Rohit's Ramblings

I guess it is time to wish Happy New Year to all of you through my blog. In the past few days, I have been majorly active on scribd. Do view my documents on scribd:

Finally the big day arrived. Calcutta University decided to hold convocation for the Doctoral Degree Holders. I arrived post haste to Kolkata to be present at the convocation. But what a big letdown!!! You must think that the convocation ceremony of the Oldest University in India would be gloriously managed solemn affair. Not So. In fact I have had seen better convocations in private collages. No Academic Gown, No Photographer, No laminated / or bound degree holder. 341 of the degree recipients were called on stage one by one and handed over the degree in the same manner as a pamphlet is handed over by the street level evangelist. And to top it all, the attitude was as if university was doing us a favor by inviting us to the convocation I could not hide my disappointment as after 5 years of hard work, this was the day that would have been the culmination of all my academic efforts. But Alas, as usual, Calcutta University left a scar! A scar for a lifetime. Oh well, that is Calcutta Uni...

"Insurance is a subject matter of solicitation" is the disclaimer written on every insurance brochure. In this sense, it is no better that the oldest profession of the world. However, the solicitation of Insurance companies leaves a lot to be desired. People today, still fear taking insurance because of the arcane words and phrases that is used in Insurance. I too was in the same league, till about a year back - when I decided to upgrade my knowledge about matters of Insurance. In this blog I will deal with the basic types of Insurance that are available in the marketplace. You should note that Insurance companies customize their products and brand them with catchy name. However, the basic product remains one of the following or a combination of the following. So what are these basic types of Insurances? 1. Temporary Assurance: Temporary Assurance or Term Assurance or Pure Protection Plan is the most basic plan being offered by all Insurance Companies. In this type of Insur...

It has been ages since I have blogged on the web. Well life has it's own ways of interrupting your plans. It all began in April this year when my daughter started having some kind of spasms 3-4 times a day. It was not until we took her to Calcutta were the spasm correctly diagnosed. Anulika has been diagnosed with " West Syndrome " - which is a rare form of Infantile Epilepsy. In fact, since the day she has been diagnosed with west syndrome our life has turned topsy-tury. It is so rare that according to some sources that the prevalence is about 1:100000. Anyways now that the diagnosis has been done, she is under treatment. Thanks to the grace of God she has not been having any spasm since 2nd of July. We hope and pray that she gets well soon. Given the rareness of the disease, there is significant lack of information about the same in Indian households and doctors. I would like to appeal to all of you to send me information about the syndrome. Please don't send inform...

Another day and the internet never ceases to surprise me. Just downloaded a wonderful download manager named "Free Download Manager". Have tried Get-Right and Flash-Get, but I was never too happy with them. FDM seems to fit the bill perfectly. Try it if you have not done so far. Here is the link: Another software review and this one is a rant. Just downloaded and purchased the F-secure Anti-Virus software. What a pain. The file-size is a whopping 82 MB and it politely says that it requires 1GB RAM to function well. My laptop has simply chocked up. What a size bloater. On top of that, it checks for internet update every hour when you are connected to the Internet. Could it not check just once a day? Finally, I wish they had put the size and the system requirement (in detail) on the website and not when you are on the verge of installing the downloaded software. IT industry please pay heed. You may be playing with the latest hardware but majority of the junta does not have the...

The last year had been full of changes in my life. It is a year that would remain truly memorable in my memory. First and foremost, we had a little daughter Anulika in the month of October. Then, in the month of November, I completed my Ph.D. degree from University of Calcutta and finally in the month of August, I was able to purchase my new car (albeit after taking a massive loan from SBI). A fruitful year I must say, and I am thankful to God for providing me the small pleasures of life... Let us see what 2008 has in store for us

It is amazing how God showers us with his gifts. We were blessed with our second child - a girl child - on the 5th of October 2007. May she have a long, fruitful and prosperous life