A Career That I Would Love To Explore #WriteAPageADay #pebbleinwaterswrites @blogchatter

A career I would like to explore.  If someone had asked me this question when I was just out of college and trying to make a decent living, my answer would have been the same as what I actually did at that time.  I was lucky that I did not have to make any special efforts in finding my first and my choice of job.  But I had two or maybe three good company's offers from which I could choose.  And that's what I did.  I joined in sales department and in the first six months I was at the forefront of my team in terms of orders and closures.  Even far ahead of those who were from me a year or two before.  And maybe that's why I got promoted within first six months.

Photo credit: Yu. Samoilov on VisualHunt.com

But after one year, I felt that this sales and marketing is not for me.  And, anyway, my interest in technology had increased exponentially by then.  That's why I left that job and took admission in a full time course for six months.  This was the first high level course in mainframes technology in our country.  I think because I had a passion and had determination, I got admission after clearing entrance and interview.  All that I had earned in a year in the first job was spent in this course.  But I was very happy.  Maybe, this was my destination.  And this decision proved to be absolutely right.  In those six months I studied mainframes very closely and learned a lot.  And what I learned was very useful in starting a solid career and earning my living quite handsomely.

At the same time, I continued to get regular promotions and consistent career growth in terms of learning newer technologies, challenging projects, and successful completions.  I started with the job of a programmer at a national transporter.  Six months later, I joined a reputed Wealth Tax Consultant as a team lead of around a dozen of programmers. After that, I joined at the airport where I got to work on the mainframes, that I was missing after my course.  A year later, I joined an automobile company as Head of Technology.  And after that, I got immersed in technology as if it were made for it and it was made for me.  It probably couldn't have been better than what happened.

I think a right decision at the beginning of the career matters a lot. May be, if I had stuck to sales as a career, I might have earned a few bucks more but the amount of satisfaction I got in my career in Technology was phenomenally more. That justified my decision of doing away with career in sales and taking the challenge of jumping into the unknown territories of technology and adopting that as a career. 

10 Apps for Kids Available on Windows Store

Summer vacations are already started a couple of weeks back and are there till the end of this month. We would be discussing 10 apps for kids available on windows store to enhance their learning, creativity, and productivity. Children belonging to digital age would already have a lot of agenda on their cards to finish during this vacation. Enjoyment, learning, and fun would be almost on the top of the chart of agendas of almost every kid. These apps will help parents also to keep their kids engaged in some interesting activities rather than spending time in wasteful activities. So, perpetually these apps will not only add fun and learning but also assist them in their home work, project work, holiday planning and more. Mind it, these apps are for Windows platform. For other platforms you will have to find their alternatives.

Here are the 10 apps for kids available on windows store:

Spelling Tutor: Spelling Tutor is for grade school students but engaging enough for their parents too. Kids and their parents can both learn and practice new words, their pronunciations, spellings, using this application. This app will inspire you to go on and on as learning can go endlessly.

Kiddo Smart: This new and innovative app is designed to develop young minds with the help of more than 50 thousand learning activities, games, and videos. The process of development is designed to take place in a personalized manner for all age group kids. Kids and parents can monitor the development with respect to other kids by age and country.

Fresh Paint: Fresh paint can unleash Picaso hidden inside your child. It provides an fabulous canvas for your child to design their brilliant ideas in the most creative manner. This work can be converted to photos to build your own collection of creativity.

KidsTube – Fun and Learn: KidsTube has a huge collection of high-quality videos for kids for a great learning experience. The collection includes Sofia, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Jake the Pirate, Doc McStuffins, and more from Disney shows, Curious George, Peppe Pig, Cat in Hat, Sesame Street, Wild Krats, and a lot more. There are separate categories of Rhymes, Stories, and Animated Series.

Exercises for Kids: This app is designed to help children develop rapid thinking, creativity, coordination, in various manners with the help of memory games, puzzles, connect the dots, geometric shapes etc. This creative learning game is segmented in various educational activities and appears as if multiples apps have been bundled in a single app.

Madagascar Math Ops: This app mixes the challenge of video games with the challenge of mathematical issues. You will find penguins from DreamWorks animated motion picture Madagascar featured in this game. The game brings a versatile range of basic arithmetic puzzles (division, multiplication, addition, subtraction) where the complexity increases as the kid clears the previous levels. When a math problem is is completed, the kid gets to tackle a few action oriented mini-games.

Sway: Sway helps your kids present their homework in an interesting and berautiful manner. It is a digital storytelling app for home, school, and work to provide quick and easy solution to build and share presentations, interactive reports, personal stories etc. Once the kid adds his or her content, Say takes care of the rest in a meaningful manner.

