Reading is my passion...
Monday, March 10, 2014
Monday, December 3, 2012
RedBull Soap Box Race, 1st Time in India - I was part of it!!!
The Event and Post event round up...
I have documented and uploaded many photographs on our official team page on Facebook, link is here... http://www.facebook.com/TheGoldRushSoapboxRace
The Team was gathered on the venue at 5pm on Saturday, 1st Dec. The Car we made was inspected,
Weight : 77.3 Kg [Limit 80 Kgs]
Ground Clearance : 8.2 Inches [Minimum should be 7 Inches]
Driver Safety : Seat Belt provided
dimensions: 6FeetLength by 4.2 Feet Wide by 4Feet height [within limits]
Brakes Provided : Yes
Streeing Provided : Yes
I have documented and uploaded many photographs on our official team page on Facebook, link is here... http://www.facebook.com/TheGoldRushSoapboxRace
The Team was gathered on the venue at 5pm on Saturday, 1st Dec. The Car we made was inspected,
Weight : 77.3 Kg [Limit 80 Kgs]
Ground Clearance : 8.2 Inches [Minimum should be 7 Inches]
Driver Safety : Seat Belt provided
dimensions: 6FeetLength by 4.2 Feet Wide by 4Feet height [within limits]
Brakes Provided : Yes
Streeing Provided : Yes
Our Team Cleared the INspection Round. Now we leave the car on the venue with a TRIG Security provided Bouncer [ ;) ] till we race next day. We were taken to a Pre-event briefing meet, where there was a lot of RedBull Flowing...
Next day, our team reaches the venue at 7.30AM, and adds some more finishing touches to the car. Family and friends join us for a close-up view, and lotsa photosessions... we even have our own team head crowns, made by Parul Thakkar Patankar, which are worn by all of our supporters.
Before the race begins, there is a lot of nautanki, like, a carnival with jugglers, tall-walkers, African acrobats, uni-cyclers, power-puff girls, followed by Imran Khan promo of a film with Gulabo the Cow Celebrity Soap Box taking off...
Then the promoters have their own soap boxes, History Channel had its own, Hindustan Times had its own soap box in shape of the Worli Sea Link...
The race track had three turns, one with a Curved Ramp, and a speed bumper each with some bonus points.
We were gonna be scored for
1. Creativity of the car
2. Presentation of a Skit pre-launch [20 sec]
3. Time it takes to finish the race
And yes, the above are scored only if one completes the race with 60% of the car intact, and within 3 minutes...
Last moment cancellations, and inspection failures finally have 56 Soap Boxes racing for the prize...
Our theme of a Gold Nuggets carrying Mine cart, was with all the team members dressed up like gold miners, we added some moustaches for additional effects...
we also had submitted a theme song, made by us, to the organisers, which was supposed to be played at the time we launch - however, our track was lost by them and we had to impromptu modify our skit performance to a different sound-track...
Our Car launched off at a high speed, cleared both the first turns without crashing into the side hay-stacks, and also took the third turn-ramp without any mishap, and crossed the speedbump, all within 1.35 minutes... We finished the race without any loss of body parts, took all the obstacles gracefully and ended with our driver with no injuries.
The Race video is available on Youtube here... http://youtu.be/qYKy9WmIiu4
We could not make it to the top 3 slots, and returned home without any prizes.
However, we are proud that we finished the race without any crash, in a very short time, without any injuries to the team.
We enjoyed the event, got a lot of curious spectators, countless photographs taken, were celebrities for some days...have proud families who enjoyed every moment [we were on the project for past 4 weeks]
For two of our team members, this was a first time on a project, and they learned quite about many aspects. The other two learned, to respect each other, and take on roles which help take the project further...
To all our friends, and supporters, we are glad we got your undying support.
To the Team of Veer Engineering, who helped us with all the assembly and chassis engineering, heres a huge THANKS to you...
To the team at Siddhakesh Printers, who helped us finish the outer Body Art, we appreciate the timely completion of the jobs.
Our special thanks go to Mr. Ali and Miss. Richa who compiled a nice interview with Jose Covaco and final airing on History Channel.
This event for us would have been in-complete without the support, advise and criticism of so many people.
For anyone who I have missed out mentioning, please comment and bring to my notice, i will be glad to accept my mistakes and give due credit...
on behalf of TEAM THE GOLD RUSH, Suresh Shenghani, Rushi Shenghani, Vinay Panchal & Paresh Thakkar, signing off, Paresh Thakkar -
Next day, our team reaches the venue at 7.30AM, and adds some more finishing touches to the car. Family and friends join us for a close-up view, and lotsa photosessions... we even have our own team head crowns, made by Parul Thakkar Patankar, which are worn by all of our supporters.
