MyAirtel

Whenever one thinks of the finest mobile network service provider in India, a red and white combination picturesque comes to one mind – the AirTel. The features, be it low call drop; fast internet; innovation in different field; customer care facility or anything one can fathom, Airtel tops the chart by far. It is due to these excellent features that consumers have given positive replies in terms of maximum subscription and making it the most used networks in india. Venturing into other related areas like DTH and broadband serices, it has only made life easier for consumers by providing services to the highest qualities.

I can boast about my relationship with Airtel from year 2006 when I got the opportunity of possessing a mobile phone of my own. Airtel was the the first mobile network I chose owing to its network even in distant places. I remember a friend saying – “Airtel hai boss, India me jaha road bhi nahi waha Airtel mil jaega.” I found no flaw in his statement as it served my purposes quite well. When other networks were struggling in providing internet on mobile phone, I was able to use GPRS on my Nokia 6030 back in 2006 without a hassle.

Now that Airtel has variety of portfolio, I on switching to a smartphone downloaded its app and without a surprise, the app is simply fantastic. It is embedded with so many facilities reminds me of an automatic hi-tech gizmo where you can operate everything from one location. I luckily have Airtel mobile network as well as DTH provided by Airtel. The app has made my life so easy that I have stopped visiting shops to recharge or pay my bill. The app itself is laden with variety of features that provides knowledge with regards to latest features, offers and what not.

Among different features, my favorites these days is the new “shake” feature which makes aware of recharge offers, coupon if any while paying, and any recharge benefits which Airtel is always ready to shower on its customers. I can literally listen to the sound of saving by shaking the phone, on every recharge that I make these days.

Another feature that I appreciate is the Auto login feature which has the advantage of making a safe login in my mobile phone with reduced and almost negligible chances of phishing. This feature also enables me to have a full view of my account where I can access everything in one shot which in turn makes me aware of best recharge and payment options. This is a clear example of customer delight provided by any service industry.

MyAirtel app is as flawless and quick as its network and internet speed. This quickness feature of the app is the most preferred of all the features in my view. Whenever I feel like facing problems with recharges, this app never disappoints me by slowing down or getting stuck in payment section. The secure and quick service deserves a salute.

My overall experience with this app is amazing. First Airtel mesmerized me and now the app is following its master.

Abolition of Net Neutrality – A cold-blooded murder of Freedom

The news about net neutrality has been hovering around at every touch points I have been in contact with – Media (print, TV, social etc.) or peer discussions and where not. Despite being an addict of internet, I hardly ever bothered about the methodology by which these contents on the internet were getting fed to me. I spend most of my leisure hours on internet browsing Wikipedia, YouTube, TVF, social sites and other sites on requirement. Suddenly one of my friends brings frightening news that I may not be able to browse many of my favorite sites. Intrigued, I tried to figure out the culprit behind this menace and it turned out to be something relating ‘ban on Net-Neutrality’.

Let me first put forward the idea of Net-neutrality. Consider it this way – you go to an ice-cream parlor and order your favorite kesar-pista. The guy on the counter delays your order but serves promptly to people who order Chocó-chips, vanilla or strawberry flavor. When inquired it gets registered in your cognition that since those flavors had higher margins, you would be served last. In another example if your telecom operator allows you to selectively make calls to people based on certain revenue generation criteria, wont you feel cheated?

The same case applies on abolition of net-neutrality. By definition it means – those internet service providers must provide us with open networks and should not block or discriminate against any application or content that ride over those networks. As of now, in a free internet era, we as a user have been offered the freedom of choosing any site we want to surf without discrimination. This makes us surf Flipkart or Amazon or Yepme with the same internet speed. The service providers like Airtel or Idea make these available with the same ease and comfort. Imagine a situation when Flikart pays Airtel a certain sum of money to enhance its speed and slow down Amazon’s and Yepme’s. What if you are an Airtel’s subscriber and your friends yells at you to buy the limited edition Indian cricket jersey (1992 CWC) quickly from Amazon as sale ends in five minutes, but you can’t buy because Airtel has purposely slowed down Amazon’s site.

