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Tuesday 31 March 2015

Varanasi Boat School - Reshaping Future of Children of River Ganga

In India, the country that is home for more than 120 Crores Human beings and out of them many are kids, literacy rate can really be a path breaking parameter in making or breaking the country. With so many resources required to teach all these children, it can really be a tedious task for the society and the Government. Even if we are able to manage the resources, the poverty can be one more hurdle in educating those kids as those kids would be forced to earn living not only for themselves but also for their family. The challenges for educating these kids can be reduced only if all the corners of society join hands together and put forward an honest effort, else we are going to suffer badly in the long run with so many kids growing up illiterate.

Such an effort is “Boat School” being run by an NGO Guria which is led by Ajeet Singh in the city of Varanasi. There are many kids can be seen on banks of river Ganga wasting their time without any hope as there is no one to give them any direction or hope. Boat school works for all those kids by providing them 2 hrs daily in the evening once they are done with their daily routine, the environment  on boat is set up in such a way that in these 2 hrs kids can play, learn or do whatever they want without any tension. These 2 hrs. will make kids feel better about themselves, they will learn things independently and also it will increase their focus towards importance of learning and studies. The times these kids used to waste on the streets or on banks of Ganga is being transformed into time these kids are spending in Ideal learning.

Hopes on Boat

This boat school initiative needs a lot of encouragement so that it can be transformed magically. The magical transformation includes: makeover of the interiors, a library, educational toys, stationery,a computer and a painting kit. This magical transformation will help in restoration and redecoration of the interiors to provide kids the necessary books, CDs, furniture and toys. As books, CDs are basic necessities for any learning activity, your support for these is must so that this initiative can prosper leaps and bounces and help Boat school do right things within right time. Then the success of Varanasi can be replicated in other such cities and villages of India so that other kids also can dream of living a successful life and helping India to grow. The Journey of doing right by “Boat School” must reach to all such kids and help them prosper in life.

The Varanasi Boat School needs your support and love in all forms possible so that Children of Ganga can also dream of living a successful life. All these kids deserve a much better opportunity than what they have now and being a responsible citizen it is our responsibility to support this initiative. The little support you do in any form will have multiple positive effects on future of these kids, the small pledge each one of us takes may be in form of providing Scholarships to these kids will help “Boat School” touch life of many more kids of Varanasi and will help them in becoming an asset to our country. Step up and Help such noble cause. 

Friday 27 March 2015

Times Now - The Shit Nation Doesn't Want to Listen

Before starting to write the post, let me thank millions of Indian cricket fans who stood behind team India after the loss when some attention and TRP mongers started to defame and question the integrity and commitment of each one our players. Yes as expected it was the “So Called “ No. 1 English news Channel, the savior of humanity, The Truth digger, the Messiah of Common man, the Times Now which is run, directed and yes scripted by Arnab Goswami. Arnab, the Yug Purush, the great screamer with the enough decibel levels that his voice can be heard even on the moon.

It all started after India’s 95 runs loss in the World Cup Semi Final yesterday, within 5 mins of end of the match, TimesNow started their debate with Anand and Tina as hosts ( yes go and fuking find out who they are) with panelists Zaheer Khan, Atul Vasan, Charu Sharma and 2 others. The tone, the questions and the comments hosts were putting seemed like they owned team India. As usual they started promoting their twitter trend #ShamedInSydney expecting that hurt fans will come and abuse Team India,but it went totally opposite.  Fans started to question the way Timesnow was asking questions, they raised objections to host’s doubting the integrity and commitment of Dhoni and other players. Hosts even tried to drag CSK IPL match fixing issue and attaching that with Dhoni, questioning Anushka Sharma’s presence in Sydney.

Hosts started to compare Teary AB Devilieres with smiling Dhoni after the loss, calling him shameless, forgetting the fact that South Africans came so close to win the match and anyone will behave in same way when they lose that type of a close match. As per them, Dhoni and Company should apologize to fans, which by their ignorance Dhoni did in fact in the post-match talk but may be they wanted Dhoni to kneel down and ask for forgiveness for just losing a match. Kudos to Zaheer, Atul, and Charu who stood behind team India fighting point on point with loser Hosts and making some sense in anyway one directional debate. The Crickets fans didn’t like such comments and within 10-15 mins , instead of #ShamedInSydney, #ShameOnTimesNow started trending in India and World Wide. Fans started using curse words and facts questioning timesnow’s show. 




