A year that bought a good thrust in my career. A year that bought happiness in my family for various reasons. A year in which I bought my first car. A year in which my pet birds expanded their family and many such reasons

Finally to say, year 2011 has been a very lucky year for me. I would like to thank god and all my well wishers for being my support in all the good and bad times. I would also like to say sorry to those who have been hurt by me knowingly or unknowningly.

Wishing all a very happy new year. I wish all your dreams come true

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012

Zebra Finch
These are birds which resemble the most as house sparrows that we used to play with, during our childhood. Apart from few differences both look the same. Zebra’s are called so because of the black strips they have on their chest area. They have a very attractive red beak and legs. Male and female birds can be easily distinguished from the beak color and the black strips. Why I got Zebra finch is that, they are relatively easier to care for and easily bred! A pair of Zebra finch will cost you about 150-200 bucks! The best feature about them is the way they chirp, they sound almost the same as the sound that the shoes make, which are wore by small kids, as in ‘pim pim’

My Zebra’s
I had a pair of zebra finch , obviously a male and female Zebra’s can be bred easily provided they have good nutrition and a safe nest, I never expected any chicks from my birds but one fine day I could see my hen laying a egg, next day another and so on. Finally there were about 5 eggs!!! But unfortunately, it was their first clutch of eggs and they were not knowing about taking good care of the eggs, so 4 of the eggs broke, only one chick hatched after about 12 days, but to add to the tragedy even that chick died!!!:-(

I was really sad seeing those poor birds

It was about a week since the chick’s death and the hen had laid another 4 eggs, but I was not that excited this time because of what happened last time!

Zebra Finch chicks - one month old

But to my surprise the parents had learnt their mistake and this time they took very good care of the eggs and after 2 weeks all 4 eggs hatched, still I kept my fingers crossed! But the parents raised the chicks very well and finally the family got expanded from 2 to 6, unfortunately one of the chick got hurt some how and it died so I do have 5 zebra finch now

It was really a great experience to see the birds growing right from the egg, hatchling to a adult bird

Why Car Now?
Usually no one buys a car in their 3 or 4th year or work. People wait for some 5-7 years and then buy! Now the reason for me to buy a car is very simple! Lack of public transport near my house! Can’t waste an entire day waiting for a BMTC right? I do have a bike but it would be difficult to ride with too much of luggage and also to ride during rainy season!

Why TATA NANO?
Again the answer is simple! Its affordable for me! Thanks to Ratan Tata for visualizing millions of Indians dream of owning a car! That’s not the lone reason but also the mileage that Tata Nano offers, a whooping 25Kmpl and it really gives that mileage!  With the petrol prices climbing the price graph, its not easy to own a car else!

Fight Against the Odds
When I asked my friends about buying the nano, most of them said it would be foolish, rather go for a used Maruti 800. People said its a auto rickshaw with 4 wheels. Some people also said it can burn anytime on road!!! (Because 4 or 5 of them did).

But I had my own stances for each reason people gave me for not buying it! I would rather go by auto rickshaw (nano) rather than getting drowned!  Any machine when used above its capacity, the results would no doubt be unpleasant!

More than anything I had faith in something called fate! When things are to go wrong, they will go wrong anyway and we can’t avoid that!

Dream Come True
One fine day I decided to test drive the Tata Nano and to my surprise the car was really impressive! Very smooth controls, great pick up and what not! So I decided to go for it! Thanks to my wife who supported my decision!

I booked it and after about 10 days, on November 23rd 2011 I got my cute little Tata Nano 2012 version! I had opted for a white color model! And it was really a dream come true for me and my family

Tata Nano 2012
I was lucky enough to grab to upgraded version of Nano which they call the Nano 2012. There were many feature enhancements in this version like a fine tuned engine, better interiors,  better mileage, improved emission rates but same price

Tata Nano 2012 Serene White

The Driving Experience
I have driven some 500+ Kms on my Nano and below are some of the observations as of now.

