Digital IN(tel)DIA Initiative: Map to Brighter Future

Knowledge and technology shall not be limited to one, it must reach out to the farthest and darkest corners of this world, to ignite awareness and enlighten thousands of potential minds, waiting to be rescued.

What is Digital India Initiative

India is evolving! The motto has changed from Educate Everyone to Technically Educate Everyone. 

Digital India is an ambitious program initiated by Government of India as vision and dream of Hon'able Prime Minister Shri Narendra Damodardas Modi. The project's value is 1,13,000 crores, under which, the idea is to prepare India (rural and urban) for technical skill and knowledge development. Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) is handling this program and the core idea is to establish the concept of e-governance in India, which can only be possible, if citizens are technically literate and comfortable in accessing the digital modes of communication and system functioning.

Image Source: Google Images

Why Every Indian Needs Digitization and Technical Knowledge

Indians have a hint of technology in their genes, of course.

But, as we move beyond geographical boundaries, the idea of global collaboration to make this world tech literate comes in. India again, as a country is listed on the top in the series of potential hubs for technical evolution.

If there is a passage, through which the world can reach to the TOMORROW OF TECHNOLOGY, India is one of the CONCRETE and UNAVOIDABLE milestones in that journey.

It has been proved over the period of time/several times that when one Indian is taught technology the right way, he has made a great difference on the world stage. The below mentioned people are a few to be discussed in this line. The actual tech military is yet to be formed. 

Image Sourcehttp://brawo8.blogspot.in/

 Indians in Technology at a Glance

India, as a country and as a system is a complex and diverse structure. Technology students and professionals from India are making a mark on the world with their world class performance. Take a glimpse :)

Satya Nadella 

CEO – Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft 

The world knows him for he is CEO of the Microsoft corporation. And, yes he is an Indo-American individual, who has embarked his presence in the field of technology, like no one else!

Sabir Bhatia

Founder of Hotmail

When a limited number of people knew what an email actually was, it was him, who created a whole conceptualized emailing platform-Hotmail!

Vic Gundotra 

The Man behind Google Plus

Another brilliant engineer from India, who revived the major search engine and tech player Google in the field of social networking. When Orkut was on its death bed, he was the one, who came up with a considerable and better alternative!

Shantanu Narayen

CEO of Adobe Systems

He heads Adobe Systems as Chief executive, the company, which makes Photoshop! He is indeed a big name in technology.

OM Malik

Father of technology news blog

And how can we forget him, he is one of the pioneers in establishing technology news blogs. 

We have ladies in the house too!

Ruchi Sanghvi

First female engineer at Facebook and a lot more

Who doesn’t know Ruchi Sanghvi, the talented software professional from India, who became first female engineer at Facebook-the famous social networking platform. 

Padmasree Warrior

Meet Padmasree, a lady who is a big name in technology for decades. She serves as Cisco’s chief technology officer.

***

There are many in present and more to come in the future because India is an ambitious country, where education has become a ritual for lifetime and technology is rapidly, turning out to be an EXTENSION TO PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES OF EVERY INDIAN.

Technology is now in genes of Indians. New born babies are comfortable with smartphones, tablets and they can handle the touch panel better because they are automatically designed this way. Therefore, the rural India also is warmed up to catch up the growth pace in learning new dimensions of technology.

Only visionaries from the tech fraternity can understand this and therefore, a very few like Intel are pioneering to take giant leaps towards creating a digitalized India through their programs- ‘Digital Skills for India’ and ‘Innovate for India’ initiatives.

In the Month of December 2014, Intel had launched its Digital program for India named ‘Digital Skills for India’ under which the goal is set to support the Ambitious program-Digital India by Indian Goverment and help 5 million people across the country to develop digital skills. Along with this, the Intel in its #DigitalIndia initiative the US based computer chip maker has also partnered with Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) in order to establish capacity by communicating the key resource persons of 1000 Panchayats under National Optic Fiber Network roll-out in India about digital literacy and reach out more number of people from rural India.

