Minto Ultramintz: the suger-free mint in town

First of all, I feel quite excited doing my first ever product review and that too for BlogAdda, India's leading bloggers' website.

Today's review is not about any book as has been the usual case exactly since last year (when I initially started book reviewing, courtesy BlogAdda again). Today, you will here read about ITC's FMCG brand Minto's latest product catering to the menthol market

Ultramintz

Presenting premium and powerful sugar-free mintz:

60 extra strong pellets packed in a stylish black tin case. Each pellet is made from peppermint oils from France, finest quality menthol and is powered by speciality cooling compounds.

Prepare yourself for unimaginable cooling with 

Review:

I have never been into menthol products much till now. In fact, I recall tasting any peppermint after very long, maybe 1 year at the least. When BlogAdda announced the product review program for Minto Ultramintz, I tended to bypass it but decided to check out more about the product out of curiosity. It was then that it held my interest. The promotional material was quite good and catchy; the video commercial hold my attention. So I thought why not give it a chance and I applied for the review, with absolutely no expectation about my blog getting selected for the same.

Watch the video commercial here

And suddenly a few days after when the courier arrived, I perceived that a new book might have come for the review. But to my extreme pleasure, two sophisticated cardboard boxes (with Ultramintz tin box packed inside each in a royal fashion) dashed out as soon as I opened the package. Without delaying any further, I opened one of the mint boxes and took out 3-4 pellets on my palm through a perfectly designed opening in the box, and popped them into my mouth.

Sensational! Yes, that was the feeling to be exact. Ultra-coolness with a perfect combination of taste, smell, and touch entered my nerves and breath; and I was transported to snowy mountains of Himalayas for a brief moment, that was the kind of exhilaration I experienced. Not perfectly mind-blowing, but no less either ;) And since then (for the last 7 days), I regularly kept sharing these with my friends and have used myself everyday; and now I am taking the second box with me to my hometown tomorrow to share the same with my siblings and friends there :)

The pic above describes my true condition that moment of chilling-pilling :D

Don't forget to LIKE and follow its Ultramintz Facebook page

Likes: (suits my style because)

Extra strong peppermint => awesomely refreshing menthol

Sugar-free; zero calorie benefits to all

Chill pill in its true sense

Liked the idea of so many (60) pellets in a single classy metal box for convenience

Attractive packaging of the review product 

Dislikes:

Small size of pellets; had to put minimum 2 in the mouth for the uber classic feel of menthol cooling

High cost (Rs.50/- for a box of 60 pellets)

Conclusion: 

The chill of Antarctica packed in a stylish tin case. 60 incredibly strong pellets to make you freeze! So, reward yourself with mint-o Ultramintz: the Sugar-Free Chill-Pill that adds to your style, and refreshes you in a mortal way like you would have never experienced before.

My overall rating: 4 stars out of 5

P.S. -- "I am reviewing mint-o Ultramintz as a part of the Product Reviews Program at BlogAdda"

Kindness: the best self-satisfaction

This story is from the time I used to be around 11 or 12 years old. I had been visiting my maternal uncle for a week or so during my summer vacations from school, which was a regular activity every year for me and my siblings. Once I was invited by my uncle to accompany him to the local market to help in handling the grocery and ration items to be bought. While passing through market area, I spotted an old beggar asking for one poori-sabzi from a food-hawker but he got rebuked and marched forward asking the people passing by for some alms in exchange for God's blessings. Some gave him small amounts of money as most didn't pay any heed to his pitiable condition.

I had studied and believed that offering alms to beggars will only increase their quantity in our country. While my family believed that we should be kind towards everyone especially poor and needy ones. But I being a revolting teenager always used to keep my ideology superior to other's advice. Therefore, I didn't ask my uncle who was busy in bargaining for some items from his regular ration shop at the time to give some money to that beggar.

While coming back the same route, I again spotted that poor being and could not control my heart from helping him now. So I showed him to my uncle from a distance and asked if we should help him. My uncle being a generous person rightly brought out some coins from his trouser's inner pocket (people of those times didn't use to use wallets) and walked towards him. I had a different idea.

