Sprouted Chickpea (Sprouted Chana)

Every legume is full of protein. My mom used to make a simple yet delicious recipe called “Vagharia”. We also used to consume steamed sprouted chickpea.

How to make sprouted chickpea? It is not difficult at all. And yaa, NO NEED TO BUY THOSE PROURT MAKERS.

If I want to consume it in the breakfast:

1. I take around 75 ml of chickpea (I use measuring cups, so it is ml),
2. Wash a couple of times and soak it in approximately 200 ml water.
3. Cover the container and let it stay overnight.

The next day morning, soaked chickpea seeds will swell.

I have never tried to soak it longer to get its root out. So you can google if you want to know more on it.

Note that if the room temperature is lower than 30 deg C, you need to soak it in lukewarm water and keep it over the fridge (I own a 165 ltr fridge, with coil at the back, so it is always warmer behind the fridge). So, it will remain warm.

How to Steam?

1. Drain the water and transfer the soaked chickpea into a small metal container.
2. Sprinkle some salt on it and mix well.
3. Put some water in the pressure cooker.
4. Put that chickpea container in the pressure cooker.
5. PUT A LEAD ON THE CONTAINER since we don’t want cooker water to come inside the container.
6. Close the cooker, without “siti” on it.
7. Turn on the gas to High.
8. When the cooker starts steaming, reduce the heat to low.  You can set 15-minute timer on your mobile phone and rest.
9. After 15 min, turn off the heat
10. KEEP THE COOKER AS IT IS FOR THE NEXT 15 – 30 MINs. And then open the cooker.
11. Take the container out.

Ok I enjoy it in four different ways:

• Enjoy as it is. Just salted.
• Sprinkle some Chat masala to make it tastier
• Mix it with curd (if you added more salt then needed he he he)
• Sprinkle a tsp sugar and a tsp of lime-juice on it. Mix well and enjoy.

Sprouted Moong

Since childhood, I have been enjoying moong sprouts. Google on health benefits of sprouts and you will come across ample of web sites that speak a lot lot about what sprouts are.

I like the taste of sprouted moong. So, I prefer to consume it raw. However you can steam it also.

How to make sprouted moong? Oh that is so easy. NO NEED TO BUY THOSE PROURT MAKERS!!

If I want to consume it in the breakfast:

1. I take around 75 ml of moong (I use measuring cups, so it is ml),
2. Wash a couple of times and soak it in approximately 200 ml water.
3. Cover the container and let it stay overnight.

The next day morning, soaked moong seeds will swell. Roots might not have come out. But this way also it can be consumed.

If you want root to come out, then you need to soak around 24 hours earlier. After 12 hours, drain the water and keep it as it is. By the next day, roots will come out.

Note that if the room temperature is lower than 30 deg C, you need to soak it in lukewarm water and keep it over the fridge (own a 165 ltr fridge, with coil at the back, so it is always warmer behind the fridge). So, it will remain warm.

How to Steam sprouted moong?

1. Drain the water and transfer the sprouted moong into a small metal container.
2. Sprinkle some salt on it and mix well.
3. Put some water in the pressure cooker.
4. Put that moong container in the pressure cooker.
5. PUT A LEAD ON THE CONTAINER since we don’t want cooker water to come inside the container.
6. Close the cooker, without “siti” on it.
7. Turn on the gas to High.
8. When the cooker starts steaming, reduce the heat to low.  You can set 15-minute timer on your mobile phone and rest.
9. After 15 min, turn off the heat
10. KEEP THE COOKER AS IT IS FOR THE NEXT 15 – 30 MINs. And then open the cooker.
11. Take the container out.

Ok I enjoy it in four different ways:

• Enjoy as it is. Just salted.
• Sprinkle some Chat masala to make it tastier
• Mix it with curd (if you added more salt then needed he he he)
• Sprinkle a tsp sugar and a tsp of lime-juice on it, mix well and enjoy.

Besan Ke Laddoo - Sweet balls of Chickpea Flour

I have a biig sweet tooth.  When I searched the net for besan laddoo recipes, I found many. But as a peson who don't like to cook, I went through all and tried to do it my way. This recipe may not be that "awesome!!!", but well, I made it for me, and I am happy. :-).

