Being Saptak!

Really Cool Infographics on Job Search and Social Hiring!

2013-11-08T01:28:00.000+05:30

Support me to fight world hunger with the Google Fast-a-Thon?

2013-07-27T10:49:00.001+05:30

Dear Friends and Family,

I am excited to let you know that I am participating in a Fast-a-Thon at Google on August 6, 2013. We are raising money for world hunger relief through Action Against Hunger (a top charity with a four-star rating from Charity Navigator). Last year, we were able to raise over $230,000 through the fundraising and pledges to fast of 1,200 Google employees, and with the support of Google's Social Responsibility team.

To provide some context, we are currently in the Islamic month of Ramadan, during which Muslims fast (abstaining from both food and drink) every day from sunrise to sunset for 30 days. Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Christians, and people of other religious traditions fast as an act of submission, solidarity, and remembrance. One of the primary reasons for fasting is to call attention to those who go hungry every day, not as an exercise of religious expression, but as a fact of life.

If you have any interest in philanthropy, you should look into Action Against Hunger because they focus on the long-term. There are a lot of organizations that dig wells, but if that’s all you’re doing you’re only helping for as long as the well is maintained. When Action Against Hunger digs a well, they also form citizen committees who look after the well and collect token fees to pay for its upkeep. This also helps fosters a sense of ownership among the people who use the well.

How you can help

I’d love for you to support my fast by making a donation of any amount to this charity on my personal fundraising page, where you can donate directly to the charity OR send me the money directly if you want Google to match your donation (Google will match 100% of all donations above $50 USD that are donated by a Google employee). I have a goal to raise $100 by August 30. Please help me meet it!

To take advantage of the gift match program and maximize your contribution, please do not click on the “donate” button on my fundraising page. Instead, let me know how you would like to send the money to me (i.e. cash, check, bank transfer, Paypal, etc.). I will then make your donation to Action Against Hunger and process the Google matching.

You can get in touch with me via Google+ or leave a comment here.

It costs just $50 to save a life by providing a malnourished child with treatment. Thanks in advance for your support!

Thanks!

Saptak Mohanta

How to get a Google Nexus 4 in India from US!

2013-01-30T08:55:00.001+05:30

Yes, Nexus 4. We all know all about it. We all badly want it! And we also know we can't lay our hands on it! Going by the market reports and rumours, LG isn't launching Nexus 4 in India any time soon. Even if it does, do you know what's it's price gonna be? Not Rs. 20k my dear ... going by the trend of Nexus 7 ($199 in US & Rs. 19,999 in India), one can safely assume it's going to be somewhere around ~ Rs. 28-30k for the 8 GB model and ~ Rs. 31-33k for the 16 GB version. So the question remains - why would wait for it endlessly and then pay a huge premium to buy it?

Here's a solution. Get it from the US and get it shipped to India using mail forwarding services. Only thing you'll be missing out on is the India warranty, but end up saving around Rs. 10k.

Update: My sincere apologies but Google hired me to prevent exactly this kind of abuse of its accounts and I can only explain the mail forwarding (shipping from US to India) part!

Selecting a shipping method:
There are many methods available. The basic concept is these international mail forwarding services provide you with an US address along with an unique identifier. So, whenever a package arrives with that identifier, they send you a notification along with payment options. As soon as you pay them, your product is on its way to India. Some of these also offer free storage and compilation option where you can ship 2-3 packets together and save on shipping charges.

I've updated a list originally made by an user called iamvarkey in the Nexus 4 Indian Thread at XDA Developers. Here is a comparison of the total cost for a Nexus 4 (16 GB) through different forwarding services.

Assuming USD to INR @ Rs. 54 + 3.5% Foreign Transaction charges + 12.36% service tax on Foreign Transaction charges.

PPO Box

Nexus 4 (16 GB) - $395 (Incl NY Tax)
Shipping + customs for 2lbs - Rs 2,400 (Can be insured only up to $200)
Total : Rs 24,400

comGateway / HopShopGo

Nexus 4 (16 GB) - $363 (no taxes here - their address is a tax free state!)
Shipping 0.5 kg - $25 (CG)/ $23 (HSG) incl insurance, fuel surcharge etc. for Standard shipping (HopShopGo is offering 10% discount for PayPal customers!)
Customs - Rs. 2000 incl FedEx handling fees
Total : Rs 23,900 (CG) / Rs 23,700 (HSG)

Borderlinx

Nexus 4 (16 GB) - $388 (Incl OH Tax)
Shipping + customs - $77 (Customs is prepaid and you need to pay the complete amount to Borderlinx along with the shipping cost and includes insurance)
Total : Rs 26,100

Local (Known!) Issues:

Maharashtra: 5.5% Octroi charges extra apart from customs
Delhi: Customs are being charged at higher rate (2% CVD + 4% SAD), irrespective of whether FedEx or DHL!
Bangalore: Extremely slow customs processing, 3-4 business days

Note that during customs they might open your phone and check. So don't be surprised if you receive an unsealed box. Just make sure it's working all right and there are no damages. That's why insurance is so important.

If you select HSG, their only accepted payment method is via PayPal. So go ahead and sign up for it. It's safe and secure. Note that it takes about 4-5 days to get your PayPal account verified, among which the most time consuming is PAN card verification.

Shipping to India:

Once your Nexus reaches your US address, your shipping/ forwarding service will give you shipping options. Select the option that suits you most. They'll again provide tracking details as it leaves its facility. Customs charges (unless it's prepaid in package - i.e. for Borderlinx) will be notified to you by email and/ or SMS. You've to pay these charges in cash once your Nexus reaches.