The move against net –neutrality will not only discriminate between giant sites, but, it will also be a serious bane for start-up ventures competing in this intense competitive market. Their effort will be nipped in the bud. E.g. entertainment sites like TVF or AIB which has gained popularity only due to net-neutrality will hardly be able to survive since they may not be able to pay the amount as compared to other giants.

In this era of freedom encompassing every field, especially in the sector of internet which has become the prime source of propagating freedom of speech, will definitely get hampered. Such move will not only curtail the upcoming ventures but the very basic right to freedom of speech.

It must, therefore, become our incessant effort to come out in big numbers and keep demanding something which is rightfully ours. Let not the power of this powerful tool be concentrated in a few hands. Only a voice in chorus will sail our daunting concerns through and open the veiled eyes of authorities who has lately been suffering from biased-myopia. 

Being Bold

Life is a second name to struggle and we all agree to this fact. Had the path been rosy, we wouldn't have to battle it out every day to make life better than yesterday. We all play our part designated to us so that final goal we have long planned for is achieved eventually. In the long run, we either arrive at the targeted destination or drift away in middle after getting distracted on prioritizing different things which might not have mattered when the dream was initially woven in mind. All we need to do is keep moving with constant change, suiting the scenario and adapting thusly.

I have found myself in dilemma about many decisions. Whenever I am at crossroads, I always have this fear of getting lost. Every time I chose one path, I always kept thinking about stuff I would miss on the other path. But again, I have no major complaints about how I have treaded my journey till date. If at all, given a chance to travel back in my past and alter some actions, I wouldn't have many on my list.

I must share a story of my life where I was doldrums and I couldn't figure out about my future. Pursuing my engineering degree in Mechanical from one of the most reputed colleges of India, I was in third year first semester. I had my friends planning their career with enthusiasm and painting a picture of their life ten years from then. Recession had just hit which had made the environment even gloomier. I was more of reckless guy who always liked to flow with the wind. That night of December 10 is completely unforgettable for me. The thoughtful conversations made me quit the room and forced me to go on the terrace. I simply sat down and tried to find any gloomy star just like me. Damn! They were all shining even brighter in that clear sky. I was among the brighter lot, not the brightest, though. After a good 1 hour meditated thoughts, I decided, I was going for GRE in material science.

I was so shaken concerning my future that I started preparing from the next day. Days passed by and I started inching towards the D-day of GRE. I was confident enough to crack it and crack it good. The result was no different. A score of 1540 out of 1600 wasn't easy but there it was. I was elated. Riding on cloud nine would have been an understatement. I was now about to enter final semester.

With an excellent GRE score I was sure to bag a premium college in the US. It was then that the seed of management and entrepreneurship was sown in the elective subject that I had chosen. What I had elected as a time-pass subject became the most important and interesting subject of my life. By the time I finished my engineering, I had decided to sit for CAT, despite having a score many would kill for.

Life had always been a matter of dictated terms for me till my engineering days. This time I wanted to do something different, something that interested me. By the end, I had understood that engineering in long run was not my cup of coffee. Quitting an MS degree for an uncertain MBA from India was a bold step in itself. But, I took it wholeheartedly. Two years of preparedness and yet not getting a seat in top management school always tempted me to get back on the GRE score and pursue MS. But, as they say – First step was already taken. There was no turning back.

I encountered this statement from Housing that taking a bold step to move ahead in life itself is the foundation stone for success. I kept this mantra in my mind to incessantly move forward. Finally the sweat paid its price and I ended up in one of the most prestigious colleges in management in India which is said to have produced the maximum number of CEOs in India.

Let me reiterate that there is always fun in taking the path that has the fragrance of the flower you admire and not the prince of that kingdom does. It takes time to reach there but the combination of perspiration and luck takes you there eventually. # StartANewLife #BeBold

B +ve just not a Blood Group..

