It’s the second month of Quarantine, and we are all bored out of our minds with it now. Despite the country releasing the temporary restrictions it had enforced on parts of the country, we are still stuck at home, with seemingly no respite. While it may seem like the end times, with all the TV shows done and dusted, and all the books getting too dull, we have some suggestions for you. The Quarantine has opened up the opportunity to explore so many more activities and routines.What with living a busy city life, none of us has realized how we have been neglecting other aspects of our health. Our careers have progressed, but our health has deteriorated. Regularly eating food from restaurants, working in the pollution that comes with a city lifestyle, it’s time that you use this break to give more attention to your own body and skin. And I am here to help you with the top ten ways you can take care and nurture your skin this Quarantine.
From the prolonged exposure of your skin to city pollution over the years, it is essential that you properly exfoliate the dirt, grime and dead cells on it. This exfoliation also allows your skin to breathe and heal. With the quarantine extending, there will be more time for your skin to heal correctly. You can use a mixture of walnut powder and yoghurt to apply on the face for exfoliation. There are numerous antioxidants in walnuts that help remove grime and provide nutrition to your face for it to heal naturally. Yoghurt acts as a binding ingredient.
Apply Sun Screen If You Have Melanin Deficient Skin.
I know you might be thinking this advice seems weird, because you are a homebody now. However, most melanin deficient people are highly susceptible to sun damage, resulting in skin cancer. Even on an overcast day, 80% of UV rays make their way to the ground. Also, if you sit at a balcony or a window or expose yourself to any form of sunlight, there are chances for your skin to undergo skin damage. Apply light sunscreen, is around SPF 30+, and doesn’t block your skin pores.
Monitor What You Eat.
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What goes inside your body reflects what shows outside. The same way you tend to prefer lighter foods with zero carbs and high protein contents while exercising for weight loss is what you need to follow for your skin too.
Your skin can be clear using the following nutrients– vitamins, minerals, proteins, fresh fruits high in fructose contents and healthy sugars and antioxidants. Consuming Vitamin C, minerals, citrus fruits, and foods low in fat and sugar can make your skin glow. Food that you should refrain from are ones high in preservatives, oils, spices, fats and sugars. Eat blander food. It may be difficult at first, but you shall start noticing the change within a week.
Yes, Gyms are closed, and you can’t get out now, but those are not excuses to stop exercising. There is a vast number of exercises you can do without having to go anywhere. Lay a yoga mat on the ground and get down to do warm-up exercises like on the stop jogs, push-ups, sit-ups and crunches. Do yoga to stretch and cool down and then lay down on the mat for around 10 minutes to relax. The entire routine won’t even take more than 1 hour. And it will be entirely worth it. You will notice your body getting more toned, and your skin getting clearer. But be sure to sweat, as sweat flushes out toxins and unwanted salts from the body.
Sleep is a beautiful healer. Our body grows the most when in sleep, and it heals the most in sleep too. The body needs at least 8 hours of sleep to heal and revive itself. If not, your skin starts becoming sallow. Your eye gets bags, and your hair grows limp. Sleep early and wake up early and not only will you be active all day long, but your skin will also be happy and fresh and flushed. Don’t forget to moisturize your skin before you go to sleep.
Staying hydrated is essential for almost everything. Water is the giver of like and consuming at least three to four litres of water every day ensures that your skin shall remain fresh and healthy. A lot of dieticians and gym-goers swear by the effect water has on their bodies. Water rejuvenates your skin, makes your muscles more active and keeps you mentally fresh too!
If you are a teenager going through puberty, or a person with a recurring acne condition, these steps will come as a boon. Wash your face with lukewarm water and massage your face with slow circular motions, in an upward direction. Apply a cleanser to your skin, hopefully, one that contains alpha or beta hydroxy acid and slowly wipe at your skin. Try using a face pack containing fuller’s earth as it is said to have antioxidant properties. Do not, and we repeat, DO NOT pop pimples. Popping a pimple can lead to more of them, swelling of the skin and permanent marks.
Your body is living a high-strung life and while you have mentally adjusted to it, the body never really does. We began as hunter-gatherers, and our bodies are meant for activity and movement. But with sitting at home doing nothing, or working in one place, you are neglecting this primal instinct of your body. And soon it shall show externally in the form of acne, pimples, pigmentation, wrinkles. So the best way to avoid this is to follow habits which calm you. Exercises in yoga such as simple breathing called anulomwilom, or an om chanting mantra called bhramarhi, can help you loads in releasing the toxins and negative energy in your body. This in turn will help your body heal faster, and look younger.
You might have seen a lot of beauty bloggers sharing their skincare routine on social media these days. They use a myriad of cleaning lotions, serums for their skin. Each part of their face has a different cream to be used, and each cream has an unusual feature. While all these are too expensive and are unaffordable, try to create a cost-effective stress-busting skincare routine that you can practice before you go to bed. The point is to cleanse your face of any preliminary toxins and let your body take over the rest of the healing in your sleep.
While eating good and drinking water are a strict rules you must follow to get great skin, they are not the be all and end all. Stress also has a huge role to play in the way you look, or rather the way your skin looks. Stressed skin is sallow, pale and generally unhealthy looking. Whereas skin that is worry free, hydrated, exfoliated and rejuvenated has a beauty of its own. Eat healthy food less on fats and sugars. Drink at least a gallon of water everyday. Take a day or two off each month just for yourself. Forgo all your responsibilities and take a break. All your work will still be there when you come back.
We hope you liked our list of the best steps to follow to attain and maintain good skin. Drop a comment in the comment section below if you believe we could have added a few tips that are not as well known or just as foolproof. Check out the video below for the best exercise regimen to follow to get great skin.
Life imitates art. The movies of today are simply the legends and fairytales of the old. The concept of storytelling has gone on for millennia. As more storytellers have added to this, there have been more to adapt from it. We have legendary poets and writers midst our civilization who’ve indeed brought out its beauty. Their stories today not only tell us of the life back then, but they also tell us that we have not changed after all.
One of the most famous figures in English literature is William Shakespeare. A master playwright, his sonnets on love and plays of drama are performed and read out loud even today. Not only is he acclaimed for most of what is the movie culture, but he is also one of the strong standing pillars of the English education system. Remember when you were utterly bored to death in your ninth-grade English lesson as your teacher droned on and one about Julius Caeser? Not the salad, the play by Shakespeare.
Well, the reason you were so bored was because you aren’t supposed to read the play in a classroom setting. You have to act it out, with all the characters, props, the works. And some film directors have taken this to heart and have incorporated some of the best classic literature. Here is our list of the top ten movies that are actually from classic literature.
10. A Knight’s Tale – Based on The Canterbury Tales.
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In a very meta way, A knight’s Tale is an adaptation of the famous Middle English classic, The Canterbury Tales. The movie takes on a medieval adventure comedy genre, telling the story from the perspective of young squire William Thatcher. Thatcher is a squire for Sir Ector. The movie begins with the squires learning of their knight’s death right before the final pass. Devastated and yet motivated, Thatcher decides that instead of withdrawing from the tournament, he should impersonate his knight and win the final pass.
He does win and then decides to participate in more sports. On his adventures, he meets a young destitute Geoffrey Chaucer. And the rest is history. The movie is a direct interpretation of the famous Canterbury tales, almost as if Geoffrey Chaucer had seen all of it and made it into a book. The film is a delight to watch and the best part? It has Heath Ledger in it.
