Experience at fitness bash - Gympik

Hey friends,

Hope you are doing great. Just when I was rattling my brain of what to blog, scrolling through various events that I have been part of, I chose this fitness bash held on 22nd January by Soul-O-Fit, organized by Gympik, at Barleyz – a Kormanagala Restobar, which brought Bangalore-ans together to sweat out & get into the fitness groove in its first month.

No one wakes up in the morning and says, ‘I want to gain 150 pounds and I will start right now!” exercise is a way to maintain or improve their quality of life. And We chose to attend the event for the same sake!!

Top 5 reasons why you should've attended this Soul-O-Fit!

• Sweat out the holiday weight and burn more than 2500 calories in 3 hours
• Build strength & experience complete body workout with physical training
• Calm your mind with yoga
• Learn Groovy moves with Stretch N Dance

The event began at 7:30 and saw hundreds of fitness enthusiasts sweat out in the fun workout sessions of yoga, functional training and stretch n dance with certified instructors — and also make friends in the process.

We chose Yoga to begin with. Not exactly sure of the names of aasans, we did around 5 – 7 aasans one of them being surya-namaskar, which not only gave our whole body a warm up and stretch but also helped us calm mind. Second came functional training in which each pound of the body weight was worked upon – squats, sumo – squats, lunges, side lunges, plank etc. The last being Stretch n Dance where we danced for 18 fast tracks and completely moved and stretched each part and muscle of our body. Needless to say the energy of participants was splendid and each one wanted more of it at the end of the session which ended around 12 noon.

The tired fitness freaks then rejuvenated themselves by snacking on healthy no-preservative added yogurt and detox juices by Smoodies for the diet conscious.

The highlights were:

• Drinks on - Healthy drinks that don’t make you trip but drip with high octane energy
• Dance on - Shake your leg to the heart thumping fitness dance routines of Zumba and bolly Punjabi
• Fun on - Socialize with others, click pics, gorge on yum snacks and dance your way to unlimited fun
• Fitness on - The cardio-licious session of fitness dance leaves your mind agile, heart hale and body fit.

[Little introduction on what Gympik is. Gympik is an online fitness platform with about 9,000 fitness centres and more than 5000 fitness professionals from 20 cities across India.]

Hoping you liked this post. Do comment your feedback and if there is anything more you’d like to know about the event.

PS: Since We were busy Enjoying the session none of us could click pictures of the session. Sure to click and upload on our next visit

Until next time,
Sweat, smile and repeat.

And finally the wait comes to an end!!!

"M.S.Dhoni - The untold story" felt real. The 3 hours 10 minutes long film reveals some really untold facts about the cricketer's life, career, relationships. The movie revealed his journey from his childhood - from goal keeper to wicket keeper, from train ticket collector to trophy collector and from Cricketer to the most successful Indian captain. The movie had a glimpse of all.

A biopic should be inspiring, and the movie was way too inspiring and shows the world that Mahendra Singh Dhoni never had the luxury of luck and he had to fight it out from the jaws of fate right from the inception of his career.

The efforts were made by Neeraj Pandey to keep the concept of reality in cinema alive. There are scenes where from a distance you can’t make out if it’s Sushant Singh Rajput or the actual Dhoni in the frame. The way the screen presence and editing was taken care of is such a treat to watch.

Sushant Singh Rajput has done a good job at portraying Dhoni gradually from the walking style to the way he warms up before facing the ball or striking for the first time - by lifting up his arm, fisting his gloves and he’s come actually very close to giving us the real feel I must say.

To me, the best one liner that can describe the character of MS Dhoni as a man, not just a cricketer is - “We’re all servants and we’re all doing national duty!” in the scene where he’s having a discussion with the Indian cricket board and he puts forward his opinion of certain players no more fitting aptly in the playing 11. The movie doesn’t skip Dhoni and the controversies either.

The dialogue “Ye Dhoni koi Tendulkar hai?” “Nahi paaji, Dhoni Dhoni hai…” just sums up how much potential the man had in him well before he stamped his authority in the international arena.

