Direct Dil Se!!

Catching Live Cricket Action was Never so easy!

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Thu, 09 Jul 2015 09:27:00 +0000

Commuting from office to home in Delhi in monsoons is no less than a big challenge, due to never ending traffic jam on the roads. But I have a wonderful idea to keep all the traffic off the roads. Just keep an India Pakistan ODI match everyday, and whole of the nation including Delhi will be glued on to TV sets instead of increasing the on-road traffic. Cricket is no less than a religion in the country and Sachin Tendulkar, the living God. I still remember one of my job interviews had to be postponed since the interview was supposed to be held in Chandigarh and the day coincided with Indo-Pak World Cup semifinal clash in Mohali.

While thousands of Delhiites were stuck yesterday in #DelhiMetro technical snag at Lakshmi Nagar, the time coincided with the start of the Ashes test between England and Australia. Ashes rivalry has always been as historic as Indo-Pak matches. One of my friends stuck in the Metro was constantly ringing me up for getting the latest updates on the match. Being in office, I asked him to download any news app to get such updates, but due to large number of concurrent internet connections near his location, the net speed did not allow him to make any new downloads. Searching some other option, I came across a wonderful option of embedded Cricketing action in the browser itself.

Guess what, I told him this wonderful option and he didn’t have to call me again for any further updates. Luckily, UC Browser was already in the smartphone, since it is one of the best mobile browsers which allows faster browsing over the net. It has recently added an embedded option to catch up all the cricket updates within the browser itself. No more missing Yuvi ke sixes or Starc’s bowled victims. Want to see the latest score of the ongoing match, or eager about the schedule of the upcoming matches, UC Cricket is here as a one-stop solution.

It is very easy to connect to cricket in UC Browser. Clicking an icon titled ‘UC Cricket’ on the homescreen and here we are connected to all the cricket updates. It features live Scores with auto updates, fixtures & result, latest news and videos. Do check out the link here for complete details.

So, while the technical snag at #DelhiMetro caused inconvenience to many including my friend, it got me known of this wonderful option and yes, bye bye now to all the cricket apps to fasten my phone and this option in UC Browser is all I need now to connect to internet, wherever I am. Watch the video here to get more eager:

#YuvisurfsUC and so do I. When do you plan to start?

Time to be Sherlock Holmes!

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Mon, 22 Jun 2015 18:27:00 +0000

It’s certainly very exciting being a blogger and expressing your heart on whatever you want to speak about. It gets even more interesting when there are certain events and activities which are made exclusive for the bloggers. I noticed an invite from BlogAdda.com in my inbox which invited only male bloggers for the activity. Curious about the activity, especially the keyword #sniffsniff, it was certainly something I got excited about. I immediately registered for the activity, as the destiny was meant to be, I was selected for the activity.

However, I was really clueless about how the activity is going to work out. It was a hot Sunday noon and I was just about the bathe, when the doorbell rung.

Certainly Not the right place to use the Wooden Clip!

As I went to open the door, there was a delivery boy handing me over a BlogAdda packet with a wooden clip which was stuck on the nose on the face over another paper in the packet. You may call it coincidence, it was just about the time I was going to remove my body odour by having a nice bath in the fresh water that the blogadda packet arrived. Out of curiousity, I tried all the permutations for what the clue might be all about. But yes, one thing was sure, it was something to do with body odour.

But yes, the clue was interesting and since I knew there will be three clues before the surprise is revealed, it was more exciting. The next day, I kept asking at home if there was any more packet. But no, there wasn’t. The next clue finally arrived on Tuesday. But hey, it was a clue to make you clueless.

The Mysterious Potli

Guess Who Spilt the Beans!

The box contained a small cloth bag, or what we used to call a ‘potli’, and guess what, the potli contained coffee beans. While the first clue made me almost sure about something related to Body odour, the second clue was seemed of no help, but may be I will have it in a coffee mug sometime. The frangrance of coffee beans makes me feel, a great coffee lies within. Then, I just tried googling anylink between coffee beans and body odour and bingo, coffee beans are a great source to stimulate body to oppose the odour.

Protect yourself from All the Bad Air!

The detective within me was getting more excited to receive the third and final clue. And yeah, when I received it, I could not stop laughing. It was an air mask and believe me, with the kind of sweaty journeys Metro makes me undergo, this is the only way out. But all this made me conclude that a new product to eliminate body odour is on its way, but the way its being unleashed is surely something new and exciting.

I'm using my investigative skills to uncover the mystery of #sniffsniff at BlogAdda. Lets’ see if Sherlock Simar Holmes was successful in his first case.

IGP makes my Day!

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Sun, 21 Jun 2015 18:28:00 +0000

While I was just browsing through the web of the Internet, I came across a new site on the block: IndianGiftsPortal. As you would guess it, the site offers a wide variety of the gifts, which it delivers to the location you can even think of. I just thought to try out the website for sending across a gift back home on Fathers’ Day.

The website has a nice interface and easy-to-explore design. While the search started from the Gifts for Fathers, I noticed that it has a wide variety of personalized gifts including mugs, tees, photo frames and cushions, all bearing touching themes and designs that promise to warm the recipient’s heart. The portal has also come up with a nice mobile app and then I used the device in hand to complete my order.

Welcome Screen on the Mobile App

As you open the app, the range of occasions to send gifts opens up. The gifts are very well sorted in these categories, but to choose the best amongst the best, you obviously need to browse across the categories. And that’s what I did. I was looking for a product that can be used as a part of our lives.

The Site through the Mobile App

The Gift I zeroed on

Finally, I stuck on a beautiful wall clock which allowed me personalization and I could actually put up my family photo in it.

Personalization Page

Now when the product was all finalized, the checkout process had to start and believe me, the whole process ended in 3 minutes after I had zeroed in on the product. The photo upload part was smooth, payment process was even more smoother. Although when you are spending some money of your pockets, you would hope that the payment process is a little slow so that you have a little more time to think upon your final choice. But jokes apart, the process sails you smoothly and you don’t have to worry about the failed payments.

Even though I was a bit late on my order and a bit more late on providing a better resolution picture for the product, the personalized product got delivered right before the Father’s Day. So, the delivery process was even more smoother. And as I write the post, I have received the picture of the clock already beautifying the wall in my parents’ room.

The Wall Clock beautifying the Wall @ Home

Cheers to IGP team for such a nice product. IGP is surely going to be my choice for gifts next time as well. May be you can give it a try too.

Life seems so Much Lodgykal!

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Fri, 12 Jun 2015 14:57:00 +0000

While the world was busy with the talks of #MaggiBan, #DelhiMinisters, #FallingSensex, I was having a tiring May in Office this year and thanks to the sleepless nights (or if I put it better, ‘nights with less sleep’), I am planning to go on a vacation.

The traveler in me has been on a hibernation mode, since last time I had a break-from-work vacation was in December 2013 in the north-eastern parts of the country. Travelling is always fun when the things that make you happy are with you. First and foremost thing for me while planning for a vacation is getting the plans of our gang of friends.

Gang of Friends

No vacation is good unless you have the crazy friends by your side. It generally gets difficult to get the plans of 4 friends, working in different companies, in sync but as they say where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Simar 'the Photographer'

Also, the photographer Simar refuses to take a backseat whenever I am on vacation mode. I often prefer spending time in the lap of nature and no wonder, photography comes naturally in the natural atmosphere. So, a DSLR camera to capture the cherishable moments is a must in my luggage bag.

Further, whenever into a long vacation, I need to have my laptop with me, and no, not for any official reasons, but since I need it to vacate the space in DSLR’s memory card and to share the pictures.

As opposed to my friends, I am an early riser and hence, a pair of running/ jogging shoes is what I require to go for jog in the morning. I like talking to the nature and morning is the best time for the conversation.

Staple Food on Vacation - Maggi

Whenever going on any trip, one thing Punjabis can never forget about is the food for the journey. Whether it is a 2-3 hours journey or it is a day long road trip, we carry loads of matthi achaar, namkeen, fruits etc. Whatever be the apetite of the fellow travelers, he food we carry always wins the competition on what lasts longer. Earlier, our staple food, Maggi used to top the charts for the journey food, but thanks to the Ban now, you are bound to miss it.

All this makes my vacation packing complete and one thing I figure out now is that my luggage is heavy to the core now. However, one more thing that is certainly true in majority of cases is that while we love planning and packing, we really hate to pick our heavy bags in the excitement of the enjoying the place. But while I was searching for a nice getaway to spend some leisure time, I came across Renault Lodgy, a perfect fit into my travel plans.

