Wednesday, May 20, 2015

My First Expert-Motivator


" Congratulations Sujata, you are the winner of Jeffrey Archer contest. You will be meeting Sir Jeffrey Archer in person at Trident, Mumbai and you will receive an autographed copy of 'Only Time Will Tell' as a prize from EBay." 

This is just a tip of an iceberg and a chip off the old block - mother's version about my winnings. Since time immortal my mother kept on reciting to me stories of Mahabharata, Ramayana as well as Dadayana. Dadayana means my father-Dada's glorious achievements as a student / social activist / inspector / publisher / editor / founder and philanthropist. My mother, my first Expert in motivation, inspired me to be a Winner

"Like Father, Like Daughter" , mother used to remind me whenever I was depressed from a setback. She used to bring me back on the right track, if and when I suffered a failure. Her reasoning to move on and forget the fall is : this is a trifle, you must aim higher as per your standard. 

I was in 5th standard and already addicted to tea. All uncles and aunts in our huge joint family kept on guzzling cups of tea throughout the day. I loved to have my share of caffeine with all of them. My mother tried to get me off tea but in vain. 

One day, I returned home with an exciting news from school. Our teacher Ms. Joshi had given us a glimpse of a glossy, superbly illustrated, fluorescent-covered, 'The Kingdom of Fantasy' story book and promised it as a prize to the First-ranker. I was totally charmed by that magnificent story-book. I wanted to read and share it with my sisters and friends. 


At the night, when I snuggled up to mother and wished to have that treasure of a book. My mother said, "Sure, you will have it cause you want it with all your heart". You are a very intelligent girl so to achieve the 1st rank is easy. You have to eat lots of fruits, fish and drink milk instead of tea. Your body and brain both will be strong and super-active with protein-rich diet. Just imagine, within a month you will be reading 'The Kingdom of Fantasy' and admiring the marvelous pictures from that prize-book." 

Wishing for a story book is fine, OK, but replacing that nectar of a caffeine-rich, sweet, cardamom-flavored Tea with insipid, white milk was a whole new ballgame. Next morning, my mother made me drink milk by adding BournVita. I gulped that awful drink with tightly shut eyes and pinched nose. 

Since then, I ate apples, drank Bournvita-milk, studied a lot and played little less for winning my 'Kingdom of Fantasy'. My uncles and aunt chipped in by teaching me maths, which was the hardest hurdle in getting the 1st rank. I hated maths so I did not like to study it and got less marks resulting I hated it even more. This vicious circle separated me from the 1st rank. 

Guess what ?. Did I get the 1st rank ?. I am extremely sorry to disappoint you, my dear readers. I did not get the 1st rank. The good news is, I still received 'The Kingdom of Fantasy'. How ?. My mother's promise is sacred it could not be broken, so my father fulfilled it on her behalf. My father had observed me eating healthy, studying hard and struggling with Maths. Father gifted me 'The Kingdom of Fantasy' with a promise from me to gain the 1st Rank in 6th standard. My mother's, my motivator's prophecy did come true, 'When you really desire something with all your heart, the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it'


This post is a part of a contest with Godrej Expert  and IndiBlogger
                                   
                                     http://godrejexpert.com/single_used_pack.php 



Monday, May 18, 2015

PingPayKaro with Axis

We the select few Mumbai bloggers received an exclusive invite from BlogAdda for a wonderful , interactive event at Axis Bank ( Corporate office ,Worli ). Ms. Parminder - Head Media Relations : Axis Bank, greeted us warmly at the artistically decorated Cafeteria.



We the group of bloggers were playing the guessing game about , what would be the activity at this Axis Digital event? After a breezy breakfast, we were joined by Axis Corporate communications Managers in a conference hall. They revealed the brand new, amazingly useful and easy 'Ping Pay' app. Our Saturday turned out to be quite exciting with the introduction to 'Ping Pay' app.



So you all must be wondering what's this 'Ping Pay' app is all about ?
'Ping Pay' is India's 1st Multi Social Payment app from Axis Bank , through which we can send or ask for money and mobile recharge across Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp, SMS or email. Eventually, the hashtag of this Digital Axis meet was #PingPayKaro.


The fun, interactive part of 'Ping Pay' app is, every time you send or ask for money or recharge, you can add humorous, funny, tongue-in-cheek customized messages, photos, videos, audios. Is not 'Ping Pay' an adorably funky human interaction instead of dry, mechanical banking transactions of Debit and Credit?


This Ping Pay app of Axis Bank, made us all eager to know more about it, as we sat glued to our smartphones and desktop-screens. The question is. 'Who all can use Ping Pay ? The Axis-Managers answered : Ping Pay is for everyone. It can be downloaded and used by both Axis Bank and non-Axis bank customers. The Send money / Recharge service is available only for Axis-Bank customers. The non-Axis bank customers can Receive money / Recharge using Ping Pay. The receivers bank account must be IMPS enabled to receive money / recharge.