Good things first
1. Very comfortable for person having long legs like me. Leg room is really good both front and at rear seats. You don’t have to bend as much you do when getting into a  Maruti 800.
2. No power steering but the steering wheel is very very light, you can control it with your fingers
3. Awesome mileage. It gives me an average of 24 Kmpl in city.
4. Pick up is really good with 4 people inside car
5. Acceleration is really good, in fact I was shocked how it can give such performance with a 2 cylinder engine.
6. Air conditioning is really powerful as the TATAs claim ‘Best in class AC’
7. Very cute looks, at least I liked it.
8. Very very easy to take a U-turn on narrow roads and parking efforts are minimum. I feel so happy when I can turn my car so easily while others struggle to take a U-turn.
9. Digital odometer which is very easy to follow!

Things to be improved
1. Fuel tank capacity is just 15 litres which is very less for long drives
2. Hatch does not open from behind, you have to fold the rear seat to access the boot space and the engine.
3. The wind shield completely blocks the view while taking a right turn so need to be very careful.
4. No glove box at all, in case you want to keep any documents etc
5. Petrol needs to be filled by opening the bonnet.
6. Gear ratios are not that great.

So that’s about it If you ask me if to buy the TATA NANO, I would say Go For It!!!

My visit was planned for 3 months and I was supposed to stay in Tel Aviv, so I had enough time to roam around in Israel. Tel Aviv is the most modern and most happening city of Israel, Jerusalem being the capital. They usually say here that, “Study in Haifa, Worship in Jerusalem, Enjoy in Tel Aviv”. Tel Aviv is a city located on the coast of Mediterranean Sea. As I said above, it is a modern city and it has good infrastructure to get that qualification. Good roads, Cleanliness, planned development, etc. Just to add, there were few Indian restaurants as well, like Salaam Bombay on the Allenby St, Sab Kuch Milega on Levinsky St, Indira on Shaul Hamelich St, Tandoori near Dizengoff Center

When I was in India, I was thinking, why is India still a ‘Developing’ country, even though we are fully qualified to be a ‘Developed’ country. But after coming to Israel, I slowly started to realize, we are still far away from this stage of becoming a ‘Developed’ country. I am sorry to say this, but this is the fact. To start from the basics, as we all know, the population of India, is much much larger than that of Israel and this is the prime reason for India to remain in a ‘Developing’ state. Israel hardly has 7 million people. But I must say among this 7 million atleast 5 million people follow the government rules, another reason why Israel is ‘Developed’, but in India, the ratio of people following rules is very less. Just to give an example, How many of us cross the road as per the traffic signal? I am sure most of us don’t follow. All such small things that we don’t follow, each of us think, how can one following a traffic rule for crossing the road make India a ‘Developed’ country? But it does my friend, as a pedestrian you start following the traffic rules, other pedestrians will do follow you, and gradually everyone will be forced to follow the traffic rules AT-LEAST.

Another main thing what I noticed here was, recycling concept, which I liked very much. On every streets, every corner of the city, they have a place to dump the plastic wastes like bottles, CDs, bags etc, this is not unique to Israel, we have it in India also, if not everywhere, at-least we have in some part of our cities. But the big question is do we use these? No… Many times I have seen people using these dust bins for peeing & vomiting, especially the recycle bins that are kept at the public bus stations. Now who would like to recycle that?? They have at-least 5 dust bins for every 100 meter here and again people use them.

Another incident I would like to put here was, one day when I was on the way to office, I saw a car bumping into the stoppers on the footpath, some 3-4 stoppers were uprooted and was completely thrashed, this is not a big deal, we have such accidents in India too. But the thing is, those uprooted stoppers were replaced immediately and everything was back on track within no time. If it was in India, those stoppers would be never replaced, until & unless the roads are blocked if they are not replaced. I was shocked by seeing the discipline followed here.

One more thing what I liked in Israel is, the dust free environment everywhere, I suffer from dust allergy, but not even a single time, I had an inflammation my nose because of dust, because there is no dust, since all the barren lands are filled with some kind of plants & lawns, so dust is not accumulated at all, where as in India, we all know what is the situation. You stop in the traffic for 2-3 minutes and you start sneezing right away. The water problem, which is very common in India, here in Israel fresh water is very scarce as rain is very scarce and most of the times people rely on the underground water. But still the water management is simply superb. I never got cold or viral because of bad water throughout the 3 months that I stayed here.

