Printing on Tees

Printed T-Shirts makes a tee more valuable than normal knitted tees. There are some kind of printing methods mostly used in tees like Screen printing, digital printing, Embroidery printing, transfer printing.

Screen printing is the old form for printing methods. In earlier days, we have been using manual printing with the help of screen and dyes. As technology advanced, automatic machines were invented in “screen printing”.

Screen printing can be used in all kind of fabrics but we cannot print multiple colored image. Just single or dual colors can be printed on a tees. And for making screens, one needs an expose unit and the process is little tough. But once the screen is made, it can be then utilized for bulk printing of tees. It cannot be utilized for customized T-Shirts in minimal numbers.

Digital printing is the latest technology and primarily the digital printing machine “dtg” cost nearly a crore. Hence the people who were likely to invest a lump-sum amount were profited.

With the help of this technology, we can bring a colorful image in the T-Shirt using discharge inks. The machine will print directly on the T-Shirts. Again with the progression of technology manufacturers made desktop dtg machines which starts from 2 lakhs onwards.

Embroidery Printing they used to make designs by threads with embroidery stitching machines. In this kind the thread will be stitched into the design we need as per we feed the image into the machine.

Transfer Printing is the latest technology that most of the fashion industries use. There are many transfer methods in the Transfer printing such as water transfer, paper transfer and heat transfer. The most common method used in the textiles is “Heat Transfer” - A design that is transferred with the help of a paper. The image or design is first printed on a paper and the design is then transferred to the cloth by applying heat.

The printing of image is pretty similar like screen printing method but the only difference in this method is that we need to print the image on the transfer paper for sticker and then transfer into fabric.

With this technology, we can bring any interesting images or quotes on tees but the image feel will be firm and one could sense the sticker.

Another transfer method is named as sublimation in this method we can print the images of any color and the image will feel will be very soft and the colorfastness and washing ability will be very strong in this method. But the disadvantage is in this method is the cost of machines. It starts at 5 lakhs and matching the right color is a big issue. Moreover, it cannot be printed on fabrics that are 100% cotton. 

From Where I see by Dr. Ajay Yadav ~ Book Review

From Where I see by Dr. Ajay Yadav ~ Book Review 

When I observed the cover page of the book, “From Where I see” I was not impressed by the picture. As I went through the description of the book, again my prejudice was it must be something a story about a girl who suffers from a new disease that does not exist in any universe and is exclusively created for completing the novel. But I was absolutely wrong. This book has romance, suspense, childhood friendship, and above all many valuable lessons for life.
Dear Friends and readers, this book must be read at least once in our life. As the author says, it’s not a book. It’s a path to a revolution. This book will definitely attack all the youth, who keep asking scientific reason for each and everything they do. I will not say, this book will reveal all the scientific facts about an incident, but you will get a chance to explore the other side of an incident.

The story starts with a police investigation with the Protagonist. The first 2 pages of the novel makes us little annoyed, but as you get through the novel, you will love most of the pages and arguments.

I bet, you will start a discussion with your friends about the points or opinion that the author has mentioned throughout the novel. Of course, if you are a narrow-minded person, who will not be able to accept and take up the facts that the author provided. But, if you are an open-minded person, you will enjoy reading the book.

There are many rational sentences then and there. For example, “The police could even make a dead speak.” “Every thief when caught claims that it’s his first time” “He must be a painter and definitely not an artist. An artist cannot have such myopic view” 

To be frank, I am little stubborn in my thoughts and views. But after reading the above line, my attitude changed. I decided to listen patiently to other views. Every coin has two side. If I choose head, it does not mean that, tail does not exist. A great attitude is listening to others valuable points too.

A good book is one that should disturb your sleep, make you to think, bring a change in your attitude, should change the way you think and should make you to take and discuss about the book with your friends.

No wonder, this book made me to discuss with my parents. When my parents were discussing about an issue, I said, "Mom, as per this book, the author says..." and explained the point. That’s the hit of the book

After reading this book, definitely your mind-set will be traveled to a new utopian world. Friends, we learn good things from our experience, from our friends and from other’s life. I am sure, you can explore a lot from this book. “From Where I see” is not to be read once. It’s to be read every week. If possible, take out a print out of those good points and keep at your desk and look once. Its a seed that will make us to think rational and logical thinker

This review is a part of the biggest Book Review Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!
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What Makes a person happy?

Happiness is an important aspect in life to keep us energetic and young. Happiness differs from person to person and staying happy purely depends on an individual. 

Below are the 30 things that would make me to celebrate every moment and lead a happy life

1. A vacation with my little sister’s son. 

2. Grabbing TV remote from my brother to watch my favourite song.

3. A text from my close friend when I was missing her.

4. A “HI” or “Hello” from my crush. An additional smile from him would make me double happy. :P 

5. When my crush and I, wear same color dress. 

6. When People say “I look good” when I wear a new dress. 

7. When a wrong recharge is done to my mobile by some MR.X.

8. When I make a small kid happy and smile 

9. When I drive my Scooty with my friends

10. When I drive my car in highways during a heavy rain

11. An appreciation from my client

12. When I get up and go to jogging without snoozing the hit button of the alarm

13. When I have a cute haircut.

14. When I make my parents happy and proud

15. When my puppy licks at my face. 

16. When I restrict eating Chicken Briyani and non-veg. 

17. When I read a book without anyone’s disturbance

18. When I get a comment on my blog for my writing.

19. When my dad offers me a huge amount as a pocket money. 

20. When my movie ticket of my favorite's hero, first show gets confirmed. 

21. When I am extremely punctual and reach on time for a place. 

22. When the stranger whom I meet on a day is good and becomes my best friend. 

23. When the teddy bear I am planning to buy from long time comes as a gift from my friends. 

24. When the software code I develop runs without any bug 

25. When the work I do ends with hundred percent perfection.

26. When I get a window seat in the bus. 

27. When I return home dog tired from office and the dinner was prepared and ready by my room mate. 

28. When my friends says, “Display picture is super" when I change my picture in what’s app

29. When I woke up late and was knew that I am going to miss the cab. Suddenly my mobile flash and get a text message from my transport team, “Dear Deepika, Cab will be late by 15 minutes as it got a puncture”
30. Finally, When I win some competition that is organized by BlogADDA : )

#CrashThePepsiIPL videos

Click here to watch the creative ads that are submitted by our talented people. Below are the Ads that caught my attention and my views. 

