Ignite Hyderabad Volume #5 - A night full of ideas

Hello Biryani Lovers!

If you're in Hyderabad on July, 6 come join me for a night full of ideas to get enlightened and take back home a bag full of awesomeness.

The video below shall help you learn what Ignite really is about. 

Like our Facebook page or follow our twitter handle or use #ignitehyd in your tweets.
Most importantly, do not forget to register for the event. Remember it is FREE event, and we've had all of our events housefull. Make sure you reach before/on time.


Come say Hello! to me, I'd love to meetup. :)
 

We do not remember days, we remember moments - Happy Birthday Lamakaan

roaming aimlessly

It was the third year of my Engineering and I used to keep roaming around the city especially in the night for the strange traditions my friends and I sub-consciously followed and the gypsies we were. On one such day a friend of mine promised me to take me to an unexplored street where we could chat and spend time surrounded by darkness and absolute solace. When I reached the place which was referred to as "THE SPOT", it didn't haunt me as I previously imagined by it's description, the street although very dark was very serene and had no movement at all. The busy main road was a few hundred meters away, but this street was absolutely deserted.

The lane had nothing but big houses which apparently had no inhabitants. Our SPOT gave us nothing but the shade of two trees and a pavement on which we could sit and a pole, the box attached to which served as a hiding place for anything that anyone wanted to keep.

We were all in love with the place and it didn't take long for all of us to make it a common meeting point. There was this deserted house right in front of our SPOT which was dusty and we never saw any sort of movement in it. We presumed it to be one of the many houses of the Nizam's family in Hyderabad.

One fine night, when we reached the SPOT, we were shunned to see a lot of people there dressed in their best and this Nizami looking house was all overhauled and decorated with lights. There were cars parked in large numbers outside and some sort of a musical gathering going on inside the house. We had absolutely no idea as to what was happening.
One of them suggested, it probably is a SWEARING IN sort of ceremony that Indian's tend to conduct whilst moving in to a new house. We weren't much bothered by this unusual activity and moved on.

After a week, I got to know about a poetry event in the city and I made my mind to attend it. It was at some place called Lamakaan and I had no clue where it was or what it was. When I reached the venue after following the given directions I was pleasantly surprised to know what Lamakaan was. The rest is history now. Since then it is a step house for me and you can find me at Lamakaan almost every single evening and yeah the weekends are also included.

So, what exactly is Lamakaan ?:

the three musketeers

It is a talent incubator, an art nourisher, a social hub, a place to unleash your creative best and it is the 'in thing' these days. It is also referred to as an abode for the homeless and it belongs to everyone and anyone.  Besides having a Irani cafe themed lounge, it also has a open space with a stage and a screen, that can accommodate 150-200 people. The best thing about Lamakaan is that you get to host your events for free,   you get to meet loads of interesting people, surf free internet, have some awesome samosas and chai and do what you love while loving whatever you do (*of course conditions apply).

Mr. Ashhar Farhaan, nephew of the documentary film-maker late Janab M Hassan made Lamakaan what it is as a tribute to his uncle. It's been a year that Lamakaan was born and it has grown so well in such a short term. My best wishes with Lamakaan and its curators. Lamakaan has a long long and a very long life to live and serve as a home to the homeless. Also, there is quite a background to the word 'Lamakaan', if Sufism interests you, you might want to research more as to what it exactly refers to.

Three things you should do at Lamakaan:

lamakaan

1. Have samosa's and chai every single time you step in.
2. Host your own event, at least once.
3. Make loads of friends from a panoramic background.

Three things you shouldn't do at Lamakaan:
1. Smoke while an event is going on.
2. Have a BIG bill pending with the restaurant.
3. Step-in without a Wi-Fi enabled device.

Three things you must've noticed at Lamakaan:
1. The glaring white gate with Lamakaan written on it.

chandelier in the hall

2. A big dish antenna on the terrace.
3. The small little pond beneath the stairs of Lamakaan's rare entrace.

Three things you must not have noticed at Lamakaan:
1. The balcony railings have triple 'S' inscribed right in the middle.
2. The wall tiles towards the entrance of the hall (upstairs) have Arabic text.
3. The walls behind the stage are painted Black.

So, if you happen to be someone who was unaware of this place, please click here and know more about it and what goes on here. Let's catch up!

Woah! This turned out to be my lengthiest post on this blog.

I would leave you with a couplet by Hazrat Shah Niaz,
Hum ko yahaan dar dar phiraaya Yaar ne,
Lamakaan mein ghar banaaya Yaar ne.

Someone asked what's my favorite day

And that's how everyday becomes a new day for me.

I INTEND ©

It's been a fortnight since every man celebrated his birthday with the dawn of a new year and everything is still the way it was. There's inflation everywhere, people are sick, nation's in a crisis and what not. On the new year's eve however we were in a pretense and  celebrations, get to-gethers, resolutions became a part of this package. I personally do not believe in resolutions, especially those of the New Year's. I happen to celebrate every day as a new day and scheming about the future doesn't often yield anything constructive. However, upon being questioned and forced to tell my resolution if I were to ever make one, I thought of describing it lyrically and what best way to express it than with a poem. So, the below is a resolution of mine if i were ever to make one. It's been titles I INTEND.

poems i will write

that are short, happy and bright

books i will read

about love, morals and speed

words i will talk

sans pretence, prejudice and mock

songs i will listen

of rock, country and fusion

kind i will act

with joy, devotion and tact.

