Health benefits of honey

I must say that staying in Bangalore has a certain advantage over other cities as far as blogging is concerned. It was because of Bangalore only that I finally got a chance to intrude into one of those bloggers' meeting organized by Indiblogger. As usual, this meeting was also hosted by a big banner and this time it was 'Dabur'. The location they chose was one of the most famous hotels of Bangalore so there was no reason to give that meeting a miss. However I didn't go to the place with just one agenda. The motive to present myself in the coterie of talented bloggers was not just being there and network but it was also to learn about the health benefits of honey which was the main theme of the even. Having gained some weight in the last couple of years I have recently started showing some respect to my body. A session on eating healthy was just the thing I needed. And I must admit that it was indeed quite an informative and helpful session. As far as blogger's meeting and interaction is concerned I would be honest to say that I had expected more. Nevertheless the participation was still very enthusiastic, just that it could have been more interactive.

Now coming to the main theme of the event: Why honey and why Dabur honey? allow me to summarize everything in two sentences to the best of my understanding:

"You can (and you should) literally replace all your artificial sugar intake with honey. Even if you are planning to get rid of sugar completely, you should not ignore honey. And Dabur honey because of their market reputation and quality certification that they have recently received from food experts of our country." 

Now with regards to the details, allow me to thank Miss Pooja, the expert dietitian and Mr Shashank, senior product manager (Dabur) for hosting the session explaining everything in a very lucid manner. They explained it very clear why honey with warm water at the break of your morning is the first thing one must do to give a good kick start to the day. Other benefits of including honey in your diet were the following:

• The premise of having honey rests on the fact that we are not physiologically perfect to sustain a diet which doesn't suit our lifestyle. One can avoid having sweet for 3 or 4 days but on the 5th day one would certainly get an urge to have a big muffin or some pastry. This completely ruins the calorie saving that one was planning for those 3-4 days. However keeping honey a part of diet keeps that urge away, at least physiologically, because it can help in smoothing out the blood sugar level throughout the day. The sugar levels never rise or fall to a disproportionate level which helps in keeping our urges away. 
• Honey is not just fructose but contains a number of other nutrients such as vitamins, anti-oxidants, minerals etc. 
• Its anti-microbial property helps in keeping away harmful micro-organisms.
• Its neutral acidic property maintains the alkali balance of our body and also aids digestion

Well it cannot be denied that honey deserves a place in our diet. Ayurveda also gives a thumbs up to honey. But the current penetration is too low in India which certainly needs to be improved.

An image of the event:

Contemporary code of parenthood: #KhuljayeBachpan

Lately I have been thinking a lot about writing something on 'kids of today's generation' and 'contemporary code of parenthood'. And what a good time to learn about brand Kellogg conceiving the idea of 'Khuljaye Bachpan' which talks about empowering the kid with freedom of expression and creation. [If you are interested to know more about the campaign you can visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/mychocos].

So why exactly is the concept of Khuljaye Bachpan so important? Let me start by asking you a question. Which is the one word that comes to your mind when you think about kids of today's generation? I am certain that the word that came to your mind is some or other form of the word 'aggressive'. I don't intend to bring out only the negative aspect of it as I believe this aggression is also the reason why today's kids learn and grasp a thing with so much ease. And this rate of learning is the reason why the generation gap is increasing at such a faster pace. Even within a gap of 7-8 years I can very well observe remarkable differences. For example, take a child of the age group 8-12 one would be astonished to see the kind of brat behavior they present in front of their elders which was unthinkable few years ago. I have even seen my little cousins, no more than 10, abusing and hitting back their parents. Of course parents are responsible for inculcating the sense of discipline within their kids but they cannot be held totally accountable for everything. Children nowadays have access to such a wide network of information that it's impossible to mold them into a shape of parent's understanding. Needless to say the parents are also conscious enough not to bind their kids and limit their overall 360° growth.

At this juncture comes the concept of 'buddy parenting' which contains the essence of 'Khuljaye Bachpan' or unlocking the childhood. So the next obvious question, how is buddy parenting better than old parenting style? Well there should be no doubt in mind when I say that today's kids cannot follow instructive style of parenting. That leaves interactive parenting as the only viable option. Perhaps this is the best way to teach kids moral values as well as channel their aggression for the good of their future. It is indeed the methodology I believe in as it creates an everlasting bond between parent and child. This I can say from my personal experience. The experience, that I am referring to, relates one of my cousin who is now not only the most well mannered but a person of remarkable decision making capability. One of the many 'Khushi Ke Pal' he spent with his mother was the time he taught his mother how to use Instagram on her smartphone. Her mother was very fond of clicking pictures of him and posting them online on Facebook. But she often saw people on her friend-list posting interesting collages which made her wonder how they are able to do so with ease. My cousin taught her everything. No wonder why he doesn't consider the presence of his parent on Facebook as an intrusion in his life. It was only possible because of the style of parenting that culminated in the bond of love, friendship and trust. 

How people behave on facebook after marriage?

The after effects of marriage has always been an interesting topic of discussion. But did you notice how the after effects have transformed over the years. With people getting more and more active on virtual platforms, the transformation has too gone digital. The maximum toll of marriage can be observed on Facebook, particularly in the manner in which couples conduct themselves. For example: 

• It would become an unstated rule that the couple has to mutually like each others' post irrespective of whether the post is likable or not. I have often seen couples liking silly posts just because it has been posted by his/her better half. It's like you have suddenly lost your sense of judgement or have lost the idea of having an opinion.

• Men suddenly become too conscious before liking a picture posted by a female colleague/friend. While this might not be true for many of the couples, I think for most of them this is also more of an unstated rule. 

• The number of posts suddenly goes down. So a young girl who had been very regular on Facebook updating all her selfies would suddenly reduce the number of posts. Whom to blame? Sanskar, eh?

• Their DP will be one of the picture that was clicked during their marriage reception and the cover photo will be of the dance that they performed during the sangeet ceremony. In most of the cases DP will remain unchanged till they have a child. 

• Hashtags like #feelingloved, #hubbylove, will be more prominent than any other tags.

• Too much PDA as if they are trying to prove something. Your reaction is often like

• Suddenly the number of likes on their pics will go down. Or even if the number of likes remain the same, the participants will change. The likes would mostly come from in-laws and new relatives.

These are some of the many examples which are so visible on Facebook. I am sure you must have noticed the change too. Share yours in the comments.