A mini-you in silver

3D printers have given rise to a new trend of miniature sculptures in the city

It’s also a great gifting idea,” says Vidhya Srikanth who started Selfie Miniature a couple of years back. Her office space in Velachery, Chennai, houses four printers imported from Germany, that busily churn out 3D versions of images sent by enthusiastic clients. At a time, a printer can create 20 miniature models up to the height of six inches. “We end up getting at least three to four orders a day. They come from all over India and from even as far as Jammu and Kashmir. Around 70% of the orders are from or for couples,” she says, adding, “Other than our website, we also retail on Amazon and Flipkart.”

Recently, an engaged couple mailed her their photographs. They wanted the miniatures to be dressed in the exact same outfits that Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma wore for their wedding. Vidya also gets requests for bizarre miniatures, that we are better off not mentioning in print. “I just couldn’t get myself and my designer to work on it, so I turned down the order,” she says with a grin.

Clients also ask for images of celebrities. So far, the team has created miniatures of Abdul Kalam, Sachin Tendulkar and Virat Kohli.

“There are a few who want something elaborate. One of our clients wanted his “mini me” to be chilling on a lazy chair on sand, with a pool in front and a lawn behind. We did landscaping for that as well,” adds Vidhya.

Also popular are night lamps with personalised images that glow to life as the lights go off. Vidhya creates images in ceramic and, in a few cases, in plastic. The sizes vary from three inches to 10, with prices starting at Rs. 2,000 for miniatures and Rs. 750 for lamps.

And then there are those who only want gleaming silver version of themselves. Chinmay Rathi, who launched Precious 3D last year, says that he originally started out by creating models for companies such as Ford, Renault and ITC, but over the last few months he’s been receiving a steady enquiry for miniatures of individuals.

“I wanted to do something a little different so I experimented with miniatures in silver. And it worked out quite well,” says the 22-year-old who tied up with Baba Balaknath Silver for the same.

Chinmay is currently working on a 7.8-inch tall image, the biggest miniature he’s made so far. “The silver-plated images use around four to five grams of silver and the hollow silver versions are made with 50-100 grams of silver. Prices start at Rs. 4,000,” says Chinmay. For those wanting to feel like royalty, there is the option of having your face on silver coins. While these are mostly show-pieces, Chimay is working on a range of “wearable art” where you can chose to have your face on pendants as well.

chennai's candy land

Old Washermanpet is the hotspot for hard candies, its many by-lanes housing dozens of units and wholesale confectionery stores that supply to the whole country

Old Washermanpet

sweets manufacturing companies

for coconut, sesame, and groundnut barfis, hard candy, kamarkattu (made by boiling coconut scrapings and jaggery syrup) thaen mittai , pulippu mittai, and the unusual ‘cone ice’, Solaiappan Street, Telugu Chetty Street, and Nallappa Vathiyar Street, make up the city’s candy hotspot.

“There are over 40 wholesale sweet shops on this stretch alone,” says M Sathish, whose father owns Maruthi Sweets on Telugu Chetty Street. Apart from the manufacturing units, the area houses shops that stock candies, jellies, and chocolates. At Maruthi, there are racks and racks of bottles and containers of candies. They also stock murukkus and Mysore pak. “We source the barfis from local manufactures and buy the chocolate-based items from places such as Hyderabad, Indore, and Delhi,” says the 32-year-old.

Thangakili Sweets & PTD Confectionery, for instance, is famous for its barfi and hard candy,” he explains. Located on Narayanappan Naicken Street, Thangakili makes groundnut barfi , Mysore pak , and orange-flavoured candy

‘Cone ice’ is Anbazhagan’s speciality — it consists of hardened sugar cream on a cone. “It’s made of sugar and flavouring essence,” he says. Anbazhagan is well-known for his sweet — Kaviya Shree Sweets on Solaiappan Street is the only other company making the kind

 Today, a piece costs Rs. 5. “When I started making it, I sold one for 25p.”

According to G Balakrishnan of Udhayam Thaen Mittai, Hyderabad is the hub for wafers and chocolates, while Mumbai is where jellies come from. Chennai produces most of Tamil Nadu’s boiled candies. “Old Washermanpet has two manufacturing units for candies,” he explains. These also make lollipops, priced at Rs. 1 and Rs. 2. Apart from these, the area also produces pickles and corn-based snacks.

The most delicious of all candies is perhaps the orange mittai . Wait, it’s thethaen mittai . No, it’s the barfis that are more delicious. But then, ‘cone ice’, wins hands down for the illusion it represents — of ice cream that never melts.

What would you do if your interviewer says "prove to me that you're smart" 7 WHY SHOULD WE HIRE U ?

Interviewer: Prove to me that you are smart.

Me: Sure sir.

Picks up the glass of water infront of me and drinks half the water off it.

Me: Sir, could you tell me about the contents of glass?

Raises the glass to him.

Interviewer : Confused. Ah..

Me: Well,What does this glass comprise of?

Interviewer: Oh,Well I would say that this glass contains half quantity of water and half quantity of air.

