BornBraveDevelopers

Habitat For Humanity: A nice experience of being part of building a house

2011-03-14T00:32:00.000+05:30

After doing a number of Anganwadi visits through DELL Youth Connect with the help of Akshara foundation, I got another chance from DYC to have a very different kind of experience in my life. On 11th of March, I got an opportunity to work with the members of "Habitat for Humanity". The work was to help build homes for the poor people. People have already got lands from government long back but as they are so very poor that they are not able to build a single room house in that land.

Let me give a brief about “Habitat for Humanity” (HFH) here. “Habitat for Humanity” picks up really needy people and especially family which are headed by women (not always. They do help all kind of families), where women are the soul bread winner and helps them by building a two room house for them. All the building material, masons, civil engineers and labor are provided by Habitat for Humanity. There are many more activities that this NGO performs.

Now coming to our part, Dell teamed up with HFH to donate labor for their work. The HFH team selected the Hegde Nagar area in Bangalore for the 11th March event. There was around 30+ resources from Dell. The day started with dividing all into 4 teams for 4 different sites. I was part of the team where the site has already a structure built in it. We started by refining the sand and using the refined sand to prepare mortar by mixing with cement and water. There was one civil engineer from HFH who guided us in all the activities. Also, we had a mason who was doing the plastering work for the walls. The mason was not able to understand anything except Kannada but then I now have learnt how to communicate even without knowing the language, thanks to my experience with anganwadi kids. So, till lunch the team was preparing mortars and carrying them to the mason who was plastering the walls. The mason was kind enough to let me do a part of the plastering work as that was not at all an easy job for us. One needs to be really skilled to do that.

Then we broke for lunch and it was a nice experience to sit with the team on a road inside a coconut grove to have the lunch. After lunch, I shifted to a site where the team was digging the land for putting the foundation for the structure. I started with so much of enthusiasm there but then the sun took toll on all of us. It was the toughest job of all on that day. 10 minutes of digging and we used to take rest for next 15 minutes. That made me realize how tough it must be for the daily labors to do their work every day and that too for around 200 rupees a day. We really take a lot of things for granted and even if we see others struggling for their daily bread we never realize how blessed we are for everything we have in our life.

Finally, the day’s work was over around 4pm and we all got back to our home/office. The day was so much tiring but there was a certain kind of satisfaction of being a part of the team which helped building house for someone who needs it badly. HFH guys told us that we might think that we have done very little but such little act of donation makes them possible to build houses for the people who need those. The best part was the gratitude shown by the people for whom we were working there. That made my day. We have more such activities planned for the next 2 months and I am looking forward to those dates eagerly :-)

DELL is here: Dell Venue & Venue Pro launched in India

2011-02-08T11:39:00.000+05:30

Dell has recently launched its latest range of smart phones which is ultimate social-networking and entertainment hub for professionals, families, students & gamers.Both the smart phones are available on all GSM networks & has a preferred partnership with Aircel.

Here is what Dell describes the 2 smart phones as:
Venue: Your Personal Express Lane to, Well, Everything
Priced @ MRP Rs.29,990.00

Elegantly designed, the Venue with Android 2.2 is the perfect one-touch, unlocked 3.5G smartphone providing instant access to everything you love. The vibrant and high-contrast 10.4 cm (4.1-inch) AM-OLED display with curved Corning Gorilla Glass is great for watching videos to performing business applications. The Venue’s elliptical, slender form makes it easy to hold as well as easily slip into the pocket.

The pre-loaded Dell Stage user interface and its 8-megapixel camera makes Venue perfect for entertainment where on-the-go professionals and active social networkers can quickly capture and share life’s moments with just about anyone.

In addition to a full array of entertainment features, the Venue also comes fully equipped with today’s necessary business features including support for ActiveSync and QuickOffice. The combination of high speed access and Swype for fast text input makes viewing e-mail, editing documents, and surfing the web fast and easy.