Pocket Mathematics: Pocket Mathematics is a good option for children to get help in their mathematics homework. The app can help them in finishing their mathematics problems in quick and accurate manner. It manages most of the mathematical formulas with appropriate details and images. The app will help you in all kind of mathematical problems and is equally suitable for university students as it is for primary school kids.

Homework On Bing: The app will help kids with their homework as and when required. This is a go to app. The app searches efficiently with integrated Bing search engine providing solution on a well designed art board. It also helps kids in learning handwriting, word search, phonics, counting, clock, tracing, word scramble, spelling, grammar, calendar, etc.

MyHomeWork: This is another app to help students with a digital planner to keep track of their classes, tests, projects, homework and so on in order to assist them in increasing their productivity and efficiency. It is available on various platforms. Although we have discussed multiple applications for homework but all have different functionality and usage thus complementing each other.

My Travel Buddy: Let us move on to vacations. My Travel Buddy assists you in various ways to manage you are out on vacations. It helps you in planning, managing and controlling by preparing checklist, create notes, give reminders and alerts, help in suggesting items you might need for traveling, and Aviary Photo Taker is there to get your pictures with a fantastic results.

TripIt: TripIt app also helps you in planning & managing your itinerary, flights, car, map, hotels, directions – in fact, what all you can think of during traveling. The travel plans can be easily synced with your mobile or online calendar. You can share your itinerary & travel plans on various social media platforms. The app helps you stay connected all the time.

Hope you enjoyed reading this article. Do connect and share your ideas in comments. Thanks!

#ShareTheLoad - When Swamiji Enlightened With The Reason Behind

I was meeting Swami after a long time. This time the reason was #ShareTheLoad. I wanted to understand the crux of the reason behind a cruel reality of our society where Women have taken the route to equality for the external world of a family by stepping out to work and share the financial load of a family. But her label of being a homemaker still remains intact. A woman despite taking care of multiple roles of a mother, sister or a wife is still being held solely responsible for household chores as her prime responsibility. The age old phenomenon of 'division of labor' is still unaltered and is deep rooted in our home, society, and nation expecting the women of the house to own all responsibilities within the four walls of the home. 

Photo credit: Saarblitz via Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-SA

Right since so many years, a child is taught that a girl is the one performing domestic chores like cleaning, washing, cooking, etc. while a boy in the family has to yearn for a profession to be the primary earning member of the family and take the onus of earning the bread and butter for the entire family. The scenario has changed in one direction when girls are prepared for a professional life and women have taken an equal responsibility of an equal or maybe, a higher earner in the family. But what about the other side of the wall? Why every household chore is still the responsibility of the woman of the house even if she has to sacrifice her life, profession, education, stamina, and energy manifold to just follow it blindly without raising her voice against it?

Swami is my good old childhood friend turned a multinational c-suite executive as per the last information we met a decade back. After that I lost his track or probably he wanted to go in an isolation state to take a final call of his life. During our early education days I had a big impact of Swami's ideologies. He was quite serious and matured during those days. He was beyond his age. He, in fact, was my mentor, inspite of being my classmate. He never differentiated between genders. When I used to visit his house, he would be helping his mother in her household chores without a hitch. He would go to kitchen to prepare tea, would not hesitate to wash clothes, to clean house and so on. These small gestures turned me too into similar kind of guy and I never felt insulted doing all such things at home. Neither did my male chauvinism would get hurt.

After a decade when I got Swami's call, I could not dare to ignore it. He was in India for a decade now after he resigned from his MNC well flourishing job and decided to take a different route. I got surprised to know that for last 10 years he is on a mission to educate youth of the country with a cause. And the cause is to eradicate gender bias in everybody's life. He has been successful in this. He has become a wanderer. He visits remote villages and towns to educate people about this. Educating them to break the invisible walls between a man and a woman.

“You know the reason behind these walls is nothing but our mindset that sets the barriers. Once you are able to break that jinx, everything seems easy and attainable.” He said when we met recently. I left my job because everyday I used to stand in front of mirror and ask myself what is my purpose in life.” “And one day I found the answer from within.” The answer that he got a decade back made him resign from his job and start his own venture. A venture where money is not the top priority for him. This is an education venture where he not only teaches children who are the builders of our nation but also their parents to make them understand that the times are gone for creating a gap between a girl and a boy.

Today all are equal and have same set of responsibilities. Men are equally homemaker with their family as women of the house. If a woman can work full time why can't a man share household chores with her and #ShareTheLoad? If a mother can bear the pain of birth of her child, why can't father take the equal ownership when the child is born?

That is Swami who is building his army of youngsters to fight with these evils of our society and gear everyone up to #ShareTheLoad. I feel proud to be part of Swami's bandwagon. Find out Swami around you. It lies inside everybody's heart, mind, and soul.

I am taking part in the #ShareTheLoad Challenge with Ariel and Akshara at BlogAdda.

