aJCfreak - Dan's Blog

UPDATE: A request to all who see this post: if you have Truecaller on your mobile, please store this number - 8409181059 - as FRAUD STEALING CARD INFORMATION . If enough of us store the number this way, Truecaller will pop this up when he calls other unsuspecting victims. _____________________________________ Putting this out there, so people with similar experiences can know - and people who haven't had this experience can be prepared for this - if and when it happens. My basic advice for such prank calling: - Keep them online as much as possible - Do not divulge any personal / identifiable details - Lodge a complaint with the police immediately after hanging up on the call (TN police website has an eazy-peazy complaint registration system) So, this is the first time I've received a hoax call. Here's how it went: 8409181059: "Hello, calling from State Bank; your card is no longer functional" Me (who doesn't have a State Bank account): "O

I'm leaving the world of advertising. It couldn't be simpler than that. But if you ask me where I'm going to next, the answer's slightly more complicated - I'm taking up two part-time roles, at my church (Ashraya) and at my old school (Anita Methodist). Doing a variety of things. This decision has taken a few months to make, and I'm super-grateful to the support of close friends and family. My wife has been supportive about the move in ways I couldn't have even dreamed of, with an inner strength and childlike faith in God's 'leading' like only she can possess. My thoughts have kept going back to my quitting HP, and how God orchestrated that . I've agonised over what I would be writing here, but decided to restrict it to the things I'd like to remember as the highlights of this move are (in no specific order): I've learnt and grown much, in my four years in advertising My whole concept of working/functioning in an office

I believe that love lives also in the little things. One can climb a mountain, dive into the ocean, and base jump from the International Space Station, but that is just a single incident in a lifetime spanning thousands of incidents. If love does not live in the little things, then it very well may not live at all. So, here is a teensy-weensy incident. Of love. As a reminder of love in marriage, on Valentine's Day. _________________________________________________________________ I'm a person who dislikes idlies , a South Indian breakfast staple, made from rice and urad dhaal . My wife, on the other hand loves them, so from time to time, we end up having idlies for breakfast. A few years ago, I came home one afternoon to find my wife in a jubilant mood. She had that glint in her eyes, which meant that she had a surprise for me. She drags me off to the kitchen and asks me to taste something - something, the likes of which I'd not seen before. They looked like f

“Jallikattu protests  - All roads lead to Marina” screamed a headline. Truly, on Saturday evening, as we made our way to the famous Marina beach, we could see almost every third vehicle on the road was headed there. There were men and women dressed in black. There were bikers stopping by the roadside to hold up placards and signs. Some even held up phones displaying pro-Jallikattu messages. When we reached the signal on Mount Road just before the Chepauk stadium, we made a quick decision – we decided to head straight. We had heard that vehicles weren’t allowed till the Marina, so I figured that we could start much higher North and ride down the road adjacent to the beach. There was nary a vehicle on Flag Staff road, and my wife and I wondered at the completely deserted road. When we turned the last curve of the road to join the ‘beach road’, there she stood. The Indian flag. Waving boldly in the breeze. As if to say that Indian-ity reigned supreme – come what may.
 My hea