Now if you consider the work culture here, there is nothing more important than personal life, people hardly work on holidays & weekends, unless it is so so critical. They come to office on time & leave from office on time, no matter what happens. This again might depend from company to company but this is what I noticed in the place where I worked. People do not depend on the ‘IT GUYS’ or the ‘Cleaner’ to install a software on their PC or to clean the tea they spilled on the floor. So you see, they save a lot of time here by not waiting for someone else to get the work done.

If I keep telling there are a lot of things but the my point in writing all this is just to convey that we can make this happen in India too.

Its not that I am criticizing the system in India, I know we have many basic problems in India to fiddle out but as a citizen I feel we all should voluntarily follow the protocols or rules. Its us, who can bring the change in our India and make it ‘Developed’ from ‘Developing’ and I would be the happiest to see all these things happening in India.

At-least I have decided that I will follow the traffic rules, to start with and I hope many of you will join me in doing so. Lets hope we can see ‘Developed’ nation in India very soon.

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,600 times in 2010. That’s about 4 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 36 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 13 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 8mb. That’s about a picture per month.

The busiest day of the year was September 23rd with 36 views. The most popular post that day was Often Visited places & hangouts in Bangalore.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were websitebabble.com, digg.com, here4mobile.in, slashingtongue.com, and alphainventions.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for pradeep prabhu, cubbon park, bangalore hangouts, hangouts in bangalore, and indian bamboo forest.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Often Visited places & hangouts in Bangalore June 2010

Videocon d2h – Direct to Home Review October 2010

I am So Happy July 2010

About Me January 2010

Latest Indian Mobile Phone Manufactures August 2010

Let me tell all the features, advantages, disadvantages & extras about Videocon D2H service, 

FEATURES

• 250+ channels in South diamond pack @ Rs.275/month.
• 175+ channels in South Gold pack @ Rs.150/month.
• 10 D2H free radio channels like hindi, regional, devotional etc.
• 3 D2H free movie channels with 2 paid D2H movie channels.
• Free ticker service for live scores, share prices, breaking news etc.
• Free interactive service like games, cooking, puzzles etc.
• Addon packs for South Gold pack starting from Rs.30 – Rs.60

ADVANTAGES

• MPEG-4 video codec, so good quality audio & video.
• Single remote for TV & Set-top box ( In case of internal set top box)
• Option for internal or external set-top box.
• Quick installation support.
• Very cheap compared to other DTH services.
• Wall mounting of TV+set top box done free of cost.

DISADVANTAGES

• On Power-on it takes some time to come to the stand-by mode.
• Channel browsing is a bit slow .
• The dish is slightly larger than other DTH providers.
• South Gold pack doesn’t include any sports channels.
• New player in the DTH market.

EXTRAS

• Free subscription for 6 months if you buy D2H LCD tv with internal set-top box.
• 2 free regional language add-on for both Diamond & Gold packs.
• Free Videocon Dual Sim mobile phone with the above TV.

PRICE

• Initial payment of Rs.888 which includes set-top box & installation.
• There after you can choose the pack you want.
• Videocon 22inch LCD + D2H free for 6 month + Free Dual Sim Mobile @ Rs.14000

The Herbivorous Section at Bannerghatta

The animal collection here consists of Lions, Bears, White tigers, Bengal tigers, Wild buffalo, Antelopes, White peacocks, Iguanas, Hyenas, Zebras, Spotted dear, Cheetahs, Fox, variety of Pigeons, Love birds, Parrots, Peacocks, Pheasants, Rhesus Monkey, Star tortoise, Red ear slider turtle, Cobras, Pythons, Vipers, Owls, Fishes.

How to reach

• From Majestic Bus stand – Catch a BMTC bus no.365, 365J which directly goes to the park.
• From Whitefield – Take a bus no.335 from Hope farm to Marathahalli Bridge, bus no.500C from there to Jayadeva hospital, bus no.365 from there to the park.

