Munni of all Trades

Award winning Lifestyle and Travel Blog by Khushboo Motihar

Random Ramblings

Win 5 Tees with PUNtastik!

The best way to celebrate our 4 year blogversary is by hosting a giveaway in association with PUNtastik, the coolest Tshirt brand there is! Have a look at some of the tees from their collection!

Giveaway, Contest 2017, Munni of all Trades
Win Tees by PUNtastik!

I love them! So how can you win a tee of your choice? Follow these simple steps!

  1. Like their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/PUNtastik/
  2. Follow them on Twitter and Instagram: https://twitter.com/PUNtastik1 and https://www.instagram.com/puntastik/
  3. Share the image of your favourite pun from their Tshirt collection on Facebook, invite 3 friends to participate in the contest and tag both PUNtastik and Munniofalltrades so we can track your entries. Please use #SummerWithPUNtastik #PUNtastikFun and #Munniofalltrades.
  4. Don’t forget to leave the link to your entries in the comments section

We will announce a winner every 3 days for the next 15 days. So 5 winners in all.

Duration: 27th May to 11th June 2017

Kindly note that this contest is open to Indian Residents only and all the prizes will be shipped by PUNtastik. All the best guys!

Millenials, it’s time we voted!

 
“I would like to vote, I just don’t know who the right candidate is”
“I have an Aadhar card, a PAN card and even a passport. What do I need a voter id for? I don’t want to vote!”
“I don’t even what ward I am from and getting information is so complicated!”
I have heard and have even said variations of these statements at some or the other point of my life. But guys, the state election commission is listening to us and it has started taking steps be youth centric, transparent and accessible to all. They want to reach out and connect with us, to ensure that the elections witness a large and informed voter turnout as compared to the past; and has given us the power to ensure that the elections are fought freely.

In the past 1 year, they have launched 3 different apps that would be useful for the tech savvy millenials like you and me to understand the electoral process.

The FAQ App
 
 
The innovation that I find to be the most useful is their mobile app which contains  answers to almost 2500 FAQ’s on local body elections and the various Acts associated with. You could download the app here to get all your questions answered: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crystalhitech.faq
True Voter App
 
Along with FAQ’s the SEC has come up with the ‘True Voter’ app which serves the State Election Commission of Maharashtra through its key functionality of enabling a person to search for the name of the voter in voter list assembly wise, local body wise from voter list database and to keep the search result offline as internet connectivity is always the problem in remote area
The top 5 features of the True Voter app according to me are:
 
  •        Voter’s List Search showing his Assembly, Part, Serial, Local Body Ward, Polling Booth and Booth Address
  •        Navigation via Google maps to the Polling Booth
  •        KYC (Know Your Candidates): To get profile of contesting candidates
  •        Voter’s Voice: To share expectation & problem of ward with the contesting candidate’s
  •        To get the election results

The CoP App
 
We have heard of political parties using unfair means to woo voters like giving out cash payments to gifts to people in their locality. Some candidates don’t stop at anything. While the election staff cannot be present everywhere to monitor these unlawful activities, vigilant citizens like you and me can instantly capture the wrongful activities of candidates and upload the image. The app will forward the image and details to all the officers within 2 km radius of the coordinates of the complainant and the site to ensure that the the necessary action is taken.
The MSEC has not stopped with their app launches; they have deiced to reach out to voters using social media and I am proud to say that Maharashtra has their Election Commission’s presence on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Youtube!
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maharashtrasec/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaharashtraSEC/

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/maharashtrasec
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBecPYpVQ_1P8-ZqMUlGA1w
The MSEC has done its bit to get us to vote. It is high time you and I did the same. Don’t you agree?
Share your thoughts on the innovations by MSEC with me below.

My Journey with Vada Pav: Book Review

Have you ever given the humble vada pav its due importance? It is a snack that is ready in minutes, it is mouth wateringly delicious and you can have it on the go. I must have had a million vada pavs in my lifetime yet I never paused to give it much importance. But there was one man, who saw its potential and who wanted to make the vada pav eating experience for millions of consumers more hygienic and tasty. My Journey with Vada Pav is a story one such man.

Venkatesh Iyer begins with taking you through the experience of eating a vada pav. He describes the fluffiness of the pav, the crackling hot vadas or golis and the teekha and meetha chutney that we all so love. The book contains quotes, Bollywood references, excerpts from the book that the author has read, personal anecdotes and they are all put together to explain Mr Iyer’s thought process.

