Tag: ahmedabad

Categories
Trends

About 35% couples took a trip this weekend

Survey reveals that about 5 lakh travelers from the metros went to nearby tourist spots over the long I-Day weekend.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

The long weekend, starting from Friday, August 15 (Independence Day), and ending on Monday, August 18 (Pateti, Janmashtami) certainly allowed several people to take short trips to nearby locations. If a quick survey by ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry in India) is to be believed, about 35 per cent working couples of 500 couples surveyed in the metros of the country took planned an extended weekend trip during this time. 

About 5 lakh travelers made the journey to renowned weekend destinations, as per the survey based on feedback received from various working couples and tour operators in metros. “The weekend, starting this Independence Day on Friday, was extended up to Janmashtami on Monday (August 18) and about 35 per cent of working couples in metros planned to make it an extended holiday and escape to the nearby tourist destinations,” highlighted the survey.

ASSOCHAM representatives interacted with about 500 working couples to gauge their mood and plans for the Independence Day weekend in five cities of Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi-NCR, and Kolkata during the last fortnight.

While about 35 per cent respondents conceded they had planned their itinerary in advance, about 55 per cent said they would relax at home and enjoy some good quality time with their family and the remaining 10 per cent said they have not made any plans so far. “With work schedules getting hectic by the day, working couples in India impatiently await weekends and thus make the most of extended weekends,” said DS Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM.

The survey also took into account inputs from representatives of leading travel portals, travel agencies, and hoteliers who came up with various packages, as they had received a good number of bookings for traditional picturesque destinations located around the metros.
 
Certain respondents even said that their companies enabled the ‘work from home’ facility for their employees so that they could spend the weekend comfortably and complete their tasks as per their convenience.

Ashtvinayak, Goa, Khandala, Lonavla, Mahabaleshwar, and Matheran were the top destinations for about 30 per cent working couples in Mumbai, while almost 40 per cent respondents from Delhi-NCR rated Agra, Dharamshala, Haridwar, Jaipur, Jim Corbett, Khatu Shyam, Landsdowne, Mathura and Vrindavan, Manali, Mussoorrie, Nainital, Rishikesh, Shimla, Vaishno Devi and other spots among their favourite spots. 

Ambaji, Gir, Kutch, Mount Abu, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Udaipur and others were significant getaway destinations for about 45 per cent working couples planning a quick holiday this weekend in Ahmedabad. Meanwhile, Chikmagalur, Coorg, Madhugiri, Mysore, Nandi Hills, Ooty, Ramanagara, Shivanasamudra Waterfalls, Wayanad and others were most sought-after weekend getaway destinations for 35 per cent working couples in Bangalore.

Bakkhali, Darjeeling, Digha, Mandarmoni, Murshidabad, Navadivpa, Raichak Santiniketan, Sunderbans, Tajpur, Tarapith and others were preferred weekend getaways for about 25 per cent respondents in Kolkata.

Also read: ‘Four-day holiday causes six-hour traffic snarl on Mumbai-Pune Expressway‘, TOI

(Picture courtesy www.planmoneytax.com)

Categories
Wellness

50% cosmetics sold OTC are fake?

A study of over 500 cosmetic, beauty products sold without prescription showed that most of them were harmful to skin.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

We follow ads on TV and in the newspapers which point us towards the latest cure for our physical ailments. Some of us want the perfect skin, others want to lose weight without exercise and diet. What’s more, if the product we’re aiming to buy comes from a major pharmaceutical or FMCG company, we’re confident of its results even before using it.

You could be so wrong.

Dr Samir Mansuri holds up one of the products testedA team of doctors conducted an in-depth and comprehensive survey and study of cosmetic and beauty products available in the Indian market OTC (over the counter) and without prescription. Over 500 cosmetic and beauty products were studied for several parameters, most notably on their efficacy, safety of use, whether they satisfied manufacturing and Government norms, and whether they really delivered what the promised. The team of doctors was led by ayurved exponent Dr Samir Mansuri (in pic on left) and it included Dr GK Mansuri, who is a member of the CCIM, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.