#FairStart A Public Advocacy Campaign by UNICEF for Every Child

Every child on this earth has a right to get enough opportunities for a #FairStart in his or her life. Usually the real talent of a child gets burried along with his or her wishes in order to fulfill the wishes of his parents, or bend under circumstances and surrender to the situations. UNICEF India is already doing so much for the children, society and various other causes in the country. The same is being done at a larger scale worldwide by the global group UNICEF. UNICEF India launched 'Fair Start' campaign for the purpose of bringing awareness to the society and social media about persisting inequities that large chunk of children in India face that affects their survival, growth and development. The 'Fair Start' film showcases these factors through various angles. The film aims to get an insight into the lives of millions of children coming from different walks of life and having different backgrounds.

#FairStart campaign and 'Fair Start' film wants to elaborate the life of million of children who don't get enough chances in life to show their real talent hidden inside and who are full of potential but are devoid of grow up healthy, happy, and safe. These children have least chances of attending school due to their circumstances and situations. And hence they are less likely to learn, and have high chances of getting married as children. Most of these children are forced to forget their childhood at a very early stage and get engaged in some kind of work in order to earn money.

#FairStart is a drive. It is a mission. It seeks involvement from every element of the society. Every person has to contribute from whichever segment he or she belongs to. After all, everyone has a responsibility towards the children of the nation. Introducing this noble mission and showing the film, Caroline Den Dulk, Chief, Advocacy & Communication, UNICEF India emphasized every child of the country, or rather on this earth, deserves a fair start in his/her life and has an equal right for adequate nutrition, safety, education, psychological and physical protection, sanitation, and health care. The campaign is launched with its primary goal to draw attention to the lives of the children who are deprived of these fundamental and basic rights, usually at times determined simply by where they are born.

#FairStart campaign and Fair Start film tries to convey the message that every child should have a fair and equal chance in life without any consideration of their caste, gender, ethnicity, poverty, religion, or region. The drive in this regard is gaining momentum for last many years as UNICEF is working closely with the Government of India and many other associates to improve the condition of the most vulnerable and deprived children with an aim to ensure that each child born in this vast and complex country gets the best beginning of his life, and gets all possible favorable conditions to develop to his or her full potential.

Every child has a right for a #FairStart. As of now, more than 6 million children in India are out-of-school as per a study conducted by SRI-IMRB for Ministry of HRD, Government of India, in 2014. Census 2011 data says more than 10 million children are engaged in work in the country.. 2013 Report of Sample Registration System shows almost 3500 children die on a daily basis before reaching age 5. A data from RSOC 2013-14 shows 42 percent of tribal children in India are stunted during their growth and development. UNICEF-WHO Joint Monitoring Report 2015 data shows almost half of the population of India which is around 570 million people still practice open defecation. Another data from Census + RSOC 2013-14 states that although girls in India deserve an equal chance in life, but on an average more than 2 million girls marry early every year in the country. Another research shows based on a report by NFHS3 that more than 23% girls between 15-19 years of age experience physical or sexual violence during some point of time.

Den Dulk said that mostly such issues faced are severly complex in nature and cut across all layers of society. There is a tremendous change in mindset required to make changes happen in real life. Merely listening to or observing these stastitics or attending these talks or conclaves will not suffice the purpose. The #FairStart campaign comes with a serious purpose of engaging the largest possible chunk of public in a debate and conversation for everyone to see they have a role to play to ensure every child can have a fair chance in life.

The 'Fair Start' film has been produced with the participation of a group of children who have joined bringing their own daily life into the film. The film has been made with a lot of love by the team and they hope everyone likes it. What they need in return is a small portion of help from everybody to get a fair start, life. Every child deserves a #FairStart. Abhishek De, Avant Garde Films feels emotionally that the #FairStart campaign was quite an oustanding and glorious project to work on for him, as well as the entire team at Avant Garde Films. The most memorable thing he remembers was working with such wonderful kids from 'Bigger Than Life' NGO. The children played cast and crew really well. For De, and he is sure for everyone who was a part of this prestigious project, it would be the best memorable experience and will be close to everybody's heart forever.

The crew included wonderful kids like Sahil, Cameraman, Suraj, Art Director, Shawn, Cameraman/ Director, and Belinda, Costume. The kids are just 14, 10, 15, and 13 respectively and have come from very diversified backgrounds. Suraj, for instance, has 3 sisters and 2 brothers. The only earning member in the family is their mother who works very hard selling corn. Suraj doesn't mind helping his mother at her work. His father is an alcoholic and fights at home. He wants to become a scientist.