Facts like Dhoni has won almost all ODI championship any team can ,from World Cup to Asia Cup to Champions trophy and the T-20 World Cup, he is the highest match winning captain of India in ODIs. For ardent Indian cricket fans it was emotional to read such supportive tweets and messages even after such a loss. Yes we bunked office for it, yes we are really hurt, Yes team made some mistakes , but real fans are not going to get personal and abuse players and question their integrity. This is the same team that won 7/7 matches in this World Cup dominating the opposition, and it was just 1 bad day in office for them. Here are some of tweets and pics posted over social media that made #ShameonTimesNow phenomena within hours.
















Tuesday 24 March 2015

Decision that mattered the most

Life will be tough to you if you remain constant and don’t adapt to the changing times. The change can be in any form, as personal level change, as professional level change or as social change.it is tough to adapt to changes if one does not have strong will power or decision making power.

I took such a tough decision on 18th Feb 2011 to move to Bangalore, a city that is around 2300 Kms away from my home. Only motivation behind taking that decision was to have a Successful Life on my own terms without depending on my family. It was aimed to get a nice job based on my qualification and then keep growing there. I was happy when I decided that but it was tough on emotional level not only for me but also for my loved ones. Imagine you leaving your loved ones on one fine day with whom you have spent beautiful moments of your life. So like every other person It was almost emotionally breaking decision for everyone in family, but I had strong enough will power to get out of that emotion and start the journey of my dreams.

Once I came to Bangalore and joined my 1st job within 1 month of coming here, one thing was clear in my mind and that was my Goal for which I have come so far. I still remember my 1st salary getting credited in bank account and then that night of 28th Feb came in my mind when I was waiting for train at Station for a long journey ahead. Had I become emotionally weak on that night and gone back home, I would have never got this feeling of happiness of living on my own. At that time my will power and tough decision making had paid off but there was long way to go. I kept working hard week after week, month after month and kept growing and in 4 years of journey in Bangalore I have come a long way successfully. Yes I do miss spending quality time with loved ones and home-made food , I do get emotional many times but feeling of being able to live on your terms and your own resources is immense. It makes you a man from a boy. It develops your personality as responsible human being. I have been able to do all this with only one tough decision that I had taken 4 years back and looking back I have no regret for it.

We need to keep taking decisions, sometime small ones in our day to day life and sometimes big and tough ones that determines how we are going to go ahead in life and what we are going to achieve in life. Just keep believing in yourself and keep taking strong decision to become a better person than you are now. I did it and it paid off for me. A decision taken at a right time is the best decision taken in life.

This blog post is part of initiative by https://housing.com to understand and share different stories related with starting a new life with the help of decisions one makes in life.


Living together and Conquering together

This post is part of wonderful initiative by https://housing.com for promoting optimism in life and how optimism played role in my life.

Life is unpredictable and it becomes really tough sometimes to handle the pressure and all the odds around us. Many times we all try to find short cut to get out of that tough situation , it works sometimes but most of the time it does not. This is the moment in life when your family and loved ones come in picture to help you get out of the tough condition. Many times just seeing their happy faces eases out your frustration and tension. If we have not had those people in our life, it would have been hell lot of tough to go through tough times and conquer in life.

I have always been a part of a lower middle class family of one of the most backward state of India, Uttar Pradesh. With relatively tough financial situation it was tough to persuade my mother for higher education and cost was way beyond our family capacity. I can’t forget the day I told her about me willing to do Masters in Computers after my Graduation, I was not sure how it would roll out with everyone in family but to my surprise I was applauded by them. I was even given a big hug and even some extra pocket money on that day to enjoy the decision I had taken and I chose to enjoy the moment with kids in family. It was a pleasant surprise on that day and I can never forget it. Despite all odds my decision was so well accepted, may be they had more confidence in me than I myself had about the decision. The awesome feelings you get during such days in your life are tough to pen down. During such moments sometimes you cry in happiness, sometimes you stand still without knowing how to react and there can’t be any happiness better than being able to live that moment with your loved ones.

