Hotel Petit Palace...a gorgeous boutique hotel overlooking the caldera

Our second day (and first morning) of Santorini started on a pretty bad note. We had plans of exploring this volcanic island the same way we did Paros...on a bike! There was a big bike rental just adjacent to our hotel Katerina and John. It was owned and run by John's son Mike. We had plans of renting a quad. The evening earlier we explored Perissa and Perivolos by foot and we had plans of renting the two wheeler for the next morning. As fate would have it, Mike refused to accept hub's driving licence. I have mentioned earlier in Paros post that since the registration was of Uttar Pradesh, it was written in Hindi.

People found it difficult to decipher and hence rejected it. Hubs went to several other rentals and was turned down everywhere.

We were crestfallen. All our plans were kaput. Now what? Taxi? Bus? Taxi was wayyy too expensive. Buses were wayy too rigid. How were we supposed to explore now? 4 days in Santorini...all on a bus? Sad and dismal we proceeded towards the busstop.

The bus stop too was adjacent to our hotel; just like the beach, 24 hours bakery, departmental store, etc etc. The location of our hotel was too good. Anyways we waited for the bus to Fira, the capital of Santorini. It is the hub of every business transaction, transportation et al. Wherever we wanted to go, we would get the bus from Fira.

Trying to look cheerful while boarding the bus to Fira

We boarded the bus. The ticket was around 2.5 euro each. After 45 minutes of twists and turns we reached. I was in a state of shock that we were travelling in a bus. Hubs was still trying to convince me that he would find a solution in Fira.

The first rental we went into was run by a very pretty girl. I know all Greeks are pretty but she was beyond the usual. Maria, as she was known, agreed to rent a bike. Bikes in Fira cost more than twice than those in Perissa. Fortunately, she did not even take a look at the license; took it and took out a form for all the formalities. When she learnt that we were from India, she professed her love for Bollywood movies. Om Shanti Om was her favourite movie. Ironically we Indians did not like that movie that much unless a hardcore Shahrukh Khan fan. In midst the conversation all the formalities were fulfilled. Finally she handed over the keys. WE thanked our stars. We got a bike!

On the quad bike with pretty girl Maria

Then her father came out. He seemed to be quite strict. Thankfully we escaped confronting him. After a few pictures with pretty Maria and thanking her profusely, we set out for the first adventure of the day.

Our first stop was Kamari Beach. Staying in Perissa, Kamari was our neighbour with the huge rock Mesa Vouno in between. It was a long way to Kamari from Fira. We were constantly riding along the caldera. For the uninitiated, caldera is the huge trough that is formed after a volcano erupts and gets filled with water eventually.

View of the caldera

The caldera of Santorini is one of the most scenic landforms in the world. It has got the bluest of blue water and offers the iconic sunset of Santorini. The Greek government has made little spots on various parts of the caldera for sunset viewing. Those spots in turn have been commercialized by cafes and they offer wine and dine facilities by the sunset.

Sunset with red wine

Sunset view spots overlooking the caldera

The wind was tumultuous all along the ride. Crazy would be an understatement. Infact our bike swayed with the wind and it was difficult to navigate. The crazy wind knocked off a fellow traveller's parked bike at a photo op point. Luckily it was not ours! The hurricane like wind of Santorini is one of the most frightening as well as memorable experiences of my life till date.

The craziest wind I have ever faced!

All set for the ride!!

The signature blue dome church of Santorini

Cute white washed cafes

Self Timer mode

Trying to brave the crazy wind!

Sunnies: Aldo

Red Purse: Furla Candy

Neon Purse: Shoppers Stop

Skirt: from Philippines

4/28/2016 26 comments

Gone are the days when emphasis used to be just on academics. There are hundreds of other fields in which a person can be proficient. Whether its music, dance, art or sports, every field has its own importance. Not every one becomes a doctor or engineer. Do they? These two professions constitute only 10 % of the population. So why not encourage other activities like arts and sports?

