The People's President!!

The missile man. A visionary leader. A role model for so many,  and a person with an indomitable spirit.
  

He who taught us to dream big. He who inspired the Indian youth. He who let out his last breath inspiring young ones at IIM. Former President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam has lived life spreading knowledge and harmony leaving an ever lasting impact. Born in South. Galvanized in West. Leading us from North. And finally leaving us from East.

It's hard to believe if there would ever be a symbol of hope like he was. One of the most inspiring human being, a cult figure is no more. As PM Modi has said, Bharat has lost its Ratna. However, his inspiration and words of wisdom will remain with us forever.

Our grandfathers would have felt proud in saying they lived in the era of Vallabhbhai Patel. Now we can certainly take pride in saying our grandchildren that we lived in the era of Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam. The ever humble genius who made the whole India proud. Sir, you will live in our hearts and every human invention.

  “If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a difference. They are the father, the mother and the teacher.” - Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam

- DC

The angels onboard!!!

What was once a dream job for women, being an air hostess today is far from wonderful.

People normally think air hostesses must be easy but they do have strict codes of conduct. They are primarily on board an aircraft for the safety and welfare of the passengers and secondly for their comfort. The role of cabin crew can be physically demanding and is in fact more stressful. 

They are usually approachable and enthusiastic with a good sense of self-presentation. They show the passengers to their seats and help them with their baggage. They respond to medical emergencies the way a doctor does. They do all these with a ever glowing smile on their face. They are apparently the face of the airline as you can call it.  

Mostly flight attendants have too many straight flights with just little time for turnaround. So it makes their job even more demanding than we all think it is. Female flight attendants encounter many difficult situations - sexual harassment by passengers being the worse. 

And their long list of duties can look exhausting if we knew about.  

- Starting from having to attend a pre-flight briefing, where they get assigned their working positions for the upcoming flight; 

- carrying out pre-flight duties which includes checking safety equipment and ensuring a clean and tidy cabin; 

- to welcoming passengers on board; 

- informing them of the aircraft safety procedures; 

- checking all passenger seat belts and galleys are secure prior to rake-off; 

- making announcements on behalf of the pilot and answering to passenger queries; 

- serving meals and refreshments; 

- reassuring passengers and ensuring that they follow safety procedures correctly in emergency situations; 

- responding to medical emergencies and 

- to finally completing paperwork, including writing a flight report, the duties are by far tiring. Yet they do it all with a smile. 

These are just a glance at the life of air hostesses on board. They do have life away form their job like we all do. And we need to respect the fact that they are humans too and deserve to be treated well and not taken for granted.

- DC 

The ingenious Epic!!

It was with a mere household fly that he won our hearts. "Naan Ee" was an instant hit across regions and he had a built a strong reputation for himself. Director SS Rajamouli has pulled off something even more spectacular this time with Bahubali (meaning "the One with strong arms"), which is the first of a two-part tale. He has done what he normally does best - giving us an epic by skillfully blending all requisites at just enough proportions. Two things to be noted here - One, he's made a film that actually gets better after intermission. Two, he's given us a totally new epic -  a benchmark of sorts. The CGI landscape, like the waterfalls coming out of a 3D map in the beginning and the rather magnificent Mahishmati empire, are just awesome. 
 

We can only be awe-struck by Rajamouli's ambition, audacity and ever expanding imagination. It is but a wonder how he understands the science of extremes and transforms it into a picture. And more so makes it reach masses and critics alike. Like everyone I was also looking forward to Bahubali-The Beginning, said to be the most costliest Indian film so far. As it turns out, it is everything I expected it to be - mega, ingenious and complete class. There's never a dull moment in this epic fantasy about a lost prince, rebellion, revenge, rivalry and a shocking betrayal to seize the throne. The geography and era specified is entirely fictional. The inspired architecture, the conception of a brand new language ‘Kiliki’ spoken by a wild tribe, and not to forget the music (which in fact carries the movie forward with purpose) are all magical.

Almost three hours go like a breeze in the company of the protagonists, where every single one makes an 'entry' designed for wolf-whistles. Not just entry, an exit has an equal level of applause - when the hero beheads the villainous prince. Bahubali-The Beginning isn’t quite finished; though it concludes on a delightfully suspense note. The rest of the epic fantasy is scheduled for release in 2016. Films that end on a cliffhanger note are usually frustrating. Bahubali isn't. 

The first part of the epic leaves behind rip-roaring entertainment to relish till it’s back to finish what it started in perhaps an even more jaw-dropping manner.

As a tweet went about...
"If you have Troy, we have Bahubali. If you have Cameroon, we have Rajamouli."

Rajamouli incites such confidence. Take a bow sir!!

Box office - Set to cross 400 crores while I'm writing this!!

- DC

One teacher. Thousands of students.

She wanted to do PhD and become a teacher, but after her father's death, she had to take up a job in an MNC. However, Roshni Mukherjee found a way to teach tens of thousands of school students for free.

She launched Examfear.com to post video lessons for classes 9 to 12, and her YouTube channel has more than 68,000 subscribers. She has shared around 3,700 videos in the past four years, which means more than two video les sons posted per day .

"It began when my maid told me her two children kept failing in their exams be cause teachers in the government school in Tamil Nadu, where they studied, would rarely come to class. These were the children I wanted to reach out to," she said.

As technology offered the best solution, she uploaded a video on YouTube, explain PY ing the physics concept of motion. She used a Powerpoint slideshow and a microphone to explain the concepts. As there was a good response, she started posting more video lessons.

"After seeing the videos, students started asking doubts in the comments section and also requested for video lessons on specific topics. I was happy to help," she said. She spent a few hours on weekdays and all her weekends preparing the videos lessons in chemistry, physics, mathematics and biology .

