While the Capital is worrying about the upcoming state elections, rains and the endless traffic jams caused by them, we bring you Ganesh, a man in his thirties, who is seen sitting outside the Barakhamba Metro Station solving sudokus and puzzles released in newspapers. A tall think dark man, shabbily dressed, hair all over his face, Ganesh has been in Delhi for the last 10 years now. “I used to work in Punjab and I was travelling from Patna (my home) to Punjab when I stopped in capital and I was robbed of R35,000”, he says.
“He was robbed of huge amount of money and he has stayed in the Capital ever since. He comes here every morning and keeps on solving these puzzles, sudokus and other mathematical puzzles. He is also extremely fluent in English and when you talk to him he always makes sense”, says Rahul, the owner of a cola kiosk, also Ganesh’s good friend. “He eats whatever we give him, never really asks for food. He just sits in a corner and keeps solving these puzzles”, Rahul adds.
On a rather close inspection, it is clear that Ganesh makes mistakes in his puzzles, but at the same time, there is something about the puzzles that makes him solve them every day. And that’s not it — for a different puzzle, there’s always a different pen he uses!

New chip on the Android block

Waseem Gashroo

For the present generation of mobile users, especially the youth, a feature-loaded smartphone has become more of a necessity than a luxury. Gionee’s Dream D1 promises a great user experience to all mobile-freaks. A fast processor Dream D1, the dual sim, dual standby phone, running on

Android 4.1 Jelly bean (similar to Micromax Canvas HD) in a 8.6 mm chassis, happens to be quite stylish. An addition to the league of pocket-friendly quad core phones, this one has fared quite well with a 1.3 GHz quad core CPU based on ARM cortex A7 architecture.

Its 1GB RAM and 4GB internal memory gives the user the freedom to download and use multiple applications at once, with ease. Good camera, great sound, the 8 MP auto focus, auto panorama (99 pictures in one click) rear camera with LED flash delivers well, especially in low light. Dream D1 also offers HD video recording and face detection technology, along with a front-facing 1MP camera.

However, the smartphone could have promised a better camera experience at a price of R17,999. The a2100 MAH battery gives an average backup. However, the in-built Digital Theatre System (DTS) Sound is certainly the saving grace, promising a great multimedia experience. The phone also boasts of coming-of-age OTA (Over the Air) function to allow faster software upgrades.

Available in graphite black colour, the handset comes bundled with a 16GB memory card. Further, the phone gives a run for the money to its peers because of the 4.65 inch Amoled display (similar to Samsung Galaxy SII), that explains its great screen clarity. Gionee, which happens to be a key market player in the Chinese mobile market, has pinned its hopes on the newly launched Dream D1 to establish its foothold in the Indian market.

Click here for the published article on Hindustan times

My name is many a Khan ... and beyond

Waseem Gashroo

A fresh successor to Azad Essa’s first book — Zuma’s Bastards (2010) is The Moslems Are Coming: Encounters with a desktop terrorist. The book is a collection of journalistic pieces by a South African blogger of Indian origin, written during his multinational study programmes in India, South Africa and Germany. The daring title shakes up the reader initially, but as we go inside, Azad makes it comfortable for the reader. This book doesn’t restrict itself to Muslim affairs, but talks about countries where citizens face the issue of identity crisis and discrimination on the basis of colour.These are first-hand experiences of Azad while on his assignments. Also noteworthy is the way this book analyses the Kashmir conflict and its impact on the local residents. The issues of Kashmiri pandits who fled from the valley in the early 90s and the aftermath of their displacements have also been etched out remarkably. Azad talks about the the sense of insecurity among people in Kashmir — how the state’s youth has been made a victim of enforced disappearance. Kashmir is described aptly as a “Blind Spot”. The Moslems... is a strong reflection of global problems and how we can make changes within.

Click here for the published article on Hindustan times