That day turned me into a different person all together, if I had gotten even a hint of negativity from family members on that day, I would have never made it till here. That day was auspicious, awesome, pleasantry surprising and last but not the least Life Changing, to be more precise that would be my real Birth Day.   
There is a saying that decisions you take in life makes you the person you would be, but to add to that the decision your loved ones take to support your decision is also important factor in making you. No doubt that I took that decision but the decision taken by my family members on that auspicious day helped me to grow up in life. Whenever I think about that day, it makes me sad and happy at same time, sad for giving troubling times to my family members but happy  that I didn't disappoint them and now we are living a relatively happy life than that we had in those tough times.

Despite our ever-connective technology, neither Skype nor Facebook - not even a telephone call - can come close to the joy of being with loved ones in person.
-- Marlo Thomas

Monday 23 March 2015

Dividends of Optimism

I have embraced and valued optimism in life during last 6 years like I had never before and now I have got a chance to share that story as part of wonderful initiative by https://housing.com/lookup for promoting Optimism in life.

The journey for a relatively good and successful life ahead starts from the initiative or initial decisions you take in your life. The powerful and worthy decision you take depends on how optimistic you are in life. If you are less optimistic you might take a decision to do something you could have done easily and even could have gone beyond that easily, but because you were less optimistic you didn’t take the bigger and relatively tougher decision. It is your optimism in life that drives your future prospect.

Now to go with the story, I always had love for writing, writing on something happening in life, in politics, in sports, thoughts going in minds. 6 years back I was optimistic that I could write but I was not good in English and even was not aware about how to share my writing with others. I used to write in old diary in Hindi and keep reading it daily to feel better, but then I came to know about reality that writing in English is mandatory to get a broader viewing and I decided that I am going to crack this out and yes I did it. I was ok in English but that was school level, I worked hard and in 1-2 years I was there writing my 1st complete blog post in English. The happiness of posting that blog post was bigger than cracking my board exams which were relatively tough though. From there journey started and I kept moving with hope that I am going to give my more than 100% for it. There were many obstacles like those come in jobs but I was optimistic that I would go through it and conquer the tough time. After sometime I got chance to attend an event in Bangalore and blog about that, and that blog changed by approach towards blogging , it is not just writing ,it is wring for someone or for something to help not only themselves but to myself too. Blogging can yield give results not only emotionally but monetarily. I have been to many events since then, have blogged about many where I was not part of and I am really enjoying it.

To conclude this long story in short, it was the love for writing that made me optimistic and helped me in taking a decision 6 years back to learn good English so that I could put out my thoughts in sentences and paragraphs and hopefully I have done good. If it was not for optimism at that time, I would have never taken decision to learn English writing and would have really missed the wonderful opportunity to pen down my thoughts and mostly the feeling of “Happiness of Writing”.

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
--Helen Keller

Sunday 22 March 2015

27Coupons - Hub for Every Online Deal

The way E-commerce is evolving in India, we should not be surprised that in coming years we will purchase almost everything over internet. Currently you go to internet and go through the e-commerce sites, they are selling from smallest thing possible to largest thing possible. Take a look at all things in your home and all those are available over internet for purchase and home delivery.

With the launch of so many E-commerce websites , competition has gone to a new high and it is helping customers to buy products on less Price, but what if you need to pay even more less price than the least possible prices posted on E-commerce portal ? Yes here comes the concept of Coupons and 27Coupons is leading player in this. This site has Coupons for almost everything available over websites.They have coupons for sites like Cleartrip, MakeMyTrip, Goibibo, Foodpanda, Bookmyshow, Flipkart and so so many.  

Let’s take BookMyShow first, we all use BookMyShow for ticket booking for all types of events like movies, sports, Live shows. While booking these tickets even a mere 5% save looks pretty amazing and 27Coupons provides us that, and to be happier there are not only 1-2 coupons but there are many. Whenever you want to book a ticket from BookMyShow just go to http://www.27coupons.com/stores/bookmyshow.com before booking to check all available offers. If you are regular user, you can subscribe to your favorite store like BookMyShow and all the offers will be send to your mailbox. You will find all details of coupons and “terms and conditions” on 27Copupos site and also validity of those coupons. At 27Copupons you can save coupons detail for future viewing.