MNP : Mulling Network Providers

It's been quite a while that the bug of Mobile Number Portability has bit the ever growing Indian Mobile service users. It’s been done in a nemerous different ways in different nations. With TRAI launching MNP in Haryana in the past months, it's become a reality and the talk of the town for Indians.

So what exactly is MNP and how does it work? Does it allow me to retain my number? Can i opt for an exclusive service with other operator? can i change my location but retain my number? These and many such questions have been around since MNP was first talked about TRAI. 

MNP apparently is a process that has something in store for everyone. Be it the network providers or the lucky users. It entitles the subscribers with the freedom to choose from operators based on various criteria like the quality of services, pricing, customer service etc.

Indian Netork provides have been crying foul over MNP for this very reason. Although it provides a level ground for all the operators to compete, there seems to be reluctance though.

with MNP you can transfer from one mobile operator to another without having to change your number and this can happen in a single circle only and not across circles.  And the biggest misconception; MNP is not provided by MOBILE OPERATORS but by TRAI and DoT. The process for the consumer is very easy but is pretty tough on the backend wherein all the algorithms need to be properly tuned in so as to allow the interchanging of networks.  Telecom operators are already geared up and have been marketing about the PLUS sides of joining their network with Vodafone being the latest with their 'world is our playground' jingle. 

A brief infographic about working of MNP

A random survey depicting the reasons of customers who'd opt for MNP.

For more information about the porting codes, do's and dont's of MNP and other info please click ☛ ⓂⓃⓅ  or visit respective Mobile Operator's websites and check  what they have to save in their justification, click on the names to go to the respective websites.
AIRTEL     
Vodafone       
Idea                 
Uninor           
Tata DOCOMO  

 MNP  however has already been launched in Haryana  and TRAI claims to make it available in all other Indian states by January 20th, 2011. Let's see what's in store. 

The Sounds of Happy New Year in different languages:

Do you know how  Happy New Year is pronounced differently in different regions and funny/melodious different languages. Given below is a brief list as to how HAPPY NEW YEAR is wished in some of the well-known languages.

 
Arabic: Kul 'aam u antum salimoun
Brazilian: Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo means "Good Parties and Happy New Year"
Chinese: Chu Shen Tan
Czechoslavakia: Scastny Novy Rok
Dutch: Gullukkig Niuw Jaar
Finnish: Onnellista Uutta Vuotta
French: Bonne Annee
German: Prosit Neujahr
Greek: Eftecheezmaenos o Kaenooryos hronos
Hebrew: L'Shannah Tovah Tikatevu
Hindi: Naya Saa Moobaarak
Irish (Gaelic): Bliain nua fe mhaise dhuit
Italian: Buon Capodanno
Khmer: Sua Sdei tfnam tmei
Laotian: Sabai dee pee mai
Polish: Szczesliwego Nowego Roku
Portuguese: Feliz Ano Novo
Russian: S Novim Godom
Serbo-Croatian: Scecna nova godina
Spanish: Feliz Ano Neuvo or Prospero Ano Nuevo
Turkish: Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Vietnamese: Cung-Chuc Tan-Xuan

Celebrate but remember " To be always at war with your vices and at peace with your neighbors. Let each passing year find you become a better man"

Palestinian film-festival in Hyderabad

Whenever we or atleast I, hear the words Gaza or Palestine or Hamas all that my active neurons make my brain think is about the plight of Palestinians and the unlawful, inhuman policies of Israel. However, let me not go in to all that. I am so very joyful 'cos the people of Hyderabad are in for an unusual artistic treat for a whole three days. The 3-day film festival as you can see from the poster showcases multiple films for and by Palestinians.

I believe this is a rare opportunity for me and fellow Hyderabadis as we do not normally download or get to see such movies. My submission to you is to move away for a short little while from the cliched Holly and Bollywood flicks and relish and appreciate the works of the people who didn't let their political and societal restrictions inhibiti their artistic brilliance.

Let's appreciate these splendid movies and leave home with a reality check and let's allow our rational minds to ponder if everything is really alright in this beautiful world that we all are breathing in!

social netwroking: improves our lives/is our life

I've been using all kinds of social networking sites for as long as I can remember. I am not an addict though! I see all kinds of people attempting to get social and vocal in the public eye. There are wannabe-wannabes, serious attention seekers, profile fakers, stalkers, some just experiment, some use it as it is supposed to be used, some don't really use it but have profiles set up, while some advertise and educate others. The pros and cons of such usage can be debated endlessly in the paradoxic discussion. I don't know or care what category you belong to, but i thought of sharing some of my views that were formed several months back when twitter was about to become the new facebook. 

There are two versions of it.

1. This is the first and shorter one called simply as 'TWEET'

I tweet, I buzz, I poke, I scrap, I text.

You tweet? 1/10th of the world tweets.

