Category: Others Page 2 of 6

Adding color with home theatre & speakers

On April 13, 2015

Music is bliss. It affects our mood, changes our mood and even makes us dive deep down along with the feelings we experience. It has many peculiar ways to invade our mind and soul equally. Music is part of our life, like nothing else is. It is there to fill up spaces, while travelling, while working and some even use it while studying. It is there to enlighten our moods or to be there during sorrows. Our music choices become a part of our lifestyle. Over time, we have changed how we listen to music or for that matter, how we get ourselves entertained. We want a theatre-like experience right in our homes. While the iPods, phones and mp3 players of the day are pretty common for personal usage, home theatre & speakers are something we are also exploring a lot. These options serve for a lot of your entertainment needs by giving a better experience. Exciting times we live in. Right? You can add colour to your home with these fancy speakers available in the market.

The choices for the same are immense. Depending on your budget or needs, and the kind of décor, you can go with varied set of options.However, a few important things that you need to keep in mind when purchasing a home theatre are compatibility, Audio-clarity and User-control. Instead of blindly following the herd on the brand which everyone seems to be buying, do a little research as to which type would suit your home or even office. More than anything, with the amount of competition we see in the e-commerce bandwagon, you can expect huge discount, if yu know where to look.

Home theatre & speakers bring an amazing entertainment option in the confines of your home, but also bring colour to your life. After a hard day at work, imagine listening to your favorite band while you relax. Or simply snooze around the couch watching your favorite action movie with the audio quality as if you’re in a theatre. Amazing, right ? So, what are you waiting for, just hook yourself with one and enjoy.

The Wash Bucket Challenge

By farooq

On April 8, 2015

In Others

Like every month, when all plans were in place for the trip, I searched up my wardrobe to fill up the travel bag. It is kind of the only time I end up looking for clothes with so much importance. You need to figure out what kind of clothes to carry, how many to carry and most important of them all whether there are any washed clothes or not.

Sadly, this time around, there were hardly any!!

The trip was a day away and I serious;y needed to wash ‘em up. Giving out to a dhobhi wasn’t an option. It was late-night and even if I somehow managed to give it off early morning, there was no way, he would return it to me before the my train leaves for Kerala.

Finally, I had to take the plunge. I decided to wash them on my own.

With Ariel Matic and a bucket full of necessary clothes, I put them all in the washing machine.

It is not like I do not wah my clothes, but it takes a lot of effort you know. I mean you need to take these clothes, wash them, then dry them out and not to forget the fact that sometimes, it ends up raining, and all your efforts are gone down the drain. Down the terrace pipe, to be precise.

But the fact that once, it all is done, you feel happy. Happy to have done something productive.

In particular, washing with Ariel Matic was a delightful experience. It requires very less detergent and the clothes just get rid of all the dirt they might have accumulated over time.

Finally, I packed up all my stuff for the Kerala tour.

This post has been written in collaboration with Blogadda for Airiel’s #WshBucketChallenge

I also nominate Sarabjeet, Akshay, Shreya, Shreesha and Preethi for the #WashBucketChallenge

Let’s help the School Boat Sail

By farooq

On April 2, 2015

In Others

Traditional vs. Contemporary thinking. These two have for long been placed at the opposite ends of a lot of debates. If you happen to be inclined to one side, or your lifestyle seems to infer that you are, you are branded like one. Call it tradition, fundamentalism or the often used tag of “backward”. People who hold onto their traditional slash religious slash cultural practices are more often painted with the same brush of supposed “backwardness”. A Modern lifestyle doesn’t necessarily mean that their thinking has changed as well.

India is a land of traditions and culture and for long this has this has acted as binding glue to shaped us the way we are today. The Guru-shisya Parampara has long been part of these traditions, and is not just limited to just Hinduism. Christian Missionaries have also been very helpful in promoting education in different parts of our country. Although Madarsas have been only part of the religious teaching, but over time contemporary subjects of Mathematics, Social Science and even English have found their way into syllabuses as well. Of course, people for who propaganda is bread-butter continue to be skeptical about it all.

