50th post and 04P050 happens to be my Roll # at MDI.
Anyways this post is about 5 of my friends who lost their jobs yesterday/day before. AB, SB, HG, RS and SY worked in the same office and were working there for more than a year now. They were among the very best in terms of interpersonal skills, technical skills, dedication, motivation for the job, repect for the authorty. They made the perfect employees.
As everyone knows it, World Cyber Games are here. These people entered into WCG as a Clan, called themseves TOL and had to leave their office for two days without prior information. This made the management so furious that they decided to sack all five. Of these five, one was a senior in hierarchy and reponsibility.
As far as I know, AB should not have an issue in moving ahead and getting a new job. SY would be joining his dream course in August, HG has to join some college and complete the education, RS and SB I am not sure about them but they are not among those who would break down. I am sure they would be doing good.
Losing your job is one of the worst social and personal traumas for a person. Who would knw it better than me; I also had to leave the same company for no reason what-so-ever.
Is there anything wrong with the way the employee thinks and the way the management thinks. Right now I have almost started my management career and I certainly don't see any major differences. I don't kno the reasons, I don't want to know but what I know is that whatever happpened should not have hapened in the first place and its not good. Not good for both the company and the employees.
Talking of employees, those 5 who were fired have almost no concrete option ahead of them in terms of a job. Those who are left behind in the office, although they have been given a raise of almost 40%, would not be feeling very secure about their own jobs. If an employee is insecure about his job, how can we expect tem to perform to the optimum level?
And company, well the first and the foremost thing, they loose people. Valuable People. Some has rigtly said people is the best assest for any organization. I have worked with these 5 people ans I think they represented the cream of the company. Another thing they loose on is productivity and employee trust.
I don't want to write any further and I hope something like this never happens again and these guys find some or the other alternative.
John Smith
Finally a post after almost a year. So amny things have happened, so much to talk about and yet not time to log them on the BLOG. Things are looking good and I believe I would be able to post on a regular basis from now on (I have my fingers crossed when I say this.. ;))
Today I had an oppurtunity to interact with Mr. Sanjay Verma, JMD @ Cushman and Wakefield India. He is an MDI alumunus and he was invited today for a session on the Real Estate Industry. He specifically asked us (the students at a B School) to read more and more magazines like everyone else. Inspired I went in to library and thought about reading a few magazines. I happened to get my hands on one issue of the Fortune Magazine.
In one of the articles, they talked about a guy called John "Winter" Smith who is 32 years old and is a computer programmer by profession. He is like every other software professional in US of A. Only thing that makes him different and Fortune having a article on him is his love for StarBucks. The article is located here.
Starbucks, the name won't sound very familiar to lot of Indians but as I found out, happens to be a chain of Coffee Bars (if I may take the liberty of calling it a bar). So our hero for the post, Mr. Winter is a huge fan of Starbucks and is on a mission to visit every Starbucks outlet in the World. According to the last update on 19th July made on his website, Winter had visited 4064 North American stores, 114 British stores, and 53 Japanese stores, making it a total of 4231 stores (please ignore the addition errors if any). So this man is really really passionate to Starbucks and hats off to the creative genius.
There are'nt many people around who do something different and are creative, Winter sure is one of them. I would recommend a visit to the website at http://starbuckseverywhere.net and find out more about the man.
Now getting to the Business aspects of the story (since I am a Busniess Student now), the amount of money that Starbucks makes would be huge, a detailed company analysis would be done as and when I get time ;)
I would also want to do something like that some day ... (The Day Dreamer) ;)
Today I had an oppurtunity to interact with Mr. Sanjay Verma, JMD @ Cushman and Wakefield India. He is an MDI alumunus and he was invited today for a session on the Real Estate Industry. He specifically asked us (the students at a B School) to read more and more magazines like everyone else. Inspired I went in to library and thought about reading a few magazines. I happened to get my hands on one issue of the Fortune Magazine.
In one of the articles, they talked about a guy called John "Winter" Smith who is 32 years old and is a computer programmer by profession. He is like every other software professional in US of A. Only thing that makes him different and Fortune having a article on him is his love for StarBucks. The article is located here.
Starbucks, the name won't sound very familiar to lot of Indians but as I found out, happens to be a chain of Coffee Bars (if I may take the liberty of calling it a bar). So our hero for the post, Mr. Winter is a huge fan of Starbucks and is on a mission to visit every Starbucks outlet in the World. According to the last update on 19th July made on his website, Winter had visited 4064 North American stores, 114 British stores, and 53 Japanese stores, making it a total of 4231 stores (please ignore the addition errors if any). So this man is really really passionate to Starbucks and hats off to the creative genius.
There are'nt many people around who do something different and are creative, Winter sure is one of them. I would recommend a visit to the website at http://starbuckseverywhere.net and find out more about the man.
Now getting to the Business aspects of the story (since I am a Busniess Student now), the amount of money that Starbucks makes would be huge, a detailed company analysis would be done as and when I get time ;)
I would also want to do something like that some day ... (The Day Dreamer) ;)
Navjot Singh Sidhu - WOW
If someone asks me who is the best speaker right now, I would say it is Navjot Singh Sidhu. Actually its a tie bewtween Sidhu and Ashutosh Rana ;)
Navjot Singh Sidhu - The man has done it all. Just 41 years old. Born on 20 October 1963. Has been topper all his academic life. Has been a lawyer. Married the girl he loved. Played Cricket for India. Won the World Cup, Now a MP (Member of Parliament) from Amritsar, Punjab on a BJP Ticket. WOW.
Would love to talk about him in detail but am kinda short of time right now. Just saw him on Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai on ZEE TV.
Biography of Navjot Singh Sidhu
Father's Name: Sardar Bhagwant Singh
Birthdate: 20 October 1963
Cricketing History: Sidhu first represented the country in England with the under-19 Indian team led by Ravi Shasti. His performance was satisfactory. But Navjot Sidhu showed his real class during the West Indies tour of India. Playing for the North Zone Sidhu first cricket a century against the West Indies. Later he was included in the Board President's XI when he scored 70 odd runs. This ensured him a place in the Indian team. Thus Sidhu made his Test debut against the West Indies led by Clive Llyod in 1983.
Test Debut: India v West Indies at Ahmedabad, 3rd Test, 1983/84
ODI Debut: India v Australia at Madras, World Cup, 1987/88
Sidhuisms
Ever since the StrokeLess Wonder starting Cricket Commentating, he has transformed the ART of commentating in something enjoyable and as exciting as the game itself.
Few of his selected Sidhusims include...
More details to come sooon.
To Be Contd... (Last edited on 21st June 2004, 1246 Hrs IST)
Keywords for Search Engines: Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sidhuisms, Cricketer, India, Indian Cricketer, Amritsar MP, BJP, Congress, Saurabh.
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Navjot Singh Sidhu - The man has done it all. Just 41 years old. Born on 20 October 1963. Has been topper all his academic life. Has been a lawyer. Married the girl he loved. Played Cricket for India. Won the World Cup, Now a MP (Member of Parliament) from Amritsar, Punjab on a BJP Ticket. WOW.
Would love to talk about him in detail but am kinda short of time right now. Just saw him on Jeena Isi Ka Naam Hai on ZEE TV.
Biography of Navjot Singh Sidhu
Father's Name: Sardar Bhagwant Singh
Birthdate: 20 October 1963
Cricketing History: Sidhu first represented the country in England with the under-19 Indian team led by Ravi Shasti. His performance was satisfactory. But Navjot Sidhu showed his real class during the West Indies tour of India. Playing for the North Zone Sidhu first cricket a century against the West Indies. Later he was included in the Board President's XI when he scored 70 odd runs. This ensured him a place in the Indian team. Thus Sidhu made his Test debut against the West Indies led by Clive Llyod in 1983.
