CBC Meet : 23rd June'13 - My first ever get-together

CBC Meet - 23rd June'13

:: CBC Meet : 23rd June'13 - My first ever get-together ::

It was a wonderful evening on 23rd June'13 @ The Pizza Republic, Adambakkam. It was the meet of The Chennai Bloggers Club - A group in Facebook whereby we , the chennai bloggers interacts and discuss about our blogs among many other things which also includes social causes.

I missed the earlier meets including the IndiBlogger meet. Personally, its my first-ever get together, not just in blogging arena. I have Never been with a group of friends, me restricted myself with a limited circle of friends who are almost like me, hesitant to come out and be part of social gatherings. I was waiting for the opportunity to come out of this circle and the CBC meet happened at the right time when I needed it. 

I was in a dilemma whether to go or skip this, as I have never been with a group of people and don't even know how to behave socially. I must thank Bragadeesh Prasanna for his motivation and he is the one who made up my mind and made me come there.

Finally I have made it to the pizza republice @ Adambakkam where I got a bunch of good friends and got to know about some wonderful personalities.  When people were recognised with the work they do , that supposed to be THE MOMENT.  The exact thing happened in the meet, we the bloggers recognised each other with their Blog names and not by their face or name. The moment we saw each other, it was not like we are unknown. We just started discussing as if we were known for years. 

A special thanks to Susan, Jothivel, Gitanjali and many other who are behind in organising this wonderful event. It is not an easy task to organise an event and its regular follow-ups. You people have done it.

Susan & Gitanjali

Have got some good bunch of friends. Glad to meet the "lord of words" Sunder Rajan, Sundar Gopalakrishnan, Mahendran Thiru, Bragadeesh Prasanna, Ram Thilak, Gokoulane, Vinod among others. 

Me with Ram Thilak

Me with Sunder, Mahendiran & Sundar

It started with the brief intro. Some people inspired me with the way they speak. I thought of speaking many things but ended up very few lines because of my inherent limitation :) 

Then comes the man of the moment Mahesh Iyer, one of the visionaries of CBSA (Chennai Bloggers for Social Action). I must say that he is one of the inspiring speakers I have seen. He talked about various things on how the bloggers can take part in social causes. It was a wonderful discussion and I should mention that the members like Kirtanya, Bhushavalli, Somu, Aravind Kumar, Harish Kumar, Karthick Kamalakkannan have made some valid points and it resulted in having a good discussion which can make us into action.

Harish Kumar

Mahesh Iyer

Bragadeesh Prasanna & Jothi

Somu Padmanaban

Overall, it was a wonderful evening started with funny talks, Intro and ended up thinking something for the society. For me personally, It is one such which can bring about some positive change. So many things I noticed and so many people I got inspired with. 

If the day which makes you feel pleasured is a happiest day , then this is one such day. Looking forward to meet you all in some other occasion.

Thanks for being patient in reading this  post :)

Photo Courtesy : Vinod Velayudhan

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World Day to Combat Desertification - 17th June (Theme : Don't Let Our Future Dry Up - Water Conservation)

World Day to Combat Desertification - 17th June  (Theme : Don't Let Our Future Dry Up)

I am back with yet another awareness post . Today (17th June) is observed as the "World Day to Combat Desertification". It is annually observed on June 17 to highlight the urgent need to curb the desertification process. It also aims to strengthen the visibility of the drylands issue in the global arena.

History :

Drought. Source: stock.xchng

In December 1994, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 17 as the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. The assembly acknowledged that desertification and drought were global problems because they affected all regions of the world. The assembly also realized that joint action by the international community was needed to combat desertification and drought, particularly in Africa.

States were invited to devote the World Day to promote awareness of the need for international cooperation to combat desertification and the effects of drought, and on the implementation of the Convention to Combat Desertification.  Since then, country parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), non-governmental organizations and other interested stakeholders celebrate this particular day with outreach activities worldwide on June 17 each year.

Desert. Source: Stock.xchng

Theme for 2013 :

Source: un.org

Every year , a theme will be pronounced by the UN, as such the theme for the current year (2013) is " Don’t Let Our Future Dry Up "  aims at promoting awareness about the water scarcity, Desertification & Drought.

