B Louder August 2017

don’t be just loud

BLOUDER

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BLOUDER

CONTENTS 12 PUBLIC INTEREST 11 Youth Unemployment: A Basis of Crime Long duration of unemployment has been associated with the deterioration in one's sense of well-being and all health problems.

FEATURED

12 Siddharth Gothwal I like to wear everything I have and make fashion out of it.

ON THE COVER MODEL: AMARDEEP PHOGAT Twenty years old, Amardeep Phogat is an actor who grew up in Charkhi Dadri, Haryana.

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BLOUDER ART

LIFESTYLE

16 Armaan Shaikh Nineteen year old artist from Maharashtra.

20 Mandy Moore's Advice to Pursuing Life Goals "Growing up, music was a passion of mine which opened the door to my acting career"

18 Nitya Iyer Thirty one year old artist from Mumbai.

We Hear You! Write to us at bloudermagazine@gmail.com

BLOUDER

CONTENTS CLICK OUT LOUDER 22 Harpreet Batish “Photography is a pure art, it runs through my veins.”

28 BHEALTHIER

28 Fighting the Morning Clock? 9 no-fail Ways to Get Out the Door on Time The race against the clock at the start of the day is a common problem. Mornings shouldn't be difficult and certainly not something you dread.

Conquering Your Mess When your home is filled with clutter, trying to tackle a mountain of stuff can be quite over-whelming.

34 How to Create a Minimalist Home It’s hard to clean a whole bunch of objects, or to sweep or vacuum around a bunch of furniture. The more stuff you have, the more you have to keep clean, and the more complicated it is to clean around the stuff.

BLOUDER FITNESS

36 Arish Ghaswala Brand ambassador of Gen X Sports Nutrition 57 Goddess of Dawn A poem by Jompy Deo 39 The Simple Fitness Rules Health and fitness are usually made to seem 58 Secrets As Legacy too complex.

Excerpts from Jaskaran S. Dhillon’s debut novel, a mystery thriller.

40 Gym Freak: Hitesh Tekwani “I felt nothing but as the time passed I am 60 Deathless Deaths getting more and more addicted.”

A poem by Paras

29 The Compassionate Way to Health & Fitness BLOUDER EXCLUSIVES We can just stop striving. Just find joy in this 42 The Making of Amardeep Phogat present moment, without needing the crutch He is currently shooting for his debut Hindi of our fantasies. movie, Ek Kahani, as a lead.

30 5 Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower 48 Suneha Chaudhary One of the problems in our daily lives is that “Determination and Hard Work are My many of us rush through the day, with no Strengths” time for anything… and when we have time to get a bite to eat, we gobble it down.

BLOUDER LITERARY

House TO Home

32 18 Five-Minute Decluttering Tips to Start

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52 Forever A short story by Ankita Bhattacharjee.

STYLE OUT LOUDER 62 60-plus? Smart Fashion Tips to Keep You Looking Stylish & Fabulous "Reaching a certain age doesn't mean you have to give up your love of fashion, or that you can't be stylish."

63 Mr. India 2016: Paramvir Singh Cheema “I have always given preference to my studies and just completed my Law this year. Now I am concentrating on my Acting.”

53 The Success Mantra How do people actually succeed? How do they emerge from nothing and passionately achieve everything they want? What is the magic which only a few people are able to do in their lives?

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54 Jompy Deo “The silent dusks and loneliness was my answer to notions erupted then, and I took the help of words to portray them.”

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VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED IN THE ARTICLES ARE OF THE AUTHORS/SUBJECTS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THOSE OF THE EDITORS OR PUBLISHERS. WHILE THE EDITORS DO THEIR UTMOST TO VERIFY INFORMATION PUBLISHED, THEY DO NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR ITS ABSOLUTE ACCURACY. BLOUDER TAKES NO RESPONSIVITY FOR UNSOLICITED PHOTOGRAPHS OR MATERIAL. IN MATTERS WHICH MAY BE SUB JUDICE, BLOUDER TAKES NO LEGAL STAND. BLOUDER CAN NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR PRODUCTS, PRODUCT INFORMATION, PICTURES, ILLUSTRATIONS, ETC.

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When You're All Set for the New Beginning

Welcome to the first issue of B LOUDER, a digital magazine especially designed for people who might never consider picking up any magazine in their entire life. I know what you are thinking, there are millions of magazines out there, why to read B LOUDER. The answer is very simple.

The magazine is focusing on you. There are different categories focusing on your needs.

Once my microbiology teacher, Mrs. Jyotsna Khanna, told me, “This is a world of microorganisms.” Well, I’m not good at microbiology but I know this is a world of talented microorganisms that are inside us. So they make us talented. I believe if you have talent don’t hide it. Let the whole world of microorganisms see it.

In the first issue, we connected with people who have talent and they have achieved something or they are on their way of success. We wanted to know them better. They have shared their success stories with us which are really inspirational. Inside you’ll find a mixture of features on art, photography and literary, and a wide range of articles on health, fitness, fashion and home improvement related topics.

I would like to take a moment to thank everyone who contributed in the process. I hope you enjoy this first issue and do let us know if there are any other topics you’d like to see covered in the future.

JASKARAN S. DHILLON EDITOR Paramvir Singh Cheema

Suneha Choudhary

DON’T SPEAK

BY ABDULLAH SHAMSI To be silent and listen with great attention is the most appropriate thing to do in this world where everyone wants to speak their heart out

PUBLIC INTEREST

Youth Unemployment: A Basis of Crime

By Khushboo Shimran and Ravi Kumar

Y

outh unemployment is one of the most crucial challenges the world is facing today. Youth devise almost half of the world’s unemployed.

Youth unemployment is the unemployment of young people. Unemployment means a person willing to work but unable to find a qualified job. Many graduates, doctors, engineers and scientist are unemployed or working underemployed. Even the apprehension of unemployment has been associated with feelings of hopelessness, low self-esteem, emotional problems and delinquency among young people. Long duration of unemployment has been associated with the deterioration in one's sense of well-being and all health problems.

The problem of unemployment also gives rise to the problem of poverty which provides a better measure of the number of crimes. For the livelihood youth engage themselves in armed or violent robberies, burglaries, car or motorbike thefts, thefts of objects from cars, shoplifting, pick-pocketing, receiving stolen goods, homicides, voluntary wounds, blackmails, threats, sex offences, family offences, drug offences, damage to vehicle, illegal weapon ownership.

The problem of unemployment is rising but still many industries are facing the problem of skilled candidate for their company. There is a boom of NGOs, companies, government and non government sectors etc., but still youth fac-

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Inability for youth people to find jobs, Inability for employers to hire the skills they need, Mismatch between the skills students learn in the education system and those required in the workplace, Youth are entering work on a part-time basis during tertiary education, Loss of talent and divergent thinking, creativity and innovation, Lack of access to resources like land and capital, Lack of focus by the existing programs on the informal sector and agriculture, Overemphasis on experience, Lack of apprenticeship schemes, Negative attitudes by the youth towards work especially in agriculture, Lack of a comprehensive employment policy and negative cultural attitudes such as gender discrimination, Lack of decent work, The rigid education system, Limited social networks, The rising population problem creates the unemployment, Inflation, Low wages or salary below the market rate, The disappearance of teenage career structures, Recession, Slow business expansion, Advanced Technology, The development of temporary forms of work such as internships, seasonal jobs and short term contracts, Rural-urban migration, societal and cultural aspect.

well as physically. They accept suicide as the last option of their life. Such behavior may also be related to other factors such as frustration, depression, helplessness, boredom and social isolation and do anything in order to live. They lose their relationships and lead miserable lives. Many of the unemployed youth go even farther. They become criminals and then cause trouble for the families of the kidnapped by demanding a ransom. Therefore youth must be educate and created with entrepreneurial skills. Everyone should motivate to take the course as per interest and which will bright future. They should learn new knowledge preparing for economy recovery.

Parents should recognize regarding employment notifications that is crucial in encouraging the ongoing support with regard to future.

They must promote entrepreneurship instead job security because youth is about facing challenges and not living secured life so make youth confident that they can fight recession problem. At university or college level professional training should be enhanced, updated and extended so that most youth get employed in any sectors.

Some Key Points for Possible Solutions 

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ing the problem of unemployment. There are multiple and complex causes behind youth unemployment.

Causes of Youth Unemployment 

Lack of sufficient experience, quality, skill and education,

The pattern of criminal activity by the young adult group is different to that of the younger age group. They can’t get a job because some are just different, may be they were not well presented and don’t come from good families and some people look down on them and think not going to employ you. So they just turn to crime just to get rid of. Due to income crisis youth are involving in crime. The main reason youth entrust crimes associated with money making is to supplement their income or for survival. Youth involve in different criminal activity as drug dealing, shop stealing, burglary, gamble, fraud, theft, prostitution, abuse. To get rid from the unemployment stress, they accept alcohol or drugs. As the unemployed youth don’t have anything to do they start doing robbery, murder which affects mentally as

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Everyone help the youth to help themselves to make better choices and to become a better chooser.

During this period family should constructs an environment characterised as acceptance, empathy, warmth etc.

Parents should make involvement that helps the client to modify thinking styles and could also be encouraged to be innovative.

Educational institution must intensify internship or industrial attachment programs to expose the learners to the real labor market.

Rural areas should be developed to provide jobs and discourage migration to urban areas.

Avoiding the distribution of work not only in society but also between age groups and generations.

Investment must be done in training programs and work places for all young people.

Bringing together industry, government and labor unions to develop ideas for the creation of jobs at the local, national and international level by means of wage restraint.

For those young people who are unable to achieve a high level of education, suitable employment opportunities must be created.

FEATURED

SIDDHARTH GOTHWAL

FEATURED

Siddharth Gothwal, 1991, featured in Crème for Nivedita Saboo Couture and in Citadel Magazine twice for Mangaayesh Wedding Couture. He walked Lakme Fashion Week. He also walked for Code by Lifestyle brand with Farhan Akhtar, Mit Grad Show, Pune Style week, and India Luxury Style week. He was the first runner up Mr. Citadel Pune. He worked in TVC for Vio Energy Drink with Prateik Babbar. He did Magazine shoots for Urbane. He also walked for Rohit Verma, Ramesh Dembla, Vivek Karunakaran, Arshis Surya and Shantanu Nikhil.

Born to be Somebody When did you first realize that you wanted to become a model and what influenced you?

Modeling was there in me since my childhood.

Always wanted to look good and clean. With the time, my love for fashion increased more.

What does your family think about you being a model?

They are totally in support of me. They boost my confidence up.

How would you define your personal style?

I like to wear everything I have and make fashion out of it.

ment be?

First portfolio shoot will always be memorable for me. That happiness I cant forget.

Are there any actors or models that you look up to?

I look up to many. Sushant Singh Rajput is one name.

How would you define the word “Handsome”?

Its a feeling that first comes to you and then transfers to the people you interact with.

How do you prepare for a shoot?

I simply understand the requirement and then I give my 100 percent and it works.

What do you love the most about being a model?

In modeling, focus is all you and your creativity when you are before camera.

Would you ever want to get into acting?

Yes, soon in future.

What do you love to do the most when you have time off?

I love to connect with people or socialize.

What do you do apart from modeling?

I am a software engineer apart from modeling.

What do you do to stay in shape?

I work out. I eat healthy. I keep myself happy .

What’s the most memorable project that you have worked on?

Have you reached your dream assignment yet? If not, what would that dream assign-

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I am eyeing on to be a brand ambassador.

If you could travel anywhere right now, where would you want to go?

My home. I am missing it damn a lot.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

Fresh new day.

If you weren’t modeling what would you see yourself doing?

If not modeling, would be teaching the ways of living life and happiness.

What is love for you? Are you dating someone?

