Manu's Medley

Ugadi, also known as Samvatsaraadhi is celebrated as New Year by people of various states in India like Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Manipur etc. It is also regarded as the spring festival, which falls in the Hindu lunisolar calendar month named Chaitra. So usually, Ugadi falls in the late March or the early April as per the Gregorian calendar. Ugadi is observed by oil baths, new dresses, rangolis, ugadi pachadi, sweets, a lavish festive spread, special prayers at temples and panchanga sravanam. At our home, Ugadi is celebrated with lot of festive cheer, with all of those listed above. Times since I remember, on the day of Ugadi, apart from rangolis, we decorate our home with toran made out of mango leaves, symbolizing prosperity. Mango leaves is known to keep out the negative energy. My father/ brother head out and bring fresh raw mangoes and neem flowers required to prepare the festive special Ugadi pachadi, while Mom and me work on the festival delicacies. ...

Your super hero is gearing up to celebrate his 1st birthday? By now, he would be able to stand and take baby steps with support. Starting from this age, babies are always on the move and busy doing something or the other. So parents, brace up yourself for the fun time ahead!!  I have listed down few activities to give you an idea as how to engage your kids as he steps into the last quarter of his 1st year. If you want to know how to engage your 6months old, do check out the post here . These activities may trigger new ideas in you to help your child develop physical, motor and communicative skills. Also remember, each child is different and so is their growth. Do not compare your child's development with other kid's milestones and loose peace over it. In case of any doubts/ concerns about your kids growth, consult your pediatrician. What to expect from a 10-12 months old? Sits without support Pulls up and stands with support Walk with support Have better hand-eye coordination C...

Indian web series aren't new to us. Recently, multi-starrer web series, that too combination of performers from North-South film industries is on the raise. Farzi falls into the same category, with Makkal Selvan Vijay Sethupathi foraying into web series along with Bollywood's heartthrob Shahid Kapoor. Farzi (meaning Fake), is an Indian crime thriller web series, from the creators of Family Man series - Raj and DK. It is released in Amazon Prime on 10th Feb 2023, in multiple Indian languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada). Raj and DK have directed and cowritten this series with Sita Menon and Suman Kumar. Apart from Vijay Sethupathi and Shahid Kapoor, the star cast includes Bhuvan Arora, Kay Kay Menon, Raashii Khanna, Zakir Hussain, Amol Palekar, Regina Cassandra etc. Michael Vedanayagam (Vijay Sethupathi) is a fierce task force officer, on a mission to eradicate counterfeit currency mafia in India. He is on look for the Indian counterfeit network head Mansoor Dal...

TEMU is the latest buzzword, shaking up the North American ecommerce world!!!! How many of you have been constantly receiving ads, notifications in your emails and all of your social media platforms about TEMU? Until a few days ago, I haven't heard the word "TEMU". If someone talked to me about it, I would have brushed off the conversation thinking it is just another scam. When I received the first email, that was my immediate reaction and deleted it. But after few more notifications, I got curious and started digging about it, only to realize that it is an ecommerce app similar to Aliexpress, Wish, Shein etc. selling products at lower prices.  Since China is ruling the ecommerce market, I naturally thought TEMU should also be part of China's ecommerce ecosystem, and my guess was right. Though TEMU is headquartered at Boston, this online retailer is a subsidiary of Pinduoduo (PDD), Chinese ecommerce giant with close to 900 million users. So technically, TEMU is suppo...