Happy Diwali 2010

Today is Kannada Rajyotsava

Wallpaper by GaneshWallpapers.com

Happy Kannada Rajyotsava 2010

The day our great state was formed into its modern entity in 1956. The birth of a new political entity and the proud member of the Union of India. Two years ago I started the only Kannada Radio Show on this day but of course since then the station itself closed down and there is no Kannada show in the DFW Metro area now. Every other Indian language is being represented in the currently existing South-Asian radio station. Anyway that is not the point of this post. I just wanted to wish all Kannadigas worldwide on this grand occasion of Kannada Rajyotsava.

Cards to Project a Positive Business Image

Since I moved to the United States about 3 years ago I have learned a lot about this country and the way the economy functions here. There is a huge emphasis on business and entrepreneurship and everyone wants to have their own business. This is specially so in the state I live in, Texas and Dallas area is acclaimed as one of the most small-business-friendly areas in the country.

When you are in business projecting a positive image about the entrepreneur and the enterprise is very important. There are many ways to do it. The simplest way perhaps is by having a well designed business card. I recently came across an online store that sells ultra-creative customized business cards. Their rationale is pretty straightforward, they help the business owner i.e., you design the business card by enabling you with the right tools.

For example their computer business cards features several creative templates. IT professionals have the opportunity to choose from the wide range of smart and stylish templates that illustrate the wonders of modern technology. These cards give an opportunity to the professional business owner to demonstrate their expertise in the way they wish to project themselves, serious, tech-savvy, humorous, etc.

I believe if a business card is creative potential clients keep it in front of them and when they need IT services, you will be the first person on their mind. So get your business cards and get ahead in your business.

A week after Diwali contests...

I hope the new people that came to my blog to participate in the contest are revisiting. There is really no way to tell, that is one of the beauties of the internet. But this is soon coming to an end if one of the radio interviews I listened to this evening is true. According to the radio program I heard there are companies out there that are building lists and data to track down individuals. If you thought your anonymity was safe on the internet think again. There are firms this like this company, I don't recall the name, who will mine your data and sell it to individuals/ businesses who are looking for your demographic.

Next time I use the internet to do anything I will think a hundred times...

Thank You Readers!!!

If not for all your support and encouragement and enthusiastic response this American Express Diwali Gift Card Campaign would not have been such a grand success with over 25 people writing in response to the quizzes. I would like to thank each and every one of you for visiting my blog and leaving comments or sending me e-mails in response to the contest. Hopefully American Express and their publicists will be so happy with y'all that they will decide to run a campaign on this blog whenever they launch a new gift card, be it for Diwali or for Christmas or for Valentine's day. At that time I will be back eliciting your response to the contests.

Happy Vijaya Dashami to All

Vijaya Dashami marks the end of the Dushera/ Dasara festival in the Hindu/ Indian Calendar. This relevance of this festival is obvious by the name, Vijaya meaning "Victory" and Dashami meaning "tenth day". This is the day when the war between god and demons were finished with the victory to the God. In the history of Hinduism there have been quite a few of these wars and the most significant are still remembered as festivals and celebratory days of the good forces.

On Vijaya Dashami we celebrate the victory of:
1. Lord Ram over Ravana
2. Goddess Durga over Mahishasura
3. End of Pandavas Exile.
There are many more reasons but I'd limit myself to these three. Read up on Wikipedia if you'd like to know more.

Contest Time
There are two more American Express Diwali Gift Cards on the table. I will announce the final winners on Monday afternoon.

This contest is real simple. All you need to do is to tell me how you celebrate festivals of any kind and what makes you look forward to them. You can tell me about any festival not necessarily Vijaya Dashami or Diwali.

Happy Shopping to the winners who are getting their gift cards.

Season of Gifts, Joy and Love

First of all I must say a big thank you to all my blog readers and occasional visitors for the overwhelming response to my first contest. The first contest had one winner chosen via a random draw of lots. And the winner is Ms. Sudha Maheswari from California.

I am touched by your response and I have decided to increase the number gifts. Today's post will carry two $100 American Express Diwali Gift Cards which will be given away to lucky winners. So today and tomorrow there will be two lucky people who will win the gift card. If you respond to the contest and not win today also, don't worry the final contest which will have two more winners will be on Saturday, October 16, 2010.