Things to See at BNP

• Grand Safari – The grand safari here will cost Rs.160 per person &
  

  The Lion safari at Bannerghatta

  if you have a camera you will need to pay Rs.25 extra & Rs.120 for a video camera (lower rates for children, senior citizen & physically handicapped). The safari ticket will include the ride through the Bear safari, Herbivorous safari, Tiger safari, Lion safari. Also you can visit the zoo using the same ticket. The grand safari will take around 1 – 1.5 hours to complete. The best one for me was the bear safari, since you will find so many bears. We saw about 5-6 lions in the lion safari, 2 bengal tiger & a white tiger at the tiger safari, also we saw a bunch of crocs at the crocodile lake. At the herbivorous safari we saw a herd of Antelopes & Wild buffaloes. You will be taken on a enclosed tempo for the safari for safety reasons, also you can click photos of these animals.

• Butterfly Park – Once you finish the grand safari you will be dropped outside the butterfly park, you can go inside if you wish to see the butterfly park.
  

  The Butterfly Park at Bannerghatta

  You need to pay separately to go inside, the ticket will cost you Rs.25 per person (lower rates for children, senior citizen & physically handicapped) . The butterfly park is a big enclosed dome where live butterflies are allowed to fly freely, there is good collection of butterflies there. Also there is a museum inside the butterfly park, where specimens of different butterflies & larvae are kept for public display. Also there is a movie theater where they display movies related to butterflies.

• Zoo – The zoo at BNP has got large collection of unique & endangered animals including birds, animals, reptiles & fishes. There is also a museum where different animal specimens are kept for display. You can visit only the zoo by paying Rs.40 per person if you are not interested in the grand safari. You can spend the whole day at the zoo.

The BNP is made a plastic free zone , so as you enter the park , you will have to give away all the plastic bags you have, and you will be given paper bags instead.

NOTE: The park timings are 9:00 am to 4.30 pm and it remains closed on every Tuesdays.

The best thing you can do is take a BMTC gold pass for Rs.85 using which you can travel freely on the volvo buses, also there are lot of ordinary BMTC buses every now & then to the BNP.

Overall it was a good trip for me & my wife. We had started at around 9.30 morning & were back to home by 5.30 evening.

• Karbonn Mobiles.
• Micromax Mobiles.
• Spice Mobiles.
• Olive Mobiles.
• Maxx Mobiles.
• Videocon Mobiles.
• Intex Mobiles.
• Wynncom Mobiles.
• Lemon Mobiles.
• Lava Mobiles.
• MVL telecom.
• Zen Mobiles.
• T-Series Mobiles.

To see more detailed reviews, specifications, reviews and price comparisons visit Here4mobile.

Click on each names to visit their site. Well this is just a partial list & I am sure we will get more brands in India Soon.

The Indian rupee symbol was proposed by a IIT student by name Uday Kumar and he was awarded a cash prize of 2 lac by Indian government.

How to Install Rupee Symbol on your PC

• Download the Rupee font here.
• Copy it into the C:\Windows\Fonts folder of your Computer.
• You should be able to use it now in any text editor on your PC.
• The newly installed font will be listed in the fonts menu by name Rupee Foradian.
• To use the Rupee symbol you need to tap the key that is just above the Tab key on your keyboard.

Thats it, you can use the Rupee symbol on your PC now!! Enjoy!

• In built widgets for Orkut, Twitter, Gmail, Yahoo, Facebook, Games, Jobs, Travel.
• Link to news channel feeds like NDTV, India Times, Digg, etc.
• Built in antivirus that can be used to scan webpages as well as your PC, this anti virus is built upon ESET platform.
• Built in text editor.
• Supports any Indian languages like Hindi, Bangla, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malyalam, Urdu, Sanskrit etc.
• Live cricket scores, watch videos etc.
• One click private browsing.
• Malicious website warnings.
• 1500+ Indian based themes and wallpapers.
• Supports all mozilla based applications.
• Stock market alerts etc on side bar.
• Its absolutely free to download and use.

Download EPIC BROWSER .