The way he is passionate about his career as cricketer is seen when he runs behind the train he missed as TTE.

The pain of waiting for too long is seen when Dhoni asks for a chance at every stage of his career despite the fact being fit.

Dhoni hitting the world Cup Six.

I would urge you to go and see for yourself, how sincerely this biopic has been picturized!

Farewell from 1st job

Helloooo!!!

Filled with mixed emotions as I write the below lines.

It was my first job and now I am leaving, so there could be emotional moment and usually some would say that they will never forget the experience as a fresher what they get from here and the team, office environment, talk, laugh, birthday party celebration, BFFs, ‘sweets on my desk’ moment, crying over hike/promotion/onsite opportunity and many more good memories which by the way, all were part of my journey of almost 1 year.

I have heard people cursing company for not giving enough salary or hike or bonus and I was like stranger from all this talk in I-don’t-care attitude. I have observed those smiling faces on their birthday cake cutting celebration and later, they were worried about how much they could spend for party. I have seen crazy people, lazy people, late to work people, committed to work people, workaholic people (different from passionate for work), always smiling people (usually me), ruthless talking people, I-have-no-idea-what-you-are-talking-about people, very shy to talk (even to say ‘hi’) people, fashion people, Everyday-same-look people, sleepy people, smiling people. I guess you would have already categorized me during the above read!

The whole journey of this company what I described now, for me it’s not enough. I could write a whole book because I remember many things from my day one to day 357th. I have not taken any names to thank who has been part of my journey, cause I have so many names to tell and each name deserves a chapter. I have too many good memories to carry from here, but the most important is the number of friends I have made here and I will try to be in contact with everyone.

Summing up the farewell!

So, the journey is about to see a break. This isn’t the end.

I will always like to come back – Stronger and sharper (Thanks to Horlicks, LOL; no guarantee for Taller here though)!

Everyone please be in touch – you can reach me at  – Priyaa Bhutoria | Facebook; you may also contact me on priyaabhutoria@gmail.com.

Keep in touch!

How can a common man contribute to India's growth and development?

You know what constitutes a good nation, its people.

Its pointless to talk about changing the system , joining civil services so as to change the functional aspect of the governance. You are no kejriwal. 

The economic growth , political role , security , general well being are all determined by the people residing there. In a way you are contributing to the society by following your civil rights, and being a good citizen. 

You would be having a decent qualification , with a good job prospect but you still feel guilty that you are not doing enough for the society around you. 

But if you plan to contribute further so as to help the country develop you can start with the small things.

• Pay taxes - If not anything else, PAY YOUR TAXES! Not just Tax Evasion(illegal), even Tax Avoidance(legal) should be avoided.

• Don't buy gold - 27% of our imports consist of Gold. People buy gold and keep them in their lockers. Keep your money in circulation because 1 rupee spent by you today is creating a value of 10 rupees somewhere else.

• Use less electricity/ Install Solar panels - We do not have ample supply of electricity in India. Less usage by you makes more electricity available for farmers and industries.

• Use your right to vote and use it wisely - Every single vote is important. Instead of sulking about the fact that the elected leaders are good for nothing, vote for people who can make a difference. And this time, cast your vote, don’t vote your caste. Elect a leader who is honest, compassionate, bold and secular. 

• Walk/cycle whenever you can - 66% of our imports are for Oil. We cannot produce more oil. All we can do is use less. Less import reduces the Current Account Deficit (CAD) which improves India’s credit ratings. Better credits ratings are essential to attract foreign investment.

• Teach under-privileged children - By 2021, 64% of population of our country will be in the age group of 15-59 years, which is the usual working age. They will be able to contribute to the society and to the economy, only if they are educated.

Buy Indian and Save India - Try purchasing Indian made products and brands so that these companies  grow and significantly the overall scenario of the Indian companies increases and leads to the growth of our country.

• Start a company. Create jobs! - As mentioned above, 64% of our population will be in the working age by 2021. Even if they are educated, it will only increase the burden on our economy if they don’t have jobs. Find new business ideas and its viability, if good enough invest in them & help  create jobs for the country. Have great potential of growth.

