Going Cashless

SBI buddy is a mobile wallet that allows the user to transfer amount to his contacts with the click of a button. If the user is a vegetable vendor he can receive cash from his clients without dealing in paper money. At the end of the day be can transfer his earnings to his bank. Money can also be transferred into the bank account of ones child who may be in a hostel. All this happens instantly along with the confirmation received by SMS. Of course one can recharge his phone or DTH TV . Other shopping options are also available. The wallet  can be loaded by one's debt cum ATM card. If the user wants to send the money back to his bank, he can do it instantly.

The application needs an unrooted Android phone. The application should not be shared with anyone via Shareit  or similar apps. It is because the wallet app would consider this as rooting and start crashing after that. Then it would have to be downloaded again through the Play Store. Perhaps, this is because of the security issues.

In nutshell online business has become much easier now. I feel that this virtual wallet is poised to replace the paper money in the near future.

100 km Cycle rally- A telephonic talk with HS Phoolka

HS Phoolka of Aam Admi Party would be cycling from Ludhiana to Chandigarh. The cycle rally is aimed at promoting simplicity. The rally also wants to tell the Punjab Government to shun the VIP culture. The telephonic talk can be heard from the following links
Arrow Podcasts link - http://wp.me/P4JMou-6d
and
Box link https://app.box.com/s/o2i14z3ge69k83d50etdtapzdntefnod

The emerging political scene in Punjab

Analysing the results

A positive change

All about salt

MC polls in Jagraon

This time there are several independent candidates who are giving a tough fight to the Alkali and Congress candidates. Aam Admi Party is not in the political scene officially. However several people who have a soft corner for AAP are contesting from Jagraon as independents. People of the town want transparency in the utilization of funds. Some of them have even agreed to post the expenditure details on the internet. Honesty and dedication are the qualities that the citizens of Jagraon are looking in their leaders this time. The elections are multi-cornered and it is expected that several new  persons would emerge as winners in the municipality elections that are being held on 25 February.

The present political pulse - my two cents

The things that have been quite determinental in the political scene of our country very recently are as follows.

1 A Naulakha suit (A dress costing 9 Lakhs) worn by someone in a nation whose founder father Mahatma Gandhi had gone half naked to meet the King of Great Britain.
2 The theory of manufacturing four kids proposed by some leader.
3 Day and night slander campaign against Arvind Kejriwal by a bunch of traditional politicians that back fired terribly.
4 A candid statement by an actor turned politician from Bihar in favour of AAM Admi Party. His only fault was that he tried to be honest and straight forward whilst being in a party that can ill afford such moral luxuries.
5 The comments of the American President before and after leaving India. The first one is that India is sure to progress if it does not splinter due to bigotry. The second comment is about the perceived deviation from the path shown by Gandhiji. It meant that India could head towards being a non secular state in the future.

Why are the elections in Delhi so important?

The Great Britain developed a mature political set up much before the rest of the world. Their King gave due space to his political advisors. The Judicial system, the Transport system, the Postal system and the Police evolved much faster. Their Army had a superior command and control system that infused unmatched discipline amongst the soldiers. Disciplne lead to better organisational skills. This discipline was copied by the companies and mercenaries that went about doing their business across the globe.

The British found India much too wanting in organalisation skills and unity. The subcontinent had a vast spectrum of cultures, religious beliefs and languages. They conquered the whole of it and developed the Administrative mechanism, the Railway network and the Canals. But to their utter dismay these developments united the bulky land into a huge elephant. They had no option but to leave India as it had become unmanageable for them.

Democracy got newly introduced in India and somehow it worked despite several shortcomings. The language, caste, religion and regional divides  are still major barriers in the path of unity. Independent institutions like the Election Commission have been greatly weakened by the vested interests. One can only hope that the hardcore religious organisations do not have their Cells operating in the Army.

Presently the people see a ray of hope in the AAM Admi Party. It is based on rational thoughts and humanitarian principles. The elections in Delhi could become a milestone towards true democracy. Now, the future course of our country rests upon the Delhi-wasis.

Vote, Note and Cancer

There has been a substantial change in the government policy pertaining to advertisements of socially harmful substances. For the last several years our televisions were free from Ads  that promoted the consumption of cancer causing materials. Have you noted that these Ads have emerged once again?

