Monday, September 29, 2014

Be your own support system

The story of thanks . At times , we all need support systems in some form or the other. I used to be of a very different school of thought some time back but then someone made me realize that it’s not so tough to confide with someone about what you feel.  For many of us sharing our thoughts, what we are feeling, why we are feeling a certain way doesn’t come easy and hence all the more need for these folks to talkabout  .

Support systems usually are people (warm-bodies ) as I call who LISTEN to you patiently without an intent of not responding or reacting to what you say . I agree, they are a hard find but I am sure you will have them around you, knowingly or unknowingly.   I , by nature don’t speak or share much with others since it doesn’t come to me naturally . But whenever I do, believe me I am the most talkative of the lot :)



A random discussion with an old friend sometime back made me realize that all this while I have been sharing with her most of the things and vice versa . I don’t know when did I started doing so but in the process it felt both of us knew so much about each other that it was really fun just being ourselves.

That’s one way to do so. A next level of sharing  or venting out can be writing .  Agree this is a trait one is born with and not necessary you can develop but it’s a good thing to write or share about . When writing you have at your will your undivided attention , you let your thoughts gather and settle down and most importantly problems now come with solutions  . In the end , you also help those who may be suffering from a similar dilemma and hence it’s a positive deed that you do.

After all , most inter-personal problems, be it at home, work or outside, occur when we are unable to control our emotions at a critical time.

Siblings ;  that’s a high risk high gain stuff. Siblings these days are very smart and hence you need to be guarded as to what to say , to whom and when . You never know when, even though unintentionally they might just say something you never expected them to say or share .

If the above three don’t work then believe me you just have a passing thought and nothing big. Before it makes itself into a snowball effect , let it go . 

Not all things in life are to be solved  . Some just need a bit of ignoring . Not everyone you meet  you would fall in love with and marry . There is only one and hence keep it for the best .Not always is a good thing to share or talk to someone about how you feel and why you feel the way you feel . For some it may be just a tick mark activity and for some no option but to listen to you thinking when you would finish.  So , start speaking and sharing and when you find no one to speak to I am all ears .


**

On a lighter note farzi cafe seems to be doing a lot of rounds these days .  Here is my review on Zomato .

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Love Zomato ? Hate Zomato ? Now , Karans feedback for Zomato !!

Its been a long time since I started reviewing places on Zomato and my interest into the world of gastronomy or molecular gastronomy ( the new trend ) started  . A big credit of this goes to Zomato in bringing out the foodie in me . As part of the process , not only I have learnt that there is more to a restaurant than just going there and ordering a meal and paying and coming back . A lot more things happen in between all these stages and I am sure , as Indians we all love our food and knowing the places where its served best - just helps .

And in this step-up , I always believe there is no better way than a feedback to make things more smarter and more friendly . After all ,Zomato is for foodies like us and we also need to do our bit for the big Zomato family that we all are a part of . So , here are some thoughts I felt like sharing with all ( on a special request from the team at Zomato : ) )


**

Three features I love 



  1. I like the fact that Zomato has played interestingly in the larger benefit of the foodies . Not everyone needs to be a member to be able to read reviews , browse places and check out what other foodies are writing about .  In this way they capture and build both type of target audiences -  Active writers /  reviewers and also those passive folks who just want to browse and pick up a quick place. A win-win for all . 
  2. Collections -  A kudos to the entire team at Zomato and specifically to the folk who thought about this . It saves a hell lot of a time by clustering places basis a key genre and thereby narrowing the search all together .  A 'wow'  in terms of customer experience and innovative thinking. 
  3. Foodie levels -  The foodie ladder is a thoughtful way of ensuring 'serious' foodies continuously do their bit of fair reviews and keep on climbing the ladder .  The four levels are good enough where Zomato ensures that the interest is build up and there are points for everything that one does. 

**

Three features I think we can have / refine them to be better 

  1. Photos  - My personal experience , uploading photos is a pain since half of the time it gets rejected due to a lower size file or something on similar lines  . Zomato needs to work to ensure the 'photo' option factors in almost all formats and the size limit something that has 99% success rate .  A big reason why I have stopped posting pictures even though I do click them . 
  2. Twitter -  Zomato needs to be integrated with Twitter as that has a big chunk of audiences , globally & locally and far better than the Google+ . Currently the integration to find friends is only available on Facebook and Google+ . May be a next step would be to have LinkedIn as well as an option along with Instagram . 
  3. Zomato foodie card - This is something on mind for a long time and I feel Zomato should work in creating a proposition for only genuine and top foodies as there way of appreciating them .This could be criteria based  - Only big foodies and above can apply.The proposition could build in plug-ins like: 
        1. Exclusive invites to new restaurant launches in respective cities ;
        2. A fixed savings of 15% or above at ALL Zomato featured restaurants;
        3. Invites to Zomato foodie meets and a chance to may be featured in the Zomato restaurant guide.
**


Hope the above helps in a tiny way to ensure we continue to do what we do best - serving foodies and building the food culture locally available  ,globally. 


Aloha on the Ganges

2021 has been occupying to start with. It felt as if January had 365 days and not just 31 days. Have met some lost souls, some damaged soul...