The first person I can think of who is #MadeOfGreat

Made of Great! Well, I know someone who matches this description. While I have heard some stories about what this person used to do, I have seen on multiple occasions how he influenced me and changed how I felt and what I did. He has been an inspiration not just because he is related to me but because he is a good human being. Let me list out some of the lessons he taught me over the last few years.

• Be passionate about what you do: Born into a farming family, he was educated on his own and has been able to achieve what very few in his generation could. He had more than 7 job offers in hand (When getting one itself was an achievement) and chose the one he felt would let him help others. He takes pride in work and I have on many occasions seen people thank him from their heart for his guidance and help. He still goes to work much earlier than others and gets more work done than the youngsters half his age. 
• Keep learning: Regardless of being at a very high post in a Government firm, he still keeps himself updated and never says no to learning. He is an avid reader and motivational speaker himself but still is always game for learning new things.
• Being compassionate: Despite his busy schedule, he takes time to help others, guide in business, life and is deeply compassionate. I remember him donating most of the salary to others when we were in dire need and would just smile when people told him that he was not doing the right thing. His philosophy is that God is compassionate to people who help others. We can't eat two biryani's for dinner, right?
• Being Simple: His dressing, hair style, food habits and many other things have not changed in the last few decades. He follows a clean strict schedule and is never too demanding from his wife or son and always asks them to be simple and go easy. I still have to learn this from him.
• Having a clean conscience: One of the things he has taught me is having a clear conscience. Never go to bed with anger and wake up the same person. Mend the bridges as soon as you can and forgive or seek forgiveness if needed. I don't know how he can be so patient but I guess it comes with age.

I can continue all night listing more lessons but when I saw that Tata Motors has signed on Messi and the tagline of #MadeOfGreat I couldn't stop thinking of the one person who has influenced me the most in my life and am proud to say I am his son. I can trust him blindly, count on him, seek his advice to be the strong pillar of strength and courage. Thank you Dad for being there in my life. 

While Messi has been an inspiration for us all, Tata is the sign of trust and respect for over the last few decades. An awesome winning combination. Do you think Tata Motors' vehicles are as deft and sturdy as Messi's maneuvers. 

What do you think of Tata Motors'association with Lionel Messi?

Do you have an interesting answer for this? I get to give away a Rs. 750/- coupon from #Amazon for one of you. Do comment below and you never know! 

The best gadgets to buy this festive season 2015

One of the leading techbloggers from Bangalore and my friend Giridhar presents to you the best gadgets to buy this festive season. Here it is...

Festive season is the best time of the year to buy new stuff. Be it sweets, clothes or gadgets, shopping is always fun. This is the season when people are looking to buy things which they have been wanting to own. When it comes to gadgets, there are many who ask me for suggestions and then I thought of putting my recommendations together so that it would be useful for many more, than a handful of my acquaintances. 

Best Mobile to buy under Rs 10,000:

This is the segment of mobiles that has seen some fierce competition this year. A large chunk of the devices launched this year belong in this segment. Also with the increasing adoption rate of 4G across the nation, mobile manufacturers have been introducing affordable mobiles with 4G capabilities. Frankly almost all the mobiles in this segment were failures but for a handful. Mobiles manufactures don't care, because mobiles are like bollywood movies. Movies make profit in the first 2 weeks in the box office, before people realize its worth. With the flash sales model, mobiles are sold in lakhs within few minutes of its launch before buyers realize its worth. But as I said, a handful of the lot came out truly victorious. The Lenovo K3 Note is the best mobile under Rs 10,000. I personally have got it for my sister and I can vouch for it with confidence. The K3 Note offers the best in all dimensions of a smartphone in this price range. Lumia 640 would be my suggestion if you are looking to buy a Windows mobiles. If you are really constrained in budget, the Redmi 2 prime is the mobile you should get and you will be spending just Rs 6999 for this little beauty. 

K3 Note Review Link http://www.giridhar.co.in/blog/phonelicous/reviews/lenovo-k3-note-review/

Redmi 2 Review Link http://www.giridhar.co.in/blog/phonelicous/redmi-2-it-just-got-better/

Lumia 640 Review Link http://www.gadgetdetail.com/microsoft-lumia-640-better-got-even-better/

Best Flagship device:

The term flagship has been grossly misunderstood by many. Lenovo even called the A7000 as the flagship of the masses. Let me give you my interpretation of a flagship device. A flagship device must have the best of both software and hardware that the manufacturer can offer with no compromise. OnePlus 2 is the best flagship device that I would recommend. The Oneplus 2 offers top notch hardware and amazing camera capability. It would cost you less than Rs 25000 and you can be rest assured that you will not look to buy another mobile for two years. But if you want the best camera mobile with no compromise on hardware spec, the LG G4 is the one you must own. The Sony Z5 is another fantastic device this year has given us, but its a bit expensive. Ofcourse, if you know me, I wouldn't recommend any Samsung mobile, so lets stay out of that conversation. 

LG G4 Review Link www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMX5n0fPsXc

OnePlus 2 Review Link http://www.giridhar.co.in/blog/phonelicous/my-thoughts-on-the-oneplus-2/

Best Fitness band:

Fitness band is the growing fad and this festive season, you must definitely gift yourself one. Fitbit has made their grand entry into Indian market. I have used the FitBit Flex for over an year in 2014 and then I moved on to the Mi Band. The Fitbit flex was not a well built band and it gave away within 3 months of usage. Fitbit USA offered me a replacement free of cost, but am not sure if you wil ge the same level of service in India. Fitness bands are known for their erratic behaviour and people complain that it counts their steps even while on flight. Well, they are nothing but glorified pedometers and any movement of your hand would be counted as a step. Of all the bands available in India, the Mi Band is the best. It costs just Rs 799 and a single charge would last for 100 days. 

