My schmoopie Natty is growing… 
Filed under Uncrunched …
Enjoying fatherhood
Enjoying fatherhood… will be back soon
11.11.11: Natty
A new addition has sprouted into our family. We’re very chuffed and blessed to become new parents of a beautiful little baby boy “Natty”. We are thrilled to introduce
Shalom Keshet
born 11.11.11 at 2:55 am
Weighing 6 pounds and Measuring 19 inches.
Overwhelmed with joy,
Aira & Rakesh
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* The meaning of “Natty” is “God has given” – Smart, Good and Cool baby.
** The meaning of Shalom is “peace” and Keshet means “rainbow”.
I think Flipcart perfectly fits the Indian mentality
“I don’t like Window Shopping. Do you know why?”
“I tell you, Why?”
“Number 1. It’s boring.”
“Number 2. I get tired.”
“Number 3. Just wandering aimlessly through shops full of people, I hate that.”
“Number 4. It is sad that have no cash for clothes which I want, so the pauver time were totally wasted.”
A few years ago, when I wanted to buy something online, only Amazon or Ebay name used to pop up in my mind first. Now there are many online retailer sites. On Amazon, when I order, I always paid extra for faster shipping. For example, I ordered something that costs $10 but I had to pay $9 extra for shipping to be delivered.
On eBay, whenever I find something to buy, the product is available on eBay India but not for the same price. There are many products are available in eBay US or other international eBay sites like eBay UK, Australia, etc but the same products you won’t get on eBay India. Due to this reason, many times I drop the idea to buy something from these sites I am looking for. Sometimes, I ordered something but it never reached (later they refunded the money).
Then I heard the name “Flipcart.com” a online retailer of books, electronics, music, etc. I ordered a book – “Stay Hungry Stay Foolish” by Rashmi Bansal (the words “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish” was used by Steve Jobs in 2005 at Stanford University when he was addressing to students).
WOW! I got the book in less than 24 hours. I was completely surprised to see the service Flipcart provided. It was an amazing experience I had. First time I was impressed by an Indian online book retailer site.
The first and best thing I like about flipkart is their prompt of delivery. They provide more choices of products – an excellent collection in terms of books. hey are growing their collection of books, electronics, music, gadgets, etc. The discover-ability of products are also exceptional. Flipkart provide good pricing compared to its competitors. They provide convenient payment options like Flipkart here offer you Cash on Delivery, Net banking and even through your debit card provide EMI to their loyal customers. Flipkart site design is clean, cool and very friendly. Flipkart packs the products in a good manner whether it is book or electronics. Also, their customer Service is awesome.
I would not be shopping again from Amazon.com until Amazon India will be opened here. I now shops on India’s answer to Amazon and eBay — FlipKart.com — which delivers books, phones and other items in as little as 24 hours at no extra cost. I don’t need to pay Flipkart a single penny until a courier bearing his books arrives at my door. Now when I order something on Flipkart I opt the Net banking as a mode of payment – it’s very convenient for me.
“I think Flipcart perfectly fits the Indian mentality.”
While dozens of electronic commerce firms have recently sprung up to capitalize on India’s growing Internet use, they have a problem. Indians are not yet comfortable with shopping on the Web. Many of them remain unwilling to use credit cards online. So the Indian retailers have gone to great lengths to gain customers. Customers may pay in cash on delivery, and the company fields delivery squads to ensure shipments get to customers quickly.
Online sales still make up a small portion of overall retail spending — one estimate pegs it at $10 billion, a tiny fraction of India’s $500 billion retail market — but they are growing fast.
FlipKart says it had revenue of 500 million rupees ($11 million) in its last fiscal year, and is now clocking sales of about 10 million rupees a day.
“This time it is for real,” said Kishore Biyani, the founder and chief executive of the Future Group, referring to an earlier wave of e-commerce euphoria in the early 2000s. “This is the biggest thing to happen in India.”
That rapid growth has drawn the attention of venture capitalists who poured $183 million into 20 e-commerce firms in the last 12 months, up from $61 million for 13 firms in the previous 12 months, according to Venture Intelligence, a research firm.
The rapid growth has also attracted the notice of American online retailers. Amazon, which has a software development office in Bangalore, is now building a warehouse and hiring employees for an Indian site, according to two industry officials.