Me: Grins Sorry, sir but this glass (raises the glass to him again) , or any other glass for that matter is made primarily of a chemical compound known as silica, which is mixed with limestone and soda ash and heated at 1700 degree celcius. That is what glass comprises of.

Interviewer : Interesting.

Me: In a buisness like tone. Now to answer your question, being Smart is a relative phenomenon, there is no actual way to measure smartness. A fox is considered smart in the animal kingdom but it is nothing infront of the hunter who traps him. I think I will consider myself smart if I can outsmart the gentleman infront of me into believing me. Smirks.

Interviewer :Hmm..

Me: Also, what you answered was correct, glass does indeed contain water and air, but not exactly in the proportion you mentioned. Smiles.

Interviewer : Welcome aboard.
***

Interviewer : you left the job of business analyst, and came here to be a banker. Why should we hire you?

Me: An assistant manager job at bank is no different from business analyst work. I used to bring business to my past company, by negotiating projects with client from all parts of the world, and made sure that the client and my company gets mutually satisfied with work and pay. That's what is needed in bank. I can bring business by sanctioning loan to the deserving so that it can't turn npa and can communicate with any sort of customers at any time with smile on my face forever. I am going to prove myself as an asset.

Interviewer: we need this energy in a candidate, god bless you beta.

That's how I won both the opportunity.

Sneak in my profile for all amazing helps.

How HR recruiter shortlist the resume & how do they reject it?

I am a Recruiter myself and I will give you my understanding of shortlisting the resumes as well as rejecting them.

First I will go with rejection, below are the points:

a) Grammatical mistakes (these can play a huge part even if you’re perfect candidate). Not all of us are great writers even I can make mistakes, but the most common mistake is - spelling mistakes, make sure your resume is error-free.

b) Nowadays many resumes get rejected due to the reason that you have to travel an hour, so by looking at your address or place, HR would probably reject you, avoid adding the address.

c) Lying - such as, when you saw the job posting you tried to change your resume and added some skill set or pointers in which you do not have any experience or just know the basics. And while pre-screening when Recruiter/HR asks you something, in particular, you went blank or didn’t able to answer it properly.

d) Your resume is way lengthy, trust me HR gets loads of resumes and if you’re going to make it look like short-novel I suggest hire some professionals to make your resume.

e) Applying too late, trust me this plays a huge factor in getting the job. If you’re currently in the market and looking for a job apply quickly at-least within hours. Sometimes we only have a 24-hour window to full-fill the position.

f) Some genuine reasons for getting your resumes rejected:

1. Relocation

2. Sometimes companies try to promote internally

3. One has to understand hiring process is subjective and can change as per the requirement, you might have submitted your resume for something in particular and the requirement of the job got changed.

4. The project gets the red sign and won’t be making any hiring

5. Lack of funding

6. You’re not as suitable as you think

7. Job hopper

Reasons to shortlist the resumes:

a) Excellent Cover letter with neat and precise Resume, nicely formatted with bullet points and a positive objective.

b) Adding your achievements

c) Certifications - for example - a Project Manager with PMP certification will get shortlisted first then who do not.

d) Done Coaching and Mentoring to your juniors or subordinates

e) Good experience

f) You’ve come through referral

g) Have desired skill-set

h) Creative resume and good online presence

These are some of the few reasons to shortlist as well reject the resume.

What are a few things that very successful people never do?

1. THEY NEVER GOSSIP:
 When successful people want to share the inside scoop, they just speak openly about their preferences and thoughts.

2. THEY NEVER INTERRUPT:
 Listen, they truly listen to what others have to say. They try to learn from what everyone else thinks.

3. THEY NEVER RESENT:
 Remarkably successful people put all their emotional energy into focusing not on others have done, but on what they will do. When you hold onto it, only YOU lose.

4. THEY NEVER FIT IN (just to fit in):
 They have decided to simply be who they are.

5. THEY NEVER LET THE PAST DICTATE THEIR FUTURE:
We all make mistakes, we all have challenges. Remarkably successful people believe their past should inform them but not define them.

6. THEY ARE NEVER LATE:
Successful people start their day a little early. They plan ahead.

7. THEY NEVER DECIDE THEY DON'T HAVE THE TIME:
They figure out what's important and strip away all the stuff that isn't.

8. THEY ARE NEVER AFRAID TO TAKE RISKS:
They put their fear aside and get started. They are often afraid, but they are most afraid of looking back and thinking."if only I had...."

Ambaram's handloom, baby

July 31, 2018 12:17 IST Ambaram creates hand-woven cotton clothes and accessories for new-borns

One afternoon, SP Arun Kumar chanced upon a pillow at his home in Madurai. It changed the course of his life. “It was stuffed with old baby clothes that belonged to my sister and me,” recalls the 29-year-old. Kumar felt the fabric, ran his hands through the embroidery that his mother had done. “It was unlike anything I saw at the regular textile stores,” he says. “The clothes were simple, made of the softest cotton, and the colours were mild and pleasant.” Kumar, who then worked as a web-designer in Chennai, thought, why not make quality baby clothes? He didn’t like city life anyway and saw the business idea as something that would take him back to his roots.

