My Oldest Book and its Memories (My entry for BlogAdda and Friendsofbooks.com Contest)

Here am posting details about my favourite books since childhood.I am participating in the My Oldest Book and its Memories contest by BlogAdda and FriendsofBooks

The contest was to tell about one book you kept on your bookshelf for a very long time and for me ,there are two books which are in Malayalam and is with me till now

• Theryoshka (Russian folk tales by A Tolstoy ,About a kid named Theryoshka who used her intelligence to escape from witch)
• Blue Cup by Arkady Gaidar ( About father and daughter going for outing without the bossy mother and many explanations about life in Russia) 
•  

 Those days (1983~84) ,many Russian translations of children's books were available for the price of 1 Rs,3 Rs..It would be published by Prabhat Book House or by Progress Publishers who were very prominent those days.

As my mother was working as a professor in a Govt College , we had the privilege of coming across these good books.Many of these publishers used to go directly to colleges and sell off their books ,around the time when teachers get their salary. The publisher's were smart as they knew ,they can target teachers as teachers will value books more than anyone else. The books were also very colorful ,thick papers and print was also very good.Nowadays it's difficult to find such good print and good quality books at such a nominal rate.

Though the books were priced very low ( 1 Rs,2 Rs,3 Rs ) ,those days even 1 Rupee was very valuable.We used to get many things for 1 Rupee..As kids ,we could get 10 children's day stamps for 1 Rupee :) (Children's Day stamps were not real stamps but a small stamp shaped paper with Govt's logo and priced @10 Paisa each)

That was the story about the book and now how it got to my hands..My mother bought the two books so that she can give one to me and one for my brother.As i am elder ,i got the bigger one i.e Blue Cup and the other one for my brother..

The stories were very good and showed that good always wins over evil and the other one was about enjoying life..and it was very special as the book was gifted by my mother by sparing some amount from her daily expenditure and was one of the loveliest books ever found at that time with all those pictures ..

If at all i have to give it away ,i will pass on to my kid and i hope this passes on to the coming generations as well



and I connect with bloggers at BlogAdda.com

Ohhhh..These People.....

I was really in a good mood today but somehow the mood has turned little sour..and the culprit?? these people around me..

Different types,different mentalities ,some who keeps revenge and some who doesn't ,some who just want to utilize us ..we are just bridges on the way to their success path and some consider us as friends and no bargains on the way..Some who just add us as friends as for a moment ,they felt like they should be in touch with you and in the next moment they felt ,it's not really required..some who knows u from ur childhood and still remain friends and some who don't as they have more priority friendships to take care...some who just chats with you as u r a popular figure and leave u once ur stardom is over and other ones who chats with you as they considered you as friend and remains even if ur stardom is over..
Many more categories and which one do you fall into and which is the right friendship?

Of course ,the right one is the one who will consider you as a friend even if you are not a publicly well known personality ,even if you are not beautiful or handsome and hears off your complaints ,dreams and your thoughts with an open mind ..The right one is the one whom you can shout when you feel angry without using any sugar coating words as they understand you as who you are ..The right one is the one who lends her/his shoulders when u cry no matter what the reason is..The right one is the one who understands why you didn't send any mail/message or call for a long time and still talk as if u just met them minutes ago...

Quoting the following lines from PravsWorld.com
"A friend is someone you love. Not that you are "in love" with them, but you care about them and you think about them when they are not there. The people you are reminded of when you see something they might like, and you know this because you know them so well. They are the people whose pictures you have and whose faces are in your head regardless.

Friends are the people you feel safe around because you know they care about you. They call just to see how you are doing, because a friend doesn't need an excuse. They tell you the truth, the first time, and you do the same. You know that if you have a problem, they are there to listen."


How many of us has got such true friendships??

If you are not feeling good in a friendship ,don't just be there..just remove the person from your thoughts and move on..Yeah ,It is difficult and not so easy as removing one from your facebook friends list ..but it is good than just lingering around as you are any way going to feel bad later...

I am lucky to have countable such friends and i pray to god that they remain like that forever..I am also lucky to have come across all the above category of friends and i learned a lot on the go..but still when someone becomes my friend ,i forget all my past experiences and start with a fresh mind and ends up being sad or with a broken heart...

Finally i feel ,i am in an alien world where i am surrounded by aliens who doesn't understand me and i can't even understand them..Should i try to???

So concluding with another quote from PravsWorld

In any relationship, the essence of trust is not in its bind, age, caste or creed.
But in its bond.

So hold the hand of the person whom you love
rather than expecting them to hold yours.