Desire by Arun Chikkop

This ad takes place at a yoga center. The girls (Indeed Pretty girls) were doing meditation and gets distracted on hearing a gulp sound of a Pepsi. Followed by that, they hear a sound of cap falling down. They open their eyes finally on hearing a burp sound. They realize that the Yoga master was the culprit (I mean, who drank the Pepsi).
Till this point, everything was fine and admirable. As soon as they realize there are lots of Pepsi cans with the master, all the girls starts to chase him.

God, please tell me when this ad makers will stop making again and again with the same freaking concept.

Thirst of the Nation by Abhishek Kumar

No more over acting actress is needed. The making of this ad must have not taken more than 5 minutes. Concept is extremely simply. The list of IPL teams were placed on the table, and the Pepsi was rolled over the team names. The second half, they reverse the paper that contains India Map and they say, “The entire nation is thriving for Pepsi.”

"The Big Fat Menu" by Gaurav Mane

A group of trekkers enters a hotel and the waiter starts listing the items that are in his hotel. The people lose focus(of course, everyone will) and concentrates on IPL match and orders Pepsi.

Every day we must have faced this situation that comes in the ad. We must have been dog tired and enter a hotel just to grab something to eat. But the waiter, without knowing our hunger will try to prove his speaking skills or his memory by listing out all the items in the hotel with a rapid speed, so that none could understand. Till now, No one understand what he speaks too. Sometimes, I wondered how helpful it would be, if they display a subtitle for him. I was so happy, when their reply was, "PEPSI"

Jhingalala by Yogesh Negi

Must say, this ad made me to laugh for a while. A trekker enters a forest and he has been caught by the forest people. One could easily conclude the ad. They are going to leave him as soon as they see the Pepsi bottle. Of course, same happens but with little interesting and wow factor. I liked the the costume of one guy with a crown in his head. Guess, he must be the gang leader. At the end, the trekker took a run.

But It’s a making for a Pepsi ad. How could the guy leave the Pepsi? I thought, as soon as the tribes takes the Pepsi bottle, this trekker would have got some magical power(Yeah, super power that our hero's get as soon as the villan tease his lover). Fights with the tribes to protect the Pepsi. How could he leave a Pepsi and run away?

Check out the #CrashThePepsiIPL videos & participate in the activity at BlogAdda”

50 Business ideas

Below are the 50 business ideas. Please note, if you become Ambani using the ideas below, you need to pay 25% of your profits :) 

1. Chick Farms
2. Ice Cream Parlor- Amul
3. Yoga Class
4. Start a School
5. Franchise for Honda Showroom
6. Kids playstation like Fun City
7. Textile business like Reliance 
8. Trekking clubs in your area
9. Cricket clubs
10. Dance School 
11. KFC Franchise
12. Coffee day Franchise
13. Mobile Food court
14. To start a TV channel
15. Enter in Media
16. Start Software training institute
17. Play School/Baby Sitting
18. Green Trends Franchise
19. Grocery shop (Fresh vegetables and Fruits)
20. Dosa Plaza
21. Bus Travels - Atleast one
22. Mobile shop - Covers, recharges, and parts
23. Share market
24. Personality development courses
25. Drinking water purification (Mineral Water supply)
26. Soap Manufacture
27. Milk Parlor like Nandhini - Yogurt, Ghee
28. Personalized Gift Shops
29. Ladies PG in Bangalore (Metro cities)
30. Terracotta Jewellery
31. Petrol Bunk
32. Real Estate
33. Taxi for Hire/CAB for Rent
34. Cement Factory
35. Zumba Trainer
36. Car Spare parts
37. Organic Farming
38. Aquarium
39. Dog Pet shop
40. Ear Ring Making

Will of Steel Bhakti Sharma

This post has won the contest  JSW #WillOfSteel contest. 

“I started the journey the destination was unknown. 

Struggling my way up the hill and often rolling down…

With a forward pace and sometimes a reluctant slow…

Often walking in the dark towards an indistinct goal…

My travels were filled with endless efforts and moments of despair…

But they also brought tears of joy and millions of memories to share…”

Bhakti Sharma, age 25, an Indian open-water swimmer speaks about her Indescribable journey of swimming and her adventures achievements through a small poem at a TED talk.

If you are not aware of Bhakti Sharma, please do watch the video which is exclusively made for her.

Ice water swimming

I feel her entire journey must be strenuous. We would not be able to touch cold water. Practicing in ice cold water every day morning and swimming in cold water for more than 13 hours would definitely require intimidate. Breaking the world record at Antarctica is not an easy one. Due to the freezing temperature and antagonistic environment of Antarctica, there is a high danger of heart attack and hypothermia.

Imagine, there is ice everywhere, how are you going to swim?  So frightening. Isn't ? All I could do is, stop my imagination and continue my work. But Bhakti Sharma has swum against the 0-2 degrees water temperature to set/break the world record.