All of these are not about leaving traditions, but modifying the practices to accommodate the contemporary thinking. Having said that, there’s nothing wrong in even the Traditional ways of learning as well. Knowledge of any nature is always helpful. It is what makes us human and wiser. Illiteracy has been the biggest roadblock in the development of our country along with rampant corruption. An educated India will help not just in the growth, but also in making sure that other obstacles in our development are removed as well.

The Journey of Doing Right for the NGO Guria under the leadership of Ajeet Singh is slowly helping in the magical transformation of Varanasi.

(Image Courtesy: The Week)

Varanasi, the place known for its traditions and religious fervor, has long been a victim of Illiteracy. But a unique concept of Varanasi Boat school is now slowly becoming the torch-bearer for removing illiteracy from the place. After a regular day at school, they are given a boat ride of 2 hours to teach, without any pressure. This unique way of keeping children off the streets where they waste their time into other activities and end up losing interest in studies, is proving really helpful. This method of no-pressure learning to focus more on studies is a stepping stone towards removing illiteracy. They are not limited to tools of regular schools and this method provides an ideal learning environment for them to learn without any added pressure.

We all can contribute towards the cause by helping them raise funds for the boat school scholarship. Let us Do Right by devoting our resources for these kids, the learning environment they deserve. Do Right.

Asus Indiblogger Meet 2015

By farooq

On February 1, 2015

In Others

Blog events are fun. (More so, when you get free food too :P).

Venue of the meet was ITC Gardenia at 5.30 PM. Thankfully, my office is just round the block and my (super awesome) btwin cleared the traffic in a jiffy. Pedaling my way to the venue was tiring but the mood at the meet surely got me all excited.

And whatever little rustiness was still theer, the opening music act got me rid of that too.

Best part of any Blogger meet is to be with the community. It feels the right place for you to belong, surrounded by bloggers all over the place. It gets even more amazing as you end up meeting new folks. It’s the place where you become friends with the bloggers as well as the place where those blog become faces.

ASUS Indibogger meet, Bangalore

This one was organized by ASUS for the launch of its new sleek devices or as they call it, Sleeek. Yes, with an extra “e”. The theme was #GoSleeekAsusExperience which featured ASUS’s All-In-One PC ET 2040 and the sleeek EeeBook X205.

I have been a fan of ASUS, right from the time I got my laptop. The one on which I still write without any trouble for the last 3 years of continuous hard-core usage. These amazing people had even gifted me their amazing zenfone 5 for this blog. Talk about being awesome. This Asus guy even agreed to take a selfie with some of our folks too.

The meet had an amazing host in the form of Anoop. We bloggers indulged in a little “beg, borrow & steal ” of sorts, by asking for persona belongings from each other. It was fun. More than the activity it was fun meeting lots of new people.

We also ended up performing as the “Pirates of the Caribbean” with the theme of blogging. I personally liked the act of another team which performed on Bollywood dialogues. There was an act on Gangnam style and 300!! Spaartaa as well.

After it all ended. It was time for food. Yes, the biggest attraction 😛

One guy honestly even told,that it was the sole reason for his attendance.

It was an amazing expereince like always to meet fellow bloggers and spend time to meet people who are equally crazy.

In the end, this picture sums it all up beautifully.

.. and it was amazing…#IndiBloggerMeet

Thank you Indiblogger and ASUS for this. Looking forward to many more. 🙂

Remembering RK Laxman

By farooq

On January 27, 2015

In Others

Every morning, before handing over the newspaper to my Grandpa, I used to check out this page in the newspaper. Among all the other things I used to check, there were these cartoons which always topped the list. It was very rare that I understood those. But I made it a point to read and understand them.

Much as I miss handing over the newspapers as well as I miss my grandpa, I also miss the joy of once-in-a-blue-moon feeling of having understood those cartoons. Most of the times, it was grandpa who would try to help me out in understanding them.

The name of RK Laxman is synonymous with those cartoons. It was then; it is now and will be for a long time.

A picture speaks a thousand words. His cartoons spoke more than that. Over the years, they have explained the plight of the common man without the paint of biased viewpoints which the media of today reeks of.

The appeal of those cartoons is not limited to any age-group but catered to one and all. They brought out the plight of a common man. The problems of the common man, just with the help of his cartoons.

His name is synonymous with these cartoons which he began in 1951 in the cartoon strip, “You said it”.

