Digvijay and Ridhima’s blog

Tips for H4 visa interview

Recently I was at the New Delhi Embassy of the United States for my visa extension. As expected the process was very systematic and streamlined but I’d like to share my observations. I observed that there was almost a 2 out of 3 refusal rate in the H visa category! Green slips were being given to many around us like peanuts. I am writing these tips to help people who are preparing to give H1/H4/B1/B2 visa interviews in the near future.

1. Use a new photograph for each interview

Please do not use old photographs for visa extension interviews. If you have used a photograph in your previous interview, please do not give the same photo. The U.S. Embassy looks for recently clicked photographs.

2. Follow the rules

The goal of the consular officer is to determine that you do not intend to immigrate permanently to the U.S. and/or work in the United States (if you are applying for the H4 visa). Be straightforward in answering the officer’s questions. Carry all the necessary documents to provide additional insight about your professional and personal life.

3. It may be your first interview but not the consular officer’s!

Tags: h4 visa interview, H4 visa refusal, H4 Visa Related, tips for H4 visa

Posted in H4 Visa Related | No Comments »

Online Personal Branding

Living in a networked world

In a world so wired and so connected it is impossible to have privacy. Having said that another angle to look at the issue is ‘who wants privacy?’ About a decade back if someone did something interesting he would share it with friends and family via letters or verbal discussions. Many times the ‘news’ shared was stale and not interesting. Fast forward to today’s networked era. Many folks are connected online on Facebook, MySpace, Geni, LinkedIn, Orkut, Twitter, Youtube and other social/professional networking platforms. ‘News’ means ‘now’. ‘News’ means changing Facebook and MySpace updates @ ‘now’. ‘I am having a coffee at Starbucks’ or ‘I am waiting for the Caltrain’ or ‘I am in a conference’ or ‘I went clubbing till 4 am’ or ‘I am going dolphin watching’ are very common status updates. Hence, there appears to be a seachange in the way news is shared today as compared to a decade back.

1. People can be tracked by their Facebook ‘bar codes’ so to speak.  Compare a person’s social profile to a package sent via post. The package has a tracking code and can be tracked easily. It is easy to check the delivery status of the package. The online profile is the same. It is estimated that out of 300 million active Facebook users, almost 50% log onto Facebook everyday!

Tags: brand, online advertising, online branding, online marketing, online personal branding

Posted in Interesting, Technology, Web 2.0 | 2 Comments »

Treat your Roomba like a child..:)

Initially I doubted our Roomba purchase. I thought that purchasing the Roomba was not a very wise decision.  While the I-Robo cleans your home, it requires intensive cleaning and care as well.  The moment I reconciled with that fact as given, I realized that the Roomba is perhaps one of the best home vacuuming technologies.

You will like the Roomba for the following reasons:

• It will clean your home and pick up every spec of dust it reaches on the floor.
• It is good for wooden floors and carpets.
• It is self driven, self motivated!
• It will dock itself once the vacuum is complete and charge automatically.
• It will take many more passes than you can possibly do with regular vacuuming.
• It will keep going until it is 100% satisfied, runs out of battery or needs cleaning.

How to make peace with Roomba?

I know the frequent cleaning of brushes can be annoying. Think of it this way- you have to clean Roomba like you ordinarily clean your vaccuum cleaner. Another way to reconcile is to take care of your Roomba like a child. Clean it. Help it when it gets stuck. Listen to it when it beeps for help.Clear the ground of all things the Roomba (or baby) can put in mouth! Share the duty to clean it with your wife/husband. Let it play and voila! your home is clean!

Tags: floor vacuum, gadgets, Review, Reviews, roomba, roomba review, vacuum cleaner, vacuuming

Posted in Opinions, Technology | No Comments »

Movie Review: Kurbaan (2009)

By far ‘Kurbaan’ is a decent watch and successfully engages the audience. I am a big fan of hindi movies but have been bitterly disappointed by recent movie releases. Kurbaan did not let anyone sleep! I went to watch this movie only because I liked the song ‘Shukraan’ but got more than just lyrics n music!

The movie portrays the love between Kareena Kapoor and Saif Ali Khan and quickly moves on to show a conspiracy for terrorist attacks.  The love story was not lingered on and there was no singing around the trees. I really like the storyline and appreciate the fact that Karan Johar has given us a decent watch.

Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor play their roles well and the on-screen chemistry seems to be explored to newer dimensions. Vivek Oberoi has given a great performance. Om Puri acts well but I have to say Kiron Kher is such a versatile and talented actress!  Ask her to play a Bengali lady, Punjabi mom and an Afghani fundamentalist, she does not fail to surprise us.  She does justice to all.  Five stars to Kher.

Tags: bollywood, Karan Johar, kurbaan, kurbaan 2009, kurbaan review, Movies, review of Kurbaan, Shah Rukh Khan

Posted in Movies | 2 Comments »

Paranormal Activity : Movie Review

If you’ve read any of the other reviews for ‘Paranormal Activity’, you will notice that many reviewers talk about ‘not sleeping’ at night after watching it.Yes it is true. If you have not watched this movie and have an appetite to digest strangely creepy movies you must watch it.  If you are scared of horror movies easily please do not watch it.

I waited for almost 2 weeks before writing this review. Not only was I scared to write about ‘Paranormal Activity’ but even thinking about the movie made me feel the creeps!  Yes..that’s the word! The movie was ‘unusually creepy’ not ‘horrifying’. I’d prefer to use the word ‘horrifying’ for other scary movies. This movie will not let you forget it. When you think about it, you are scared all over again.

Here’s my take:

We went for this movie in downtown San Jose.  I had no clue what to expect. I did not even read any reviews.  A friend said,’Let’s go! It has great reviews on IMDB’. ‘Let’s go!’ it was..:)

Tags: movie review, Movies, paranormal activity, scary

Posted in Movies | 5 Comments »