Book Review : City of Nine Gates

This blog has been mostly dead due to lack of bandwidth. And the era of text blogging has diminished, and now it is the era of visual story telling, and hence people are more glued to Facebook and instagram worthy content, and Youtube for longer form storytelling. Therefore, I even contemplated shutting down this link a few months ago. I post more regularly on the Facebook and Instagram Pages linked to this blog - so come follow me there to stay in touch with the latest stuff.  My mental health oscillating between bad and worse did not help the case either. Anyway things are better now, and this opportunity to review a book came to me via BlogAdda, so I decided to breathe life into this blog again through this.

Book Review : City of Nine Gates by Pankaj Rajput

Philosophy in the guise of Fiction

The phrase Navadwarapuri meaning the city of nine gates is a metaphoric phrase used in Hindu spiritual discourses. It refers to the human body and is the starting point to explaining the deeper philosophical concepts of Sanatana Dharma.

So, when I picked up this book, I was very curious to know how the author tied this idea into a mythological fiction which is the genre of this book.

 The philosophical part of the book is set in a fictional opening. An atheist entrepreneur who also has an interest in archaeology is the central character of the book. The story takes off when this person is on the stage at an award function his entrepreneurial success. At this award function he gets a vision and what he sees in that vision forms the contents of the book.  The book covers all the fundamental concepts that are covered in yogic Philosophy of Sanatana Dharma also popularly called Hinduism. The author personifies concepts to explain how the human body is envisioned in Yogic tradition. Not only this, other aspects of the Hindu philosophy are visualised as people as well. And  using this as back drop, the path to Moksha or Liberation from one’s Karma phal and Vasana are portrayed as a war with the Mind, Intellect, Ego, Memory and Inherent knowledge of the Supreme on one side and the powerful Desire and the army of Thoughts and Emotions on the other side.  The Samkhya and Advaita schools of thought are also depicted as sages who seek the central character Gyan’s help to understand the approach to Moksha – the way to break the cycle of birth, death, misery and despair that is part and parcel of life as we human beings know it and it all ends with Gyan giving a sermon about his entire experience in the City of Nine Gates that he just liberated.

Frankly, what spiritual aspirants spend a lifetime to understand, this book tries to cover or at least tries to touch upon in 288 pages, due to which there is always too much going on in any given page. Nevertheless, the author’s extensive research and detailed knowledge of the subject shines through the entire book. However, I strongly believe that this book could have been shaped much better had the author written this as a direct philosophy book that aims to put deep philosophical concepts in the language of the millennials rather than attempting a mish mash of a (fictional) story. Once classified as a fiction, one does look for a plot or a storyline which this book severely lacks. But let that not take away the fact that this is a brilliant retelling of spiritual concepts and is worth perusing through a couple of times just for that.

A hot mug of coffee

This week this is what my BFF and I chatted about during our usual Saturday night chit chat and catch up. It is not a full story, but just a passage that we came up with.


A mug of hot coffee in hand, they sat there just taking in the silence around them. Neither had any energy left. Both of them were so exhausted with the events of the past few days, it all just seemed never ending. The hurried conversations, dealing with doctors, administering medicines, keeping worried family members informed and appraised of the situation in hand. Even taking in a breath of air seemed like extra effort. But perseverence does pay off, and their father  had responded to the treatment and was getting better. Since the situation was getting back under control, it was now time to prioritise the next set of action items. The first and foremost of them was to take a deep breath in peace, without a thought of what to do next, no explanations, no appraisals. A hot mug of coffee in hand, the aroma spiraling around the face. A space in thoughts, like the space after a sentence in an essay. There was still a lot to do, a gazillion items screaming for attention the next morning. But tonight, this night, this moment was theirs. To breathe. To live. To love. To recharge. 

Life's Calling - Seema's turn around

At this moment, I am super tired and super sleepy. But post the birth of my son, I have developed insomnia - I cant sleep even if I want to, I find it very hard to calm down and go to sleep. The past two days have been tough with a festival coming up (read that as celebration, but also back breaking additional work that usually is borne by one person in the household) and my son suddenly falling sick with high fever 3 days ago (read that as waking up every hour or so to check on him and figure what is causing him to be uncomfortable) - all this translates to aggravated insomnia.