If you have seen the Lion King, I’m sure you’ve gotten the inkling that you have seen this concept before somewhere too. And that feeling is because you HAVE seen this particular concept before. Before Lion Ling came out as a movie in 1994, all of Disney’s animated film adapt themselves from the Grimms book of fairy tales or the works of Hans Christian Andersen. It was only with The Lion King that the studio began experimenting. The studio took a lot of elements from a variety of stories to concoct the masterpiece that was The Lion King. Some of them were the Biblical Story of Moses and Joseph and William Shakespeare’s Hamlet though the movie is more from on the Hamlet.
Much lesser known than the rest of its Greek counterparts, Pygmalion is one of the only happy endings in Greek Mythology. As the story goes, Pygmalion is a sculptor and an artist. One of his most fabulous creations is a sculpture of a woman, one to be that of the most beautiful woman in the world. Such is the devotion of Pygmalion to his sculpture that he falls in love with it. Taking pity on him, Aphrodite gives the sculpture life and the name Galatea. Pygmalion and Galatia then live happily. Pretty Woman shows a wealthy businessman pick up a prostitute from the streets to accompany him on one of his business meetings. The movie shows him literally making her into a ‘refined’ woman from who she is, and then fall in love with her in the process.
7. She’s The Man – Based on The Twelfth Night.
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If there’s one thing we know about today’s movie directors, it’s that they love William Shakespeare. A simple answer to this would be that Shakespeare’s plays are to be timeless. They appeal to our base emotions, toying around with our minds and getting us engrossed into the story. One such comedic masterpiece is The Twelfth Night. And the movie She’s The Man, made in 2016, is based on it. Full of comedic love triangles, misidentification and a cross-dressing woman, She’s the Man is hilarious as hell. And it has Channing Tatum in it. Go figure.
This movie is the story of one innocent, straight-laced, genius student Olive Pendergrast. Olive is a good student and an even better friend and after a series of unfortunate events, decides to help out her gay friend stop getting bullied by pretending as if she’s had sex with him. However, when her friend ends up confessing this to another ‘oddball’ friend, they start approaching Olive to pretend to have sex with them the same way.
They do this to save their reputation but end up tarnishing Olive’s in turn. When even her close friends turn on her and call her names, she ends up embracing her identity as a ‘scarlet’ woman, an adulteress. It is in parallel with the story of Hester from the classic The Scarlet Letter. Hester’s forced to wear an A on her clothes and is subject to public humiliation for her act of adultery. While the classic, like most classics, does not have a happy ending, the movie does.
5. Cruel Intentions – Based on Le Liaisons Dangereuses.
The movie and the classic both go by the same name and have mostly the same plot. The stories speak of two rivals, ex-lovers even, in the book, whereas they are step-siblings in the movie. The book is an epistolary novel of these two ex-lovers boasting about using their powers of seduction to manipulate others. The book is in the form of letters from various people, and the story sees itself from multiple biased perspectives. The movie is a teen dark romance drama, where both step-siblings challenge each other to conduct evil acts and the resulting consequences for both of them.
4. Bridget Jones’s Diary – Based on Pride And Prejudice.
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Most love stories copy an element of their romantic side of the story from two of the most famous romance classics ever, “Romeo and Juliet” or “Pride and Prejudice”. Carrying some vital elements of a good romance, Pride and Prejudice shows you how maybe at times, there is no such thing as love at first sight. And that there could be hate at first sight. The book traverses through misunderstandings, trials, tribulations, love, hate, anger, jealousy and keeps us thoroughly entertained. And while Bridget Jones’s Diary has many of the same elements, it doesn’t quite reach the mark. However, it remains a cult classic, just the same.
This William Shakespeare play has been subject of scrutiny for decades, by scholars and historians alike. Do its misogynistic undertones transfer into the movie adapted from it? Not. Ten things I hate about you is a beautiful teenage romance-drama adaptation of the play and derives the basic concept from the film. The movie is fun to watch, with the lovely Julia Stiles depicting the characteristics of Shakespeare’s ‘shrew’ and being our favourite character despite it. We also have just two more words about this movie. Heath Ledger. Watching a 1999 Heath Ledger is a real delight to the eyes.
2. Warm Bodies – Based on Romeo and Juliet.
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A romance, as is evident, Warm Bodies is an apocalyptic zombie version of Romeo And Juliet. And we mean this literally. The two leads, go by the names, Julie and ‘R’. And the whole movie is about them running from the skeletal zombies and the ‘survivors’. Coincidentally enough, the head of the survivors is Julie’s father itself. I would have called this movie a Romeo Juliet rip-off already, if it not for the zombie side of things.
The cult-classic that defined rom-coms for the decade, Clueless was as good as it comes. Clueless was, in fact, the wholesome version of Mean Girls before Mean Girls was fresh. Loosely based on Jane Austen’s ‘Emma’, Clueless is a movie based on one girl who seems to think she is the best matchmaker in town. After a fluke turning outright, she decides to pair up her other friend with a popular guy at school. Unfortunately, the guy seems to like her more than her friend, and her entire plan falls through. Her attempts get dismal and end up driving her friends away, but it all ends up working out. The movie stars the beautiful Alicia Silverstone and the dashing Paul Rudd.
I hope you liked our list of the top ten movies based on classic literature. Leave a comment if you have any more suggestions! Happy watching and reading!
We all have a headache sometime or the other. Migraine is severe headache accompanied by other symptoms. It is a very common disease and is curable. Migraine can happen to people of any age. You would have heard about it or experienced it. Let us see what exactly is migraine, it’s symptoms and how it can be cured.
Migraine
Migraine is a neurological condition which is accompanied by multiple symptoms. Intense and debilitating headaches characterize it. Migraine causes nausea, difficulty in speaking, vomiting, numbness and sensitivity to sound and light. Migraines can affect entire family and people of all age groups. The most common category of migraine is of two types. The first type is migraine without aura. It was previously known as common migraine. The second type is migraine with aura. It was previously known as classic migraine. Women are more likely to have migraine than men.
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Symptoms of migraine
Migraine symptoms can begin few days before the headache triggers. This period is known as the prodrome stage. This stage shows the symptoms of fatigue or low energy, food cravings, frequent yawning, depression, irritability, hyperactivity and stiffness in the neck.
In migraine with aura, the aura happens just after the prodrome phase. An aura is accompanied with problems in sensation, vision, speech and movement. The problems are described as
Feeling a pricking sensation in face, arms or legs
Seeing shapes, bright spots or light flashes
Difficulty in speaking clearly
Losing vision temporarily
The next phase is the attack phase. This is the most severe of all the phases where the actual migraine pain happens. The attack phase may overlap or occur during an aura. The symptoms of this phase can last from hours to days. They can vary from person to person. The symptoms of attack phase include
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Dizziness or fainting
Increased sensitivity to light and sound
Nausea
Pulsing and throbbing head pain
Pain on one side of the head, either on right side, left side, front, back or in temples
Vomiting
The postdrome phase happens after the attack phase. In this phase, a person will have changes in feelings and mood. The feelings can range from positive to negative. A person may be extremely happy and feel euphoric. At the same time, that person may become pathetic and fatigued. Mild headache may persist after this phase.
