protima

Travel

Vienna In Pictures

A wave of nostalgia washed over me last night and before I knew it, it was 4:00am and I was craving for a hot chocolate croissant and a European vacation. After the initial sadness, the creative little angel in me made me see what a perfect opportunity this was to celebrate the best vacation we’ve ever had, and maybe it was time to start planning the next one. While I am taking this trip down memory lane, I wish to share with you some of the best moments we had in Vienna. Out of all the cities we visited, I think this is the city I would go back to again. I’d go back for that journey by the Euro Rail, those narrow gauges and tunnels, through those lush green Alps dotted with cows grazing on the slopes, and those snow-filled peaks we watched pass by. Vienna has got to…

Fitness

Fitness & Women Safety

Over 50 DMs and emails asking me about safety while working out prompted me to do some research and write this one. In this post I talk about women who have taken up the fitness journey encountering harassment, and how do we deal with it. I’d love know your thoughts too! There are some personal examples and some examples that my readers shared with me (no names mentioned) Point here is to acknowledge and address harassment. Hope I can make sense to some of you :) Do you: Avoid going for runs late at night or early in the morning when there are not too many people around? Avoid going to the gym at certain times to avoid running into certain men? Choose your workout clothes that spell MODEST just so that you do not attract eyeballs? Run/workout with self defense items in close proximity? Avoid certain parks because the parking…

Fitness

5 Problems Women Face At The Gym : A Survey

The other day I was surprised to see how ZERO women had stepped into the gym during the weekend. I immediately put this up on my Instagram, asking women to tell me what makes them stay away from the gym, or what they think could be a valid reason fro women to stay away from workouts during the weekend. Most of the answers I got were along the lines of ‘I don’t have time’ ‘women need to take care of so much at home’ Fair enough, this is something that each of one us has to figure out on our own. But there are a few responses that I’d like to change. Read on to know my thoughts : People will stare: everyone is too busy doing their own thing to look at you and judge you. You need to keep your focus strong when you walk in to the gym.…

Lifestyle

Gong, Pune – This Could Have Been Better

A barrage of photos on Instagram had already prepared me for the grandeur of the ambiance, and I am glad to say that my expectations were met when I stepped in for a lunch meal at Gong. Unfortunately, this was the only highpoint worth celebrating, something I wish I did not have to say. Don’t get me wrong, don’t be too disappointed yet, I think I have evolved to be an extremely picky customer, and I notice things that people tend to pass off as normal. Allow me to explain. The atmosphere is special: the Japanese influence on the décor and lighting are predominant throughout, and the fine-dine aura is well maintained with soft, ambient music. Gong comes off as sincere and authentic, coupled with a little wit and charm. Gong does have your heart as soon as you walk in. Now that the ambiance has set the expectations this…

Lifestyle

Mad House Grill Pune- A Legacy

These days it’s quite a task figuring out where to dine. For those of you who are new here, long story short, I have now moved over to the dark side. This dark side boasts of heavy weights, HIITs, 10km runs and a lot of healthy eating. I am consciously making diet plans, trying my best to follow them, and of course minimizing all the eating out. Before you assume we gym folks do not know how to have fun, I’ll have you know that we have our lovely cheat days, 1:00am nights and parties every other day. Balance is the key, and once you get the hang of it life gets easy. With restaurants introducing healthy food in their menus, trying to get this balance has got easier lately. Joining the list of brands that the #fitfam will always be thankful to is Mad House Grill, an establishment critical…

Lifestyle

Mixed feelings at the launch of Mandarin & Mircchi, Pune

The team behind Sassy Spoon and Baraza have opened a third property, Mandarin & Mircchi, inside the premises of Ishanya Mall. Taking its cues from the public that is torn between choosing from the Chinese and Indian cuisines, Mandarin & Mircchi decided to gift us the best of both worlds, perfect for those times you cannot decide if you’d rather settle for some fish tikka or chilly chicken. I checked out this new place last week at the soft launch, and here’s what I have to say about Mandarin & Mircchi- AMBIANCE This new establishment is located right next to Baraza (even before entering I had made a mental note to keep this as a dinner option for those weekends we head to Baraza) and appears to be fine dining. You walk in to a space that has been creatively customized to showcase the amalgamation of Oriental and Indian elements.…

Fitness

I Doubled My Food Intake To Get A Well Defined Core

This year has been great so far, and as far as the fitness journey is concerned, if you follow me on Instagram you’ll must have realised how I’ve opted for lifting and gains earlier this year. I have gained a whole lot of muscle mass, and I have also moved up to a size 4 now, but I don’t have any regrets. My muscles are pumped, I’m sore 3 out of 7 days of the week, my glutes are beginning to pop, and life looks really good right now. As I said, no regrets :) I have concentrated on eating clean, eating smart and working out. Lifting weights burns a lot of calories, so in order to keep the gains going I’m eating well too. So does that mean I do not have a hard core anymore? Absolutely not! In fact my core is stronger, and definitely more defined than what it…

Guests

ChatRoom #12- Bombay Bellyrina

Once in a while, you come across people who not only fill your life with positive vibes(I mean you LITERALLY feel a positive, happy change in the energy around you just by seeing their name pop up on your timeline) but inspire you to be the best version of yourself. They don’t even do this intentionally at times, it’s just something about them that wants you to be happy, stress-free and super duper motivated. Chitra Balachandran is one such awesomesauce human I’ve had the good fortune of meeting (on the otherwise dreadful internet) and she, along with a bunch of more awesomesauce people, is the reason I’m still sane when it comes to social media (read Twitter.) It all started off with #TwitterGetsFitter, a community that works towards getting people to be fit together. I simply connected because this is what I had been doing too! What was in it for us?…

Lifestyle

Super Excited To Be A Part Of The Women Writers Fest In Pune!

SheThePeople has chosen Pune to host its flagship event, The Women Writer’s Fest , a festival that aims to focus the dialogue around women writers who are breaking new ground in content, style, and storytelling. It takes me immense pleasure to announce that I am also a part of The Women Writer’s Fest this August, and will be participating in the panel at the Blogging Workshop. *cue applause* With me I have the gorgeous Aashna Bhagwani from Beyond The Bouffant, Reema Sathe, Founder of Happy Roots and Sheena Dabholkar from one of my favorite Travel & Lifestyle webzines LOVER. The session would be moderated by Richa Singh, Founder of BlogChatter. This workshop is scheduled for 11:00am on 18thAugust 2017. (I have literally written this with a smile on my face, and I cannot be patient about this fest anymore!) About The Fest The Women Writer’s Fest will be a day long event…

Lifestyle

Cheat Day With Smart Food- A TJ’s Brew Works & Nudo collaboration

There has been a sudden influx of health brands, with each one claiming to be healthier than the previous one. The time is right, seeing how everyone is taking up the fitness journey. But wait a minute, how healthy is your mayo and cheese loaded salad? How healthy is that multi grain bread? I’m not pointing fingers at anyone, but I feel there’s a lot that the customer today needs to know. Did you know the highly processed wheat grain today is not recommended in your diets? Did you know salad sauces end up making your salads unhealthy?All that I’m saying is, “healthy” is easy to fall for; there’s a lot that one needs to know. Nudo is a new entrant in the ‘health food’ market, and we recently went over to TJs Brew Works to see what this brand duo has in store for us. Was it really health food?…