Do not be surprised if the kids of your house get attracted towards carcinogenic things like Paan Masaalas. Somewhere in the corridors of power there has been a serious compromise with the welfare of the society. Aajtak channel, in particular is full of such Ads during Prime Time.

Your vote in favour of the corrupt politicians can surely affect the health and moral of the next generation. These far reaching consequences must be borne in mind before one goes to the polling booth. It is better to bring forward people who believe in honesty and humanity rather han those who are corrupt and communally biased. They would take VOTES from you and NOTES from the businessmen who popularise POISON and  give two hoots to the victims of CANCER.

E Coaching

A lot of technology is used in the modern day coaching.
First of all, exercises are prepared on plane sheets. All these exercises, along with some from help books, are scanned. A pdf file is made and uploaded to the Cloud storage. The student is provided with the down loading link on Whatsapp. He finishes the work sheets and takes a picture of each page. He sends them through Whatsapp. He sends audio files either through Gmail or Whatsapp. His work is checked by using various applications on the tablet PC. The checked work is sent back to him via Whatsapp. Thus a student who is doing MTech from Patiala is able to learn English from a teacher in Jagraon. A sample of the checked page is posted below.

Lohri Song

Sunder mundriye ho!
Tera kaun vicharaa ho!
Dullah Bhatti walla ho!
Dullhe di dhee vyayae ho!
Ser shakkar payee ho!
Kudi da laal pathaka ho!
Kudi da saalu paata ho!
Salu kaun samete!
Chache choori kutti! zamidara lutti!
Zamindaar sudhaye!
Bade bhole aaye!
Ek bhola reh gaya!
Sipahee far ke lai gaya!
Sipahee ne mari itt!
Bhaanvey ro te bhaanvey pitt!

It appears a bit difficult to comprehend the meaning of this poem written in Punjabi of the olden times. Despite being Punjabi myself only a little can be deciphered out of it. What ever little comes to my mind after reading it is as follows-

The people and their honour was at the mercy of the powerful in the so called 'Good old times'. Beautiful and innocent girls could not count on anyone except someone with a name called 'Abdulla Bhatti' or 'Dulla Bhatti'. A daughter could be married just by giving her a red Shawl even though it is quite a torn one. For sweets one Kg raw sugar was sufficient over the bonfire made in the woods. Still the big landlords find reason enough to summon the poor guys. And then his Sepoys have the cheek to beat these poor things with bricks because one of them could not turn up.
Quite chilly,Isn't it? But a marriage is a marriage and should be celebrated!
May be there is some other better translation. 
HAPPY LOHRI TO ALL

The National Capital Region

The national capital region is essentially the outgrown version of Delhi. Delhi was a predominantly muslim city before 1947. The influx of refugees from Punjab and Bengal changed its demography beyond recognition. The New Delhi designed by the British also changed as the white skinned Sahibs left the country.

The local population in the countryside villages around Delhi has always remained confused as the city changed faster than anyone could dream. Their natural lifestyle could never blend well with the ever changing styles of the city.

The Muslim population got reduced to minority. The new generation of the Punjabis mixed their mother tongues with Hindi in such a way that it created a kind of new dialect typical of Delhi. Trade and industry have been bringing people from all parts of the country. Also, quite often, the retired people from the armed forces, government and private organisations make it their new home.

What remains unique about the capital is that none of the various types of people claim themself to be true Delhi-wallas. Not even the Gujjars or any other tribe that has been living here for centuries.

Death knell for the newspapers

The newspapers of Punjab have begun to hear their death knell. With the advent of the smart phones very few people buy newspapers. The English newspapers in particular are vanishing into the thin air very fast. The reason being that a person who can read English does not need a newspaper. All he needs is an internet connection to know the latest happenings around him.

Most newspapers of the province have started focussing on their websites to have their presence felt. Ultimately which website becomes the most liked, trusted and visited for Punjab centric news remains yet to be seen.

The potential of the virtual world

Internet is commonly referred to as 'Vitual World'. May be in the initial days a ripple created on the world wide web of computers had little effect on the real life. But that isn't anymore. A minister in the previous government lost his office due to a tweet on a social networking site. A senior official of the cricket association also met the same fate due to similar reasons. It can make a person feel good just as it can cause a heart-break. Now that even money can be exchanged, food, grocery and services be bought, the virtual world has almost merged with the real world.