The duration and intensity of prodrome phase, attack phase and postdrome phase differ in all people. The extent to which they occur is not same for all people. A phase can skip sometimes while migraine attack may happen without causing a headache.
The pain of migraine is described to be throbbing, pulsating, pounding, perforating and debilitating. Migraine may feel like a dull and steady ache. Initially the pain may be mild but it can become severe without treatment. Migraine pain commonly affects the forehead area. It usually occurs on one side of the head but it may even occur on both sides. Migraine pain can shift from one side to the other side. Usually migraines last for nearly four hours. They can last till one week if they are not treated or do not respond to any treatment. In migraines with aura, the migraine pain can overlap with an aura or it may not occur at all.
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Migraine nausea
Nausea is the most common symptom that people getting migraines face. Most of the people also vomit. These symptoms start when the headache starts. They usually occur one hour after the headache. Nausea and vomiting trouble just like the headache. If you have only nausea, then you can take the medicines for migraine. But if you have vomiting, then you may not be able to take the medicines. It is because vomiting does not allow medicines to be absorbed in your body. Vomiting may cause migraine to become severe.
Treating nausea while preventing vomiting
If you have nausea but do not have vomiting, then you can take medicines for easing nausea. These medicines are known as anti-nausea or anti-emetic drugs. These drugs can prevent vomiting and cure the nausea. Acupressure may also help in treating migraine nausea. Acupressure can act on migraine nausea in few hours.
Treating both nausea and vomiting
Usually doctors prefer to ease the symptoms of nausea and vomiting by treating the migraine itself. If migraine comes with too much of nausea and vomiting, then preventive medicines can be taken for that.
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Migraine Tests
Doctors diagnose migraines by following a procedure. They know the symptoms of patients, take a thorough medical and family history and perform a physical test to rule out other potential causes. Imaging scans like CT (Computed Tomography) scan and MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) can rule out the other causes. They can be abnormal brain structures, tumors and stroke. If you’re constantly experiencing this, it is advised that you book a private MRI scan to help detect the cause of your migraine.
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Migraine Treatment
Migraine cannot be cured completely but it can be managed in order to get them less frequently. The symptoms caused by migraine can be treated. Treatment can make the migraines less severe.
The migraine treatment plan depends on
Age of the patient
How often migraine occurs
The type of migraine
The severity of migraine
Whether the migraine includes nausea or vomiting or other symptoms
Health conditions and medicines taken by the patient
The treatment plan may include a combination of
Self-care migraine remedies
Adjustments in lifestyle including avoidance of migraine triggers and stress management
Over the Counter (OTC) pain or migraine medicines, like Acetaminophen or NSAIDS (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs)
Migraine medicines that have been prescribed for preventing migraines and reducing their effect
Migraine medicines that have been prescribed for headache, to reduce its severity
Medicines for curing nausea and vomiting
Counselling
Hormone therapy if migraines occur in relation to a patient’s menstrual cycle
Alternative care which includes acupressure, meditation, acupuncture and biofeedback
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Migraine Remedies
You can try few migraine remedies at home. They decrease the pain from migraines. They include
Massaging scalp and temples
Lying down in a quiet and dark room
Placing a cold cloth over forehead or behind neck
Some herbal remedies are also carried out for relieving migraines.
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Causes of migraine
Changes in brain chemicals like a decrease in levels of serotonin which is the brain chemical. Factors that trigger a migraine are
Severe heat or extreme weather conditions
Bright light
Changes in barometric pressure
Dehydration
Excess stress
Hormonal changes in women such as progesterone and oestrogen fluctuations during menstruation, menopause or pregnancy
Intense physical activity
Loud sound
Changes in sleeping pattern
Skipping meals
Unusual smells
Usage of certain medications like oral contraceptives
Smoking
Particular food items
Drinking alcohol
Travelling
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Food items which trigger migraine
Certain food ingredients are more likely to trigger migraine. They include
Food additives – Nitrates which is a preservative in cured meats, MSG (Monosodium Glutamate), Aspartame which is an artificial sugar
Alcohol or caffeinated drinks
Tyramine which is naturally present in some foods
Tyramine increases when food items are aged or fermented. This is applicable to foods like cheese, soy sauce and sauerkraut.
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Medicines for migraine
Medicines are taken either to prevent migraine or to treat it after it occurs. Over the Counter (OTC) medicines give some relief from migraine.
Sundays are for magazines. It has become a ritual now. No digital application can take over the comfort of lying back on my couch and reading the best fashion magazines I own. For instance, if you notice magazines can never go out of fashion. Those soft, silky pages always take us back to the colorful vibrations they pass.
Be it India today, Cosmopolitan or Vogue. Every magazine has its magnetism. Although we always have a go-to option, most of the Instagram pictures and YouTube influencers take examples from these magazines and drive across their capabilities.
Apart from pleasure, aspiring actors, models, and artists should make it a habit to go through magazines. It will prepare and keep you updated. Some of you might aspire to become models and then attend success parties being completely unaware of how physically and mentally demanding your next day’s photoshoot can be.
For those aspiring, you may forget taking your portfolio along or leave your vanity kit at home. Magazines give you the idea of how to and what to put in front of the camera.
A good magazine will help you from becoming unprofessional and demotivated. This simple effort of going through the pages on a good night will not only keep you mentally stable but also poignant. Just because you are aspiring to be a model now, does not mean you will leave your childhood habits behind. If you are prepared to immerse yourself in the modeling world, make sure you do your homework just like any other practicing model.
Here are some of the world’s best magazines to help you prepare for the dream modeling application and also to keep you updated with all the fashion, lifestyle, and health news around the world.
To talk about the world’s most famous magazine topping all the charts, we have Vogue. The magazine began its first publication in the year 1892. Only then it was published as the new newspaper. With a strong public response, it turned into a fashion magazine. then it was taken over by Conde Nast Publications. Vogue has always found content related to women more interesting.
It has always steered clear towards women empowerment and what women prefer. The big brand it has become today has a host of columns for women. Later in the year 1988, Anna Wintour took over. Today vogue has a whopping 11 million subscribers across 23 countries. The fashion world and Its trends are mostly dictated by Vogue. So it says if you are in vogue, you are in fashion
The next in the list is a French magazine solely focusing on women’s fashion. Elle began its venture in the year 1945. The word Elle stands for “she” or “her” in French. Soon after starting it publication processes, a campaign started by Elle had “if she reads, she reads Elle”.
This campaign gained attention and slowly turned into the giant that it has become today. Although the French magazine started in the US and is now proudly published in over 44 countries, if you would like to know what is exciting about women read Elle. Elle has strong content focusing on energetic and latest trends running across New York City, Paris, London, and Milan.
The United States of America witnessed its fashion boom in papers with America’s first fashion magazine Harper’s Bazaar. The primary focus of Harper’s Bazaar targeted the upper-middle class. It contained provocative and informative content for the polished middle-class mentality.
From updating trends of fashion, Runway in both casual and couture, Harper’s Bazaar has exciting content. Previously this magazine was established as a weekly publication. Later with the craze and the choices made by the public, it has now turned into a monthly magazine. Various blogs and digital platforms have been introduced. Harper’s Bazaar is published in over 32 countries with its headquarters in New York.