It has a comfortable 7-8 seat configuration which perfectly suits our gang of four. Further, since every seat seems to offer similar comfort and legspace, we won’t have to fight within ourselves for our preferable seats. An open storage above the glove box and conveniently placed cup holders and flight trays take care of enabling us to enjoy our journey food. It also offers me a 12V charging socket in all the rows and am never away from twitter and FB owing to low battery.

And to top it up, it has a mediaNAV console with chrome surround which allows me to play my fav songs from the USB drive all the way. The journey never gets dull, even when you are waiting in a queue on a Toll plaza.

So, before my vacation plan finalizes, my partner in the vacation seems already finalized. And with so many features to flaunt with, life seems so much Lodgykal with Renault Lodgy.

I’m participating in the #LiveLodgycal contest with Renault in association with BlogAdda to get a chance to be a part of the #LiveLodgycal Drive in Goa.

Wildlife Never Seemed So Close

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Thu, 14 May 2015 20:25:00 +0000

Book Review of ‘Capturing Wildlife Moments in India’ by Ashok Mahindra

Publisher – Oxford University Press(OUP) & Bombay Natural History Society(BNHS)

Genre – Adventure

One sentence for the book

Wildlife seems too close with some awesome photography in the book.

About the Author

A Chartered Accountant by qualification, Ashok Mahindra retired in 2008 after a career spanning nearly 40 years. As a former Treasurer and Vice-President of WWF India, he got aware of the need for the preservation of wildlife in India which eventually led him to becoming a wildlife photographer. He has travelled widely in India to numerous national parks and sanctuaries in the pursuit of his hobby. Enriched with his vast experience of being so close to the wildlife, here is his first coffee table photo book.

Book Cover

Book cover has been designed quite interestingly showing Royal Bengal Tiger in his complete royalty having some relaxing time in the pond at Ranthambhore National Park in Rajasthan. With a great shot captured in the cover, the book gets you curious about what more it has in store for you.

About the Book

A small book of 85 pages with some 100+ pictures showcases the wildlife diversity in India. The book highlights the rich range of wildlife and its habitats in India. The book also indicates the continuing threat to wildlife in India and sets out how it could be more effectively preserved. The book lists the National Parks and Sanctuaries visited (over 30), the Wildlife Hotspots and interesting places to stay. However, besides giving a small intro about the wildlife specie in the different photographs, the book certainly makes you excited enough to have a more closer look at the wildlife in the country.

Sh. Ashok Mahindra states at one place:

"The power of photography to provide a platform to document threatened landscapes and species cannot be underestimated. At present,the entire ecological system is being seriously threatened. My endeavour as a photographer is to encourage people to care for all threatened species - from the smallest insects to the biggest cats - before it is too late." This one of a kind book bringing you more close to the nature will certainly interest you.

Thumbs Up

The photographs used in the book seem to have been shot with so much sincerity that the images seem so real. While I had visited Ranthmabhore National park in February this year, I have already got excited to get closer to the nature once more, this time, the destination might be the home of the Asiatic Lion, Gir National Park in Gujarat.

Thumbs Down

The photographs give you so much excitement and a sense of adventure just from the still images that once you close the book, it will certainly make you craving for an adventure visit sooner. Otherwise, the only thing I felt was that for an adventure enthusiast, the book might be exciting but the same may not be of interest for all kinds of readers.

Rating

4.5/5

A half point deducted only for the fact that the book is priced little bit aggressively. A lighter book would have helped a little as well.

This post is a part of the book review program of at Saevus Wildlife India in association with The Hemchand Mahindra Foundation for the book Capturing Wildlife Moments in IndiaBook Review of ‘Capturing Wildlife Moments in India’ by Ashok Mahindra

Publisher – Oxford University Press(OUP) & Bombay Natural History Society(BNHS)

Genre – Adventure

One sentence for the book

Wildlife seems too close with some awesome photography in the book.

About the Author

Book Cover

About the Book

Sh. Ashok Mahindra states at one place:

Thumbs Up

Thumbs Down

Rating

4.5/5

A half point deducted only for the fact that the book is priced little bit aggressively. A lighter book by weight and on the pocket would have helped a little as well.

This post is a part of the book review program of at Saevus Wildlife India in association with The Hemchand Mahindra Foundation for the book Capturing Wildlife Moments in India

Be Happy Singh!

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Sun, 26 Apr 2015 06:08:00 +0000

We live in a world today which waits for Valentine’s Day to express our love for our beloved and Mother’s Day to extend our affection towards our mother. We are generally always on a lookout for ‘false’ reasons which denote happiness. We keep running after the worldly pleasures considering they are the sole means to the eternal happiness. But the truth remains that even in a 100-room villa, one needs just a single bedroom to sleep. The true happiness comes from enjoying each and every moment you live on this planet. One must do what he likes, or start liking whatever he is doing.

Here are my simple fundas to be Happy Singh:

Stop Thinking what Others Think of You

Thinking what others might think of any of our actions is simply getting into somebody else’s shoes. If we even think about what others think of us, then what job do we leave for others to do. As a hindi quote goes, “Duniya ka sabse bada rog, kya kahenge log!”, get free from this highly infectious disease about what people think about you.

One should do things not to please others but to please the inner self. It’s certainly fine to be stupid, childish at moments.

Smile

Laughing Budha brings Luck, Smiling Sardar spreads Smiles!

When feeling stressed out or when your mood is low, just SMILE, yes smile, because the brain often gets fooled and ends in making one HAPPY. Smile is a simple curve that gets many thing straight. You might not notice how the life is happy and cheerful, when you are smiling, simply because you spread an aroma of positivity and optimism to your surrounding environment, and that is what majority of the world needs these days being stressed out between striking a good balance between personal and professional lives.

Practice a Hobby

Don't Move, else I will Shoot You!

An empty mind is said to be devil’s workshop. A vacant mind houses all the evil actions. Its good to keep the mind occupied in something one can feel happy about. So, here’s how your hobby can be a tenant in your empty mind. Do something that makes one feel good. It may not always earn you more money, but will render a sense of fulfillment and achievement. For me, it’s either photography or writing my blog. Life gives you many reasons to smile, writing my blog gives me one more. :)

Expect Less

Being a finance professional, I tend to convert the routines into mathematical expressions and here is the simplest formula to be happy in life. Happiness from any event is just the difference between the actual outcome of the event and our expectations before the outcome happened.

Happiness = Actual Outcome – Expectations

So, in order to increase our happiness quotient, either the outcome should be higher than usual or what we expect from the event should be the minimum. While generally the outcome is dependent on several other factors than just our actions, what we can do is keeping our expectations low. If we can minimize our expectations, even the minutest thing occurring in our life will make us happy. Further, by practicing to keep our expectations low, we tend to relieve pressure from others as well, which makes them happy and that will make you happier as well.

However, there are always some exceptions to the general rule. Once you have checked out Ivy Estate by Kolte Developers Private Limited in the video for which I am also sharing the link below, it is tough to keep the expectations low but the video also assures me of a great outcome, certainly one more reason to be happy. :)

#CelebrateLifeAtIvy by owning a dream home at Ivy estate, an 85 acre estate with 34 acres of greenery and open spaces. Join the 1600 happy families already living here. Check out this walkthrough video and decide for yourself.

A Sneak Peak into Mythology - ‘Ramayana - The Game of Life : The Shattered Dreams’

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 08:39:00 +0000

Book Review of ‘Ramayana - The Game of Life : The Shattered Dreams’

Author : Shubha Vilas

Publisher – Jaico Publishing House

Genre – History/ Mythology

One sentence for the book

The author tries to narrate and portray the Ayodhaya scene and beyond revolving around Rama’s exile, and moves on to connect the centuries-old tales to the modern day relationships.

About the Author

Shubha Vilas, a spiritual seeker and a motivational speaker, holds a degree in engineering and law with specialization in Patent Law. His leadership seminars are popular with top-level management in corporate houses. He also helps individuals deal with modern-life situations by applying the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana and other dharmic traditions.

Author’s Writing Style

I have not read Shubha Vilas earlier, but this book’s narratives were not what I will really forward for in my next book.

The Title and Book Cover

The book cover is eye catching and shows Rama sleeping with a troubled yet so soothing expression. The chariot with Dashratha is shown in the background, but with a donkey in place of horse driving the chariot. Based on the historical facts, one can indeed guess what it can expect out of the story.

The title indeed is interesting and already being aware of the Ramayana story, it surely helped me connect with the book even before I read it.

