Online shopping:A new horizon to window shopping

Flipkart,Ebay,Myntra.com,Fashion and You, Zoomin, India Plaza and innumerable number of sites are today used a lot of people to order items online. I was unaware of all of this and my dad always told that its not safe to buy anything online and that is what i firmly believed till i saw people ordering stuff online and getting pretty good things at comparatively very less prices. Being a girl i automatically got attracted to a lot of online websites for clothes.

 Everyday morning its a habit for me and a lot of my female colleagues to open these websites and keep looking through all the products on sale, right from kurtis, sandals to clutches and we have the site open so that the moment we feel bored of work and we can do a little window shopping and get refreshed. We end up spending around 2 hrs daily on this, though we don't buy much firstly because we find things we like overpriced and secondly because we are not sure if the kurta we buy will if fit it, whether suit us.


I have ordered a couple of things online and they have turned out to be good. And i trusted these sites because my colleagues had also bought stuff from there, first one was pens with your name engraved on it, (http://www.indiaplaza.com/luxor-aura-metallic-pen-with-free-engraving-stationery-stat1910201103lux01-10.htm) and photo book with your pictures imprinted on them in a nice and colourful manner (http://www.zoomin.com/). I would personally recommend the second site for photo books because not only is the product good but the product is shipped within 2 or max3 days.

One of my friends Rachana, ordered a Jhola bag which looked at its best on the site but when she finally got it after a wait of a long month, it was nothing bigger than a palm and was dull in shade and absolutely nothing close to the one on the site. Today i had a tough time with the Fashion and you site, i tried ordering a kurti for my mom for her birthday. So what happened was, i added the kurti to my cart and tries to check out, it asked me for the billing and shipping address, i gave it for 10 times and it still it would come back to the same page again, and at the end the sale got closed and i could not buy the kurta, and since i really liked it i thought il contact the customer care for help, but ended up finding some very shocking feedback about the site, i would not like to comment much on this but give you link a few links, (http://www.consumercourt.in/other-product-services/41378-fashion-you-website-fraud.html) ,(http://www.weekendramblings.com/2011/04/how-authentic-is-fashion-and-you-as.html) for the benefits of my dear friends who are big online shoppers (Swathi, Rachana, Divya, Ramya).


All in all i think trust these sites when you are sure of the product and don't end up spending more than a limit, because money once gone will not come back, do not let these them lure you.

Be a smart shopper. 

Lets help the "not so lucky ones" Please

I have always loved to teach, be it my classmates or friends or my siblings. But very recently, did i realize the true happiness one gets out of teaching, when i went to a government school called "Sarvodhaya vidyalaya" in in malkajgiri in Hyderabad. My companies runs a program to support many social causes,under which employees go to schools, orphanages to teach little children for a few hours in the weekends.  It is not mandatory and is done by some of them out of their interest. I jumped to take part in the program when i got to know about it. It was one of my best choices in life. I went to the school and was assigned the 5th standard. I was a bit scared initially thinking such noisy children would trouble me so much, but things turned out just the other way. I stepped into the class and they all(about 50) got up and greeted me with their sweet voices telling "gooooddddd mooorninnnggg madammmmmmm" hhehehhe, yes this is what they told me. I got very happy and i was all charged up. They asked me which subject text book i want and which subject i wanted to teach but this was not my way.  I asked each one of them one by one to step forward and introduce themselves to the class and me. I taught them the right way and gestures of giving ones introduction so that they would be able to put it use someday in their lives. That day ended that way and i decided from next time il be prepared and impart them all the required skills. So the next time i taught BODMAS, next time it was application of physics in real life, next was drawing and painting.. and it went on. I have ended up being one of their favorite teachers, and i am really proud of this position.

It gives a lot of pleasure, and I am sure a lot of reading this blog of mine many of you are relating to me. So buck up and reach out to the nearest government school and give happiness and get true love in return. After all they are all like you and me, but just a little less lucky.

Kuch toh log kahenge, logo ka kaam hai kehna phir bhi i don care

Beautiful lines from the song of the movie Amar Prem, how true were these lines. How many of us live our life just like the way we want to, and don't care about what the world thinks and are indifferent to the what the society says. In this blog i want to put across when should one care and also about the don care attitude of people.

It all started bothering me when my friend was scared to go to hangout nearby his house with me, lest his relatives would spot him and cook stories. Please stop this crap and give me a break. Going out to eat something is not wrong, then he told me that not everyone would think how you are thinking, that got me thinking if we really change our world the way the world likes it.