Sahil has a mother and a sister. His father passed away 3 years back. He helps his uncle in laundry work. He goes to an English medium school and wants to become a cricketer when he grows up. Shawn has 6 siblings. His father has left home and mother keeps unwell. That is why he is not able to go to school as he has taken up the responsibility to work and earn money for his home. He loves playing football and yearns to go to school. Belinda is Shawn's younger sister. She goes to a municipal school. She is very shy and wants to become and office accountant. She works at home after school hours.

You must watch this inspiring movie below:

Please do share the movie, the cause #FairChance and contribute in whatever shape you can to build the children of our nation stronger. Let every child get a #FairChance at an appropriate stage of life.

Technology in Design, Fashion Shows, and more at Pearl Portfolio 2016

Technology in Design has evolved in a big way

Technology in Design plays a major role in fashion industry

Technology in Design entrusts clarity of purpose and communication

#FolioLive #PearlPortfolio2016 #PearlPortfolio #pearlacademynoida #pearlacademy @pearlacademy #pearlacadrmy_noida #fashion #fashionshowsandfirstimpressions #fashionshows

A photo posted by jaideep khanduja (@jaideepkhanduja) on May 8, 2016 at 7:25am PDT

Technology has come a long way ever since its evolution. Technology in design plays a major role in fashion, design and creative industry. Technology in design entrusts clarity of purpose and communication in that regard. The three days of Pearl Portfolio 2016 were filled with fun, serious discussions, world class fashion shows, and an amazing announcement regarding tie up with FDCI. The roundup of day one has already been covered in my previous post. Let us talk now about the important, engrossing, and entertaining events that happened on day two and three of Pearl Portfolio 2016 at NSIC exhibition grounds, Okhla during May 6-8. The conclusion came with a great announcement regarding first ever association of FDCI with Pearl Academy. What this means is something unique for faculty and students of one of the top fashion institutes of India. Technology in design has a big say in every course being offered here.

Day two began with Design Immersion Workshops where kids from various schools had insights on various aspects of what they will gain if they join such courses to build their career in this stream. It was followed by SoD Industry Meet and the topic of the day was “Technology in Design”. Two hours of this panel discussion were quit engaging, mindful and thought-provoking. Speakers came out with various ideas on the value of technology in design. It was emphasized that before embedding any kind of technology in a design, the purpose of design must be very clear. Once a product (or service) is designed, a right message should go to end consumer (or user) about the purpose, usage, and benefits of that design. The day ended with a couple of fashion shows. The creativity, professionalism, perfection, and delivery was at its peak. Each perfectly designed dress presented by various models was well cheered by the parents, students, and guests present at the event.

Day three started with Award Distribution Ceremony. The SoD Industry Meet panel discussion talked further on various aspects of design like emotions, art, science, technology, social, etc. It was followed by two fashion shows. The grand finale fashion show at the end of the day was phenomenal and was amazing in terms of creativity and design. Another landmark is achieved in the history of Pearl Academy when the management of the institute announced a first ever in India association with FDCI (Fashion Design council of India) that will transform not only the professional life of students but also of the faculty. Technology in design will bring a new meaning now.

FDCI and Pearl Academy Collaborate to Produce Best in Fashion, Design

FDCI and Pearl Academy join hands for fashion education

FDCI and Pearl Academy collaborate adding another feather in latter's cap

FDCI and Pearl Academy thus go for a landmark collaboration to offer best fashion programme in India

The Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) and Pearl Academy associate for a landmark collaboration to produce best in fashion and design arena. This is another milestone achieved by Pearl Academy thus keeping the second top institute abreast in its unique journey of providing the best in the industry. This will not only enable students to get India's best fashion programme but also provide them a great exposure on the international front. The announcement came amidst the finale of Pearl Academy's annual graduating event – Pearl Portfolio 2016, held in Delhi at NSIC exhibition grounds, Okhla, May 6-8.

Ace designers David Abraham, Manish Malhotra, Rohit, Gandhi, Rahul Mishra and more were present at the occasion. FDCI is an apex body of fashion design in India with around 500 members including legends Rohit Bal, J J Valaya, Sabyasachi, Anju Modi, Namrata Joshipura, Manish Arora, and Rajesh Pratap Singh. Pearl Academy is among the leading design institutes creating fashion and designing professionals for more than two decades, having centers in Delhi, Mumbai and Jaipur. The two have come together with this unique concept first ever implemented in the country to nurture and develop the designers of tomorrow.

In an industry first, it will be a great chance for Pearl Academy's graduating fashion students to showcase their final collections at the Amazon India Fashion Week. With this collaboration, the Pearl Academy's faculty would be attending the masterclasses conducted by FDCI so as to get an enhanced exposure to the latest trends and techniques in the industry. This, in turn, will benefit the students to get a better exposure of the outside world expertise. FDCI will also be hosting regular events at Pearl Academy campuses through which the designer members, fashion editors, and trend forecasters will be teaching and mentoring Pearl students. This unique initiative taken by the fashion industry will definitely provide better prospects to shape future designers.


