tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86660299994687003302024-03-08T18:19:42.910+05:30Dreams and RealizationsChiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.comBlogger237125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-81113712020753527202017-08-11T00:47:00.001+05:302017-08-11T00:52:39.843+05:30Sarahah - why is it suddenly so popular?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFVdSexlMwLe71s_I3eHe1mt3VmfkiNUnDSK3xITiRLRPp196nVSs-TCQXswgEEHS8w2fQse_-tcaJ75Mbz6re_hRBBT2B_hXmJbX5LMcXSrQyv6v07rO8YxsVbEGTzIdMFGYg3qeHQ5Gf/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="126" data-original-width="325" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFVdSexlMwLe71s_I3eHe1mt3VmfkiNUnDSK3xITiRLRPp196nVSs-TCQXswgEEHS8w2fQse_-tcaJ75Mbz6re_hRBBT2B_hXmJbX5LMcXSrQyv6v07rO8YxsVbEGTzIdMFGYg3qeHQ5Gf/s320/Capture.PNG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
My Facebook homepage is completely flooded with messages from this application as people flock to use it - its like a candy bar from childhood! Or is it?<br />
<br />
I suddenly started thinking about why this app was suddenly so popular.<br />
<br />
<b>So, what basically is sarahah? </b><br />
<br />
As per this <a href="http://indiatoday.intoday.in/technology/story/sarahah-app-is-going-viral-but-what-is-it-and-how-does-it-work/1/1022819.html">Indiatoday article</a>, the term "sarahah" itself means honesty and the app lets you be "honest" (more on that later) ?! You get to choose an anonymous identity while posting a message to anyone (who has the app) and it supposedly leads to fun and a good amount of guessing!<br />
<br />
Suddenly my thoughts went to childhood and a red landline phone that we had. Missed calls were fun! No caller ID, so you could not guess who it is who suddenly remembered you! You could say a lot without saying anything and it was left solely to the perception of the person hearing the missed call.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Perception meant - to each his own.</blockquote>
My mother probably thought - one of those irritating wrong numbers. My father probably thought - a test from the local telephone department and I... I thought - may be 'that girl' was giving me a call? (Smiles) Teenage... I tell ya!<br />
<br />
So, after all these years and all (well, almost all) kinds of experiences, when I see people posting messages with this app and reacting strangely, I get a strange feeling. Sometimes the reactions are funny, sometimes silly, sometimes angry... well in short, I get to see almost all kinds of reactions.<br />
<br />
But question is, does it really promote honesty? Does honesty imply, you hide your face, say something and then go into hiding again, secretly feeling elated at the reaction of your anonymous post? Sorry, is that honesty or hypocrisy?<br />
<br />
I see, why this app can have a dizzying effect on teenagers... yes its the same feeling I had with missed calls (God knows who!), but is it honest? I do not think so! Now all of you are entitled to your own opinion and I would like to hear from you.<br />
<br />
I did have a different idea about anonymous blogging. There used to be a platform, but it has been taken down. Anonymous blogging is not targeted at anyone. But sometimes, people just need to say aloud things to no one, not because of the need of being heard but because of the need of expressions.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We may or may not need a ear, but we cannot have our voice stifled. That is worse than death!</blockquote>
<b><br /></b>
<b>How is sarahah </b><i>(haha!)</i><b> is different from anonymous blogging?</b><br />
<br />
Sarahah is designed to elicit a reaction.<br />
It is targeted at specific people.<br />
The expected reaction after seeing the message is the prime motivation of the one posting it.<br />
<br />
Anonymous blogging is not designed to elicit a reaction.<br />
It is used to vent out, free up the mind, rant.<br />
The motivation to it is simply to be at peace with self.<br />
Disconnection from the whole material world.<br />
Yes it is honest, brutally so!<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Anonymous blogging is honest, brutally so! Sarahah is just a passing fad! People will get over it!</blockquote>
<br />
<br />
Agree? Disagree? Not formed an opinion yet? Come on! Write in comments. Would love to hear from you!<br />
<br /></div>
Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-48847384982867857322017-08-06T22:59:00.000+05:302017-08-06T23:00:03.089+05:30Happy Friendship Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I woke up today and was greeted with a WhatsApp notification. I thought it was Sunday morning and it took a bit of time for me to open up my eyes. With half closed eyes, I unlocked my phone and checked the detail of the notification.<br />
<br />
I was greeted with a friend's message - "Happy Friendship Day!"<br />
<br />
Throughout the day on numerous channels like Facebook, Twitter, blogs - you name it, this message trended. In fact I checked Indiblogger a while back and saw this message trending as well.<br />
<br />
Then I thought where did it generate. We all know about Valentine's Day. But friendship day! Since when and why?<br />
<br />
As per information available <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendship_Day">here</a> and <a href="http://www.india.com/buzz/friendship-day-2017-wishes-best-happy-friendship-day-messages-whatsapp-gif-facebook-quotes-greetings-to-celebrate-day-for-friends-2378372/">here</a>, the tradition of dedicating a day in honor of friends began in US in 1935. The International Friendship Day was first proclaimed on July 30 in 1958. <a href="http://www.freepressjournal.in/featured-blog/friendship-day-2017-significance-history-and-all-you-need-to-know/1115815">Today in several countries including the United States and India, the first Sunday of August is selected for friendship day festivities</a>.<br />
<br />
But the idea was proposed even earlier than that.<br />
<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4u0NIYgrDqrOTLgo1gDDV2APE_zboICHv67ADZWDtiBI-DqfNRLEHD5DsMr9azXOpOiNAK6W9wdjA7oqjb9bU-gXXEmV7UarIahtrrP1s2phohkQNnukgFgnQayjWL2n3yeVFsX_8wGO/s1600/Capture.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="227" data-original-width="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX4u0NIYgrDqrOTLgo1gDDV2APE_zboICHv67ADZWDtiBI-DqfNRLEHD5DsMr9azXOpOiNAK6W9wdjA7oqjb9bU-gXXEmV7UarIahtrrP1s2phohkQNnukgFgnQayjWL2n3yeVFsX_8wGO/s1600/Capture.PNG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Courtesy: Wikipedia</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
According to documentation available, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joyce_Hall">Joyce C.Hall</a>, the founder of Hallmark Cards first proposed the idea of celebrating friendship day. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friendship_Day">He intended August 2 to be celebrated world over amidst festivities and it is hardly surprising that the idea met with resistance specifically because, it was perceived as a commercial gimmick to promote greeting cards, in those days. </a><br />
<br />
<br />
The life of Mr. Hall was pretty inspiring. You may like reading it <a href="https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/197552">here</a>.<br />
<br />
Although I did not find an older documented chronicle on the advent of friendship day, the history of friendship is arguably as old as the history of civilization. Human beings have forever celebrated friendship in as many ways as we could imagine.<br />
<br />
In the age of social networking, a person can have a thousand friends and sometimes even more. However, it conflicts with the theory of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number">Dunbar's number</a>. The number proclaims a cognitive limit of the number of friends a human being can have stable relationship with. As per research conducted by Mr. Dunbar, <b>150</b> is the number.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9h3pK0HAm4i7ueNQVsS5X0UNo5klEewOSxbCx7drKM9TezklbRk3uMhQTQio6d5EdZr7kVMQxWi1d7EaXzcPvKHpmfUk8qzhVngQtcNj1YSVTfKh8uOxQgK6qXWE13blbkvGmyRSeGSba/s1600/Capture1.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="896" height="209" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9h3pK0HAm4i7ueNQVsS5X0UNo5klEewOSxbCx7drKM9TezklbRk3uMhQTQio6d5EdZr7kVMQxWi1d7EaXzcPvKHpmfUk8qzhVngQtcNj1YSVTfKh8uOxQgK6qXWE13blbkvGmyRSeGSba/s400/Capture1.PNG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Facebook today threatens this number - at least we think so! Mr Dunbar himself realized this and in 2010 did a study on Facebook.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.cnet.com/news/sorry-facebook-friends-our-brains-cant-keep-up/">Here is what Mr Dunbar had to say</a>:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The interesting thing is that you can have 1,500 friends, but when you actually look at traffic on sites, you see people maintain the same inner circle of around 150 people that we observe in the real world. People obviously like the kudos of having hundreds of friends but the reality is that they're unlikely to be bigger than anyone else's. </blockquote>
<br />
Now, this is something each of us can realize and probably tell how much of it is true. But the question remains, commodification of friendship wherein we send greeting cards and call people reminding them of the special day is probably fine. However, if we go beyond and flaunt number of contacts on a social networking site branding all of them as friends, does it align with our basic human abilities? We do not know. Getting a like or a positive comment does add a feel good factor to our psyche and it does provide impetus to our brain's reward center. But does that classify the actions as borne out of friendship? Does it always do that?<br />
<br />
That's a question, that I leave to you readers to ponder upon.<br />
<br />
I'll close this with this lovely quote by Edgar A Guest.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="color: #181818; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">"I'd like to be the sort of friend that you have been to me. I'd like to be the help that you've been always glad to be; I'd like to mean as much to you each minute of the day, as you have meant, old friend of mine, to me along the way."</span></span></blockquote>
<br />
Happy friendship day!<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-31254793391899169812017-08-05T23:44:00.000+05:302017-08-05T23:46:55.894+05:30JIO vs BSNL - internet speed test comparison<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I have been thinking of what to write this evening when I started toggling between my JIO and BSNL connectivity and then figured out - well what the heck, lets write on how these two are faring at the moment.<br />
<br />
Frankly speaking since the day I got a JIO connection, life has been good. Got a Netflix subscription and am watching movies just like how I did in the USA! Woohoo! The speed usually is pretty okay, barring one or two stops along the way and 1 minute of buffering right when the streaming starts.<br />
<br />
Netflix gave me a free one month trial, so all the more reason for rejoicing. I'll write more on that some tome.<br />
<br />
But anyway, today evening I noticed that the speed of JIO was little on the slower side than usual and I decided to do a speedtest and post it here.<br />
<br />
Note: I have a BSNL UL 950 plan and a JIO per day 1GB plan.<br />
<br />
Here are the results conducted via speedtest.net.<br />
<br />
<b><u>BSNL (wifi)</u></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBEGgkNA7SatK0hxm6INPpFL_gZvLuCsEQzOhtxo1P6G7QCIujQ8t0LLMjJ7h72k33ArxLfBKRsh15jHtos-UT9jvCD_ingwghnyLIbaEYP8HQ2xX1nwwp1QZbrX-rEe-jFW3e62fmOrik/s1600/Untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="247" data-original-width="745" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBEGgkNA7SatK0hxm6INPpFL_gZvLuCsEQzOhtxo1P6G7QCIujQ8t0LLMjJ7h72k33ArxLfBKRsh15jHtos-UT9jvCD_ingwghnyLIbaEYP8HQ2xX1nwwp1QZbrX-rEe-jFW3e62fmOrik/s400/Untitled.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b><u>JIO (wifi)</u></b><br />
....<br />
<br />
The page did not open. Yeah you saw that right. After this famous speed test conducted by Ookla Llc (who owns speedtest.net) <a href="http://www.livemint.com/Industry/EgSDLrav7rv76j3FfH9Y5I/Ookla-stands-by-Airtel-speed-test-challenged-by-Reliance-Jio.html">where they judged Airtel to have better speed than Jio</a>, apparently a Jio network does not even let anyone test speed using their site.<br />
<br />
Then again, <a href="http://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/telecom/reliance-jio-first-airtel-fourth-trai-data-speed-test-june/story/255809.html">TRAI conducted another speed test late July' 2017 where they certified Reliance Jio to have the best data speed</a>.<br />
<br />
I went to <a href="http://www.myspeed.trai.gov.in/">TRAI's site</a> to see if they had a way for normal users to check speeds.<br />
<br />
But they do not currently have a way to do that. They however have pre-populated statistics on average speeds of various internet service providers.<br />
<br />
So, in conclusion, I did not get a chance to test JIO's internet speed with the limited means I had.<br />
<br />
But should they have blocked speedtest.net even though they did not endorse the method of test conducted? That is a question I leave to you to get opinions on.<br />
<br />
PS. The first part of this article was written on a BSNL network and the second part on a JIO WiFi.<br />
<br /></div>
Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-16530497712179217172017-08-03T23:57:00.001+05:302017-08-04T08:02:04.721+05:30Random observations<p dir="ltr">So much to observe, always. I make it a point to observe everything around me whenever I travel, specially when solo. Today was no exception. I was waiting patiently at the Baguiati bus stop, when I noticed few interesting situations.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Situation 1:</b><br>
4 guys, labourers by profession, suddenly begin arguing and 2 of them are almost on the brink of a messy fight, when rest of the guys stop and pacify them. The dialogues were all difficult to make out from a distance. <br>
They say , "Never raise your voice, improve your argument".</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Situation 2:</b><br>
A couple on a motor bike stops near where I stood and begin arguing. The lady seems older than the man, but the relationship is not clear apparently. She suddenly breaks down and shake the guy. Then she sits hopelessly on the nearby footpath. The guy sits next to her. They continue to chat. The lady is still emotionally charged. The guy looks cooler and I understand that he has noticed me observing them. I look away.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Situation 3:</b><br>
Suddenly it starts raining. Kolkata these days have some good covered rickshaws. I noticed one locked near me. I sneaked in under its shade. The owner was having his tiffin somewhere nearby. He saw me and came back. He then scrutinized me without saying a word as if evaluating if I am capable of stealing his rickshaw. Somehow he seemed convinced that I do not pose a risk and got back to his den. <br>
I thanked him silently for letting me keep my observations going from the temporary shade offered by the rickshaw.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><u>CM</u></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1uf5Zxxd1yfOqfCOYPTZOUDLYUNIU-hA4iNT8CKvsz9JEKyBFdy5TusuWlLWq0A4XdqJEJ_nOLbcM7hSfibJI5_5cnB6vRe_LhfB3Ee6sBpwkYjie-Ni2N_AeWNsVr4vJyQoxZAVEFQc/s1600/IMG_20170803_195215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE1uf5Zxxd1yfOqfCOYPTZOUDLYUNIU-hA4iNT8CKvsz9JEKyBFdy5TusuWlLWq0A4XdqJEJ_nOLbcM7hSfibJI5_5cnB6vRe_LhfB3Ee6sBpwkYjie-Ni2N_AeWNsVr4vJyQoxZAVEFQc/s640/IMG_20170803_195215.jpg"> </a> </div>Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-50132779135257925142017-07-22T02:59:00.003+05:302017-07-22T03:05:38.853+05:30Quote: "I am a guy, that's why they did not like me..."<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hello World!<br />
<br />
Long time truly!<br />
<br />
I took a hiatus from blogging in between. You know - work and stuff.<br />
<br />
But anyway, 2:39AM IST now and I have been thinking of posting something.<br />
<br />
Let me narrate an incident from this evening today.<br />
<br />
While returning, I saw an auto rickshaw standing by, with a queue of people there, but curiously no one was ready to board the auto.<br />
<br />
I was in a hurry and decided to avail it without looking at who were my co-passengers. The moment I sat inside, I was greeted by my co-passenger.<br />
<br />
Co-passenger1: "Ei je dada, apni to sundor uthe boslen.. aar oi dekhun oi lok gulo keu uthlo na! ki hoto bolun to uthle?"<br />
Translated: "Hey brother, see how well you sat beside me and those guys standing in queue.. they were not ready to sit beside me.. come on! what could I have done?"<br />
<br />
<i>[The fact was - this guy was drunk - completely, hopelessly drunk. I could smell him no matter how I wished I would not. This guy was apparently very happy with me. In his report card, I had got letter marks already, simply because I chose to sit beside him. </i><br />
