Tuesday 28 February 2017

#BergerXP - Express painting - Indiblogger Meet

It almost 10 months, we all Delhi Bloggers have waited for an Indi meet and to make another appearance. The announcement of the BergerXP meet came but this was strictly invited base so I applied for the one and start waiting for the one. Finally received it and I was all set for the Indimeet on 26th February 2017.

Though the long distance till the venue really killed, Vivanta Taj at Dwarka sector 21, even by metro. As always I and Shwetabh tried to collaborate our routes and time to reach on same time, however due to the delay in metro service that day and then 2 unexpected halts in route I got late by almost 30mins in place of the desired time. When I reached the destination Dwarka sector 21, Shwetabh has already got the company of Saurabh and reached Vivanta. Hence, unaware with the distance I preferred to take the cab ride from the metro station to Vivanta. Once reached, after the security check I there were quite a few more meets there at Vivanta but helpdesk staff I was perfectly guided to my final destination. Where at first I meet Karthik and Saurabh gave me Indi pass and got registered. All were given the named badges, so I also got mine. 


As I turned around Shwetabh and Saurabh were all set to get clicked and as like always, I photobombed their picture. Thereafter I asked Shwetabh and Saurabh to give me company for lunch, and both guided me to Alok Ji as he was also there and still having his food. During lunch met with few other know faces: Manjulika, Nimmi, Dr.Preeti, Gaurav, Dr.Mandira.  However not to forget even though Vivanta is associated with the big name of Taj but the lunch, sorry to say it did not worth the name association at all. The taj authority really needs to look into this department on a serious note. 

Once entered the ballroom and took our seats. There came all time favourite anchor of Indi none other the “Anoop”. He started the proceedings introducing oneself, few of the bloggers introduced themselves.













After the introduction, we all got involved in the activity mode and were given sealed envelopes. Inside each envelope, there were 5 strips having general info about various bloggers or their blogs. We had to find that person get the selfie clicked and also the slip signed. The time for this activity was given for merely 5mins. Everybody started moving frantically from table to table asking about the person or the blog. I could get only 4 strips signed. The lucky one to win this activity was Manjulika who got all 5 up in time.




 Then came in Mr. Das from Berger Paints who told us all about the various concept of Express painting, where painters are trained on how to use the modern tools to save time in painting jobs at any location. As part of the express painting, an executive is assigned to look after the whole process of painting who will also be capable of giving an expense estimate so that customer can know how much the whole paint process will cost. The tiring hassle of moving furniture from one place to another and scrubbing dust of the sandpaper dust. These people are trained to take care of all that and rearrangement as well. Mr.Das also explained that they have the latest equipment to tackle all the common painting issues. He also mentioned that till date they have already trained over 21000 painters in their academies. 


Meanwhile, Shwetabh was up and in action with his mischiefs at twitter. This time luck was on his side and he won a voucher for the “ Best tweet”. 


After this it was time for the second activity, we were given the face masks, caps, gloves, sandpaper for the next activity. For the activity, teams were formed with 8 members in each team and we were given the white painted board which we had to scrub using sandpaper and make it smooth set time. Once the activity got started, it was all white dust. And we all team members were racing against the timer, it was not an easy task and we had to do it twice to make it smooth. Once all teams were done, we broke off for tea and break.


During the tea break my and Shwetabh’s all time “Tom & Jerry” fight was again back on the track. Once we all assembled again after tea, another activity originated. We all were given the basic demo class on how to mix and match the various strainers, base Berger paint, and water to get the required colors.


Then comes the activity were we all were given the theme and we had to make a painting based on that theme, our team got the theme of “Go Green” we all thought to create something related to the environment. Jhilmil took the charge of drawing the sketch while the rest of us all got down to experimenting with the colors to get the thickness and the color contrast. We had 30 mins for the whole task and I think we got it over well before the time.




Thereafter all the 6 teams were supposed to present their drawings and the idea behind it. We all gave our best. But when it comes to Indi activities, whether we win or not it’s more about having fun and we all enjoyed that. While the final result awaited, we were also given bit information about the various tools used by Berger to get the express painting done.


 Finally, the result was announced and winning team walked away with vouchers but the fun did not end there. Then came the time for the mandatory group picture and finally we ended it with the “ Hud Hud” moment.

Overall this meet was something we all have been looking forward to since long..hoping for more Indi meets to come up soon.











