It is a windy day, with plenty of clouds and no sun. I make my way to the Kairali Ayurvedic Centre located just a few kilometers away from the Huda City Centre Metro Station in Gurugram. 

The Kerala Ayurvedic treatment system is now infamous around the globe. Thousands of tourists throng the God's own Country for treatment to various ailments based on the time tested tenants of Ayurveda. That it is nature-based and has a very slight chance of backfiring in the form of side effects (like allopathy) is a plus.

Kairali Ayurvedic Centre, in its present form, founded way back in 1989 and offered authentic Keralite therapies here in Delhi NCR. As one of the staff members told me, many people can't afford to take out time or spend resources to go all the way to Kerala for a week-long ( or more) therapies. Hence, the group is providing localized, day-long treatments for its patrons.

Suits well for me, like Kerala, for me, is far, and a nearby location sounds much better. At the center, the first thing you notice is wooden swings inspired seating area with an array of products lined up for sale near the reception. 

I have an appointment, and the person in charge is courteous and waiting. I ask her about the products for sale, and she tells me that Kairali manufactures and sells a host of Ayurvedic soaps, cosmetics, and other wellness products. 

Abhyangam is the name of the massage therapy, which has been suggested to me. At INR 2500 for a 50-minute massage, it sounds a little expensive, but it was worth the experience.

This massage therapy helps stimulate your senses and relieves stress. It also helps with pain management, as many of our routine aches are due to lifestyle-related issues. They also have many other therapies, in various customisation, to choose from. 

The secret, however, lies with the medicated oils they use. What differentiates a Kerala Ayurvedic and other Massage therapies is the oil. They use special herbs and have their own secret recipes (like KFC & Coca Cola), which are ancient and in use for centuries now. This gives me some confidence as I enter the room to see a  large wooden bed (called a Droni) where I am to lie down for the next 40 minutes.

Two masseurs awaited me and had they were not wearing a Kairali logo, Kurta; you would have assumed them to be bouncers at a Club. They are tall, and they are huge, like wrestlers. But very self spoken and helpful.

During the therapy, they kept asking if the pressure was okay if I needed them to go slow, etc. We even chatted a bit, and these guys were just great.

I am not exaggerating when I say that after I came out, the body did feel light. I was not expecting much. I assumed, there will be slightly better blood flow in my veins, and my muscles would feel relaxed. But I didn't expect such lightness as if the body had suddenly become nimble.

Anyways, back to Droni. They helped me up after 40 minutes and led me to the steam area. The person told me to expect to sweat from the skin. I told him that this was my first such experience, and it was great to have someone do it right. He helps me set the steam level right. Not too hot, just the right temp to sweat it out as he explained.

After a shower, I get ready, and I am told the doctor is expecting me. I meet this intelligent young doctor, glad that they have a qualified Ayurvedic doctor on board, in case of need arises for specialized therapy. I got an opportunity to discuss with him the benefits of Ayurveda and how they locate the problem and just work on it. Like, they don't cure your illness alone, but go to the root cause and work on it. It is natural so advantageous and in sync with nature.

I discussed more about the lifestyle choices we indulge in and how some of the harm is unavoidable. He explains to me how Ayurvedic fundamentals can aid in a healthy lifestyle.

I finish my herbal tea, which the staff has handed me and head back home, a little lighter, more agile definitely, and loaded with wisdom of Ayurvedic therapies. 

Nelson Wang's China Garden defines the evolution of Indo Chinese Cuisine in India. Spread across India, the restaurant chain as two outlets in the National Capital, Delhi. Recently they opened up their doors at Trillium Mall, Gurugram, a short distance from the City's district center and the famed Gymkhana Club. 

In fact, Mainland China used to be located a couple of miles down at the famous Sector 29 market before it shut down. The locality also used to boast of Unlimited by Golden Dragon, which has also been shut down since. 

Rising amidst the demand for Chinese Food in Gurugram, the place does impress. It has been beautifully decorated in shades of gray and blue. I visited it recently for a Duck and Dimsums fest curated by Plates2Miles, a community of food lovers with an active Facebook group. They organize a variety of food events across Delhi NCR, and this was the first time I was invited to attend.