Areas where we use large amount of water : 

Source: murphytx.org

• 1/3 of household water is used to flush the toilet 

• Bath 80 litres (16 buckets) 

• 5 minute shower (not power shower) 35 litres (7 buckets) 

• Brushing teeth with tap running 6 litres/min (1.2 buckets) 

• Brushing teeth with tap off 1 litre (0.2 buckets)

• Dripping tap 140 litres/week (28 buckets) 

• Washing machine 65 litres (13 buckets) 

• Dishwasher 20 litres (4 buckets) 

• Washing car with bucket 10 litres (2 buckets) 

• Hosepipe/sprinkler 540 litres/hour (108 buckets) 


Figures based on bucket with 5 litres capacity


Few tips on Saving the water :

Eventhough, the majority of planet earth is water, only 2.5% of it can be used as drinking water. It is just a smaller portion but worrying fact is that, of all this freshwater, the total usable supply for ecosystems and humans is less than 1 per cent. The below map published by the UN tells it all. If you can see, all the states of India comes under the categories of "Physical Water Scarcity, Approaching physical water scarcity & Economic water scarcity"

Map of Water Scarcity across the globe. Source: un.org

Hence, it is the need of the hour to atleast save the available water for the better tomorrow. Let me share few things / tips which can help us to save water right from our house hold level : 

• Shorten your showers to less than 10 minutes.

Source: spinics.net

• Turn off the water while you're brushing your teeth, shaving, or washing your face. A running tap uses on average four litres per minute. Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth can save 13 litres a day

  

  Source: rmbuilding.com

• Leaky shower head? A dripping faucet can waste up to 7,600 liters of water a year. Check the plumbing in your house and repair the leaks as soon as possible

• Try to invest in low-flush toilets and shower heads . We can save thousands of gallons of water each year

• Reduce your use of pesticides and fertilizers, and look for safer alternatives to control weeds and bugs. Lawn and garden pesticides and fertilizers can pollute the water

Source: localgovchat.com

• Turnoff your sprinklers in your garden / lawn when it’s raining. On average, 50% - 70% of household water is used outdoors for watering lawns and gardens

• Avoid installing ornamental water features (such as fountains) unless they use re-circulated water

• Washing Machines can use 55 litres of hot water per cycle. If you wait till there’s a full load, you can save around 58 litres a week

• Wash fruits and vegetables in a basin or a partly filled sink - not under running water

• Use Microwave, steam, or  pressure cooker to cook vegetables. It will retain more flavor and use less water than traditional boiling

• The water we supply to our plants evaporates due to high temperature of air in day time. So, we should water plants in early morning or evening timings(when the air temperature is low) so that water supplied to the plants do not evaporate

Conclusion :

This is not just a one day affair. Let it be a beginning for a better tomorrow. Let us save water from now on, so that we don't face any troubles in the future. Lets share and spread the awareness.

References : http://www.timeanddate.com/, http://www.un.org/, http://www.dosomething.org/, http://www.wwf.org.uk/, http://www.devon.gov.uk/

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Inspiring Personalities - Mr. Krishnamurthy (Founder - Suswaad Sweets & Savouries, Chennai)

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/madhugopalan

:: Inspiring Personalities - Mr. Krishnamurthy (Founder - Suswaad Sweets  & Savouries, Chennai) ::

In line with the Sweet Success stories of Arun Ice Creams, Lion Dates, Kovai Pazhamudhir Nilayam & Adyar Ananda Bhavan, here comes the success story of Suswaad Sweets & Savouries. It was founded by Mr. R.Krishnamurthy.

Birth of Suswaad :

Venkatraman Street , T.Nagar - Has been just another street till 1988. The year 1988 gave birth to this  SUSWAAD, founded by Mr. R Krishnamurthy and it has became the landmark for this area since then.

Source: Emphaticallystatic.org

A small house turned into a sweets shop. Started as a small venture which provides door to door supply of bhakshanams, moved on to a multi branch sweets shop.Now it has many branches across Chennai and its quality is at its best.  

I couldn't get much of the details  about Mr.Krishnamurthy and the history of Suswaad. As always, The Hindu never miss out these people. And yeah, I have read an article inThe Hindu about Mr.Krishnamurthy and have went to their shop at Mandaveli once. Based on these I am posting few things here.


Secret of Success :

Suswaad has been thriving on its commitment to quality. Says R. Krishnamurthy.

"Our publicity is mainly through word-of-mouth. People who are contented with our products bring in customers and our clientele grows."

 "Some of the sweets and savouries are being made through a mechanised process as it is hard these days to find people who can make them manually. Therefore the shapes and sizes have been standardised. We also ensure that excess oil is removed through a process of de-oiling." 