Venue Pro: Any Way You Slide It
Priced @ MRP Rs.34,990.00

The Venue Pro is designed to take productivity, social networking and on-the-go entertainment to new heights. Dell’s first Windows Phone 7 smartphone, the Venue Pro features a unique sliding vertical QWERTY keypad. In addition, it comes with XBOX Live and pre-loaded work/life applications that make everything easier and more beautiful on its sharp, bright and responsive 10.4 cm (4.1-inch) AMOLED touch display, which features rugged Gorilla Glass for exceptional durability.

The Dell Venue Pro exudes a premium look and feel, with smooth elliptical shapes and lines. A 5-megapixel camera, high-speed 3.5G wireless, and cloud-based services make it easy to keep in touch, share experiences and enjoy music, movies and more.

Criteria to be a spokesperson of the HAND symbol :-D

2011-02-01T18:37:00.000+05:30

After watching our Central Govt's spokespersons in various debates/press meetings over scams during their tenure, I find the job very easy to be performed except for one particular characteristics which is really tough to possess.

Lines you have to just iterate are:

1. Why did NDA govt did not do that and why are they shouting now?
(As if whatever mess Congress created for last 50 years could have been cleared in just 6 years)

2. High command will take the final decision.

3. I am not aware of any such information or incident.
(Even though the whole world knows the fact and the reporter shows them the documents)

4. We have the international obligation so we cannot divulge any information.
(As if they do not have any obligation towards the people of their own country)

5. Why are you asking me? You should ask the corresponding minister.

BUT, there is this very essential and very tough criteria that you MUST possess:
you have to be BRAZENLY SHAMELESS :-D

If you have marked any further such criteria for this post, please add it as comment here. ;-)

A day with the anganwadi kids - I

2011-01-13T15:44:00.001+05:30

I got an opportunity to visit one of the anganwadi in Bangalore through the DELL Youth Connect program. Dell has tied up with Akshara Foundation to support the anganwadis.
I had the opportunity to visit the anganwadi in Pattandur Agrahara, near ITPL. The visit to the anganwadi was a very nice experience for me. We had kids there aged between 3-5 years. Initial few minutes we did not know how to start with but once started, the rest of the time was just fantastic. Kids got connected with us as if they already knew us. Initially I was concerned that, not knowing the Kannada (local) language would be a barrier for me, but I must admit kids made it all so easy. We talked to them in Hindi, English & also in Kannada (those who knew the language) and they responded to all the languages with equal enthusiasm. And even they responded positively to Odiya(My mother tongue) too :-D. We played with them, we also used the Dell provided material like flash cards and number cards to help them recognize the numbers and alphabets. They could recognize all the vegetables in their play basket and I too learnt some of the Kannada names of those vegetables from the kids. We drew various shapes and pictures in their drawing books for the kids and they were so excited to fill those shapes and pictures with colors using their crayons. I was really surprised to see how neatly and beautifully some of those kids were filling the colors inside the pictures. I remember, I was very bad in drawings in my school days ;-). With every appreciation of their work they were getting more and more excited and were getting connected with us with extra enthusiasm. Never knew how the time flew and we have to come back to office :-).

Infrastructure wise the anganwadi was not so great. Many basic facilities were not present like toilets, drinking water etc. But do not want to put all those here as we have the appropriate forum for providing the feedback which will be consolidated and will be presented to the appropriate authority. Hope that works out and helps in improving the infrastructure.

Over all, I was looking for such opportunity for long time and thanks to the Dell Youth Connect team for providing me with such a wonderful opportunity. I am looking forward to more such opportunities and will also do it on my own on weekends by visiting the nearby anganwadis with my family.

