EXPLORER WITH TATA SAFARI STORME

I woke up with a heavy head…Wait! I wasn’t supposed to be alive…I recollected the thick blanket of smoke that day in 2015. Just one whiff and I knew it was just what I had feared- Biochemical Warfare… Noxious fumes to ‘settle scores’. I wondered- Is this my after-life? I looked around trying to gauge if I had been allotted a place in Heaven or Hell! It looked like I was in a very sophisticated futuristic world with hi-tech gadgets all around. 

“Year 2215”- the e-Calendar displayed. 

“How have I travelled 200 years into the Future?” asked my Brain.

“Because You Are Explorer” answered the human or was it a machine?

“Oh you can read my Brain-Waves!” I thought before I stated the same to the living or was it a non-living thing in front of me...

“My name is RerolpDotXe. I am a living-being…A Citizen of Planet Earth 2215 AD. I am in charge of the Explorer Project. Planet Earth is in grave danger and needs HELP. See this-”

ME: “But why?”

RerolpDotXe: 

“Change in Climate 30 times faster than at any time in Earth’s 65 million years.

Global Temperature Rise of 15 Degrees Celsius.

Polar-Ice-Caps have melted.

Sea-Water Level has risen by 3 metres.

Many Cities have Submerged.

Stress on Terrestrial Eco-systems.

Many Species are Extinct.

Fossil-Fuels are over.

Ozone Layer is 93.5% Depleted.

Vector-Borne Diseases.

Erratic weather-Patterns”

ME: “This sounds like major Dooms-Day. In our time, a rise of 2 degrees Celsius increased civil wars by over 50%. That explains the conflict linked to Climate Change in 2015 when I died with most of the World’s population. Shifts in Climate are strongly linked to human violence around the world.

How did you bring me to life? Why have you selected me?” 

RerolpDotXe: 

“I revived your soul and body through my Brain-Waves.

You are a Top Explorer of 21^st Century.

You have explored the Whole World with your Tata Safari Storme.

You have climbed Mountains.

Sailed Oceans.

You have travelled around the World in 8 Days.

Your Twitter Handle- @anitaexplorer 

Your Best-Selling Book- ‘The Adventures of ANITAEXPLORER’

Your Blog Name- ‘The Explorer of Miracles’.

Your Blog rocks! Planet Earth needs Miracles and I am sure you can do that as YOU, ANITAEXPLORER, ‘believe in miracles’. People have become cynical. They have stopped believing in miracles. I believe that only those who truly believe can achieve.”

ME: “Oh! You know so much about Me! Powerful Brain-Waves indeed!”

I was totally amazed when I found that RerolpDotXe had also revived two of my Idols- JRD Tata & Marco Polo!

 

JRD Tata- Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata 

(29 July 1904 – 29 November 1993) was a French-born Indian aviator and business magnate. He was India's first licensed pilot. He is known as the father of Indian civil aviation. He founded India's first commercial airline, Tata Airlines in 1932, which became Air India in 1946. He directed the large Tata Group of companies for decades- Steel, Engineering, Power, Chemicals and Hospitality. He maintained high ethical standards - refusing to bribe politicians or use black money. In 1992, he was awarded India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.

Marco Polo- (1254 – January 8–9, 1324) was an Italian merchant traveler from Venice. His travels are recorded in Livres des merveilles du monde. His journey inspired Christopher Columbus and many other explorers. He wrote about his travels. Marco Polo influenced European cartography.

Can you imagine?

I, ANITAEXPLORER, was standing right in front of these two great men!

I can't express how honored and proud I felt!

The three of us had been chosen to explore the Universe using the advanced technology, superfast- AIEV-Tata Safari Storme. 

AIEV is the Tata Safari Storme 2215 Edition!

AIEV means All-In-1-Explorer-Vehicle –

Spaceship+Aircraft+Land-Surface+Water-Surface+Submarine. 

No Non-Renewable Energy sources needed to run it; it works on Renewable source- Universe’s Energy.

We were expected to come up with the best solution for Planet Earth ASAP. I felt so honored to be a part of this elite company; yet felt responsible at the same time. 

RerolpDotXe transferred his knowledge & powers to the three of us. We could now communicate with any species in the Universe just with our Brain-Waves… 

Spiderman Movie’s line- “With great power, comes great responsibility” played in my mind.