So when you put that small laddoo in your mouth, it starts as salty but gragually as it melts, you get that gentle sweetness of jaggery.

What you need: (I have used measuring cups, so even if the item is power or solid, I measure it in ml.)

• 75 ml Besan
• 30 - 40 ml finely chopped Jaggery up to 50 ml if you have a bigger sweet tooth
• 25 ml Ghee (I use Amul Cow Ghee)

For kids, eating is always a sheer waste of time, but we parents want them to get the best possible and I would say, natural nutrition. Besan is protein, Jaggery is energy plus a lot of minerals, and cow ghee is almost a medicine. You can also add around 25 ml of dried fruits pieces in the list of ingradients. The above measurements will make around 10 - 12 one-byte size balls.

So, the basic process is (read entire article first!!), mix besan, jaggery, and ghee, and then make byte-size balls (or bigger if you want) out of it.



Here you go with the actual process:

Take besan in a kadai, and heat it at a low flame. Stir continously. Idea is to let moisture escape from the flour and also to make besan a little crisp and also get rid of that typical smell that comes out of the raw besan.

After heating for a few minutes, you will start getting that roasting type of smell. That is the time to take the besan away from heat, and add ghee into it.

So, add ghee in it and mix it well so that ghee mixes with the entire quantity of the flour evenly. This should take a minute or two. And then, add jaggery and continue mixing. Jaggery will start dissolving in the mixture. When after mixing for 2 - 3 minutes, you feel that thre are no jaggery lumps remaining, it is time to quickly start making laddoos or balls.

Idea is to take around 20 ml of mixture and press it so hard that all the air escapes and we get a shape. Traditionally it is done with palm and fingers. If you can do it that way, great, but if you can't,  never mind, take two 10 ml mesuring cups, put mix in it and press them against each other. Or may be press it in ice tray to make squre "cakes". Because the kadai should be hot even now, the mixture will be warm if not hot, so be a bit more careful if you are using hands.

After converting the mix into laddoo (or cakes), let it rest for an hour or so. They will become more dry and firm.

By nature laddoo are highly sweet, such as motichur. Other laddoos like kuler or churmu, might be a bit less sweet, but this one, it will surprise you. By not frying the besan in ghee (the way we do in sukhadi / gol papdi), we have retained the physical properties of besan, which to me, gives a slight salty taste. Ghee acts as a binding agent. All the sweet you get is from nutrious jaggery that has blended will with besan. So when you put that small laddoo in your mouth, it starts as salty but gragually as it melts, you get that gentle sweetness of jaggery.

Ek hatu e-bike: the story of my e-bikes

I had two usages for a new bike: 1) take my 8-year-old son to pleasure drive every week-end, and 2) to make trips to shops in 2 - 3 km distance to buy supplies, pay bills, etc. Being a green lifestyle enthusiast, I did not want to go for a petrol bike.

I researched the 'Net and found that an e-byke called YoSmart was the bike that perfectly suited my need. I went for my first e-bike in July 2007. YOSmart, a slow speed bike, that is powered by 20 Ah battery pack and a 250W 48 Volt DC motor. It was running for 60+ km with single charge. It was a pleasure riding it. NO engine, so no engine sound, no vibration. You can even hear the sound of wind. My colleagues used to ask me "us ke horn ka to aavaz aata hai na? ke vo bhi silent hi hai?" Speed, up to 25 kmph, which is reaslly good speed for a lightweight two wheeler. Since it has 250W motor, no RTO registration and no license. Complete peace of mind.

Life was good.

After relocating from Indore to Vadodara, my requirements increased.  In addition to take me and my son on weekly pleasure rides, I needed a vehicle to take me, my wife and son, for social visits once or twice a month.  YOSmart is rated to carry load of 75 kg. So, it was out of picture. I was also sure that I shall be able to take this "triple savari" only for a year. After that, it would not be safe to go triple on a two wheeler - be it petrol or EV.