Anyway, I digress. As usual it is Saturday night, and I am up, unable to sleep, while the rest of the household is in deep slumber. Loneliness hits the hardest at such times. So I turned to my best friend, i.e my blog to see what we could chat about. I was going through my writing logs and found a piece that would be a good share on the blog. It is a fictional story.  So here goes -

Seema's turn around

Life had brought her to this stage where a lot of things did not matter any more. What mattered was how she would progress in the pursuit of her passion. She was done doing things that 'had' to be done, for the sake of perceived happiness. Obstacles or no obstacles, she had reached a point in her mind where there will be sanity only along the path of the real pursuit. Any step not contributing to her pursuit only seemed like a breath wasted on the planet. Perhaps this is what people called as life's calling. Life had been calling out to her for quite a while, but the rat race of life kept diverting her path in some other direction. But no more. There was only one way forward now, and that way was along the path of her passion.

Seema had never felt her spirit come alive so much. She had always been accomodative of the needs and wants of the people around her, in the hope that when it would be her turn, people would be as accomodative. But that day never came. So much so, such was her state that the very people for whom she made some radical choices in education and career, they had moved on in life and now had no time or attention to give her anymore. They were back to grappling with their life. 'You must do it for me' they had said. It struck her only now that in saying so, they were living and executing the mission of their life, not hers. That she was the only one who would end up taking a stand for her - For a person of Seema's nature, it was a jolt to realise that she was not going to get any reciprocation from any of the people around her. Zero.  Zilch.

Sometimes in life, the toughest of the situations are actually the catalysts that take you to where you should have gone in the first place. And that was what was happening to Seema as well. This was the perfect cleansing of distractions that Seema's life needed.

Without another thought, she decided to pursue her hobby of story telling for children. There were so many parents today who are stuck in the rut of a 8am - 7 pm job that they cannot spend time with their children even if they want to. Someone to give quality time to their children would most certainly be welcome.

Days passed into years, and stories flowed like perennial rivers, triggering awe and imagination in the young minds that they irrigated. Seema came to be known as the pied piper in the playschools around her house. Fifteen years later, a young man walked into her session at a local children's library. "Mam, I learnt the value of paying attention to the person speaking to me through your session, thank you for being there for me. You are the mother figure I needed during those dull afternoons when my own mother could not be there for me" he said. When had Ms Seema become Kahaniyon ki Jadugar, she hadnt realised. "I want you to tell similar stories to my nephew who is going to join a daycare nearby.." he continued as Seema came back from her trance. "Aap usko bhi kahaani sunaayenge naa?" He gleamed, "Maine bhaiyya ko bataaya hai aapke baareme"

As this young man spoke, she was transported to the moment when her father was sitting in front of her with that stern look, "Kahaaniyon se sirf khayaali pulao pakaaye jaa sakte hai, asli pulao nahi. Kuch dhang ka karo, yaa fir rehne hi do, tumse kuch na ho payegaa" these words were echoing in her head again today. "Haa paapa, you were right, khayaali pulao se pet nahi bhar sakta but these stories can sure nurture and nourish the hunger of imagination and creativity!"  Your passion will pave the way for itself. That was her life's lesson.

Image credit : https://extremeyou.com/wanted-a-lifelong-passion-to-build-a-career-around/

Why have I suddenly turned into a Breastfeeding awareness campaigner?

So I was quite ambitious to announce in my previous blogpost that I will make 3 quick and successive posts about Breastfeeding awareness. But karma always keeps a check on me, and decided that I will not have such ambitious thoughts and modified my son's sleep and play schedule to quell my ambitions. So before breastfeeding week ends altogether, I thought I will write a combined blogpost to do justice to my proud announcement.

When is World Breastfeeding Week?
World Breastfeeding week is celebrated in the first week of August every year. This year too August 1 to August 7 is World Breastfeeding Week.

Why have I suddenly turned into a breastfeeding awareness campaigner?
Well, for one, I had a baby. And despite having a generally knowledge-able support system around me during the pregnancy, delivery and convalenscence/recovery period, I got very little education from my seniors on the topic of breastfeeding. The C-section date was fixed, I got admitted, operation was successful, baby was in my arms and I had zero clue on what to do, what to expect. And since 'milk' did not start 'flowing' the moment I put the baby to the breast, while I pushed myself into self doubt, my support system added to my fears by talking about it in hushed tones as though it was god given punishment. Well it was not, it was lack of education. And I have had to deal with "your milk is not enough" conversations multiple times since then. All this drove me into serious phobia, depression and I became a galactagogue addict and overdoser, and due to the resultant excess milk supply, my son was on the verge of developing GERD, an extreme reflux/acidity syndrome in infants. My husband and the family at large was absolutely unaware of any of this. When I came upon the resources available in the Facebook group called Breastfeeding Support for Indian Mothers (thanks to this blogpost by my blogger friend Gracelyne Fernando), education happened and I went about fixing the mess that I had landed myself into. And I realised that I was not alone. "milk not enough" conversations are quite common it appears from the varied posts that I see on the aforementioned FB group, even today. Some samples are shared below(names and any references to the persons have been removed) -

"Ur milk is not enough that's y she is not sleeping...u won't agree to give formula..as she is vaccinated...she is becoming fussy at nights...if u give formula she will sleep for 5hrs.. don't be so stubborn for giving bf..we used to hear what our elders tell...ur not such of a kind..ur baby is hungry sucking fingers all time". 