<i>Drunk folks identify only two kinds of people - the "my dear" ones, their favourites and the ones they bitterly hate and would kill if given a chance. Anyway, he continued blabbering...]</i><br />
<br />
Co-passenger1: "Ei jodi kono meye bosto, bindaas uthe bosto pashe... chhele to ami! pochhondo holo na..."<br />
Translated: "If I was a girl, anyone there in the queue would have jumped into this seat. I am a guy, that's why they did not like me."<br />
<br />
<i>[Meanwhile co-passenger 2 speaks up from the front seat, equally drunk.]</i><br />
<br />
Co-passenger2: "Ki re... meye ra to aageo bosto na, ekhon chhelerao boschhe na... tor ki hobe re?"<br />
Translated: "Hey buddy! Earlier women would avoid you, now even men are avoiding! What will happen to you?"<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>[I heard a snoring sound and figured out that there was another one sitting on the opposite side, probably the worst affected by the ordeal, snoring already.]</i><br />
<br />
Co-passenger1: "Ki re lalu! Oth oth, ese gelo je!"<br />
Translated: "Hey Lalu! Get up buddy, we have almost reached."<br />
<br />
<i>[We did reach soon and Lalu had a tough time maintaining his balance and keeping his shoes intact in his feet. I glanced casually and got going.]</i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-57175545389250741462016-03-17T02:31:00.000+05:302016-03-17T09:23:27.585+05:30Dial 182 for RPF - will it work?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<br />
<br />
I came across <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/dial-182-for-rpf-help-during-train-journey/article7844601.ece">a news article about dialing 182 for RPF</a>. While I have no idea if this will actually work, I do appreciate the initiative.<br />
<br />
In India, unfortunately, I have had bitter experience with RPF (Railway Protection Force) in the year 2000. The nightmares just were refreshed once I read about this news. I recall writing to a prominent daily about the incident as well, but it was not published. Not that I care, as I have this wonderful platform to reach out to the world.<br />
<br />
So, it was 16 years back when this incident happened. My parents and I were traveling in Kanchenjunga Express traveling from Sealdah to Farakka. We were traveling in a chair car, reserved seats. The travel started well and we boarded on time. The journey was eventless till the train reached the Bardhaman station.<br />
<br />
At the Bardhaman station, there was a sudden rush and many people entered our compartment. It was suddenly too crowded around us. Once the crowd thinned, we suddenly noticed that our main suitcase was gone from the overhead bin! Gone! Disappeared, without a trace! The moment we noticed it, my father and I ran frantically towards the exit trying to see who took it. The people around us did not even care. No one had noticed anything! (Of course!) I even saw few people smiling at our tragedy, which shocked me. One of them was a junior guy from the school where I studied. (I hope he has developed some sense of empathy in all these years. If he is still a moron, all the best to him.)<br />
<br />
Anyway, we descended from the train and went to register a complaint with the RPF posted there.<br />
<br />
When my father politely narrated the incident to them, their first question was - "Are you making this up?" We said - "No". Then we requested to have the complaint registered, to which they said, "There are no pages left in the complaint book. You have to bring a page and write it down." We got a page and then I asked for a pen. None of the officers had any pen. Would you believe that?<br />
<br />
At this point, I am not sure how my father felt, but I was filled with a mix of myriad emotions ranging from anger, disbelief, sadness and anxiety! We understood pretty well that it would not work out as the people we were dealing with were potentially hands in gloves with the criminals.<br />
<br />
Our thoughts transcended to the fact that my mother was sitting alone in the train crying her hearts out and the train could get started any moment. We decided to leave the matter and get back in the compartment.<br />
<br />
I suddenly remembered the incident thinking if RPF has really changed. I am still filled with disbelief. I have seen the system. I did not like it. Have India progressed in 16 years? Really? Can someone confirm?<br />
<br />
Well, 16 years on, dial 182 in case if you face any issues in an Indian train. Consider yourself lucky if someone responds. <br />
<br />
Jai ho!<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.mylivesignature.com/signatures/54487/76/D43A8DC86CAF676F62C507C4E5567F87.png" /></div>
Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-14609317809626778862015-09-23T20:12:00.000+05:302015-09-23T20:12:23.460+05:30My first book<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Dear readers<br />
<br />
Delighted to let you know that I have published my first book on <a href="https://leanpub.com/managing_stress-by_cmazumdar">Leanpub</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaLxR-W_nGle5MDUdUuY0vouUvU8jjxcPnAxZ4FaigAVY6pvj9wjuwAixaG8omFvjH0VHF-gpQRHNLWj0SQiKWVcoisSbT-mdFwNClVPL2LbCMcU1imm-ToYlga9NkZfzpy_GrCYhPpACm/s1600/Stress+management+-+cmazumdar.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaLxR-W_nGle5MDUdUuY0vouUvU8jjxcPnAxZ4FaigAVY6pvj9wjuwAixaG8omFvjH0VHF-gpQRHNLWj0SQiKWVcoisSbT-mdFwNClVPL2LbCMcU1imm-ToYlga9NkZfzpy_GrCYhPpACm/s400/Stress+management+-+cmazumdar.png" width="277" /></a></div>
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<br />
This is based on the subject of stress management. Although I do not have a formal education in psychology, most of the stuff in the book is based out of my own experience and independent research on the subject.<br />
<br />
The book can be purchased absolutely FREE, although if you like it I would appreciate a contribution.<br />
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I hope you find it useful.<br />
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More than anything else, please let me know how you liked it or if you did not and, if there is something I needed to improve upon.<br />
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Your feedback will provide me with the inspiration that I need.<br />
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Best regards!<br />
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Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-84202554616928961032015-09-03T07:51:00.000+05:302015-09-04T06:26:52.372+05:30India... for the uninitiated - Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Not that there is a dearth in number of articles on or around India and yet, sometimes it appears, the general population is not much aware of India as they are about some of the other prominent nations in the world. This article is a humble attempt at uncovering some of the mysteries surrounding India by someone like me, who has seen some of the best (and some of the worst) of both worlds!<br />
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This is the first part of a series of articles on India and her people.<br />
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So, are you some time planning to visit India and not sure what to expect? Let me start with some bullet points on what exactly you should not miss if you are travelling to India.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">1. Architecture </span><br />
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Do not miss the ancient architecture in various states. Some prominent ones are provided below:<br />
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<b>Taj Mahal, Agra</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-u-hQ4NqVewD594wt8WOIeTmb5AXwK7gdkLmAQgDpEvzSeswShAujg3hTztzn02nD_XLiGaO4qXT2PBrmOSk1DI9EeYmm_PM048EV3zSZoOoL77uIVVwuEUSOE6D0chUz2D_1TlNPGzFm/s1600/taj_mahal_main.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-u-hQ4NqVewD594wt8WOIeTmb5AXwK7gdkLmAQgDpEvzSeswShAujg3hTztzn02nD_XLiGaO4qXT2PBrmOSk1DI9EeYmm_PM048EV3zSZoOoL77uIVVwuEUSOE6D0chUz2D_1TlNPGzFm/s400/taj_mahal_main.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Taj Mahal was built in 1632 by the Mughal emperor <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shah_Jahan">Shah Jahan</a> to house the remains of his cherished wife, the Taj Mahal stands on the southern bank of the Yamuna River in Agra, India. It remains one of the major wonders in the world and has inspired generations throughout history.<br />
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<b>Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqK9qGV9DQRuQ0BzwSPfsjcH606f4ajq5ei-8VbNzBHcICPhd55183kNDDnfcQ8ntTVH-fNeZ2h5TMs1FkoOgfNjeoOWrQf4-R8OJYP2AWELxnjys5sFvF_eglzn1lLlhwPZuoWtLlyZiS/s1600/victoria-memoria-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqK9qGV9DQRuQ0BzwSPfsjcH606f4ajq5ei-8VbNzBHcICPhd55183kNDDnfcQ8ntTVH-fNeZ2h5TMs1FkoOgfNjeoOWrQf4-R8OJYP2AWELxnjys5sFvF_eglzn1lLlhwPZuoWtLlyZiS/s400/victoria-memoria-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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On the death of Queen Victoria in January 1901, Lord Curzon, who was then Viceroy of India, placed before the public the question of setting up a fitting memorial to the Queen. He suggested that the most suitable memorial would be a "stately", spacious, monumental and grand building surrounded by an exquisite garden.</blockquote>
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The memorial houses a wonderful historical museum and visited by hundreds of people every day. Kolkata, as a city, is well known as the place where the Victoria Memorial is situated.</div>
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<b>Konark Sun Temple</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_XRsB55WdI9_uLRiy1AZZFEysWc41Qblo5wSF35iZ338W5Ml-iaP_pF0-zu0MZ4EaxFdzVnPoP4iZxiXGTHO4_CMxUY07tF4jBO_o_nSBAGVPyLnPZ4kzdKRE1bytRudUVCC-Pb1nziW/s1600/Konark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX_XRsB55WdI9_uLRiy1AZZFEysWc41Qblo5wSF35iZ338W5Ml-iaP_pF0-zu0MZ4EaxFdzVnPoP4iZxiXGTHO4_CMxUY07tF4jBO_o_nSBAGVPyLnPZ4kzdKRE1bytRudUVCC-Pb1nziW/s400/Konark.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Sun Temple of Konark, built in the middle of 13th century, is a massive conception of artistic magnificence and engineering dexterity. King Narasimhadeva I, the great ruler of the Ganga dynasty had built this temple, with the help of 1200 artisans within a period of 12 years (1243-1255 A.D.). Since the ruler used to worship the Sun, the temple was considered as a chariot for the Sun God. Konark Temple was designed in the form of a gorgeously decorated chariot mounted on 24 wheels , each about 10 feet in diameter, and drawn by 7 mighty horses.</blockquote>
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<b>The temple at Khajuraho</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8893p0gsxE-FvAt1DEB-EZJIQI7XreM79tQnHAf1346TeCMsJMWORNDbJsSX6kn0y4lgcs-mlzz-C8EvIVPSCntwpLzK-lhlJh-lU9AZzAZVZjlxi-G5WUtAkebR_-Gnr2gK0eEZKNvgO/s1600/The-world-famous-temple-of-Khajuraho-India.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8893p0gsxE-FvAt1DEB-EZJIQI7XreM79tQnHAf1346TeCMsJMWORNDbJsSX6kn0y4lgcs-mlzz-C8EvIVPSCntwpLzK-lhlJh-lU9AZzAZVZjlxi-G5WUtAkebR_-Gnr2gK0eEZKNvgO/s400/The-world-famous-temple-of-Khajuraho-India.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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The temple of Khajuraho is well known for the architectural marvel as well as for many figures inscribed throughtout the architecture - with exquisite details.</div>
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Most Khajuraho temples were built between 950 and 1050 CE by the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandela">Chandela</a> dynasty.</blockquote>
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<b>Mahabodhi Temple</b></div>
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Quoting <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1056">UNESCO</a>:</div>
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The Mahabodhi Temple Complex is one of the four holy sites related to the life of the Lord Buddha, and particularly to the attainment of Enlightenment. The first temple was built by Emperor Asoka in the 3rd century B.C., and the present temple dates from the 5th or 6th centuries. It is one of the earliest Buddhist temples built entirely in brick, still standing in India, from the late Gupta period.</blockquote>
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While there are hundreds of other architectural marvels to look forward to, this article is merely a first part of a series on India and the others will be covered in due course of time.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">2. Culture of India</span></div>
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India is a land as diverse as you can imagine. Here are a few facts for your reference:</div>
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As per <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/india/2013/09/07/india-speaks-780-languages-220-lost-in-last-50-years-survey/">this Reuters article</a>, India speaks 780 languages, although 220 were lost in the last 50 years!</div>
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Here are some details:</div>
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Official languages: Hindi, English as per <a href="https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Official_Languages_Act,_1963">Official Languages Act, 1963</a>.</div>
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Other <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers_in_India">prominent regional languages</a>: Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, Tamil, Urdu, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi, Assamese, Maithili, Bhilli, Santali, Kashmiri, Nepali, Gondi, Sindhi, Konkani, Dogri, Khandesi, Kurukh, Tulu, Manipuri, Bodo, Khasi, Mundari, Ho</div>
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Although with westernization majority of India (in cities) can be seen in casual wear much like the West, traditional wear is very popular as well. Have a look at some of the regional costumes in India.</div>
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<b>Bengali:</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJ3thv5qy_m-dQYxSPUyeen0u3xWaWoumBVYnScOBGzbpEGVwHBcb5XQ3ufPm4_v1YoKgYXA44Hnsus7qhmHxE6PwcqlpxfmyvSfwAXN0rxRUtQOskd221YvabbaFXSuNtulx9qpH_w_8/s1600/bengali.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuJ3thv5qy_m-dQYxSPUyeen0u3xWaWoumBVYnScOBGzbpEGVwHBcb5XQ3ufPm4_v1YoKgYXA44Hnsus7qhmHxE6PwcqlpxfmyvSfwAXN0rxRUtQOskd221YvabbaFXSuNtulx9qpH_w_8/s400/bengali.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<b>Punjabi </b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLv4E6quSZZ6YqxWzbZP80s7jvDD3BGkYEfrI2Hi4jf_5hwhvnnM2lw81O6dpu7lUz0x4raCISQRiMuG1wbzN5VnlctSLDZZ9yRIYCjxaoENMa_uvqDwbVe2yDTSzs6aRjTcZ5V_N3JGrb/s1600/punjabi+dress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLv4E6quSZZ6YqxWzbZP80s7jvDD3BGkYEfrI2Hi4jf_5hwhvnnM2lw81O6dpu7lUz0x4raCISQRiMuG1wbzN5VnlctSLDZZ9yRIYCjxaoENMa_uvqDwbVe2yDTSzs6aRjTcZ5V_N3JGrb/s400/punjabi+dress.jpg" width="246" /></a></div>
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<b>Telugu</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJ7wTSZbVz9pLqmNVUAxfCp3PujO5kFteW5vmm6vttkdIY6DoWDg_Fx3Tb2jlROKDoYLCEecinCu_pDNEgPPsJGqmC09Dm3AUvBIi_pao1bxLR0040wlwM5GWsBpULAalzZLxBI1PuOEK/s1600/Telugu-Attire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="143" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDJ7wTSZbVz9pLqmNVUAxfCp3PujO5kFteW5vmm6vttkdIY6DoWDg_Fx3Tb2jlROKDoYLCEecinCu_pDNEgPPsJGqmC09Dm3AUvBIi_pao1bxLR0040wlwM5GWsBpULAalzZLxBI1PuOEK/s400/Telugu-Attire.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Gujarati</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRmu_yXdByf_AyQw7efzLiNnLUFO7zm5cOF8f9x8NhGATbxK_hRVtYg-nuVmsP5ZbXDO-pi11pDJJLkO8XOIRN9f5T7WXd5AdhsJNhJkVgXiDWZotaAZjav0qgxVMP6gdo2T047ytndd1E/s1600/MOI000016861.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRmu_yXdByf_AyQw7efzLiNnLUFO7zm5cOF8f9x8NhGATbxK_hRVtYg-nuVmsP5ZbXDO-pi11pDJJLkO8XOIRN9f5T7WXd5AdhsJNhJkVgXiDWZotaAZjav0qgxVMP6gdo2T047ytndd1E/s400/MOI000016861.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<b>Kashmiri</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAk_ZcWCbDgXPjg5skBN1rGJH4O7phY8qVg__Mn_LndFYys2bebIEq7bps6yMMHGTQCVL3w5zYucrMdkAR879w7_QltiSGReps-9K7WPaug1cKVaNtVL1biUVQsxTVnt4O7v6OFwn2KWQf/s1600/A_Kashmiri_couple.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAk_ZcWCbDgXPjg5skBN1rGJH4O7phY8qVg__Mn_LndFYys2bebIEq7bps6yMMHGTQCVL3w5zYucrMdkAR879w7_QltiSGReps-9K7WPaug1cKVaNtVL1biUVQsxTVnt4O7v6OFwn2KWQf/s400/A_Kashmiri_couple.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Manipuri</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDRDXk-esCKSBso1iQ1sWw5TlvT6xZl9966x8Br0cbh9qpMoqh8ygLrRHfIlfk3l7Fj8USqpvKZu9UIcXHdZY35mRLZDdTAfX0qIx3nB10EbKEEI-SOvFa1WATUfobgVp-v87nX-cDDZJM/s1600/manipuri.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="367" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDRDXk-esCKSBso1iQ1sWw5TlvT6xZl9966x8Br0cbh9qpMoqh8ygLrRHfIlfk3l7Fj8USqpvKZu9UIcXHdZY35mRLZDdTAfX0qIx3nB10EbKEEI-SOvFa1WATUfobgVp-v87nX-cDDZJM/s400/manipuri.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b>Marathi</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUGne02FFusgk8Q1iXj4gT7_H0DgR8L7PgCI9XMldfsjkUvP5LdbL1MY2zgn3gtA3B3ETnfBSMr1UnCkniIRRMJ1iD5-X2B1_ME1ayAl3sEnc963FblESb0s8qwUPsHKlGfZFlaFlFinG6/s1600/marathi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUGne02FFusgk8Q1iXj4gT7_H0DgR8L7PgCI9XMldfsjkUvP5LdbL1MY2zgn3gtA3B3ETnfBSMr1UnCkniIRRMJ1iD5-X2B1_ME1ayAl3sEnc963FblESb0s8qwUPsHKlGfZFlaFlFinG6/s400/marathi.jpg" width="297" /></a></div>