Today I am going to talk a little about my fond Diwali memories. I was born and grew up in Bengaluru, the IT city of India. Most of my holidays would be spent in my grandparents home at Hosur, a small industrial town about an hours drive away. Diwali meant all of us 20 cousins, and an equal number of uncles & aunts getting together in the sprawling home of our grandparents. Those were days of fun all of us boys would get together and head to the hills at the outskirts of the town and spend our day climbing rocks, roaming in the woods. We would return home promptly at meal times.

Diwali celebrated with the entire family getting together was always fun and joy. More fun was getting the numerous gifts from all uncles, aunts, and my grand parents, clothes, pens, candy, and sometimes cold hard cash also. Now all of us cousins are spread out across the world and rarely meet in person. It is only memories that we carry and of course the all pervasive linkage through the world wide web. It is through online greeting cards and gift cards we keep in touch in this wireless world.

Today's contest
I think it has been enough of my reminiscing, let me talk about how you can get a $100 American Express Diwali Gift card today. It is quite simple. Leave a comment on this post, and mention your fondest memory of receiving a gift. If it is a Diwali Gift it would be appropriate for the occasion, but if it isn't you can still share it and win the $100 gift card. Once again based on the number of responses winners will be chosen by a draw of lots and all comments posted before 2pm CST on saturday October 16, 2010 will be eligible for the drawing.

This offer is exclusive for residents of United States. If there are more than one correct answers, winner will be chosen by draw of lots.

The Spirit of Diwali!!!

The festival of lights is coming up and I am excited about celebrating it with my friends... I don't have much of a family here but hey... when you are in a foreign land every good friend becomes your family.

Before I forget let me thank all those of you who responded to the contest yesterday. I am totally floored by the enthusiastic response I received by both Indians, Americans and Indian-Americans. I will be announcing the first winner of the American Express Diwali Gift card on Thursday October 14, 2010. There is one more day to enter that contest so let your friends and contacts know about this fantastic give away. In case you are not the lucky winner of the first contest don't despair. There are two more opportunities to win on Thursday (October 14, 2010) and Saturday (October 16, 2010) I will be running contests and these will have two winners each.

For now there is still chance to be a winner just enter the contest by visiting my previous post titled "An Exclusive Diwali Gift...".

Last but not the least remember good things are always enjoyed best when shared with loved ones. So share this contest with your family and friends and let them have a go at winning these awesome gift cards from American Express and Discover the World.

An Exclusive Diwali 2010 gift for you!!!

Like I said in my earlier post Dasara/ Dushera, and Diwali are two of the major festivals celebrated by over a fifth of the world's population. Diwali is especially relevant to all Hindus/ Indians across the world. The festival has gained immense popularity and official recognition in several countries with a significant Indian population. In 2003 White House celebrated the Festival of Lights and the US congress accorded official in 2007. Now with over 2.5 million Indians living in America Diwali is one of the major celebrations in most major cities in the country.

Philosophically Diwali is a celebration of the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, and love over hatred. The best way to celebrate this is by getting together with family, and friends. In America families get together for Thanks giving, in India Diwali is one of the major festivals when extended families get together.

Diwali is celebration of life, family, community, and relationships. This is the season of giving, to loved ones, family, friends, business associates, etc. In India large corporations wait for this season to launch new products so people will be motivated to buy. This trend has now extended into America with American Express pioneering the effort. The global services company has launched a new gift card designed for Diwali celebrations. I would say this is a great way to express your love to family, friends and associates who are celebrating this festival.

The American Express Diwali gift cards are available in numerous denominations of $25, $50, $100 and $200 and are available for a limited time. Now here is the chance of giving this card instead of cash along with the sweets. Cash is old fashioned, the American Express Diwali themed gift cards are the trend of 2011, but available in 2010.

Now here is your chance of winning a $100 Diwali Gift Card, right here in my blog. American Express has graciously agreed to let five readers of this blog receive $100 Diwali gift cards. There is a little catch though, you need to give the right answer to the question below: You could either post it as a comment in response to this blog or email me directly with your answer. If you are the winner you will receive an exclusively designed $100 Diwali Gift Card from American Express. That will add another $100 to your shopping budget this festival season.... Hurry, the last date to respond to this contest is October 14, 2010.

