Anupam Kher & Irrfan Khan - Unsung Bollywood Legends

 There are 2 types of stars in any film industry. In Bollywood stars like Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan are very very popular. Their films and their style of acting is very commercial, it is entertaining too and they earn crores and crores of rupees. Then there are actors like Anupam Kher, Irrfan Khan and Boman Irani.

 The more you think about them, the more you look back at the movies and the roles they have done, you realize that they are legends in their own rights too. They are not super popular or super rich stars, but they are fabulous actors. They have performed all their roles so magnificently, that you forget that they are stars, and you see them purely as their characters in the film. Contrasting that with the Khans, they are always stars and very very rarely we actually see them as the characters in the film.

 Anupam Kher is an old timer, and has done lots and lots of films. I remember him right from Kuch Kuch Hota Hain, Wednesday, DDLJ, etc. He was never the hero and rarely did he have the primary role in his movies, but whatever role he had, he performed magnificently. He has done huge number of films, and won many awards too, here's his wiki page.

 Lets talk about Irrfan. This guy is comparatively new, but whatever roles he has done have been jaw dropping. Consider the latest film Haider. The film is a big bore in the first half, and then Irrfan comes, all different story after that. Also was watching 'The Amazing Spiderman' yesterday, and he has played a wonderful role there too, proves he is an internationally acclaimed actor. Here's his wiki page.

 Just to prove why I wrote about them, in their wiki page you would find, both are Padma Shri award winners!! Kudos!!!

India Truly Shinning this time!!

 Normally I abstain from political/religious comments or posts. I am a techie, a traveler, a sports buff and a non humble freakin genius! However I am highly impressed by the work done by the new BJP government, and based on all the changes I see in the country, the changes I see in the way of thinking, the change in how we Indians see ourselves and are ready to compete and dominate at world level in terms of intellect, innovation and business, makes me feel really proud and happy.

 India had a lot of hope from Narendra Modi. BJP got unprecedented majority, and they formed the government. The numbers were so one sided, that there were not enough seats to form a single party opposition! However, Modi did not stop after taking the hot seat. No doubt he is an outstanding orator, but he is also a man of his words. He is a man of passion who wants to really make India shine. He is from humble backgrounds, and has worked his way up to the top. He knows the problems of people, he has lived their lives. He is a common man too after all! 

 The wonders he has done to Gujarat, one can only imagine what lies ahead for our great country. I don't know about others, but I myself have changed my thinking. I was earlier planning to settle in Europe, but now I feel a lot more patriotic. I want to live in my country, and do my bit for the country. I also have started doing a lot of charity work. I am associated with 2 NGOs now. It feels good, and I do it happily. 

 Another change which has come across in my thinking is to abstain from the incorrect. I do not want to do anything which would break the law, or make my life easier by giving bribe. I normally do not do anything like that, but now I also ask my friends not to do so. The thing is there is a man at the top working his ass off, trying to make our country the best, we all should support him as much as we can at our level. This time India is truly shinning. 

 Our hostile neighbors have been attacking us by violating rules and engaging in cross border fire. They just did that again recently, but this time the lion responded. PMO gave full authority to fire back, and that's the way it should be. It felt great, and I also thought the army would be more happy because till now it was like they were never given a complete go green to respond, they had the potential, it was all about the freedom to respond fire with fire. India has never invaded another country in it's history, but if someone does something like this, this is how we should respond...great job by the government in that aspect too!! Jai Hind!! 

Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal...which is the best??

 So I am a voracious online shopper. I can pretty much compare these 3 and couple other sites which I have used for online shopping. To start with, online shopping is great thing, you get lot more choices, you get best deals and you get home delivery. Not only that you can return the product if you don't like with no questions asked.

 Let me directly get to the point now. Amazon is the number one e-commerce site in India for me. It offers best prices, and what makes them stand out is their awesome customer service, and after sales service. They are the ONLY site who would deliver to your home, if you have given office address and are not available in office at time of delivery. They are the ONLY site who would do full refund of your product in case of any issues, even after the return period is over (which is one month usually). I have personally experienced all of this, and always go to amazon first for any shopping. They are a giant company, they are pioneers of this concept, still they are excellent and awesome. Not money-centric at all, totally customer-centric. Kudos!!

 This leads me to discussing about money-centric e-commerce sites, who don't care about anything else but money. Consider flipkart.com. They were a pretty nice site too, they were pioneers of e-commerce in India. I remember they started with books only, and I had ordered few engineering books during my study days from flipkart. But recently they have gone crazy, they had a Big Billion Sale recently, they earned 600 Crores in 10 hours. But there were hundreds and thousands of complaining users, they earned money, but they lost huge customer base. However they are not the worse yet...keep reading.

 Meet Jabong.com The ultimate useless good for nothing site. They have the worst customer service. Once my cell was down, and I wanted them to contact me on my friends number for a product return. I called them 3 times, and sent 2 emails giving alternate number details. Still the order was never picked up, I am still holding a defective product, no use contacting their useless customer service as well. I wish they all rot in hell!!

 I am really surprised by the growth of snapdeal.com. They are also a flipkart level site now. You can get a lotta great deals at shopclues.com too. However I would recommend always use Amazon!