Thursday 23 February 2017

जश्न ए रेख़्ता और मैं 2017

जश्न ए रेख़्ता और मैं



जश्न ए रेख़्ता और मै



मेरा पहला सफर रेख्ता के साथ तीन साल पहले एक मुशायरे में, शिरक़त से हुआ जहाँ मै, मरहूम निदा फ़ाज़ली जी  सुनने को  गयी थी !

पिछले साल रेख़्ता में volunteer  बन , रेख़्ता के साथ जुड़ने की मेरी ख्वाहिश को ख़ुदा ने भी मंज़ूर किया और मुझे volunteer के तौर पर जश्न- ए -रेख़्ता 2016 का हिस्सा होने का मौका मिला !

 और फिर इस साल 2016  नवम्बर जब रेख़्ता की तरफ से volunteers के लिए requirement का ऐलान हुआ, तो एक मर्तबा फिर से मौसिकी, शेर ओ शायरी के अब्दिबी लोगो को सुन ने के अवसर को मेने हाथो हाथ लिए !


 फिर शरू हुआ final confirmation का इंतज़ार और मेरा बार बार Rekhta team को twitter पे और  Tanvir को email कर के परेशान करने का सिलसिला और फिर 3 नवम्बर  को जब मुझे रेख़्ता की तरफ से email मिला तो लगा जैसे मन माँगी मुराद मिल गई !


और इसके साथ ही शुरू हुआ बेचैनी भरा इंतज़ार final confirmation ka.और मेरा Tanvir को बार-बार reminder email भेजने का !

 इस बार Email के  मुताबिक़  मुझे information desk की जिमेदारी दी गई थी ! 17 फरवरी दोपहर 3 बजे जब में IGNCA पहुँची तो लगा शायद बुहत जल्दी पहुंच गई हूँ क्युकी अभी तो सब व्यवस्थाये ही चल रही थी !


 पर फिर कुछ ही वक़्त में सभी volunteers को रेख्ता की तरफ से जिम्मेदारी मिल गई, और हम सभी volunteers (Abhishek, Hira, Wasi, Huma, Shahna) आपस में दोस्त भी बन गए, मैने  और Shahna ने एक टीम बना ली और साथ साथ काम बाँट लिया !


 श्याम के 6 बजते बजते हलचल और तेज हो गई और फिर मेरी ही आँखों से सिर्फ 2 फुट की दुरी पर Gulzar Sahab और Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Sahab जी से गुजरे ! उनके आने के कुछ देर बाद शरू हुआ जश्न !

जिसमे Gulzar Sahab और Ustad Amjad Ali Khan Sahab जश्न का उद्घाटन , फिर  AMAAN ALI और  AYAAN ALI की musical evening.

फिर दूसरे दिन Gulzar Sahab और  Javed Siddiqi Sahab discussion, Abdul Bismillah, Ali Ahmad Fatmi, Alok Rai and Manager Pandey- Hindustani zindagi ka naqsh- nigaar- PremChand, Sufi performance by child prodigy Khanak Joshi, Urdu Storytelling for Children with Kamal Pruthi, thertre ke bule hue rang - M S Sathyu, Nadira Babbar, Salim Arif and Saurabh Shukla, duraaye naina banaye batiyan khusro ki karishma kaaari- Gopi Chand Narang, Book realse Gulzar Sahab, Dilli jo ek Sheher tha- Irfan Habib in conversation with Rana Safvi, Performance by Vidya Shah with Danish Husain, Fill Screening- Mandi, Mushira- Abhishek Shukla, Azhar Inayati, Bharat Bhushan Pant, Farhat Ehsas, Gulzar Dehlvi, Liaqat Jafri, Moien Shadab, Shakeel Azmi, Shakeel Jamali, Sheen Kaaf Nizam, Vikas Sharma Raaz, Wasim Barelvi, Prasoon Joshi in conversation with Faridoon Shahryar, Shamim Hanfi in conversation with Dipa Bagai, Ghazal performance- Amrish Mishra, Kumar Vishwas in conversation with RJ Sayema, Urdu ka aadalti lehjza- Justice Aftab Alam, Salman Khurshid, Tahir Mahmood and Justice T S Thakur, Urdu Suron ka Mausam e Bahar- Annu Kapoor with Rumy Jafry.

