Category: blogcontest

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Review of Dear people, with love and care your doctors #myfriendalexa

BLURB

From time immemorial, medicine has remained one of the most respected professions. Trust formed the unshakeable foundation of the doctor-patient relationship and, for long, doctors were treated next to God.
In recent times, though, this sacred relationship is suffering from an erosion of faith. We often hear discouraging stories of doctors being abused and hospitals vandalised. The narrative is gradually turning negative-a dismal reality for both doctors and patients. We tend to forget that there are many great things happening in the medical world. Today, we are living much longer, we have managed to eradicate many diseases, we have vaccines that prevent our children from dying, life-saving surgeries are being performed while the baby is still in the womb, and we can give the gift of life to someone by transplanting vital organs. Medical miracles are happening every day in hospitals worldwide.

This book is a collection of heartfelt stories by doctors and patients from across the globe. These are stories of triumph, empathy, positivity, loss and, sometimes, failure. It goes one step ahead and captures the experience of people who surround a doctor-the mother of a doctor, a surgeon’s husband and an acid attack survivor-stories that underline that a doctor too is a human being after all. Human resilience can often break barriers, and these stories serve as inspiration to both patients and doctors alike.

Riveting and absolutely unputdownable, Dear Peoplegives an inside view of the world of medicine and hopes to inspire millions to retain faith in this beautiful relationship.

MY REVIEW

📝They say we should never hide things from the doctor and lawyer. A gentle caring relationship is the one between a doctor and a patient. It is only when we open up, the doctor gets the know the complete issue and can help us heal better.
📝A book that gives you a complete picture of what is the day to day life of doctors and view of the scenario from a patient’s point of view. The book will definitely change the way we look at the medical profession.
📝The number of experiences compiled into a single book gives you a clear picture of how each case is handled by the doctors. Some give you the glimpse of struggle, some about new discovery and some about hope.
📝A number of medical terms could be learned from reading through each chapter. The lovely drawings that also give you a glimpse from the patient view.
📝A number of quotes at the beginning of each chapter makes it even interesting. Not only that in order to increase the knowledge of the reader we even have a section that gives you a did you know?
📝A compilation of 34 distinct stories from doctors of different fields of medicine, this is sure to change your perspective of the doctors.
📝The narration and language are lucid and simple making it easy to comprehend. A good book that gives you a whole new perspective of doctors and some experiences that sure would leave you emotional.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr Debraj Shome is a surgeon, specialising in facial plastic surgery and facial cosmetic surgery. He is the co-founder and director at The Esthetic Clinics, which has multiple centres across India. Known for his breakthrough innovations in facial plastic surgery, Dr Shome has received many awards. He has more than 55 research papers written in top peer-reviewed international publications along with a US patent to his credit for inventing the QR 678 hair growth formulation. He was the first recipient from Asia and the youngest globally to be awarded the prestigious Davies Foundation Grant Award by the Royal College of Surgeons, Glasgow, in 2010. Besides clinical work, Dr Shome is the Director of the Debabrata Auro Foundation.

Dr Aparna Govil Bhasker is a bariatric and laparoscopic general surgeon and practises in the city of Mumbai. She is associated with Global, Currae, Namaha, Suchak and Apollo group of hospitals. She has multiple publications and numerous book chapters to her credit. She is the managing committee member of several surgical societies and has a keen interest in clinical research. She is the co-founder of Debabrata Auro Foundation.

I am taking my blog to the next level with blogchatter’s #myfriendalexa.

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Review of sometimes it happens #myfriendalexa

BLURB

What happens when two adults with a vast age difference fall in love?
Gautam is a twenty-five-year-old upcoming professional and Roshni, a senior management member working in the same multinational bank. More than a decade apart in age, they cannot help but feel attracted towards each other.
However, can two people with such a vast age difference be compatible?
Sometimes It Happens explores the fun and turmoil as they fall in love, get laughed at by their friends and then develop cold feet, thinking about the repercussions their age difference could have on their relationship.
They say love is blind. So, will two smart professionals decide to listen to their hearts or will they listen to their mind to avert what may be the biggest blunder of their lives?

MY REVIEW

We know that love is blind. The whole wide world we live in revolves around it. We also know that it is beyond defining boundaries.
The boundary could be religion, region, caste, creed , nationality or whatsoever. But this is an era where we have seen instances of even age and gender not being a subject of doubt.
This story is about a guy(Gautam) ,who falls in love with Roshni of 37 years.
Gautam informs Rohit about this, who explains reality of what would happen because of the age difference, which doesn’t convince him.
Though both are in love they still do have their doubts about acceptance of their relationship by parents.
What would the society be reacting for such kind of situations? Will they be accepted ? What are the challenges they face are clearly explained? I loved the way of writing and narration from the author.
I realised this is a good filmy scripting material.
A good plot that makes people look into the perspective of being open minded about these kind of relationships.
Book bring medium paced and with an interesting story line is a short read. However I felt that the cover could have been better.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
After more than twenty years of working in a highly successful and popular family business in the interiors industry, Karan decided it was time to get into writing fiction books – an idea that came up when he saw his son having so much fun reading. It rekindled a latent passion for writing that he had developed during his college days.
Karan is a commerce graduate and a battle-hardened businessman. His other passions include both playing and watching cricket and football, as well as being an avid traveller.

