Budget-Friendly Device For Your Budget

Last Sunday I went to a grocery store with Rs. 1000 budget. The moment I entered the shop, I started doing mental accounting. That means the moment I picked up an item I started calculating the cost. After Rs. 850 I lost the interest to calculate. And understandably the final figure crossed Rs. 1000 mark. This has prompted me to find a solution to stop doing mental accounting and keep the purchase within the budget.

Attach a device to the bag which will show the price of a product when you drop it inside the bag. The more items you put in, the device will start showing the total amount of the purchase. In that way, you can always get to know how much you have spent.

The process would be really simple. Before dropping an item into the bag, you have to touch the barcode on that device. After that, the price of the product will flash on that device’s screen. Follow the same procedure for as many products you want to put inside the bag.

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I’m Lazy

After one and half month gap, I started blogging but I still think I’m not yet started. The procrastination has gone to such a level that I’m sick of it. I need to break this chain of procrastination immediately. I’ve started over-sleeping. I’m sleeping around 10 hours a day. I also need to end this. I’ve few plans in mind. I need to improve my writing. I need to blog every day. I need to write 10 ideas every day.  Yes, 10 ideas every day. No matter how rubbish they are. I haven’t written short stories for a while. I need to restart the process immediately. The time starts now.

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I Hate Scripted Interviews

I have a total of 12 years of work experience. I’ve been to many interviews. During my initial days, I used to answer everything that the interviewer used to ask. But over the years, I’ve realized that there are some problems with the scripted interview formats. Scripted interviews limit the chance of finding the true potential of a candidate.

Let me explain how. If you’re an interviewer and ask a candidate to tell them about themselves then that person will only parrot what is written in their resume. That person will never be able to reveal their true self. However, if you interview in a friendly manner then it would be really easy for them to answer.

This way you can understand their temperament and also check their creativity. The best thing about conducting a friendly interview is that when the interviewee leaves the room you have already created an impression on them.

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Blogs Are Important

I’ve been writing blogs for the last 8 years. I’ve written various types of blogs for industries like education, marketing, technology, etc. I wrote those blogs mainly for SEO purposes. I intended to bring more traffic to the website. Those were mainly non-promotional blogs to educate readers.

Though I’ve written many blogs in my writing career but never realized the importance of blogs. Yes, it makes me sound like an idiot but it is what it is.

A week ago, I was writing a script. The script was related to travel & tourism. And believe me, I was completely dependent on blogs. The research work that I had done was heavily dependent on the blogs available on the web. I couldn’t have been able to write down the piece with the research work. I also took help from the blogs to write the script.

I couldn't write a script without the help of the blogs. I never imagined that blogs can be used to create a different writing form. We generally use blogs to get information. While writing the scripts I realized that it was the blogs that laid the foundation of my script. 

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Writer’s Block

Many say that there is no such thing called ‘Writer’s Block’. They believe if you start writing things will start to work out. But now I'm realizing that writer's block is real.  I call it ‘Idea Block’.  Now, I’m completely out of ideas to run this blog. I can’t generate new ideas to write. The ideas that are popping up inside my head are not good enough to share. Some are ideas not at all.

But I have to run this blog. I can’t stop this blog. So I’ve decided to write on writer’s block. The last three blog posts that I wrote were a spin-off of news shared on LinkedIn. But I don’t want to do this type of work. I want to share my ideas; tell my perspectives.

I don’t know how to get out of this situation. I also don’t know how long it will continue. Should I travel? Have sex? Meet new people? Or just do other stuff to get out of this stupid situation. I don’t know.

Is this a result of doing repetitive work? When I started this blog in September, I had many ideas to write. But now I'm feeling things have just stopped. 

However, I’ve decided to write no matter what it is. I’ll just WRITE, WRITE, WRITE. Sounds stupid but can't help.

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We Need Citizen Scientists

I believe ‘Citizen Scientists’ are the key to progress in some challenges of our time. Scientists of our time shouldn’t think what is happening outside their labs don’t apply to them. ‘Citizen Scientists’ can bring a new perspective on issues such as climate change and pollution.

During Darwin’s era, people participated in botany and archeology.  Capturing the curiosity of the people would be the path to achieve it.

Citizen science is growing in different parts of the world. There are instances where scientists are collaborating with communities, especially in Africa.

  

(Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Is Kolkata Climate Proof?

The prediction is that rising temperatures combined with population growth will force 3 billion people to live in ‘unlivable’ conditions by 2070. This means more and more people will leave for ‘climate havens’. Climate havens are those cities that are sheltered from extreme weather.

Cities around the globe are developing climate action plans, meaning there will be more zero-carbon housing projects and green belts replacing asphalts. 

So my question- is Kolkata climate-proof? Does Kolkata have zero-carbon housing projects? What is the plan with green belts?

Cyclone Amphan showed how vulnerable we are. It is high time that we ordinary citizens should raise these questions so that we remain prepared.

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No More Office

After working almost a year remotely, I can easily say that there is no need to get back to the office. I always hated traveling to and from the office. Traveling time is saved. Now companies have to give strong reasons to go back to the office. They can’t say the spaces are missing humans so you guys have to come back. Employees have the power to reject it for their health.

Yes, a people-to-people connection is necessary but that is getting done every day via Zoom or Google Meet. If there is any need for collaboration and congregation, then people can gather at the office but you certainly don’t need to meet daily. In short, there is no need for daily meetings.

Nike’s director Brittney Van Matre has suggested that companies should consider setting up outposts in unconventional locales. It may sound great but very few companies will do that. Most companies will stay away from it because of the loss they’ve suffered during the lockdown.

On the contrary, they should think of cutting the costs related to spaces.

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A Limerick

Write, write, write.

2020 please go out of sight.

Read, read, read,

2020 was really insipid,

I know your 2021 will be bright.

4 Months of Blogging

As 2020 is coming to end, I like to tell you that the biggest achievement for me this year is creating this blog and running it. I always wanted to start a blog but for many reasons, I was unable to do so. I had a blog previously where I used to review films but I failed to run it. Hence, running ‘Odd Ones’ for 4 months is a success for me.

 It gives me great pleasure to write on different topics every day. Initially, I thought here I will only share my ideas but now I almost talk on every topic. This probably shows my inability to generate new ideas every day. At some point in time, I thought of choosing a niche and write on it but then I dropped the idea. I’m still writing on different topics but I don’t know about the future.

To date, I have posted over 70 blogs and gained 3000+ views. And My goal would be to write 365 blogs next year.