क्या क्या नहीं था जो आपके दिल और दिमाग पर तरी उस नशे को भूलने ना दे !  Dastangoi, Mushira, Baitbazi, Urdu Bazar, Khuli Mishit, Qawali, Qhazal performance by ably challenged children, discussion on usage of Urdu in Legal matters, importance and impact of Urdu in Indian films, and above all the closing with Sufi Music by Hans Raj Hans भी ना  जाने कितने ही जाने मानी अज़ीम हस्तियाँ नज़रो के सामने थी और चल'रहा था उनका कभी ना खत्म होने वाला जादू !

 तीसरे दिन की शाम होते होते इस जादू से मैं और मेरा वज़ूद पूरी तरह सराबोर था, इस दौरान कुछ जाने पहचाने दोस्त और चेहरे भी मिले  जैसे – Rana Safvi ma’am, Mithlesh ji (#Mbaria), Ashish Sharma, Ashish Jhangra, Ishaan, Shachhi, Rakhi,  Atif Khan,  Mariam Karim-Ahlawat ma'am,  Udita Garg, Yaseen Anwar, से मुलाकात हुई !

  इन  तीन दिनों में ना जाने कितने हज़ारो लोग जश्न ए रेख्ता में शामिल होने आये और जश्न में  होने वाले सभी  कार्यकमों का आनंद लिया, ग़ज़ल गायकी हो या बैत-बाज़ी क़व्वाली हो या चर्चा ना जाने कितने ही दिल को लुभाने और आनंदित करने वाले कार्यकम

 और फिर वक़्त आया अलविद कहने का, इस दौरान team रेख़्ता के Tanvir, Dhamender, Parwaz Sir , Deepa, Haider Sir Priyanka ma'am aur Sanjiv Saraf Sir के साथ जुड़ा अनकहा दिल का रिश्ता कुछ और मजबूत हुआ, और दुआ करती हूँ, ये रिश्ता वक़्त के साथ और मजबूत हो !

 रेख्ता team को जश्न ए रेख़्ता 2017 के लिए बुहत बुहत मुबारकबाद, दुआ है रेख्ता ऐसे ही जश्न और करता रहे !



जश्न ए रेख़्ता के जश्न की कुछ झलकियाँ























Friday 10 February 2017

Kesari Dawat at Bon Barbecue

Happen to see the Gurpreet Tikku jee’s Lohri Festival pictures floating all across the Facebook recently. Which in turns left me tempting for such fun, masti and mouth watering food ( being food lover).

Hence, I started my plan of action in order not to delay or miss any such opportunity coming up. So, without wasting any more time I called up a common friend (Shwetabh Mathur) and ask for Gurpreet Tikku jee’s contact number.

But to my Hard luck when I spoke with Gurpreet jee came to know that festival was on 13th January 2017 and now it’s over but as it was great event so pictures and the fun is still there on Facebook
However, it was not the complete disappointment as Gurpreet jee gave me a commitment that soon they are coming up with another amazing event and I can certainly be part of it, hence I became the member of Mister Tikku group on Facebook in order to keep the track of updates about coming up events.

And soon my wish was granted when Gurpreet Jee announces the next event Kesari Dawat at Bon Barbeque on 03 February 2017.As the name say’s Kesari Dawat so the dress code was something to be in Kesari (Orange Color) 


So, on 03 February 2017, I was all set to go to Bon Barbeque and also forced Shwetabh Mathur to pull with me ( even when he has to rush from his training and come all the way from Faridabad)
As the time was for 8 p:m and the final start of the event was from 8.30 p:m. We both manage to reach around 8.15 p:m. Once entered we were greeted with a great bundle of energy and happiness none other than Gurpreet jee and Gurleen Jee.



Once settled we were offered with the amazing starters and drinks, which we both enjoyed respectively myself being vegan and Shwetabh a non-vegan. 















The ambience of the restaurant was completely music with the effect of live music singing. It felt as if the love and music were floating in the air and intoxicating all of us.








This all followed with the Gurpreet Jee presenting the Mister Tikku momentum to owner of Bon barbeque and this was again followed by lucky draw where some people won the gift hampers, but sadly even after praying hard ( like a kid) I didn’t get the one L L




Taking about the food it was amazing and so was the ambience, especially for all non-vegan people as the non-vegan varieties of food items are many but for vegan people like me, choices are limited.
Also, one this which I and Shwetabh happen to witness the arrangement glitch of cleanliness and hygiene, restaurant authorities have to keep these important things also in mind.







Overall this was an incredible experience and if asked I will give the rating of 3.5