*He is not getting enough milk 
*he doesnt like ur milk taste

Before i used to get more milk and nowadays my breasts are getting full only after 4 hrs. Before that if my lo drinks she's not getting enoughmilk and she cries

These are real conversations that are happening commonly in a lot of households.
This is why I am motivated to spread the knowledge and information about breastfeeding, especially to women who are about to deliver their child and their immediate support system.

Breastfeeding basics in a nutshell
Well there are a lot of things to understand, and it is best to study this document prepared by the Adminstrators of the Facebook group Breastfeeding support for Indian Mothers. But some key takeaways are -

• Breastmilk is the best source of nutrition for a child for the first 6 months
• Latching the baby in the first one hour after delivery is important to establish the milk supply
• Consuming galactagogues or milk secretion enhancers should be done when there is a real need for it.

What can you, as a reader of this blog, contribute to a breastfeeding mother's journey? If not how can you spread awareness about breastfeeding? 
First, if you know anyone who is about to deliver a baby, please take a printout of this document and ensure they read it. (I recently gave a print out of this document to a friend who was just about to deliver her child, and she just tossed it away to read 'later' and has not read it till date. I haven't checked on how her breastfeeding journey is as she is in her hometown right now)

Second, if you know anyone who has already delivered a baby, and they are facing difficulties in breastfeeding, please take them to a lactation consultant, before drawing conclusions about their low milk supply. Do a thorough profiling of their nutritional intake and see how you can help the mother improve her nutritional intake, instead of supplementing the baby's breastmilk.  Have calm conversations with the baby's mother and watch out for any signs of depression as depression can have harmful impacts on the Mother and baby's breastfeeding journey.


And if you are a mother reading these posts, and have made an informed to choice to 'supplement' your child's breastmilk intake with cow's milk or formula, that is really your call. The goal of this post is to spread knowledge and awareness about the benefits of breastfeeding.

There is a lot more to write and share, but this is all the time I can afford to give this at this moment.

That's it for now folks. Let's make this world a better place.

Sock bag from scrap fabric

So I needed a bag/container to hold my son's socks that would also be handy to quickly grab a piece.  And I was reusing the plastic holder bag in which it came from the store. But the holder was for a capacity of 3 and I had to store more than 3 socks, I was stuffing it to the max. It was starting to wear out and wasnt containing all the socks anyway. Earlier, I would have done a couple of rounds in Lifestyle store, or in DMart or in Homecentre for some organizer and would have been done with it. But there is a ban on DMart visits in our house, and outings are really rationed with the toddler's schedule getting highest priority. So I was rummaging through my scraps and found a trapeziodal piece that I thought would fit the bill to be converted into a sock bag.

I initially started hand sewing the edges, and was wishing for something that would get the job done faster without needing to go to the tailor. While looking through Amazon for some fabric glue, it struck me that I had a bottle of mod-podge from my previous life (:P). Mod podge is a famous crafting supply - it is a decoupage medium - an all-in-one glue, sealer and finish used to attach paper and fabric to various surfaces. Since this project was anyway about using up scraps, I decided to put it to use and applied it liberally to the corners of the fabric which needed to be attached. While doing it, I was doubtful if it would work. But a few hours of drying and it was like magic! Attaching pictures and descriptions, the photo of the final product is at the end.

The design was simple - I had a trapezium shaped fabric, I decided to fold it in half and secure two of the open sides. and I could have a bag like structure ready.

So this is the bag like piece - Notice the stitches on the two sides? That's where I applied Mod podge glue and secured the two edges. It was looking a bit too plain and I was not sure if the glue will wash out when the bag goes for laundry, so I decided to make some blanket stitches just as an extra level of security.

For the top open edge, I didnt feel like mod podg-ing the irregular edges so I decided to hand stitch. While doing this, I realised that I had cut the fabric in a bit of a hotchpotch way, so I had to do different types of stitches at different zones of the same edge!!

I started with a back stitch, and ended up hemming the second half of the length!