These achievements must have come after a lot of sacrifice. Her mother took voluntary retirement from a reputed bank to support Bhakti chase her passion.

In Country like India, where Sports means only cricket and awareness about swimming is very low finding sponsors for swimming would be another challenging one. The Antarctica expedition cost her 30 lakhs. Her proud parents did not step back on hearing the amount. They took loans to train and fund her travel.

Here are my 8 reasons to vote and support “BHAKTI SHARMA.”  I believe she is truly a deserving one for JSW WILL OF STEEL award:

1. Breaking the world record for swimming in the Antarctic Ocean.
2. Youngest swimmer to swim in 4 oceans so far
3. Youngest swimmer to swim across 7 Seas so far
4. For her Plans to train 10 local girls from scratch and guide them in open water swimming. 
5. For setting Asian record - The first swim by a 3-member women’s relay team across the English Channel. (The three member team includes her mother Leena Sharma and her friend Priyanka Gehlot)
6. First mother and daughter pair to swim across the English Channel and setting up a world record. 
7. For taking a courageous journey in the adventurous water Sport.
8. Taking risk - There is a possibility of  dangerous sharks and animals in Oceans. Once she was preparing herself to get into sea, the expedition team spotted Leopard Seals exactly where she had to swim. So they decided to start the swim far away from the place. Though, this did not ensure that she would not be attacked by Leopard she went a head to swim. I salute her for the risk she took.

S- Sacrifice! T - Training !!E -Endurance!!!E- Effort!!! are the success mantra of Bhakti Sharma. She is not only a proud Indian but Proud steel of will too. 

Dear readers and Friends, If you are inspired by Bhakti Sharma and feel she should be recognized for her victory and hardwork please vote for Bhakti Sharma here

“I’m voting for Bhakti Sharma's  #WillOfSteel and blogging on BlogAdda to help her get felicitated and eventually enabled by JSW.

Shop, Save, Shop with 27coupons

Shop - Save - Shop with 27coupons.com

We were a gang of 5 people. Divya, Abitha, Raadhika, Thara and myself.  Whenever we plan for shopping, we always make sure Thara is in the group. Making sure whether money is in our wallet or in bank account is secondary. But first we check for Thara availability and then make our shopping plans. When we were together, no shopping were done without Thara. Reason Thara is very good at Bargaining. We always tease her that she is a master degree holder in negotiation skills.

Let me share an incident, you would then realize the haggling skills of Thara. Once we went to a dress shop and chose a dress. When asked about the price, the shop-keeper said, "2500".
Thara rapidly replied, “300rs”. We all four instantly took a run in each direction, hid behind a tree and sharpened our ears to listen the censored words that the shop-keeper is going to use.
But the shop-keeper gave a smile and said, “no way madam”. (Maybe he don’t want to miss a customer or he did not hear the price that Thara quoted!?)
Thara :  “500”.
shop-keeper:  “2000”.
Thara : “750”.
shop-keeper:  “1500”.
Thara :  “900”.
shop-keeper :  “1200 Final"

Thara replied "1200" is too high and she took a step to leave the place. The shop-keeper freaked out and said, “1000rs madam. This is best and final price, I have family madam."
Thara gave a strong reply, "900 final" and left the place. The shop-keeper packed the dress in a cover and he came running towards her and said “okay deal”. 
The money and dress was exchanged!!!

Well, things got changed now. She got married and moved abroad. Moreover, my life also got busy and I never get time to go for shop. Online shopping has also become a boom and every one prefers to shop by sitting at home. I am not an exceptional in that and hence I tend to prefer on-line shopping.

Last week, I had a chance to talk with Thara and I said I miss her a lot and her wheeling and dealing during any product purchase. Then the discussion came to online shopping. I told her that though online shopping is fun, have lots of options and more flexible than going to shop, I miss getting the product for discounted price.

She again instantly suggested 27coupons website, which offers discount coupons of various online stores like Ebay, Filpkart, Myntra, amazon and so on.

All discount coupons at a place? I could not believe what she said and hence I launched 27coupons in a new window holding her in the video chat. The site has much more interesting factors than she shared.

We always love to know more about the great discount, deals of the day and no one love to miss any such great offers. Simply by subscribing to 27coupons.com, we get details about the discount offers to our in-box. Not only that we get 250 bonus points as soon as we register with 27coupons. Every time, when a coupon is used, 2 points are credited to the account. Another interesting factor, 2 points are given when you login to the account. Once the points reaches 1000, it can be redeemed with Rs. 50 or any gift voucher.

THREE things I love about 27Coupons.com:

1. Look and Feel of the website -
The icon for each category is very innovative and all Major stores are displayed in the home page. The site is very well structured and designed. In less than a fraction of second, you get the coupon code of the stores you are looking for.

2. Search option: 
Wanna know the latest discounts/deals about olx? wanna recharge your mobile today with some great offers and save money? utilize the search option and know more about the deals.

Last time, I recharged my mobile for 300 Rs and there was a coupon code in 27coupons.com that offered 10% cash back on all recharges. I utilized and got 30 RS back.
Rs.30 saving in 300Rs is definitely an attractive one!

3. Success ratio: Success rate of the coupon is mentioned in the website which gives an idea and never waste our time. The coupons are updated very often.

With 27Coupons, you can now,

Shop! Save!! Shop !!!