During that time, Intel had promised to launch  Innovate for India’which is now active and functioning to make technology and innovation accessible for a wider number of people. 

READ THE PRESS RELEASE HERE FOR MORE DETAILS 

visit http://www.intel.in/ for more information.

I support #DigitalIndia Do you?

This post is written for Intel supports the Digital India Vision contest, in association with indiblogger.in.

#ChooseToStart Believing in New Promises

Many expert psychologists from around the world say that if something is practiced for 21 days regularly, then it becomes a habit. Interestingly, my father has been practicing the habit of saving money for 21 years.

And my observations strongly suggest that anything that is practiced more than a year becomes an inherent part of your entire personality!

Needless to mention that my beloved father has worked hard to give a brighter and better future to his kids and I firmly believe he is a successful man in this field. He never let me and my brother face shortage of anything. Sole motto of his life was to offer us a comfortable and healthy life, guarded by education at every step.

He obviously sidelined some of his personal demands and desired to save money for our brighter tomorrow. Though, he has always been a stylish and advanced man, who prefers to wear branded clothes and drive a nice car. He happily buys all that classy stuff, like a man! He also loves advanced smartphones with latest technology! But, he thinks that he can manage with a relatively cheaper smartphone.

Every time I and my brother tried to buy him an expensive smartphone, he would argue that he didn’t need that much of technically advanced handset, whereas, we knew that he was an ardent fan of technical developments.

Actually, his constant habit of saving money stops him from purchasing a handset smartphone (which he really likes) because he thinks he is paying a bit extra money for the same. Hence, his satisfaction as a buyer/user goes down.

There is only one method to deal with this: There should be a handset manufacturer, which understands this concern of people and prepares a handset, which is loaded with brilliant and technically advanced features yet has comparatively lesser amount written on the price tag!

Finally MOTO E has been introduced by Motorola, exactly something that I demanded in the above paragraph! So this gives me a valid reason to write this post. Bling-Ting-tiding!!

I want MOTOE 2nd Generation to become my father’s new smartphone, why? Well, Read on!

One, because they say,

This explains commitment of the brand to launch such a product, which offers more features in lesser price. 

The Promise For Improvement...

What matters the most to a customer, when he or she has to decide on his loyalty towards a brand? Well, the customer needs to have faith that the brand cares for the customer, addresses his/her needs and promises to improve. This is something I see here...

Looks and Lot More

My Dad believes that style is of some worth, it it is mingled with comfort. 

So, my preference obviously would be towards buying a phone, which is smart, small in size and yet offers a brilliant screen display. I am happy that Moto E 2nd generation has taken care of this point... 

Cool Back Panels in COLOR!

I am sure Dad would choose the Black & White panel. NOT because he is a big fan of old era, but because he thinks black & white is classy. 

They've Promised Authenticity

When a brand's head engineer comes up and promises something, you've got to believe it. After all, the world works on Hope & Trust. So, I would like to have faith in this promise and would love to see it coming true.

The Brand Specialty

 Okay! How would you feel if you buy a box of chocolates and get one box of that brand's specialty chocolates for free, as a gift, without paying a single penny extra? I think now you can understand how it feels to see this...

And only a software engineer from India can understand what India actually wants... I LIKE IT! 

When a brand makes a promise of excellence through its new product, putting all its energy and efforts, you as a customer, got to believe it and give it a chance. Later, the performance of the product would tell how worth it was to have faith in that particular brand. 

All the research driven and effort driven promises made by Motorola for is new Moto E are convincing enough. And, I wish all of them come true. May be then, I would finally be able to gift a smartphone to my father, which would meet his tech demands, without making him feel that his daughter had paid a bit extra money to buy it for him.

All the best Team Motorola.