Amidst the ocean of hate and antipathy spread across the globe, the only place where you find solace is among loved ones. The fault is in us who look for reasons for melancholy and to the worse we quest after it. We have forgotten to live merrily and engage into moments of mirthful activity. I mean look at our news papers and media, all spreading fear and useless concerns. The sense of optimism is almost invisible in our environment. Where has the world come to? Is life actually full of misery?

I have a different point of view about it. I am that kind of a person who invents optimism out of the slightest chance possible. I do not lose my hope till the last door is closed which has made me a hot topic of criticism on multiple occasion. But again, I am what I am. Finding optimism and positivity, in my opinion, is an art that transforms a noise into music. All you need is to shoo away negative thoughts and sow the seeds of positivity. To some what may seem a dungeon, one might consider it an adventurous place. When you no choice left, the best practice to avoid boredom and monotonous life is thinking right and positive.

This reminds me of my dog named Rangdaar. This name is a colloquial for a goon in hinterland of Bihar. Rangdaar justified his name with a bold and heavy barking, and his heavy and daunting look. I remember people running for life just by its mild woof. I always felt safe while it was around and tagged it along wherever I went. On one particular summer I was visiting a neighboring village with Rangdaar where it was not welcomed pleasantly by local dogs. Rangdaar was attacked suddenly and it being outnumbered by almost half a dozen to one, struggled extremely hard to survive the battle. By the time humans intervened, a lot of blood was already spilled. While other dogs were in tatters, Rangdaar also didn't look in good shape. On close observation, I found that its head was heavily attacked and brain was quite exposed. The scene wasn't pleasant. I had tears I my eyes and so was Rangdaar.

People there passed a verdict which I rubbished out straight away. They said that chances of Rangdaar to survive were negligible. I had this belief in myself and Rangdaar that it would survive this almost fatal attack. I carried it back home as much as I could and demanded my father for the best treatment possible. Doctors were worried as well but I had that splinter of positivity burning. With lots of sleepless nights and extreme caring, finally Rangdaar was a goon again.

This incident has always given me strength to stay optimistic and fight any situation possible. It is when the whole tunnel is dark; the only path that leads you to that most coveted silver lining across the tunnel is optimism. Whenever positivity in life is mentioned, it reminds me of Housing as this follows the same principle when it comes to professionalism.

As the most intelligent species on the planet, we must strive to find positivity in the slightest thing possible. In our fast moving life, we tend to ignore the smile of a kid, the rustling of a falling leaf, the melody of water currents and numerous other paltry stuff which if otherwise enjoyed can bring tons of optimism, happiness and positivity.

Let you yourself define and dominate the situation rather than it being defining or dominating you. B positive is just not a blood group. Remember this. J

From House to Home!

Born and raised in a rural heartland of Bihar in a joint family, I learnt the ‘sarvajan hitay sarv jan sukhay” mantra i.e. holistic happiness. Circumstances forced me to leave my cozy confines at home to double decker bed in a boarding school at a tender age of 10. I have since then become a guest in my own family. Who else will understand the importance of a family and a sense of togetherness? Every vacation when I visited home was like a festival in itself. The getting-together of family members, eating as a large group with incessant crackling of jokes and savoring the past reminiscence shared by every other person used to be the most cherished moment in my mind. And to be honest, I haven’t forgotten any of those vacations. It is those moments that shower strength when I am lying low and the wind is blowing south.

My point directs towards the theory of spending the most of your living time with the one’s you love and care. There may arrive a situation when you are in a quandary of choosing between family and career and mind you, both are important. It is then that you have to devise a plan that in the want of career, family is not long forgotten.  Life has no meaning if you have spent it in solitude, no matter how much wealth you have amassed. Like the famous quote “Live your life in such a way that when you die the world cries while you rejoice”, it revolves around the fundamental fact of being among loved ones.

A recent survey conducted by a very reputed channel revealed that more than half of Indian youngsters don’t want to live with their parents anymore after marriage (males and female included). This might be an individual’s decision to live their way but aren't we drifting away from our ancient values of being together. Aren't we violating the old adage that there should be a simultaneous sound of an infant’s squalling and hymn-chanting by elders at home? This may sound old-fashioned but it directs towards completeness. And to those who are living in the rocket-paced life with hardly a moment to breathe – in the moment of crises, it is the family who backs you and the firm which fires you. So the choice is yours.

