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.

Product Review: Pantene Total Damage Care Range

I was very pleasantly surprised when Rebecca emailed me one fine day and asked if I would like to be a part of reviewing the new Shampoo and Conditioner from Pantene – The Total Damage Care range.

I am generally not a fan of the Pantene range of shampoos as they tend to dry out my hair and make it quite rough. But since I love trying out new shampoos and conditioners, I happily agreed to check out this new offering from Pantene.

Now, the Total Damage Care Range supposedly offers protection against the daily damage inflicted on your hair – protecting your hair against split ends, dryness, roughness, dullness, weakness, brittleness and tangles, leaving your hair moisturized, stronger and visibly less damaged within 14 days.

The products came to me within a couple of weeks, well sealed in a rough wooden box. I was able to pry off the lid only after taking help from my brother. What on earth did they think they were sending to be packed up so secure – the Crown Jewels?

Anyway, once I got the lid loose, I found that Pantene had sent across 2 bottles of shampoo and 1 of conditioner. Hmmm, I wonder why cosmetic companies always make conditioner bottles smaller than shampoo bottles?

I was quite keen to try them out. Immediately oiled up my hair. Remember – Never, Ever use shampoo without oiling your hair first – Indian hair has a tendency to be completely stripped of its moisture by shampoos and oiling your hair first, prevents that from occurring.

After oiling my hair, I washed it and then applied the shampoo. It was just the right consistency, had a nice scent, and was white in colour. It went on quite well on my hair – lathered it up and left on for a few minutes. Then I washed it off.

My hair now had a delicious scent and felt squeaky clean. But it was the conditioner that totally knocked me over. I applied the conditioner on my hair, left it on a few minutes again (while reading in the bath – I know, my husband also marvels at the places that I read in!) and washed it off using loads of H2O.

Rubbed my hair dry and waited for the magic promised by Pantene. Once my hair was completely dry, I was amazed to find how soft my hair felt. Not sure if it looked soft but I was definitely happy with it.

Pros of the Total Damage Care Range from Pantene:

1. Cleans hair and softens it.

2. Great scent, not too overpowering

3. Neither too runny nor too thick – consistency of shampoo and conditioner easy enough to be handled.

4. My hair remains quite tangle-free (or maybe that is because I don’t have too much hair to get tangled up in the first place)

5. Split ends also seem to have reduced and hair feels more glossy.

Cons:

1. I wouldn’t say that this is sure shot against the roughness and dryness. From the day you use the shampoo and conditioner, the hair looks and feels wonderful for two days. After that, it looks as usual.

2. It doesn’t do much for brittleness either – if your hair was brittle before, it will still continue to remain so whether you use this shampoo or not.

As shampoos go, this one is not bad – at least it works great as a normal shampoo and conditioner – something I can’t say about all shampoos I have used. Even though it doesn’t live up to all its claims, it doesn’t do any harm to the hair. And for all that, I’d rate the Total Damage Care Range Shampoo and Conditioner a 3 out of 5.

Book Review : Resident Dormitus

Title: Resident Dormitus

Author: Vikas Rathi

Publisher: Rupa Publications

Price: Rs 195

A new author, a new book. Unfortunately, this one does not meet my taste in books.

The book opens in the present, with 4 friends blaming each other over another friend’s untimely demise.

The scene then shifts to the past, and is narrated through the eyes of Achet, the protagonist of this story. He keeps speaking in riddles

The story revolves around Achet and his friends – Arjuna, Dev, Alex and Bala. They have all managed to be employed by an MNC and the story keeps shifting between India, Singapore and Malaysia. Achet is an Indian small-towner who has made it big (apparently the first to do so in his family). Arjuna is the son of Sri Lankan immigrants – turned- Australian and keeps jarring out “Hey Mate” in every few sentences. He seems to be the most sensible of the lot. Bala is an Indian, who is considered a slut by almost everyone (including herself), and is trying to climb the corporate ladder to prove her self-worth. Alex, a Greece-born Australian is another character in this unmelodious melody. It dwells on the young professionals who have stepped forth into the corporate jungle and are trying to make it big out there, the various traps (or enticements) each of them fall for. It depicts how easy it is to stray from the trodden path once you get complete financial freedom.

The jokes are off-colour and I felt as though the narrator kept trying to moralise his own and others’ behaviours. The book just bored the hell out of me, and irritated me to a great extent. A book ought to entertain, or atleast be a stimulation to the senses, forcing one to think and imagine. Vikas Rathi’s Resident Dormitus fails in both aspects – the moment you start reading it, you are left trying to find a reason why you should just not burn the book. Maybe that’s coming down a little too heavily, but it was precisely what I felt like doing.

The tale reads like some intellectuals trying to figure out themselves and the world with highfalutin language which is a definite no-no to a reader who reads for leisure. This book gives absolutely no pleasure to the leisure reader.

