Fascinating Legends Behind the Celebration of Navratri

Oct 1,2014 / By Nimesh / 1 Comment

Navratri’s Fascinating History: Stories You Must Know

‘Tis that time of year when people leave behind their worries and woes and gear up to celebrate the nine powerful avatars of Goddess Durga with fervour. During the nine days of Navratri, each day devotees invoke a different form of the Goddess.

As Indians, we come across numerous Bollywood movie plots that were originally inspired by the drama, appeal and mystic charm of our legends and myths. Just like any other Hindu festival, Navratri too has a few fascinating legends associated with its origin. Each part of India speaks of a unique and interesting history:

Legend of the Mighty Mahishasura (North):

The demon Mahishasura was an ardent devotee of Shiva. As soon as he attained eternity, he went on to slaughtering innocent people with the aim of conquering all three lokas. To save the world from the atrocities of this demon, The Trinity of Shiva, Brahma and Vishnu created a divine warrior, Goddess Durga. Mahishasura, enchanted by her beauty, asked her to marry him. Durga, at this point, struck a deal with the devil; she would marry him only if he could defeat her in battle. Mahishasura accepted the challenge and after a battle spanning 9 days, Goddess Durga decapitated him on the ninth night. These nine days came to be known as Navratri, and the tenth day that brought the triumph of good over evil was called Vijayadashmi.

The Legend of Daksha (East):

The king of the Himalayas, Daksha’s beautiful and virtuous daughter, Uma, was an admirer and worshipper of Shiva. Pleased with her devotion, Shiva finally descends down from the heavens to marry her. Daksha’s disrespect towards Shiva and displeasure with the marriage leads him to break all ties with his daughter. When Uma learnt that her father hadn’t invited Shiva to a yagna he was organizing, she jumped into the yagna’s agnikund, upon which she came to be known as Sati. It is believed that every year from that time, Uma visits her parents’ home during Navratri along with her children, Ganesh, Kartik, Saraswati and Laxmi, and her two friends, Jaya and Bijaya.

The Legend of Rama and Ravana:

In the Hindu epic, Ramayana, Rama invoked the blessings of Goddess Durga to gather the strength to kill Ravana, the demon who had abducted his wife, Sita. The nine nights he spent worshipping Goddess Durga came to be known as Navaratri. On the tenth day, also known as Vijayadashami, good triumphs over evil when Rama finally slays Ravana.

Did you learn some interesting facts about Navratri in this article? If you know of more legends behind the origin of this Hindu festival, please share them with us in the comment section below.

Here’s praying this Navrati brings you happiness, health and good fortune!

Product Updates

Android mobile app updates: Buy Sell, Instant Push notifications, Personal Messages

Sep 16,2014 / By Nimesh / No Comment

Folks, we have added yet another exciting set of updates to CommonFloor Groups android app this week and we’re hoping you’ll love them as much as we do! These primarily revolve around giving you a superior experience on CommonFloor Groups app along with bringing you an exciting new feature on it.

Now, let’s not keep you waiting to find out what these updates are:

1) ‘Buy Sell’ Section has been added: Let’s say you want to get a treadmill but are a little tight on budget this month. Your apartment neighbour is moving out next week and wants to sell his treadmill along with other belongings. He puts it up on the ‘Buy Sell’ classifieds section of CommonFloor Groups. You notice the listing, visit his place to check out its condition and buy it at a price within your budget! The entire process is ACTUALLY as simple as that!

In fact, listings even have product images uploaded and you can choose to filter ads according to your preference (within apartment or city).

2) ‘Push notifications’ are instant and configurable: You will receive an instant push notification in case of any new community update, any new activity in your group, a freshly added classifieds listing or a new personal message. You may also configure these notifications.

3) ‘Personal Messages’ page has a fresh new interface: ‘Personal messages’ now has an improved interface, with a refreshed look.