Before the race begins, there is a lot of nautanki, like, a carnival with jugglers, tall-walkers, African acrobats, uni-cyclers, power-puff girls, followed by Imran Khan promo of a film with Gulabo the Cow Celebrity Soap Box taking off...
Then the promoters have their own soap boxes, History Channel had its own, Hindustan Times had its own soap box in shape of the Worli Sea Link...
The race track had three turns, one with a Curved Ramp, and a speed bumper each with some bonus points.
We were gonna be scored for
1. Creativity of the car
2. Presentation of a Skit pre-launch [20 sec]
3. Time it takes to finish the race
And yes, the above are scored only if one completes the race with 60% of the car intact, and within 3 minutes...
Last moment cancellations, and inspection failures finally have 56 Soap Boxes racing for the prize...
Our theme of a Gold Nuggets carrying Mine cart, was with all the team members dressed up like gold miners, we added some moustaches for additional effects...
we also had submitted a theme song, made by us, to the organisers, which was supposed to be played at the time we launch - however, our track was lost by them and we had to impromptu modify our skit performance to a different sound-track...
Our Car launched off at a high speed, cleared both the first turns without crashing into the side hay-stacks, and also took the third turn-ramp without any mishap, and crossed the speedbump, all within 1.35 minutes... We finished the race without any loss of body parts, took all the obstacles gracefully and ended with our driver with no injuries.
The Race video is available on Youtube here... http://youtu.be/qYKy9WmIiu4
We could not make it to the top 3 slots, and returned home without any prizes.
However, we are proud that we finished the race without any crash, in a very short time, without any injuries to the team.
We enjoyed the event, got a lot of curious spectators, countless photographs taken, were celebrities for some days...have proud families who enjoyed every moment [we were on the project for past 4 weeks]
For two of our team members, this was a first time on a project, and they learned quite about many aspects. The other two learned, to respect each other, and take on roles which help take the project further...
To all our friends, and supporters, we are glad we got your undying support.
To the Team of Veer Engineering, who helped us with all the assembly and chassis engineering, heres a huge THANKS to you...
To the team at Siddhakesh Printers, who helped us finish the outer Body Art, we appreciate the timely completion of the jobs.
Our special thanks go to Mr. Ali and Miss. Richa who compiled a nice interview with Jose Covaco and final airing on History Channel.
This event for us would have been in-complete without the support, advise and criticism of so many people.
For anyone who I have missed out mentioning, please comment and bring to my notice, i will be glad to accept my mistakes and give due credit...
on behalf of TEAM THE GOLD RUSH, Suresh Shenghani, Rushi Shenghani, Vinay Panchal & Paresh Thakkar, signing off, Paresh Thakkar -
Friday, August 3, 2012
Free Passes to TEDxGateway - too good to be true...
Yesterday, came across this tweet about free passes to TEDxGateway. On clicking on the leading link, was taken to a page that wanted me to signup with my facebook account, twitter account, email ID, and then wants me to answer why i like TED, who is my favourite TED speaker, and make a blog entry about the giveaway...
And this has to be done on almost daily basis, wondering if this is just another ploy/scam/spam or a genuine offer,
trying wont harm, so doing just that...
And this has to be done on almost daily basis, wondering if this is just another ploy/scam/spam or a genuine offer,
trying wont harm, so doing just that...
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
World's first 128Gb 20nm NAND flash could pack 2TB into a 2.5" SSD
http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2011/12/worlds-first-128gb-20nm-nand-flash-could-pack-25tb-into-a-25-ssd.ars?&utm_source=google%20gmail&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=addtoany
Intel and Micron have announced the creation of a 128 gigabit flash die. An SSD built from such parts could pack 2 TB into a 2.5" drive. They probably won't hit the market until 2013, though, as the new dies also sport a new interface and internal structure.
Intel and Micron have announced the creation of a 128 gigabit flash die. An SSD built from such parts could pack 2 TB into a 2.5" drive. They probably won't hit the market until 2013, though, as the new dies also sport a new interface and internal structure.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
The Nano revolution!!!
Current trends in mass consumerism has led vendors to roll out affordable and efficient products that are consumed enmasse...
From mobile phones to personal music players, increasing disk space on pen drives and personal storage devices, digital quality to HD to 3D satellite set-top boxes, all screaming on the top of their voices to have you look at them...
What was purely physics technology related rat race to out-perform each other, has now also spilled over to the biology department too...
