The Spider Insect

The Spider Insect.  A very commonly seen spider in every house. 

Unbearable Heat of the Summer

The Summer of 2012 has arrived and already roasting everything in its path.  It has become unbearable and uncomfortable as we are trying to cool down our body heat by taking frequent showers and cooling down under a fan.  We live in India, and here not many people have the luxury of an Air-Conditioner.  Things are really going bad to worse.  Doctors on TV advised the viewers not to go out between 10 AM to 2 PM unless important.  We need to eat light foods and drink lots of water.  I searched the Internet on "How to keep cool during summer?" and found some interesting results from various websites.  I will be following some of them and hope to get fruitful results as claimed.  Meanwhile, we can do nothing best but to stay indoors during the above mentioned hours and enjoy the cool evenings instead.  The weather department has indicated that there are no signs of any rains for few days.  But I have observed that after every long gap of sunny days, we get rains with thunder & lightning.  I am eagerly waiting for it.  

A Durga Puja Pandal in West Bengal, India.

What you are looking at is a Durga Puja pandal in a city of West Bengal in India.  People here invest a lot of time and effort to build this massive structure which looks like a real monument.  The beauty is the art work that you can find in almost every pandals.  Not to mention, the artists are those people who never went to any art college, but are just individuals who came to the city in search of work.  Funding is mostly done by collecting donations from the public and businessmen.  

Why Auctions are not working on eBay India?

Do you know why the online auctions are not working out on eBay India?

When I first started selling on eBay, I selected eBay India's Auction format?  I listed one of my Tintin comics for just Rs. 1/- with free shipping.  It was indeed a very successful auction and it got sold within a week.  That was five years ago.  But now things have changed a lot.  Now, when you list your item on the auction format on eBay India, you do get some bids on your item, but once the auction is over your buyer never pays you.  So, you are stuck with the sold product for sometime.  You cannot re-list it as you may not know when will your buyer pay for it.  You just wait and wait and wait.  Worst your buyer just ignores all your e-mails and phone calls.  I am suffering with this problem long time.  So, I decided to list all my items in the fixed format called Buy It Now.  But I still miss the adventures of auctioning online.  This problem is with eBay India.  May be we Indians need to learn how to buy an item on auction.  There are lot of time-pass bidders who just bids on random items for fun and never pay for it.  

Chicken Curry

Chicken Curry.

Breakfast: Maggi Noodles, Kellogg's Corn Flakes

Recently, I woke up in the morning and was planning to prepare breakfast for myself.  In my kitchen I found nothing but a packet of Maggi noodles.  So, I decided to have instant noodles and started to cook it.  As we all know, to make noodles you need to boil two cups of water in a container and add noodles and Tastemaker.  Finally, serve it hot with some butter.  But I thought what if I add some Kellogg's Corn Flakes.  So, I added the corn flakes beside the cooked noodles and mixed it gently.  What I saw was amazing.  The crispy corn flakes absorbed almost all the excess gravy that was left with the noodles.  That's what I wanted.  Lastly, I added a little butter and served it to myself.  It was a great breakfast.  What about you?  Please do share your story with me.

My Experiments with Eggs and Roti.

What you are looking here is an experimental breakfast made by me.  I call this a mixture of fried eggs and fried roti (Indian home made bread).  Its so easy to make.  If you live in India or you have Indian home made Roti and some eggs, you can prepare this dish easily.  Just fry some eggs in a fry pan just like scrambled eggs.  Then cut the Roti into small pieces and add them into the fry pan.  Keep frying both the eggs and the roti until they are well cooked.  Add some salt and pepper.  Finally, garnish it with some butter.  Have it with hot tea, coffee or even with a cup of hot tomato soup.  I had it with tea.  Please leave a comment and tell me how was yours.

Information Search Analysis Skills ISAS

Information Search Analysis Skills ISAS 

Information Search Analysis Skills ISAS Book 1

Information Search Analysis Skills ISAS Book 2 

These two books were a part of my GNIIT course at NIIT.  These books teaches you how to search for information, arrange it and create a document or a report.  It was part of our project work.  Some of the pages are missing as we had to fill those pages and submit it to the class.

These books are now available for sale on eBay India. 

http://www.ebay.in/itm/271121539719

How to cook and make tasty potato soup?

Wash the potatoes.  Peel off the cover from the potatoes.  Boil the potatoes in a container with six cups of water.  Drain the water.  Fry some onions on a fry pan along with ginger and garlic.  Cut the potatoes into small pieces and fry with the onions.  Add salt and pepper.  Finally add two cups of water and cook under low flame.  Your potato soup is ready.  Add one teaspoon of butter and serve hot with bread rolls.

Say No To Fire Crackers.