His cartoons were a very important part of his famous brother, RK Narayan’s Malgudi days adaptation on Television.

RK Laxman, you’ll always be remembered. RIP.

2014 in review by WordPress.com

By farooq

On December 30, 2014

In Others

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 8,900 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

6 months after I started working

By farooq

On November 28, 2014

In Others

Friday.

Last Working day of this month. The penultimate month of the year is about to end. I have my confirmation letter in the drawer beside me. Oh yes, completed 6 months on the job and can officially throw away the trainee tag out of my Job title. (Aah! That feeling 🙂 )

The weekend is almost there, right when I’ll step outside the office, the anticipation growing, while I type this. Work has been roadblocked by the absence of one of my boss (Oh, I have 5 of them) and the urge to write something instead of continuing to work for the day.

There’s a lot to be said about what’s my work like to me, but with the lack of any comparative standard (as this is my first job), I’m at a loss of words (actually, appropriate words).

I’ve prepared this list of things that I’ve got to do, and things that I’ve done. The list stares at me in the board of my cubicle. It’s a long list of things. But the post-its on top of that elusive list tells me, If I can do those, I can kick the others’ asses too :P.

It has been years since I’ve regained my confidence. Getting it back has been the biggest achievement for me in the last 6 months. To categorize this as having “proven myself”, will be too much of an exaggeration but yes, would love to brag that the road has been chosen (chosen wisely). Sometimes, I wonder how thing would have been had I taken the Sales job offered back then. But then, I am thankful for this one.

t-marketer-concept

A lot of credit goes to how things went during my MBA days. And this includes both good and the bad (Ohh, real bad!!). Somehow, the way things fell in place only makes me understand the beauty of Allah. I mean with every day, I become more mesmerized of his blessings. I’ve been really lucky in a lot of things.

One other chapter (I call them as chapters too) that I’ve added to my life in these months is fulfilling my desire to travel. It is not just about the places which I travel to, but the journey itself. My one-trip-a-month has been going on right since I joined this job. I do look forward for many more such trips, especially now when I’ll get to have more leaves (Permanent, you know 😛 ). While Pondicherry was the first time I travelled, explored and immersed in a place. Mumbai, with its charm and Mangalore with friends had its own magic. And of course the bike trip to yelagiri was another way to catch up with nature, myself and falling in love with the road.

A job teaches you a lot of things. To manage yourself completely. Learning to handle your finances, to look forward to salary day and yes to forget about everything related to work over the weekend!! (I’ve already forgot :P)

It has its share of frustrations as well. The work-cribbing, the bad coffee, bottle-necks, deadline pressures, work getting more technically inclined (you have no idea, from MBA in Marketing to being branded a web developer in office) and no system in place.

But when I look at things from a different angle, understanding of not looking at your bosses or work environment from the eyes of existing employees, necessary deadlines to make me complete work faster, learning technical things which any other Marketing job, wouldn’t have made me do and working like a one-man army without a constraint.

Did I forget something? Yes bad coffee?? They replaced the machine so its decent now. And even if not, there should be one thing to crib about your office right? 😛

Social media Bootcamp: My Experience

By farooq

On October 16, 2014

In Others

It is not every day that you get to sit, talk and most importantly listen to people having the same interests as you. I was literally bubbling with excitement, after getting to be there in the Social media bootcamp in Bangalore, on Wednesday, 15th October.

The camp was organized by Helen Issar, who runs the Social media Management group called Penny Lane Social. Coming with a vast experience in this domain from the dawn of social media, she has a profile to be envy of. Making things happen digitally, making brands come alive and register themselves in the consumers mind, is what she had been doing. Oh Yes, I am envious.

The 3-hour long, with a little break of amazing biscuits and cakes in between, session started with basics of Social media. It would be rude of me to simply say that this part was boring, as this was basics, but it was. Nevertheless, it was nice to start this off to ease everyone in, on the big elephant everyone is looking to tame, i.e., Social media.

As the session went on, things got interesting. From nitty-gritties of social media to tips on how to take care of twitter/facebook/Youtube to stats detailing how the full scope of Social media in India is yet to be explored completely.