This is my official entry for the contest #ChooseToStart your smartphone journey with the all new Moto E by Motorola for Moto E in association with Indiblogger.

Find out more at http://www.startwithmotoe.com/

Hasta la vista Junk, Time for healthy Nashta

“If you pledge to eat healthy, then you might have to compromise on taste.” This old school belief would turn into a myth, when you accidently happen to be sitting at the breakfast table of Gupta Family. Yes, our very own Kellogg's Waale Guptaji ka Nashta is receiving all the limelight for being healthy, light and tasty at the same time.

This has been possible because of Shalu (of course, the lady of the house-Mrs. Gupta). She is always open to experiment her abilities to prepare a lip-smacking breakfast without stealing away the taste factor from it.

Gone are the days, when Kellogg’s corn flakes would just only be dipped into milk and eaten. That is of course a traditional and interesting way, but the everyday monotony has now been broken by expert homemade chefs such as Mrs. Gupta.

Gupta family is popular for their yummy breakfast which is full of varieties.  Credit goes to Shalu aka Mrs Gupta, who has turned her breakfast table into the breakfast table of a five star hotel, where variety of healthy and nicely prepared food comes handy.

Look at the names of the dishes, Cornflakes Choco - Walnut Muffin, Cornflakes Jelly Shake, Cornflakes Khatta Moong and what not! Does listening to all these scrumptious names of dishes not make your belly go crazy and tongue craving to taste them?

Sharing the tiffin box is one of the interesting things we all learnt in school. The trend continues even when we are grown up people. It is always a wonderful feeling to be invited for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Sitting together and eating scrumptious yet healthy food is something you would not want to miss at any cost.

So, if I get a chance to share Kellogg's Waale Guptaji ka Nashta with his interesting family and other neighbors (invited or uninvited both *wink-wink*), I would happily jump in. So do you want to know why?

Here we go:

• I will happily share the breakfast table with Gupta family because Mrs. Gupta seems to have the magic to make every breakfast dish tasty without letting its healthy elements shrink.
• To break the stereotype that healthy food cannot be tasty or vice-versa!
• To understand the art of making new and interesting breakfast for 100 days (using one major ingredient) without failing…

More than that, I would like to adopt the healthy yet yummy breakfast regime, same as Gupta family.  It is mentioned by the dieticians as well that breakfast is the most significant meal of the day. If we miss on breakfast for a longer period of time, then we invite several types of health issues. But, there is one additional remark made by the nutrition experts, which suggests that breakfast should be healthy as well.

But, often people don’t take into consideration the mistakes they make while eating oily and heavy breakfast. So, I think it is the time to adopt the Kellogg's Waale Guptaji ka Nashta and lead a healthy life.

Don't wait, explore new and exciting healthy breakfast ideas at https://www.facebook.com/anaajkanashta

Curious what Gupta Jee has on his breakfast table today? Watch this video

Cheers Indiblogger!

The Happy List

“Happiness is a habit, which you need to practice on continuous basis” I don’t know whose line it is, but it is true to the core. Human mind is designed to function on habits, no matter good or bad. If we keep doing something for quite some time, it automatically becomes habit and our mind starts functioning on it. Therefore, it is very important to keep a check that happiness, as a habit, is always there in your brain’s system. If it gets uninstalled due to any reason, then other negative habits my take its place and you will never be able to be easily happy again.

But, there shouldn’t be struggle in being happy right! But, these days, it does seem like a struggle for most of the people these days. The reason that I can figure out is that people are too busy to take a look at the small things, which play a big role in the life. Thankfully, I can still see the beauty in those little things, which make me happier every single day. Here they are:

Waking up early in the morning

After hitting the snooze button several times, I finally manage to wake up at 6 am in the morning, which is I guess wonderful. Going for a short walk in the beautiful garden, looking at the rising sun, bathing, listening to some good music in the morning time lifts my spirit up.