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<b>Tamil</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIAW6RWJ_XEGq17N7bBhkiR8HeoRn20z4hnvDsc0WJYe3SmsL6ekWGyR0zbAVaDofVzsIVqKzkW-aHI05UgNraMV4aH0gxZ5jWsbNPeWVMJc4wHQEAx596xUw44IfbYyd4i4Sah8oaFB37/s1600/tamil.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIAW6RWJ_XEGq17N7bBhkiR8HeoRn20z4hnvDsc0WJYe3SmsL6ekWGyR0zbAVaDofVzsIVqKzkW-aHI05UgNraMV4aH0gxZ5jWsbNPeWVMJc4wHQEAx596xUw44IfbYyd4i4Sah8oaFB37/s320/tamil.jpg" width="244" /></a></div>
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<b>Rajasthani</b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM2YLVd-8UHeVE6AsPmiU8EC5FfZjvyFu95uNz3Q5ER8KBBxYWO4z9b2KjagRJbplN6HukP1Y4CuqIlGd-jtlYb7XpW7CJHrJpO0lL1E_pdJtS9f7aYDuuhXwoCpYMiiHrCluwsIbyXn-Z/s1600/rajasthan1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM2YLVd-8UHeVE6AsPmiU8EC5FfZjvyFu95uNz3Q5ER8KBBxYWO4z9b2KjagRJbplN6HukP1Y4CuqIlGd-jtlYb7XpW7CJHrJpO0lL1E_pdJtS9f7aYDuuhXwoCpYMiiHrCluwsIbyXn-Z/s400/rajasthan1.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A kid dancing in traditional attire during a festival in Mewar</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxwGRa33uEIEDH41zUP7ghUncRP5TDG3Tnk1mUqocBYvE9xXYO3MWPKIVtqjHh1UfFoxr6YRxwX5QoCLwsi4ezeNWIiBRq61nYsSCOFWoEhF5kbNXR3DFR3kpkAc2fknFHyzX8zNihMMd/s1600/rajasthan2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxwGRa33uEIEDH41zUP7ghUncRP5TDG3Tnk1mUqocBYvE9xXYO3MWPKIVtqjHh1UfFoxr6YRxwX5QoCLwsi4ezeNWIiBRq61nYsSCOFWoEhF5kbNXR3DFR3kpkAc2fknFHyzX8zNihMMd/s400/rajasthan2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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There are many many other costumes based on regional identities but since this is just the first part, I shall move on.</div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">3. Food</span></div>
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Indian food is popular throughout the world and each region produces some of the best cuisines you can think of. While it is not possible to include every food here in this article. I shall try to place some of my favorites here and hopefully you get a chance to taste each one. Do not forget to let me know how you liked them.</div>
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<b><u>Snacks / </u></b><b><u>Starters</u></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEegjImNNZUf26MtCkkK9eJ8P22ZkCb_A_5Relzpq-6eMvrep7Fu8y8bYXJlAHImdkG5Kxrz7hgpheki0kpAY-A3jIqONwDvWxedexQs1N99GW9sfhhntr6_gDaWgE5Rr_yhC3LPlVxTG/s1600/samosa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeEegjImNNZUf26MtCkkK9eJ8P22ZkCb_A_5Relzpq-6eMvrep7Fu8y8bYXJlAHImdkG5Kxrz7hgpheki0kpAY-A3jIqONwDvWxedexQs1N99GW9sfhhntr6_gDaWgE5Rr_yhC3LPlVxTG/s320/samosa.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Samosa - Samosa is a triangular kind of snack that can be either veg or non-veg. It is stuffed inside with tasty spicy fillings while the crust is hardened through deep fry.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim-s7Rybe6u8T7nCiROvXaBqaiZTVAh7Av3U7pln-fL7jsi6JzbC2k40E5t6F34gY0k-x759j9IgofEMn-kFjMqp1ZkGokBi1NB4vBeOqTbSu4560OjQB8hCBjZenncw1AG8qgHuMYl0oX/s1600/egg+cutlet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim-s7Rybe6u8T7nCiROvXaBqaiZTVAh7Av3U7pln-fL7jsi6JzbC2k40E5t6F34gY0k-x759j9IgofEMn-kFjMqp1ZkGokBi1NB4vBeOqTbSu4560OjQB8hCBjZenncw1AG8qgHuMYl0oX/s320/egg+cutlet.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vegetable chop / Egg cutlet: I am covering both with one picture as they both might look similar, but tastes different. Vegetable chop is created mainly with a filling of carrot cooked in spices with a crust created with bread crumbs, flour etc. and fried. Egg cutlet contains an egg filling along with filling of vegetables.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIC4DKkxQbD-JBqe8YigyxEpnuTMhgPhULXATUyS2KIDA-LWbAXLCRVo264aAL7DrDAZQXqfOj4ZHZ1jnElWYNEj6HcYMPrOD58Ej0faDl9I6Yq8gK6MZVWHwRmGKBfrjgCkH1bP84aV22/s1600/medu+vada.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIC4DKkxQbD-JBqe8YigyxEpnuTMhgPhULXATUyS2KIDA-LWbAXLCRVo264aAL7DrDAZQXqfOj4ZHZ1jnElWYNEj6HcYMPrOD58Ej0faDl9I6Yq8gK6MZVWHwRmGKBfrjgCkH1bP84aV22/s320/medu+vada.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Medu vada: This is a traditional south Indian snack.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSo0fVHmOrjeifRsCb-X-JelYzYbLwFbgwDVqEDULHsHe583MMYZK-FtIzE-KWOeSGKgXK8eJHRN6QaOKaycZgaufSoqTZc8HW9-x0FC-xS-y8M-LdEaHqAFxW3epjYX1jCF-syxQ8WHd/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-09-02+at+9.41.01+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYSo0fVHmOrjeifRsCb-X-JelYzYbLwFbgwDVqEDULHsHe583MMYZK-FtIzE-KWOeSGKgXK8eJHRN6QaOKaycZgaufSoqTZc8HW9-x0FC-xS-y8M-LdEaHqAFxW3epjYX1jCF-syxQ8WHd/s400/Screen+Shot+2015-09-02+at+9.41.01+PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pakoda: Pakoda can be of several kinds and I cannot pick one. They are all delicious. Can be created out of onion, paneer, chicken, mutton, bread, potato, chillies, tomatoes, spinach - well literally anything you can think of! </td></tr>
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<b><u>Main course</u></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOK2wln3O8OqvSkw0UQ51naYzjqVMVgzjJqZbsu4k6xe2WcalIduUAz-gmJSb6FC6lNQCBpV1aRcBQbQWM1kQwZesUFBPeXoX3cicqQAKJNOMG-jHAds1LPM2oAK9pUVVSdAm3GDq-0vvz/s1600/fried+rice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOK2wln3O8OqvSkw0UQ51naYzjqVMVgzjJqZbsu4k6xe2WcalIduUAz-gmJSb6FC6lNQCBpV1aRcBQbQWM1kQwZesUFBPeXoX3cicqQAKJNOMG-jHAds1LPM2oAK9pUVVSdAm3GDq-0vvz/s320/fried+rice.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fried Rice: Various ways of preparing it, can be veg as well as non-veg but delicious always</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCBJ8H06HQvexQu0LATfBn5DdvBonbliJ7WGSnFSl5wA7GyDIhU16BV3DkhN5E7Mif-GN2ni91hiFZwQglgT1NDZV6CyhbiWSaSWI4rsoyK9MnwBlyhWU7iiqC-WQc28fhjtzeWdssQ4k/s1600/alu+paratha.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhCBJ8H06HQvexQu0LATfBn5DdvBonbliJ7WGSnFSl5wA7GyDIhU16BV3DkhN5E7Mif-GN2ni91hiFZwQglgT1NDZV6CyhbiWSaSWI4rsoyK9MnwBlyhWU7iiqC-WQc28fhjtzeWdssQ4k/s320/alu+paratha.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alu paratha: Delcious to the core. Stuffed with potatoes ('alu' in hindu) fried with a soft crust of flour. Sorry I do not know how to prepare this, only know how to eat. :P</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02vfwbU3iZyqVzUhSXtEASx9SR1PJsHgcHtADgeuC972atyYs-lx02-u-V2fhBFZZCJwy1NsUoieY2q2Fn418ArC2VjgtsYPFm1rQbX072VdGu732E_9YaT06VW9AuxwR6NuWoN1YXbOF/s1600/dosa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj02vfwbU3iZyqVzUhSXtEASx9SR1PJsHgcHtADgeuC972atyYs-lx02-u-V2fhBFZZCJwy1NsUoieY2q2Fn418ArC2VjgtsYPFm1rQbX072VdGu732E_9YaT06VW9AuxwR6NuWoN1YXbOF/s320/dosa.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Masala dosa: A south Indian dish - very tasty. It may look like 'paratha' but it is not. It is what it is: delicious dosa!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3M-xHz-PTZJPbmV0NmKCeu1vV3QVXsHsCb2lCGkaaeAeC6tmyaK8nH0SlIQs9AlXHX6pm1jDJoZT9NEQzd_RzH88MIOY7ggxL6gEYvn2A-zYt83-ylVZoSV41xB10u5kciUcQhBsnd219/s1600/biryani1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3M-xHz-PTZJPbmV0NmKCeu1vV3QVXsHsCb2lCGkaaeAeC6tmyaK8nH0SlIQs9AlXHX6pm1jDJoZT9NEQzd_RzH88MIOY7ggxL6gEYvn2A-zYt83-ylVZoSV41xB10u5kciUcQhBsnd219/s1600/biryani1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Biryani: My favorite is the Hyderabadi dum biryani. Based on regions in India flavors and ingredients vary. For example in Kolkata you will also find potato in Biryani (which I like a lot)<br />
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<b><u>Side dishes</u></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_xoG3sfCkTJiPMHRyjWkdbXBL_5XP7WJpNhUAYWmPZkhbS_BRr1g3pvbHpB76JN1VFqHp8VzddPYhs1ssUnGlaYZXqXQNR6J2JGYmIQGUSuoGTu2XZIMhmHXTDLt4etPrzPjGE3D8Ori_/s1600/kosha-mangsho.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_xoG3sfCkTJiPMHRyjWkdbXBL_5XP7WJpNhUAYWmPZkhbS_BRr1g3pvbHpB76JN1VFqHp8VzddPYhs1ssUnGlaYZXqXQNR6J2JGYmIQGUSuoGTu2XZIMhmHXTDLt4etPrzPjGE3D8Ori_/s320/kosha-mangsho.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mutton kosha: This is more of a Bengali delicacy, prepared with goat meat. Those who eat this will be ready to forego any other dishes on that day! Thats how popular it is!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ4ZFp_XGryTqzu1sahBxlN1hAudfKH17taJ75KPg5JChju65QTDpdNHA4lW0Ds21c6zWrTtCTDb998Hb1sRbqY0-6Bq_I3K3plsrScnmRme9L-3nqOOJE1f_ql6nLOh4_0PL54x4y4-xp/s1600/hilsa.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ4ZFp_XGryTqzu1sahBxlN1hAudfKH17taJ75KPg5JChju65QTDpdNHA4lW0Ds21c6zWrTtCTDb998Hb1sRbqY0-6Bq_I3K3plsrScnmRme9L-3nqOOJE1f_ql6nLOh4_0PL54x4y4-xp/s320/hilsa.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bhapa ilish: If you love fish and know that ilish (also hilsha; scientific name: <span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; line-height: 18px; text-align: start;">Tenualosa ilisha </span>) is the queen of fishes. Found mainly in the fresh water rivers. This is again a bengali delicacy and if someone can challenge mutton kosha above as the most preferred Bengali dish then this is it ! If you are interested <a href="http://www.bongcookbook.com/2009/06/bhapa-ilish-steamed-hilsa.html">here is the recipe</a>. But remember this fish even after cooked has a million micro-bones. Bengalees have somehow learnt to eat fish from cats (joking) so they don't mind!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMs77Kpthy7nLhy1H8degh_RepinhCdgjQ8szt3zuP-M9bNzYxjxDIZMnd9MwWJcxjxmHSV-UTgedZ391DpLQwQzWJCAM9jdjxDsA159ZzPcWCIYsiKuvJ9DpWQcTgcGb-Az27PzwXhF2h/s1600/paneer+butter+masala.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMs77Kpthy7nLhy1H8degh_RepinhCdgjQ8szt3zuP-M9bNzYxjxDIZMnd9MwWJcxjxmHSV-UTgedZ391DpLQwQzWJCAM9jdjxDsA159ZzPcWCIYsiKuvJ9DpWQcTgcGb-Az27PzwXhF2h/s320/paneer+butter+masala.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paneer butter masala: Tasty Indian cheese curry prepared with butter. This can be mouth-watering!<br />
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...TO BE CONTINUED</div>
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Well, there are a million other dishes and a milion other stuff to discuss about India and her people, but you will have to wait for part 2 of "India... for the uninitiated". Till then, adieu !</div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>List of references and sources used in this article:</b></span></div>
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www-tc.pbs.org/thestoryofindia/images/gallery/taj_mahal_main.jpg</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.history.com/topics/taj-mahal</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.itchotels.in/Hotels/images/victoria-memoria-2.jpg</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.victoriamemorial-cal.org/history.html</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.easydestination.net/Konark.jpg</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.thekonark.in</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://nirvanadmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/The-world-famous-temple-of-Khajuraho-India.jpg</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khajuraho_Group_of_Monuments</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.walkthroughindia.com/attraction/10-most-famous-historical-monuments-of-india/</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.7wonders.org/images/asia/india/mahabodhi-temple/mahabodhi-temple.jpg</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/47/b2/54/47b254581ec339ba083b08dd0dd463af.jpg</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://im.hunt.in/cg/Andhra/About/Profile/Culture/Telugu-Attire.jpg</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://i0.wp.com/www.thelovelyplanet.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/A_Kashmiri_couple.jpg</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/dynamic/01765/DE22_PAGE_3_C_G_DE_1765234f.jpg</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.indianetzone.com/photos_gallery/49/Costumes_of_Tamil_Nadu.jpg</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.corbisimages.com/images/Corbis-42-23995147.jpg?size=67&uid=d10a7ccd-ec56-483c-ba66-c926dd312f2e</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://i.ytimg.com/vi/iIVJN0Yz1Y0/maxresdefault.jpg</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ba/b8/f6/bab8f6309e6a0499821461364253e169.jpg</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">http://www.tejifoods.com/teji/images/stories/biryani1.jpg</span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: xx-small;">www.google.com</span></li>
</ul>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">DISCLAIMER: NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENTS INTENDED. SOURCES HAVE BEEN SPECIFIED. THE CURRENT WORK HAS BEEN CREATED FOR NON-COMMERCIAL PURPOSES WITH AN INTENT TO ONLY ENLIGHTEN THE READERS. IN CASE OF ANY CONCERN, KINDLY CONTACT THE BLOG AUTHOR ON THE 'ABOUT ME' PAGE OF THIS BLOG.</span></div>
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Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-78423279902579705632015-08-26T05:50:00.003+05:302015-08-26T05:52:28.915+05:30My name will at least fly to Mars, if not me! <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<iframe frameborder="0" height="250" scrolling="no" src="http://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/insight/?action=getcert&e=1&pid=3&cn=648976805886" width="550"></iframe>
<br />
<img src="http://www.mylivesignature.com/signatures/54487/76/D43A8DC86CAF676F62C507C4E5567F87.png" /></div>
Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-10171351001548356242015-07-31T09:52:00.000+05:302015-08-01T00:10:15.392+05:30Education - the past and the present<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="tr_bq">
Hello everyone, I am here with yet another blog post and this time the topic is rather vast and difficult, if I may say.</div>
<br />
So, let me start with this famous quote from Swami Vivekananda - "Education is the manifestation for perfection already in man."<br />
<br />
The great philosopher from India assumes that perfection is inherent to mankind and just remains to be realized. This realization is brought about by proper education.<br />
<br />
Now, one would think - How different this is from the education an average Indian receives today. Is it just about degrees and diplomas and placements? Where did knowledge go? Without knowledge how self-realization is even possible, let alone perfection.<br />
<br />
No, the intent of this article is not to impart philosophical <i>gyan</i> to my esteemed readers. I am aware that most, if not all, of you are immensely knowledgeable, so my humble article does not intend to influence you in any manner.<br />
<br />
However, my observation has been - the mode of education is changing thick and fast. I shall try to focus a little bit about education in pre-historic India and then gradually move to modern times.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Prehistoric education [<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedic_period">Vedic age</a> - 1500 BC – 500 BC]</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We learn from <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/education">Brittanica</a> that in those days education mainly aimed to "guide children to becoming good members of their <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/tribe-anthropology">tribe</a> or band."</blockquote>
The Brittanica article is immensely informative, so readers are advised to certainly take a look. I shall focus a bit on India here. Well, owing to caste system and division of labor in ancient India, only the <i>brahmins</i> were allowed to study as per <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurukula">Gurukul pratha</a></i>. [I shall not discuss caste system in this article which has been long abolished in India.]<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx3u0gMlrDZ7lApiaHDv0adebb994Cb7G7De2c6hOAvH2_DMXTEH0dnRx5_8M7wfWPTEvj0s7URs5OpZbBufUgO2TVLyHVtpGU5lFh-MHAZREWdlrcEqIs_jcRP89S6QjlMxAG0Y9MpOIX/s1600/class-room-under-banyan-tree-3478088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx3u0gMlrDZ7lApiaHDv0adebb994Cb7G7De2c6hOAvH2_DMXTEH0dnRx5_8M7wfWPTEvj0s7URs5OpZbBufUgO2TVLyHVtpGU5lFh-MHAZREWdlrcEqIs_jcRP89S6QjlMxAG0Y9MpOIX/s320/class-room-under-banyan-tree-3478088.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gurukul System</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Per <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/education">Brittanica</a> -<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The boy would leave his father’s house and enter his preceptor’s <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/ashrama">ashrama</a>, a home situated amid sylvan surroundings. The acarya would treat him as his own child, give him free education, and not charge anything for his boarding and lodging. The pupil had to tend the sacrificial fires, do the household work of his preceptor, and look after his cattle.<br />
