Day: May 13, 2013

Categories
Achieve

A record-making wall

Tata Housing’s ‘Mumbai Wallbook’ initiative makes it to Limca Book of Records for the lengthiest wall painting activity in Mumbai.
by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

Tata Housing Development Company Limited recently made it to the Limca Book of Records 2013 for ‘Mumbai Wallbook’, the lengthiest wall painting activity held in Mumbai on May 20, 2012. This first of its kind initiative was based on the theme ‘Design Your Dream City’ and it saw 556 artists coming together, on one platform, to design their dream for the city.  Over 15,000 Likes and conversations were generated on Tata Housing’s Facebook page a week prior to the event, and other social media platforms successfully engaged enthusiasts that ensured high footfalls at the venue.

The huge success of ‘Mumbai Wallbook’ led Tata Housing to believe that such mass participation was rarely witnessed in the public fora in Mumbai, and motivated them to enter the activity in the Book of Records.

Hundreds of Mumbaikars registered for the ‘Mumbai Wallbook’ to redecorate the defaced city walls and illustrate them with graphic visualisations of their dream city. The depictions were quintessentially Mumbai in spirit. The paintings sent out strong social messages with themes of an ideal Mumbai, the increasing requirement of open green public space, anti-crime, anti-corruption, eco-awareness, non-violence, Bollywood frenzy and Lord Ganesha’s portrait beautifying the walls along the Tulsi Pipe Road in central Mumbai. The entire length of the two-kilometre painted wall extends over three suburban train stations and is an arterial link road to the city centre.

The success of the wallbook in Mumbai prompted Tata Housing to host a similar event in the national capital called the ‘Delhi WallBook’, which, the company claims, also did well. Nearly 500 artists participated at the Delhi event.

Commenting on the achievement, Rajeeb Dash, Head of Marketing at Tata Housing said, “It is an honour to be a part of the Limca Book of Records this year. Our ‘Mumbai Wallbook’ initiative was an engaging project with Mumbaikars giving them an opportunity to express their thoughts in their creative best and we were overwhelmed with the enthusiastic response from artists. The event resulted in an astonishing turnout of citizens who desire a better Mumbai and were ready to demonstrate their views through their artistic skills. This national recognition of our support for art and culture is encouraging, and this is truly reflective of our endeavour to inspire life through art. We plan to take The Wallbook initiative across to other cities of India as well.”

The Mumbai WallBook was a joint initiative between Tata Housing and Brand Promotions India Pvt. Ltd. to bring professional, amateur and budding artists on the same platform to showcase their skills and create a record for the longest wall painting by maximum artists.

(Pictures courtesy Tata Housing)

Categories
Tech

The best phones under Rs 15,000

Want a new phone on a budget? Here’s a list of phones that fulfill all needs without pinching your pocket.
by Manik Kakra

Phones have become one of those integral gizmos of our daily life. We need them when we are alone, when at work, when partying – just about everywhere, at all times. We all want a good phone that can fulfill our needs, and here are out top picks of phones that don’t worry your wallet but give you the bang for the bucks.

Nokia Asha 501; to go on sale next month, expected price Rs. 6,300 

This S40 phone is a very smart feature phone. It is made for people who don’t want full functionality of smartphones, but who still want to stay connected. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp (coming soon), or just to make or receive calls, this phone has got all bases coveed. What’s more, MTNL and Airtel users get free access to Facebook from their phone, thanks to Nokia’s partnership with Facebook.

Nokia Lumia 520, approx Rs. 9,500
This phone is the cheapest Windows Phone 8 device available in the market. It is a great-looking device that comes with a decent 4-inch screen, 5 Mp camera, 512 MB RAM, and WP8 OS that works just fine on it. People looking for their first smartphone without spending a lot should definitely consider this Nokia offering.

Sony Xperia E (approx Rs 9,900)
The Xperia E boasts a 3.5-inch screen, and comes with Android 4.1. It is a very nice-looking phone which comes with a 3.2 MP camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, DLNA, and microUSB. It comes in a number of colour options, too – pink, blue, and black.

