My intention of starting this blog was to blog for the joy of blogging, to write down random ramblings and to document my life. The only people I expected to read this was my real family and the people I think as my family.

But soon it became an obsession and started growing on me. I started writing down every thing in my life, and it grew to a point where I didn’t want to do something, cuz, if I did, I would have to write it down in here. I felt it during the Tata Jagriti Yatra where I had to note down the details somewhere so that I would remember it when I was blogging here. It was not fun anymore.

So the easiest way to win over it was to not do it. The lazy side of me took over and I just did nothing.

Okay, that’s the intro. First of all, a Happy New Year! (Lets start with the rituals)

New Year Resolutions for 2011:

1. Learn Swimming. [Done]
2. Take Passport and use it. [Done]
3. Set-up a passive income source. [Done]

Just three for this year, let me keep it simple this time.

What’s New?

Well, to start with, Tata Jagriti Yatra was a hell of an experience. I wouldn’t call it a tour (now I get why the TJY team said its not a pleasure ride over and over). We had fun, but living in a train bunk for 18 days was a challenge in itself, not to mention the extreme temperatures of the north and the train-smelling-food.

But having survived the tour makes me feel like a Been-There-Done-That Person. Also made a bunch of really cool friends. The TJY experience cannot be said in words, its something much more than that. I will always cherish those 18 days and the friends I made.

Photos of TJY on Picassa – on Flickr. Summary of TJY 2010: The Yatra Saar

After TJY, I am working on a project with @TheAnand and @KenneyJacob. Details of the project are classified We moved from Kaloor to Panambilly Nagar, we have a better home now!

Then I went on a tour to Mysore last month. A friend of mine from school, Sajay, is doing his final year MBBS. Spent a couple of days with him and Aswin (another friend who came with me) and met his friends. The trip was a blast!

Pics – this way.

p.s: I just saw the Japan Tsunami videos on TV tonight. Wondering how they are keeping up with their lives.

Where are you? is a post from: The Kuttappi

Last April, I had applied for TATA Jagriti Yatra of this year. And from a pool of over 16,000 applicants, I got selected!

Tata Jagriti Yatra is an annual train journey that that takes hundreds of India’s highly motivated youth (with some participation of international students) between the ages of 20-25 and experienced professionals with age above 25, on a eighteen day national odyssey, introducing them to unsung heroes of India.

The aim is to awaken the spirit of entrepreneurship – both social and economic – within India’s youth by exposing them to individuals and institutions that are developing unique solutions to India’s challenges. Through this national event we have begun to inspire the youth of India to lead and develop institutions both nationally and within their communities.

Source

The cost of the Yatra is Rs. 38,000. I am looking for someone who could sponsor me for the trip. As a freshly passed out college graduate and a wannabe entrepreneur,  my life’s savings are zero. If you could give me the contact of someone who could sponsor me, that would be very helpful.

For details – Sponsor a Yatri

Please contact me here or on my email: arunbasillal [at] gmail [dot] com. If you prefer paypal, please Donate here. Every penny helps. Thank you.

Selected For TATA Jagriti Yatra. Looking for a Sponsor is a post from: The Kuttappi

620 hours is 25 days of standby time. I got this phone recommended from a friend, Roni, who said that his battery lasts for a  week even with heavy phone calls.

I have had my own number for the last 4 years. I started with a Nokia 3310, then I got my dad’s Nokia 7610 and when it broke down, I went back to the old Nokia 3310 but this time with a fresh look. All those mobiles were bought for someone else, not for me.

This one is Samsung Guru E1252. Bought it day before yester, 18th from Samsung Plaza, Opposite Oberon Mall, Cochin. Cost = 2000 INR.

Guru a basic phone, you can call (obviously. lol), you can send sms and even group sms. No Bluetooth, No Camera, No Wifi, No 3G, just the way I like it. It is a dual sim phone, but only once sim can receive calls when the other is active. It has a voice recorder and FM Radio, both I wish it didn’t have. I don’t like too many things in one gadget. This thing got a LED torch too.

Samsung Guru is loud enough and has some very carefully thought out features. For instance, you can set the time of day when you want the keypad backlit to be on; you don’t need backlit during day rt?