Now, the basic bag was ready - but I still needed a handle of some sort with which it could hang on my wardrobe's handle. After thinking briefly, I decided to cut up the mini hanger from my previous sock holder and..

The old plastic socks holder from which I cut off the plastic hanger

mod-podged it in place, of course!!

The plastic hanger getting a coat of mod-podge with a layer of base fabric

Secured onto the bag

So finally this is how it looks. It was looking a bit drab - so I decided to use up some old left over fabric paint to make a design on it. Afterall, the whole project was about using up old left over stuff!

Picture with the socks getting loaded

Finally in its place -

A closer look at the design - 

Well, it is not a fabulous looking piece, it is has a lot of flaws in the sense - there are all sorts of stitches on the hem, the blanket stitch isnt done till the end, the fabric piece for the hanger is in a randomly different color, and the base fabric itself is a bit drab. But, it is functional and at this point a successfully working proof of concept. And done in a jiffy with the limited time that I have in my hands. So as the famous tagline goes - Tedha hai par mera hai. Adios folks!

Awareness for Breastfeeding - World Breastfeeding Week 2018

World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA) is a global network of individuals and organisations concerned with the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding worldwide based on the Innocenti Declarations, the Ten Links for Nurturing the Future and the WHO/UNICEF Global Strategy for Infant and Young Child Feeding. WABA is in consultative status with UNICEF and an NGO in Special Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC).

WABA coordinates the annual World Breastfeeding Week campaign. WABA works closely with many organisations and individuals. Our partners in this effort include:  the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM), International Baby Food Action Network (IBFAN), International Lactation Consultant Association (ILCA) , La Leche League International (LLLI) , United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) , World Health Organisation (WHO) , Food Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and several other international organisations.

WABA's work, including World Breastfeeding Week, is made possible through the generous support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

All the material on the WorldBreastfeedingWeek website is driven around conversations that are held in western countries around eradicating poverty,etc. I would like to drive conversations from a layman point of view, from the Indian perspective. In a country like India, where people have found ways of making tradition co-exist with modernity in multiple spheres of life, sadly, one area where people (in the last 30 years) have been meticulously schooled away from is breastfeeding.  What seems like a very natural thing to do, is exactly what has become very complicated due to various social conditioning.  While in the urban centers, people are being lured into formula feeding, there are quite a few rural centers where the support system around the new mother is quick to suggest alternatives(such as cow's milk) to breastmilk. I am not a vegan-ist or an anti cow's milk campaigner, but I definitely consider that the first 6 months of a child's life should be an intervention/alternative free natural diet.  Intervention, and/or supplementation should be only on a strictly case by case basis where there is a valid medical reason to do so. That said, one cannot impinge upon the personal choices made by a mother for her child, but is the support system around her ready with the knowledge and information that will enable her to make an informed decision? I am not sure. Anyway, without digressing, this is an upcoming series of blogposts to spread awareness about breastfeeding, which is needed sadly, even though it is the so called modern age of 2018.

So when is World Breastfeeding Week?

What can you do to spread awareness about Breastfeeding? 

Know someone who is pregnant and is about to deliver soon? How can you reach out to them and contribute to their breastfeeding journey?

Why have I suddenly turned into a Breastfeeding awareness campaigner?

Here is my next blog post that attempts to answer some of these questions 

Music album for children(and adults) - The Talking Trees

Music is wonderful a medium of education, I have personally experienced this multiple times during my days of school and college.
Here is a music album of songs in Tamil language about some of the life sustaining trees of India. The content of the songs is structured as a conversation between an inquisitive squirrel asking questions and the trees responding accordingly. This is an audio publication by STD PATHASALA, an organization that I have been associated with since childhood. This music album is available on iTunes, Saavn and Spotify.. Please do check it out..

A cute collection of songs on some of the life sustaining trees of India - "Pesum Marangal" aka "The Talking Trees". You can now listen to the complete album on any of your favourite music apps. Click away and enjoy the lovely music and do share it with children.
ITunes - https://goo.gl/5NLPxS
Saavn - https://goo.gl/dLy5iJ
Google Play music - https://play.google.com/store/music/album?id=B62mhqno3qcx5wqmyokz23rzaka
Spotify - https://goo.gl/zrthTr

Plastic ban - Vegetable organizer bag

Single use, super thin Plastic bags are getting banned in one state after another in India. It is already banned in Maharashtra and is going to be banned in Tamil Nadu from January next year (I think).