Note that it's important to check the package contents for damage or missing components since your shipping provider's insurance covers these and this should be done during accepting the delivery.

And DONE! You're a proud owner of a brand new Nexus! Enjoy!

Review: I'm in some serious love with this phone!! :D Here's my two pence for new buyers:

1. The phone is s#!t awesome - worth every penny and effort! Go buy it!
2. ... unless you're a rough user! Mind it, it's not a Nokia, not even an Xperia Go, or not even an S3 that it'd survive falls all the time! She's a princess and you need to treat her like one!!
3. And do order a 16 GB, or you might be regretting with ~5 GB user accessible memory (for 8 GB model) for the next 2 years!!
4. Battery isn't great - but then again most of the high end smartphones barely take you through the day with moderate data usage. Use battery saver apps and all to control data flow and save battery.
5. Don't order accessories from US. Why do you want to take such a huge risk of paying huge customs (it's 16% for accessories against 2% for mobiles and often when there are products with diff customs rates, they apply the higher rate overall!!) when you can get decent cases and screen guards from eBay India! Plus - with only phone, you'll have to pay for shipping of 0.5 kg while it'll be 1 kg for with accessories.
6. Go with HSG Standard if you don't mind an unsealed box. It's the cheapest option out there. For me, from phone being delivered to HSG to phone at my doorsteps = 1 week in Standard (FedEx) shipping!! Mind it, you need PayPal for HSG and PayPal account verification takes 4-5 working days, otherwise head to comGateway which the same but you don't need PayPal - cost is only ~ $3 more.
7. PPOBox is faster (2-3 days sooner?), and boxes are mostly left often unopened, but it's more expensive since you end up paying $33 NY taxes extra!! Moreover, their insurance cover is up to $200 only!

For further information or discussions, you can head to the Nexus 4 Indian Thread at XDA Developers.

7 Little Known Facts about Kashmir: Sappy's Guide to a Safe & Memorable Trip

2012-06-18T15:15:00.001+05:30

Mughal emperor Jehangeer once said, "If there be paradise on earth, it is here, it is here, it is here!" He was talking about the incredible Kashmir, a huge valley comprising a massive part of the northern-most state of India, Jammu and Kashmir. Here's my secrets to a safe and memorable trip to Kashmir, with keeping the budget in mind.

Myth #1: Kashmir is torn by war, terrorism and violence and is not safe to visit!

Fact #1: While its true that Kashmir faced a lot of war and terrorism in the recent history, but it's nothing more than part of history now. Kashmir is Safe! Peace has prevailed since last 3-4 years and tourists can feel really safe to visit without any headache. You'll find armed military personnel stationed every few hundred metres along the roads. Since the main economy of the Kashmiris primarily depend upon tourism, they're extremely hospitable and even in case of any problem, tourists are rarely harmed.

However, for foreign nationals, it's important that you get yourself registered with the Foreigners’ Registration unit of the Tourism Department. The registration counters are at Tourist Reception centers at Srinagar Airport, Srinagar City, Gulmarg, Sonmarg, Pahalgam and other places. In case of an emergency you can contact the nearest tourist police office or police station. The emergency number of the Police Control Room is 100.

Myth #2: Kashmir is expensive!

Fact #2: Kashmir is easily affordable if you know where to spend and where to save! If you want to spend lavishly, there's no dearth of 4 star or 5 star hotels across the valley. But if you'd like a budget travel, here's my tips:

Avoid those ponies/ horses at Gulmarg or Sonamarg. While the touts would attempt to scare you telling it's 10-15 km walk and one can never complete by walking, it's a fairly comfortable journey. It takes about 20 min by walk at a medium pace from the parking to the Gondola (Cable-Car) at Gulmarg and about 75 min by walk (and 1 hour by pony) to the Sonamarg glacier. The 75 min walk might seem apparently long, but walking through the heavenly Sonamarg, you won't even realize how time flew by. Note that the walking route is different at Gulmarg than that of the ponies. While touts would like to misguide you to the longer pony route, the shortest route is to walk on the vehicular road along the meadow.
Dal Lake Houseboats are fancy. But they are about Rs. 1000/- or more costlier than a hotel of equivalent quality. Nevertheless, one should not go back from Srinagar without staying in a houseboat. Best advice is to split your stay between one night at a houseboat and the rest at a hotel.
When it's time to buy souvenirs or those traditional Kashmiri handicrafts, don't go to those bustling markets! Rather, choose those shops beside highways. They'll always give a better deal. And yes, products are highly overpriced and your bargaining skills would come handy!
Visit in the off-season period of Winter and early Spring to get off-season discounts at hotels. ☺

Myth #3: Houseboats are unhygienic and facilities are limited; some even provide water from Dal Lake in the bathroom!

Fact #3: There are about 1400 houseboats in the Dal Lake, each with 2-4 rooms and a common dining-cum-living room. They vary in quality just like hotels. But in general, houseboats are clean and hygienic! And ALL houseboats have a direct municipal water connection, so you need not worry about the water you want to wash your face with! However, just to be safe, it's advisable to bring drinking water of your own.

Myth #4: Kashmir is best approached by air!

Fact #4: That's true only if you've a very strict time schedule. If you can spare an extra day, it's always advisable to take the scenic route via road! There are overnight trains from New Delhi and other trains from all major cities in India that'll take you to the nearest train station from where you can hire a car to Srinagar. The journey may be tiring but you'll never regret taking the breathtaking route once the Kashmir Valley first emerges at the Titanic View Point after the Jawahar Tunnel. However, since the road journey is really long, it's better to make the onward journey via road and train while taking a flight back from Srinagar.

Myth #5: Jammu is the best approach for Kashmir Valley by train/ road!