But, like in frothy Silicon Valley, some Indian analysts and investors are starting to question the frenzied deal-making. These skeptics find it difficult to justify the high prices venture capitalists are paying to invest in unprofitable Indian e-commerce firms. For instance, VCCircle, a news site, recently reported that FlipKart may soon raise $150 million, which would give it a $1 billion valuation.
India has 50 million to 100 million Internet users, according to various analysts, and the number is growing by about 30 percent a year. JuxtConsult, a New Delhi-based research firm, estimates that 17 million people bought something online this year, up from 10 million last year. The Indian government estimates that household consumption has increased by more than two-thirds in the last five years, and most of that increase has come in the purchase of nonfood items.
“It seems to be more for real than a flash in the pan,” said Kanwaljit Singh, who is a senior managing director at Helion Advisors, which has invested in about a half-dozen Indian e-commerce sites, including MakeMyTrip.
But capitalizing on India’s growth online will not be easy. Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal (who are not related), the founders of FlipKart, have had to do things that their American or European counterparts would never have. They have set up delivery operations in 13 big Indian cities like Bangalore, Mumbai and New Delhi because Indian shippers do not have the delivery and package-tracking abilities that FedEx and U.P.S. provide for its American customers. They plan to expand FlipKart’s delivery network to 25 cities within a year.
Sachin Bansal, the company’s chief executive, said that by having its own staff, FlipKart avoids paying courier services’ commissions of more than 2 percent to accept cash on delivery, which make up about 60 percent of its orders. It can also track packages more accurately. And because labor costs are relatively low in India, its delivery cost is a modest $1 a package.
“More than 90 percent of retail transactions in India are in cash,” Mr. Bansal said. “People like my dad and my uncle, they are much more comfortable with cash. If we have to increase our customer base, we have to accept cash.”
FlipKart is not alone in tweaking its model to suit Indian conditions. Myntra, an online retailer of clothes, has a delivery staff in Bangalore and plans to hire couriers in other cities.
Consumers and suppliers laud FlipKart’s service and execution. But they expect the company to soon face greater competition, especially if Amazon starts an Indian operation. “Today they are the best,” said Ananth Padmanabhan, vice president for sales at Penguin India. But, he asked, “if Amazon comes here next month, and they might, what will FlipKart do?”
An Amazon spokesman, Craig Berman, declined to comment on the company’s plans for India, but Mr. Padmanabhan said Amazon officials have been holding talks with publishers, and another industry official said the retailer has begun hiring employees for an Indian site.
The Bansals say they are prepared for competition from Amazon. Sachin Bansal, who worked with Binny Bansal as a software developer at Amazon before starting FlipKart, brushed aside a suggestion that the firm would make for an easy acquisition by Amazon.
“We are very keen on going our own way,” he said. “The opportunity is so large that we would want to grow it to a much bigger level before we think of anything.”
Apple Announces Plans to Release Steve Jobs 2.0
Jobs’ death has inspired an outpouring of grief from fans of iProducts the world over, the Onion hasn’t shied away from adding its own spin to the mass-appreciations and tributes to the beloved tech giant.
Headlines for videos and articles on the Onion carry such doozies as “Last Bastion of U.S. Economy Succumbs to Pancreatic Cancer,” “Apple User Acting Like His Dad Died” and “Last American Who Knew What the Fuck He Was Doing Dies.”
Most provocative of all is a web video entitled “Apple Announces Plans to Release Steve Jobs 2.0”
In many ways, the jokes inside are relatively tame, leaving most of the shock humor to the titles.
Among the flaws that Jobs 2.0 is supposed to fix, for instance, is the old Jobs habit of wearing “dad jeans.” The fresher model will sport a “sleek new white turtleneck” and a “richer, deeper voice.”
That hasn’t stopped some from failing to find the humor in the Onion’s Jobs jokes. Business Insider CEO and Editor-in-Chief Henry Blodget slammed the piece.
“Does anyone else NOT think this is funny? I think tasteless RT The Onion: Apple Announces Plans To Release Steve Jobs 2.0,” Blodget tweeted.
Others, such as the New Yorker, have also tried to inject a little levity into Jobs’ passing. The cover of this week’s magazine has Jobs being greeted at the pearly gates by an iPad wielding St. Peter, but that kind of humor is more aggrandizing than it is savage.
It’s not the first time, nor will it be the last, that the Onion has found itself in the position of trying to be funny about a tragic event. After all, their first New York issue after the company moved from Madison, Wisconsin to the big apple was originally scheduled to be published on September 11, 2001.
