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Lions Club of Chennai Centennial Heroes - Charter Presentation and Governor Annual Visit

The Charter Presentation and Governor Annual Visit for our club - Centennial Heroes took place yesterday (29/12/16) at Pratap Plaza, Kodambakkam. It was a roaring success with the presence of eminent personalities from the club who came over to grace the occasion.


The event was scheduled at 7:30PM and being the Jt.Secretary of my club, I was there at 5:20 PM along with my pal who I had sponsored to become the member Ln Senthil Raj Babu. Our President Ln K Baskar arrived in a short while to supervise that all were on place.



A special mention to the emcee of the event - Ln B N Venkat who made the program lively with his perfect voice and calibre.


The District Governor arrived along with the other dignitaries well before the scheduled time and the event kick started. The officials who came to make this event a great success included:

PMJF Ln Er T M Gunaraja - District Governor
PMJF Ln Dr K S Babai - 1st VDG
MJF Ln C S Balamurugan - CS
MJF Ln B Vijayakumar - CT
PMJF Ln M S Velu - CA
MJF Ln P Srimurugan - RC
Ln Santhalakshmi R - ZC


After Flag Salutation and Lions Prayer, Ln Senthil Raj Babu gave an introduction about the District Governor which was well received by everyone and even the District Governor referred his name twice on his speech. 


As you guessed it, it was Dignitaries speech after the introduction. The speech was lively. Lot of good things were discussed. It was a motivation for us Centennial Year celebrations were discussed.






It was time for Charter Presentation, finally.



The District Governor then gave the International Pins to the President, Secretary.



Our Club President Ln K Baskar and Secretary Dr Ln T Sekar gave impressive speech.



Then it was Charter Certificate Presentation to the club members.

















As it was the first meeting for Ln Senthil Raj Babu, he was formally inducted by First VDG - Ln Dr K S Babai


Finally, it was time for felicitations.









It was really nice to see members from other club having made their presence for this  grand occasion which included President of Green City - Ln Gangadurai G and N Kannan.




Before the event could be adjourned, our club website was launched by The District Governor which got great appreciation from all the members including the District Governor who has mentioned that no other club has launched their own website at the time of Charter Presentation. It was a real honour for us. Our official website is www.lioncentheroes.in




The day concluded with an awesome buffet dinner. On behalf of my club - Centennial Heroes, I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to all the members who made it to the event making it a super grand success.

Finding Juliet


Title - Finding Juliet
Author - Toffee
Genre - Fiction
Publisher - Srishti Publishers and Distributors
Cover Design - Wasim Helal
ISBN - 978-93-82665-85-4

Do you love Erotica?
Do you love Romance?
Do you love Emotions?


If your answer is YES, Finding Juliet is the perfect answer for this.

By the way, meet the dumbest person on earth Arjun who could never realise until the end as to what the true love is.

This book by Taufeeq Ahmed would rekindle the school and college day memories in most of the guys for sure. I was not an exception as well. If someone says they have not experienced it, they are for sure lying. Kudos to the author in bringing out the memories in a subtle way. 

Arjun fails to understand the women psychology and he fails not once but thrice in his love which includes the likes of Aditi, Shraddha and Neha. He could not figure out as to why this was the case. He meets Krish in Bangalore after shifting from Hyderabad as he loses his parents in a tragic bomb blast.

Krish transforms Arjun into a different guy. He becomes a lyricist, hunk and what not.. Girls starts falling for his fame and appearance but still there was a sense of melancholy lurking on him. He had a good friend all the while called Anjali and she also hinted getting close to a person senior to her.

Arjun feels that he was lost in lust and not in true love when he finds even Krish had a failed love affair and so as his flamboyant manager. Did he manage to find his true love is what this story is all about.

The story will make you feel from all aspects. I finished this story in one stretch as it was beautifully crafted with perfect coincidence of events with characters that has supported the story well.

The book is available on Amazon

The Soul Charmer


Title - The Soul Charmer
Author - Richa Saxena
Publisher - Half Baked Beans


This is a collection of meticulously written 35 poems which touches upon various aspects in the life of a woman. It brings forth in front of us, the emotions faced by her as a daughter,wife, mother and so on.

What makes this book special is the way the poems were written. It would appeal to your senses as it was written touching upon various aspects which most of you would have faced or experienced in your real life.

I am actually in a fix as I am unable to identify which one is the best among all because each and every poem is unique and conveys a message in a distinctive way. However I have these two poems as my favourites among the whole lot "She is the Girl" and "Seasons of Love".

If you love reading poems, this is one book you should not miss it at any cost. The book is available in Amazon as a eBook. Click here to buy.

A Knotty Affair


Title -  A Knotty Affair
Author - Dhaval Birajdar Jinadatt
Genre - Fiction
Publisher - Frog Books, an imprint of Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd
Cover - Shynu K
Layouts - Logiciels Info Solutions Pvt Ltd
ISBN - 978-93-52016-24-2

A simple novel with a powerful message.