Kerela agricultural university (KAU) @ Thrissur district has put in its latest claim-to-fame, the world's shortest cow!!! Yep, you read it right, a nano cow revolution is gaining ground in Kerala, India, where farmers from various parts are putting in claims to have the shortest cow in the world...
Guinesss officials recorded Swallow, a dexter cow in the UK at 85cm. This was followed by KAU claiming Chotti, a cow in their dairy to be 72cm. Amrithadhara goushala ownes Bangari, measuring to just 71cms. Both belong to the Kasaragod Dwarf Category...
These cows need just 5kg fodder a day and yield 2-3 litres milk per day...enuf for an urban home...
Moreover, the urine from these cows has high medicinal value-apx Rs. 60 a litre...
Would you be seeing such cows as pets in cities soon???
Adapted frm the original article by S. Neeraj Krishna, The week.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone
From mobile phones to personal music players, increasing disk space on pen drives and personal storage devices, digital quality to HD to 3D satellite set-top boxes, all screaming on the top of their voices to have you look at them...
What was purely physics technology related rat race to out-perform each other, has now also spilled over to the biology department too...
Kerela agricultural university (KAU) @ Thrissur district has put in its latest claim-to-fame, the world's shortest cow!!! Yep, you read it right, a nano cow revolution is gaining ground in Kerala, India, where farmers from various parts are putting in claims to have the shortest cow in the world...
Guinesss officials recorded Swallow, a dexter cow in the UK at 85cm. This was followed by KAU claiming Chotti, a cow in their dairy to be 72cm. Amrithadhara goushala ownes Bangari, measuring to just 71cms. Both belong to the Kasaragod Dwarf Category...
These cows need just 5kg fodder a day and yield 2-3 litres milk per day...enuf for an urban home...
Moreover, the urine from these cows has high medicinal value-apx Rs. 60 a litre...
Would you be seeing such cows as pets in cities soon???
Adapted frm the original article by S. Neeraj Krishna, The week.
Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Who are the Kutchi?
Well, I am one of this tribe, and am proud to be one. Read on for knowing a bit more about the little known facts about Kutchies!
Language
The Kutchi language is classified as an Indo-Aryan language. As the Kutchi people have of
ten been travelers and traders, the Kutchi language has influences of almost every surrounding dialect, and is thus very difficult to learn and translate. Much like English is a mixture of French and German—with traces of just about everything else—Kutchi is technically a dialect of Sindhi (an official language in both India and Pakistan), but is heavily influenced by Gujarati, so much so that when written it uses the traditional Gujarati script.
Due to their geographical closeness, most Kutchi people are either bilingual or trilingual. Those living in Pakistan typically speak and understand Sindhi or Urdu, while Kutchis of India also speak Gujarati and possibly a dialect of Hindi.
Kutch: the second largest province in India, located in the Northwestern state of Gujarat along the border with Pakistan.
Kutchi: the ancient people group who inhabit the Kutch province, primarily made up of fisherman and artisans. Large populations of Kutchi also live in Africa and Pakistan.
One People – Two Continents
As sea traders, the Kutchi built cities along the trading routes of the Arabian Sea, even as far as East Africa where they established homes 200-300 years ago. Today, these two “halves” of the people group hold to their ancient culture in very different environments.
Culture
The first thing most visitors notice about the Kutchi people is color! As many are artisans and craftsmen, Kutchi women wear elaborately designed clothes made by a unique method of tie-dying fabrics. This process creates a sunburst pattern of intensely bright colors. Beyond clothing, this sort of design is also used to make elaborate embroideries used as tablecloths, wall hangings, handbags, bedspreads and more.
Religion
The major religions of the Kutchi people are Hindu and Islam. As the Kutchi people are split between India, Pakistan and Africa, most of their religious affiliation is often dictated by their location. Most of the Kutchi in India are Hindu, most of those in Pakistan are Muslim, and those that have spread throughout Africa and beyond have either retained the religion of their family or have converted to conform to the place where they now live.
Celebrations
In the Kutchi tradition, almost every phase of the moon is acknowledged by either a celebration, fast, or other sort of ritual. Similarly, every day of the year is attributed to a particular god or goddess. Some days are considered fortunate or lucky, while others carry with them a sense of evil and are thought to result in unfavorable events depending on what is foretold by the Paanchaang, a sort of almanac.
Ashadi Beej (mid-July) Today i.e. 13th July 2010. [not necessarily same date every year]
This is the cele
bration of the New Year. According to the traditional Kutchi calendar, known as the Halari Samwat, the New Year begins on the first day of the monsoon season, typically in mid-July. This day is celebrated with much joy and color, and typically involves songs by Kutchi poets that have been written to welcome the rains.