The terrorist attacks of 9/11 pushed that date back, but even as the country was still reeling from the carnage, the Onion’s editors still managed to find the funny. Among the now classic headlines — “Highjackers Surprised to Find Selves in Hell.”
Looking back on it nearly a decade later, Onion writer John Krewson told Yahoo that the issue was “cathartic.”
Jobs death certainly isn’t on the scale of 9/11, but the makeshift memorials at Apple stores and the tributes that flooded Facebook and Twitter demonstrate that people across the globe felt a deep kinship with him.
Will the Onion prove that laughter is the best medicine for grief?
Update: Watch Jobs 2.0 by The Onion News Network
Does Steve Jobs’s failings as a father affect his legacy?
Metro Parent wrote about Jobs:
At the time of his death, Apple innovator Steve Jobs was collaborating with Pulitzer Prize-nominated writer and former Time magazine editor Walter Isaacson on a tell-all biography. The book, which is on the publishing fast track as a result of the technology pioneer’s death, will be released on Oct. 24.
It’s hardly a surprise since Apple devotees are certainly keen to get deeper insight into someone many are calling this generation’s Thomas Edison. Instead, according to Isaacson, Jobs was hoping the book would give his own kids a better insight into their father since he was rarely home.
“I wanted my kids to know me,” Isaacson quoted Jobs as saying in their final interview at Jobs’ home in California. “I wasn’t always there for them and I wanted them to know why and to understand what I did.”
It’s sad to think that any father – whether he’s an inventor or something else – would have to rely on someone or something to tell his kids who he was. Isn’t that what we are supposed to do every day as parents when we spend time with our children? Through those moments of driving them to school, playing board games or telling bedtime stories, we learn about our children and they learn about us.
And yet even though he acknowledges he was never father of the year to the three children he had with wife Laurene Powell Jobs. Laurene got her MBA from Stanford, cofounded Terravera, a natural foods manufacturer that delivers organic foods to over 300 retailers in Northern California. She is currently the cofounder and President of College Track, an afterschool college preparatory program for under-resourced high school students. At least he acknowledged they were his children.
In what is probably his most character-indicting biographical factoid, at age 23, Jobs had a child with high school girlfriend Chrisann Brennan that he denied was his. His child, Lisa, and her mother were on welfare even after he’d become wealthy, and yet he continued to deny paternity of Lisa and refused to help support her. He even went so far as to sign a court document that it was impossible for Lisa to be his child because he was sterile. Clearly, that wasn’t true, since he had three children later in life. Jobs did come around to recognize Lisa as his child when she was 6. According to Lisa, she became more a part of her father’s life in her teenage years. Lisa Brennan-Jobs is now 33 years old, and is a Harvard graduate and writer.
Steve Jobs’s epic fail as family man also made him a clueless employer when it comes to family balance. He was often cited as a tough boss who thought little of requiring his employees to work hours hardly conducive to raising a family.
“You’d be surprised how hard people work around here,” Jobs said in a 2004 interview with Businessweek. “They work nights and weekends, sometimes not seeing their families for a while. Sometimes people work through Christmas to make sure the tooling is just right at some factory in some corner of the world so our product comes out the best it can be.”
No doubt Steve Jobs’s dedication as an innovator, creator and entrepreneur is admirable, notable and exceptional. When it comes to technology and business, he taught us a lot. But as a father and as family man he was the one who had a lot to learn. Apparently, there was no app for that.
Fun @Zomato
Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep… when I was a kid, every morning I would hear this beeps of the alarm clock, it was so annoying me. I used to say – Mom, gimme five more minutes! I don’t wanna go to school today! It’s so early! “Gimme 5″. Later I formed a group of five friends called “Gimme 5 Gang”.
Recently, one of my friends from the “Gimme 5 Gang” updated his status on facebook – Zomato.com and ME. I asked, what’s this? .. Is Zomato or your GF or something else? Then he posted his comment in reply of this question – it’s restaurant guide. You can search for the best local restaurants and places to eat. It’s the original restaurant guide offering thousands of restaurant listings in your local area. Find the best restaurants in your area.
Are you joining Zomato? He said – YES. WOW! it’s great to hear this. So it was obvious – TREAT TO BANTA HAI BUDDY! He has to join Zomato in Bangalore. But most friends of our gang are living in Delhi. We “Gimme 5 Gang” – decided a “hang out” day and spot – it was 5 Sept. He agreed to have a big party in GK2.
