Life is Short

Life is short. Enjoy it while you can.

Guess I should have seen it coming. He was getting weak and needed a glucose dosage every 6 hrs. And even when he was awake, it wasn’t to the fullest, getting tired real soon. Sometimes, he would stand at a place and stare at nothing.

The hearing had gone down and the voice faded – many times he was barely audible. The dental setup was gone and he needed an artificial tooth. His memory was fading. He couldn’t recall the good times he had stored “forever”.

His connections had become weaker. Even old friends were forgotten. Many times he needed to be reintroduced to them as “new friends”. And just yesterday, even the doctors said there was no further support available.

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And today it happened. It fell and broke its glass. Thank you Nokia 701.

Whats cooking? Innovations..!!

So I’m setting up a new house in a new location… And living alone, the least of my worries should be cooking. It is! But that doesn’t stop me from thinking how the kitchens of those not as lucky as me would change with the new govt policy of 6 subsidised gas cylinders.

Yes, the number of people using coking gas through cylinders is a miniscule proportion of the Indian population, but yes, the lives of this miniscule population is in for a change... I foresee these changes in 4 different heads

1. Change in consumption: So now, no more regular consumption of food that requires long simmering over gas in an open vessel. Gajar Halwas and Dal Makhanis can bid a goodbye to the usual Indian household! Next time, when you get Gajar Halwa in a get-together, know that you are treated as important :P
2. Change in cooking style: Prestiges, Hawkins and Uniteds of the world can rejoice. Pressure cookers, which are faster methods of cooking will soon replace the open pan cooking.
3. Change in cooking devices: Electric Rice Cookers will be a necessity for all South-Indian and Bengali households with high consumption of rice. Induction Cooktops which have recently started finding market will grow fast. How about coal based non-smoke chulhas? Sigris? Will Tandoori dishes make their way from restaurants to the normal Indian household!
4. Alternate Energy Sources: This is what excites me the most – this is where a handicap will turn into an opportunity. Solar cookers anyone? How about mandating bio-gas based cooking in planned industrial townships which throw up tonnes of bio-waste anyways?

They said necessity is the mother of invention... Time for new innovations... Time to put your mind to where your mouth is :D

Guidelines to filing IT Return online using ITR-I and ITR-V in India

Wow… For the first time, I filed my own IT Return. After doing it, yes it seems to be very very simple. However, till I had actually done it, it seemed pretty complex to me… There was no set guidelines on how to do it. There are many websites that take money to do it for you – so obviously no one tells you how to do it yourself. But thank the internet and the open source inspiration – now you can file your own IT return as I have done (which hopefully works).

Disclaimer: I’m no tax consultant. So I bear no liability should this not be a correct process and you be raided by the IT authorities. In case, this is wrong, please do bring to my notice so that I might file the correct IT Return.

Just a brief introduction to me: This section is important because for someone else, the method described below might not be true… I’m employed with my salary being my only source of income. The interest that the Bank pays me for keeping this salary is the other. I pay rents and have a few perquisites. I get these details from the Form 16 given to me by my employer.

1. Go to: https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/login.do


2. Create account using your PAN number (below the Login button, there is a link for "New User Registration".


3. Download ITR-1 - it is a zip file. Extract it to some known folder - this might be required later too
   • If you are filing return for the income earned in year 2010-11, the corresponding. AY is 2011-12. Ensure you download the correct ITR-I form. The AY is mentioned at the top.


4. When you open the file, it will ask you to enable macros. Go ahead.


5. Fill up form. The fields marked * are mandatory.
   • You will need form 16 to fill the form. It is pretty simple if you have those details.
   
   
   • In case you do not know your WARD/CIRCLE, you can leave it blank. When you upload the XML, this is automatically filled using you PAN Card information. In case you need to confirm this, you can visit: https://incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in/portal/common.do?screen=jurisdiction and enter your PAN number.
   
   
   • When the file is complete - click on "Calculate Tax". This is very important. This step calculates the tax that you need to pay. In case, the TDS is less, it calculates extra tax payable.


6. Fill in the Bank Account Number. The MICR is the 9-digit numerical code written at the bottom of your cheque.


7. Then click "Generate XML"


8. Save that XML to a known folder.


9. Log into your account (created in Step 2). Go to Submit.


10. Since you do not have digital signature, leave the checkbox empty.


11. Upload the XML.


12. The website will generate an ITR-V form. Download it. it is again a ZIP file which needs to be saved for future reference.


13. The ITR-V is a pdf. the password to the pdf is {PAN number in small letters}{birthdate in dd/mm/yyyy}. I've not received the ITR-V on email as the website mentioned I would.


14. Print the ITR-V. Sign at the appropriate place (at the bottom). Do not make any other alterations to this form.


15. Send the same by Speed Post to: CPC, Post Bag No - 1, Electronic City Post Office, Bangalore – 560100. DO NOT SEND BY COURIER

Well, that is it. Hoping my IT Return is successful.

#Edit-1: I received the ITR-V form by mail two days after e-filing.
#Edit-2: It is important to add any interest you might have received on your savings bank account or Fixed Deposits you have as "Other Income".
#Edit-3: So your Form-16 doesn't include your Interest Income. How do you pay the additional tax that you owe? Visit https://onlineservices.tin.nsdl.com/etaxnew/tdsnontds.jsp --> Choose Challan 280 --> Tax Applicable 0021 --> Fill in details --> Type of Payment: 300

Microsoft Does It Again...