This magazine is known to stay true to its name. Most of the content on Cosmopolitan is women-centric. Commonly known as Cosmo, this magazine has 64 International editions and this published in 110 languages. Truly a global magazine Previously Cosmopolitan began as a family magazine. Later when Helen Gurley took over in 1965, the facelift gave it a breakthrough.
Cosmopolitan started publishing groundbreaking content on feminism, sex, relationship, and fashion. What is a Taboo is better defined by Cosmopolitan. Fearless feminism is what Cosmopolitan lives for. With positivity for women spreading like wildfire, this brand flew with colorful wings and now stands like no other.
Talking about controversies, this popular magazine leave no trace of who, what, where, and when of style. The oversized glossy pages have a world-class appearance giving you a real-time gaze of the hottest models, designers, and fashionistas. Pictures in it cover fashion events and trends around the globe, thereby making it a go-getter.
This magazine started off late in the year 2007. Imran Ahmed published the coming of age magazine and made it a massive success. The new flower in the garden, it gained tremendous subscription and loyalty in a short period not only from stylists, fashionistas, and aspiring others but from students, editor’s to everyone who believes in fashion.
This magazine focuses on authoritative content and follows the agenda of the fashion economist, real fashion trends have inside stories. These stories set patterns and influence the economy. If you are interested in knowing how the stories make real-life experiences get your hands on the business of fashion magazine.
With over 90 years of presence, this international high-end magazine has cooperative content on fashion, luxury, lifestyle, and elegance.
If looking for ultimate French sober content, and editorials fascinating your mind it’s time to buy the L’officiel magazine. This magazine is published in over 20 countries including Azerbaijan, Russia, Brazil, Singapore, Italy, and China.
This one is for anyone who has an interest in lifestyle, fashion and upcoming social trends. InStyle is known for its equal focus on blogs and on the hardcopies.
Previously lead by Ariel Foxman and later taken over by Laura Brown, this magazine is published in 16 countries, and is an internationally counted print media. From lifestyle choices, celebrity styling tips to hair makeovers, every bit of fashion can be found here
A big name indeed. Under the great hands of Conde Nast, Vanity Fair started in 1913. During the initial days, it ran for approximately two decades. Later, in the year 1983, Conde Nast gave a brilliant revival. News of legends over the years are published as a treasured asset, boasting mainly of the leadership and guidance.
It has been known for its unparallel standards and authenticity, making way into the heart of new age bloggers. Fashionistas and other artists with an interest in lifestyle, fashion, and health may find it interesting.
This brand focuses on beauty. The American magazine has content for wellness, health, and beauty mostly focussing on women. If you have a habit of stopping by the newsstands, you will find one editorial possibly peeping through the shelf itself.
Apart from women-centric content, Allure is famous for its cultural produce. The cultural contents of Allure went through an overhaul in 1991. Today Allure has a viewership of 1 million online. A complete guide to the best beauty products, who styled what, with exciting offers, and a gift box delivered to your door if you participate in Allure’s contests.
People can’t always be in front of each other. You all are separated by some distance. Everybody is situated far from each other. But what makes you remain in touch and know about your loved one’s recent activities? How can you be together even after being far away? One great and obvious answer is the use of social media. Snapchat is one such social media platform. Using it, you can send snaps of your daily activities. For instance, reading a book, travelling, going to work, cooking or eating. It lets you send your moments as a message.
You can easily send a click of your activity to your friends who are connected to you via Snapchat. Any snap lasts for some desired period, say 10 seconds or so. After this desired period, this snap automatically gets erased off and can’t be replaced. It is a kind of ephemeral messaging platform which connects you with your dears. Being a technological application, people often have doubts, about how to use Snapchat. So, these below-mentioned guidelines will give you a brief sense of guidelines over its usage.
Start by setting it up in your device
How will you use Snapchat unless it’s not in your device? So start by learning how to set up this application. So, start by downloading it from the play store or ios. Open the app. Register in the app by filling up your details. These details include Date of birth, phone number, email, etc. A guideline pops up to choose your username. Find one carefully. You aren’t allowed to change your username later on. This way you have successfully created your account. Also, the application guides you through all the beginner’s steps. It will request you with some permission. Grant the ones that you want to. Now, your app is fully ready to make use of its features.
How will you use Snapchat to add your friends?
Social media is of no use unless you have a connected friend on it. Similarly, Snapchat will also be a platform of high jinks if you have your friends added with you. All your people are added to your contact list. Now, how to use Snapchat to add your friends? Simply allow Snapchat to access your contacts. This would tell you about all your people who are on Snapchat. You can easily send a request and add them to you. Or you may add your friends manually. Simply go on your profile page and tap add people. Type your friends’ username in the search bar and then add them. You may also use Snapcodes for this purpose. It is a unique QR code associated with every user.
You must know what all different pages are available on Snapchat and what are they used for. This gives you a brief as to how to use Snapchat and which page to refer to for desired work.
Camera Page
is the first page that you land in when you open Snapchat. This page has a camera that lets you click a snap or record a video. You may use the front or back camera as per your requirement. Once you are done with clicking your snap, you can bring in effects. You may use filters or add stickers and make it look much more eye-catchy. This page acts as a way to many other pages. So, you know how to use Snapchat to click pictures through this page.
Profile page
is the page that has your Snapchat info like snapcode, bitmoji, location on the map and so much more. You can view your profile by clicking the top left circle which outlines a person. From here you can see your friends list. Also, you can keep a check on various features of Snapchat like trophies and snap score.
Friends page
You open the app, you directly land to the camera page. You will find a small chat option in the bottom left-hand corner. This bubble lets you to friends’ pages. You can find all your friends and the recent chats with them. If you want to keep a check on snapstreaks of your friend, you can do it from here. Chat with them, view their stories or place an audio/video call from this page. Now you know how to use Snapchat to access your friends’ page.
Memories page
How to use Snapchat to get access to already saved pictures and videos? So this is the right page. All your saved pictures of camera roll and Snapchat gets saved on this page. You can reach here by clicking the tab displaying at the bottom center of the camera page. You can send or upload your previously stored images.
Discover page
How to use Snapchat to know about your favorite and celebrities and event?
You can explore this page by tapping to the bottom right discover tab on the camera page. Or you can reach this page by simply swiping up. See stories of celebrities, food franchises like dominoes, beauty productions like Nykaa and what not.
How to use Snapchat with its features?
Snapchat has already created a buzz among youngsters. It is widespread especially among college and high school students due to its delightful and captivating features. Its features are something you should know. Once you get the knowledge of its features, you can easily get to know as of how is Snapchat used.
Make use of Lenses
comes with a wide set of filters ranging from the dog face, kid face, manly and womanly face, puking rainbow, dancing hotdog, pink glowy face, golden butterfly crown, tiara and a lot many more. All these lenses give you an entirely different look. At times, they are used as a beautification tool as well. Now how to use Snapchat lenses? Open the camera screen. Adjust your face to get your favorite carousel. Lastly, click the lens, and you get your snap. It’s so easy; all you require is a proper adjustment so that the carousel fits in perfectly.
Explore the Filters of Snapchat
Gives you a feature to use filters according to your location. These filters are known as geofilters. These geofilters may be according to the neighborhood or some famous buildings. Filters add a new look to your already taken snaps, whereas lenses add effects on the snaps you click on spot. There are many filters available on Snapchat like brighten, sepia, high contrast, black and white, neon, altitude overlay and lot many more. All you need to do is take a picture at first. Then swipe to see the available filters and tap the center button for whichever filter you like the best. So now you know how to use the Snapchat filter.