The two incredible gentlemen-JRD Tata and Marco Polo demanded that I lead our Unit. They believed in Woman-power! I felt like SuperGirl!

They checked all the accessories.

They made huge lists of things to carry and loaded all the essentials in our AIEV.

We put on our Explorer gear. 

Our AIEV looked stunning.

We boarded our AIEV and made ourselves comfortable in the Leather-Seats. We safely strapped the seat-beats.

Our AIEV took off at 0.7 times the speed of light. AIEV steered clear or automatically destroyed the obstacles on our path like-

Black Holes

Pulsars

Comets

Meteors

Planets

Satellites

There was auto-firing and destruction of unnecessary objects on our path and auto-avoidance of collision with planets and other important bodies… Phew! I remembered all the sci-fi movies I had watched and the video-games I had played. All this was happening in real-life!

There was a world-class infotainment system that had us entertained. I listened to my favourite Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar & Kishore Kumar Songs. JRD Tata and Marco Polo also enjoyed them!

The superb navigation system gave us info about what to expect. I had already fed the data of what we need. AIEV was taking us to those places that had our requirements. 

The first stopover was a Planet that we named Waterland, as there was ‘Water Water Everywhere’ in all different forms. Marco Polo navigated our AIEV here while JRD Tata communicated with the 10-Headed Hydra Beasts inhabiting the Planet. I remembered Ravan and fantasized that they might be his descendants! Would you believe me if I shared that the Beasts actually agreed! It seems their ancestors, some sons of Ravan, had fleed in the Pushpak Viman to Waterland! We collected ‘Fresh Water’ from there. It was no ordinary water. Putting the same sample in our Oceans on Planet Earth would restore them to their previous glory- purity as well as Polar Ice-Caps!

Got to use our AIEV's ample lights and lamps while travelling!

Next we landed on Ozonia Planet. There was such an abundance of Ozone there. Our AIEV made us wear the gas-masks that automatically dropped down as the level of Oxygen had fallen very low. When I wondered how the Queen of Ozonia looked so fresh, she Brain-Waved me- that she always had Ozone-Facial done multiple times a day!!! But, their Carbon-Monoxide, Carbon-Dioxide, Sulphur-Dioxide, Methane, Nitrogen Dioxide etc. levels had fallen much to their disappointment. Luckily, JRD Tata had filled cylinders with compressed poisonous gases of the world! I now understood why he had been so particular to load those cylinders in our AIEV! I promptly handed them over & released the excess poisonous gases in Ozonia. We refilled Ozone in all those cylinders and loaded on our AIEV. This much would be enough to 100% repair Planet Earth’s Ozone-Layer!

Then as we were travelling, suddenly, our AIEV experienced strong magnetic waves and got attracted to another Asteroid that was NOT in our agenda. Door Visor protected us from the harmful radiation. 

Why had our AIEV been ‘pulled’? As AIEV landed, we found the planet had muck and slush and was trapping our AIEV… Marco Polo immediately activated our AIEV’s navigation. The Nudge-Guard was helpful.

Then, we saw a mammoth creature that was lying in deep pain. It had been badly hit and needed immediate attendance. That’s why it had captured our AIEV with its powers as it sensed friendly souls. I opened the expandable Cargo Basket and elongated it to fit the creature, who guided our AIEV to the Space-Hospital. All of us felt nice with our Good Samaritan act.

The creature gave us ‘Happiness, Hope, Faith, Trust, Kindness, Compassion, Calmness, Love, Peace…’ all these emotions packed in a mammoth parcel that we gratefully loaded in the Cargo basket. It’s enough to save Planet Earth from the negative feelings like cynicism, hatred, distrust etc.! It's much better than 'Pandora's Box'! Opening the parcel on Planet Earth, would spread all positive feelings and emotions all over...

We discovered the treasures of the Universe with our AIEV. We realized the potential of the energy waiting to be explored. 

Apart from all the above 'gifts', for Planet Earth, we also got greenery, fresh Oxygen, smiles and a lot many things that made RerolpDotXe proud of us. When we returned, a grand reception awaited us- the Explorers! The Explorer Project was successful!

In this way, I, ANITAEXPLORER, along with my two great Explorer team-mates solved Planet Earth’s problems with excellence!

I bow to GOD- the greatest Explorer who helps small Explorers like me! “The One who allows the storms also brings the rainbows.”

My Entry For The 'I AM EXPLORER' Contest of IndiBlogger & Tata Safari Storme

Do log on to- www.tatasafari.com

MY EXPERIMENT

5..4..3..2..1..!

My ‘Subject’, the 80-years old man with silver-hair, sipped the bright Orange-coloured liquid I handed over to him in a test-tube. 

“Will it work?” I wondered. Then, I wondered why I was wondering this! I have worked so hard on this project for the last 20 years. It has worked on all the creatures I had tested- Mice, Guinea-Pigs, Cats… 

But, Homo-Sapiens are a class of their own. Only God knows what the effect would be on God’s most intelligent-beings on the planet!

“Never play with Nature!” my Professor, a reputed Scientist, had always warned us. 

But, my argument is-
“If we don’t experiment, then how do we know what the nature of Nature is?”

No one knew what I had been up to. All these years I had been leading an ascetic’s life with the sole focus on my Project. I had not published my research findings anywhere. Experience had taught me that there are many copycats out there who would surely plagiarize and claim that my idea is actually their’s! Had happened so many times with me when I never got the credits & awards that I deserved…

Never mind! My time is NOW! I looked anticipatedly at my ‘Subject’. If my concoction works, then I will soon be the richest person on Earth! The entire Beauty & Health Industry would revolve around me! I could imagine my Photo on the cover of the Fortune magazine…

My ‘Subject’ wanted to go home. I allowed him as I myself didn’t know how long the effect of my drink would take- 24 hours, 72 hours, a week or a month? No clue…! 

Perhaps I should have just kept him under observation in my Lab instead of letting him go…

The next two days, I was completely busy documenting all my experimentation, observation and inference. I imagined winning the Nobel Prize…

I heard urgent knocks and impatient doorbells… I rushed to open the door. Standing outside was my ‘Subject’ with an exact replica of himself! My concoction had worked and did have the desired effect, but still I was shocked…It was more than what I had set out for. How did my Subject’s ‘cloning’ happen? 

I soon got my answer. The ‘clone’ turned out to be my Subject’s 40-year old son, who had got my details from his Dad's Diary. 

“Dr.Anita, What have you done to my Dad?” he demanded angrily.

I replied, “He didn’t want to die of old-age. He himself consented to be my ‘Subject’ so that he could halve his age with my concoction!”

Then, turning to my Subject, I asked, “Isn’t it? Why don’t you say something?”

His son said, “He can’t! Not possible as he doesn’t recognize any of us. His memory too has gone back to 40 years ago. He is now in the year 1973…”

A chill ran down my spine…

My Professor’s words rang in my ears- “Never play with Nature!”
Having based my experiments on animals, I had missed the fourth dimension- TIME…
I realized, “Not yet time for my Photo on Fortune magazine or my Nobel Prize…”

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

Proud that this Post features amongst the best posts & earned this WOW Badge from BlogAdda HERE.

My Phone Taught Me!

'Battery Critically Low’ flashes my Phone!

I get my daily dose of exercise done!

As this happens a number of times a day,

I keep in great shape anyway!

No Gym membership needed! Save Time & Fees!

Just run to locate the Phone’s Charger please!

I become a ‘Ninja’ or ‘Supergirl’!

I function in high-speed like a whirl!

Lightning fast! Just 30 seconds more!

I don’t want ‘Power-Off’ in store!

Just thinking- ‘Phone will shut down’!

Replaces my Million$ Smile with a Frown!

Phone menacingly threatens me!

But, I have full faith on my reflexes & memory!

I reach where my Phone’s charger is there!

Stop myself from getting a scare!

Quickly charge it before its battery can ‘die’!

Breathe a sigh of relief! Oh My!

Phone-battery’s death, when on a long journey,

A terrifying sense of helplessness grips me!

I now have a Battery-Recharge luckily,

But, depleting even that happens easily!

For auto-recharge, how long do I wait?

Oh Phone-Developers, please understand my state!

I feel the latest SmartPhone, should be-

Smart enough to RECHARGE SMARTLY!

I saw the hashtag #MyPhoneTaughtMe trending in Twitter in the first week of September. I decided to share what I have learnt from my Phone. Actually, there are a lot many lessons as learning comes very easily to me! Still, I shared what’s of prime importance.