Easy Pani Puri

One more easy recipe ..but this one is for Pani Puri  though Pani Puri from roadside vendors always taste better :) But try urluck to atleast simulate some part of it at home:)


Ingredients

1. Small Puri   25 Nos(U can get it from any grocery shop)
2. Carrot   1  Nos
3. Tomato 1  Nos
4. Onion    1 Nos
5. Potato   2  Nos (Boiled)
6. Garam Masala Powder   (as required)
7. Salt (as required)
8. Juice of 1 half lemon
9. MDH Jal Jeera Masala

 How to make

•  Cut the ingredients ( 2,3,4 & 8) into small pieces and mix it

 

 Now add boiled potato and mash it properly with spoon or you can use your hand as well.Add Garam masala and salt as required and stir

 Now take the puri's and break the front portion and fill it with the mixed ingredients.Make sure that the opening you make on puri should be small just enough to stuff the ingredients.Now your Puri's are ready.

 

Now for the pani ,add required powder from MDH Jal Jeera Masala and mix 2 teaspoons of sugar to it.It will be katta meeta taste now. Pani is also ready :)

Now for serving ,add 1 or 2 teaspoons of Pani to each Puri and serve immediately






It is easy to make and for fillings,use whatever you feel like beans,cauliflower,cabbage ..many options :) I didn't boil carrot and onion as i wanted to make it easy..but you can boil all the ingredients as it will taste good..

Easy Bhelpuri

Ingredients :

1. Big Onion - 2 
2. Tomato -1 
3. Carrot - 1
4. BhelPuri Chutney by Smith & Jones
5. Bhel - As required

Use quantities as per requirement..The quantity i mentioned here is suitable for 2 people.

Cut the onion,carrot & tomato into small pieces

 Mix all the ingredients together with 2 tsps of Bhelpuri Chutney from Smith & Jones and yummy yummy Belpuri Ready..Easy to make..Just takes 5 mts.. And the final product:

My 100th Post Over :) Celebration Time :)

How did i start blogging?
I wanted to capture my daily thoughts ,life ,everything around me in a diary..This was as part of my New Year resolution in 2008 .But when i thought of options to keep diary safe ,i couldn't find much ..As technology has advanced ,i thought of maintaining an online diary..So went and researched some sites and came across few blogs..I liked the way people wrote in their blogs..So started my first blog in WordPress as one of my friend's blog was in WordPress..But later found it difficult to add my blog entries..

I started researching much on blogs and came across blogger..I found a solution :)..Blogger was much easier to maintain my blog..As the blog was about my views ,named it as "My Views On Life".

This was my first post
What to write..i am just thinking abt how to start my blog..i donno whether i will be writing everyday..but will surely try to post some info or the other.Most probably this blog may talk about my views on life and my pleasures -hobbies /other interests
 
Now also i do agree that my blogging is still on my views on life and my pleasures..

Moreover blog has become like a friend whom i can write everything and still understands me well and doesn't bother to shout back :) So here by wishing you and me ..Our 100 days of coexistence...

Kerala Fish Curry (Easy One)

 Finally i am in a good mood to write something on cooking...I am not an expert in cooking but can cook tasty (my opinion :)) dishes once in a while.. I don't love cooking ..I am a person who just want to finish cooking and come out of kitchen as soon as i can..but i love to experiment when i am in a good mood..I love to call my friends and give big parties but yes only home cooked food :)

All my dishes will have few ingredients not mentioned in the recipe but added by my own..Sometimes it ends up in disaster but many times it just worked fine..After many years of marriage ,my cooking has improved a lot....It started from 0 to now its somewhere in middle..I remember a time when i used to cry only because when i prepare something it was not tasting good and when my hubby prepares something ,it was yummy..I used to cry a lot for these and now i improved a lot and lot and lot to a state where i can prepare many dishes in less time and with good taste...But all these are my opinion :) hahahaha lol:)

So here am trying to put a easy Kerala style Fish Curry..So please try it and see :)
(All the pictures here are taken by me during my own experiment)

 Ingredients:

1. Fish cut into pieces – 1/2 kg   (I am using Aiyla (Mackerel) )
   
2. Fenugreek (Uluva) - one small tsp
3. Ginger – 1 tbsp
   Garlic – 6 big cloves              (Put more if you are having bad cholesterol)
   Green Chillies – 2                  (Can add more if you need it spicy)
   Shallots (cheriya ulli) – 1 cup
4. Gamboge(Kodam puli ) – 4   (small)
5. Turmeric powder – 1/2 tsp
   Kashmiri Chilly Powder - 1 tsp
6. Scrapped Coconut  – 1 cup   ( Made as smooth paste)
7. Curry leaves – 1 or 2 sprigs
8. Coconut Oil –  As required
9. Salt – to taste

Method :-
Cut the ingredients mentioned in  (3) into small pieces

Heat coconut oil in a  Manchatti (pan)..Add Fenugreek(uluva) and saute it for some time ..