Fair of Mota Yaksh (Sept. 15)
This is the largest festival in Kutch, lasting for three days. Legend claims that angels came to the Kutchi people and taught them the principle artisan skills that form the basis of their culture. It’s held each year 40 km south of Bhuj, at the site of the temple that marks the angels’ coming.
Diet
A majority of Kutchi are strict vegetarians, due significantly to the large Hindu population. Some of the Christian and Muslim populations eat poultry and fish, but the consumption of beef is prohibited due to the Hindu culture and pork is scarcely available to appease the Muslim population. Alcohol in the region has been prohibited in modern times, as the entire state of Gujarat is legally dry to honor it as the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi.
Economy
Most Kutchi are quite poor, but those living in India have benefited by being in the state of Gujarat, one of the country’s fastest growing state economies. Historically, the major industries of the Kutchi people have been fishing, sea trade, crafts, and farming. Increased Urban Migration has seen many Kutchies moving on to Urban developments, where they have set up themselves as tradesmen, Grocery Store Owners, Garment Trade, textile business, Oil merchants, etc. Sea trade has diminished significantly as a source of income; however, many Kutchi have opened up small trucking fleets & logistics companies, thus continue on in the shipping tradition of their ancestors.
Handicrafts are still very important, with much of the world’s fine embroidery still being made in rural areas throughout the Kutchi region. A few corporations organize the worldwide trade of these handmade goods, but unfortunately few of the profits remain in the region.
Well, thats about it, thanks for reading on till here. Traditionally, every Kutchi you encounter, would sign off by the following line...
|| Jai Dhariyalaal | Jai Jalaram ||
more reading on following links...
http://ren-flora.livejournal.com/71357.html
Wikipedia on Kutch...
Panjo Kutch
India Tourism Board Site
Learn Kutchi Embroidery using You tube...
Kutchi Embroidery
Any more info that can be added here, please suggest by commenting, will try adding to this article. Thanks for dropping by.
Language
The Kutchi language is classified as an Indo-Aryan language. As the Kutchi people have of
ten been travelers and traders, the Kutchi language has influences of almost every surrounding dialect, and is thus very difficult to learn and translate. Much like English is a mixture of French and German—with traces of just about everything else—Kutchi is technically a dialect of Sindhi (an official language in both India and Pakistan), but is heavily influenced by Gujarati, so much so that when written it uses the traditional Gujarati script.Due to their geographical closeness, most Kutchi people are either bilingual or trilingual. Those living in Pakistan typically speak and understand Sindhi or Urdu, while Kutchis of India also speak Gujarati and possibly a dialect of Hindi.
Kutch: the second largest province in India, located in the Northwestern state of Gujarat along the border with Pakistan.
One People – Two Continents
As sea traders, the Kutchi built cities along the trading routes of the Arabian Sea, even as far as East Africa where they established homes 200-300 years ago. Today, these two “halves” of the people group hold to their ancient culture in very different environments.
Culture
The first thing most visitors notice about the Kutchi people is color! As many are artisans and craftsmen, Kutchi women wear elaborately designed clothes made by a unique method of tie-dying fabrics. This process creates a sunburst pattern of intensely bright colors. Beyond clothing, this sort of design is also used to make elaborate embroideries used as tablecloths, wall hangings, handbags, bedspreads and more.
Religion
The major religions of the Kutchi people are Hindu and Islam. As the Kutchi people are split between India, Pakistan and Africa, most of their religious affiliation is often dictated by their location. Most of the Kutchi in India are Hindu, most of those in Pakistan are Muslim, and those that have spread throughout Africa and beyond have either retained the religion of their family or have converted to conform to the place where they now live.
Celebrations
In the Kutchi tradition, almost every phase of the moon is acknowledged by either a celebration, fast, or other sort of ritual. Similarly, every day of the year is attributed to a particular god or goddess. Some days are considered fortunate or lucky, while others carry with them a sense of evil and are thought to result in unfavorable events depending on what is foretold by the Paanchaang, a sort of almanac.
Ashadi Beej (mid-July) Today i.e. 13th July 2010. [not necessarily same date every year]
This is the cele
bration of the New Year. According to the traditional Kutchi calendar, known as the Halari Samwat, the New Year begins on the first day of the monsoon season, typically in mid-July. This day is celebrated with much joy and color, and typically involves songs by Kutchi poets that have been written to welcome the rains.Fair of Mota Yaksh (Sept. 15)
This is the largest festival in Kutch, lasting for three days. Legend claims that angels came to the Kutchi people and taught them the principle artisan skills that form the basis of their culture. It’s held each year 40 km south of Bhuj, at the site of the temple that marks the angels’ coming.