Exercising daily

I try to fetch a few minutes from the busy clock of my life and try bending my body in different directions. I believe that this is a world class method of keeping mind free of stress. Less stressed is the mind, more are chances of happiness sprouting in it.

Swimming

Water is life…Somebody has rightly said it. As I jump into the water, all the worries are washed away and I discover a wonderful and vivid world underwater. The world, which is serene, tranquil and beautiful! My body feels really relaxed and rejuvenated when I walk out of the pool.

Cycling

Peddling my little air bike is something that gives me immense happiness. Listening to my favorite music while riding my bicycle with a fancy helmet on, I certainly leave all the worries crawling behind.
After all, worries are pedestrians and I am a bicycle rider…*wink-wink*

Spending quality time with the ones I love

What is a life without the people you love! I am always high on life and happy hormones flow the most, when I get to spend time with the people I love the most. The feeling of being loved and loving them is certainly beyond any other experience in this world.

Food

Eating right and healthy makes me feel great about my life and helps me enjoy celebrating it! 

Thank you Coca Cola for bringing such an interesting topic. Visit http://CokeURL.com/96jnc for more info.

Wanna get inspired to be happy? Watch this wonderful video.

The Bottle Theif

Okay! Long story short, someone from the office stole my water bottle (actually water and bottle both, as the bottle was filled with water). The incident happened in the cab, where I had carefully placed the bottle next to my bag and preferred to stand outside until the cab moved. When I sat back on the seat, I discovered that bottle was missing. I asked everyone present in the cab but no one knew a thing!

Now…Where did my bottle go? If you are wondering that why am I writing this post, when it was just a water bottle! Well, that’s the drill my friend! It was just a water bottle, anyone can buy it in 20-30 bucks but that person preferred to steal it. This is a clear case of disorder.

Whoever has pilfered the bottle knows that no one is going to check his or her bag just for a water bottle. Of course I am not going to hire a special investigation squad to find out who stole that bottle. Sadly, the bottle wasn’t insured either. (And, I wonder if any company provides insurance for lost and stolen water bottles, blah). And yes, Police never registers FIR, (I have seen it in films) Anyways! So, I would rather prefer to write an open letter to the bottle chor! (I just hope he/she manages to take out some time out of his/her busy oye lucky lucky oye schedule to read this post.)

Open Letter to the Bottle Chor

Dear Thief,

I hope you are enjoying sipping ounces of water which I filled through my bottle. And I request you to put those 40-50 rupees that you saved by not buying a bottle for yourself in a fixed deposit. Please feel free to write back to me if you need any assistance in investing the hard saved money. I shall certainly help you in finding the best return on investment options.

But dude, a bottle! Who does it? And why?

When I finally figured out that the bottle was stolen not lost, I was really worried. Worried about a person like you, who at this mature phase of age, is taken over by thieving disorder. Pal! It is a disorder-A bad habit, which was practiced by you for years and ignored by your loved ones for the same interval of time. Now that silly ignored bad habit has transformed into a full-fledged disorder, which no one knows about, but it still rests under your skin.

If you can steal a water bottle, then you could probably steal anything or rob anyone because your mind comfortably prefers stealing things rather than purchasing them. And, you put your integrity and honesty at stake just to save a few bucks?

Okay, that’s all from the right side of my mind. Here comes the left

I wish I could find say, “Whoever you are, I don’t know you but remember, one day I will find you and then I will kill you.” Okay I know that’s a bit exaggerated but still better than stealing someone’s water bottle you moron!

I wish I could file FIR against you and drag you in the court.

Psst! Hey you, if you are plain reader, no the thief, then join me for a prayer. Let’s us wish that God shows right path to that aimless and ailed mind of the bottle chor. AND LUCKILY, if you are the star of the event I mean oye lucky lucky oye then pray even harder to save yourself. You are on the right track my friend. Step Aside!