About the Book

This one is the sequel to the national bestseller, Rise of the Sun Prince, in the new spiritual and motivational series - Ramayana - The Game of Life. Even though I have not read Part 1, yet I was able to catch on with the sequel and there were hardly any missing gaps. The story captured in this part is the time after Rama’s marriage with Sita, Dashratha’s tough decision to send Rama on exile and the time thereafter. However, a particular thing which I really liked about the book was the way Keikeyi and Bharatha have been portrayed. Keikeyi is often considered to be the bad queen but Rama has been portrayed to be the loved one for her as well apart from for the whole kingdom.

The way practicalities of life have been threaded along with the story of Ramayana is what stands out to be the best part of the book. There is lot to learn in the book, provided you are ready to willing to.

Thumbs Up

While the history is very much known to us, what I really liked about the book was the words of wisdom in the footnotes. It really changes the way you approach the book being read. The reader not just ‘reads’, but learns through the book.

Thumbs Down

Book has portrayed the mythological characters at some place in a drastically different manner in how we perceive the main characters of Rama and Laxman. Rama is portrayed to be content and enjoying the exile while Laxman gets portrayed as someone with no regard from Rama and Sita. One who does not know Ramayana history out of this book will have a completely different perception of the Ramayana.

Rating

3.5/5

History, being a subject of the past, does not leave much scope for creativity for the author, still linking it up with modern day lives was what kept me hooked up but at times, it got me into the ‘bored’ mode.

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books.

An Experiment can Change your Life!

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Fri, 17 Apr 2015 08:04:00 +0000

Life gives you many reasons to smile, writing my blog post gives me one more. :)

Sometimes in life, we feel like experimenting with ourselves. I too got this thought once around 10 years back. And that’s when I ventured to fill an application for a National Level science show 'Hum Honge Kamyaab'. Though this might not sound an experiment at first instance, it definitely was, for me who was pursuing Commerce stream. I got called up by my principal who asked me to attempt to clear the prelims for the national level science competition. It had already been a year for me in Commerce and I was surprised why I was being asked to go for the competition when the bright lot in Science stream was also available. However, notwithstanding my initial reluctance, I along with one of my friends in Medical stream, filled up the form. However, once the form was sent, we both really forgot about it.

However, after exactly a month of sending, in the first of March, 2005, I received a call from the organisers that me and my friends’ name had been shortlisted among 200 students across the country and we were now to appear in a written test which will enable the organisers to select the 36 students who will finally compete in the national completion. We both accompanied by his grandfather went to New Delhi to appear for the test. It was an exciting journey for me, as the sense of thrill was biting me. What if I get selected? How will I even make my participation felt, considering I was from non-science stream. Still, there was something within which kept me pushing.

A week after the test, it was a moment of happiness when I received a call from New Delhi informing me that I was one among 36 students selected across the country. But yes, I was told to bring a team mate with me to participate in the competition which will happen in a week long camp in New Delhi. I approached my friend from Medical stream which expressed his inability to come with me, since he would have to sacrifice his classes for that duration. I was in a fix now since I had to go with a team mate and I was required to intimate the organisers at the earliest. And then one of my seniors came across my mind. I conveyed him the idea and yippee, he agreed to accompany me. The best thing about this was that he also had his Commerce stream and we were now a team of Commerce students in a national level Science competition.

It was a week long camp and our team was there in New Delhi with my elder brother as our team’s guardian. As we reached the camp, we also got to know that the competition will be shot with one celebrity anchor and would later be telecast on DD National Channel. So, we were going to get on the ‘idiot box’. We were handed out the scheme of events and honestly speaking, those eight days were amongst the best days I had. We were given the task of creating a keyless door and when the judgement was going on for our model, one of the judges also made a remark that we were close enough to the victory. However, after knowing that our team was a purely Commerce team, he was surprised that how could we manage to come so far. And yes, that simple expression has made me believe that anything is possible with sheer determination and belief in self.

Gaurav Gera, our anchor for the Show

The day of our Shoot

This one experiment surely did change my attitude towards life, and I started believing more in myself. The interaction that happened in the camp with other students, the organizing team and the team behind the production of the show was really something that has brought a drastic change in me. My school friends who left the school in 10^th also tell me the same that the ‘Simardeep’ we know was a quiet studious guy and the one who we see now is a different one altogether.

The day I am writing this post marks exactly 10 years of the day I got back from the camp. But with pride I say, I am still in touch with most of the friends I made there.

This experiment filled me with optimism and taught me to always look up. Housing.com’s latest ad campaign reminds me of the all those glorious days since it always wants me to look up and look optimistic.

Let’s Look Up Together with Housing.com.

A Day when we Re-United!!

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Sat, 11 Apr 2015 09:01:00 +0000

We realize the importance of the school life, generally only after we have passed out of that phase. It is the time when we generally do lots of stupid stuff and still have no regrets about it.

It has now been 8 years since we left that phase and entered the college life. We school friends were not that much in touch for almost 4-5 years and then thanks to Facebook and Facebook, we were back in touch. Finally, we thought to plan a day to School at a time when 20+ friends were back in Amritsar, while generally they were dispersed in different cities. So, after lots of WhatApp group chat, we got our plans right and finalized a day. We were so very excited about meeting the old friends and also meeting our guides/ teachers. And the day arrived but the weather God was not with us that day. It was raining like there was no tomorrow. Still, we decided to go ahead with our plan since the next time we would be together, it would be another year. One of my friends picked me up from home and it was lots of chit-chaat still being in car and enjoying the weather outside.

When we reached School, the friends gang was already waiting for us at the gates to enter together. As we were entering the lane, a nostalgic feeling started getting over me. We were all just talking about how much we wanted to get out of these lanes each day in school and now we were so excited to enter those lanes. The rain had got transformed into a drizzle now.

As we entered into the School, since it was still some time for the final bell of the school to ring, we thought it better to first meet our teachers and then hang out in the empty classrooms and remember those lovely days. It was a great experience when few teachers still recognized us, few could recognize with little hints and the rest of which who could not recognize were the ones who joined the school later than we left. We also noticed that the school had recognized our contributions and there were life-size photos of each batch since we had left. It felt great seeing that picture. We felt quite proud within ourselves when a couple of our teachers introduced us to the ongoing class as the ‘honhaar bache’ who are now settled into their lives.

But the real time for us began when we lived that life again after the school time had got over, as the classrooms were all for us now. We sat on the wooden benches, chatted about how our lives have changed, used the blackboards to write our heart out and lot many other things. And yes, not to forget the times we used to really desire all the days during school, the sports period, we relived that as well. We played basketball, volleyball amidst the drizzle and it was great fun. The day brought back so many loving memories for me and I really wish we do have another re-union at School. Leaving you with a couple of pictures of the day for you.

Sitting on Wooden Benches was Fun!

A Groupie with Teachers

Sprawling Sports Ground in a Lovely Rainy Weather

Yaar Anmulle - Re-United Friends

That day definitely made me more closer to the glorious days of my life, my school life. But not forgetting about the past time, we should always look up to our high ambitions and make our guides and teachers more proud of us.

Let’s Look Up Together with Housing.com.

Eliminating Classroom Hunger

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 18:25:00 +0000

Blogger in me loves doing different things, loves experimenting with different topics and what better do you want than knowing that a blog post will make a difference to someone. That’s exactly what it would.

From little Satish who throws the newspaper to my balcony to the tiny chhotu who serves me hot tea in office, we all come across a number of little kids who cannot go to school, just because they need to work to earn a bread for themselves and their families. That is what you call ‘classroom hunger’, a typical scenario we often notice in our daily lives but still choose to ignore, probably since it is not within our own lives. With God’s grace, we have been lucky enough to have an availability of basic facilities in our lives.

While I write these lines, I would like to share with you an incident which made me ponder over the topic I am discussing with you. A couple of years back, I was in Mumbai with 2 of my friends. We were enjoying the serene atmosphere and having fun at the Marine Drive. It would be around 9.45-10 when three kids came to us and started selling some children books. While the books seemed of no interest, we still got involved in asking rates of various books just to pass time. But at one moment, while one of the kids was telling us the rate of Nursery rhyme book, the other chhotu started singing those nursery rhyme. This indeed touched us, since they were selling those books to collect some money to get into a mid-day school itself so that they could learn. They told that they learned whatever their customers taught them through their own books and they were very eager to learn more. But they could not since they have a family to support and they are the ones who are feeding them. Their dedication to education was what inspired us to purchase few books from them, just because we wanted to help them but they refused to have anything in charity. Another thing that touched us was that while they seemed so helpless to us since they could not even learn, they had learned the art of being happy. I also clicked a pic of them to inspire me to be happy unconditionally.

