Quilling Birthday card

Quilling is also called paper filigree. It is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. The paper is rolled, looped, curled, twisted and otherwise manipulated to create shapes which make up designs to decorate greetings cards, pictures, boxes,  jewellery etc. The most popular and versatile technique is that of rolling. The paper strip is rolled in fingers or using a tool. The coil is then released and then glued at the tip and then shaped. These shaped coils are arranged to form flowers, leaves, and various ornamental patterns.

In the 18th century, quilling became popular in Europe where gentle ladies of quality ("ladies of leisure") practiced the art. It was one of the few things ladies could do that was thought not too taxing for their minds or gentle dispositions. Quilling also spread to the Americas and there are a few examples from Colonial times.

Many quilled art works can be found on cabinets and stands, cribbage boards, ladies' purses, a wide range of both pictures and frames, work baskets, tea caddies, coats of arms and wine coasters. Storage boxes, larger than most jewelry boxes with drawers and/or tops that opened, quilled lock boxes, and much more. Some items were specially designed for quilling with recessed surfaces. Quilling was also combined or married with other techniques such as embroidery and painting. 

I had arranged these different quilled patterns to form a card...which looks like this...

The flowers and leaves are done using various quilling shapes like teardrop, bend teardrop, scroll, leaf,eye, tight coil and loose coil.Please give it a like if u like it...comments and suggestions are always welcome...

Tulsi ji ki Aarti

TULSI VIVAH

Story of Tulsi Vivah is described in  Padma Purana.

According to Hindu mythology, the Tulsi plant was a woman named Vrinda (Brinda), a synonym of Tulsi. She was married to the demon-king Jalandhar. Due to her piety and devotion to Vishnu, her husband became invincible. Even god Shiva, the destroyer in the Hindu Trinity could not defeat Jalandhar. So Shiva requested Vishnu - the preserver in the Trinity - to find a solution. Vishnu disguised himself as Jalandhar and violated Vrinda. Her chastity destroyed, Jalandhar was killed by Shiva. Vrinda cursed Vishnu to become black in colour and he would be separated from his wife. Thus, he was transformed into the black Shaligram stone and in his Rama avatar, his wife Sita was kidnapped by a demon-king and thus separated from him. Vrinda then burnt herself on her husband's funeral pyre or immolated herself due to the shame. The gods or Vishnu transferred her soul to a plant, henceforth which was called as Tulsi. As per a blessing by Vishnu to marry Vrinda in her next birth, Vishnu in form of Shaligram - married Tulsi on Prabodhini Ekadashi ( Kartik Poornima ). To commemorate this event, the ceremony of Tulsi Vivah is performed. This day also signifies the start of subh mahoorats for hindu marriage.

Here at this note I would like to share aarati for tulsi ji which is used to pray to Tulsi ji, every evening after sunset, by my mom all throughout Kartik month followed by performing the marriage ceremony of Tulsi ji on Kartik Poornima.

Diwali special!!! home made Kandiil

As Diwali is this Tuesday, I went shopping. wanted to buy a Kandiil for Diwali...but when I asked the price non was less than 200 Rs.They were not pretty at all, I did not felt that they were worth spending 200 Rs.. I still had paper leftovers from my sister's Birthday card.... so I thought lets make some Kandiil for this Diwali . This is how the final product looks like.

We need some colorful translucent papers, paper cutter, cello tape, 1 m thread.
To make a Kandiil of the same size as in picture, Cut 4 squares ( 3x3 inches), 8 triangles ( 3x3x2.25 inches) , 8 rectangles (2.25x0.5 inches) .
Make sure:
           2 sides of Triangle = = side of Square
                                         &
           Smaller side of the Triangle = =  longer side of Rectangle

Now stick the pieces (squares and triangles ) using cello tape, as in picture and  also stick rectangles with each smaller side of the Triangle

Create any simple Kirigami design, so that the light can pass through. As a variation you can also stick colorful transparent sheets on one side after cutting, so that the light is of different color

Stick the sides to make a hexagonal shape.Cut the multiple color frills using special paper scissor , stick them  to the bottom of the Kandiil.

Make a hole on all top side Rectangles for the rope. and rope or wire, so that  it can be fixed onto a bulb.

KANDIIL is ready.....

If any one tries it out.... please post the photos.

My first take at Popups and Kirigami

Its 2nd October, my sister's Birthday.