Love means sharing yourself. Yes, I am dating my best friend.

What are the five fun facts most people don’t know about you yet?

I am very extrovert after one or two meetings but yes I am a damn funny guy I love PJ’s I love to laugh.

What are your specific plans for the future?

Nothing is planned except putting up my very best.

art FEATURED Armaan Shaikh

N

ineteen year old, Armaan Shaikh from Aurangabad, Maharashtra, describes Art as a most important part of his life. He wants people to know him through his work of Art.

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art FEATURED Nitya Iyer

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itya Iyer, 31, lives in Mumbai. She’s having diploma in Fashion Designing. She works for Sony Pictures Network. For her, Art is a display of her creative skill or an expression of her imagination. It is a get away from her chaotic life which helps her deal with stress and the chaos around.

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LIFESTYLE

Mandy Moore's Advice to Pursuing Life Goals outside into your lunch breaks. And if you're itching to explore something new, consider traveling to a new location.

(BPT) - You hear a lot about dreams in our society these days. Companies tell you to "dream big" or "dream fearlessly." Yet no one tells you to "dream prepared." And when you get down to it, this last idea may be the most important because it's the preparation that can help you as you pursue personal goals and life adventures.

In a 2017 online survey conducted by Kelton Global and sponsored by Merck of 2,013 women ages 18 to 40, the majority listed financial stability, emotional development, relationship security and career growth as their top priorities.

Comparatively, only about 40 percent of those surveyed listed starting or growing a family as a current priority, regardless of whether or not they currently have children. When it comes to family planning, birth control can play an important role for those looking to prevent an unplanned pregnancy. However, among the 908 birth control users surveyed, more than one in four women considered their birth control options for less than 15 minutes before making a decision.

For women, adventures are different and finding balance among all their priorities can help them be more prepared to take on what's next. That's why Merck teamed with actress and singer-songwriter Mandy Moore on Her Life. Her Adventures., an educational campaign encouraging women to know their options and set priorities, including talking to their doctor about family planning and birth control, to help them feel better prepared for whatever lies ahead.

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Moore has been in the spotlight since a young age and as she has built her career, balancing her priorities has become more important than ever. "My life has been full of so many adventures and through it all, setting long-term goals and having a plan in place has helped me get to where I am today," she says. "Whether it's landing your dream job, traveling to a new country, or pursuing your education, the important thing is to plan, know your priorities and stay focused on your goals, whatever they may be."

To help prioritize your goals, Moore offers the following tips:

Find Your Passion What are you passionate about? Whatever it is, Moore recommends working it into your life as much as possible. "Growing up, music was a passion of mine which opened the door to my acting career," she says. "Now, I'm really fortunate that I get to incorporate music into my acting. Getting to this point was an adventure filled with opportunities and challenges along the way, but it was all part of my journey that helped me get to where I am today."

Bring Your Passions into Your Daily Life If you're passionate about writing, consider taking creative writing workshops or pursuing a career in editing. If you're passionate about fitness or the outdoors and you can't work in these fields, incorporate exercise or a walk

"Growing up, music was a passion of mine which opened the door to my acting career" Experience the tastes, sights and sounds of a new place - there are so many options to choose from.

Make Note of Your Current (and Long-Term) Priorities As you embark on your next life adventure whether it's with your finances, career or next big trip - don't forget about family planning. In 2011, nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States were unplanned, oftentimes due to inconsistent or incorrect use of birth control.

And it's important to remember that any woman of reproductive age can have an unplanned pregnancy; it doesn't only occur in teenagers.

"Understanding your priorities and planning can help you pursue your goals," Mandy says.

"That's why I'm excited to team up with Merck on the Her Life. Her Adventures. campaign to encourage women to think about their priorities, including family planning and birth control, and talk with their doctor to explore their options."

Visit Her Life. Her Adventures. to learn more about this campaign, find helpful information and tips on planning ahead, and join Mandy and other adventurers as they share their stories on Instagram and Facebook. To learn more about all family planning and birth control options, including reversible daily, non-daily and longer-term ones, talk to your doctor.

HARPREET BATISH

“Photography is a pure art, it runs through my veins.”

click out LOUDER Harpreet Batish

H

arpreet Batish is a twenty one

be accomplished all of a sudden at any random

year old photographer from

place. Nevertheless, I like low key photog-

Pharwahi, Barnala. His creativity is appreciable. We asked him

or office.

raphy and am always ready to take this chal-

What is your biggest strength and weakness?

lenge.

My biggest strength is my friends, who have always supported me and stood by me. Whenev-

some question about his profession.

er I am working on a new concept and need a How long have you been working in the pho-

model, they are just a call away. As for the

tography arena?

weakness I get saddened by the thought that

It’s been a little more than three years.

my dad isn’t supportive of my photography.

How did you develop an interest in photog-

If you were to give advice to a rookie about

raphy?

how to become a photographer, what would

I started experimenting with photography dur-

you say? What would you not say?

ing my graduation days. While roaming around

The first words of advice would be practice,

with my friends in college, clicking photos of

practice and more practice. I will also advice

each other, I got good vibes. And then one fine

to pursue photography only if the person feels

day, when I was trying to click a photograph of

passionate about it, not just because it’s gaining

my friend through some flowers, photography

popularity as a profession. I would not suggest

just clicked with me. I still remember that pho-

the person to purchase any specific camera or

tograph I took.

equipment; neither would I say to invest in a large amount of money. I will suggest, pushing

What equipment do you prefer to use?

the mind to be more creative and going through

I don’t prefer a lot of equipment, because good

time, purchase equipment that suits their style.

equipment doesn’t necessarily make you a good photographer. I keep things to the basic

What inspires you to be a better human be-

level with a camera (Canon 80D) and a lens

ing?

(Canon 70-200mm F4L, Canon 24mm EF 2.8

The mistakes I make in life inspire me to be a

prime lens) that’s suitable for the kind of photograph I’m going to click. If need be I use a tripod. Rest I prefer making the best use of natural light and props.

“I love the fact that my job as a photographer compels me to think of new and interesting ideas every day.”

Among the gadgets that you own, is there

better human being. I learn from my faults and try not to repeat them.

Why should people hire you as a photographer?

something that you wish you hadn’t bought?

Well, because I photograph anything and any-

Why?

one from the core of my heart, with utmost

I wish I hadn’t bought the Canon 7200mm

passion and try to create something that tells a

key photographs in natural light except for one

zoom lens. The quality of the lens wasn’t ap-

story in itself.

which I clicked in a studio during a course I

preciable. My experience with it didn’t turn out

What is your expertise as a photographer?

Well, I expertise in clicking low key photographs and portraits. I have clicked all the low

was pursuing.

be good. I feel more inclined towards using prime (wide) lens because these help me in

What kind of tools do you use for post processing? Explain your work flow.

clicking better pictures.

For post processing, I use Lightroom and Pho-

commonly faced and how did you deal with

toshop. My work flow is non- destructive i.e. I

them?

What do you enjoy the most about your job

work on multiple layers in Photoshop rather

as a photographer?

than working on a single layer. This technique

I love the fact that my job as a photographer compels me to think of new and interesting ideas every day. It doesn’t have the monotony of an office going job. Moreover, I wish a lot of people around the world know me and not just the people in and around an organization

is helpful in making changes of a specific kind

What were the challenges that you most

Since I don’t have a proper lighting set up and also the fact that I prefer using natural light, waiting for the right amount and angle of light through a window or a door, feels challenging while taking low key photographs. Also this calls for a well thought out place, and cannot

easy.

How do you educate yourself to take better pictures?

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click out LOUDER Harpreet Batish Before working on a new concept or going for a photo shoot, I review my previous works and learn from the flaws in them or from the problems I faced while working on them. I treat this as my homework before a shoot and try to implement what I have learnt from reviewing my revious works.

Among your works, which one is your favorite? Why? The low key photographs and black and white photographs I have made so far are my favorite.

It’s because these photos have a depth to them, are capable of expressing what’s unsaid. These have the power to express a story and capture a soul.

Whose work has influenced you most?

I get influenced from various works of different photographers. Getting influenced from a single photographer, we unknowingly tend to develop their taste, which keeps us from developing our own style. To name one photographer I would say I like CM Photography’s work because they too click most of their picture in natural light.

What is the one thing you wish you knew when you started taking photos?

I wish I knew composition and post processing before hand.

How do you make a picture stand out?

Composition and angle are the two major tools I use for a good picture. Also I use post processing, but not a lot of it because I don’t like too saturated pictures and want to keep the pictures as natural as possible.

What does photography mean to people?

What does it mean to you?

For me photography is a pure art, it runs through my veins. Just like any other art one develops it slowly and with passion. A lot of people feel that photography is as simple as buying a camera, clicking pictures and just photoshopping Connect with Harpreet Batish on www.facebook.com/harpreetbatishphotography

them. Just buying a professional camera doesn’t make one a photographer. People at times view photography just as a business.

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BHEALTHIER

Fighting the Morning Clock? 9 no-fail Ways to Get Out the Door on Time (BPT) - As the sun shines through the curtains, you hit the snooze button again. Suddenly you bolt up, realizing you're running late. You skip breakfast, grab your bag and rush out the door.

Stress levels skyrocket and your day has barely begun.

The race against the clock at the start of the day is a common problem. Mornings shouldn't be difficult and certainly not something you dread.

To get out the door on time and with a grin on your face, consider these nine no-fail tips.

Bedtimes aren't just for kids: A great morning starts the night before. A regular bedtime is as important for adults as it is for children. Go to bed with the goal of getting seven to nine hours of sleep, as is recommended for adults by the National Sleep Foundation.

Use the night prior to your advantage: Mornings flow smoothly when you do a lot of prep work the evening before. That means select outfits, pack bags and backpacks, and organize any paperwork before you hit the hay.

Stock the fridge for health and convenience: It's always smart to have delicious and nutritious ingredients in your fridge like fresh fruits, veggies and eggs. Eggs are especially versatile and packed with nutrition. Look for eggs with added nutritional benefits like Eggland's Best eggs. In a hurry? Try Eggland's Best HardCooked Peeled Eggs for a ready-to-eat lunch or snack.

Meal prep on Sunday: Another fridge-friendly tip is to do Sunday prep for the week. For example, chop up veggie spears or fruits and place in individual containers for easy grab-and -go snack options to pair with your hardcooked eggs.

Learn to love the alarm: Rather than just setting one alarm for waking up, try setting several to keep your morning routine on track. For example, set one for when it's time for breakfast and another as a five-minute warning for departure.

Eliminate distractions: The fewer distractions you have, the better your chances of meeting the morning clock. That means resist the urge to check your smartphone or have a rule that the TV remains off until all morning tasks are complete.

Check it and forget it: It can be highly effective to make a specific list with morning to-do's for you and your family members. As each task is complete, you get the satisfaction of marking it off your list, plus it keeps the morning moving quickly.

Adjust your attitude: A positive attitude doesn't only start your day out on the right foot, 28 BLOUDER

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it can also help you stay focused so when you're racing against the clock, you win every time (and with a smile on your face).

toppings: tortilla chips, salsa, avocado

Don't forgo breakfast: The most important meal of the day doesn't have to take a lot of time. Make-ahead breakfasts and easy recipes are your key to a delicious morning without running late.

PREPARATION

These delicious Make Ahead Breakfast Bowls will fuel your family throughout the day with superior nutrition. By choosing Eggland's Best eggs, you get six times more vitamin D, 25 percent less saturated fat, more than double the omega-3s and vitamin B12, and 10 times more vitamin E than ordinary eggs.