Lets Learn to be Unconditionally Happy!

However. this incident also brings me face-to-face with a reality that many kids suffer from ‘classroom hunger’ and there is a great need to eliminate this classroom hunger. Children in poor families are often made to work to act as a helping hand to the main bread-earning member of the family. Lesser do they realize that educating the children will sow more sweet fruits in the future. These days, a new serial is also featuring on Colors TV titled ‘Udaan’ which also highlights the need of education to the poverty-ridden families and shows the transformation in the life of a village girl and her family after she is exposed to formal education system. So, the need of the hour is spreading awareness about the importance of education and discouraging the child labour practices in the country.

So, lets eliminate classroom hunger and instead let’s join hands to see in them ‘hunger to learn’. Proud to be associated with Bloggers’ Social Responsibility Initiative.

I am going to #BlogToFeedAChild with Akshaya Patra and BlogAdda.

Lucky 6 – Its not all about Being Lucky

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Mon, 24 Nov 2014 09:30:00 +0000

www.fatcatgaming.com has come up with an innovative gaming app called Lucky 6. The app has not yet been launched commercially or over Google Play Store. However, I got an exclusive chance to preview the app before it goes live and well, I was pretty much impressed with the concept of the game.

As the name goes, Lucky 6, its about choosing 6 brands for a day. Was it too short? Let's go a bit in detail. The game is basically a simplified version of a virtual stock market game. All a player has to do is choose six brands from a big list of brands. The brands are listed not only from Indian markets but several other markets as well. Hence, one can also invest in US and other international brands. Further, the difference between a virtual stock market game and Lucky 6 is that in this game, the player does not have to perform complicated calculations to construct a portfolio of stocks. The value of stocks/ brands does not matter in this game and only thing that matters is the performance of the brand on that day in real stock markets.

If the bands/ stocks chosen for the day perform the best, the player wins. Prizes also range from cash to luxury holidays which are surely catchy enough to put our mind and brain into choosing our 6 brands. The name 'Lucky 6' might indicate to you that it is just about choosing a random 6 brands and then waiting if they emerge as the winning bets. But the game is surely more about that, you need to calculate and anticipate which stocks will be the best performing on that particular day and then you select the brands.

The app has also impressed me with the ease and convenience of using the app and moving from one option to the other. The registration process is a simple one page form. Once the user is activated through the link, the user can simply move on to select his 6 brands for the next day's game. A timer in the app shows the countdown to the start of the next round. And if you are facing a dilemma of choices between different brands, the app has a solution for that as well. A user can select three different sets of brands as his three entries for the day.

Further, unlike other referral scheme, where the referrer gets a one-time referral bonus, this game has a unique referral reward scheme wherein if my referred player strikes the jackpot, the referrer also gets 25% of it.

As I am writing this blog post, I am already playing my first round of the game. Fingers Crossed for the results.

An Accident by the Road – Help or Ignore

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 17:32:00 +0000

This Children’s Day, our friends’ gang was just discussing the childhood memories and we had a great time creating some wonderful moments. One of the friends shared his great memories about the nursery rhyme ‘Humpty Dumpty’ and ‘Jack & Jill’. Before you really scream over your wish to listen it once again, here are the videos:

He interestingly shared some common features of these nursery rhymes:

1. Both the nursery rhymes have two central characters.

2. The creators of these nursery rhymes have been very cruel with these lovable characters. In both these nursery rhymes, the characters fell from the height.

And last and the most important,

3. These characters were not offered any first-aid after they fell.

While we had a great laugh when he made the third point, it also made me ponder over this bad state of affairs on Indian roads. Providing first-aid to an injured on the road is a basic courtesy, which can be pull a person from close-to-dead to being alive. First-aid is the medical assistance to a person suffering sudden injury to prevent the condition from worsening.

The Indian janta often seems to ignore to provide this basic courtesy. However, since this is not exactly what Indian values advocate, one is forced to think why Indians behave so. This might be possibly due to the reason that people are willing to help the injured strangers on the road but they are afraid of the medical and legal issues which occur in India when one helps an accident victim. Hospitals are not cooperative, they insist for blood relatives. Police isn’t cooperative either, since they have a long list of queries before leaving you with a promise to cooperate with police as and when the need be. Hence, despite having an intention to help, these external factors too contribute in lesser instances of medical assistance to the injured.

In this regard, I feel it important to let all know that Supreme Court has ruled in a couple of its judgements that an injured brought for medical treatment should be given medical aid to preserve life first and only then procedural criminal law should be allowed to operate. However, this helps only once the injured is brought to the hospital for medical aid. There is still no law in India which fixes a responsibility on its citizens to help the injured on roads. Accordingly, the need of the hour is creating a law that offers protection to those who help the injured strangers in road accidents. A strong law will surely go a long way in creating first-aid friendly and helpful society.

And before I end this issue, I will also like to share about an organization, which works for this cause. A few days before this discussion, I came across SaveLife Foundation, an NGO which was formed for improving road safety and emergency medical care in India. As I researched for the roots of the organization, Wikipedia gave me some interesting information. SLF was founded on 29 February 2008 following the death of Shivam Bajpai, Piyush Tewari’s 17 year old cousin, in a road accident in 2007. Piyush soon discovered that Shivam’s death was due to delayed care and that he may have been saved had he not have had to wait for 45 minutes for someone to rush him to hospital. Following thorough research that lasted several months, Piyush Tewari understood the gravity of this problem on a national scale and how prevalent were accident fatalities due to missing emergency care. He then invited his friend and mentor Krishen Mehta to join him in setting up the organization with a mission to enable Bystander Care – the immediate life-saving care that trained Police and community persons can provide road victims. Know more about the organization at http://www.savelifefoundation.org.

And next time you see an injured on the road, don’t hesitate to help him. You might be the difference and help save a Life.

This post is a part of Kids Hut activity at BlogAdda.com.

Honda is Simply Amaze-ing

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Sun, 16 Nov 2014 14:50:00 +0000

Starting its journey on 15th September 2014, Honda's 'Longest Drive through Amazing India' in Honda Amaze, entered the Guinness World Records, registering the longest journey by a car in a single country. The campaign was initiated to celebrate the success of Honda Amaze in the country which reached 1,00,000 units sales milestone which was the fastest in the history of Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL). The car covered a total of 23,823 kms through mountainous terrains, coastlines, flag highways, congested city roads and the interior of India in the 55-day journey crossing over 400 towns. The drive transversed through mountainous terrains, coastlines, flat highways, congested city roads and the interiors of India showcasing the durability and reliability of Honda Amaze through ‘Amazing India’.

I got an invite for the Guinness World Record Presentation ceremony which was to be held at The Grand in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi on 9^th November, 2014. Being a Sunday, it was easy for me to decide if I will attend the event or not. However, besides the event being a presentation ceremony, I had no clue on what surprises it had for me.

I had reached the hotel well within the time and I was quite happy to see some known faces there. As we spent a bit of time there, we were told that the renowned author, Chetan Bhagat, was also turning up for the event. This got us more surprised and excited. While we were waiting for the event to start, we also collected more information about the Guinness World Record for which we were there.

The World Record Holders with the Certificate

Bunny Punia and Shantonil Nag, in association with Honda Cars India Ltd., had got a Guinness World Record into their names for covering the longest journey by car in a single country. The team working behind the scenes was as below:

· Rajender Singh Negi - for capturing exciting visuals.

· Deepak Dhojia - for editing and making live videos.

· Kanika Sood - for being the multitasker in the exciting journey.

· The Gaadi Web Pvt Ltd team (including Abhishek Chaliha, Shivank Bhatt, Jeo George, Siddharth Motu, and Kanupriya Bhatnagar) - for handling all the other tasks.

(Info on behind the scenes team courtesy: Rahul Prabhakar)

We got an intimation from the Honda team that the event was about to start. We moved towards the hall to occupy our seats and just then, we noticed Chetan Bhagat entering the scene. We, the Blogger Gang, quickly stole an opportunity to have a Selfie with Chetan.

Selfie with Chetan and Blogger Gang

Video : Bunny's Jourrney through Visuals, Image : Bunny Narrating His Record-Breaking Amazing Journey

When Bunny’s video narrating his experience over the entire journey came up on the screen, I was clearly jealous of him of having experienced India so close. Being a lover of India’s scenic beauty, Bunny’s slideshow got me utter a ‘Wow!’ each time the slideshow changed its image. Just have a look at India and its incredibly amaze-ing beauty!

