FlipKart Li`I Star

When I received an invite for the launch of `Flipkart Li`I Star – India’s Biggest Online Kids Store’, I was little skeptical about attending it. But when IB announced that one need not be parent to attend this meet, I was all set to go….The whole idea was to gain knowledge/awareness about the kid’s products available online. Moreover, I didn’t want to miss it as it was the last event of the year 2015.

E-commerce is one of the biggest trading platform in India and the trend is catching up very rapidly because of its convenience as well as security. Back in 2007, when Flipkart was launched, e-commerce concept was just in its nascent stages. Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal took a bold step to start an e-commerce company in India. It was a risk but they were determined to take it further and now it’s booming in leaps n bounds with an expected worth of $100 bn by 2020.

Flipkart initially began by selling books online and then soon expanded to offer various other products. Infact, they were first to start the ‘Cash on Delivery’ service. And now they have stepped in the Kids & Toys section, which are categoried into “Toys for Girls and Boys” & “Toys by Age”. In this fast paced life where parents hardly get time for outdoor shopping /shop hopping, such means of online shopping is a boon in itself. You place an order and the product is delivered at your doorstep. Infact the new generation kids are so smart and tech savvy that they themselves do shopping online J… 

This Launch event was at Blue Frog, a popular pub at Lower Parel. The place was nicely decorated for X’mas with stars hanging from the ceiling at regular intervals. The walls had a textured finish, which added dimension to the decor. The seating arrangement was very unique with circular cubicals. The cubicei were set in a random stepwise fashion leaving an open space in the center for the dance floor and a stage in the front for live performances. Seated in one of these cubicals and admiring the set-up, I was teleported onto a cyberspace.

While I was still on some other planet, a sudden entry of Chotta Bheem, kids favorite cartoon character walking and frolicking around brought me back to our Blue Planet !!. 

For that span of time we all were transformed into kids, making us forget our age and we merrily clicked a few pictures with him. 

After all the selfies with the kid’s favourite Toon character, we were offered drinks and starters. Followed by mouthwatering lunch. Here are some pics of what we hogged on.

Now was the time for main event and discussion. Kalpana Behara was first to begin. She shared her blogging experience and discussed about writers block that some of us experience in our blogging phase. 

Then there were panel of experts from Flipkart, Chotta Bheem, Disney India and Mattel India sharing their experiences & answering the bloggers queries.

This was followed by Indiband performance – ‘The Blunder in the Code’ and ‘Who the Hell is Alex’, which got all of us to sing along. 

After all the foot tapping and singing we were asked to get into groups of 10 and enact Ads using any 10 kids products from Flipkart. This was like an Ad-mad contest which finally culminated with a tie between team #1 and #2.

After all these enthusing kiddy activities how would we forgo our cute little Chotta Bheem, so we got him home as a cuddly soft toy and called it a Day !! 

Let’s Put A Smile On That Face

To bring a smile on children’s face is a tricky task. You never know when and what brings a big grin on that cute innocent face. Sometimes a small little thing like toffee can bring big smile on their cute face, or even a greatest toy won’t do any magic on them. Children are always fussy about food and the most challenging thing is when it comes to their eating habits. But there are ways and tricks to feed the fussy kids, the food that he/she dislikes and Mc Cain has very well mastered it. Their range of food products are so tempting that no child would resist.

The other day one of my family friend paid a surprised visit with her 4yrs old kid. I started wondering what to serve them especially the lil cute brat and suddenly I remembered McCain’s French Fries and McCain’s Smiley stocked in my freezer. I normally stock some as they are like my last min savior during surprised guest visits.

The best thing about these products is that they don’t need to be thawed, ‘Out from the freezer and straight in the Kadai (frying pan)’, isn’t that easy, simple and quick??

When I came with fried crispy French fries the kid had a sparkle of excitement in his eyes and the world’s broadest smile I had ever seen. While he was relishing merrily the French fries, suddenly he asked me “Smiley Aasa?” means “Do you have Smiley?” in Konkani. I nodded positively with a smile. To that he said “Tari te suddhai dee navey” meaning “Give me that too”. He was so excited to know that I had smiley too stocked. Very few times it happens that kids actually demand for food. 

I believe that we first eat with our eyes, which means a visually appealing dish automatically triggers an increase in appetite. And McCain has indeed proven it by introducing Smiley. It is simple mashed potatoes, seasoned and shaped into happy faces that actually brings smile on every kids face. They are nice and crisp from outside and soft and smooth from inside.

A packet of Veg Burgers Patty is another product which wins smiles over many teenagers and youngsters. An instant last min fast food stuff. Just get it out of freezer (Do Not Thaw), and follow any one of the cooking methods mentioned on the pack.

Cut the burger buns or pav in half, arrange lettuce, cooked burger patty, sliced tomato and onion. Spread some mayonnaise or tomato ketchup or burger mayo and cheese slice ... Voila … Your Veg Burger is ready to eat... Can making burger be easier than this? … This surely creates happiness and smiles amongst teenager and youngsters reveling in their all-time favorite fast food without making a hole in the pocket.

Mc Cain also has taken care of cheese lovers with their products like ‘Cheese Jalapeno’ and ‘Potato Cheese Shotz’. Which undoubtedly can stir similar effect of excitement and awaken the hidden child within …

So till then Keep Munching Mc Cain and say “CHEEEEEEESE”….. and grab your packet of Mc Cain

For more details visit: http://www.mccainindia.com/

Photo courtesy :  McCain website

Dabur Vatika Jasmine after every hair wash-day ... Keeps the Frizz Away ....

