WhatsApp's Document Sharing

So today's 'go crazy about' thing is WhatsApp's new document sharing feature. (No it's not Dicaprio's Oscar winning; that was yesterday's. Literally!)

WhatsApp launched this feature today on 2nd Mar 2016, without any big announcement. I found out when I used the sharing button to share an image. So being a normal social-media-loving techie that I am, I immediately shared the  made myself a (non)qualified quality tester for this and here are the findings of the test-

Finding 1: The feature says 'document', but it only supports .pdf files.

          

While PDF is a widely used extension for documents, there are many more- .doc, .text, .docx and so on. If the feature is for documents, users will obviously want to be able to share files in these extensions too. So this was a bit disappointing.

Finding 2: The sharing button does not show all .pdf files in your phone.

 

For sharing a file, when you click on the document button, it takes you to a list of PDF files in your mobile phone. For some unknown reason, it only displays a few PDF documents. File size does not seem to play a role here. The good thing is, you can go to any file in the explorer and from there you can share it on WhatsApp.

Finding 3: Not accessible from https://web.whatsapp.com/



One odd thing to note was that the feature is not accessible from https://web.whatsapp.com/, the web version of WhatsApp.

Overall, it's quite a useful update. WhatsApp is one of the most popular messaging apps in India & in many other countries and an update like this, will result in an even higher usage of it for official purposes. People can share resumes, a list of things, and even an important business file, without having to use emails. Plus, not everyone has access to their office email IDs in phone and this will be a great alternative.

It is being said that this feature is in Beta version currently, so we can hope that soon it will be able to support extensions other than .pdf. Till then, we will have to be satisfied with the pdf files sharing. :)

P.S. - This (un)official quality test was only for Android. For iOS updates, please send me an iphone. Thank you!

The Immortals of the Game of Thrones

Good News ! I finally completed the 'A song of Ice and  Fire' series. (Or may be it should be a 'bad news' as the next book is not due until next year !! ) :(

For those who don't know, it's the book series of Game of Thrones. :)

So, going through the series, I noticed something. As we all know by now, In GOT no one seems to be safe. Anyone can die anytime. All you can do is clutch your hopes and pray that the next death is not of your favorite character. :P

But, but, but, in the midst of all these deaths, I still feel, there are some characters who can actually skip the merciless blade of GRRM. And it's not a random selection of my favorite characters, it is based on the series itself.

So who are they? Well, let's look at the theory first.

Just like our world, the world of Westeros has a number of Gods and deities. The Lord of Light, Old Gods, Seven Gods, Drowned God and Storm God and many more. Out of these, Seven Gods and the Old Gods seem to be more popular than the others. Now at present, I am interested in the Seven Gods.

Talking about the seven Gods, Seven Gods belief is not only a Martin creation. They are present in our real world too. Although, the seven Gods of the world of Westeros are quite different from the Seven Gods of the real world. The Seven Gods of real world are the 'Seven Lucky Gods' present in Japanese mythology. They are Gods of good fortune. In the Westeros world, Gods are very different. And their difference is also a reason of my theory here.

My theory is, that these different Seven Gods depict those personalities which are necessary to remain alive or say are 'important enough' to remain alive in the Martin world. And, there are seven characters in the story who represent these Seven Gods in some way. So they are the ones who will make it alive through the end.

So let's see who are they. 

1) Mother: So who is the character that represents the 'Mother' God? Easy. Right? Daenerys Targaryen.

Even the Meereenese agree. MHYSA !!!

2) Stranger: The Stranger represents death and the unknown. Arya Stark fits this role completely.

She is not afraid of death and is one of the most unpredictable characters on the earth of Westeros. So, Valar Morghulis !

3) Maiden: Purity, innocence, love and beauty. These are the traits of the Maiden. So who better to fill this role, other than, Sansa Stark, the little bird.

Even with all that has happened with her in all five seasons, she is the epitome of innocence and beauty.


4) Smith: When I formed this theory, I was still on season 3 and Gendry was a major character. Now after the 5 books and almost 5 seasons, I am not very sure of this character's importance. But Gendry is the only character that fits this God and judging by his birth, he has a lot of scope for an important role.

5) Father: Okay here comes a little surprise. Father is a God that represents divine justice and judges the souls of the dead. This one was hard to select. Had Ned Stark been alive, he would have won this role in a second. But in his absence, I considered a number of people for this one and with every character I became more convinced that only one person can satisfy these criteria.

Brandon Stark.

Although, Bran is a child; after meeting with that three-eyed raven, he has changed a lot. And if we go by the book, he is the one divine character. So, Bran it is. 