Mi band review link: http://www.giridhar.co.in/blog/phonelicous/mi-fit-band-the-12-marvel/

Best Smartwatch:

Moto 360 was launched last year in India and it was a huge success. Though not sold in volumes, the Moto 360 was successfull in defining smartwatch to the Indian consumers. This year the Moto 360 2 is expected to be launched soon. I also got a chance to play with the Apple Watch and Sony Smartwatch 2. Finally I decided that smartwatches are not for me, yet! Smartwatches are unnecessary intrusion and a nagging mini mobile cuffed to your hands. If you really want a smartwatch, go for the Pebble time or the Moto 360 2.

Best compact camera:

Without any second thought, I would recommend the Sony Cybershot RX100 Mach II. Only the Mach 4 excels the Mach II, but its very expensive. The Mach II has got the best imaging capability for a compact camera. It may not offer you good zoom, but it is best suited for family, kids and vacation shoots. If you are thinking that only DSLRs give good quality images, you haven't tried the RX 100 M2 yet. If you are looking for a cheaper option, then the Nikon Coolpix s9700 should be good. 

Best DSLR:

If you are still convinced that you need to buy a DSLR, go for mirrorless cameras. I have made the shift from a regular DSLR to mirrorless DSLR and I thoroughly enjoy the experience. A mirrorless DSLR is much more compact than a regular DSLR. Though the lenses are expensive, if you know the range of lenses you need, look no beyond. I would strongly recommend the Sony A6000 with 3 lenses. The kit lens, 35 mm f1.8 prime and a 55-200 tele zoom lens. This package would cost you about Rs 1 lakh. On the other hand, if you are looking to learn photography grab the Nikon D3300 and slowly you can graduate to full frame DSLRs like the D810E. But before you make the decision, do think your motive and double think your commitment to photography. 

I have given you the cream of the suggestions and if you have any other questions on the above recommendations do reach out to me. If you need recommendations on buying any other gadgets, you can always ping me on twitter @cgiridhar and I would more than happy to help if its within my capacity. I thank my friend Tiger for letting me share this post in his blog. 

About Giridhar

Giridhar is a User Experience Designer by profession. He works for a software firm, based out of Bangalore. He is a film buff and recenlty he got addicted to TV episodes like Big Bang Theory, How I met your mother, Mentalist, Marvels series and more recently Heros Reborn. He has been blogging about gadgets for over 12 years now. He writes for his own blog www.phonelicious.in and also reviews gadgets onwww.gadgetdetail.com and www.mobigyaan.com. 

Pamper me Soft!

“We have a little guest coming so have to prepare our home to welcome her and it is going to be a tough job”. We were on the mission to welcome a little guest who would change the way we live, eat, think, work, sleep and even dream. 

The little guest would be our special guest for the next few years and would change our lives forever. But first we were to child-proof our home to ensure that there are no sharp things, no corners open, no nails, no plug points, switches and harsh surfaces that were protruding and harm our little one. Though this mission started much before the the little Tigress arrived, we were ready. Bedsheets changed from posh silk ones to cool cotton, pillows became softer, paddings were used to cover the furniture. Everything was ensured to be the softest thing available. Grandmother’s sarees kept for this particular purpose, specially worn, softened in natural organic fabric wash were cut to size and kept ready to be the first touch between our baby’s skin and the already soft blankets. The wraparound was also selected weeks before, thoroughly washed and ironed.

Our shampoo changed because it was slightly harsh and might irritate her. Our soaps changed, detergent changed, my cologne changed, we stopped the use of perfume, stopped wearing a formal shirt as it was leaving the button marks on her feather soft skin when I hold her during lunch or before going to office. I started wearing cotton tees, wify skipped all the decorative work-kundan-designer dresses and shifted to cotton ones so it was easy to handle. I started shaving every day to make sure my stubble doesn’t hurt the little one. Pillows, cushions grew multi-fold on our bed, on the floor around the bed. So everything around was which didn’t fit the softest in the world category was shown the door and we moved to the softest and the most natural one to do.

Then came the question of nappies.

Some suggested the use of cloth, some suggested the use of some pant model ones, some said use grandmother’s saree, some suggested napkins. We were also searching in Google, with doctors, friends and everywhere possible. Our primary logic was to ensure the baby’s skin doesn’t get rashes and the nappy shouldn’t hurt her. No compromise on that. No compromise on freedom of movement too. We didn’t want the legs to be too tight or hard to obstruct her freedom to move her little legs and do her cutsy things. We didn’t want her to feel wet either and get disturbed in the night or just before going to sleep. Comfort, peace of mind and safety were our primary concerns apart from a thousand other things all parents are worried about.

Then we found pampers. Pampers gave us the freedom to let her rest comfortably and move around as much as she wants. She wore them to sleep, wore them to parks, wore them when bored, wore them to fights, wore them to pin me down when wrestling, boxing, biting, fighting, basically wore them everywhere. She never felt that they were obstructing her movement. She loved them and to be frank, we change them very often. We also play with the colorful elephants, giraffes on the pampers. I keep joking that I have a masters degree in pampers changing. Thankfully no rashes, no leeks, no other problems in the last two years. Won’t we all choose the best for the baby? After all nothing is more important than her care and comfort. So why compromise!?

Pampers brings you the softest ever Pampers Premium Care Pants. Its cotton-like softness is #SoftestForBabySkin and allows it to breathe, thus keeping baby’s skin soft and healthy, and your baby happy. This post is a part of the Pampers #SoftestForBabySkin activity at BlogAdda.