The best part of the evening apart from the great company of P2M family was the service. It was like choreographed to perfection. We had five tables to ourselves, and each dish was served on all 5, at the same time in the order listed. The service was swift, with no goof-ups, and they paid good attention to allergies a person might have. That level of attention is what differentiates a place. 

The team also made sure to compliment the dishes with a wide range of drinks.

The principal offering here was the Duck, done crisp, and tasted delicious. This was followed by a variety of different dim sums, uniquely flavored, out of which I just loved the Baked Cantonese Chicken Puffs.  Other Dim Sum and food I sampled were

The final course was China Garden Clay Pot Rice. I am more of a Noodles than a rice person, but the clay pot was done really well.

In the desserts, they had Nutella Chocolate Baos, which were like WOW! I could have eaten a dozen if I was not already filled up with the yummy food. They also had a Mango Pudding, which tasted great. The Cantonese Egg Tart was something I hadn't tasted before and I liked the taste.

Simply loved the food, and the great company of the P2M community only made it better. The people running this community, Mohit Mahajan, P.S. Bedi, Sharmishta Mukherjee Cheema, Vanit Taneja, and Sahil Mahajan, really put up a lot of effort to make sure that the event is a real success.

The event got all the better for me, as an opportunity came up to meet Mr. Henry Wang himself, the owner who is excited about this outlet and the food at China Garden. Considering my experience, the decades old brand still rules the game. Looking forward now to visit again to try the other parts of the Menu. I am sure, they got some good surprises their as well. 

Venita Coelho scripts a gripping thriller in this book based in Goa. Jamshed Fali Irani hails from a rich background and travels from Mumbai to Goa in hopes to achieve his dreams of becoming a famed  writer. He rents a crumbling, ill maintained Bungalow,  all set  to  prove his mettle.

Things go off track when he  meets Alice who requests him to find her sister Sara. The trouble is that Sara has been missing five years and no one it seems wants her found. Young Jamshed soon  crossed path with Constania  who helps him unravel the mystery. Much  clues are to be found in a Diary they find in the house, which presumingly belongs to Sara. Her closeness to her friend Nina leaves an impact on the reader.

This is  a Gothic Mystery Thriller and Venita Coelho's storytelling really impresses. The way she has brought out the setting of a Goan village of yesteryear is vivid and inspiring. 

Not many Indian authors have been able to accomplish this genre to my mind and Venita it seems has  found her niche here.  

Publisher - Westland

Pages - 290

A poignant tale of love, author Krishna Chhetri's book revolves around Karma, Ghazal and Diana. They are three very different people enveloped with mystic, deep emotional love.

The book is peppered with plenty of poems and shayaris making it almost a poetic narrative with each turn of page reflecting deep emotions of the characters.

A Drop of You explores loves in its bare and soulistic form.

Karma loves Ghazal, and Diana loves Karma, who is her best friend.

Organic produce is the food that is made by using as much as natural products as possible. This is done to keep any chemical trances even though said safe is not all-natural, which will cause the food to grow to lose some of its natural nutrients. This type of growing produce is called inorganic produce.

This is done by adding some chemical fertilizers and pesticide during the growth for making a high-breed or to make it look more vibrant and have shine to it on the outside.

This adding of chemicals will also cause for the food to grow to lose some of its taste due to the faster growth process. Especially with animal products, they are fed with hormones, drugs, etc., for further growth of the tier body and increase the quality of the meat. Non-organic food items are usually cheaper compared to the organic counterpart because farming and growing methods yield more food per acre. There is minimal loss due to insect damage, and shelf life is often longer.

According to The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), organic produce carries significantly fewer pesticide residues than does conventional food. Organic farming practices are designed to benefit the environment by reducing pollution and conserving water, soil quality. Organic produce often costs more than non-organic.

Though they are costly when compared, they are so much better in quality-wise and also, by avoiding any chemicals, we avoid GMO, more nutrients, better taste, reduce pollution of soil and water, organic produce is also certified, which means Certified natural means products have no prohibited pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. By eating organic products, you are minimizing your risk for exposure to environmental toxins and severe health issues that are found in non-organic meat and produce. In addition to it, organic foods are the cleanest available.