Targeting: The target user profiling on each of these social networks vary. The stats throw up a beautiful picture on how this can be done effectively. Filtering out your target is a very important step in starting off your campaign.

Content Generation: The content generation requires empathizing with the reader and customizing it to their liking. Different rules apply on different social media platforms. While the 80:20 Rule of Curated: Created content works for Twitter, a 70:20:10 rule of Created: Curated: Promotional content works best for Facebook. The correct proportion will aid in making the recipe of engagement on these platforms better, and give the ultimate dish a great taste.

One size does not fit all, and hence content tone varies across platforms. While a blog reader is expected to at least read 300+ words, a tweet message has to be contained within 140 characters. (Makes me wonder, are you still there reading this “more than 300 word blog”? 😛 )

Pictures work wonder on all the platforms and so, a picture + quote + small description is ideally the correct syntax to be used to code for Social media success.

Create stories: The most effective way to capture an audience is to tell a story to them. This can be in the form of a picture flow chart (A How-to guide?), making your users share experience of their use or sharing your knowledge about what you do best to the world.

Read insights and statistics: Tailor the social media content through insights and analytics gathered from user behavior.

Brand all your content, make it your own. Pictures/Videos/pdfs should all bear your logo, wherever you share them.

It all boils down to one very important fact, Create content to build a community with an expectation to build it into a marketplace.

Important question is not why to use Social media? Question is How to use it to our advantage?

Happy B’day Api :)

By farooq

On August 24, 2014

In Others

The other day I was at Savoury in Dairy Circle, the first thing came to my mind was, that I was there with you.

Had gone to Jayanagar the other day, ate at Kedia’s, had coffee at Maiya’s and another time went for a steak at Flamenco’s too.

Although visiting theaters was for a long time a regular affair with me, now it isn’t, I still remember going there with you and your friends.

Most of the things I do, Bangalore serves as a reminder of you. ( Believe me, now it seems really really boring. )

I remember our late night little drives. Just when you felt like having coffee moments, or even walks around your apartments sometimes.

Still remember getting scolded about watching too many Tv series’ even on weekends, on being called “Gadha”.

Miss watching you do all your decorating DIYs and being so excited like kids in showing me all the new ones every weekend.

There are a whole lot of things that I end up recalling you for, (You know I’m bhulakkad like you), can’t recall all of them here at this point.

I simply cannot imagine my life in college without weekends’s at your place.

It’s not that only these years that matters. Right from the time i was a child, to this very day, you have been my most loved sister. I can still visualize myself crying near the door, whenever it was time to go back home after summer vacations.

I remember how we used to dance, me on that little sofa and you taking me in your arms.Still remember your college chronicles that you used to describe before we used to sleep.

Out of the many things I wanted to do when I got my salary was to take you out for a big fancy dinner. Sadly, can’t afford to go saath samundar paar for that now 😛

It feels so amazing to see you happy and jovial as always, doing things which you wanted to.

Happy B’day api 🙂

Wishing you a very happy birthday to you Api 🙂

Happy B’day Moisha :)

By farooq

On August 12, 2014

In Others

First of all wishing you a very happy birthday Moisha Jain. 🙂

(Maybe this would let the secret out, that it’s your b’day 🙂 )

You are a nautanki for sure. The first thing that pops up in my head is, you knocking on the library window before your evening walks :P, the kind you make your face in the picture. (of course, not in the first one) , while I’d be busy in getting my grades in order. (CGPA 🙁 )

Of course that’s not the only thing. Life for two years (especially the drama that mine had :P) wouldn’t have been easy without you and the other kameena by my side. Miss both of you.Although both these pics were taken at the same time, yet if you see it this way, when we started Xime and when we left it. (And yes, even I did too 😀 )

Also, since its your b’day I’ll kick him out. Waise bhi dilli me aish maar raha hai Manager banke.

The only reason I’ve kept my Xime notebooks is because of the crazy chit-chats/doodles/etc we had. I even remember fighting over silly things (don’t even remember on what though), and also miss eating chocolates every morning in the class. And yes, even our “gossips”.

Okay, since I would be posting this on a public forum, not letting too much out. (Secrets are still safe: P ).

Wishing you a very happy Birthday, may God bless you Moisha Jain 🙂