The phone is a winner for its Simplicity, low price, battery, great looks and dual sim feature

Features and Specs

My First Phone got 620 hours Battery Backup! is a post from: The Kuttappi

Well, its been a while since I pinged you, not because I didn’t have anything to say. In fact, I have too much to say that I cant remember everything right now.

Well, In July, my Home Broadband usage was billed for 256 hours; that’s close to 11 days. This month it is 27 hours and most of it was used by my sister.

All that means, I live more offline and less online. I wanted to get offline on the first place, so when I got an opportunity to do that, I just took it. I am into a Brand Promotion Activity using a superb concept called Smiley Card. The things I miss about being offline are Tweeting, Blogging and a very special relationship I had with a person which I kinda hopelessly screwed up.

Anyways…

I bought a Bike, a second-hand Boxer. The best part is now I know how to ride it. lol

Then it was my birthday this 14th (where are my gifts? ), I was so busy that I didn’t even feel like celebrating at all. It felt like just another day other than a few extra calls. I got a lovely card from my sister and @RM1L sent me this huge gift

I went to Trivandrum on a one day trip. It was my first trip to the Capital city; I would call it as a huge village. Lovely place.

So that makes the month of September. My business lets me meet people and I can definitely say that, there is nothing more pleasurable than meeting new people every day.

I tried writing this post over and over is a post from: The Kuttappi

@RM1L sent me this early Birthday Present last day. The gift was too much for me, I couldn’t help sharing this with you. Here it is…

Honestly, I don’t know where she got many of these pics. I haven’t seen many of them myself like the ones @Call_Me_Ninja took and so on. OMG, I am popular! yay!

p.s: This was my first YouTube Upload and it was Milana’s first time with Windows Movie Maker!

p.p.s: Its onam, hope you are having fun. Here is my Onam present for you: “Colors of Onam“

The Biggest Gift for Kuttappi! OMG! is a post from: The Kuttappi

When I got paid for my first freelance job online, I had decided to buy a Hard Disk. It was in the March of 2009. My Home PC had a 40GB Hard Disk then. 40GB would get filled up like this, but it was pretty much OK then.

Well, a external storage stayed on my wish-list for a while and then when I bought a Dell Studio Laptop with a whooping 320 GB HDD, I was pretty much satisfied.

I was wrong.

Within 4 months, I was wondering, what did I do with the 320 GB? Thanks to the night unlimited internet and 8GB Pen Drive, it got filled up pretty easily.

To address this need, I bought a Seagate FreeAgent Desk I Tera Byte External Hard Disk Drive. Paid 4680 INR/- including taxes.

I had decided upon buying a 1 TB Internal HDD and a casing to use it as an external. In fact, I had placed an order last week. I posted it on facebook and twitter and soon people started saying that it costs as much as an external Drive, so why not get an external?

(Very luckily the order I placed was misplaced, so I got the change the order, as luck would have it! I read the signs!)

OK, here is the math.

Internal 1 TB, 7200 r.p.m HDD (Western Digital or Samsung) – Rs 3200

Casing for 1 TB HDD – Rs 1000

Total – Rs 4200 (plus taxes)

Seagate FreeAgent (the one I bought) – Rs 4400 (excluding taxes)

Both these Hard Disks needs external power. The model without external power costs around 8500. Who would want to carry around 1 TB of data anyway? Buy a 250 GB instead.

So if you are buying only once, the Seagate is a better option. It comes with 5 year warranty too. But 1 TB would run out of space one day and if you have plans to purchase another 1 TB and if you dont mind the looks, but a HDD + Casing. You dont have to buy Casing next time, so it would cost only Rs. 3200.

I am not crazy about storing all the movies and music and I think I can go with this 1 TB for at-least a year, plus I would be moving around a bit, so I decided to go for the Seagate thingy.

First Impressions

Seagate FreeAgent Desk comes with power cable, USB cable (not eSata), and 4 power plug adapters to choose depending on your location. I liked the power-plug design, I haven’t seen one like that before. Build quality and finishing of the product is great.

Once I plugged in the thing to USB (after plugging in power of course), the installer popped up, installed the thing. I am getting transfer speeds upto 55 MB/sec and about 24 MB/sec on average. I disconnected the HDD and connected it again, Vista shows it just as another drive along with the other hard disks.

So far so good

Unboxing Seagate FreeAgent

Here are some shots:

The LED display on the front panel looks great in the dark. While the transter is in progress it dims to about 20% and then lights up – a nice visual treat!

