Let’s Chat!

I just love books and shopping for them is more than cathartic and the best form of entertainment for me. However, just like every question does not deserve an answer, every book does not deserve to enter your collection. There are many titles which are one-time-read novels, old biographies or self-help books that you do not find worthy enough to devote much shelf space to. The best way to dispose such books, that too with some profit, is Quikr.com, one of the best buying-selling portals available in the country. 

One of my friends has even taken an extra mobile number just for this purpose. I remember we sold our garden cane-sofa set online and we talked to many people before finalizing a buyer. Now, there is no such need as a chat function is there along with a pic sharing application that allows buyers to keep their contact numbers private and share many pics of the product(s) up for sale. Being a girl, I find it comfortable to chat with people interested in my books. It has many benefits, three of which I share below -

1.  Appropriate Reply: I need not speak to every potential buyer and spill beans or tell him/her the points that I do not wish to reveal. Not just books, we can sell any item on Quikr NXT and hence on chat, unlike on a call, I can think and then ‘respond’ to queries rather than to ‘react’ instantly. This way, I can control what information I wish to give out and to whom. A well contemplated, complete and thoughtfully formulated reply can be given over chat, thus eliminating all the chances of confusion.

2.    Chat History- I can check out the history and hence keep a tab on the information I have been giving. This way, I can also check if the buyer is going back on his words. I can check what price was quoted and other terms etc. I need not remember every detail of the call and hence with a free mind, I can focus on other tasks of my life. This will also allow me to check out my sales in future as well.

3.  Privacy - Another main advantage is privacy, as I need not reveal my number to each potential buyer. As we all know there are various people who create only nuisance and waste the precious time of people they come in contact with. Also, there are people who are not interested in actual purchases and just hover around for fun or time-pass. Number privacy can help me avoid this category and I think it will also make me feel secure and safe.

Another important thing is the matter of convenience because a phone call requires urgent attention but on chat we can take out a few extra minutes to reply. It does not disturb you while you are driving, are in office or are doing a work that is urgent or involves concentration like reading etc.

Hence, any day, I would prefer chat to a phone call for selling on Quikr NXT.

Visit www.quikr.com for more information about hassle free buying and selling!

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Image from- www.indiblogger.in/happyhours/quikr-nxt/ 

'Very Inspiring Blogger Award' and Tag

Thanks a lot Archana V for 'Very Inspiring Blogger Award' and as per the rules, presented below are seven facts about myself along with the list of 15 bloggers nominated by me.

1. My Grandfather served as the personal Physician to His Highness Jodhpur for some time.
2. Many of the classics I have are from Grandpa’s personal collection of books.
3. I hold three Masters. 
4. I really find White-Water-Rafting to very exciting and wish to experience it soon!
5. I can never respect people who are cruel towards animals.
6. I prefer verse to prose and 'The Golden Treasury' is one of my most fav books.
7. I am not at all fond of selfies and find people who are crazy about them to be too annoying.  

          

   So, the 15 awesome bloggers I present this award and tag to are -

     

1.     Amrit
2.     Anmol
3.     SG    
4.     Katrin 
5.     Kanthu
6.     Satya
7.     Sai
8.     Anita
9.     Joseph P
10.     Shivani
11.     Saru
12.     Bikram
13.     Ramakrishna R
14.     Shrikant
15.     Shesha

Congrats for the 'Very Inspiring Blogger Award'! 

As per the rules, list seven things about yourself and please pass on the award and tag to 15 bloggers you find inspiring.

My Pick!

These days, technology has become an extended part of us. Whether on move in cars, bus or train, or even while in movie theatres, I often spot people carrying smart phones with large screens and tablets. The newer innovations that are arriving in the market are amazingly sleek and a huge boon for multi-tasking. Two of such gadgets that are sure to take the market by storm are ‘Asus Eee Book X205TA’ and ‘Asus All-In-One PC ET 2040’. I love both the models and just like anyone else, would like to have both! However, based on my usability factor, my pick would be ‘All In One PC’. 

Asus is a brand that is being seen a lot these days. Almost every other person owns an Asus gadget. These two models, viz., ‘Asus Eee Book X205’ and ‘Asus All-In-One PC ET 2040’ are too amazing and it becomes really difficult to go for one of them. However, I would choose the latter. The feature that attracts me most is its detached keyboard and innovative gesture control i.e you just have to make a few gestures to control the volumes and to flip. This is amazing! Another thing that makes me go for this is that I prefer working from a study table or a fixed spot so for me it is convenient to use a keyboard and a mouse. I like Asus lightweight laptop (former) too but for my particular requirements, PC would do better. Also, I often need to charge my mobile phones and for that this all in one PC is the best as it charges the devices with 50% more speed! The screen space is maximized too as with its innovative screen space design, one can do other tasks side by side and hence this makes multitasking much simpler. The processor is Intel Pentium J2900 gives it the much needed efficiency. 

