A Date with Social Banking: I explored JIFI did you?

Oh My God! Banking is Social...

Banking has always been a social thing, what's the big deal about it?

Yes, the yellow ball with fancy headphones is absolutely right! Social people do things like Banking, which makes it a social thing automatically...So what is this fuss about? 

"Yenna Rascala Mind it! If you dunno what social banking is, go find it!"

Oh! That's Fraud..Oops Sorry Frog Dada and he thinks that he knows everything under this blue sky..Don't bother...Ignore him...

"Yenna you can't ignore me...I'll tell you what social banking means, before you bore me...Ahem, Ahem, I would like to explain it with my latest Haiku Creation"

Social Banking Haiku

Facebook, twitter, LinkedIn & sky

have something in common मेरे भाई 

They are blue & social too

Explore Banking via Social Networking 

So, Banking is Social means different aspects of banking can be explored through social media platforms as well. No wonders for the modern world, where social networking websites are turning integral party of not only human mind but human body too...!

Marriages have been social events till now…But soon, they are going to be SOCIAL NETWORKING events. Imagine...Brides and grooms vowing over social media "मैं अपने social media account और इसके सारे updates को साक्षी मानकर तुम्हे अपना life partner मानती/मानता हूँ"

And the Pundit will have only these words to say, "You may now update your relationship status to Married"

In such Scenario, seeing banks go Social is not an unexpected thing... But, how do they do it, is always  a matter of interest and concern for the banking users. Kotak Jifi- World's first socially powered bank account has given us all this opportunity to find all the answers that we have in the name of social banking...

As I got to know about Jifi, I was Excited+Worried. Excited because I wanted to explore this new dimension of banking, but Worried because as of now, I don't have any bank account with Kotak and in fact, don't have additional funds to open one either... But, then I saw this:

And I started....

It is social networking arena of banking, so signing up was easy with my Facebook account and as I logged in, I was welcomed with 100 Social Points, However, I still had to find out that what do I do with these points, but anyways, the beginning was awesome...

Once I was here, there was a lot to explore..Notifications, Dashboard, Managing points and multiple other tabs...But, thankfully, everything was well-organized for me to explore...

As I explored further through each tab...One Super Exciting thing that I discovered was- Rewards & rewards & rewards... Yes, they let you earn reward points at each step, for everything you do...Following types of points you earn...

Social Points

Transaction Points

Trade Points

And, you can use these points in different ways...for getting shopping vouchers, for helping a friend via trading and a lot more...Social points are really easy to earn..While I was checking out different tabs and filling up application forms...I added more to my social points bag...See...

Exploring Apply Now Section...Trust me, It is not at all the lengthy form filling process...

And I got the unique link to invite my friends...

Without wasting a single moment, I shared it for the benefits of my social friends...

And, I didn't want to miss the chance of inviting my friends to try out something new in banking...I wish they explore it once...

And when I returned back to dashboard, after all this, What I noticed was...Addition in my social points...Now the question was what to do with these Social Points...and that's when I found this convert button..I could convert my existing Social Points into transaction points...Wow!

Just out of curiosity...I explored what exactly these points can do for me... and that's what I discovered...

Aah! How I wish I can earn more points soon and grab some amazing deals. Meanwhile I was filling up application form for Kotak Social Bank Account and these guys have made it simpler. They fetch half of the information from your account and help you review form as many time as you want and choose to fill it later too...

Kotak JIFI at a Glance

The Socially Powered Bank Account is loaded with three major dimensions of features:

1. Social Circle

2. Earning Reward Points

3. Socially Powered Banking

I pronounce it like jiffy and there's no doubt that it makes the daunting task of banking simpler and less time taking. Banking can be done  through it in a jiffy and may be that's why they call it JIFI. 

Anyways...Here is the Good vs Bad Analysis

The Good

It is very easy to log in and earn points

You can convert social points for transaction

You can trade with your friends via these points

You can earn amazing discount

It is free to use

You can download the mobile app too

It is easy to get access to all the benefits associated with JIFI

To earn these benefits, you don't necessarily need to have a bank account with Kotak

The Bad

While exploring this, I was wondering how would JIFI people deal with the FAKE social media accounts. There are plenty of fake facebook and twitter accounts with weird names, what is they start exploring JIFI?