I decided to test ride another e-bike - YoStyle. Same 250W motor, but stronger chessis fit to carry 2 adults, smaller wheels, and 24 aH batteries (4 ah more than YOSmart). Though YoStyle was also rated for 75 kg, I knew that smaller wheels and more powerful batteries would easily take load of we three without difficulties for a year at least, which was my requirement. And we went for YoStyle.

So, by March 2010, we had two e-bikes in our family.

I again relocated to Ahmedabad by year end. Family was to join me later.  My old YoSmart was with me at Ahmedabad.  It was 3 years old, time had come to change its batteries, which I did.

By May 2011, family joined me, and we again had both our bikes at Ahmedabad. YoStyle was my companion to office and return. Once when it was heavy rain, I even had to take it through road having 1 foot deep water. I had my doubts, but to my surprise, it went in and also came out!! LIfe was fine with YoStyle with me and YoSmart with wife. After meeting with an accident on her Luna tens of years back, YoSmart gave her confidence to drive a two-wheeler again.

Unfortunately, in April 2012 batteries of YOStyle went dead. Why so early?  Because of the charger.  The charger did not stop charging even after batteries were fully charaged. It kept on happening which was harming batteries and finally batteries died. I learnt a lesson hard way.  You should charge batteries for 1 hour for every 10 km of run.  So, if I run 30 km, I should charge no longer than 3 hours.  Don't wait for the charger to stop charging automatically.

Anyway, instead of spending Rs. 10000 on new batteries, I decided to use YOSmart's batteries with YOStyle, and exchange the YoSmart with new YoElectron. Technically, YOElectron is the same vehicle, but had some better features.  In April 2011, we said bye to YOSmart and brought home the new YoElectron.

Life was back to normal. Now, wife was taking son to School, saving us over Rs. 1200 a month and giving an awesome e-ride to son, which he always liked to have.

Life is still normal with YoStyle, and YOElectron.  Yes, soon, I shall change batteries of YoStyle, then of YOElectron, and we will be driving free of cost for next 2 years.

Be the change leader, or follower. It's your choice.

I have so many childhood memories related to kites which I will share sometime, but today a bit serious point. 

Long back when I was driving home on my scooter, some careless kite flier lost his control from the kite and kite came on road. Between the flyer and kite was me, the thread got scratched on my nose and I had an inch long cut on my nose. I fell down from the scooter, the cut was bleeding. Luckily my uncle's home was not very far, I rushed to their home, washed the wound, applied some medication and continued the drive extremely slowly to my home.

Friends, this Uttrayan, make sure you are not like that careless kite flier.

Try to enjoy the majestic flight of kite in the open sky. Enjoy the togetherness with your loved ones, show them how you can make your kite do what you want it to do, fly bigger and bigger kites, fly kites with longest tail, kites of different shapes that is how your people around you will notice you... not by the number of kites you cut...

Say bye bye to the way of trying to prove you better by cutting someone else's kite and counting how many kites you cut during this uttryan and how many cuts you had on your fingers. This will surely save life of those bikers whose neck get cut by kite thread.

And yes, make sure you have enough stock of kites for Jan 14 and 15.

Please commit to your loved one that even if for some reason your stock of kites is exhausted before Jan 15 evening, you will enjoy watching others flying kites, but not buy pre-owned and pre-flown kites from kids who run here and there on roads and catch a cut kite. They do so because we are there to pay them money and buy kites from them. They are not only safe for themselves but also for the traffic.

and ya, don't forget to post picture of that biggest kite and the kite with longest tail!!

Happy Uttrayan!

Two slices of bread

I had a meeting at five pm and it was already quarter to five. I hurriedly entered the small pantry at my office for a quick grabs. I took two slices of bread and put in the toaster, got the butter out of the refrigerator so that it gets softer by the time toasts pop out of the toaster and started conversation with two of the colleagues who were already there in pantry cooking maggi in the microwave.


In a minute, breads was enough hot. I pressed "cancel" button on the toaster and the slices popped out. As I took one side out of the toaster, oops.. it slipped and fell down on the floor. My "gymnastical" way of rescuing it from falling down did not  help.

