Social Mediyeahhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

We, the human species, shall always be grateful to the geeks for coming up with the most effective time killing machine in the form of Social Media (SM) or social networking sites. No sooner we realize we can't amuse ourselves any further than we log onto these sites. The ones who have no idea what SM is all about are either living under the rock or somewhere deep inside their caves.

About a decade ago, when Internet became a part of our vocabulary, people started flocking to cyber cafés. For the time being, it was the “in” stuff. As the result, almost everyone familiar with Internet had a Yahoo! account so as to enable themselves to enter the virtual chat room. Chatting was THE thing to do. Eventually, people grew bored of it and moved on to the next phase called Orkut which was a huge success by itself but not anymore. SM is like nature. It has to keep changing, upgrading and reinventing itself to survive amongst us.

So netizens began to look for other alternatives and found one in MySpace and Facebook (FB). As fate (read: common sense) would have it, MySpace fizzled out making Facebook the sole contender in the world of SM. This carried on for a while before Twitter entered the scene and caught people’s attention like never before. As of now, it is trying to catch up with FB but has a long way to go. Of course, you can’t overlook Skype as it is the undisputed champ of video chatting on web. And to add to the competition, Google+ is the latest entrant into the arena and if stats are to be believed, it’s doing quite well for a newbie.

Now what is it that compels people to have an active virtual life even if they don’t have a real one? Well, to be very simplistic, the answer lies in the question itself – because it is virtual, any breathing person can have it. You are just clicks away from signing up, be it FB or Twitter. You do it for yourself and that remains the bottom-line. Surprisingly, once you are in, you want to stay in touch even with those strangers whom you start referring to as friends. People appear more loyal to their virtual friends than their real ones. Perhaps friends may come and go but FB is here forever. At least that’s how it seems like from a distance.

Facebook currently has more than 750 million users which means if it were a country, it’d been the third most populous after China and India. The reason why it’s so popular has to do with the kind of connectivity one enjoys while online. Updating your status and posting recent pics is a part of daily exercise for most Facebookers. It’d be fair to say that babies nowadays enter FB even before they get a name. This is all thanks to overenthusiastic parents who just can’t help sharing their newborns’ pics with the rest of the world!

We always wished to yell silently. And then they created Twitter. It’d be safe to say that, like most SM sites, Twitter is also where everyone stalks everyone. In short, Twitter is longer than 140 characters. Despite its verbal limitations, it remains a very efficient tool in the spread of messages/ideas/rubbish/ rumours. In fact, we seem to get more news on Twitter than there is news on this planet. Although Twitter is predominantly about empty sentences filled with emptier intentions, the truth remains that it is where most of the FB status messages come from. Yup.

There are no hard and fast rules in SM so you can type whatever you want to say as no one's paying attention anyway. Well, metaphorically speaking. Too much time spent on these sites will wear you out as you’ll be draining yourself mentally. But if you are smart enough to manage time, then it’s a joyride for you all. Net addiction is another usual side-effect which people usually overlook for the sake of entertainment.

There are 3 types of people on SM - those who never want to leave; those who are always here; and the rest. For some, the amount of time they waste on SM is negligible compared to what they waste on doing absolutely nothing. The online duration varies from person to person.

The kind of conversation you’ll often read on SM: “What do you do during weekdays?" "Hate my life on Twitter." "And weekends?" "Love my life on Twitter."

However, a lot of them are natural talents when it comes to wasting a weekend on SM, if need be. After all, SM makes you feel busier than you actually are.

The kind of conversation you’ll NEVER read on SM: "Am I disturbing you?" "Yes, you are. Can’t you see? I'm bloody saving the planet here!"

According to estimates, nearly 2 billion people have access to Internet which means there are more than 4 to 5 billion people still offline. This is where SM chips in and tries to score. Recently, Facebook joined forces with Skype thus facilitating video chatting to FB users. Such tie-ups indicate the emerging importance of SM in people’s everyday life. Google+ is just an example of how new players will enter the market in future and vie for more members than their competitors and thus grow their footprint. And yes, blogging too is an interesting aspect which connects people’s thoughts with one another. Without any exaggeration, Social Media is the way of the future. It’s here to stay. Like it or not. That’s how it is.

Adieu Chavanni

Chavanni – the name itself is so cute – well, it's no longer a legal tender. I know many of you must be trying to remember its shape and the last time you used it. As it is, it had disappeared from use everywhere, including shops, business establishments, utility services and even public sector organizations and government departments. But you still had the option of depositing them in the bank. Yeah right! You could have gone to the bank with a bag full of, say, 100 chavannis and make a deposit of Rs. 25.

However, July 1, 2011 was the last day you could actually exchange these tiny cute coins at banks or the RBI. From July 1 onwards, 50 paise will be the minimum coin accepted in the markets as all denominations below it will cease to be legal currency. Also, the entries in books of accounts, pricing of products, services and taxes would be rounded off to 50 paise or whole rupee from this date.

I have many fond memories of 25 paise. This little shiny thing provided me with a little shiny sweet toffee so many times. I also remember buying pepsi-colas. The only way I can think of to describe it is, frozen flavored water. It was a popsicle like thing. Don't know how many of you have tried that or remember that but they were quite popular. I used to get excited just by looking at the variety of colors and flavors it used to come in. I remember just as the vendor used to open the deep-freezer door, I used to peep my head in to look at the different varieties – wait a minute, I think I was talking about something else. Oh yes…cute little chavannis.