Think before you breed - For India, population explosion is actually a curse and is damaging the economy more than it is helping. If possible, adopt children.

Don’t let anything (religion or society) oppress women - Women are constantly being met by demands from society telling them how to look and how to act. This pressure does not let them unlock their full potential.  Let women work whenever/wherever they want and pay them equally to men.

Donate, help the needy - Try helping the poor people and donate for the social cause even if out of one billion people of the country if quarter of them start donating and contributing it will have a great impact and we will be able to eliminate poverty to a great extent.

I would request you to please note that these points are not Fundamental Duties nor will anyone force you to do any of these (except paying the taxes and voting, of course). These are just some of the things you CAN do to improve the economy of India.

Remember: LITTLE ACTIONS MAKE DIFFERENCE!!!!!

Panama Paper leak - Quick summary

Hello, so the whole world is hit by the "Panama Papers". The leak is considered to be the largest in the Journalism world.

What are the 'Panama Papers'?

Panama papers is the largest international co-operation of its kind in the world. A set of confidential documents leaked from one of the biggest law firms of Panama - 'Mossack Fonseca', which provided information about thousands of offshore entities, identities of their shareholders and directors. It listed various world leaders, public officials, billionaires, celebrities, sports stars and politicians. The leaked data consists of 11.5 Million Documents in around 2,600 GB taken from the Mossack Fonseca's internal database by one of its employees. These documents were obtained by Sueddeutsche Zeitung, a daily newspaper headquartered in Munich, Germany who shared the Panama Papers with Washington-based International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and other news outlets, including the BBC, the Guardian and the Indian Express. The Papers have revealed names of thousands of people from across the world who evaded the tax and laundered money by taking help from Mossack Fonseca.

What does the Panama Papers reveal?

The Panama Papers contain information on 2.15 lakhs offshore entities connected to people from more than 200 countries. The leaked data covers nearly 40 years period from 1977 through the end of 2015. It reveals the database of individuals who have set-up offshore entities through the Panama law firm. These individuals are either holding direct ownership or indirect ownership (beneficial ownership) in the offshore entities. Some of the Indians have also floated offshore entities at a time when foreign exchanges laws of India did not allow them to do so.

The authenticity of documents leaked: Ramon Fonseca, one of the co-founder of the Mossack Fonseca, confirmed the authenticity of the papers being used in articles published by more than 100 news organizations around the world.

How many people are named in Panama Papers leak?

Well, as of Panama Papers have release a partial list. The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) will release the full list of companies and people in the Panama Paper files in early May.

People Exposed :

• 12 Heads of State
• 61 Associates of Heads of State
• 128 Politicians and public officials
• 29 Forbes Billionaires

As of now, many notable personalities, athletes & politicians have been named. Such as:

• Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi
• Hong Kong actor Jackie Chan
• President Mauricio Macri of Argentina
• Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates
• Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine
• Aishwarya Rai Bachchan & Amitabh Bachchan
• Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson
• Brother-in-law of China's paramount leader Xi Jinping
• Nawaz Sharif PM of Pakistan
• The father of British Prime Minister David Cameron
• And, many more. Check the entire list here on Wikipedia.

How Panama Papers will be relevant under Anti-Black Money Act?

With increased globalization and economic liberalization, there has been manifold increase in cross-border transactions. The main objective of the Anti-Black Money Act is to tax the undisclosed foreign income or asset of a person resident in India. The Anti-Black Money Act came into force with effect from 01-07-2015. This Act is applicable to all persons resident in India (not being 'not ordinarily resident'). This Act has been enacted to tax the foreign income and assets (including financial interest in any entity located outside India) of a resident individual which were not declared earlier to the tax authorities.


If information leaked in the Panama Papers provides evidence that Indian residents did not declare their foreign income or foreign assets in their return of income or under Voluntary Disclosure Scheme, they shall be taxed at a flat rate of 30%. The penalty for such suppression of income or asset shall be equal to 3 times of the amount of tax payable thereon. Further, there shall be rigorous imprisonment from 3 years to 10 years for such tax evasion.