"Oh" I said to myself, picked the slice and started walking towards the trash can to throw it.

"It's ok its ok, no need to throw it!" One of the two colleagues told and almost hand held me from walking towards the trash can, ".. floor is clean... We don’t throw the food this way in trash at our home, right?" she added.

"am... yaa, but.." I was trying to gather myself from that awesomely surprisingly comment.

When food item falls down, we pick it and throw it in the trash, that is what we are taught and that is what we are “proud” to do. Floor is dirty, germs, stomach problems, hygiene, this, that and on the top of that, you also remember that school time leg-pooling jingle "Niche padelu kon khai, bavaji no beto khai".. that "what others would say" effect.

"Ya, at home I would see if it had fallen on wet part of the floor or dry part of the floor, or the fallen item is dry or wet and I would have acted accordingly.." I replied.

"It is food, Hemang. And we should not waste it. A lot of people sleep empty stomach in the world... If we were standing on road, I would have let you throw it away. But here floor is clean. I would have used it even if it had fallen down.." came the reply.

Oh... yaa... I was one of the chosen few how had access to hygienic food and there are people who don’t have access to even clean drinking water even.

"Yaa.. Pantry floor is dry and toast is also a dry thing.. he he he..." I was not very very sure, however, I replied "let me use it, last two slices and I am hungry.." I gave a big that "D" type theethy selfish smile, as I found a valid excuse for "not throwing the slice", applied butter on the slice and started enjoying it as we continued conversation on other interesting topics.

I am still not sure consuming that slice was right or wrong. May be by consuming it, I put my immune system to a small test? But next time when am working with a food item, I shall try to be extra careful making sure it does not fall down, and if at all it does, I shall give a second thought before throwing it in the trash can.

And ya, I finished it before 5 pm and reached the meeting room before the meeting started.

Curiocity Kills the Cat (and invite legal action too)

Be the least curious when you get an email from any of your contacts.

I received an email from one of my lovedone's email ID, which wrote:

Hope you get this on time, I made a trip to Spain, Madrid and had my bag stolen from me with my passport and credit cards in it. The embassy is willing to help by letting me fly without my passport, I just have to pay for a ticket and settle Hotel bills. Unfortunately for me, I can't have access to funds without my credit card, I've made contact with my bank but they need more time to come up with a new one. I was thinking of asking you to lend me some quick funds that I can give back as soon as I get in. I really need to be on the next available flight.


I can forward you details on how you can get the funds to me. You can reach me via email or hotel front desk phone, the numbers are, + 3 four 9 six 2 four 6 three 1 four 9 .

Let me know if you can be of any help.


(loved one's name)

The Email ID appeared authentic. Even the name was correct. I decided to reply but cautiously. I replied:

Did you contact your home? If not, I can surely make a call and ask them to get in touch with you ASAP...
 The person on the other side understood that I am not so stupid. So, the person replied:

I really appreciate your reply to my call for help, I need 1,550 euro to cover my expenses and get a flight ticket back home, You can have the funds sent at any Western Union agent location.


Here are the details you will need


(loved one's name)
Plaza callao 1,
Madrid,
Spain

Keep me posted

Thanks


It might sound embarrassing telling you that I don't have access to make or receive calls at the moment.
All I need now is for me to know whether you could help me or not


Even in 2nd email, the sender (appearantly my loved one, who know my name), asked me to send EURO 1550 (a lakh or rupees) did not address me with my name, and I was sure, this was a fake mail. In 1st mail the sender wants me to call on a number and in reply says, he/she does not have access to phone.

All I want to say is, lets not be curious. Remember curiocity kills the cat. Just search on google with the number in the mail and you will get a thread which confirms this is a fake mail.

Think twice before you answe a call from an uknown number, think 100 times before clicking a link in your email.

Thanks for reading, and please share this. Sending money out of India is also illegal.  You may invite FERA related issues.  Lets make sure our loved ones are safe.

Cool Journeys, unforgetable memories

We brought home the nano in November 2011, but we did not do many outings until April. Being a new driver and living in Ahmedabad where traffic habits are a bit am.. different, I was afraid to drive her, so I basically did journeys to my hometown.

