Waiting For The Launch of a Eureka to Satiate this Selfie Queen, #Mobiistar

No matter how much people have criticised the advent to selfies, for me and to most people who love to pose in front of the camera it is a eureka. I undoubtedly would love to hug to person who invented the selfie fever and express my gratitude to him to having discovered how to click one self and the ones we love ourselves without depending on others. He or she has made every day of our lives a precious sweet memory we can relive just by visiting any of our social media or google drives which are full of priceless selfies of our moods and moments.

Also, I love to smile always and capture the close ups, no matter where I am and what I am doing, sometimes fresh out of the shower as the sunshine plays with my wet tresses I want to capture it to the Tee or at others all clad up in a playful tiara on the beach. I always have always sought for an enhanced selfie experience.

I equally love capturing myself with my family when on exotic locations like the one below which I shot on the PhiPhi islands near Patong in Thailand. This selfie is of our memorable anniversary and is forever imprinted on my heart. I am madly in love with it and it dwells in my home as a wall size portrait. My husband clicked this selfie and we both value it as a timeless priceless image of our infinite love with the face of our love therein too, our sonny boy.

However every time I look at it I realise somewhere my selfie camera missed arresting the beautiful background as much as it could and the regret sinks deep and the perfect shot greedy me waits for another Eureka... someone who lives on the jargon, #EnjoyMore found this enjoyment not more.

The gadget freak that I am, since then have been frantically searching for it with my soul craving for a perfect selfie camera. I guess now my prayers are answered as the Vietnamese smartphone major #Mobiistar with its extremely potent front and selfie dual camera that captures 120 degrees wide angle shot is all set to foray Indian Markets in a huge and unparalleled way and shall be grabbed exclusively from Flipkart. It most importantly bestows me with the exclusive power to capture priceless groupies like never before.

I can’t hold my excitement to own one and satiate the smiley selfie queen in me. If you too are a selfie lover like me, do check them out!

World Wide Release of my Third Book Cover

It is a writer’s ultimate dream to publish a book in her name and here I am revealing my third book cover to all of you with an ecstatic heart and a cheek to cheek smile. Can’t hold on to the excitement of soon holding my third book in my hands. It is almost like holding your new born for the first time♥️.

‘Destiny’s Favourite Child’ is an autobiography of a rebel and every Indian girl will see herself in the protagonist. Though we are known to be the quiet and the submissive types, each one of us has a hidden volcano within ourselves which though rarely erupts but when it does, a story of this stature is born which won’t let you sleep till you bring it forth to the world.

After my heart wrenching non-fiction book ‘Dare To Defy the Destiny’ and a breezy chiclet romance ‘The Fragrance of True Love’, this third precious piece of my heart, ‘Destiny’s Favourite Child’ is my own true tale from my birth till the present day, of how there can be no better example of Darwin’s Survival of the Fittest theory. You have to read it to believe it for there is a lot a person hides behind her vibrant smiles.

This book is also special as you can read it as continuations if previous chapters as well as read each chapter as a stand-alone tale. This book is indeed my heartfelt tribute to each one who met me on the cross roads of life. Thank you for being this kind to me and if you were not my gratitude to you only multiplies as your bitterness has only made me yearn harder to become whatever I have become today.

Here’s how the face of my book will look to you and it will be released very shortly. Stay tuned to 'Truly Yours Roma' here or my social media handles to grab a copy all yours that shall be served to you hot with all my love.

Every Mom is a Master Chef for their little Peanuts

Well, undeniably motherhood teaches you a million things. Each one of you will agree we were a different person before we heard the soft cry and felt those tiny pink fingers and toes. No words can explain how our world changes when we first hold our little bundle. We learn how to feed them, how to keep them warm, how to clean them and how to keep them safe, such strong are the emotions and instincts of a mom. Sometimes, I am amused at the things and skills I have embraced knowingly and unknowingly to give the kiddo nothing short of the best and I am sure this phenomenon is just not restricted to me only.

I admit though I was never a bad cook, cooking is probably the only skill I had never enjoyed. Also, I never felt the pinch as my hubby was quite a pro cook so my taste buds always got satiated by a sumptuous treat. However, when little A was born and grew up a bit, I faced the real music. The child was like his dad and not only had culinary inclinations but also his tongue liked devouring multiple tastes and I had a humungous challenge of integrating nutrition into each of the recipes. The task got even more difficult with the kiddo being a picky eater so I had not many weapons in my kitty but gradually yet firmly I became the master chef of my home who works on several possible permutations and combinations to develop new power packed nutritious combos.

Sharing some personal favorites meal for the day from this indigenous Master Chef, that never lets me down. The first and the foremost are Rolls. One can’t imagine the endless possibilities one can embed in a Chapattis Rolls meal. To make it the most wholesome I make it with Aashirvaad Atta with multigrains to pack together goodness, fibre and nutrients of 6 essential grains, ground together in appropriate quantities to render it a perfect taste. Since we are eggetarians, I prefer to chop onions, tomatoes and capsicum into very fine pieces and beat them with an egg and salt and pepper. Cook the chapatti both sides spreading beaten egg over it on a nonstick with half a tea spoon cooking oil. The egg makes the roll very soft and it remains this way in the Tiffin after several hours too. Now the outer layer of your Roll is ready with power packed multigrain flour chosen from the best fields all over the country and goodness of egg and veggies. Next apply a generous layer of cheese or mayonnaise over the inside egg side of the roll and put whatever vegetable you have cooked for the day- potato, peas, mushrooms etc., variety shall be the key every day. Add a few drops of sauces of your choice (I am a miser with this step as I deliberately avoid routine usage of stuff having preservatives) on top and sprinkle a little Mexican or any other Masala of your choice and roll it. One of these rolls will not only satiate your kid’s taste buds and keep him full for hours but also fulfil many of his nutritional needs and help build his immunity as she/he would eat well. Tell them it has inside the veggie of their choice and play with the rest.