The study at this stage consisted of the recitation of the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/art/Vedic-chant">Vedic mantras</a> (“hymns”) and the auxiliary sciences—<a href="http://www.britannica.com/science/phonetics">phonetics</a>, the rules for the performance of the sacrifices, <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/grammar">grammar</a>, astronomy, <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/prosody">prosody</a>, and <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/etymology">etymology</a>. The character of education, however, differed according to the needs of the caste. For a child of the priestly class, there was a definite syllabus of studies. The trayi-vidya, or the knowledge of the three Vedas—the most ancient of Hindu <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/scripture">scriptures</a>—was obligatory for him. During the whole course at school, as at college, the student had to observe <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/brahmacharya">brahmacharya</a>—that is, wearing simple dress, living on plain food, using a hard bed, and leading a celibate life.<br />
The period of studentship normally extended to 12 years. For those who wanted to continue their studies, there was no age limit. After finishing their education at an ashrama, they would join a higher centre of learning or a <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/university">university</a> presided over by a kulapati (a founder of a school of thought). Advanced students would also improve their knowledge by taking part in philosophical discussions at a parisad, or “<a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/academy-organization">academy</a>.” Education was not denied to women, but normally girls were instructed at home.<br />
The method of instruction differed according to the nature of the subject. The first duty of the student was to memorize the particular <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/Veda">Veda</a> of his school, with special emphasis placed on correct pronunciation. In the study of such literary subjects as law, <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/logic">logic</a>, rituals, and prosody, comprehension played a very important role. A third method was the use of parables, which were employed in the personal spiritual teaching relating to the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/Upanishad">Upanishads</a>, or conclusion of the Vedas. In higher learning, such as in the teaching of <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/Dharma-shastra">Dharma-shastra</a> (“Righteousness Science”), the most popular and useful method was catechism—the pupil asking questions and the teacher discoursing at length on the topics referred to him. Memorization, however, played the greatest role.</blockquote>
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<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Classical period [4th Century CE - 8th Century CE]</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
Per <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/education">Brittanica</a> -<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The 500 years from the 4th century ce to the close of the 8th, under the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/Gupta-dynasty">Guptas</a> and <a href="http://www.britannica.com/biography/Harsha">Harsha</a> and their successors, is a remarkable period in Indian history. It was the age of the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/university">universities</a> of Nalanda and Valabhi and of the rise of Indian sciences, mathematics, and astronomy. The university at <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/Nalanda">Nalanda</a> housed a population of several thousand teachers and students, who were maintained out of the revenues from more than 100 villages. Because of its fame, Nalanda attracted students from abroad, but the admission test was so strict that only two or three out of 10 attained admission. More than 1,500 teachers discussed more than 100 different dissertations every day. These covered the Vedas, logic, grammar, Buddhist and Hindu philosophy (Sankhya, Nyaya, and so on), astronomy, and medicine. Other great centres of Buddhist learning of the post-Gupta era were Vikramashila, <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/Odantapuri">Odantapuri</a>, and Jagaddala. The achievements in <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/science">science</a> were no less significant. <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/Aryabhata">Aryabhata</a> in the late 5th century was the greatest mathematician of his age. He introduced the concepts of zero and decimals. <a href="http://www.britannica.com/biography/Varahamihira">Varahamihira</a> of the Gupta age was a profound scholar of all the sciences and arts, from <a href="http://www.britannica.com/science/botany">botany</a> to astronomy and from military science to <a href="http://www.britannica.com/technology/civil-engineering">civil engineering</a>. There was also considerable development of the <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/medical-education">medical</a> sciences. According to contemporaries, more than eight branches of medical science, including <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/surgery-medicine">surgery</a> and <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/pediatrics">pediatrics</a>, were practiced by the physicians.<br />
These were the main developments in education prior to the Muslim invasions, beginning in the 10th century. Nearly every village had its schoolmaster, who was supported from local contributions. The Hindu schools of learning, known as pathasalas in western India and <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/tol">tol</a> in Bengal, were conducted by Brahman acaryas at their residence. Each imparted instruction in an advanced branch of learning and had a student enrollment of not more than 30. Larger or smaller establishments, specially endowed by rajas and other donors for the promotion of learning, also grew in number. The usual centres of learning were either the king’s capital, such as Kanauj, Dhar, Mithila, or Ujjayini, or a holy place, such as Varanasi, Ayodhya, Kanchi, or Nasik. In addition to Buddhist <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/vihara">vihara</a>s (monasteries), there sprang up Hindu <a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/matha">matha</a>s (<a href="http://www.britannica.com/topic/monk-monasticism">monk</a>s’ residences) and temple colleges in different parts of the country. There were also agrahara villages, which were given in charity to the colonies of learned Brahmans in order to enable them to discharge their scriptural duties, including teaching. Girls were usually educated at home, and vocational education was imparted through a system of apprenticeship. </blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9w1_BL5DaC4-N0jNGpkSezrAVBS8zv6qXxHSnTThJGMEJ5PfvMmJ9wFn_sRjKXCmETUGzDvJFW2YGNjApW77sUlHhI8RGEzZwn4oFs24OPUWHSSOUY8_xj6ZZANOT2UHDCPCGokZzOEsU/s1600/nalanda_university.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9w1_BL5DaC4-N0jNGpkSezrAVBS8zv6qXxHSnTThJGMEJ5PfvMmJ9wFn_sRjKXCmETUGzDvJFW2YGNjApW77sUlHhI8RGEzZwn4oFs24OPUWHSSOUY8_xj6ZZANOT2UHDCPCGokZzOEsU/s320/nalanda_university.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruins of Nalanda University</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
*** Please note that the world famous centre of learning <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalanda">Nalanda university</a> was demolished by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bakhtiyar_Khilji">Bakhtiyar Khilji</a>, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkic_peoples">Turkic</a> chieftain around 1200 CE, but <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nalanda_University">thankfully has been re-opened in 2012 with help from international bodies</a>. ***<br />
<br />
Now, let me skip the middle portion. Assume that I ride a time machine, have a long journey, a real comfortable sleep and land directly in 2015.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Education today</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
As per <a href="http://www.dreducation.com/2013/08/data-statistics-india-student-college.html">2012-2013 statistics</a>,<br />
There are 700 degree granting institutions and 35,500 affiliate colleges in India which provide full-time, part-time as well as distance education.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzpZQ7_I81F_8A1HGqesoNy9Fh9DG7A82TUf-ChgZtNmH8iWrdUkf_0MyAO25yXG-QIjHDCvMEhMb9OjlKcI8DNUWFQkT64MAeUHBYGebDZOmonS5p4mnRH1dxuD3-c96V3EEh3Rd6ETJP/s1600/can-stock-photo_csp19320315.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzpZQ7_I81F_8A1HGqesoNy9Fh9DG7A82TUf-ChgZtNmH8iWrdUkf_0MyAO25yXG-QIjHDCvMEhMb9OjlKcI8DNUWFQkT64MAeUHBYGebDZOmonS5p4mnRH1dxuD3-c96V3EEh3Rd6ETJP/s320/can-stock-photo_csp19320315.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
The new trend</h3>
Now the trend that I have been noticing is - with the advent of internet, gradually online education is becoming popular. Welcome to virtual education, they say. Now, these do not offer degrees or diplomas. They may or may not even provide certificates. But some salient points about these options are -<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>You study at your own pace, unless there is a homework to submit</li>
<li>You receive world-class education from renowned universities from the confines of your home.</li>
<li>The credibility of some of these facilitators like <a href="https://www.edx.org/">EDX</a>, <a href="https://www.coursera.org/">Coursera</a>, <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/">Khan Academy</a>, Udemy, Codecademy etc. etc. is gradually being recognized even by various organizations. </li>
<li>Many of the top-notch universities are also providing these programmes directly.</li>
<li>You have to go through the drill. The focus is not on memorizing sentences but on grasping concepts and applying them to real-world situations. The knowledge quotient is high.</li>
</ul>
<br />
So, now, dear readers - Did you ever take such a course? Would like to know your experiences and how it helped you in your career.<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Conclusion</h3>
<br />
Education has evolved a lot over the years - specially, the focus and the importance of subjects of study. One thing, that however has remained unchanged is the importance of knowledge and the way students can apply it in real world situations. The evaluation techniques are also evolving with many courses allowing open book tests. The main focus seem to be on skill building and application of skills acquired. The mode is immaterial, more informal and should I say, smart. Even grading techniques have changed a lot. It remains to be seen how this can evolve further. Hopefully, the purpose of education will continue to stay the same - "...to drive the manifestation for perfection already in man. "<br />
<br />
<br />
PS. The views expressed in this article are my own and may not reflect the thoughts of the organization I work for. All feedback appreciated.<br />
<br />
<br />
<img src="http://www.mylivesignature.com/signatures/54487/76/D43A8DC86CAF676F62C507C4E5567F87.png" /><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Image sources - </b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">http://comps.canstockphoto.com/can-stock-photo_csp19320315.jpg</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/x/class-room-under-banyan-tree-3478088.jpg</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">https://nalandauniversity.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/nalanda_university.jpg</span></div>
Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-82772739346143500202015-07-27T06:28:00.001+05:302015-07-27T10:29:10.887+05:30Big break and big data !<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My last article was written well over a year back. So much has transpired since then...<br />
<br />
I sometimes sit and wonder how many different things I have been juggling with, in life. I am not even talking about work here.<br />
<br />
My current stimulus to blogging comes from the fact that my better half has created a <a href="http://indranimazumdar.blogspot.com/">blog</a> of her own, which I honestly believe is awesome. That blog is supposed to be bi-lingual (languages being Bengali and English) and will (probably) focus on history, the subject she did her masters in.<br />
<br />
Anyway, so now that I have started to pen this article. I am wondering what to write about. So many things happened within this last one year, that I do not even know where to start and where to end. Micro-blogging and Facebook have taken up more of my time, I would think, the time I used to allocate to my passion for writing.<br />
<br />
Let me think for a moment.<br />
<br />
I have been thinking about writing a blog based on my learning and work in analytics and the current trends. I believe it will serve as a good exercise for me and a way to gather feedback from my esteemed readers as well.<br />
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<b>Machine learning and big data -</b></h2>
<br />
Over the past few days, I explored the topics of machine learning. One of the things that I definitely found exciting was the ability for smart systems to learn over time, gather experience and use that experience to make more accurate predictions after adjusting the underlying algorithms. This is smart, almost as smart as a human could get. As long as the initial set up is accurate and thoroughly tested, the end results could be amazing.<br />
<br />
So, what is machine learning?<br />
Per <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_learning">Wikipedia</a>,<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><b style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">Machine learning</b><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> is a subfield of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_science" style="background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; text-decoration: none;" title="Computer science">computer science</a><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Britannica_1-0" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: embed;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_learning#cite_note-Britannica-1" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a></sup><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> that evolved from the study of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pattern_recognition" style="background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; text-decoration: none;" title="Pattern recognition">pattern recognition</a><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> and </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computational_learning_theory" style="background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; text-decoration: none;" title="Computational learning theory">computational learning theory</a><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> in </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_intelligence" style="background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; text-decoration: none;" title="Artificial intelligence">artificial intelligence</a><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Britannica_1-1" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: embed;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_learning#cite_note-Britannica-1" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[1]</a></sup><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> Machine learning explores the construction and study of </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algorithm" style="background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; text-decoration: none;" title="Algorithm">algorithms</a><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> that can </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learning" style="background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; text-decoration: none;" title="Learning">learn</a><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">from and make predictions on </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data" style="background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; text-decoration: none;" title="Data">data</a><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;">.</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: embed;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_learning#cite_note-2" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[2]</a></sup><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> Such algorithms operate by building a </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematical_model" style="background-image: none; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; text-decoration: none;" title="Mathematical model">model</a><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> from example inputs in order to make data-driven predictions or decisions,</span><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-bishop_3-0" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: embed;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machine_learning#cite_note-bishop-3" style="background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration: none; white-space: nowrap;">[3]</a></sup><sup class="reference" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: embed; white-space: nowrap;">:2</sup><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px;"> rather than following strictly static program instructions.</span></span></blockquote>