Test Debut: India v West Indies at Ahmedabad, 3rd Test, 1983/84
ODI Debut: India v Australia at Madras, World Cup, 1987/88
Sidhuisms
Ever since the StrokeLess Wonder starting Cricket Commentating, he has transformed the ART of commentating in something enjoyable and as exciting as the game itself.
Few of his selected Sidhusims include...
In the midst of a verbal duel with Martin Crowe: "Wickets are like wives - you never know which way they will turn! "More can be found online at www.Sidhuisms.com.
Commenting on Ganguly after he was out for a low score in the 2nd Test against Zimbabwe: "..Looks like a brooding hen over a china egg"
In the midst of a verbal duel with Tony Greig: "If ifs and buts were pots and pans, there would be no tinkers!"
When Ganguly took a catch that had gone very high in the air: "That ball went so high it could have got an air hostess down with it !!"
"Statistics are like miniskirts, they reveal more than what they hide."
In India's last match against New Zealand: "New Zealanders are like bicycles in a cycle stand - one falls down and the complete row will be down!
"Sri Lankan score is running like an Indian taxi meter."
"Taking the cake with a red cherry on top. "
For Sri Lankan batsman Kaluwitharna, when he was wasting many balls: "He is like Indian three-wheeler which will suck a lot of diesel but cannot go beyond 30! "
To Martin Crowe: "The Indians are going to beat the Kiwis! Let me tell you, my friend, that the Kiwi is the only bird in the whole world which does not have wings!"
Muralitharan bowling to the last Indian pair: "The wily fox is back. Its an ill omen when a fox licks its lambs."
Applauding Reetinder Singh Sodhi's fighting spirit: "Young Ricky will fight a rattlesnake and give him the first two bites! "
"The gap between bat and pad is so much that I would have driven a car through it... !! "
More details to come sooon.
To Be Contd... (Last edited on 21st June 2004, 1246 Hrs IST)
Keywords for Search Engines: Navjot Singh Sidhu, Sidhuisms, Cricketer, India, Indian Cricketer, Amritsar MP, BJP, Congress, Saurabh.
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RediffMail, Yet Another 1 GB Free EMail
Ever since Google annoucned they would give 1 GB space for free EMails, there have been n number of service providers trying to tackle GMail.
Latest in the foray is Rediff, www.rediff.com, They are offering 1GB inbox for free and allthe existing users have been upgraded to new 1 GB mail space.
Competition is a very neat thing. Helps us sustomers get most out of procviders :)
Till next time...
To Be Contd... (Last edited on 18th June 2004, 1543 Hrs IST)
Keywords for Search Engines: Rediff, GMail, Google Mail, Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, 1000 MB Storgae, 1 GB Storage, 100 MB Storage, Saurabh.
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Latest in the foray is Rediff, www.rediff.com, They are offering 1GB inbox for free and allthe existing users have been upgraded to new 1 GB mail space.
Competition is a very neat thing. Helps us sustomers get most out of procviders :)
Till next time...
To Be Contd... (Last edited on 18th June 2004, 1543 Hrs IST)
Keywords for Search Engines: Rediff, GMail, Google Mail, Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, 1000 MB Storgae, 1 GB Storage, 100 MB Storage, Saurabh.
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Yahoo vs GMail
And Finally Yahoo is offering 100 MB spae for EMails - FREE.
Looks like a BETA service in the market has led to the beginning of the end of the GIANT.
The most striking of all has been a SEARCH button on top of the Yahoo Mail.
Another interesting thing to note would be absence of image based advertisements on the top and left side. These have been replaced with TEXT BASED adverts.
Basically they ar trying to counter The USPs of GMail. GMail was built as a Search Based EMail service and Text Ads. Yahoo is trying to implement Search and they have already replaced the adverts with Text Ads.
The new interface looks good. Let me test the service for few more days and I would be writing a detailed report on it :)
To Be Contd... (Last edited on 15th June 2004, 2000 Hrs IST)
Keywords for Search Engines: GMail, Google Mail, Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, 1000 MB Storgae, 1 GB Storage, 100 MB Storage, Saurabh.
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Looks like a BETA service in the market has led to the beginning of the end of the GIANT.
The most striking of all has been a SEARCH button on top of the Yahoo Mail.
Another interesting thing to note would be absence of image based advertisements on the top and left side. These have been replaced with TEXT BASED adverts.
Basically they ar trying to counter The USPs of GMail. GMail was built as a Search Based EMail service and Text Ads. Yahoo is trying to implement Search and they have already replaced the adverts with Text Ads.
The new interface looks good. Let me test the service for few more days and I would be writing a detailed report on it :)
To Be Contd... (Last edited on 15th June 2004, 2000 Hrs IST)
Keywords for Search Engines: GMail, Google Mail, Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, 1000 MB Storgae, 1 GB Storage, 100 MB Storage, Saurabh.
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Lucky Ali - Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai
Lucky Ali has just finished a new album Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai and it will be releasing soon on T-Series. The songs in the album have been sung and composed by Lucky Ali the song that is currently on air is titled Kabhi Aisa Lagta hai.
The lyrics has have been penned down by Sameer. The album is composed by Lucky Ali himself. The video has been shot by Rahul L. Sood at Epitome.
Incomplete Lyrics go like
Lately a lot of visitors have been coming to the weBLOG through the search engines and searching about the new album. I hope I have presented everything one would want to know about Lucky Ali and his new album. If Lucky Ali fans find this insufficient, they can check out http://geocities.com/clicklucky for more details about him.
Lucky Ali - Ixsui: Lucky Ali is currently working on his new album called Ixsui - ONE DIRECTION.
There are also reports that Lucky Ali is planning to direct his own film. Details are not available right now :( According to ClickLucky, he has worked with Shyam Benegal before and direction thus comes naturally to him. That film should be one to look out for.
Singing, Composing, Acting, Directing... The man's done it all.
Previous Post...
End (Last edited on 15th June 2004, 1500 Hrs IST)
Keywords for Search Engines: Lucky Ali, Mehmood Ali, New Album, Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai, Ixsui, Sauarbh.
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The lyrics has have been penned down by Sameer. The album is composed by Lucky Ali himself. The video has been shot by Rahul L. Sood at Epitome.
Incomplete Lyrics go like
kya aisa hi hota hai pyarThe music for the album is set to release on 16th June 2004. There is no website dedicated to the song as yet and you can not download the song right now from the internet but I have'nt tried file sharing tools like kazza, emule, edonkey and win mx etc. Lyircs would be available here on the Saurabh Garg weBLOG as soon as I get the album.
mere kuda mujhe itna bata
kya aisa hi hota hai pyar
ek pal to mil jaaye dil ko, chala jaaye door kahin
is duniya main is dil kay jaisa koi mazboor nahin
aisa ehsaas hai koi to pass hai
mehki lage saari fiza kya aisa hi hota hai pyar
kabhi aisa lagta dil main ek raaz hai
jise kehna chaoon par main kah paaon na
aakahnohi aakhnon main kah jaye jo
kahmoshi ki yeh kaise zubana
maine suna jo na usne kaha kya
aisa hi hota hai pyar
mere khuda mujhe itna bata
kya aisa hi hota hai pyar
ek pal jo mil ko chal jaaye door kahin
duniya main eis dil kay jaise koi mazboor nahin
Lately a lot of visitors have been coming to the weBLOG through the search engines and searching about the new album. I hope I have presented everything one would want to know about Lucky Ali and his new album. If Lucky Ali fans find this insufficient, they can check out http://geocities.com/clicklucky for more details about him.