By April, I had made a few highway journeys under watchful eyes, drove her to office a few times, so I was confident. Vacation started and pressure to go out every week-end started building up. I had purchased the nano cx - the base AC version, mainly for week-end outings, so be it winter or summer, outing to hona hi tha.

My hometown trips were 2 hours trips and return the next day. Going used to be in the morning. Return used to be in afternoons, but we did not really use the AC since I liked to give hand signals to other drives for sides and all.

Then we started half day outings. Trips to Modhera sun temple and Vadnagar, return trip was always in afternoons and we had to turn the AC on. This not only gave us cooler ride, but also gave a quieter cabin. When we stopped by Tropic of Cancer for a photograph, we realized how hot it was outside and how cool it was inside the nano.

The trip to Lothal was early afternoon to late afternoon. We started at around 10:30 am and returned at around 4 pm. In this trip, we were 4 adults, 2 kids and one infant. Nano gave everyone cool and comfortable time. My cousin and his younger son were sleeping in the front seat, kids kept on playing and ladies kept on talking through out the journey. They realized only when we were back home "Le, ghar aavi gayu?" meaning "Oh, we have reached home?"

The visit to Nal Sarovar was full of surprises. As usual I forgot a left turn, and we passed by Tata Motor's Sanand Plant where my car was born!! We traveled an additional 30 km through a state highway where we spotted a hurd of Neelgai and took a few pictures of my nano. We reached Nal Sarovar after a journey of around 2 and a half hour, at around 12 noon. Return journey of around an hour and half, was once again under the bright afternoon Sun, but we three were cool inside our nano, at around 70 kmph, AC was at 25%, blower at top speed and watching convoy of Banjaras passing by and me singing a garaba "Vanjara vanjara vanjara... ame game gam saathe jaiye.. ame chare disha ma fariye..."

Our latest trip to Palitana, was going to prove the toughest for my cutie nano.

It was over 220 km journey, we were tight on schedule, since we cannot start before 1 pm and have to reach before 6:30 pm. If we delay, we would not get dinner. We started at around 1:30 pm. Carrying 4 adults, 2 kids and their week-end baggage, nano went on and on through the National Highway and state highways, mostly with AC turned on, made sure we reach Palitana before the dinner service ends for the day just before sunset. Paliana tirth is situated on top of a hill known as "Shetrunjay". We completed the jaatra by around 2 pm. We had faced sunshine and its heat during our return from the hill. My nano had a challenge to transport all of its tired and exhausted passengers safely and with the highest level of comforts back to Ahmedabad. After starting at 3 pm, within 15 minutes of our starting the return journey both the ladies and kids were fast a sleep in the rear seat enjoying cool comforts offered by nano's powerful AC. I went on driving and my friend went on talking with me. On state highways you need quick pickups to overtake the trucks. And so, I decided to turn off the AC to get that extra kick, but that was only at around 6 pm. We reached home comfortably after completing the pilgrimage.

Now, monsoon days are on. Not much rain however, but hard days of nano are not over. She will have to take us outing almost every week-end. And she will, happily.

Chet to nar sada sukhi - precaution is better than cure

I and Divyarth were at the dinner table. "You know dad," he told "Today one sir were taking a session on fire safety at our school. And he told that we should keep A B and C type fire extinguisher in car."

"Hm..." I replied "Actually, son, instead of fire extinguisher, we should keep a foldable bicycle in the car." I looked at him with serious face.

"Cycle? Why?" He was highly confused.

"Because, Divyarth, if our car is under fire, all one can do is try to get out of the car and go as far as possible in shortest possible time. So, bicycle."

He bursted into laugh (and many of you also are right now). But I was damn serious.

"Dad, joking?"

"Naaaaaa.. me serious!!" I told him.

He also got a bit serious, but still that cycle idea was making him laugh which he was trying to hide and stop.