Make Ahead Breakfast Bowls INGREDIENTS 2 lbs Yukon gold potatoes, chopped into 1-inch cubes 1 green pepper, seeded then chopped into 1inch chunks 1 onion, chopped 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon seasoned salt salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste 12 Eggland's Best Eggs (large) 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese 3 green onions, chopped

6 individual-sized containers with lids

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. 2. On a large baking sheet, place potatoes, peppers and onions in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with seasoned salt and ground black pepper. Toss until evenly coated.

3. Roast for about 30-40 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown and tender, stirring and rotating pan halfway through cooking.

4. Meanwhile, crack Eggland's Best eggs into a large bowl, then season with salt and pepper and whisk until smooth.

5. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, then spray with nonstick spray and add eggs.

6. Scramble until the eggs are just barely cooked through and still slightly glossy, then scoop onto a plate and set aside.

7. Divide the potatoes and scrambled eggs evenly between the containers, then set aside to cool.

8. Once cool, sprinkle with cheese and green onions, then cover and refrigerate. Freeze any portions that aren't eaten within three days.

9. To reheat from frozen: microwave for 1 1/2 minutes, then stir and continue microwaving until food is reheated, stirring between intervals. Top with optional toppings, then serve.

The Compassionate Way to Health & Fitness Lots of us would like a better body, an amazing workout habit, and a diet that celebrities would die for.

OK, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but most of us definitely have an ideal when it comes to fitness. We want to be super healthy, and we strive for it. Maybe we strive and then fail and feel bad about it, but we strive.

What would it be like to not strive for these fitness goals?

What would it be like if we removed the striving, and found compassion instead?

The Problem with Striving When we strive for a fitness ideal (which is usually what we do), there are a few fundamental problems to be aware of: 1. The ideal is one we will never meet. Even if we do great at our goal, it won’t be what we pictured. For example, I ran several marathons and an ultramarathon because of ideals I had in my head, and completed them … and they weren’t at all what I pictured. They were still worthwhile, but not at all what my fantasy was.

2. You have a good likelihood of failing at some point, not meeting your ideal, and then feeling bad about yourself for failing.

3.You don’t hit the ideal right away — most ideals are several months, if not years, in the future. So for the first few days, first few weeks … you will just do the activity but not hit any ideal. This is likely not fun. You might set ideals for each day (“go for a run today!”) but even then, you’ll go for the run and it won’t be what you fantasized it would be.

4. Once you reach the goal you’re striving for, you’re not content. You just find another goal to strive for. And another. Until you’re dead, having never been satisfied.

What we don’t realize is that there’s nothing to strive for. We’re already in the perfect place: a moment that is filled with beauty and wonder, a life that is filled with untapped love and compassion, a goodness in ourselves underlying everything we do. We’re already in the ideal moment, but we take it for granted and fantasize about something else instead.

We can just stop striving. Just find joy in this present moment, without needing the crutch of our fantasies.

The Compassionate Way So if we stop striving for health and fitness ideals, does that mean we just lie on the couch, stuffing our faces with potato chips and slurping soda all day? Umm, no.

What we can do is 1. realize joy in who we are, where we are, and our intricate connection to the wonderful people all around us, and find contentment right now; and 2. in that moment of joy and contentment, we can act out of love.

What are some acts of love that we can do, in this moment of joy and appreciation for what is right here in front of us?

Appreciating the gift of our bodies, we take care of them. The

ture, and we take them for granted. We abuse them by being sedentary, taking drugs, eating junk food, not taking care of them. Instead, an act of appreciation for our bodies is to care for them. Exercise, walk, eat well, floss, meditate.

Appreciating the gift of life, we explore the outdoors. There is so

much to notice and explore, to behold with absolute wonder, that it’s a waste to be online or on our phones all day. Instead, it’s an act of love to get outside and move our beautiful bodies.

Appreciating the gift of food, we nourish our bodies. Instead of

abusing ourselves by putting junk in our bodies (just to satisfy cravings of comfort), we can find joy in the nourishment of our bodies with gorgeous, healthy, delicious food. And appreciate that the fresh food we’re feeding ourselves with is a gift, grown from the earth by people we don’t know who support our lives, a miracle not to be taken for granted.

Appreciating this moment, we meditate. This moment is filled with bril-

liance, and yet we often ignore it. Instead, we can sit and meditate, to practice paying full and loving attention. We can do yoga, moving while we meditate. We can meditate as we go for a run, lift a barbell, ride a bike, swim in the ocean, walk in a sunny park.

There is no need for striving for fitness and health ideals. Instead, we can let go of those ideals and appreciate what’s right in front of us.

And in gratitude, act with love and compassion to take care of ourselves and pay attention to the moment we’re in.

bodies we have are incredible, wonders of na-

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BHEALTHIER

5 Powerful Reasons to Eat Slower

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ne of the problems in our daily lives is that many of us rush through the day, with no time for anything … and when we have time to get a bite to eat, we gobble it down.

That leads to stressful, unhealthy living. And with the simple but powerful act of eating slower, we can begin to reverse that lifestyle immediately. How hard is it? You take smaller bites, you chew each bite slower and longer, and you enjoy your meal longer. It takes a few minutes extra each meal, and yet it can have profound effects.

if it goes by too quickly. In fact, I think it’s fine to eat sinful foods, if you eat a small amount slowly. Think about it: you want to eat sinful foods (desserts, fried foods, pizza, etc.) because they taste good. But if you eat them fast, what’s the point? If you eat them slowly, you can get the same amount of great taste, but with less going into your stomach. That’s math that works for me. And that argument aside, I think you are just happier by tasting great food and enjoying it fully, by eating slowly. Make your meals a gastronomic pleasure, not a thing you do rushed, between stressful events.

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Better digestion. If you eat slower, you’ll chew your food better, which leads to better digestion. Digestion actually starts in the mouth, so the more work you do up there, the less you’ll have to do in your stomach. This can help lead to fewer digestive problems.

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There are some reasons you should consider the simple act of eating slower: Lose weight. A growing number of studies confirm that just by eating slower, you’ll consume fewer calories — in fact, enough to lose 20 pounds a year without doing anything different or eating anything different. The reason is that it takes about 20 minutes for our brains to register that we’re full. If we eat fast, we can continue eating past the point where we’re full. If we eat slowly, we have time to realize we’re full, and stop on time. Now, I would still recommend that you eat healthier foods, but if you’re looking to lose weight, eating slowly should be a part of your new lifestyle.

Enjoy your food. This reason is just as powerful, in my opinion. It’s hard to enjoy your food 1.

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Less stress. Eating slowly, and paying attention to our eating, can be a great form of mindfulness exercise. Be in the moment, rather than rushing through a meal thinking about what you need to do next. When you eat, you should eat. This kind of mindfulness, I believe, will lead to a less stressful life, and long-term happiness. Give it a try.

Rebel against fast food and fast life. Our hectic, fast-paced, stressful, chaotic lives — the Fast Life — leads to eating Fast Food, and eating it quickly. This is a lifestyle that is dehu-

manizing us, making us unhealthy, stressed out, and unhappy. We rush through our day, doing one mindless task after another, without taking the time to live life, to enjoy life, to relate to each other, to be human. That’s not a good thing in my book. Instead, rebel against that entire lifestyle and philosophy … with the small act of eating slower. Don’t eat Fast Food. Eat at a good restaurant, or better yet, cook your own food and enjoy it fully. Taste life itself.

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HOUSE HOME

18 Five-Minute Decluttering Tips to Start Conquering Your Mess When your home is filled with clutter, trying to tackle a mountain of stuff can be quite overwhelming.

So here’s my advice: start with just five minutes. Baby steps are important. Sure, five minutes won’t barely make a dent in your mountain, but it’s a start. Celebrate when you’ve made that start!

school papers? Put it in the inbox. Receipts, warranties, manuals, notices, flyers? In the inbox! This one little change can really transform your paperwork.

Designate a spot for incoming papers. Papers often account for a lot of our clutter. This is because we put them in different spots — on the counter, on the table, on our desk, in a drawer, on top of our dresser, in our car. No wonder we can’t find anything! Designate an in-box tray or spot in your home (or at your office, for that matter) and don’t put down papers anywhere but that spot. Got mail? Put it in the inbox. Got

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Then take another five minutes tomorrow. And another the next day. Before you know it, you’ll have cleared a whole closet or a room and then half your house and then … who knows? Maybe before long your house will be even more uncluttered than mine. We’ll have a challenge!

For those who are overwhelmed by their clutter, here are some great ways to get started, five minutes at a time.

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board! Clear off all papers and all the other junk you’ve been tossing on the counter too.

Start clearing a starting zone. What you want to do is clear one area. This is your no-clutter zone. It can be a counter, or your kitchen table, or the three-foot perimeter around your couch.

Wherever you start, make a rule: nothing can be placed there that’s not actually in use. Everything must be put away. Once you have that clutter-free zone, keep it that way! Now, each day, slowly expand your no-clutter zone until it envelopes the whole house! Unfortunately, the neighbors don’t seem to like it when you try to expand the no-clutter zone to their house, and start hauling away their unused exercise equipment and torn underwear when they’re not at home. Some people don’t appreciate simplicity, I guess.

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Pick a shelf. Now that you’ve done a counter, try a shelf. It doesn’t matter what shelf. Could be a shelf in a closet, or on a bookshelf. Don’t tackle the whole bookshelf — just one shelf.

Clear all non-essential things and leave it looking neat and clutter-free.

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Schedule a decluttering weekend. Maybe you don’t feel like doing a huge decluttering session right now. But if you take the time to schedule it for later this month, you can clear your schedule, and if you have a family, get them involved too. The more hands pitching in, the better. Get boxes and trash bags ready, and plan a trip to a charity to drop off donated items. You might not get the entire house decluttered during the weekend, but you’ll probably make great progress.

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Clear off a counter. You want to get your house so that all flat spaces are clear of clutter.

Maybe they have a toaster on them, maybe a decorative candle, but not a lot of clutter. So start with one counter. Clear off everything possible, except maybe one or two essential things. Have a blender you haven’t used since jazzercise was all the rage? Put it in the cup-

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Pick up 5 things, and find places for them.

These should be things that you actually use, but that you just seem to put anywhere, because they don’t have good places. If you don’t know exactly where things belong, you have to designate a good spot. Take a minute to think it through — where would be a good spot? Then always put those things in those spots when

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to quickly create a new file.

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you’re done using them. Do this for everything in your home, a few things at a time.

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Spend a few minutes visualizing the room.

When I’m decluttering, I like to take a moment to take a look at a room, and think about how I want it to look. What are the most essential pieces of furniture? What doesn’t belong in the room but has just gravitated there? What is on the floor (hint: only furniture and rugs belong there) and what is on the other flat surfaces?

Once I’ve visualized how the room will look uncluttered, and figured out what is essential, I get rid of the rest.

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you’ll lose the urge to buy the stuff and you’ll save yourself a lot of money and clutter.

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Teach your kids where things belong. This only applies to the parents among us, of course, but if you teach your kids where things go, and start teaching them the habit of putting them there, you’ll go a long way to keeping your house uncluttered. Of course, they won’t learn the habit overnight, so you’ll have to be very very patient with them and just keep teaching them until they’ve got it. And better yet, set the example for them and get into the habit yourself.

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Set up some simple folders. Sometimes our papers pile up high because we don’t have good places to put them. Create some simple folders with labels for your major bills and similar paperwork. Put them in one spot. Your system doesn’t have to be complete, but keep some extra folders and labels in case you need

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Put a load in your car for charity. If you’ve decluttered a bunch of stuff, you might have a “to donate” pile that’s just taking up space in a corner of your room. Take a few minutes to box it up and put it in your trunk. Then tomorrow, drop it off.