Fact #5: Wrong! The scenic, tiny station of Udhampur reduces the long road journey to Srinagar by 1.5 to 2 hours! Udhampur is a small station further ahead of Jammu. There are a few good direct overnight trains that'll take you to Udhampur from New Delhi. Even the train journey after Jammu to Udhampur is through a scenic route. And railway line construction is underway to connect Srinagar directly from Jammu, which would make the one of the most scenic train routes of all time. It's expected to be operational within 2-3 years.

Myth #6: Kashmir is best visited during the summers!

Fact #6: Kashmir can be visited round the year depending upon what you're looking for! If you'd like to see the tulips at full bloom and don't mind the snow, Spring is the time to go! On the other hand, if you'd like the snow to remain only in the glaciers and a more comfortable weather, Summer is suited for you. But keep in mind that the Summer brings tourists from all over India to Kashmir and it's highly overcrowded at that time. Moreover, there are occasional showers during May playing a spoilsport. If you'd like to avoid the crowd, get off-season discounts and play some winter sports, you'd love the snow covered Kashmir during the Winter!

Myth #7: You'll need at least 8 to 12 days for a memorable trip to Kashmir!

Fact #7: Even 5 days can be sufficient to visit all these places, if you're willing to make a tight schedule! Sample itinerary:

Day 1: Fly in from New Delhi at an early morning flight to Srinagar, go out for local sightseeing. Night halt at Srinagar hotel.
Day 2: Day trip to Gulmarg. Night halt at Srinagar hotel.
Day 3: Day trip to Sonamarg. Night halt at Srinagar houseboat.
Day 4: Travel to Pahalgam (early morning), local sightseeing upon arrival. Night halt at Pahalgam hotel.
Day 5: Start early morning to get back to Srinagar, take a late afternoon flight back to New Delhi.

However, a more relaxing itinerary is recommended to do justice to the beauty of the Heaven on the Earth!

Must see places:

Srinagar (Dal Lake and Mughal Gardens)
Gulmarg (Gondola ride to LOC - Line of Control between India & Pakistan) - day trip from Srinagar is sufficient
Sonamarg (Sonamarg glacier) - day trip from Srinagar is sufficient
Pahalgam (Chandanwari, Aru and Betab Valley) - try to get a hotel beside Lidder River among the pine woods, not in the bustling main town. Note that you'll need to use a local Pahalgam vehicle for local sighstseeing.

Note that this article is exclusively about the Kashmir Valley and doesn't cover other beautiful areas of Jammu and Kashmir such as Ladakh. You can visit Wikitravel for further details on Kashmir Valley! Bon voyage!

Sappy's CRY Journey - ensuring lasting change for children

2012-02-02T11:36:00.001+05:30

As my journey with CRY - Child Rights and You nears to an end, I'm looking back and reminiscing the golden days. It all started with an internship with CRY Kolkata after my freshman year at IIT Kharagpur. I've come a long way since then. From starting our own university chapter of CRY to building a team to see it taste success like never before.

During the summer break after my freshmen year, rather than spending time with family or going for a trip, I wanted to make a better use of my time. I approached CRY Kolkata office with a request for internship. A few days and a half-an-hour long intense interview later, I bagged the internship. I always wanted to contribute towards the society and this was the ideal platform.

I had many ideas. I was a teenager with a dream and a will to change the world and become a hero. However, I started realizing the ground reality only after an induction program. Things were easier said than done. I understood the difference among charity and rights. When we stop the charity, the person we helped becomes helpless again. But when we help them earn what's their right, the impact is forever and on a much, much bigger scale.

Article on The Times of India supplement South Kolkata Plus
on our success towards making Kolkata Metro disabled-friendly

My internship experience was thrilling. I got to work with Sruti disAbility Rights Centre mainly on Access Audit of schools and other public places of Kolkata. Visiting schools for surveys made me realize how little people care about physically challenged people. While they constitute of more than 2% of the population, barely any school has any physically challenged students, let alone proper accessible infrastructure. Most of the school authorities are not even aware or bothered by the problems faced by this section of the society. However, the real success of the internship was through making Kolkata Metro North-South extension region disabled-friendly. After a lot of initial hiccups and requests to P.R.O. of Kolkata Metro falling to deaf ears, finally through an RTI and media campaign, we finally caught the authority's attention. Finally our voices were heard and we were invited to an official inspection by the Senior P.R.O. Not only they took our recommendations in making the extension region accessible, they followed them and we ensured a big step towards Universal Access.

MDM success story
on The Times of India

Then, in my junior year, I came to know another individual, Ramanuj Lal, is planning to start a university chapter of CRY at IIT Kharagpur. Along with a few other motivated friends and acquaintances such as Monish Salhotra, Saswat Kumar Sahu, Nikky Pathak & Himen Doley among others, we set up a core team to develop the chapter. Soon, we realized starting a chapter from scratch is no easy task. After months of planning and preparations, our baby was born. In the beginning of 2010, we kicked off with our flagship event - a photography contest, that was later rechristened as Focus Right. We recruited a group of highly enthusiastic volunteers from across the student community - from undergrads to b-school students to law students. Thus, the journey began that grew at a rate faster than any of us would have imagined.

After a reconnaissance survey of the neighboring villages, we took up different projects such as ensuring Mid-Day Meal (MDM) scheme in schools, campaigning about Right to Education and other opportunities through education, and making IIT campus disabled-friendly. Success arrived at our doorstep faster than we would have bargained for. Within six months, through a strong campaign and effort, we successfully catalyzed the implementation of Mid-Day Meal, appointment of two teachers, and improving the drinking facility at a primary school named Mirpur Primary Adivasi School. That feeling was truly epic. There are some things that can't be described in mere words and this was certainly one of those. The team that spent hours cycling to the villages and municipal authorities repeatedly to make it happen was jubilant to say the least.

