Atul Gupta's Blog, page 6

Speed Breakers

Of the various cities that I have been too, somehow to me Pune seems to top the list of speed breakers. There seems to be some specific liking for this object by our local municipal corporation and in some roads they really abound, almost like one speed breaker per house.  

The purpose for this object is good. It helps break the speed and ensures that people don’t over speed in certain areas where the possibilities of accidents can be high. However these get constructed with little...

Moonstone Book Reviews... so far..

It is little over a month since my Moonstone: The Incredible One Hour book got launched and is available for purchase online from the publisher's site itself. It is also available as Kindle edition. I am also doing publicity campaign at the book's Facebook page.

Related online presence for the book
1. Listed at IIT Bombay's Book Corner
2. Interview in IIT Bombay's December 2013 Newsletter as featured Author of the month
3. Interview in SakaalTimes for their Reading Room section
4. YouTube videos...

Revisiting IIT Bombay

Though IIT B has its Alumni day every year, but I guess, I have been a bit selfish and never participated in it, before this year. This year (year just gone by) it was on 29 Dec 2013 and I decided to go there, after 18 years, because I had the opportunity to promote my book “Moonstone: TheIncredible One Hour” (), about one of the most happening PAFs, at the very place where it all happened. In my own network, where I have been able to promote the book so far, it is doing very well, as is evid...

Moonstone: The Incredible One Hour

This is the title of my first non-fiction humor book that is just about to be released to the market. A short snippet of the book, that you will find on the back cover also is “Performing Arts Festival (PAF) is an inter hostel competition at IIT Powai, where a pair of hostels present an hour long skit. The paired hostels completely own the performance, right from script writing, to dramatization, sets, sound, lights, music, and publicity to attract people to come and watch the show. This stor...

Is Justice Done

December 16, 2012 to September 13, 2013, was the time when the country waited with baited breath for the fast track court to give its verdict in what was one of the most brutal of rapes reported in the country. I say reported, because I have no doubt that similar or more heinous crimes happen that go unreported. I had earlier shared my views on this here and now once the verdict is done, I have some more thoughts.

In a country where its Prime Minister gets murdered in cold blood (31 Octo...

Getting my Passport reissued

It was time to renew my passport and I was feeling scared. I have read many articles in the paper about how people aren’t getting appointments at the Passport Seva Kendra (PSKs) and that those who got, many a times had to come back due to some document issue or the other. Here’s sharing my experience so far

To start with I decided to first understand the process of how to apply for renewal of passport. So I visited the passport website and noticed that they recommend e-filing option. The deta...

Travelogue; Relaxing weekend at Radisson Blu, Alibaug

This was our second trip to Alibaug and unlike the earlier one, was intended to be a pure relaxation weekend. One of the best places to stay there is Radisson Bluand this is where I got the booking, with a great deal which had all meals inclusive. It worked best for us since our intention was to get away from routine work and have weekend where we will just relax and eat and sleep. The last few months had been busy (trip to our native and then home renovation work) and hence the interest of a...

Relaxing weekend at Radisson Blu, Alibaug

This was our second trip to Alibaug and unlike the earlier one, was intended to be a pure relaxation weekend. One of the best places to stay there is Radisson Bluand this is where I got the booking, with a great deal which had all meals inclusive. It worked best for us since our intention was to get away from routine work and have weekend where we will just relax and eat and sleep. The last few months had been busy (trip to our native and then home renovation work) and hence the interest of a...

Then and Now

When my 11 years old daughter was doing her English letter writing homework, I got to explaining to her that we used to write inland letters (recall those 35 paise blue papers, which later became 50 paise and were probably around 75 paise or Rs 1 when I eventually stopped using them) and that it used to typically take 3-4 days for it to reach its destination. The receiving person may or may not reply immediately, so it was easily at least 10-15 days or even a month before we would get to hea...

My experience with Reliance Call Center

Date 14th May. Time 7.45 pm. My reliance broadband connection stopped working suddenly. This had happened multiple times in the last few days, so finally I decided to call the Reliance Help desk. I dialed their helpline number and went through the painfully long IVR messages. IVR: Welcome to Reliance Broadnet Internet services. To continue in English… blah… blah…

I picked the English option.

IVR: Please dial your subscriber ID or blah… blah… and press #I did

IVR: In case of issues with your bro...