From my usage pattern, I observed that the biggest dependency on plastic carry bags for me is to organize my vegetables at the time of purchase itself as I am otherwise too lazy to sort them all over again after coming back home. I used to re-use those thin carry bags for this purpose  But with Maharashtra state government's ban on plastic bags, vendors are refusing to give vegetables even in plastic bags that I bring along with me, fearing the fine. So what to do now? Enter the brain of a educated graduate who does not have a paid 9 to 5 job.

I rummaged by almirah and found that I had a few pillow cases that I would like to discard as they are old, faded and look worn out. But the fabric still has some life in it. So here is how I am converting them into bags to carry vegetables.

Here is the pillow case 

Cut into two halves. Using a scissor, open up one side of the seam up to half the length of your forefinger. 

Fold along the edge leaving enough space to pass a drawstring through it. And sew it along. 

I don't have a sewing machine, and it has been ages since I have hand-sewn anything. So this is what my stitching looked like in the first few minutes. I wanted it to be a little durable, so I decided to do a blanket stitch so I won't have to search for  a roadside tailor to re-do the stitches for some time at least. I removed all the knots and persevered again. 

Here is how it looks after the second attempt 

Finished stitching around the edge

Drawstring inserted

Vegetable organizer ready

His Loving Gaze

From a very young age I have been known to be a poised person, not one to be taken over by impulse. But post delivering my son 15 months ago, my hormones have been raging like that of a teenager. And there are no words to describe how it is to feel like a 17 year old in a 31 year old physical form - where you have to 'adult' (verb form usage mean act like an adult) with people around you, especially your spouse who is super-adulting due to his corporate work environment where he spends close to 10 hours a day. 'Frustrating' describes this situation rather mildly.

Nevertheless, like it or not, one needs to deal with 'it' as you have mouths(and hungry stomachs) to feed, and a baby to be taken care of  which necessitates the need for atleast some amount of stable mind and rational thinking.  And the only way to do that is to channelise the surplus swinging temperament into something creative. So here is a poem I wrote recently -

His Loving Gaze

His loving gaze

That melts you from inside

That warms your heart

That fills you with hope and strength

That reassures you that He is there for you

That makes sure you are protected. Always.

That sometimes turns into "I told you to listen to me" look

That traces your curves as you do your morning stretch

That turns away when you turn and look for it

That you have learnt to sense from your heart

That you want to enjoy eye to eye

That is cast upon you only exactly when you look away

That, by now, you have learnt to enjoy through the corner of your eye

That is as warm as his embrace

His Loving Gaze, His Loving Grace

When reading the above please read every line to begin with the phrase 'His loving gaze'

Image credit - https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7PkV0EQjiVk/maxresdefault.jpg

Sense of Value and Worth - a Rat Race in itself

In today's modern day Indian society, women are being taught about a sense of value and worth that is measured by the money they earn on their own. Various practices that transpired in the 50-60 years prior to the turn of the century, have resulted in this scenario in which a woman who does not take up paid work assignments feels a reduced sense of worth and value.  I, my younger self, have gone through this state of mind, and it left me quite distressed. While it is a sound idea to instill a concept of self-esteem, the concept of hard work and working to earn your bread, generalisation of this idea has led to a mass mentality of aspirationalism - if that is a word. What is all this ranting driving at, you may ask... The fact that it is okay to be not working for money, even if it is for some duration of your life - has gotten buried and is getting lost in the minds of people in today's society. 

This ranting drives in the direction of my present state - I recently delivered a healthy baby boy. Mentally I have been preparing for the fact that this will mean that I will not have a 9-5 office schedule for a few years atleast. And I am glad that I have been able to develop that stable state of mind. I have been interacting with some mothers on a couple of community forums. The above rant emerges from the interactions I see in those forums. The quest for financial independence today is at a state where a child's need for its mother's attention and care in the early years of its life is a tradable commodity.  And because this has become a mindset at the societal level, it has become an accepted norm to find substitutes for all aspects of mothering. Starting right at the first touch point for the child - its food - breastmilk and breastfeeding.  I see enough mothers in the groups who even before delivering their child hope to substitute the breast with a nipple. The rat race driven way of life for the child begins right there when the mother keeps hoping that her child will accept a bottle with an artificial nipple on it. What bottle to buy, what size nipple to use, what type of pump to buy, what type of pump accessories to buy - these deliberations take up the entire mind space of a lot of new mothers today.  Having brought the child into this planet, the effort then begins to teach the child to go against its nature given knowledge of how to extract milk from a human nipple. From being a means to an end, this becomes the end itself, where people forget that one must attempt to feed the child directly when possible. I am not referring to the section of people who have medical compulsions to do so, I am referring to the majority of normal mothers who introduce their children to this rat race as early as 2-3 months because they have their own rat race to catch up with. And after the ordeal of getting the baby to accept the artificial nipple, the next immediate lament is that now the baby prefers the bottle over the breast!!

