Mera Wala My Airtel App

Today mobiles or tablets have become indispensable objects and I would not be exaggerating if I say that mobile devices are now a key part of everybody’s life. There are thousands of mobile handset manufacturers but very few quality network providers and in that space, Airtel who call themselves the "smartphone network" has been the customer’s most preferred choice. 

In the modern day scenario, we are all on the move and mobile internet is used more widely than the traditional online methods. The need of the hour is information on the fingertips and mobile apps plays a very vital role here. For any business, irrespective of being large or small, it is important to have a mobile app for its growth in customer base and business operations. Be it financial institutions or entertainment hubs or travel and holiday providers or restaurants or hotels, everybody have their own private mobile app and through this modern day solution, it not only increases the visibility of the business, but also boosts the turnover in a significant way. In the same lines of mobile applications, the telecom giant Airtel have their own mobility solutions and it is one of the best intuitive apps that I have ever used. Here are the top features of their My Airtel App that I think give them the edge over others:

1) Airtel Surprises: It’s a brilliant marketing win-win idea by Airtel. With every recharge through My Airtel App, the customers get discount coupons from a host of vendors like Café Coffee day, Flipkart, Amazon.in, VLCC, Myntra, ebay.in and PVR Cinemas etc. With a strategic association with India’s largest coupon and marketing platform “mydala”, Airtel Surprises is a fantastic initiative not only for the telecom vendor but also for its customers. Adding to the fun, they have this “shake and win” feature where one has to shake his/her mobile to get the offers. That’s marketing at its best!

2) “I want to”: This is my personal favorite. This feature in My Airtel App helps you pay the bill, recharge your packs, buy games, look at your balance, verify your data consumed, the recharge history, all at click of a button. One just needs to create a shortcut to the home screen and then with one tap, it’s ready for use. Highly customizable, this is incredibly useful for people who want to get things done quick and fast.

3) Service Request: Gone are the days of customer care numbers, and emails and this feature comes as a fresh air! Through the My Airtel App you can lodge or file a complaint just and also can check the status of your request/complaint at your disposal. This is think is a great customer engagement model facilitated via #MyAirtelApp

4) Safe and secured payments: As I said earlier, we are all on the go and we would prefer everything right at our fingertips. Paying bills, making purchases, sending money everything online sounds great and can be made through My Airtel App. It has given us the facility to store our credit card details and the feature is completely secured by PCIDSS certification. The checkout is ultrafast and it is highly intuitive.

The Airtel mobile app, My Airtel App not only has been a tremendous marketing tool by making the customers aware of the new launches, new features but also it creates a new engagement platform. Here I think Airtel has a perfect score in the area of mobile app and has done great preparation to grow in future.

Dil nahi Dimaag: The mantra of Ek Nayi League!

In the last few weeks if we had been watching the IPL, none of us would have missed these ads on #EkNayiLeague.

If you have, here are the ones for the quick view:

Featuring one of the Gods of cricket, the captain of the world champion Indian team, Kapil paaji is creating a huge amount of suspense all around. Ek Nayi league – Kya hai yeh? is the buzzing question!

Although new to the Twitter platform, the personal handles of Kapil sir himself @therealkapildev and the leagues exclusive handle #eknayileague is brimming with posts from variety of audiences. The wild guesses includes singing competition, dance competition, talk shows etc and like many others, even I am scratching my head figuring out what this can be all about. I did a web search with #eknayileague as the key word but unfortunately there isn't much available on the internet as well. In each of his ads he says Dil Se Khela toh Hit Wicket and Dil Se Khela toh aapki Googly meaning if you play with all your heart, you are setting up for failure. Wow! That’s a little weird but a very important hint which needs to be taken into consideration.

I am pretty much sure that this is going to be a television series and more of a reality show however the theme is where the speculation is all about. After rounds of permutation combinations, considering a few points and hints, here are my guesses:

Guess #1: He being a sportsperson himself, in some videos he has spoken about Yuvraj, Sania and MS Dhoni. Here are the videos to view:

So, can this be a sport show with small games or sport to be played which is more about the brawn than heart? Getting together people from all walks of life and getting them compete in some physical sport for some prize money.