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Create a 30-day list. The problem with decluttering is that we can declutter our butts off (don’t actually try that — it’s painful) but it just comes back because we buy more stuff. So fight that tendency by nipping it in the bud: don’t buy the stuff in the first place. Take a minute to create a 30-day list, and every time you want to buy something that’s not absolutely necessary (and no, that new Macbook Air isn’t absolutely necessary), put it on the list with the date it was added to the list. Make a rule never to buy anything (except necessities) unless they’ve been on the list for 30 days. Often

Clear out your medicine cabinet. If you don’t have one spot for medicines, create one now.

Go through everything for the outdated medicines, the stuff you’ll never use again, the dirty -looking bandages, the creams that you’ve found you’re allergic to, the ointments that never had an effect on your energy or your eye wrinkles. Simplify to the essential.

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Pull everything out of a drawer. Just take the drawer out and empty it on a table. Then sort the drawer into three piles: 1) stuff that really should go in the drawer; 2) stuff that belongs elsewhere; 3) stuff to get rid of. Clean the drawer out nice, then put the stuff in the first pile back neatly and orderly. Deal with the other piles immediately!

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Pull out some clothes you don’t wear. As you’re getting ready for work, and going through your closet for something to wear, spend a few minutes pulling out ones you haven’t worn in a few months. If they’re seasonal clothes, store them in a box. Get rid of the rest.

Do this a little at a time until your closet (and then your drawers) only contains stuff you actually wear.

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Learn to file quickly. Once you’ve created your simple filing system, you just need to learn to use it regularly. Take a handful of papers from your pile, or your inbox, and go through them one at a time, starting from the top paper and working down. Make quick decisions: trash them, file them immediately, or make a note of the action required and put them in an “action” file. Don’t put anything back on the pile, and don’t put them anywhere but in a folder (and no cheating “to be filed” folders!) or in the trash/recycling bin.

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Create a “maybe” box. Sometimes when you’re going through a pile of stuff, you know exactly what to keep (the stuff you love and use) and what to trash or donate. But then there’s the stuff you don’t use, but think you might want it or need it someday. You can’t bear to get rid of that stuff! So create a “maybe” box, and put this stuff there. Then store the box somewhere hidden, out of the way. Put a note on your calendar six months from now to look in the box. Then pull it out, six months later, and see if it’s anything you really needed. Usually, you can just dump the whole box, because you never needed that stuff.

If you’ve decluttered a bunch of stuff, you might have a “to donate” pile that’s just taking up space in a corner of your room.

Take a few minutes to box it up and put it in your trunk. Then tomorrow, drop it off.

Learn to love the uncluttered look. Once you’ve gotten an area decluttered, you should take the time to enjoy that look. It’s a lovely look. Make that your standard! Learn to hate clutter! Then catch clutter and kill it wherever it crops up.

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Have a conversation with your SO or roommate. Sometimes the problem isn’t just with us, it’s with the person or people we live with. An uncluttered home is the result of a shared philosophy of simplicity of all the people living in the house. If you take a few minutes to explain that you really want to have an uncluttered house, and that you could use their help, you can go a long way to getting to that point. Try to be persuasive and encouraging rather than nagging and negative.

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How to Create a Minimalist Home

By Leo Babauta faces are clear, except for one or two decorations. There are not a whole bunch of knick knacks, and definitely not stacks of books or papers or other items.

Accent decorations. A home completely clear of things would be a bit boring, actually. So instead of having a coffee table completely free of any objects, you could have a simple vase with a few flowers, for example. Or a clear desk might just have a family photo. An otherwise empty wall might have a tasteful piece of art (I use my dad’s artwork, as he’s a great artist).

Quality over quantity. Instead of having a lot of stuff in your home, a minimalist would choose just a few really good things he loves and uses often. A really nice table, for example, is better than 5 pieces of press-board furniture. 

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enefits of a Minimalist Home

I could probably go on for awhile about this, but let me just list a few key benefits: Less stressful. Clutter is a form of visual distraction, and everything in our vision pulls at our attention at least a little. The less clutter, the less visual stress we have. A minimalist home is calming.

More appealing. Think about photos of homes that are cluttered, and photos of minimalist homes. The ones with almost nothing in them except some beautiful furniture, some nice artwork, and a very few pretty decorations, are the ones that appeal to most of us. You can make your home more appealing by making it more minimalist.

Easier to clean. It’s hard to clean a whole bunch of objects, or to sweep or vacuum around a bunch of furniture. The more stuff you have, the more you have to keep clean, and the more complicated it is to clean around the stuff.

Think about how easy it is to clean an empty room compared to one with 50 objects in it.

That’s an extreme example, of course, as I wouldn’t recommend you have an empty room, but it’s just to illustrate the difference.

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What a Minimalist Home Looks Like

This would vary, of course, depending on your taste and how extreme of a minimalist you want to be. I am a minimalist, but not to any extreme. But here are some characteristics of a minimalist home: Minimal furniture. A minimalist room would only contain a few essential pieces of furniture.

A living room, for example, might only have a couch, another chair or love seat, a coffee table, a minimalist entertainment stand (not a huge one with a bunch of shelves), a television, and a couple of lamps. It could even contain less (couch, chairs, and coffee table, for example). A bedroom might have a simple bed (or even just a mattress), a dresser, and perhaps a night stand or book shelf.

Clear surfaces. In a minimalist home, flat sur

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How to create a Minimalist Home There are actually no set steps to making your home minimalist, except to change your philosophy and shoot for the ideas. But here are some tips that I would offer to anyone trying to shoot for minimalism: One room at a time. Unless you’re just moving into a place, it’s hard to simplify an entire house at once. Focus on one room, and let that be your center of calm. Use it to inspire you to simplify the next room, and the next. Then do the same outside!

Start with furniture. The biggest things in any room are the furniture, so you should always begin simplifying a room by looking at the furniture. The fewer pieces of furniture, the better (within reason, of course). Think of which furniture can be eliminated without sacrificing comfort and livability. Go for a few pieces of plain, simple furniture with solid, subdued colors.

Only the essentials. Whether looking at your furniture or anything else in the room, ask yourself if the item is truly essential. If you can live without it, get it out. Try to strip the room down to its essentials — you can always add a few choice items beyond the essentials later.

Clear floors. Except for the furniture, your floors should be completely clear. Nothing should clutter the floor, nothing should be stacked, nothing should be stored on the floor.

Once you’ve gotten your furniture down to the bare essentials, clear everything else on the floor — either donate it, trash it, or find a place for it out of sight.

Clear surfaces. Same thing with all flat surfaces. Don’t have anything on them, except one or two simple decorations (See Tip 9 below). Donate, trash or find an out-of-sight storage spot for everything else. It will make everything much, much more minimal-looking.

Clear walls. Some people hang all kinds of stuff on their walls. No can do in a minimalist 1.

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home. Clear your walls except for one or two simple pieces of nice artwork (see Tip 8 below).

Store stuff out of sight. This has been mentioned in the above tips, but you should store everything you need out of sight, in drawers and cabinets. Bookshelves can be used to store books or DVDs or CDs, but shouldn’t have much else except a few simple decorations (not whole collections of things).

Declutter. If you are clearing flat surfaces and the floor, and storing stuff in cabinets and drawers, you’ll probably want to declutter your storage areas too. You can do this in a later stage if you want.

Simple artwork. To keep a room from being boring, you can put a simple painting, drawing or photo, framed with a subdued, solid color, on each wall if you want. Leave some walls bare if possible.

Simple decorations. As mentioned in the above tips, one or two simple decorations can serve as accents for a minimalist room. A vase of flowers or a small potted plant are two classic examples. If the rest of your room has subdued colors, your accents could use a bright color (such as red, or yellow) to draw the eye and give a plain room a splash of energy.

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Plain window treatments. Bare windows, or simple, solid colored curtains, or simple, wooden blinds are good. Too much ornate stuff around the windows is clutter.

Plain patterns. Solid colors are best for floor coverings (if you have any), furniture, etc.

Complex patterns, such as flowers or checkers, are visual clutter.

Subdued colors. As mentioned in Tip 9 above, you can have a splash of bright color in the room, but most of the room should be more subtle colors – white is classic minimalist, but really any solid colors that don’t stress the eyes is good (earth colors come to mind, such as blues, browns, tans, greens).

Edit and eliminate. When you’ve simplified a room, you can probably do more. Give it a couple of days, then look at everything with a fresh eye. What can be eliminated? Stored out of sight? What’s not essential? You can come back to each room every few months, and sometimes you’ll discover things you can simplify even more.

Place for everything. In a minimalist house, it’s important that you find a place for everything, and remember where those places are.

Where does you blender go? Give it a spot, and stick with it. Aim for logical spots that are close to where the thing is used, to make things more efficient, but the key is to designate a spot.

Sit back, relax, and enjoy. Once you’ve simplified a room, take a moment to look around and enjoy it. It’s so peaceful and satisfying.

This is the reward for your hard work. Ahhhh.

So nice!

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ARISH GHASWALA

brand ambassador of Gen X Sports Nutrition

BLOUDER

INTERVIEW WITH ARISH GHASWALA

Hence I think every accomplishment means a whole lot to me. Making it to the Top15 athletes in India at Fit Factor, Becoming Brand Athlete and A Fitness Model as well, are most certainly the closest to my heart.

What qualities do you possess that makes you a good human being?

Humility. Being Humble is something that is highly underrated. We have enough arrogance, pain and grief around us. I don't think we want to give anyone anymore of it. Everyone is dealing in something we have no idea about. Being humble keeps you grounded! Reminds you of where you came from. And this in turn evokes kindness towards others. That’s all that matters at the end of the day.

Where did you grow up? Tell us about your family.

I was born and brought up in Bombay itself, Marine Lines to be precise. Back when I was a kid I lived in a joint family.

How would you define yourself as a person?

I came to realise as I matured that I'm more of a straight forward person. I began to realise the importance of work ethic and time, as I grew up. I resent beating around the bush when it comes to anything in life. It’s a waste of time for you and everyone else around you. I believe in doing something to the very end or not doing it at all. Doing anything half-hearted is again a waste of time.

How was your college experience?

My years in junior college were really good. I met some amazingly humble people who stuck around for a pretty long time. Degree college was when I came across some not that great yet diverse people. That's when I realized I don't really fit in. My thinking and aspirations were a bit different even then. Yet I had a few counted good people I held close to my heart and went through with those three years What attracted you to begin a career as a fitness trainer and a model? Why do you feel this is the ideal profession for you?

I literally did not expect any of this. I joined a gym in my last year of degree college, literally as a means to cope with a few things. However, as I said , I took it seriously. I had a dietician at the gym who made me a diet from the very start and I followed it religiously and before I knew it, I began seeing some serious results. Seeing this only gave me boost to do even better. A year passed by and I had put a decent physique together, is when I realized I had to get myself a certification and take things to the next level.

Knowledge is power! Two years into training I came across a mentor and now co-athlete Mazher Hamlani who’s guidance guided me to my debut on the Muscle Mania 2016 stage in the Men’s Physique category, which was also my debut into the Fitness Industry. I later went on to play Navodit Mumbai Shree as well as Body Power Fit Factor in which I managed to pull into the Top 15 Men’s Physique athletes all over India. I saw things coming together and closer. Right after the competitions, I began getting approached for shoots via Instagram and that's how the stars aligned and things fell into space. I didn’t really know until my second year that the Fitness industry even existed or was this big.

How many hours a week do you spend working out?

My workouts are a no compromise zone. I take all the time I need, to feel I’ve worked the body or particular muscle groups well enough.

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fitness Arish Ghaswala

Roughly my workouts range from 2 to 3 hours per workout, sometimes twice a day. 6 days a week!

Do you take supplements? If so, which brand (s) do you take?