Access Audit covered by campus
newspaper, The Scholars' Avenue

Since then, CRY IIT Kharagpur has never looked back. Due to our impressive work record, when we approached the Dean (Undergraduate Studies) of IIT Kharagpur requesting him to make the campus disabled-friendly, we were right away inducted into the Committee for Physically Challenged Students and were later invited to conduct an Access Audit of IIT Kharagpur. Working with the young minds of IIT Kharagpur made me realize how much passion they put into the cause. Moreover, my prior knowledge and experience came useful in this exercise, as we completed the Access Audit of the entire academic complex and nearby halls of residence in a very short span of time. Following the submission of our report along with our recommendations, a ramp was built in the Main Academic Building of our institute. Even as I write this blog post, after a fruitful meeting with the Committee for Physically Challenged, steps are being taken to finalize the plan to make our campus disabled-friendly and accessible for all. I hope, one day, we can proudly say, yes, we made IIT Kharagpur barrier-free!

Meanwhile, our Right to Education campaigns in villages helped a lot of people know about their rights and how to demand those. The second edition of our annual photography event, Focus Right 2.0, went international and attracted over a hundred entries. Its third edition, Focus Right 3.0, with the theme 'We are the Future', is expected to be an even bigger hit. Recently, we also conducted a social case study event called 'India Calling' at Spring Fest, the social and cultural festival of IIT Kharagpur, with huge success. Participants from all over the country came with various interesting proposals for solving our problem statement.

Change does not happen overnight. At least not in most of the cases. It takes a lot of patience and perseverance to remain committed and positive to see the long-term results. Over the last two years, I've seen our baby CRY IIT Kharagpur grow into one of the largest college chapters of CRY, or any NGO for that matter. I'm proud to say presently almost every student is aware of our work and I feel proud when people say that CRY is really doing some great work in campus. We always tried to maintain a very flat organizational structure where everyone would contribute on the same level. It was pleasure seeing final year students working with juniors three years younger on the same survey or same project hand-in-hand. I've seen some of the timid juniors to go on to become great leaders because they believed in the cause.

The CRY journey defined me who I am today. The internship laid the foundation of my belief, as Paulo Coelho said in The Alchemist, "And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it." It got only stronger as the determination of CRY IIT Kharagpur volunteers led to the achievement of feats others couldn't even imagine. The journey taught me dealing with situations - from handling disappointments to directing energy of the team to fruitful direction. Last but not the least, the CRY family brought me some of my closest friends, who made the journey ever so wonderful and memorable. Today, I take pride in seeing the socially responsible leaders of tomorrow, juniors bursting with enthusiasm, taking great initiatives and taking this baby to newer heights.

Sappy's Eurotrip Guide: Budget Backpack Trip to Europe!

2012-01-12T15:33:00.000+05:30

This is a story about how I traveled across 7 countries in Europe over about 20 days and lived another 50 days in Germany including all expenses (flights to and fro from India, accommodation, food, travel across Europe, entry fees, souvenir purchases etc.) for less than €2000!!!

Pre-Eurotrip Steps:

So you've got an internship somewhere in Europe? Or are planning a backpack trip? Now what? This guide will guide you step by step on how to save money and yet have a hell lot of fun! While there are a few tips specific to Indian residents, whether you're from US, Canada, Russia or South Africa, you'll find it to be extremely useful since it's primarily written in general.

Book your Flight: Start searching for the flights about 2-3 months before your departure. Go to some popular flight ticket booking websites of your country (for India, Yatra or GoIbibo are good choices). While putting the dates, you must put the tick the 'show +- 3 days' or 'my dates are flexible' option. Now, here you'll know which flight you want to take based on price and travel duration. While looking for the minimum price is important for a budget travel, but don't choose a flight where you have to fly for 10 hours extra just to save a few bucks! Now, don't book the flight right away from this website. This is just to find out the price comparisons.

Now, once you've selected your airline, go to that airline's website and find out the price they are offering and if there are any special offers (for example, Emirates offers 2 days special fare every month but you've to be subscribed to their list to know about it). Visit some other travel portals and compare the prices. Call up some of the local travel agents and find out what they are offering. But be careful about travel agents: they sometime offer you a cheaper ticket and say it'll be confirm and it's on waiting list now! Don't fall for that- it's not guaranteed that it'll be confirmed and if it's not, prices will be too high to buy a ticket at the last moment. Buy a confirmed ticket only!

Caution! If you've connecting flights in countries other than your origin and departure, you might need a transit visa. Ask the airline about it before you purchase the ticket. However, in case of Schengen Visa, none of the Schengen (23) European countries will require an extra transit visa. Still, better be safe than sorry!

If your arrival time is an issue or if you want to buy a ticket for a train after arrival, you'll need to know on-time performance records of your flight. Allow at least an hour between your scheduled arrival by flight and departure via train, considering minor delays, immigration etc.

Book onward Train to your city: (applicable for internship students only)

You'll need an international credit card to purchase your train ticket from airport to your destination city. Note, in Europe, it's mandatory to carry the credit card the ticket was purchased with along with the printout of the ticket. They swap it on board to verify your ticket. So you must carry that credit card (need not be in your name!). And buy the train ticket at least 3 weeks before your date of travel since in this way you can avail a discount of 50%! These Savings Fare tickets enable you to travel on that particular train only. If you want to keep it flexible, then buy a ticket on arrival.