Right from when our day starts till when our day ends there are so many situations when we think "if i do this what will people say" at least for me this happens many a times, my actions are triggered and catalyzed,most of the times  by the comments and thoughts of what people around me would say.

Lets say you am wearing a bright top and someone just tells you, your t shirt color hurts my eye, even if that guy is not from your near and dear, i can bet that you would avoid wearing that top and even if you do, you will always be cautious. Some people might argue telling that i don give a damn of what some X thinks of my clothes, i like it il wear it, but do we really stop caring?

For another instance, you are meeting your friend, going for movie, lunch and shopping, how many of us confidently tell at home that "Mom i am going with him to see the movie and will finish my birthday shopping also, (if you are a she), he would pick and drop me, so you don worry", how many of our mothers will say a happy yes to it? Not many, we all agree we are in the 21 st century but still we all care what the society will say, what your neighbor would presume if you are on a bike with a guy who is genuinely just a friend?

And i would like to quote one final example of food. Imagine two situations, one you are eating in a hotel or a buffet with your family and another is a official lunch, how different will your conduct be in the both the situations. Right from how you sit , how you eat to even what you eat is sometimes decided by the people around.

Sometimes i wonder that people like me, who are still not out of their shell face dilemmas in the above situations but no matter how much one roams with the I don care board on his face, people care of what others say.

Personally i feel till the time one is doing right one should not be scared, one should really not care. Going out with a friend is perfectly fine till the time both of you know of each other's intentions, wearing any kind of clothes is cool and in vogue till you are comfortable and you know how to carry it, eating anything is fine even at official lunches because if you don eat well, you will sit hungry :). The thing is no matter how cautious and conscious we are about we do, log toh baat banaenge kyunki logo ka kaam hai kehna ;)

Not really revolutionary was Revolution 2020

"Love.Corruption.Ambition" are the words under the title of chetan Bhagat's most recent book "Revolution 2020". These 3 words were properly justified by him in his book but the title was not apt or may be i could not get the purpose of naming the book so.

It was 9th november when one of my favourite authors the man himself Chetan Bhagat was in the city of pearls, my city Hyderabad. I was thoroughly impressed by his first book "five point someone" and also read the rest of them. So i made it a point to go to Landmark book store after office to see him. After reading his book i just had one question for "why did you name your book so", he said both the male characters wanted to create a revolution.

The book is mainly a love triangle as the cover shows. The plot majorly revolves around a young 21st century girl Aarti and her best friend Gopal and her boy friend Raghav. As every novel of chetan, the girl is very pretty and undoubtedly both the guys have a thing for her. While Gopal does not make a career but still opens up a college through a corrupt minister, Raghav gives up a blue collar job after IIT and becomes a journalist to fight a war against corruption . Itna controversy kyun hai. Aarti initially does not have any feelings for Gopal and refutes his proposal many a times, since she liked Raghav, may be because he was then going to IIT but later when Gopal has a college and Raghav is a struggling journalist, Raghav ignores her and she falls for Gopal. Aarti appears to be a mean, snobbish girl who needs money to live her life and not love, but common lets be practical, like every girl she wanted someone who would give her a secured future and also love, to be happy. So when Raghav ignores her amidst his battle against injustice, she falls for someone whom she knows very well. Quite natural. Meanwhile the corrupt principal Gopal, and the fighter against corruption, Raghav develop a rift between them. After a lot of fights Gopal has a self realisation and feels that Aarti deserves someone better than him and not someone as cheap and corrupt as him, so he sacrifices his love to Raghav.

Though Raghav is the clean gentleman of the story, Gopal the bad guy emerges as the true hero of the story like all stories of Chetan Bhagat. All in all its just in lines of all other books of chetan,very predictable but yet holds you till the end. If you are a fan of love stories and bollywood movies you will like the book, but literary value is not much in the book. I personally like his books but yet think he could have given a better name to the novel. Read it on train trip or when you want to add a pinch of romance to life.

Fortune, opportunity and making magic in 3 hrs of exam gets you thru!!!