Micromax Canvas HD, approx Rs. 14,500
Micromax has been getting a lot of attention in the phone industry, of late. The company has been busy launching one Android phone after another. The Canvas HD (in pic on left) seems to be the best out of their lot. This phone sports a 5-inch HD screen, an 8 MP rear camera, and the phone runs on Android 4.1.2. This phone seems like a value for money option, and has got received very well in the market so far.

LG Optimus L5 II, approx Rs. 10,000
The Optimus L5II is an Android 4.1 phone that sports a 4-inch screen, and features a 5 MP camera, WiFi, Bluetooth, and microUSB. It is a good option for people looking for an Android device that doesn’t feel too old for its Android version and is within their not-so-high budget at the same time.

Did Manik miss out any smart, budget phones in this piece? Write to him in the comments section below.

(Pictures courtesy chatinbook.info, www.fonearena.com)

Categories
Overdose

You are a terrorist

Terrorism doesn’t start with the picking up of a gun. It begins with mentally slotting people on various small fronts.
by Jatin Sharma

It might shock you to hear this, but it’s true. You are a terrorist. You have been contributing to terrorism in one or more ways knowingly or unknowingly.

It seems to me I am meeting a lot of terrorists these days.

What really is terrorism? It is an act of creating terror and feeding people’s mind with fear.

And you are contributing to it in many ways. The first step of supporting terrorism is when we, as individuals, try deciphering a person’s origin the moment we get to know his last name. It is the favourite pastime of an average Indian.

“Oh, your name is Mark Wesley. You are a Catholic?” you might say.

“No, I am a Protestant,” he may answer.

The moment we hear a person’s name, we get all excited. Like a person is a puzzle presented to us, and that must be solved. And as if we are not foolish enough to divide people in terms of Muslims, Sindhis, Sikhs and Parsis, we go a step further and say East Indian, Goan, Dalit and what not.

Let alone this sport of naming and categorising everyone in sight, we even throw out silly taunts when we celebrate festivals or watch matches. Have you ever gone up to a Muslim friend and asked him if he is supporting Pakistan when the cricket match is on?

Aren’t we helping terrorists – the bomb-weilding kind – become more powerful, for these kinds of statements make it easier to brainwash people later?

We are basically supporting terrorism as long as we keep dividing our people. We get amazed and make it a big story when a Muslim hosts a Ganesh at his place during the Ganpati festival. If you are a mediaperson who prints such stories to show that India is a land of ‘Unity in diversity’, you are a terrorist. Why does it shock you if someone wants to believe in a God without calling that God Allah or Ganpati?

The irony of the matter is that God has become a divisive name in today’s world. Even if you think you are the most reluctant fundamentalist, think again. If you have ever gone out to show the world that your celebration of a particular festival is better than any other religion’s celebration, then you have reiterated the divisive mindset.

If you still disagree, listen to this. The moment you go, “Patil is Marathi, Shah is Gujarati, Kapoor is Punjabi, Motwani is Sindhi, Batliwala is Parsi, Sheikh is Muslim, D’Souza is Catholic,” you are supporting terrorism, for you are segregating people in your mind. You are giving them an association that might not actually be true. Your mind is that of a terrorist, that automatically relates one person to be a part of a larger group, and you believe that group to be representative of a certain kind of behaviour.

More examples of daily terrorism? Sitting at a table and acccusing someone of being a miser as he is a Marwari, or calling a loud mouth at work a Bengali, or a show-off neighbour, a Punjabi.

When was the last time a person’s name was just a name to you? Or the last time you came across an unusual last name and didn’t waste your and his time asking which part of the country that person belonged to?

Jatin Sharma is a media professional who doesn’t want to grow up, because if he grows up, he will be like everybody else.

(Pictures courtesy o.canada.com, indiadeific.blogspot.com)

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