My Search for a New Phone

The other day when a friend called me, it was so difficult for me to hear her and vice-versa, that instead of cursing my phone (as I usually do), I decided to take pro-active action. Sell my phone and get a new one.

I had taken a firm resolve that I would buy a phone only after I sold my current one. So, I put up an EBay ad for my used phone.

And to make the offer more enticing, I decided to throw in a mobile charm too – an unused one I had lying around the place.

Within 10 days of posting, the ad found a buyer. In the meantime, I had researched the phones I wanted as a replacement. I started off in the Rs-1000-1500 bracket in Flipkart. And had finally settled on the Salora SM401. Then began to reconsider my decision – I wanted something unique in my phone – dual sim, QWERTY would be nice to have (as I have never used one), large screen. But since I wasn’t very comfortable with QWERTY phones and didn’t want to shell out more than Rs 3500 for such a phone. I definitely didn’t want Micromax, Lava, Karbonn and such brands (you know the kind) – because I’d already had a very bad experience with a Micromax QWERTY phone which put me off the brand completely.

Though uncomfortable with QWERTY, it still kept calling to me. I started researching the QWERTY phones available – Nokia Asha 200, Nokia X2-01, Samsung Chat C322, Motorola EX109 were the few on my radar. A site 91mobiles.com was excellent at helping me arrive at these choices. It has a Phone Finder option, and lists the lowest prices available for a phone online. Then I came across the Alcatel OT-802Y, and was enchanted with the purple and black colurs of the phone. And it was only Rs 2600. However, since it had just a single sim option, and did not have a 3.5mm jack for earphones, I left.

Then came my affair with the Alcatel OT-806, which was another QWERTY dual-sim phone, with an added feature – this one had a touch screen! And the screen was large – 2.8″ – looked like I had found the phone of my dreams. Added to that, this was a phone which had the lowest SAR and had won awards in Europe. Looking better and better.

But once again, I was disappointed. As you can see in the picture on the right, it lacked a very crucial feature – the central navigation key we take for granted on most phones. Without that central key, I knew life would be a misery every time I wanted to navigate on the phone’s menu. Sadly, I vetoed this one too.

The search was on again. Especially since my phone had found a buyer and I was expected to courier it to him in the next 7 days, and time was running out.

This time, Flipkart came to my rescue and got me the Alcatel OT-813D. Now, here was a phone which was QWERTY with touch screen, dual-sim, had a central navigation button and the 3.5 mm jack for headphones. In other words, the phone of my dreams. And it costed Rs 3875,  a bit over my budget, but well worth it.

Without wasting any time, I put in my order. And here is my beautiful phone, which arrived within the next 4 days.

Coming Soon – A review of the Alcatel OT-813D.

Living up this Summer at Lakshadweep

With 2 weeks’ vacation, I am planning to head to the exotic beaches of Lakshadweep this summer, with my best friends – Kyra and Elena. Kyra and Elena, the eternal Sunshine girls are fun-loving and the perfect pals to have around during a vacation. We have already booked our stay at the exquisite Agatti Island Resort at Lakshadweep.

Our travel plans are ready – pack a bag with the bare minimum of clothes (after all, who wants to sashay about in sari and salwar-kameez at a beach resort?) for two weeks. Make sure we have packed our Lakmé Sun Expert – no girl in her right mind would step out without the trusty Sun Expert at her side. Get our plane tickets and off we go into the tropical island paradise to have our fill of sun and fun for the next two weeks.

I can’t wait to frolic about in the white sands and turquoise waters of Lakshadweep. We are planning to cruise around the coral reefs in a glass-bottomed boat, build sand-castles (kiddish, I know, but where else can we be kids but at a beach?). During the evenings, we will relax with drinks under the swaying coconut palms while listening to the guitar music strummed by Kyra, and dance around bonfires.

Just like in the movie “Zindagi Na Milegi Dubara”, each of us have a chance at a daredevil beach sport. Mine is to go parasailing in the beautiful waters. Kyra wants to get in some water-skiing experience under her belt; while Elena has roped us all into trying out scuba diving. Yep, this summer is going to be as exciting as they come. And I have  spoken to some others who have already been to Lakshadweep, and they say that the instructors are eye candy.

Mmmmmmmmmm…..I have a feeling that this summer is going to be THE BEST summer I ever had.

 

This post was written for The Lakmé Diva Blogger Contest at Indiblogger.