Viraj Sargaokar, a person who had a stammering voice in his schooling days was in love with Ruhi. Ruhi did not approve it as she was seeing Siddhesh.

Devastated by her decision, Viraj had to take some counselling class where he manages to come out of the depression and scoring top marks in his schooling and college. Since Ruhi was always in his mind, he did not show any interest when it comes to getting married.

In the meanwhile, his dad Prof Gaokar had to face some disciplinary action in his workplace for the crime he did not commit.

Ruhi also comes back in Viraj's life after 14 years.

Did Viraj manage to get justice for his dad and did he get to marry Ruhi?

You must find out by buying this interesting book because trust me, author has delivered it so beautifully with simple sequence of events. Stories like this will make youngsters to be prepared to face the world strong and brave without being feeling let down because you would understand yourself when you read the story as to how the transformation happens for Viraj.

The book is available on Amazon,

Confused Bastards


Title - Confused Bastards
Author - Manav Vigg
Publisher - Srishti Publishers and Distributors
Cover Designer - Kanupriya Gupta
ISBN - 978-93-82665-77-9

This story is so amazingly unique and different. It revolves around various aspects in the society. I must also admit that this story can very well fit into being made into a movie.

I read this from start till the end without a break as it was intriguing with each and every chapter. The story revolves around three friends namely

Aakash Srivastava - son of an IAS Officer
Jai Chaddha - Telecom Sector Employee
Vivek Sharma - an Investment Banker

Though they were from different background and was placed well in their respective position/jobs, they wanted to venture into something due to the growing discontent in their life with various things like financial commitment, divorce etc.,

Jai falls in love with Sneha after meeting her in an unusual incident. In another incident Aakash gets slapped by a girl in a party as he tried to be too flirty. That night when three friends got to meet together, Jai got a spark that eventually led to creating a online portal where users can vent their anger through videos.

As the idea was novel, it finds investors too in no time and they were off to a flying start. However destiny had other plans. Their website has to be shut down. They also met a person in the meanwhile who made them work out something unusual. The end result was unexpected.

What happens in the end is a picture perfect climax. Who helped these guys? Were they able to bring back their website online?

Read them by buying the book now. The book is available in Amazon.

The Origin Of Martin Krooger


Title - The Origin Of Martin Krooger
Author - Sameer Kumar
Publisher - Half Baked Beans
Genre - Thriller
ISBN - 978-93-84315-412

Firstly, I was surprised that this is the very first novel written by the author Sameer Kumar who had never read any novel in his Life. I was equally surprised when I was told that it took 9 years for the author to pen this novel.

The end result is simply amazing.

Few lines I would like to highlight before reviewing the novel.

" Hell is not hellish. It is simply a harsh energy extraction mode since harsh memories and evil deeds are too rigid to be extracted"

I would say this is a Fantasy Thriller and it brings forth in front of me the combination of Hogwarts in Harry Potter and also Narnia to some extent as the story is set to happen in various imaginary places like Alexas, Nukavyas,Nirvana,Eva to name a few.

Nirvana - The land where souls wait to be reincarnated into the birth cycle to go to the land of Eva(Earth) and it is the purest place on Earth.

Agrians who were really powerful created a world called Eva(Earth) where they sent banished souls and used them for their testing purposes. Master Agusthus who held and important position. Moira was his daughter.

Moira loved Gray Castle without knowing that he was the Prince of Nirvana. Gray's mother was Queen Iris. When things were set to go well, Moira turns into rock. Who made her turn into stone?

Few important characters in this novel includes Marion, Master Cardone, Mary, Andrew, Waly, Sir Nerk, Alexia(Daughter of Nerk) etc whose characters were utilised well.

What I liked the most about the story is the presence of short poems in the beginning of each chapter. You should not miss reading Chapter 17 in particular. You will understand the importance of it when you read the novel.

By the way, what threat did these powerful so called Agrians faced? What made their powers so ineffective?
Who is Martin Krooger?
Who saved them from these threat?

Buy the novel today to enjoy this good novel. The book is available in Amazon.

Save and Get Saved with uberPOOL

Save and Get Saved with uberPOOL

We have always been not so caring when it comes to protecting the mother Nature. Nature has always been kind to us but from time to time, it loses its patience and shows its fury. Some of the recent events like Verdah, Nadah storms stands a testimony to the fact that erratic climatic changes and its patterns were the cause for these kind of devastation.

You need not have to go and plant trees everywhere. All you need to do is to ensure that you now your responsibility and preserve nature in your own unique way. We all travel a lot. There is no denial of that fact. How do we travel is what that makes the difference. For those who stay close to their work location would travel either by walk or by to wheeler. What if you are staying far off or you are not comfortable travelling in traffic? We take a four wheeler. You might be spending a bomb if you are travelling on a hired four wheeler. To address your woes, Uber has introduced uberPOOL

Most of us would already be having the Uber App on our smart phone. What makes UberPool different from the normal commute? There are few many.

