SENS- Launch event

SENS Media launch event on 21st April'16 in The Imperial, New Delhi

 SENS is India’s first holistic age-management centre. The brand has uniquely blended the Eastern and Western world anti-ageing philosophies to make people feel vibrant, happy, healthy and more energetic. 

‘Sens’ is an integrated state-of-the-art facility that gracefully positions itself in the centre of an ever - increasing healthcare market, with the ambition to empower its customers, while enabling doctors, health experts, traditional healers and practitioners to enhance wellness and begin cure before they get sick. 

This is an initiative of the Wave Group, who have decided to foray into health care industry as well. Empanelled with renowned doctors and health practitioners, SENS has various programs of holistic wellness which they achieve through synchronisation of body, mind and soul. 

At the launch discussion,  Mr. Sanjay Sachdeva, Executive Director, SENS clinic said that their team treats the diseases with modern non invasive technology and practices. Along with body healing, it is important to cleanse the mind of negative or depressing thoughts too. The practice of positive thinking and socialising is achieved thorough mind healing. For a happy soul, meditation and spiritual connection is established. That's the whole program in a nutshell. 

SENS also offer cosmetic therapies like skin lifting, hair transplant, removing skin pigmentation, hair extension and much more. Dr. Debjani Chakraborty, Aesthetic Physician represented the aesthetic therapy department. 

Among the other panellists were Dr. Graham Simpson, Founder & Medical Director Primal MD, Shanum Chaddha, Director Wave Group and Dr. Kalpana Shekhawat, Nutrition Expert 

Dr Simpson emphasized on control in our food habits, highlighting the need to cut down synthetic sugar and processed food. In his career spanning more than 30 years, he has seen patients with terminal diseases because of poor lifestyle. SENS aims to treat the diseases, which bef=gin with preventive health check up. 

For more info visit http://www.sensclinic.com/

Chai Point

Few months back there was a huge radio promotion for a new tea café, with promising new flavours and cleverly designed ads for a tea brand. Their ad was great. So one weekend my wife and I decided to try this new café in DLF galleria. All our expectations were badly hammered with the bill amount; it was staggering Rs.400+ taxes. Yes we Indians love our tea but in small quantity and such a huge bill amount spoils the whole experience. So why is the price too high? Is it because they serve 300ml or due to the location, GOD knows but for us that was the last visit to a Tea café. 

Later, when I was invited for an Earth Day celebration in a Tea outlet of another brand, Chai Point, my expectations were not so high because of the last experience. This outlet of Chai point is in the posh DLF Cyber Hub right in the middle of the corporate hub of Gurgaon. When I reached the outlet, it was full of customers and few bloggers. As usual I started capturing shots of the outlet in and outside. After a while our host Diksha Panday (Head customer experience and people excellence) greeted us with a very warm welcome and also introduced us to the owner and the brain behind Chai Point Mr. Amuleek Singh Bijral. Instead of just shaking hands and leaving us to Diksha this gentleman sat with us for a discussion and made sure to answer our queries on Chai Point and it’s story. 

My first question started with the price because of my prior bad experience with another joint. I was surprised to hear that the minimum price of a tea is Rs.25! Wow! I think that was the cheapest item one can find in Cyber Hub. Mr. Bijral was quick to explain the reason behind the price factor. As per him tea is the most common beverage which people want to have 2-3 times in a day in less quantity. So instead of serving big quantity with sky high prices they believe in serving small portions like in our home. He also explained that tea is not a luxury, it’s a basic drink and should be affordable. The company policy is very simple- to provide the working Indian a cup of good tea with different flavors in their offices and home within delivery reach.

He also explained the expansion plans for new metros like Mumbai. They have kept the menu very simple with an easy to choose quantity and flavor. For people who avoid sugar they even have sugar free tea.

The menu also consists of very light but tasty snacks like small samosa, patty, brownie and some more. This is a perfect example of a company which does not want to confuse their customer with loads of menu items. The customer can also choose the quantity of the beverage between regular, medium and large. Their regular cups remind me of the cutting chai of Mumbai. Along with hot tea they also have options for cold beverages like shakes and ice tea.

Enough talk now. We all jumped to taste the product and I ordered pan kulfi shake which was damn good. Hot dum chai was light with less sugar also proved itself a clear top of the chart. In snacks the new achari puff was equally good to the eyes and tongue. The Browne was also light and fresh.