I confronted my uncle. "Won't giving them money will make their belief in begging stronger?", I told. He looked at my face with confusing looks. I continued, "Mamaji, khana khila dete hain!", as I had already seen him asking for food earlier. Uncle smiled big time and ruffled my hair in his exuberance, disturbing my hairstyle. But more importantly, he went to him and asked him, "Chalo baba, kuchh kha lo idhar" while pointing to a different food-hawker.

The beggar (should I call him that all throughout my story? I don't like it. Uncle only told me he ain't a beggar, he is a fakir) was surprised a bit but came quickly on his invitation to relieve himself from his hunger. Uncle gave me the money to pay to the hawker so that the fakir showers his blessings on me for my future well being.

Well, that one act of kindness coupled with my uncle's wisdom and fakir's blessings made me believe in this blissful act of humanity which is seemingly dwindling fast these days. From that day on, whenever I encounter any such person (old/weak male/lady) who are physically not capable of earning/supporting themselves, I try my best to offer them food from some nearby stall instead of handing money. Furthering this cause, I support Akshaya's Helping in HELP Trust in their work through yearly donations. May we all live a hunger-free life!


P.S. -- I am sharing my Do RIght Stories at BlogAdda.com in association with Tata Capital.

Book Review: 'Compass Box Killer' by Piyush Jha

Genre: Murder mystery thriller, Detective fiction

Publisher: Rupa Publications


About the Author:

Piyush Jha is an acclaimed film director, ad filmmaker and the author of the bestselling novel, Mumbaistan.

A student political leader at university, he pursued a career in advertising management after acquiring an MBA degree. Later, he switched tracks, first to make commercials for some of the country's largest brands, and then to write and direct feature films. His films include Chalo America, King of Bollywood and Sikandar.

He lives in his beloved Mumbai, where he can often be found walking the streets that inspire his stories.


Synopsis:

One muggy afternoon in Mumbai, a senior police officer is found murdered at his desk. When Inspector Virkar from the Crime Branch arrives at the scene, he finds a cryptic note that spills out of a student’s compass box. Then begins a series of killings and in each, a tell-tale compass box reveals more clues.

Accompanied by the attractive, ambitious TV reporter, Raashi Hunerwal, Virkar has to race against time to catch the Compass Box Killer before the bodies pile up. As the investigation shuttles from Mumbai to Khandala to Belgaum, Virkar is taken deep into a labyrinth of backroom deals that lead to shocking revelations about the ruthless killer’s motives.

Slick plot twists and high-adrenaline action mark the first of the Inspector Virkar Crime Thrillers—part of the Mumbaistan series. Tough, daring and relentless in his pursuit of justice, Inspector Virkar is a policeman one wishes every city had.


Story: 

The prologue starts with a raunchy love-making event(s) between an unknown pair in an unbeknownst year, with a brutal end. The story then directly shifts to the present where the killer is in its primary act to kill his first victim, a Sr. Insp. of Police in Mumbai. Inspector Virkar makes a good entry when he is tasked to find this killer. He visits the crime scene and discovers a compass box with the identity of the killer's next victim.

Dazzled and baffled, Insp. Virkar gets involved in the relentless pursuit to find the killer but fails miserably despite having deciphered the killer's codes for his next victims. Unpardoned by the media (due to not so suave but charming journalist Raashi) and pulled out from the investigation by his boss, Virkar takes it to himself to discover the true identity of the indi-genius killer taking clues from the final words of one of the dying victims. What follows is a saga of tracing and tracking the compass box killer and his motives which takes him to different places, putting them (Virkar and Raashi) in the path of danger, while uncovering the mask from the face of killer's next and final victim.

Does Inspector Virkar succeed in his trail? What dangerous cover-ups he gets wandered to while solving the case? Can he really love Raashi? Who is the final victim and is he even worth saving?! To discover all this know and much more, read the book.

Buy it from here -->         

Likes: 

Good narrative; fast-paced action; readable in one go

Story offers delectable thrills and chills, turns and twists

Ingenious methods of the killer (really!)

Dislikes:

The whole novel gives the pure feel of a commercial Bollywood cinema (expected since the author belongs to the film industry)

My Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

P.S. -- The book was received as part of Reviewers Programme on The Tales Pensieve.