Guess #2: In one of the videos he also talks about Comedy nights with Kapil star Kapil Sharma aka Bittu and how he bowls googlies (read as questions!) at people coming to the show. Here's the video:

So can this be a talk show with some real questions to some of the stars from various fields? A chat show where it's about answering based on brains than heart!

Guess #3: By saying Dil Se Khela toh Hit Wicket and Dil Se Khela toh aapki Googly he is actually asking people to use the brain more than the heart. Hence can this be a quiz show like the Kaun Banega Crorepati however something specialized in sports involving prize money.

Guess #4: He is asking everybody to follow him on Twitter and hence could this be an online saga?

We need to make a very important note that our honorable PM has congratulated Kapil Dev for this effort and wished him the best of luck. Hence I think this going to be for a good cause and it is going to bring the society together. As a person, Kapil sir is a social brand in himself and it definitely will have contribution back to the society. Whatever be it, I am looking forward for the truth unfolding and the event’s gala release.

Keep following the website http://www.eknayileague.com/ and the twitter handles @therealkapildev and #eknayileague for more updates!

Heal the world, make it a better place!

Today we live in an environment where people do anything for economic benefits. They kill animals, cull trees, pollute the surroundings with a “who cares” attitude. In such a scenario our environment is changing, almost every day. Hence it is imperative that we understand the problems that our planet is facing and the magnitude of the consequences.

Currently the pressing issues that we are facing are:

Global Warming: Climate changes influenced by man because of the production of greenhouse gases like carbon monoxide, methane etc. Rising temperatures, melting of the polar ice caps, flash floods are some of the consequences which are going to change the entire geography of the human race.

Pollution: Polluting the air, water, soil is very easy but to bring it back to usual, it takes years. Today’s high car emissions polluting the air, oil spills polluting the ocean waters, toxins releases by various big industries are one of the major contributors to environment pollution.

Overpopulation: Every natural resource in this world is limited and the splurge in the world’s population is pushing it to unsustainable thresholds.

Deforestation: Erasing the green cover and making it available for residential or commercial purposes for the human habitats is on the rise. Forests regulate temperature, rainfalls and by cleaning the trees up, we are putting our future in the greatest of dangers.

Above are some of the major environmental issues that we are facing but besides that we have many more like Resources scarcity, weakening of the Ozone layer, Genetic Engineering, Rise in the urban spread, water pollution etc.

Having said these, it is quite vital that we bring in some changes to our daily life and also push the Government to bring in policies for safeguarding the future. Here are a few easy things can we adopt to contribute to environments betterment:

• Stop littering and use the garbage bin
• Always carry your own bag for a grocery shopping and avoid usage of plastic
• Take public transport once a week for travel
• Join a car pooling group
• Take a walk or ride bicycle for distances less than 2-3 kms
• Use the stairs more often than the elevator/escalator
• Turn off the taps while shaving or brushing teeth. Use the mug
• Think twice before you hit the “PRINT” button and if at all, use the “print on both sides” options
• Unplug the electronic devices and make sure you switch off all them completely if the appliances are not in use
• Drive at 40-50 kms/hr.
• Always use a timer while using air-conditioners
• Use energy efficient lightings
• Buy more of e-books than hard copies
• Avoid charging your phone while sleeping.
• Before buying new clothes, make you sure donate your old stuff

The above are just few of simple things which we can do immediately and it is not rocket science.

Yes, it is true that we cannot clean the ocean water, we cannot fill in the holes in ozone layer, we can’t create forests forests in a day or two but raising awareness in our neighborhoods, by teaching our kids & families the rules of cleanliness, joining hands with a hew NGOs like Green Yatra, we can make the world a much better place to live in. At the end of the day when are a part of the problem, we need to be a part of the solution as well.

Think positive, Do positive and Be positive!

What is optimism? As per the Oxford Dictionary - optimism is hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something. Let's take an example. We are in the last leg of the cricket World Cup 2015 and the entire nation is optimistic that we are going to retain the cup.The nation was positive that the Mr. Narendra Modi would bring in a much wanted change and hence he is our Prime Minister now. The recession hit America was positive that it would jump back to normality over a period of time. Optimism actually can mean different things to different people but for me it's mostly making the best of the bad outcomes in life or looking at the brighter side of life as a whole. So let me take an example of a real life scenario and see how optimism changed my life.