This momentous juncture has arrived as for the first time the Fashion Design Council body as a whole is bonding with a fashion & design institute with such a deep engagement and commitment.

“I find them to be forward-looking, innovative and leaders in design education. Their student work has been outstanding and I am confident that it will be further enhanced with this association. It is an opportunity for FDCI to shape the industry for tomorrow and this alliance is a first step in that direction,” said FDCI president Sunil Sethi, who has always shown deep interest in fashion education.

Pearl Academy CEO Sharad Mehra added, “We have been associated with FDCI for multiple events but this association is a historic one and will change the face of fashion education. We welcome all the leading designers from FDCI to be a part of Pearl Academy and help mentor Pearlites to be future ready.”

Pearl Portfolio 2016 Day 1 Roundup of Pearl Academy Mega Design Event

Much Awaited Pearl Portfolio 2016 by Pearl Academy event in Delhi

Pearl Portfolio 2016 is a yearly mega design event by Pearl Academy

Pearl Portfolio 2016 showcases creative masterpieces of Pearl Academy Students

Much awaited Pearl Portfolio 2016 by Pearl Academy is a three-day event in Delhi. The mega design event showcases creative masterpieces of their students. The event started yesterday, May 6, at NSIC, Okhla. Every year the budding professionals studying at Pearl Academy define the future of Design, Fashion and Creative business. The remarkable work done by students is being exhibited in form of models, professional photography, movies, fashion shows, website, innovative design masterpieces, installations, and a lot more. Creativity and aspiration is at peak as usual seen on every face here. Visitors are enthralled witnessing the amount of efforts, innovative ideas, and thus conversion of these two in the fabulous output in terms of product, concept, or design. The event started in Delhi will eventually happen at Mumbai and Jaipur respectively, also to felicitate the graduating students from each of their campus. Pearl Portfolio 2016 is a must-attend event for all fashion, design, and creative enthusiasts as well as professionals.

It is always exciting to attend these three days of the year. Every year there is showcasing of more professionalism, creativity, and ideation. On an average more than 7500 visitors are expected over these 3 days that include school students, fashion & creative aspirants, Industry specialists, parents, professionals, etc. Celebrities and legends like JJ Valaya, Rina Dhaka, Manish Malhotra, Neeraj Manchanda and many others have been part of Pearl Portfolio event in the past as chief guest and eminent speakers. Manish Malhotra is gracing the Pearl Portfolio 2016 as chief guest for Delhi event. Rina Dhaka will be following the same at Jaipur.

Day 1 of Pearl Portfolio 2016 organized by Pearl Academy had exhaustive and engrossing Design Immersion Workshops soon after the inauguration of the event. Post-lunch there was Business Event. The eventful Business event had three introspective and enlightening panel discussions, and two lively and innovative ramp shows. The topic for the first panel discussion was “Luxury for Masses”. With the change in time definition of luxury keeps changing. What was luxury yesterday is a common need for all today. But Luxury remains luxury and is never for masses. Only point of satisfaction is that what a man couldn't afford yesterday because it was luxury, is within his reach today. This happens because of two reasons – one, the elevation of a human being on financial front, and two, the level of luxury has changed so what was luxury yesterday has been replaced by some other commodity today.

Second panel discussion was on “Redefining Fashion, E-Commerce, and Retail”. And the final panel discussion was on “Development and Implementation of new ideas that will help society, industry and whole nation”. Finally there was award distribution for students of School of Creative Business of Pearl Academy. So much happening in a day during Pearl Portfolio 2016.

In the evening there was SoD Industry Meet starting at 7.30 pm starting lighting of lamps. CEO, Sharad Kapoor addressed the gathering that was followed by a speech by Sunil Sethi, President, FDCI. There was a panel discussion by Creatives in Business. Another panel discussion was on “Diverse thoughts on Design”. The final panel discussion was on “Mantra for Success”. That was not all. There was a practice session on the ramp to ensure nothing goes less a world class touch on day 2 fashion shows.

Stay tuned for Day 2 events that include Design Immersion Workshops, SoD Industry Meet, followed by two fashion shows. Finally the day ends with Alumni Meet. Day 3 will open with Awards distribution Ceremony followed by SoD Industry Meet, and finally two fashion shows. Mumbai Pearl Portfolio 2016 will be on May 13 and in Jaipur it will be on May 14. Pearl Academy has pioneered in engaging and raising its students to global level during their world class studies at the institute. Here is a glimpse of previous year videos of Pearl Portfolio.

Impacts of Anti-Bullying And Peace Resolution – Laurie Woodward

Laurie Woodward On Impacts Of Bullying.