 

Image Courtesy: Thinkstock

A Tribute – We love you Taruni

I just saw the news of Taruni Sachdev’s death on IBN. For those of you who are not familiar with the name, here she is -

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Popularly known as the ‘Rasna Girl’, Taruni started her acting career at the tender ago of 5, when she starred in the Rasna ads. She has since appeared in over 50 ads, and starred in several movies – the most famous being the Amitabh-starrer ‘Paa’. She has also acted in several regional language movies such as Sathyam and Vellinakshatram in Malayalam, both of which turned her into the darling of the masses in Kerala.

Taruni was on her way to Pokhara in Nepal along with her mother Geetha Sachdev, when the carrier crashed into the Jomsom airport.

Such a promising star, an adorable girl, all turned to dust and ashes in a matter of a few seconds. Tragedies like these remind us of the transient nature of life – how precious and precarious it is.

May the Lord give the Sachdev family the strength to bear with the loss of Taruni and her mother Geetha.

Chinese Spaghetti

Yesterday, I tried my hand at cooking spaghetti – and it turned out to be pretty good, even though I do say so myself. Here is the recipe I followed -

Ingredients:

1. Spaghetti
2. Garlic – 8-10 cloves, chopped
3. Onion – 2, chopped
4. Carrot – 1, grated
5. Beans – 8-10, chopped
6. Eggs – 2, beaten
7. Olive oil – as required
8. Spaghetti
9. Sweet and Sour Chilli Sauce – as required
10. Dark Soy sauce – 4-5 drops
11. Salt – to taste

Mode de Cuisson (a.k.a How to Make the Stuff):

The Mixture -

1. Take a non-stick pot, and heat it on a stove to get it completely dry.
2. Add olive oil, turn up the heat, and wait till the oil heats up.
3. Once the oil is hot enough, put the heat on simmer, and add the chopped garlic and onions to it.
4. Stir, so that it doesn’t burn, till the onion has turned colourless.
5. Add the beans and grated carrots to the mix, and keep stirring.
   
6. Now, make a small pit in the centre of the vegetable mix in the pot, and add the egg inside. Wait a bit for the egg to start cooking, and then start stirring just the eggs in the pit till you see egg lumps forming inside. Wait a bit more and then mix it with all the vegetables. [By waiting till the egg lumps start forming before mixing with the vegetables, we can ensure that the veggies don't go all soggy and will retain its crispness.]
7. Once the eggs have cooked well and mixed with the vegetables, add the chilli sauce. Keep stirring till this also blends in. You will start to get a wonderful aroma now.
8. Add salt to taste, and the soy sauce to the vegetables. Keep stirring to mix well.

Now you can turn off the heat, and get to work on the spaghetti.

The Spaghetti -

1. I first broke the dry pasta in half, so that the spaghetti fitted into my boiling pan. But you can also go without this step, if you half a large enough pan.
2. Take some water in a pot, and get it boiling.
3. Pour some olive oil over the water, and drop the pasta into it.
4. Now wait for about 10-12 minutes for the spaghetti to cook fully. You can test it by stirring the strands around, and trying to take a bite of it to see whether it is done. When the spaghetti is done, it will have lost its deep golden hue, it will no longer resemble a stick and will instead be limp and you can bite into it.
5. Add some salt to the pasta before straining out the water.

The Grand Finale -

 For the final act, once again turn on the heat over the pot of vegetables, and add the spaghetti to the veggies. Toss them together, till the spaghetti is well coated with the veggies and sauces.

Now enjoy with a glass of wine and some ketchup.

Mmmmmm….the aroma is quite appetizing. Let me go ahead and take my advice to enjoy it

Me.My Bag

I wonder what it is about handbags that gets me all but drooling in a bag shop. The moment one catches my fancy, I go “Wooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! I just got to have one like that.” And my husband rolls his eyes to the heavens and suddenly turns deaf.  While I stay rooted to the spot, he tries to prod me in another direction where fate cannot tempt me to empty his wallet .

The other day while shopping at Spencers, I was browsing the bed linen section, while my Husband was playing with our son in the shopping cart. Suddenly a woman slides up to me and compliments me on my bag. Wow! That was definitely a high point in my day. She wanted to know where I bought my bag from. I was trying my best to keep a silly grin from appearing on my face, while my husband hid his more discreetly behind his hand.

After thanking her and telling her where she could find such a bag, I rejoined my husband with a triumphant look. Finally! I now had living proof (literally) for my taste in handbags. When I initially bought the bag, my husband was like, “Why do you waste your money on such things?” And here was a complete stranger walking up to me to admire my taste!

And here is my beautiful bag which garnered compliments -