Statue Code: Horse and Rider

Read an interesting article claiming, a code in sculpting the statues for the war heroes., they say that the horse’s legs position tells the story of the rider. 

• If one leg is raised, the rider was wounded in battle.
• If two front legs are raised, it means that the rider had died in battle.
• If all four legs are on the ground, then he survived the battle/war. 

I am not sure, whether this is really true or just a myth.

Actually I did a piece of research without even moving out of my deskJ - looked up some famous statues on “Google Images”, and then looked up the biographies of the people depicted to see how they died. And it’s very interesting to see a plenty of statues do follow this rule.However I can’t find any authorized source on it..  Interesting!!! Isn't it?

Don't refuse to "Get Up"

Life is similar to a Boxing bout.

Defeat is not declared when you fall down; It is declared when you refuse to ‘Get Up’!

Billionaires wait in a queue to meet the US President

What a picture !!!  The top-most business icons of the world wait in a queue to meet the US President - Obama.

Now we all know why they are billionaires,  because they got the discipline and patience !

Social Media Explained !

Hate giving reasons..

A Healthy Child Makes A Happy Home

A house may look gorgeous and have all luxury amenities, but still it’s not rich until you have a child playing over  there! Children adds color to every home, they add-up the joy of the entire family.

Our home is also blessed to have an angel, my 3 years old daughter. She’s very naughty and super smart. And of course, she makes every weekday morning as so dreadful as possible...

“Baby, its’ getting very late, pls come and have your bath”....
“Where’ the hell is her ID card”, 
“where did you put her belt? “ 

I’ll be screaming, while her mother was begging behind her for feeding some food . But the little one will be enjoying our tension,and simply running around frantically :P

The whole house would be so active and busy in the mornings, until she leaves for the school. Though I pretend to be (or get real) anger sometimes, I truly enjoy the morning fun on most of the days. She gives us a tough warm-up for the day!

But the whole scene gets changed, when she fell in sick :( .The entire house would change unmoving and the day become completely lifeless. Every one of would be worried, our faces would almost forget the smile until she recovers.

The day itself starts very late , as we wouldn't have slept well in the previous night. No morning tea, no newspaper, some times no proper breakfast too. My wife would be trying all her home remedies , allopathy, ayurveda, homeopathy…and what not. She’d be going crazy almost showing all her worries and fears on me :P.

Every parent hates to see their children struggle with sick; Every hour (if not in minutes) we attentively check their temperature and look for signs of recovering like a hunter looks for his treasure. Even after going to office, our mind keep revolving over the kid ; keep calling and checking the signs of recovery…

We wish we could have a magic wand to instantly heal the little ones illness and relieve from their discomfort. It’s very true that a healthy child makes a happy home. When the child fall sick, indeed the entire home falls sick!!!

PS: This post is submitted for Indiblogger happy hours, for with Dabur Chyawanprash #ImmuneIndia campaign.

Practice Hard

My Daughter - "My Crisis Angel"

During childhood, we never heard or even knew the meaning for the words failure and crisis. Our parents never teach us these words, perhaps they just wish and pray that we never come across these words ever in our life.. But it’s not the reality, right?.

Everyone of us has to go through some downtrends/failures/crisis in our lives and try to stand-up against them successfully as much as we could. How quickly one can stand-up and how long he can stay on field is what make him unique, and that’s not possible for everyone without an abundant support and thrust from someone who’s close to his heart.

Won’t you call that thrust as your Crisis Angel? and that’s my 3- year old daughter -who’s striving me the energy to fight against all the crisis and stand tall.

Life is not always easy at your 30, that too if you’re an Indian IT guy. Every day has been so stormy and eventful. There are a lot of tough days when I put all my best efforts, but nothing comes out on my way… There’re times when so many demands & expectations on me ,and I am not able to fulfill any of those…. There are times where I have been subjected to groundless criticisms and offenses…. 