Buy an ISIC/ IYTC/ ITIC Card:

ISIC is International Student Identity Card. Similarly, IYTC is for youths (but not studying) and ITIC is for teachers. They get you a lot of discount in Europe. They can bought from your local agent, find out at here. Google a bit and you'll find your nearest travel agent selling these cards.

Buy an EuRail Pass:

These are best things that you can have while travelling in Europe! Buy an EuRail Pass before leave your home country. Why? I can give you a million reasons but I'll just give the best: they'll help you save more than 75% in travel across Europe!!! Now there are many available options as you can see in their website. A few very basic things you must know about the EuRail Pass:

No. of countries must include your originating country and any country on the way from your originating and arriving countries. For example, you wanna travel from Germany to Italy but Switzerland is on the way, your pass must include Switzerland too.
In Select Pass, you can select only countries which share common boundaries. For example, you can select Germany, Switzerland and Italy but cannot select Germany, Italy and Spain as Spain does not share a common boundary with these two other countries.
A travel day in an EuRail Pass means 00:01hrs to 24:00hrs in one calendar day.
The 7pm rule: If you board a direct, overnight train that departs after 7pm and arrives after 4am, then only the day of arrival counts as a travel day.

Sappy's tips on Pass selection:

Germany to Prague (Czech Republic) has a few cheaper options! Don't include Czech Republic as one of your EuRail countries. Also, if you want to visit only Salzburg in Austria, no need to include it in your EuRail countries.
Global Pass: buy if you want to travel to at least 6-7 countries or more.
Select Pass: buy if you want to travel across 3-5 countries.
No. of days for each country will depend on how accurately you can plan your trip and save the travel days! Normally it's a standard practice to select double no. of days of no. of countries, eg. 4 country 8 days, 5 country 10 days. But if you want to travel a lot within these countries, you might need 1-2 more travel days unless you know to plan as well as I do or follow my advice!
My choice (if you're staying in Germany): 4 country 8 days for Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy/ Netherlands OR 5 country 10 days for Germany, France, Switzerland, Italy and Netherlands.
If you're 26 or younger, buy the super saver Youth version of the pass. If you're more than 26 years old and travelling in group, select the Family version.

Where to get your EuRail Pass?

You can buy pass online from EuRail or find a cheaper vendor. In US and a few other countries, sta travel promises lowest prices. In India, the best option is to buy from your local STIC office. For ISIC card holders, they provide 5% discount normally. But if you're in a group, you can get up to 9% discount (yes I know my friends who got 9% as they had a group of 40 people). Also, you have to bargain hard for more discount.
It's €50 costlier in Europe! Yes! And you don't even get any discount over there. So buy it before you head for Europe.

You might find EuroCheapo very useful for more detailed information on EuRail passes and more!

Get your Visa:

It's an easy step. Go the website of the embassy of your destination country and see the process for application for visa. For Germany, France and many other countries, it's free for students going on an internship/ research purposes! Awesome, isn't it?

Purchase Euro:

If your destination is Germany, France, Switzerland or Italy, Euro works just fine! So where to buy your foreign currency from? In India, the nationalized banks (State Bank group) offer the sweetest deals. Agencies such as Thomas Cook charge a lot more. BUT, if your institute can tie up with these agencies, they can offer a sweet deal too! For instance, in 2009-10, Thomas Cook tied up with our institute to provide Euro at 0.5% cheaper rate than that of the State Bank group, which is normally the cheapest.

Okay now, how much to buy? If you're going for an internship, I would suggest: First month's rent + Safety deposit + €80-100 if you are an intern and expecting scholarship money to arrive once you reach Europe. Ex. DAAD money takes about 2 weeks to arrive after you send your European bank account details.

Finally, when to buy? Forex fluctuates a lot and even a small change make a difference of hundreds to thousands of INR. Monitor the Forex graph of last 3 months, 6 months and a year and try to understand if the general trend is rising or falling. Accordingly, wait for the price to fall further or buy immediately. Same goes for while selling Euro post return.

International Debit/ Credit Card:

Getting an international debit/ credit card is important since you never know when you'll lose your cash or there'll be some technical problem. It'll also help you in case your scholarship money is delayed due to some unfortunate reason. However, it is not a substitute for cash and you must carry cash since in places, you'll find only cash is accepted. Also, in debit/ credit cards of your country, there'll be some heavy forex charges! So, card should always be the secondary choice.

For Indian students, you can get one such debit card from State Bank of India provided free of cost to students.

Rent a Flat/ Room: (applicable for internship students only)
Renting a flat/ apartment/ room is possibly the most difficult job. You need to google a lot for this. Request your Prof. to help you find one. If he can't or it's too expensive, try searching at apartment classified ads websites such as WG-Gesucht for Germany. Also, try at Studentenwerk. Try looking for your local Studentenwerk by googling. For Studentenwerk, you need to apply as early as possible as seats are very limited.

Staying connected:

International calls are expensive. Thus, if you're staying in Europe for a few months, the best option is to use VoIP calls using your computer. A cheap but good quality pay-as-you-go option is Localphone. Otherwise you can buy Skype monthly subscriptions if you plan to make a lot calls. Apart from that, prepaid mobiles of various operators are available, which you can use for local calls. International calls are expensive from these.

However, if you're travelling only, and that too for a few weeks only, it might be better to get a special sim card for that country from your home. This is way better than international roaming. Such services are provided by Matrix in India.

Take Off:

It's a long flight. You need to have the seats you want! So select your seat and check in online before your flight departs. This way you can also avoid the long queue at the airport. See SeatGuru to know the best seats in your flight. Moreover, Europe looks beautiful from flights. Hence, I would suggest you opt for a window seat.