Here are few snaps of the Birthday card that I made for her.

This is the front of the card, its made out of paper cuttings.... this art is called Kirigami. It is a Origami variation, where u fold the paper and cut patterns out of them. The name was coined by Florence Temko. She used the word kirigami in the title of her book, Kirigami, the Creative Art of Papercutting, 1962. The book was so successful that the word kirigami was accepted as the name for the art of paper cutting.

Inside was a pop-up, again a type of paper art, A kin to Origami through which you can make 3D cards.

Pot decoration again...

My brush holder decorated using acrylic color and a golden glass liner.

Few small poems on Friendship.

I wrote these poems when I was very young ... when friendship was the only relation that I used to care about... more than my mom... more than my dad....or any one else in my family,  my friends were my top priority....when I used to fight with my mom-dad that my friends are correct and not them. When I used to search for lines to write in there birthday cards... and just wrote a few set of lines myself sometimes. Sharing all those young teenage poems, very simple ones that was scribbled out of my love for my friends.

This one is dated 2001 22nd Sep ,which happens to be one of my very good friends Birthday.

My life was still, without trills and frills,

You came in my life, with a sharpened knife

To cut all my grieves, to get me relieved

You added colors to it, to make it exquisite

You lent your hand, when I was not able to stand

You treated me with such care, which I would never like to share

You mean so much to me, as you will always be

There in my heart, whether  you are near or far apart

This one is dated 8th April 2002

Your friendship for me, was a key of gold,

That suddenly opened the doors, to joys untold.

Those happy moments, those moments of fun,

The days spend together, under the shining sun.

I will cherish them, all through my life,

Whether I am twenty, fifty or seventy five.

How can I ever forget you, I will never be able to,

Because a part of my heart, is gone away with you.

This one is dated 14th December 2002, again a very nearby date for a very good friends birthday.

The days when you will feel a little low,

Or perhaps have no where to go,

I will sure have a joke to crack

To put your lovely smile back.

Whenever you will feel forlorn

And don't know what to do or don't

I will take away your distress

To make you feel lively and fresh

To speak of your good and bad days

You can put your trust in me always

You can always have me on to depend

I will be your forever FRIEND.

What I did this Weekend..

This is what I did this weekend...

I got the plain pot from ISKON temple... yes it is the same pot that they distribute "prashad" if u take Rs/- 100 ticket.

Created a little texture on the pot and painted it.
Also did the flowers from M-Seal, painted with acrylic colors.

Here is the final product...

 Do leave a feedback...that would really help me to improve.

It was April 5th 2002

I wrote this poem on 5th April 2002. The year which I gave my 12th board exams. I was not sure about my future. I knew that I will not score well in my board exams, did not knew how I will fulfil my dad's dreams, My dreams...Lot of chaos in my mind...I wrote this poem.  