Images of Incredibly Amazing India

After the award presentation ceremony, we, the Bloggers Gang, also had an exclusive privilege to interact with Chetan Bhagat for his association with Honda Amaze.

You don't get such an Opportunity so often!

It was surely an amazing interaction, and Chetan was quick on every question we put before him, be it related to his experiences with Honda and what he felt of the Honda Amaze-ing Drive. Chetan also shared his upcoming campaign with Honda Amaze with us.

The #AmazeLongestDrive will be followed by a series of ‘webisodes’ on 'Drive through Amazing India' to be hosted by Chetan Bhagat, who, after his search of #HalfGirlfriend will now be discovering the #AmazingIndia. In the upcoming compaign, Chetan Bhagat will travel to unexplored locations in India. No wonder, it is an interesting campaign designed by Honda, which will also surely add to the India’s Tourism Quotient and encourage road trips. What an Idea, Honda Ji! The webisodes will also be interactive with its audience in the sense that people will be asked to post stories or photos about unexplored places of Amazing India and the short-listed candidates will further get a chance to travel and explore remarkable places of India.

Chetan's First Destination, Rosary Church

Chetan then shared with us, his first destination on this interesting campaign. His first destination is going to be ‘Rosary Church’, located some 200 kms from Bangalore. The church is submerged in waters during monsoons and as the waters recede, the Church shows its holy appearance. Still an unexplored arena, the place surely seems interesting due to its exciting location and no wonder, Chetan was also excited to be able to experience the place up, close and personal. When he was showing us his first destination, we asked him on a lighter note whether he will like to stay there for the night as well. As expected, the answer was a straightaway ‘No’ given the solitary location of the place. With that note, the interaction ended and we were up from a group picture with the author.

Well, with this interaction and lovely lunch thereafter, the event was officially over, but the memories of witnessing a Guinness World Record Presentation Ceremony live and interacting with Chetan Bhagat will remain with us forever.

A Day of the Cricket, by the Cricketers and for the Cricket

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Thu, 13 Nov 2014 09:00:00 +0000

- A day when the great Cricketing Legends and World Cup Winners, Clive Lloyd, Kapil Dev, Allan Border, Arjuna Ranatunga, Steve Waugh, Ricky Ponting were under a single roof to share their experiences

- A day when Yuvraj Singh opens his heart out with his fellow team mates on his fight with the deadly cancer

- A day when India-Pakistan cricketing rivalry displays a friendly face off the field

- A day when the likes of Sunil Gavaskar, Saurav Ganguly, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Aamer Sohail, Mohd Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja share their journeys to glory

And there it is, a day to salute the game and the legends, Salaaam Cricket!

Yes, I experienced it all up, close and personal and the day was 18^th October, 2014. The event was a cricket conclave organized by India Today in New Delhi. It was really a great experience hearing them outside the commentary box and seeing them live off the field.

India Today conceived the idea of this Cricket Conclave interestingly 100 days before the World Cup 2015 and surely to set a stage for the ever-enthusiastic Indian fans to cheer for their Men in Blue. Obviously, a biased Indian fan will think it’s only about Team India but a Cricketer within the fan might well believe that Australia will the favorites and South Africa too have a good chance as well and a feel amongst the legends as well was that New Zealand might turn up as a dark horse in the World Cup, given the fact that the tournament is going to be played at their home soil.

A day before the event, West Indies team had abruptly called off their tour in India after some payment issues and the media was all negative about the West Indians. Clive Lloyd made a Gentleman’s gesture by rendering apology towards this abrupt call from his team during the event. He surely earned a fan in me due to this little gesture.

Session with Yuvraj Singh

The event was divided into several small sessions featuring different legends. One of the sessions with Yuvraj Singh was quite inspirational because not only did he talk about his fight with cancer but more so since he knew of it while he was playing in WC2011. Still, he put his country before himself and continued playing in the World Cup while he was fighting something he had read about in his reports. This truly emerged as a true Salaam Cricket moment.

There was a session on ‘Pressures of the World Cup’ where we managed to see the coolest lot of captains we can ever get together, Ganguly, Ranatunga, Lloyd and Border and then there was a session on ‘Thunders Down Under’ wherein the Australian Trio, Border, Waugh and Ponting, shared their personal views on how the Australians just dominated the cricketing world for over a decade and three consecutive world cup wins. I still remember getting heartbroken when Ponting just thrashed India in WC 2003 final.

Indo-Pak rivalry surely deserved its own exclusive session and the players shared their anecdotes on how they felt more pressures before Indo-Pak match. They shared that a night before the match, everyone they talked to behaved like a cricket expert and would only say, ‘Jo marzi karna, par kal jeet kar hi aana hai.’ All the cricketers sharing the stage agreed that those games were high-pressure games, no matter what the present situation was and they just could not afford to lose. On being asked that who was better poised for the WC, India or Pakistan, Aamer Sohail, on a lighter note, marked the question as not applicable, just because Pakistan’s playing eleven were yet to be frozen and this marked the end of the session.

Perfect Testimony to Indo-Pak Friendship Off the Field

However, I believe Indo-Pak rivalry was just on-the-field and they shared some great bonds off-the-field. I managed to witness this on stage as well.

Vikram Sathaye posing as Saurav Ganguly

In between the sessions, we had a Silly Point refresher, wherein standup Comedian Vikram Sathaye who managed to tickle our funny bones and imitated the players on stage, and Haq has always been famous among the mimics.

However, the Session of the Day was the last one, wherein the Seven Captains were supposed to share the same stage. Imran Khan could not turn up, and we had six World Cup winning captains on stage. Surely, it was a photographic moment but what made it more exciting, interesting and lively was the way they entered the arena. All the captains were made to dance on the beats of dhol while the audience enjoyed the winning moments on the screen. It was an experience of a lifetime watching these legends to the desi dhol beats.

Clive Lloyd Dancing to the Desi Dhol Beats

Getting to meet all these cricketing legends, the heart still craved for more. Sachin's presence in this mega cricketing event was surely missed. Nonethless, it was a great time for me at the event, not forgetting that I managed to click selfies with few legends.

I cheer for the Men in Blue for the WC2015. What about you?

Lets Cheer for the Defending Champions, Team India

A Perfect Thriller - ‘God is a Gamer’ by Ravi Subramaniam

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 14:40:00 +0000

Book Review of ‘God is a Gamer’

Author : Ravi Subramanian

Publisher – Penguin Books

Genre – Thriller/Fiction

One sentence for the book

Twists and turns throughout the story keep you engrossed enough, but the detective within the reader may not be successful to nail the culprit in this thriller till the last few pages.

About the Author

A career banker and financial services professional, Ravi has worked with various multinational banks (Citibank, ANZ Grindlays Bank and HSBC) for over eighteen years. As a result of his extensive background in foreign banks, writing about banking comes quite naturally to Ravi. His earlier works, If God was a Banker, The Bankster, Bankerupt are all set against the backdrop of the financial services industry.

Author’s Writing Style

Described as the ‘John Grisham of banking’, by the Wall Street Journal, Ravi has an engrossing style of writing. Being a banker himself, Ravi is not aloof from what all happens inside the financial sector, still a positive of his writings is the way he explains the tiniest details of something technical for not-so technical reader. In a recent book launch event in Delhi, Ravi interestingly unfolded his success mantra, “Put a murder in the first few pages and introduce twists in the tale at the end.”

The Title and Book Cover

I have been away from the world of books since quite a long time now, but then came an opportunity to review the book from BlogAdda.com. The title ‘God is a Gamer’ was enough to excite the reader within me and I thought to give it a try.

The title indeed is catchy and interesting. It forces the reader to think at least once that how God has gamed with them. The book perfectly displays how the destiny can change your lives in a blink, a lesson to be remembered by all of us.

Book cover has been interestingly designed. A bitcoin image on the cover surely gets the reader interested to know more about what it is actually. The sub-title ‘Is Revenge a Crime?’ is another clincher for the reader to already go into the spreads of imagination of the revenge stories.

About the Book

A small book of 300+ pages conveniently divided into nearly 100 chapters, it helps the author portray different characters and emotions at different locations and connecting the dots seems an effortless task for the reader. Still, the reader does not lose the hold on the story at any place neither does the author gives the suspense easily. The suspense remains ‘a suspense’ till the very last pages. The narration has all been done in third person. Still, one feels as if all the scenes are happening at that very moment. The narratives have been given a personal touch. I enjoyed going through the different scenes in the story, few quite enjoyable, few little avoidable, but the story has its own pace which grips the reader within you.

