Piccolo Posts

Running away from truth is probably an easy way but not the farthest.  The easy way also has that feeling of guilt that crushes you from the inside. Your conscience nudges you constantly that you did something which is not quite right.  On a lighter note, Akshay Kumar quotes in the movie Entertainment that ‘Truth hurts because it has a point !’ Pun intended in that line! Circumstances force us to lie. These circumstances are mostly avoidable beforehand but when we do not do that, we lie. Talking of experiencing circumstances makes me remember a circumstance which forced me to lie. It was a fast paced evening just as any other day in Mumbai; full of people with no time in hand running haphazardly. I and my friend Amey arrive at Thane railway station. There was a huge queue for tickets. We were short of two things; tickets and time. To save time we skipped tickets. We were so unaware that after 30 minutes at Bandra railway station, even the ticket collector will skip all o...

Print Ad 'Key' for Road Safety in Brazil In the first Global Status Report on Road Safety (2009), the World Health Organization (WHO) identified road accidents as the “biggest killers” across the world, which will assume an endemic proposition by 2030. It also recognized that more people die in road accidents in India than anywhere else in the world. In their second edition, The Global status report on road safety (2013 )  confirmed that road traffic injuries remain an important public health problem despite progress in a number of countries including India. About 1.24 million people die each year on the world's roads. Each year nearly 400 000 people under 25 die on the world’s roads – on average more than 1000 a day. The report estimates that more than 231000 people are killed in road traffic crashes in India every year. These are solid statistics which shout out to us to think seriously about a topic which is otherwise neglected -  Road Safety ....

Source: The NY Times The scene starts with camera focus on the floor. A man comes walking on the plush granite flooring. The focus is still on the floor. Black leather shoes polished perfectly to shine just as much needed. As the camera moves upwards we could see the trousers that are plain, elegant and pressed to roll out even the smallest crease on the fabric. The left hand is in his trouser pocket and the right hand is still not visible in the frame. Shirt neatly tucked in, full sleeves, straight collar and matched the trousers. An outfit that will make the women turn their heads; that will make even a man envious. As the camera moves further up, the excitement amongst the audience increases. As the camera finally reaches his face the audience is disappointed or perhaps disgusted. After such a brilliantly groomed entry, the audience least expected a man with his hand on his cheek, scratching his shabby beard. The man is Amit Puri and the audience are my classmates from my...

Children teach us a lot. Their innocent and curious souls may throw light at things that you may have never thought of. Childhood memories are pleasant. I was a slow learner as a child but learning slow was fun. We didn’t have that inner voice telling us constantly that we have to score well in exams. All came at a constant pace and came naturally. What helped was the tunes and actions associated with the rhymes. The actions were not mere face gestures and little hand movements; they included running at one place, jumping, laughing and clapping too. I loved this particular rhyme: If you are happy and you know it, clap your hands. Watch the video below, Clapping, jumping and saying hurray with whole heart was so much fun. I remember the last day of school - Class 10 in 2004, we decided to revisit this rhyme amongst others. The entire class sang the rhyme; clapped, stamped and said hurray till the time our teachers interfered and stopped us! There is a very famous s...

Akshay Patra's Google+ page After 67 years of Independence, a child born in India is still unsure of getting adequate food and apposite education. Who is to blame is the second question; the first question is what are we doing to change the picture? An underprivileged child in India has work to get him and his family fed thereby compromising for his education. During the work, he may be battered to work out of his limits and even assaulted physically. The young heart may not even know what is going on with him; such is the state where helplessness forces a child into illiteracy and never come out of it.”Paapi pet ka sawaal hai“; the hungry stomach forces a man to do things that are not always honest. But we cannot hide behind proverbs to justify what is wrong.  A hungry child van choose anything; lets help him choose the right. Government should invest more into Education in the rural areas. Steps should be taken to ensure that no middlemen come into picture and the f...

November Ekadashi || एनर्जी आत्मा वगैरे मंडळी कधीच बदलत नाही फक्त रूप बदलते, ह्यातून त्यात त्यातून ह्यात || After delivering a bunch of superhit marathi movies like Lai Bhaari, Duniyadari, Kaaksparsh, Natarang, Essel Vision has come up with a sweet children oriented movie set in Pandharpur. The film gets its timing right with its release date on Children’s Day and just after Kartik Ekadashi. Paresh Mokashi of Harishchandrachi Factory fame strikes a chord with the next generation with a group of talented kids in the movie. Shrirang, Sayali, Pushkar playing Dnyana, Zendu and Ganya respectively act so effortlessly that it almost feels that they have lived the characters from birth. Dnyana’s family has a loan to pay off. The bank guys snatch the sweater weaving machine, which is the only source of income, as mortgage. However, the bank gives them a deal – Pay Rs. 5000, take the machine back and the interest will also be waived off. But 5000 is a huge amount for them...