The main features that influenced my choice are firstly, the gesture control- I can ‘hush’ to mute, ‘fist’ for increasing the volume, ‘thumb-up’ to play and ‘wave’ my hand to flip- isn’t this awesome? You feel like you’re ordering a genie! Another factor that has played a significant part in my choice is the screen and it’s built in HDMI-Out Port that helps you to multitask and use extra screen space.  The detachable keyboard is also quite attractive. Another nice thing that I liked in this PC is the availability of around nine ports of various types. Hence connectivity will never be an issue. Even though this PC is not as sleek as the ‘Asus Eee Book X205’ which, surprisingly, is less than 1 kilogram in weight, it suits me perfectly and I just love its detachable parts and sturdy built. So, I would prefer ‘Asus All-in-one PC ET 2040’ without an iota of doubt! 

Check out Asus Eee Book X205TA and Asus All-in-one PC ET 2040 and take your pick!

I agree to ensure (to the best of my abilities and circumstances) that this blog post remains accessible in an un-altered state for a minimum of one year.

Image from- https://www.indiblogger.in/happyhours/asus-go-sleek-bangalore/ 

Mr. Litterram!

“And…no. 189…done!” Exclaimed Mr. LitterRam excitedly. The only thing that gave him pleasure apart from spray painting the city walls (not with paint) was engraving his initials on the walls of every monument he could visit and spot. The spirits of those buried there used to mourn at his un-clean arrival but Litterram would be resolute. Armed with a small knife, he would write his initials or sometimes important messages like ‘I L U’ or ‘B Free’ on the walls that once looked healthy and clean as if straight of a paints commercial. However, who could stop Litterram! after all India is a free country, he would shout on the top of his voice and as a revenge, made sure that person would step on his banana peel!

It so happened that once day, Mr. Litterram, in his flights of garbage fantasies, stepped upon wrong victims- two angels of cleanliness who had descended from Hygiene Heavens to prepare a report on India’s never-ending, self-propagating, anti-decomposing and perpetual heaps of garbage. So, the two angels, disguised as humans, bumped into something, even more obnoxious than the rotting filth- you know who that was!

So, Litteram, who was happily enjoying his chocolate, peeled it slowly and let the golden and white pieces fly as if he were setting caged birds free with much sympathy. The angels, in a cool and requesting tone, asked him to keep his wrappers with himself but on this Litterram became furious. He spit the chocolate on the bench and then stared at the angels with fury of an injured lion. Then, at the top of his cacophonic voice shouted ‘India is a free country, understand?’ to which the hygiene angels had to opt for plan B. They said they were sorry and that as an apology, they would clean whatever garbage he does the whole day. Litterram did not bother and went to the park wall to pee, humming the latest hit song. All day, he gifted his city precious things like banana peels, chocolate wrappers, plastic bottles, plastic use & throw plates and of course, how could he forget his fav spot-the walls and the poles that gave all the dogs a solid complex. In the evening, when a tired Litterram returned home victorious, he laughed at the incident and went to sleep. However, in the middle of the night, something struck his hand- a soft thing, a bit watery and cold…yikes! He quickly switched on the night lamp and found that his bed-sheet was soaked in paan-stain and orange and banana peels were lying all around. He got up in horror but a hard thing touched his feet. He saw closely and found the shells of peanuts and pistachios were scattered all around…damn! He quickly went to the hall and saw a stink that was emanating from the area. The walls were wet and tiny golden wrappers were flying all around. He looked up and saw that the angels were laughing their heart out! One was even clapping with joy. He became furious and shouted at them, “What the hell? Why have you done this? Who are you to enter my house and throw garbage all around?”

Pat came the reply “Why, India is a free country, remember?”

“But this is my house, understand?”

“The country is yours too! So are the roads, the monuments, the parks, is’nt it? ” All of a sudden, he came into senses and felt deeply ashamed of the garbage he had been spreading all these years. He apologized and decided to “Stay Clean and Keep Clean”, starting from himself, no matter if others don’t listen to him at first. They too will someday have their share of lessons!

PS- Guess what he did the next morning?-  He got a dustbin!

Check out his video-

Meet the great Indian Litterbug (by TOI)@ http://greatindian.timesofindia.com/

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Al Pacino (Colour Sketch)

1. Alfredo James 'Al' Pacino, an American actor and filmmaker, was born in Manhattan on April 25, 1940 to Italian-American parents Salvatore Pacino and Rose, who divorced when he was two years old. His mother then moved to live with her parents. 
2. Pacino is well known for playing mobsters, especially Michael Corleone in The Godfather films and Tony Montana in Scarface, and often appeared on the other side of the law—as a police officer, a detective and a lawyer. 
3. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor at the 65th Academy Awards for his performance as Frank Slade in Scent of a Woman. Prior to his win he had received seven Oscar nominations, including one that same year. 