Its high time we start concentrating on sports since we have immense untapped potential in this field. A similar initiative has been taken by GAIL to encourage the sport of athletics.

Gail- Indian Speed Star- An initiative to strengthen the sport of athletics

GAIL (India) Limited has embarked on a grassroots athletics program GAIL-Indian Speedstar which is aimed at unearthing young talent across the length and breadth of India. GAIL (India) Limited and National Yuva Cooperative Society (NYCS), launched a grassroots athletics program GAIL Indian Speedstar on the 22nd of March, 2016 at the Constitution Club of India, New Delhi.

National Yuva Cooperative Society has tied up with Anglian Medal Hunt Company as its Technical Partner for The GAIL Indian Speedstar project. The persisting, epoch-making attempt before - focused grassroots program aims to create a pool of athletes with knack which will possibly bring honor for India in track events at the highest echelon of sporting events - the Olympics 2020/2024.

The reason to launch this program is to identify, select and nurture the hidden talent in athletes. The targeted age group is 11 - 17 years in 100m, 200m and 800m track events across.

A panel of eminent sportspersons like P.T Usha, Rachita Mistry, AnuradhaBiswal& Kavita Raut have been appointed in the selection committee to support selections and guide coaching camps. As members of the selection committee their role would include creating the selection criteria or the GAIL-Indian Speedstar program, and developing the training plan and module for the selected athletes at the National Level.

‘Legendary athlete P.T. Usha launched the initiative alongside the organizers DrAshutoshKarnatak,

Director (Projects), GAIL (India) Ltd, Rajesh Pande – President, National Yuva Cooperative Society Ltd (NYCS) and Maneesh Bahuguna- CEO, Anglian Medal Hunt Company.

District trials were conducted under the watchful eyes of coaches and selectors, appointed by the selection committee. The selection of the athletes was based on talent identification and selection criteria set by the selection committee.

Initiatory, in its first year, earlier this year with initial trials conducted at 55 districts across 10 states in which more than 25,000 children participated out of which 850 children made it to the State level

Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon. Minister of State (I/C) Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dutee Chand, AnuradhaBiswal and Purnima Hembram; selected ambitious young athletes from Bhubaneswar, Odisha. 14 children have qualified for the National level trials while Shri Dharmendra Pradhan ji, praised and motivated the selected candidates for National level trials

Camp and Selection. The first State level camp and trial was organized on 27-28th of February in SawaiMaan Singh Stadium, Jaipur where 60 boys and girls participated out of which 4 have qualified for the next level. The state trials were held in Odisha (14 Selection), Delhi (28 Selection), Kerala (28 Selection) &Jharkhand(4 Selection)followed by Maharashtra and Gujarat in the last week of April. The shortlisted children from the State trials will then participate in the National camp and selection which is scheduled to be held in May 2016 at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi. Shortlisted athletes from state trials will attend an intensive national level camp. At the conclusion of the coaching camp, final trials will be held. Winners will be selected based on the qualification criteria and their potential. The winners will be given extensive training throughout the year. The top 9 athletes will then be provided with a world class coaching for over a period of 5 years with an ultimate objective of one of these athletes to represent India at the Olympics.

For more information on Gail-Indian Speedstar please visit http://www.gailindianspeedstar.org

Check out some cool videos!!

Video links:

1. https://www.facebook.com/GAILIndianSpeedstar/videos/951014715012524/

2. https://www.facebook.com/GAILIndianSpeedstar/videos/949671661813496/

3. https://www.facebook.com/GAILIndianSpeedstar/videos/948598688587460/

om/PR/

Mayookha Johny is an Indian track and field athlete from Kerala who specialises in long jump and triple jump. She holds the current Indian National record for triple jump with a mark of 14.11 m (46 ft 31⁄2 in). She is the first Indian woman to cross the fourteen-metre mark.