Check luggage allowance in your flight and your luggage weights at home/ nearest weighing machine. Each extra killo can cost you a LOT in international flights. Also, some airlines offer extra luggage allowance for students. If you find any such document in the internet, carry a printout of it. Try to avoid any fluid (except small bottle of water) in your hand/ cabin baggage as in most airports they don't allow these.

Europe is quite cold, especially if it rains or you're arriving at late evening or night. Make sure to carry some warm cloth in your handbag that you can access easily.

At Europe:
Welcome to Europe! Let's briefly discuss some of the best travelling tricks and tips.

Traveling on Trains:

There are a few things you must know while using your EuRail Pass:

Finding your train connections is easiest through the DB - Bahn website. Remember, in Europe trains are always on time. And on time means not more than 1 min late. So, you can plan with connecting trains with connection time of even 5 min. Yes, I've personally done it with a 3 min connection time- trains are that punctual in Europe (except Italy). Moreover, if it's delayed due to some unusual reason, you get complementary beverages at the restaurant counter. For exceptional delays, contact the ticket inspector. They'll help you plan your next part of the journey.
Reservations are compulsory on some domestic trains and almost all international trains. Look that up. For most of the domestic routes in Germany, there's no need to reserve your seat as trains have plenty of empty seats. However, a little googling will tell you if your route is a busy one or not. In case that's required, go to your nearest railway station and say that you've EuRail Pass and you just need the reservations.
You must write down the date of travel on your pass before boarding the train with pen! The ticket inspector (really handsome gentlemen and gorgeous ladies!!) stamps on the travel date while checking. While some people write in pencil and erase if the pass remains unchecked during the day, it's a highly risky and unethical business! If you get caught, there can be a hefty fine and it has happened to some people!! But if you get away with it, you can save a travel day. But other than in France, checking is quite strict across Europe.
Remember, you can board any no. of trains at any no. of countries during your travel day.
Make the most of them: As each travel day counts, try to minimize your travel days. For instance, try to arrive in morning at one city and depart to the next destination that night itself. In this way, you can combine two journeys into one travel day. Try taking overnight trains to make use of the 7pm rule (explained earlier).

German Rail Day-Tickets:
There's travel beyond EuRail Pass too when you're travelling within Germany. Some of the great group tickets you must make the most of while travelling within Germany:

Länder-Ticket (Regional Day Ticket): For between €28-37 only, up to 5 people can travel together in any one German State in any regional or local train (not valid on fast trains like ICE). This ticket is State-specific, so buy for that State where you intend to travel. The price varies with State. Check the link for details. It works on any day of the week. This ticket is valid from 9am till 3am of the following day. A Night version of the ticket is also available for travel between 6pm and 6am.
Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket (Happy Weekend Ticket): For €40 only, up to 5 people can travel together in anywhere Germany in any regional train (not valid on fast trains like ICE & local transports like trams). This ticket is valid from midnight till 3am of the following day. It works on Saturday and Sunday only.
Quer-Durchs-Land-Ticket (Cross Country Ticket): This ticket is similar to the previous one, but works on Weekdays only (Monday to Friday). The price is €42 for one person, and addition €6 for each extra person (from 2nd to 6th person). Also, the ticket is valid from 9am instead of midnight.

Hence, while travelling within Germany, you can make the most of it by travelling in groups, preferably in multiples of 5 ;)

Alternate travel modes:

Cheap Flights: Ryan Air provides the cheapest airfares. And they're amazingly cheap, starting from €9! However, you need to plan way in advance for these flights and travel during weekdays to get these cheap fares. Also, their airports are always far away from main cities. So, while the flight might cost you only €15, more often that not, bus from airport to city will cost you around €15-20 on both departure and arrival, making the total one-way journey cost around €50. Thus it's useful only when you're planning to travel long distance that would take almost a day in train.
Carpooling: Car sharing is a great option when you're travelling alone or with only one more friend. Mitfahrgelegenheit or MFZ are car sharing portals where you people post ads mentioning their travel plan/ itinerary, vacancy and charge expected. So all you got to do is find a suitable person, call him/ her and discuss the fare, time and pick-up point. The standard rate is as low as €5-6 per 100km. It's very common practice and quite safe. I would strongly recommend it for individual travelers.
Luxury Buses: There are a few overnight luxury bus services as well. Eurolines is definitely one of the bests. Again, they offer 'promo' or savings fares. If you book well in advance, prices can be as low as €9!! Their services are very good as well.

Where to stay while travelling:

Try to take overnight trains or overnight buses so that you don't need to find a hotel for accommodation. However, if it can't be avoided, find a youth hostel or cheap hotel in your city. In some cases, you can spend the night at railway station itself. But some railway stations get closed at night. So check that before you plan!

Another great alternative is Couch Surfing. It is a portal where the hosts - people who're willing to host guests free of cost - and the guests meet. Create an account, fill all your details, upload a photograph (yes, it's important to have a photo!) Find a host who's willing to provide you with a place to sleep! And it's a great way to meet new people, make friends and learn their cultures. However, to avoid any unfortunate incident, check the reviews and ratings of your host before you send a request to him.

What to eat:

If you want to save money, the cheapest way is to buy bread and some kind of spread (Chocolate or Peanut Butter depending upon your taste) along with some fruits. These will stay for long and reduce your food budget by up to 95-98%!! Also, you can buy pre-cooked food or packed food from convenience stores to keep it under your budget. If you want to have a little better and yet save your pocket, you can find a few more tips at EuroTripTips.

And if you're interning somewhere, staying in a city, try to cook yourself to save a lot of bucks. Every kind of food including Indian foods are available in supermarkets and spices in Asian shops. So, learn a bit of basic cooking before heading for Europe.