Courtesy: 

• Blog by Pradeep Singh
• Panama papers: The Dirty Money
• Indian Express Article

Ki & ka - Movie review: breaking the stereotypes

Based on a completely different, untouched concept which DIGNIFIES the job of being a house-wife or a house-husband, the film ki & ka presents an idea that it’s an individual’s choice to become a househusband or a housewife, but it never talks about financial freedom and what effect it will have on age-old gender roles in the relationship. That’s just one part of it though.

It is not a man’s world, not anymore. At least this is what R Balki’s Ki & Ka tries to establish. It talks about some unconventional and rather tough relationship goals, but it mostly remains a film which is immensely in love with melodrama. She is into marketing; he is busy home-making, and they are happy playing footsie. And then jealousy rears its ugly head, and the lines Ka & Ki had set up for themselves start to blur. Who will go out? Who will have a public face and high profile? Who will stay in and cook fresh? Will a Ka be happy to be called ‘nikamma’? He cleans, cooks and cares for her; she earns, yearns and yells at him :( 

'High Heels' and 'Pump it' gives you good kicks for a dance number, while 'Ji Huzoori' as a romantic slow, romantic, and melodious song seems good . Oh yes, 'Most Wanted Munda' is the right follow up to 'High Heels'. The team brings the Punjabi flavor back, and enhances the celebratory mood once again. The soundtrack for Ki and Ka, like the film, is quirky and interesting. While songs like 'High Heels' and 'Most Wanted Munda' would rule the dance floors, 'Ji Huzoori' and 'Foolishq' would definitely charm the romantics! The music goes well with the happy and celebratory set up of the film.

The conversation between Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan (guest appearances) is so real and hard hitting that it forces you to re-examine the situation carefully. It filters the debate of both genders being equal ‘inside a family’ by posing some serious questions. They’re so good with their expressions that it almost seems like an inward journey for them.

The story has very conveniently confined to a comfort zone where only covers some generalized stereotypes such as ‘women can’t be ambitious’ or ‘men can’t cook at home’ or ‘a woman’s career is finished after pregnancy’ needs to be broken. The idea of one being superior to the other is deep rooted in our psyche, and that can be addressed when both the genders work for the same goal and not limit themselves with mere role exchange.

Good to see the premise– send a woman out, keep a man in, and reverse gender expectations- on screen: it just needed to have been sharper and deeper. Large part of Ki & Ka is fun, considerable sections of it are unexpectedly broad-minded, path-breaking and insightful. Overall, a good watch! 

Depression! Unrequited love! Stress! And she ends it!

All those flashing lights and dazzling smiles and yet the darkness leaves no one untouched. Pratyusha Banerjee's death is like a scary painful eye opener. She was just 24 and such a drastic step!! How can someone commit suicide at the prime of youth? It's really sad and disheartening.

If the news reports are to be believed it is a case of suicide - troubled love life is said to be the cause behind her sudden death. It’s really disturbing to see a young girl giving up her life due to depression. Sad to see how relationships not working out lead to such drastic measures! Stop committing suicide people!

Why don’t people understand pain is temporary and death is permanent?

Why have people become so intolerant towards their problems?

Why death has to be the only solution to pain and sufferings?

There is always a silver lining! Death is not the answer, it never is and never will be.

About time we start taking mental health issues seriously. Wish our Anandi was as strong as she was portrayed in reel life.

What a talent. Such a waste!!

Kolkata Flyover collapse

Angry, Shocked & Heartbroken! Yes these are the reactions of everybody who has seen it, heard it, witnessed it or luckily escaped it!

Just a matter of second and it took so many lives, hopes & created one of the saddest days in country's history. Who is to blame here? The Municipal body or the local government? The Construction Company? The left? Or God?

Vivekananda flyover was under construction in the Girish Park area. The flyover along Kali Krishna Tagore Street, overlooked the Ganesh Talkies crossing. This 1.2 miles, Rs 164-crore flyover project in Kolkata which was supposed to be completed in less than two years, started in 2009, got delayed 9 times and still wasn't complete in a span of 7 years. Several deadlines were missed in construction, but recently it speeded-up on account of upcoming state elections.