Similar kind of thing came into my mind while I was inviting my facebook friends...What if somebody invites fake people to earn reward points? What if somebody makes a fake account with my name or any other name and joins JIFI...Well, then how safe the idea of socially powered banking remains?

And what if I forget to logout from my Socially Powered Bank Account by any chance? Will that be a threat for my reward points or added funds?

I am sure team JIFI has some solutions ready for my concerns...Waiting for these doubts to be cleared soon, so that I can dive in the blue world of social media banking...With Mr. Frog!

***

Am I missing something? I must have because there's a lot to explore and too less I could do in few of my trials. But, I have my account ready and I am sure I will keep exploring more of this brand new style of banking. Meanwhile, you can watch this video and feed your mind with more knowledge...

This post is my official entry for Explore JIFI Contest organized by indiblogger in association with Kotak JIFI. And by the way... #JiFiIsHere

Son or Daughter...How does it matter

No, this is not a Save the Girl Child kind of post. However, I totally support the idea of women empowerment and saving the girl child...But, I just wanna make clear that this post is about some general thoughts that popped into my mind after observing a series of family events around! And, Do I need to mention I love sharing such wonderful experiences with you guys!

It was another humid day and nothing had changed except date & day on the calendar. Nothing had changed in my neighbourhood either. There lives a family in my neighbourhood, A young girl and her parents. The couple has a son too, who lives in another city, for his professional engagements. Their daugher is very bright and cute, a college student and very nice person.

From last two days, Uncle Neighbour was not keeping well..He had suffered internal bone injury, so his legs were unable to move. While walking out of the door or climbing up the staircase back, walking out of the elevator, I noticed multiple times that he had been suffering through immense pain and his little daughter and wife were busy in taking care of him.

The girl would insist her mother to take some rest and was herself indulged in dealing with all the stuff. She didn't go to college and managed to do all the household work plus nursing for his father. I visited Uncle Neighbour with a Get Well Soon bouquet and noticed how wonderfully that little college student had managed everything. While sipping mild coffee back home, I recollected all the glimpses of her efficiency of competing What A Son can do for his parents. I was so proud of her... "Daughters are the best" I told to myself with a vibrant smile.

Next morning, I wake up with some chaotic sounds in the lobby outside of my house. I rushed in concern to see if Uncle Neighbour was fine. Their door was open and few people were standing inside of the house. I couldn't resist myself and entered straight into their house to investigate further.

Thankfully, Uncle Neighbour was alright and smiling because his son was here, who had just reached to the city, straight from Bangalore. They were planning to take uncle to the hospital for checkup, but elevator was not working and that is what had created the chaos all around. Uncle was not able to walk because of excessive pain in his legs.

After few more moments of chaos, the boy from Bangalore gently lifted Uncle Neighbour in his arms. Before anyone around could notice, he was walking carefully towards the staircase. We followed him. He carried his father so gently, like a child. Like I, everyone else was worried that would the guy be able to walk three floors down with a man of almost 75-80 Kgs in his arms... But he did...We clapped for him. He safely laid Uncle Neighbour down at the back seat of car and the entire family drove off to hospital...

I couldn't help but smile and told to myself, "Maybe that's the moment for which parents want a son"

Really, Son or Daughter...what at the end of the say matters is-Dedication of children towards their parents. Their ability to pay attention towards their parents, whenever they need special care... And I am sure Uncle Neighbour and Aunty Neighbour are lucky enough to have such a wonderful Pair of Children. J

PS: Just to ensure that you guys are not worried about Uncle Neighbour...He has returned from the hospital last week and is doing absolutely fine...Aha! My get well soon flowers worked!!

Sarvesh Photo Wali: The Real Life MARDAANI

"ये कैंचिया क्या पर काटेंगी मेरे

हम परों से नही, हौसलों से उड़ते है"

Meet Sarvesh, an ace photographer, independent photojournalist, having experience of serving leading media houses like Hindustan Times, TOI, India Today and more, mountaineer, Gold & Bronze medalist in pistol shooting, Godfrey Award winner with various other accolades in her name!