Laurie Woodward wants children to see the magic inside them.

Laurie Woodward dreams to see the impacts of anti-bullying and peace resolution.

Laurie Woodward is talking about impacts of anti-bullying and peace resolution. She wants it to see it spread on the earth irrespective of boundaries and borders. Laurie Woodward wants every child on this earth to realize the magic inside him. She wants them to get empowered with this magic. She would love students to understand that if they become effective communicators they can easily help other children to resolve all conflicts in a peaceful manner. Hence, they will become the brand ambassadors in making this earth a more positive habitation to live and enjoy life. It is important for them to understand that giving to others always helps in building self-esteem. It can build reminiscences that every child can be proud of for entire life.

Photo credit: Chesi - Fotos CC via Visualhunt / CC BY-SA

Each one of us, like Laurie Woodward, must dream to see the impacts of anti-bullying and peace resolution continue to cross boundaries. Individual bullying, group bullying and society bullying is an age-old disease. All this, in turn, impacts on the level of bullying of our planet and its delicate biomes. Some societies and countries work hard towards individual solutions to bullying. A step further is working towards group solutions promoting peace. This can ultimately lead to work together in such a manner to help each other worldwide. She is doing her bit in continuing to share this agenda globally in an effort to let all children across the planet realize her dream. This impact can be produced by each one of us to provide effective solutions for humanity.

Photo credit: trix0r via Visualhunt.com / CC BY

Laurie Woodward is a fifth-grade teacher. She attempts to empower children are being driven in a countless manner. She is an award-winning peace consultant. She loves to help educationalist in spreading her voyage of a fight against bullying. She understands that educators and children together can build a strong shield helping against bullying. Bullying generally starts with arguments. That is where her focus is. She emphasizes on developing healthy friendships. For over two decades she has worked in Title One schools where a large count of low-income students, immigrants from varied cultures, children from gang families, and second language learners exist. During last five years, she has worked as an impactful coach enriching students and communities against bullying. She has taken teaching to a different level.

Photo credit: MrSchuReads via VisualHunt.com / CC BY-NC-SA

The impacts of anti-bullying and peace resolution have to spread across borders, boundaries and nations to unite all religions and communities. Laurie Woodward is dedicated to this cause to her fullest. How about every unit of a society becoming part of it in an active manner? The fight against a fight against bullying has to soak deep into every heart so that the united efforts bring faster results. Let us crave for our planet as a No Bully Zone. 

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can  apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Business Of Art – A Short Term Innovative Course from DAG Modern and YWLP India

Business of Art – A unique course on Business and Aesthetics of Art

The Business of Art is a short-duration experiential course that straddles the business and art world

Business of Art course is run jointly by DAG, Delhi Art Gallery, and YWLP India, Young Women’s Leadership Program

A fantastico opportunity to learn the business of art from the leaders in art and business. DAG Modern, Delhi Art Gallery, and YWLP India, Young Women’s Leadership Program are the pioneers in their respective fields. They have pioneered in organizing this unique first ever short-term course on Business and Aesthetics of Art named The Business of Art. We all know the Indian art prices are soaring like anything. This is because of increasing art lovers across the globe. The excitement in the art market is unparalleled. Art has become an invaluable asset class comprising of innumerous entities. It still is an undervalued in most HNI portfolios in India. We all know that the Indian HNI population is at an increasing trend year on year basis. HNI is nothing but the number of high net worth individuals having an investable assets of a value equal to or more than a million dollars. The top artworks have been valued more than USD 4.4 million (almost equivalent to INR 30 crore).

The Young Women’s Leadership Program, YWLP India and Delhi Art Gallery (DAG Modern) have taken this initiative by collaborating to launch the unique, innovative and first ever short-term course in the business & aesthetics of art that has been named as The Business of Art. This is a short-duration course that has been modeled to be pragmatic with a purpose of teaching business and art together. It evolves to join the empirical factors that connect the business and art world. The curriculum of The Business of Art combines modern-day teaching methodologies and technologies. It is a unique concept of bringing the knowledge and experience of prominent personalities from the art and business world as faculty. The mission of this course to learn the art as a high valued asset class while understanding the dynamic forces that govern the setting of an art gallery. The course includes learning about important factors connecting art and business starting with its history, organization, major stakeholders and dynamics of the art market. The dynamics are quite complex and the purpose of this course is to teach about the ever-evolving art market so that the student is groomed well to develop sensibility and aesthetics for the achieving highest level of creativity in optimum style.

The unique concept combined with the well-experienced faculty makes this fantastico course as the first choice for all aspiring and professional enthusiasts in the business of art. The course is quite valuable for artists, professionals in private banking, aspirants, gallerists, and HNIs having an intent to jump into this portfolio. The course will empower an aspirant to build his or her own art business. It will impart a balanced approach to learning and practicals with real life experience sharing. There will be ample site visits and guest expert sessions. The focus is to learn real life approach towards functioning of auction houses, museums, art galleries, art advisors, dealers, collectors, and curators.