Smoking kills, everybody knows but how many believe in it?  And for people who believe in that truth, why do they do it at the first place? Why are they still indulging in that habit?  Why don’t people quit it forever? Why aren't they able to do it? Ever thought about it?

I have been a smoker myself and I used to puff up quite a few of them. I am an early entrant in this area which was during my teens and have been consistent if not a chain smoker. Hence I am doing “walk-the-talk” and not giving a sermon here!

Normally teens start smoking because they feel it is “cool”. Well even I thought smoking is fun, kind of psychological pleasure. It is quite natural that you do not realize the consequences of this habit at that age and hence care a damn about what people say. I used to smoke a couple of packs when I was in junior college and that gave me a hunk feel. Slowly it followed me at home as well. Whenever I was alone at house, the amount of sticks increased in arithmetic progression and if it was a night out with friends, the numbers followed the geometric progression pattern. My clothes used to stink of nicotine and my shirt or jean pockets had leftovers of tobacco. Finally it had to happen! My parents back home came to know about this habit of mine and they give me piece of their mind. Although it was a tough few sessions to handle but I did not care much because I earned my own pocket money through tuition and so the “give-a-damn” attitude continued. I graduated from college, joined work and the routine came along harder. This time I had more money at my disposal and hence I started buying costlier brands of the cigarettes with an increment in the quantity as well. I did not realize the toll that my body is taking because all these deeds. Did I try to quit in the middle? Yes, I did but was never successful. But then came a time when I had to put my foot down and say this is it!  

I am a complete sportsperson and an active cricketer. I understand that sports and smokes have such negative relationship but I never could actually sense it. In a game of cricket, earlier I could bowl 6 overs on the trot but later the number came down gradually. Thirty minutes under the sun and I would feel tired. One chase to save a boundary and the tongue sticks out! Two laps in the swimming pool and I would gasp for breath. Cigarette is regarded as a stress buster but now this was giving me stress in return. I was ashamed of my fitness level and I immediately knew the root cause. I decided to quit smoking immediately!

Mark Twain said – “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I've done it thousands of times!” He was 100% right. Kicking the habit was easy but sustaining that was very tough! The most important attribute because of which I was able to sustain this life changing move was “positivity”. I started disbelieving the fact that smoking is an addiction. No, it is not and I really feel it is not how much ever scientifically proven it is. I added positivity by analyzing the amount of savings that I can generate just by doing away with this habit. I always had an excuse to smoke but now I started thinking of reasons why I shouldn't with only one question. Which was more important – sport or smoke and the answer was easy to pick. By putting more efforts on conditioning my body and mind through a lot of physical activities, I stayed positive about the end result. Like the great Dalai Lama says - "Choose to be optimistic. It feels better", I was quite optimistic that it is tough but not impossible and finally here I am, after being quit smoking completely for close to 5 years now.

I have come a long way on this habit and if I really put my head around it, I recognize that there’s nothing great about this. Although I completely agree that it is the most difficult habit to resign but I can truly tell you that it’s a package of pleasure worth kicking! Think all positive effects of quitting smoking, Do positive things to quit smoking and be positive that you can quit smoking! Quitter wins, sometimes!

Optimism is everywhere and with that you can achieve literally anything in life. Stay strong and never give up - that is my story on optimism!

Chai pe nahi, breakfast pe bulana hai!

Mayer Hawthorne said – “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and I definitely have a hearty breakfast before I do anything.” And we as Indians literally beg to differ to that concept and usually we are the first to skip breakfast citing n number of reasons. Children getting late to school compromise on breakfast, working parents due to want of time grabs something and rushes to office and most importantly for the housewives & moms breakfast is generally a cup of tea with a couple of biscuits that too way past the breakfast timings! Have we not experienced this very often in each of our households?

All these we have indulged in very conventional type of food when it comes to breakfast like idly, dosa, pongal, vada, upma when it comes to the southern part of the country. These are little heavy on our stomach, requires a lot of ingredients and eats up a humongous of time before it comes to the table. But the question is can we bring in a change in the system of breakfast to make it more interesting, more delicious, more nutritious, more compelling and absolutely uncompromisable?