Chat with your loved ones
Also, get the advantage of chatting with your loved ones on Snapchat. You can send and receive messages that disappear within seconds. But for this, you must know the username of your friend. How will you use Snapchat to chat with friends? When you open the Snapchat application, you are initially taken to the camera screen. You need to go to the Friends’ screen by swiping right on the camera screen. Then, type the username of your friend in the search tab and choose the ‘chat’ option to have a chat with your friend. Once you have a look at one another’s message, t gets deleted by default. But the group chats persist for 24 hours. You also get the advantage of saving your texts. To save your message, tap on it. Any saved message appears with a gray background which is visible to everyone.
Share and view Stories
Can tell about your activities by sharing photos or short videos. It tells your friends about your day to day activities and let them be in touch with you. These stories disappear after some time. You can share your timeline with your loved ones. Also, you can view the stories of people who are added to your friends’ list. You can go live and share your life moments. Open your Snapchat application and move to Send To screen to send your story.
Add your snap that you wish to share a story. It will go to all your selected friends. You can save your stories. Also if you feel to delete your story, you may. You can keep a close watch on who all have viewed your story. You need to go to your profile and tap on the circle near your username. So now you know how to use Snapchat to share your movements and exercises.
Create your Bitmoji
About using a Snapchat feature to get an animated version of you? Bitmojis are your replica. But, it is in a cartoon manner. You can get your bitmoji in various postures and expressions. Now how will you use Snapchat to create your bitmoji? Open the Snapchat app. Go to your profile and click Add Bitmoji. You will be asked to install a new app for creating bitmoji. Follow the respective app guidelines and create a new Emoji that looks just like you. Now you can send the bitmoji while chatting with friends. It’s fun using this feature.
Netflix has been gracing us every day with new TV shows and movies to watch. And it’s no surprise that some of them are from the teen dramedy section. Despite having a reputation for always releasing those Hallmark-style rom-com tv shows, Netflix seems to have pulled through this time. Never Have I Ever is not just one of the best TV shows on the site right now. It is also accurate in a lot of ways.
Never Have I Ever has stars you have never even heard of. But it also contains all the plot to make it into a potential gold mine of a show. After disappointments such as Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction and Vir Das’s Hasmukh, Never Have I Ever manages to surprise pleasantly. The series goes to show that you don’t need blockbuster actors on your roll to get out a beautiful story. You just need the beauty of a simple plot that Never Have I Ever carries.
If you haven’t seen the series yet, I recommend you to. And if you do heed my advice, steer clear of this article, for it is full of spoilers. So before I begin, I’d like to declare a major spoiler alert officially!
What Is Never Have I Ever Even?
Netflix is keeping its quarantined audience entertained with it’s near-constant releases. Never Have I Ever is a romedy teenage, coming of age TV show now added to the same roster. And despite using those words, the truth is, Never Have I Ever is nothing like that.
Never Have I Ever is the story of an Indian-American girl, Devi Vishwakumar and her coming of age story. While most stories explore the protagonist’s developments, sexual escapades and whatnot, Never Have I Ever does that and more.
Devi Vishwakumar was 16 years old when she lost her father to a cardiac arrest. Her father was gentle, kind and her best friend. The loss of her father hits Devi hard. And though the show starts on a very light note, there are pepperings of her trauma through the preliminary episodes too. Devi loses her ability to move her legs for an entire school year after her doctor’s passing. Despite there being no physical issue, the show suggests that this could be from mental trauma regarding her father’s death. The end episodes are all about the feels. And the emotional moments in the first episodes are so fleeting you could miss it if you blink.
Well, it starts as being all about her. Traumatic past aside, Devi has two best friends, Fabiola and Eleanor, who are as different as can be. They love each other and accept each other for what they are, which is very sweet. Fabiola is the head of the robotics club of the school. Eleanor, on the other hand has a flair for the dramatic and is in the drama club.
The show starts with Devi mourning over her lack of capability of getting a boyfriend and not losing her virginity. There’s even a clever yet cringy segue of her praying to Hindu gods. She’s asking them to make it up to her for the last semester. How, you ask? Well, it’s not much, just giving her a boyfriend in this one. She even decides that she and her friends have to step up and take the mantle of the cool kids. She assigns boyfriends to each of her friends. This is all because she figures that dating guys would be the best way to move up the social ladder. The girls, though unwilling, go through with the plan.
A More Three Dimensiona Perspective On ‘Sidekicks’.
And this is where the story delves more into the lives of the friends, and other characters in general. It turns out, Eleanor already has a boyfriend, has had him for an entire semester. She just didn’t want to show Devi that she had one before her to bring down her morale. The friendship throughout the series is both extraordinarily adorable and touching.
Fabiola is a study in herself. She does begin as the generally clueless butch lesbian who doesn’t know she is gay yet. And then through the episodes, we follow her journey of self-realisation, and her learning to embrace her sexuality. There is a very, light airy feel to the way the show approaches sexuality. While typical, there is nothing about it that feels fake. Her coming out to her friends, her parents and herself doesn’t take up the screentime. Fabiola remains the side-character that she is, but the journey of her discovering her sexuality is beautifully and very simplistically done.
Never Have I Ever has a hidden facet to it: the element of surprise. The show comes off as a dramedy with a touch of sadness in it, but it leaves you with a punch in the gut. The show explores a family struggling to accept the loss of a loved one. The trauma, the coping, the numerous trials and tribulations of a teenager through it.
It is very refreshing to see loss from such a non-heavy perspective. At the same time, the casual scenes of Devi’s or her mother’s PTSD are so jarring because you end up expecting this show to be lighthearted. It is almost like the creators of the show decide to time their incredibly feels-filled moments right in between one of Devi’s teenage tantrums. One minute you are mad at her for behaving so pettily, and the other moment you are in empathy of all that she went through.
Other aspects of the show that we did not mention are how real it gets with Indian culture. We are sure that no American Indian parent would let their daughter move out at 16 and live with a white boy for even a few days at a time, but everything else seemed down to pat. You shall get the reference. The Ganesh puja, the college kid’s reminiscence about being proud of your own culture, the first Indian things every parent does, all of it reminds me of how Indian I indeed am, and it does the same for Devi too. And it is in those reminders of the show that we really feel it’s connection to us.
Final Opinions: Yay Or Nay?
Hats off to the narrations by John Mac Elroy and Andy Samberg. Mac Elroy was a delight to listen to, despite his narrative giving us the feel of an early 2000’s movie and Andy Samberg was the cherry on top of that cake. Right when you think you are going to tire off of the show Andry Samberg a.k.a Jake Peralta swoops in and saves the day. All in all, Never Have I Ever is a delight to watch. Despite it being a little on the verge of predictable and annoying. The show reminds you that sometimes, there is nothing more you can do, other than going with the flow and hope that everything will be alright. And in true Indian fashion, always, always listen to your parents.
Sports lovers enjoy following updates concerning their area of interest. They have to keep track of all events happening, happened, or due to happen. Are you a cricket player or fan and want to know what is happening around the globe? Worry no more. In this article, we shall enlighten you on the latest updates about cricket. We have well researched and approved information on cricket just for you.