CWG Opening Ceremony: I wish I were there

2010-10-04T12:46:00.003+05:30

Finally after so much of negative publicity and last minute wake up by the Indian Govt., there was a lot to cheer about in the opening ceremony of XIX Common Wealth Games. I had the privilege of watching the ceremony live from the stadium, through TV (thanks to DD :-)), though I would have loved to be there. There are so many great moments to cherish from the last nights ceremony and few which I will remember for long are as below:

1. The huge crowd and their active and enthusiastic participation in all the events of the night made the ceremony such lively.
2. The huge cheer that the crowd gave to the Pakistani contingent was just awesome. That shows the spirit of sportsmanship of its true nature.
3. When President of India took the name of dignitaries present and she took the name of our previous president APJ Abdul Kalam, there was a huge round of applause from the crowd and they cheered like anything. That shows how much people of India love Dr. Kalam, even now.
4. The display of Yoga was a beautiful addition and loved to see that organizers tried to display that in the ceremony as Yoga is one of the most important contributions of ancient India to the world.
5. The sand art display of Gandhi's Dandi march was beautiful. That reminded me of "Manas Kumar Sahoo and Group" of 'India's Got Talent II' fame.
5. And finally A R Rehman. He was as usual mesmerizing. I was expecting "Jai Ho" song in between and that came. It was awesome to watch him perform and the crowd participated in it with so much of enthusiasm and energy.
6. And last but not the least, the Mehendi painting performed by the school kids in the beginning was beautiful. The picture came out so perfectly from under the curtain.

This and many more moments made the ceremony a memorable one for me. I am sure the world would have watched and will remember this for long.
I hope and pray the same continues for the rest of the CWG and India reaches its target 100 medals this time.

***Check out the latest medal tally of CWG 2010 here:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cwgmedaltally.cms

Brighter side of CWG blunder

2010-09-23T12:51:00.000+05:30

Friends, they say that 'be positive and everything will be good'. So, this statement helps me in understanding the CWG saga better. The silver lining I can find in all these CWG blunder is as follows:

1. CWG village will be the worst of the kind and there will be deliberate security issues.
2. Media will be paid to highlight smallest of the issues in very huge manner.
3. All the other nation and their atheletes, seeing this hyper highlighted issues, will be scared and will pull out of the games.
4. Who else are left in the game!!!! Only Indian athletes... and hurray we are going to win all the GOLD medals (who cares now of the silvers and bronzes) and we will be the champions of champion of 2010 CWG. History will be created which can never be erased until...
... India hosts the CWG again. :-D

I think keeping the above excellent idea in mind we should back our Sports body and govt. to bid for Olympics next time. what do you say friends... :-)

CSR: Innovative way by BSNL

2010-09-10T12:18:00.000+05:30

BPL citizens in Rajasthan were distributed with mobile phones from BSNL. It seems to be a part of CSR activity of the organization. The people came in hope of getting some free grains instead they got cell phones. People were totally blank about what they are going to do with the handsets. Do we expect BPL people, who cannot afford for grains to pay for their cell bills and use them? They don't even know how to operate the handsets. And on TV, some of the politicians are praising the initiative.

Or if you look from another angle, those people can go and sell the handsets in 100 rs or so and at least buy some kilo of grains from the market or whatever they want to feed their stomach. So in the whole process, so many people will get benefited like: The shop keeper who will sell the grains, the local chindi chor shops who will buy the handsets from the people at the throw away price, the cell phone industry (Olive was the brand of cell phone I guess) who provided the handsets to BSNL, BSNL will also make some money out of very few people who are actually going to use its service and finally our TV channels who got a hot hot topic to show it on their channels... Hmmm... it seems to be a well thought out process by BSNL.

World Cup Hockey: India (2) Vs England (3)

2010-03-06T22:14:00.002+05:30

World Cup Hockey: India (2) Vs England (3)
What a spirited performance by the Indians. But unfortunately we lost to a smooth game by England. Indians missed both the penalty corners earned and that proved to be costly. India dominated the game from the word go and attacked the England's half with all the force but could not convert the opportunities. Once the first goal was scored by England, thanks to India's usual mistake of ignoring the opponent and not marking them in the D area, the game changed and England was all over the game. In the second half England was leading 3-0 and suddenly the crowd came to their toes by two back to back goals by Indians within 3 minutes.
Then Indians made the blunder and were reduced to 9 players only bCuz of the poor tactics used by the players and got 2 Yellow card in the last 5 minutes of the play. Still with 9 players Indians created a beautiful chance in the last minute to level the game when the ball was beautifully passed just from the left flank of England. Unfortunately the ball whisked by England's goal post where the Indian player failed to convert the opportunity into a leveling goal. And oh ya, Indians do made some silly mistakes which allowed England score 2 out of their 3 goals.

fewww...... well played India. What an exciting match!!! I was just a statue in front of the TV till the end of the game. Just a win would have made it a day for me. Never the less, amazing comeback guys...Well played.