ये राहे जाने कहाँ मुझे ले जाएँ

शायद गुमनामी के वीरनो मे, या अंधेरी उजाड़ बियबानो मे

शायद मेरे सपनो की दुनिया, आगे चल मेरा सच हो जाएँ

जाने कहाँ हैं एक राहों का छोर, जाने चला जा रहा हू मैं किस ओर

चाहत हैं रोशनी, जगमगाते, झिलमिलाते

तारों को छूने की चाह थी

क्या मिलेगी मुझे वो, मेरी मंज़िल

जिसकी कल्पना मे जाने कितनी रात जगा, रात दिन देखे बिना सिर्फ़ उसकी ओर भागा

बंद पलकों मे या खुली आँखों से, जिसे हमेशा निहारता था

जिसकी एक झलक मात्र को, लाँघे अगणित समंदर

और शायद पार कर जाऊं, अनेको अनेक पर्वत शिखर

उन गलियों से भी गुज़ारा, जहाँ हर कदम काँटे चुबहे

साथी तो कई मिले

साथी तो कई मिले, अच्छे बुरे जो साथ चले

जिनकी आगोश मे एक पल को, भुला बैठा अपने दर्द को, गम को,

पर मैं अकेला था हमेशा हर कदम, ये वक़्त जो नित नये गम

भूल गया उनको पीछे छोड़ आया हू, अपने प्यारों से मूह मोड़ आया हू

साथी तो कई मिलेंगे

साथी तो कई मिलेंगे, अच्छे बुरे जो साथ चलेंगे

और यदि रह जाऊं भी मैं अकेला, शायद मुझे कोई गम ना होगा

गर वो मेरे साथ होगी

गर वो मेरे साथ होगी, मेरी मंज़िल

जिसके स्वर्णिम मुख को देखने मैं चला था, चाहत मैं जिसकी पाने को मैं पाला था

जिसके ख़यालों मे ये राह चुनी थी, जिस सुंदरी की कल्पना की थी

चलता रहा हू, चलता ही रहूँगा, ज़िंदगी की शाम होने तक बढ़ता ही रहूँगा

चाहे फूल मिले या पत्थर, चाहे खुशी मिले या चुबहे नश्तर

पर राह ये जो मैने चुनी हैं

जिस सुंदरी की कल्पना की हैं

मंज़िल चला हू जिसे मान कर

रुकुंगा तभी जब थाम लू उसके कर.

I GOT BACK THE MONEY SWIPED FROM THE LOST HDFC DEBIT CARD

I wanted to share this incident with every one who has a debit card and carry it with them.
Just because when I Lost my Card and searched on net for any case or any post with successful recovery of the money lost by swiping the lost debit card, I got no positive response which diminished my hopes to get my money back.

It was a Friday morning. The plan was to take up the job interview for VMware, ie: catch a bus from Hennur depot to Indian Express. Take a bus from there to J P Nagar, Kalyani Magnum Tech Park. Attend the interview and return back to Kammanahalli.. Plan was executed successfully but there was lot of unplanned events that happened the very day...One of the most happening days of my life

I reached VMware office, as I went through 3 rounds of interview, I was getting continuous calls on my cellphone from an unknown number. Though I didn't wanted to get disturbed in middle of the interview but as 3rd round got over I picked the call. it was from HDFC bank. The person said "mam I am calling from HDFC bank, have you made any transaction of 1104 rs in Khadi Bhandar, commercial street?" I said " no why?" instead of answering my first question he asked again "have you made any transaction of 3800 rs in Matadi Jewellers?", This time i was worried and told "no". He asked "mam please check if you have you HDFC debit card with you?". I searched all the corners of my backpack, there was no sign of my wallet. I felt like crying but I was so aghast that even tears did not came out. For a moment I stood frozen, there was a black out in my head.When I regained my conscious I asked that person "Can you please block my card? and also please tell me the total amount that was swiped from my card". Apparently he called me again and told the total swipe is of 31000 Rs/-, Almost my 2 months salary.

I left the interview and caught a bus for Majestic, since the daily pass that I had bought in the morning was still lying in the front chain of my backpack, I was able to board any normal BMTC bus. From Majestic I took another bus for Hennur. As soon as I reached my home, I searched my phone banking password to apply for a new card. since If it is not applied for on the same day as it is blocked then  you need to visit your home branch and then apply for it. The person for the phone banking told me that I need to log an FIR for card theft in the same date on which I blocked my card and  I might get my money back. Immediately I went to near most Banaswari police station for logging  a FIR. After 15 minutes of wait finally the police called me and asked for the details. He asked me " where did you lost your wallet?" . It was then I started thinking where exactly It would have been taken out from my backpack. I realised  that It could have been taken at Indian express where I waited for almost 25 minutes  to catch another bus for J P Nagar and since I had the bus pass so I didn't noticed that my wallet is already gone. I told him the same. Then he replied " then madam Please go to the police station nearest to Indian Express and log the FIR". It was already 5:30 pm and a Friday and the complain should be in the same date. So immediately I went to commercial street police station. Inspector was not there, after waiting for almost 20 minutes the inspector arrived.  I told him the whole incident, he told for logging an FIR you should have the exact details of all the transactions done on your card and that he wont be able to give the original FIR before Monday as it was already around 6:30. After begging to him and explaining that if FIR is not in today's date then the bank people will not consider it, he agreed to give me a hand written copy in the same date with his seal and signature.

On Monday I collected the original FIR and went to bank to submit it.They gave me 2 forms, One to be filled manually and the other one to be printed on a stamp paper. after wasting whole day I got this job done. on Tuesday I went to HDFC with both the forms and the FIR copy. The manager went through the document and asked  me to get the signature and stamp of the same inspector, On the FIR page where few Kannada words were written. I went to the Police Station again, after few scoldings from the inspector like: "This is Karnataka, Kannada is the official language, every official task is done in Kannada, then why should I sign.......etc", finally he agreed to sign on the FIR.