I am tired, frustrated and irritated with the fact that i secured very less in all the MBA exams i attempted. I would have felt a little better if my mind did not keep telling me that you could have done well, you worked harder than some who scored better. And these are verified facts. I started preparing for CAT from june and my exam was on Nov4th. Almost 5 months and outcome 73.19%

:( :(. And i prepared 20 days for SNAP whose aptitude is a cake walk as compared to CAT. But my bad luck was following me like my shadow, the logic section in SNAP which is supposedly the scoring part was tough and GK which is not my cup of tea at all had gone above my head. Got a score of 73 in snap... Ultimately screwed. Now this is my story.

Lets look at the study routines of my pals who scored whopping percentages ranging from 96 to 99. Let us assume my friends are A,B and C. A is gifted student and is amazing at aptitude, he worked, i would not say hard but yes there was dedication in his preparation. He scored 99.83, mind blowing is it not but still upset since his quant scores are not enough for a call from A or C. But yes rest of IIMs he has an assured call and also a seat, he is impressible. Now coming to student B who got 93%, he did not work hard at all. He suggested that 3 days are enough to crack CAT. But still 93 and 73 as compared to 3 days and 5 months and student C claimed to have given 2 full days of preparation and he got 96%.

PS: All of them attended parties, went clubbing, matches but still did much better than me.

Now the biggest question for me is where i am lacking in my preparation, do i have the potential or i don't have. Should i prepare again or leave it for a lifetime?

I might console myself for a few days by telling that i did my best but i had a bad luck but i know truth is my strategy, planning and preparation.. all backfired.

Why did i fall sick

H"Health is Wealth" sounds very Cliché right? But guys its true and if you fall sick trust me on earth,you will not like anything is this world,be it the Kohinoor diamond or your boyfriend's kiss.The only thing you can ask for is your mother's lap and her warmth.You might not have asked anything from god,but now you will.

why am I lecturing you guys about health and stuff because obviously i fell sick..Last saturday my brother had high fever and i was proudly advicing him about what to do and what not to do.But it was my day the next day sh*t!!!.I had a thoda sa fever in the morning,then I over estimated myself and thought could go for a movie and i went. Ha my mistake,was shivering in the A/C theatre.Came home and i had a temeperature of 104 degrees, my dad pulled me to the doctor,and he gave me an injection...my worst fear.But trust me the temperature dropped,i was more than happy,but that was not it.I could not get up from my bed the next morning,bunked college and sat on the bed for about two hours in the same place,in the same position. This problem is till persisting though my temperature has gone down..I just hope im alright by tommorow.

So all you people "please stay healthy" cause nothing is gonna wait in this life and you might be left behind in this race of life..take care

Paradise Lost and Paradise Gained

It was peak summers of 2009 in Hyderabad, 480 Celsius was a normal temperature one would expect then. People were getting baked inside their homes without an AC, which is still a luxurious need in India and people who were out were getting roasted, so no matter where one was, it was getting very difficult to stay in Hyderabad. So my family and I thought of running away to a distant land, where it was snowing, and the options were within the country and hence were limited. We were considering hill stations in north east and yes Kashmir was not even an option. So after a lot of research we finally settled on Gangtok.

Apart from the fact that it was cold there, another reason was it was close to Kolkata, my hometown so we planned a visit there on our return. Since tickets were booked in the last moment we did not get AC sleeper class and were going to travel by normal sleeper class. And trust me, train journeys are to die for with so much of hustle and bustle around. The journey was a little long though, two complete days to be exact. It was going to pass by at least that is what we felt; we are born optimistic aren’t we? We boarded the train and from then onwards our bad luck had started, we were being welcomed to Hell. There was unimaginable crowd, and everyone wanted to get up first as though we the seats were unreserved, but may be they were. We found our seats and found that they were already occupied by an Assamese family. We politely showed them our tickets and they apologized and got up, and then requested, “can our children sit here, we would sit near the toilets, but let them sit here, we will take them once the TT comes and confirms our tickets”, we looked at the cute faces of the kids and consented to their request. This was our first mistake.

By the time the train started we were all sweating like hell, and the toilet smell was already haunting us, and the whole passage near the toilet was filled with students from north east, but at least by then the train had started. It’s a part of us to share snack items with our co passengers, and that’s what we did. We shared chocolates, soft drinks, and chat items with the assamese family, but unfortunately the children were not too accustomed to such food stuff and passed out on the seats itself, yes our back luck had crossed all leaps and bounds. Her mother was quick enough to clean everything and apologized to us, this quality of people is to die for. My family did not mind much because it was me who got soaked in the hot liquid. Anyways a day in the train had passed and nights haunted us the most. It was hot, the sleeper beds were sticky and not too comfortable and thanks to our railway minister then, Laloo Ji who had introduced the middle berth above the side berth. But the idea had soon flopped so the bed was there but was unused at least that is what we thought until people started demanding us to open them. We resisted, fought but they won.