Organic food producers apply natural fertilizers, such as manure or compost, to feed soil and plants. They use insects and birds, mating disruption, or traps to reduce pests and some diseases. To avoid weed growth, they rotate crops, till, hand weed or mulch. They also give animals organic feed and allow access to the outdoors. By using preventive methods such as rotational grazing, they minimize diseases.

There are different levels of certification for the food they are: -

100% Organic: - Made entirely from organic materials.

Organic: - At least 95% of organic materials are used, with remaining ingredients that are approved by the USDA or the certified govt facility.

Made with Organic Ingredients: - At least 70% of organic ingredients and can display three organic ingredients on the label. Cannot use the organic seal on it.

Non-Organic: - If less than 70% organic ingredients, cannot be label as organic or use the USDA organic seal.

Though people have their doubts regarding the cost and others with organic products, they are still better and safer for you and to try and save some of the the environment we live in.

The most debated question doing rounds is Design or Culture, what makes a smart workspace? The answer to this question can not be a single word. Design and culture are interdependent and integrated. They are not two independent topics that we can segregate them and evaluate

which one contributes to a smarter workspace. It is to be understood that design and culture

equally influence a workspace, whether towards a smarter one or not can only be answered if you read till the end.

For us to determine which one is the more significant influencer, let us be clear with what is a smart and modern workspace. Gone are the days where cubicles marked the spaces of employees, cabinets used to be full of snacks, and there was only black coffee available in the office kitchen. Those are days we left behind not too long ago. Now it is all about large windows, natural light coming in that energize employees, large spaces so that you don’t feel confined and open spaces to refresh your mind and break the monotony.

As estimated, workers of 2018-19 have a workspace of about 60 to 150sq.ft, but just a few years ago it was measured about 225sq.ft per employee. This is where design becomes a determining factor, the design of a modern workspace is ever evolving companies are trying to fit in more employees in a less amount of space to increase productivity. It is because the big MNCs are more concerned about profit than actually looking after the employees. The design here is a determining factor of the welfare of the employees.

We often come across the term ‘corporate culture’. This refers to the culture of the corporate sector, and yes, it also a huge determining factor for a smarter workspace. Millennial are not very comfortable with the 9 to 5 culture as they feel suffocated, and this reduces their productivity. This culture is not suitable for them as they can be more productive working from a coffee shop or in their home. This not only gives them their desired environment, but also the company gets its desired outcome. Another cultural aspect is collaboration. Everyone can perform well individually, but working in a team needs certain skill sets. This way, partnerships are made by various departments so that there are intermixing of office culture.

Both design and culture play an equal roll in making a smarter workspace as they are complementary to each other. Hence, it is not about Design Vs. Culture is all about blending in the right amount of Design and Culture.

With the workforce estimated to reach 600 million by 2022 as per the NSDC EY report on “Future of Jobs in India”, most job portals existing today, will be able to cater to only 20% of this population which accounts for the White-collar workforce. In a country dominated by informal workforce, job portals have evolved only for the white-collar workforce and the disparity among White, Blue, and Grey collared jobs is staggering and quite highly unresolved. The job engagement for White Collared workforce has been digitalized rapidly in the last 2 decades. Low cost smartphone revolution and wide network connectivity have made it easier to bridge the gap between opportunities and job seekers.

Pursuant to a 2012 report of the Committee on Unorganised Sector Statistics, National Statistical Commission, the unorganized or the informal sector account for more than 90 percent of the workforce in the country and almost 50 percent of the national income evolves from this sector. Not much has changed since then. As per the International Labour Organisation report of 2018, the informal sector jobs accounted for 81% of all employed persons in India.

The biggest issue faced by the informal job market is the lack of structured job information that could be easily accessible. Both jobseekers and employers are unaware of where one can find suitable opportunities nearby whilst the other struggles to find suitable candidates near the workplace. Both stakeholders rely heavily on references and contractors to fulfill their requirements, which is followed by a very time consuming & expensive process,resulting in business losses to employers & idle months without a job or accepting unfavourable job roles by the job seekers.

Finding the right job near you is easier than ever due to formal platforms for the informal workforce. Sushant Shekhar, Co-founder of Kaam24 says, “Prior to networks like Jio and low- cost smartphones came to the picture, we helped jobseekers digitize their profile by using ground-level strategies like sidewalk posters to rikshaw announcement, field agents, auto-rickshaw/ e-rickshaw branding and advertisements in Ramleela, to name a few. We have left no stone unturned to tap into the right audience. We have managed to get even 60- year-old job-seekers hired while doing a hiring campaign for electricians and plumbers for Hyper Local service providers, and were able to provide predictable incomes, social security and healthcare benefits to thousands of informal workers.”