I am taking my blog to the next level with blogchatter’s #myfriendalexa.

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Must try soups/ snacks during monsoon in Chennai

Monsoon comes with various surprises The best part is the piping hot soups that you get to enjoy looking at the rain. It is a match made in heaven. Looking at the cold rain and gulping some piping hot soup is all together a different feeling. Being a chennaite, let me list down the must have soups and snacks around the city. Especially during rains, one must definitely try them out. So once you land in Chennai during monsoon, either on a personal or official trip or if you’re here for the famous music festival or marghazhi kutchery in Chennai these are must try before you take leave.

Wisconsin Cheese soup and Tomato basil soup:

Melt in the mouth cheddar mixed in farm fresh veggies makes the Wisconsin cheese soup.

A tangy tomato soup with tingling flavor of basil makes the tomato basil another must try.

Where: Haven’s sampoorna, Velachery and Besant Nagar.

https://www.havensampoorna.com/

Tom yum soup and Tofu Satay

You must be wondering why did I mention tofu Satay. Every soup has its perfect companion and yes the tofu satay is for the tom yum. Tom yum is the classic thai sour soup flavored with lemon grass and chillies.

Where : Benjarong, Alwarpet.

https://www.benjarong.in/

Lemon coriander soup

Addictive thick soup with freshly garnished coriander and a generous squeeze of lime makes this soup a big hit.

Where: Mainland China

Broccoli soup and Lasagna

The cream of broccoli soup(subject to the day’s special) and the lasagna is a match made in heaven,

Where: That madras Place, Adyar

Minestrone and Mozarella ricotta fingers

A flavourful minestrone soup made from tomato flavored vegetable stock with generously used parmesan and beans complimented with flavoursome crumbled ricotta and mozzarella deep fried fingers is the next competitive match.

Where: The pasta bar Veneto, Vadapalani.

Sundal and vada

This is a classic combo of chickpea masala with pieces of gram flour patties dunked in it. Garnished with generous sprinkle of raw onion and coriander.

Where: any roadside shop

Kalaan:

Deep fried mushroom soaked in masala broth. The combo of the crisp mushroom in the equally mouthwatering spicy gravy makes this the most soughed rainy day meal.

Where: Any roadside shop

Bhajjis and pakodas:

Who doesn’t enjoy rain with piping hot bhajjis and ginger teas. That sizzling sound of bhajjis being dropped into the hot oil wok will make anyone stop and have a bite. Equally complimented with ginger tea this evergreen combo is selling as hot cakes when it starts getting cloudy.

These are what you get to eat out. But at home the piping hot

bhisi bhela bath & potato fry

Garlic pepper rasam and potato chips

Poori and potato

Pongal and gotsu.

These are some of the common food items we love at home. Doesn’t matter even you aren’t in Chennai, do browse above recipes and relish them.Enjoying these delicacies looking at the rain from your window is really great. So just sit back and enjoy your meal. Happy monsoon.

This blog is a part of a #BirthdayBlogTrain hosted by Gunjan Upadhyay Tuggu n mommy and Neha Sharma , Growing with nemit.. I would like to thank Ghazala Naseem from Indian beauty blooms for introducing me to this blog train and would further like to introduce Anoushka Goel from bookishthings to share her take on the prompts.Picture credits : pixabay

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The feast #WoWe

Married to an orthodox family, Mithila was nervous and desperate to get a good name. Though Arvind had already given her lessons of how the family traditions are, the ways they good, she still seemed tensed like a student who is appearing first time for the boards. Yes, Mithila and Arvind were in love and after a long struggle they had gotten married. Their traditions, customs everything deferred except for the love for each other which remained the same. They had an intercaste marriage.

It was the day when Arvind’s relatives were invited home for a feast. This made Mithila even more nervous. Taking a guess, yes Arvind is born in a strict Brahmin family who feast on vegetarian food, not even onion garlic or other foreign vegetables included in their food. Mithila on the other hand is a hard rock non vegetarian meat lover. Giving up on meat was the last thing she would have ever thought. But she had to.