Lucky Ali - Ixsui: Lucky Ali is currently working on his new album called Ixsui - ONE DIRECTION.
There are also reports that Lucky Ali is planning to direct his own film. Details are not available right now :( According to ClickLucky, he has worked with Shyam Benegal before and direction thus comes naturally to him. That film should be one to look out for.
Singing, Composing, Acting, Directing... The man's done it all.
Previous Post...
Lucky Ali the king of pop is back with his new album. The name of the album... I am not sure, the title track, I am not sure.
EDIT: The new latest Lucky Ali album is called Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai. The new latest Lucky Ali song is also called Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai. The song is about a boy falling in love with a Girl, usual mushy romantic story with soothing voice and guitaring of Lucky Ali. The song lyrics, song audio and song video are not available for free download anywhere on the internet.
EDIT: The song is titled "Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai" and the new Lucky Ali album is also called Kabhie Aisa Lagta Hai.
I havent heard the song as yet, saw his face for the last three seconds on MTV when the song ends.
An "intelligent" google search on the Internet does not shows any results :((
Can someone please DONATE me his new album or link...
YIPEEEE Lucky is back :)
The new video came as a surprise to me. For the first time, he is not "in" the video. The video is about a girl and a boy and Lucky is in the backdrop. All his previous videos, HE was the hero of the video. But who is complaining as long as he is out with great music.
Hmmm this post is about Lucky Ali, posting a link to the website http://geocities.com/clicklucky won't do any harm. I would be updating the website and updating this post as soon as I get more informtion. I made this website about three fours years back when I was even more crazy about him. Lets hope this album is as good as his previous ones.
One thing good about Lucky is that he comes out with the music after a while. That is the beauty of it. The music is so good that you listen to it again and again and in about two years you start craving for more and there he is, with his new album.
Another thing of note would be that even after he sang for, acted in, produced music for movies, he is back to creating his own work. And there are very very few people who get back to what they were doing before they entered movies. Three Cheers !
If you have any information about it with you, PLEASE let me know about it ASAP. You know how to contact me :D
Am I too excited? :)
End (Last edited on 15th June 2004, 1500 Hrs IST)
Keywords for Search Engines: Lucky Ali, Mehmood Ali, New Album, Kabhi Aisa Lagta Hai, Ixsui, Sauarbh.
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Lost on the Internet, Found on Search Engines
They say that once a website has ben launched, its lost forever in the cyber space. Its like a blackhole that sucks your page in, never allowing it to come out. The only ray of light in the dark lost world is links through differnt websites and Search Engines like Google etc.
For the past 30-31 days (11 May 2004 - 11 June 2004), I have monitored and kept record of people using Search Engines and coming to the weBLOG. Following is the list of Keywords used to find my weBLOG on the Internet...
Google: ben_mario_piano
Google: jyoti sahu
Google: scmhrd
Google: chinkis
Google: prateek+site:blogspot.com
Google: manmohan+singh+press+conference+thursday+transcript
Google: 1000+mb+mailbox
Google: blogspot+sg
Google: IIM+Waitlist
Google: blogs+fms+delhi
Google: sonali+garg
Rediff: SCMHRD
Google: uff+kay+jadoo+mohabbat+hai
Google: Saurabh+Garg+IIM+A
Google: Saurabh+Garg
Google: saurabh+gmail
Google: sandeep+dixit
Rediff: SCMHRD
Google: scmhrd+blog
Google: shweta+garg
Google: IIM+topper+2004
Google: blog+interview+ISB+MBA
Google: waves+noida+hum+tum
Google: waves+multiplex+noida
Google: nitin+pachauri+yahoo
Google: website+of+waves+multiplex+in+noida
Google: ims+simcat
Google: noida+multiplex
Google: waves+multiplex+east+delhi
Google: friendship+quatos
Google: The+Taste+of+India+at+Waves+Noida
Google: download+kya+aap+closeup+karte
Google: India+Congress++young+foreign-educated
Google: MOVIES+RUNNING+AT++WAVES+MULTIPLEX+IN++NOIDA
Google: centrestage+mall+noida
Google: priyanka+mehta+MDI
Google: sandeep+dixit
Google: Sonali+garg
Google: dollor+against+rupee
Feedster: gmail
Google: sex+in+nirulas
Feedster: gmail+trade
Google: kya+aap+closeup
Google: kabhi+aisa+lagta+hai
Google: kabhi+aisa+lagta+hai%22%2B%22lucky+ali%22%2Bdownload
Google: kabhi+aisa+lagta+hai+lucky+ali
Google: abhishek+mishra+IMS
Dogpile: kabhi%2Baisa%2Blagta%2Bhai
Google: man+ki+lagan+lyrics+by
Google: nidhi+garg
Google: saurabh+ganguly+fan+club
Google: lucky+ali+new+song+kabhi+aisa+lagta+hai
These do not include visitors from websites like PagalGuy and BuildtoLearn and Blogger and Blogger Profiles and Orkut, Blogwise, HaloScan etc.
To Be Contd... (Last edited on 15th June 2004, 1200 Hrs IST)
Keywords for Search Engines: SEO, Search Engine, Keywords, Saurabh.
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For the past 30-31 days (11 May 2004 - 11 June 2004), I have monitored and kept record of people using Search Engines and coming to the weBLOG. Following is the list of Keywords used to find my weBLOG on the Internet...
Google: ben_mario_piano
Google: jyoti sahu
Google: scmhrd
Google: chinkis
Google: prateek+site:blogspot.com
Google: manmohan+singh+press+conference+thursday+transcript
Google: 1000+mb+mailbox
Google: blogspot+sg
Google: IIM+Waitlist
Google: blogs+fms+delhi
Google: sonali+garg
Rediff: SCMHRD
Google: uff+kay+jadoo+mohabbat+hai
Google: Saurabh+Garg+IIM+A
Google: Saurabh+Garg
Google: saurabh+gmail
Google: sandeep+dixit
Rediff: SCMHRD
Google: scmhrd+blog
Google: shweta+garg
Google: IIM+topper+2004
Google: blog+interview+ISB+MBA
Google: waves+noida+hum+tum
Google: waves+multiplex+noida
Google: nitin+pachauri+yahoo
Google: website+of+waves+multiplex+in+noida
Google: ims+simcat
Google: noida+multiplex
Google: waves+multiplex+east+delhi
Google: friendship+quatos
Google: The+Taste+of+India+at+Waves+Noida
Google: download+kya+aap+closeup+karte
Google: India+Congress++young+foreign-educated
Google: MOVIES+RUNNING+AT++WAVES+MULTIPLEX+IN++NOIDA
Google: centrestage+mall+noida
Google: priyanka+mehta+MDI
Google: sandeep+dixit
Google: Sonali+garg
Google: dollor+against+rupee
Feedster: gmail
Google: sex+in+nirulas
Feedster: gmail+trade
Google: kya+aap+closeup
Google: kabhi+aisa+lagta+hai
Google: kabhi+aisa+lagta+hai%22%2B%22lucky+ali%22%2Bdownload
Google: kabhi+aisa+lagta+hai+lucky+ali
Google: abhishek+mishra+IMS
Dogpile: kabhi%2Baisa%2Blagta%2Bhai
Google: man+ki+lagan+lyrics+by
Google: nidhi+garg
Google: saurabh+ganguly+fan+club
Google: lucky+ali+new+song+kabhi+aisa+lagta+hai
These do not include visitors from websites like PagalGuy and BuildtoLearn and Blogger and Blogger Profiles and Orkut, Blogwise, HaloScan etc.