The flyover collapsed at around 12:25 PM on 31^st March, 2016 crushing many pedestrians as well as vehicles. The flyover was under construction and neither was there restriction nor control over the traffic flow at the construction area, resulting in several people trapped/crushed to death. The army has been trying to rescue people trapped, and so are state services.

The builder has claimed that it was an "act of god" which is utter nonsense. It is a clear act of inefficient, uncoordinated administration, hasty incompetent work, and a clear case of corruption. No matter how much certain people describe the pool of blood created and the loss of lives as "God's Act", FIR has been filed against the builders.

I hope an investigation is carried out, and all causes emerge. What it also does is put the BJP central government in the spot! Specifically, how it's going to deal with the Hyderabad based Construction Company, which had the temerity to say "it was an act of God" instead of owning up to their responsibility for shoddy engineering.

Mamata Banerjee’s very first statement was an effort to shift the blame on to the Left, claiming the contract had been handed during the Left rule. She also announced a compensation of Rs.5 lakh to the families of the dead and Rs.2 lakh each for those critically injured as well as Rs.1 lakh for those who suffered minor injuries. No amount of money can replace a closed one. The question, however, still remains the same - "Is life really this cheap in our country?" Really shameful!

Praying for speedy recovery of all victims. Truly saddened and absolutely enraged.

Arijit Singh - the man with a different soul!

Arijit Singh is a talented, young musician in Bollywood film industry. He clearly has a fabulous voice, and has sung a lot of lovelies in the last few years. His speckles voice is winning hearts all around.

I remember him starting with Fame Gurukul (2005), where he didn't reach Top 3, participated in another reality show with the name 10 Ke 10 Le Gaye Dil, and this time, he won! After that he assisted Pritam, Shanker-Ehsaan-Loy, Vishal-Shekhar and Mithoon. His first song was in 2007, All Are One (Aaja Nachle) which he sung with 4 other co-singers, and hence was not recognized. His Next hit was "Phir Mohabbat" from Murder 2, however, Mohd. Irfan got the recognition for the song.

He was unknown till 2012, when Pritam gave him his big break in Agent Vinod, 1920: Evil Returns, Shanghai and Barfi! by the songs 'Rabta', 'Uska Hi Banana', 'Duaa' and 'Phir Le Aaja Dil' & 'Sawali Si Raat' respectively. He rose to widespread prominence with the release of the song 'Tum Hi Ho' from Aashiqui 2 (2013). After that he didn't look back, so he struggled from 2005 to 2013 to get a recognition. I respect him for his patience and dedication.

A legend in making. Arijit Singh is right there in the group of best singers Bollywood has ever seen. Delivering back to back super hit songs consistently for over two years now in this era of short lived singers is an amazing feat. Composers in Bollywood are thrilled with the idea of having Arijit on board for their projects because singers like him are very rare. He is here to stay.

You can feel each and every word sung by him. The love he gets from the masses is simply because he is really good at his profession and he connects to everyone's hearts through his songs. I love almost all his songs - he has sung them so soulfully. His songs are hard to compare, let alone picking the best. But some of them which I feel are versatile (personal favourites), in no particular order.

• Tum hi ho (Aashiqui 2) : 

•       Tose naina (Mickey Virus) : 

•      Uska hi banana ( 1920 evil returns) : 

•        Aye dil bata ( Ishk actually) : 

   

•     Main rang sharbaton ka - reprise ( Phata poster nikla hero) :

Mashup of some of the best tracks sung by him:

Until next time, enjoy his singing. Take a bow. Much Love!

Tolerance is there, Intolerance is manufactured

The amazing speech by veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher at The Telegraph National Debate 2016, is applauded for the impassioned words and the nationalism that they entailed. He, highhandedly nailed all, in their respective coffins. What he said, was neither philosophical nor literature, it was the feel of an Indian, an Indian -

1.      Who's sick of ridiculous politics on any and every damn point,

2.      Who's sick of how an immature JNU student is being projected as a revolutionary leader,

3.      Who's sick of shit named Intolerance,

4.      Who's sick of political cheap shots on the execution of Afzal Guru.

Here’s the speech by him which had made waves in the social media. The video is widely shared and talked about.

