:: Navarathri Celebrations and My Golu 2008 ::

Navarathri - the nine sacred nights is one of the most celebrated festivals of India.

And its one of my favourite too :)

This begins from the first day (Pradhamai) after Amavasya in the month of Purattasi as it is known in Tamil. This nine days festival is essentially celebrated to worship Devi and to commemorate the victory of good over evil, i.e bringing to an end the atrocities of Asuras like Mahishasuran, Shumban, Nishumban, Madhukaidapan, Thumralochanan and Rakthabheejan.

During Navrathri Devi is worshipped in the form of Sri Durga for the first three days, as Sri Lakshmi for the second three days and as Sri Saraswati for the next three days.

The best part of navarathri is Kolu/Golu.

Golu is basically adorned with dolls - predominantly with that of the Gods and Goddesses depicting mythology.

This year the Navarathri beginned at Mahalaya (sept 30th) and ended at Vijayadasmi (Oct 08th)

So here is the kolu at our home :)

:: Belated Bday Wishes ::


My Blog has completed a year successfully - Its one year old now :)


In this one year it has got many new friends and has grown quite intelligent smart and cute.


Thanks to each one of them for all da love and support..!!!

:: Thot 4 da we(e/a)k ::

If you want something you never had, you have to do something you have never done…!!!



:: BigFlix... No popcorn pleasure...!!!! ::

I was extremely happy when Reliance started BigFlix in india coz im a great movie freak...

i subscribed to Bigflix.com 2 months ago.. with Plan 1 DVD at a time , The service has been good for the entire first month, just until last week...


when i put a request to pickup DVD i was expecting the delivery guy to come on the same day (thats how it was working for the past one month) but there was no response...

i
waited for more than a week.. called them over phone n finally decided to send a complaint mail stating that if the issue is not addressed within 24 hrs i would cancel my subscription... to my surprise the bigflix guys came within 2 hrs for picking up my DVD not once but twice :)

but again i thot i would get some DVD...
But what happened was the delivery guy told me that “ we don’t have any delivery for you coz there are no titles available in your queue so its just pick up today”

so
again i had to send a mail.. to which the guys appeared in the same usual manner.. in 2 hrs.. bringing a DVD which was the last title in my queue of 28 DVD's (according to BigFlix they claim that the first 5 titles in your queue will be delivered first based on your plan) its highly unlikely that out of 28 movies in my Queue all would be unavailable at the same Time...!!! This is very bad and highly unprofessional, if i have 28 movies in my queue i expect prompt delivery of any one of those DVD's... its something BigFlix have to look into as they have just started their business.... they shud understand that customer satisfaction is very important....

The following appeared in Indian Express on Sunday, June 29, 2008 under the name.


NO POPCORN PLEASURE...

Renting movies from Big Fli has its good and bad moments. THERE was a time when DVD players were expensive and not all of us had them in our homes. But the mass production factories in South Korea have brought down the prices. My first DVD Player in 2000 cost me Rs 23,000, and now I can buy a branded player for under Rs 3,000. So the problem isn’t the player now, the DVDs are. The movies you want to watch are still cost Rs 299+ and this makes the movie rental business interesting. Seventymm took the lead, then came in guys like Moviemart, and now big brother Reliance has entered the business with Big Flix.

Big Flix is spending millions on advertising, and it appeared a bargain to be able to rent movies unlimited for unlimited time at just Rs 299 a month. A month ago, I took the bait. It took me less than two minutes to sign up on http:\\www.bigflix.com\
. I was surprised to see that contrary to their ads, they had a limited number of regional language films, but for those whose basic choices will be English and Hindi films, they have enough. They offer the option of renting out 1, 2 or 3 discs at a time.

In the FAQ section, I learnt I needed a wishlist of at least 25 titles to ensure timely delivery. I opted for some 30-odd titles and waited for my movies to arrive. I had registered on a Saturday and presumed I wouldn’t hear from anybody till Monday. But Sunday brought a surprise visitor who came armed with two titles from my selection. However, he demanded that I hand over two movies I had borrowed. I informed him I was a new member and that I did not have any Big Flix items in my possesion, but he would have none of it. A ring to their call center on Monday (no responses on Sunday) ironed things out, and I was told this would not recur.

But things went wrong after that with confusion over titles delivered, about the number of discs I was entitled to borrow at a time and other hassles that left me aghast at the ineptness of the whole operation. Even after sending an email to customer care (an automatic ticket number was allocated and I was assured my complaint would be looked into), two weeks down the line, the discs don’t arrive on time, no one from customer care answers and movies automatically go into a pick up request.

I kept a movie for more than five days to see if I could hang on to it for as long as I wanted. I got a courteous SMS reminder reminding me of my misdemeanour and asking me to arrange a pick up.

Here is the score sheet


Customer Service: Worst possible


Movie listing: Good. Claims 15,000 titles.


Staff: Courteous generally, but most of them are ex-courier boys so some can be off-putting.

Presentation: The movies come packed in their original boxes. Some discs never played on my players due to a lot of scratches.

Delivery: No guarantees, erratic.

Pros: Big Flix has stores across the country, so you can always go there and pick up movies or return them easily. Online site could have been better, but it is improving.