My Lesson#1 from my phone is something like this:

“#MyPhoneTaughtMe to run for my life to give its critical-battery LIFE! I look for its charger before it shuts down, charge it & breathe a sigh of relief & erase my frown!”

Actually, the exact tweet I posted is now lost in my Twitter- TimeLine. But, the same tweet had earned quite a number of retweets! 
It even earned me a cool prize- this water-bottle from The MobileStore as I was adjudged as one of the 50 winners of the Teacher’s Day contest organized by them on Twitter through @themobilestores :

My kid was pleased! “I’ll take this new water-bottle to School!” she said with glee! 

I was very happy too! This is the first time just sending a single tweet has won me a prize thanks The MobileStore! (Else, usually, for many other contests of other brands, though I send lots of tweets, many are not even retweeted, leave alone winning a prize!!!)

My Escape Express Trip!

In August 2013, Lonely Planet India had organized an ‘#EscapeExpress’ contest in which we had to upload a Blog with photographs or a Video about any place in India.

The explorer in me was super-happy to see this great travel-contest! There were some cool prizes too. But, the challenging thing was being in the Top-12 to win those- 1^st , 2^nd & 10 3^rd prizes! The contest was to be judged on creativity and ‘Votes’.

The latter was a dampener as I stay away from Voting contests and ‘begging for votes’ is not my cup of tea! Yet, for the #EscapeExpress, I indulged in precisely that!

First, I couldn’t decide which trip of mine should I select as my entry as I have loved them all! I decided on Coorg as I am enamoured by Madikeri, the Golden Temple- Bylakuppe’s Namdroling Monastery and the birthplace of the River Cauvery- TalaCauvery… After sincere hard-work, I was happy when my Video-Entry – ‘Magical Coorg’ was approved and put up on the Lonely Planet website. 

But, Vote- gathering turned out to be quite a challenge! I called up, emailed, SMSed, tweeted…used up all the levels possible for me! Begged for votes to all! Did self-promo too!

Thankfully, I had company in this shameless vote-appeal- the rest of the contestants were also wholeheartedly doing the same! Friends were forthcoming & helpful and voted and shared my Video with all! 

I ended with a score more than a century- a princely 107 Votes! 

Thanks a lot, Friends & Family, for voting for me!

The results declared that I was one of the 10 3^rd Prize Winners of the contest! 

I have won a Gift-Card thanks to Lonely Planet, India! Now shopping at Shoppers Stop!

Shaadi To The Rescue

I am a HUGE CONTEST JUNKIE!
This is in total contrast with my Techie-Hubby who is happy with his laptop, phone and office and would have nothing to do with any contests. He feels I am wasting my time and talents! 
But, still I dream to win contests! 

Luckily, despite his disapproval, thankfully, he patiently supports me in my quest to win contests!
Like-
Signing the innumerable lucky-dip and slogan forms that I have requested him to sign all these years (as I believe in bettering our chances to win!), 
Attending interview-sessions- listening to the questions I ask him and sharing answers and insight of his keen intelligent views, 
Accompanying me to all the Car-test-drives as I hoped we would be the lucky-winner of the Car...!!! 
However, after all these years of trying, my BIG WINS are few and far between!

From the last two years, my Hubby has been planning to gift an iPad, iPhone & Car, just for me!
Any normal wife would have jumped at the prospect & would have liked to be 'gifted'!
But, I am made of CONTEST JUNKIE material! I told him, "Please don't buy! I'll WIN!"
Hubby dear smirked!
I have been planning to win all these for which I have been trying like crazy for years!
Yes, I have enough money in my bank-account that I have earned and can easily afford to buy all these and more today! 
But, winning gives me a HIGH! I love to take part in contests and attempt to win!

Hubby must have been convinced of my strong intention to win!
Small wonder, he started forwarding me mails from his Bank that promised 'WIN iPAD' by spending 'X' amount on Credit/Debit Card!
I told him, "Do you realize you are actually asking your wife to shop and spend more?!!!"
He appeared more than happy, and continued with his recommendations!

On 12th September 2013, I saw a tweet from @ShaadiDotCom -

"What is the line that appears on-screen at the end of our TVC?
 Click a pic of the Answer outside #Kolkata Dom Airport & WIN an iPad Mini."