Diwali Quiz Question
The third day of Diwali is specially sacred because....
a. Lakshmi the goddess of wealth is worshipped
b. Lord Vishnu rid the world of Evil by killing Narakasura
c. Lord Ram returned to Ayodhya from 14 years of exile

Choose the right answer and like I said either email me the answer or post it as a comment here.

This offer is exclusive for residents of United States. If there are more than one correct answers, winner will be chosen by draw of lots.

Dasara/ Dusshera is here...

The festival of dolls or Dasara/ Dusshera has started since couple of days. The festivities are taking place in some homes in India who still remain strong in roots and have not sold out to the modernization that has swept the Subcontinent since the opening up of markets in 1991. There are a wide array of ways people celebrate this 10 day festival which culminates in the Vijaya Dashami, the day when Goddess Durga vanquished Mahishasura, the evil demon who was terrorizing the people of the world.

When I was a kid growing up in un-liberalized India, these 10 days were marked by festivities at home. Dolls of all kinds would be kept on display and kids from neighborhood would visit homes to look at the dolls and enjoy some snacks. But now kids are busy with their television programs, computers, video games, and last but not the least studies, so there is no time for visiting neighbors. Parents are busy working in their jobs trying to achieve their performance targets and getting promotions so they don't seem to have any time for festivals and ceremonies.

The one way everyone definitely celebrates this major festival in India is by sending greeting cards, and gifts to their loved ones. This is spurred on by large corporations that have stepped up and introduced special products for this season and I guess now it is the businesses that will make sure that people don't forget the festival seasons.

Fall Season Brings Cheer!!!

It is usually said that spring season brings cheer with new sprouts, blossoms and leaves, but for someone living in Dallas area the only periods to cheer are the transition times between summer and fall and winter and spring. Peak summer from May to September is searing hot and not conducive for outdoor activities during the day and sun sets at 9 pm in the night. Winter is the other extreme it is too cold to get out of the house. So that leaves us the four months that are the transition times between these extremes. Which is right now... great weather for outdoor activities and fun. All sports leagues are full now and every park, trail, and outdoor space will be packed with people trying to get their share of outdoor life.

Unfortunately for people like me students who are full time in school and have a weekend job, there is no respite. Couple of years down the road maybe we will get some time off during these pleasant period, but for now it is books, labs, classes and of course work.

Becoming Callous and totally insulated....

I don't know whether it is the busy schedule of fulltime school and work and life in general or whether it is me. Of late, since earlier this year I have noticed that I have been forgetting about everything that used to matter to me before. Since I returned from India I have pretty much forgotten every major national event that relates to India. I remember these things only after they happen and seems like I am slowly but surely losing my intimate contact with everything Indian. I forgot Ganesha Festival, Raksha Bandhan, Upakarma, and even Janmashtami. Two days ago it was the birth anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi aka Mahatma, the father of our nation and I am remembering this day today. I wonder in a few years if I would become one of the hundreds of thousands of Indians who settle down in America and promptly forget their roots. It would be ironical if it were to ever come to that.

Heartening News from India

I have been following the Ayodhya dispute since it hit the national headlines in the 1980s. It is good to see some sort of a verdict from the courts on the issue now, finally. The mob had its say and did what it had to do, that was an angry, passionate, mob and the repercussions were not good for the entire country. But now after several years people have moved on, and there are other priorities in front of the nation's youth now. This is precisely the reason the courts have been able to deliver a reasonably fair judgment.

I am pretty sure the secular intelligentsia, media celebrities, and politicians are highly disappointed with the judgment. I am pretty sure now people of India are aware of the games the secular people play. That is why there has been no riots and trouble after the judgment.

Personally speaking I am happy with the judgment. The courts have responded to the sentiments of the hither-to beaten down majority of India. They have upheld the sanctity of a holy space for Hindus even while showing token respect (or appeasement) to the Muslim Invader and his descendents who ruled India for several centuries. I hope this will continue and Hindus will gain more respect not only in India but across the world.

Customer service promises

The US is a highly capitalistic economy. Businesses in every sector have to compete for every dollar they earn. The customer is spoilt with choice and corporations try everything possible to lure them into the door.

I noticed this hoarding enroute to school and truly I'm wonderstruck by this kind of promises made by a hospital. On one side hospitals are trying to cut staff and increase profits and on the other they want to promise the moon to the consumer. This kind of advertising even before the healthcare facility has been built.