The fantastico course Business Of Art, organized by DAG Modern and YWLP India is of 8 weeks duration. It will be conducted at Yong Women’s Leadership Program Campus in Sector 32, Gurgaon and Delhi Art Gallery Modern, Hauz Khas Village, Delhi. The cost of this course is Rs. 1.10 lac excluding taxes. 

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can  apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

SP Jain School of Global Management for MBA in Australia

SP Jain School of Global Management has a unique curriculum model.

If you are planning to do your MBA in Australia, think of SP Jain School of Global Management.

SP Jain School of Global Management is ideally a perfect door to enter global alumni.

SP Jain School of Global Management is a well-known institute in the education field. It focuses on four pillars operations. The first one is Blended Learning. The second one is Immersion Courses. The third one is Simulations and the last one is Global Learning. Overall, the focus stays on grooming of the students to a global level so that wherever he or she goes, is welcomed with open arms. The global MBA with its new and innovative curriculum has been well acclaimed on the global front. It has been adjudged among world’s top 100 by none other than The Economist. Forbes ranked it among World’s Top 10. Both these acclamations are for the year 2015. But that is not all. The accolades are a repeat. In 2012 also, Forbes ranked it among World’s Top 20. Financial Times adjudged it among World’s Top 100 for two consecutive years 2011 and 2012. The course is ideally fantastic for MBA in Australia and elsewhere.

The curriculum of the new Global MBA offered by SP Jain School of Global Management has entirely a different approach. It focuses mainly on inculcating real-world qualities like global intelligence, global benchmarking, critical thinking, decision making and all this is done without any adjustment with the quality of the knowledge. The “blended learning” approach entails latest learning pedagogy in an innovative manner. The curriculum has a right amalgamation of online learning along with face-to-face and peer learning. Its Alumni placements have a global foothold. You join, you excel, and then you decide your preferred location of work, anywhere in the world. That is the beauty of doing your Global MBA from SP Jain School of Global Management.

The tri-city model is the fantastic approach. It is quite unique and innovative I would say. The Global MBA program is global in a true sense. All the students who enroll in this program have to spend a stipulated span of course duration at each of the campuses. These campuses are in Dubai, Singapore, and Sydney. The concept is to make you conversant with the regional economy model and getting acquainted with global business concepts, international norms, global networks and real-world scenarios.

Sydney campus opening ceremony 

Overall, the wonderful program of MBA in Australia, or anywhere else in the world is unbeatable. It is unique. It is always a win situation if you plan to join SP Jain School of Global Management.

Univesity of Adelaide and edX offer Project Management Course For Free

A golden opportunity for project management enthusiasts from University of Adelaide

Project Management course for free in collaboration with the edX US

A fantastico course in project management offered for free by University of Adelaide

This is a golden opportunity for project management enthusiasts to go for this fantastico online course for free offered by the University of Adelaide in collaboration with the edX US. Project management is a skill required in any stream of life. This is a project management course to make you well conversant with the basics of project management. The online course in project management is obviously meant to help aspirants in the field to learn from anywhere, anytime. This is a university level project management course. The online course is to be launched pretty soon. This is an initiative under MOOC (massive open online course). edX US is already engaged in a number of such courses to benefit aspirants and students all across the globe.

Photo credit: courosa via Visual hunt / CC BY-NC-SA

The fantastico Project Management course from the University of Adelaide is of six-week duration. The flow of the online course in project management will start with an introduction to project management. This will help in gaining a formal education in the basics of project management. This is one of the unique opportunities to acquire formal learning by joining project management course for free. The well-set curriculum is at par with any equivalent professional course in project management. The structured course content will be helping its students to gain knowledge in a step by step manner. It will help them in staying focused and grasp more. The learning promises to be long lasting and beneficial.

The online course in project management from the University of Adelaide in association with the edX US is starting February 17. It is structured and designed keeping in mind all aspirants and enthusiasts who have no formal knowledge in project management.  Being an online course, it provides with a liberty to manage it at work or home as per your own comfort and wish. The course content focuses on the practical ways of approaches in project management. You will learn about the practical ways of understanding and exploring your project goals whatever project you are managing. It makes you conversant with the fundamentals of various factors that have a direct effect on any project. These factors could be internal or external ones.

Photo credit: cobismith via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-NC-SA

The focus areas of this online free course in project management from the University of Adelaide in collaboration with the edX US will be on gradual learning of project planning, project scoping, project scheduling, project costing. It is basically managing your project right from its inception till its successful closure. The project management course further takes you to understand the project dependencies. It could be people, resources, finances or any other miscellaneous needs. People are always at the core of a project because the onus of success or failure lies with them. This fantastico online course in project management is for anyone aspiring to acquire a good learning on the subject.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can  apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Is Dalit A Political Music?