Whey protein is a go to for any athlete and likewise for me. It makes life easier when we run short of time. Besides that, my stack would generally consist of L-Carnitine, A fat burner or green tea extract and Bcaa's if I have a lot of cardio going for me. I have used a few brands in the past but currently I stick to Gen X sports Nutrition. They have a fabulous line up of Supplements with great results.

Where did you get certified as a professional fitness trainer?

I did my certification from the Golds Gym Fitness Institute itself but I'm soon looking do an International certification from India or maybe abroad.

What is it feels like to be a brand ambassador of Gen X Sports Nutrition?

It feels great when any Brand thinks you are capable to be part of their company. I also did not expect it at this age which only makes the experience even sweeter.

From a professional context, what do you feel your greatest weakness is?

From a professional context there are a lot of setbacks to this field which turn into weaknesses. The biggest being the exposure of this field in this very country. It takes a lot to get going in this field in India. The second would be a topic I would not even want to address. I'm a natural athlete for those who know what it means and I would most certainly be keeping it that way for a while! I know I would probably get a lot of slack for this statement as its hard for most people to accept or digest but that would only be their problem and not mine. This most certainly dose turn into a setback in the competitive sphere for me.

Talk us through some of your biggest achievements. Why were these memorable to you, and how did you achieve them?

I personally think life should have goals. One after another! One bigger than the previous.

“I began to realise the importance of work ethic and time, as I grew up.”

Have you ever fallen in love? Are you in a relationship right now or single?

Yes most certainly been in love and some of the credit of what I am today would go to those relationships. Currently I am single, by choice and would keep it that way for a while.

What’s your strongest memory of your childhood?

Hahaha… none really in particular. I have too many for that matter so mentioning any would be an injustice to others!

What’s your scariest experience?

Loosing Mom or Dad in a supermart as a kid.

What is the bad habit that no one knows about you?

Overanalysing! Overthinking! I do these way too much. I seek perfection in most things I do and hence these traits, but sometimes I do realise them working against me than in my favor.

What is your dream project?

Myself, my life and my career.

How would you manage a stressful or difficult situation at work?

With the field I work in, there rarely ever is a stressful situation but I think I'm pretty calm and level headed at handling situations in general.

Focus on your career aspirations. Ten years from now, where do you see yourself?

Ten years from now most certainly somewhere abroad with my own business hopefully more like an empire in the fitness industry!

How can you inspire people to eat healthy?

I think the inspiration should lie within them. If you don't like what you see in the mirror that should be motivation enough. If that isn't I don't know what is!

Connect with Arish Ghaswala on Instagram @arishghaswala

The Simple Fitness Rules Health and fitness are usually made to seem too complex.

If you read a lot of fitness magazines and blogs (as I often do), you’re told a confusing variety of complex advice. It makes your head spin.

You’re told that eggs, butter and meat are bad for you. Then another crowd will tell you those same things are actually good. Then you’ll hear running is good for you, and the bodybuilding and primal crowds will scoff at longer-distance running. You’ll hear that lifting weights is the best way to get into shape, and others will laugh at that. You’ll hear a million variations of the best workouts, of when to time your nutrition, of how to periodize your workouts, of how to measure fitness, of what supplements you need to take … ad naseum.

It’s enough to make you want to give up.

Fortunately, fitness doesn’t have to be that complex.

In fact, you can boil it down to two simple rules: Get your body moving on a regular basis; and Eat a moderate amount of real, whole foods (with occasional indulgences).

I believe if you stuck to those two rules, and stuck with them for awhile, you’d get fit. Doing one but not the other will result in an improvement in health for many people (not all), but it would be an incomplete health. Do both most days of the week and you’re on your way to health and fitness.

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But what about specific macronutrient ratios (fancy way of saying the breakdown of protein, carbs and fats)? What about meal frequency and timing? What about workout frequency, splits, timing, reps, and more? You could add all these types of rules and many more, but the truth is, all

the complexities are usually a way of masking some simple truths: if you want to lose fat or weight, you have to have a calorie deficit, and if you want to build muscle, you’ve got to use exercise to get stronger. The other stuff is mostly guesswork, and while these complicated programs probably work, they usually work because they promote one or more of the principles in this post, not because of their complexities.

The two rules above are all you need … however, most of us need a little more detail, so here’s a more complete set of simple fitness rules. As always, remember that 1) I’m not an expert — this is just stuff that’s worked for me; 2) this is for healthy adults — people with health problems should seek the advice of professionals.

1.Get moving. Try to do some kind of physical activity most days of the week (4 or more days if possible). If you have an aversion to exercise, don’t think of it as exercise. Just think of it as a way to get your body moving in some fun way.

It can be dance, yardwork, hiking, a nature walk, a swim, basketball, rugby, cycling, even housework if you do it vigorously enough. And it doesn’t have to be the same thing each day. I recommend, just for the sake of simplicity, that you do find a regular time slot you could do your daily activity, most days of the week. I prefer mornings but others enjoy lunchtime or after work.

2. Enjoy yourself. Whatever activity you choose, it has to be fun. If you don’t like it, move on to something else. Focus on the fun part, not the hard part. Or learn, as I have, to enjoy the hard stuff! Again, make it fun, or you won’t keep it up for very long. To make sure it’s not too hard, start easy. Focus on just getting moving and enjoying

the activity. Start small, and build up with baby steps.

3. Slowly add intensity. Once you’ve been doing an activity for a little while, and you’re in decent shape, it’s good to add some intensity. But slowly — if you add intensity too quickly you’ll risk injury or burnout. So let’s say you’ve been doing some walking for a couple months — you should be ready to add a little jogging or fast-paced walking, in small little intervals. If you’ve been running, try some faster-paced intervals (take it easy at first) or hill workouts. If you’ve been strength training, be sure to add weights (safely) or decrease rest time or add more reps or sets. If you’re playing a sport, really speed things up, or focus on explosive movements. Intensity is a great way to get yourself in shape and have an effective workout in only 20-30 minutes. Here’s a great way to do bodyweight exercises with intensity: do a circuit of bodyweight exercises (such as pushups, pullups, squats, burpees, Hindu pushups, lunges or others) and do as many circuits as you can in 10 or 15 minutes. Next workout, see if you can do more circuits. It’s great!

4. Minimal equipment. There are a million different exercise gadgets out there, from ab machines to elliptical trainers to a whole slew of weight machines at the gym. My rule is: keep it simple. You can do amazing things with bodyweight exercises — in fact, if you are a relative beginner, you should start with bodyweight exercises for at least 6 months before progressing to weights. You don’t need cardio machines — just go outside and walk, run, bike, do hills, climb stairs, sprint. Even if you do weights, a barbell or dumbbells are all you need — stay away from the machines that work your body at angles it’s not meant to use (although cable 39 BLOUDER

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machines aren’t bad). Even better, get outside and do sprints, pushups, jump over things, pick up big rocks and throw them, do pullups from a tree, climb up rocks, swim, do a crabwalk or monkeywalk, take a sledgehammer or pick and slam it into the ground, flip tractor tires, and generally get a great workout with very little equipment.

5. Just a few exercises. Bodybuilding routines will have you doing 3-4 different exercises per body part. That’s too complicated for most people. Keep it simple in the weight room: squats, deadlifts, presses, chinups or pullups, rows. You can do a lot with just those lifts. Of course, you’ll want to mix it up eventually with some variations, but no need for 10 different ab exercises or things that focus on your rear deltoids or use swiss balls. If you’re doing bodyweight exercises, I love things like pushups, burpees, squats, lunges, pullups, dips, planks. Pick a few and do some circuits with little rest.

6. Eat real foods. One of the most important rules on this list, because if you don’t eat right (most of the time), it doesn’t matter how much exercise you do — you’ll get fat and unhealthy. Aim for real, whole foods that are as close to their natural state as possible. That means stay away from processed, refined, fatty, sugary foods. Veggies, fruits, lean meats, dairy, nuts, beans, whole grains, eggs, seeds.

Prepare them yourself if possible — convenience foods often have added ingredients, as well as extra salt, fat, sugar and preservatives. If you follow this diet — with the plant foods making the bulk of the diet — it’s hard to go wrong.

7. Eat less. Most people eat too much, and eventually it shows up as fat. To lose that fat, we need to eat less — it’s really that simple.

Of course, if you eat the real foods mentioned above, you’ll probably consume fewer calories, but even so, it’s smart to reduce how much you eat overall, at least until you reach a healthy level of body fat (and even then, you shouldn’t let it all go). One way to do that is by eating slowly and mindfully until you’re just satiated (not stuffed). Another way is to eat smaller meals and watch the portions. A third way, which I’ve been experimenting with lately, is intermittent fasting. However you do it, be sure to consume the real food in moderate amounts, and reduce your calorie intake if you’re looking to lose fat.

8. Give it time. This is what gets many people — they expect to see results immediately, within the first month or so, because the magazines they read make it seem so instantaneous. But real fitness rarely happens this way — it’s a process and a lifestyle change. I started out in really bad shape, really overweight, and all I did in the beginning was to quit smoking and start running. A year later, I ran a marathon and was a vegetarian — but I was still kinda fat. A year after that, I was still exercising regularly, and had made a lot of progress, but I still had a ways to go. Now, 3.5 years later, I’m in great shape — slimmer and more muscular and much healthier — but I still have a little stubborn belly fat I’m working on. I’ll get there, but I have accepted the fact that it takes time. You didn’t gain the fat overnight, and you won’t lose it that way either. Learn to enjoy the process, enjoy the activities, enjoy the healthy, real food, and you’ll get healthy and fit almost as an afterthought to this new, amazing lifestyle.

Gym Freak: Hitesh Tekwani Twenty years old, Hitesh Tekwani grew up in Ajmer, Rajasthan. He is pursuing B. Sc. from Aryan College. He is also handling his father’s business. He want to be an entrepreneur. He joined gym and started training last year.

He says, “A year ago, I started all these training. First month, I felt nothing but as the time passed I am getting more and more addicted because it gives me fame and personality, and the feeling of fitness is appreciable,”

THE

MAKING OF

Twenty years old, Amardeep Phogat is an actor who grew up in Charkhi Dadri, Haryana. He did his graduation in DAV College, Chandigarh. He got his first break in a Punjabi movie, The Youth. He has appeared in couple of TV serials, Savdhan India and Parcha Darj. He is also seen in some Punjabi shows. He is currently shooting for his debut Hindi movie, Ek Kahani, as a lead.

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exclusives Cover Guy: Amardeep Phogat

How did the acting bug bite you? How much experience do you have in this field?

Ever since my childhood, I’ve wanted to be a Good Dancer along with an Urge to Look Good Too. Whenever I watched TV, especially Actors like Hritik Roshan and Shahrukh Khan, a desire to be like them would spark in me like that's what I was born to be. So I instantly shifted to Chandigarh for my Graduation and Joined theatre there.

I got my first break after 3 years of theatre in The Punjabi Movie "The Youth". Thereafter, I got to show my Modelling instincts in some Punjabi songs. I've also been a part of Awareness shows like " Saavdhan India" and currently I'm working as a Lead Actor in My Debut Hindi Movie " Ek Kahani"

acting with People on Social Media which helps me keep up with My Transparency with them.

In case there's still something unknown, it’s because it's meant to be that way.

What kind of role you want to do the most?

I'm Really Looking Forward to Challenging Roles. Roles that contradict my own personality, Roles that drag me to the Extreme of My Expressions & Emotions and Roles that I can justify to my Audience.

Who is your role model or ideal in acting industry?

I'm a Huge Fan of Hritik Roshan's Hard Work and Shahrukh Khan's acting. I consider them both My Role Models. I always Look Upto them.

How long have you been an actor? From where did you get started?

After 3 years of Theatre, I’ve worked as an Actor and Model over the Last two years with debut in a Movie in 2014.

INTERVIEW WITH AMARDEEP PHOGAT

How was your first audition experience?