I wonder tomorrow when the hospital is complete how they will live upto this promise.

Promotional Calendars - Business Enhancement Tools

Businesses need to be constantly present in front of their customers, and prospects. One of the best ways to achieve this is to be part of something that the consumer will look at several times in a day or at least once every day. The best place to be is in the calendar, everyone looks at his/ her calendar to plan their days, weeks, and months ahead.

It is easy to be part of the calendar, just get your business to make promotional calendars well before the new year starts and distribute it among your established clientele and prospects. Your promotion starts from there, especially if you are the first person to give the calendar or if your promotional calendar looks attractive and has many colorful pictures, meaningful quotes or things like that.

Small businesses tend to think that creating promotional calendars is an expensive affair and they would rather not do it. I would say that the money invested in promotional items such as calendars will yield benefits at a much higher rate than any other forms of advertising. In this case you are aware of who has the calendars and you can be sure that they remember you every time they look up some date.

Back to regular blogging... I hope

My blogging has been sporadic and irregular during the past couple of months. Work, school, and other pressures have kept me away from posting new and interesting incidents, pictures, news items and general musings and thoughts here.

Anyway I think I am kinda reaching an equilibrium with my studies and work and arriving at a balance. Once this is achieved seamlessly I can continue blogging as before and posting stuff that would be interesting for people who visit here.

Hosting Your Website With a Reseller!!!

Website design, development, hosting, and search engine optimization have all become the keywords of a new breed of entrepreneurs who are trying to cash in on the viability of internet as a platform for doing business. While it is largely true that it is quite impossible for a business to succeed without a strong online presence, entrepreneurs would be better served if they are careful about where they are hosting their websites.

There are several models of website hosting service providers. There is the do-it-yourself model where the service providers just give you a username and password and you do the rest. Then there is the full service model where the service provider will register your domain, design the website and host it on his server. Often these full service models are operated by entrepreneurs who take advantage of reseller hosting.

While reseller hosting doesn't change the way you operate your business online or offline, it does matter in a variety of different ways. For example, how much of live time does your service provider offer. How quickly will their servers come back up if it goes down? How much bandwidth do they offer? How well optimized is the server for the web? The best way to decide which service provider is best suited for your need is to read user reviews and ratings. The greater number of positive reviews and five star ratings a service provider has the better it is for you.

Welcoming Visitors to Texas

This is the first tourist information center one finds while entering Texas from Mexico through the Laredo border. The building is pretty attractive with nice water features and open spaces within its premises. Ample parking enables people to park and take a breather before entering the busy freeway.

10 non-blogging days

It has been long since I blogged or even opened up this platform. School, and work have been quite hectic and I am still not update with school. It has been quite eventful so I couldn't be manage the time to blog. How did I manage the time now? Well this is the time when I am half asleep just awake from deep slumber and getting ready to go to school. So I thought I'd use this time effectively and post a short note here.

What has been happening over here? Well nothing much except that my rollerblading skills have improved thanks to the weekly skate meet up with some great people of Pegasus Flyers, Dallas. That has been the only physical activity I have indulged in. Everything else I do is pretty much done sitting on my backside. I hope to get more activity done, let us see if I can accomplish it....

Earn a teaching degree from a renowned university from the comforts of your home!

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of USC. All opinions are 100% mine.

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A case in point is the Masters in Teaching degree offered by the USC Rossier School of Education’s MAT@USC. The unique program provides aspiring teachers an opportunity to earn a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from an elite research university without having to leave their present jobs or alter their schedules. According to the program information, classes are held online and are highly interactive. The program is an accelerated one which combines some field-based experiences and can be completed in as little as 12 months.

The best part of the program is its unique and fantastic tuition reimbursement program. Along with becoming an integral member of the elite USC Trojan family, students have the opportunity to get complete tuition reimbursement. Still unsure whether this program works for you? Just visit the MAT@USC Student blog and hear about the experiences of actual students who are in or have completed the program.

If you haven't already heard about USC, then here is a small intro. The school has been around over 100 years and has been educating teachers since its inception. USC has been known as a research institution and its School of Education has been ranked #22 in the United States, and #9 among all private universities by US News and World Report.

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