Dalit is being wrongly played by some miscreants

Is Dalit being taken as a wrong opportunity?

Can there be a strong answer to this soft issue once for all?

Recently came across a case in Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi. This is about a student who belongs to Dalit category. He was doing Ph.D. from there. He was being paid a scholarship for doing his Ph.D. The duration was 4-year for this. He consumed the total scholarship and duration but didn’t complete his Ph.D.  He was granted an amount of Rs. 66,000 to visit a foreign country for a field trip. He had taken the amount but never visited any foreign country. Since the amount was taken in advance, the university came to know about it later. It was a unique case for them where a student has taken the full amount to visit a country as a field trip and never utilized it for the purpose. Is Dalit being played as a political music?

On asking the student, the answer was not very clear. He said he spent the amount for his domestic chores as the family was not doing well in terms of the financial state. At the end of his 4^th year now he is asking for a waiver for the amount that was given to him for the field trip that is Rs. 66,000. There is a further threat to the university. He says if you don’t extend my Ph.D. for a year along with the stipulated scholarship, I will go for a suicide. He also blamed the university that they have never promoted a Dalit to get a Ph.D. successfully. What does this all mean exactly? It means the case of Dalit suicide is hot and the guy is planning to play his cards to gain the best of the undue favour. He knows the current situation of the country and about a recent case in Hyderabad that is being exchanged between various political parties of the country. The blame and counter blame is happening at full swing. The guy in question thinks that he can take any amount on any account and then let it be waived off because he is a Dalit.

Photo credit: AcnurLasAméricas via Visualhunt.com / CC BY-NC-SA

It is fair to run your life with this kind of mindset. In fact, this guy is in a full mood of blackmailing the university by hitting the right chord at the right time. Why can’t this guy be charged with misappropriations and threatening the university on a legal front? Why an action can’t be taken against him for such kind of alarming and threatening statements? Why can’t the other students raise their voice against this wrongdoing? Why, on top of it, the university is keeping mum on the issue? By the way, paying the full amount in advance, that too in cash is not a good thing to do by the university. They should chalk out a system where the amount is paid for the purpose and is spent for the same purpose. There has to be a control mechanism in place to avoid such embarrassing situations. Is Dalit a political music or some people are intentionally drawn to play with the system and situation?

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can  apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.

Short Story: Only Name That Suited Her Was Fantastico

Was her name Angel or Fantastico?

Each passing moment appeared as an hour. I was wondering what is her name.

She said her name is Angel. I said your name can only be Fantastico.

“What is your name?” I asked her.

She was silent for a while. I couldn’t bear this silence. The moments appeared to me as hours. I started biting my nails. That is a bad habit I have been carrying since my childhood. I don’t remember exactly when I had the first taste of my nails. But I am still carrying it even passing out my senior school. I am in my first year of college.

I met her for the first time at the time of admission to the college. That was almost 3 months back. Right now I am in the middle of my first semester. She was wearing spectacles. It was her orange colored jazzy frame that attracted me. And then the next thing that hooked me was her eyes. I let my sight travel from her frame to her eyes straight, passing quickly through her big glasses covering her eyes. Her eyes were sharp and a bit extra-wide. She was there on the interview panel. A panel of four professors was sitting for a quick scan through each candidate’s paper and a short interview.

Till I finished other formalities I was never able to take my eyes away from her. She was full of energy. Her eyes were sparkling like fresh soda poured in a neat thin glass. I wished she removes her glasses. I wanted to see her eyes, naked, for once. She was working in a rhythm. She had an unstoppable smile on her face, all the time, undisturbed by anything around. The smile on the face was in sync with the same intensity of smile showering through her eyes. It seemed as if someone in her childhood stretched her lips from both the ends and they permanently took this shape. Even when she was talking her smile never went off. Her eyes were extra circular in shape. I think the same person who stretched her lips sideways in her childhood must have done the same with her eyes too. The elliptical shape of eyes had changed to circular. I think she would be using her eyes to draw an exact round shape on a paper in her school days.

Photo via VisualHunt

I was not sure if I will be able to get my interview done before lunchtime. Hardly 25 minutes were left. I was not even sure if the panel members would strictly adhere to the timings or will leave the table even before time. I was 5th in the waiting. By the time I reached the penultimate position I was able to hear her sweet voice. She must be an angel, I thought.

“Well, my name is Angel D’Souza,” She replied.

“It can’t be,” I said.

“Why?” She widened her eyes further and so was her smile.

“Only name that suits you is Fantastico,” I said.

This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can  apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.