10 Things to do to get a Fruitful life

Stop Watching Vijay TV

Stop Watching Vijay TV

Stop Watching Vijay TV

Stop Watching Vijay TV

Stop Watching Vijay TV

Stop Watching Vijay TV

Stop Watching Vijay TV

Stop Watching Vijay TV

Stop Watching Vijay TV

Stop Watching Vijay TV

Additional Warnings:

Don't get whacked out wit the Promos of 9th Annual Vijay Awards and Office Serial :( 

Five Artists I wil not hire for my Ad

Five Artists I will not hire for my Ad

1. T. Rajendran:

Find at least one similarity 

T. Rajendar(T.R.) - Since there is no difference between a Bear and T.R, I would end up in trouble. The animal welfare charity like Blue Cross will conclude that I shot an ad with animal and would penalize me for harming an animal. It would be a big head-ache for me to make them understand that he is not a polar bear, but a normal(!?) human being resembling like Polar Bear. Above all, I may need to put a disclaimer stating “No Animals Were Harmed” before the opening of the ad, which would altogether confuse people.

2. Captain Vijayakanth:

I am really afraid of his pronunciation. Well, if you are not aware of his articulation please do watch the below video.

Once upon a time, his son was playing some games in his IPad. Out of curiosity, Vijayakanth questioned his son, "I observe all my assistance is playing Candy Crush Saga and Temple run. When asked about it they said ask Gokul. Today morning also, I asked my Director about the success of my latest movie release. He asked me to check with Gokul. My son is Gokul that brilliant?

His son replies, "Daddy, it’s not Gokul. It’s Google"

Another example, He was so excited about his latest movie success and he calls his co-worker and says, "I will give you treat in Babu Ganesh Restaurant"

People were so confused, and searched in Google for the address. Unfortunately, no such place exists. Finally they requested him to message the address in what’s app and he messaged the address. Bloody hell. It was Barbeque Nation!!! 

For above reasons, I always had an aversion in booking him for my ad’s

But still producers convinced me stating that, they can have a dubbing artist for his voice. I agreed half-heartedly and went to his house to explain about the concept. We had plans to shoot for Dish TV ad and on hearing the brand name, he questioned, "Oh Dish? Is it for Side-Dish? Or main-dish? I need Nov-veg Dish"

I hope after this incident, none will be dared to book him.

3. Actor Surya

Cant offer him high heels shoe or stool :( 

Since he is short, finding a suitable female artist would be frantic task. Well, all my ads will be low-budget and hence I can’t offer him high heels shoe or some stool for him to stand on it and match the height of the female artist.

4. Actor Vijay: 

We all know his famous punch dialogue from the movie "Pokkiri". 

"en peche…. nane kekkamattan" (Meaning : I will not listen to myself)

If I book him for a product and spend lakhs in creating the ad, and then release it to the market, People will say, "This guy Vijay will not listen to himself first, then why we should listen to him?”

Well, the ads and the product would be a big flop then.

5. Power star Srinivasan

Handsome Power Star

Well, we all know Power Star is a busy bee and a leading actor in TamilNadu with minimum 11 movies released in a year. How could I book him for my ad? Either I would not be getting his dates or since he is so popular and number one hero giving tough competition for RajiniKanth he may charge 8-10 Crore for an ad.  

P.S If you are not aware of him, Please Gokul it, Sorry Google it. Chances of server getting hanged or crashed are high

Zemblanity to Serendipity

When Dishikta entered the new phase of life with the hopes of realization of all her dreams of marital bliss one by one, fate caught her by surprise. The surprise, which was a disappointment initially, turned gruesome when she realized the man she married is not the man that he poses to be.

Deep down he is only an unsociable, ruthless, barbaric animal, practicing the exact opposite of the feminism he is preaching. Dishikta tolerated everything with hope but couldn't when her body too started to suffer. The numb mind, which was caught up with the everyday misery, couldn't take it anymore. Friends and relatives turned against her by cruel husband who tells imaginary stories. The guys loots all her money. Well, That’s no big deal. But he plunders all her confidence, innocence, happiness. He cleverly files a case against her to protect him form law. Husband bribes the lawyers with the money he looted from her and whitewashes all the truth again.

After a while Dishikta through hard work raises up, fights each accusation tooth and nail. Judge still delivers a partial justice, Dishikta smiles. Only she knows it was her exhaustion of tears and sadness that she is smiling.

She says, "but that’s alright. This is just a significant part of my life. I have experienced the unexpected and this doesn't surprise me anymore." She knows that she is only temporarily wounded. For she knows she will get up, collect herself, and continue the war- till the war or her life- whichever is weak will give up first.

MORAL OF THE STORY:
Sometimes, Life does not seem to work out as expected. "A break-up, financial loss, major accident, broken marriage or a wrong relationship, letdown in professional life” - it could be anything that has a negative impact in our life. One question that would definitely pop up in our mind would be "why me,?"
Well, it’s not only with US. It’s with everyone. Remember you are not alone. Look around the people, they have hundreds of reasons to worry about, still they live their life cheerfully. We can’t avoid those incidents, but we can prepare our self to adapt to those circumstances with an optimistic energy.  Learn from those mistakes and incidents. Let’s convert all our struggles, pains and experience into something positive that would help us in long run.
Come on, You are a cherubic!!!. You have lot of worthy things to explore in life.

Wake up! Rise!!

Make your life more interesting and cheerful with positive things. !!

Let Devil and Negativity envy you!!!

A complexity called love...

I intentionally wore a black anarkali, since black is considered inauspicious for (in)auspicious occasions like fixing of marriage so that the groom's family would not take the wedding any further. But then we all face the mom's sentimental talks and compulsions, so I changed to a white anarkali. Well, if she has requested me to wear Pattu Saree, I might have kicked her out. Perhaps she knew that and kept quiet after I changed to the whites. I don't call this as a "bride-seeing-ceremony" because its more like a friendly meet and more over my only motive was to reject this proposal. Reason being “Bala- The love of my life.”