I posted a wall “Stay with Gimme 5 Gang, Stay with Fun!” on facebook and the same I posted in our circle on Google+ too and mentioned that – if anyone has any suggestions for good restaurants in GK2, please ping us or leave a message here.
Before 5 Aug he has to reach Delhi. We were five guys… everyone started wondering a good restaurant in GK or nearby this area. The friend who has to host the party is living in Bangalore. But the party would be organized in Delhi. We all five guys started searching for a good restaurant in GK, Delhi. You know why we chose GK as location for this party – because we used to be hangout here in our college days.
Phew! Foolish thing is – I forgot the name of organization which my friend will be joining shortly. It happens sometimes, when you hear a strange name for the first time. I started googling for “Restaurants in Delhi” .. I clicked through the results pages returned by Google. When I gave a look on the title and description of returned results. I saw one of top ten results with unique title “Zomato” – I liked this name at first and as I clicked on this and saw the site – a word came from my mouth – WOW! – THAT’s what I was looking for.
When I opened this site it seemed so impressive.. I just said… WOW!. I love food and going in fun parties. I was very excited for this party. I started navigating Zomato.com homepage. At first, I was thinking of whether it’s a restaurant or something else. Then I saw text “EXPLORE restaurants by locality in your city” on top of the front page. I thought.. Zomato might have many branches in different locations as there was mentioned metro and other cities name on top of the site: Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Jaipur, Ahmedabad & Chandigarh.
As I’m from Delhi that’s why I clicked “Delhi NCR” link, a page opened – it was appearing on the page: “Featured User”, “Reviews Events at Restaurants”, “Our Editors”, etc in the middle of the page. I started scrolling down… I found that the site containing web pages like “From Our Blog”, “From Our Newsletter Crunch”, “Hot Restaurants Today”, “Newly Added Menus”.
As I kept scrolling down through the page, the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android apps I saw at right and says – Zomato.com provides apps for smartphones. I said to myself – Cool product!… As we know, with the world going more mobile, finding that restaurant.. I was happy to see that Zomato.com is smartphone friendly. Well…at first, what came in my mind, it would be a restaurant but later I realized that it’s not a restaurant listing site only but more than that.
For long time I was searching website related to this kind information i am very happy to find it here. As usual, I started playing with this site. As I scrolled down the page. I found that it is mentioned “17,800 listed restaurant”, “1,627 foodies online now”, “1,063,957 foodies served in August”, “8,547,360 foodies served till date”, “Popular on Zomato – Delhi NCR” and more… After giving a look on these pages it has been confirmed that Zomato is a local restaurant finder guide. After navigating to other pages in Zomato.com, I found that it’s a complete Restaurant Guide and currently serves Ten major cities in India – Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Kolkata, Bangalore, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur & Chandigarh. The website currently lists over 17,800 restaurants and featured menus for restaurants listed on the website. As per recent press reports, Zomato claims that it gets more than a million customers on its website.
Zomato has the first local restaurants search iPhone, Android and BlackBerry application in India. Cool features!! After seeing its all features it was confirmed that we don’t need to google every time for good restaurant. I thought, why not first I install the Zomato BlackBerry app on my device – I installed it and started browsing restaurant names and read the reviews of few restaurants wrote by guests, what type, style or cuisine they’re serving, whether they provides live music or not….offer a wide selection of liquors, beers and wines as well as non-alcoholic beverages and punches. And also checked – what kind of other services listed restaurants are providing to its customers. I found listed a good range of restaurants on the site. Once you started using it, I am sure you will fall in love with it.
As much as staying with Zomato.com site or its smartphone app you will find some many good restaurants in your local area where people can go to enjoy different styles of food in various atmospheres that are interesting and intriguing. I just started dreaming about the party we planned .. we are in a party and having great fun with live music and dance…. 
Now it came time to decide on a restaurant for a group dinner (party of five – Gimme 5 gang) in GK locality where we can organize a party in our style.