One of my friends working for Housing  expressed the motto of his company that revolves around the idea of togetherness and completeness in a house. To be honest, it moved me questioning myself. It shook my brain reminding of my past  as how i have been spending my precious life (purposely or by force) without my family. Now that I am at the verge of completing my MBA and starting a fresh career, I have certainly made up my mind that no reason whatsoever is going to keep me away from my family. I want the same togetherness, long laughs and liveliness within those four walls.

You may be an excellent guitarist, but a symphony requires the whole band, doesn't it? Come closer to your family and loved ones, for their faces will matter more than the face of Gandhi shining on those shining Rs. 1000 notes.

Pathetic Aam Aadmi Party (PAAP)

Delhi, the Indian capital and the epitome of political turbulence. The residence of all our national parliamentarians and the foreign embassies. I cannot even fathom about the number of important decisions taken and documents of national importance signed every day here. Right now, it does not concern me but what draws my attention is the other face of Delhi in which it is a state in itself and is currently run by less than two year young party – the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). Who in his wildest dream would have thought the way it came in power in December, 2014 lasting for 49 days, clinching the house again this year by a whooping majority (67/70)? But it did. Kudos! But, the 2 year old baby is howling in pain with internal bleeding. Is this episode sad or inevitable?  

My brother Shashikant was an apolitical man before last year. Plenty of attempts of infusing the political spark by me did not bear any fruit unless one day he accidentally heard a name called Arwind Kejriwal somewhere in January after he gave up the chief-minister ship in Delhi. Shashi is an inquisitive guy for sure but he limits his curiosity to his area of interest. Suddenly he googled the man and printed his professional kundali in his mind; went on to watch his agitation, speeches, and interviews. After a thorough study, he then called me on a day and the way I received the fusillade of questions about the man, I could sense that he was smitten by this man called Arwind Kejriwal and his AAP gang.

Shashi is just a common face of the crowd who is part of the mass, heavily impressed by the euphoria created by this team. The promises of bringing Lokpal (majority of supports have no clue about it but yet follow the call), ending the corrupt political system and bringing transparency therein, converting the VIP culture to being part of the mainstream society, exposing big corporate, and most importantly giving plentiful of water(20000lts/month) and electricity (half the price) gave the already haunted and distraught people of Delhi, a ray of hope and sense of positivity. People, especially in the lower middle class and lower class group felt an incarnation was born to do away with all their problems. Shiela Dixit would have had bucketful of haters by then otherwise who fastens his fate to 3 month old party?

The journey wasn't too smooth as it suffered heavy loss in his highly ambitious endeavor of contesting nationwide election. It fielded more than 400 candidates and won only 4 seats. Not bad for a start up party, though. Now was the time to play hard game as Delhi election could be around any time. It restructured the party, sidelined some old faces, made way for new energetic ones, consolidated the constituencies with door to door campaigns, learn from past mistakes, attacked carefully on oppositions and voila! It captured a historic 67 seats out of 70 seats in total.

I had very keenly followed the Delhi elections. The way AK was holding rallies and delivering promises, some very radical ones like opening 1500 schools, a pan-Delhi free wifi and other wishful lists that after coming from such rallies his clear conscience itself would contradict his statements. But people believed him and followed him day in and day out. I could go on war on social media with my friends and Shashi as well against his announcements. They put forward his IRS and IIT KGP credentials making me speechless about my little knowledge of capital spendings and large project deliverables. 

Slowly the cat started coming out of the box. Wifi became wifi­*, with terms and conditions making it almost non usable. It still will go on to provide the said facility resembling a censored porn movie. The recent news threw some light that for the water and electricity, the NMDC demanded 32 cr. every month from the govt. Where is government going to pay this, definitely not from own pocket. Water and electricity tax is the highest source of tax generation from a civic body after the property tax. The sheer thought of communism is not enough to run the government. This is one of the many loopholes in the party’s ways of functioning.

