compete to finish as many cards and find answers to the exercises that were at the back of these cards in the one hour duration of our library period.

There is a saying that goes "Charity begins at home". I believe that change is possible, it begins at the individual level. Every small step counts and it is only with baby steps that this mission can be accomplished. The best part of this wonderful initiative is the fact that it is open ended. People like you and I can join and encourage others around us to come together and work for the cause as volunteers, by pledging ourselves to the cause, helping in providing the books, donating and helping in establishing libraries in the remote corners of the country where these books are not easily available.

"Imagination is what sets us apart from all other organisms. Help children find their wings so that they can stretch them and fly."

As to how I plan to bring in the change from my side, I have promised myself to donate my first salary to the cause when I get a job. I had already started out with the change long before I had actually realised and I hope to take it a step further by doing my part of the change. I cannot explain the joy it gives me to see my little niece coming running towards me with her picture books and her Geronimo Stilton story books for me to read and translate the stories to her. It takes me back to my very own childhood.

Pictures from the niece's story books ^_^

This post is submitted as an entry for the Indiblogger-Franklin Templeton Investments "The Idea Caravan" Contest.
Visit www.ftideacaravan.com for more such real inspiring stories.

P.S.- All pictures except 3,4 and 9 are taken from google searches.