PS: Sob Sob! I now need to take out all my savings till date to get a new water bottle. बर्बादी का तगड़ा आलम है वैसे! ㋡ 

Me and Mom #Together

Each one of us has seen those long dark sleepless nights and dreadful days longer than eternity. Where do we find comfort when life decides to bully us like never before? Of course, it’s Mom first and God second. And, when mother decides to hug you tight and stand bravely against all the problems of life, which have been haunting you, God follows!

My mother has taught me to be strong and give a courageous fight to every problem that raises its head to screw mine. But, at the same time, she has always taught me to breakdown into tears, speak up my pain and seek her pure and powerful love.

My #Together Story

There have been countless days of pain and difficulties in my life too. I would try hard to fight against all the challenges and whenever I thought I was tired of fighting, I used to go and hug her tight.

It was just another day, but a lot different than other normal days. Procrastination has slipped into my veins and flowing rigorously in my blood. Despite of trying hard to get my routine right and chase my life’s goals, I was still sitting idle.

I could see time slipping through my hands but I was helpless. Shackled in the invisible chains of procrastination, I started feeling that life was meaningless. Slowly, that very feeling managed to acquire a permanent space in my time. I started seeing myself as a culprit, who used to waste time and do nothing productive.

This negative feeling turned so strong with time that I started hiding from my own self. I used to sit for hours, being productive and non-productive things. And, it was too difficult to say it all to anyone, even Mom. I thought that she would not understand what am I going through and she might also start blaming me for being a loser.

After all, I was never told to behave like a loser, neither be one. So, I decided to deal with the mess alone and find a way. But, life isn’t easy to understand. I didn’t focus on doing daily household work, neither I was interested in studying. And staying up late during the nights had become a routine thing to do.

Mom’s Magic

As they say, a child can never hide anything from her mother. Soon mom discovered that I was feeling low on life. I managed to hide it for a week that too because I was staying away from her those days.

I tried talking to her much over the phone, pretending that I was too busy, because I knew she would find out about my depressing state of mind.

She called me and said, “Look My Girl, whatever you are going through, is temporary and you know that. But I guess you don’t know that every night before I go to sleep, I close my eyes, take you in my lap and sing your favorite melodies until you fall asleep. Do you feel my hug’s warmth, before sleep hits you eyelashes?”

What could have I said to this, except showering through my eyes. I was so thankful to God, Life and Mother Nature for giving me the best mother ever. I know as long as we two are #together, nothing could go wrong ever…

***

Thank you housing.com for bringing up such wonderful theme to write on. You guys rock.

Looking out for something as wonderful as home, checkout  https://housing.com/ cheers :)

I Look Up for Optimism in my Granny's Stories

My grandmother would tell me, “life will never be easy, but it will always be worth living.” Her words echo in my ears every time I encounter hardships in my life. From her bedtime stories to real life challenges, it has been a long journey. When I take out some time and stand to look back, I realise how far I have travelled, but the moment I look ahead, my mind reminds me, “”there’s still a long way to go honey!”

Granny’s Bedtime Tales- Foundation of Optimism in My Mind

My granny’s stories have contributed a lot in my life. Her stories introduced me to dreams, passion, sacrifice and hope for a better tomorrow. All the protagonists in those stories had to go through a long path of hardships before they rose to glory.

Healing the wounds-Every time I used to fall down while playing and hurt myself badly, I had this positive feeling within me that everything will be alright. The wound would vanish with time and I would be able to play hard again.

Peddling the bicycle-Whenever I was up for learning new things, for example riding a bicycle, I would face difficulties of different kinds. Holding the handle was the toughest thing to do until I discovered peddling was even tougher.

Homework and exams-I had never seen anything more dangerous than homework before I discovered a thing called exams. The chain of discoveries kept growing and I encountered the things called board exams, practical examinations, viva, competition examinations and what not.

But throughout all these days of dealing with daily challenges of life, I always had this feeling of positivity inside. I had this hope that one day everything will be alright. I did not understand why did I feel so, but this thought helped me.