We also tried mango shake, ice tea, anda pao which were all awesome. The plates are biodegradable and made out of sugarcane sorghum stalks, so they are also give giving back to the planet. They gave free saplings to celebrate Earth Day which was a very nice and warm gesture.

Overall I liked the concept and really want to have an outlet near my home. I wish Mr.Bijral and his team with all the luck.

Fight against terror or profit behind it

Why do we compare everything in our country with USA? There are other countries which are developed and better then India but still our mind take us to the States.

The reason is very simple- The whole system of USA is designed in such a manner that it automatically promotes the country or in other word does marketing. They have the best propaganda mechanism which makes their wrong right and always keeps them ahead of everything. The question is how the country with not even half the population of India is ruling us. 

The country has one of the best infrastructures and military power. All the news and print media is designed in such a way that they only talk about good things about their country most of the times and safeguard their national interest.

Many people are not aware but the main objective of CIA is to protect the country’s interest overseas and it can go to any extent to achieve the objective. History is full of such cases like El Salvador, East Timor, Cambodia etc. where USA was involved directly or indirectly through CIA. In almost all the cases where USA had sent boots to the ground in the name of peace keeping, there was only death and destruction. The policy is very simple- Create a pressure group against the government and then arm them to fight against their own country. The best example is ISIS and Taliban.

The time when Russia (Then USSR) invaded Afghanistan, there were two reasons; one is to take revenge from Vietnam War and second is the billion dollar gem mines of the country. At that time the world had not fully recovered from the scars of cold war and USA couldn’t confront Russian military power which is as powerful as them. Fighting with Russia means a direct Nuclear War which may result in the end of this planet. So USA started a proxy war with the help of its ally Pakistan. The latter was the best choice because of two reasons; one is that the country is already under a military rule and second because of its close proximity with Afghanistan.

But the problem was the local population of Afghanistan was very less and most of the male population was either dead I wars or not trained to fight a strong army.

The CIA observed that there are several religious schools (Madrasa) in Pakistan and the main objective of these religious schools is just to provide the teaching of Islam. The number of students in these Madrasa was counted in thousands. With no modern education and almost living in Stone Age, CIA spotted the best opportunity to train them as their foot soldiers. With the help of ISI (Interstate Intelligence) the secret service of Pakistan military CIA started training these school students to fight against the Russian forces. Soon with all the training and weapons, these trained students started Guerrilla warfare against a much superior force. Soon they had their group named as Taliban (In Pashto Taliban mean students) and their leader is Mullha Umar.

It was said that CIA poured millions of dollar in the proxy war and delivered small and medium weapons including the deadly stinger missile which is very effective for low flying helicopters and even for slow aircrafts. For nearly a decade Russia could not defeat the Taliban and ultimately after the fall of USSR the war ended with the last Russian tank leaving Afghanistan. But soon after the CIA cut all help to Afghanistan, the whole country burned in civil war. With the backing of Pakistan regular army, soon Taliban became the most powerful group in the valley and started training terrorists. There were hidden stories that USA made huge profits from the gems stones mines of Afghanistan.

This was one of the examples of the dirty war which CIA played all over the world to safeguard the country’s interest. USA is the largest manufacturer and exporter of weapons in the world. When the companies don’t have any market left to sell their product or weapons it’s the job of CIA to create a market for them. The idea is very effective “create a war and sell weapons to both sides”. 

The same tactics was with ISIS. Experts say that ISIS is the spoiled kid of CIA same as Taliban. In both the cases CIA could not control them because they were savage and once they had power in their hand they listened to none. After the ISIS killing spree CIA again tried to repeat the old tactics and started arming the other groups fighting in Syria. But here things are different. ISIS is not a regular terror outfit. Its ideology is very harsh- “kill all non- believers” and they are very serious about their JOB. Within few months the whole region was covered with blood with their very brutal killing methods and internet propaganda of forming a caliphate attracted people from all across the Globe making ISIS one of the strongest terror outfits. Unlike the USA, Russians don’t believe much in talking and rather show results. As soon as Russians planes started pounding precision bombs on ISIS and their special forces taking out the top leaders, talks are on that then what the US and coalition forces doing for a long time. The problem is USA was not serious to wipe out ISIS completely because stability in that region meant less buying of weapons which in turn are not a profitable aspect for their companies.

Being the most powerful nation of the world USA carries responsibility which is to bring peace to the world and not end it.