Internet has immense untapped potential. In India there can be a revolution if the Adharcard number, the bank account number, the telephone number and the passport number get merged into one. Further, if the currency becomes digital in place of the paper money and all the transactions are made to take place through phone, the crime rate could dwindle along with solving all the issues related to black money.

Perhaps, the politicians would be among the first to get effected by the monetary reforms. They may not easily allow such a transformation to take place.

How I auctioned my phone

Today I Posted a message on the Whatsapp group for the auction of my phone Nokia E 63. The minimum bidding price was fixed at Rs 300. The message was posted at 10.47 am. The group was of Aam admi Party Jagraon. Some one in the group asked me to upload the picture of the mobile. That was done. The first bidding took place at 11.32 am. The price quoted was Rs 500. There was no bidding after that. After 5pm the bidder was contacted. We both met at the Easyday Mall and closed the deal.

The worth of Fees

The worth of the money gotten in the form of fees from my students is much more than their apparent value. Perhaps, it is hundred times more. A thousand Rupees given by them is like one lakh. They make me swim in the river of their affection. They make me relive my childhood. They give me a feeling of having a large family. It often appears that there aren't just two sons in the house but a dozen of sons and daughters. The joy of being amidst young giggling faces isn't easy to describe. The respect earned through them is invaluable.
In a school the students may have to go to a teacher by compulsion. But in contrast the students come to a tuition master because they like him, as well as his teaching skills. This feeling of being liked and respected by the boys and girls just cannot be bought by money.
How thankful I am to God for making me a tuition master!

Dummy admissions

Coaching classes are marketing their services in Jagraon quite aggressively. Several institutes of Ludhiana held exams in Jagraon to attract the intelligent students. Their course would be of two years while the students would pursue their 11th and 12th class from some regular school. The coaching would be provided in both medical as well as non medical streams. Till now it seems that Career Academy of Ludhiana has taken a lead over other institutes. Nowadays the students plan to continue the higher secondary education from a school that puts least burden on them so that they may join the coaching classes and should be able to crack the entrance exam of the prestigious institutes of the country. Some students even plan to take a sort of dummy admission in some school so that they can have enough time to prepare for the competitive exams.

Bounties of the Sun

Jagraon-wasis ought to be thankful to the Rabb as they have enough Sunshine to prevent their spirits from sagging despite the cold spell that followed the rain. Yesterday one of my school time friends (Bharat Godra from Toronto) shared that he had been shovelling snow on Sunday afternoon. It must be quite a challenge of the sort to Keep the spirits up and also keep smiling when one is required to deal with the snow and that too on a Sunday. 

In India the sun is quite generous to us. But we realise its bounties only during the winter season. We love the Sun in the cold season just as much as we dread it in the Summers. Pehaps, every North Indian would agree that the joy of basking in the sun in December can hardly be compared in terms of wealth or any salary package.

Koi Chakkar ne - a teenage slang

A question that begins with - Is, Am, Are, Do, Did, Does, Has, Have, Had, Will, Shall, Can, Could etc has two answers. Either it can be answered in 'Yes' or "No'. For example let us consider an interrogative sentence,"Would you reach in time?" The answer to it can, normally, be "Yes' or "No'. But politicians come out with answers like 'No comments' or 'It depends'. Some may answer by saying 'Let us see'.

Once General Parvez of Pakistan was asked by a journalist to answer some question in either 'Yes' or 'No'. The General cleverly evaded the question by saying, "Yes and No". (It was a television interview sometime in Dec 1999 when there was a military coop in their country)

Several teenagers of Jagraon (including my boys) often answer such questions by saying "Koi chakkar ne" (there are no circles). The person at the other end remains perplexed. He does not know what to infer.

The first time that I heard such an answer was in 1999 when we had recently come to Jagraon. There was a teenager at a cement shop. I made him the payment and asked if the material could reach in time. He said, "Koi Chakkar ne Uncleji koooeee Chakkarr ne".

I often wonder what would happen to the army if our soldiers give a similar reply to their officers in the battlefield.