I just downloaded the Vista Service Pack 2. And guess what, it comes with an add-on to FireFox!!! I hated IE and switched over to FireFox and now this MS encroachment to Firefox... And that is not it – U can’t even uninstall this from your Firefox!!!

I generally support MS for all it does in making computing easy and accessible to all. Ya Ya.. LINUX groups will jump onto this statement saying Linux is better blah blah... I could never manage that (and I’m not a computer illiterate). I love the way MS gives me easy ways of doing things... who cares if I have that control on my comp or not. I don’t want the control that LINUX users promise – I want the ease that MS promises.... But things like these are what irritate me. Why shud it install something into Firefox which is not even its own!!! Do whatever you want with windows application but leave the others alone. Other than Office, I rarely use any other windows application... and I kinda prefer it that way. I dunno what the functionalities of this add-on are... I’m yet searching for that... If anyone’s got a clue, please post it over...

Scientification of Myth

Uttarayan or Makar Sankranti is a festival celebrated all over India with fervour and uniformity matched by few other festivals. It signals the end of the winter crop season (Rabi crop). Harvest (wheat being the major crop in the North) is often started on this day across India.

However, as usual, I couldn’t take the festival name on face value. What is “Uttar” in Uttarayan? What comes to the North? When asked suddenly, any person vaguely connected to Gujarat, Punjab etc will say that it is the day the Sun travels and enters the Northern Hemisphere. And here we are not talking of ignorant ppl or even non-science grads... We are talking of science students, engineers of top institutes (IITs and NITs) and managers. What is wrong then? Does anything travel northwards?? (The stock market dealers will surely hope the northward growth is in the stocks ;) )

Wiki says it is the day the sun travels towards the north on the celestial sphere. But I thought, we were taught in class eight that the sun is over the Tropic of Capricorn on Dec 22nd (Winter Solstice). So by definition, the Sun travels north on every day after that. Why is it that we celebrate the “Uttar”ayan on Jan 14th? And, if the logic is that the sun enters the northern hemisphere on Jan 14th, it can’t be true as the sun only reaches the equator on the equinox, i.e., March 21st. Also, it cannot be said that the Sun travels northwards over India (it is majorly an Indian festival) as India lies completely in the Northern hemisphere and thus when the sun has not even crossed the equator, it cannot be over India. Then, sun travels to the north of what is the question that remains unanswered. 

Ironically, while most Indian festivals are based on the lunar calendar, this is based on the solar calendar (few others include Vishwakarma Jayanti). I conclude that this festival is just another harvest festival and an attempt was made to give it a scientific meaning by the pundits (no disrespect meant). Of course, contradicting views with references are invited.

Well, for me it means a lot different, sans all the science and let’s say “Scientification” of myth... A day I get to eat rabdi and til... the eve celebrated as Lohri with a bonfire with typical bhangra around it. Few folk songs and a lot of fun... 

Lohri ki khoob saari Badhaiyan :)

Looking forward to a good SPAXI dinner,

PP

Ambushed...

I always wondered, "Why do companies go to B-Schools and release competitions which cost them large chunks of money and time?" I got my answer yday...

It was the break after the second term I was SACked one day. Nokia had a event Coliseum and selected B-Schools were invited to create a publicity concept and build thereon. The stage one involved building and briefly communicating the concept. As is so very usual, dint start working on it till the last day!!! Then a brief stroke of the creative genius in me appeared and we got the concept. My teammates (must say, much more capable in the field than me) developed the concept into a full-fledged opportunity for an advt.

Then started the work and I realised what the Bollywood missed, XL gained ;) One guy who Rocks On, balances Baddy, his Hep Job and the beautiful partner... He’s surely no less than a hero!!! None of us were accomplished in the area of video recording or editing, nevertheless we set on the mission of making an ad, however good or bad... It turned to be a very crude video with little or no editing (due to shortage of time). However, upto here was very routine and expected...

Then I uploaded the video after some techie stuff... Within the first 1 hour, the video had been seen 30+ times... Out of curiousity I checked wat others had done... And to my surprise, at least some 30-40 videos in the past hour were uploaded which concerned the Nokia N97!!! Ambush marketing at its best... Using B-Schoolers to run campaigns on youtube without letting them knw tht we were actually being used as the advt channel, also free of cost. Also, this ensured that N97 was shown and will be, in the coming few weeks to the perfect target segment – the young rich who have lots of income to spend... the ones who will graduate out of these famous B-Schools and immediately look to buying their first phone bought with their own money. A few of the videos I saw were actually brilliant (both concept and execution) and wud give the pros a run for their money. All-in-All, a very good marketing strategy by Nokia to give itself a very good pre-launch publicity...

My Video: Good Concept but not so good editing... obviously nokia, with all its professional setup, should be able to better it... We call the concept (click on the link to see the video):

Your Virtual Self 

Problem in Word 2007

Dear Blog,

Today I faced a strange problem in MS word. I could move the cursor in the text area using the keyboard but not the mouse. I could not point at any location on the screen using the mouse. As a result, selecting text using the mouse was not possible. However, the mouse worked just fine in the ribbon area. Also I can’t run any word document from the start menu as I normally do. Closing any document causes Word to stop working. Can’t figure the reason...

There is no virus on my comp as verified by two anti-viruses.

Last I knew, word was trying to update when the comp was accidentally shut down. I’m pretty sure the error is due to partial updating of the application and modification of the registry shud bring the functionality back but there are so many folders in registry relating to word in
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Word
that I cant figure out wat to change... Any suggestions anyone? Next few days will see me using word 2007 on a very large scale due to the impending SIP process... Any help is welcome.

Waiting for a solution,

MMM