 

 Add Ginger,Garlic,Shallots,Green Chillies and Curry Leaves and saute it for some time..Saute it till the shallots turn light brown


 




Now add 2 cups of water along with Gamboge (Kodam puli ) and salt..Let it start to boil..

 Add turmeric powder ,chilly powder (as mentioned in ingredient 5) and fish pieces. Let it boil.







 Add coconut paste and allow it to boil for sometime.You can boil it depending on your use..If you want thick gravy ,then boil it for a long time till masala sticks to the fish pieces otherwise if medium gravy ,then allow it to boil for some time

Coconut Miracle :)

 As i was born and bought up in Kerala where we had enough coconuts in our backyard , we were never surprised to see this phenomenon :) But Sandra was surprised..Growing up in Bangalore ,she is missing all these wonders of nature..

In our native,we used to have lots of coconuts and it will be kept in the utility room adjacent to Kitchen..Due to moisture ,most of the coconuts would have started to grow by the time we pick it up for cooking..
 
We all ,including my mother & father too loved to eat this white part (which is very sweet and like cotton candy .I donno wht it's called :)) and we all used to share though there were many like this..:) So everyday morning ,after brushing, we come to the kitchen in the morning just to check whether any of the coconuts are used :)

 Now too when we go to native ,we all fight for this :)Finally last month ,i got this coconut from market :) As it was a rare phenomena here in Bangalore ,i thought to take photos and update my blog for the kids who haven't seen this or haven't tasted the yummy yummy candy inside the coconut...

 

Rocket Singh -Salesman of the year

 

Watched Rocket Singh -Salesman of the year..One of the must see movies for entrepreneurs recommended by Entrepreneur Magazine.

 Harpreet Singh ,yeah it is Ranbir Kapoor :) just passed out from college and he dreams of an exciting career.He ends up with the job of salesman for a company and the movie surrounds the problems he face when he tries to follow his heart or the way he tries to balance both his professional front and what his heart says.

 

 Father-son relationship portrayed is worth commenting..Also the confusions in his mind whether to follow his heart or not..Rocket Singh's way of forming company - pick the best from the lot and make sure they do promise only what they deliver..Finally his company becoming one of the best :) I love this movie..

It stresses a great point -It isn't that tough to be successful and honest .Both of these factors doesn't come together or match properly in our jobs nowadays:) But yes we can surely hope for a ...place where both will fit perfectly ..Very inspiring movie..

Bombay Rains Bombay Girls by AnirBan Bose -My review

 

Just finished reading Bombay Rains and Bombay Girls.Simply Superb

 

It takes us through the life of a medical student- Adi and the entire plot surrounds his life in medical college and his friends.I went through all the emotions be it love, affection, hatred, happiness, anger, anxiety, stress .All in one but nicely put across.Really thought provoking answers,incidents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After reading each book ,i normally forget it but not this one..So this review is for myself to remember what i read in the past few days which made me think along with the story..

 

 

 So copying few excerpts  from book which are thought provoking and this is one book which had knowledge about medical profession ,thought provoking lines and yes the real story..Loved it in all sense and i can read this book any number of times

 

• As long as you are not seriously hurt ,you just learn to ignore.In a big city ,nobody knows or cares and you just learn to continue like nothing has happened..You have to be like Gandhiji's monkey's and learn to see no evil,hear no evil and speak no evil.That is the best way    

   

•  If eighteen years of our upbringing  cannot come to use now ,it never will

   

• Every Day,I walk with pride ,I feel comfortable in my skin ,and i sleep at night with a clear conscience.That is who i am ..my being,my soul.I cannot compromise on that 

   

•  Compromises are also part of life ,but they make you cross a line that starts to disappear the first time you cross it,until one day it disappears altogether.Then wrong becomes right and lies seem like the truth:everything becomes just a matter of interpretation because truth loses its best quality -its simplicity.Then when you should look in the mirror and see if you recognize yourself as the person you wanted to become.That is the day you'll know if you will sleep well or keep awake the rest of your nights ,talking to your conscience

   

• All that matters is how you feel ,not what you should feel or think i feel..You've got to decide based on your feelings ...

   

• We expect people to to do the right thing ,but we are so scared  of doing it ourselves.We look at their guilt to hide our own.All of us are running away..

   

• Don't indulge in minority-ism and blame every little problem you have on being a minority in India

   

• Twenty years of memories ,twenty years of hopes and expectations ,all just suddenly seem to mean so little in actual time.Every moment i so little and yet ,a lifetime in itself..(Toshi's father grieving over his son's loss )

   

• Today there is a rainbow in my heart ,the sun shines because you are going to become a doctor and it is raining because you leave me to become one (Toshi's Mother)Wearing that white coat and carrying a stethoscope around your neck means you provide relief.Soon you will realize how little we can actually do to cure diseases in patients ,but we can always bring relief by simply listening to them.I hope you will all remember this simple art of medicine : the art of listening
  

 

I love this book.It sounds real though author has mentioned only few incidents were real others are all his imagination.