To Be Contd... (Last edited on 15th June 2004, 1200 Hrs IST)
Keywords for Search Engines: SEO, Search Engine, Keywords, Saurabh.
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GMail - The new face of EMail
GMAil has given the POWER to invite three other people to EVERY current GMail user. What are you waiting for? Catch hold of a friend with GMail soon !
Here are few things good about GMail :)
1000 MB Storage Space :)
The biggest thing associated with GMail would be the amount of space they offer. Easily 100 times more than the 99.9% of free EMail Service Providers. You could go on and on and on and never fill up those 1000 MBs.
No need to delete any message. Helps in maintaining records and contacts. You don't have to open up huge archives of backup fromn outlook and look at them when everything is available on a clikc of mouse anywhere in the world. It would also eliminate the need of exporting all EMails to a outlook file and burning them on a disk and carrying it along.
Search Based EMail
Gmail is differnt from other EMail Providers in yet another way. GMail is Search based EMail system. You don't have to make stupid folders and sort your mail according to the when you can use the excellent Google Search Algorithm on your own EMail Inbox !
Text Advertisement
As they nothing in the world is for free, neither is GMail. They would scan your EMail for certain keywords and then display related advertisements. And please mind it this is NOT an invasion on your privacy. No human ever reads your EMail. And infact as far as my computing knowledge goes, they wont take the hassles of reading/scannign through the entire EMail. They would just look for certain keywords like Travel, Shopping etc. and deliver advertisements. These advertisements are inded at times benefecial and might just help you apart from generating revenue for GMail.
Another point in favour of text based advertisement would be the small time it takes to load. An Image file would be very heavy and might take ages to load on slow internet connections, where as text isas light and as fast as it gets.
Social Status
Since GMail is still by invitation and very few people have access to it, you could brag about how good GMail is and its features and people would give you the stage and let you do all the talking as if you are an expert on rocket science.
Ever since I had the power to invite people for GMail and I have told about this to friends, all my long lost friends have strated to come back to me. Every now and then someone would pop up on Yahoo or MSN and say "Hello, do you remember we studied together in the First grade in Rochester?" And I havent steeped out of Delhi, India ever in my life.
Thumbs Down :( Few things against GMail...
1. You need to have the latest Web Browers. But again to deploy the new age technology behind GMail they need to use the best and the latest available browsers available.
2. I get a error message regularly. The frequency of this REGULAR message is about three or four times in an hour.
But again... this is not a big deal and could happen and infact does happens all the time on other EMail service Providers.
The original version of the image file posted above can be seen at http://www.ubg.buildtolearn.net/saurabh/gmailError.jpg.
And just in case someone wants to contact me, I can be reached at septemberthe22nd+gmailinvite@gmail.com :). I still have 5 (yes FIVE)invites left :) Although I have decided that three people to get it would be Gaurav, Shubham and Uday. What about other two? May be the person who wants to trade it for something good...? Like a DigiCam? Let's see...
To Be Contd... (Last edited on 12th June 2004, 2200 Hrs IST)
Keywords for Search Engines: GMail, Google Mail, Gmail Invite, Invite for GMail, 1000 MB Storgae, 1 GB Storage, Invititation for GMail, GMail Swap, Trade GMail, Exchange GMail, Saurabh.
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The Times of India - Comedy of Errors
The Times of India has done it yet again. They are so used to publishing errors in their paper that one tends to believe that it is edited and copy proofed by a bald monkey.
The latest in the series of errors, The Times of India has written in a report about Bachelor's of Information Technology (BIT). I happened to be one of the few lucky ones to have passed out of BIT and I thus know the hard facts and figures :-)
Following is clipping from The Times Of India, Delhi Edition, published on Monday 7th June 2004...
TOI: ...Moreover, due to the same glitch these students cannot study any engineering course of the post-graduate level...
Saurabh: I would beg to differ here. I am in contact with students from BIT/BIS doing their M.Techs from places as big as IIT-Kanpur and MS from places like USC, Sony and what not in the US. There are people who are studying in Australia and UK and are pursuing their majors in Engineering. If an M.Tech in Computer Science is not any engineering course of the post-graduate level, would someone please tell me what category those courses fall into? Or may be MS from an American University does not sounds like any Engineering Course of the Post-Graduate level because The Great Times of India somehow has turned desi?
TOI: ...Their only option, in terms of higher education, is to pursue an MSc in Computer Science...
Saurabh: Nopes, as stated above this paragraph, people are pursuing M.Techs and MSs and other Engineering courses. Another thing to mention here would be students who are into BIG Management Schools like IIM-A, IIM-B, IIM-C and other smaller schools like FMS, IIFT, MDI, XLRI. I believe according to The GREAT Times of India, MBA (or PGPM) is not considered higher education. Oh, by the way, I would be joining MDI Gurgaon this year and its higher education as far as my knowledge goes. I would like tomention here that YES, BIT students were denied admission to MBA programme of IIT Kanpur but thats the only IIT in India and infact one of the very very few educational institues to have denied admission to BIT students. But again somehow they accept BIT/BIS students for their M.Tech program but not for MBA.
TOI: ...said a disillusioned student of the BIT course from DCAC...
Saurabh: I would love to know the name of the disillusioned student. He clearly is out of touch with his seniors and peers.
TOI: ...In 2000, an entrance test was held for the BIT course batch that is now passing out. The other three batches that have passed out under the BIT banner were actually students of BSc (Computer Science) who had been upgraded to BIT...
Saurabh: YES (finally they seem to be correct on something), the 2000-2004 batch was admitted after the Entrance Test for admission to fours year BIT/BIS. BUT the previous three batches starting from 1998 were ALSO admitted on the basis of tests. The only difference is that the test for the previous three batches was conducted for admission to BCA and BSc (Hons.)Computer Science and after admission (on the basis of the test) they were upgraded to BIT and BIS respectively. I have got the hall ticket of the admission test (that never took place according to some Newspaper). And just for the information students of BSc Computer Science were upgraded to BIS not to BIT (as someone has mentioned in a report). May be in the dictionary of The Great Times of India, BIT and BIS are equal and are synonyms?
The link BIT Recognition should clarify a few things.
I am not questioning the source of data and their integrity and knowledge but I am trying to question why can't they verify the data before they publish anything? Doesn’t being a newspaper more responsible thing?
If they keep going at this rate, I believe they would soon publish something like "Bush is actually a Muslim like Osama and Saddam'.
Or is it that I am missing the entire purpose of The Times of India? May be the paper is not meant to be taken seriously, or may be they want to help people start their day with laughter, or may be they want the paper to the unofficial handbook of the ignorant or may be News for Dummies?
Enuf of Times Bashing I guess. In the coming times, I would be digging up more bloopers and the history behind The Times of India.
END (Last edited on 8th June 2004, 1000 Hrs IST)
Keywords for Search Engines: The Times of India, Newspaper, India, BIT, BIS, Delhi University, Bloopers, Media, Sauarbh.
----
The latest in the series of errors, The Times of India has written in a report about Bachelor's of Information Technology (BIT). I happened to be one of the few lucky ones to have passed out of BIT and I thus know the hard facts and figures :-)
Following is clipping from The Times Of India, Delhi Edition, published on Monday 7th June 2004...
[QUOTE] DU wears down students, BIT by techno BITNow the article is here, how about an explanation from me, Saurabh Garg, a BIT alumnus from Maharaja Agrasen College, Delhi University. I joined the course in 1999 and passed out in 2003.