The groom father is my father’s best buddy and when the groom's dad discussed about their proposal with my parents, they couldn't find a reason to reject the proposal. In fact they were all grinning from ear to ear.  We were invited for an informal dinner at Aadhithiya' s house. Oh yes, the prince charming is named Aadhitya. Brides going to grooms house just to eat Bajji, sweets and reject the groom: sounds like the best plan for a dismal evening.

"Aadhithiya" his dad called him and he came out from his room folding his sleeve. Heck he was wearing a white shirt! Uffff!!! God!!! Why? Why do you play this coincidence games with me? Dark, short, fat, Chinese eyes, I was looking for a reason to reject the groom. But then life is a package of surprises. Its known to offer, what you don’t actually wish for. He is a tall, fair and got a perfect slim body. A guy any girl wouldn't refuse. He greeted my parents and turned towards me to greet. Indeed, his smile adds charms to his face and he gets a slight dimple too!

After all the formalities, Aadhithiya's dad said, "It’s a second life for both of you. Discuss everything, your expectations, and your misery and then you guys can decide about this marriage. You both went through disappointments and so you both know better than anyone of us here. Our wish is secondary and we will not force you any of the decisions. All we wanted is your happiness"

Aadhithiya and I moved to his room, wait no imagination please! That was just for the sake of understanding each other! I went in first, he locked the door behind him. OMG, is he going to pounce on me or what? 'Run babe, run out before any such thing happens'. But I did not run. Or even move from where I stood.

This is no sound-proof room. Our parents could listen to every word we could speak. Hence, our conversation was so formal like, "Which college did you study'?, 'Which field of work' and so on.
Then it so happened that elders aka eavesdropping parents of us, turned so even more formal that they left the place informing they need to catch some air on the nearby park. And then we spoke everything under the universe, the past life, future expectations, the insult, the hurt, the prevailing depression, the soul-mate, love, marriage and It was almost late dinner time when we bid goodbye to each other and got into the car.

As soon as he shut his door and the car soundproofed, my dad asked, "Can we proceed with the marriage?"
"Dad..."
Before I could complete, he said, "Give me one reason to reject Aadhithiya. And please don’t say Bala. I heard it numerous times" 
His voice came out with a judicious mix of anger and concern. My silence must have pacified him. He continued "Well, then I will get his mobile number from his dad. You both can talk to each other further" His voice indicating a satisfaction and even a smack of happiness.
"We exchanged our number already." I replied him. On hearing this, I could sense an excitement in his complete self. I leaned back on the car seat and reminisced.

It has been 5 years now. Still, I could not forget Bala. He was the guy who taught me what life is. I had a problem of complacency at my childhood due to which I always faced an inferiority complex. I was an average student. I don’t know how to dress up for an occasion, or even to take care of myself. It was during my higher education he came into my life. He was my maths teacher, freshly joined after his post graduation. Life, for me, had a drastic change after that.

He taught me feel my self-respect, he inspired in me confidence. In a summary, I rediscovered myself again and grew to love myself more, when I was with him. He taught me everything which any of my parentage or academics couldn't. 2 years just passed by like 2 weeks. I stepped into college where as he moved to London to pursue his PHD. I realized that he purposefully avoided me. He had a genuine love for me but I think he must have felt that I was too young and my love is the common for my age which would fade away with him distancing himself from me. I waited for my graduation and then started to seriously hunt about his whereabouts. He might have been so clever; he was not in orkut, facebook and none of our common friends could trace his identity too. But I was confident about his love and hence I believed that he must have left a tiny clue somewhere to find him. If my love was true for him, I would find it. I did not get stressed out for 4 years for waiting and the following 2 years of hunting his where about. Love tastes better, when you wait for your soul and I treasured every bit of it.

His aspiration was to become an author. Hence, I scrutinized and registered all the social networking sites of writers, attended all writer’s and blog meet in a hope to get him back. These days, all books mention author's email id in the "about author" section. Hence, I followed all publishing house new releases so as to find his book (If in case, he publish a book) .

One fine day, I opened my browser to launch WriteUpCafe.com (A social network of readers, writers and bloggers from around the world). and saw winners list of a recent contest was announced and Bala’s name was there. I know its Bala. My Bala. Because though his initial was N, he gave his name as Bala S, S being Shalini.  My name. Tears welled up my eyes. I posted a comment “Congrats on wining,. Hoping to win you soon– Shalini“ and dropped my email id there. Next day, I got an email from him.

I recovered my senses as my dad stopped the car in front of my home. Next day morning, as I was getting ready for the flight I heard the door bell. It was Aadhithiya, and before I could embarrass him with questions my dad interfered and said, “Since you would be travelling to Boston for 3 months, I thought you guys could catch up before.” 

My parents altogether treated him with that “son-in-law” status which for sure must have embarrassed Aadhithiya. But then either of us had a valid reason to stop this upcoming marriage. For him a broken marriage, where the girl eloped with her boyfriend after one month of their marriage and for me Bala. Circumstance should never develop a hatred feeling towards something. I could understand from our conversation that Aadhithiya was in deep love with that girl after their engagement. He still respects her and her decision but wished she could have done that before his marriage.  We both had a fear whether we could love someone else again.  Could love happen again?

“Why don’t you drop her at airport? You guys will get some quality time to be together during the drive” my dad placed his next question and a suggestion and I was shaken back to the reality.
During our journey Aadhithiya said, “Our family members are accepting our silence as yes for our marriage. What are your thoughts about our life? Are you prepared for another new life?"
I replied, “Don’t know. But the current stagnation is suffocating. Wish I could move on soon. I will give a thought about it during my journey of 22 hours. Is that fine?”