Read more@ Wikipedia 

Medium- Pencil Colours

Why Me??

The facts about laundry presented by Ariel, honestly, did not shock or surprise me at all. Almost every family I know either has a housemaid to wash the clothes or else, womenfolk do that work. It does not matter if women are working with their day’s schedule as tiring as a man’s; household work, mainly cooking and laundry are the two constants in her life. From undergarments to upholstery, women spend a considerable time in washing clothes. Even today, the advent of latest washing machines has not really changed the situation, because the issue lies in perception and thinking, and is far deeper. It will surely take time to change but the constant efforts towards awareness like those of the brand Ariel may accelerate the results. This wonderful video questions this deep set but nonsensical belief.

The disparity that has been there since centuries has molded the lives of women and confined their precious time into a cocoon. For housewives as well as working women there is hardly any time left for other important areas of life and most importantly, for their own self. The only thing that gets the least attention is their own self: tired bodies and bored minds. As per the data by American Time Use Survey (released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics), on an average only 19 % of men do housework like laundry compared to 49 percent of women. Hence, it does not matter in which part of the world one is, women are expected to do almost all the household work. This shows how deep rooted the chauvinism is.

The first thing is to change the perception of Indian men- As the stats say that more than 76% of men feel that laundry is a woman’s work only; it is a bit depressing. Even boys belonging to progressive and educated families fall behind at some point when it comes to open thinking and equality towards women. If a girl lags behind in household work or has a disinterest for cooking, she is tagged as lazy and her other talents and interests are completely ignored. Boys need to be trained right from their childhoods that a job is a job, sans a gender of its own. When both the sexes are equal, it should reflect in attitudes as well.

Second thing is sharing- Men should help their women in laundry instead of stuffing themselves with food or watching that cricket match. This way, not only love will increase but his woman will feel cared for as well. And we all know, nothing can be more risky than a woman in a sour mood all the time. Gallup's annual Social Series Lifestyle poll, conducted in December 2007 shows that only wives are expected to do the laundry.

Set an example- Children are amazing learners and most of their perceptions come from passive observing. Hence, a boy will learn to give women equal importance and to respect her time. Girls too would learn to value their time and self respect this way. Hence, this is good and practical way to teach children some lessons in gender equality.

Doing laundry is not only boring but can be very time consuming. If a man does not help his woman in this chore or thinks it below his ‘macho-ness’ he needs a crash course in manners. The urban male who is educated and modern in real sense of the word, would never run from his responsibility. So, guys, show your girl, how much you care for her. Lending a helping hand will only elevate your respect in her eyes, and in your own as well!

PS- how deeply gender roles are inscribed! This one explains it awesomely well!!

I am writing for #IsLaundryOnlyAWomansJob activity at BlogAdda.com in association with Ariel.

Images  from-

http://time.com/2895235/men-housework-women/

http://www.bls.gov/tus/charts/household.htm

http://www.gallup.com/poll/106249/wives-still-laundry-men-yard-work.aspx

http://4pmhappyhour.com/2014/02/

Do Return My Dear (Villanelle)

Presented below is a 'Villanelle' or 'Villanesque' which is a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two refrains and two repeating rhymes, with the first and third line of the first tercet repeated alternately until the last stanza, which includes both repeated lines. Read more here. 

I am very thankful to K Parthasarthi Sir for his motivation and guidance. 

Do Return My Dear

Like rosy spring, do return my dear

You make heavens smile upon me

I shall await you till the next year

Your whisperings all day I hear

In twinkling stars, your face I see

Like rosy spring, do return my dear

I sense storm hidden in skies clear

Igniting are the cold waves of sea

I shall await you till the next year

But this cruel fate is what I fear

Still I have set you, my love, free

Like rosy spring, do return my dear

The pangs of love often appear

So blissful is this insanity, I agree

I shall await you till the next year

No other desires are left, I swear

As our lives are tied by His decree

Like rosy spring, do return my dear

I shall await you till the next year

Clerihews - Mickey and Scooby Doo

There lives a little mouse called Mickey

As sweet as honey and happy-go-lucky

Yellow are his shoes and shorts red hot

Blessed chap is now Disney’s mascot!

Shaggy so loved his pet dog Scooby Doo

Playful and inseparable were these two

But went kaput terribly, all their pranks

Still, they remained best of the friends!

Images:

1-disney.wikia.com/wiki/File:Mickey-mouse-image-hd-disney.jpg

2-Sketched by me