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
New Delhi: Delhi University (DU), in the last few years, seems to be on a roll for introducing new courses. One such course was the four-year Bachelor of Information Technology (BIT) that the University introduced with much fanfare and then scrapped. The last batch of the ‘ill-fated’ course passes out this year. The ride wasn’t easy for these 400-odd students, to say the least.
Firstly, the students have actually studied a course that does not have the approval of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). As such, they are not qualified engineers, despite having studied to be software engineers. Moreover, due to the same glitch these students cannot study any engineering course of the post-graduate level.
Their only option, in terms of higher education, is to pursue an MSc in Computer Science. This, however, does not inspire these students much. ‘‘What after an MSc in Computer Science? We aren’t sure if it’s even close to the next logical step,’’ said a disillusioned student of the BIT course from DCAC.
The BIT course was introduced in about 25 colleges as a self-financing course. The fee ranged between Rs 18,000 to 25,000 per year depending on the college. In 2000, an entrance test was held for the BIT course batch that is now passing out. The other three batches that have passed out under the BIT banner were actually students of BSc (Computer Science) who had been upgraded to BIT. In 2000 itself the controversy over the course began, resulting ultimately in the course being discontinued.
The UGC gave its approval only for the three batches that had already been upgraded and for the one batch that had been admitted on basis of the entrance test. AICTE refused to give even these four batches its endorsement. [ENDQUOTE]
TOI: ...Moreover, due to the same glitch these students cannot study any engineering course of the post-graduate level...
Saurabh: I would beg to differ here. I am in contact with students from BIT/BIS doing their M.Techs from places as big as IIT-Kanpur and MS from places like USC, Sony and what not in the US. There are people who are studying in Australia and UK and are pursuing their majors in Engineering. If an M.Tech in Computer Science is not any engineering course of the post-graduate level, would someone please tell me what category those courses fall into? Or may be MS from an American University does not sounds like any Engineering Course of the Post-Graduate level because The Great Times of India somehow has turned desi?
TOI: ...Their only option, in terms of higher education, is to pursue an MSc in Computer Science...
Saurabh: Nopes, as stated above this paragraph, people are pursuing M.Techs and MSs and other Engineering courses. Another thing to mention here would be students who are into BIG Management Schools like IIM-A, IIM-B, IIM-C and other smaller schools like FMS, IIFT, MDI, XLRI. I believe according to The GREAT Times of India, MBA (or PGPM) is not considered higher education. Oh, by the way, I would be joining MDI Gurgaon this year and its higher education as far as my knowledge goes. I would like tomention here that YES, BIT students were denied admission to MBA programme of IIT Kanpur but thats the only IIT in India and infact one of the very very few educational institues to have denied admission to BIT students. But again somehow they accept BIT/BIS students for their M.Tech program but not for MBA.
TOI: ...said a disillusioned student of the BIT course from DCAC...
Saurabh: I would love to know the name of the disillusioned student. He clearly is out of touch with his seniors and peers.
TOI: ...In 2000, an entrance test was held for the BIT course batch that is now passing out. The other three batches that have passed out under the BIT banner were actually students of BSc (Computer Science) who had been upgraded to BIT...
Saurabh: YES (finally they seem to be correct on something), the 2000-2004 batch was admitted after the Entrance Test for admission to fours year BIT/BIS. BUT the previous three batches starting from 1998 were ALSO admitted on the basis of tests. The only difference is that the test for the previous three batches was conducted for admission to BCA and BSc (Hons.)Computer Science and after admission (on the basis of the test) they were upgraded to BIT and BIS respectively. I have got the hall ticket of the admission test (that never took place according to some Newspaper). And just for the information students of BSc Computer Science were upgraded to BIS not to BIT (as someone has mentioned in a report). May be in the dictionary of The Great Times of India, BIT and BIS are equal and are synonyms?
The link BIT Recognition should clarify a few things.
I am not questioning the source of data and their integrity and knowledge but I am trying to question why can't they verify the data before they publish anything? Doesn’t being a newspaper more responsible thing?
If they keep going at this rate, I believe they would soon publish something like "Bush is actually a Muslim like Osama and Saddam'.
Or is it that I am missing the entire purpose of The Times of India? May be the paper is not meant to be taken seriously, or may be they want to help people start their day with laughter, or may be they want the paper to the unofficial handbook of the ignorant or may be News for Dummies?
Enuf of Times Bashing I guess. In the coming times, I would be digging up more bloopers and the history behind The Times of India.
END (Last edited on 8th June 2004, 1000 Hrs IST)
Keywords for Search Engines: The Times of India, Newspaper, India, BIT, BIS, Delhi University, Bloopers, Media, Sauarbh.
----
Jigsaw Puzzles
Today, along with a Maggi Super Saver pack, there was this Popeye Jigsaw Puzzle. It was pretty cool. It reminded me of the times when I was in Primary School and how I wanted to have a huge Jigsaw Puzzle and how I wanted to be the fastest puzzle solver.
Ths jigsaw puzzles are believed to have been invented in Eurpoe in early part of the 16th century. People say that the map makers in Europe would paste the maps on card baord and cut them into pieces to help children learn about maps. What started as an educational tool soon developed into a famous past time.
A detailed discussion on the history can be found at http://www.jigsaw-puzzle.org/jigsaw-puzzle-history.html
and http://www.oldpuzzles.com/history.htm.
Few websites that allow you to register for free and play with Jigsaw Puzzles
online are http://www.jigzone.com, http://www.jigsawland.com,
http://www.dltk-kids.com/puzzle.htm, http://www.freejigsawpuzzles.com
and http://www.alljigsawpuzzles.co.uk. These were the top 5 results returned when searched for "Jigsaw Puzzles" on www.Google.com.
So what is it about Jigsaw Puzzles that keeps people fixed to them? I know of a lot of pass time activities, they sound very sound to start with and as time progresses, people seem to loose interest in them. But Jigsaw Puzzles? NO,people don’t just leave the puzzles without completing them.
How would Jigsaw Puzzles help someone?
Eye for Detail: I would say that if someone were solving the puzzles for a long time, he would have excellent eye for detail. All the time spent in selecting a piece from a heap of other mixed pieces and trying to put it in a right place, A person would indeed develop the eye for detail. People would, by habit, be very attentive and would look for everything before they make a move.
Team Play: Jigsaw Puzzles can be lot of fun to solve when done in groups. Although I haven’t had an opportunity to do it but I would definitely love to do it sometime. I just need to find a few like-minded people. When you are solving a puzzle, you are in a team trying to reach a common goal. A well-defined common goal wherein you try to help your team mates to find a particular piece, a particular part of the picture and gradually the complete picture.
Ths jigsaw puzzles are believed to have been invented in Eurpoe in early part of the 16th century. People say that the map makers in Europe would paste the maps on card baord and cut them into pieces to help children learn about maps. What started as an educational tool soon developed into a famous past time.
A detailed discussion on the history can be found at http://www.jigsaw-puzzle.org/jigsaw-puzzle-history.html
and http://www.oldpuzzles.com/history.htm.
Few websites that allow you to register for free and play with Jigsaw Puzzles
online are http://www.jigzone.com, http://www.jigsawland.com,
http://www.dltk-kids.com/puzzle.htm, http://www.freejigsawpuzzles.com
and http://www.alljigsawpuzzles.co.uk. These were the top 5 results returned when searched for "Jigsaw Puzzles" on www.Google.com.
So what is it about Jigsaw Puzzles that keeps people fixed to them? I know of a lot of pass time activities, they sound very sound to start with and as time progresses, people seem to loose interest in them. But Jigsaw Puzzles? NO,people don’t just leave the puzzles without completing them.
How would Jigsaw Puzzles help someone?
