Home.. It is the place where journey begins

Its been 15 years since i moved to this city of dreams ..did my masters from one of the top institutes , joined one of the biggest IT companies, got married to Deepa and then Kyra joined the family.. I got everything here.. The only thing was missing was to have a home in this city of dreams .
In this 15 years have been staying on rent and  changed places 8 times. Was trying to buy a home but the increase in prices was always more than the salary i used to get. After marriage , Deepa and I  searched for an abode and saw almost more than 100 odd places but nothing as per what we wanted. We also made some wrong choices in finding a place which again pushed back our search.
Our search atlast ended last month and happy to announce that we booked a flat in Mayfair Hillcrest in Vikhorli and took possession this week. Thanks to our families and friends who have supported us in our journey. It was possible because of you.

Now the journey begins.

My Baby's Diaries - Episode 1

Well have been thinking a lot about starting to write again . It was always on the back of mind to write something for you -  Kyra ( today almost 18 months) that one day you would be able read about how you have made a wonderful difference by being part of our lives.

Well today's blog is about before you were born. Your Mom and me had been married for 3 years and were discussing whether we were ready to have an additional member to our family. There was always this pressure from family and friends  and also our age was catching up on us. Your Mom and me discussed this a lot. We would have never been ready and found reasons not to start a family. 

One fine day in March, we decided  and that we would also make sure that we were physically able to bring a life into this world. We had ourselves checked if we would be able to have an child. I would like to thank this Dr Sinha  in Sandeep Sarovar who help us through this period. I used to call her Pagli cause she was quite eccentric in her methods. She guided us.  It took us couple of months to understand and with some false alarms, we finally confirmed that your Mom was pregnant in 1st week of June.

It was one of the happiest moment of our lives. We were also in between houses so had to take special care during the shifting. Your Grandparents were so happy when we informed them. We started making plans about how to make it easy for you to enter this world and to be frank that department was with your Mom. She did everything right. Read books, watched videos, joined online forums, ate the right things. She was like on a mission.  I was a bystander trying to facilitate and ensure she gets everything she wants. She had dry fruits, fruits, proteins, vitamins,etc in her daily food so that you get it. The most fruit she ate was pomegranate and then the evening Paan we used to have. We used to try to have evening walks. But you know your dad na.. he is a lazy bum.

Now when we did the first sonography and saw you for the first time, we were happy but really could not see you properly till the doctor pointed it out. The later sonography  in 5th, 8th months were clear and could see your head, hand, legs etc. I think we have the video of the 1st sonograph and pictures of the rest of them. Only regret is i could not be there for 1 of the doctor visit during the 9 months months.  You were one of the healthy babies and grew properly during the 9 months you were in the womb. Kudos again to your Mom to eat healthy and the right stuff.

Your Mom had recently taken up this new job before she got pregnant so she did not have any vacation days . She was too sick in initial 3 months and was weak but still managed to go to office in most of the days. It was a travel of almost 90 min one way. But your Mom has always been a fighter. She went to office till January 2014 almost till the 9th month started. She completed all the work she had and yes she was in one of the most difficult projects. But some of the team supported her throughout. Our driver made sure your rides were comfortable during that period and our cook ensured that your Mom had the right food. 

For me also was not an easy period. I was travelling a lot and also there was reorg in office. Also i was working on a huge deal  which was running in parallel. At the same time we had a robbery in our home ( you might have listened to the story from me before you read this). So there was police and court rounds to be done. So there was too much on our plate.

 During November you had your first motorbike ride, ya ya.. I bought my Thunderbird 500 in November and took your Mom for a small ride.

January was the month we were waiting for. Due date was on 24 Jan but it used to move around after each doctor check up. Your Aai ( grandma) came to stay with us to support your Mom in mid Jan.   Till now we did not knew if you were a boy or a girl. I did not have any specific preference nor did your Mom. We had our bags ready for any emergency.The tension had started after mid Jan.

... to be continued dear...

Happy Birthday Kyra!!

As i was scanning through my Facebook timeline during December end, i started seeing these Thank You messages for the year 2014. It was  interesting and i wanted to go an create mine own but then i decided to wait as it has been one of the most important year in my life and facebook can't express my feeling. I planned to publish this on  Kyra’s birthday.

On January 27, 2014 , i was blessed with a wonderful gift, my princess Kyra who brought such warmth and love into my life.

I remember the day when after 16 hours of labor and sleepless night, Deepa and I took the decision to have a C-section and bring this bundle of joy to life. I was there with Deepa, holding her hand when the doctor delivered the baby and said it’s a girl. I gripped Deepa’s hand and smiled at her. I took my Princess and I held her. She was so tiny and small .She was unable to open her eyes. It was an unbelievable experience.