4/27/2016 1 comments

4/27/2016 3 comments

There are a few things that compensates every grudge of mine. So what if my partner can't cook or help me with the housework? He is an incredible photographer. My blog would not be breathing if not for his photography. Secondly he is an awesome driver. He has an innate sense of direction that enables him to navigate flawlessly. I mean he studied google maps of Paros island and Santorini for long hours and that was not vain! I mean its really something driving in a foreign land...at least for me. We never took the wrong route and were always speeding ahead of time!

Santorini is known for its sunset. Especially the one at Oia. However the picture perefct sunset is visible all along the caldera. Similarly no one speaks about sunrise. Hubs thought that since Perissa is one on the East side, then the sun must be rising from there!

The gorgeous sunrise of Santorini

It was our first morning in Santorini and we woke up at around five thirty and proceeded towards the beach. Perissa beach was 10 minutes from our hotel. It was dark when we reached the beach. We sat on the cold sand and waited for dawn to crack in. Apart from us, there were two more Oriental couples on the beach. We had the entire place to ourselves!

Just like a dream or a movie, the sun simply came out of the sea. It was a huge ball of fire with a contradictory calmness radiating from it. I had witnessed this kind of iconic sunset in Puri, Orissa but it was not this phenomenal. Hubs had fixed the bigger lens into his DSLR and trying to capture every moment of the sunrise. Planes flying in the sky made the pictures even prettier. I fiddled with my digicam and video shot the entire process. When the sun left the sea; as it rose after taking a dip, I realised that I and the rising sun had to be in the same frame. The silence all around with just waves crashing was incredibly peaceful.

I played around with the sun and jumped in the sea. The water was really cold. Suddenly we remembered our second love...Food! It was around seven now and we were hungry. We had a long day ahead and left for our hotel for some breakfast.

Did you notice the plane beside the sun?

Watch the gorgeous sunrise here.

Tunic : Zara
Sunnies : Aldo

4/18/2016 7 comments

Perivolos is the further extension of the black Perissa beach. WE started from the Perissa beach and then came a board that read Perivolos. The beach started with a deserted wooden house. It was a unique house and I became really interested. WE frolicked around to take pictures. Suddenly a big built man appeared from the neighbouring pub and warned us sternly not to take pictures. We were taken aback for a moment. It looked like a deserted restaurant and was in the same line as others; so what could have possibly stopped us? Anyways we were shaken for a while (the man's voice still echoed in my ears) and slowly we moved forward. It was around half past nine and the sky looked like it was early evening. Back in Delhi nine thirty means pitch dark even in summers!

There were various cafes and restaurants with glaring music and glittering decor. Some of them were too tempting to resist. I wanted to dine in a place which provided such ambience. Unfortunately most of them were pubs and did not serve proper food. I was not willing to waste m appetite for just sandwiches just for the decor.

There were so many options to choose from. People were luring us with their special menus. Finally we stopped at Restaurant Perivolos. The lady inside told us that it is the oldest restaurant of Perivolos. That is why they could take the name of the beach itself. The hostess was the owner herself and her daughter. This place was at the end of the beach and the place screamed old school. I somehow got good vibes from the place. We decided to explore further and then come back if things did not work out.

After eyeing a few more places, we came back to the old Perivolos restaurant. The flooring was cobbled and the walls adorned various ancient artifacts. It was built at around late 1800.

I had been wanting to try the famous Greek Saganaki since I arrived in Greece. I found this place to be perfect for this dish. They did not serve vegetarian so hubs was just there staring at me while I gorged on Prawn Saganaki. It was lip smacking. Somehow I wished I had Bengali rice to accompany it. It was a bit acrid for my taste.

One thing that really fascinated me since I arrived in Santorini was the obsession with its map. The soap cover back at our hotel had the map of Santorini on it. Then all the paper napkins had the map printed on it. Even the table cloth of our restaurant bore the map of this island! I really salute the people and their love for their place!