As per the products tested in laboratories in Ahmedabad and Mumbai, the doctors’ findings were:

– About 50 per cent of all cosmetics and beauty or skin care products sold over the counter in India are either fake or spurious or both, or whose shelf life has expired and are harmful to the human skin in the long run.

– Many products do not have the mandatory Government of India manufacturing license for cosmetic products.
– About 65 per cent of unbranded (or unknown brands) products contain harmful ingredients or compounds including synthetically-produced elements, ingredients and compounds.
– Even ayurvedic products manufactured by FMCG giants contained ingredients obtained from herbs and plants or plant extracts grown artificially and not organically.
– Overdoses of pesticides remained as residues in such ayurvedic products. Most ayurvedic products sold in India as beauty and cosmetic products are not tested for residual pesticides.
– According to Dr Samir Mansuri, if bottled water and colas manufactured by large international FMCG brands and monitored by several NGOs can contain high level of pesticides, onefake drugs can only attempt to imagine the situation with medicinal and non-medicinal cosmetic products manufactured with herbal and plant extracts and sold OTC as ayurvedic medicines.

Dr Samir Mansuri has now launched a ‘Save our Skin’ campaign on the social media to highlight the dangers of buying spurious OTC beauty and cosmetic products that are sold without regulation.

(Pictures courtesy www.cosmeticsdesign-asia.com, www.scoop.it)

Categories
Trends

What senior citizens want…

Ever wonder why a person past the age of 60 wants to marry again? We get experts to tell us.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Shantanu Banerjee* (71), a Bandra-based businessman, lost his wife to cancer four years ago. “Dealing with her illness was painful, especially the last months, when she was home and there was nothing more I could to help her,” he says. “Then she passed away, and our big house began to torture me by being so empty.”

Last year, Shantanu decided to address his loneliness. “I was living with my sister in Bangalore, and I joined a senior citizens club there. I met a woman who my own age, and like me, she loved watching movies and going for walks,” he remembers. Soon, the walks turned into day-long trips, the movie-watching turned into shopping excursions. “We realised we liked being with each other. She was a widow, had been for 10 years. But her outgoing nature made me come out of my grief. I decided to marry her.”

Shantanu and Gayathri Shetty* were married in a quiet ceremony last year. “We live in Mumbai and she has adjusted well. I love having her around the house,” he beams.

Shantanu and Gayathri are part of a growing tribe of seniors that are opting for a second shot at happiness in their twilight years. Given India’s current demographic – the UN says 32 crore of the country’s population will be over 60 years old in the year 2020, and India will soon be counted amongst the world’s ageing nations (where the geriatric population goes up every year) – we are looking at a situation where there will be several, single senior citizens. And most of them might need to find partners.

“People at that age are not necessarily looking for sex in the marriage. They are looking more for love and companionship. We’ve seen that while men want a companion, women want financial security,” says Sailesh Mishra, founder of the NGO Silver Innings, which works for senior citizens in the country.”And while there are several people whose families do not want them to marry ‘at that age’ because they fear what people will think, and also because they don’t realise that old people also need companions, we are happy to see that some children and relatives are totally supportive of them,” he adds.

A number of marriage bureaux catering to senior citizens have sprung up in recent times. Natubhai Patel (62), who started the first such bureau in Ahmedabad and who has to his credit 75 marriages and 25 live-in relationships among senior citizens across the country, says, “At that age, there is no confusion in the person’s mind about what he or she wants from the partner they seek.

For example, there was a 72-year-old who said that he wanted a wife who could also have sex with him. We found a woman, a widow, for him who was prepared to fulfil this condition. Another woman who came to me said that she got a good pension from her deceased husband’s company, and she didn’t want to give it up by marrying another man, but that she wanted a companion. Today, she lives with a man of her age at his home.”

Natubhai says he has a waiting list of 25,000 people looking for partners, and the numbers are just growing every year. “However, we want more women to come forward and ask for companions. It’s very difficult for women in our country, especially at that age, to even say that they want a man in our lives. However, more women are approaching us, which is a good sign.”

Some common expectations from senior citizens:

– A partner for marriage

– A partner for companionship; may or may not live-in with that person.

– A partner only for friendship; could be same-sex; requires the same for common shared interests.

– A partner for sex

(Picture courtesy daydreamingwordsmith.blogspot.com)

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