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Showing posts from July, 2011

Photograph and the Shoe

She says she has a photographic memory. But that is not to imply that her memory is very good. It is good indeed but not as good as a photographic memory. Nevertheless, she uses the word because she feels it fits her aptly. She remembers incidents like a movie made of a thousand photographs. But then she also imagines with photographs in her head. So, the claim of a photographic memory is wrong. She is just influenced into looking at the world through a lens! So one not so fine night an idea popped in her head and evidence of it was that she had an imagine in her imagination. So to her it was time she wrote about it. She opened her blog and clicked on "new post". Before she typed anything, she went to look for a picture. She found none. She found many. Yet she found none. She did not find the perfect picture of a delicate foot in a light shimmering pink home-sewn ballet shoe posed in the air just about to touch the cold stone floor with the base of her big toe. So she went

Do YouSee ?

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Activity:   UCDS funds and hand holds NGO's in specific projects. Its projects include: a) Free health services -Chennai.Partner- SSHT. b) Project for rag-pickers-Indore -partner IGS. c) Sponsoring IT education for destitute girl children- Bhubhaneshwar-partner PUSS. UCDS likes to morph its approach along the learning curve. Currently they are interested in taking up projects which adopt Integrated development models for providing services to urban poor. They firmly believe that integrated approach has the potential to sustain the out comes of the development projects in the long term. Support:  Primary, literacy for adults, vocational and technical education, hospitals and health care centers, medical research, primary health care, environmental education, pollution control, training & capacity buildings, livelihood promotion. Note:  UCDS promotes a unique funding model for Social development financing. They call this Post-paid donations. UC provides its donors

Stay! Stay with me!

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Is he going to die? I know I am not supposed to move him! You came back? Would like something to eat? Shut up Olive! Mrs Letham had the bluest eyes! The greatest artist of the 19th century! Stay with me! A thriller like I have never seen before. Get inside the head of a guy going through the guilt and trauma of killing his parents, turning him suicidal till everyone who could help him are too late. A movie that makes you think more than Shutter Island or Inception. A movie that makes you think and question reality!

Lame Brand Wars!

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They say no one fought like Coca Cola and Pespi. A long time ago when Pepsi came out with this commercial: And then Sprite came out with this commercial: Then I was a teenager and it seemed silly but funny and anyway the brand positioning was silly and funny and had teenagers it seemed fine and in good spirit. And a few years later, these two commercials came up: Honestly! It sounds so stupid for grown up people to be hitting it out at each other like this. It makes Dhoni look like a snobbish teenager and makes UB Group look like its run by a bunch of sour losers including the big man himself ! Or may be I just grew up!

Lend A Hand - Mentor Together !

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Join and help someone in the right direction. Activity:  According to the Confederation of Indian Industry, about 69 percent of unemployed Indians are educated but lack skills. Thus, the formal education program alone is not imparting employability skills. These problems are only compounded for the large segment of the youth who come from underserved communities, because they do not have the socio-economic partnerships to mitigate these circumstances. Mentortogether runs structured mentoring programs, with curriculum for soft and hard skill development, which also utilise the knowledge and experiences of carefully selected volunteer mentors, and provides a channel of empowerment to underserved youth. Mentoring Program: Targets improved written English and basic computer skills via online mentoring platforms. Targets greater interpersonal and social skills via face-to-face mentoring. Aims to broaden mentee knowledge with respect to academic and career opportunites by matching

9kms turn 24

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image courtesy:  http://rockincakes.blogspot.com The last year I practically went underground for my birthday in spite of being around people. I removed it from Facebook LinkedIn Orkut Extranet and any other site. So only my family and a few (read 5 or 6) friends who remembered it from the good old days of no birthday reminders wished me. This year however, I was out of station with no internet or even a mobile phone.  I travelled by train with my family all night and woke up on my birthday in Tirupati. And we walked up the 9kms of the hill up to an extremely crowded temple and out. Ate lots of laddus, tired and beat I feel asleep. Another day later I came back home to god knows how many facebook wishes it made me remember a birthday in IIT days when I was so enthu to read wishes on my orkut account. It was nice to know so many ppl wished. I thank all of you. I also thank all those who sent me emails and fb msges :)