She quotes these beautiful and motivating lines with a vibrant and 'full of life' smile. By कैंचिया  (scissors) she means all the negativities of society/hurdles of life, by पर (wings) she means her dreams and desires to fly high...and by हौसला (courage) she means her inner strength to fight against all the odds and emerge as winner. 

She believes nothing under this sky can ever stop her from accomplishing her dream of leading an independent life...Because its not the Dream which keeps her going...Its the Courage!

Knowing Sarvesh

But the Sarvesh you see in picture above is a lot different than she was born and brought up. Like any other Baniya girl from small town of India, she had long hair, habit to stick her eyes on the ground while walking, talking, eating or doing anything else. In her own house, she had witnessed perfect examples of Gender Biasness on routine basis. She was married (obviously without asking for her permission) at the age of 18, to an older man! This was not the first time her dreams were perished! She had turned used to it.

As a bride or daughter-in-law, she wasn't welcomed at all. An unending series of abusive practices by her in-laws and husband had turned her life worse than a nightmare. Her infertility (inability to give birth to a child) had obiously added to her troubles. Her husband was all set to marry again and this made her even more unwanted there! She was house arrested in her in-laws home and had no road to return back because her parents had already shut all the doors for her. Her life had turn a dark tunnel, with no hope of light at the end of it. 

But, life isn't as unfair as we name it. After 10 years of this darkness, finally the light came to give Sarvesh a wakeup call. It was just another incident she had turned used to...Already! But, it managed to knock the door of her self respect, which had been hiding in the farthest corner of that darkest tunnel. 

In that incident, her husband beat her in front of another man, on his complaint! That is where she decided to cut all the shackles of marriage off and walk out in search of a better life...Or should I say, in search of just life.

Life without a shelter

November 15th 1988 was the remarkable day in her life, when she left her in-laws home. She had got married in 1975. "You don't forget the dates of independence and accidents, right!" she says it with a lively smile. Of course, she means independence for the first and accident for the latter, of course!

However, the decision of leaving that house for her was tough but life after that was even tougher. The doors of her parents home had always been closed for her. Here she started her battle, all alone without a roof over her head!

She stayed in Saheli, A home for women like her and that is where she started fighting with her inner fears. "I remember every second of the first night I spent outside of my parent's and in-laws' homes. I couldn't sleep for a single moment. But next day when I woke up, I had figured out that I was nothing but a Frog in the well and this was unacceptable for my innerself now! That gave me all the courage to stand for myself" Says Sarvesh. 

The turning point-Making of Sarvesh the award winning photojournalist

जुनून की शुरुआत...शुरुआत एक नए सफर की

How many of us remember when we cut our hair for the first time? Quite a few...But she does! Sarvesh told that during her days in Saheli, she was given a camera (a traditional one with roll) by a person named Alok. He was the person, who encouraged her to explore photographer. Her hands shivered while holding the camera for the first time and she had no faith in herself that one day she would ever be able to operate it...And after years of hard work, sleepless nights loaded with camera practice and unbreakable passion, she was introduced to the country as a photographer, who cannot be unnoticed! Her photographs had started speaking for her...Here are few glimpses...

• Uttarkashi Earthquake, over 50 pictures printed in different major national newspapers.
• Kargil War, over 100 pictures published in major national newspapers and magazines.
• Gujarat Earthquake and drought.
• Extensively covered Indo-Pak & Indo-Bangladesh borders
• Riots in Sitamarhi Bihar and Moradabad in UP
• Kumbh Melas at Haridwar and Allahabad
• The famous Nanda Raj Jat Festival in Uttaranchal
• Delhi, Bihar flood
• Coal mines of Dhanbad, Jhariya and Raigarh
• Palace on Wheels (Train)
• Laddakh Festival and Himalayan Car Rally
• Indian Women Commandos
• Coal mines

These are just a few, Sarvesh didn't leave the camera since the day she held it for the first time she held it as a gift...And yes, that was the day when she cut her long hair, for the first time...ever!

Awards and recognitions

Sarvesh had banged I & B Ministry award for her photograph on Kargil war and loads of other awards from different NGOs for numbers of her pictures either exhibited in popular exhibitions or published in leading newspapers and magazines. 