When he began his speech, he confessed duly that he might not use English for the debate. That's a sign of highly agitated person hearing all sorts of rubbish. He is a true Indian with patriotism and unbiased opinion.

How he made a point that Supreme Court judgment must be respected and a chief justice couldn't get that notion? It was commendable of his remarks with direct to face. 

He spoke about Rahul Gandhi. Now, the whole India makes fun of him but an acclaimed thinker who openly marks a mention of what we all think without second thoughts about any consequences. That's fantastic. 

My most favorite part was when he said 'Sir, how can you implicate a 50 year old as Youth Leader and a 40 year old Lady as Aunty National'. Now, we all know who he was talking about. He had the guts to direct it at some chief of Telegraph newspaper when the debate was funded by Telegraph.

It is simply fantastic! It needs Courage, Clarity of Thoughts and burning desire to put Country first in order to say voice of heart, as he did. As he was speaking you could see his body soul fully immersed in deep love for his country.

He perfectly replied to the entire Opposition! He unintentionally (or intentionally) took BJP out of this political mess. His speech, was absolutely spot on in countering the baseless accusations and arguments of the Opposition, specially the desperate Congress. Not only that, his speech also brought to light something we forgot: among all this drama, there is our PM still working diligently for the benefit of our country!

And the beauty, it was pure rage and i loved that!!

JAI HIND.

Bajirao Mastani

Bajirao mastani. Absolutely phenomenal performance. Actors are class apart! Bhansali carefully weaves a beautiful tale of their lives and keeps us hooked on till the end.

Beautifully crafted - with jaw-dropping sets, beautiful costumes, amazing visuals, great screenplay and soulful songs - the choreography takes it to a whole new level. The larger-than-life characterization of historic characters are more real.

Ranveer Singh - As versatile as he can get, he nailed the action and emotional scenes, be it the Marathi accent, the tough Peshwa to intense lover Bajirao, and the last 5 minutes of the movie - beyond words can describe.

Priyanka Chopra - The way she has expressed the feelings of Kashi bai, and the emotional outburst of watching one's love in the arms of someone else, is phenomenal. She may not be in many frames, but when she is, she owns it. Period.  

Deepika Padukone - Two different dance forms (Kathak and Launi), sword fighting, horse riding etc and she is ruling over every heart with this movie. The action scene with a 3 year old son in her hand defined her strength and presented a-women-can-do-anything-for-her-child spirit. The way she delivered the dialogues - just perfect.



My heart goes out to the love and compassion Bajirao & Mastani shared. In short, I loved it. Seeing this movie is worth the money spent and time.

Digital India - Power to empower

Narendra Modi attended Q&A at Facebook Townhall in support of Digital India and we have been hearing a lot about it. Since the social media timeline is filled with posts supporting #digitalIndia, without clear definition, what it means. I pondered a bit to find what it means.

With world changing dynamically and advent of globalization and internet era, there is a need for tech-drive, the future of India is tech-automation. Digital India Project is an umbrella project that covers the efforts of the Government of India through various departments to use technology to better the lives of Indians. "Digital India", much like "Make in India" is a branding that Government of India is giving so that each and every Internet related development can be clubbed into. It is an effort of Indian government to connect the diverse rural communities to the internet and provide them free access to basic online services. The goal of the project is to transform India into a digitally empowered society and knowledge economy.

In the words of Narendra Modi, he read on:

1.  I  dream of a digital India where 1.2 billion connected Indians drive  innovation
2.  I  dream of a digital India where knowledge is strength and empowers  people
3. I  dream of a digital India where access to information knows no barriers
4.  I  dream of digital India where government proactively engages with  citizens on social media
5.   I  dream of a digital India where government is open and governance is  transparent
6.  I  dream of digital India where quality healthcare reaches right up to the  remotest areas through e-health care
7. I  dream of digital India where quality education reaches most  inaccessible areas and is driven by digital learning
8.  I  dream of digital India where technology ensures that government and  citizen interaction is incorruptible
9. I  dream of digital India where farmers are empowered with real time  information and connected to global markets
10. I  dream of digital India where we have mobile enabled emergency services  to personal security
11.  I dream of digital India where cyber security becomes an integral part of national security
12. I dream of digital India where there is mobile and e-banking for financial inclusion
13. I  dream of digital India where e-commerce drives entrepreneurship
14.  I  dream of digital India where the world looks to India for the next big  idea
15.  I  dream of digital India where netizens are empowered citizens