I opened Zomato.com and clicked DINE-OUT option under EXPLORE, as it selected this, it appeared an additional option – check option “Search for restaurants in 4 / 5 star hotels only” – if you are looking for only 4/5 star hotels restaurant. I unchecked this optioned. In location field, I entered only GK2 ..since I’m living in GK, New Delhi., due to “auto complete feature” on this site it entered automatically “GREATER KAILASH (GK) 2, DELHI. Next option I have to select “Cuisine”.. in our gang, two guys are from North India (Delhi and Chandigarh), one from South India (Bangalore), one form North-East and last one from Mumbai. Each guy belongs to different region and each has different taste of tongue and so I selected MULTI CUISINE.
While searching for a restaurant, I tried their advanced search feature for filtering results. I filtered the results by following categories: Open Now, Location, Cuisine, Cost of two, Pure Veg., Credit Cards, Buffet, Happy Hours, Wifi, Bar present, Bar not present, Live music, Outdoors, 4/5 * Hotels.
Finally, I filtered the results by Bar present, Live music, Wifi and Outdoors, Zomato returned two results and one of two results was “Zook” restaurant. I thought before finalizing the restaurant, I should read about Zook, live music service, liquors quality and variance and what kind of cuisines they serve and other required services as well. After going through these all things and also I read some reviews .. most guests wrote: Nice place to chilled out. Good varieties of food and hookah. I just love the place”. Great place,specially on weekends with friends! Nice place for a hanging out or for a party. Rocking music. Good ambiance and good food.
Also, I saw the photos of restaurant interiors – looked awesome and rocking. On the day, this party was organizing in Zook, there is Unconventional Jam on the same day.
So finally we selected “Zook” for our “Gimme 5 Gang” party. All five guys were happy with selection of the restaurant “Zook”. Now, we started waiting for this rocking day. Finally that day has come. We all friends arrived at 8:20pm and but one of the friends asked us – Should I come with my girl friend. We told him, No problem, Dude! Today’s our day – come with your girlfriend.
It was rocking party and we had a great fun there. I must THANKS to ZOMATO because we got a good restaurant due to Zomato.com. After enjoying this party we named this party “Zomato Night @GK2″.
Last but not least…. just I wanna say.. it was rocking party organized due to Zomato restaurant guide. This site has so many featured, we do not need to go anywhere or ask anybody and just keep Zomato apps installed on your smartphone device — Stay connected with Zomato, Stay with Tasty Food and Fun. 
I set my eyes on the Taj
I have been living in Delhi for a long time but never really gone to see Taj Mahal at Agra which is one of the wonders of the world. Last weekend, I had planned a trip for Agra. So I started to try to figure out the best way to reach Agra.
I know that there are trains that run from Delhi and back and Shatabdi Express is one of best trains that takes approximately 3 hours each way. However, I was thinking that perhaps a private taxi or by own car may be better option as we won’t be bound by the train schedule and we’ll have a reliable mode of transportation while in Agra. My wife and I finally decided to go there by our own car because it’s been quite a long time I did not take a long drive for pleasure.
However, I have heard that road from Delhi to Agra by car is also very pleasant. One of my friends suggested a trick – to leave early by 5:00 am and that way you can be back home by 8 pm. We decided to go early to bed and that night, just after we had our dinner, I knocked out of bed.
One way was about 4 hrs. The only glitch we ran into was, when we were returning to Delhi, there was a overloaded bus stucked into a cantilever bridge in Agra city and I was just behind the bus, that lost us about half an hour. The roads were not a problem at all.
My wife was so enthralled by view of greens and sometimes she spot forts and just kept on snapping pictures. We both were very excited to see Taj Mahal. I felt so excited at that moment since I only see Taj Mahal in books, TV and internet. My first thought was, this is going to be real great seeing one of the wonders on the world, once in a lifetime experience. At 10 am, I reached and parked my car in parking area. The gates are about a 5 minute walk from the actual entrance to the Taj. There are cycle-rickshaws available, but we decided to walk.
Only drinking water is allowed to bring inside Taj Mahal because of possible garbage. They are also afraid of corrosion on the marble from the soft-drinks, etc. The guards check each one by one before you enter the place. There are many hawkers standing outside Taj Mahal. They make a sport of fooling tourists, and they brag about it to each other afterwards.