Sightseeing:

Most of the large cities such as Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Prague, Berlin, Munich etc. have Free Walking Tours. Among these, Sandeman's New Europe are most popular and have the best guides. You'll get to see all main attractions of these cities in these tours and will also get to know the history. While it's not mandatory, at the end, leave some small amount of tips as a courtesy since these guides earn only the tips amount from these tours.

Other than that, you can buy local daily transport tickets to see around. Also, try to get a tourist map for free from local tourism offices. Some of the private tour operators also provide free tourist maps. They'll help you a lot in moving around in the city.

Also, very often you'll find free university trips conducted by your university. Keep checking the student portal of the university for latest updates. They are great fun and an excellent opportunity to meet and bond with others.

Epilogue:

You'll find a few more useful links here. And that's all for now. However, I intend to update it from time to time to include more specific budget travel tips. I hope you find it useful. If you liked it, please spread it through social networking sites. If you have any question/ comment, please leave a comment and I would be happy to help!

Bon voyage.

Sappy's Bucket List - Travel

2011-11-19T10:42:00.001+05:30

Okay! So, here's my personal travel bucket list! Thanks to a Eurotrip, I've already covered a lot of it already. But, it's just the beginning. My main motivation for earning is so that I can spend those money in travelling the world!

~~France (Paris and South France beaches)~~,
~~Switzerland~~,
~~Italy (Venice, Rome, ~~Vatican City~~, Pisa)~~,
~~Germany~~,
~~Czech Republic (Prague)~~,
Austria (~~Salzburg~~, Viena),
Netherlands (Amsterdam),
Greece,
Spain,
Portugal,
Norway,
England,
Scotland,
Ireland,
China,
Japan,
India (Kashmir, ~~Himalayas~~, ~~Andaman and Nicobar Islands~~, ~~Sundarbans~~, Maldives, Goa),
Sri Lanka,
Mauritius,
Australia,
New Zealand,
South Africa,
Kenya,
Egypt,
UAE (Dubai),
Turkey,
Brazil,
US (Las Vegas, New York, Hawaii, Chicago, Alaska),
Canada (Niagra)
Mexico

Note: ~~Strike-through~~ means been there, done that!

Help! Let me know if you have any suggestions such as a must see place I missed or even city/ place suggestions within the countries mentioned!

La Tomatina controversy in India: Is it justified?

2011-09-16T20:10:00.000+05:30

What's with the big deal around La Tomatina festival in India? I've been hearing all the people are protesting against the La Tomatina festival planned in various cities across India. Eventually, the event got cancelled as well! Their logic? It's a sheer wastage of food.

Well, is it? Really? And even if we agree it's a wastage of food, does that necessarily mean it's a bad thing? Let me reason why I feel all the hypocrisy around cancelling La Tomatina in India is absolutely unjustified!

Wastage of food- India can't afford it: Is it really a wastage of food? I don't think so! According to reports, the Bangalore edition would have required about 62,000 kg of tomatoes. Now, do you just take 62,000 kg of tomatoes off the market in one day & deprive people from eating tomatoes??!!! Hell no! Obviously these tomatoes are specially ordered and grown exclusively for this event. Just imagine how the economy would have benefited had the event gone ahead. Poor farmers would have gained a lot from the sales of these tomatoes and so would have a hundred other poor people involved directly or indirectly with this event. And no one, actually, no one would have lost anything! Tell me, does people in India die from hunger due to lack of availability of the food or simply due to that fact that they can't afford it? I think all of us know the answer!

So I would really like to know what is the hypocrisy all about protesting against La Tomatina in India? Is it merely due to the fact that we like to protest against anything and everything? Is it because it's a Western concept and we're protesting against it like we do against Valentine's Day? So don't give me the crap of wastage of food!! But I would love to hear some solid reasons from the protesters. :)

Sappy's GMAT Journey - how I aced to 740 in less than a month!

2011-09-16T00:23:00.001+05:30

Well, well! A post after more than a year!!

At this moment I'm kinda obsessed with my b-school applications! So, let me start my series of stories with my GMAT experience.

So, why GMAT? Well, there was this really cool presentation about ISB YLP from Indian School Business (ISB) in our institute sometime in January or February earlier this year. That got me thinking that yes, this is my opportunity to get an MBA from a top global b-school. And thus the GMAT journey begun. But more about the ISB journey later in my next post!

Let me first share my GRE experience! I scored 1170 (Verbal 370/800) in GRE after 3 months of preparation and was totally shattered. Trust me I'm still looking for an IITian with a lower GRE score and haven't heard of anyone yet! But, somehow I got a feeling that well, while my vocab is abysmal (I'm not a native English speaker who studied in a regional language school), it won't stop me from doing well in GMAT! Trust me, it took a lot of courage and self-motivation to recover from that GRE score!!!

I started following gmatclub regularly and got some really useful tips! I'll list the materials I used for this preparation/ highly recommended and where to get them (Hey! I can't put up links to pirated versions!!):

GMAT Review Official Guide 12th edition [If you're in India, consider buying from flipkart, normally they offer the cheapest. However, a little internet research never hurts! I myself got a cheaper one from landmark.]
Manhattan Sentence Correction Guide [I personally did not use it, but I really wish I did!!]
Various other self-study materials found on gmatclub such as GMAT Tools, GMAT Flashcards, GMAT Practice Tests (Free/ Priced with reviews).