Let us say no to Diwali Firecrackers.  It is like burning money and wasting it all.  It gives us nothing but pollution.  When I was a kid, I did burned crackers unknowingly but as soon as I grew up and knew about the amount of pollution it spreads I decided not to buy or support crackers ever after.  I am having a very bad time trying to compromise with the loud noise my fellow citizens are creating.  They even bursts noisy crackers late at night when everyone sleeps.  What is shocking is that it seems no one bothers to complain.  That means people are OK with it.  I want to know where in India people do not celebrate Diwali and I want to spend my Diwali in that city.  At least I will be able to walk on the street safely.  Here in India on a Diwali night chances are that you might get hit with a firecracker and get yourself badly burnt.  I remain indoors on every Diwali and never celebrate this day because other people just do not care about those persons who do not like firecrackers. 

Enjoy Durga Puja 2010 with Rains

Durga Puja celebrations may be hampered by rains.  Weather report shows cloud formation over Bay of Bengal and Orissa.  There will be thousands of people on the roads.  Rains will create traffic jams.  Even accidents can happen.  Sometimes, there are potholes on the roads as well as on the footpaths of Kolkata (Calcutta).  A little rain will cause flood like situation on the roads.  That means people may accidentally fall into those potholes.  Sometime manholes are kept open so that the water drains out into the sewage system.  People can fall into those open manholes and have a major accident. 

Therefore, we need to be careful when we go out during the rains.  Always carry an umbrella with you in case you are trapped.  Recharge your mobile with sufficient balance so that you can communicate with others in any kind of emergency situations.  Use public transport instead of your own vehicle.  This will eliminate the problem of parking as we all know that in Kolkata (Calcutta) we do not have much space of parking.  And not to mention there will be car & bike thieves here and there watching you. 

Reliance Industries & The Indian Stock Market

I do not know what has happened to Reliance Industries in the past few months.  What I can see is that the stock price is gradually falling down from Rs.1094.00 to Rs.980.00.  Even the Indian Stock Market is dull past two months.  Reliance Industries is the leader of all stocks and moves whenever the bulls come in.  But now nothing seems to be moving.  Experts predicted that Reliance Industries will cross the Rs.1200.00 mark but this seems to be not happening so soon.  I hope speed will pick up in the Stock Markets as I believe that the bulls cannot stay out of the markets much longer.  They will not make much money if they keep their money in fixed investments.  They have to invest in the markets or else they loose out if they are waiting for bottom fishing.  Lets hope we see some action in the next comming weeks.

Install Cameras around the runway

Plane crash happens often in the world.  Some of them are even video taped.  In the case of Mangalore plane crash, there is no video footage of the actual crash landing.  Had there been a video footage from any angle, then the cause of the plane crash could have been determined by experts.  Money is being spent in the name of airport security and CCTV cameras have been installed inside as well as outside the airports.  However, we still do not have cameras to cover the whole runway so that every take-off as well as landing can be video taped.

Most plane accidents happens either in mid-air or during take-off & landing.  Video footage of mid-air mishaps totally depends on the public who may tape the whole incident.  What about mishaps during take-off and landing?  If small cheap cameras in multiple numbers are installed around the runway, then every accident that happens on the runway can be documented and investigated by experts who can take action and prevent such accidents from happening in future.  In the case of Mangalore plane crash, experts have to depend on the remaining evidence like black box, voice recorder and may be some witness like survivors. 

Google  Yahoo  eBay  Amazon  Facebook  Twitter  Youtube

My eBay Business - How I started?

I started my eBay business in 2006.  It was not a business at all.  But just a casual selling.  The first item I sold on eBay India was a Tintin Comics.  I auctioned it for 7 days and got a good price.  Though the customer paid eBay online, I was paid by eBay via Demand Draft.  After receiving the money I shipped the item via courier.  eBay has a good presence in the United States.  Most people there who sell online use eBay regularly.  However, here in India, eBay is yet to make a difference in the online sales and marketing world.  I can see that they are trying very hard by improving services to its customers as well as launching new ads for television.  There are many issues regarding eBay which I will post in my blog in the comming days. 

Visit Suman Paul's page on eBay India (click here).

Happy New Year (2010)

First of all, I wish all my readers A very Happy New Year.  So, now we are in 2010.  And today is the first day of 2010.  What do you think, how will this year be for us?  Any of you planning to go for a family picnic?  So far I have not planned anything.  Last night around midnight I was watching the James Bond movie Quantum of Solace on Star Movies.  I did not switch to the news channels or any other hindi channels like Star Plus, Zee TV or Sony, etc.  I did not go out to see although I heard a lot of fire crackers bursting loudly at the stroke of midnight.