Though, with time, I discovered that nothing actually gets perfectly alright. Life has no rule of making things perfect as it used to do in my granny’s stories. But, it does have the rule of betterment. Life believes in making things better with time and this is what matters the most. What I see today as a problem, would turn into a lesson for me tomorrow and that’s how the life goes.

And now when I close my eyes and recall my granny’s stories, I can actually understand that this is what she wanted to convey, but in a beautiful way, the way a child wants to understand life. She showed me perfection as the ultimate thing mankind could achieve and this is what kept me going all these years and is still doing the same. I have understood how significant it is to be positive, optimistic and open for all the challenges.

The idea is to walk towards perfection and life will keep getting better on the way. 

Find your internal zest for optimism, just as housing.com does. Visit https://housing.com/lookup and enjoy a joyous experience that leads to betterment. 

Hey, Have You Got Change?

Change is delightful, change is innovative and change is the only thing permanent. But, change doesn’t come handy. It takes lot of efforts, energy and promise to fight back against everything that prevents you from changing. There is no fun in being the same, forever! I believe in celebrating change and that’s what keeps me going.

What, you don’t agree with me? Really! Eh! Wait I can prove how important change is.

Piu’s Change Theorem

(Hey Nigga, wondering who's Piu, that's me! Hell Yeah!)

You (Handing over 100 Rs note)- Bhaiya 1 Kg toned milk

Shopkeeper- Chutta Nahi hai kya, madam? (Do you not have change, madam?)

You-No

Shopkeeper- Take these candies and don’t forget to bring change next time.

See how important change is! HENCE PROVED

My Change Story

No matter how nicely you prove your point, your parents always believe that you are too little to attempt anything on your own. Yes, they do want to see you grow as an independent individual by standing at your side all the time, of course.

I was always afraid of travelling alone, especially in the state roadways buses, curtsy my loving parents, who never find those khataras suitable for me to travel. Not getting any chance to travel alone slowly turned me paranoid to the idea of taking an emergency road trip alone, in the giant-looking state roadways buses. My head would start spinning every time I tried to imagine me travelling alone by road.

This was a warning sign. My self-confidence was drowning in the sweat my palms would release every time I planned to give a fight back to my solitary travelling plans.

The Change Begins

When the fear starts growing bigger than your strength to deal with it, that’s the moment when you need to ignite more power and self-confidence within you. This was the first time when I decided to travel alone by a bus and surprise my parents to reach home before Diwali.

However, I knew they would be ready to come and pick me up from my hostel gladly for Diwali vacations but I misguided them about the vacation dates. I informed them that vacations will start two days prior than Diwali, whereas actually the vacation calendar had dates blocked for holidays much earlier than the festivals.

I was enthusiastic yet apprehensive too. I was afraid if I board a wrong bus and reach somewhere else. May be this is the first step when you start off the journey to change. I closed my eyes, recalled all the positive thoughts I’d read and heard of till date to gear up my motivation level.

I knew I had to give a strong fight to my fear and embrace the change. Dressed in my favorite jeans and casual Polo T-shirt, I loaded my favorite travel bag on my shoulders (which was tired of lying down on the back seat of my Dad’s car for all these years). Comfy sneakers and joy of walking alone on the road, (travelling alone to be precise) added bounce to my walk!

The Bottom Line

The journey was a bit uncomfortable, loaded with loads of learning experience and of course a milestone to bring a new level of confidence in me. And, not to miss, the joyous and memorable feeling when I surprised my parents to be home days before Diwali.

Wonderful and creative people from Housing.com also believe in bringing the positive change in our lives. Find the home that will change your life for good at https://housing.com/. 

Still Hungry?

Do you want to experience the new dimensions of change? Why not watch this wonderful video then?

                                                                                                                 

PS: I love Indiblogger, always have, always will...
PPS: They love me even more.