I have been exploring some of the popular machine learning technologies in the market today. I checked out <a href="https://bigml.com/">BigML</a> the other day. BigML provides a nice user interface where you can create a free basic account, set up a source, create a dataset, create a model and generate predictions. The user interface is really intuitive and you can play with the data even if you do not have vast knowledge in statistics, although, yes a basic knowledge would be expected.<br />
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The other technology that I explored was <a href="http://www.ibm.com/analytics/watson-analytics/?cm_mmc=ppc-coherence-_-GoogleSearch-_-WatsonBeta_NA-_-ibmwatsonanalytics-exact-C24803TW&iio=BSWG&jm=-&cmp=C2480&ct=C24803TW&S_PKG=-&ct=C24803TW&jm=-&S_TACT=C24803TW&iio=BSWG&cmp=C2480&cr=google&cm=k&csr=Branded%7CSearch%7CWatson+Analytics%7CNA%7Cov26798%7C4851&ccy=us&ck=ibm%20watson%20analytics&cs=e&cn=Watson_Analytics-BR-4851&mkwid=sAhphcbXv-dc_52437156698_43246d30503_">IBM Watson Analytics</a>, floated by the <a href="http://www.ibm.com/en-us/homepage-d.html">Big blue</a>. Now, this I felt, is huge. Before I go into what I explored about this, take a look at the video from <a href="http://www.jeopardy.com/">Jeopardy</a>.<br />
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IBM Watson participated in this competition, 'his' competitors being the very smart Ken and Brad. However, Watson triumphed.<br />
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From the <a href="http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/27297.wss">official IBM site</a>, here is what we know about Watson, in brief -<br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;">Since its triumph on the television quiz show </span><em style="border: 0px; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jeopardy! </em><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 15px;">IBM has advanced Watson’s capabilities and made it available via the cloud. Watson now powers new consumer and enterprise services in the health care, financial services, retail and education markets. IBM has also opened the Watson platform to developers and entrepreneurs, enabling them to build and bring to market their own powered by Watson applications for a variety of industries.</span></span></span></blockquote>
So, what I did was I created a basic account on the Watson analytics portal and played a little bit with a sample data set. Although I am not a Watson analytics expert I found it very intuitive and learned new insights about the data. Apart from providing me answers to my own questions, Watson analytics also provided interesting relationship insights between data points. It even allowed me to take a look at the data closely - the quality of the data in the different columns, which ones were good, which ones were not that good, in terms of percentages. So, I was even able to carry out a refinement of the data and that allowed me to get an improved data set which I would again feed into the system and get more accurate insights. I did all of these with a basic account, but I am sure I would have been provided with more options and more detailed capabilities had I had a paid account.<br />
But in summary, did I like it? Yes I did.<br />
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I have had an analytics background in the past, having worked with Data Warehousing technologies for well over 9 years and this, I believe, is the next big thing. When you have an intelligent system that is learning from the data and making itself smarter over time, it makes a whole different story than what we have seen in the past. This is the next age - the age of data.<br />
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As IBM CEO Ginni Rometty <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertlenzner/2013/03/07/ibm-ceo-ginni-rometty-crowns-data-as-the-globes-new-natural-resource/">pointed out </a> -<br />
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Data is the globe's next natural resource.</blockquote>
Data is everywhere. Every keystroke I make. Every phone call. Every mobile text. Every tweet. Every word I say. Everything is data and we call this humongous volume of data as Big Data. How we tap into it to gather insight is the science which we have come to know as "Data Science".<br />
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The challenge we have here is to tap into this data in order to gain actionable insights. Every company (well almost every company) today have their own Data Warehouse with capabilities to generate analytics in order to further enhance their footprint on the market. But what next ! Predictive analytics is something that will provide the cutting edge to these organizations.<br />
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Take a look at this <a href="http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2013/05/10/15-ways-google-monitors-you">article</a> on how Google monitors us today. In this age of internet and social networking, one is tempted to go out to the world and make connections, be vocal and every little thing you do is tracked. The advertisements that you see on the gmail sidebar will more likely reflect something related to the last item you searched on Google ! And that is just a tiny example of what Google knows about you. In essence every person browsing the internet and using the hallowed search engine probably has some kind of a profile created - habits, likes, dislikes, beliefs - every little detail that probably even your partner is unaware of. Is that scary? Yes, definitely. Can you do anything about it? Probably not.<br />
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Sorry for digressing. So that "Google example" I just gave above is also part of analytics and data and big amount of data or big data.<br />
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The fact remains - Yes, data is the next best natural resource and if we know how to churn it well, it can make the world a better place. How?<br />
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Could we have predicted the way this gunman opened fire on innocents, yes I am referring to the <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/two-killed-least-six-injured-louisiana-theater-shooting-n397586">Louisiana shooting</a>. From the news article it looks like it was a planned out act by the person. If so, how did he plan it? What kind of Internet footprints did he leave? What were his facebook updates or his twitter tweets? What did he message? The police will of course find out everything, but we are working on reactive analytics.<br />
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Could we have been proactive? Could we have, based on the real time data, predicted that there was a 80% chance (I just put a number as an example) of this person getting violent and contributing to mass genocide? That is exactly where we wish to do with Big Data, with predictive analytics, with machine learning.<br />
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All feedback appreciated.<br />
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PS. The views expressed in this article are my own and do not necessarily represent the thoughts of the organization I work for.<br />
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<img src="http://www.mylivesignature.com/signatures/54487/76/D43A8DC86CAF676F62C507C4E5567F87.png" /></div>
Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-31787134654633636692014-06-13T22:11:00.000+05:302014-06-14T12:27:15.330+05:30Thoughts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDWxcXm-RWIZ0UaU79l2faJ0cvzadNbfw3usBFGmJg7OEuCRkxIFdoiBAexo_Q1UVUCWx0TqwcgidfJz6Dgos6_ggSBfKpFWXEPU3hofeZphKFk-ni-e-d0kOMADeluXJh9XrU2v0mIzH/s1600/science-behind-power-of-thoughts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSDWxcXm-RWIZ0UaU79l2faJ0cvzadNbfw3usBFGmJg7OEuCRkxIFdoiBAexo_Q1UVUCWx0TqwcgidfJz6Dgos6_ggSBfKpFWXEPU3hofeZphKFk-ni-e-d0kOMADeluXJh9XrU2v0mIzH/s1600/science-behind-power-of-thoughts.jpg" height="250" width="320" /></a></div>
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I stare around me. I see people - faces, emotions, logic, disdain, faith, virtue, anger, happiness, peace and probably everything else you can think of. Sometimes I feel - Did I really sign up for these? Lessons or assignments… Was I meant to be the one to solve this mystery called life? I figure - "Yes ofcourse".<br />
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And guess what, I cannot leave this classroom till the assignments are over. How I fare, what I do, how I solve… well, I do not know if it matters. There was a time in childhood, when elders told me - it mattered. But then, there were two view points - few people brought past life into the equation as well. I was like - "what?" Confirm me if I deal with tasks for this life only or are there carry-forwards from the past as well? I doubt if anyone has the answer…<br />
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Sometimes I ask myself - how do I feel? And I smile and say - "I am happy…"<br />
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"I am happy because life gave me much more than I ever wanted. I am happy because I am more fortunate than a huge chunk of the world's population. I am fortunate that <strike>I can vent my views freely. </strike> sometimes, I can vent some of my views freely. What is it with me? Am I scared? Am I timid? Scared of what - one might question. Scared of the unknown.<br />
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The unknown - Do you ever fear the unknown? Ever? Has it ever occurred to you that what you do not know yet might be the cause for your greatest misery and pain? And the worst part is, you are just helpless. There is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Does it erase my happiness? It does. Does it change my behavior? It does.<br />
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Sometimes I feel, if everybody thought the same way, what would happen? Person X thinks like Y and Y thinks like Z and just like that, every living human being thinks and acts identical. This can probably have two implications - either everyone will start fighting or everyone will be at peace and of course, the world would lack variety.<br />
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Variety of thoughts essential to make the world click. Thoughts are what make or break us.<br />
Incoherent thoughts like this post of mine, for example, does not add any value. Oh wait, probably it does, it clears up the mind…<br />
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<img src="http://www.mylivesignature.com/signatures/54487/76/D43A8DC86CAF676F62C507C4E5567F87.png" /><br />
Image courtesy: Internet (no copyright infringements intended)</div>
Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-85521408874597070492013-08-22T15:25:00.004+05:302013-08-22T15:26:22.191+05:30Our flawed reasoning<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqVgkD3UK_8Xa0jKZkIhzdFBW8VYKZdPtxK3L5sGzp-R_l0zaJeVx8GwX_qqxaiRzQnxAghGAR9BFeIcfCUDjVwMwRBsIE2arWqzaS1qQB-K3v80C_xi_8ksk_3TuoFdkpF8gwjzWcOFJu/s1600/thomas+paine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqVgkD3UK_8Xa0jKZkIhzdFBW8VYKZdPtxK3L5sGzp-R_l0zaJeVx8GwX_qqxaiRzQnxAghGAR9BFeIcfCUDjVwMwRBsIE2arWqzaS1qQB-K3v80C_xi_8ksk_3TuoFdkpF8gwjzWcOFJu/s1600/thomas+paine.jpg" /></a></div>
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<u><span class="fbUnderline"><b>How we depend on our faith -</b></span></u><br />
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When we do good, we say - its all His blessing.<br />
When we do bad, we say - its all His curse.<br />
When we are inflicted pain, we pray for His mercy and pray for punishment of the perpetrators.<br />
When we inflict pain, we say we are doing justice, as per His wishes.<br />
When we die in conflict, we say we attained immortality and bliss in heaven ruled by Him.<br />
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<u><span class="fbUnderline"><b>What really happens -</b></span></u><br />
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We are actually good at passing the buck at someone, without taking responsibility of our actions. We are weak inside!<br />
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When we do good, we have worked hard to achieve whatever we do.<br />
When we do bad, we have actually not done justice to our capabilities.<br />
When we are inflicted pain, we allow those to inflict such pain. We become weak ourselves!<br />
When we inflict pain, we are blinded by rage, by envy, by greed, by ego and we attribute it to a "cause".<br />
When
we die in conflict, we are bruised, hurt, injured before... we are in
pain and yet, it gives a mental satisfaction to think we will have
something better in another world. Ironically, we are imagining a world
that no one alive today has ever seen.<br />
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My research and
experiments on past life regression does give ideas on happiness and
peace, but in no way, conforms to the detailed accounts that people
world-over believe in.<br />
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Albeit faith is strong, but faith alone is not sufficient...<br />
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May the uniform ability of mankind to question scenarios be ignited indefinitely with an end to his blind belief!<br />
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<i>Image source: Internet, no copyright infringement intended.</i><br />
<img src="http://www.mylivesignature.com/signatures/54487/76/D43A8DC86CAF676F62C507C4E5567F87.png" /></div>
Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-69961758334407645592013-08-11T00:51:00.000+05:302013-08-11T00:52:11.355+05:30Social Networking - Security and Privacy - Part 1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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People often ask me about the best ways to achieve optimum privacy on a social networking site like facebook. You know, friends, I am an avid Facebooker and I do get a lot of inspiration from interacting with friends and also from my daily philosophical intake. But there are a few things I feel each one should follow.</div>
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<b><u>What is a profile?</u></b></div>
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Think of an analogy. Let a Facebook profile be a real image of yourself. You stroll in a market full of strangers. What do the strangers see? You! Your face, how you look, some may notice. Others may not.</div>
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Makes sense to give a profile snap. But wait, there is a difference. People who hit your facebook profile are deliberately checking you out without you even knowing it. But in real life, we can sometimes get to know when someone checks us out. So why take chances?</div>
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To do - </div>
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1. Make sure that the photo is visible to public, but not clickable. Advantages - You are preventing downloads of your photo on someone's personal machine, which further lowers the chances of the photos getting photoshopped or worse, misused. </div>
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2. Watch out for posts that you share with "public"... posts like - "I bought a diamond jewellary from zaveri brothers" could be tracked by someone stalking you. Do not take chances! Facebook has wonderful custom setting. If you wish to tell someone something, will you go and shout on a loudspeaker? unless it is an announcement? Probably not... Share stuff only with those who need to know. That way you are minimizing information overload on friends and also refraining from blurting out information to people who could do without it.</div>
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<b><u>Followers?</u></b></div>
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Hmm... welcome to the age of publicity! That I am writing this post may mean I am expecting some likes? Well, not really, I feel, so I write. If it is helpful to someone, I'll feel good. Off late I have come across non-celebrity profiles followed by thousands of people. I was puzzled by the reason as seriously I did not find any worthwhile "content"... but wait a minute. Two things - 1. The profile belonged to a girl, 2. The profile had attractive snaps! Bingo! Thats the reason for likes! It is understandable that people wish to become leaders. But unless you are a celebrity like Aishwarya or Hrithik, trust me you would not wish for that kind of publicity. The hard fact is - sharing and download is rampant for Facebook photos. Anything you post on internet today stays there forever. Take care of what you post! </div>
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To do - </div>
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1. It feels good to get some publicity. But it is even better to know why you are famous! If it is looks that people are after you for, well, unless you are pursuing a modelling career, watch out! You are being stalked with thousands recognizing you and following your every movement!</div>
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<b><u>Know your friends</u></b></div>
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<b><u></u></b>There was a time when I took pride in the number of friends on my friends list - not any more. What matters is quality, not quantity! Unless you know the person in real life or have interacted enough to know that the person is genuine, please do not add him / her. Might feel bad, but you are asking for trouble, otherwise!</div>
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That's all for now.. ciao! </div>
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Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-24289754575399913822013-07-20T08:50:00.000+05:302013-07-20T08:50:37.100+05:30The hypothetical case of two cages<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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This is a purely hypothetical situation. I create two cages.</div>
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Cage 1</div>
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Rules -</div>
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I am good and pretty much kind. I will take care of anyone who enters this cage. I will kill anyone who speaks against me or who refuses to enter this cage. The ones who stay in this cage, are obedient etc. will be treated lavishly by me. The others will be killed. I am basically a good person, so no need to worry. And by the way - once you are in this cage, you cannot go out. The more people you bring in this cage, the more reward I bestow upon you. Just remember, anyone who revolts has to be killed. But I am very kind. If anyone seeks apology or needs help, I will help him. I will advise those in my cage to also help him.</div>
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Cage 2</div>
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Rules -</div>
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I am good and pretty much kind. I will take care of anyone who enters this cage. But this is an open cage. You can go out anytime you wish to, but no one ever goes out, not because of me, but because of their own free will. I am kind also to those who speak against me, as I know, one day they will understand their folly. I am all for love and brotherhood. Love everyone, even your enemies, even those who speak against you. However, if someone tries to kill you, make sure to retort with full resistance and if needed, kill him. But I feel, the souls of each one are bound to the one eternal single source of light, so best to avoid killing your fellow species.</div>
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I WONDER, WHICH CAGE WOULD YOU RATHER BE IN?</div>
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<img src="http://www.mylivesignature.com/signatures/54487/76/D43A8DC86CAF676F62C507C4E5567F87.png" /></div>
Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-31806020636813895662013-06-25T23:43:00.000+05:302013-08-13T14:11:16.752+05:30The dream that "was" Air India - an experience of a life time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Hi friends</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Been away from my blog for some time...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But I have to write again.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This is about India's flagship carrier Air India which provided me with my worst travel experience till date. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u><b>Day 1 - June 1' 2013</b></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I began my journey on June 1' 2013 from the JFK, New York airport, USA bound for Kolkata, India. I was scheduled to reach on June 2' 2013.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I shall start off with my experience at the baggage counter. My baggage were overweight and had to be trimmed down. At the end of it, I ended up with a set of four check in luggage instead of three that I had initially planned for. I handed out 400$ to the Air India desk to pay for my 2 extra pieces of luggage. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT52OoaMeZdzhhoXJ_2Ua6qEgsxK7ku9CK4R_k8IUKp4dZSZQkuoD2L7D4kxfsNy_tZns1kZpeXqK9rc163UidSJrZPS1EN2FapWHnHsWtbcvneSDefAuRlmmTaj4w8btt8EcK__lzc1BF/s1600/Scan_Extra+luggage+receipt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT52OoaMeZdzhhoXJ_2Ua6qEgsxK7ku9CK4R_k8IUKp4dZSZQkuoD2L7D4kxfsNy_tZns1kZpeXqK9rc163UidSJrZPS1EN2FapWHnHsWtbcvneSDefAuRlmmTaj4w8btt8EcK__lzc1BF/s320/Scan_Extra+luggage+receipt.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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<i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Exhibit 1: Receipt at the JFK airport for extra 2 pieces of luggage</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Anyway, I had it done and after the needed security checks I boarded the flight. I took my window seat and found the headphones to be broken. The towels were clearly unwashed and had hair on them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I settled down and surrendered to my destiny with no idea that the worst part was yet to surface.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After a part of my journey, I decided to relieve myself and went to the washroom. The basin had hair and water clogged in it. There were hardly any napkins, some were strewn on the floor. The toilet bowl was difficult to use given the amount of dirt on it, but I shut down my senses and forgot about it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Anyway, the food was okay. The flying staff were courteous.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u><b>Day 2 - June 2' 2013</b><b> - Delhi Airport</b></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After a long journey, I finally reached Delhi Airport. At the Delhi Airport, I had my immigration done and proceeded to pick up my baggage from the carousel. Three of my bags arrived fine, but one did not. This had never happened to me before and I was at my wit's end as I stared blankly at the empty carousel revolving again and again with no bag on it left. The staff of Air India started inquiring of me if I was expecting another baggage to which I nodded a nervous yes! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I took out the 4 luggage claim tags provided to me at the JFK Airport and provided them to the Air India desk so that they could file the PIR (Property Irregularity Report) on my behalf. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgpxA2R9VjcOteGAxhkUEC4mt5wrNPzZ-rLhVfF0ymfy0WiAM_v1ZJIg9MCghm7Dh_0EBLzc9UCskzkaOPFxD9fv9XqSBsP-nA4pAU5G_RTiTeE93n_PHbT9KVJKzwyg5IlbYLeANU64s/s1600/img001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZgpxA2R9VjcOteGAxhkUEC4mt5wrNPzZ-rLhVfF0ymfy0WiAM_v1ZJIg9MCghm7Dh_0EBLzc9UCskzkaOPFxD9fv9XqSBsP-nA4pAU5G_RTiTeE93n_PHbT9KVJKzwyg5IlbYLeANU64s/s320/img001.jpg" width="247" /></a></div>
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<i style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Exhibit 2: Property Irregularity Report (PIR) copy</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I was told that this was a normal phenomenon and that I should expect my bag to arrive by the next flight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At this time, I was worried, but was taken by the assurances and proceeded with my journey.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I was supposed to take the Air India flight from Delhi at 5PM IST, but found out that it had been rescheduled at 6PM IST. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I boarded the flight and this leg of the journey was event less. The food was good and the flying staff were courteous. I did not need the washroom (thankfully).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><u><b>Day 2 - June 2' 2013 - Kolkata Airport</b></u></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I landed at the Kolkata airport and immediately started waiting at the carousel for my bags to arrive. The ones I received at the Delhi airport arrived fine, but the one that was missing was still missing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I checked with the Air India person who was on a call at that time. He seemed to be more interested in his call than about speaking with me. Anyway, I finally received a dry reply that I would have to call the following day at a land line number if I needed any information.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I was happy about reaching home but my happiness was marred by this sad incident.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The next few days were spent in endless calls and emails with the Air India baggage services team based in Delhi. Finally I was told that the bag was still at JFK and found in tagless condition in the Delta premises!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">On Wed, Jun 5, 2013 at 11:15 AM, DEL BAGSVCS <span dir="ltr">
<<a href="mailto:DEL.BAGSVCS@airindia.in" target="_blank">DEL.BAGSVCS@airindia.in</a>
></span> wrote:</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Dear Sir,</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">This has reference to your mail below.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">At the outset please accept our sincere apology for the inconvenience caused.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We wish to advise you that the bag is traced with Newyork Delta without tag but same has your </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">name and address on it.We have requested Delta airlines to forward this bag to India but unfortunately</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">no forwarding details are advised so far.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We are requesting our Newyork office to laise with Delta and revert on priority basis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">We shall keep you advise the status.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Regards</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Harminder Kaur</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Baggage Services Delhi</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I was unable to understand how an Air India checked-in bag could be found in tagless condition. This took another few days just to get Delta re-deliver this bag to Air India JFK to move it to India and this email probably helped.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br />From: DEL BAGSVCS <del .bagsvcs="" airindia.in=""><br /></del></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Date: Thu, Jun 6, 2013 at 4:06 PM</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Subject: AHLDELAI49953/OHDJFKDL14329</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">To: Donald.h.ricker@delta.com, Chiranjib Mazumdar <chiranjibmazumdar1 gmail.com=""><br />Cc: JFK Baggage Services <jfkbagstatus airindiausa.com="">, Riwo Norbhu <riwo .norbhu="" airindia.in=""><br /><br /><br />Dear Mr Ricker,<br /><br />Greetings !<br /><br />This has reference to the trailing mail.<br /><br />We wish to bring to your notice that the above OHDJFKDL14329 is definite match for our<br />AHLDELAI49953 favour Mr Chiranjib Mazumdar.<br /><br />Despite our ROH requests/PXF messages/TELE typt msgs to forward the above OHD on firav to Delhi on 03JUN/04JUN/05JUN,<br />the same was forwarded to HDQDL on board DL1731/03JUN under rush tags DL051929/DL282723.<br /><br />We need your urgent intervention in the matter as baggage contains very important documents and required by<br />passenger on urgent basis.It has become very difficult for us to explain the passenger regarding delay in<br />getting the bag from Delta.<br /><br />Regards<br />Harminder Kaur<br />Baggage Services Delhi<br /><br />JFKAI-You are also requested to liaise with Delta and revert with forwarding details.</riwo></jfkbagstatus></chiranjibmazumdar1></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Finally I was told that the bag would reach on June 10' 2013. I was happy about it and even appreciated the person who had put her effort in getting the bag delivered.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br />From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Chiranjib Mazumdar</b> <span dir="ltr"><chiranjibmazumdar1 gmail.com=""></chiranjibmazumdar1></span><br />Date: Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 11:51 AM<br />Subject: Re: AHLDELAI49953/OHDJFKDL14329<br />To: DEL BAGSVCS <del .bagsvcs="" airindia.in=""><br /></del></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Hi Harminder</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Thanks a lot!!!</b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Really appreciate your hard work on this.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Please let me know when the bag is boarded for Kolkata!</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">
Thanks again!<span class="HOEnZb"><span style="color: #888888;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="HOEnZb"><span style="color: #888888;">Chiranjib</span></span><br /><br /><br />On Mon, Jun 10, 2013 at 11:31 AM, DEL BAGSVCS <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:DEL.BAGSVCS@airindia.in" target="_blank">DEL.BAGSVCS@airindia.in</a>></span> wrote:</span></span>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dear Sir,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Greetings !</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">This has reference to mail below.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We wish to advise you that bag is received in Delhi just now.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We shall clear the bag from customs and advise you the forwarding details for Kolkatta.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Regards</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Harminder Kaur</span></div>
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Air India Kolkata finally delivered the bag to me on June 11' 2013. But my happiness was converted to doubt the moment I had a look at the lock.</div>
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My TSA lock was intact but the hooks were opened. The lock had been broken! It was temporarily sealed with a yellow tape. The person who delivered the bag asked for tips and I replied back - "I would have, had the lock not been broken."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8HUWQRm02mzZLQeVYBpSAgJ9bSYfuniKf1tZgdE3zT9cytsAvhEoyMWYwbwBKzotAueDIFV44s4GbgsjUtelbHeWFHdJqbsIcjnRiZpwKeaJ3bH38VkhevyMdh3Fpi_dwvJOU_rjr9j_N/s1600/20130625_231939.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8HUWQRm02mzZLQeVYBpSAgJ9bSYfuniKf1tZgdE3zT9cytsAvhEoyMWYwbwBKzotAueDIFV44s4GbgsjUtelbHeWFHdJqbsIcjnRiZpwKeaJ3bH38VkhevyMdh3Fpi_dwvJOU_rjr9j_N/s320/20130625_231939.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPFelVXULBWmSTLgZt68ZxtOTnDMqvrvgsGSK2eKtcmpT1PI37vzg__LBZWEdfwzPhXogMKrsDRdTWtrnigSRDAlTlKfphXCQ5ruiIPdM30TRybWyi_tCaDjYfTs0pztDr_St4rGfKEPE/s1600/20130625_232032.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPPFelVXULBWmSTLgZt68ZxtOTnDMqvrvgsGSK2eKtcmpT1PI37vzg__LBZWEdfwzPhXogMKrsDRdTWtrnigSRDAlTlKfphXCQ5ruiIPdM30TRybWyi_tCaDjYfTs0pztDr_St4rGfKEPE/s320/20130625_232032.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><i>Picture Notes: Please observe the TSA lock intact, but one hook has been tampered and displaced from its base, so it is dangling by the lock. The other end is fixed as usual, but of course this helped the thieves steal.</i></span></span></div>
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I could not wait to check my bag after I returned home with it and yes, my worst fears had come true!</div>
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This is what was missing -</div>
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Wrist Watches - Count 4<br />
Macbook charger - Count 2<br />
Commemorative 50 states of USA quarter set - Count 1 <br />
Portable 2TB Seagate hard disk - Count 1<br />
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Apple IPad Charger - Count 1</div>
Dolica Camera Tripod - Count 1</div>
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The loss, more than monitory, was of emotional value as some of the items were intended for gifts and even the others have to be purchased by me all over again! </div>