She initially prepared videos for classes 11 and 12, but soon expanded to classes 9 and 10. "I refer CBSE syllabus and brush through ICSE syllabus to add any points I may have missed out. The videos are simple: made on Powerpoint (slide shows) with a voice in the background explaining the concepts," she said.

About eight months ago, Roshni quit her job with HP (which she had joined in the meantime) to focus on video lessons. "The channel was starting to make a little money from Google ads and I added a contribute button for those who wished to do so. I plan to keep the videos entirely free because only then can I reach a lot more students," she said.

Now, Roshni wants her videos to reach the remotest corners of the country. For this, she has to translate the videos into regional languages.

"That is the next course of action -making these videos into regional languages such as Kannada, Tamil and Bengali," she said.

Over time, Roshni hopes to expand her classes to junior grades and also subjects such history and geography .

 

Courtesy: TOI

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/One-teacher-virtual-school-has-68k-students/articleshow/48012594.cms?utm_source=TOInewHP_TILwidget&utm_medium=ABtest&utm_campaign=TOInewHP

More Human. Less Being. Donate!!!

Often we all intend to do, what we can for social causes that catch our attention but seldom we end up doing something. Donations need not be a forced habit. Just little things can work wonders when it comes to donating.

Turn Loose Change into Charitable Donations.

Maintain a pot to collect your loose coins every month and donate the sum on month ends. as they say, doing little can change a Lot.

Go on a Volunteer Pay Policy while you party.

Every time you set out to party with your friends, make it a point to have a contribution from each one of you and turn the sum to your donating list.

Start buying awareness branded items.

We can surely buy items of our needs with one such item adding value to a social cause. ITC books donate Re.1 for every book you buy on child education. Find similar value products while buying. Even movie tickets come with such options. A mere 2 rupees can help bring a smile on someone's face out there.

Go for a run, Walk, or bike ride.

Exercise is good for you, and it turns out your movement could also be good for charity.
There are many more ways you can give back without donating lots of money or spending too much time. Just your willingness makes the difference.

Even Trash can be Cash.

Why dump your house with trash when someone can help turn that to useful cash for needy.
Paperman.in does just that. Great initiative. Check it out http://paperman.in/
Let your home sweet home be just as sweet and clean as your heart :)

- DC

Giving Something back to society!!

"But mom, I don't want to go to school!'. These are the words that are heard all too often around the globe. Why sit in a classroom learning things when you could be out frolicking around in the outdoors? And not everyone is lucky enough to be affording school at early age. Poverty they say is a nation's curse.

It is a fact that early childhood is a crucial stage of life in terms of a child's physical, intellectual, emotional and social development. Learning capabilities of humans continue for the rest of their lives, but not at the intensity that is demonstrated in the preschool years. Studies suggests that growth of mental and physical abilities progress at an astounding rate and a very high proportion of learning takes place from birth to age six. This is exactly the reason why children need high quality personal care and learning experiences. 

Education is about far more than the marks you receive. It’s about understanding right from wrong and having the knowledge to stay afloat in today’s society. It helps to develop your perspective on the world around you and pushes you to think both creatively and conceptually. It allows us to process information and make conclusions and inferences based on what we already know. And for a fact, it aids in career advancements more often than not.  Today's globalization and advancements in technology wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for furthering education. We may believe that, Education key to escape generational poverty.

Despite our willingness to come forward and help a lending hand to the needy, there are always excuses that tend to keep the needy at bay. Helping in whatever way we can is great. Even if it means just spreading word on people doing good so it reaches the concerned. Here I am sharing something I recently came across while listening to BIG FM.

Maatram Foundation seems to be doing its share on making education affordable to all. 

maatramfoundation@yahoo.co.in

Let's spread the word. Let's help society come out of generational poverty!!

- DC

Dispute it was.

Sunday, 17th May 2015. RCB taking on DD. Quinton de Kock and Shreyas Iyer at their best. Up came continuous beeps on my mobile. Normally, while glued to an IPL match most of us would not care to look into the mobile right away but the 4 straight beeps made me take a look. Shock it was. 

Notification was about 4 transactions amounting to a total of Rs.20450/- which I had not authorized or knew nothing about. Stated "Debit Card Purchase" on E-Vector & Mobikwik. I quickly logged on to my net banking account only to find that my balance was reduced to a mere Rs.93/-.

I had to call the customer care immediately (but as you know it a a big pain waiting to get the staff on line with the long IVR process). Finally ended up speaking to one and managed to block my debit card and net banking facilities.

18th May -  Lodged a formal complaint with local police and got a CSR. Community Service Register is more of an FIR but just that FIR are for Cognizable offence and CSR are for those which aren't. 

19th May - Handed over a copy of CSR with another complaint to Cyber Crime Cell, 

22nd May - Got a response from ICICI stating that they are having things inquired and will let me know the status soon enough. 

Still to hear on the status while im writing this. I was told by the cyber cell that CArd skimming at ATM could be a possibility. So beware!!

Similar case:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/andhra-pradesh/infosys-salary-accounts-hacked/article7307591.ece

Precautions that's worth: 

1. Do not click on URLs given by strangers online for payment

2. Avoid clicking suspect pop-ups notifying discounts of any means

3. Always make sure that the Pay Desk you use for payment is genuine (double check never hurts)

4. Do not save card details in any website for future transactions (not even for Flipkart, Bookmyshow and its likes)

5. Make sure to use your debit card at regular ATM outlets (avoid trying different ones which you have not used earlier)

6. Make sure to use your Credit card in DIP machine against a Swipe machine (chip enabled card are to be used in DIP so as to authorize transaction) but then I was not asked for PIN even in DIP machine few times. Strange!

- DC