I still remember my first audition in 2013. I was so nervous that I got completely blank before the camera. I forgot all the dialogues and came back without even getting auditioned.

What are your best qualities as an actor?

Technically, My strong points are my dancing and physical capability to perform any stunt.

Apart from this, An Actor inspires many people so I Always Keep Myself Fit.

How has life changed after entering into Bollywood?

The more I work, the more the people expect and the more they Love me. That's what pushes me to live upto their expectations. So Bollywood has strengthened me to work harder and harder.

What are the tips to become a successful actor?

This is the Question that I can't answer right now. But surely I will, One day when I become a successful Actor. All I can Say is: To Flourish in any realm, hard work is the Key.

What do you think about yourself as a person?

I'm someone who speaks Less, Observes more and gives 100%. My Family is my Motivation and My Friends are My Lifeline.

What is the most interesting aspect of being an actor?

The Career itself allows you to be someone you’re not. To cast yourself as a Totally Different individual helps you to grow overall and you get to know different people. You're loved and appreciated.

Your acting in Sajjna music video is incredible. How was your experience? What was the greatest challenge you faced while shooting it?

Sajjna is my First video Song and Indeed a beautiful one. I felt privileged to work with such a great Team. However, I'd a hard time shooting during the two days that I had been adversely sick on.

What were your previous projects? How it influenced your life?

My Last Project "Parcha Darj" is Based on a True Story. I was taken aback by its story. I kept thinking how could one murder their own Family because to me that's what matters the most.

What projects are you currently working on?

As of Now, I'm doing a Lead Role in The Movie "Ek Kahani" directed by Yajuvinder Singh Bika.

I'm currently shooting to Wind up some final scenes for the same.

Amardeep as a person, is there a side of you which people don’t know?

Having a Straight forward Persona, There’s Hardly a Side of Me Concealed. I Keep Inter-

If you could change just one thing about the industry with the wave of a magic wand, what would it be?

I'd then use My Omnipotence to Remove the

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Casting Couch from the Industry.

Whom do you love more, your parents, friends, siblings, or yourself?

I love them all. They all mean the World to me.

What do you do when not working?

When I am not working, I prefer to Invest the time on Trips with Family & Friends. However, my fore choice is also to spend maximum time in Gym. Do you believe in love at first sight? Are you dating someone?

Absolutely, In fact I've experienced it myself.

Although Currently, I'm not seeing anyone.

India is a country of diversity. What do you think about homosexuality in India?

Well, India is a Democratic Country. Everyone gets the right to live the way they want to. In fact, we all make choices regarding the Lifestyle we want to live with. I'm Okay with Homosexuality till the Professionalism is not compromised.

What other talents do you have?

Besides Acting, I'm a Good Dancer and a Sports Person. I also work out Cross Fit Calisthenics efficiently.

How do you prepare yourself before intimate scenes?

When It Comes to Work, It’s my Responsibility to justify every scene 100%, be it intimate or funny. I mold myself as per the demand of that particular situation.

Where do you see yourself in the competition? Where do you think you will be after 10 years?

I've come from a Small Town all the way with just My Dream. I personally believe everyone

has their own struggle which is never feasible to comparison. All I've Ever Wanted is To Be Better than What I was yesterday. I want to learn to grow every moment, to perform better and To Transform into a better version of myself.

So 10 years from now, I see myself to have grown into a Man That I'm presently working to be.

What advice would you give to someone who wanted to be an actor?

For Everyone Aspiring to Be an Actor, I just exhort them to work hard On Their own Perfection. And most importantly eliminate any Negative Temptations that might've crept in. Never push down competitors, Learn to Rise with Them.

It's Always Your Hard Work and Dedication That Pays off, And in the End It Definitely Will.

Where can people find you online?

Well, though I'm unable to spend much Time on Social Media, I Try My Best to stay connected to people via Instagram and Facebook at the maximum of My Capacity.

SUNEHA CHOUDHARY

“Determination and Hard Work are My Strengths”

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Quick Takes With

SUNEHA CHOUDHARY How can you describe yourself as a person?

Down to earth.

Does your family support your career as a model?

Yes. Why did you choose to pursue a career as a model?

Nothing wrong to pursue a career which one likes, it could be anything. I believe in dignity of labor.

What are your strengths and weaknesses?

Determination and hard work are my strengths, my weakness, which I have understood is in gauging a person.

How do you handle stressful situations?

With a cool mind , sometimes taking the help of a senior.

STANDING THIS IS MY ACCOMPLISHMENT TIL DATE. What are the brands that you would love to pose for and why?

Brands! Well .... Pantaloons, ramp walk for Sabhyasachi or Satya Paul & a shoot for jewellery brand like Swarovski, Harry Winston or DeBeers because diamonds glitter more on dusky skins. And yes for gold jewellery brands like TBZ. What is the most interesting aspect of being a model?

Hard work is enjoyment.

What is the hardest thing you have ever done in your entire life?

It is to convince myself in the bad time, that the happy days aren't too far, and they weren't!

What do you think is your best feature?

My clean dusky skin, a chiselled face.

What are your goals as a model?

To be a top model on an international level.

How would you define love?

Love? OMG. I have read this word a no. of times in 'Mills & Boons'.

What are your greatest accomplishments so far?

No matter how big you accomplish, don't be satisfied with it. You don't grow. UNDER

What qualities are you looking for in your life partner?

Someone who can understand me and

exclusives Suneha Choudhary

doesn't interfere in my work, the rest follows.

What are your other talents?

I have a sweet voice, with clear diction. So why not venture as a voice over artist?

How can you describe yourself in five words?

SOMEONE YOU CAN RELY UPON. Who inspires you?

In modelling- Naomi Campbell, in acting Shabana Azmi otherwise its the nature that inspires me a lot..

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Que Sera Seraa... whatever will be will be! A verse by Longfellow- Think not of future however pleasant, let the dead past bury the dead.

Work, work in the living present with heart within & God overhead.

What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?

My umbrellas cloth was holed by a mouse, which I realized in a heavy rain.

How can you inspire someone to join modelling industry?

Watch foreign magazines like Vogue, Harper Bazar etc., Check out FTV. Where can people find you online?

Facebook that's the best place.

forever

By Ankita Bhattacharjee

It is well past midnight and here I sit, sniffing at this withered rose, which has lost all its life, in a desperate attempt to sniff out the slightest trace of you. And I’m not disheartened dear, for it still carries the familiar smell of your cologne.

It has been two years since we first met and exactly ten days less since we departed. I still remember that night at our camping site when we first met. I had noticed you throughout the day and all I could conclude was that you were a typical nerd, most of the time scribbling in that brown leatherback diary. That night, when all other group members fell asleep, I sat near the bonfire gazing at the night sky. Then all of a sudden, you came up to me and introduced yourself.

There was something different about your voice, a gravity that pulled me towards you. We kept

on talking for hours that night and by the time it was dawn, I knew you were special, different from all others.

In the next ten days, it became a routine. Every night, looking at the stars, we would talk about nothing and everything. We talked about the Sun, the Moon, the stars, the flowers and everything we could think of. We talked of our secret desires, fantasies and ourselves. We had started to know each other, more than anyone else.

I was the typical “Miss Cool” type of girl, the type only “rockstars” could match. But there you were, a quiet and gentle, soft spoken and serene poet, the stark opposite of what I had expected.

Often we would stop moving our lips and let our eyes do the talk. And you know what, I could see the stars in your eyes casting a spell on me, and funnily though, I got addicted to this magic and of course, you.

I knew you were falling in love with me. I could see in your deep blue eyes, the promises of forever and that somehow, I had become your lifeline. Your poems felt more like mirrors, rather

than a mere collection of words. On the 10th night, you proposed me. With that red rose in your hands, you uttered those magical words. I knew you were the one I had been longing for and that, we would last forever. Yes, I fell , irreversibly and irrevocably in love with you.

We were happy and this made me scared. I was a traveller. How could I confine myself in you?

I knew you could be the happy ending to my story. But I was afraid, afraid to submit my soul to you and make promises of forever. I was afraid to lose that “cool” image of me.

So I left you in your happy sleep, weaving dreams of our future together, getting visions of “forever”, only to break them into shards as soon as you woke up. Yes, I was selfish and I left you broken, apparently, for no reason.

But then, there is one truth, an everlasting one.

The truth that I love you and that you are irreplaceable.

Hopefully, you will forgive me for being such a nasty and selfish crook. Maybe someday, we will meet again. But this time, my love, I promise to be your FOREVER.

The Success Mantra

By Indira Ramanidharan President, Knowledge Tree Training Academy., Chennai.

H

ow do people actually succeed? How do they emerge from nothing and passionately achieve everything they want? What is the magic which only a few people are able to do in their lives? How did Bill Gates, who didn't even complete his university degree, own the MNC Microsoft?

How did Dhirubhai Ambani, who worked at petrol pump, get so rich?

How did Abraham Lincoln, who was stitching shoes on a platform in America, become its president? Were they the lucky picked souls? Did they not suffer? Did they not fail several times? What kept them going? Simple. All these higher souls shared a common fact. They followed something as simple as the 3 steps to success.

Ask for what you wish There is an inner voice in each of you.

It exactly knows what you want.

Spend some time with yourself and realize what you exactly want from this world. What is it you are living for? See that it is realistic (of course it should be difficult). Understand your passion and write it on a sheet of paper. Write down the answer for the simple questions: I. What do you want?

II.Why do you want?

III. How will you feel when you accomplish it? (Be very descriptive for this one) See that you answer these questions clearly, descriptively and confidently.

Believe you can

Once you have discovered what you want exactly, the next step is believing that you can. I know this is a little tough. But, train your brain to believe that you can achieve what you have aimed. Let all your nerves know that you have decided on this and you are going to achieve it. Once you have convinced your mind, body and soul, the next steps get easy. Once convinced, you have to understand research and find out a practical way to achieve what you want. Write down all the steps you need to take to get what you want. Also, have a backup plan. Life is not predictable, so you can always change your plans according to the situations. Be flexible with

the plans, not your goals.

Read what you have written - every day, every time you are free, every time you get bored or feel like giving up, take this sheet and read it to yourself. Give life to what you have written.

Act it out

Promise yourself that you will not work hard at this point. Hard work is done when you do something you don't like or you are not talented at.

But, this time you will be doing something different. You will be doing love work. You will love to work diligently; you will like what you are doing.

The path to success itself will be happy if done with passion in your soul. I know things always don't go as planned; if there is any change in your plan, re-plan your path, several times, whenever required.

Don't get upset when things don't work out. Remember that you may have to fail several times before you succeed. Failure is a major part of success - failing is important. It will teach you to be determined; it will teach you more than what success can. It will teach you what all you shouldn't do. Failure is God giving you a second chance to begin, this time more intelligently with experience.

Write down your failures and what you have learnt from them.

Write down your progress every day, every time you are free, every time you get bored or feel like giving up, take this sheet and read it to yourself.

If there are any changes in your plans write that too - keep updating your sheet.

Here is the most important point, don’t allow any negative thoughts reach your mind until you achieve what you wanted. This is very important and most of the people fail at this point.

Finally, I would like to conclude You get what you attract and the 3 easy steps to attract anything you want in life are - Wish, Believe and Act.

Jompy Deo “The silent dusks and loneliness was my answer to notions erupted then, and I took the help of words to portray them.�

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Manpreet Singh Deo. Very few readers know about this. I chose this name because it's very different from others and it's hard to forget such names.

literature? Which do you find yourself drawn to the most often?

Yes I write short stories, few word tales and proses. Romantic poetry is my favorite genre.

When did you first start writing, what made you feel the need to express yourself in this way?

