Tag: Delhi Blogger

His Holiness the Dalai Lama inaugurates Smile Foundation’s initiative, ‘The World of Children’

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

It is said that a child’s smile can brighten up anyone’s day – imagine what would happen when 550 innocent smiles light up a place. This was the view that greeted attendees at NCUI Auditorium, August Kranti Marg, on November 19, 2017 on the launch of Smile Foundation’s ‘The World of Children’ initiative. Approximately 550 children from privileged and underprivileged background were present for the landmark event, which was graced by the Guest of Honour, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, amongst other prominent dignitaries.

The event witnessed the launch of the initiative – ‘The World of Children’. Conceptualised as a one-of-its-kind platform that brought together children from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, ‘The World of Children’ is aimed at enabling children to discuss their issues challenges, and ideas with each other, as well as youth icons and inspirational leaders from the world over. The initiative is aimed at helping children and adults understand the problems that plague today’s youth and to find the right outlet for their energy and enthusiasm through meaningful, thought-provoking discussions, relevant advice, and guidance.

The event kicked off with the introduction and formal welcome of His Holiness onto the stage, followed by an address by His Holiness to the children in attendance. It was followed by another address and Q&A session between His Holiness and the students. Children from Gramin Vikas Samiti, Nai Disha, Ina Raja Memorial Education Trust, Neev – Mission Education centres of Smile Foundation and from the privileged schools – Bharti Public School (Swasthya Vihar), Bharti Public School (Mayur Vihar), Mount Carmel School, Queen Mary School, Kothari International, Victoria Public School, Mother Global Public School, and Ahlcon International School were the schools participating at the event.

Reciting anecdotes from his life and experience and laying emphasis on self-creation, His Holiness The Dalai Lama said, ”I see much development in the field of education in the recent years. One can change the way of thinking in order to reduce the gap of rich and poor, both of them have the responsibility to bring in education. I always stress, you should develop self confidence. I would like to contribute to the task taken up by the Smile Foundation and take the mission of equal education and infrastructure to all and bridge this gap. Self creation is very important and you can become a great person through will-power, hardwork and dedication.”

Citing India, His Holiness The Dalai Lama said, ”India is my home, both physically and mentally, since last fifty years and I am a student of the Nalanda tradition. In this tradition there is a lot of emphasis on reasoning, logic, and experiment and not faith. Ancient knowledge of India is more meaningful today, today the world is going through a crisis; it is highly developed but there is no inner peace. Inner peace comes from training of mind and not temporary shortcuts.”

His Holiness in his message to the children concluded, ”It is your responsibility to build this 21st century into a better, compassionate and peaceful generation. In order to build a better world you need determination, strictly secular education, universal responsibility.”

Speaking on the launch, Mr. Santanu Mishra, Co-founder & Executive Trustee, Smile Foundation, said, “The children today – whether privileged or underprivileged, need support, advice and guidance to help them realize their true potential, make the right choices, and discover a meaningful purpose in life. The lessons that are learnt in childhood tend to stay with us throughout our lives. We believe that the wise words, advice and guidance of real-life achievers such as His Holiness – the Dalai Lama will positively influence the thought-process and decision-making of the children and will be cherished by them all their lives. We are extremely thankful to His Holiness to grace us with his presence and enrich us with his thoughts. The only objective of “The World of Children” is to ensure that the young minds of our country grow up as good human beings and responsible change-makers committed to build a better world for all.”

In today’s world, depression amongst children the world over is on the rise, as are other critical issues such as loneliness, insecurity, and anxiety etc. This has resulted in a rapid increase in drug abuse, violence, and suicide amongst school-going children of all ages. What’s worse is that these issues often either get swept under the rug because of the fear of social rejection, mistaken for a lack of will, or ignored.

“Ignoring this problem will not make it go away, which is why we are looking to address it with our latest initiative, ‘The World of Children’. Through this unique, one-of-its-kind outreach programme, we are looking to encourage children from various socioeconomic backgrounds to openly discuss their problems with their peers and elders, and to find solutions to those problems through their own experiences, learning, and observations. This will not only help in raising greater awareness about the various issues that plague children today, but also in creating a supportive and nurturing environment that can help them in overcoming challenges, making the right life choices, and realising their true potential,” added Santanu.

Established in 2002 to effect a positive change at the grassroots level, Smile Foundation has been ceaselessly working towards alleviating the problems and challenges faced by underprivileged children, their families, and their communities. Smile Foundation has won widespread recognition and accolades for its pioneering work in the field of child empowerment over the years, engaging and empowering underprivileged children, youth and women through relevant education, innovative healthcare, and market-focussed livelihood programmes.