My Journey with Vada Pav lives up to its name and takes you an actual trip down the memory lane filled with wild dreams, hopes, aspirations, fun, laughter and sometimes tears and anger. It takes you though the nuances of the food industry, the frustrations that a young company and its employees can go through when things are not going their way, how friends can up with some brilliant ideas (case in point: Goli Vada Pav’s famous tagline of being Vada Pav No. 1) and how things start going your way if you persist and work hard enough.  

This book also a great way to understand the pulse of the company as each and every reason for taking a particular step is described beautifully. Venkatesh takes us through his reasons for expanding in Marathwada, coming up for newer variants for the North and the South, supplementing the Vada Pav with additional region specific snacks and so on. When he describes a particular situation you start understanding how it really was to be his in shoes back in the day.
An interesting aspect of this book is the little nuggets of words of wisdom that are written at the corner of each page.  The book is well written on the whole but at some point of time, I felt that the continuous Bollywood references and use of quotations increased the length of the book unnecessarily. In certain parts, the book is too verbose but then it manages to get on track towards the end. Tighter editing would have made it a breezier read.
Overall, My Journey with Vada Pav has its heart in the right place and is a good book to read as you sip on some chai and grab a bite of Mumba’s favourite snack of course! J 

Oriflame is my Santa Giveaway

Heya everybody,
My secret ambition in life is to be Santa Claus and spread joy and cheer by gifting people the things they love the most. Oriflame decided to aid my little dream and the both us are going to be Santa’s for 4 lucky winners!
What will we gift you? Check the contest image below to know the contents of the hampers!
Yep, a lipstick, a nail polish and 1 eye liner in each hamper!

Let’s get to know the rules!
Mandatory rules
1. Complete this sentence, “Oriflame is my Santa because….” In 20 words or less on the social media platform of your choice and tag Munniofalltrades and Oriflame so that we can read your entries
2. Like and Follow on Facebook :
https://www.facebook.com/oriflamein/
https://www.facebook.com/munniofalltrades/
3. Follow on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/kbmotihar
https://twitter.com/Oriflame_India
4. Follow on Instagram:
http://instagram.com/munniofalltrades/
https://www.instagram.com/oriflameindia/
5. Share this contest with contest picture on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram tagging at least five friends and use the hashtag #OriflameIsMySanta and #Munniofalltrades across platforms. It will help us track your entries!
6. Leave comments on any blog post of your choice. Remember, the more you comment, the better are your chances of winning!
7. Don’t forget to comment below with your entry details J
The contest will run from 4thDecember to 18th December 2016 and is valid for Indian residents only. Oriflame will be dispatching the hampers to the winners!
All the best 😀

Winners
 
Kashifa
Ghazala
Hansa
Aishwarya

The ABC of Life Insurance

The relationship between a life insurance institution and an individual is more than just a customer-agent association. It is a caring bond of friendship for life where one is kept informed, prepared, and secured in times when you most need it. Putting my trust in a company is probably one of the most difficult decisions that I have ever made. To ensure that I have a bright and secure future, I came up with a simple 3 step process which helped me choose wisely. Hope you find it useful, too.

Step A: Analyzing your needs
I am 24 years old now and live a fairly carefree life. But what about the future? I want to have a financially secure future and it is essential that I analyze my risks and calculate how much life cover might be necessary thus helping to build on a comprehensive financial plan for my and my family’s future. My family’s needs will be based on the number of dependents that I have, the standard of living I want them to have, the money required to fulfill immediate obligations (eg: loans) and so on.
Step B: Basics are a must
In order to trust your insurance company implicitly it is extremely important that all the information pertaining to your investment is easily available in the public domain. A good Life Insurance service is one that informs you of your Duties towards a plan as much as it emphasizes on the rights that you have against it.
You shouldn’t have to search for important information at times when most necessary; it should be readily available. At the same time, you as an informed customer should always read the fine print to avoid any nasty surprises in the future.
Step C: Calculating the Cost for Life Insurance
The cost of your life insurance depends on 3 main factors; your age, your health and the death benefit you want to leave for your loved ones. While arriving at this figure, also understand that Life Insurance is a long term commitment and there are a number of factors in the future that can possibly effect it. One rule that I find useful is that roughly the size of your life insurance should be at least 10 times the amount of your current annual salary.
I hope you found the ABC of life insurance useful. Always remember to weigh all the options available in front of you, study all the policies carefully and make an informed decision.