I remember I used to collect them and balance them on top of one another to see how tall a pile I can make. I know, silly time pass, but cable TV and computers (not to mention Internet) were not so prevalent then. My mom also used to collect them. Don't laugh. It was because she needed them to put as an offering in temples, place them in Puja Thali on auspicious occasions, you know sava rupaiya (Rs. 1.25) – used to be a common offering.

A brief history of the humble Chavanni.

I wonder how many of you know that the first of the 25 paise coins were issued in India in 1830s during the reign of William IV.

The coins were made of silver. Yes, silver coin with the value 25 paise.

Through 1840s to the end of century, the longest reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, Queen V ictoria, was featured on the face of the 25 paise coin. But it was not the same image that was embossed all through the 60 years. It changed from a young lady's image in 1840s to a more mature looking image during her later years. While Queen Victoria was adding to her years in real life, she also put in a bit of weight on her image on the coins.

The new century witnessed a change in the British monarchy. Following the death of his mother Queen Victoria, Edward VII was crowned as the King of the United Kingdom and also as the Emperor of India. All new coins issued during the time bore his name and face.

With rising silver prices following World War I, the new equivalent of the quarter rupee coin, the 4-aana coin, with a new design was introduced in 1919 that was made from cupro-nickel instead of silver. These coins had the effigy of King George V.

But the 4-aana coins didn't gain popularity and soon the quarter rupee coins had to be brought back.

During 1930s, while coins of other denominations went for a design change, the quarter rupee coins continued, with only a new monarch, King George VI, replacing his predecessor, Edward VIII. There were no coins issued for Edward VIII.

Early 1950s: Following the Independence of India the currency system continued with the British series of coins till the establishment of the Indian Republic. The first coins of independent India were introduced on August 15, 1950 and it included the quarter rupee coin made of nickel. The coins had the words 'char aana' embossed in Devnagri script and had the Ashoka Emblem on one side.

The next landmark in the history of the 25 paise coin happened following the introduction of the decimal series in accordance with the Indian Coinage Act that came into force from April 1, 1957.

The 19 mm 25 paisa coins were called '25 naye paise' but in June 1, 1964, the term 'naye' was dropped. The coins weighed 5 grams and were made of nickel.

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, other coins of lower denominations underwent a major change and moved to aluminum, but 25 paisa coin didn't change much. In 1988, the 25 paisa coin went steel and was made of ferratic stainless steel. It was a little heavier than its predecessor at 2.83 grams but was of the same size. The last 25 paise coins seen in popular circulation were minted in the year 2002. I know what you are thinking…"This Rhino looks familiar", right?

In July 2010, when this poor little guy was already on its deathbed, the Government of India unveiled the new symbol for the Indian Rupee and designer D Udaya Kumar also designed a new symbol for the paise.

But with the 25 paise going out of circulation, we are unlikely to see this image anywhere. But now, the journey for this tiny fellow has come to an end. Even the books of accounts have ditched the poor guy. I think chavanni was like the Kareena Kapoor of coins – you know, size zero. Can't really say that we'll miss you but we certainly shared some nice moments and we'll cherish those. You represent an era when things were simple and you meant something.

Adieu Chavanni !!!

Shakti Shetty - An enigma, a true talent; but a friend above all!!!!

Many of us might have heard the proverb, ‘A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma,’ made famous by Winston Churchill. When I think of Shakti even today, that’s a saying that

keeps coming back to me. Although I have known him for some

time, I still have not been able to completely understand him.

He was the first person I was fortunate enough to know when I joined as a new employee in our previous Company, and he still

remains as mysterious and unpredictable, but a darling for all of us nonetheless. I hope he doesn’t mind me calling me that though.

Now, coming back to why I nominated him for Morningstar Got Talent. Firstly, he is an encyclopaedia or even a Wikipedia (Shakti’s favourite reference tool) of knowledge. He has indepth knowledge about almost everything that we would ever care to know and ask, but only more. Your questions will sometimes find it hard to keep pace with his answers. Just trust me on this. I say this from firsthand experience. His passion of knowledge, information and the drive to constantly keeping himself abreast of all the latest events and updates is almost insatiable and undoubtedly inspiring. You can see him constantly peering at the computer screen for hours, which for most of us seem too much, but he seems to love it.

Wait, that’s not it. We haven’t got to the best part yet. He is somewhat of an icon of sorts in the world of Twitter, Facebook, Blogger and whatnot. To just give you a rough estimate of his penchant and forte in the web – he has over 30,000 tweets to his credit and many of his Facebook pals rise and sleep by either liking or commenting on this latest updates. For those that prefer detailed expression and not be limited by brevity of microblogging and status messages, he has carved out a niche for himself in the world of bloggers. Am a fan myself to be honest.

Stepping outside the world of knowledge and the web, his area of expertise delves into the world of sports and social causes as well. A keen sports enthusiast with interest ranging from Football to Tennis to Cricket to F1 among other sports, and a statistical guru in his own right, he is a pretty good footballer and a distinguished chess player. He also considers himself a pretty good singer, which I agree to some extend but not entirely. He can sing in at least three languages if not more and does a fair job at it. He is a passionate about social causes, including freedom, liberty and equality. He cares for the environment and his love and pride for India is second to none. Always up for a healthy debate and constructive discussion, he is a real livewire, but only if he is interested, which is not as often as you would like.


Although he is not perfect and has his fair share of things to improve on, he is an apt example of Morningstar’s Got Talent. I wish him all the best and I can vouch for the fact that he is will be an overachiever in the not too distant future and will soon realize his true potential. So, folks, don’t be surprised if you hear the name Shakti Shetty doing the rounds. You rock dude.