I have never been an admirer of AAP due to varied reasons, its left approach of ideology being one of them. Though it chanted the mantra clean politics and frequently hollered a sense of democracy in the party, I always had my skepticism in mind. The recent sequence of sting operations relating to horse trading, assimilating Muslim voters, and finally the use of abusive language for none other than one of the pillars of AAP, has nothing but bolstered my understanding of politics and shattered the hopes of many budding as well as old politics lovers who romanticized about the insurgence of AAP.

The episode of retaining the national convener post despite oppositions; ending any sort of dialogue other than exchange of letter and finally terminating the likes of Yogendra Yadav, Prashant Bhushan, and Anand Kumar from the post of national executive is extremely despotic. Your threatening to resign like Julius Caesar refused to accept throne despite seeking the opposite, and abusing your own vital members exposes your vulnerability even more gravely. AAP is just an infant and needs to be nurtured and not ruptured part by part. A body cannot function without all its parts playing its delegated role. It is like cricket. You have got to consolidate in initial overs, only then can you you score 272 or more. The sooner you understand the better.

Let me stop by saying that your uprising was like a dream come true for many and like a next to ideal solution for their everlasting agony. Mend your ways for many of those budding believers, or their happiness and felicitous dream will be nipped in the bud. 

True BLUE Fan!

I am disheartened today. No points for guessing why, but you are right. India has crashed out of the hitherto eventful journey of Cricket World Cup, 2015. The effort and enthusiasm displayed by players as a team proved that there exists great power in oneness. Truth be told, this team was not considered among the favorites before the event commenced on the Valentine ’s Day this year. But, the way this journey set out on an invincible voyage before today is definitely commendable.

The team has been on the Australian island for past four months and played the Border-Gavaskar test series with Australia and then a triangular series including England. The results were pathetic, losing out the four match test series by 2-0 and not being able to make into the finals of the ODI series. The team kept calm, gazing at the larger picture.

In the world cup, having been placed in a group that included giants like South Africa, Pakistan and not so favorite West Indies, India was looking forward for quarter finals by defeating the remaining minnows. But, surprisingly the team went on winning every group stage match and to warn you – not by fluke. It demolished the opposition through and through. What was considered as the weak link became the talk of the show. The bowling attack. We not only defeated Pakistan, and RSA, but demolished them. Proud of you Dhoni and Co.

The knockouts started with Bangladesh as opponent in Quarters. An easy victory served on a platter and we relished it. But, today was different. After winning seven games on a trot in this world cup and facing Australia in their den was gonna be difficult. It was a pressure game and unfortunately we succumbed. Who to be blamed? Don’t know.

I have been following different twitter handles, (expert) comments on Facebook and other online platforms, and not to forget sarcastic comments offline in friend groups. Everyone has their ideal team that could have defeated the mighty Australians and gotten us the World Cup. Thankfully, they don’t select the team, otherwise reaching into quarters would have been a Mars mission in itself. Kick Rohit, Mohit, Sir Jadeja; get Yuvraj, Gambhir, Sehwag; blah, blah, blah. Some of them lambasted Dhoni for not repeating a 2011 by stepping up in the batting order, Kohli getting out because Anushka was watching the game. Holy crap!  I would be lying if I said that these same people never cried foul about Yuvi, Sehwag or Gambhir on other occasions and praised the same Kohli for standing tall in recently held test series. Man! Chill. Cricket is just a game. Players are humans as well and God created us to err.

News channels are making such a fuss about the loss that I feel sorry for their lack of journalistic skills and ethics. Arnab, let me say it online and sue me if you want – Tu Chutiya hai. The boys in blue are already in distress, fans’ hearts are already into multiple fragments and you go on to make such sadistic comments. Who has given you this authority? A patient in a fever needs medicine and not a damn speech on how not to catch a fever, you psychopath.

Let me close by saying that stop making fuss about the defeat. We are all aware that no one other than the soldiers knows more about the war and the casualty. We civilians only fight in deciding what to like, subscribe, comment and share. #bleedblue #WillBringItBack