Long queue just to get inside and the security was tight, but that’s good at least to keep the place safe and clean. I was a bit irritated by the idea of waiting in the long line. The queue was quite long for tickets that’s why I asked my wife to take two tickets as the queue for women was separate and shorter than men queue. Separate queue lines were for men and women to enter in Taj Mahal. That’s why my wife and I were standing in two separate queue lines. When I asked my wife… please give me my ticket then she told me the ticket guy had given me single ticket only for both. When we reached at entrance gate as we showed the ticket to security people and they said this ticket is only for one person – I shocked to hear this thing and became angry on my wife. But she said calmly – while buying the ticket I had asked the ticket guy to give ticket for two persons but ticket guy said to me, it’s for two persons. The queue was so long and weather was so hot she didn’t check the ticket properly and that’s why it happened.
Finally somehow my wife convinced the securities people and we entered into Taj Mahal. Best part was, my annoyance vanished as soon as I set my eyes on the Taj. I was like “WOW”. Breathtaking, marvelous, wonderful, amazing! I will run out of words to describe what I’m seeing. It was just so overwhelming. A real epitome of love and romance leaves one mesmerized. The essential focus of the compound is the mausoleum; this large, white marble structure stands on a square base and consists of a proportioned building with an arch-shaped doorway topped by a large ground and finial. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan for his most beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal. I was so fascinated with the place that we didn’t even notice the time. It was almost 2 pm. I’m still mesmerized with the experience when we were getting out of the place and I was so happy to see such a beautiful structure and for sure memories of the Taj will last in my mind until the day I die.
Around 2 pm, we left for Delhi and after driving continuously 2 hours I stopped my car at one of dhabas on the highway and told my wife – today we should eat dhaba food and she agreed on this. We ordered some food and had tea also though we were carrying enough snacks and foods with us. The food was nice. About 7 pm we entered in Delhi and reached home about 8 pm.
The Taj was marvelous, wonderful and amazing….our tiredness gone and we fell asleep immediately. It was really wonderful trip we had never before.
My blushing i10 before coming to me
Few months ago, I had planned to buy a new car because my old car was having some problems, consuming more and I also got bored of it. So I started wondering for new car. My plan was to buy a middle segment car because a big car takes more space for driving and parking. You know, it’s very difficult to drive on Delhi’s busy and crowded road. As we all know, there are lots of middle segment car in the market. So, choosing the best out of them is a real difficult task but not impossible. Hmm.. I have to opt one of them.
I thought I should research first before buying a new car. And I did that a lot..:-). I learned a lot of things from my old car as far as handling, driving and maintenance are concerned. So I was planning to buy a car which has decent look with attractive interiors, good mileage and low maintenance cost. I found that i10 has attractive interiors, good mileage, good market re-sale value and popular as well. The advantage of popular cars is if the car breaks down on the highway or somewhere else, I can easily phone a mechanic for assistance whenever needed.
I did a lot of research and gone through so many reviews, visiting several showrooms and analyzing cars (by giving a look) on Delhi road before taking decision. Finally, I decided to buy Hyundai’s i10. I liked CHEVROLET UVA too but its cost was little above my budget and there are very few service centers of General Motors in India, I thought I might face problems if I go out of the town that’s why I dropped this idea. I would say – choosing a car under my budget, is really a difficult task and tedious job which I did. Once I decided to buy i10, it was easier to go for next steps for me.
My wife and I, visited a showroom (phoned Hyundai Himgiri) which is near to my house, when I saw the interiors of i10 I got caught into, it was awesome.. ahhh…WOW!. That’s actually I was looking for. Then I asked sales executive to give some detailed information about it, like what’s its mileage, blah..blah. She said, it gives 16.5 km/l after first servicing but before that it will give you approximately 13 km/l. I thought it fits in my requirement because I want to buy a car which gives mileage at least 15 km/l.
There are several models available in i10 – based on features and technology used. As per my requirement, I opted i10 Magna Kappa 1.2 and body – metallic and color – Blushing Red, as this is my wife’s favorite color and now I like too. It’s really very eye catching car. I know, it demands more care and maintenance but I am ready for this because I love to care of something that I like most.
This car impressed me so much with its features, interiors, styles and the most important thing is it’s an eye catchy. I finally booked a i10 Magna Kappa 1.2 Metallic (Blushing Red) car immediately the same day I visited the showroom without wasting my time. It was 11 August the day I booked. It took a week just to process to deliver my car.
Well, it was 23 August 2009, the day finally my new baby girl friend – “Blushy Eye” gonna come home!