It was quite late when I was done with savoring my Saganaki. We started going back. We were dead tired. The day had been a really long one. Wandering in Paros island, taking the ferry from Paros to Santorini , driving all the way from the port to Perissa (a really long drive) and then walking all through Perissa beach and Perivolos. I could not even get up from my chair to go back. When we reached our hotel, the starlit sky tempted me. The sky back in Delhi is polluted and full of sky scrapers. I never had seen such a beautiful night. We lay on the sunbed beside the pool and gazed at the serene sky. It was cold but I almost fell asleep. Then we went inside our room. Poor hubs skipped his dinner as he was too tired to eat :D

Rolling in the black sand of Perivolos beach

Playing with the setting sun...

A gorgeous wooden house from where we were driven away

It was an abandoned property but there seemed to be claimers!

Stopping at the hip bar

Beautiful interiors

Indulging in the delicious Greek prawn Saganaki....did you notice the map of Santorini on the table cover?

Dress: Vero Moda
Purse: Furla Candy
Lip color: MAC Candy Yum Yum

4/15/2016 6 comments

Blogging is scaling new heights everyday. Something which started as a hobby a decade back has metamorphosed. Earlier blogging was only a way of beautifully writing down things online; enabling the entire world to see it. But this modest hobby has progressed from being to a full time profession to one of the highest paid jobs in the world. Whenever we think online, we think of blogs. And I don't need to repeat that today every opinion, every thought, in fact everything is online!

Businesses are tapping this opportunity to the fullest by passing on their thoughts to the influencers. And well how do they do it? This is done through PR (Public Relation) agencies through PR ( Press Release). The latest to join the bandwagon is Indi PR which has been launched by Indiblogger.

Now you would wonder that in this world of millions of PR agencies, what is so special with Indi PR. Well Indi Pr is a self learning engine that automatically targets the right publishers.

Blogging is the new 'it' profession!!

One of the most difficult issues that most marketers face when working with influencers is the cumbersome process of approaching the right influencer. How to identify and target the correct influencer? This problem is solved with Indi PR as its an automated engine that targets the right influencers.

IndiBlogger Launches IndiPR.com - A self-learning engine that automatically targets the right publishers. Thousands of businesses, products and services are launched everyday across the world. When these products go live, a Press Release (like the one you’re currently reading) is usually the first order of business. Businesses of various sizes, including start-ups, can now have their Press Releases published by relevant influencers in less than 72 hours.

IndiPR.com was built to make it extremely simple for a business to get their Press Releases published by top bloggers. All a business has to do is upload their Press Release and the ‘Automated Influencer Targeting Engine’, or ‘AITE’ for short, proceeds to accept applications and automatically shortlists bloggers based on various factors including internal ratings and rankings. Once shortlisted, the influencers do their research and publish their articles. Anoop Johnson, Co-founder & Director of Marketing at IndiBlogger, adds, “With a starting budget of just USD 150, a business of any size will be able to get their press releases published by influential bloggers with a few clicks.”

IndiPR.com assists digital marketers with a variety of tasks including, but not limited to, SEO, content marketing, generating awareness and gaining much needed conversations around the product, driven by internet users on influencer platforms like blogs. One of the main issues that most marketers face when working with influencers is the cumbersome process associated with identifying and targeting each Influencer. Karthik DR, Co-founder & Business Head at IndiBlogger says, “The amount of time that people spend in trying to identify and contact influencers is huge. With IndiPR.com, you don't have to worry about any of this as the system just needs your Press Release. The rest is history!” In the future, IndiPR.com will carry more than just Press Releases. Influencers will be able to get creative assignments, get invitations to attend the trendiest launch events and be privy to the latest news on the planet before the world wakes up to it.

Renie Ravin, the Founder and CEO of IndiBlogger, says, “We believe that this system will help Influencers with fresh and new content on their site every day. In a way, you could be writing about the next Google without even realising its immense potential.”