India thrashes Pakistan 4-1 in World Cup Hockey

2010-03-01T00:03:00.001+05:30

With a spirited performance from the Indian hockey team, we are able to thrash the arch rival Pakistan by 4-1. With luck playing its part and favoring India twice when Pakistan players hit two penalty corners onto the cross bar, India also played wonderful hockey to get a 4-0 lead which is comfortable enough to end the match with a lead. Though India too missed some chances and Pakistan goal keeper saved two brilliant strokes,India undoubtedly dominated both the half of the game and came out victorious which gave a much needed boost to our hockey and to its fan. Wish India will keep on playing with the same confidence through out the series and win the world cup on its home ground.

Check out the points table here:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/articleshow/5555070.cms

Lets beat the drum: HOCKEY WORLD CUP, 2010...10 days to go...in INDIA.

2010-02-18T13:04:00.000+05:30

HOCKEY WORLD CUP, 2010...10 days to go...in INDIA.

Hockey world cup is scheduled to start from 28th Feb, 2010 in New Delhi, India.The tournament will be from 28 February-13 March 2010. And the best part of it is, the first day of the tournament will see a thrilling match between two all time rivals INDIA and PAKISTAN...whats more can we ask from the game. Come and watch the matches and encourage our national game. Snatch your share of thrill and excitement...

Lets join hands and spread the news.
For detail schedule, please visit the below site:
Hockey World Cup, 2010 Schedule

Schedule: Hockey World Cup-2010

2010-02-18T13:01:00.000+05:30

Hero Honda FIH World Cup

Men, New Delhi (IND) – 28 February/13 March 2010

Match Schedule

Pool A

Argentina

Canada

Germany

Korea

Netherlands

New Zealand

Pool B

Australia

England

India

Pakistan

South Africa

Spain

Date/ Match

28 Feb 2010

B 1 South Africa v. Spain

B 1 Australia v. England

B 1 Pakistan v. India

1 Mar 2010

A 1 New Zealand v. Canada

A 1 Germany v. Korea

A 1 Netherlands v. Argentina

2 Mar 2010

B 1 South Africa v. England

B 1 Pakistan v. Spain

B 1 India v. Australia

3 Mar 2010

A 1 Canada v. Germany

A 1 Argentina v. Korea

A 1 New Zealand v. Netherlands

4 Mar 2010

B 1 South Africa v. Australia

B 1 England v. Pakistan

B 1 Spain v. India

5 Mar 2010

A 1 Korea v. New Zealand

A 1 Netherlands v. Canada

A 1 Germany v. Argentina

6 Mar 2010

B 1 Australia v. Spain

B 1 South Africa v. Pakistan

B 1 England v. India

7 Mar 2010

A 1 Korea v. Canada

A 1 New Zealand v. Argentina

A 1 Germany v. Netherlands

8 Mar 2010

B 1 Spain v. England

B 1 Australia v. Pakistan

B 1 South Africa v. India

9 Mar 2010

A 1 Germany v. New Zealand

A 1 Netherlands v. Korea

A 1 Canada v. Argentina

10 Mar 2010 Rest Day

Finals Matche

Thu 11 Mar 2010

6th Pool A v. 6th Pool B

1st Pool A v. 2nd Pool B

1st Pool B v. 2nd Pool A

Fri 12 Mar 2010

5th Pool A v. 5th Pool B

4th Pool A v. 4th Pool B

3rd Pool A v. 3rd Pool B

Sat 13 Mar 2010

Loser Match 32 v. Loser Match 33

Winner Match 32 v. Winner Match 33

Closing Ceremony

Note: Subject to the approval of the FIH Representative and Tournament Director any match(es) may be rescheduled to accommodate international television requirements.