Staffing companies such as Team Lease, Quess Corp, Addeco do cater to some Blue and Grey collared jobs, but even there, the focus is from the perspective of the big companies looking to hire staff, often in bulk. And MSMEs who recruit a major chunk of this class of job- seekers in India are left with no option except the traditional mode of hiring. To cater to such MSMEs, portals such as Kaam24, Work India, Quikr Jobs have started to reengineer this job market. 

Unless reinventing steps are taken, the gap between Blue/Grey collared workforce and MSMEs will keep widening. It is an opportunity waiting for people to explore it.

Mayank Bansal, Co-founder of Kaam24 who looks into job seeker onboarding says that he could see the impact that their startup can possibly have on the livelihood of millions. He says, “On one of our job seeker onboarding sessions, we were conducting rikshaw announcements and handing out flyers when kids came and asked us what the announcements were for? We explained to him that if he knew anyone was on the lookout for a job, they could give us a missed call to download our app and apply for jobs without paying anything, he ran to his house continuously exclaiming “Mere PAPA ko fir se job mil jayegi”.

With over a million job seeker profiles digitized, Kaam24 is working its way up the ladder to reach digitize over 100 million jobseeker profiles over the course of next few years, while playing with latest technologies like Chatbots and AI to formalize the informal workforce in India. With numbers as high as 600 million, the scope of growth for this sector is yet untapped and requires not just in depth reach and spread, but also intensive costs.

Established in April 2019, RentLite is a pioneering start-up, on the quest of revolutionizing the buying behaviour for workspace products. Spearheaded by Kush Jawahar and Kiran Chellaram, RentLite helps to solve the CAPEX and OPEX related concerns for young entrepreneurs and corporates alike.

Buying workspace furniture can be capital intensive, especially for a boot-strap start-up or a growing

SME, where manpower is exponentially dynamic. Further defining the nature of workspace setups can be tiresome and time-consuming. It is from this experience, that we came up with the concept of Rentlite, because why buy when you can rent? With the transforming taste, needs and requirements of

consumers, renting furniture has become a millennial need.

Rentlite not only offers an assortment of design possibilities but flexible finance options for the users.

The idea of rental furniture is not new; however, the potential market surpasses the redundant past

estimations. Thus, renting furniture is not only suitable for a short-term but has more profitable farsighted attributes.

Renlite’s distinct furniture configurations like chairs, workstations and pedestals can be rented for an affordable amount serving to the commercial flexibility for its consumers. Since all furniture rented out is manufactured by India’s leading furniture manufacturer, Featherlite, the consumer is sure of uncompromised quality and durability. 

With our vast experience in commercial design with Featherlite, we have gathered expertise in quick and hassle-free office furniture renting aiding ease of Plug and Play setup.

At Rentlite we believe renting is key for modern entrepreneurial professionals looking for fast-paced office set-up. So why buy when you can rent from Rentlite and transform your workspace into a collaborative space for creative minds!

Sustainability

Rentlite believes in conserving the environment through eco-friendly practices. All our furniture is

manufactured in solar-powered factories and produces minimum carbon footprint emissions further

reducing environmental pollution.

Business

Currently, the company is generating monthly tangible business over 10 Lakhs with an average tenure

period of 24 Months. The company intends to achieve a monthly business of 1 Cr. by the next financial year 2020.

Completed Projects

RentLite serves a mixed bag of clients including individuals, SMEs and Corporates. It has completed 2 MNCs in Bangalore plus 9 start-ups in Food Processing, Construction, Recruitment Technology and the Aviation Industry. It has also served 3 MNC's into Financial Services, Digital Marketing and Tele-Communication Service Provider in Delhi NCR while other projects comprise of 2 MNC's in Investment

Banking and 1 Milk Delivery start-up in Pune. Other than this RentLite caters to over 8 individuals who own commercial Establishments. These customers have used RentLite’s services to transform the property into a fully furnished Plug - n - Play Office Space.