6) Crone: The crone! Without any delay I would announce, Tyrion Lannister ! My most favorite character in GOT. :)

I know, I know the Crone is an old lady, but the idea here is the personality, not the sex. Tyrion has the wisdom and foresight that are the features of Crone. Plus, Crone God is represented carrying a lantern and Tyrion is the one who will guide Dany later. :)

7) Warrior: Okay! So when I wrote this post, finale was still pending. The two qualities of the Warrior are strength and courage. So I chose ...guess who?

Yup! Jon Snow!

After the finale, I reconsidered this one and after a lot of thinking, I reached on the conclusion that I am still right about this.

Yes, it does seem from the last scene that Jon is dead. But the thing is, if they kill Jon Snow, a number of stories will lose their importance. The mystery of Jon's mother, the consistent interest of Melisandre in Jon, White Walkers, all these stories are still not finished. Plus what about Ghost? And come on! We do not even care about Night watch, not at all if Jon Snow is not there !

I do believe that Jon Snow is not dead, or if he is, then he will return somehow. May be Melisandre will bring him back, or may be she will put him in another body, I don't know. But somehow, he will come back. After all, Melisandre's return on the wall can not be just a co-incidence. 

So here are the 7 characters who I think, are immortal in the ever so mortal world of Game of Thrones. Let me know what you think of my theory. :)

To the words I do not write

To the words I do not write,

I do not write you because,

sometimes I don't want others to know you are mine,

sometimes I'm not sure if I know what you are,

and sometimes because of pure procrastination.

I know you need recognition, to grow happier,

you need to be read as much as the written words,

But believe me my words,

you are as dear to me as the written ones.

Do not ever leave me words,

A day will come when you will be written,

you too will gather praise, you too will be recognized.

But wait till the time comes,

wait in my mind.

In the name of Emotional Advertising

So this is the new Fortune Oil ad everyone is going gaga over. And I fail to understand why.

The 4-minute 38-second long ad is an attempt to use emotions to build a connection between the brand and customers.

It's interesting in the start. Dadi keeps asking for a chance and the nurse keeps denying it. The audience gets curious to know what will happen now. But then, the end comes. And look! It is an Edible Oil advertisement! Really? Please tell me how the product actually relates to the story we were just watching.

What I can't understand is, what message they want to give the people exactly? "Ghar ka khana, ghar ka khana hota hai" is what the ad says. So? The story is set in a hospital room. When the nurse denied dadi for giving her homemade daal to her grandson, there was a reason for that. To a patient, only boiled food is given, because food with oil and spices can be harmful for him. So what exactly do they want to say? Fortune oil makes daal so healthy that you can use it in place of boiled food? 

The ad is going viral right now. It is getting shared on various social media sites with  "Oh so sweet!", "Wow! This is so heart-touching" kind of comment. So, definitely, the ad has been successful in creating a buzz. But what is the connection between the product and the ad? To me, it just seems a mixture of all the traditional "emotional tools". Take a dadi amma, ghar ka khana, a hospital setting, thodi si daant aur dher sara sentimental background music, and your story is ready! No worries about product connection!

The advertisement is a product of Ogilvy India, one of the best advertising agencies in India. Not only that, it's also the same agency that produced a beautiful ad for the same brand 2 years back. This too was emotional advertising but actually with a brand connection.

Apart from the emotional story, the advertisement had a few scenes in which the mother could be seen cooking for her son. The ones that showed the actual product and that too in a tempting way. It is sad that the same agency has given such an irrelevant ad now. 

Definitely, Emotions are the key to marketing and emotional advertising is one of the best ways to connect with the audience. But the question that remains is, how much we can compromise in the name of 'Emotional Advertising.'

Letters to Someone

Today, I was going through my news feed and found a reference to Lunchbox, the movie. Lunchbox always reminds me of another story I read somewhere years ago. I was in sixth class, I think and the story was way older than that time. I just remember the crux of the story. So I'm writing it down with my additions to it.

Why?
Because it's something that deeply touched my heart. 

It was about a little boy who exchanges letters with a girl whom he has never seen. How the exchange started, I don't remember. The letters are exchanged in between two different countries. As time passes, one day, the boy demands a picture of girl. The girl sends a picture and asks one in exchange, which is sent. She is pretty and is about his age only. The boy asks her to visit his country some time. She says she will try. Then again, a few years pass. The boy often asks her to come and she always say she will try.

Then the scene changes, the boy is a married man now. Many years have been passed. For a few years, he has not received anything from the girl's end. Even he doesn't send letters now. Right now, he is playing with his younger son and suddenly the doorbell rings. There is a parcel for him. He opens it to find a small box with his childhood picture and a letter. It's 'her' writing on the letter. It says-

"Hello, Jonathan, It is Martha.

You must be wondering why I stopped writing to you and why you have suddenly received this letter after so much time. There is something I want to tell you...

