Dear Blog,Happy 3rd Birthday……

Hello people…. I can’t believe I’m writing a blog post right now! As I check my blog every now and then, a sense of guilt engulfs me. I have been away too long, my sincere apologies to all my readers. The last time I wrote a post was around 3 months back. I was away all this time because I got busy with some personal work. I shifted to Pune from Kolkata, back in September,with a new job. All these time, I was trying to fit myself in the city, discover new places and make friends. Though I haven’t learnt much of Marathi yet, I’m already in love with the Pune weather!! I have a tight schedule on weekdays and on weekends I usually out to discover wonderful places in the city. I really felt guilty for not finding out time to blog, something that I’m passionate about.I would come back home dead-tired and doze off to sleep, I couldn’t write even though I wished to.

As my blog turns 3 today, I can say that I have got a lot because of my blog. I made so many blogger-friends, went to blogger meets and events, participated in blogging campaigns and every experience have been great. Since I was almost completely detached from blogging for a while, I’m yet to add bloggers buddies from Pune, so if any one of you reading this post today happens to be from Pune, do drop in a line and we can meet over a cup of “cutting chai” and a plate of “vada pav”.

Since I have a full-time job and few other commitments here and there, it might be slightly difficult for me to blog very often but I’ll do keep blogging, that’s for sure. Talking about blogging, that reminds me that I haven’t bought any makeup product since last 2 months and I really don’t know whether I should feel happy or sad about it. Well, that gives me a chance to save few bucks and get myself a MAC lippie that I have dreamed to buy since I ever got addicted to makeup. I hope I can buy one soon and review it here.

FYI, just because some of you might be wondering when my next post will be up, let me tell you that I have already started drafting it and it will be up this weekend!A big thanks to everyone who read and comment on my blog posts, your support have helped me a lot to continue blogging despite of all odds. Keep giving all the love and support and have a fabulous weekend…. Thank God It’s Friday!!!!

Dragon’s Loyalty Award

Hello all, it has been a while since I have received any award for blogging and guess what? A lovely co-blogger, Maitreyi, who has a wonderful blog named “Glamorpolish” has nominated me for Dragon’s Loyalty Award. She is such a sweetheart and she reads my blogs regularly too. I am really thankful to her for the nomination. Do check out her blog and share the love 🙂

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Now the rules:

Display the award on your blog

Announce your win with a post and like the person who nominated you

Present 15 awards to deserving bloggers

Post 7 interesting things about yourself

So, I guess I am already done with step 1 and 2. Here is a little twist for step 3, all the lovely bloggers out there who is reading my post, you can comment on my blog with a simple “I’m in” and your blog link and I’ll keep adding your names.

For the last part, here’s seven interesting facts about me:

• I am a crazy cat lady, I love cats, I have grown up with a lot of cats around me at home and currently I have two cats whom I love dearly
• I love creating “one liners” in my mind. I look at different objects and try to create an one liner ad or jingle in my mind
• I am scared of birds and literally everything that flies right above my head, although not very high, like aeroplanes.
• I love red lipsticks. I have dozens of red lipstick at home, some of them are same shades from same brands
• I don’t like eating ice-cream. Yep, you read that right!
• I was so obsessed with pink color when I was in between class 36 that almost 90% of my dresses and accessories used to be pink in color including my school bag, school lunchbox, bottle, bed sheet and even the water bucket in my washroom! Thank god, the obsession is gone, although I still love pink.

That’s it. I really don’t know what to add more.Thanks for reading I hope you liked it!

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Nominating:

Ankita of Life with Herbals

 

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Blog Anniversary and a Surprise

Hello Friends,

So the day has come when I have two celebrations waiting for you. One is the Grand 2nd Anniversary of my blog, BONG BEAUTY PALETTE and another? Well I am glad to introduce a new writer to you guys, my friend and co-blogger Kasturika Ghosh who has been writing for me for quite some time now.

I still remember the day when I first started blogging. I was pretty anxious and quite uncertain of the future. But gradually as I started gaining applause, winning the blog contests and have also attended two bloggers’ meet, my confidence grew. Now, with you all by my side and my friend Kasturika, I can see the horizon already.

Well there is some other news as well. My blog is growing. Well of course it has grown pretty well in the last two years but what I actually mean is that I am all set to explore other genres besides beauty and fashion. We are introducing new categories like Book reviews, Film reviews, Restaurant and Hotel reviews for you guys. Stay tuned in for more news and surprises.