Diet
A majority of Kutchi are strict vegetarians, due significantly to the large Hindu population. Some of the Christian and Muslim populations eat poultry and fish, but the consumption of beef is prohibited due to the Hindu culture and pork is scarcely available to appease the Muslim population. Alcohol in the region has been prohibited in modern times, as the entire state of Gujarat is legally dry to honor it as the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi.
Milk is considered to be a sacred food, offered to guests in order to honor and welcome them. Also, many legal and social agreements are concluded by drinking milk together—in
cluding financial transactions, dispute arbitration, and sealing the engagement of a bride and groom.
cluding financial transactions, dispute arbitration, and sealing the engagement of a bride and groom.Economy
Most Kutchi are quite poor, but those living in India have benefited by being in the state of Gujarat, one of the country’s fastest growing state economies. Historically, the major industries of the Kutchi people have been fishing, sea trade, crafts, and farming. Increased Urban Migration has seen many Kutchies moving on to Urban developments, where they have set up themselves as tradesmen, Grocery Store Owners, Garment Trade, textile business, Oil merchants, etc. Sea trade has diminished significantly as a source of income; however, many Kutchi have opened up small trucking fleets & logistics companies, thus continue on in the shipping tradition of their ancestors.
Handicrafts are still very important, with much of the world’s fine embroidery still being made in rural areas throughout the Kutchi region. A few corporations organize the worldwide trade of these handmade goods, but unfortunately few of the profits remain in the region.
Well, thats about it, thanks for reading on till here. Traditionally, every Kutchi you encounter, would sign off by the following line...
|| Jai Dhariyalaal | Jai Jalaram ||
more reading on following links...
http://ren-flora.livejournal.com/71357.html
Wikipedia on Kutch...
Panjo Kutch
India Tourism Board Site
Learn Kutchi Embroidery using You tube...
Kutchi Embroidery
Any more info that can be added here, please suggest by commenting, will try adding to this article. Thanks for dropping by.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
A Day spent with Mr. Shiv Khera
Last weekend was a Sunday Well spent! SK had organised for attending a one day session on "Stop Peddling; Start selling" conducted by Mr. Shiv Khera. Having a pure technical and managerial background, and some self help sales training, i found the session an enriching one. Mr. Shiv Khera exposed many hidden aspects of a sales process, which in his own lucid and dynamic way, made me have a re-look at Sales as a profession.
Some excerpts from the session: Who is not selling? A Mother selling an idea to her child, A Politician Selling himself to his vote-banks, A Lawyer selling his client's side to the judge...even ourselves, selling our skills to earn our livelihood...So, everyone ought to learn how to be a good salesman/woman.
He in a way instilled that Closing a sale is all that matters. The world rewards RESULTS, not EFFORTS. A Good idea would never work, if its not worked upon. Only hard work pays...
I mean, nothing new, but his delivery and conviction in himself make you sit up and see for yourself what are you missing or overlooking. One of his lines are : Sales is 90% conviction in the product/service you are selling, and 10% communication about it. Its the Enthusiasm that you have about your product/service that needs transfered in order to have an interested buyer. Unless you are enthusiastic about your product/service, you will never be able to transfer that enthusiasm.
He also went on to teach the AIDA process, the Feel-Felt-Found Formula, the power of open-ended and closed-ended questions and their placement during the sales process.
For those who have never attended his sessions before, I would strongly suggest to invest one day and the moolah to attend him. You would not end being a loser!
Memories of the session in digital pixels below...
Some excerpts from the session: Who is not selling? A Mother selling an idea to her child, A Politician Selling himself to his vote-banks, A Lawyer selling his client's side to the judge...even ourselves, selling our skills to earn our livelihood...So, everyone ought to learn how to be a good salesman/woman.
He in a way instilled that Closing a sale is all that matters. The world rewards RESULTS, not EFFORTS. A Good idea would never work, if its not worked upon. Only hard work pays...
I mean, nothing new, but his delivery and conviction in himself make you sit up and see for yourself what are you missing or overlooking. One of his lines are : Sales is 90% conviction in the product/service you are selling, and 10% communication about it. Its the Enthusiasm that you have about your product/service that needs transfered in order to have an interested buyer. Unless you are enthusiastic about your product/service, you will never be able to transfer that enthusiasm.
He also went on to teach the AIDA process, the Feel-Felt-Found Formula, the power of open-ended and closed-ended questions and their placement during the sales process.
For those who have never attended his sessions before, I would strongly suggest to invest one day and the moolah to attend him. You would not end being a loser!
Memories of the session in digital pixels below...
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