Website - www.rentlite.in

Market Growth

Rentlite’s research pegs the global furniture rental market at anything between $5-8 billion. The idea of ownership has been superseded by the aspiration of better experiences by leasing or sharing resources.

The growth in mobility and intra-country migration has led to a large and ever-growing clientele of urban professionals with transferrable jobs and disposable income. In the last decade, leasing/renting of home durables has seen steep growth due to a streamlined market facilitated by digital marketing.

The global furniture market is dominated by domestic furniture accounting for 65% of production value. These consists of beds, closets, and other household furniture items. Followed by office furniture and hotel furniture accounting for 15% each. Office furniture consists of furniture used in corporate office, mainly tables and chairs, whereas hotel furniture is deployed in hotels and are very similar to household furniture with design and finesse. Lastly, furniture parts constitute 5% of production value which constitutes of table bases, closet doors, sofa legs, etc.

The furniture rental market is expected to grow at a robust rate over the next 5 years (2019-2024). 

The primary factor responsible for the growth is an increase in the number of employers that are incorporating rental furniture into their corporate mobility policies as a core service offering. The practice of renting instead of purchasing furniture has proven to be beneficial for consumers because of lower price with reduced expense and maintenance which will drive the furniture rental market size. The industry is driven by wide ranging macroeconomic factors, such as the number of businesses operating domestically, the unemployment rate and the business sentiment index, all of which are expected to get better during that time frame. Growth in the number of businesses stimulates the demand for office furniture. 

Moreover, as the unemployment rate falls, demand for office furniture is anticipated to rise, as businesses require furniture for new employees.

Vlogging had taken the internet by storm when it started over a decade ago, and YouTube has changed entirely since. Yes! It has been more than ten years.

Videoblogging or vlogging is not a new concept, and there are hundreds and thousands of vloggers on YouTube from all corners of the world. The competition is high, and the supply is increasing by the minute.

However, we still see a lot of people taking up vlogging and launching themselves on YouTube every single day.

In this article today, I am going to talk about how to get started with vlogging in 2019. I am going

to mention the very first steps that one needs to take while preparing for vlogging.

It is an exciting world from the outside, but then there are a few things to keep in mind too. Let’s talk about those, in this article today.

But before beginning, a couple of nostalgic lines which are absolutely irrelevant to this post, but I feel they are emotionally essential and hence, you’ll have to bear with me – just a little bit!

Tan Speaks, since 2009

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you must not have seen me around; have you? There is a little tag in this blog, which reads, “Tan Speaks.” This tag has been here since this blog was called Jagruti. It was the year 2009 when I first wrote on this blog.

In these ten years, things changed a lot. There were many ups and downs in my life, and a few things changed on this blog too.

We were totally disconnected, until a sudden stroke of luck where I met Tushar a few months ago in an event in Delhi.

WOW! It was awesome to meet after knowing each other for so many years. And we spoke about the blog too. We had a good time. I came back to the blog through a link to my posts (tag labeled) which Tushar shared and that made me think that I should write again for Jagruti, which now, of course, is Tushar’s namesake blog.

I wanted to write, and this is how I am starting. These days, I write regularly on my blog www.TheIndianFreelancer.com on various other stuff, which may not be too similar to the

content of this blog, but a visit won’t harm. Check it out!xI hope that this article will reach the one who’s looking, and will be useful. So, without wasting any more time, let’s get going.

                          

What is Vlogging?

As we write articles and post them on our blogs, some people create videos and post them on YouTube, Vimeo, Instagram, Facebook, or other social media platforms.Publishing articles is called blogging, while publishing videos about self, in a casual manner, is called vlogging or videoblogging.

Vlogging is essentially a shortened name given to videoblogging. One can create videos on any toping and publish them as vlogs, but more often than not, vlogs contain the vlogger talking directly on the camera, in a lot more casual way, and talk about their day or an event.

What do you need to get started?

Well, the first things first. You need to choose the platform where you want to vlog. It can be a single platform, like YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, or you can also publish the same vlog (video) on multiple platforms if you choose to.

Once you know which platform you are targeting, you need to understand the dynamics of that particular platform – how does it work, what are their policies, and how you can learn and approach vlogging for that specific platform.