The point of this post is merely an observation of the state of the society today, and in no way an attempt to claim moral highground against these present practices. Just that as member of this society myself, I feel like a hypocrite when people cry loud against the industrial ways in which dairy farms extract milk from cows, and then in the same breath go about prescribing appropriate pump brands that will extract milk from yourself.

Photo credit : https://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-images-rat-race-image27745659

Let there be light

Anyone who has studied Mathematics or any other subject that inculcates deep problem solving techniques will know that most of the times, the way to find a solution to a problem is to define the problem statement very clearly and very precisely.

After reading my previous post about clueless helplessness, I received quite a lot of warm wishes from some good close friends, who were a bit taken aback by the gravity of the words used. I am happy to share that the outpouring(so to say) in the previous post fulfilled its purpose - helped me spell out my problem statement very clearly there by putting the focus light of my attention to solution.  The whole of last week I have been actively working to fix multiple items that have been constantly pushing me into a state of anxiety. Hope to see the benefits of the same soon.

Sharing here a picture of the Karthigai festival celebrations at my home today.

Inspite of having a child who is at an age where he needs constant attention, I was able to have a decent celebration after a series of flopped festival celebrations. The confidence and enthusiasm levels are quite a bit up compared to last week. Here's to a power packed December - and here's to getting things done and progressing in life no matter what impediments come my way. Lighting these lamps diligently has had a very soothing effect on my soul - I discovered this last year when we were thrown back to pre-electricity era for 15 days after the Vardah cyclone struck, and like the olden days we only had these oil lamps for illumination. Lamps do illuminate you from the inside - do try it out. Light a lamp every day - need not be in front of an idol if you sail on the atheism boat - see the transformation happen slowly but steadily.

Confused. Lost. Clueless.

Lost. Puzzled. Confused. Clueless. These are some of the words that describe my state of mind today. So far in the many years of existence, time and again life throws me into this spot where I have no clue how to respond or what to react to the scenario, where I feel like I am engulfed in pitch black darkness, with no idea of what to do at all - to breathe or not to breathe, to move my limbs or to shake my head. With much effort I put pieces together and break that spot, only to find myself in another spot of cluelessness of higher complexity. 

Totally tired of fighting this constant sense of darkness. Searching for that guiding light, guiding energy of my life. This post may not be of much meaning to the readers of this blog, but this is the only space where I can put this out. So bear with me and if you can, pray for me.



Photo Courtesy - http://deeptrivedi.com/be-your-own-guiding-light/

That moment had come...

I participated in a contest by https://getfreewrite.com and one of the tasks to be done to enter the contest was to write something quick in 15 minutes time. And here is the short story I came up with - 

That moment had come. He had given so much of himself to this... It was hard to believe that all his efforts were now coming together.  As he waited with a bated breath, the doctor came to him, and his bundle of joy was in his hands. Scrawny, and tiny. It had all seemed impossible just a some months ago. And then his thoughts veered towards his wife. Although full of life, this was one thing she had been very hopeless about. With a heart full of love and determination, she had turned around quite a few things in his family's life. But this. This had shaken her from within. And he had decided he wouldn't let her get shaken. It had taken days and many nights of consoling and pepping up to get her to the hospital, to face the batteries of tests, the endless hours of waiting in the hospital lobbies.  And finally, it had all come together. This was that golden moment to see the life they had created. Together. Just as he zoned out of these thoughts and zoned back into the baby in his arms, there was hurried activity in the labour room. His stomach tightened, there was no news of her. He had been carried away with the child in his arms. After a number of nurses running in and out, the doctor came out and told him that it was almost over, and his wife wanted to see him.  His heart sank.  Rushing into the room, he saw her lying helplessly. But he wouldn't let The story end this way. He held her hand and whispered in her ears.. "Don't do this,to me, to us, and to the baby. Forever, together, triumphant". And that was the what she needed. That reassurance. She smiled, and her vitality monitors smiled as well. Yet again, he had brought her back on track.  Theirs was love story, unparalleled. Full of opposites, but all the more reason to stick together.

Image Credit and Copyright - https://plus.google.com/photos/116224859398999719483/albums/6337007875921259681/6337007876686977602

Book Review - "Devil Does Care" by Pravin Shekar

Why Should I care about ‘Devil Does Care’? 

Laid out in an airy and breezy format, this book defies the stereotype of a typical ‘Mantra to Success in XYZ’ book even though it fundamentally belongs to that category.