Apart from her achievements at a photojournalist, she has achieved a lot more in other different areas where generally women are not expected (as well as accepted) to do well! Take a look:

• Honored by Hindi Academy
• Godfrey Award 2008
• Rotary Club of India Award in 2010
• Honored by various NGOs
• One of twelve women achievers covered by Sony TV in 2006
• Featured on ‘Laakhon Mein Ek’ – TV program telecasted on Star Plus in Dec 2012
• Her story was covered by electronic media in the form documentary.
• Featured in leading newspapers and magazines.
• Won Gold and Bronze medal in Tughlakabad Shooting range for pistol shooting
• She is a brilliant mountaineer, Climbed up to 17,400 feet in Uttaranchal

She stood for herself and fought for the tough decisions she made in her life. She is still fighting, against everlasting lonesomeness, ailed mentality of people in Indian society and daily struggle of her life. By doing this, she not only gets more courage to go on against all the odds, but also gives a strong message to every woman of this country to be brave, courageous and stand for their self respect.

What makes her a true MARDAANI

She dared to flip the other side of the coin and today, she is leading altogether a different life. A lady draped in saree and entangled in her own hairlocks is now free like a bird, she travels across the borders, captures moments and drives a two wheeler with pride. She isn't a prisoner for anyone, she isn't dependent on anyone...She knows how to walk alone and make her presence felt and leave inspiring remarks behind!

Her ability to say NO to an abusive life and fight for a better one makes her a true Mardaani. Her passion towards building a career and zeal to keep going against all the odds turns her exemplar for other women. She is a courageous women and she is firm towards her decisions in life. She never ever looked back rather bravely faced all the challenges that came into her way while moving AHEAD!

Sarvesh has seen darkest days one could ever imagine of. She still has memories of those events secured in her brain. But, she never feels afraid of discouraged by those memories. She rather uses them as a fuel to gear up her stamina and keep going.

Despite of spending a considerable amount of time with negative and dark people, she has remained untouched by their impact on her behavior. She still is a vibrant beam of light... A lady with positive attitude, courageous personality and vibrant smile.

That is what makes her true MARDAANI

Her future goals

At the age of 58, Sarvesh is going strong. She has a long TO-DO-LIST...

• She wants to climb Mount Everest. World's highest peak, of course!
• She wants to ride a bike to Khardung La  in Leh, Laddakh (18300 feet)... If she does, she would be the first women to do this at her age. 
• Her constant aim is to motivate women in India and abroad to stand for themselves and fight against the odds. She wants to travel the whole world with her camera...and if possible on a two wheeler..Ah! What a full-of-life heart she owns :)

I wish her all the best for all her existing dreams and wish her more dreams for upcoming days of her life. 

***

I respect this MARDAANI for her Courage, Bravery, Strength to Survive against all odds, her fight for her self respect and determination to never look back!! Do you?

PS: If you wish to say anything to Sarvesh through this post...Please feel free to drop your comments below or you can also send me an email... bloggerpiyu@gmail.com

And yes, you can connect to her through her LinkedIn Profile as well.

Don't forget to visit her Photography page

PPS: I sincerely wish to thank Blogadda and makers of Mardaani for giving me this opportunity to cover this motivating story of this wonderful woman. Meeting Sarvesh is an encouraging and memorable ever experience for me. 

This is written as a part of I am Mardaani activity exclusively at BlogAdda.com for Indian Bloggers.

Trip to the Future, with Skyscanner*

What? What did you just say? I need to talk about my Dream Trip? You mean the trip I always wanted to go on, but the time hasn’t come (Actually the time is set for future!) Then WHAT are we doing here? Let's go to FUTURE....फ्युचर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्र!!

Disclaimer: Uh-Oh, that's not me in above picture! Its the RHS=LHS (hence PROVED) side of my brain! Okay! I am just excited, BEAR with me or BEER with me J

Anyways, we are going to फ्युचर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्रर्र....Hey wait, let me grab my TIME MACHINE...And here it is...टिन-टिन टिडीन! 

Wait, let me open it and go to the future...!

Knock Knock

Who’s that?

Piu

What do you want?

To travel to near future

Have you got a token?

Yea Yea a wonderful blog networking platform and an amazing travel planning company, both together have given me license of imagine a wonderful trip in near future!

Come on in!