Ball-tampering could be legalized
The issue of polishing cricket balls by the use of artificial substances could now be a consideration for legalization once the game gets back underway. According to the “ESPNcricinfo” report, the administrators have been given the option to allow an agreed artificial substance to be used when polishing the ball. However, the action will only be done under the supervision of umpires.
Middlesex to furlough staff and players
Middlesex have made a decision to furlough most of their members of staff and players. According to Middlesex’s chief executive, the decision was reached for the stability and well-being of the club. He admitted that the decision was difficult but was to protect the future of the club. Read more on the news on sportsadda news portal.
Delay in return of cricket games
The ECB has informed that cricket games will not be happening in Europe until early August. According to the governing body, cricket was set to resume on the 28th of May 2020, this now seems unlikely. During the board meeting held back in April, some steps were taken to determine whether or not it will be possible to play any games.
Bhuvneshwar focuses on his fitness
With cricket on hold, Bhuvneshwar is now focusing on his fitness after he missed the Newzealand tour early this year. The pacer was diagnosed with a sports hernia after he picked a groin injury. He underwent surgery in London and was rehabilitated at the National Cricket Academy. Since then, he has been missing in action. Bhuvneshwar told Times of India that he is now fully recovered and wants to make a comeback. He has been doing bodyweight training to increase his fitness.
Prioritizing the hundred for interest and revenue generation
The cricket board CEO for Wales and England, Mr. Tom Harrison has dismissed the claims to scrap the hundred and said there is now an increasing need for interest and revenue generation. Speaking with BBC News, he went on to further say that the hundred was put in place to grow the cricket game in the country and was not as a result of the current health situation.
Peter Siddle of Essex to wait until 2021
Peter Siddle, a one-time Australian fast bowler, will not be in for this year’s campaign with Essex. Instead, his contract has been pushed to 2021. Siddle joins other players like Michael Neser, Matt Henry, and Nathan Lyon, whom their contracts have been terminated or deferred. He was to arrive in the UK last week according to this source.
Many clubs are struggling around the world due to the pandemic. For this reason, there will be news popping up frequently on cricket. You also need to know the state of cricket. Trust us to keep you informed of what is trending around the world. We make sure that you are ahead of the rest. Our news comes from trusted sources and is well researched.
Many states have legitimate use of cannabidiol (CBD) in a variety of forms for amusing purposes. California, Michigan, and Colorado make the use of CBD legal. According to reports of AARP, seniors have become attracted to how CBD can benefit them with pain management and other medical sicknesses. In this blog, we will discuss 5 life-changing health benefits of CBD for seniors. Before knowing its benefits, firstly we will explore what is CBD?
What is CBD?
CBD stands for Cannabidiol. It is also called hemp extract. The hemp plant came into existence more than 5000 years ago in China. It helps produce different organic compounds. Cannabinoids are mixtures that can impact the working of the human nervous. The key cannabinoids are THC and CBD. CBD’s main products that help provide health benefits of CBD for seniors are mainly CBD extract, Organic Hemp oil extract, CBD chewing gums, CBD edibles, and CBD capsules.
Figure 1 CBD Oil (Picture credits: Pixabay)
Following are the 5 Life-Changing Health Benefits of CBD for Seniors
Fights Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease in which there occurs a breakdown of communication between the human brain and the body. It can badly impact the human eyesight. As the intraocular pressure increases in the eye, the eye vision can deteriorate. Many studies suggest that CBD helps mitigate the IoP by 25%.
Relieving Pain
CBD has great properties of healing pain. It is also helpful in mitigating discomfort. CBD can use as an alternative to drugs prescribed by the doctor. It helps reduce nerve and Arthritis pain. CBD’s first medical use was for pain relief and various chronic issues. According to some studies, it was analyzed that CBD can help to prevent joint neuropathy and osteoarthritis pain as well.
According to statistics, almost 54 million people globally after 50 years, suffer from boss cracking and osteoporosis. In the latest findings, it has been proved that CBD is an effective remedy for protecting bone from being crackled. Moreover, it also helps in the healing of a fractured bone. CBD, anti-inflammatory properties assisting the seniors from various bone disorders.
Reduce Stress, Depression, and Helpful for Good Sleep
Sleep defects most probably occur after 50. The older we are, the difficulty we might face in sleeping. Due to insomniac problems, it would be more difficult for seniors to take relevant amounts of sleep. Sleeping phases are different, it helps in regenerating our brain. Sleep quality plays a vital role in preventing various diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. Doctors usually provide sleeping pills to seniors for taking a deep sleep. But it has some side effects as well. CBD can be considered as a boon for this problem. It helps in extending deep sleep and also relieves stress and depression.
Soothing & Energetic Effects
CBD leaves a soothing effect on seniors. Moreover it helps in calming their nerves and also reduces anxiety. It also helps in feeling more energetic. CBD is helpful in the regeneration of damaged cells and it helps in strengthing the cells.
Although CBD has many uses for seniors, it will be better to consult with a physician before using CBD oil and other CBD products. Still researchers are discovering more benefits of CBD for seniors as well as for other age groups. In this blog, we have discussed 5 Life-Changing Health Benefits of CBD for Seniors.
BRAZIL - 2020/03/31: In this photo illustration Zoom Meetings logo is seen displayed on a smartphone. (Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The quarantine has been in countries all over the world for more than four months now. With the extension, there seems to be an extraneous need to keep in touch with our loved ones. All around the globe, people are using more and more methods of communicating, some diversifying into video chats, group calls and conference sessions. While they have succeeded in keeping the work from home industry alive, there seems to be an added concern regarding their data privacy. With more of the world going online day by day, it is effortless to get a person’s information and sensitive data with just a click. There are increasing threats to people online and monetary security due to this globalization. And what’s more, these concerns arise not from the work of an individual hacker, but large corporations themselves.
In 2013, Cambridge Analytica and Facebook were found guilty of harvesting million’s of people’s data and using it for political advertising. The company has committed acts of data breaching, illegal acquiring, data mining and analysis for political reasons. The data that they acquired was allegedly used for both bringing up and tearing down political campaigns by influential figures. The company had breached Facebook’s terms of service, through an app called ‘This Is Your Digital Life’. With Steve Bannon, Trump’s White House Chief Strategist being on the founding committee, there was increased suspicion, that this process was entirely responsible for Donald Trump’s digital campaign. The expose resulted in Cambridge Analytica filing for Insolvency and Facebook having to give up around 17 per cent of its shares.
What Does This Have To Do With Zoom?
There is a relation to this story of mine and the topic I wish to tackle today. With data breaching and manipulation possible on such a significant level possible right in 2013, there is no guarantee of such a thing not being possible in 2020. Such apps and breaches could be parading right under our noses and stealing sensitive information. And yet we wouldn’t know. And that is what we suspect came out of Zoom, a Chinese video conferencing website cum social media app.
Zoom is a Chinese application available as both a phone app and a web browser, that enables a person to video call a large number of people at any given moment. Despite there being several apps that do the same, none match the magnitude that Zoom covers. And with the quarantine coming down hard in March, numerous companies and institutions scrambled to look for video conferencing tools that could keep their employees in touch and abreast with their work. Schools and College also continued their education process through a series of online classes. With almost the entirety of the world depending on Zoom to stay in touch, many questioned the veracity of Zoom’s claims about being a completely safe and secure site.