Bhumi - for under 30 vols

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Activity: Bhumi is one of India's largest independent youth volunteer non-profit organisation. The volunteers work amongst orphaned and underprivileged children in Chennai, Thiruvallur, Bengaluru and Chandigarh with the aim of providing children with quality education and enable them to become responsible and productive citizens of the future. The efforts of the volunteer force consisting of over 300 students and young professionals under the age of 30 benefit over 2,500 children every year. Details: Kanini Computer literacy programme involving teaching of basic and advanced concepts based on the children's aptitude levels. Support: Education, Children, Environmental Conservation, Mentorship Note: Bhumi is an under-30 youth volunteer organisation, and to be able to reach out to more children, they need volunteers (like you) who can spend 2 hours every weekend to teach at an orphanage near your residence. Check it out . | This post is a part of BlogAdda&#

Blog This!

Blog This! : Communicate - Google Chrome Help This chrome extension is making life too easy! Now you can count on increased blogging speed :)

Gifted!

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Primetime Television Trips!

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This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at BlogAdda.com . Participate now to get free books! It's actually pretty fun. BlogAdda sends you a free signed copy along with a nice little note! The 6pm Slot by Naomi Datta Published by Random House India in 2011 Pages: 294 | Price: Rs199 I completed reading the book within 24 hours of receiving it. This is mostly because I am jobless and do nothing all day but surf the net and watch TV. But the idea of this statement is to imply that though it is not a book that you cannot put down (it’s not exactly a suspense thriller now, is it?), it definitely is a book that you don’t feel like putting down. Her writing style is easy and flowing and twisting and turning (not the plot but the words). The comic essence of this book can nearly be defined as brilliant. The sarcasm and play of words showcase the author's grip on the English language and her sense of humor. May be one just accumulates this sense of

Add Color to Lives !

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Yet another Friday and yet another NGO I bring to you! Colorss Foundation Activity: Colorss is working with disadvantaged children focusing on education and to integrate marginalized population into mainstream through various programs like martial-creative arts, vocational training and psychological and social guidance. Support: Children, Disabled, Youth, Urban Poor, Rural Poor. Projects: Project Enhance uses sport and the arts as tools to promote physical well-being while improving mental health. Project Urja - igniting the fire within is our first vocational training program started in Baroda, Gujarat. The project aims at the empowerment of women. Project 'Colors of Life' looks to provide an answer to one of our nation's most troubling problems, dropping out of school. Note: Check out their Blog , Youtube Channel and Facebook page . | This post is a part of BlogAdda's Bloggers Social Responsibility (BSR) initiative. | | I am exercising my BSR. You can too with thr

Like vs +1

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Plusone ? What was Google thinking ? Whoever says "I plusone it"? It only reminds me of a plus one for a party. That makes me an extra. Bad wording! But that's beside the point! This post is just another meek attempt to try and compare Facebook and GooglePlus. Facebook was just like any other social networking website when it came. (Sure, it had the Harvard tag but I didn't know it then and neither did I know Harvard much then). I moved from Orkut to Facebook much like everyone else because it developed over the years to become better everyday. To begin with it did not have the features it has today. Simple things like the horizontal tab with thumbnails of tagged pictures on one's profile. Today, it is clean and understandable and gives us a good amount of control on our information. Google is an innovative firm with amazing products and we all love Google. We waited in anticipation and expressed frustration when an invite got delayed. Basically, everyone jus

A Car has 4 Wheels !

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It is interesting what three women can do! Activity: Three women with a passion for learning, understanding and working for economic, social and human devetlopment decided to enter the exciting world of entrepreneurship with their initiative of a corporate social responsibility (CSR) consultancy firm and research cell called ' The 4th wheel ' . The name signifies the business sector in addition to the other three integral wheels. the state, civil society and non-governmental organizations, and international development organizations required and capable of driving the " car " of development. Check out their blog and the photo stream Support: Research, Advocacy and Consulting in Corporate Social Responsibility. Note: 1) Help spread awareness about CSR 2) Highlight the socially responsible projects by Corporates 3) Share best case practices 4) Sensitive the youth towards social issues | This post is a part of BlogAdda's Bloggers Social Responsibility (BSR) initiat