Aadhithiya gave me a drop in the Airport and I boarded British Airways and the flight took off to London. Once, I reach London, I need to catch another flight to Boston.

                    Chennai  - > London(Heathrow Airport)  ->Boston 

My thoughts kept pondering over Aadhithiya during my flight journey. People do say, caring, trust, understanding, compromise are must for making a marriage work and I am sure, Aadhithiya would score a centum in above all and I can reciprocate the same as well. I am confident that I can be a perfect wife to him. But what about so-called-factor-called love.? Love cannot happen twice and I cant love anyone again in my life.

The British Airways landed at London and when it landed, it was delayed by some hours and I missed my connecting flight to Boston.  I was offered on arrival visa to UK and was arranged for another flight to Boston the next day.While I was checking into an hotel at London, I happened to see Bala.

God, why this should happen to me again. I was preparing myself to move on in my life, but I happened to meet Bala because of a missed flight. My thoughts roll back to 7 years.

7 Years before...

The happiness of meeting someone you know after years gives you lot of happiness. Imagine the happiness I got on receiving an email from Bala.

Bala and I roared out in joy.  Bala was doing research in London and our days and nights usually filled with skype and gtalk. I could do anything for him. If he says jump from third floor, I would do and then call him and ask, “I jumped and broke my leg Bala. What should I do next?” I am damn crazy for him and he was equally competitive in that.

But God had different plans for us. Bala planned to visit India for a month and the excitement of meeting him after decades made me restless. 30 days went like a fraction of second. I promised him that I will give come to send-off. While I was getting ready to leave for the airport, I got a call from my cousin brother saying that he cut his wrist in an attempt to commit suicide for a recent breakup.

I rushed to his house to rescue him and admit him in the hospital. In all that commotion, I forgot my promise to Bala. I was already late by 4 hours. Bala must have boarded the flight. I took the mobile to check, there were 89 missed calls and one message. “Someone seems to be MORE important to you. Take care” I know it was out of his anger and possessiveness or frustration or anger not from heart. But that one hour of anger changed both our fate. I waited for 10 hours for him to land him at London. All my calls went unanswered after that.

When I was talking with my cousin brother on the phone, Bala had to wait in his call. His mother brought a topic of Bala’s marriage while he was leaving India and in anger that his call was not answered for hours he replied “your wish.” This was icing on the cake for his mother who was eagerly waiting for our break-up so as to get a bride from her caste. Bala’s engagement was over without even Bala’s appearance. Everything happened in 2 days. Though Bala put forward the idea of stopping the marriage after his engagement, keeping a girl’s life and her consequence of stopping an engagement made me say no. After that, I disappeared from his life.

The receptionist called out my name loudly and I recovered my sense. 

Somewhere deep in my heart, I wished Bala' might have stopped that marriage and he might be waiting for me. But, it shattered into pieces, when a small kid ran towards him calling “Daddy”. Bala and I stood speechless. After minutes of silence, he pointed out a lady at the far and said, “She is my wife” 

On hearing those words, I felt like killing myself. Though my brains asked me to leave from the place at that instant, my heart wanted to stay. Could not control my heart and ended up asking, “How is marriage life”. 
Bala replied, “My wife loves me a lot and I like her too. Blessed with a female kid and life is cool” Not sure, whether he said it so as to make me to get married. But it did pain and I took a step to leave from the place. Bala replied, “Shalini, One minute. I do like her. But I don’t love her. Because I love another lady and you know who that is. Yeah, I am a perfect husband to her. But not a perfect soul-mate. Because.....” His words died in his throat. The pain on knowing that he still loves me hurted me to the core. We wish our soul mate to have a good peaceful life, but knowing that they moved on also hurts and knowing that still they think of you hurts too. Either way, a broken relationship hurts like hell. Next day, I boarded my flight to Boston.

After 10 hours I landed at Boston, collected my luggage and switched on my mobile. Received a what’s app text from Aadhithiya.

"Hey Shalini, Have you reached Boston safely. Well, I gave a thought about our life and marriage.. and to be frank, I like you. I can assure that I can be a perfect husband. But I am afraid that, I may not be your better half or soul-mate. Not with anyone too.. If you are okay with that, let’s talk to our parents for the marriage and fix a date."

My eyes clouded with tears, I couldn't get words, so just replied to him with a smiling smiley :) . And that would have conveyed him more than words could have.

This post is part of the contest Spin your Story on WriteUpCafe.com

That Special Day

That Special day

I was running on the treadmill when I heard a loud crash of the window shattering. It was the second time this is happening within a month - the cricket ball broke the balcony window into hundreds of pieces. It must be the 'cricket playing brats' out there. This time, I am not going to spare those idiots. I got down from the tread mill and went to the cricket ground with my tracksuit.

"Your nuisance to others is getting intolerable of late. I am going to complain to the colony secretary." I screeched.

“Who asked you to construct a house opposite to a cricket ground?,” a guy in that group murmured. I couldn't identify who.

"Was this an Airport or Army training center to make sure no houses are constructed around its yard? Just a cricket ground!."  My anger crossed all limits and I stressed more on “cricket ground" as an attempt to belittle it.

“If your dad built the window with low cost glass it would crash even for a mild breeze. Go, ask your dad to build glass windows with strong Saint-Gobain glass” another guy besmirched with a smirk. I attempted to erupt again, but i was interrupted.

"Hey guys, Please. . .The mistake is on our side" The hero of the match  my life came forward and continued, "Sorry Deepika, I hit the ball. It was my mistake. Will pay the damage cost."