Our Prime Minister has taken the charge to promote it and it is one among the top priority projects of the Modi Administration. It is centered on three key vision areas:

• Digital Infrastructure as a core utility to every citizen.
• Governance and Services on demand.
• Digital empowerment of citizens.

If I may say so,

          India Today + Information Technology = India Tomorrow

The vision areas include -

1. Availability of high speed internet.
2. Seamlessly integrated services across departments of jurisdiction.
3. Availability of services in real time from online and mobile platforms.
4. Universal digital literacy.
5. Making financial transactions electronic and cashless.
6. Mobile phone and bank account enabling citizen participation in digital and financial space.

Global investors like Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Elon Musk have supported Modi's Digital India initiative. The Highlights are:

• Google will soon help India set up base for free Wi-Fi at 500 railway stations.
• Google will make it possible to type in 10 different Indic languages including Gujarati.
• Apple CEO, Tim Cook, responds "positively" to the Prime Minister's call for a manufacturing base in India.
• Microsoft will take low-cost broadband technology to some 500,000 villages across India.
• Next week (of the meeting), Microsoft will announce availability of its cloud services operating out of India's data Center's.
• Chipmaker Qualcomm will invest $150 million for Indian startups in the mobile and internet-of-everything (IoE) ecosystem.

The real question arises, why do we need India to be digital and how will it help?

First of all digital India would mean complete connectivity, I was watching Satya Nadella of Microsoft say that he plans to connect 5, 00,000 villages of India with low cost broadband. All I hope is that these 5, 00,000 villages get electricity.

Secondly, Governments in India prior to Modi were private limited companies who simply stuffed their banks and kept masses of India poor. Modi must have some plan to change the fortune of these people, so that they can come out of a lifestyle without electricity, regular clean water supply, before they can connect to the world.

Thirdly, I read in newspapers that Digital India campaign can add a trillion USD to India's economy, they give examples of farmers being connected to buyers and so on and also how health care and governance will change with digital India.

Fourthly, if properly implemented, Digital India can be a very powerful tool. To deliver government services seamlessly, without delays or harassment or corruption, to all sections of society. This would offer transparency of the process as well as reduce wastage of papers. There won't be any more certificates and documents on paper, instead on cloud. All the services will be interconnected via a singular platform that is supposed to be your Aadhar Card. The Government will have better data from us that will help them to provide services as such.

Fifthly, then comes, the online delivery of services or e-kranti which is evident from the name. From delivery of targeted subsidies to reach of farm extension services to health care to education.

Lastly, when this is properly rolled out for businesses to tackle the mostly crooked, mostly harassing, mostly time-wasting lower and middle level bureaucracy, it can make it far easier to do business in India, lower the huge costs we pay just to tackle these parasites.

To me, all this appears grandiose plans, and since we are all witness to how Modi has brought glory to Gujarat (while he was CM to the state), and what he has done in a year, gives me hope that he probably will again do something to benefit the masses. Were it coming from any other leader I would have laughed it off! Just a year back while travelling we would have to mark where are McDonald and some big hotels to find clean usable toilets, now there are plenty, so he is ushering a change. So if Modi succeeds in his digital India campaign I will not be surprised, because it will mean, infrastructure in villages, and that itself will be a bigger victory than digital India.

Hope our PM Narendra Modi get success in his plan and vision. The project is slated for completion by 2019. If we achieve the target in 2019, and we hopefully will, at the pace we are going.

After five years a complete new image of India will appear for sure! :)

This is not everything about digital media but this is pretty much most of it. 

Until next time, Comments and additions are welcome. Thanks.