About Smile Foundation:

Smile Foundation is a national level development organization benefitting over 400,000 underprivileged children, their families and the community directly through 158 welfare projects on subjects such as education, healthcare, livelihood, and women empowerment across 25 states of India. Adopting a life cycle approach of development, Smile Foundation focuses its interventions on children, their families and the community.

Website: http://www.smilefoundationindia.org/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/smilefoundationindia.org

Twitter: https://twitter.com/smilefoundation

 

 

 

Dakshin Food Festival at Crowne Plaza Rohini!

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

The word Dakshin, by default doesn’t excite me much, because I am not a big fan of South Indian Cuisine, but recently when my foodie friends decided to visit the DAKSHIN Food Festival at Crowne Plaza Rohini, I reluctantly agreed. I am so glad that I actually went, because my perception of the Dakshin food changed completely, it was so so good that I can actually now say that I relished it.

The spread was an elaborate one and offered wide variety of dishes for both vegetarians and non-vegetarians. I tried quite few things and I have to admit that I loved each one of them. Some of them need a special mention, The Rawa Fish was an amazing preparation, crispy outer coating to an otherwise tender fish, it just melted in mouth. Chonka Idly, Maysore Bonda and Paneer 65 were other delightful preparations. I loved the tiny tiny crisp idly a lot. Mulagu Vada too was a delectable dish and so were Chicken 65 and Meen Pollichathu.

Then we tried the Veg Stew with Appam and it was simply delicious. Rasa Omelette was a dish that stood out for its awesome flavours. Ulli Theeyal Mutton and Mangalorian Fish Curry were relished with Malabari Paranthas and trust me they were drool worthy.

After a hearty platter of desserts, we ended our culinary trip to Dakshin, without having to go their actually and enjoyed ourselves to the core. Now I can say that I look forward to more such festivals and I am extremely open to explore more South Indian dishes.

Sixth Empirica- Restaurant Review

Posted on by Aditi Malhotra

Sixth Empirica, the latest connoisseur of multi cuisine food abodes the Main Club Road, Punjabi Bagh. Spread across two floors and a beautiful roof-top, 6th Empirica, the brain-child of the brother sister trio- Ankit Kapoor, Ekta Chhabra and Shweta Sehgal presents forth a lavish space for family and friends to enjoy a gala time.

I recently went to this place, though it was very far from my place, but as I missed attending the launch party, I thought I might at least go post launch for a food review session.

To my disappointment, the beginning was at a wrong note as the service was too slow, we were served the drinks and starters almost after one hour of wait. This is something I really want them to improve big time. This kind of a delay that too when not too many tables were occupied is not expected from a restaurant of this stature and should be rectified without a doubt.

Now coming to food, I was served Chicken Manchow Soup to begin with, along with an array of mocktails to taste. The soup was really nice and I loved their garlic chilly sauce which was served along with it. The mocktails too were nice, I personally liked the Kiwi and Strawberry one.

For starters, It was the Lebanese Platter, The Tandoori Non Veg Platter and Black Bean Fish Kebab for non vegetarians and Empirica Tandoori Kacha Aaloo Al Ankat, Empirica Paneer Tikka Parmigiana and Veg Kalmi Vada Kebab for vegetarians. The Lebanese Platter had 3 different types of chicken shish touk and the entire platter was good. The non veg platter had fish tikka, chicken malai tikka, chicken seekh kebab and chicken tikka, the chicken malai tikka and fish tikka were the best amongst all, did not like the seekh kebab much as I expected them to be really tender, but they were not. The chicken tikka was normal. The Black Bean Fish Kebab was just about ok, again I expected it to be really different and great, different yes it was, but not too great. In the veg selection I tried the kacha aaloo, which was actually too kacha, it was so difficult to break it even with a knife, I don’t know if oven baked potato is meant to be so hard and raw, at least for me, it doesn’t work.

The main course was better than the starters for sure and it is quite unusual for me, because at most places the starters top the chart. We tried the Gosht Nihari, Chicken So Changezi, Paneer Mughlai Lajawab, Veg Biryani and Dal Makhani, and these dishes were good. I specially liked the Chicken Changezi and Nihari in non veg and Dal Makhani in veg.

The Pineapple Halwa, which was served for dessert was definitely the best dish I that day. To conclude I would say that the food is average and can be improved and service like I mentioned needs a big time boost. They have ample space to cater to large groups and n number of customers, but without these improvisations, the decor and space won’t matter. I wish them all the best.