Yeayyyy!!! All set, I am ready to go, Future Suit and Helmet on... Awww! You too wanna come along? But there's seat for only one person (look at the picture above...I am not making excuses). But don't worry, I will take you along on the ride to future through this post. As I explore through the future in this time machine's cabin, you read the Rest of the Post to know what happens next J!

Okay I am in the machine and the machine wants me to mention where exactly I want to go... My answer is August 5th, 2014...That is where I am rechecking all the plans that I have already made through skyscanner for a special trip for my birthday. 

And, that is where I am sitting in the finest corner of my room and planning a wonderful trip to Paris! Oh! That's me and my laptop J

So, Here in Near Future, I begin to explore Skyscanner and use it as my travel planning buddy! After all, I have to make my birthday special... (At least I won't wait for my marriage to break right at the day of marriage just to visit Paris! That is why I call myself Princess....Not QUEEN certainly!)

So, here I open the website...Nice and easy! (I must tell you, FUTURE has nice Internet Speed)

Disclaimer: Before you try to remind me about HUGE HOLE i need to make in my Bank Balance to accomplish this trip, Let me make myself clear...*In Loud Voice* This imaginary trip (which might turn real soon) is sponsored by Skyscanner itself...I have INR 1 lac in credit (imaginary of course...अजी पैसा तो वैसे भी हाथ का मैल होता है ) to plan this trip...So here we go!

I easily signed up with my Facebook account and logged in to plan my wonderful journey. Skyscanner is really organized portal, which makes you happy instantly. The trip is supposed to be from August 5th 2014 to August 8th 2014...

Flight Tickets aka उड़न दस्ते की टिकट 

First thing First... I began with flight booking and it was so easily done because as I filtered my search, I had a page full of flight options to choose from! I chose the bottom one...!

I noticed few nice things while making this booking! Here, you can check out availability of flights on the calender for upcoming days and months! Wow!

And, you can sort the long lists with hundreds of options through quick categorization! And yes, the smart portal automatically tells you the best available price for booking...

Hotel Booking

So flight is done, so hotel should be next...Here we go!

Let me confess, I first decided to choose cheaper hotels, so I clicked on Cheapest first and I got some amazing results in the list. Rooms to be shared with other people. Wait..I am not घंटी बिग वैन दी I mean Kangana Ranuat from the film queen and I don't have to share a tiny dirty room in cheap hotel to make some VJ (ex-fiance) feel jealous! So I immediately dropped the idea. 

And then, I sensibly booked this hotel... And I am proud of myself...That is where I am gonna stay during this trip of dreams...!

Car Booking

Hey..psst! Did you notice something in above image? They let you choose drivers by their age! Wow, isn't this amazing? Imagine you can simply hire a handsome dude of nearly 20 years and grab a chance to flirt with him...*Wink-Wink*

However, there was no driver available with age 20...SO I managed with 21 year old driver...Ah! I wish they also ask about color complexion, height, weight and overall personality of the french chauffeur! Just saying! It is good to have a beautiful man escorting you on the roads of Paris!

By the way, here's my car and booking details? Want a lift? Sorry its a mini car...See...!

Ufff..Don't worry, I haven't exceeded the credit budget...See I am calculating it side by side!

..Calculation, to be continued...!

As the calculation grew further, I found out that despite of enjoying a round trip of 3 days to Paris, I still managed to save INR 5000+

Hmm..To manage this fund, I have two Ideas

1- To travel to Mumbai, by flight from Delhi...Next day of my returning from Paris!

2- If the credit provider party allows me to donate the same amount of money to someone, who needs it for healthy food, better education or any other noble cause!

All an all, here is the Financial Synopsis of my Dream Trip

Flight Bookin-Round Trip (Delhi-IGI to Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris)- INR 46865

Hotel Booking (August 6 to August 8)- INR 36,039

Car booking (3 days)- INR 12,107

TOTAL CREDIT= 1,00,000

MY EXPENSES via Skyscanner= 95,011

Savings= 4989 Apprx.

So, Ladies and Gentlemen...loosen up your Seat Belt as the imaginary ride of time machine is over! I am sure you enjoyed the journey... 