Why is Zoom Unsafe Though? Was it Exposed to Be Fraudulent?
Zoom is just as unsafe as 45% of all the companies out there. More than 45% of companies in the world have experienced a data breach in the past year. There haven’t been any revelations by the video conferencing website. However, a slew of security concerns have arisen. Along with a lot of sensitive information being on the down and out concerning participant’s identities, there was also the fact that none of the videos were end-to-end encrypted.
ZOOM servers are not secure and are susceptible to remote end attacks from other participants. What this means is that any participant, once registered into the app, can interfere and release malicious attacks on another participant without any precedent.
ZOOM is an unprotected application and is susceptible to hacker attacks. Hackers can quickly get into the app and steal sensitive information such as user’s Windows passwords. They can further use this data to corrupt personal devices and crash systems.
Have There Been AnyReports of Such Attacks or Data Breaches?
There have been accusations, yes, but there is no definite proof as to there being any data infringement by the application itself. Most of the regulations that are in place by countries across the world are about security concerns. ZOOM, from the get-go, appears to be a very insecure application. If not customized the right way by the administrator, the app can admit anyone into a meeting, as long as they have an email and the meeting’s id.
Zoom conferences are very susceptible to hacker attacks. A recent zoom meeting held by the BARC for its higher-ups terminated due to the hacking. Miscreants had hacked into the conference and had taken control of the chatbox. This lead to the cancellation of the meeting.
What Can We Do to Protect Ourselves if We Can’t Help Using The Application?
We would recommend you to avoid using the application altogether. If that is not possible, there are a list of regulations that The Cyber Co-ordination Centre has released under the Ministry of Home Affairs, India.
You must set a new user ID and password for each meeting. Also, try to avoid using your email id for the meeting. You could use a decoy email id that doesn’t contain any of your sensitive information or doesn’t link itself to any other accounts of yours.
Enable the meeting room and disable the option of joining before the host. It helps the host monitor the incoming and outgoing participants and weed out participants who shouldn’t be in the meeting.
Allow screen sharing by the host only. It prevents miscreants from showing unwanted images and fiddling with the controls of the meeting.
Disable removed participants to join again. Participants kicked out by the host will remain unable to join again and will have to ask for permission to enter again.
Restrict the recording feature. Enable recording only to the host, in case there needs to be evidence of malicious activities. However, if the discussion is sensitive to the organization, restrict recording to prevent leaks.
If you follow these rules, there is a possibility that you shall remain safe from any malicious activity. However, this is not a guarantee. The best idea would be to shift to a different application, such as Google Meet or Microsoft Teams. Data security is one of the essential requirements of the 21st century. And with a population using the internet with no actual knowledge of how it works, we are all sitting ducks to the threats that the internet poses.
Witnessing modern-day transition with eminent and visible giants differentiating themselves in terms of convenience as an adjunct to earning, are now taking a step ahead to subsume online retailers. For the next stage of evolution, money flowing into these pockets are making India the fast-growing retailer business bubbling with energy.
The grocery delivery might help these organizations get back on the delivery system that was previously in practice.
Introduction To Expansion
We have brands with eye-popping valuation counting their income in multiples of billions today. The online pantry is evolving to potential departmental store chains, which now precipitate to redefine the sectors. Although it may seem like a logical step, online retailers are gaining market share more than the market area.
The mind share has crossed all hurdles to take the lead in the retail industry. The channelization of convenience and pricing has already seeped into the minds of those practicing purchase which technology.
With digital advancement, a splendid move by online retailers to spread their wings and bring in a world without brick-and-mortar is much affected. Amazon, one of the leading distributors of the pantry and currently and the largest essential service provider has already set up its offline store in New York.
Another giant in-time retail has a lead of a 25% stake in Alibaba for expansion. The traditional retail market will soon get under the online retail giants. Investments here and there are setting up classic examples that market value can bring in drastic changes if only the current point of pressure is triggered.
With an investment of 629 million dollars, InTime had agreed to a merger with Alibaba. later, with a further purchase of a share in the company, Alibaba delisted IntIme from the Hong Kong stock market for 2.6 billion dollars, making InTime a leader in the brick and mortar operators.
Alibaba’s online marketplace Ti Mall is now offering customers the opportunity to shop Intimes online retail market, a domestic retail market leader. In-time has 36 department stores, and while you select your product within Alibaba’s online marketplace you can physically pick the purchase at any of these stores.
Following the list of online market retailers Flipkart and its fashion site Myntra are now booming with sale. Although the current situation has brought a pause, however, the acquisition of small brands with distinct presence and small offline retail footprint is of interest to the giants. Although no such acquisition can now be taking place.
Webrooming
All retail giants are flooded with turnovers. The concept of webrooming is in practice today. We have the commonest idea to research products before buying in the physical store. So before showrooming, we are webrooming to keep our prices upheld while we purchase. When we see a product in the store, we compare the prices available online.
The current fund ratio stands equal for Amazon, Flipkart, and Alibaba comparing the physical growth which Tata Group retail divisions Trent, Landmark Titan, and Croma had together boomed the revenue to 17000 crores. On the other hand, Future Retail revenue had reached a graph of 11336 crores only in the year 2014. The valuations decide the market price of a product.
The traditional brick and mortar model cannot be applied to the Indian market and online retail stores readily going offline cannot operate in the same brand model. The offline experience about concept and brand introductions along with the distribution strategy needs to be well monitored. These observations are laid by the leading giants themselves.
Acquisitions to turn into customer engagement tools require a physical store to be reformatted. Today experience is of value.
The concept of the online and offline brand is contradicted with the FDI laws so when a company is manufacturing and selling its online product offline, the offline brand is already established. Given the current situation, the biggest online market, Grofers, and BigBasket has doubled the number of daily deliveries. Consumers now hit online stores to buy essentials. Despite partly operating warehouses, since the 25th of March, these grocers maintained delivery although with some delay.
The demand and supply curve has hit a critical point. The operating capacity of these grocers reduced, thereby increasing teething troubles. The delivery timings depend upon the area you are purchasing in and also the quantity of product. The current COVID-19 virus outbreak has increased the delivery time with an extended number of 10 days or more.
Statistics show that only in Bangalore, BigBasket receives a total number of 2,30,000 orders a day, compared to the previous orders of 1,00,000 to 1,20,000. Grofers was previously servicing 1,00,000 deliveries a day, which has now boomed to a whopping number of 1,90,000 daily orders.
Amazon and Flipkart are masking into the horizontal marketplace of online grocery. Flipkart, a Walmart owned brand, has skilled up delivery of groceries to nearly 400 cities, compared to a total of 5 cities previously. The increasing number of groceries from 125 odd warehouses has been approved by the food safety and standards authority of India (FSSAI) through provisional approvals.
Even after having a head start over Flipkart, Amazon had paused orders for its pantry services across 100 cities. This lead to a tremendous backlash. However, when it’s Amazon, we know the situation is bound to improve. Today 85 cities are being taken care of by Amazon pantry, the 2-hour delivery service has beat grofers and a big basket by a large number. Each of the cities previously serviced had 2000 orders a day.
Outbreak & Breakout
If COVID-19 is treated as an outbreak, the daily essentials category is treated as a Breakout. It’s not the current situation that we are talking here, but over the one last year or so the essentials section has seen a flurry of activity. This action comes to both ways, players and investors. The daily essentials category accounts for the largest chunk of the online grocery market.