Eye for Detail: I would say that if someone were solving the puzzles for a long time, he would have excellent eye for detail. All the time spent in selecting a piece from a heap of other mixed pieces and trying to put it in a right place, A person would indeed develop the eye for detail. People would, by habit, be very attentive and would look for everything before they make a move.
Team Play: Jigsaw Puzzles can be lot of fun to solve when done in groups. Although I haven’t had an opportunity to do it but I would definitely love to do it sometime. I just need to find a few like-minded people. When you are solving a puzzle, you are in a team trying to reach a common goal. A well-defined common goal wherein you try to help your team mates to find a particular piece, a particular part of the picture and gradually the complete picture.
Saurabh
Its been so many days now and I havent addded a post. A lot of things have happened and I have been busy with nothing ;)
Following should exaplin in nutshell...
- Went to watch the movie Hum Tum at Waves Kaushambi. Found it boring. There were few good songs. The Rishi Rich song, U n I, "mere dil vich hum tum" is very good. Went there with all my BIT classmates and had a nice time.
- MDI sent out their Pre Session Assignment and by the looks of it, its going to be a major pain :(( They want me to visit a NGO, a company, a Kirana Stroe and read a Business book and write summary etc. I would be picking up The Goal by Ali GoldRatt.
- New Blog, I have launched a new blog lacated at http://saurabhgarg.blogspot.com. It is going to be a personal blog with all the personal posts there and yes, it is going to be password protected :)
- New friends - found a couple of new friends. Hope we continue to be friends.
- New Cellphone - would be getting a new cellphone. In all probablity it would be Nokia 6820 or a Sony Ericson T610. I havent decided yet.
- A new group for all the MBA 2006 people. More on this later.
- A new post planned on GMail, now that I know better about it having used it for sometime.
Following should exaplin in nutshell...
- Went to watch the movie Hum Tum at Waves Kaushambi. Found it boring. There were few good songs. The Rishi Rich song, U n I, "mere dil vich hum tum" is very good. Went there with all my BIT classmates and had a nice time.
- MDI sent out their Pre Session Assignment and by the looks of it, its going to be a major pain :(( They want me to visit a NGO, a company, a Kirana Stroe and read a Business book and write summary etc. I would be picking up The Goal by Ali GoldRatt.
- New Blog, I have launched a new blog lacated at http://saurabhgarg.blogspot.com. It is going to be a personal blog with all the personal posts there and yes, it is going to be password protected :)
- New friends - found a couple of new friends. Hope we continue to be friends.
- New Cellphone - would be getting a new cellphone. In all probablity it would be Nokia 6820 or a Sony Ericson T610. I havent decided yet.
- A new group for all the MBA 2006 people. More on this later.
- A new post planned on GMail, now that I know better about it having used it for sometime.
Blog Chalking...
When I post the following code, it is supposed to help me get higher ratings with Search Engines...
"This is my new blogchalk:
India, Delhi, New Delhi, Hindi, English, Saurabh, Male, 21-25, Adverts, Bikes, Books, Cars, CAT, Cinema, Computer Games, Cricket, Delhi, Gaming, Guitar, Hindi, Hockey, India, Indian IT Industry, MBA, me, Music, Photography, Quizzing, Sports, Technolgoy, Television, WWW. :)"
Found this on http://www.blogchalking.tk/
Lets see if this works.
"This is my new blogchalk:
India, Delhi, New Delhi, Hindi, English, Saurabh, Male, 21-25, Adverts, Bikes, Books, Cars, CAT, Cinema, Computer Games, Cricket, Delhi, Gaming, Guitar, Hindi, Hockey, India, Indian IT Industry, MBA, me, Music, Photography, Quizzing, Sports, Technolgoy, Television, WWW. :)"
Found this on http://www.blogchalking.tk/
Lets see if this works.
Saurabh n Friends from BIT, MAC
Yesterday, 18th May 2004, was a very very interesting day. I was happy, sad, excited, scared, tired, enthusiastic etc. all at one time.
I deposited the first installment of the fee at MDI and withdrew my asmission at IMI.
I also went to T.G.'s place for the first time. Saw the place from where he rulez the Quake 3 Arenas. Went to U.G.'s place too. No, we did'nt play cricket this team. Dunno why but everytime I am at U.G.'s place, we end up playing cricket and more often than not, I am on the loosing side ;) Talking of places I visited there, I also went to P.P.'s room @ MDI. Its like his home there. Met few pepole there. Found them interesting. And talking to them revealed that MDI would be a fun place. Another noticable thing there was "My Cousin Vinny". The movie My Cousin Vinny which I wanted so badly. I would get it as soon as I land up @ MDI. They had everything on LAN a guy like me could dream of. Looks like I would be busy with buying and burning disks all the time.
Talking of going to MDI, I am supposed to get a DCam and a Laptop. Had a chat with kAgE and he suggested that I go for The Ferrari Acer Laptop or the Toshiba thinkpad. About the cam, I talked to A.P. and he is a great lawyer for the older regular cams. He told me about quite a few things that would make any person stop thinking about the "D"cam and go for the regular film cameras. I would have gone for the regular film cam but the thing is that I won't have time and money to get all the pics developed :(
Decisions Decisions and Decisions.
Ahh, I am supposed to talk about the meeting I had with the friends from Maharaja Agrasen College.
Ever since U.G and P.M. have landed in Delhi from their respective MBA colleges, we have been trying to co-ordinate a meeting. Finally after trying for a million times, we were able to decide on meeting yesterday. The time was fixed @ 6:30 PM and the palc... the regular Nirula's Restaurant @ NOIDA.
I went to MDI first and while returning, I got lost and somehow went to Tuglaqabad area of Delhi. It was all beautiful but the roads were full of HUGE potholes. But stil the roads were lined up with walls from some old fort. It brought me back to my thoughts and my keen interest in history and historical monuments.
To cut the story short, I reached T.G.'s place at around 6 and we left for U.G.'s place and reached there at 6.30 something. Meanwhile P.M. and N.L. called up and confirmed that they would be coming too. Pretty cool, so many good pals from past meeting up. So we reached at the Nirulas and to our surprise, a plesant one ;), found D.G. along with P.M. Wow, now we were six people all doing somethign or the other.
We talked, talked and talked. I was the person who was sacrificed when it came to footing the bills. They all said that I got thru MDI and I should be paying up and blah blah blah, so I paid up. Meanwhile N.L. had to leave. He had "chaar daanav"s visting his place and he said he would be crucified agar he is late for home. Me was happy when he haid he would leave.. one less person to treat ;) and with the kind of eating records he has, I could save me a fortune. Anyways he had to leave and we moved to CentreStage Mall. The home of Waves Multiplex in NOIDA. So we were five people, free from all the worries of this world and roaming around uselessly and we had absolutely nothing to do. Pretty relaxed.
So we ate at Taste of India. Good food, great ambiance and friends...
So as we were talkin, we were talking about cars, bikes, gizmoes when D.G. told us that her dad has all the "Boys Toys" you could ask for. We also talked about Bungee Jumping and Roler Coasters and we were told that D.G.'s dad has also done that. MY ROLE MODEL !!!!
P.M. cracked all those regular jokes of hers. U.G. was "profesional" as always, T.G. was "BOND" as always... Everything was almost the same as it used to be during the four years I spent at BIT. Only thing that chnaged was, we all were no longer together and were headed in our own directions.
We also have planned to catch up the movie which would be sponsored by P.M. :D
And we have thought about geting more people from the class to spend an evening like that. It sure is good to meet good friends and great people.
Signing Off on happy notes :)
I deposited the first installment of the fee at MDI and withdrew my asmission at IMI.
