Tid Bit from My Diary

O ur motherland is as diverse in its customs and practices as it is with individual and collective social values. Some people despise others’ patriotic or nationalistic fervor. Despite staying outside for two decades, I am on that side of the fence where people cherish these values and naturally the news about Jammikunta gave me a pleasant feeling. Jammikunta is situated in Karimnagar district, about 140 km from Hyderabad, the capital of Telangana. Life comes to a halt every day at 8 a.m. as people pause for a minute to sing the national anthem. This has become a daily routine of the people in this sleepy town since 15 August 2017, following an initiative by a local police inspector. After many centuries of subjugation by foreign invading forces, I strongly feel there is a need for a nationalistic approach to reclaim our lost identity. Without a strong identity, I am afraid there will be no we tomorrow but for our shadows. At this point someone might bring the statem...

Today we were strolling on a park as the Sun was leaving for the day. My wife's phone camera came handy to capture this magic moment as I left mine inside the car. There I am ready to feed my Instagram account after a very long gap. I thought it is a good idea to introduce myself through my various social media existence. My  Instagram  account is  sumandebray  and I post photos taken  exclusively with my phone's camera. It will be a pleasure if friends from my blogsphere  comes along and joins me, I shall be a follower too. I not particularly interested in individuals who have thousands of followers while they follow a handful....in other words, I stay away from the celebrities. My Twitter handle is @Sumandr and I am already connected to some of you. Then there is the professional social media that I am part of as well. This is the linkedIn and you may find me  here . You are invited to come and be part of my network. A few screenshots f...

T here was a campaign to convince the companies that cardboard packaging for toothpastes were a complete waste. Being one of the most common household product in everybody’s life Toothpaste have a huge multiplier. After all this product used at the least once a day by old, young and everyone in-between.     A few days back we bought a promotional pack of three toothpaste and it’s unfortunate that we were given 3 cardboard boxes while we desired none. It’s a fact of life that most of us will discard the boxes into the bin without a second looks. There are no doubts that by changing this habit, a substantial amount of burden on our world will be reduced. Don’t get me wrong, I very well understand the significance of packaging and am not advocating to deprive consumer of this experience. I shall never forget remember my experience of unpacking my Tissot watch. Back in then, it was a luxury product for me long before I learnt later that it doesn’t qualify to be one...

T he other day I took my daughter for her choir practice where they meet two or three times every week to rehearse for an hour. I was strolling in the school corridor looking at various displays, notices and bulletin boards while they were busy inside. The fourth graders of this Swiss school had prepared a bulletin board based on their self-research and it was very impressive. I am glad that I stood there for few minutes as it made feel more about the plight of the farm workers. Being enlightened early in life about “Fair Trade Practices”, I am optimistic that these children will grow up to be a more socially responsible generation. They have noted down the following for the banana plantation workers who gets the lowest reward for their efforts as per the banana split. Work for 14 hours a day in harsh weather conditions Have poor working condition Spray fertilizers and pesticides Cut down the bananas Carry heavy loads of bananas for washing Wash the bananas Can...

This week Indi-blogger inspires us to ponder whether “ we think inspiration books are really useful ?” I need to get the ambiguity out of my way and therefore the first question I ask myself is “ How do we define the genre Inspirational Books in this context”?   Let me adopt the simplistic path and consider those to be a subsection of wide variety of inspirational literature that are promoted aggressively by the marketers. Let me start with the books that made their authors not only very famous but rich as well. This genre include books like following along with their prequels and sequels. Chicken Soup for the Soul The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari Rich Dad Poor Dad Think and Grow Rich You Can Win I believe those became bestsellers for a reason and that being marketed differently. People have either fallen for celebrity endorsement, followed their peers or impulsively got motivated to buy it. As we understand sales make books a best seller while reading tho...

Through the barren meadows, Hand in hand, we walked along! With birds shunning our trees, Undeterred still, we sang along! Trees around were shades of grey, Your laughter, brought color along! A sight to cherish it is today, Thousand birds, came along! Flowers sprayed resplendent hues, Colors the leaves too, brought along! With trust we walked unknown paths, Love always stayed along!

Two weeks back, once I switched on the laptop in the evening, I made an important announcement at home. My daughter could not believe her ears when she heard, I was not going to use Google any more. “ What do you mean? ”  “ Henceforth I shall not use the Google search engine ”. “ But you are still using Google ” a bit perplexed. “ I shall abandon only the search engine, while I shall continue to use chrome, Blogger, YouTube as usual ”, I clarified.   “ Aren’t both chrome and the search same! ” still confused. “ They are not the same although it is designed to have that look and feel .” I told her and further explained, “ Chrome is a web browser similar to Internet explorer, Mozilla Firefox or Safari while Google Search is a search engine that could be used with any of the browsers.  There are other search engines available such as Yahoo search, Bing search, DuckDuckgo  search, SwissCows  search, DogPile  search etc . “I...