Dhan te dan!! The answer is yes! Here comes the welcome change in the form of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes.

Kellogg’s Corn Flakes has redefined the very concept of breakfast. We all have heard about a three course or four course meals but have you heard about a three or four course breakfast, at least in India? Never! But Gupta ji’s home has all the recipes ready to meet such demand of a breakfast spread. The most important point here is the time consumption. With Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, nobody can give an excuse of “no time”. Out of the lavish 116 spread, each dish doesn't take more than 15 minutes of time and hence throw that excuse of “no time” goes out of the window. Not only that, one has a recipe or an exclusive dish to match every occasion and to celebrate it. At the Gupta ji’s household from celebrating Sunita mousi’s home visit cancellation to impressing the kid’s first crush; from getting back the authority on remote to preparing tiffin for a competition in school to a “Sanskaar” session at home – Kellogg’s Corn Flakes has a perfect breakfast recipe for everything. Isn't that exciting?

Secondly this gives way to the old school of thoughts where one invites another over lunch or dinner. Now with this versatility on the breakfast spread and lesser time consumption in the areas of preparation, who would even have one percent of apprehension? So #KelloggsWaleGuptaji, like many others, I am waiting for the breakfast invite and to be a part of the Kellogg’s Corn Flakes family.

Here’s my wish list for the nashta:

Welcome drink: 

• Kellogg's® Oats Peppy Papaya Drink

 Starter

• Kellogg's® Oats Veggie Nutri Cutlets
• Cheese Curd Dip
• Grilled Cornflake Polenta Sticks
• Basil Curd Dip

Soup & Salad

• Cornflakes Mushroom Soup
• Crunchy Fruit Salad

Main

• Apple Cornflakes Pancakes
• Mayo Cornflakes Sandwich
• Cornflake Dahi Upma
• Cornflakes Anjeer Porridge
• Kellogg's® Oats Tamrind Rice

Dessert

• Cornflake Walnut Chocolate Muffin
• Cornflake Coconut Ladoos
• Cornflakes Kewra Badam Kheer
• Black Forest Shake

  

To naashte mein kab bula rahen hain #KelloggsWaleGuptaji?

We are always better - Together!

Life isn’t easy all the times. The smallest of things like missing project deadlines, unhappy appraisals, credit cards EMIs, high housing loan interest, traffic, load shedding in the night, Chennai Auto rickshaws fare negotiations, SPAM emails, low phone battery, flattened tire, personal loan phone calls, houseful signs for movie to the largest of events like demise of somebody close, financial losses, health problems can drain you completely. In such situations you brains refuses to work and this effects everything in you and around you. One such year for me was 2013! I had hit lowest point of my life and I needed a break bigtime.

I packed my bags and headed to Kolkata for a week’s break. The beauty of Kolkata lies in its people and being born & brought up there, I had no dearth of friends. For me the first stress buster has always been cricket. In our complex or apartments in Kolkata, we started of something what is called “Gully Cricket”. The uniqueness of this cricket was it is played by plastic ping pong balls. We have a bi yearly tournament called the Shantikunja Premier League (SPL) and the second edition of it happens in Dec that too with day and night match schedules. My friend pulled me into his team “RED BULL” and with a series of victory, we won the tournament.

If you ask me the best time to visit Kolkata is the Dec –Jan apart from the Durga Puja time. I was right there during the best of the winters with the best of my friends and during such times what’s fun without a road trip!! Hence on the chilly Christmas day, four of us decided to take a road trip to this place called Falta which was 50kms from Kolkata. The place is right on the banks of Ganges and pretty scenic. We booked a cottage at Hotel SeaBird and started our day out. We had a few drinks, hogged on some good food and spoke our heart out.  Since we knew each other from our childhood, we had so much to talk about. Reliving our schooldays, discussing about ex-girlfriends, movies, life abroad, Indian Tax system, gadgets, medical facilities in India, law and order, our time just flew! We had so many things to talk and discuss that a night wasn't enough. The food was fantastic to complement the occasion and added to that was a splendid location overseeing the river Ganges. One of my friends is a singer and we had small jamming session playing the guitar as well.  In the night we took a stroll to the banks and by looking at the vastness we felt how small we were. We slept for an hour or so and early morning took a boat ride on the river. It was beautiful! Soon after a filling breakfast we packed our bags and were on our way back listening to the Kumar Sanu, Alka Yagnik songs of our times!

Outside Hotel SeaBird

Boat ride on the river Ganges

Life had been tough and it will still be! It’s not only me, it’s a known phenomenon for everybody and nobody can escape it. The trick is how to come back to normal from such demotivation, such falls, such situations. It is such small events of togetherness bring you back to life! For me these friends, these moments of togetherness are like rechargers. After this quick get together, I could recoup, infuse positivity, feel motivated, plan on the next set of events, execute and achieve success. Trust me, it works.. that’s the power of being together!

#together

Start A New Life - From Kolkata to Chennai

It was a hot & humid sultry afternoon in May 2000 when my cousin gave me this news. My dad was getting transferred from Kolkata to Chennai. I was 19 then and at the peak of my youth. I did not know how to react to this at that time. I am basically born and brought up in the "city of joy" and hence for me Kolkata is my hometown. Culturally I am a bong but racially a Palakkad Tamilian. I don't know to write tamizh but I am well versed with Bengali. Because of this homogenous mix I was quite popular and the Bongs loved me. It was a huge matter of pride when Bengalis appreciated my diction and love towards Kolkata. With a huge set of friends I was quite settled.

Then came this transfer bomb which created ripples in my life. When you are in first year of college you have your own set of friends and way of life. With 19 years in a place, you would have figured out how to live, way of having fun but this location change derailed it. While in the beginning I was against this move and I decided to stay back in a hostel or at a relative’s place, later my dad's emotional blackmails impelled me to reconsider. Finally I decided to move to Chennai tagging along with my family. 

In June 2000 we reach Chennai. Fighting the hot and humid conditions we reached our new den, our new house. I hated it... 'Hated' was an understatement. I wasn't comfortable with the people around in our colony. I just wanted to get out of this place. 

Next was the college. In Kolkata I had completed my first year B.Com and getting admission directly into the second year in Chennai was a difficult task. Finally I chose a college which was close to my house with help of some influences. The first day in college gave me a culture shock in the form of girls and boys sitting separately. I hated Chennai more! 

My Tamizh was bad especially not local and my accent was like Palakkad'ish resembling the Kameshwaran of Michael Madana Kaamarajan! People used to make fun of me and I hated it. 

Adapting to this change was hard. It was getting tougher and tougher day by day! I had to do something about this because as the famous life-coach Tony Robbins said - Change is inevitable, progress is optional! I had to lift myself up. I starting looking at what best ways should I adapt to bring this change? I got the first cue when I realized I need to do something to keep myself happy. Immediately I started to play cricket with a club close by. My neighbor used to take me out for some prominent leagues and that kept me quite happy. Next step - make friends. The question was how? It was sheer coincidence that I friend of mine suggested for some part time work. Wow! that was a great idea! I immediately got placed in MusicWorld for a part-time job especially because of my multi lingo skills. This move was a great one. Not only did it keep me busy but also was I making friends and was also learning business, customer service plus getting paid as well. My team, customers loved me there and I think that was a changing point in my life. From there I never looked back.

This approach changed my life. I got good scores in academics, and then got placed in multinationals with a decent pay.

Today I look back and think what would have happened if I had been in Kolkata? or If hadn't changed to the situation in Chennai? Life would have been difficult!

From this entire experience, I think the best and most important parts to manage a change are:

1) Are you aware of the need to change? Now I call this as "Awareness". I was in a different city Chennai, talking a simply different language, with a different thought process, living in a different culture but was I aware that I need to switch to survive here?

2) Do you really want to change? Is there a need? What is the benefit? I call this as the "Need" step

3) "Capability" is the third step where one needs to understand if he/she has the capability to manage the change. Here how do I read Tamizh? How to speak local Tamizh? If I don't have the capability, then how to develop? This is the third part of the phase

4) Finally for every small achievements, celebrate and reinforce! 

Making a big life change is pretty scary but, you know what's even scarier? Regret!!! #StartANewLife