For those who have, successfully or not, tried their hand at ‘running’ any intiative - be it a company, organising a ticketed event, or simply launch a simple product/solution of your own – a book, a photography service, call it what you like – they know that inspite of all the gyaan available and discussion around the importance of finding customers, and sales, and marketing, only one thing is relevant about getting sales and increasing your market awareness -

IT IS ALWAYS EASIER SAID THAN DONE

Replete with real life scenarios and examples, the author walks you through a good number of instances of successful zero/low budget marketing initiatives that converted to actual sales numbers, which you can use to wrap your head around what you should be doing for your specific case.

The subtle ideas, key pointers and examples in the book enable you to think about how to get it ‘done’. The biggest plus point here is that in case you are stuck at some point of your sales and marketing strategy, the author is absolutely approachable, and you can approach him for some focused mentoring on the matter at hand. You can easily reach him through his website

I would like to highlight some of the sections that I liked, and connected with, the most –

1. The growth hacking example of Minance Capital – how they got 130 people signed up as paid clients in one marketing stroke
2. The story of how carnatic musician Chembai Vaithyanatha Bhagavathar got his singing slot in a reputed music festival after being openly turned down initially

All in all, for its price of Rs 250, the book seriously nudges you to find ways of running your next marketing strategy while spending less money on it. And it does this without being preachy about it even one bit. Definitely worth the money you will spend on buying it.

Here is a photo of me receiving the author signed copy of the book -

Pick it up from online retailers using these links – Amazon , Flipkart 

How to help home bound people deposit 500 and 1000 currency notes?

The Government of India, on the 8th of November 2016, decided to cancel the legal tender of high denomination indian currency notes of 500 and 1000 ruppees denomination with immediate effect.

Banks are to be shut for public interactions for a day and ATMs are going to be shut for 2 days till the midnight of 10th of November.

Know someone who cannot reach the bank and deposit cash on their own? Follow the steps given in the image below to do it for them, on their behalf -

Take a letter of authorisation from the person who wants to deposit the money. Take your ID Proof copy. Deposit old 500 and 1000 notes at the bank with the above 2 documents.  Till 18 Nov, withdraw cash 2K via ATM per card per day, or 10K per transaction via bank cashier counter.

Source of these points is the press release issued by the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India

500 And 1000 Notes withdrawn - Next Steps?

The Government of India, on the 8th of November 2016, decided to cancel the legal tender of high denomination indian currency notes of 500 and 1000 ruppees denomination with immediate effect.

Banks are to be shut for public interactions for a day and ATMs are going to be shut for 2 days till the midnight of 10th of November.

Here are two images that easily explain how to manage daily life in the coming 15 days

Ola Money - Menace Or Delight?

Ola Cabs is currently a very popular cab/taxi aggregator service in India that provides match making services between those looking for taxis and those providing taxis. They have become popular due to the way they have adopted technology to make the taxis available to people, overturning companies like Fasttrack taxi and Wings Radio Cabs. These other companies still continue to exist and operate, but a large chunk of the taxi driver population has shifted loyalties to Ola cabs and Uber as well. Uber does exactly what Ola does, only difference being it is an american company that has started operations in India now.

Now, in their endeavour to keep up with superior competition like Uber, Ola has adopted a technology aided approach to make your taxi ride a smoother process. Going by this approach, and also believing that cash is a messy mode of payment, for the past one and half years, they have been offering a within-app wallet service called Ola Money, where you prepay and store some money in your name in their account, and that is digitally disbursed to the taxi driver you want to pay at the end of your ride. No need to run around for change. The driver gets a settlement on a per-day or per-week basis. In theory, this sounds very rosy. But implementation is a different beast altogether.

In my observation of using the Ola service coupled with the digital wallet feature, and also in my interactions with some of the taxi drivers who ferry me around the city, I have come to realise that in the name of having agility in business decisions, Ola has become a company whose payment policies can be as fickle as the human mind. Taxi drivers regularly mention ever changing payment settlement policies, what with Ola trying to factor in user feebback into payment disbursal and penalizing drivers with lower ratings. While users are getting accustomed to the convenience of not having to worry about exact change, or running short of money to pay the taxi, the taxi drivers are increasingly wary of taking digital payments because they are not clear exactly how much money will come to their hands inspite of running the taxi for the entire day. The average driver's expectation is I get a customer, I ferry them around, I ought to get paid in full for that. And when that fundamental logic in their mind doesnt match up with reality due to constant churn of policy decisions, it puts them in a spot. Result – A good number of drivers regularly ask for cash payments, and some of them go to the extent of turning down taxi bookings where customer may not pay in hard cash. And lacking a practical view of real life scenarios, the Ola app doesnt give the customer an option to choose the mode of payment when you keep money in your Ola wallet.