Writing was my childhood passion. I am writing regional songs and poems since then but English poetry was a new sphere to me. It broadened my thoughts and gave a peculiar meaning to them. I started writing English poems in 2012 while I was doing a job in Gurgaon for an IT company.

Some poets are also active in other creative areas, what are some of you favorite nonpoetry or literature activities?

I'm fond of singing. I was known in my friends for my singing until I started posting my poems and quotes on social media. Even you can find some of my self written regional songs on my poetry page.

And yes, the need for writing felt when I was away from everyone. The silent dusks and loneliness was my answer to notions erupted then, and I took the help of words to portray them.

B

orn in 1989, Jompy Deo is a MCA graduate, an IT security professional and the owner of a firm in Chandigarh. Spending most of his childhood as a hostler in Sainik School Kapurthala as an Army aspirant, his various attempts to the defense forces failed.

He is a modern day poet whose excerpts from his poetic compilations gained him an out of the blue and a decent following on social media.

His poetry may take you to a peregrination through the eyeshot of a lover who is lost in love, lost himself and lost the beloved.

An expression of beauty and romance, a remedy for the heartbreaks to heal, a scale to measure the depth of your heart, a treat for the poetic eyes, his words may relate to you at some instances, whereas sometimes you may find that they are written only and only for you.

Jompy's great passion and love for writing gleaned from an inborn ability to frolic the array of words and present them in a poetic way, but this art was not shared until he fell in love with himself, though singing has always been his second love.

Behind the Words Life: Jompy Deo What is the name of your Poetry blog? Why did you choose this particular name?

My Instagram page is Jompy_deo I got this nick name in my graduation college.

This is not my real name but somehow it got transformed to Jompy and yes my real name is

literary Interview: Jompy Deo

What types of poems do you find yourself writing most? Do you have a recurring type?

I have written all type of poems. Being a versatile writer, I have penned my thoughts about relationships, emotions, motivation, success, nature, day to day conversations and more.

No, I do not confine my words to a particular topic but yes, I do have poetry Seasons where I post congruent poems related to the chosen topic for a pronounced time. Some of my well acknowledged poetry types are "The Until Tales", "Let's Define" and "The Unheard Conversations". Rhyming poetry, Video Stories and one/two liners are also among my favorites.

What kind of work are you most drawn to reading yourself? Do you find yourself reading work similar to your own, or completely different?

Regional poetry, fictions and love stories occupied my desk since my reading habit brewed.

I read all kind of books, be it the motivational stories, tragedies or melodramas. Reading is always a good habit and according to one article I read in Huff post, 1200 most successful people had a pastime reading habit in common.

Have you ever been published? If so where, if not do you plan to submit your work at some point?

Not yet but I'm eagerly waiting for that day. I am planning towards writing a novel these days and it's in preliminary stage.

And for the time, I can just reveal to my readers that it will be a love story.

Name the 3 poems you are most proud of writing, the ones that you personally cannot forget?

"Birthday Girl", "Story of a stone" , "A happy Grave" Do you also write short stories or pieces of

Poets tend to have favorite poets they visit often, can you suggest someone, readers might enjoy checking out?

Yes, I always appreciate work from my fellow writers community.

Some of my personal favorites are JMstormquotes, Tylerknott and Rupi Kaur. Rupi kaur is the one from whom I got inspired to post on social media.

Many poets have different methods for their writing, some write on paper and then transmit to the blog, others type their work out in word and then transfer it. What is your preferred writing method?

I don't carry pen and paper that often. I wrote most of poems on my phone because I'm always accessible to it but it's not enough. It take hours to find a relevant picture that says more than my words and imbuing both the words and picture give a final shot. A picture can say thousand words in itself and moreover if you can blend it with your thoughts, then there's no other perfect way to present.

They say that to see the world with complete honesty one should look to comedians, artists and poets, what do you think emerges naturally from your work?

The first word comes in my mind is "emotions".

You can find my work full of emotions, motivations and feelings. They erupt, permeate to your mind and adapt your circumstances so well. My readers keep on astonishing me, how their life, relations and situations changed since they started reading my work. That's the biggest achievement I have till now.

Do you have one poem that you almost did not post due to it being very personal? Did you post it after all? If so, please tell us about it.

Yes there are so many. I wrote them for my beloved but never gained the courage to publicize them on social media. We all go through ups and downs in a relation but we cannot reveal everything to our readers. Because when they read, they find us in the story. Some of them were sensual enough to be well criticized by them so I didn't post.

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All poets have several words that come up over and over again, words or sentences that they just can’t help but use in their work.

What are 3 of your absolute favorite words?

Yes it's hard to get rid of some words in your mind especially when we are writing in a rhyme. Some of them for me are "Until", "thought" and "eyes" Name your 3 favorite historic poets. What about their work are you most drawn to?

What about their work are you most inspired by?

Shiv Kumar Batalvi is a well-known regional poet. Most of his work has been transformed to soulful songs which I love to listen. His works like Peerhan da Paraga and Alvida are stupendous.

Rumi, the Persian Sufi legend, whose words can heal almost everyone. His Sufi whirling and art of verbalizing are highly personal and often confusing world of personal growth and development in a very direct fashion, have always been an abundant source of inspiration for me.

When I don't find solution to my problems, I straightaway search for his quotes.

William Wordsworth is one of them whom I get to read in my school curriculums in "The Solitary Reaper". Though at that time, it was just a part of syllabus but later on, I had an urge to know him more. He brought the age of romantic literature in poetry and being a poet in that genre, he is always among my favorites.

If you were given the opportunity to get published and do book signings anywhere you wanted, what cities or countries would definitely be on your book tour?

I will be highly obliged to my readers if they give me a chance to do so.

My favored spots would be- Delhi, Paris, Venice, New York, London, Sydney, Singapore and Amsterdam.

What style of poetry do you prefer?

(Freestyle, Rhyming, Haiku) You can find a variety of patterns in my work. I do not imprison my expressions to a certain limit. There are lot of Rhyming poetries, freestyle quotes like one/two liners and Haiku. I always bring a refreshing and a creative new season to my readers every month like the current season is a motivational ride to the road of success.

What advice do you want to give to other poets?

Everyone in this field is so creative and awesome. It's hard to judge someone's work just by one or two poems. Keep posting your work in routine, present them in a good way, praise and support our writers’ community and do not run for numbers. Likes and follows does matter but your work must be your foremost concern.

www.jompydeo.com

Goddess of Dawn

By Jompy Deo

Come to my boulevard of fate, In the rays of early dawn...

In the shade of dulcet lips, Let's walk on the dewy awns..

I swallowed your precious pearls, In the tavern of livid eyes, And the leaves that fallen down Had a tipple in your minty sighs...

In the chirp of morning birds, Where shadows have even gone, Come to my boulevard of fate, In the rays of early dawn...

In the fog of winter trees, Where silence of streams just broke, The rays on your face sun kissed, And the dew on your lashes soaked...

Wrapped in the petals of rose, My words can hardly be drawn, Come to my boulevard of fate, In the rays of early dawn...

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literary Book

Secrets As Legacy Excerpts from Jaskaran S. Dhillon’s debut novel, a mystery thriller When I arrived, the cops were already there. I saw Gabriella, who was looking fine, and went to her. “I’m glad you came,” she said, giving me a hug.

“I had to come. How are you holding up?”

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“I’m just trying not to think about him, but I’m having these nightmares. I was in the house, then I heard his scream. I ran shouting, ‘Dad,’ and trying to find him. Then I looked into the study and there he was, covered in blood. He

was pointing toward someone behind me, but every time I turned around to see who was behind me, I woke up.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be all right. Where is Jenifer?”

“Is she coming?”

“I hope I’m not disturbing you two love birds,” Detective Jones simpered.

“We are not dating; I told you before, Detective Jones,” Gabriella snapped.

“My bad … Gabriella, are you ready?”

“Yes, I am.”

“And you, Kyler, I was expecting to see you here, but I’m afraid you can’t come into the house,” Detective Jones said.

“He is coming with me. I can’t do it alone.

Please,” Gabriella requested.

“Okay, but don’t touch anything,” he told me.

“Definitely,” I replied.

We entered into the house. There were blood stains in living room. Detective Jones told us that Mr. Tyson was stabbed there in living room and the murder weapon was still missing.

Gabriella started crying, “Oh, my God, who killed my father?” She looked at Detective Jones and said, “Please find that murderer. I don’t know what you guys are doing. You don’t have even a clue. I want the name of the murderer.”

“We are investigating. I promise you we’ll find the murderer as soon as possible. Maybe he is in front of us, but we are not able to see him because we have no proof,” he said by looking at me.

“He?” I snapped.

“Or she,” he added.

Gabriella went to check all the rooms one by one and reported, “No, nothing is missing.”

“That means it’s not a case of robbery. I needed to confirm whether somebody killed your father for money,” Detective Jones said.

“Then why did someone did kill Mr. Tyson?” I asked. We went to Mr. Tyson’s room.

“If I knew the answer to that, I wouldn’t be here and neither would you.”

“What are you trying to say?” I asked.

“I meant that you wouldn’t be here comforting your friend while she’s trying to find out whether anything is missing from the house.”

“I checked everywhere, and nothing is missing. All the Cash is in the locker. Nothing is stolen, and everything is in its place,” Gabriella interrupted.

“Have you checked the entire house carefully?” he asked.

“Yes, I checked everywhere… but… the study room. How can I forget it?”

“There is a study room in the house?” he asked.

“Yes, there is a study room. There is a large painting in the living room; but actually, that is not a painting. It is a door to the study.”

We went to living room and Gabriella opened the door to the study. As we entered, we saw that there were millions of books perfectly placed, a big study table, three chairs, and a couch.

“I don’t think anybody wants to steal anything from here,” I said, “What would they steal, millions of books?”

“No, there is something. I totally forgot, but now I remember what he was pointing toward in my dreams.”

“What was it?” Detective Jones asked.

“When I was a kid, my dad showed me something. He asked me to keep it a secret. He

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told me that if he were ever killed, or if he ever disappeared, it would be because of that thing.”

I exchanged a look with Detective Jones who crossed his arms over his chest and asked, “Where is that thing now?”

“It has to be behind that painting,” she replied, pointing toward a painting hanging on the wall next to the door. When Detective Jones removed the painting, a locker appeared. He asked, “Do you know the combination?”

“No, but I can try,” she said.

Eight digit combinations were needed to open the safe. Gabriella tried dozens of combinations, but nothing worked. She also mentioned it was unbreakable. She tried some more combinations but it was useless.

“Gabriella, think … concentrate,” Detective Jones said.

“I’m trying. He probably told me. What was it he always said to me?” She thought for a while, “Yeah, ‘Don’t forget I’m with you always.’”

She then counted something on her fingers and finally shouted, “Yes, I know it has to work.”

Then she entered 46923251 and the safe opened. “Oh, my God, it worked.”

“How did you figure it out?” Detective Jones asked.

“He always told me, ‘Don’t forget I’m with you always,’ so I counted the numbers according to the first letters of each word in that phrase.”

“That was genius—now open the locker.”

She opened the locker, but it was empty. “Oh, my God, he was right. Somebody murdered him because of that thing.”

“What was it?” Detective Jones asked again.

“It was a dagger.”

“A dagger?” I asked.

Detective Jones looked at me, then asked her, “What kind of dagger?”

“It was silver-colored dagger with gold coating on its edges, and there were many crystals of different sizes embedded in it.”

“Are you talking about the Mysterious Heart?” he asked.

I looked at him with curiosity, “what is the Mysterious Heart?”

“Don’t play dumb,” he said.

“What? What do you mean?” I snapped.

“Wait a minute … please tell me, what is the Mysterious Heart?” Gabriella asked.

“It is the dagger you are talking about,” he replied.

“And how do you know that?” she asked.