Depending on what time of the day you are giving it or how hungry the kiddo be increase or decrease the size of the roll. The Rolls are extremely yummy even if you don’t put another cooked veg inside and can be eaten as it is. The vital micro nutrients rich multi-grain Atta used itself has sufficient proteins for your offspring’s daily requirement. .

 Also if you don’t eat egg just soften the dough with a few drops of cooking oil before rolling it and make Nutrela rolls full of protein with the same recipe while if you are a non-vegetarian adding few pieces of leftover chicken dish will work like an icing on the cake.

I also make Chapatti Pizzas with my Aashirvaad Atta with multigrains and they are super yum and very easy to make like the above rolls. Take two small dough balls and roll them into very thin circular slices and use the above-beaten egg with veggies between them to make a thick egg stuffed Pizza Base. Spread the Pizza Base sauce over it and grated mozzarella cheese in good quantity. They put mildly steamed chopped veggies over and bake a little(not mandatory)or cook on non-stick and add salt,oregano and black pepper to taste.

So these are some of my quick power packed lip-smacking favorites. Enough of bragging girl, well actually the real master chef of our home is my trust of years, the multigrain Atta from Aashirvaad, true to its name, which gives me the superpowers to strike a perfect balance in fulfilling my family’s nutritional requirements as well as satiating their taste buds. Do you have this Aashirvaad too?

Raising A Toast to my third #A2ZChallenge and also announcing my third book : The Reflections Post

Aah! Super elated not one, not two but for straight three years I have completed the most coveted Global A to Z Challenge of writing for the entire month, 26 letters, 26 posts barring Sundays every single day. From contemplating bowing out of it with dignity just before it started to finally pulling it through is extremely exhilarating and I give a pat on my back with a heart full of gratitude to Almighty and many other noble souls. I will definitely share today the secret why and how I could...But before that I need to share what A to Z Challenge has become for me over the years. It is a medium for me to weave a vision for the coming year and than fulfil it without fail. Something I haven't failed at yet and is quite unexpected from a moody and whimsical person like me. I intent to pull it through as long as possible.

So yeah the secret now..on my blog and otherwise too I am pretty eloquent about my experiences in life and yes I have, a chosen few times contemplated framing them into a book of selective memoirs but of course not this early in life. But when a well known blogger, Ravish Mani, approached me to be a part of his book based on real life common woman weaving extraordinary path for themselves despite of all odds, I promised him I will write my journey to him as candidly as possible and I did keep my promise and gave it to him along with sharing many other write ups of mine to help him in his endeavour. Though I didn’t know an iota of what he was weaving but I had faith in his conviction and this conviction helped me. Also, as I had sent him these drafts, I had also sent them to my best friend who actually quite loved them too(and sowed some more seeds of an autobiography in me) with which my confidence kind of soared but I forgot about it completely for I did this somewhere around December - January.

I returned back from an impromptu vacation in Goa in the last week of March after the kiddos exam and with shifting of my home due on 1st April, was engulfed with a million other tasks. Nothing was working out and my fear of bowing out of it was handing over my head and pricking me and that’s when it struck me that my unpublished writings for Ravish can at least save me for a few days. I contacted him and sought his permission which my conscience felt compelled to and he graciously agreed that his book might use my words as a premise but shall be in his own words and oh my what a sigh a relief I heaved..

It was 31st March and in a house full of packed semi-packed boxes, with friends dropping every hour to give a hug and helping hand before we bid good bye, with elder brother in law arriving for his eye treatment routine and with little kid at home for about two and a half months due to forced summer vacations (because of a school change), I stole 30 minutes for myself, used all my prior experience of A to Z and split the write up I did for guy, I was really grateful too,  in three chapters and gosh scheduled my first three posts. God knows how but yes I did.

They were candid and earnest and probably touched a chord with many. It resonated with their heart and the love I got on the posts and social media gave me the desired boost to pull through the twenty six articles in my own signature style. Their were a lot of hiccups each day without internet and the carpenter and electrician teams hovering on my head but through these posts, I created a manuscript, the first crude draft of my third book, yes my goal to publish my memoir as a book some day got preponed and.....and my heart is already doing a happy dance to be holding the fruits of my labour in my hand. Thank you every one for your support through out the challenge. I love it beyond eternity sailing this priceless journey with many seasoned writers across the globe. Though I can't name all of you here, please accept this as a personal note of a zillion heartfelt thanks to all of you.

So, yes, I have a Herculean task of completing my third book, an autobiographical account which I would say is half done but with all the learning I had gained in the last three years, I am in no way rushing this one over and will sleep with it for several nights and also will delve in multiple polishing attempts before and after it shapes up. Undoubtedly shall yearn my hardest to create this masterpiece to the best and beyond my abilities. Yes, I officially announce it here to you all today, my third book shall hit your kindles and the stands very soon, Precious Peeps and like I always say, I indeed owe it to all of you.

Thank you so much for all the love and support you have always given me.
Truly Yours Roma is nothing without you! 

You may read the 26 volumes of the series 'Some Extraordinary Slices of My Ordinary Life' here : Part1,  2, 3,4, 5, 6, 7, 8 , 9 ,10, 11,12, 13 , 14, 15 , 16 ,17 , 18 ,19 ,20 , 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26