The morning made me feel nostalgic seeing the tea waalas carrying mud cups, hawkers selling puri sabji, these little things sets train journeys and India apart from the rest of its kinds. The next day had a similar story and I had concluded that such a beginning to a trip was a very bad omen. We had reached Siliguri the next morning, we had a lodge booked there, and the cold winds were prevalent, which made me feel a little good. But the feeling that we are going to high altitudes soon and our car journeys are going to be across the roads with sudden twists and turns were giving me tremors. I forgot to tell you about my motion sickness and the weird thing that happens to me is I feel giddy, and my stomach churning inside but unable to vomit. But I had to go, so we set on our journey from Siliguri to Darjeeling. The beautiful sight around with greenery and only greenery gave true pleasure to our eyes. It was chill and we were mesmerized by the beauty around; Flowers whose colors could be new additions to an artist’s color palette. I was truly amazed and my weird feeling had disappeared but I was hungry.

Our driver stopped near a dhaba after a 2 hours of drive. We were greeted by people inside and we expected good food too. We wanted to try the delicacies there, MOMO was one of them. Momo’s are steamed food. I was very excited to see the way they looked, a white flower which has a lot of babies inside but was shy to open up. I put one whole momo inside my mouth out of anticipation, but my bad luck was still sitting on my head, it was not really delicious. I was carrying my Sony headphones so that I could listen to music and be lost in another world and not really feel dizzy while going up and down. But to my worst bad luck ever, I forgot the head phones at the MOMO station. Well but the only good thing which kept me going was that the distance to Gangtok was reducing. So we reached Darjeeling which was like a place we got in bonus while going to Gangtok, and thanks to the massive protests in Darjeeling conducted by Gorkhas who were demanding for a separate state GorkhaLand, somewhat like our very own Telengana protests. So the gorkhas were burning down houses and the tourists spots were no longer maintained, and the entry to many places was free of cost. But the only interest of ours was to see the sun rise at Tiger hills, and thinking about that heavenly moment gave me Goosebumps. We went to Tiger hills at morning 4 and it was chilling more than my deep freezer, and even a small uncovered finger was giving us shivers, we had 7 cups of tea each to beat the cold, each priced or indeed over priced at 10 per cup. But all in vain, since it was very foggy and the sun had risen after playing hide and seeks with us.

After all this happenings I really lost hopes about gangtok. We packed our bags and headed to our final destination Gangtok. The first lovable sight which enriched our minds and followed us till we reached , was the long, beautiful and never ending Changu lake, the sight of it took our breath away, we kept looking at it for atleast half our journey and wondered if this lake really would end. And then it was time for the second surprise, snowfall, yes when it was raining fire balls in other parts of India, and it was snowing in Gangtok, I had seen, touched and felt snow for the first time in my life and it was trance like. We were finally at a place, about 1700 ft. about ground from where we could see Kanchenjunga, and a lot of other snow covered peaks which we had till now seen only in pictures or movies. The view was a true pleasure to one’s eyes. We also saw a lot of Yaks but I did not dare to climb on them, given my phobia from big animals. One ride to and fro to the Devi temple at a higher peak on the yak would cost you `700.It was bargain able though since many were not risking their lives by sitting on that white fur covered animals and also the snow fall. The Lake around was covered with ice, such an amazing sight. Our final place to visit in the night was the Mg. Road, a very famous road in gangtok for its shopping spots, but more than shopping I felt I was in some foreign country, there were flowers in between the roads, the stonework on the road was mind blowing.

I somehow was feeling that it was after all not such a bad idea to visit the north east, the journey was not that simple but it definitely was worth it. In words of Sir John Milton “Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained” was what had happened. After all we had seen snow, we had made snowmen, we had seen one of the most beautiful lakes in our country, had visited tea gardens, and most importantly had dodged the heat of Hyderabad. Though all in all the trip was amazing I felt bad for my head phones and also for a very beautiful city Darjeeling which was being ruined by foolish minds, who were actually spoiling a major tourist spot after all toy train had started there the first.

We humans complain, crib about bad things happening to us, but our ability to forget all of it upon coming across nice things really sets us apart as a race.