While reading the book, I felt like I was watching an art movie and trying to make some sense of what the characters were talking about. Most questions are answered with another question, which sends the reader into a deeper muddle trying to figure what they hell they were trying to convey. The narration is abysmal and sends the reader scampering to the far corners of the room just to get away from it.

It was with a great deal of difficulty that I managed to finish this book. And even now, I am not certain what the story is actually about – or why it was even written in the first place.

A book I will never recommend to anyone. As for the author, I would never recommend him now based on this story (if I can even call it that).

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

A New Love in my Life

I have a new love in my life. Don’t worry, I am not cheating on Hubby. Just cheating on my sleep to watch the new comedy show on Star World – called “Melissa and Joey“.

It is a sit-com about a dysfunctional family consisting of – Melissa Burke, a local politician who dreams of making it big in the world of politics, like her Dad; her niece Lennox and nephew Ryder whose parents ran a Ponzi scheme and are in jail (well, the Mom is in jail, and Dad is still a fugitive from the law); Joey Longo, the family’s nanny, or manny, and a free-lance one, as Joey always likes to point out.

The scenes usually shifts between the home and Mel’s office, with more characters like Mel’s Dad (Senator Russell Burke) and her assistant popping up occasionally.

Melissa, who has never taken up responsibility in her life for another human being, is actually experimenting in parenting, by taking on her niece and nephew. She also has a crush on her manny, the muscle-building hunk and cook Joe Longo, but always carefully hides it from him and others.

Joe Longo (played by the hunk Joseph Lawrence) is an astute person who looks gorgeous, and can easily read Mel’s mind and make her toe the line with the kids. He was cheated of all his money by Lennox and Ryder’s Dad, and he has taken up the job of a free-lance manny to make ends meet. And he is a terrific cook, works out and lives in Mel’s basement.

Lennox and Ryder both attend the local school – Lennox is like any other teenage girl, and Ryder is a technophile.

Every now and then, the kids’ grandfather, the ex-Senator Russell Burke, pays a visit and upsets the ‘balance’ created by Mel and joey for the kids.

A hilarious programme with light-hearted banter, it is the perfect way to close a stress-filled day.

Season 1 of the show is being aired on Star World India at 11pm during weekdays.

Review: Lara Croft Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life

Lara Croft Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life was one movie I always wanted to watch, ever since its release in 2003. Today, I finally got to watch it on the ZStudio channel. And boy, oh, boy, I think I was lucky that I never watched it till now.

I won’t bother boring you with the plot as it is extremely predictable – Babe archaeologist Lara gets it into her head that she can save the worked from doom by locating the Pandora’s Box, which is supposedly hidden in a site code-named ‘The Cradle of Life’. As usual, there is the evil billionaire who wants to unleash it on the world and of course, there is Lara’s love-interest (albeit, ‘ex’) hanging around saving Lara from dastardly plots of the evil billionaire.

The action sequences are quite interesting – there is one with the Chinese terracotta warriors and the hired Chinese goon who is trying to kill Lara, which I thought was pretty good. I wonder what it is with movie-makers; the moment the words ‘archaeologist’ and ‘Chinese’ are mentioned in the same breath, all of a sudden the Chinese terracotta warriors appear out of thin air! Is that the only archeological artifact that the Chinese have to boast about?

Anyway, what really irritated me was the complete disregard towards any kind of technological impossibilities exhibited by the movie. For instance, all the mad dash around China was simply to secure a golden Orb and decode it. However, when Lara asks her assistant to decode the key and send across the sounds (they discovered that the key was actually sound) she couldn’t understand it. But then she asks him to send across the file. The next sequence simply shows her viewing a holographic projection emanating from the Orb. But I am still clueless how sending a file to her suddenly produced the holography. Magic maybe. Or probably through  telepathic projections from Lara to the Orb. Because the Orb was simply sitting in front of her phone and not connected to a single thing except the wooden table beneath it.

Towards the end of the movie, Lara’s love interest pops down into the hole into which she and the evil billionaire had disappeared a few moments ago. Only to be killed by Lara after professing his love for her. Another thing, she just goes around the place killing all and sundry who happens to bug her. I can understand James Bond doing the same thing as he is ‘Licensed to Kill’; since when was a mere archeologist elevated to the same stature?

All that the movie has to offer are some good fight and flight sequences (I loved the way Lara and her love flew around Hong kong like bats); as well as Lara trying her best to keep up a wooden face throughout the movie. I suppose she thought that made her look tough and gave her that “do-not-mess-with-me” attitude. To me it looked like she was trying to keep from laughing out loud at the stupidities in the movie.

I am glad I never had a chance to see this movie till date. And I regret having seen it today.

Cast:

Lara – Angelina Jolie

Lara’s love interest – Gerard Butler

Evil Billionaire – Ciarán Hinds

Director – Jan de Bont

[Image courtesy: movies-wallpaper.net, themoviedb.org]