We can register our bank details in a few simple steps on Ping Pay ( for sending or receiving money ),link our accounts only once and the same can be set as default for all subsequent transactions. We can also add multiple accounts and choose the account we want send / receive money from. And most important feature of Ping Pay is : It's FREE.  We can transfer the funds-amount ranging from Rs.1 up to Rs. 50,000 per day ( with Ping Pay ). Now skeptics like me must be wondering, what about the security ? Well the Axis bank has taken utmost care about the security of our banking transactions.


Axis Bank's Ping Pay is 100% secure. How ? Well, our bank account information remains absolutely safe. Ping Pay does not post our account related info. on any of the social media related platforms connected with the Ping Pay app. A unique MPIN is required every time we want to log into the Ping Pay app. Multiple login to the Ping Pay from diff. mobile handsets is not allowed. WE will receive an auto-generated sender code, while sending money , which we must share with the receiver. Our Ping Pay transactions will have daily transaction limit. WE must authenticate and link our bank account using our Axis bank debit card or Internet banking credentials while using Ping Pay. I am sure all of you want to avail of this wonderful Ping Pay app, so here's the simple registration process.



This post is about 'Digital Axis' meet conducted by Axis Bank in association with BlogAdda.com 


Sunday, May 10, 2015

MyFirstExpert My Mom



Almost all religions in the World preach "Sacrifice is the greatest virtue". My mom, my Aai says "Make others Happy, Happiness will return to you manifold". My Aai is an Expert Human Being and she does not need to wear a "Being Human" T-shirt to understand what "Being Human" is all about.  

Almost all people say that their moms are the expert cooks. Everybody goes gaga over their mothers' cooking expertise ... They say, "Nobody cooks Gajar ka Halwa / Butter chicken / Methi Thepla, Dhokla / Machcher Zol, Mishti doi / Idlee, Dosai, Vada / Puran-Poli, Alu-vadi / Makke di Roti , Sarson da saag / Dum Biryani, Rogan josh / Payasam, Avial etc. like my mom". 

I say,"My Aai cooks most delicious Varan, Bhaat, Bhaji, Chapati ( Dal, Rice, Subzi, Roti ) under the Sun, over the Earth. So what? So nothing. My mom is the First Expert in simple, everyday routine life.

In the early Eighties, when television was the most sought-after luxury in Mumbai' middle-class homes. My mother decided "Instead of a TV set we need a Godrej refrigerator". My father asked "Craving for a refrigerator is fine but why Godrej"?. My mother cast an admiring look at our second generation Godrej storewell and uttered "Godrej means Trust, Godrej means Quality. None can beat Godrej". Bowled over by my Mom's Expert common-sense my father bought the Godrej refrigerator

We were the 1st family in the whole Municipal-colony to enjoy the Godrej-made Mango ice-cream that summer. Summer never felt so cool and glamorous. My mother was happy to share her Godrej with neighbors, by storing their assorted vegetables, fruits, milk, ice-creams in our refrigerator. All the guests were treated to cool water, fruit slices in general and Aam Panhe, Kokam sarbat especially in Summer. 

"Health is Wealth" is my mom's Expert Mantra. Our Godrej refrigerator kept our fruits, vegetables, milk, curd , eggs etc. fresh and cool. Our everyday meals became healthier and fancier due to mom's decision to buy a refrigerator instead of an Idiot Box. 

Later, we did buy a Television set, but mom decided which content-rich edutainment TV programs to watch and which stupid serials to switch off. Mom had a simple rule. If any of us watched a TV program, banned by her, she will not talk to us for a whole day.

Just imagine, mom not talking to us for 24 hours ! Out of those 24 hours, 8 were sleeping hours, 5 were school hours plus 1 play hour. Still there were 10 BIG hours remaining, when Mom won't be talking. What horrible suffering just for a stupid TV program!. As we grew up, we stopped watching TV altogether and enjoyed reading thousands of books from our in-house library. Our father donated the TV set to an orphanage in Vikramgarh, while our neighbors grumbled about their children wasting time in front TV and low grades in exams. 

Some people say , " NO TV ? How boring, How do you spend time?". We answer, "We have just enough time to read so many wonderful books, magazines. We have subscribed to 10 newspapers daily. We have 24 hours Internet-connectivity through which we get instant news, whatever happening all over the world is just a click away. Plus we don't have enough patience to mull over the never-ending Saas-Bahu sagas".

My Mom's strictness regarding TV watching magnetized us towards the brilliant books, saved our eye-sights, nurtured our creative talents and focused our mindsets. Due to NO TV , we gained more time to play, paint pictures, write letters to penfriends and study. Most importantly instead of being Couch Potatoes we became Apples of Aai's Eyes.





 Click here to read more.


This post is a part of a contest with Godrej Expert  and IndiBlogger