Some Quick Updates About my Life!!

Hello readers, I hope you are doing great! I am going to keep this post really short and tell all of us about few things which is keeping me away from blogging recently (no, I am NOT getting married right now :p). I am currently doing my post graduation in Public Relations, I have classes from 8am in the morning so I have to wake up really early (sigh!) on weekdays. A week back, I joined an office as a content specialist, I am very happy with my job and my work there is exactly what I love to do…WRITING. This is my first job and being a full-time employee, I work till 7:30 pm. When I get back home after that, I really don’t get enough time and energy to give time for my blog.So, is this the end of my blog? Of course not!! I will blog on weekends, schedule my posts and share my thoughts here. I really can’t stay without blogging.

I am thankful to everyone who visit my blog regularly and comment on my posts. This is the thing that keeps me motivated. I love every one of you. I’m sorry if I couldn’t reply to your emails or queries in last one-two weeks, I hope you understand my situation. I know, I don’t get time to visit your blog links and read your posts but trust me I’ll visit your blog and read them on weekends, after all this is what I do on weekends usually :).

Please keep supporting me and I’ll be coming up with lots of  interesting blog posts soon and as you have seen that our blog now covers different topics, other than beauty posts. Also, I’ll be more than happy if you would like to contribute your write ups for my blog. If you are interested do shoot an email at mailmeatbbp2gmail.com and I’ll get back to you ASAP. I am also planning to get a domain and hosting for my blog. If everything goes as planned, I’ll soon have a .com added to my blog name soon. That’s all till now, I’ll be back with a new post next week.

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Blogmint- India’s First Brand-Blogger Marketplace

Blogging which started years back as a platform to freely express ones views and opinions is now turning into a career option. Thanks to certain platforms which enable bloggers to earn from blogging.  How do bloggers actually earn from these platforms? They earn by connecting with brands and reviewing their products and services on their blog for which they get paid. But, isn’t the process of brands approaching bloggers and vice versa, a long process? To make things easier for both the brand and the blogger, platform like blogmint comes as a great help.

They help different brands to connect with bloggers easily, discuss theirs needs and go ahead with the work. If you are a blogger, you can choose from different brands, with whom you would like to work and brands can select bloggers whom they think will fit the bill. I rely on blogmint to connect with different brands because the process is very easy and quick.

The sign-up process is very simple, followed by completing your profile and connecting various social media channels.

The only thing, which probably you won’t understand  in the picture above is the blogscore. A blogscore is the score given within 100 to a blog based on its popularity. 73 is pretty fine, isn’t it? (winks!)

Next, on the top of the page, there is a “discover campaign” option which will take you to the page where you will find different brands with their campaigns.

Once you click on them, you will get the details about the category of blog post, campaign deadline, payment per post and the mandatory things the brands wants you to include in your post. Once you understand the need, click on apply and wait for approval. You will get an approval or rejection mail/ notification in few days and based on that you can proceed with the work.

You can chat with the brand and discuss their needs and proceed to write a draft for the campaign which you will find in your dashboard. Once you submit the draft, you have to wait for approval and once you are notified about the approval, you can post the same in your blog and share on social media. You can also check the number of visits to your blog post from the same page. on successful completion, you get paid within a week or two! Isn’t that easy?

Some best features of blogmint:

• Easy sign up process
• Opportunity to work with different brands
• Getting paid for blogging
• Simple website
• Interactive team

Have you tried blogmint? Do share your experiences below!

Women in Leadership

In our male dominated society, women are still considered inferior by many. We have been challenged many time and every time we have proved that women are not only good at taking care of the house but we can also equally and effectively lead the society. A person with a strong leadership quality can guide and motivate millions of other people who seek to follow the road to success. I am a media student and I have grown up admiring the famous female media personalities across the globe. I am enthralled by their  hard work, leadership skills, courage, struggles and the not-so-smooth journey to success. Their works and achievements motivate me each second and encourages me to reach my goals. Here are some of my favourite famous female media personalities whom I look up to get inspired. These women have fought against all odds to establish themselves and have been people with their leadership skills. These women have proved how can every ordinary girl become extraordinary with their determination because #EveryWomanIsALeader.

1. Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey is an American producer, actor and host who is known for her “Oprah Winfrey Show” which remained one of the highest rated talk show for a long time. She has been ranked among most influential people list in many magazines. Although she was born in acute poverty and was raped at 9 years of age, she went on to work with a local radio channel in her late teens and rose to fame in a small time. Her interview with Michael Jackson crossed million viewers at the time of its telecast. She has acted in Steven Spielberg’s movie where she won an award for best supporting actress. She has also co-authored five books

2. Barbara Walters

She is an eminent American journalist, author and a media personality. She is famous for anchoring the “ABC Evening News” and “Today”. She initially worked as a writer for a magazine after which she joined National Broadcasting Company where she worked as the writer for ” The Today Show”. She eventually moved to hosting shows and co-anchoring news. Later she became a full-fledged reporter and  hosted shows on her own. She is famous for interviewing famous personalities across the globes and have interviewed Indira Gandhi, Hugo Chavez and Vladimir Putin.

3.  Aparna Sen

Aparna Sen is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and actress. Her daughter is Konkona Sen Sharma, a famous face in Bollywood. She started her acting career at the age of 15 only and acted in several Satyajit Ray’s films. For her debut film, as a director, she won the Best Director Award and Indian National Film Award. Subsequently, she went on to win awards for all her films like Mr. & Mrs. Iyer, 15 Park Avenue etc. She has also acted as the honorable jury for many national and international awards.

4. Barkha Dutt

She is an India TV journalist and consulting editor for NDTV. She came into limelight for her live reporting from Kargil during the Kargil War. She was awarded Padmashree and many prestigious journalistic awards for her contribution in journalistic fields. She was recognized among the top 50 people for their impact in the society.

5. Shaili Chopra

She is the business editor for Tehelka and have been the lead anchor of ET Now. She also writes golf column for DNA under the title Tee Off with Shaili Chopra. She has covered some famous events like The Bretton Woods conference 2011, India Economic Summit and the World Retail Congress and interviewed personalities including Anshu Jain, Vikram Pandit, Warren Buffett and Indra Nooyi.

These women came from different cities and different backgrounds, the only common thing about them is that the are women and they have shown the courage to prove to the world that a woman can be a leader and become inspiration to many. The have overcome all odds in life and this is why the world knows them today. They have redefined the meaning of women empowerment by leading their area of expertise by themselves. Every time I stumble across a difficult situation or feel low, I try to place myself in their shoes and face the situation. Women are not weak and dependent. Women are strong, independent, free-spirited and focussed . Several studies have also revealed that women are better at management skills than men. All these qualities in a women, makes her a perfect leader. All that we need to do is to come up and rule the world.

Whom do you look up to get inspired? Write about your experience and inspirational stories about “Women in Leadership” in this contest, conducted by shethepeople.tv  and you can win some amazing prizes. One lucky winner can also win an all expense paid trip to an exciting destination!

Getting Smarter with Asus Zenfone 2

In this fast-moving world, our wants are rapidly changing into needs. Mobile phones which were a luxury when we were kids, are now in every hand. Earlier people used mobiles only to call others, now we use it to buy items, sell them, to carry out monetary transactions and what not! Life without mobiles is unthinkable in today’s world. My smartphone is my constant companion. Asus has created masterpieces when it comes to smartphones, the Asus Zenphone was a big hit when it was launched in India and I was planning to get one for my dad, after hearing a lot of praises from my friends about its performance. Then, few days back I came to know that they are launching Asus Zenfone 2 and I went ahead to check out its features. Now, I can’t wait for the launch and get my hands on this phone. I believe the Asus Zenfone 2 will definitely redefine my smartphone experience, read to know why:

 

1. Best Performance

The Zenfone 2 has 4GB RAM and powered by 2.3 GHz Intel Atom processor for seamless performance without any lag. It can give up to three times better experience that other smartphones and up to seven times better gaming experience, isn’t that amazing? Listen to music, surf the internet, play games or chat, The Asus Zenfone 2 is made to give you a smooth multitasking experience that won’t make you wait.

2. Bright and Vibrant Pictures

It comes with 13 megapixels camera to give you clear and crisp pictures. The low-light mode has pixel merging technology which gives almost 400% brighter picture in low light settings or at night without using flash. Zenfone 2’s real tone flash gives accurate colors to pictures. The HD resolution lets us see clearly during the day and add a lot of effects to the pictures.