"Because, actually, the car has many parts which are made of inflammable material like plastic, rubber, seat-lining. Also, it carries fuel and oil, which are highly inflammable. Except passenger cabin, all the parts of the car are exposed to high-speed wind and heat. So, just a spark at wrong place and that is enough. By the time we come to know about fire in the cabin, it would be too late.

"Now tell me, son, don't you think cycle is the best idea?" He appeared to be a bit convinced, which I could notice from his expression-less face and big big eyes.

I thought this is the best time to give him some care fire safety lessons.

"So? Look for early signals of fire, like smoke behind or on sides of the car, abnormal vibration or noise, car gets imbalanced, etc. But you don’t need to be so cautious that you forget to enjoy the nazaara around, because as a driver, the nano keeps on giving me so many type of inputs, in terms of vibrations, engine sound, radiator fan sound, AC, tyres, and I also keep on watching SVRM, and OVRM.

"We don't go beyond 60 kmph, expect for overtaking. We will be extra careful when we drive in very hot afternoons. Such precautions will keep us and our cutie safe.

And in case such incidence happens when you are traveling in our or another car, open the window glass if closed, meanwhile I shall bring the car to a halt as soon as possible, you should immediately unlock your door, open the door, come out of the car, don’t close the door as other passengers can come out, and run away from the car to safety.”

"Chet to nar sada sukhi?" He asked. “Yes, and kids too. :-).” I smiled at him.
Satisfied with my answer and having completed his dinner, he went to watch TV.

Dare to dream impossible, and then, make your dream a reality

It is just awesome feeling to be the first. To be a pioneer. People talk about you. But to become first in something, you need to dream something that is impossible for others. And to fulfill your dreams, you need think differently. You need to do things differently.

When you do different things, people either criticize you or get afraid of you. They question you, object you, try to stop you, put hurdles in your way, and try to weaken our efforts.

We need someone to look at for inspiration during our weak times.

And I look at my nano cx for inspiration.

The nano project had faced many many challenges - Internal challenges, and external challenges. It met all the challenges head on and emerged as the winner. Today over 25 lakh people have clicked that Like button on its facebook page. Nano has lakhs of satisfied customers in 3 countries. It has made all car companies re-think about their future plans. I am sure when you are reading this story, you must have read the making of the nano on www.tatanano.com.

So, What I love most about my nano?

I love the most about my nano is inspirational words that it tells me - whenever I clean her, driver her, park her, or just watch her in a photo kept on my computer background as well as mobile background.

You want to know what are the words? Here they are:

"Dare to dream what is impossible for others. Work your way to make your dream a reality. Challenges will come. Meet them head on. Walk an exra mile. Take a step backwards sometime. Start all over again, if required, but don't stop. Because finally, your dream will become a reality. I am an example of this."

Yes, I also love nano's shape, design, space, air conditioning, comfort, legroom, turning radius, fuel economy and price too. :-)

This story should soon appear on www.tatanano.com's nano diary pages.

How much did it rain today?

"It rained almost one inch yesterday. Good. We need more rains." It was monsoon time and Harish was talking to his friend over the phone. For his daughter, Kaavya, who was overhearing the convesations, that "one inch" was confusing. "After all, how can one measure 1 inch of rain??"

After the telephonic conversation was over, Kaavya asked her dad "Dad, inch is measurement of length, right? It is used to measure rain too??"

"Yes Honey.." Harish replied. And as we all konw, kids are always prepared. She went to her desk, got a scale. "Daddy, common, lets measure rain."

"Well, your scale can't measure the rain, my dear. But we can measure rains. Lets do it."

Rain is measured as 'rain received in a column of 1 square inch area.' So, 1 inch rain is, 1 cubic inch of rainwater.

This is what Harish did:

Measure rainfall

Take a Jar having the same diameter from top to bottom. The wider the jar, better the measurement. If you choose a small jar, and if it rains much, the jar may overflow. So, make sure you use a deeper jar.

Now, go to your terrace and place the jar in such a way that it is not very near to any shade.