I really did not want to spend a lot on GMAT and thought, "Heyy! If I can go through the entire 800 real questions of GMAT in the Official Guide, there is no reason why I would need anything else!!" :)

Quant:

I initially had a few hiccups in the probability and permutation-combination. I just went through my high school books on them and things got sorted. Soon, the only problem I was having with Quant section was finding them too easy and thus making silly mistakes due to lack of concentration.

Verbal:

Now this was something I was worried about. I never had much problem with RC and CR was also kinda okay but SC gave me a headache right from the beginning. Even a few days before the test I was getting only about 50% of the SCs correct. Then whiplash's verbal flash cards helped me a lot. I owe her a biiig thanks!

AWA:

I did not give them a thought till 5 days left. I went through chineseburned & 800score AWA guides which gave me quite an idea about the writing structure. I practiced a few essays and went through all the issue topics just once taking a mental note about ideas.

Study Strategy:

My study strategy was simple. I decided to practice a little everything every day. I divided the total number of questions in each section in equal sections for 14 days of study. So, each day I was doing about 17 PS, 12-13 DS and 10 each in RC, CR & SC questions each day. That meant I studied about 2-3 hours for 14 days. Yes, that's all I studied!!

Once, I got a confidence, I booked my date for GMAT. I am an impatient type of person and really can't prepare for something for too long. I realized if I try to prepare more and more, soon I'll get frustrated and screw it up. So, it was more like slam-bam-thank you GMAT kinda experience for me! :wink:

Practice Test Scores:

GMATPrep 1 = 710

Knewton = 710

Princeton Review = 650

Kaplan = 640

Veritas Prep = 680

Manhattan = 690

GMATPrep 2 = 690

As you can understand, I was really shaken seeing my scores dipping after starting rather decent. Nevertheless, I remain calm and composed for the test.

Advice: I practiced all my mock tests in my real GMAT timings and it helped me a lot to set my biological clock. Do that!! It helps! Really!!

The G-Day:

I'm normally a morning person but the earliest slot available was 10:00. That would have meant a 4 hour appointment would have left me hungry in the middle of the exam. I certainly did not want that. I took a convenient 14:00 appointment so that I could finish my lunch properly and then go for the test.

I made sure I did not eat anything funny for the last 2-3 days. I had good long sleep last night followed by a light breakfast and early lunch. It took me some time to find the test center. The lady at the test center was friendly and the center was rather okay. However, the keyboard was a disaster as it was old and not at all easy to press. Moreover it was making really loud noises. And the chair added some noises too! But those were something beyond my control, so I thought, "What the heck, let's get this over with."

Essay topics did not please me. However I went with the flow and wrote some gibber-jabber. I just had some water and went to the restroom during the break. I strictly wanted to avoid food. I did not take the full break (I hate simply sitting idly), came back after 3 minutes, I think.

Quant was going rather well till about 25th question. I got stuck with one question for really long then. Although I had plenty of time in the world, I just made an intelligent guess and moved on. I told myself probably it was an experimental question and so don't worry. I was pretty surprised to finally see I finished off with 12 minutes left on the clock! :O

After again a short break (3-4 min), I went back for the Verbal. I was rather happy with my Quant so had a really positive feeling about crossing 700 in total. Verbal went rather okay, or so I thought. I had a little time scare towards the end but kept my cool and finished off with 2 minutes on hand.

The Official Score:

740 (Q50, V40, AWA 5.0)

When I saw the score, well boy, was I surprised? I was shocked to the core of my heart! 30 marks above my highest practice score ever?? It was bizarrely breathtaking!! I went like, "Yes yes yes"!! I never remembered being that happy, ever!! :D

And kids, that is how I scored a 740! :D

So, what's next? I've already applied for ISB YLP & is in the process of applying for HBS 2+2. But more on that later.

Disability - a sharp contrast: East vs West

2010-06-01T14:50:00.004+05:30

When I first stepped in Germany, within the very first week, I was quite shocked by the number of disabled people here! About every one in ten person had some kind of disability. And I couldn't even remember when was the last time I saw a person with a wheelchair on road back home in India. My initial reaction was, "Huh, what is wrong with the Germans? They are physically so fit and strong...then why is there so many people with disability?" Then after going back to room when I reflected back upon it, I realized, it can't be so different from back home in India. And guess what, I googled and yes, I was correct. The disability in India & Germany are quite similar.

So my next question was how come there is such a sharp contrast in visibility? To find the answer, I just had to keep my eyes open. Almost all the buses, trams and trains here in Germany have low floor, and often a sliding footboard comes out to connect with the footpath. And there are open space right in front of the door where wheelchairs & trolleys, so that one can keep it there and have nice seat beside. Also there are handrails beside the doors to make the movement swifter. And when you are with a wheelchair and you want to get down, just press the wheelchair button, so that the driver knows you will need more time than the rest. Simple, isn't it? And there are washrooms (called WC here) for physically disabled persons almost everywhere there is one for others. So movement is no longer a problem for anyone.

Just think about the situation back home in India. Is it that difficult to introduce such buses and trains? Is it necessary to have such a narrow gate for all the trains? Just simple awareness, that's all it takes to make the road easier for the 10% of the population. But I know, that is not going to happen, because there is no political motivation behind that. There would be 27% reservations for OBCs in premier institutes, as OBCs form a large part of the vote bank. And then people will fight to claim their 'backward' status. But the disabled persons? They can't even go to the polling booth, so what's point of doing something for someone who can't even vote?

2007-11-09T15:08:00.000+05:30

Don't click here!

A Gold Medal from Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

2006-05-09T10:17:00.000+05:30

Receiving Jwaharlal Nehru Memorial Gold Medal for Painting in Shankar's International Childrens' Competetion'04 from then President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

The painting at top left: for which I received the above mentioned award