Social Media Week Mumbai 2014

I've always been interested in Art, Culture, Media and Literature. There is something about media that when blended with society brings about a change, a betterment. Being part of NGO's I can say I've been part of this social movement, bringing about change in the most basic of ways. Be it either teaching young shelter home kids or elders who wish to improve their communication in English so as to raise themselves to a better employment sector of our society. In a way, it helped me view the lives of people at the grass-root level thereby understanding them and bringing a smile on their faces. But despite all this, I never did get a chance to explore it in the media way, I always heard about various organizations fighting for trafficking or rape victims but never got a chance to interact with them directly. Then apart from that there is always a factor of blogging, being an avid blogger myself I wanted to socialize and venture more into this arena.

Blogadda gave me this opportunity to attend social media week, (me thinks if I didn't get this opportunity I wouldn't have found time in my schedule to even attend it). The Social Media Week was held in Mumbai, at Novotel Hotel, Juhu.

So, I registered for 4 events that could fit my schedule but call it bad luck I could attend only 1 of them as I fell ill on the third day of the event :-/ and have just recuperated just yesterday. (Started off with mild fever and cold and went onto allergies that eventually banned me from leaving the bed). So end of this sob story, let's continue on the workshop I attended.

   
This is the pass I was given at the entrance and could be used for attending all the workshops and events. The event I attended was "A Perfect Bite" - A masterclass on Food Blogging by Rushina Munshaw Ghildiyal. Ring a Bell? Nah..Okay let me stop the misery, she is a food blogger, an amazing one at that. Her blog is full of small notes and filled with personal touches as well as mouth watering recipes.

What I remember the most of her amazing session is this line, "Being a curator of information." She began the presentation by focusing on what is Blogging all about, how to be a blogger, make a blog and other smaller things that make a blogger.

Ten minutes post  this, the presentation on Food Blogging finally began. Never being a food blogger, this one had me hooked; I wanted to know that how's and what's of food blogging. And who better teacher than the speaker herself.

Some of the points she spoke to be a Good Food Blogger were; Being a writer, A recipe creator, Food Stylist (how you present it to your audience), a photographer (very essential), Designer (plating and all is important) and finally a marketer. And finally every post should motivate the reader, motivate to try the recipes and eventually experiment their own recipes.

I would like to end this post on both a happy and a sour note. Happy because I agree with the speaker, that Blogging gave me an identity. And sad because I really wanted to attend this event,  "CASE STUDY ON CITIZENS AGAINST RAPE, MOLESTATION & ATROCITIES (CARMA)" The speaker also the founder of CARMA Ashwin Mishra is a friend, we used to teach at MAD together and I had heard a lot about his organization with him, but sadly bad health made me miss this one; one which I deeply regret.

But I sincerely thank Blogadda Team for giving me this opportunity to attend this event, even though I attended one, it helped me realize that media is what we make of it.

-Fatima  

Perks of Canola Oil

Talking about food is always fun. But then eating the right food is equally important, or is it the right kind of oil which goes into the preparation? Several questions spark through our mind and they leave us in a muddle. What to follow, who to follow and most importantly which to follow? And then in all this messed-up state of mind I get a mail from BlogAdda stating this new meet. A healthy one at that.

This is what happened at Four Seasons Mumbai. Where several people were invited to discuss food, its healthy and nutrition aspect and also the various new upcoming culinary trends. Sounds interesting isn't it? It certainly was.

The council that was present included, Ex- Master Chef judge, Chef Ajay Chopra along with Naini Setalvad, nutritionist and Dr. Ashish Contractor HOD: Preventive Cardiology and Rehabilitation, Asian Heart Institute. Also present for the interaction were Bruce Jowett, Vice-President - Market Development, Canola Council of Canada.

The question looming in your mind might be, What is Canola Oil? To be frank truly, when I entered the conference room my mind too was filled with various such questions but I left with several positive answers.

Canola Oil, is the healthiest, most versatile and cost-effective cooking oil. Ok not really cost-effective in the Indian markets currently with the market prices rising but a little cost should not deter with the other health benefits. This oil as test and experts say, has the least saturated fat of any culinary oil and is free of trans fat and cholesterol. Thereby, reducing the risk of heart diseases; Good news isn't it?  Also it has omega 3-fat and is a good source of Vitamin E.

Now with all these factual facts there are facts which we can taste and see ourselves too. The oil has a neutral taste and so it can be used right from cooking to baking. Also it has a light texture and is high heat tolerant. And since it is neutral the best thing is we can prepare flavored oil ourselves directly. Cost effective finally!

No, I'm saying all this because I attended the meeting or just for the sake. I have tasted the oil myself and seen the high heat test from my very eyes. All this was courtesy Chef Ajay Chopra who prepared three delicious mouth watering delicacies with the use of this very oil. And also three types of flavored oil; Thai Basil, Rosemary and Kashmiri Red Chilly. What was best about these oils was there was no other dominant flavor over powering them and the aroma was really wonderful. I loved Rosemary and Kashmiri Chilli the most followed by Thai Basil.

You know it's not about dieting or skipping food or controlling your appetite to reduce weight or being healthy. It is how one cooks food and in what oil we cook food. People say one should avoid fats, that is completely untrue. Fats are essential for the proper functioning of our body. Remember, not all fats are created equally. The type of fat matters as much as the amount.

For me this was a really a good session and more of an eye-opener. For more info on Canola Oil you can visit the website: www.canolainfo.org

P.S: Sorry readers about the lack of photographs(hopefully once all is settled I will upload the pics too) and no update since ages, my laptop has broken down and I'm unable to update. This post was specially written from my old rickety computer because I loved the meet and really wanted to share my experience.