I thought, "This must be the iPad that's for ME!" 
(Note- I always think so whenever I see cool contests and prizes!)


Earlier, the only prize I had won from @ShaadiDotCom was a Book- 'HITCHED' by Nandini Krishnan. I had won it by sending lots of winning tweets for the #ShaadiSurvey Contest!
Now was the time to try to win the #Shaadi iPad! I lost no time! 
Though it was very HOT that day, 
yet I set out for the Kolkata Domestic Airport rightaway!

Though I am aware that I am bitten by the contest-bug, still a part of me wondered why was I indulging in such 'madness'! ( I was actually echoing other people's thoughts about me!) 

'No Pains, No Gains', I motivated myself!

I reached the Airport and started looking everywhere, just like a Jeweler would look for her lost Diamond! Here, nothing was lost; rather had to be found! 


I felt quite silly as for the first time I was visiting the Airport for a purpose other than for travel! :)

I had to spot  the #Shaadi sign-board, click a pic and then tweet it.


The task wasn't tough.
But, where would I find the sign-board?

The Airport is pretty big....

Never mind, I encouraged myself- 
'Where there is a will, there is a way!'

I thought of taking help from the Security-Guard.
"Have you see the ShaadiDotCom Sign-board?" I longed to ask! But, I didn't! 


The sunny afternoon appeared cool the moment I set my eyes upon the ShaadiDotCom Team!  Super-happy to spot the Jodi at Kolkata! The effort felt worth it!

I chatted with the friendly Shaadi.Com executives there! I immediately tweeted to @ShaadiDotCom by attaching the above pics for the #Shaadi Contest-
"'Love arranged by shaadi.com.' Loved the concept! Happy to spot the Jodi!"

I got a reply that I needed to post the same from my Facebook account too. As I am not using Facebook, I asked the Shaadi Team if I could register using my hubby's account, a proposal they readily agreed! That's like- 'Shaadi To The Rescue!'

I called up my Hubby, who was out of town, and requested him to do the needful.
He, in turn, sent me his Facebook account credentials. As he was busy (as usual!), he asked me to register myself!

Usually, I abstain myself from doing so his friends had spotted me the last time I had logged on to his FB account to update his Profile picture! They had messaged & I had truthfully acknowledged that their message hadn't reached the intended recipient as it was I who had logged on, and not he! One of them had even replied, 'Oh! Spying on Hubby's account?!'

Anyway, today I had his official permission to log on to his FB account! I posted five updates to his Status Message with all the pics! I clearly mentioned that it was an entry for the #Shaadi contest-

 

On 13th September, my efforts really bore fruit!
I was THRILLED to be declared as of the WINNERS of of the iPad Mini! 
YAAAY! A BIG WIN thanks to @ShaadiDotCom !

I called up my Hubby and informed him the great news. He didn't have to buy an iPad for me!

On 14th September, my Hubby, who was out of town, messaged me-

Hubby: "What kind of message/picture have you posted on FB? I'm getting all sorts of queries.
                Whose Photo for Shaadi.Com?"

Me: "That Picture was of the Couple who were holding Shaadi.Com Sign-Boards. Had to spot them with the Sign-Boards at the Airport & upload pics on Twitter & FB to WIN iPad! I had briefed you earlier, remember?"

Hubby: "About this Shaadi.Com, people are asking if everything is okay on personal front and if  I'm open to proposals.
I can buy an iPad, but can't afford controversy.
You have got to be careful."

Me: "It was clearly mentioned that it was entry for the #Shaadi Contest for your wife! :)
          You getting Shaadi Proposals till now?"

Hubby: "So far it is male colleagues who are concerned.
               But, you see it is public news now."

(I felt like a culprit who had committed a heinous crime! Why did everyone want to spoil my BIG JOY of winning the iPAD MINI...)

Me: "So strange! Would you like me to post an 'ALL IS WELL' status-message from your FB-account for all the blind people who can't read the sign-boards & the messages?"

Hubby: "Ok"

So I again logged on to Hubby's account and posted the following Disclaimer!

Now I plan to post a link of this Blog-Post as my Hubby's new FB Status-message!
Wait! That's possible if he hasn't changed his FB Password as yet!

HELP! SOS!!! :)


P.S- TRUE STORY