Monday, April 22, 2013

Me and Other Things

Being a bengali I have had a very happy and cherished childhood. Even though I was a girl, my parents never let me feel inferior to boys. I was given everything I asked for and was pampered a lot. But they never let me turn into a brat either. Everything was so balanced. My parents are very supportive of me and very liberal in their thoughts. A trait I adore in them.

Maybe it was in my blood but I had hummed my first song by the time I had turned 2. You see, everyone in my family sings. So I took it up too. I joined the singing classes late & never got to finish them thanks to the burden of studies. But I did it up enthusiastically. It was like a coming of age. I felt so honoured to be attending classes that were meant to turn me into a professional. That dream though never coming true had a very positive effect on me. I was also good at arts (which is probably why I am in NID). So that was something I tried to hone too but alas nothing I could ever finish.

By the time I was in class2 I became aware of a little thing that had entered my life very stealthily. My kid brother opened his eyes to the world. I clearly remember the first time I had set eyes upon him. He was this tiny little bundle wrapped in white cloth all around. But I couldn't touch him as he was inside a glass chamber with his leg bound to a wooden scale and a needle in his feet. My eyes blurred with tears thinking of how much pain that little creature might have been in but the doctors assured me that he was fast asleep and it was for his own good. So I let them comfort me.

Later when he came home I was constantly hover around him. He was such a cutie! I wanted to cuddle him but that was completely out of the question as I was a kid myself and couldn't take care of myself let alone taking care of a new born. All I was allowed to do was to touch him now & then and an occasional peck on the cheek. His hands were so small and pink and they were all curled up. I loved him more everyday. He would later grow up to be a quiet person though. I am the elder one even if I act the complete opposite.

To be honest it's difficult being the eldest one in the family. Every eye, be it that of an adult or that of a younger sibling, follows your every move. It's like being under surveillance 24X7.

One wrong move and those eyes will narrow upon you in speculation. Incidentally the right things never get  noticed. You might have studied the whole night and slept just at the break of dawn but no one saw you doing the deed and hence everyone will expect you to get up early and start studying again. This is routine. The elders love pointing out your mistakes and the younger ones complain or follow in you footsteps.

Talking about footsteps, the younger siblings are like a herd of sheep or so the adults think of them. The adults keep warning you that if you go bad, your younger ones will follow you. So you have to be the responsible one. You have to do everything  right; study hard, eat healthy, respect you elders, stay away from bad people, so on and so forth. In one sentence you have to be the ideal person.

If life wasn't anymore difficult thanks to all these expectations, you have school and homework to top it all. I just remembered a long forgotten joke that has been doing the rounds on Facebook recently. It goes something like this, "If one teacher can't teach all the subjects, how can they expect one student to learn all the subjects?" In school this joke made so much sense. Studies was by far needed the most hard work. Then there was the concept of homework which kids these days have no notion about. Life is so easier now. No work load at all. But back then, we didn't have grades as a marking system, we had proper numbers and even a .25 difference could change our positions in class. I never stood first in class of course but never came last either. I was as average as average can get. To be honest I wasn't actually bad in studies. It was just that, studying was a pain in the neck which I would happily do without. I would study just before the exams and would pass with average marks. My teachers used to think that I would never make a mark for myself but the 10th board results changed that idea about me.

In hind set though I feel blessed to have been born in that era. Even though we were burdened with home works we could hardly deal with we made time for play. Back then computers were new to India and the whole concept of PC was far-fetched. How we spent our time away from books and school, you ask? We went out on our bicycles to parks and fields and played silly games. If you ask our generation, we can name a thousand games that we have played in our lifetime. Games nowadays kids haven't even heard the names of. Evenings used to be so much fun that they used to be the highlight of our day. We had this whole bunch of children who would gather in our lane and play games till dusk almost turned to night. There were no cell phones and hence our parents used to shout out to us to get us into the house. We would dally as much as possible before giving in to the threatenings of our folks.

Coming to threatenings they used to be so creative at that time. My parents and a few other parents of my friends would always say that if we didn't study we would end up being a "jhi" (literal meaning girl but in this instance used as a term to suggest housemaids). The boys would hear things like "rickshaw-walla or truck driver or bus conductor"; whatever suited their parents mood. It was very dishonouring at that time but now it's hilarious.

There are so many things I can write about but this has to be it for the time being. I might come up with a 2nd volume later sometime. Thanks for bearing with me.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Disney eBook Reader Final_01




After all the explorations this is what I came up with. the blue goes with the Disney website & everything is more evenly distributed.

Disney eBook Explorations


Product: eBook Reader for Kids
Client: Walt Disney
Context: School, Home
User: Kids (Age 10-14 Years)

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Wireframe for a Laundry App











These are just wire frames of the app. It shows how everything is going to work. The end product will be uploaded in a few days.


Scenario: 2 brothers own a laundry business. One does the washing, dry cleaning and ironing, the other does the collection and delivery of clothes and also handles the accounts.


Aim: Design an application for the brothers to keep tabs on services provided per household and also have a monthly dues and balance note.

P.S. The brothers are technologically updated.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

UI for College Canteen Feedback


A lack of communication between the caterers & the students and the general lack of appreciation for each other led us to create an interface where the students can give feedback & the caterers can take necessary actions accordingly. A lot of people might think that the same can be done by having a feedback notebook at the counter but in today's day and age who has the time to stop at the counter and write a few words? Pressing of a button seems much more easier.

The feedback along with the setting of the 'Menu' can be done without so much cognitive load. This feedback gets uploaded to the server automatically everyday and the chef no matter where he is can access it. Much more easier, don't you think?