3. Superfast Charging

ASUS BoostMaster technology is the ASUS-exclusive technology that charges  the devices at a much faster speed compared to other smartphones. With ZenFone 2, the battery is juiced up to 60% in no more than 39 minutes. It saves time and useful when there is less time to charge the phone.

4. Smart User Interface

The Zenfone UI has a variety of new features, including ZenMotion, SnapView, Trend Micro™ Security and ZenUI Instant Updates, that enhance performance, improves usability, protects privacy and delivers smooth experience.

5. Droolworthy Design, Colors and Accessories

The phone has a brush metal finish and their signature concentric circle detailing. The phone has a bold look and is sleek with 3.9mm edges and 5.5 inch display. The phone comes in solid colors like black, white, red and champagne and looks very classy. This isn’t all! There are some amazing accessories to add like the Asus ZenPower Powerbank  which is as small as a credit card with 900mAh battery and 215g weight only. It charges the device very fast. The artificial leather flip covers for Asus Zenfone is another accessory that will protects the device from scratches and allows one to check quick information and take call without the need to open the cover.

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India and E-Governance

With the growth of information and communication technology, India has been quite successful in serving different parts of the country, especially in villages where people are mostly devoid of any significant development. In the past two decades, the Indian government took some major steps in improving their services towards the people. One such initiative is e-governance or electronic governance. It is the application of information and communication technology for delivering government services and to exchange information. Through e-governance, the government has tried to set up a strong connection with the citizens of India through a two-way communication process. The aim of the government is to make sure that the people are getting access to the services properly. The National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) has been formulated by the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY) and Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG).

The digitization of India and e-learning has been a major step by the government to carry out e-governance. Almost 72% of the total population in India comprises of villages. The use of broadband has helped in connecting people across the country, especially from remote areas and led to faster dissemination of information. It is a convenient method of learning which has helped in connecting the management, teaching faculty and students easily at very low cost and has provided transparency in learning. Equal opportunity to use to information is also provided regardless of distance barriers. Thus e-governance is playing a vital role in rural development.  Providing computer and internet facilities to every houses will help in further development and increase literacy rate by giving access to information and communication technology to everybody. The government also strives to provide better livelihood opportunities, providing basic amenities, development of healthcare facilities apart from educating people.

In the past two decades, the government has taken up many schemes to improve the standard of living in villages. Schemes like “Bharat Nirman” was developed to provide adequate water supply, housing facility, telecommunication and information technology, proper roads and electrification. In future, the government can promote sustainable development through e-governace by encouraging use of solar and wind and hydropower energy to produce electricity and using information and communication tools through them. This will save electricity and cut the high cost which in turn can be put to the development of the country. “Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojna” is another step to improve the agricultural process and increase the yield. The e-governance provides services to stock owners and farmers by providing them information on crop selection, disaster management etc through centralized agricultural portal, kisan centres and mobiles. The project stresses on using information technology in all stages of  agricultural development. E-governance in next few years will connect farmers globally and give them the exposure to international markets. The introduction of e-dhara project for total computerization of land records has been very successful. The government has also tried to establish a public-private partnership wherever feasible. Services like banking, ticket booking through IRCTC online, use of e-post office services, checking status of PAN application and online application of passport and visa has helped in fast transactions and promoted paperless documentation. Aadhaar authentication and e- KYC (Know You Customer) has made the verification process much easier and helped people immensely.

Our Prime Minister, Shree Narendra Modi believes in development of India using latest technologies and  believes in the mantra of empowering India digitally. His project on digital India solely focuses on e-governance as a tool for development and education of the masses. To develop India, utilization of information and technology is necessary. To take his vision and mission further, Intel is committed to take forward the digital India mission and bridge the gap between rural and urban India.

This post is a part of Digital India contest by Indiblogger in association with Intel

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Good Food, Good Life

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. We should always have a hearty breakfast in the morning which is full of nutrients and energy. Skipping breakfast is not good idea as it leads to hyper insulin response when calories are consumed later. For someone like me, who spends most of their time outside the house with improper timings for lunch, a nutritious breakfast will keep our tummy full for long hours and give us the energy to start our day.