The sales executive asked me to come in the afternoon at 3:00 pm and I was eagerly waiting for. It was Sunday and I got ready and then the clock struck 2:00 pm. As I was about to leave I got a call from the executive and she asked me to come at 5:00 pm because the car didn’t reach to the showroom yet. I was little worried because I didn’t want to get my car delivered in dark. In the mean while, many things were going on in my mind about the car like delivery checklists and all but the time was going so slow but finally the clock struck 4:30 pm and I just can’t stop myself to get ready to reach before they call me again . My wife and I reached the showroom on time at 5:00 pm sharp and as I entered the showroom unfortunately there was a power cut. It’s was too hot inside, without air conditioning my whole zest and excitement going down. There was so crowd in the showroom as it was Sunday which was making the whole atmosphere dull and lazy. After an hour power came and we got relaxed.. Aaahhhh!
The sales executive came to me and asked to complete the further procedure. She told me that before delivery, each car is thoroughly cleaned inside and out that’s why there is delay in delivery. We waited for another hour and then at 7:30 pm we got delivered the car..:-). It was too late and also dark which I didn’t want but it happened. My wife was on fast so my concentration was on her only because she was not well and due to this the checklists which is to be followed before delivery, I didn’t go through it. My intention was to reach home somehow as soon as possible. So, I just gave a quick look on wheels, manufacturing date, engine and odometer (mileage — how much distanced traveled before delivery and found it was okay and I was satisfied) and few more things.
I was in hurry though but still I didn’t forget to give some tip to delivery boys. When I gave tip to them they were so happy and gave me a good smile. After that the sales executive finally trying to hand over my car’s keys but I asked her please give it to my wife then she gave the keys to my wife and finally my wife gave it to me..:-) and let’s go. Then I took the keys with a big smile 
and drove away from there and reached home at 8:00pm. This way I brought my baby girl friend “Blushy Eye” home.
Though the day was so hectic and long but we still enjoyed it. My all tiredness weared off after driving my new car. It is so cool and giving so comforts to me. I feel like I’m in a plane. The driving is very smooth, soundless and no jerk at all, air conditioning is so cool that it makes my drive so peacefully. I experienced in some of the cars, the pickup will be very poor if the AC is on i.e. the pickup goes into full humbucking. But with i10 I experienced that the AC doesn’t affect the pick-up, it’s giving proper cooling even if the pickup goes up, there is no humbucking.
It’s only one week old baby girl friend “Blushy Eye”… so, as I experience different situations with different individual, I will continue to share my experiences..
I’m happy with my baby girl friend – “Blushy Eye”.. .
Hangout @Walled City
I always like visiting some places, eating something, traveling somewhere and seeing something obvious for the first time.
Yesterday it was our 62nd Independence Day. On this our special occasion, as coined Red Fort monument name in my mind, I made a flashback in my memory, you know – what happened last month.. as usual I was in my office and working on something. Before leaving for my home, one of my co-workers sent a message on the terminal of my work station – “Kya Aaj Chandni Chowk wala – Parathe Wali Gali Chalein” (how it would be to go to “lane of parantha-makers”…) and Jama Masjid as well for chillout. I said, Hmmm…..let me think. Since I have been living in Delhi for last fourteen years but I never planned before to visit this famous place. So, without thinking much I decided to go there along with my colleagues.
First, let you know about Gali Paranthe Wali (literally “the bylane of fried bread”) – it is the name of a narrow street in the Chandni Chowk area of Delhi, India, noted for its series of shops selling paratha, a fried Indian bread, and now a popular culinary destination. Paranthe Wali Gali (”lane of parantha-makers”) in Old Delhi is a famous gourmet localities of the world.
According to last minute plan, we left for this place in the evening and I remembered it was 28th July 2009. As I use my own car for going office…when we came out from our office it started raining and after talking with one another we decided – why not we go there by metro… then I said what would I do with my car. Some of us took metro for Rajouri Garden and I reached Rajouri Garden metro station with three co-workers and there I parked my car. From there we all together took metro and reached Chawri Bazaar metro station. One of my colleagues is resident of Chandni chowk who is familiar with this place very well and he was guiding us to reach Gali Parathe Wali.
Before going Gali Parathe wali, we decided to see Jama Masjid of Delhi. As we reached Jama Masjid, we all got wet as it was rainy season but for last one month all Delhiites were praying for rain and finally it rained that day we were all feeling very happy and cool. Rain after a long time brought relief to us.