Cons: If you want to watch a specific movie on a specific day, you are good either buying it or watching it on Video on Demand on DTH or renting it from the local DVD fellow.
Cost: Attractive


:: The 3 mistakes of my life.... ::

One more excellent work by CB... a very gud book... worth reading...

for a gist of it click here....

:: Expect less n Smile more... ::

A good point to be noted... Expect less n smile more...
here we go...

Ground rule 1:
Never think that others are born to help you... Actually its the other way...
Exceptions: of course a few (with little demands :))

Ground rule 2:
Never waste time trying to understand others... believe me... u can do so many better things at that time...

Ground rule 3:
If ur dissapointed by something/one... don worry... jes keep going... watch a movie.... eat popcorn.... n of course thank God dat u din lose much :)

More to come....

:: $Mn thought:) ::

Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people who treat you right. Forget about the ones who don't, and believe that everything happens for a reason. Know a good thing when you see it, and don't let it slip away. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said it would be easy, they just said it would be worth it.

''Life may not be the party we expected but we might as well dance while we are here''



:: vOdAfOnE cReAtIvItY:) ::

This is supposed to be a Vodafone SIM card holder.. which i got it from Bharathi after a long time kenjals.. chumma tried something different with that.. i was actually impressed by that gal/guy (??) rounding dat globe.. so here we go...





VODAFONE ON TOP OF THE DOG :)




:: The Day...!!! Mind blowing :) ::

For my 2 plus years in the company, i felt the best part of it 2day...!!

Kalam's speech..!!! how thoughtful it was... i have heard n read about him in papers, but u know seeing is always different.. such a simplicity, humbleness, energy, determination, confidence..
Hats off... he was there for an hour visiting our ACE centre, then came the interesting part, his speech..

The best part was... when he read out this short para for us...

Inventors – inventions and discoverers – discoveries

Let us study important inventors and their inventions.
* The Wright brothers and the plane.
* George Eastman and film
* Thomas Edison and the light bulb
* Alexandra Graham bell and the telephone.

Let us study a few Discoverers and their discoveries.
* Albert Einstein and the energy equation E=MC2
* Srinivas Ramanujan and number theory
* Chandrasekhar Subramaniyam and Chandrasekhar Limit
* Sir CV Raman and Raman Effect

"Inventions and discoveries have emanated from creative minds that have been constantly working and imaging the outcome in the mind. With imaging and constant effort, all the forces of the universe work for that inspired mind, thereby leading to inventions or discoveries. Higher the number of creative minds in an organization, the best results of innovation will emerge"

His words were so powerful... thought provoking.. and simple...!!!

Just refer his site...

http://abdulkalam.com/kalam/index.jsp

Ask him anything and everything.. u will get a reply 24/7...

These are not my words... this was his promise to us before he left...!!!

Amazing man...!!!

:: Today's resolution..!!! ::

Say 'NO' for shopping...!!!

i have been doing a lottt of shopping these days.. buying anything and everything.
Is it really worth.. for some 'Yes' and for many 'No'..

Many things i buy, i hardly use it or in fact don't even use it. i wish there is something like a 'shopometer' similar to thermometer (with an alarm option!!) which can warn me when i start shopping those fit for nothing stuff or even give me a punch if i ignore that warning and continue my nonsense.. hmmm... sounds funny isn't it..

It is getting worse these days.. am i da only person.. lemme google a bit...

ahhhh... look at this...

http://me.essortment.com/shopaholic_rxfm.htm

he he :) im not that bad...!!!

but anyway its alarming... stop it now or u can never come of it alive...!!!!

"shopaholic"..... btw this title is not meant for me...!!!

:: Kalam's visit to satyam...!!! ::




Dream is not what you see in sleep... Dream is the thing which does not let you sleep...!!!


quote from 'Wings of fire' by Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam...





Kalam...the most distinguished scientists of India, author of "Wings of Fire", "India 2020 - A Vision for the New Millennium", "My journey" and "Ignited Minds - Unleashing the power within India", a strong man with the unique honour of receiving honorary doctorates from 30 universities and institutions, who has been awarded the coveted civilian awards - Padma Bhushan (1981) and Padma Vibhushan (1990) and the highest civilian award Bharat Ratna (1997) and of course he has the honour of being the 11th president of India, This great man of great respect and dignity is visiting my company on 21st (monday)..

Eagerly waiting for the wonderful moment to see him...

:: Everything happens for a reason... ::

Sometimes people come in to ur life & u know right away that they were meant 2 b there 2 serve some part of purpose, teach u a lesson or help u to figure out who u r or whom u want 2 b.. U never know who these ppl may b but when U look at them U know tht very moment tht they'll affect ur life in some profound way & sometimes things happen 2 u at da time tht may seem horrible, painful & unfair, but in reflection u realize tht without overcoming those obstacles u w'd never realize ur potential strength, will power or heart. Everything happens 4 a reason, nothing happens by chance or by means of luck. Illness, love lost moments of true greatness & sheer stupidity all occur to test limits of ur soul, Without these small tests life w'd b like a smooth paved, straight, flat road nowhere safe & uncomfortable but dull & utterly pointless. da ppl u meet affect ur life. da successes & downfalls tht u experience can create whom u r & da bad experiences can b learned from. believe in yrself, Create ur own life & then go out & live it...

 
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