As she grew up, each day was a new day. We learnt something new about baby habits , how they behave and how we should react.  My baby turns 1 year old today and want to dedicate some lines to her

How time flies by
It was just yesterday

And now a year has passed by 

When i held you for the first time
You could fit in my palm

Now you hold my hand to walk

Everyday I come home

And cuddle you in my arms

I forget all my worries

When I play and dance with you

I am on top of the world

Completely carefree

When I am not with you

There is never a moment

That I don’t miss you

Love you always -- Papa !!

Amazing Passport Seva experience- Passport process done in 48 hours

I had to apply for a fresh passport for my 1 year old daughter and renew passport of my wife.  Now those who have gone through the pain earlier of applying a passport and till they receive it after police verification, understand the predicament I was in since it involve time and money to compete the process.

I had heard about the passport seva Kendra which is run by TCS. Had heard good/bad experiences but in my scenario, I stay in a rented apartment and there are limited address proof which we can submit. Also police verification had given me trouble during my passport application 5 years back.

With this task in hand, Deepa and I started planning for the application. We listed out all the documents from the website and read through many blogs. We also spoke to few friends who had recently got their passport and understood the process.  We then documented all the documents which we could bring and started arranging for them. We also decided to apply in the Tatkal category which expedites the passport application.

We got the following documents ready for both applications.

1)      Bank passbook with new address (Only PSU Banks allowed)

2)      Rental agreement ( we did not have the original)

3)      Company Letter

4)      IT return

5)      Marriage certificate

6)      Our passports

7)      PAN card/Aadhar card/Driving License

Now we need to submit only 1 document as address proof, but then knowing how our system works we made sure we have enough backup documents.

We then took appointment for Wednesday 1130 am . We reached there around 11am. Since we were with 1 year old kid they allowed 1 parent to go inside and sit. At exact 1130 reporting time, we were allowed to go inside and directed towards the Tatkal counter. Here the TCS team verified the documents, asked for more details and arranged the documents. Some of the documents were not photocopied properly so we got them done inside the premise ( this is time saver). We gave only the passbook, marriage certificate and passport copies here.

Since we had a tatkal application, we had to go the APO first to get details of our file first and then token would be issued. So we had to wait till 1200pm to get the APO verification. Till then it was lunch time for my kid so there was a Child care available. Once the APO provided the Go ahead , we went back to the original counter and our tokens were issued.

Now there are 3 counter A  for Application processing, B for Verification and C for Confirmation. At A counter, TCS associates are there and at Counter B&C  government officials are present. There are almost 20 A counter, 6 B Counters and 4 C counters.

Deepa token was called and we were greeted with a pleasant greeting and asked for all the documents arranged by the person on the token counter. Her photo was clicked, the details on the application were verified by using a dual screen. Also all the documents were scanned and her work was over in 5 minutes.  Since Deepa’s details had to be added to Kyra passport, we had to wait for 10 minutes. Meanwhile I worked on Kyra application at the A counter, Deepa already had her number called for the B counter. Meanwhile they took Kyra thumb impression and her application was also done by  1pm.

At the B counter, more documents were asked from Deepa and then she shared the rental agreement.  She was again sent back to A counter for scanning  the documents. After scan she was again required to go to the B counter. All the tokens were automated and transferred based on system logic written. Just after B counter application was done, Kyra was called to another B counter.  Due some difference in names, we had to show Deepa License and marriage certification again. But then people at the B counter were helpful and nice. We completed the B counter process by 1320pm.

Now both the applications went to APO office for some verifications. Deepa was then directed toward C counter to complete the process. By then Kyra was asked to go meet the APO, but then he saw the documents and cleared the application and Kyra was not even required to go the C counter.

From there we went to the exit to collect the final application acknowledgement and it was 1330pm  ( just before the official lunch time).  And the best part which was written on the form that Police verification was not required for both the application. ( This was a great relief as we know how the police verification happens and how applications get stuck) . The whole process was completed in 2 hours flat.

As we left Deepa was still saying that we might still face some issues but I was confident  that we will not face any issues. By the time we reached home, we got an SMS stating the passport is being printed. By evening we got an SMS stating the passport has been printed. Next day we got an SMS that Passport has  been dispatched along with the tracking number. We thought it might take 1-2 days to receive it but then next day morning we left for office and my mom called at 11am the passport was delivered. So in flat 48 hours we had our passports in our hand

 I was completely dumbfounded and happy with the overall experience and kudos to the corporate government partnership along with technology  which has made our life very easy.

Thank you GOI and TCS. It was really great customer experience!!