Ambience at the shop :

Source: Openrice.com

The ambience at the Suswaad was purely divine.Unlike other shops, the day starts with a prayer in Suswaad.  The smell of bhakshanams will take back to our good old golden days. The mec
hanised process removes the excess oil and keeps the taste intact. The taste is as good as the ones prepared at our home.

The one thing should be shared is that Suswaad is providing employment opportunities to the specially abled people. Each branches of Suswaad has got a specially abled person. Its a good thing which every one should learn.

Product Coverage : 

Just started with Bhakshanams, now they have expanded their wings which would include Paruppu podi, Karuveppilai Podi, Vathalkuzhambu paste, Puli Kaichal, Tomato paste, Kanji Maavu, Pickles etc.  It doesn't end here, they also serve snacks like Bajji , Vadai, Bondas etc., Don't miss out their special KOZHUKKATTAI.

The Next Gen : 

Mr. K Ramesh Source: Indiatodayimages.com

Mr. Krishnamurthy has died on February 2008. Since then, His son Mr.K Ramesh is taking care of this business.

Reference : The Hindu

Conclusion :

SUSWAAD - a brand with no promotions. No advertisement, no poster, no banner. But still the people's first choice is Suswaad, when it comes to Bhakshanams. Oil-Less machine made murukku - can any one think of it ? They did it. The manthra learnt from the success of Suswaad Sweets & Savouries is "The quality and commitment can make us scale greater heights ".

I want to add one thing here. I have seen IndiBlogger & BlogAdda helps in promoting the brands by asking the fellow bloggers to write the review about the few big brands. Why don't we take up promoting these small businesses which will be beneficial for both the people  ? I don't know about the practical difficulties involved in implementing it. Just a suggestion.

Meet you all in my next post.

Till then,
Inspire & Get Inspired :)

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Formalities when someone dies

:: Formalities when someone dies ::

It is a tricky situation when some one dies. The only loss which can make everyone down and everyone to think about the other person. It is an emotional moment. It is very difficult to deal with the formalities when some one dies. Most importantly, there is no proper source / document which can help us to know about the formalities. The emotional connect and the sentiment has blocked us from doing so. Even the people who knows what to do will remain silent in these situations. I felt touched by the post made by Prasanna "Who will cry when you die". 

This post inspired me to write about the formalities to be carried on when a person dies. I am just making this post out of my own experiences in the past and if any one find something incorrect and also want to add more points, feel free to let me know. 

Formalities - Step by Step :

Source: blog.naver.com

• Firstly, when a person dies at home, make a call to the family doctor to  et it confirmed. For those who don't have any such family doctor, just contact the doctor who attended them. If it was a sudden death or house death, go to the nearest 24 hours hospital. There you will have doctors to help you out. If he died at the hospital itself, doctors will take care of it.

Source: kaboodle.com

• When the doctor arrives, he will do the routine check ups and confirm whether the person died or not. He should give a letter in his letterhead stating that the person has been died of ......... reason. This is not the death certificate , as many of us wrongly believe it as a death certificate. This is just the death confirmation letter.

• Then go to the nearest burial ground immediately after receiving the letter from the doctor and get the "House Death Form" (In case of house death). Get that form and bring it to the same doctor who confirmed the death, get it filled and signed by the doctor along with his official seal.

• Once you got the House Death Form filled by the doctor, go to the same burial ground and register for the time slot for burying. Don't forget to take the photocopies of this house death form, as we are not allowed to enter the crematorium without this death form.

• In case if you come across the neighbour who can't spend much, or even every one of us can use the service of 1913. The corporation of Chennai will be providing the Freezer Box , Mortuary Van at free of cost. Dial 1913  and book. The service is available all across Chennai, and not sure about the other areas. Also you can register it online by clicking here http://www.chennaicorporation.gov.in/onlinebooking/index.htm. As we all know, nothing comes entirely free, we need to pay some nominal amount to those drivers of mortuary vans & freezer box guys.

Source: http://bobarno.com

• Even for the burial ground, we need not pay anything. Once all the process got over, we should go to the officer at the burial ground to give the necessary details which are necessary for obtaining the death certificate. 

Source : Chennai Corporation

• Within 15 days after registering with the burial ground, the death certificate will be available online in the following link.
  http://www.chennaicorporation.gov.in/online-civic-services/deathCertificateBasicSearch.jsp. You can download it by filling the necessary details. The PDF which we download is the valid certificate and it doesn't require any manual signature by the officials. 

BN: All the details I provided was pertaining to Chennai city. I believe some way or other, the same formalities prevails in other areas & cities.

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