I didn't expect this, at least at this situation, so I was dumb-struck . How could I reply further? He was the guy I am admiring from the past 5 years. He is more than a crush for me now! . To hide any sign of expressing anything in front of him,  I just returned the ball with a formal warning and turned back.

I could hear the guys as I was making a move. "Adi, why did you lie to her that you hit the ball?" Someone was asking him.

“It was for a purpose. Since, I said I hit the ball; she didn't make an issue of it. If I had told the truth, she must have complained to secretary, and we would be in trouble, boys.”

Adithya house was next to my house on the left and he was not entirely unaware about the crush i had for him. But until now, it is only at a reciprocation of formalities with exchange of smiles and hi-byes. Nothing more than that. I think he wanted me to proceed further, but I wanted him. A narrow bridge between the hearts, but nevertheless, a blocking bridge.

The next day, I was on the way to office. I observed Adithya's friends boisterously jumping out of our neighbor's wall with hiss and hustle. The house owner's family settled in abroad and it remained unoccupied since 3 years without being rented out. The front yard of house was unkempt with full of  thorny bushes and shrubs. People started throwing wastes inside the compound and in the yesterday's torrential rain, water has formed a sizeable pool.

“What are these guys doing there inside the unoccupied house? These incorrigible brats must have hit the ball inside the compound” my prejudiced brain made a guess.

“It is a Black snake! I am sure" shouted one.

“It must be the King cobra,” other guy refuted him.

“No da, its Anaconda” other guy thundered.

“It must be no less than 40 feet long”

“Looks like It can swallow even a human” another brilliant boy yelled.

"Guys. It’s a just a normal rat snake” another guy in their group tried to stop their wild interpretations.

Gosh. I wondered at their imagination on seeing a normal non-venomous snake. And then suddenly,  I felt some pleasantly shocking electric effect through every vein of mine and yes, (you guessed it right.) My eyes caught Adithya hopping out of the compound.

I could sense the fear in Adithya eyes, but on spotting me he said, "I could easily catch and kill it with my hand. But, I care for annnnnmimals. . .. .“ He must have heard some dry leaves slithering beneath his feet and without losing any moment he took a run. I didn't hear anything about the snake after that.

Evening I was returning back from office.While crossing that unoccupied house, I heard a long, high-pitched whining; I peeped inside the unoccupied house gate and observed a puppy got struck somewhere in all the messy vegetation of the front yard. The puppy must be 5 day old!  It must have entered the compound through a small gap in the gate. It got it's limbs entangled in the roots under the water and if left unattended,  it may not last a day because of starving. Who knows, if more water accumulates, it may even... oh God. My heart wanted to save that puppy. But there were mosquitos, flies and insects flitting around that stagnant water. The years of accumulated vegetable wastes caused an intolerable stench and was giving me a vomiting sensation even if I inch close to the gate. Only in the morning the boys spotted a snake in that. One boy even said it is an anaconda!

Whom Should I Listen !? Rational Brain or to the wisdom of my heart.

scratches around my body....

On remembering all these, I stepped back from trying to help that puppy. But my heart was not willing to leave that puppy to it's dreadful fate. Following your heart may be good for theory and in writing a post, but in reality!? The tired puppy is now giving up and it's neck got immersed into water further. I realized that I don’t have time to listen to my brain or even call out my friend. The compound wall was tall hence I need some support to jump into the front yard of the house. I rushed home, threw my bag somewhere, dragged a chair with me and using it, I hopped into the house. I had to cross at least a 100 meters of harmful bushes to reach for the puppy. The thorns were hurting and i could sense some mild bleeding somewhere too. Unmindful of the same, I stepped into the pud, while all the mosquitos started to buzz around me.  I reached for the puppy and I lifted it and started running back to the compound.

That Small puppy :) 

Sheesh. Never imagined I would be such a dumb-ass. The wall was out of my reach from the inside; I never gave a thought about getting back when climbing in. I left my mobile at my home, and hence could not call my parents even. Since the wall was tall, I could not see any people walking on the road. My parents will be back at home around 8 pm and it will be too long a wait in this dreaded place till that. The innumerable insects screeching and the mosquitos buzzing made me nervous and I started to sweat. As if my life is dependent on it, I cried out for help. But I think none could hear my voice. Tears rolled down my cheek. In all this tense moment, the puppy suddenly licked my hands. Glad that I could smile! There was a sense of contentedness in saving a life.

"Give" I heard someone shout with impatience, in my direction. Wait, I know that voice! It was him, Adhithya!

I got relaxed on seeing Adithya and offered my hand.

"Give the puppy first" he said and safely placed the puppy on road and offered his hand. He almost lifted me to the other side.

He was giving lecture for my blunder, but altogether I was enjoying the chemical reactions happening inside forgetting the physical damages that happened on the outside. The touch of his hands is adding frenzy to the chemistry.

“Go and apply medicine for the scratches.” He blurted again, which made me recollect my senses. 

I went home and the puppy started to follow me. Since it was looking dirty, I washed it while I cleaned myself. I took a hot shower and later when preparing tea for myself, I offered milk to that puppy. That’s it, from then on, it got attached to me. I had a nice time pass playing with that.

My Puppy 

Around 8 PM, My parents returned from work and scolded me for bring a puppy out of nowhere. I was ordered to leave that puppy somewhere far away from home. I took my scooty to drop the puppy, while thinking where to leave it.

Next day morning,

The puppy was sleeping in front of my house gate. This time, I don't have the heart to part with the puppy again. I decided to adopt it, whatever may come. My parents gave up convincing me and they finally agreed.