I am 71 and I'm writing this letter from my death-bed.

I know you are surprised. You knew me as a friend of your age. But I am not. The picture I sent you was real. It was from my times. Jonathan, I was 50 when we started exchanging letters. I was a widow. My children were settled with their own families and I was absolutely alone. Your letters at that time, gave my life a whole new character. I could be young again. I could pretend that I find the world as mysterious as you do. And to be honest, by pretending that, I actually started feeling the life once again.

It was not dull anymore. I had so much to write to you..and when not write, I had to look forward to your letters....!

You gave my life a whole new meaning, without even knowing that. You used to ask me to visit your country. I once did. I even came to visit you. Somewhere, my heart wanted me to tell you that I am your friend. But I knew how young you were. I knew what your reaction would have been. So I didn't. You were so young. So innocent. I came back to my home and continued with the letters.

Do not ever think I was in love with you. I was not. I was in love with myself. I was in love with the 18 year old girl who was alive once again in my imagination and in yours. With your help, I was re-living my youth.

And I can't thank you enough for that.

These are my last few words to this world. Remember Jon, No matter how old you get, there will always be a child inside you. But keeping that child alive, is the difficult work.  

Thank you for keeping my soul alive. Be happy in your life. Forgive me if possible.

Love,
Martha"

If only I had a time machine

Time travel. The first thing I will ask for, if I find a Genie.

I remember how I got to know about time travel. It was Captain Vyom, a television series. I was 7 and was astounded by the concept. Really??? Travel through time?? Wow! I don’t know how I understood the concept or what did I wish to do with a time machine back that time, but I was completely fascinated with the idea and have always been since then.

People say life is short. When I was a child, I used to wonder why they say that. Even if someone lives for say...60 years, it’s so much. I mean what could you not do possibly in sixty years? Now after living more than one third of those 60 years, I say life is nano-short!! What can you do in sixty years? Okay, a lot of things. But what about the things you will not do. There is so much!!

The first few years, you spend your life in getting education. After some time, job/business. Then marriage. Then kids. Then their lives. Then after some time if you are lucky and hard-working enough, you get some time when you are free to do whatever you want. But what is missing now? Your spirit. Your vigor. Okay yeah, in middle of these phases of life, you do get to work on your hobbies. But is it really enough? A Sunday in a week is enough? Even if you get 7 days a week to do whatever you want, is it really enough??

I don’t think so. That can’t be enough. What if I have more than just a few hobbies? What if I want to do as many things as stars in the sky? And I do. I want to do millions of things if not that many.

I want to learn singing and I want to learn guitar. I want to learn every instrument out there and to feel like a rockstar on a stage someday.

I want to go bungee jumping and I want to go sky diving. I want to learn swimming and I want to be good at it.
I want to learn dancing. Every form of dancing. I want to go in space and I want to dig down the earth deep to find an ancient bracelet. I want to learn fighting and to fight crime. I want to go places. Every kind of places. I want to go to Hogwarts and learn magic.

I want to go in every book I have ever read, every series I have ever seen. I want to go and meet the characters. I want to tell them how I feel about them. And then I want to read more. Watch more. 

And then I want to come back and write. Write, write, write. I want to write about my world. I want to write about my dreams. I want to write about magic. The magic that you feel when you learn a new thing. The magic that you feel when you fall in love. The magic that you feel when you turn your thoughts into words. It’s all magic.

And I want to do all of this without having to miss a moment with my family. Without having to miss a moment with my friends. Without having to miss any moment of my normal life.

So you see. I do need a time machine. Tardis, time-turner, Dagger of time, or even a vortex manipulator will do. Just any time-machine.

My first Poem :) :)

I didn't plan my first post to be like this. But I don't want to publish my first poem anywhere else than here....So here it is... :)

Strange are the ways in which love changes us,

Strange are the ways in which it has changed me!

I may be same for the rest of the world,

but a lot of change is what I see.

Life was different,

when you were not here.
though I was happy,

but of this joy I was not aware.

then one day you came into my life,
and everything took a turn for better.
I had so many friends,

but somehow with you I felt better.

We started off as friends,
As innocent as can be.
Little did we know,
That it would soon be you and me.

We came from two different worlds,
but it seemed that I always knew you.

Nearly about everything we talked,
we had quite the same view.

Then One day I found,
that you were "more than a friend" to me,
though it was Not love,
but neither friendship it was, i could see.

I did not know,
what to do,
I was falling in love,
but i didn't want to. 

It used to seem so hard at times,
to feel so close to you.

and I could not even tell you

coz I didn't know, if you think like that too.

but then came a day,
when I lost my mind.
what did you think,

I wanted to find.

To be continued....