After a day, or say "24 hours" get that jar back to your home. If it rained that day, the jar will contain the water collected in it during last 24 hours. Now you need to do two things:

Measure the collected water in ML (milliter)

Measure the diameter of the jar's opening, because now it is time for some number crunching.
We have collected rains in "ml". And so, we need to convert the "ml" in "cubic inch". If you search the Internet, you will come to know that:

1 cubic inch = 16.387 ml. So, if your jar (having opening area of 1 sq inch) collected 16.387 ml of rainwater, you can say, it was 1 inch of rainfall.

But we had used wider jar, which collected much more water. So, it is time to reduce the "ml" accordingly.

For example, If your jar's area is 10 square inch, and it has collected 163 ml of rainwater, so we need to divide the figure by 10. Because, collection area is 10 times larger. To find how much rain water you would have collected in 1 square inch, apply following formula:

water collected in 1 sq inch = water collected in jar / area of jar-opening (1)

Now to convert the ML in INCH, apply following formula:

Rainfall in inch = rainfall in ml (1) / 16.3

Here you are. You just measured rainfall in your terrace, without using a rain gauge. Simple, isn't it? But this method is "home use" method. It will not work in all conditions, like:

• It rains only for 1 - 2 minutes, and then bright sunlight for remaining day. The collected water will get evaporated.


• It rains so much that it completely fills the jar and water starts spilling out of the jar.


• You may get inaccurate results if rain is accompanied by a heavy winds.


• You can't measure whole season's rainfall at one go.

But, again, no problems. We are not weathermen. We just wanted to be with our kid and give him/her assurance that "my daddy (or mom whoever is reading this blog) knows everything". And you successfully did that.

Lessons from "Rocket Singh"

Normally, I don't watch movies, but I do watch specific ones, specially when they are aired on TV.

Well, they are free to watch, you can watch from comforts of your bed-room, pop-corns free, snaks free, tea coffee free, no need to change and get ready, no travel, no traffic jams, no parking fee, you don't endup buying 10 unwanted things because they had buy 1 get 1 free offer, no lost and found mobile calls "where are you - where are you I am here I am here", no queue at ticket widnow and also, you have a choice to go for toilet every 10 - 15 minutes... there are so many advantages of watching movie at home on cable TV.

Ok, coming to the point, that day, one of the channel was telecasting "Rocket Singh". I had nothing special to do and I had received good review of the movie, so I decided to watch it.

That investment paid off. I made some observations from it. Here they are:

• Rocket singh was selected because he DID NOT GIVE UP. Never give up.
• Biggies have no value of start ups (people who give less business, but ask many questions) / customers. Rocket singh took every order seriousy and provided 24x7 support. Take everyone seriously, take care of ppl who trusted you.
• A manager can convert all the situations to his/her advantage. Think twice before going against your manager.
• Rocket Singh's boss insulted him in front of a potential but currupt client. People will insult you if YOUlet them do so.
• When sales manager caught Rockete Sales Corporation group, no one could say anything, the smallest guy, who was made a director in RSC opend up secrets of the sales manager. Give due respect to everyone. Even the lowest employee in the hierarchy can take initiative and turn the game on your side.
• When Rocket Sales Corporation received very large order, Rocket Singh insisted to source parts from from the dealer who sold him his first computer. Never leave people who supported you you were a startup. It is about growing together.
• Even zero has a value. All you need to do is add 1 on the left. If given a suitable job, even the least perfoming employee can give you the best results.

Well there may be many more points, but all I remember are these. If you have more, feel free to add your comments!!

An unexplainable feeling

Yesterday we visited Ahmedabad for a day. For those who don't know, it is around 100 KM north of Vadodara, the city where I live. Some of our relatives live there and many of them I had not met for around 3+ years. So, a visit was long due. We had plans to meet 3 of our relatives in that trip. Target time to leave from Ahmedabad was 5 pm. But we could leave only at 7 pm and that too after so many "stay overnight, stay overnight, why you came only for one day, next time we will not allow you to come" arguments.

We had so much talk, so much fun, we returned only because we had to return. By 9 pm, we were at home.

Today is Sunday. But what is this? I don't feel like doing anything. Tried doing some or other activity. Cleaned balcony. Threw some old cardboard pieces that I had kept aside to do some or other "best out of waste" thing. No.. something is missing... I checked emails twice, thrice.