God is a Gamer  is authored by Ravi Subramanian (ISBN: 978-0143421399) published by Penguin; First edition (12 September 2014) The USP The world’s first bitcoin thriller introduces the reader to the world of bitcoins or online money; money which requires no middlemen or payment gateways and no banks! They are used to buy merchandise anonymously. The bitcoin founder goes by the screen name of Satoshi Nakamoto. Cotton Trail is an online store where all the illegal drugs are available anonymously. The buyers’ identity will not be revealed. The Characters The author uses real companies and individual names in his story; Vodafone, MasterCard International, VISA, WikiLeaks, Julian Assange and even Satoshi Nakamoto.  Swami and Sundeep are colleagues mentored by Aditya Rao who is a legend in the Indian Banking Industry. Aditya goes on to start his own company eTIOS which is a BPO and Indiscape which is an online web browser based gaming software. Varun and T...

When a child is born into a family, there is a wave of excitement that keeps the entire family cheerful. The happiness is infectious. The baby is the centre of attraction. Every day starts and ends with the baby. Some days don't even end when the baby decides to spoil everyone's sleep by crying his heart out. Such a wave was in our family when Mr. and Mrs. Fernandes had their first child - Ronald. Ronald is 13 now. About twelve years ago, Ronald's typical day started off by crying. He might have felt like he has arrived into a completely different universe when he woke up; or he might probably be freaked out when he asked himself this simple question and failed to answer it - Where was I until now? Ronald was a healthy child and feeding him was never a problem. While aunties in other houses would think of different ideas just get a morsel through their little one's mouth, Fernandes aunty would finish off her job sitting in one place because Ronald did not do any...

Source: Flickr Chapter One “Didn’t you read the board up there?” the police hawaldaar questioned as he pushed Ankur towards the police van. It was 2 ‘o clock in the morning. Ankur and Venkat were drunk and were moving towards the sea. The shore was slippery so they stopped. Venkat spotted a police van patrolling near the shore. The van was far. ”Throw your bottle away!” Venkat, not in the best of his senses, alerted Ankur as he saw the van stop. Two police hawaldaars came out with torches in their hand. They were shouting something but nothing could be heard due the murmuring breeze on the shore. The two boys decided not to run and started walking towards the policemen. “Let’s go to the police station friends, it’s time for inquiry.” a police hawaldaar held Ankur’s hand and grunted in his ears. “Sir, please leave us. We have done nothing wrong.” Venkat interfered. “It’s written that no one should enter the beach after 11 p.m. Are you i...

According to the Global Consumer Banking Survey 2014 by Ernst and Young, over 70% of the respondents used Internet banking and almost 50% used mobile banking versus a mere 36% who used branch banking. Banking is already online. We have internet banking, mobile banking and app based banking services. What’s new is that you can now be friends with your bank. Kotak Jifi is a new age banking advancement that has given banking a new perspective – social banking. Jifi is just like any social networking site. It’s comfortable and easy to use. The innovative minds at Kotak Mahindra have given a new face to banking where users can access bank details just a tweet away. Jifi is a zero balance current account with features that ease banking.  Banking is now social. No Minimum Balance Balance-free accounts. No need to worry about the maintaining a minimum balance in the account. Social Banking Tweet based banking Once you connect your Jifi acco...

Black is the most misinterpreted of all the colours.  It is unfortunate that this colour is often seen negatively due to unjustified reasons related to superstition, racism and culture.  Black signifies mystery, sophistication and elegance.  When combined with other colours, it not only enhances the aspects of the other colour but also improves the entire visual. A woman in a traditional saree looks even more beautiful when she adorns a black bindi; a child looks even more innocent when his mother smudges black kohl on his cheek. Black is beautiful and has always been popular with the designers; be it from the fashion, automobile or the consumer electronics industry. These are the five best things in black that I would love to possess and cherish.. Range Rover Evoque Source: Evoque This beast on four wheels is the classiest machine in black. It has an outstanding design and the black colour demands nothing but respect. Sony Wearable HDTV ...