For example currently there is an offer on bookmyshow that when you pay through Paytm  for ticket booking, you will get 20% CashBack in your Paytm Wallet, means for 300 Rs ticket you will get 60 Rs back and this 60 Rs you can use for next ticket booking or some other purpose. Isn’t it a great deal that those 60 Rs got saved on 300 Rs spending? it is 27Coupons that is providing us this information and helping us to save money.



We all use MakeMyTrip for Rail/Bus/Flight/Hotel ticket booking, won’t it be a good deal to save some extra bucks while doing this? Yes if you just go to http://www.27coupons.com/stores/makemytrip.com and check all deals available you can save those extra bucks. If you are a frequent traveler, just subscribe to this store and get all details in your mailbox. We can see all Terms and Conditions related with different available coupons.

Currently there is an offer of 25% off on Hotel Booking through MakeMyTrip which can go max to 1250 Rs. It is 27Coupons that is sending this information to our mailbox and helping us to save our Hard-Earned Money. Like this there are many offers pertaining to different terms and conditions ranging from Credit Card related coupons to normal applicable coupons with Coupon Codes.

So if you want to shop online and want to save extra bucks easily, just go to http://www.27coupons.com, search for your store and check all available coupons and use best applicable ones. It just takes few minutes but will help you save your hard earned money. These discounts look small but being availed many times can yield in big Save.

For more information on it Visit:


Sunday 8 March 2015

TECHNOLOGY in Cricket – A boon or a bane?

There is no doubt that technology has evolved rapidly in Cricket in last 6-7 years with Hawk Eye, snickometer, Hot-Spot and all, but it is really complex to pass a judgment on whether it has been Boon or Bane for fairness of the game. It is impossible to answer it in black and white, I will say it is a Bane when we make technology a part of decision making in a match but it is really helpful for Cricket analysts and viewers. Let me put forward some points to support my argument.

Yes, technology has given so much to cricket analysts and to some extent to the viewers too in terms of understanding the nitty-gritty of game but it has taken away the most important aspect attached to any sport and that is the “Excitement”. The instant excitement of any umpire’s decision in your team’s favor in a critical phase of a match is beyond comparison. Apart from excitement taking a hit, the accuracy of these technologies are still not proven to even 90% satisfaction level, so why to compromise excitement of a game for something that is not even 90% accurate?

Now first take excitement part of the game , Imagine you watching a nail-biting chase by your opponent team in a World Cup Semifinal, Bowler bowls a good ball which hits the pad, umpire gives it out, then what will be your reaction if it would have been in 2003 World cup and in ongoing 2015 World Cup ? In 2003, you would have just zoomed off the Sofa or would have given fiery high-five to your mates, no? And what about in 2015?  Now you need to wait whether the opponent team has reviews left, if yes then you need to assess where the ball got pitched, what was its line and all. Where is the excitement now? Uncertainty and excitement in Cricket has taken a hit with DRS.

Now if you go with accuracy of these techniques, who can forget the Usman Khwaja’s controversial dismissal against England ? Umpire gave that out caught behind but Snickometer and hotspot showed almost nothing, and still 3rd umpire upheld ground umpire’s decision. It was such a big controversy that even Australian PM had commented on it. This is not only one controversial DRS decision. There is Kevin Peterson’s caught behind wicket decision that showed evidence of edge in snickometer but not in HotSpot.

Here are Some of reactions on Decisions made through DRS :

I've just sat down to watch the test. That was one of the worst cricket umpiring decisions I have ever seen.
-- Kevin Rudd, Australian prime minister

DRS was introduced to eradicate the human howlers...humans are out to prove that no technology can eliminate human errors.
-- Aakash Chopra, former India batsman


So to summarize my arguments , it is good to have new technology as part of game but it is still not worth to make it a part of decision making in a match. Use it to give more elaborated analysis to viewers , use it to judge the performance of Field Umpires ,use It to make players get good sense about the decisions but unless something is really accurate , we should not use that to make decision in a match. Let the umpires who are the nearest people to the place where the event takes place run the show for time being.

This blog is part of Blogger Dream Team and It’s wonderful opportunity given by Blogmint to get noticed by one of the finest cricket experts currently in the World “Harsha Bhogle”.