I also went to T.G.'s place for the first time. Saw the place from where he rulez the Quake 3 Arenas. Went to U.G.'s place too. No, we did'nt play cricket this team. Dunno why but everytime I am at U.G.'s place, we end up playing cricket and more often than not, I am on the loosing side ;) Talking of places I visited there, I also went to P.P.'s room @ MDI. Its like his home there. Met few pepole there. Found them interesting. And talking to them revealed that MDI would be a fun place. Another noticable thing there was "My Cousin Vinny". The movie My Cousin Vinny which I wanted so badly. I would get it as soon as I land up @ MDI. They had everything on LAN a guy like me could dream of. Looks like I would be busy with buying and burning disks all the time.
Talking of going to MDI, I am supposed to get a DCam and a Laptop. Had a chat with kAgE and he suggested that I go for The Ferrari Acer Laptop or the Toshiba thinkpad. About the cam, I talked to A.P. and he is a great lawyer for the older regular cams. He told me about quite a few things that would make any person stop thinking about the "D"cam and go for the regular film cameras. I would have gone for the regular film cam but the thing is that I won't have time and money to get all the pics developed :(
Decisions Decisions and Decisions.
Ahh, I am supposed to talk about the meeting I had with the friends from Maharaja Agrasen College.
Ever since U.G and P.M. have landed in Delhi from their respective MBA colleges, we have been trying to co-ordinate a meeting. Finally after trying for a million times, we were able to decide on meeting yesterday. The time was fixed @ 6:30 PM and the palc... the regular Nirula's Restaurant @ NOIDA.
I went to MDI first and while returning, I got lost and somehow went to Tuglaqabad area of Delhi. It was all beautiful but the roads were full of HUGE potholes. But stil the roads were lined up with walls from some old fort. It brought me back to my thoughts and my keen interest in history and historical monuments.
To cut the story short, I reached T.G.'s place at around 6 and we left for U.G.'s place and reached there at 6.30 something. Meanwhile P.M. and N.L. called up and confirmed that they would be coming too. Pretty cool, so many good pals from past meeting up. So we reached at the Nirulas and to our surprise, a plesant one ;), found D.G. along with P.M. Wow, now we were six people all doing somethign or the other.
We talked, talked and talked. I was the person who was sacrificed when it came to footing the bills. They all said that I got thru MDI and I should be paying up and blah blah blah, so I paid up. Meanwhile N.L. had to leave. He had "chaar daanav"s visting his place and he said he would be crucified agar he is late for home. Me was happy when he haid he would leave.. one less person to treat ;) and with the kind of eating records he has, I could save me a fortune. Anyways he had to leave and we moved to CentreStage Mall. The home of Waves Multiplex in NOIDA. So we were five people, free from all the worries of this world and roaming around uselessly and we had absolutely nothing to do. Pretty relaxed.
So we ate at Taste of India. Good food, great ambiance and friends...
So as we were talkin, we were talking about cars, bikes, gizmoes when D.G. told us that her dad has all the "Boys Toys" you could ask for. We also talked about Bungee Jumping and Roler Coasters and we were told that D.G.'s dad has also done that. MY ROLE MODEL !!!!
P.M. cracked all those regular jokes of hers. U.G. was "profesional" as always, T.G. was "BOND" as always... Everything was almost the same as it used to be during the four years I spent at BIT. Only thing that chnaged was, we all were no longer together and were headed in our own directions.
We also have planned to catch up the movie which would be sponsored by P.M. :D
And we have thought about geting more people from the class to spend an evening like that. It sure is good to meet good friends and great people.
Signing Off on happy notes :)
Saurabh Garg @ Pratham.Org
I happened to goto Prathm with Nitin and Nidhi...
Here is a post which was to me made on www.pagalguy.com/cat about it. This post was written keeping in mind that Nidhi would post it and help get more volunteers.
Here is the unedited version...
About Pratham
===========
They have divided the city into zones and then each zone has been divided into target areas. A target area generally is a colony where there are quite a few children who aren’t able to continue their studies for some reason or the other.
Once a target area has been identified, one coordinator is appointed by Pratham who reports to any one of the two managers for the zone. She (the coordinator) has to then carry out a survey in the entire target area and find about the number of students below the age of 14.
The aim of Pratham is to make the vision of basic elementary education accessible to all a reality.
After the survey is complete, they then mine the data and find out the number of children in the age group 3-5 and number of children in age group 6-14 and dive them into two sub groups. Group I is children with no knowledge of education. They cant read, cant write, cant count and even if they can, they are not hat good at it. Group II is of children who are better placed than Group I children. They would be able to either read or write or do both but not that effectively.
Then after this segregation, they make presentations and road shows in that area and coax parents to send the children to summer camps. Almost every gets ready and send the children for camps. After a child is sent to the camp, the Pratham people keep track of that child for entire 44 days (the duration of the prorgamme).
Their sub task is that after 44 days are over, the child should be able to read and write effectively. They call this a story reader level. Also they take proud in saying that if you pick any child at random from this target area and ask him to read/write/count, he or she would be able to do it.
Another major thing about it is that they make sure apart from basic reading and writing, the children know about environmental science, social science, respect, order etc. They say they are promoting education but they are doing much more than that.
Also I would say we should come out in numbers and volunteer. If you have even a slight thought about giving back to the society, you should join us as this is a well-laid path and you just have to walk on it. You would not be worrying about organizing things, routine problems, and administration. All you got to do is register with Pratham and help them reach their cause.
And just think if the volunteers there who are teaching and spend 4 hours daily there with the children and missing their own studies and house hold chores, why cant we spare just one day and that too when we are free and have nothing to do.
Anyways, today, me, Nitin and Saurabh went to the Pratham Study centre. We could see the following positives in the way they worked...
1. Enthusiasm in the students and especially teachers. Everyone there including the students, teachers, coordinators and managers were more than keen towards fulfilling their goal of helping children learn. There were small instances we could pick. A class is of 24 children and the teacher made sure that she attended to the individual child. She would give a question and tell everyone to write the answer and she would take rounds and see if every child has written it or not and would correct the basic mistakes. Also as soon as the teacher asked any question as a quiz, ALL the children would raise their hands in an orderly manner and would try to answer even if the answer was wrong. There was this guy who was their PT teacher and he RAN for almost half an hour without stopping in between in circles, trying to help them play a game. And it was no ordinary game; children were being taught counting, addition and subtraction with the help of this game.
2. The work they were doing reflected professional attitude and quality. The people working there were hand picked. They had immense interest in children and working very hard. They would repeat the same thing over and over again as many as 24 times (yes I counted it) to explain the thing. This teacher was would be say 17 years old was trying to tech Hindi and this child wasn’t able to pronounce a certain syllable, she repeated the thing 24 times and finally the child could pronounce it. Amazing level of commitment.
3. The education that they give there is complete and wholesome. Basically they teach Hindi/English and Maths but they teach them drawing, art, craft, sciences, social sciences, awareness, physical education and everything. The children in the age group 3-5 were only taught through games in a play way method. There methodology could beat even the biggest of the play way schools. The children were taught excellent etiquettes. Small things like wishing teachers, raising hand before speaking, taking permission before coming in and leaving, they were taught. You don’t expect a child who hasn’t studied to have these kinds of etiquettes and respect for authority. But they taught them. And more importantly children seemed to have learnt that.
4. They made sure that the child grows confident. They would call upon a child and ask him to speak in front of the class and even if the child would hesitate, they would call him again and again and help him talk in the group. And there were things incentives (other children clapping), punishments (didn’t see an example) there. Talking of clapping they were even taught a rhythm in which they were supposed to clap. one two ... one two three. And they were good at it.