Today was not just like another Sunday.

It was the Sunday after the Saturday on which I had met my loved ones after many years and had a lot of fun with them. And today, I miss them a lot.

Son has gone to play with his neighbourhood friends. It is raining. They all will enjoy in rains. Wife went to buy panipuri even if it is raining, because son has requested for panipuri. I am alone at home. I love watching TV, but I don't feel like even turning it ON.

So, I just blogged. Now I feel better.

When we are unhappy, we should share unhappiness with our loved ones. We feel light. They feel good.

Powerful economy vs. Powerful country

Disclaimer: I am not a graduate in Economics.

India is witnessing something that was never seen before. Markets are full of products. People are spending. We have learnt to get bored and so we spend even more. We change mobiles, cars, TV, furniture etc, whenever we get bored.

India is buying. Sellers are happ The world is happy. They say "India is powerful economy". We feel "lifted".

Suddenly of articles start appearing predicting "India will become super power by the year XXXX". They give statistics of how many Indians are young, opportunities of new jobs, how much Indians spend, how much money goes into economy, etc etc. They also don't forget to praise our values and culture, family system, etc etc.

Now lets do an exercise. Define "super power". People say (I don't) USA is superpower, right?

• They have more land and less population.
• To feed hungry citizen, they produce a lot of food in large farms.
• To keep memories alive and learn from history, have a lot of museums and memorials.
• Their universities are less of teaching centers and more of research centers.
• Best technology used everywhere.
• Allowances for the unemployed.
• (I have never been to the US, but), people say, a US common man is hardworking and honest.
• For re-creation and entertainment, they have amusement parks.
• For the sick they have big hospitals. (I am talking of basic healthcare).
• One number for all sorts of emergency. Citizen feels secure.
• They make their own war-tools. They don't depend on any country for rifle or a submarine or an aircraft career.

List can go very long.

The country in which money flow is maintained, it is "powerful economy." But superpower is something totally different.

Wish you a great "thinking" week-end!!

Rs. 855 and me

My day started with a bad note. My laptop was out of order which I had given for diagnosis and repair. Service station was to charge Rs. 565 for diagnosis. And Rs. 850 if it was repaired. Even if they did no repairs, they charged me for "Serivce" forced me to cough up Rs. 855 for a laptop that was a "discontinued" model in August 06, and I had purchased it in Jan 2007 and almost never used it for these 3 years.

As usual, I could not take it lightly. Qestions kept on coming in my mind Right from "why did I puchased a loptop in the first case, to why I did not use it, to finally, Why me? I have not hurt anyone? Why this happens only with me?" Luckily I had a lot of discussions lined up in the work-day which kept me too busy to again think about my loss of Rs. 855. But yes, that thought kept on peeping "why me? Those guys are bad. They fooled me. The world is bad". etc.

Later in the day I came to know that one of my loved and his family had met with an accident few days back while traveling in an almost brand new car. "Opps!!!" Accidents are bad. They change life for ever. But good part was, all passengers of the car had escaped unhurt. Car did recieve a lot of impact, however. Nearly a couple of lakh's expenditure.

But he kept on saying, we all are unhurt, that is what matters. A couple of lakh rupees is nothing compared to family.

And then I thought hey!! Why he?? Why his mom, dad, wife?? Why his car?? And all because of someone else's mistake? He did not hurt anyone either??.... And still he thinks they all were lucky to have escaped unhurt!!

His pain was 5000 times more than that of mine. Still he was happy because family was unhurt. Money lost who cares.

Now, I was also happy. My son had gone to play with his friends. In the kitchen, wife was frying crisp crisp sakkarpara (a Gujju namkeen). I was watching TV. And Rs. 855? Who cares? I removed that faulty DVD drive out of that "thotha" laptop, turned it on and see, I am writing my very first blog. ('thotha' means something that is not working properly) will last long and long. :-)

Yes, I did mail my complaint to my laptop company's customer care and forgot about it. After all, I can't forget that Rs. 855 that easily...