Note, that on YouTube, the audience prefers a 16:9 horizontal video while on Instagram or IGTV you will find the portrait version or a vertical 9:16 video more often. On Facebook, on the other hand, many still prefer a square or a 4:3 video.

Each platform is different, and you need to know about the one or many that you are interested in.

 Tan Says: most common video form factor accepted on multiple platforms is 16:9 landscape.

So, while starting, this should be the target.

What equipment is needed?

Now, once you have chosen the platform and have registered with it, it is time to start shooting.

But hold on! Where is the equipment?

You cannot just say, “I want to vlog” and get a video to upload! You will need equipment to shoot and software to edit it, make it look fancy and really the next big thing on the internet, right? Yes!

Consider each of your vlogs to have the potential to hit the sky!

Now, the essential equipment that you would need are as follows:

1. A decent camera to shoot yourself

2. A tripod to hold that camera

3. A microphone to help reduce the outside noise

4. Software to edit your clips

That is pretty much what you are going to need.

Now, you may want to use your mobile phone while you are starting if you do not have a DSLR camera with you already.

Hand-held tripods are not very costly online. You may also want to check out a gimbal for mobile phones if you have that extra cash to invest.

A microphone is a must if your phone’s (or DSLR’s) native mic is gathering too much of background noise while shooting in outdoor conditions.

And finally, the software is needed to edit the clips that you shoot. I prefer to buy a well-known and paid software, like Adobe Premiere, or Final Cut Pro (if you are on a Mac), or Camtasia to edit your content.

I use my PC to do the post-processing of the raw clips, and I use Camtasia and Filmora to edit. If I am on my phone, I use FilmoraGo, InShot, and KineMaster to edit clips. You may choose one based on your needs.

 Tan Says: Use your mobile phone to start with and buy a hand-held tripod and a generic lapel mic. Together, they won’t cost more than rupees 500. And for the software, you may want to check HitFilm, which is a free offering. These should be enough to get started.

How to prepare the content?

We, bloggers, know that nothing will be appreciated if the content is not good. How much ever you decorate your blog, you must publish great content to attract readers.

The same is true for vloggers as well.

Ensure that the content is of excellent quality. Not only the things you talk about or discuss in your video, but also the background, the editing, and the overall look and feel of your channel or page, should be top-notch.

To prepare the content, write down the steps that you are going to follow.

If it is a travel vlog or an event vlog, you may start from where you are, either hotel or your place, show the commute, show the area, talk about the site, introduce the event, and talk to a few participants or passerby and that would be a great way to build a vlog.

You may also want to write down what you are going to talk about and from which location you have already selected for the particular video.

 Tan Says: Brainstorm the idea and try to cover every aspect of the subject (an event or a trip) as much as possible. Don’t push yourself too much on this, though. Execution is the key, and many from the audience will want to see your real self. So, keep it natural and spontaneous!

How to sustain vlogging?

Can a vlogger sustain by just vlogging?

Can someone earn the right amount of money by publishing vlogs on YouTube?

Well, these are tricky questions, and the vlogger himself may not know about it until the money starts flowing in. But one thing that I can say from my experience is that, if you really want to learn something and implement it, just go ahead and do so.

If you are passionate about vlogs or want to share your life with strangers from all over the world and become friends, vlogging is for you. Do not worry about money. It will automatically come when you are ready, and many people are watching your vlogs.

 Tan Says: Vloggers earn a lot through the YouTube Partner Program once they grow. You may also expect earnings through sponsored videos and product or service reviews. But for now, if you are just starting, concentrate on the quality.

Final words

Well, with the above, we have finally come to the end of this post. I am thrilled that you read this far and I want to thank you a lot.

Now, if I were to start vlogging now, in 2019, I would just use my phone to shoot, a holder or a tripod to hold the phone securely when I walk around on uneven or all kinds of terrains and cheap or freely available software.

I am a little conservative person, and I really want to get started as soon as I have learned about the concepts. So, if you are ready, NOW is the time to start.

Do it fast!

That is all I have for this post. I hope you have found this helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments. And I will see you in the next post. Until then, take care and keep reading.

Cheers!

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Tan is a multi talented personality who blogs at Thus Spake Tanmoy
His popular youtube channel can be followed at  YouTube.com/TheIndianFreelancer

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