5. They were professional about it. They know that they have 44 days and they have divided the entire program in 44 sessions and they make sure that complete the days plan. We were there as observers or auditors, we were to make sure tat they do things well and they didn’t try to act up in front of us. They went about their task in a routine manner completely ignoring us. And since we were auditors, one thing was clear that they have external auditors for better quality measure and control.
6. Once a week they hold an interactive session with the parents. Like a PTM. In this meeting they would show that how a child has grown and would perform skits etc. They would show that on day one the child was not able to read. On day 7, the child is able to at least read 10 alphabets. People know that something is being done and make sure that they send children for the entire duration. This takes care of the rate of absenteeism.
There were many other areas that we could have explored but we were only 3 people. I would request all of the Delhi people to come forward.
Till now, we have Nidhi, Nitin and Saurabh. Apart from this we have managed to get some more people who aren’t on Pagalguy and they are Nalin, Manan and Manish.
What about Sid, Apurv, Sulabh, Prateek, Shweta and Ankur? You guys were there for the meet but there was no response from any of you... Please try to take at least 4 hours off your packed schedule.
Regards,
Nidhi, Nitin, Saurabh.
Here is a post which was to me made on www.pagalguy.com/cat about it. This post was written keeping in mind that Nidhi would post it and help get more volunteers.
Here is the unedited version...
About Pratham
===========
They have divided the city into zones and then each zone has been divided into target areas. A target area generally is a colony where there are quite a few children who aren’t able to continue their studies for some reason or the other.
Once a target area has been identified, one coordinator is appointed by Pratham who reports to any one of the two managers for the zone. She (the coordinator) has to then carry out a survey in the entire target area and find about the number of students below the age of 14.
The aim of Pratham is to make the vision of basic elementary education accessible to all a reality.
After the survey is complete, they then mine the data and find out the number of children in the age group 3-5 and number of children in age group 6-14 and dive them into two sub groups. Group I is children with no knowledge of education. They cant read, cant write, cant count and even if they can, they are not hat good at it. Group II is of children who are better placed than Group I children. They would be able to either read or write or do both but not that effectively.
Then after this segregation, they make presentations and road shows in that area and coax parents to send the children to summer camps. Almost every gets ready and send the children for camps. After a child is sent to the camp, the Pratham people keep track of that child for entire 44 days (the duration of the prorgamme).
Their sub task is that after 44 days are over, the child should be able to read and write effectively. They call this a story reader level. Also they take proud in saying that if you pick any child at random from this target area and ask him to read/write/count, he or she would be able to do it.
Another major thing about it is that they make sure apart from basic reading and writing, the children know about environmental science, social science, respect, order etc. They say they are promoting education but they are doing much more than that.
Also I would say we should come out in numbers and volunteer. If you have even a slight thought about giving back to the society, you should join us as this is a well-laid path and you just have to walk on it. You would not be worrying about organizing things, routine problems, and administration. All you got to do is register with Pratham and help them reach their cause.
And just think if the volunteers there who are teaching and spend 4 hours daily there with the children and missing their own studies and house hold chores, why cant we spare just one day and that too when we are free and have nothing to do.
Anyways, today, me, Nitin and Saurabh went to the Pratham Study centre. We could see the following positives in the way they worked...
1. Enthusiasm in the students and especially teachers. Everyone there including the students, teachers, coordinators and managers were more than keen towards fulfilling their goal of helping children learn. There were small instances we could pick. A class is of 24 children and the teacher made sure that she attended to the individual child. She would give a question and tell everyone to write the answer and she would take rounds and see if every child has written it or not and would correct the basic mistakes. Also as soon as the teacher asked any question as a quiz, ALL the children would raise their hands in an orderly manner and would try to answer even if the answer was wrong. There was this guy who was their PT teacher and he RAN for almost half an hour without stopping in between in circles, trying to help them play a game. And it was no ordinary game; children were being taught counting, addition and subtraction with the help of this game.
2. The work they were doing reflected professional attitude and quality. The people working there were hand picked. They had immense interest in children and working very hard. They would repeat the same thing over and over again as many as 24 times (yes I counted it) to explain the thing. This teacher was would be say 17 years old was trying to tech Hindi and this child wasn’t able to pronounce a certain syllable, she repeated the thing 24 times and finally the child could pronounce it. Amazing level of commitment.
3. The education that they give there is complete and wholesome. Basically they teach Hindi/English and Maths but they teach them drawing, art, craft, sciences, social sciences, awareness, physical education and everything. The children in the age group 3-5 were only taught through games in a play way method. There methodology could beat even the biggest of the play way schools. The children were taught excellent etiquettes. Small things like wishing teachers, raising hand before speaking, taking permission before coming in and leaving, they were taught. You don’t expect a child who hasn’t studied to have these kinds of etiquettes and respect for authority. But they taught them. And more importantly children seemed to have learnt that.
4. They made sure that the child grows confident. They would call upon a child and ask him to speak in front of the class and even if the child would hesitate, they would call him again and again and help him talk in the group. And there were things incentives (other children clapping), punishments (didn’t see an example) there. Talking of clapping they were even taught a rhythm in which they were supposed to clap. one two ... one two three. And they were good at it.
5. They were professional about it. They know that they have 44 days and they have divided the entire program in 44 sessions and they make sure that complete the days plan. We were there as observers or auditors, we were to make sure tat they do things well and they didn’t try to act up in front of us. They went about their task in a routine manner completely ignoring us. And since we were auditors, one thing was clear that they have external auditors for better quality measure and control.
6. Once a week they hold an interactive session with the parents. Like a PTM. In this meeting they would show that how a child has grown and would perform skits etc. They would show that on day one the child was not able to read. On day 7, the child is able to at least read 10 alphabets. People know that something is being done and make sure that they send children for the entire duration. This takes care of the rate of absenteeism.
There were many other areas that we could have explored but we were only 3 people. I would request all of the Delhi people to come forward.
Till now, we have Nidhi, Nitin and Saurabh. Apart from this we have managed to get some more people who aren’t on Pagalguy and they are Nalin, Manan and Manish.
What about Sid, Apurv, Sulabh, Prateek, Shweta and Ankur? You guys were there for the meet but there was no response from any of you... Please try to take at least 4 hours off your packed schedule.
Regards,
Nidhi, Nitin, Saurabh.
MDI here I come
So finally I have managed to clear the MDI waitlist. I was waitlisted at serial number 30 and they cleared only 30 people from the Waitlists. I was the perfect border line case.
Phew
So I would be going to MDI and here are the following people who have helped me get there... (in alphabetical order)
1. My DAD n MY MOM
2. Aaditya Shangloo
3. Gunjan Gupta
4. IMS (The coaching class)
5. Nalin Ladiwala
6. Sonali Garg
P.S.: I am not in favour of writing the names on my blog but I have to do it here because if these people had'nt helped me, I would'nt have reached MDI.
Thanks to all of you. I just hope you read this and send me gifts ;)
I would be posting more details later on. Abhi busy calling people :)
Phew
So I would be going to MDI and here are the following people who have helped me get there... (in alphabetical order)
1. My DAD n MY MOM
2. Aaditya Shangloo
3. Gunjan Gupta
4. IMS (The coaching class)
5. Nalin Ladiwala
6. Sonali Garg
P.S.: I am not in favour of writing the names on my blog but I have to do it here because if these people had'nt helped me, I would'nt have reached MDI.
Thanks to all of you. I just hope you read this and send me gifts ;)
I would be posting more details later on. Abhi busy calling people :)
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