Bought a Seagate FreeAgent External 1TB Hard Disk Drive is a post from: The Kuttappi

I was lucky enough to win the Windows 7 Giveaway at Life Rocks 2.0 and I got it today. This is the first time I am laying my hands on a boxed version of Windows, my laptop runs on an OEM version of Vista that came with it.

The pack has two DVD’s with 32 bit and 64 bit versions. I love the DVD’s, here are some pics (thanks to mom’s mobile cam).

Saw the last picture? Now that’s what you get when you pay for Windows Thanks @NirmalTV for the give-away.

The first part of the day was spent at Surya International, Angamaly for the school re-union. Met my friends and teachers from school

Unboxing Windows 7 Ultimate at Perumbavoor is a post from: The Kuttappi

At 12.30 IST, today, I am officially out of college. Exams just got over today.

It was a Phone Calls Day after that; the moment I came out of the exam hall, @KenneyJacob called. I got calls from many people, Dad called and said Congrats. Then an old friend called. We hadn’t talked for over a year, well, now she has a baby.

I don’t feel anything different, just feels the same. To be honest, I don’t even feel like I am gonna miss my friends, but I know I will miss many of them.

What’s Next?

I haven’t decided exactly. I am gonna take some time off and practice SSH (=Simply Sitting at Home, credits: @BinnyVA). I have bought a bunch of domains, I would do something with them. Finish of all the projects that are pending.

Then Travel, Photography, Visit Friends and Hangout with the people I like. And Blog.

To start with, there is yet another party tomorrow, the farewell party, this is the 9th party I guess.

See you sooner

College is Done With. Whats Next? is a post from: The Kuttappi

The title I had in my mind for this post was something like “An Opportunity to Meet 400 Young Entrepreneurs and Travel 10,000 kms through India”.

Meeting 400 cool people itself is awesome, so I figured that if I tell you the rest of it right in the title, you would probably won’t be able to handle the awesomeness

There is a train tourney called the Tata Jagriti Yatra which brings together about 400 young wannabe entrepreneurs in a train journey across India. Its in December/January, but the registration for next year is open, time to apply.

Tata Jagriti Yatra is an annual train journey that that takes hundreds of India’s highly motivated youth (with some participation of international students) between the ages of 20-25 and experienced professionals with age above 25, on a eighteen day national odyssey, introducing them to unsung heroes of India.

The aim is to awaken the spirit of entrepreneurship – both social and economic – within India’s youth by exposing them to individuals and institutions that are developing unique solutions to India’s challenges. Through this national event we have begun to inspire the youth of India to lead and develop institutions both nationally and within their communities.

Source

This year, @NijuMohan went on this tour and that’s how I came to know about it. I have applied for the same, if you have applied, just leave a comment, just to know. @HariShanker also went on the same trip. I hope I make it this time.

Here are their records:

@HariShanker says…

Self realization was the biggest merit of this yatra. This realization was a blitzkrieg of sorts, it stung into my psyche, and made a striking impact in my mind and soul, the level of impact increasing progressively by the day. Today I stand transformed, a new soul, a recharged mind.

Read it

@NijuMohan says…

I can’t tell how much I miss it now. Everytime i hear it, it raises my enthusiasm and energy like anything…

Read it

(The Trip costs about 34k INR, but you might get full or part sponsorship. Refer the Selection Procedure)

An Opportunity to Meet 400 Young Indian Entrepreneurs is a post from: The Kuttappi

Two days ago, I tweeted out saying: I haven’t had any regular physical exercise for the past 4 months or so. I think the body is getting weaker, should start today #NoteToSelf.

Today, after about 3 years, I went back to the school grounds near my home. Feels so good, some parts of the body ache, still…

I used to go there, back in my school days to catch some air. College + Blogging + Living Online, made me sedentary and I have put on some weight, plus the RSI.

I miss my bicycle, it used to be my exercising and transportation machine of choice. Its no longer usable, I should get another one asap.

Now the new plan is to exercise regularly, eat good food and sleep well. My wrist is a lot better now and I am planning on buying the Microsoft Natural 7000 Ergonomic Desktop (Keyboard and Mouse) soon.

Couple of Tweaks to Stay Healthy is a post from: The Kuttappi