Next day again I went to the bank again with all the documents. The manager reviewed the documents again and told " Madam this signature wont do, you have to get these kanada word translated to English/Hindi by a notary with his stamp and signature". I got a little frustrated and shouted at him " cant you tell every thing in one go", he some how assured me that I will get my money back if I just completed this step, otherwise I might not get my money back. I realised that at this moment I should focus on my goal "getting my money back" and overlook the obstetrical in the way.Next day I went to Mayo Hall to get this notary task done after negotiating with 3-4 lawyers, A lawyer did it for 200 Rs.

I submitted the document in the bank. The manager told me that it would take around 15 to 20 days for investigation and I may receive some calls from the investigator, then I will get back the money. after 16 days the whole amount was credited to my bank account. I went to Hanuman Temple and offered 21 coconuts as promised after getting my money back.

Thought I had to face lot of trouble for submitting the documents, I got all the money back.  So I hope nothing like this happens to any one but if it does, this article can give them hope and positivity, that after all the paper work to be done they will get there money back.

A Java Question asked by Goldmans Sachs

Hello everyone,
This is my first attempt to write a blog. As my first article I would like to share an answer to a question which was asked for "Goldmans Sachs" interview. I was not able to write this program in the given time @ the written test...but successfully executed with desired results on my laptop....you can try it out.Any comments or suggestions or any other better and optimised approach to solve the same are most welcome.


Problem statement: Design and code a digital printer which takes a numeric user input (max 10 digit) and prints it in its digital format. ie: if user enters 23 then output should be:   -     -
                                                                                                          _|    _|
                                                                                                          |_    _|


Answer:


/*Program to take a numeric input (max 10 digits) and print it in digital format
*/
import java.io.BufferedReader;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStreamReader;
public class DigitalPrint
{
  int number = 0;


  boolean[] digitStore ={true,true,false,true,true,true,true,
                           false,false,false,true,false,false,true,
                           true,false,true,true,true,true,false,
                           true,false,true,true,false,true,true,
                           false,true,true,true,false,false,true,
                           true,true,true,false,false,true,true,
                           true,true,true,false,true,true,true,
                           true,false,false,true,false,false,true,
                           true,true,true,true,true,true,true,
                           true,true,true,true,false,true,true,
                        
                           };
                       


  /**
   *
   * @param args
   */
  public static void main(String[] args)
  {
    String input = "";
    DigitalPrint digital = new DigitalPrint();
 
    try{
    InputStreamReader inp = new InputStreamReader(System.in);
    BufferedReader reader = new BufferedReader(inp);
    System.out.print("Please enter the number: ");
    input = reader.readLine();
    }
    catch(IOException e)
    {
      e.printStackTrace();
    }
    digital.parseNum(input);
  }


  public void parseNum(String num)
  {
    int[ ] numArray = new int[10] ;
    try{
    number = Integer.parseInt(num);
    }
    catch(NumberFormatException n)
    {
     System.out.println("Input is a non Integer.Please check the Input!");
     n.printStackTrace();
     System.exit(1);
    }
    int temp = number, i=0;
    for(i=0; i< num.length();i++){
       numArray[i] = temp%10;
       temp = number/10;
       number = temp;
    }
    digitalPrinting(numArray, i);
  
  }




  public void digitalPrinting(int[] numArray, int arrayLength)
  {
   boolean[] digit = new boolean[arrayLength*7];
   int pos = 0;
   int s = 0;
    for(int k = arrayLength -1 ; k>=0; k--)
    {
          System.arraycopy(digitStore,numArray[k]*7,digit,s,7);
          s = s+7;  
       
    }
    int x = 0;
    System.out.print("\n");
    while( x<=digit.length-1 )
    {
      if(digit[x])
       System.out.print("  _ ");
      else
       System.out.print("    ");
      x += 7;
    }
   printLine(digit,1);
   printLine(digit,4);
  }




  public void printLine(boolean[] digit, int pos ){
    System.out.print("\n");
    int z = pos;
   while( z <= digit.length-1)
    {
      if(digit[z])
      System.out.print(" |");
      else
      System.out.print("  ");
      if(digit[z+1])
      System.out.print("_");
      else
      System.out.print(" ");
      if(digit[z+2])
      System.out.print("|");
      else
      System.out.print(" ");
   
    z+=7;
    }


  }
}



Output: