Dubai photo shoot

Our Ad agency recently did a photo shoot for a campaign in Dubai for one of our client who is into clothing. Few of the shots here for you all………..

Aquarium Update - 25 February 2009.

Location

Local Train

Somewhere near Thane Station.

1945 hrs.

After a lot of planning & of course savings, finally my 5 footer fish tank is up. The fish tank building started on 21^st Feb 09 & ended up on 23^rd Feb 09. The tank was made by Salil, a Local Fish Seller from Dombivli. Believe me the tank building process is a very (very) slow process. But my wait of nearly 60 hours paid off when I saw my fish tank ready to be in its desired place. I was on cloud 9.

Finally by around 7 pm on 23^rd Feb 09 the tank was up on its place where it is going to be for its lifetime. The next step was to go in for the internal setup / decoration. With full enthusiasm I started the same very soon. My home made Under Gravel Filter was to go in first. The Under Gravel Filter was prepared by me with some help of my dad on 22^nd Feb 09. The costing for the same is only Rs. 130/-. So, once the Under Gravel Filter was in, the base of the tank was to be filled with lots & lots of playing marbles which I had purchased from Ulhasnagar long time back. So, in went the marbles & the next step was to add some White stones for decoration purpose. The same was done immediately. With all this things completed, now it was the time to fill the tank with water. The huge 56 Gallon tank took a lot of time, around 20 minutes to be completed filled to the brim. The Under Gravel Filter was started & things were running smooth. The water was a bit cloudy, but after running the Under Gravel Filter for nearly 24 hrs continuously, the water now is crystal clear.

What has been decided about the fishes is that the new tank will house only one variety of fish & won’t be a community tank like my earlier tank. The fish variety finalized is Angel. I made a small enquiry trip yesterday to the Bandra (live) fish market to find out the price for angel pair. I was completely shocked to see the same fish being sold out at different rates ranging from Rs. 40/- to Rs. 200/-. Bought nothing from the market. I am also yet to finalize the number of fishes that will go in the tank.

The eggs laid by my apple snail in my other tank were hatched yesterday & a lot of baby snails are in the tank. The tank now waits for its canopy with lighting & reflectors inside it & them the tank will be ready to welcome its dwellers. The fishes.

All this is the tank status as of NOW & will keep you people posted on the happenings on the tank.

Cheers!!

हे की ते

‘सो नू, आता उठणार की अजून थोडा वेळ झोपणार आहेस?’’ ममानं सोनूला विचारलं. त्यानं गादीतच थोडे आळोखेपिळोखे दिले. पाच मिनिटांनी उठण्याचं आश्वासन दिलं, पण अध्र्या तासानं उठला, ममानंही त्याकडे दुर्लक्ष केलं. तसेही ते लोक रजेवरच होते. थोडा वेळ इकडेतिकडे झाला, म्हणून काय फरक पडतो?
‘‘सोनुडय़ा, आधी ब्रश करतोस, की
आधी टॉयलेटला जाऊन येतोस?’’ मम्मानं
पुन्हा विचारलं. सोनूनं त्यातलं एक सांगितलं.
दुसरंच केलं, पण मम्माचं त्या वेळी
पुढच्या गोष्टीकडे लक्ष गेलेलं होतं.
स्वयंपाकघरातल्या ओटय़ाकडे जाताना
विचारलं,
‘‘राजू, तुला कॉफी हवी की
बोर्नव्हिटा?’’
‘‘आज बोर्नव्हिटा.’’
‘‘चालेल. किती शहाणा ग माझा
राजुडय़ा, पण राजुडय़ा तुला बोर्नव्हिटा गरम
हवा का कोमट?’’
‘‘थोडा गरम.’’
‘‘चालेल, पण कपमध्ये हवा का मगमध्ये
हवा?’’
‘‘मगमध्ये.’’
‘‘कोणता मग घेऊ या? कान असलेला
की स्ट्रॉ असलेला.’’
‘‘स्ट्रॉवाला नको मम्मा. त्यातून दूध
यायला वेळ लागतो. मग तूच रागवतेस.’’
‘‘नाही हं रागवणार. मी माझ्या पपुडय़ाला
रागवेन का कधी? आज तो अ‍ॅपलच्या चित्राचा
मग देते हं.’’
‘‘तो नक्को. तो मिकी माऊसवाला दे.’’
‘‘त्याच्यात काहीतरी ठेवलंय रे पप्या.’’
‘‘मग ते काढून दे.’’
‘‘आपल्याला लवकर बाहेर जायचंय ना?
मग मम्माला कामं कशाला करायला
लावतोस?’’
‘‘आँऽ.. अशानं मला दूधच नको.’’
‘‘असं करू नये. तू गुड बॉय आहेस
ना?.. बरं एक सांग. आज आपण आधी
शॉपिंगला जाऊ या का पार्कमध्ये जाऊ या?’’
‘‘आधी शॉपिंगला.’’
‘‘मग बागेत जायला उशीर होईल बाळा.
उन्हं लागतील तुलाच.’’
‘‘मग आपण हॅट घेऊ या, नवी नवी.’’
‘‘कोणती टोपी घेऊ या? अशी गोलगोल,
किनार असलेली की अशी पुढे उन्हासाठी
तिरपा पुठ्ठा असलेली?’’
‘‘माऽलाऽ काऊबॉय हॅट हवी..’’
‘‘माहिती नाही रे, इथे तशी कुठे मिळते,
मुळात मिळते की नाही?..’’
‘‘मग तू शोध. मला तशीच हॅट हवी
म्हणजे हवी.’’
‘‘चालेल. आपण शोधू हं. दूध संपवलंस
की तयारीला लागू या. बरं, आज तू सकाळी
आंघोळ करणार की संध्याकाळी?’’
‘‘आज आंघोळीला बुट्टी.’’
‘‘एऽ लबाडाऽ ऑशं नै कलायचं.
आंघोळ करायचीच.’’
‘‘पण डोक्यावरून नाही. नुसती
खांद्यावरून. (इथे आंघोळ कशी करायची,
अशी की तशी, हे मम्मानं विचारलं नव्हतं, पण
त्या छोटुल्यानं आधीच आपला पर्याय सांगून
टाकलेला होता. हा छोटा बदल लक्षात घ्यावा
ही विनंती.)
‘‘चालेल, पण आंघोळीनंतर तू कोणते
कपडे घालणार?’’ यानंतर मला माहीत
नसलेल्या अनेक वस्त्रविशेषांची नावं मम्मानं
घेतली. ती वेडीवाकडी, चुकीची उद्धृत
करून मी स्वत:चा अडाणीपणा जाहीर करू
इच्छित नाही. मुद्दा एवढाच, की आंघोळीनंतर
अंग कुठल्या कपडय़ात कोंबायचं यावरून
तुंबळ चर्चा, मतभेदांची नोंद, मनधरणी वगैरे
झाली. शेवटी पपुडय़ानं त्याला हवं तेच वस्त्र
अंगाला लागू दिलं आणि एकदाची मायलेकरं
घराबाहेर पडली. अगदी जायच्या क्षणापर्यंत,
रिक्षानं जावं, की टॅक्सीनं जावं, शॉपिंग बॅग
हातात धरावी, की खांद्यावर घ्यावी, बूट
घालावेत, की चटकन चपला अडकवाव्यात
यावर दोघांचं मंथन सुरूच होतं आणि माझी
खात्री आहे, की पुढे बाजारात गेल्यावर तर ‘हे
की ते’ या प्रश्नाचं विश्वरूपदर्शन त्या
पोरटय़ाला घडलं असेल.
या ‘प्रश्नात्कारा’बद्दल अलीकडे मला
प्रश्न पडतात. हे खरं आहे की, ती पस्तिशीची
आई फक्त चार-सहा दिवसांसाठी माझ्याकडे
राहायला आली होती. तिनं त्या पाच-सहा
वर्षांच्या पोराला सारखं ‘हे की ते?’
विचारण्याचा मला काहीही त्रास नव्हता. मी
फक्त श्रोता होते. प्रेक्षक होते. माझं मत मला
कोणी विचारलं नव्हतं. स्वत:हून काही
सुचवावं, सुनवावं एवढा माझा हक्क नव्हता.
तरीही मन काही बाबी नोंदवतच होतं.
एक काळ होता जेव्हा ‘बाबा वाक्यं
प्रमाणम्’ असं मुलांना वाढवलं गेलं. आता
असा काळ आलेला आहे, की ज्यात
जगण्याच्या प्रत्येक क्षणी अंगठय़ाएवढय़ा
मुलांनाही विचारलं जातं. खाणं-पिणं, कपडा-
लत्ता, बूट-चपला, हिंडणं-फिरणं, खेळणं
यासारख्या प्रत्येक गोष्टीत मुलांची आवड
िनवड, पसंतीक्रम, कल वगैरे विचारले
जातात. अगदी दैनंदिनीच्या, नित्यकर्माच्या
गोष्टीबद्दलही ‘‘राजुडय़ा, आज तू हे करणार
की ते?’’ वगैरे चौकशी होते. त्यात वेळ जातो.
काही बाबतीत गोष्टी वाया जातात. क्षुल्लक
कामाचं अवडंबर माजतं. इत्यादी क्षुल्लक
व्यावहारिक बाबी दूर ठेवल्या, तरी मूळ
प्रश्न उरतोच. जगण्याच्या प्रत्येक
क्षणी इतके पर्याय, इतकं निवडीचं
स्वातंत्र्य द्यायला हवंय का?
त्यातून योग्य ती निवड करण्याची
समज किती मुलांमध्ये असते?
किती जणांमध्ये ती लवकरउ
िशरा येत असावी. मुलाच्या
मतानं किंवा कलानं घेण्याआधी
मुलामध्ये मत, कल कळण्याची
कुवत आहे की नाही हे
बघायला नको का? केवळ
मोठय़ा वयामुळे, जास्त
जीवनानुभवामुळे मुलापेक्षा त्याच्या आई-
वडिलांना बऱ्याच गोष्टी जास्त कळण्याची
शक्यता आहे की नाही? का तर्क,
कार्यकारणभाव यांचा बळी गेला तरी चालेल,
पण अपत्यांना पर्याय द्यायचेच अशी आताच्या
तरुण पालकांची भूमिका आहे? ‘हे की ते?’
असे पर्याय मुलांना कधीपासून द्यायचे,
कोणत्या बाबतीत द्यायचे, कोणत्या बाबींमध्ये
निश्चितपणे द्यायचे नाहीत, याच्या काही
मोजपट्टय़ा ठरवायला हव्यात की नकोत?
आमचं एकच मूल आहे, आमची ऐपत
आहे, आम्हाला परवडतंय ही काही या
प्रश्नांवरची खरी उत्तरं नाहीत. चार-पाच पोरं
वाढवणाऱ्या, आर्थिक अडचणीमधला आई-
बापांनाही मुलांना नाराज करण्याची हौस
नक्कीच नसणार. तरीही जगताना, असे ना
तसे, नाराजीचे क्षण सर्वाच्या वाटय़ाला येतात.
दर खेपेला आपलं मन जपलं जाईल,
आपल्यापुढे पर्याय आणि निवडीचं स्वातंत्र्य
राहील, अशा भ्रमात मुलांना ठेवणं तरी
कितपत बरोबर आह़े
वास्तवात प्रौढ जीवन बऱ्यापैकी क्रूर
असतं. ते व्यक्तीला तितकेसे पर्याय देत नाही.
कधी कधी तर काहीच पर्याय देत नाही. हे
वास्तव ही मुलं मोठी झाल्यावर कसं स्वीकारू
शकतील हा विचार मला कधी कधी अस्वस्थ
करतो खरा. शेवटी निवांत राहावं की अस्वस्थ
व्हावं, हा पर्याय माझ्यापुढे थोडाच कोणी
ठेवलाय?
मंगला गोडबोले
mangalagodbole@gmail.com

Worth a Watch

My New Aquarium built in 3 days.........

A.R. Rehman bags 2 Oscars

The Indian music legend A.R. Rehman bagged 2 Oscar awards on 81st academy award presentation. This was a great moment for me, morning immediately after I woke up; I switched on star movies and was waiting to see this 81st academy presentation. I always used to watch this every year, but this year I was more excited to see because AR Rehman was nominated for Slumdog Millionaire. It was long time ago Satyajit Ray, who was given this award for honoring him and not for any performance. But this time I was really curious to see because first time Indians are nominated for the performance for original song, original score and for sound mixing.

The first Indian who was announced was Resul Pookutty along with Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke for their achievement in Sound Mixing. I was very curious if he get the award, after announcing the nominees, there was a small gap and then they announced the Award goes to “Slumdog Millionaire”. I was so happy to hear this. Later they announced the names for the nominees for Original score, I was very sure that AR would make through and as I hoped A R Rehman got the award. Later for original song, again his name was nominated. This time too, again he was selected for his performance for the Jai ho song. Now, I think every Indian dreams would have come true. This was the happiest moment for any Indian and I wish all the great success for ARR to go beyond this and reach the skies.

Directly Proportional

The respect which we all get all over in the society be it our home / office / friend circle, i think is directly proportional to our monthly gross income......

Say what folks?????

A Satyam employee writes, from the heart

This article, which has been doing the rounds on the Internet, has been written by an unnamed Satyam employee.

At a time when almost 90 per cent of my Satyam friends are cribbing about the fraud and betrayal by (former Satyam chairman) B Ramalinga Raju, I have a slightly different opinion.

I know it is bold of me to write this in black and white, but this comes straight from my heart, and experience.

Let me start by quoting an example from 2006. Most of my friends were unemployed, with 50-60 per cent plus marks, with a B.Tech degree from an average university, and madly hunting for a job. Whether people accept it today or not, the truth is that Satyam was the ONLY saviour and the only mass recruiter who was ready to accept students who had backlog. It also did not put a very strict 'minimum-marks' criterion.

And this was true not only for my small college in Lucknow, but also many such colleges across India.

Satyam is the fourth-largest IT company in India. Looking at India's population and the rising unemployment, I really want to thank Raju for giving some 54,000 Indians jobs at least for all these years.

He was the reason for the revival of confidence and the reason for the bread-and-butter for many a family.

Also, Satyam training was renowned all over India. The STC (Satyam Training Centre) created numerous love stories and unexpected rekindling of a youthful environment where girls and boys were more independent than in their colleges.

I remember most of my Satyam friends felt that they made better friends during Satyam's three-to-six month training than they did in the four years of studying B.Tech.

Unfortunately people forget to thank God in sad times. I know what Raju did is deplorable, and unpardonable. He should have treated the business more formally, and not dealt with it like it was his family affair.

He should have straightened up at least a couple of years ago. Why did he hire so many non-potential candidates and keep them on the bench? When were the managers last told that if they don't work hard, they will lose their job? Business cannot be run in such a lousy fashion.

I have a lot of friends at Satyam, both male and female. Moreover I network a lot and thus am fairly well clued into what is happening at the company.

I have seen how people tailgate to Satyam, how they give their cards to others to be swiped on their behalf, how female employees have gone home sharp at 6 p.m., irrespective of when they landed at the office. . ., how employees sit at home for months at a stretch, prepare for all kind of post-graduate entrance exams and still enjoy a full month's pay, how often they went for movies at local theatres at office hours, how often employees went to office just to sign on registers in the mornings and the evenings, how often they faked their health certificates, how often they put unlimited fake medical and house rental bills. . .

How can we blame just one man when EACH AND EVERY person was disloyal? How can we exclude the auditors like PricewaterhouseCoopers? How can we exclude the then board of directors who tried to wash their hands off of the whole affair?

How can we exclude banks who gave hefty loans without true verification? How can we exclude the Andhra Pradesh chief minister who was lenient towards Raju and his fellow businessmen? How can we exclude the managers who were never able to trace which bench employee under him had been away from office and for how long?

Yet, how can people forget this is the same man whose ideas and potentials gave them an identity for the past several years? How many couples found the right match at an IT industry, courtesy Satyam, and how many Andhra farmers benefited from their huge investments in Satyam shares.

How can people forget that Satyam launched its offices right at the doorsteps of a residential colony, where people could simply walk to work?

The most gruesome experience that I had was when a Satyam tag wearing person was waiting to attend an interview and I overheard him saying that he was in a business meeting at the MyHome Satyam office when he was sitting right in front of me in a totally different company (little knowing that I too was a Satyam employee).

When employees themselves show such a lousy attitude and don't care a damn for the brand they carry around their neck, how can they expect others to care?

I am not saying that ALL Satyam employees are bad. I have known very dedicated people too, but my point is simple: before pointing fingers at others, introspect a bit. There are thousands of people who have completed certifications at the cost of Satyam, got trained at Satyam, got better jobs because of Satyam. . .

What Raju did was to keep the business of Satyam going at any cost. I see a smart man in him when he realised that it would be better to accept his mistake than be caught and tried under American laws.

I see a selfish father in him too that he put a lot at stake for Maytas. However, he resigned with dignity: it does take courage to accept your mistake in public.

But one cannot deny that he did create employment, which led to many others benefiting too: the tiffinwallahs, the transport people, those who rented their houses, etc.

Today Satyamites call Raju a fraud.

Well, the true and loyal Satyamites surely have all the reasons to call him a fraud. But the rest, who sucked every rupee out of Satyam without doing any value-addition, need to ask themselves: who is the bigger fraud?

Is Valentine Ke Din Par...........

Tax Saving – What are the ways?

March 31st is nearing; I have to make some investments somewhere. Do you know anybody, who can help me to invest in some investments?

This is what we hear in offices and houses in the time between October and March. We all work 24*7 to make money but we don’t even think of spending few minutes a day to manage our hard-earned money, which ends up with killing our own dreams and plans made for life. We shouldn’t invest our hard earned money just for the heck of doing it.

Tax saving helps us to reduce our tax liability up to certain limit only and proper tax planning help us to save considerable amount of money every year.

Below are the lists of few investment products which help us to save our tax:

1. Employee Provident Fund
2. Public Provident Fund
3. National Savings Certificate
4. Long term Government Securities
5. Bank Deposits
6. Life insurance Products
7. Pension Products
8. Mutual Funds
9. ULIPs

Hope this post will be helpful to someone to save his tax.

I am to be a father

My Apple snail in my aquarium has laid eggs. They are in hundreds. In a very few days I will be the proud father.

Guys, wish me good luck.

Belated Wishes!!!

Waiting for my wife to prepare this

Corn Paneer Toast

Ingredients:

3/4 cup boiled Corn

1/4 cup Paneer, small cubes

4 slices of White bread

1 tsp Butter

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Milk

1 Green Chili, finely chopped

1/2 tsp Corn Flour

Grated Cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

Method:

1) Heat butter in a medium saucepan. Once butter is melted, add Green Chili and Corn. Stir for about 2 minutes over medium heat.

2) Transfer sauteed Corns to other bowl. In that same pan, add 1/4 cup milk and simmer over medium low heat. Mix 1/2 tsp Corn Flour in 2 tbsp milk, add it to hot milk and stir continuously. Slowly, it will become thick sauce. Keep stirring, don't let it become lumpy. Let the flour cook for about a minute. Add Corns and Paneer Cubes, mix well. Turn off the heat, sprinkle little salt and mix.

3) Preheat oven to 350 F.

4) Spread Corn mixture on each bread slice evenly. Top with some cheese. Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese melts and bread slice become slightly crispy. Sprinkle little Pepper powder. Serve hot with Tomato Ketchup.