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I got in touch with Air India and notified them about this loss...</div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">---------- Forwarded message ----------</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">From: Chiranjib Mazumdar <chiranjibmazumdar1 gmail.com=""><br />Date: Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 6:02 PM<br />Subject: Re: AHLDELAI49953/OHDJFKDL14329<br />To: DEL BAGSVCS <del .bagsvcs="" airindia.in=""><br /></del></chiranjibmazumdar1></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Cc: baggageservicesccu@gmail.com, CCU BAGSVCS <ccu .bagsvcs="" airindia.in="">, ER CustomerService <ialcser airindia.in=""><br /><br /><br />Hi - Please find below the updated list of missing items -<br />Wrist Watches - Count 4<br />Macbook charger - Count 2<br />Commemorative 50 states of USA quarter set - Count 1<br />Portable 2TB hard disk - Count 1<br />Dolica tripod - Count 1<br />Ipad2 charger - Count 1<br />Sorry, if I knew that my items will be stolen from your "esteemed" carrier, I would have listed everything down prior to boarding my aircraft.<br />I shall update my list as I remember stuff I had.<br />Please let me know what you can do!<br /><br /><br />On Tue, Jun 11, 2013 at 4:36 PM, DEL BAGSVCS <del .bagsvcs="" airindia.in=""> wrote:</del></ialcser></ccu></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Dear Mr. Mazumdar,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> This has reference to our telephonic conversation and your trailing mail regarding some items alleged to be missing from your mishandled baggage delivered by our Kolkata Office today.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> At the outset, please accept our sincere apologies for all the inconvenience caused to you due to the above.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Further, please be advised that as per procedure, the Station which delivers the mishandled baggage, is required to conclude any claim which may arise post-delivery of the same. Since the mishandled baggage was delivered by our Kolkata Office, we request you to liaise with them. This mail is being marked to the Kolkata Office also for their necessary action.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Thanking You and assuring you of our prompt attention at all times.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Yours faithfully,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> R.R. Khurana</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> Dy. Manager- Baggage Services/INTL.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> -----Chiranjib Mazumdar <chiranjibmazumdar1 gmail.com=""> wrote: -----<br /> To: DEL BAGSVCS <del .bagsvcs="" airindia.in=""><br /></del></chiranjibmazumdar1></span><br />
<br /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"> From: Chiranjib Mazumdar </span><chiranjibmazumdar1 gmail.com=""><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /> Date: 11/06/2013 03:06PM<br /> Cc: CCU BAGSVCS </span><ccu .bagsvcs="" airindia.in=""><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /> Subject: Re: AHLDELAI49953/OHDJFKDL14329<br /><br /><br /> Hi - I received my bag today, but regret to inform you that I found the lock to be broken and temporarily sealed with a plastic fixer. I mentioned this fact in my "receipt note" from the delivery man. When I came home with the bag and I opened it, I found several items missing. List below -<br /> Wrist Watches - Count 4<br /> Macbook charger - Count 2<br /> Commemorative 50 states of USA quarter set - Count 1<br /> Portable 2TB hard disk - Count 1<br /> These are the ones that I can remember at this point in time.<br /> I am deeply saddened by this loss, as I did pay extra 400$ just to bring in 2 extra pieces of check-in luggage.<br /> I wish to know what steps you can take to compensate me for this loss, because I have travelled with Lufthansa, Emirates, American Airlines in the past and this is the first time this happened to me! <br /> This was be my last trip with Air India, I promise you!<br /> I would wait for your response...<br /> Thanks,<br /> Chiranjib</span></ccu></chiranjibmazumdar1><br />
The Delhi baggage services told me to get in touch with Kolkata as they had delivered the bag to me. The Kolkata baggage services told me to get in touch with Delhi and none of them had a clue on what could be done.<br />
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The Kolkata Air India duty manager called me up one afternoon (June 15' 2013) and told me he was sorry about the loss and that he had seen my emails but he reiterated that he had delivered the bag the way it had been received. He did not wish to take ownership of the loss. When I insisted that I was not the person responsible for the loss, he said he would connect with Delhi on this, but after that no response was received.</div>
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Since then I have tried to send multiple emails to get a response from them on any sort of compensation, but no positive responses were received and today I found out while replying back that my email to them had been marked as "spam"! </div>
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Air India, being India's flagship airline carrier - Can we not expect greater initiative to provide for customer satisfaction? Do we board international flights to have stuff stolen from our bags? Who is responsible for the fact that my check in bag was found like an orphan in tag less state? Who is responsible for affixing tags to bags? </div>
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IF CUSTOMERS' EMAILS START GETTING MARKED AS SPAM INSTEAD OF RECEIVING APPROPRIATE RESPONSES, WELL, I CAN ONLY SAY...</div>
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GOD HELP AIR INDIA!<br />
<br />
And finally, I wrote my last email to Air India yesterday and they did not respond, as I expected...<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>From: </b></i>Chiranjib Mazumdar <chiranjibmazumdar1 gmail.com=""><br /></chiranjibmazumdar1></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Subject: </b></i><b>Attn: AIR India Head Quarters, AIR India Customer Services or anyone from Air India who cares about customers!</b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Date: </b></i>June 24, 2013 11:28:02 AM GMT+05:30</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>To: </b></i>Sangeeta Vaidya <sangeeta .vaidya="" airindia.in="">, DEL BAGSVCS <del .bagsvcs="" airindia.in="">, HQ TFCSVCS <hq .tfcsvcs="" airindia.in="">, ER CustomerService <ialcser airindia.in="">, CCU APT <ccu .apt="" airindia.in="">, CCU BAGSVCS <ccu .bagsvcs="" airindia.in="">, del.reservationmanager@airindia.in</ccu></ccu></ialcser></hq></del></sangeeta></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br style="text-align: -webkit-auto;" /></i></span><u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Attn: AIR India Head Quarters, AIR India Customer Services</b></i></span><b> or anyone from Air India who cares about customers!</b></u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Hi -<b> I need a reply from you to conclude this conversation.</b></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>For the aforesaid details mentioned (<span style="color: #333333;">File reference: AHLDELAI49953/OHDJFKDL14329</span>), given the fact that I incurred a loss of the items below after I received my lost baggage in lock broken, temporary sealed condition, is your airlines liable or able to compensate me?</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>A simple yes or no will help me.</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Please do not send me standard customer communication templates (we are sorry blah blah). I need a simple <b>"Yes, we will provide compensation" OR "No we will not provide compensation."</b> [I assume you do not have the capability to retrieve stolen items]</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Can you KINDLY do that PLEASE?</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span><u><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>List of items stolen -</i></span></b></u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Wrist Watches - Count 4</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Macbook charger - Count 2</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Commemorative 50 states of USA quarter set - Count 1 </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Portable 2TB Seagate hard disk - Count 1</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Apple IPad Charger - Count 1</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Dolica Camera Tripod - Count 1</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>[There may be more items, but sorry, I did not list them down before packing my baggage]</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>I incurred an estimated loss IN EXCESS OF Rs. 25000 plus harassment / agony for this unforeseen delay and eventually loss!</i></span></b><b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>I paid 400$ for 2 extra pieces of baggage at the JFK NY Airport.</i></span></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><u><b>I shall take no response from you by end of day tomorrow (June 25' 2013) as a negative response from your end and I will understand that you will not provide me any sort of compensation!</b></u></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><b>Based on your response or a lack of it, I shall think about next steps to take.</b></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>-- </i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Best regards,</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Chiranjib Mazumdar</i></span></blockquote>
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I do not plan to travel with this airline in future based on my experience and readers, based on what you have read, I shall leave it to you to decide what you would like to do!<br />
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<b>Update (July 30' 2013)</b> - Air India provided me with some compensation.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></div>
<img src="http://www.mylivesignature.com/signatures/54487/76/D43A8DC86CAF676F62C507C4E5567F87.png" /></div>
Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-90594173112809233452013-01-26T12:13:00.002+05:302013-01-26T12:41:19.008+05:30India - Media reporting and repercussions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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There are two distinct parts of India as we see today -</div>
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one that dreams of becoming a superpower some day, one where the daughter of an auto rickshaw driver secures first rank in one of the most coveted exams, that of the CA, one where we proudly see some sort of slow and staggered development, one where analysts still maintain that we have a chance of surpassing many of the biggest economies of the world by 2050....</div>
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And there is another part of India that consists of separatists, losers, sex maniacs who are hellbent on deriving the pleasures of the moment with no regard whatsoever for the dignity of individuals or unity and integrity of the nation. UNFORTUNATELY, not many people know the name of the girl who topped the CA exams, but ask anyone - "Who raped the girl in Delhi?"... everyone knows!</div>
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THIS IS THE PROBLEM we have! We are making our villains famous and forgetting our heroes! When the US gun fire incidents occurred recently, Morgan Freeman had an interesting take. He said that we are making a sad nobody famous by flashing his names everywhere. Not many people know the name of the teacher who hid her students and saved them from the gunman! But everyone knows that gunman! Same with our media. They are hellbent on sensationalizing news and deriving more viewership. A news on rape probably grabs eyeballs right away, but a news on a patented invention by a certain IITian may be ignored by an average reader. At least that's what our media houses think!</div>
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That is something that even APJ Abdul Kalam mentioned in one of his speeches. This is what he said -</div>
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Why is the media here so negative? Why are we in India so embarrassed to recognize our own strengths, our achievements? We are such a great nation. We have so many amazing success stories but we refuse to acknowledge them. Why? We are the first in milk production. We are number one in Remote sensing satellites. We are the second largest producer of wheat. We are the second largest producer of rice. Look at Dr. Sudarshan , he has transferred the tribal village into a self-sustaining, self-driving unit. There are millions of such achievements but our media is only obsessed in the bad news and failures and disasters.</div>
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And we are also falling into the same trap someway or the other. Negativity has its own blunt force, a ripple effect. It brings out more negativity. The Delhi rape and all repurcussions after it - candle light vigils, protests unfortunately did nothing to stop the brutal acts. WHY? Because, people who actually did it felt immortalized! People who have no potential of becoming heroes would rather become villains and be famous nationwide than live their whole lives like a loser and die like a sad "no body"! I do not say that is what they think before committing crimes, but that, definitely is one of the driving factors.</div>
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How about this?</div>
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Let our media report all incidents, but not flash the name of the criminal. Let the victim only be immortalized and the names of the criminals as well as all details about them be hidden, made classified information. If a Times of India article prints 3 bad news articles on the front page, let it also print 5 good news articles on the front page itself and not move to page 5 or 6. </div>
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We do need positive vibes!</div>
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And friends... lets not feel ashamed of being an Indian due to all of these saddistic incidents.</div>
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We do have a collective responsibilty to rectify the situation! </div>
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Let me become an audiophile for a moment and do some filtering on the "sound"... amplify the "purest of notes" and minimize the "noise." Keep doing it, till the "noise" causing elements feel demotivated and stop creating "noise" altogether! </div>
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No, we do need all criminals to be punished, but lets not give them any sort of limelight and media attention. Trust me, they do not deserve it!</div>
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Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-581488397461044372012-12-31T23:32:00.000+05:302012-12-31T23:32:42.046+05:30My email to Justice Verma<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span></span><br />
From: <strong>Chiranjib Mazumdar</strong><br />
Date: Mon, Dec 31, 2012 at 12:40 PM<br />
Subject: Reference to public notice - suggestions on amendments to criminal laws relating to safety and security of women<br />
To: justice.verma@nic.in<br />
<br />
<br />
Dear sir<br />
<br />
This is with reference to the public notice given by you on Indian
newspapers "inviting suggestions on amendments to criminal laws relating
to safety and security of women".<br />
<br />
Please note that I am a simple citizen of this nation and am shocked
beyond words seeing the brutal nature of the crime and the horrific
after-effects. No wonder it has generated the attention, it has.<br />
<br />
Please find below my suggestions -<br />
1. Rape cases need to be solved decisively within a month. If needed
fast track courts should be established with eminent judges and jury
as panel members. Women representation is a must in the panel.<br />
2. Simple imprisonment and fine for the culprits who are proven guilty, is <strong>not enough</strong>,
simply because in India, there is a social stigma attached to a person
who undergoes such trauma. Punishment should be exemplary so that it
serves as a deterrent and makes prospective criminals think a thousand
times before committing such crimes.<br />
3. While I think death sentence should be the minimum punishment
awarded, chemical castration may be a more apt form of punishment that
would remind the criminal of the guilt for the rest of his life.<br />
4. There should be adequate provisions to ensure that any changes in
existing law are not misused and innocents do not get trapped.<br />
<br />
5. In case of the victim's death, death penalty should be made mandatory for the culprits.<br />
<br />
6. If juveniles are involved in the crime, they should still be treated as adults.<br />
<br />
7. The victim's family should be provided with all support and
protection as needed, to prevent them from being harassed and
blackmailed.<br />
<br />
As I mentioned earlier, I am a member of the civil society and bear
no connections whatsoever to the Lawyers' association, so my
suggestions may be perceived as crude, but I hope I do echo the voices
of millions of Indian citizens who are equally shocked as I am, with
the recent incident.<br />
<br />
It is high time that a strong stand is taken to prevent such
incidents, because, for all you know, this has brought down the
reputation of India in front of the whole world. I see tourism industry