Since I have really spend good time in planning my dream holiday with amazing Skyscanner, so I get all the rights to write a review about it! Wait, this reminds me of song from a movie named Vivaah!..The song is मुझे हक है आ आ आ.... Have you heard it? Yeah? No? Anyways! Forget it...Let's get back to a quick review...The pros and cons strategy...Aah! My favorite J

'Pros'

• This travel planning portal is amazing! It lets you see the costs of every service you plan to book in your currency! 
• They let you login through facebook
• Simplified and organized portal
• Linked up with multiple booking platforms and travel deal providers-An Integrated system
• Its for free! Just sign up and enjoy...However, you need to pay for all the bookings you make, using this website is free. Hehehe
• It is advanced and totally secure platform to plan your travel
• They have integrated with all the amazing travel service providers, be it Hotel booking websites, car/bus booking websites or flight booking portals. Thus, its a one-stop-shop for travel bugs J

'Cons'

• Well, too much of knowledge is dangerous for a lazy brain...Ah! Too much of information I tell you. However, the organized arrangement of portal compensates to that, but still...How I wish they had a cute talking robot, which could do this booking face to face...

But one thing is assured, when you get all these Travel Planning Facilities at a single platform, you sure get the FEELING that your upcoming TOUR is going to be Awesome!!! Actually, better than the way it is planned!

Visit Skycanner's official website here for more information on excellent travel planning...There you go!

This post is a part of Skyscanner travel wizard activity at BlogAdda.com

To know more about the contest, click here

* PS: This post is result of interesting trip planned and enjoyed inside my brain...So it is imaginary and I call it a dream! समझे ?

Thrilling things to experience in Oman

Why do we want to go to a particular place? What makes us steal some moments of leisure from hectic work life to plan a holiday to a place we call "Dream Destination"? Well, there might be thousand different answers to this question, but the crux always remains the same-The desire to explore all the wonderful things about that place, you have heard about or read about through various sources.

So, why do I want to visit Oman? Ah! There are nearly 100 things to talk about, but I really don't want you to suffer panic attack while you read through my Travel Bucket List for Oman. So, I would rather keep it short, actually TO-THE-POINT. Here are some of the most adventurous things, which give me complete sense of awesomeness and help me explore the joy of travelling. Certainly a particular place is famous for having some marvellous things, which no other place can have...and here are they for me, in Oman:

 Majalis Al Jin Cave

Look at the picture and tell me honestly....Would you ever want to miss the opportunity of being (actually hanging) in such place. That is what you call- A Hangout...eham..Actually Hang in! Lets make it little better...Hang-In-Between.

I am sure it would require training under professionals before trying out this heart pounding stunt. But, I want to do this... I am sure, the experience will remain in me...Forever!

Wadi Bimah (Snake Gorge) 

If trekking has been part of your passionate traveling dreams, you certainly don't want to miss this Snake Gorge hiking/trekking in Oman. In fact, it involves 3 Kms of swimming and gets you enough opportunity to enjoy the thrill of jumping in the transparent green waters of caves, filled with tiny watered pools.

Wahiba Sands

Oman is a beautiful place, where you can discover joys of relaxing at the seashore or be mesmerized by looking at the imaginary snake lines on the golden sands of Wahiba. It takes few hours of drive from Muscat, obviously through Golden and beautiful sand dunes to reach at this wonderful place. Stand there, look at the empire of sand and sunlight falling on it magically. Interestingly, you can enjoy Night Camps on these Sand dunes...Forget about the Golden Sun, its totally worth seeing how the sand reacts to moon light :)

Tiwi Hole

Tiwi Hole, located in Hawiyat Najm Park is the place, where I can sit for hours, actually weeks or may be months (of course when I have by DSLR camera and loads and loads of lunch to munch along). Its greenish blue water and picturesque site has everything to attract any wanderer forever. By the way, the name TIWI is really cute! Isn't it?

PS: These are the first and foremost things I would want to do once I get to visit to the wonderful Oman. As I warned you earlier, the list is long enough to make you faint instantly...So, let's keep it for later. 

And yes, If you wish to explore more travel attractions in Oman, feel free to visit the official website of Oman Tourism 

By the way, I have written this post for Experience Oman Contest organized by Indiblogger, in association with Oman Tourism

Ah! How I love these guys!