Contact Information:

Anoop Johnson [email protected]
Phone - +91-9900-001655 or 0124-4891498
Visit IndiPR.com for more.

4/14/2016 5 comments

Time really flies fast...Doesn't it? I still can't believe that my munchkin turned two this month. It seems just like yesterday that I was partying with my baby bump; no concern for what was there in the future. And when she came into this world (you can read it here), I was holding that wriggly little body against myself torn between taking care of her and battling baby blues. I was not an overtly motherly material; I had never held a baby before. Its slowly and gradually that I fell more and more in love with her.

My munchkin turns two!!

I have expressed time and again that when a baby is born a mother is also born! Well that means my daughter's birthday is mine too! Last year her first birthday was celebrated in Varanasi at her paternal grandparents place. You can read it here. So this year we wanted to celebrate it in a grand way in Delhi. But like every big occasion, it had its share of hiccups.

Her birthday is on 11 th March but my husband had to go away to the Middle East for work. That was unavoidable so we decided to host the party later on. Her paternal grandparents arrived before her birthday and on 11th, I hosted a private celebration with her two sets of grandparents.

My baby with her grandparents and a delicious butterscotch cake..

With Winnie the Pooh

When her father arrived the next day, we started planning for the party! So much had to be done...fixing the venue, inviting everyone and so all. Everyday after work I would scout for the perfect venue. After visiting a number of party halls, we zeroed down on Panache Banquet. We finalised 26 th as the party date. It was a coincidence that 26 the was my daughter's expected delivery date. So it may not be her real birthday but was important to us nonetheless! It is so obvious that a girl as naughty would remain inside me for another fifteen days! She had to arrive early!

The party venue was not too far from our place and was elegant. That was what I needed. Now the guest list, finalization of menu, return gifts and finding the perfect little dress for my doll and her appropriate accessories. But when we started inviting, we realized that it was a Saturday of a long weekend and many people were planning to go out of town. We being doctors never have true weekends; leave long weekends so it never occurred to us. Our nephew had his exams the Saturday before. We just hoped that everyone who mattered to us could make it.

Every evening I would hunt for all these things. Husband was not too cooperative during all this time. Firstly he is the greatest procrastinator I have ever known. He wanted to assign a single day for all these things. Secondly the T20 Cricket World Cup is going on. If you know him even a bit, he is a cricket fanatic. And leaving a world cup match for shopping meant a lot of fight and resistance. I found the perfect party baby shoes and socks just the day before. Thankfully I was satisfied. However I was very tensed with the cake. I did not know how it would finally turn out.

Finally after a week of fighting, disagreements and hardwork, the D Day arrived. We both took a leave from work and the entire morning was spent running around. I was particularly tensed with our birthday girl. She is so naughty that she often ends up getting hurt. I hate it when she has injury marks on her face and that too on her birthday. Fortunately she went to her afternoon nap and that meant she would remain fresh for the rest of the evening.

She got late in waking up. The clock struck seven. It was time for the guests to arrive but our princess was in deep slumber. My parents and my father in law left for the venue while we got dressed. My princess finally woke up. As soon as I dressed her up in her fancy dress, she knew we were headed to a party. The only thing which she did not know was that the entire party was dedicated to her!

Its my munchkin's second birthday!

The party was perfect...at least up to my expectations. I still had not seen the cake. I saw it on the cake table itself; just before the cutting ceremony. It was perfect. The upper tier had pineapple flavour while the lower one was chocolate. The food and decor was exactly as I wanted. All our close friends made it to the party including the owner of Valeda Wellness Centre and the renowned Dr Seema Bali mam (my employers). I was elated. After an evening full of merry, it was time to go home. The guests were amazed that the little birthday girl did not even whine for once. They did not know what kind of party girl she is! She danced the entire evening! I bet she is going to give us a lot of trouble as a teenager!