I woke up late today as the stock markets in India we closed.  I had rice and chicken in my lunch.  I really need to eat some hot chicken as its too cold here.  I will be going out now and have a walk nearby shops and see how others are enjoying this new day of this new year.  Please write something in the comment box.  This will help me write more.  I also need to understand the choice of my readers.  Please do share with me your thoughts on this blog post.  Thankyou.

Get Married For Ever

When we get married, we dream of having a peaceful everlasting relationship full of happiness and joy.  Do we really get all of it in our married lifetime?  I sometime feel scared when I see couples fighting and arguing with each other on silly things.  I just do not understand why do married couples have to make things so hot. 

I did some research on this and I have found that most couples do not plan what to do after they marry.  I think we should have something like a rule book made by the couples.  This book will be written by both husband and wife mutually.  The rules will be simple everyday lifestyle rules.  And there should be and option of getting a reward for every good work and a punishment for every mistake. 

Rewards can be given to each other in many ways.  A husband can buy something for his wife such as a dress or take her to a movie.  A wife can prepare a good meal which was in demand for a long time.  They can also go out and party.  The idea behind all this is to make each other feel nice. 

Punishment on the other hand should never be too harsh or too difficult.  Instead of punishment we should call it a correction.  For every rule one breaks you get one correction.  You may be given a food which you do not like or your car keys are taken away so that you have to travel by bus to your office. 

Couples must promise each other to confess any wrong doing as soon as possible.  Both of them should be given full freedom to spend time with anyone but they should disclose each other about it.  This way couples will develop trust.  In case of any dispute arising between the two, they should settle the matter by talking and not by arguing. 

There are so many ways you can prolong your married life into happiness.  Just avoid arguing and things that may lead you to disaster.  And always keep yourself updated by surfing the Net for more on this subject.

Where can I buy boneless chickens?

Today I had chicken curry in my lunch along with rice.  I wish I can get some boneless chicken but I do not know where can I buy it as I live in an area where there are no shopping malls.  I have to travel by bus to the city nearby and visit any mall who sells these boneless chicken pieces.  I am sure there are shops who sell boneless chicken but I could not find any in my area.  May be they are costly that is why they are not in demand.  Plus raw chickens are now easily available in any meat shop nearby and they are cheap than boneless.  I still have some leftovers in the fridge.  I will have those in my dinner.  I will be adding some butter to make the gravy juicy and tasty.  I would like to know how you cook your chicken curry.

How to keep warm in winter?

I am feeling a bit cold now and then as winter is nearing so fast.  It is just the month of November, however we are having colder nights.  Since I do not have a heater or any type of heat system installed in my room, I guess I will have to eat a lot of chicken and hot coffee in order to keep myself warm.  I will also eat fried eggs and garlic which are indeed hot items and keeps your body warm from inside.  I will be buying a leather jacket in a week as my older jacket is not fitting on my body.  May be I have grown up a little in an year.  I was thinking what more I can do to keep myself warm through this winter.  Chicken will be on my menu twice a week.  Since I do not smoke or drink, I will have to take something very hot and spicy.  I am planning to use mustard seeds in my curry.  Plus all frying will be done with pure (Amul) butter or desi ghee.  Well let us see how I can survive this comming winter and I will write whenever I can and share you my ideas as how to keep warm.

Ready for your Dream Holiday?

Have you ever been to a place far away from your home? I have been to places like that many times. Sometime with parents, relatives, friends and even alone.

I live in India which is indeed a great place to be in any holiday season. India has a very big population and with diverse cultural background. To see India you will need at least three to five vacations from your office. Anybody who comes to India gets to see only a part of its culture. As you travel from one state to another you will find that the people here are so different from the other state. There are a lot of difference such as language, food, dress, etc.

So what is your dream holiday? Where do you want to visit this holiday season? Have you booked your seat in any hotels? You must hurry up as seats are being filled up as we speak.

Your hotels for your vacation.

Its again that time of the year when you get your vacation from your office or work. Now all you need to find out is where to have your vacation. You will be searching the internet for various vacation spots all over the world. Be it the US and UK, or may be Europe or perhaps Asia. So how to decide which is the right place to book your space. Hotels all over the world are busy getting clients booked. However, you may still find some hotels that are vacant.

Let us go online and search the Internet. If you live in the US or UK, you may want to visit Asia. And people living outside US and UK will certainly like to visit the United States and Britain. The travel industry is booming and each year it makes good money from the rush they receive. I found so many sites on hotels. Among them the first one was Hotels.com which automatically changed to india.hotels.com after I clicked on the link in Google search results. It is because the site has a local domain and as I am in India so it redirected to the Indian version.

Hotels.com has many features. Such as Find Your Hotel and Top Deals. You can even open an account and login where you can see your Bookings and Saved Hotels. Prices are displayed in local currency so that you do not have to take out your calculator.