If opportunity don't knock at your door, you go knocking at it

Benefits of an Aquarium

A Beautifully set-up and properly maintained aquarium provides relaxation, wonderment, and education. Our customers recognize the soothing effects that fish and other aquatic creatures and their environments have on us all. Here are some examples of the ways our customers have found to take advantage of the rich world of aquarium life!

Doctors and Dentists want aquariums in their waiting rooms to help soothe their patients before and after what are sometimes stressful tests or procedures. Heart rate, blood pressure and other stress indicators have been proven to fall in the presence of aquariums.

Pediatric clinics, libraries, daycares and schools find very captive audiences for their aquariums. Children are naturally drawn-in by aquariums and their energy is calmed and directed by them with very positive effects. For kids, aquariums are simply one of the most educational and entertaining attractions available.

Businesses use our aquariums to make displays that attract customers and help them remember that business long after completing a transaction. Our business clients say that their aquarium helps keep them on their customer’s mind and those customers often return in part to see the aquarium again. A few of our client’s aquariums can be seen from the road and people will stop in to see them!

In the home an aquarium provides a focal point with colorful life year-round. Whether in an area of entertainment or relaxation the whole family and their guests benefits from it. Aquariums turn ordinary rooms into extraordinary environments.

I screwed up

It's so refreshing to have a President that is man enough to admit when he's wrong and take responsibility for it.

"I'm here on television saying I screwed up, and that's part of the era of responsibility. It's not never making mistakes; it's owning up to them and trying to make sure you never repeat them and that's what we intend to do."

Can the Indian politicians learn a bit from him?

Tough Competition Everywhere

After thinking for a while I’ve come to know that unknowingly or unintentionally we all are the part of rat race, with one common motive of winning the race and I am surprised to see that this thing starts right from the age of 7 or 8, when our parents says, look, the other girl/boy is better than you(in studies, sports, dance etc… ) you try hard to prove, to be in competition…

We grow up wondering whether ever we’ll be there at the top someday ?In college somebody else takes your trophy in a typical filmy way and you just end up playing the sidie(dancing behind the hero/heroins)… …

When you enter into professional life (with whatever amount of courage left inside) your colleagues and most importantly the BOSS waits for you( like a hungry lion waits for a poor goat) with the butcher’s knife(though invisible)in hand…

Finally one fine day you come to know that there’s a word called blogging where you can be just yourself and lo, here too you are worried for the comments, just don’t wanna be out of the competition…right?

What’s the solution??now please don’t say that you care a damn about this competition, because I know that all of us secretly dream of winning this race…don’t we??

Source - http://o3.indiatimes.com/free_me/archive/2008/02/24/4894852.aspx

Have home loan? EMIs are set to fall

If fresh home loan borrowers had reason to celebrate on Saturday when State Bank of India (SBI) cut its rate to 8%, existing borrowers too can look forward to paying lower EMI very soon.

Yesterday there were strong signals of public sector banks cutting their prime lending rates (PLR) in response to further prodding from the government - this time in the form of Pranab Mukherjee - to cut interest rates. As floating home loan rates are tied to PLR, any cut in PLR will mean lower rates for existing customers too.

Banks like Uco Bank and Corporation Bank have already announced cuts in PLR ranging from 0.75 to one percentage point and others have indicated they are likely to do so within a week. SBI chairman O P Bhatt has also indicated that the bank will cut its PLR soon. So, it’s a question of time before loan takers from PSU banks get relief on their EMIs.

But what about those who've borrowed from private sector banks like ICICI or HDFC - who between them have more than half of the home loan market - and are currently paying rates of 11-13%? They need not despair. It's likely that these banks too will cut interest rates.

But if they don't, existing borrowers could use the lower rates being offered by public sector banks to shift. Even if they have to cough up the usual pre-payment charge of 2% of the outstanding amount, they would still benefit significantly from such a shift. Someone with a Rs 50-lakh loan, for instance, could save more than Rs 50,000 in the next 12 months alone.