Birds? They tweet no more in our ‘concrete’ jungles.

Mr.Tharoor tweets, SRK tweets, Rahul tweets.

LP tweets, Mtv tweets, Federer tweets.

They all tweet?

Birds? They only tweet hesitantly in the rains of vanishing AMAZON.

2. The second rather long version is called 'Breathe offline? Live online?'

You tweet, You buzz, You poke,

You scrap, You blog, You text.

You laugh, You ridicule, You praise,

You tease, You propose, You hate.

What about me?

You change status updates,

You enter chat rooms,

You change profile pics,

You add new friends,

Ignore/block some.

You comment on links,

Day in and day out.

As if a patient, You consider them pills.

You debate, You fight, You plead, You reject.

FB is cool? Orkut is chic? Hi5 is great?

You pen testimonials, You leave offlines,

You skip meals, you delay nature’s call, you ignore chores.

Aren’t you living online?

You have ‘m’ number of avatars on ‘n’ number of networks.

But does that yield anything constructive?

May be, May be not.

You have neither power, nor fame, nor money

Ready at your disposal.

happy networking..........................^_^

Help at standby

It was a day like any other and I was just in time at work. I was going upstairs towards my cubicle when I saw this really pretty girl waiting near the elevator. I instantly developed certain liking for her. Hold on.... I am not going to talk about the girl alright? When I noticed that she was on a wheel chair which a probable friend of hers was pushing, I couldn't help but thank God for being fortunate to be able to take the flight of stairs. I forgot everything after the time that followed and got busy rushing towards the deadlines. When I was leaving office for home in the evening, I passed the same elevator and it reminded me of the same pretty lady in the wheel chair. On my way back steering through the busy roads, suffocating in the pollution I was thinking and hard as to how the day of that girl would typically be. 

We all have certain jobs and chores to perform on a daily basis, even the jobless folks generally schedule and device methods for slaughtering time. We all generally wake up early; check our inboxes, ready ourselves for the office or for school or whatever not to mention other important activities of the morning. All of the actions are carried out with a constant eye on the seconds hand and then we steer our way through the busy roads so that we do not end up getting late. During weekends we either stay late in the bed or hang out with friends from dawn to dusk or just spend it with our charmed ones. The bottom line is, we can call ourselves independent at least physically. But, do we ever ponder about a very mundane question? How would our lives and weekends be if we were physically challenged? Even the slightest of such thoughts give me goose bumps. I would prefer dying to sitting on a chair for my entire life. I do not know if the girl because of whom i am writing this is disabled by birth or an accident may have been the cause. It really doesn't matter. Does it? The fact remains that you can’t ride, can’t walk, can’t play, can’t enjoy, and can’t even do your personal stuff alone. Your whole life would be a compromise and all you’d get is sympathies from others. You need help at standby all the time. I wonder if I was her how would my thought process be. Would I be able to respect my own self? Would I whine all the time and hate God hate myself and hate everyone else? Had I been in that pretty lady’s chair, I wouldn’t have been so courageous to stand shoulder to shoulder with normal folks and excel. It takes a special kind of courage to shine when God has been partial towards you. You become specially-abled and give a reason for normal people like me to get inspired from. Hats off to all those who gather such guts albeit facing grave challenges. May GOD bless you all with more courage and successes!

Why don't we accept defeat and move on learning from its bitterness?

We all go through life and it's strange advancements, which at times take a toll at our courage. We all have days, days which are good with moments of joy, days filled with entertainment and joy, days of leisure and then we also face days which are ugly, bad and at times worse. Everybody at one instance or another faced all of them installment by installment. And I of course don't claim to be different and my experiences are similar to any sane person of this planet but i strongly believe  that things that fail to kill you, only make you stronger and yeah I also am of the notion that dread is only the absence of courage. 

I can't justify this, but I thought of discussing some quotes that I liked very much, so that it could instill some courage and hope within me and those reading. You can also add any quotes  that you like or desire to share.

"In moments of discouragement, defeat, or even despair, there are always certain things to cling to. Little things usually: remembered laughter, the face of a sleeping child, a tree in the wind-in fact, any reminder of something deeply felt or dearly loved'. - Anonymous

No man is so poor as not to have many of these small candles. When they are lighted, darkness goes away-and a touch of wonder remains." - Anonymous

"All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me . . . You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you." -Walt Disney

 "After all these years, I am still involved in the process of self-discovery. It's better to explore life and make mistakes than to play it safe. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life." -Sophia Loren

 "Whenever someone sorrows, I do not say, "forget it," or "it will pass," or "it could be worse" -- all of which deny the integrity of the painful experience. But I say, to the contrary, "It is worse than you may allow yourself to think. Delve into the depth. Stay with the feeling. Think of it as a precious source of knowledge and guidance. Then and only then will you be ready to face it and be transformed in the process." -Peter Koestenbaum

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it." - anonymous

To completely trust in God is to be like a child who knows deeply that even if he does not call for the mother, the mother is totally aware of his condition and is looking after him.–Imam Al Ghazali

 It’s good to leave each day behind, like flowing water, free of sadness. Yesterday is gone and its tale told. Today new seeds are growing.–Rumi