The 25 word magic!

As many as 25 words created magic. Short, simple and it's there. It's here.

1. She cried. She begged for a chance. She promised the unthinkable. She negotiated. He listened. He appeared. He disappeared. She cried again. Her dream ended.

2. She had to reach on time. This time she couldn’t afford to miss it. She almost ran. She smiled as he said, Mamma, you’re here!

3. If it wasn't him, then who? She kept asking him. There’s no way she could know the truth. He was gone. The night was over.

4. You don’t deserve to be here. You should leave. She stood still hearing him. She smiled, and left. Only this time, she didn't turn back.

Happy Teachers’ Day, Parents!

September Five. It’s your day Teachers!

If you are an Indian, you would be certainly well versed with the significance of the fifth day of September. It’s Teachers’ Day. This is the day when we get ourselves to thank the teachers who have helped in shaping our lives as they are now and continue to offer their guidance whenever we need them. For me, Teacher’s Day was always about the teachers in school, performances and gifts for them and a few return gifts at times. The realisation that not only the teachers in school but the many others who are or have been very important parts of my life dawned only when I learnt the other perspective of this meaningful day. In this series, I am going to pen down the different teachers in my life so far and what their contributions towards my life have been till date.

The most important role models should and could be parents and teachers. But that said, once you’re a teenager you’ve probably gotten as much of an example from your parents as you’re going to. ~ Andrew Shue

Isn’t it so true? You know that your parents are the most important people right from the moment you are born. Your every need is taken care by them, they know exactly what you need or want at a specific time and most importantly, they are the only teachers in your life who are given the responsibility of teaching everything starting from the basics without an end of that tutorial.

They are your role models that you want to grow up like.  For me, becoming a doctor or an engineer was never in the hindsight. I simply wanted to work like my father did. Going to office regularly, following a discipline of getting ready on time, driving up to office, attending meetings, and coming back home to be welcomed by the family members, I only wanted this. I was not bothered about the qualifications you need to become a working member in the family but the only attraction was the respect that he earned from each and every person we knew. In case of my mother, what I have always learned is the way you manage a family of people with different personalities. If there’s a grandma who has a routine of waking up at 4am and sleeping off at 8pm every day, my mom never failed to attend to her needs; if there are children who study late or have people working late night shifts at office, they do not need to worry about things like food not there. For me, my mom is the only person who teaches and preaches without a set tutorial and teachings are about each and every thing that you can imagine exists in this world. And then, there’s the sister. Didi is the person who emerged to be a combination of Baba and Ma. If she inspired and taught about the life that exists outside our home, she also has been instrumental about imbibing the confidence in me that I can manage both house and office easily. I only need myself to face troubles and solve them. And oh yes, to celebrate every happy moment in your life with a smile and your favourite food.

Yes, parents and family members are there for you always, but the concentration of teaching the lessons of life seemed to be more and started vigorously in my teenage years. It was and is as if I need guidance at every step. They became more protective about me and everything I wanted to do. Be it studies, friends and hanging out with them and also about work. Phew!

No wonder that this is also true when it comes to the parents!

We spend the first twelve months of our children’s lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and shut up. ~ Phyllis Diller

Well, it’s not all bad because you have someone to fall back one when your decisions are proved wrong.

Baba, Ma and Didi, Happy Teacher’s Day! Surprisingly you didn’t need a job at a school but got a student to teach throughout life. Hopefully, the returns from my side are better than the salary that you expected! 

Getting Synced with Communication!

What can a smartphone do to your life? Other than the basic function of helping to speak to people and message them at any point of time, it also enables you to check your mails which cannot be ignored or kept for deletion in future. Such was this day when I had suddenly received an alert from IndiBlogger asking me whether I would want to be part of the Univercell Sync contest. Without giving much thought, I quickly went to the details of the contest section to check the location, date and time. Perfect! Close to my house in Indiranagar, Bangalore on a Sunday afternoon and an opportunity for me to be part of an IndiBlogger meet for the first time since my registration.

But what was the thing that I had to do? The excitement was killing me inside till the time I stepped inside the store. This was the same Univercell Sync store from where I had bought my phone. My smartphone. I was already kind of a loyalist since the time I had decided to buy my phone from the store. Having been to different stores at different locations, interacting with the staff to understand the phone’s features and whether the phone they show me is what I wanted, I was exhausted and tired. That time, I didn’t want to go to any more store where I have to choose from the display or tell them my requirements and they will show me phones that is within the budget. I wanted to a good customer satisfaction experience where I do not have to wait for the staff member to stop juggling between customers and show me phones in between.

Univercell Sync had given me the exact experience that I had wished for. And this time, when I had stepped in to their store, I relived my earlier experience. Although I did not have any intentions of buying products, the motto was to understand the strategies behind their brand success. Univercell Sync has a unique store layout. While the store might just sound like any other mobile retail store, the fact is that, it isn’t. When you step inside the store, there is much more that than just the latest versions of the mobiles kept on display and a staff members assisting the customers and answering to their queries.

The best part of the store is that there are dedicated sections for each type of gadgets that you would look for. There’s a music section that has a checklist for the music lover printed on the wall. The checklist includes all your queries about storage, headphones, battery, music online, file format, music player UX and music apps—things that you require and things that the store offers. The next one was for the multi-tasker who looks for battery, has doubts regarding operating system, enterprise, screen, connectivity, multi-media and camera and this entire section addresses each of these problems. Move on to the next section: the photography and related accessories section named Point & Shoot. You get storage equipment, printing machines (including the portable ones), etc., information about apps such as Instagram being displayed on the screen, etc. The next section called the Work & Play zone is all about gadgets that are meant for people who prefer using a single gadget and do every work on it only. The store has exclusive gadgets that takes care of such problems.

The Sync Squad, as they call themselves, is a tech-support team and is there to help each and every customer to get the new phone working and syncing the devices. Beginning with providing assistance on making the phone work to going to your house to provide a demo or pick up and drop your phone in case of any damage, the Sync Squad manages everything. They help you identify the best gadget that will suit the customer’s choice and requirements and make the best decision when it comes to investing money on electronic items that are meant for delivering the best results.

The store, undoubtedly, has its charm. Be it about documentation process after your purchase, suggesting the best devices or simply answering to your questions so that you are convinced, Univercell Sync is, for me, the store to recommend and visit as many as possible for buying my gadgets. I appreciate their effort of setting up a store that is primarily consumer-centric, has a well-trained and qualified staff, offers value added services to ensure that the consumer does not stay confused anymore, apart from the latest gadgets and phones.