There’re times where I just want to quit all my struggles (towards the goals) and sit lame, but I never give-up!, a simple smile from the cute angel vanishes all the worries of all the crisis.

She motivates me so much that I just have to continue, don't let no obstacles get in my way. She gives me that extra energy to push me further everyday. She shines a light on my life, heaves my strengths , eases my faults and my weaknesses, and help me to see the life positively for ever. I am blessed to have her as my daughter, my crisis angel!

Well, the above rambling of mine is no special. Very very simple and silly crisis that everyone of us face in our day-to-day life. But when there’s a real big disaster strikes your life, you need an extra courage and effort to with stand. When floods wrecked havoc in J&K in early September 2014, hundreds of people came forward to help. Among these selfless volunteers was the team from V.O.I.C.E (Volunteers Online for Impact in Crisis and Emergencies) working via their twitter handle @InCrisisRelief (website InCrisisRelief.org). 

VOICE is a small group of individuals from across the world coordinated the largest citizen-led relief effort ever, with the help of several other Crisis Angels. This group is now doing the same for the flood-ravaged North-Eastern states.

I support their cause #MyCrisisAngel. Do you?

Won Indiblogger CarConnect Contest

India’s largest blog aggregator – Indiblogger is continuously enabling different platforms and initiatives to pep-up our writing skills, and the CarConnect Contest conducted by them was one among them. The contest was to submit any of your long driving experience at the CarConnect.in and write a review post about their website. Indiblogger in association with CarConnect.in

Me – the typical lazy bugger :P surprisingly took part in the contest, submitted my Kentucky Road trip experience as the entry post at CarConnect.in and wrote a review about their website at my blog. And “WoW” , my posts have managed to find a place among the “Winners” !!!

Winning Post: My Kentucky Trip 
And my review Post: Experience the CarConnect.in

I could not win the 1st and 2nd spots (I know my writing is far far away from the top prizes)., but feeling happy that I could make out a place in the next spot at least ; rewarded with INR. 1000 worth Flipkart vouchers. The amount doesn’t matter at all. It’s the appreciation keeps your spirits up and boosts your energy to do well, Isn’t it? This Win really means a lot to me.

Thank you Indiblogger , CarConnect.in and all the readers !!!

Keep running....

How to use Emoticons on Blogger Posts

If you read through some of my recent posts, you will notice that I use emoticons quite frequently. These emoticons definitely help your blog posts more interactive and interesting. To add emoticons to a blogger post, follow the following steps:

1. Sign in to your blogger blog, and go to Layout > Edit HTML

2. Add the following line of code to the head section of of your template. The best place to insert this code is right before

tag.

<script src='https://sites.google.com/site/snowconescripts/emoticons.js' type='text/javascript'/>

The above script will enable you to use Yahoo! Messenger Emoticons and Onion Head Emoticons in your blog. See some example:

Most Yahoo emoticons will work with this, click here for more.

The Social Media Life

It’s true that we live in the world where most of us just love to talk to the unknown friends over facebook, twitter, and Whatapp, that too only in micro/nanoseconds :) .We are impatient and want everything to be fast and hassle free.

If you aren’t in FB/ Twitter, you are considered just as old and as an alien.  It’s reality that the social media has penetrated into our life that much and we love it too.Anyway, saw an awesome advertisement on Twitter;thought of sharing... Creativity at it's best !!!

Banking and Social Media

In all the recent technology forums, I keep hearing a same topic “ IOT” (Internet of Things”, in which means everything around you are connected through cloud. The IOT Industry leader’s primary focus is on Home appliances, Banking and medical, which are inseparable from our day-to-day life.

Recently, heard about such a disruptive initiative by Kotak-JIFI in Banking Space.

For me, the traditional banking has been seriously unpleasant and unfriendly forever. Once the account is opened (savings / deposit / loan), that’s it, then you don’t even visit the bank, they also don’t care about you anymore, other than bothering with the monthly statements. t’s never been so interactive. Making a query to the customer care involves so many things;  not just the phone call, but the rnage of pins, number, secret-codes… etc  makes it annoying. Nowadays, I prefer not to call until its very urgent.