Palmyra- Bristol Hotel

The definition of good food is-  Presentation, Taste and Aroma. All the three factors are responsible for special dining and this is what we experienced in Palmyra- Bristol Hotel, Gurgaon. Chef Somnath made it a fab experience for the diners who innovated and curated many masterpieces which were cooked with less oil and lots of love.

As a foodie I always look for innovation. My search took me to this beautiful restaurant Palmyra in Bristol for a Sunday dinner.  As always the initials were starters like hara bhara kabab, honey chilly potato and paneer tikka. But one thing was different here that the food was light and not heavy as we often experience. The kabab were soft and taste very nice, paneer was not over marinated and the honey chilly potato tasted both sweet and hot.

Palmera is situated on the fourth floor with a huge space outside to enjoy drinks and starters. The covered area is for buffet.

After digging on to the starters and some fruit juices, my wife thought to give main course a try. Honestly I had no expectations from this place due to some bad reviews on Zomato , but as I started looking at the dishes, my opinion changed gradually.

My plate was quickly full with small portions of all the dishes which included paneer butter masala, kaju matter mushroom makhana gravy, chickpeas and aubergine tagine, dofinose potatoes,  stir fried vegetables, veg biryani and dal zaffran.

One thing is very different among all the dishes that they are not cooked with lots of oil. The taste was balanced with different spices but not overloaded. The veg biryani had a very pleasant aroma and taste excellent. Preparation with less oil made things enjoyable, light and amazing. 

Among all the dishes my favourite was chef’s own innovation dofinose potatoes which taste heavenly!!!! Even it was prepared with cheese but still it was not at all heavy.The chef told us that he used raw potatoes and the starch did the job of sticking them together.

The deserts were equally satisfying both to the eyes and taste buds. The spread had rabri jalabi, kalakand, banoffee , cake and red velvet tiramisu. The winner here is banoffee which was a bomb and again a brain child of chef Somnath who had cleverly innovated with caramel, banana, cream, muesli and some other flavours. 

We also had a brief discussion with the chef and agreed that Indian food should not be overloaded with spices or oil, which often renders people tummy full but unsatisfied. Nobody wants high cholesterol in their body. The trick is to balance everything. Over all we are very quite happy with the food and below is my rating. Anyone looking for good food must visit this perfect place.

Food-5/5

Taste-5/5

Ambience-4.5/5

Chef's friendly nature- no star, all smiles J

Staff-4.5/5

We would really want to see some more innovative dishes from the Chef soon.

Dilli Ki Galliyan-Zodiac @Fortune Hitel (ITC Property)

I was invited for this blogger event to experience the taste of Purani Delhi. As we speak about Old Delhi, the place that comes to our mind is Chandani Chowk which is considered the hub of authentic food. This was my first time in Zodiac and must say that the ambience is very nice with zodiac signs on the walls.

As we are all aware that ITC hotels are known for its quality food, in continuation of this legacy they have brought the taste of Purani Delhi right here in Gurgaon. Bringing the authentic taste to the place was made possible by Chef Inder Dev who has done an intensive research of the food items before putting it on the menu. We started with lassi along with kalmi bada, bean mathri and pyaaz bhujia which were nicely cooked.

More snacks were served such as bhalla papri, chhole bhature and gol gappay. Among these my favourite was bhalla papri which had a tangy taste. 

We started the main course with non-veg food like Goli kabab and dora kabab. Both of them tasted out of this world! I had also tasted biryani with chicken korma and chengezi chicken. I am a die hard non-vegetarian so could not experience much of the veg course. However  as per others bloggers, veg items were equally awesome.  Out of the entire main course I liked Matka Ghost, Goli Kabab, Dora Kabab and Biryani. All the dishes were cooked in the same way as you will find in Purani Delhi and the best part is after a long time I have tasted authentic Biryani. 

After eating all the mouth-watering dishes there was very less scope of sweets. Yet, I believe every Indian will agree with me that we all have a secret space in our stomach which opens up when we see desert.  We were served with Rabri Jalebi, Rasgulla and Phirni. The Jalebi was good and tasted great when mixed with Rabri. The Rasgulla was also good and the Phirni was excellent with less sweet content.

Overall below are my ratings.

Ambience-4/5

Food-4.5/5

Staff-5/5

This is a must visit place and do not miss the food festival “Purani Dilli ki Galliyan” at Zodiac,