The book has been widely promoted as a first-ever Bitcoin thriller. Bitcoins, a virtual currency, has been a mystery for a greater part of the world and this book tries to capture this unexplored arena. It has added to the surprise element of the story and also gave enough room for creative imagination to the author.

Thumbs Up

The climax is surely the greatest strength for this game of The God since Ravi connects the dots spread all around the story in an unexpected end to the chain of events. On what unfolds in the end is surely something surprising, at least for me, it was. Given that I am not an avid reader and still getting me finish up a book in a single day calls for another applause for the author.

What could have been better

The plot of the story is so vast that the author has left going much into detailing part for a couple of his characters. The emotional connect between the characters and reader is missing and the reader will hardly care what happened to the characters post the climax.

However, given that the book is a thriller, it is reasonably fine to get the story part demystified and don’t care about the characters in the end.

Rating

Ravi has surely impressed me with his style. I will rate this one a 4.5/5 and I would love to read his other books as well.

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books.

Shopping Gets Quikr

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Thu, 06 Nov 2014 18:18:00 +0000

It was my friends’ wedding and I could not carry my DSLR since it was supposed to be a rail ka safar and carrying an extra handbag just or the DSLR was not really advisable given the care a DSLR demands. Of course, I had my cellphone, but it certainly can’t match the quality a DSLR can fetch us. All the way in the train, I was just thinking on why I don’t have a handy digicam with me, which I can carry with me anytime without caring to carry an extra handbag which I invariably have to carry for a DSLR. While on my way from railway station to the wedding venue, I just noticed a hoarding of Quikr.com which was advertised as ‘Buyer aur Seller ka Perfect Matchmaker’. Since there was already a ‘to buy’ thing going in my mind, the ad managed to convince me to at least test the site once.

Search for the Quikr App

Once I reached the wedding venue, I noticed that I was quite ahead of the time for the function. So, I just thought to try my hands on the Google Play Store to check if the site I had noticed on the way had an Android App. The search was a Success and a cool Quikr app was on my screen.

Product Search

The app has a user-friendly graphical interface showing 12 different categories, including products, services, real estate etc. So, it can be treated as a one-stop shop for any buyer.

For the convenience of its users, it also has a ‘search’ button right on top of the app. Having a friendly app in my hand and a product in my mind, I wasted no time in searching for a camera. Already having a DSLR, all I was looking for was a decent point-and-shoot digicam which can be carried conveniently. The website is also containing an easy-to-use interface and Quikr Digicams in Delhi got me to the listings I was interested in.

Doing a little research about it got me aware that Sony has the best range in this point-and-shoot category. Some more search at Google and Flipkart to get a product close to my range of Rs. 5k-7k got me closer to the model I needed to search at Quikr. So, I made a search for ‘Sony W710’ Digicam.

There were three sellers for the product and all the locations were within a reasonable distance from my home/ office. So, I thought to contact all the three sellers. Two price tags were Rs. 5,000/- each and one had Rs. 3,000/-. Since the MRP of the cam was Rs. 6,000/- approx. So, the bargain was good enough but yes, obviously the product condition had a role to play in it.

Contacting the seller in the Quikr App is pretty simple. There are three buttons:

Call – The app opens the phone dialer for you to call the seller.
SMS - The app opens the phone messaging app to message the seller.
Reply – The app opens an in-built mailing function to send a message to the seller through Quikr.

I used the in-built contact feature to send messages to all the three sellers.

The reaction time was quicker from one of the sellers, or I should say, no longer a seller, since he had already got his product sold through Quikr itself the same day he posted the app but forgot to hide the advertisement. Obviously, the quikr.com was quicker for him, but yes, he gave me a thumbs up for the product and he also said that only reason he sold his cam was that he had bought a DSLR. I jokingly said that I was buying the cam for the same reason. Also, this seller was the Rs. 3,000/- seller so, now I was left with two sellers, both with price tag of Rs. 5,000/-.

By the time our conversation through SMS ended, the function I was there to attend was about to start. So, while my first step to shop was already completed, I thought to enjoy the function. After the function, while we were moving towards our rooms to rest for the night and then proceed back home, I noticed that I had got replies from other seller as well. He was willing to sell that product. I asked if it was OK for me to call at that time and finally, after a couple of minutes of conversation, the deal was closed subject to me testing the product for its working condition. What was good for me that he was quite close to my home and also, the seller was giving away a 4 GB memory card with the camera within the same price. Also, he was giving the original purchase invoice from Flipkart.com which was just 3 months old and thus, I could still enjoy the manufacturer’s warranty. While I was moving to bed, there was a sense of happiness within me for two reasons, one for my friend who was entering another phase of her life, and secondly, next time I need a cam, I need not depend solely on my DSLR and I have my Sony point-and-shoot cam as well with me.

Next day, after I got back home, I called the seller who agreed to meet at Domino’s Pizza outlet in the evening where I checked the product, which was looking fresher than a new piece. Possibly, the product had been used just once or twice. Still an Indian heart wanted to save some cash, I tried my hands on bargaining, which although is not something I am really good at. Bravo! The seller was kind enough to give it to me for Rs. 4,800/- and I immediately finalized the deal. Cash exchanged hands, and so did the product. I got the camera, original Sony pouch, 4 GB memory card enough for 800 photos and Flipkart invoice for the warranty part.

Well, I just forgot that we had a great Pizza time as well and the seller didn’t allow me to pay for it as well.

So, now I am a proud owner of a DSLR and a chhotu cam as well. So, better be nice to me or else I will shoot you. :)

No wonder, with such a convenient and successful experience, I am going to recommend this website to my friends and hopefully, will also try to be a seller myself over there, but may be my buyer won’t get a free pizza, but a big Jaadoo Ki Jhappi. Quikr indeed is a Perfect matchmaker of buyer and seller,

So, No fikar #SHOPQUIKR

This post is a part of Quikr.com activity at BlogAdda.com.

The Siege Saga - Chapter XXII

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 18:05:00 +0000

This post is a part of the #GameOfBlogs Contest at Blogadda.com.

You can read the first part of the story here and the previous part here.

Jennifer was all very tensed with her heart still beating up for Kareem. She wanted the hostages to be free but she did not want Kareem’s body lying still in front of her either. Between the ‘right’ and the ‘wrong’, Jennifer hoped to save Kareem from the rescue teams. But the fight eventually went into the favor of ‘right’ since the video posted by Cyrus was running continuously in front of her eyes. “I need to go inside, I need to save Kareem from all this and get him away from this materialistic world. We shall have our new world somewhere far away.”

But with each bullet sound, Jennifer’s heart was beating at a faster pace than before. She thought to talk to Kareem.

“Where have you been? Its all over the news that the hotel is getting freed up from the hours long siege. Bullet sounds are all over the outer space. Hope you are fine.” Jennifer went to some private space and called inside the hotel.

“Its all getting spoiled. The army is already within the hotel. But inshallah, we will achieve our mission. Aryan has just managed to get away from the lobby. That bloody Shekhar! Uski wali toh tumhare saath hi hai na. She will come to our rescue if he catches us.” Kareem asked in a tone which frightened Jennifer.

“Huzoor, apki zindgi mere saath hi hai.” Jennifer replied in a manner to console Kareem.

Jennifer was going all in and out to think how she can get inside the hotel. She wanted the hostages free and she wanted Kareem and somewhere her brain was telling her that only one of the two was possible.

Jennifer asked the special cell team on the ground carefully monitoring the situation inside if she could go inside the hotel. “Sending me inside can really help your team. I know one of them really well and I can be go really close to the attackers without any harm to my life.”

Suraj, who was second in command after Shekhar, was all in dilemma whether to let her in or not, or more specifically, whether to believe her or not.

“I know its hard to trust someone who has already tried to deviate you from the prime agenda, but please trust me. Shekhar has trusted me till now, the prime concern for me is just the safety of the hostages.” Tara said in a tone to convince Suraj further.

“Give me some time.” Suraj said in a stressed tone. He knew he already had lesser time.

“Delta to Alpha, come in Sir.”

“Delta, come in.”

“Jennifer wants to get in the hotel. She says she wants the hostages be freed.” Suraj seeked guidance from Shekhar.

“We already are clueless about the location of the terrorists. Our team has already cleared two floors and only thing we can find are dead bodies. Lets play blind. I think we should let her in. What do you suggest?” Shekhar said, though in a bit unconvincing sound, but his heart knew his intuitive ability has never let her down.

“Sir, we don’t seem to have a choice. I think we may take a chance.”

“Over and out.”

Suraj now seemed to have a fair idea of what his course of action was going to be.

“Jennifer, our team is already in. So, if you think you will be able to fool us around, you may be wrong. We are attaching a secret cam to your earring. It should not get broken at any cost. Just remember that.” Suraj tried to assure Jennifer that it was their choice and not helplessness which was allowing her to go in.

That was a really smart call from Suraj. Getting a cam in the earring also meant that he could hear everything whenever Jennifer conversed with anyone over phone.

And bang on! The very first call gave them the location of the terrorists.

“Kareem, I have managed to get in the hotel through kitchen area at the back. Where are you and our team?” Jennifer tried to know his whereabouts.

“Ahana, we are all spread out on different floors from 4^th to 8^th floor. I am on the 5^th floor. However, Aryan is still untraceable. But you stay away from the scene. The army seems all within the hotel and we are close to reach Jannat, inshallah.”

“No, I won’t. I have done the recce of the hotel earlier and I know a way out. I surely can help you get out of here safe, Kareem. I need to meet you.”

While Jennifer aka Ahana was trying to convince Kareem to get out of the hotel safely, Suraj heard all this conversation through the secret cam.

He immediately conveyed the information to Shekhar. “Suraj, make sure, our team should not go to Floor 5. We can nab this one alive. And till the time Jennifer is there with him, I think he will do no harm.”

Was Jennifer worthy of this much trust? The question was getting back on Shekhar’s mind again and again but he just remembered Roohi’s silly facebook status a couple of days back which read ‘Listen to your Heart. Itmay be on the left, but it’s always right.’

Finally, he decided to trust her.

Read the next part of the story here.

“Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.”

The Siege Saga Continues!!

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Mon, 22 Sep 2014 18:17:00 +0000

This post is a part of the #GameOfBlogs Contest at Blogadda.com.

You can read the first part of the story here and the previous part here.

How does Tara know Ahana? Why is Ahana saved as Jennifer in Tara’s mobile? Why is Ahana calling his wife?

These were some of the questions that were pretty much occupying Shekhar’s mind at this moment. One moment, he thinks he should confront his wife and fetch all the more details he can but on the other hand, he suspects there might be some informers to the terrorists who may still be present at the Railway Station. Deciding to continue his uninformed presence in Delhi, Shekhar notes down Jennifer aka Ahana’s cell number from the call log in Tara’s mobile. Thinking that it would be important to remain in touch with his wife, he decides to drop the phone on the platform itself instead of handing it over but he also makes sure that while dropping Tara’s phone back on the platform, Roohi has her eyes of her Papa. He winks at Roohi and signals her to ask Mummy to pick her phone up.

“Oh baby! You got us scared today.” Tara hugged Roohi.

“Mumma, I had to be strong. I can’t afford to be a crying baby of the journalist the whole of the nation is watching. I want to talk to Papa as well. He must be worried.”

“Oh, Yes! He indeed was. Let me connect a call to him.” Surprised and amazed, Tara is searching for her phone. Roohi, being a fine actress, seemingly unknowingly picks up the phone from the platform.

Shekhar calls up Police Control Room and hands them over Ahana’s number to track all the details about the call records. Shekhar calls up his team to check the status at Continental Hotel which continues to be under the terror siege. As per the latest information available with the special cell, the hotel had 100+ guests, a majority of which are of non-Indian origin and the respective countries have been pressing upon raising the safety issues of their citizens, adding on to the pressure on Shekhar who is leading the ‘Operation R’

Tara and Roohi are taken into the medical van stationed at the station itself for some medical assistance while the nabbed terrorists are taken under custody by the special cell commandos. Siiting inside the medical van, Tara notices Jennifer’s missed call.

“Oh! I just missed to communicate to Jennifer that I am leaving from Hotel site to cover Railway station and more importantly, save Roohi.” Tara exclaimed.

“Hey Jenni! Just saw your call. Where are you? Hope you are safe.”

“Tara, I’m outside the Continental Hotel. I managed to take a couple of pictures inside. It’s a bloodbath all the way in the lobby. But where are you?” Jennifer said breathing heavily.

“Are you fine? I am at Railway station. I saw Roohi on the gun point on the news coverage at the station and I could not resist coming at the site.”

“Just wait there, I’ m coming there.” Jennifer is all perplexed and surprised.

“Jenni, just wish you were here right now. Special cell has nabbed the mastermind to the attacks and is now taking them over in safe custody. It would have been a promotion-fetching coverage.”

“Oh, that’s great.” With a happy expression over the call, Jennifer looked tensed, extremely tensed. But before saying anything else, she deliberately disconnects the call and dials another number.

Read the next part of the story here.

“Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.”

Game of Blogs : Story Weavers

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Fri, 12 Sep 2014 12:34:00 +0000

Team Name : Story Weavers

“Breaking news for not so good a morning, terror strikes the National Capital. New Delhi Railway Station witnesses the highest casualities.“

Shekhar switches his TV on early in the morning to practice Yoga and the breaking news catches his attention. Amidst the serenity of the morning, the ringtone on his wife's mobile breaks the silence of an otherwise quiet morning. Since the call is from office, Tara takes no time to get up and answer it.

"Morning, Sir." …. "Oh my God!"….. "Yes, Sir."…. "Right away"… "Certainly, Sir."… "Good Day, Sir." That’s all Shekhar could hear while Tara seemed uneasy, being awake early in the morning after the late night news report she had to broadcast.

"What happened, Tara?" asked Shekhar.

"Nothing, I need to report to Delhi studio to cover the terror attack and the worst part is that I have a flight to catch in next 2 hours." Tara uttered while rushing to get fresh.

"What? Are you going to New Delhi? and who's gonna receive Roohi from CST? She's returning today after a long school trip in Delhi" And it was a horrifying silence. "One sec! Roohi is coming back from New Delhi, Tara call her up. I hope she's fine…."

"I know you can manage that. Let me get ready and leave for the Airport." Before Shekhar says 'OK', Tara is already gone. Shekhar is trying to call Roohi's teacher who was travelling with the whole group and the phone is not reachable. Sadly, the terrorist attack timings matches with the departure time of Roohi's train.

Anxious about his little angel, Shekhar tries to gather all the information that is available on the idiot box. 240 dead… hundreds injured.. a train taken hostage by the terrorists.. all trains diverted from New Delhi.. This was all he could gather from different news channels.

"Wait, I am coming along. Roohi needs us... Oh my lil' daughter!"

Tara was surprised. "Oh, com'on! she will be OK. Don’t act like a child." But the father in Shekhar was not willing to listen to all this. All he wanted to listen to Roohi's sweet voice. Tara was unwilling to take Shekhar with him, but the father in him was not in a mood to listen.

An anxious father and the workaholic journalist were ready to leave home in no time. Shekhar's attempts to connect to Roohi's teacher go all in vain. "Ganpati Bappa, she should be safe." he was uttering this all this while.

Read the next part of the story here.

“Me and my team are participating in ‘Game Of Blogs’ at BlogAdda.com. #CelebrateBlogging with us.”

Friendship is Life!!

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Fri, 11 Jul 2014 15:06:00 +0000

In the journey of sharing and caring, my world has become richer with all those lovely people who care for my happiness and smile. I just tried penning down my thoughts this time for how rich I feel but at the same time, a bit scared of losing them.

सबसे खास, दोस्ती का एहसास

चुप रहना ज़िंदगी की आदत हो गई,

बातों से दिल ना दुखा दूँ, किसीका डर लगता है.

दोस्ती करते हैं हम लोगों का दिल देखकर,

किसी दोस्त का साथ छूट ना जाये डर लगता है.

एक पतली सी माला पिरोई है ज़िंदगी में अपनी,

वो छन्न से टूट ना जाये डर लगता है.

एक वादा चाहिए तुमसे ज़िंदगी भर की दोस्ती का,

"वादे अक्सर टूटते है." इसी बात से डर लगता है.

जाने कल क्या उजाला हो अपनी ज़िंदगानी में,

आज को आज में जीना ही हमें प्यारा लगता है.

खुशनसीब है वो जिन्हें मिलता है साथ दोस्तो का,

खुशनसीब होने का ख्याल यह हमें बहुत प्यारा लगता है.

दोस्ती की है तो निभाने की कोशिश भी होगी,

हमारी दोस्ती का एहसास ही मुझे सबसे प्यारा लगता है.

These lines are dedicated to all my Tom and Jerry friends. I hope you like it. :)

Kya Dilli Kya Lahore!!

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 18:27:00 +0000

Last Saturday, I attended an event by Zee to launch their new channel ‘Zindagi’ and what pushed me to attend the event was the very tagline of the Channel : Zindagi, Jodey Dilon Ko. An attempt aimed at connecting two nations, I was quite excited for the launch event, since even we have grown up watching Pakistani Plays and Pakistani shows on PTV.

While sitting in the hall, I penned down a few lines on the issue and I hope you all would like it.

क्या दिल्ली, क्या लाहौर!!

हम आज भी उमर शरीफ देख हॅसते हैं,

दिलों में उनके भी शाहरुख बस्ते हैं.

हुआ करती थी मंज़िल एक कभी यह,

आज अलग अलग हुए ह्‌मारे रास्ते हैं.

हम एक थे इतिहास के किस्सों में,

क्यूँ बाँट दिया हमें दो हिस्‍सों में,

क्या कोई मुझे यह समझायेगा,

क्या फर्क है इन दो हिस्सों में.

ज़मीन को अलग कर दिया हो चाहे,

पर खुश्बू मिट्टी की ना जुदा हो पाये.

नहीं है फ़ासला लाहौर अमृतसर में,

तो दिलों में फ़ासले कैसे हो पाये.

यह हवायों की मासूमियत के भी क्या कहने,

जब चलती हैं यह अमृतसर में शोर से,

ना यह देखे ना जाने कोई सरहद,

चुनरी उड़ती जाये लाहौर में.

मुझे भी हवा का झोंका बना दो यार,

मैं भी देख लूँ उधर का प्यार,

उस ज़मीन की मिट्टी को लगाना है माथे,

मुझको भी दिखा दो कोई लाहौर एक बार.

कभी कभी सोचे यह मन मेरा,

सियासत के खेल में देश लुट गया मेरा,

मेरे मन की यह कुछ ख्वाहिशें है,

इस बारें में बता, क्या ख्याल है तेरा.

क्यूँ ना इन दो भाइयों को फिर से मिलायें,

क्यूँ ना हम इक नया जहाँ बनायें,

बीती हुई कड़वी यादों को भूल,

हम अमन की आशा चारो और फैलायें.

आओ प्यार के दिये जला दें चारो और,

बांटें इतना प्यार, जिसका ना हो कोई छोर.

अब दो देशों की दूरियाँ मिट जाने दो,

क्या हो दिल्ली, क्या लाहौर.

अब दिलों की दूरियाँ मिट जाने दो,

क्या हो दिल्ली, क्या लाहौर.

While I sincerely hope that this new channel will be a step forward, let us vow too for a cordial Indo-Pak relationship.

Loving beyond Social Barriers!!

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 16:09:00 +0000

Condemn Honour Killing, just coz there is no honour in Killing.

A couple of days back, I came across a news clipping regarding 'honour killing' and all the thoughts within my mind came to halt. I tried penning down a story of two lovers, who loved beyond the social barriers, but may not unite due to the artificial social barricades.

रात बहुत है हो चली,

हम घूमे यादों की गली.

जब मैं और तुम बने थे हम,

खुशियाँ जो थी कभी ना कम.
ज़िंदगी की हर खुशी तुझसे ही थी,

तेरी हर आरज़ू की तमन्ना हमने की.

तेरी मुस्कुराहट की चाहत हर पल थी,

झुकी तेरी नज़र और दिल में हलचल थी.

तेरे होने से एक अजब सा एहसास था,

पर इस रिश्ते का नाम हर पल राज़ था.

आया जब वक़्त इस रिश्ते को नाम देने का,

तब इकरार से ना जाने यह दिल घबराया.

मुझे प्यार है तुमसे कहते कहते,

तुमने इस रिश्ते का नाम दोस्ती बताया.

पर जाने क्या मजबूरी रही होगी तुम्हारी,

फिर एक दिन तुमने इस दोस्ती को भी ठुकराया.

बेवफाई तुम्हारी ना होगी तुम्हारी मंज़ूरी से,

यही कहके फिर हमने अपने दिल को समझाया.

आज मिले जब फिर से उन्हीं राहों पे,

तो पढ़ ली हमने यह आँखें तुम्हारी.

मुझे आज भी प्यार है तुमसे,

कह गयी हमसे यह साँसें तुम्हारी.

इस इज़हार की खुशी तो थी दिल में,

पर एक सवाल ज़रूर मन में आया था..

तुम दूर गये थे मुझसे क्यूँ,

यह आज भी ना तुमने बताया था..

जब हम थे एक साथ, प्यार था तब भी,

फिर तब तुमने ना क्यूं प्यार जताया था..

जब मालूम था के ज़िंदगी कटेगी ना बिन तेरे,

फिर क्यूँ जान बूझके मुझे सताया था..

यह सुनके वो बस इतना ही कह पायी थी,

तेरी खातिर ही हमने यह ज़िंदगी ठुकराई थी.

तुमसे प्यार करना खिलाफ था समाज के उसूलों के,

तुझे इन्कार करके ही हमने अपनी वफ़ा निभाई थी.

यह सुनके हमने अपनी ज़िन्दगी को गले लगाया,

विश्वास हमारा ना टूटा, यह सूकून पाया.

एक वो वक़्त था और एक आज है,

इस प्यार के बीच क्यूँ आता समाज ह..

इंसानों में क्यूँ छोटा बड़ा बनाया,

एक दूसरे के बीच क्यूँ फ़ासला बनाया.

चाहे दर्मियाँ हो जितनी मरज़ी दूरियाँ,

हमें दूर ना कर पायेंगी यह मजबूरियाँ.

नहीं भूलेंगे हम किये एक दूसरे से वादे,

मर कर भी ज़िंदा रहेंगे हम इश्क़ज़ादे.

I hope you like it. :)

The Unspoken Words!!

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Sun, 04 May 2014 07:53:00 +0000

I have been receiving lots of positive feedback and comments on my writings and in between the comments are some questions asking about what is the source of inspiration for these writings. The question gave me another reason to write on why I write. But while I started writing, the lines started going far from my reply on why I write, but still, they were communicating the thoughts of several others who write to express the unspoken words, words which will always remain unspoken otherwise.

हमें अब नींद की तलब नहीं रही,

अब रातों को जागना अच्छा लगता है.

एक यादें ही तो है तेरी साथ मेरे,

उन यादों को संजोना अच्छा लगता है.

जाने क्या जादू किया तेरी मुस्‍कुराहट ने,

फूलों सा तेरा मुस्कुराना अच्छा लगता है.

वो मेरा तुझे सताना और तेरा रूठ जाना,

फिर मेरा तुझे मनाना अच्छा लगता है.

दिल करे करू बातें तेरी आँखों से,

तू हो सामने तो नज़रें झुकाना अच्छा लगता है.

शेरो-शायरी में कर लेता हूँ बातें तेरी,

शायद तभी ये शायरी करना अच्छा लगता है.

मुझे मालूम नहीं तू मेरी किस्मत में है या नहीं,

मगर तुझे खुदा से माँगना अच्छा लगता है.

शेरो-शायरी में कर लेता हूँ बातें तेरी,

शायद तभी ये शायरी करना अच्छा लगता है.

I hope you like it. :)

Is this Love?

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 18:46:00 +0000

Just tried penning down thoughts of a Young Boy, who is confused if ‘he was indeed in love’.

चाँद से भी पूछा एक बार मैने,

क्या तुझें देखूँ या अपना यार.

चाँद भी मुस्कुराया और बोला मुझसे,

तरसता हूँ मैं भी उसका दीदार.

एक तेरी ही मुस्कुराहट है जो,

मुझे ग़म सारे भुला देती है.

तेरी एक पलकें झुकाने की अदा,

इस दिल को तेज़ धड़का देती है.

प्यार से जब तुम पुकारते हो,

एक अरमान सा दिल में जगता है.

कह तो दूँ यह तुमसे में,

पर डर सा दिल में लगता है.

रब्ब से मांग लूँ तुझको मैं,

ऐसा दिल चुपके से कहता है.

सीने में रहता था कभी मेरे,

अब जाने कहाँ वो रहता है.

धड़कता था पहले कभी चुपचाप से,

वो कुछ समय से खो गया है.

क्या प्यार इसी को कहते हैं,

जो मुझको शायद हो गया है.

रहता था अपनी दुनिया में बेखबर,

अब सपनों की नगरी में खो गया है.

क्या प्यार इसी को कहते हैं,

जो मुझको शायद हो गया है.

He is still searching for an answer. Do you have one for him?

Strongly Against #BackingRapists

noreply@blogger.com (Simardeep Singh) — Sat, 12 Apr 2014 03:25:00 +0000