To all my above complaints, Kotak says " JIFI is here " . Yes, that's Jifi, a new concept implemented by Kotak Mahindra Bank . It's first of it's kind in India, their promo looks very impressive, sounds like it can make the banking experience interactive and enjoyable.

Kotak-JiFi’s features:

• No minimum balance, non interest bearing current account
• Auto Term deposit creation once the average balance crosses Rs. 25,000/-
• Tweet to bank - Account updates, cheque book request and many more account activities just a tweet away
• Refer friends to Jifi and get rewarded
• Loyalty Club - Social or Transaction get rewarded for both
• Free Jifi Platinum Chip Debit Card for first year
• Keep track of your expenses with a Kotak MoneyWatch platinum subscription for one year
• Access to our Mobile Banking & Offers app, to bank on the go
• Free NEFT through Net Banking

In my vision, This is definitely a game-changer. And other banks will also sure to get into this idea and social network very soon. At the same time, I also have some queries raised in my mind.

• Is it only me, or others too feel that the banking current banking system is boring and non-interactive ?
• How many of us will be excited to use FB/Twitter over a phone call to customer care to solve an issue?
• Are we willing to share our financials / updates through the bank’s face book and twitter pages?

Prob'ly the best video on Child Abuse Awareness

Child abuse is a grave issue; and our society is always hesitant to talk about it. This video not only educates us about the problem but also provides a solution.

Finally A Video On Child Abuse That Every Kid Can Watch And Learn From. Show It To Your Kids Tonight ; originally published at www.storypick.com

Steps to buy a Used Bike in Bangalore

Was trying to buy a used 2-wheeler in Bangalore; but had no idea on how to start about and on the procedures/legal formalities involved with. After a big round of investigation with some of the experts/colleagues/brokers, now i got a clarity on the whole buying process. 

Thought of sharing so that it may help some of you.

1. Meet the seller 
2. Get the bike properly checked by your mechanic
3. Check documents
• RC book (registration book which has the one time tax paid entry also in it with receipt number and RTO's stamp on it).
• Check if the RC book has a stamp of the loan by any bank HPA with(bank's name) ... bank seal. If the seal is there you need form 35 signed and stamped along with the NOC letter from the bank stating the loans are clear.(the RTO charges a nominal amount for canceling the loan entry in the RC book)
• Valid Insurance (which is mostly transferable on the new buyer's the name) you need seller's sign on the insurance transfer letter for the same. Ensure the transfer paper is there ready and signed.
• PUC valid and updated.
• check the chassis numbers and the engine numbers on the RC book are matching with the machine.If you feel lazy and still confused just go to the concerned RTO/RTA office and get your papers checked from some agent or some clerk.
4. check the transfer papers and get it signed
• Transfer papers in form of FORM 29,30 AND 28 (one copy of 29,one of 30 and 3 copies of 28,28 is required only if you need the NOC to transfer the vehicle to a new city other than the vehicle is already registered in).
5. Payment
• Get sales letter cum receipt on the stamp paper for the deal to avoid complications which could arise in the future.You should also sign a delivery-note saying that the vehicle and all the related responsibilities are yours from now onward and give the seller a copy and keep one with yourself. Get the seller's sign on the sale receipt with a copy of his Photo ID.
• make payment
6. So what's next? Go with seller to RTO to deposit the forms and collect receipt ?
• how soon can you get the ownership change paper and NOC from RTO?
• anything else before the bike is given for a full service ?

Union Budget 2014 – What is there for me

Arun Jaitley has presented his maiden budget today. There were so many announcements, statistics, plans, changes,... which I don’t and don’t want to understand . All I noticed was, what is there for me , for a normal salaried individual. 

There is some good news (not good enough though !)