When surveyed among the sectors of consumers purchasing essential items frequently, dairy products have been rated the most consumed ones. Online retailing has been through its ups and downs. The rapid growth has given cases worth records. Verticals continue to grow with the help of subscription plans, express delivery systems, and assortments.
If you want to know how monetizing convenience can bring new customers, I bet online grocery is your only choice. A large amount of subscription programs has driven a huge consumer base. From Grofers premium plans to Big Basket and Amazon pantry, the ability of these platforms to drive subscription in less than 15 months is worth a study.
Previously meat from online sources was not entertained, and now players of this delivery space have spread across multiple zones. Marketers around the world include Zappfresh, Licious – one of two of the most prominent players setting goals while staying at the forefront. This has led to consumer behavior changes. The availability of fresh meat, fast delivery with discounts, has now left the offline stores to study more.
Brand Competition
With competition getting fierce in retail domain, investment competition is heading up with greater pace.
Uber and Grofers have common investor Softbank. On the other hand, Zomato and BigBasket are invested by Alibaba. To buyout BigBasket Alibaba needs to play a crucial role. Reports have suggested that Zomato is currently strategizing plans with Grofers for a possible acquisition of the market.
It is going through a hyper-competitive and low margin grocery delivery segment and set an acquisition might alter the dynamics. For the last 2 months, Zomato has been in talks with Grofers for its acquisition, which will also depend on partnership strategies.
Zomato had help online delivery of groceries and recently in the light of making the current in amidst the coronavirus pandemic. It is in talks with both BigBasket and Grofers to help the customer reach out to the best products. Because of the lack of delivery personnel, restaurants are mostly shutting down temporarily.
All these brands are shuffling the exploratory stage. These brands have not yet forecasted the budget. A handful of Sectors and a graph going upward includes the grocery section. Amazon pantry, Flipkart Supermarket, BigBasket, Grofers are all having a huge upsurge. Order from groceries apart from Zomato, and Swiggy, Dunzo is about to partake alongside these players and is trying to get engaged in the grocery play for quite some time now.
Dunzo among the high volume marketing segment, trying to cope up with innovation, experimentation, and concepts to survive the onslaught. Most of the success plans revolve around subscription and lucrative deals, a customer benefits upon making bulk purchases. Bengaluru based BigBasket and Gurugram based Grofers have been competing for quite some time now.
The overall e-commerce of the country is affected by up to 1%. Only with grofers and BigBasket playing all by themselves, the compounded annual growth rate of 52% between 2018 and 2022, will, however, change market predictions. Flipkart supermarket and Amazon pantry are pulling out all buffers to convert the hurdles into challenges and challenges into a win-win situation.
The previous concept of grocery being a low margin business is now what full of frequent transactions. Because of an increased purchase in the essential section, it has driven a large customer base and now e-commerce revolves around staples more than fancies.
With the super backup from Walmart, Flipkart is gulping business in Bangalore and slowly paced over the average 300 orders per day, to over 50,000 orders now.
How Competing Are These Strategies?
To begin with, Flipkart Supermarket has set up a warehouse network to complete last-mile delivery logistics. It has also come up with the idea of open boxes where customers will be given the option to return the product on the spot if it has reached them by mistake, or the product has some sort of discrepancy.
The grocery spread of Flipkart is across 1,50,000 square feet in Bengaluru. Total units keeping Flipkart Supermarket stocks include a whopping number of 10,000 units. Flipkart Supermarket operating in India is expanding still. Whereas Amazon has reached peaks of success in the US market already.
The grocery section of Amazon has been in business since 2015. Aggressive marketing began once Amazon rebranded the prime option. Amazon pantry venture initially had a commitment of 500 million dollars for the approval of brick and mortar stores in India. This action led to BigBasket and Grofers to foresee challenges and speak better.
The two companies are now using the funding raised from Alibaba and Softbank to carve out their niche marketing. Shopclues.com, Snapdeal.com, Paytm Mall, and other E-Commerce estate firms such as No-broker and Meesho has also diversified into the grocery space.
If you have noticed Zomato and Swiggy are also delivering grocery items from nearby malls within 2 hours. While Swiggy was the first one to include a grocery segment Zomato, tied up with Grofers to launch its services. With a limited dent in the market, the hyperlocal grocery business is growing aggressively.
Innovation And Market Share
The segment leader in terms of online grocery, BigBasket has a 35% market share. The company is now focused on inorganic growth to keep its position. With three consecutive acquisition of Morning Cart, RainCan, and Kwik24 for milk delivery and smart vending machine respectively.
It is capturing the delivery section for micro-sized orders as well. BigBasket is all set to leave its presence in the offline space with offline kiosks. A new application called BB Instant is conducting the pilot program for BigBasket.
The two-hour service of BigBasket is being carried by BB Express. BB Express is carrying its occupation where orders are placed at BigBasket and have developed a functional presence. BB Express carries the intime delivery of 2 hours.
On the other hand, Grofers has focused on a high margin plan. Instead of private business, the company is now marketing detergents, tools, tomato ketchup, cornflakes. It has tied hands with private brands such as HaveMore, SaveMore, G Happy Day, etcetera. With an increase in the number of daily orders, the average cart size of Grofers is nothing less than 1100 rupees.
Despite the power struggle Amazon and Flipkart have not lost sight of customers’ needs. It is not a cakewalk for these brands to carry business in a challenging situation with low margins predictable. They are on a clear dedicated focus point offering quality alongside treating assets.
Grocery business looks forward to quality and in time delivery. Any brand focusing on these two aspects rise high above the brands already struggling for power with the greatest marketing team and strategy players present in the organization, these players are aware of the challenges.
Their deep pockets help them adjust the issues whilst preserving technology assets. Several failures have been the stepping stone and other brands failing have given them their winning plans. For example, 2015 and 2016 witnessed the closure of LocalBanya and Peppertap respectively, after inconsistent delivery of the product along with poor quality.
The Bottom Line
All these giants are fighting themselves and for the sake of their assets. Their investors have put clauses that bind them along with the company’s internal decision making. For example, Tiger Global and Softbank have strong terms added in contracts and call upon when required. This gives the investors priority in the decision making process.
They keep their positions from being eroded in case scenarios of industry downturn hits during a crisis. We look upon a bigger consolidation in the food and grocery segment given the economy is having its ups and downs. Although the ups are more to set the economy on a bigger graph.
With multiple startups shutting down, for example, Zopnow, Tiny Owl, EatFresh, India has somehow recovered the backlash. This marked the beginning of another era in which technology and innovation will better-set standards and help people of all the sectors equivalent.
Micro delivery systems are all set to be the next adopting strategy for this phase of expansion. BigBasket will soon be seen fending off Amazon India and Flipkart with their strategic planning. The billion-dollar valued grocery space is gearing up hard. Online business spells comfort. However, comfort brings demands to meet and supplies to cater to.
Time is constantly evolving. Man is more career-driven than eve. Apart from the essentials, we have a smartphone, internet speed, and savings account added to an idle mind daily workshop. The chance of saving money and saving time acts as the icing on the cake.
These days online grocers are aiming at the fresh produce and less middleman involvement. This will help enhance concepts of the hyper-local market and ensure vendors and farmers have ongoing sales with a steady income.