“Do you know why this town is called Daggerstown?” he asked her.

“No.” “Look, Gabriella, for many centuries the people living in this town used to make daggers for wars. That was why rulers named this town as Daggerstown. A man once made a dagger with gold, silver and some precious crystals. He spent his entire life savings on that dagger because he didn’t want his next generation to die of hunger. Almost sixty years ago, someone stole that dagger. It was the heart of Daggerstown because it was very precious.

And whoever robbed that dagger was always a mystery as that thief was never caught. That’s how it got famous with the name ‘Mysterious Heart.’ But I think we have now found the thief.

It was your father.”

“No, it can’t be possible. You said that it was stolen sixty years ago, but my father was just forty-six.”

“But he had it. He did everything to hide it.

How you can explain that?”

“I don’t know, but he wasn’t a thief.”

“I’ll find it out like I just find out who killed your father.”

“What are you waiting for?” Gabriella asked, “ Why don’t you tell me who did it?”

“It was your beloved friend, Kyler J. Hendricks.”

“What? Are you kidding me?” I snapped. Gabriella looked at me and said to him, “You are insane.”

“Gabriella, do you want to know who the owner of that dagger was?”

“Who?” “It was Hendricks.”

literary Book

sleep aid in your drink.”

She cut her eyes around at me, and I said, “But I didn’t, Gabriella. I can’t believe this is happening. Please believe me. I would never—” “Hands behind your head, Kyler,” Detective Jones ordered. He wrenched out handcuffs.

“Am I under arrest?” He took a step toward me. I shouted, “You can’t arrest me! I didn’t do it! Gabriella, help me.”

She was just standing there, looking at me.

Detective Jones handcuffed me and read me my rights: “You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law.

You have the right to consult an attorney before

A man once made a dagger with gold, silver and some precious crystals. He spent his entire life savings on that dagger because he didn’t want his next generation to die of hunger. Almost sixty years ago, someone stole that dagger. It was the heart of Daggerstown because it was very precious. And whoever robbed that dagger was always a mystery as that thief was never caught. That’s how it got famous with the name ‘Mysterious Heart.’

“What?” I asked.

“Playing so dumb and confused like you didn’t know anything. You must be an actor, but now you can’t because you are going to spend your whole life behind bars. You can act there.”

“I didn’t do it,” I said. “Please believe me, Detective Jones. Why would I do … that? And how? I spent that day with Gabriella—the whole day.”

“Well, maybe not the whole day, Mr. Hendricks, because I have security footage from a parking lot at Daggerstown’s Mall that shows you driving Gabriella’s car, and Gabriella wasn’t in it.” Detective Jones paused, maybe for dramatic effect or maybe he was looking for some telltale sign of guilt in my eyes, some admission. “You left the parking lot and went somewhere and did something until you returned forty-six minutes later. That was enough time to kill Mr. Tyson and get back to the mall and join Gabriella in the theater. Must have been a boring flick because Gabriella fell asleep during the movie and never even knew you were gone. See, I knew from day one that you killed Mr. Tyson, but I was looking for the motive. Now I have one.”

He paused again until I said, “Oh—and what would that be?”

“You killed him for the Mysterious Heart.”

“No, I didn’t,” I told him. “I didn’t know anything about the Mysterious Heart.” I looked at Gabriella. “Gabriella, please believe me, I didn’t do it. I even never met Mr. Tyson.”

She looked at me and then at Detective Jones.

“He is right, sir. He never met my father, and I don’t think anybody else knew that my father had the Mysterious Heart.”

“But somehow he knew, which is why he killed your father, stole the Mysterious Heart, and returned to the theater where he knew you—his alibi—would be, fast asleep. I’m sure he gave you something or mixed something in your drink to make you fall asleep. So maybe it wasn’t the movie that put you to sleep after all.

Do you happen to remember if you left the table for any reason while the two of you were having lunch at Rock & Chinese?”

“Sure,” she said. “I just went to the ladies’ room.”

“It was the perfect opportunity to mix a little

speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future—” “I need to call my father,” I said.

He led me out of the house, pushed me into the police car, and took me to the Daggerstown police station.

I sat in the interrogation room for a few hours before Detective Jones walked in and said, “So are you ready to answer my questions?”

“No, I’m not. I need to talk to my father right now.”

He glared at me with anger in his eyes. “Do you need an attorney? We can provide you one.

But you can’t talk to your father.”

“I want to talk to my father,” I repeated.

“Kyler, do you need an attorney or not?” he bellowed.

“No need for shouting,” a lady in a sharp blue suit said as she entered the room. “I am Kyler’s lawyer.”

“Debby?” Jones said, eyebrows raised. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

“And I wasn’t expecting to hear you shouting at my client. If you don’t mind I need a moment with him.”

“Take your time.” He left the room.

Debby walked around to the side of the table opposite me. She extended her hand. “Hello, Kyler, I’m Debby Martin.”

Born in 1996, Jaskaran S. Dhillon is a forth year student pursuing Bachelor of Food Science and Technology (Hons) from D.A.V. College, Jalandhar. He grew up in Sri Anandpur Sahib, Punjab, and studied at B.N.L. Public School.

Jaskaran devotes hours to crafting suspense thrillers. Apart from books, he loves writing songs. His passion for writing rose when he wrote his first song.

Jaskaran’s debut novel, Secrets As Legacy – Tale of the Mysterious Heart, is based on his experiences growing up in a small town and on his college life. This is the first book in the series.

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august 2017

Deathless Deaths

By Paras Memories tangled with incessant thoughts of my mind Breeding misery within the walls of my skin Through my eyes, see the demon hidden Killing me unhurriedly, leisurely and grins Then gives a lonely drop of pleasure To enliven my soul enough for A fresh form of torture Broken bones, punctured lungs Torn muscles, bruised face Swollen eyes, miniature fractures I beg for death, he offers a laugh I smile and he punches the wounds I weep and he politely orders parodies My screams and wails form his melodies I impetrate for life, he offers deathless deaths.

60-plus?

Smart Fashion Tips to Keep You Looking Stylish & Fabulous (BPT) - Muumuus and mom jeans or spangled capris and Aloha shirts - is this really all the fashion world has to offer women over the age of 60? Do mature women who desire to dress fashionably for summer really have to choose between "frumpy and fogey" or "too young and trendy?"

Not at all, says Catherine Brock, who blogs about style on thebudgetfashionista.com.

"Reaching a certain age doesn't mean you have to give up your love of fashion, or that you can't be stylish," Brock says. "In our youth-obsessed society, many fashion trends are geared for young women, but truly stylish clothing can work for women of any age."

Joyce Williams (name changed to protect her privacy), a resident of Brookdale Belle Meade Senior Living Community in Nashville, Tennessee, agrees. Williams didn't leave her lifelong love of fashion behind upon moving into the senior community. Instead, she remains an avid reader of fashion magazines, and designs and makes her own jewelry to accessorize her wardrobe. She happily shares fashion advice with other residents who seek to remain stylish after 60.

Here are some of Brock's and Williams' favorite tips and insights for senior women:

ited by that kind of thinking, she advises. The age of the model wearing the fashion is far less important than whether the style will work for you. * Look for garments that have a defined shape.

You don't have to wear form-fitting clothing, but do avoid overalls or baggy, pull-on pants and maxi dresses with no waistline, Brock advises. * Find your colors, Williams suggests. Everyone has certain colors that complement their skin tone, hair and eyes, and others that are less flattering. Determine which ones are yours and emphasize those colors in your wardrobe. Brock also counsels against putting too many colors in a single outfit, and says avoid wild color patterns. Instead, pick one piece in an outfit to make a color statement and use muted, complementary colors in the rest of the outfit to create a backdrop for your statement color. * Just as important as knowing your best colors, you should also know the visual line that looks best for your body type, Williams says. For example, if you're pear-shaped, a line that draws attention to your shoulders can be flattering, Brock adds. Apple-shaped women may find an A-line skirt flattering since it creates an angle from the shoulder to the waist. 

* Senior women can have trouble finding fashion images that feature women who could be their peers, Brock says. Because most clothing is marketed with images of younger models, many older women may worry about their clothes being "age-appropriate." Don't be lim62 BLOUDER

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

Stay true to your own personal style, regardless of your age. "If you had a wellestablished personal style when you were younger, it doesn't need to change just because you're older," Brock says. "If anything, as you age, you can pay more attention to your personal style and be less of a slave to the season's

trends." Adapt your younger style to your more mature place in life by focusing on creating outfits that make only one statement at a time, she advises. For example, wear that big, chunky turquoise necklace that you've always loved and pair it with an outfit that's simple and straightforward like a pair of tailored jeans and a white blouse. * Some styles work particularly well for senior women, Brock says. Blazers and cardigans pair well with V-neck tops, sheath dresses, shift dresses and button-down shirts. "In warmer months, V-neck tops with elbow-length sleeves are the new T-shirt for seniors," she says. "Just add a necklace for a little sparkle." Plus, every senior woman should have wardrobe staples such as a black blazer, white button-down shirt, dark-wash jeans, straight-leg trousers, neutralcolored cardigans, a collection of dolman-sleeve tops and T-shirts with varying sleeve lengths and necklines. * Never underestimate the power of great accessories, Williams says. The right jewelry can turn an ordinary outfit into something stunning, and you can change the entire look of an outfit simply by switching around your accessories.

"It's never too late to discover your personal style," Brock says. "Start by creating a Pinterest board and saving looks you love (get a fashionminded younger friend to help if you're not tech -savvy). Then reacquaint yourself with your body type and go shopping with a friend. Try on different cuts of pants, skirts and dresses until you both agree on which are the most flattering.

Find the cuts that look good on you and then start experimenting with colors and textures."

MR. INDIA 2016 PARAMVIR SINGH CHEEMA

How did you become a model and an actor? Who is your inspiration?

I was never fond of modeling. Once there was a ramp show in our college and my friend selected me for his round, and on that day when I walked the ramp and the appreciation I got from the people developed my interest into this line. My inspiration is Mr. Shahrukh Khan.

In your own eyes, what was the moment that your career really took off?

My careers took off from Mr. Punjab 2015 and when I shifted to Delhi after winning Mr. India 2016.

How winning Mr. India 2016 changed your life?

By winning Mr. India more doors opened for me and I started getting some good shows .

Are you working fulltime as a model or do you also work next to it?

I have always given preference to my studies and just completed my Law this year. Now I am concentrating on my Acting.

How do prepare yourself before going on stage or before a shoot?

Earlier I used to be very conscious before the show and this happens in the start. But now its just normal, like just go and give some best shots.

Is there something about the Hindi film Industry that annoys you and would like to change?

Ya, Nepotism If you could act in a remake of any film what film and role would you picks?

Sholay What was the hardest thing about being a model when you were starting out?

The struggle is real.

Did you ever have a bad/crazy experience during your modeling career?

Hahaha... ya I did but those were crazy not bad.

Can you put these factors in order of importance for becoming a successful model? The right looks, luck, hard work.

Hard work , luck , looks.

What are the acting jobs you have done so far?

I have done Punjabi video songs, one Punjabi movie, many runways and designer shoots.

What workout do you do to get that amazing body?

Just get wasted in the gym... there is no specific workout that I follow.

What’s your favorite place to hangout? What do you do for fun?

For me, company matters more than a place.

What turns you on or off most about dating?

Understanding

What do you think is your best feature?

I'm just going to work hard... throughout, rest Rabb Rakha What is the hardest thing you have ever done in your entire life?

Staying at my home away from home.

Which five words would your friends use to describe you?

He can do anything. Eda kuch nahi pta. Lol...

Your idea of the perfect vacation?

Vegas.

Is there any piece of advice you want to give new models or actors?

It takes time... be patient.

Connect with him on Instagram @ paramvir_cheema07

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