1. Personal income tax exemption limit raised to Rs 2.5 Lakhs
There is no change in the tax rates, only the no-tax slab has been updated. Now the first 2.5 lakh is non-taxable.

2.Tax exemption limit under 80C raised to Rs 1.5 lakh
Presently the investments and expenditures up to a combined limit of Rs 1 lakh get exemptions under Sections 80C, 80CC and 80CCC of the Income-Tax Act., which is increased to 1.5 Lakh.

3.Housing loan interest exemption increased to Rs.2 lakhs 
This is something reasonable. Deduction limit on interest on loan for self-occupied house raised to Rs 2 lakh from Rs 1.5 lakh.

Happy that there’s a little relief. But it’s just not sufficient for most of salaried people who are paying Income tax through the nose.

An unregistered real estate broker makes many lakhs in an year , but has never been covered under income tax. A road side merchant (who sells just tea, Cigarette and some snack, in front of my office) makes more money than me, After all his bribe to the local rowdies /police/politicians…etc, still he’s able to make out 200-300% profit on his business, but has never paid income tax in his life!

How government is going to regularize these things. It’s always the poor salaried class has to tolerate the burden :(

Maracas !!!!

Maracas is a traditional Latin American musical instrument. I have seen this rattle like instrument with so many fans cheering for Football, NBA and even in a few Cricket matches played outside India. But, I never heard it’s name or even the sound it makes, till my daughter asked “what it is? “, during Saturday’s Brazil vs Chile match.

Even I got curious to know about Maraca and started googling it for more.  In shape they resemble a pair of rattles, with an oval-shaped head filled with beads, beans, etc., and a slender handle.

They belong to the “percussion” family - a category of music instruments that means " hitting of one body against another." Similar instruments found in this family include the conga, bongo, and timbale. Because maracas are musical instruments that are sealed and create a full, distinctive tone, they are also classified as idiophones., many people call them as “Rumba Shakers” too!

Maracas are traditionally made of a dried shell, like from a coconut or gourd, filled with seeds, small stones, or beans. Here we go, we also made our own version of Maracas with a simple paper plate filled with assorted dall seeds/rice from our kitchen. Look at the fun below. Looks so professional, huh? :)

This is Phishing Season in India

There has been a flood of phishing emails received in my inbox in the last 2 months. (thanks to Gmail app which filters most of them appropriately).

With high rate of internet propagation and online bank usage, these phishing emails are also on an all-time high. I am just wondering how knowledgeable is our normal Indian public in handling these kind of frauds and how efficient are our Cyber laws dealing with such scams.

In the recent times, I had received phishing emails received in the name of many well renowned corporates from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and even a lot from the names of ICICI Bank /AXIS, asking me to enter/ validate some of my account information. Interestingly these mailers look so genuine and can easily make fool of many.

Though Banks have been educating the user about Phishing, stating that they never ask for users access details, but not sure how much it reached the public. Also, how strong are the cyber laws in India and for any investigation to happen the investigation agencies has to tech savvy to understand the technicalities behind the fraud. 

God save our innocent people !

Experience the CarConnect.in

I just heard about CarConnect.in through a contest mailer from #Indiblogger. It was pleasant experience navigating the site. Its all about your lovely cars and your long drive experiences with them.

The below pictures say it all!

 

As the name declares, it’s a connect site, connecting all the car owners who love their cars. You can read so many exciting experiences and trip stories all around the site.Though CarConnect site needs some improvements like additional login gateways (as of now only Facebook is the only Gateway to login) and uploading images in same area where we write our experience other than uploading it separately, I’m sure it’ll be taken into consideration and will look great in near future!

Car lovers, just visit this site once and you can spend more time in here. Who knows, some stories may inspire you to pack-up and go for a long trip immediately :)

Go on! Keep connected @ CarConnect.in

Save our Tigers

In a country of a billion+ people, we have left only 1411 tigers alive.

Help save these magnificent creatures... Else our kids would probably see them only in picture books of animals, extinct and long gone.