As we reached at the entrance gate of mosque, one of my fellow friends asked us to put off our shoes and carry it in our respective hands before stepping in the mosque. I didn’t have any idea about this. I never went to a mosque before this trip that’s why I were unaware of these customs. So I asked one of my fellows to explain the reason – why we actually put off the shoes at entrance gate and carry it???
He explained the reason that as ritual purification precedes all prayers, mosques often have ablution fountains or other facilities for washing in their entryways or courtyards.
After putting off our shoes, we entered in Jama Masjid mosque and took entry tickets for entering lofty minarets – there are two lofty minarets – it’s 30 feet high, and containing 130 steps. longitudinally striped with white marble and red sandstone, flank the domes on either side. The minarets are divided by three projecting galleries and are surmounted by open twelve-sided domed pavilions.
We entered in one of minarets – as went up the minaret and when we were going up, it was dark inside the minaret’s stairs and finally we reached to the top of the minaret – Wow! we can see the town clearly and very well, so we took some snaps from there to capture these memorable moments.
When we came down-stairs – we gave tip to a care taker of the minarets and he became very happy giving a big smile to all of us. After that we went to the mosque’s ablution fountain (facilities for washing) in courtyard for ritual purification. One of my friends said, “the prayer is about to start and therefore he is leaving for prayer” and rest of us waiting there for him at courtyard and other at the gate of the entrance.
After prayer he came back and then we put on our shoes and took rickshaw to reach Gali Parathe Wali (”lane of parantha-makers”) and on the way to this place it started raining again, the street was so narrow, crowded and very busy, and due to this traffic was very slow… We were just about to reach there but it was raining so heavily that somehow we managed to reach Gali Parathe Wali. Then we relaxed for sometime and gradually ordered for different varieties of paratha for which we came here. Well, the paratha includes exotic fillings like Kaju, Badam, Matar, Mix Paranthas, Rabri parantha etc. The parantha was served with a side of sweet tamarind chutney, mint chutney, mixed vegetable pickle, a paneer and potato curry, potato and fenugreek curry, and a sauteed mash of sweet pumpkin (sitaphal).
We had varieties of parathas there. While having parathas in dinner it was raining heavily which was awesome! As we finished our food we saw lanes and road were completely inundated with water .. still it was raining — you know water went up to knee height. Then we, three of us, decided to take rickshaw to reach metro station. But other were still saying – “let’s go to have some ice-cream, too”. But I said no because rain has worsen the road condition and we should leave before getting stuck. So it would be better to leave for home now. They said , “we are going to have ice-cream in Giani Ice-cream Parlor which is famous in Chandani Chowk. I said – okay, if you guys want to have some dessert then you can go. We divided into two groups – one group headed to Giani and other group in which I was decided to leave for home. Thus, we took quick walk to the nearest metro station but after traveling some distance we noticed some drainage covers were opened. The heavy rain led to the inundation of Chandni Chowk and city road as well. The clogged drains led to the mixing of sewage with rainwater at many places causing hardship to the vehicles or footpath goer. It was still raining heavily. I meant to say, it was very risky to walk on the road and footpath as because it was inundated with water — went to knee height. So I suggested to hire a rickshaw and this way we three guys reached metro station and later we came to know other guys also decided to leave for home.
One of the guys was carrying a laptop in a bag and other friend’s mobile and he noticed that his laptop as well as the mobile got wet. Now, both got worried because his mobile stopped working and he could not make a call. At the metro station, both guys re-checked the laptop and mobile and found that the laptop was working apparently but mobile wasn’t.
Well, at metro station we put off our shoes and squeezed them and again wore it. We guys were waiting for a metro to arrive and finally got into the metro. At the other stoppage some passengers were getting in but can’t find space so one of my friends, got down the metro to let the passenger out but he could not get in and the door closed. It was just a funny moment for all of us because we know once the door is closed no one can enter. Well, we reached the destination and he further reached his place somehow..
As I had parked my car near Rajouri Garden Station so I took my car from there and make my way to home. While driving I got stuck in traffic jam due to heavy rain which took me thrice the time to reach my home as compare to normal schedule. Well, somehow I too, reached my home and instantly took bath because I had walked in dirty water and after taking bath I went to bed without wasting time..:-) as I was too tired.
Really I will never forget this day. It was really fun going there and fantastic as well as memorable day of my life, I have never experienced before. Though I got tired and faced so much difficulties but the most important thing is that I enjoyed a lot.