Having a bad hair day?  Problematic hair?  Flyaway hair? Unmanageable hair? Worried about frizzy hair? DABUR has the solution for all your hair problems….

Actually, I am born with frizzy curly hair. An invitation from Indiblogger for the launch of Dabur Vatika Jasmine non-sticky hair oil, (which claims to unlock the solution to frizz hair) sparked my interest and I attended it with full gusto. Atleast I will learn how to manage my locks. It was my first ever Indiblogger meet.

As soon as I entered, I was a bit nervous to be amongst unknown crowd, then suddenly I spotted couple of familiar faces I literally breathed a sigh of relief!  We were welcomed with pineapple – lemonade and coconut water refreshing drinks.

The event opened to a rocking performance by the IndiBand, playing Pink Floyd - 'We Don’t Need No Education' and Poker Face by Lady Gaga. 

An ice-breaking session started with self introduction of some of the bloggers. It was pretty amusing to see a cocktail of all kinds of bloggers i.e Lifestyle bloggers, Fashion bloggers, Make-up bloggers, Travel bloggers, Food blogger, Photo bloggers, New bloggers (or shall I call them newborn bloggers J), First timers Indiblogger (Like me), Bloggers who have turned into Fulltime bloggers etc… I was exposed to a completely new blogger’s world and it was so nice to know all of them.

After the introduction we were shown a presentation on Dabur range of products starting from 1940’s till date. While watching the presentation it made me nostalgic of the Dabur hair oil ads I used to enjoy seeing as a child.

Then, the Marketing Head of Dabur, explained us in detail the company’s history & their products. He further explained that Dabur Vatika Jasmine hair oil has silicon oil, nourishment of coconut oil enriched with vitamin which locks the hair moisture and keeps them smooth & frizzfree. This is mineral oil base which is light non greasy, which aims to give you manageable and less frizzy hair.

The scientific aspects of the hair care products were explained by their Scientist from Department of Research and Development with a power-point presentation. According to him,“Frizz is a condition of unmanageable, unruly hair because of high or low humidity, hair damage etc.” And jasmine flowers have properties which combat the frizziness. They have extracted this magical property from the flowers along with the fragrance in this non greasy Dabur Vatika Jasmine hair oil to create Frizzfree crown.

Now was the time we all were waiting for a Launch of DABUR Vatika Jasmine Hair Oil. The launch was done in a dramatic way with a spray of Jasmine fragrance all over in the hall. And a Life size bottle slowly pops up in the middle of the stage from the cloud of smoke all over with a colorful focus lights and music.

Later, to get the ball rolling & to put us at ease Indibloggers got us all in pairs and we started playing –Rock, Paper, Scissor game. The winner got the change to mess-up the loser’s hair. In the first round I won & got the change to mess-up my partner’s hair. Then in the second round it all boomeranged on me and I ended up getting my hair messed up.

After this fun and games was followed by a session of sharing our home remedies (or ‘Daadi maa ke Nuske’ to put it in Indi-Desi style) and tips on hair care. 

All these activities got our stomach growling for some Fuel. An array of mouthwatering buffet was spread in its grandiose splendor awaiting to titillate our taste buds. The buffet comprised of Italian counter with mini pizza, pasta in béchamel sauce & tomatoes sauce, garlic bread. And a good spread of Indian dishes at the Indian counter which served piping hot pukka, naan (garlic & plain), dum aaloo, paneer matar, dahi vada, rice, dal tadka, papad ,corn nuggets in cheese sauce was so yummy that it became my favourite, making me go for the second serving (are few of dishes which I recollect). How can one forget to end the lunch without a sweet note??  To beat the sweltering October heat, we were served Ferro Rocher ice cream, Apricot cream ice cream, Rasmalai and blueberry cheese cake, which was like a Paradise for people with a sweet tooth.

After the Peth-Puja it was time for some relaxation. Indiblogger had arranged a Champi section for all to pamper themselves. So we all let our hair loose for the champi, hair-do's, hair setting, hair styling etc… and indulged ourselves in some pampering with our hair make-over. 

Need to mention that an interesting thing occurred whilst having my hair set, which got me totally impressed with the product Dabur Vatika Jasmine Hair-Oil.  Apparently, I am allergic to floral fragrances & even before I could mention this to my hairstylist, he had already applied 2-3 drops of Dabur Vatika Jasmine hair-oil to my hair. And Lo Behold !! To my utter amazement those Jasmine drops did not trigger any nasty after effects !! May be because it was just a drop or two. The stylist informed me that it acts like a serum and I should apply just a drop after every wash to keep frizz at bay. So for me this Dabur Vatika launch meet was like ‘Come with frizzy hair and leave with a perfectly Frizz-Free, manageable & beautiful hair with Dabur Vatika Jasmine Hail-Oil J.

Surprises just didn’t cease with Frizz-Free magic portion…the bouts of surprises concluded with a wonderful Goodie Bag handed to me. This contained 

1) Dabur Vatika Jasmine Hair-Oil

2) Dabur Vatika Enriched Coconut Hair-Oil and 

3) A surprise product Philips Easy Straight and Shine Hair Straightener.

Indiblogger you Rock !!!

This was my first ever Indiblogger meet and I enjoyed thoroughly by gaining knowledge, making new blogger friends and getting an exposure to a whole new blogger’s world… And yeah not to mention the surprised take away goodie bag too J… 

Some photos courtesy : Indiblogger facebook album and Anahita Irani