TVS Apache RTR 180: Replacement for issue in front suspension

2010-02-04T12:01:00.006+05:30

Friends, some update on RTR 180. After my first servicing also, I used to get the thad sound from the front suspension, when I go over some huge humps or some pot holes on the road. So, I took it to the servicing center and they did some modification and it is fine now. But they said that it is only temporary solution. As the problem is with all the RTR 180 bikes, TVS is going to replace the fluid pump inside the front suspension with a larger size. It might take 3-4 months more to manufacture and send that part from TVS to all TVS centers. Once received, the service center will replace the new part in every RTR 180, free of cost. Till that day, enjoy the temporary fix ;).

If you want to read a full review on RTR 180, please visit the provided links.
India Review Channel: RTR 180
MouthShut: RTR 180

The sorry state of Indian Hockey

2010-01-12T17:58:00.001+05:30

All of a sudden Indian hockey is in news for all not so good reason. Players are boycotting the world cup practice camp in Pune in order to get some justice regarding their payments. On the other hand, the Hockey India, body that is supposed to be taking care of player's issue and running the federation smoothly is giving statements in media as if they are negotiating with some hooligans. They are threatening like "We will give ultimatum of xx hrs" or "Will have to take stringent action" etc etc. As if they are dealing with some criminals. This is a really sorry state of Indian Hockey. With less than 50 days left for world cup hockey, the players should be practicing day and night to play well in the world cup in their home turf. But instead they are involved in some kind of bad negotiation and are not practicing for the tournament.

BUT, why are they behaving in such a manner. Well, they are asking for their due. They are asking for the incentives they deserve for the matches and win in year 2009. Though the HI (Hockey India) is trying to put the matter as if the players are trying to create unnecessary issues and are not joining the practice due to money matter, the matter is not that simple. I, as an employee, also know that tomorrow if my employer stop paying my salary I will just stop working for that company and get into another who pays me good. In the same vein, hockey players are just asking for their dues and incentives. What is wrong in that? Why the HI want to portray the situation as if the players are doing some anti-national task? Even some people are commenting as the players should think of the Nation and not the money. I just want to ask those people how long they will be with their employer when the same employer stops giving you your salary? People here leave the country and settle down in other countries just for getting better money. Then why is such a different view for the hockey players. By trying to put the issue as nation's pride does not solve the issue. This just shows that how unprofessional we are in our dealings with hockey in India. As a professional team, they should be paid what are they due to get. And yes, what HI is offering them 25K per player. Is that a joke!!! What is 25K in today's sports arena...this makes the Indian hockey just a piece of joke.
Finally, I wish, what ever might be the situation the issue should be solved amicably and the team India should be all out in the field with a healthy set of mind and body to try and win the world cup in the home turf. I wish the players get their dues appropriately and every one start saying 'ALL IS WELL' :).

Clash of arch rivals: A game to watch

2009-12-11T11:40:00.002+05:30

With an India Vs Pakistan semifinal in Hockey, there will be a thrilling match to watch (on Saturday).

How many more pieces will we make of India?

2009-12-10T15:34:00.000+05:30

Already there is green signal for Telengana. Though 60 MLAs quit today as a protest to this but the process started or atleast got a nod from Central govt. There will be a lot of protest and fighting for creating Telengana and again for keeping Andhra united. But within all this issues, a question for more independent states are getting raised. Well I know these demands are there for long. But Telengana issue has again made all this issue fresh in people's mind. Don't know, will people really get benefitted out of these so called independent control of their state or it is just another Madhu Koda in the making. But for sure, there is a lot of unrest to happen in India in recent future.
Take a look at the article to know more about the other independent state demands:
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/ajit-singh-revives-demand-for-harit-pradesh/106842-37.html

2009-12-10T13:49:00.000+05:30

Developers are all born brave...WHY????

Come on.... because when every one around are afraid of BUGS, we, the born brave ones, create them, play around with them, fix them and in the process create many more of them... ;)