clearly getting affected with the negative publicity this incident has
generated.<br />
<br />
I sincerely hope that among the millions of emails you might receive, this email does get 2 seconds of attention.<span>
</span><br />
<br />
<br />
--<br />
Best regards,<br />
Chiranjib Mazumdar<br />
<br />
<br />
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<img src="http://www.mylivesignature.com/signatures/54487/76/D43A8DC86CAF676F62C507C4E5567F87.png" /></div>
Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-64655171412179923752012-11-15T23:13:00.000+05:302012-11-15T23:13:36.981+05:30Rants - useless? :-)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
In case if you are wondering why I do not post much these days. Well, the reason is - most of the thoughts are too personal and fit for my diary...<br />
<br />
Sometimes, it is good to stay in a dormant state. When I started blogging, there was a time, when I would write upto 4 posts in a single day!!! Can you imagine? ;-) And nowadays, I pick up the pen (read cursor), may be once in a few months.<br />
<br />
Thoughts fail me... nothing really to write about.<br />
<br />
For the reader, if you think there should be something for me to write on, do let me know!<br />
<br />
Lol..<br />
<br />
Has it ever happened to you, when it seems as if life came to a standstill.<br />
<br />
Imagine yourself as standing neck deep in a pond filled with cold water... surrounded by mountains all around. Not a soul around. Fall has long gone.. The trees are barren.. The sun prepares to set behind the mountain range close-by. The sky displays an amazing aura befit only for a painter's imagination. There is beauty all around... a fiery beauty... a beauty that does entice you, but does not necessarily make you happy.<br />
<br />
In spite, you are standing neck deep in the pond.... and then you close your eyes...<br />
<br />
Nothing to worry about.... its so peaceful out here.... so so peaceful.... <br />
<br />
It almost reminds me of my favorite tune from Enigma - Mea Culpa -<br />
"Take a deep breath, close your eyes..."<br />
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Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-1718019673355727932012-08-23T21:27:00.001+05:302012-08-23T21:27:32.806+05:30Miles to go...<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Been away from the blogosphere for some time now and I decided to give it a shot today.<br />
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The reason was a dream I had in the afternoon today. I saw that I had walked to the cremation grounds and intended to speak to the officials for my own cremation. There was no one with me. It was just that I was to die in a few minutes and I was negotiating with the officials so that they can arrange volunteers to carry out the ritual. There were a heap of bodies lying nearby with family members of the deceased wailing relentlessly. At a distance, few people were singing hymns in praise of the all powerful.<br />
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A pungent smell was emanating out of the nearby electric burners where two dead bodies had been cast into. Was the smell of burnt flesh and skin in the red hot burners.<br />
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In any case, I was waiting for my time and suddenly I experienced death approach me and I was terrified. Felt a strange kind of suffocation and that is when I woke up.<br />
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I believe it was a one-off dream and probably a left over of a recent cremation I attended. I do not intend to read much into it.<br />
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I still have "miles to go before I sleep..." <br />
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Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-48358822855243210462012-07-01T21:07:00.002+05:302012-07-01T21:09:55.958+05:30Lull before the storm<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9Q_kHoi3LrAgvIQNG8hzY_1SLIW_i1RoU3eVsSIMyp6IKI7YiDDssGrYSwetR1R6riyipw2TX37LW-WWtsfvdw29Qm3SUWtQ2k-T8xfGle5Xj_WAnrFp3sG6OZjsh7E4Gph_OE7oqPsL/s1600/calm-before-the-storm05.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO9Q_kHoi3LrAgvIQNG8hzY_1SLIW_i1RoU3eVsSIMyp6IKI7YiDDssGrYSwetR1R6riyipw2TX37LW-WWtsfvdw29Qm3SUWtQ2k-T8xfGle5Xj_WAnrFp3sG6OZjsh7E4Gph_OE7oqPsL/s320/calm-before-the-storm05.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I do not need to generally write in third person, coz. views expressed in this blog are public and I do appreciate and respect that. I have my own diary, which is a blog too, to which only one person has access and that is ME! lol! :D<br />
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So, matters too private, are left for that blog. <br />
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Now, you may have opened this post after reading the title "Lull before the storm". Well, why did I choose such a title? :-)<br />
To be frank, the weather outside is bright and sunny here at King of Prussia, my current place of stay. So, it is more of an internal feeling, an intuition if I may say so.<br />
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You know, when I was a kid, I used to react to situations instantaneously, sometimes without thinking. And often I paid a heavy price for it. As I grew older, with time, I realized that one should never do or say things in haste, without thinking thoroughly each pro and con. In the process, decisions may get delayed, but chances are more that I would not make a wrong decision. When I look at myself today, I do try to maintain that.<br />
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So, whenever there is a situation that tends to provoke me, I try to stay calm, keep a cool head on my shoulder and then decide. Silence does help too, as I am able to do much soul searching and introspection.<br />
In today's age of social networking, people tend to stay busy, looking at home pages, friend's status messages, 'liking' stuff, commenting etc. But in the process, we probably tend to think less. We do not invest the much needed time. Its as if OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) only and not OLAP (Online Analytical Processing). My friends from the Data Warehousing background would know well the difference between the two. LOL :D<br />
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Sometimes I feel, life was simpler during the pre-social networking era. Relationships tended to be less complex. People had lesser chance to peep at each others' personal lives, so everyone tended to be content. <br />
Times have changed.<br />
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A study recently published said that <a href="http://www.outlookmoney.com/ArticleDetailView/tabid/203/ItemId/1157/Default.aspx">people who spend maximum time on social networking sites tend to get more frustrated over time</a>. You can read through the article with the hyperlink I provided.<br />
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Anyway, it seems that solitude would be ideal for now...<br />
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Sorry, I thought I could explain my title more in this post, but figured, it would best be left for my private blog.<br />
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Until next time...<br />
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<img src="http://www.mylivesignature.com/signatures/54487/76/D43A8DC86CAF676F62C507C4E5567F87.png" /></div>Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-40590307029714970642012-06-06T22:20:00.001+05:302012-06-06T23:34:52.729+05:30Lets not expect :-)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hmm... in a mood to write something down. Not sure what... lol<br />
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Well, the thing is, I wish to stop expecting. But "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."<br />
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So, I am trying to write myself a dummy's guide on how to stop expecting.<br />
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First and foremost, let us do away with the idea of give and take. Life is not a trade, is it? Most of the times, the issues arise because, we are trained to expect favors in return for favors. When that does not happen, all hell breaks loose.<br />
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Second, let us have this notion that the grass is not greener on the other side. Come on! Look closely. Each one of us have problems - one way or the other. Even the ones who think they do not have problems are in the illusion that everything is good. Its a fact - NO ONE IS HAPPY. So, let us try and appreciate the qualities others have instead of giggling over shortcomings. Let us be empathetic towards each other. Here let me point out I am not talking about sympathy, I am talking about empathy. There is a marked difference between the two.<br />
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Sympathy is what we feel when we see a homeless begging for food on the street. We look and move on, forget the feeling after a moment.<br />
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Empathy is what we feel when we imagine how it would have felt had we been in that person's shoes... begging in the scorching heat, hunger burning inside, perspiration taking a huge toll, countless glances towards us which show more of hatred towards a germ of society, rather than love. Yes, if you have ever felt that, that is called empathy.<br />
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Anyway, the third point would probably be in being complacent with what we have. Yes, in developing countries like India, the difference between "haves" and "have nots" drive people crazy. They compete against each other fiercely trying to be the first to hit the jackpot. However, one fine day, we realize that while we were busy merely running after an illusion, we forgot to live life. We forgot to have fun. We forgot to appreciate what we had. Our hair turned grey and we lost precious moments of our life.<br />
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So, it is probably important to be complacent at times, being happy with what we have, rather than brood over what we do not have. <br />
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In short, let us not expect. Let us plant a seed each day, rather than dream of reaping dividends.<br />
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<img src="http://www.mylivesignature.com/signatures/54487/76/D43A8DC86CAF676F62C507C4E5567F87.png" /></div>Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-12009221576349937472012-05-25T20:33:00.000+05:302012-05-25T20:33:44.700+05:30At peace with myself<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hmm... a gradual home coming to the stability of my thoughts, feelings... a feeling of settling down... going back to my roots, going back to where I belong... the feeling of being grounded... accepting adversities to be a part and parcel of life... Its like that illusion of an obstacle I saw in a movie many years back... You see an obstacle, get terrified, limited by it... But someone tells you - go ahead, there is nothing there.. its only an illusion... The protagonist walks ahead, circumspect at first... But then he just transcends through it unaffected...<br />
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Obstacles in real life are just like that. They are obstacles as long as we make them as such. The moment we take them head-on, they let us pass through unaffected.<br />
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So, was there an obstacle that I faced? Probably not... probably yes.<br />
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My sense of justice and being fair to everyone does get the better of me at times, does leave me drained and strained. But that's how I am. Take it or leave it.<br />
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At the end of the day, the only feeling that I sincerely hate is the feeling of guilt - the feeling of doing wrong to someone. I would rather take the blow, than give it... :-)<br />
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I am finally at peace with myself... <br />
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<img src="http://www.mylivesignature.com/signatures/54487/76/D43A8DC86CAF676F62C507C4E5567F87.png" /></div>Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-65808921170597573732012-04-09T02:25:00.001+05:302012-04-09T02:25:33.204+05:30Trying out mobile bloggingHey, just got this blogger app that lets you blog from your phone, thus increasing your ability to make the most of your laziness... Lol. So far so good. Life is changing thick and fast for me and probably for the better. I have been feeling pretty strong off late and developed a habit of keeping myself busy with a variety of myriad interests, trying to develop self reliance more than anything else. So far so good... But gotta admit that blogging from phone is cumbersome... But it works lol.. Until next time... :)Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8666029999468700330.post-30602717278348605012012-02-13T06:51:00.003+05:302012-02-13T06:54:08.066+05:30My experiments with past life regression - 02/12/2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Past life regression has been my area of research for a long long time and I am someone who frankly believes that our actions in this life are hugely influenced by what we did (or were) in our past lives. I am open to criticism, but, well that's what my belief is. Few years back I procured media files of renowned past life hypnotherapist Dick Sutphen and began my work on knowing myself better - why I do what I do... I believed some of the behavioral answers could be hidden in how we spent our life in the past. I had been trying self hypnosis for a long long time, but although I had minuscule visions of places, events... they never really took concrete shape, until today when I was hell bent on doing it and it seems to me, I was successful.<br />
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I am recording all of these in detail in my blog, not for people to read (although I'll appreciate you reading and commenting on it), but rather for my own records which I could refer to in future.<br />
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As the self hypnotherapy session began, it was a very very slow process. Slowly my body went completely numb and I was unable to even move a single finger unless instructed by Mr Sutphen. Gradually I entered into an altered state of consciousness where I could hear each clock tick in my room, but I did not have the capability to even scratch my back.<br />
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Here is the vision I had.<br />
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I found myself to be a girl of 15 years around the year 1927. The place appeared to be somewhere in Bengal, India. As far my dress was concerned, it was a simple saree worn in traditional bengali way as in earlier days. I was bare-footed. The location appeared to be a vast field, lots of greenery and trees.<br />
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When I scanned my life for important events, I found it difficult to find any, probably as I had been a simple bengali house wife in those days. The only vision I had was that of my husband standing alongside me in front of a mirror and I was beautifully dressed up in a saree and ornaments. He appeared to be a zamindar or someone from the royal family.<br />
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Upon further scanning my life, I found myself to be a widow, seemed a lonely elderly woman with white saree. It seemed that her last stage of life was spent in spiritual thoughts. She did not appear frail, rather a bit on the plump side.<br />
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Well, that's all I saw.<br />
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I would leave it to you to believe this or not to believe this.<br />
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As far as I am concerned, I have never ever dreamt of anything similar or even close, so this was a new experience for me. I shall continue researching on this subject as there are many questions which need answers. I am not sure if this particular life was the immediate past life before my present life or I had an intermediate life in between.<br />
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Also, I need to validate whether this vision repeats itself or if I am able to get more details out of it.<br />
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In closing this article, let me tell you, I am a man of flesh and blood in this life and neither I behave like a woman, nor I am a gay. So, please do not make fun of me only coz I saw myself as a woman in an earlier life.<br />
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Criticism, comments, questions, suggestions... all welcome.<br />
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<img src="http://www.mylivesignature.com/signatures/54487/76/D43A8DC86CAF676F62C507C4E5567F87.png" /></div>Chiranjib Mazumdarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15869690159475302047noreply@blogger.com2