You can read this thread of tweets by blogger and techie Krish Ashok, and the many responses to his tweet that will give you an idea of how the digital wallet implementation of Ola lacks the angle of practicality to it. - https://twitter.com/krishashok/status/740450772459130881

In August of 2015, There have also been news reports about how the Ola APIs have been built in a less than robust way, and about how some hackers have been able to pilfer out personal information of various users. The company subsequently claims to have plugged these loopholes and fixed potential vulnerabilities.

As they say, it takes a lot of vision, commitment and foresight to build a robust business that creates a lifetime of value for itself and also for people that depend on it. Hoping that Ola does the same, and not get trapped in the cocoon of lopsided technology addiction and compulsive need to sway to the commands of their fund masters.

Kalakriti - A mega photo exhibition in Pune, June 10-12

I would like to share some very exciting news with the august readers of this blog. Two of my photographs have been selected to be displayed at a photography exhibition cum sale organized by a local photography group here in Pune. They had invited submissions from group members and non-members alike. In all, 500 images were submitted, out of which 250 have been selected for the display.  These photos will be reviewed and adjudged further in the next round.  

The exhibition is to be held at Raja Ravi Verma Gallery at Pune from the 10th to 12th of June this year. 

I am totally pumped up to even think that someone might actually end up purchasing a photograph that I clicked, in addition to the fact that these two photos will be reviewed and adjudged further in the next round.

Here are the photos that got selected!

I am excited!! 

I am also attaching a poster image giving the details of the event.

If any of you are in Pune this weekend, please do drop in at the venue!! 

And as I always say, this is #achievementunlocked :D

B(Fl)oating In Water

'Lost' - Each one lost in their own slice of this world

Here are the details of the exhibition

Star Trails - Take 1

Last month, I had got the opportunity to try out Star Trails photography for the first time. As part of PPL(Pune Photography Lovers) group's monthly photowalk, I had travelled to Tikona Fort just on the outskirts of Pune. Our entire photography group had camped atop the Tikona Fort. While the experts went about capturing the star trails, first timers (like me and few others) to this genre setup our equipment, and attempted our photo captures after a good amout of quizzing people about all the steps to be followed.

It was a memorable experience to sleep under the millions of stars in the sky, the last time I did that was at my aunt's place when I was perhaps 12 or 13 years old.  The actual time duration when I was clicking pictures was about 2 hours in the middle of the night, I slept pre and post photoshoot, as I had a long day the following day. We had left from our respective homes by 2.30 PM-3.00PM, and reached the base of Tikona fort by 4.15 PM. After a quick snack break, we started the climb up to the fort. This fort is one of the smaller forts among all the forts of Maharashtra, and is said to be easier to climb than the others. Me being the lazy city dweller, I found even the climb to this fort to be a good enough challenge. Huffing and panting, by the time I reached up the summit, it was nearly 6PM and sunset photography enthusiasts were already clicking away to glory.  As we settled down, I was going about clicking some test shots, and by 7.15 PM dusk was over, and sky started turning dark. The good part about PPL group is the mix of photographers who land up at the photowalks, and you will always find people who are at your level. Using the confounded expressions on some the faces, I found some fellow shutterbugs who were new to this genre. 

As you climb up the small hillock, you would be blind if you did not notice the way the location for the fort has been selected, and the way in which the natural hill formation has been taken advantage of for security purposes. Along with me, my admiration for the Maratha warriors, especially for Shivaji Maharaj, also climbed up a few notches. There is a natural spring atop the fort which has clean potable water. I could observe that this fort as well had been built to provide all basic necessities to its residents, even in case of an enemy attack. 

This fort is a good overnight camping and picnic spot. I saw two other families bring snacks, bedsheets and tents and set up camp in the fort. It is a very small fort, so there is not much to see of the fort. But it is an excellent place to spend a good few hours while you empty your pent up thoughts and confusions to the skies and return back recharged.

On the whole, a new place, a new genre of photography, something new learnt, some good words exchange, some introspection done, some old memories refreshed, soon it was time to return back to realities. 

Here is my star trails picture, processed one month late - 

It is not much, this click doesn't have a circular start trail. But nevertheless, it is a reasonable start considering I am ZERO in post processing(necessity for star trails) and I am stubborn not to pay money or pirate a copy of photoshop.

So that's what I have been pottering around with. What have you been up to?