“My sister Ponmani and I came up with the concept for a line of clothes that are suited for our weather conditions and are kinder on the skin and environment,” says Kumar. That’s how Ambaram came to be. Started in December 2016, the company makes hand-woven clothes for new-borns and babies up to the age of one. According to Kumar, Ambaram means fabric in ancient Tamil.

Kumar says that hand-woven cotton is better suited for South India’s weather. “Knitted fabrics, for instance, are not breathable. Wear them in the hot sun and you can see how the material doesn’t let sunlight in.” Kumar says that nylon and polyester are a big no-no. “Dressing up babies in such fabrics, according to me, is an act of violence,” he feels. “We strive to go the Gandhian way — we source fabrics from Gandhigram at Dindigul and from handloom weavers in and around the weaving clusters of Chennimalai,” he adds.

Ponmani, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Fashion and Garment Design, patterns the clothes. The Ambaram team is all for no frills — their range consists of off-white jablas with pastel borders and tie-ups, shorts, and nappies. “We wanted to keep off zippers, buttons, and elastic that can hurt baby skin,” explains Kumar. The brother-sister duo is now working on clothes for kids up to the age of five. “We plan to introduce frocks and kurta-pyjama sets with simple thread work,” he adds.

Ambaram’s USP is its gift box — a combination of jablas, nappies, bibs, shorts, a bracelet made of vasambu (calamus root), palm leaf rattle, and a handmade cradle mobile. Kumar sources the rattles from palm-leaf artisans in Thiruchendur and Ramanathapuram. “We wanted to provide an eco-friendly alternative to the flood of plastic toys in the market.”

Most of their orders are online. They market their products on their Facebook page and by word-of-mouth. Ambaram’s unit is at Puliyanur village, Villupuram. “When we first visited the village, we saw most parents there worked in far off places and visited their children only during weekends. Their children grew up with their grandparents and lacked a connect with their parents,” says Kumar. Along with Ponmani, he stared a tailoring school to provide women there an alternative livelihood. “Today, we have a team of three that works for us,” he says. “We hope the unit becomes self-sustainable.”

Roof Gardening

Love to grow your own vegetables on a terrace garden? NM Mythreyan and V Balasubramaniam offer city dwellers advice on the nuts and bolts of setting up one

The first thing I notice when I reach the terrace is how organised everything is. The plants are arranged in neat rows, in green HDPE grow bags. There is a green shade net at one end which covers one third of the terrace, the walls are lime-washed. The area has been well utilised and there’s even a small fruit section atop the water tank.

NM Mythreyan, who set up the garden with his brother-in-law V Balasubramaniam says, “We decided to start a roof garden about seven years ago. But at the time, we mostly had flowering plants. They flourished and in a short while we had a beautiful garden of ornamental plants. We then tried planting vegetables. These turned out very well and after a few months we noticed that our vegetable bill came down significantly. So we replaced most of the flowering plants with vegetables. To facilitate cross pollination, we also planted herbs.” He adds, “Today about 70% of our weekly vegetables comes from our terrace garden — and its all organic.”

Mythreyan continues, “On weeks we had excess, we offered some of our vegetables to our neighbours and soon, a lot of them started coming to us for advice on setting up their own terrace gardens.”

Balasubramaniam explains: “That’s when we decided to offer advice and supplies to help people set up terrace gardens. From the outset we decided that our priority was not to make money but to help people. We charge a nominal fee for advice and add a small margin to the supplies to help us sustain the business. We’ve helped build over 1,500 terrace gardens across Chennai.” They have set-up a company called Indra Terrace Gardens that Yogalakshmi, Mythreyan’s wife runs.

Balasubramaniam says that they grow brinjal, chillies, curry leaves, tomatoes and leafy greens like spinach. In the summer, they plant cluster beans, cucumber, watermelon, okra, and bitter gourd and in winter, long beans, radish, carrot, beetroot, capsicum, among others.

When asked if water seeps into the floor below, Balasubramaniam says, “We use HDPE grow bags instead of clay pots that can crack easily and are quite heavy. The bags are light and waterproof. We also use coir mixed soil which absorbs and holds water.” The duo collects dry leaves and food waste is a compost bin. This is converted into bio manure for the plants.

Water from their kitchen is routed to the garden. For pest control, they use neem oil, castor oil, a mix of chilli, ginger and garlic extracts. They’ve also planted flowering plants that act as a natural pest control agent.

Mythreyan and Balasubramaniam hope to raise awareness on terrace gardens. “A lot of people are not aware that an area of 500 to 600 sqft is all that’s needed to meet 60 to 70% of the vegetable requirements of a family of four. The vegetables are organic, and having plants also brings down the temperature of the floors below. Also, the initial cost of setting this up is low and so is the maintenance.”

---

Green house

  Fabricating and putting up a 500 sq ft green shade net comes up to Rs. 35,000.

  Plants, bags, manure, coir-peat soil, seeds and saplings required for a 1,000 sq ft terrace garden cost approximately Rs. 10,000.

  One needs to spend about 30 minutes a day to maintain a 1000 sq ft terrace garden.

  For details, call 9884046327 email indragardens@gmail.com.