The date was fixed for the feast and as a family tradition the new daughter in law was supposed to cook the famous paruppu urundai kozhambu. Had they asked for mutton kola or some other non-vegetarian gravy she would have happily danced her way into the kitchen and finished it off in a jiffy. SO she geared up for the challenge in front of her. She browsed through all possible sites for the recipes and had them practiced in her mind.

The next day she had it all set up, the ingredients, the ground paste and all other items needed to prepare the dish. And in a matter of half an hour she finished it. Arvind, his mom and his sisters tasted it and they all had the same expression. Well, did Mithila succeed? Well her mother in law was kind enough to point out that the dish was ok but it lacked the authenticity of a typical Brahmin dish. So she added whatever was needed and yes it was done. The dish was served to the guests and they were more than happy to taste and appreciate Mithila for being an excellent cook.

Wondering how this would relate the prompt? Nobody except Arvind knew that Mithila was from another tradition. But her way of cooking brought her out. Yes, his sisters were able to identify that. Her style of cooking was unique and known only to the people of her area. How did they know? They had colleagues from the same area who cook the same way. Now that they know, they casually tease Arvind and Mithila that they would let out the secret. SO even though Arvind tried to make Mithila as one in the family, her style of cooking gave out who she was. At least, to his sisters. So a wolf can only be a wolf, even if it dons sheep’s clothing.

This post is written as part of the #WoWe Blog Hop hosted by Mayuri and Rashi.

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Tips and tricks to increase reading on kids #thebookblogtrain

“Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” — Emilie Buchwald.

I believe that the reading trait can be imbibed when you start reading to them when they are in womb. The baby has the ability to listen and this makes it easier when they are out.

Learning through seeing is a great way to grasp. Seeing parents read could intrigue the child to pick up book. But that does not stop you from sitting down with them and reading a book. I have a detailed blog post on what to read to your kids. You can check that out here.

Check here : books to read to your kid.

Once you start reading out to them often, they would begin to gain interest. First they might like to feel the hold of a page, then turning them over, look at pictures, feel them if they have textures and then start reading.

What does it take in the beginning to read? THE BASICS. By basics I mean phonics.

What is Phonics?

It is the study of sound or method on how you read. It initially is taught by grouping alphabets of similar sounds under groups. There are a lot of tools or aids available online to help teach your kids. You have books, flashcards, and worksheets available in the market to make it easier for you to teach at home. Age 4 is apt for you to start teaching them, since that is when most kids begin to read. But if you believe that your child has an above average vocabulary for that age you are good to start at 3. You can even enroll yourselves for a phonics course before teaching your kid.

Make reading time a must on the schedule

Reading daily can increase reading comprehension, vocabulary expansion, identifying similar words or sounds and familiar words. If your child is still not started reading I would urge you to have story telling in place of them reading. Listening regularly could help in gaining familiarity of words and help them use it in appropriate situations. Once they start reading, they could read out to you. Trust me this is such a joy of having your kid read out to you.

Reading out regularly

Do you believe that if you surround yourself with specific things you have the curiosity or the urge to go see and check out what it is? That is exactly what needs to be done. Surround the kids with books and aids that will intrigue them to

go pick up. Keep a wide variety so that they do not get bored.

Lead them by example

When they see you reading before bedtime regularly they are sure to inculcate the habit as well. Soon after they will also pick up a book and read alongside with you. Have you seen children with mobile during bed time that is probably because they are imitating behavior.

Find the right choice of what they would like

If your child can decide, then let them pick their own book. Make suggestions here and there but do not thrust books.

Read outside apart from books

Let them read the signs on road or read out a recipe of their favorite dish that they want you to make.

Support the child, each child is different

Not all children take instant liking to reading. Some are quick, some are mediocre and some are slow. Take the time to stop, step back and see why where the child is having difficulty. Try to correct that difficulty.

Visit the local library

Take a visit to the local library. Not many people visit the libraries these days, since everything is available online. Spend time at the library with both you and your kid reading books. Who knows you might even uncover certain unknown treasures not present in the online world.

Use ruler or finger

Use a ruler or a finger to follow along. That makes reading easier, and also easy to grasp for the little one. Tell them how each word combines and forms a sentence and how does that make sense.

Review and recap

Ask your child what they finished reading and which part did they like the most. Let the child explain in their own way. You can help in correcting when they are done explaining. Note down difficult words which you can teach them later.

Take part in reading challenges

Once they grow up, you can start signing them up for reading challenges. Nowadays we have more reading challenges which do help in spreading awareness about the importance of reading and also let them explore the world of books and joy of reading.

I hope the above helps in making your children read.

This article is written as a part of #Thebookblogtrain conducted by Vidhya Thakkar and Siddhi Palande powered by Penguin India and Redwolf should not be repurposed, republished or used otherwise. The content herein is owned by the blogger. Hosts are not responsible for any infringement caused.”