1. Reduced Carbon Emission - a vehicle irrespective of how many passengers are travelling on it, would emit the same emission. This is one of the reason why Govt and other agencies insist on travelling in Public Transport. Not all would want to travel on that for various reasons like traffic, crowd etc., To address this woe, Uber has introduced UberPool. Unlike other modes, this is effective for the fact that it ferries people who would be travelling in the same route as yours. Hence instead of 1 person travelling all alone to his/her work, you will have a company of few more passengers who would be commuting on the same route which means the Carbon Emission is now been reduced to as low as 18% (Considering 6 people travelling at the same time). This is one way of saving mother nature from pollutants.

2. Saving of Money - This option would save a lot of money. If you are travelling in your own car, you need to shell out a lot considering not only the diesel or petrol that you need to buy to fill up your car's tank but also other expenses like Parking, Insurance, Wear and Tear arising due to depreciation, Chauffeur Charges(if you have a regular person to ferry you). On the other hand, a hired vehicle can save you good amount of money. A much better option is to opt for the pool. Why?
The charges are even more lower since the total charges are now being shared by the fellow passengers who travel on the same route. Isn't a worthy option to think about?

3. Safety - You need not have to travel alone. If you are considering about safety, you will have more passengers traveling with you almost all the time. This is apart from the strict procedures Uber follows in recruiting the drivers.

4. Parking Woes - Say good bye to parking woes when you are travelling in a uberPOOL. The vehicle will always be on move and will not be stagnant in one place and hence you need not have to worry about parking.

5. Others - This option is one of the tried and tested method elsewhere and is a win-win situation for all. Saving money for you, saving environment for all.

To sweeten this further, Uber has also announced that it would track collaborative impact on real time and would send a Personal Impact Report each week which would let you know as to how much you have contributed from your end. It doesn't end with this. You can also get a chance to win a free month of uberPOOL.

How to Participate - Take the Pledge

  1. Enter promo code SWITCH2POOL in the Uber app
  2. Take uberPOOL trips through Jan 4th to be entered to win a FREE MONTH of uberPOOL
  3. One winner will be announced every Thursday

Every trip counts as an additional entry to win and every km shared helps solve traffic and saves on average over 130g of CO2 pollution. 

What are you waiting for? #SwitchToPool now.

GORGEOUS - Eat Well,Look Great


Title - GORGEOUS - Eat Well,Look Great
Author - Shvetha Jaishankar
Book Design - Sheetal Parakh
Food Photography - Sunder Ramu
Publisher - HarperCollins Publishers India
P-ISBN - 978-93-5264-108-6
E-ISBN - 978-93-5264-109-3

The book was launched amidst fanfare today(20/12/16) at The Folly, Amethyst-Chennai,India. The hall was house full by 4PM.







Thankfully, I bought the book in he very beginning and the author was kind enough to pose for the pic apart from autographing it.





Malaika Arora Khan, the chief guest of the event arrived sooner and she was welcomed by the author. Some of the eminents who were present were Dr Kamala Selvaraj with her Daughter and renowned Carnatic Singer Aruna Sairam.



Malaika Arora Khan and Shvetha Jaishankar took the stage and spoke about so many aspects related to food and fitness in details. Some of the excerpts were listed below (as short videos)








Finally, it was time to unveil the book :-)



Having read about the event, don't you also want to read my review? If yes, continue reading below:

The book is an exemplary one. I have read and reviewed so many books and restaurants but not a cook book. But having said that, when I browsed this book, I could not resist my temptation to review this.

I follow Master Chef and other Cookery programs in local channels. I have also got cook books from Chef Sanjeev Kapur and Master Chef Vikas Khanna. I have also got books of Chef Dhamu and Chef Venkatesh Bhat (popular chefs in Tamilnadu).

What makes this book special?

The book is unique and the richness of the book, be it with pictures or the way the recipe being presented makes it on par with books being published internationally. This justifies the price of the book as well.

There are 100 awesome recipes in this book and most of them were inspired by Top 28 Models and Actors which includes the likes of:

1. Priyanka Chopra
2. Gul Panag
3. Trisha Krishnan
4. Milind Soman
5. Ujwala Raut
6. Aditi Govitriker
7. Madhu Sapre to name a few.

The book consists of both Veg and Non-Veg delicacies. The non-veg delicacies comprises of eggs, chicken, pork and lamb, seafood. Most of them are unique dishes and the way of preparation has been explained in simple English.

This book would surely appeal whether you are a vegan or otherwise. Ways of preparation has been mentioned in simple steps. I can safely bet that this book can even make a novice or a beginner to learn quickly and eat healthily. 

As said by the author and Malaika, eat the food you like but in limited quantities. Avoid fried and deep fried foods. Exercise as and when possible though regular exercise is recommended. 

What are you waiting for? Buy this amazing book today. You will surely appreciate the quality of the content in this one of a kind cook book.



The book is available on AmazonIndia and other leading bookstores.