The puppy is now 6 months old and is my best buddy. He accompanies me always. Every day morning, he licks my face to wake me up. I grew to like this.

My Puppy Now 6 Months old :) 

My Best Buddy..

About Adithya?,

It has been six months now, and every morning he starts the conversation with, "How is your hand now? And what did the puppy do today!?" and our conversation never ends :P

One Rupee could educate a child

One Rupee could educate a child...

When I see kids begging on roads, my heart always pick up fight with brain. My heart desire to donate money to the kids. But my brain would point out that I am encouraging them. Kids at those age are to be sent to school. But unfortunately In India, every day we see at least one kids employed in a hotel/house or begging on road. 

While surfing the net, I came across do right today. Its an initiative by Tata Capital with a drive to spread the spirit of doing right. 

The below data from the "Tata Capital India4India" survey, which was launched to identify the top 5 challenges that our country is facing today also revealed that Illiteracy is the major concern of India.  

Illiteracy  - the major concern of India.

Data from Tata Capital India4India Survey

Varanasi all we know about the place is its the religious hub of India. But, it has been identified that a lot of children were engaging in different trades and aimlessly wasting their time. To help these children and to gift them with an ideal learning environment, Ajeet Singh started an innovative initiative called ‘Varanasi boat school!’.

Well, how can we contribute towards it? You can donate money online. Let’s bring a smile on someone's face by contributing at least a small amount.

The children’s are the inspiration of our nation and let’s make an enchanting Magical transformation in their life by contributing towards the boat school. Let’s pledge our self to contribute for their learning environment. You don’t have to spend something from your pocket. One Rupee of yours could change your life.

From next time, before you do the below, just think of the kids once.

1. When you offer those tips to server at a Restaurant.
2. When you feel embarrassed to ask those balance of 1 Rupee from the conductor.
3. When the shop-keeper offers you a "chocolate" instead of giving the remaining balance.
4. Have you not lost that one-rupee in that coin operated weighing machine?
5. Paying double the price for movie ticket. 

There are numerous incidents, where we ignored the money as it was not much important for us. But those small money would make a miracle in a child's education and would make a child's future. 

Still not convinced for donating the money!? well, still you can contribute towards the welfare of this kids by spreading the message and news about "Boat School" across social networks with the hash-tag #ScholarShip. Lets begin the Journey of Doing Right....

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ekavach review

ekavach review

Its summer holidays and my sister's kids are at home. Summer is a spoilsport not because of hot weather, but due to the sweet torture I encounter offline and online. Offline and online!?

Offline: I have to play cricket with the kids, though dog-tired (only Bowling no batting) 
Online Mode: Have to surrender my mobile :( , so as to play games.

Though I change my security code as to stop the kids from accessing my phone, they observe my finger movements from far and captures my phone security pattern.
No wonder, Kids are smart! smarter!! smartest!!!

Most of the things they do, The Good and the Bad are out of curiosity.Those kids are not sure whether it's bad or good, all they know is Go, GRAB, EXPLORE!!!
Its parents responsibility to teach the kids, what is right and wrong.  We can nurture, teach them all morals and values and protect them in the offline world. What about online world? Its very much mandatory these days to monitor their activity.
"I trust my kids. I don't have to spy".  Was that your answer?
You don't have to be a sleuth and spy every online movement. But its important to be extra-cautious about cyber-bullying and your child getting access to inappropriate content.

Familiar with these words??? 

How to monitor and protect them in online world. Here comes the EKAVACH application.

About EKAVACH:
Its an application that lets you to monitor the children online world. It is very simply application that comes with Step-by-Step Instruction manuals with graphic representations and videos.

eKAVACH Features:

ekavach features

Internet Filtering & Safe Search:
Sometimes, the Google results with annoying results which you must have not intended to search for. For example, I wanted to search "How to be proactive" But as soon as I type, "How to " below is the result I got.

Google Search :( 

The ad's that get displayed on the side bar are another freaking head ache. I wish an application could be launched to block all these non-sense ads.

This application makes sure results the child get are appropriate and do not contain any adult content. Parents can even block un-wanted sites (please don't block my blog :P ) and set appropriate time limits for internet usage. In case of any violation by child, parents get instant notification about the same

Easy to setup & Superior protection:
STEP 1:
Go to Play-store and search for "eKAVACH Parental Control App" or click here to download the parent app on the parent's device.

Home Screen

Login Page

STEP 2 :

Go to Play-store and search for "eKAVACH Parental Control Child" or click here to download the Child app on the child's device and complete the registration.

Successful Message after registration. 

Add Mom as well to monitor

Internet dashboard

Site Filtering..  

Block based on Timings.. 

Ekavach Settings.. 

Preference.. 

Social Media Monitoring:
Whether the world population will touch 8 billion or not, the count of Social media websites will cross thousands. With ever increasing social websites everyday, its not possible to track their time and activities in social media applications. By the time you create an account in Facebook, Google+, Twitter to monitor their activity, a new social media will be launched. Its not possible for parents to create an account in each social media an track their entry. This app helps to monitor the child's all online social activity. It will give you the information about their friends, what types of content they’re sharing and what time they were active.

Real-Time Alerts:
Parents get to know about the child's search and activity instantly.

Application Management
Parents gets instant alerts about the application they install and the usage.

Gift your child:
This application has an inbuilt link to online stores like Flipkart and Mycity4Kids. Parents can gift the child with the toys and clothes and pamper their sweethearts.

PROS:

1. Single user-id for the entire family. 
2. Father and Mother can monitor the usage separately. 
3. Graphics and Graphs
4. Instant notifications.

Ekavach Logo