Free books

Quite recently I received an unexpected gift, or should I say gifts - four great books for free. These were books we had reviewed as part of the initial judging panels of the Inaugural 2009 Warwick Prize for Writing. Of the four, three were actually in the long list, namely, Glister (fiction) by John Burnside, Planet of Slums by Mike Davies and Brasyl (Sci-fi/ fiction) by Ian McDonald. I particularly liked Brasyl.

The one that didn't make it is 'Dry Store Room No. 1: The Secret Life of the Natural History Museum' by Richard Fortey which is kind of interesting in a way.

Naomi Klein ultimately took the prize for her book 'The Shock Doctrine' (I have her signed book as well).

These books should keep me occupied for a while.  Looking forward to the books they have short-listed for next year's prize.

Get professionals to review your CV for free

Right now I am in the process of writing up my PhD thesis and I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have also started applying for jobs at different Universities. I have no idea why but ads for most academic jobs in the UK come out around this time with successful candidates starting work around the end of September- early October. You miss the boat this year and you have to wait for the next round next year.

So far, I haven't had even one interview, meaning that I had not been able to get through the first round of screenings. I had been expecting it as I still haven't got my PhD and due to the fact that I am from outside the EU. Getting a job here in the UK for non-EU people has become really hard, almost impossible.

Recently I attended this seminar for those interested in an academic career and I showed my CV to one of the experts. The lady who had a look at it made some suggestion but overall she was quite impressed with it. If it had not I would have been very disappointed.

Even though my English language skills are quite good, if I may say so myself, I feel that I need professionals who have experience in evaluating CVs to have a look at mine. This is because often, it is the CV that decides whether you get to the interview sessions.

I actually paid to get my CV and reference letter checked at this site called the CV Centre. They really did a good job and when I was not entirely happy with the first draft, they actually incorporated my comments and sent the revised version to me the same day itself.

Right now they are currently offering completely free CV reviews to potential new customers. Do take advantage of this offer as it is for a limited time only.

Fundraising Made Easy

I am a member of a student society at my University and a couple of months back we organised an event whereby we invited some consultants to come over and talk to the students. At our first committee meeting, the members came up with a number of great ideas. Unfortunately most were shot down due to one main factor - the lack of funds. The funds allocated to us seemed quite a lot but when we broke down the expenses involved including the refreshments (very important), the funds suddenly seemed like pocket change. This made me realise the importance of having a fundraiser before we organise any event to make sure that we are not limited by funds.

In the end, we did organise the event successfully but I was not really satisfied with the student turnout and the way the event was managed. It could have been much better had we started working on the event much earlier and more importantly, had we had more funding. This made me think of various ways to raise funds for the next event.

It seems so easy but from experience I know it's easier said than done. How do you convince people to part with their hard earned money?

The Fast Track Fundraising site has so many ideas and tips to make your fundraiser easy. One of the ways I use to evaluate a service is by looking at the customer testimonials and reviews. Frankly I am quite impressed by their track record. Quite recently one guy actually raised $4,030.40 with a Lollipops fundraiser while another raised $3,000.00 with a dinner and movie card fundraiser. There are so many other fundraising products listed on the site. They have been featured in Forbes, CNBC, and SmartMoney. What I found quite surprising was the fact that they don't take any money upfront and provides 100% free shipping for their products. The company uses the MacAfee secure system and gurantees 100% safe fundraising. Another great feature was the fundraising thermometer which allows you to track and display your fundraising goal online. All you have to do is note your fundraising goal and the money you have raised so far. Just clicking a button will generate a code which you can then put on your site.
So if you are thinking of doing your own fundraising for an event, or for some charity or it may even be for a school trip, do drop by the Fast Track Fundraising site.

Visit to Ash End House Childrens Farm

Sometime back, my son had a school trip to Ash End House Childrens Farm in Tamworth and I accompanied him. We both had a few firsts. Here are some pics:


Feeding ducks for the first time in my life


Giving milk to a calf .... for the first time in my life again




Both of us feeding the goats
My son was initially quite scared but in the end he was really into it.


The Boy Who Stare at Goats

St George was Palestinian

23 April was St. George's day and my daughter came home with loads of pictures of crosses and questions about St. George. I only told her what I knew - the legend of him killing a dragon and rescuing a princess. I also know that he is the patron Saint of England and that his emblem, a red cross on a white background, is the flag of England but nothing more than that. Being curious, I went over to the best source of information on the web - Wikipedia.

The racist BNP extensively uses the St George's Cross in it's campaigns and I actually thought that it was their symbol. It's not.

Boris Johnson, the mayor of London recently called for Londoners to reclaim the "St George flag from the BNP". I do realise that a lot of BNP supporters display the flag in their cars and windows.

Anyway, I was quite surprised to learn that according to historians, the real St. George was actually born in Lydda, Palestine (now Lod in Israel) and he never actually came to the British Isles. Wonder how many people know about the actual origins of St. George?

David Attenborough's season on Eden

With a career spanning nearly 50 years, Sir. David Attenborough is one of the World's greatest naturalist film-maker.

To celebrate their David Attenborough season, Eden (Sky channel 532 and Virgin TV channel 208) is now featuring a number of natural history programming, including some of Sir David's greatest works. They are also running a competition where you have to guess what Sir David is describing in a short video clip for a chance to win an Olympus digital camera.

This is the fourth and last week and the last chance to win the Olympus TOUGH 3000 digital camera. Go over to the Eden contest page to take part.

Before you send in your answers you might want to take a look at the clip here:



Visit Sir David Attenborough's BBC website.

Thanks for the info Sophie.

The demographic segment that politicians in the UK forgot

Had a few reactions to my previous post "Blame the foreigners" but mostly offline. Some agreed with me while others felt that as foreigners, it was not our concern. I have to disagree because as long as we stay here, whatever decisions the Government makes, does affect us.

Some new regulations introduced since we first arrived has already had an impact. Among the new regulations that affect us directly, includes the stricter requirements for visa renewals along with the required minimum amount of money in our bank accounts for each family member when we renew our visas even though we are in our final stages of our study, the introductions of identity cards and the new points system.

As I pay tax on what little I earn, I feel that I have the right to decide how that money will be put to use. More so considering the fact that we are not eligible to receive any benefits from the council.

Also a lot of people (including some politicians I think) are not aware that since 1949, citizens of Commonwealth countries are eligible to vote in the UK .  We are the demographic segment that everyone forgot about but with the potential to make a huge difference.

In Coventry alone there are a few hundred potential voters but have been largely ignored by all political parties. And as we know elections can be won or lost by a single vote.