 

Hearty Congrats to Anirban Bose..

Chinnu's World - Growing Up Days

Chinnu's growing up years was miserable only due to her father..Yes but how? Her father was a very strict military person who just felt life also happens in the order mentioned in a military timetable and in a strict way as how they used to do in military..He never understood the love and care to be displayed to her though he had so much of love and affection in his heart..But yes he just felt Military style works out best in those cases

For Chinnu ,yes her father was her enemy and yes that made her a rebel at home..For each and everything , she wanted to do differently than what others thought she should do...Yeah a rebel in all sense and yes in early stages ,this was not showing off as her life was just around a small place..school ,house and school..That's it..But it started showing off when she grew old ,day by day it started affecting her father and her mother..As she never used to disclose anything to her friends or anyone else ,no one ever came to know the struggles in her mind ..

Chinnu found happiness in whatever she can think off ,imagining her in a fantasy world and yes of course with a cute prince ,her saver and yes in few others who just took her heart for sometime as she had few infatuations too..All due to her growing up years.Girls of her age would have surely felt so ..but one difference with Chinnu is ,whatever she felt ,it remained in her or her eyes and nothing beyond that..She knew that whatever she likes to do will be making her parents sad..so she never attempted nything..But in her world of dreams ,she was lover to someone ,friend to someone else and yes magic fairy to someone...It was her world her lovely world ,her fantasy world which boosted her confidence to survive in this ugly world around her...

Chinnu was a beautiful girl ..yes not so but when when girls reach a good age ,they have a charming face and yes that will attract many..Chinnu was also not so different..Many prank calls at house , nasty or good comments from guys of her age or above..Chinnu was really scared of these as she was sure for each of these calls or comments her mother is going to be accused ..She didn't want that..She once had a idea of using acid or something to remove the beauty of her face if something is left so that she won't be getting any more prank calls or comments..She used to think about this for along time though she didn't have the guts to do anything..

Day by day these problems increased and it reached a state where one guy - Mahesh started following her on the way from school to house that too in bike.He was not studying in school but he was little older guy and a rowdy too...It would be a crowded road when the school closes for the day..filled up with students and teachers on their way back home ,it would be really bad to see some guy following you all the way home...Chinnu thought she will handle this herself in the same way how she handled others but no this was going to be a tough task..She reached a state where she dreaded to go to school just to avoid him..Finally she disclosed this to her elder brother Josh...Josh was of very good help as he always loved his sister more than anyone else ..Josh learned cycling so that he can pick her up from school  so that no one can scare her..and yes Chinnu was relieved ..not because that guy didn't come..but because someone understood her feelings..Josh tried many ways but nothing was working out..Finally he came up with a good solution - to be friends with Mahesh..That worked out very well and Mahesh couldn't go farther as Josh was his friend and Chinnu ,his sister..So one problem resolved...

In between this Chinnu's father came to know about this and he scolded Chinnu for putting bangles and bindi as he felt ,Chinnu attracted all these people just by putting on bindi or bangle....weird thoughts right..That's the problem with military guys..Due to their hectic training they start doubting everything on their way....But for Chinnu ,that was the time to show her rebel nature..She stopped putting bangles or chains or bindi's or kajal and even stopped seeing mirror..How does it affect? Anyways she was not so keen on life..So looking bad doesn't add any role in her life...But still none of the prank calls stopped so finally her father had to change his word..Might be he came to knew later that girls at that age looked even more beautiful than with bangles or bindi's...Natural beauty Queens :)

To Be Continued...

My Reviews

The Wake - Up Call (Saptharishi Suresh)  

Needs a lot of improvement...Though it was an easy read (you can finish the book in just 1/2 an hour) ,it was not worth buying it...The story has instances where the author tried to trigger the reader's interest by adding few masala bits (Reminded me of the book "Oh Shit Not Again" ) Before you could relate to the life of an IT Bachelor, the story moved in a different direction. Pandu's decision of quitting his job was a sudden one..But these lacked the reality touch. Overall it looked like the entire book was written in a few days time without much thought process. I wouldn't recommend this book. 

 Knocked Up by Shaiju Mathew

 Just completed reading Knocked up...The plot was good with friends and their mischief's and well written that i could imagine the characters in mind and move with the story..Some chapters are really humorous ..Overall ,It was an easy read and yeah it can be taken as a movie as it has friendship ,love,intimate moments,humour everything which is required for a movie..Did the Author's stint in movie direction influenced the plot??? Need to see the next book in the series..
Instead of making it as chapters , Author can plot it like a diary as the sequences were as if ,it's taken out of authors diary..

Felt a similarity to Chetan Bhagat style of writing as his books also turns around the similar stories and easy read but one time read as well..I should really appreciate the quality of the printing.Magic Moments Publications too rock..Good quality paper ,big letters and a cute small book with a catchy front cover...Loved the footer image of three friends in bike:)

 Where Girls Dare by Bhavna Chauhan

It's a real story of her life in Officers training Academy.Loved it.It was as if i was also training with them..I would give 5 stars..Donno how cum this didn't make any news..Looks like Penguin didn't advertise properly..Reminded me of my NCC days.It was fun.For the ones who r planning to read..check out whats the fun behind purple and peach make red :)

If you love adventures and kitty fights ,then this is the book for you

P.S.I Love You by Cecelia.

 

True love, how Holly miss her husband ,Gerry who in his death bed and made cute little commandments for Holly to come out of loneliness .Very emotional but yes funny incidents too.Find a nice place with hot Green Tea in your hand.just enjoy reading the book wth Don't disturb board.U will start seeing your life in different angle as you realize that you have all your loved ones around you.

 

 I too had a love story by Ravinder Singh

Narayana Murthy's comment in the front page and the Indian author's name made me buy this book.A real love story which happened in his own life.He has even used place names and the character names real..He could make the readers feel the happiness and the pain he was going through...True love story..Everyone should read this book .. I am really sad for Ravin..But don't have any words to console..Life has many surprises --good or bad..So gain strength to move on... 

 

Mom & Me ( Hachette India) 

Picked up the book as it had a free "World's Best Mom" badge :) Its an easy read but some stories were little dragging.. This book is about mothers ..10 different MOM stories..different types of mothers..the ones who r interested in taking photographs,the one who learns computer @ old age just to write letters to her son or grandchildren ,the one who dealt with a runaway son through email..Its funny but serious too ,the one who quit singing as she felt it won't be good as a family..All mothers are unique in their own way ..but mothers are the best The most i liked are the stories "Run Away" by Jyothi and "Cover Up" by Ranjith 

UnPluggd -An awesome event for startups in India

 http://www.unpluggd.org

The second edition of UnPluggd was over yesterday (Oct 30 @ Indiranagar Sangeet Sabha -Center of Performing Arts,Bangalore ).It's an event where we can meet  India’s top notch geeks, entrepreneurs, angel investors and VC.

• In the first half of the day, we had talks from successful entrepreneurs. Five talks by successful entrepreneurs – about their startup journey and the challenges they faced.
• Second half of the day we had pitches from startups (India)

Pallav Nadhani (Fusion Charts)
Pallav is the co-founder and CEO of FusionCharts, which he started at the age of 17.

FusionCharts is the industry’s leading Rich-Internet charting component, which has over 17,000 customers (including LinkedIn, Microsoft etc) and 330,000 users across 110 countries, including a majority of Fortune 500 companies.An interesting fact about FusionCharts is that the company hired the first sales person after their 10,000th customers.

Fusion Charts is used in Linkedin/Facebook polls ,Weather.com,Money Control ,US Federal IT Dash board

Pallav shared a funny incident where they tried to put a tag line for their buisness.So they looked around and saw that Nike is using "Just do it" and McDonald's is using "I'm loving it".So they thought and came up with a tag line combining both - Just love doing it :) and we all know why the tag line didn't reach the market :)

Key points

• Build something you are passionate about.U r your best focus group
• Let customers guide U ,but doesn't follow them blindly .Listen to them ,figure out value,usability & feasiblity
• Focus on why more than what and how (Benefit Vs Features)
• Make it easy for customer.They will love you for it.
• Marketing starts before product
• It's hard to get first PR right.So try and make urself PR worthy.Make sensational news  & controversial topics
• Be personal (People believe in people)
• People like behind scenes
• If U r not having fun ,stop doing it.

Saloni Malhotra (Desicrew)


Saloni  has been nominated for BusinessWeek’s Asia’s Youngest Entrepreneurs, MTV Youth Icon 2008, E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year 2008 and also facilitated in the presence of the President of India by the CII. Saloni is the founder of DesiCrew and handles Marketing and overall direction of the organization.
Desicrew is a rural BPO company, incubated by RTBI of IIT- Madras. They set up IT enabled service centers in rural areas, employ and train local people to meet the back office demands of clients.Nice idea of helping people around as it surely gives jobs to hundreds of people in rural areas who are otherwise reluctant to come out of their nativeplaces in search of job.

Her's is one initiative i found which is related to helping people and related to social entrepreneurship..Great idea and the sole lady speaker for the event..Saloni really deserves an applause..

Congrats and my hearty wishes to you..


Alok Kejriwal (games2win & rodinhood.com)

Games2win has created over 350 original flash games that are played on games2win.com, on social media sites as well as thousands of long-tail sites. In just about two years of launch, games2win is amongst the top twenty gaming businesses in the US (and world) as ranked by comScore (current data).

His blogs at www.rodinhood.com. is worth a read and i am following his writings from along time now as his blogs are usually related to topics we should know as an entrepreneur. Keep it up Alok..This really helps the people who are aspiring to be entrepreneurs..

Key points

• Entrepreneurs board trains to unknown destinations
• Entrepreneurs walk paths never walked before
• Entrepreneurs live interesting lives ( hahaha :) not cosy though )
• Entrepreneurs get into nuts and bolts (they know their business in and out)
• Entrepreneurs create value using creativity  (Alok has shared an incident where people steal their game and show it on their web page and they tried to protect this using creativity ..Like in case if it's not from games2win website ,they used to enable lots of advertisement which will show on the screen and make it difficult for the people to use the game. So handling issues using creativity :) )
• Entrepreneurs assemble great teams
• Entrepreneurs are relentless in their battle (Every day they are dying ..they have many things to handle)
• Entrepreneurs win big always
• Entrepreneurs create legacy ..yes this can be carry forwarded..

Really got inspired by his talks..Entrepreneurship is not a bed of roses...

Manish Sharma (Printo)
Printo provides businesses with world-class printing solutions.

Key points

• Listen ,listen and listen to ur customers but go ahead and do what U really want
• Team is everything and culture is more than everything
• People jump on to moving trains (VC's are not interested in concepts .They will put their investments on ventures which are already in shape though there are some exceptions for few VC's in India)
• First modules are most likely to be crap
• Large companies are not necessarily be great customers
• It takes nearly 6 to 9 months to raise the funds if you are awaiting external funding
• Ur investors can include angel investers ,friends & family members
• Finally Business is a pickle.So marry well :) 

I was surprised to hear that Manish tried his luck even in fashion industry(textiles) and then finally landed here..He quoted a funny incident which happened before he was planning to start Printo. He told his father about his idea. In his father's days ,if a person is not doing good in studies ,the family will set up a xerox shop for him so that he can survive on running the shop and if he is very very bad ,then family will set up a printing press .So when he asked his father for money to set up Printo ,his father was surprised and was little worried :)

Manish's Printo is one startup which i always admired as i used their services from the time they started their first shop @ Koramangala .The service is good and customer service is what i should appreciate a lot..and every time i visit them ,they would have improved their services or made it more easy for customers. Whenever we had a printing requirement , even if it's a difficult task ,we remember Printo and we are sure that they will sort out an option for us..That's the confidence they created and that's what i believe is the base for buisness.

Great work Manish and the time and money you are spending on the employees to smile and say "Thank U " and "Please" is worth the effort..

Naveen Tewari (InMobi)


Inmobi is into Global Mobile Advertising and is the second largest mobile ad network in the world
 

Naveen is also the Founder and Chairman of a US based non-profit organization, India School Fund (ISF), which has been formed to set up schools in rural India.

Key points

• Get a team who is passionate about your idea
• Keep going whatever happens
• Believe in what we are going to do
• While getting a VC ,make sure that VC buy ur vision as wrong VC's means life in hell
• Talk to other entrepreneurs to get idea about bad VC's and good VC's .Yes there are Good and bad

Nice concept .Dedication and passion played a role here as they had a phase where money ran out and they were surviving by taking money from credit cards..Even the team members were also willing to utilize the credit card for this ..So see the dedication and commitment of everyone involved...Really appreciable.

We had about 10 demos by start ups..Nice concepts and i hope atleast few of them would have got VC funding as VC's were available in the venue.Following are the start ups

• www.eyesandfeet.com
• www.adaptive3d.com
• www.appcanvas.com
• www.kookoo.in
• www.capillary.co.in
• www.nuggetize.com
• www.dialify.com
• www.bizosys.com
• www.wix.com/danielshobhan/daniel-power-systems
• www.dataresolve.com

I should appreciate http://www.pluggd.in/  for setting up a platform where entrepreneurs can share their ideas or experience which will help others..

There were few timing issues ,the event started about 30 mts late and the tea break had to be made longer as tea was not available and yes lunch hour also got lengthened as lunch counter was only one and more than 300 members..But overall it was a success


One more thing i noticed is that all of the speakers were health conscious..Thats what atleast showed off...So though they were struggling to set up a name for them ,they did spend time on themselves too..That is really appreciable as nowadays we can see young IT guys -being fat and having health issues due to negligence..So yes ,these speakers for the event even set the trend that entrepreneurs has to be health consious and it really helps you in long run...Yes majority of the crowd who attended the event were also looking great --not too fat :) So world around us are getting more conscious about their heath..Coolll...It's going to be a world of heath consious people :) I think i would be the only one who noticed this :)

So finally am done...Will surely add if in case i missed nything

Appa ,Open Google

Manikutty saw the writing "cartoonnetworkindia.com" in the TV while watching one of her favourite cartoons..So that evening ,she came near me and told
"Amma ,please open cartoonnetworkindia.com"..
I am surprised ,i ask her "What's that?"
Manikutty : Amma ,that's a place where you can play games
I opened the page ,passed the mouse on and she started playing..As now she can read ,she understands everything though it may be tough..Somehow she makes out the meaning..

After sometime ,Dileep came from office ,then Manikutty came running

Manikutty : Appa ,Can you please open cartoonnetwork site? .Looks like by mistake she closed it.
Dileep really confused ,looked at me and i smiled..He went near computer and asked her " what's the site name"?
Manikutty : Appa ,just open google and type in ,u will get

We both were really surprised..Nowadays kids have more knowledge than elders:)

Chinnu's World - School days

Chinnu was born and bought up in a way where she never differentiated between Hindu ,Christian or Muslim..All were same for her ..

Chinnu studied in a convent school run by a Christian Management and many nuns were teachers too and it's in close proximity to church..The school is located very near to main road with all small shopkeepers surrounding the place..School was pretty old but yes it had its own beauty..It was painted pale yellow color and with tiles on the top and long and clean corridors.. She used to love its broken windows ,dark brown painted wooden doors ,fainted terracotta tiles ,wooden benches and desks arranged nicely ,one side of the wall was painted black and is used as black board ,dusters made and donated by children in class- they used to compete with each other for donating the dusters ..As kids that was like an accomplishment that teacher is using their duster..That's like an honor ..

There was regional medium and English medium batch..Chinnu couldn't make out why her parents put her in English Medium...Teachers were not so good in English as they also studied in regional mediums and it was one of the normal regional school in the locality.So teachers had difficulty in teaching English Medium students as the books and all the Science ,Social science,History,Maths concepts were written in English which was difficult for the teacher's to comprehend..She still remembers her social studies and history teacher reading out the same chapter from regional textbook and asking students to concentrate on their English book..Even all the students were requested to buy regional version apart from their own books..They never felt bad about this as even they didn't know to speak English fluently but just understood the required portions

It was Girls only school and when Chinnu reached 7th standard ,they introduced mixed batch..But one problem -new school was constructed just across the road and near to church and mixed batch or boys only allowed in that compound....Students from old school were allowed to go to new school only if you are taking catechism studies as part of curriculum and ofcourse Chinnu and her friends were interested to cross the border and meet boys :) ..Though being a christian ,Chinnu never went for catechism class as she loved moral science much better than hearing more about Christianity and ofcourse all her friends were Hindu's so didn't want to leave them and go..But Chinnu and her friends were really excited and joined the catechism class ..but made sure that no one noticed them as it would be a big issue to find non Christians sitting in a catechism class..They were all excited and made sure they combed their hair properly and was ready to see the new aliens (boys) ....that was fun..Yeah they did achieve their target of meeting boys but couldn't digest some teachings in the class..So they moved back to moral science..


As catechism classes ended ,there was no option for them to go to the new school..Now what to do ? They all made a plan and decided to go to church everyday afternoon without fail..They achieved the fun of meeting boys on the way and making sure that god is also pleased ..


Chinnu still remembers the cemetery over there which always attracted them to investigate whether there are ghosts or what all they can find from cemetery..It was a huge area with full grass and trees around and it always had some dark effect..something mentioned in ghost novels or movies..There was a board on top mentioning "Ennu nan nale ni" (I am the one today and Tomorrow ,it's U )...

At home ,Chinnu was an independent child though  it was a jail for her..But she always tried to see the beauty of world around her ..be it just peeping into sky when she was asked to study..Night sky,beauty of stars,thunder ,lightening and that smoothing cool temperature at night always excited her..Ghosts were her friends..Dracula was her lover...her dreams were around ghosts and she started liking them....She always dreamt of some magic to happen so that she is set as a free bird and she can fly away leaving this world and be a happy soul..

 (To be continued........................................)

Where am I Now?

Oh god ,i really can't take it any further..Just show me a route where i can follow..Am just waiting for a way just to pick up and move forward..Am stuck..Completely stuck..

You know what's going in me and u were always there to help me out and show me the way and now i am not getting any clue..I just can't understand me..Help me out ..

I can solve others problems easily and why same thing is not happening in my case..I think i should have done my clinical physiology course and atleast should have helped the needy people to solve their problems and be happy..

Why everyone in life is so busy with their own lives and not getting time even to say hi to others..Is it that world has gone so bad that we just care about ourself nowadays?
Remembered one incident on the way when we were back from watching movie at around 1.00 AM...One accident has happened and a man is lying in a pool full of blood..what his family would be thinking..they will be waiting for him to return and he is battling with death here..All the cars took a diversion and went ..i tried convincing everyone to stop but yes in a world like this where you see robbery and cheating ,how can you help someone ?? But just imagine ,if instead of that person,i am in a pool of blood and all these cars does the same thing ,won't everyone in my family be sad? But then y can't we help?

This incident and many more like this ,i can't forget it in my life and i feel bad that i couldn't help out and still i am not helping out..

I just can't understand the world around me..I need some more courage to sort things out..

Just give me some more courage so that i can fight out  the issues and be happy.

Finally i ended up in PravsWorld and i am sure i can fight it out..Thanks PravsWorld for helping me out and showing me a way..

Never Give Up On Anything

Its Madness -
To hate all roses, because you got scratched by one thorn.
To give up all your dreams, because one did not come true.
To lose faith in prayers, because one was not answered.

To give up on your efforts, because one of them failed.
To condemn all your friends, because one of them betrayed.
Not to believe in love, because someone was unfaithful.

Remember that, another chance may come up.
A new friend, A new love, A new life.

Never give up on anything!

Series On Learning the Basis Of Drawing ...Do Check out

A series on learning the basics of drawing, presented by the artist and author James McMullan

Part 1 : Getting Back to the Phantom Skill

Part 2 : The Frisbee of Art 

Part 3 : Hatching the Pot

Part 4 :The Beagle Vanishes

Part 5 : Mother Nature Decoded

Do check out the pages..

Addicted to Facebook

I am addicted to facebook...My day starts with facebook and ends with facebook..I just can't live without seeing status messages from friends or be in chat with all my friends....

Am i addicted? I thought i was not but today i got to know..Yes,I am addicted..as i started disturbing my friends though they didn't have much to chat..started making unnecessary fights..oh lol..howcum i got so addicted? I have to come out of addiction..So bye bye Facebook atleast for few days..i need to see whether i can do that and will be back to blogging:)

After writing this ,i came to know that i am addicted to facebook chat and not facebook as such..chat that too with a new friend lol ..addicted?? Hmm looks like its easy to remove the addiction..let me try..
{Am not addicted but yes i got to know that we can get good friends in facebook too though we haven't seen them in person or though we just know them for few days...So i am happy now that i got a good friend ..Thanks a lot my dear friend ...}

Long time no see my dear page..so thought to feed you with necessary latest information so that even you can be happy ..I am really sorry for leaving you in-between..Life needs some changes every now and then..But i promise you to write atleast one page everyday so that you are happy i am happy..So happy days starting again:)

Bye Bye Facebook and Happy Days in Blogging:)

Do Siblings Have to Fight For Money ??

This is the question in my mind from a long time..I wanted to write about it but something stopped me..

Why do siblings have to fight over Parent's money..Thats the specific case..

Case 1:
3 kids in family..1 boy and 2 girls..All happily married..Boy taking care of mother and the house..Girls married to very rich people in society ..Mother gets pension and all of them wanted to know what she is doing with it..why the hell they want to know about it..It's her money and let her do what she wants..Does this mean that she doesn't have the right to decide by herself? Also they want their share out of her pension...Why why we are behaving weird..What did they do to get the pension..Its the mother who left all her enjoyment to work hard and earn money so that her family can survive or her kids can study..But what's happening now?

Case 2 :


Same Family..Mother gets sick..Kids deciding who should give money in hospital and checking whether mother has money for it..Considering that all are well off ,should they really worry about those? They are there because of parents..Isn't it? and none of the parents asked money for bringing up them..Then y doing so in return?

Can't they just pay up hospital bills without fighting with each other?

Case 3:
2 kids in family..Parents prefer one over another.One day they just call both of them and tell ,we are going to give u some money.Youngest one gets more money and eldest gets less money as youngest needed more money as they have taken more loans..Do the eldest get angry? No..y should they..Instead they should put this money in bank and use it whenever parents require money for them

Forget the youngest whether they give or not atleast forget the money part..It's your parents money and you are anyways earning money so why we need some more money? Is that really required? Instead can't they just buy an apartment /shop in parents name and give it for rent..Atleast parents will feel happy that  they are getting some money even at old age too and that too from the house/place in their name..


But does this happen?..No but what we see around is siblings fighting each other for money..There is no real love or affection..Its just the money which takes priority..Did they Forget all those days when they were together as family...As most of the kids are well off now ,Do we really need money? We can make money when we need it..But once the relationships are broken ,its very difficult to bring it back