As I wake up in the morning, I do not get much time to cook. Hence, I always look out for easy breakfast options that can be prepared easily and is good for health. Kellog’s cornflakes is one breakfast item I swear by, most of the days. Experts say that cereals are ideal for breakfast as they are low in fat and high in fibre, minerals, vitamins and carbohydrates which is very much necessary for our body to work efficiently. Cereals are consumed with milk which is again, a great source of iron and helps to build our bones. But, eating a bowl of cornflakes with milk regularly for breakfast is really boring. So, I try to add some  variety to my breakfast and make it tastier. The Kellog’s Facebook page regularly updates me with many quick and healthy menus for breakfast.

My favourite recipe among them is Kellog’s “Nut-things”. The recipe is very easy and can be prepared in 10 minutes. All we need to do is to take a bowl of cornflakes and add milk to it. Sprinkle few raisins and chopped roasted almonds and hazelnuts and our breakfast is ready. This recipe is very tasty and nutritious too. This is not all, I love to eat cornflakes for snacks too. Here is another tasty recipe from their page which I have moderated a bit and turned it into a “chaat” instead of a salad. Add chopped onion, carrot, cucumber to cornflakes, sprinkle salt and black pepper and drizzle some lemon to it. The result is tangy and tasty “cornflakes-chaat” which is not only good to eat but is full of nutrition and low in fat.

My neighbour, Guptaji’s wife, Mrs. Gupta have tried out almost all the tasty recipes mentioned in the Kellog’s Facebook page. Guptaji has invited me for breakfast at his home, this Sunday. Mrs. Gupta told me that she will prepare some great breakfast dishes with Kellog’s cornflakes. I can’t wait to try them out. I’ll be happy if Mrs.Gupta includes the “walnut-cornflakes choco balls” and “chappati cornflakes chiwda” in the breakfast menu. She is aware of the fact that I am crazy about chocolate and I think she will surprise me with the dish.

I am looking forward to a lovely Sunday breakfast at Guptaji’s house, if you want, you can join me too!

 

 

 

How I #ChooseToStart My Smartphone Journey

Do you remember your first smart phone buying experience? I asked my dad to buy me a smartphone recently because the phone I was using had limited features. For me, buying a smart phone was not an easy decision. I made sure, I did a good research before buying a smart phone so that I can get a phone with all the features I wanted, like:

• It should have a good battery life
• Should take blur free and good pictures
• Should have a good memory for storage
• Must have an attractive and classy look

After much research, I settled with the handset “Moto E (2nd Generation)” from the brand Motorola. It has been more than a week since I am using the Moto E (2nd Gen) and here’s what I love about my smartphone:

Firstly, the reason behind buying a Motorola phone is that, my very first handset was from the same brand and it was a good phone in terms of performance and looked classy. I have used my first Motorola set for almost 3 years in a row without any problem so naturally I had high hopes from Moto E (2nd Gen) too. Secondly, the phone suits my budget. At Rs. 6999/- only, this phone is a real steal! Being a blogger, I have to stay connected to people on different social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. This phone has 8Gb internal storage and 32Gb expandable memory, which let me download loads of apps without any problem. I can switch apps without lag and its super fast 3g connectivity ensures that I do not miss a single notification.

Whenever I get bored, I simply plug in my earphones and listen to my favourite songs or play games. This phone offers me amazing sound clarity and awesome graphics so that I can get the best sound and playing experience. It has an amazing battery life that lasts the whole day. So when I am travelling, I do not have to worry about running out of charge even when I am using GPS for directions.

Being a beauty blogger, I have to take a lot of pictures. Many times when I do not have my camera with me, I use my Moto E (2ndGen) camera to click pictures and it has a decent picture quality of 5 megapixels. It also has a 0.3 megapixel front camera for selfie lovers like me. I also use it as a mirror for little touch ups.

I usually mess up things when I am in a hurry but thankfully, my Moto E (2nd Gen) has water-repellant coating and Corning Gorilla Glass which protects it from damage. The anti-smudge coating on the screen keeps the fingerprints away and keeps my phone looking great. Lastly, the phone has a curved and sleek design which makes it look classy and the rounded edges makes it easy to hold. I #ChooseToStart my style statement with my Moto E (2nd Gen) smartphone.

Still stuck deciding which smart phone to buy? Go ahead and give the new Moto E (2nd Gen) a try!

This post is a part of  #ChooseToStart contest by Motorola in association with Indiblogger

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