Install the already available updates on your Android devices to integrate these additions and experience a much livelier and improved CommonFloor Groups community management app!

How to Ensure CommonFloor Groups Mails Reach Your Gmail Primary Tab

Sep 8,2014 / By Nimesh / No Comment

A relatively new Gmail feature lets you classify your emails into Primary, Promotions, Social, Updates and Forums, which you can either label or open as separate tabs. True, this feature will help you read mails that matter and allow you to open separate tabs listing specific types of mails, but let’s double check and ensure that you receive CommonFloor Groups mails in the primary tab of your inbox.

To enable these categories on your Gmail page (in case you already don’t have them), Click on Settings icon on upper right corner of page and then select the Configure inbox option from the drop-down menu that appears. After choosing which tabs to enable, click on Save button.

To direct CommonFloor Groups e-mails to Primary tab in Gmail,

1) Drag and Drop

i) Left click on a CommonFloor Groups mail present in another tab (let’s say Promotions tab) and drag it to the Primary tab.

ii) The email drops into the Primary tab.

iii) A yellow box asking if you want to make this change permanent will be displayed.

iv) Click Yes to ensure all following mails received from CommonFloor Groups appear in the Primary tab.

OR

2) Right Click

i) Right click on a mail from CommonFloor Groups to see a list of options appear.

ii) Click Move to tab from this list and then select Primary option.

iii) A yellow box asking if you want to make this change permanent will be displayed.

iv) Click Yes to ensure all following mails received from CommonFloor Groups appear in the Primary tab.

OR

3) Search and Filter

i) Type in CommonFloor Groups in the search box and hit Enter.

ii) To bring the advanced search criteria, click the small grey arrow to the right of

iii) Click Create filter with this search link at the bottom of this window.

iv) Click on check-box before Never send it to Spam to ensure CommonFloor Groups mails are not marked as spam.

v) Check the box before Categorize as (at the bottom of the advanced filter window) and select Primary option from the drop-down list against it.

vi) Click on Create Filter button to ensure all current and following mails from CommonFloor Groups appear in Primary tab of your Gmail page.

Fun Posts uncategorized

Celebrating Onam in Your Apartment Complex

Sep 5,2014 / By Nimesh / No Comment

The most splendid Kerala festival, Onam is just around the corner and the spirit of this ‘festival of harvest’ is already in the air. Onam is marked by laying a colourful arrangement of flower patches on the ground and preparing an array of mouth-watering delicacies at home. In this article, we’ll discuss 8 fun ideas to celebrate Onam in your apartment community!

Legend has it-

The festival of Onam is celebrated with pomp and gaiety every year to welcome the spirit of king Mahabali, who is said to visit Kerala at this time. Feasts, energetic games, folk songs and elegant dances are organized to celebrate the occasion.

King Mahabali

8 ideas to celebrate Onam in your apartment complex:

1) Make this Onam a community affair
Organize an event within your apartment complex around Onam (with cultural functions) and send invites to all community members through CommonFloor Groups (using the Events feature).

2) Wear the traditional Kerala attire
Celebrate Onam like a Keralite would, and that will be incomplete without women wearing the Kasavu saree and men wearing the traditional mundu with a shirt.

3) Create a vivid Athapookkalam (flower carpet)
This flower rangoli decoration known as Athapookkalam, a part of the Onam custom in every Malayali house, makes for a bright sight and is an immediate eye-pleaser.

Conducting a pookkalam contest on the last day of Onam, Thiruvonam, might be a fun activity.

4) Organize a feast
A grand feast, also known as the Onasadya, served on a banana leaf along with a few varieties of payasam is just the way to add flavour to the whole celebration.

Onasadya

5) Dedicate an evening to watch Vallamkali (snake boat races) on TV
The Aranmula Uthrattadi Vallam kali or snake boat races happening during this season is one of the most defining aspect of Onam. Watch this on TV with your neighbours and enjoy a complete experience of this traditional festival.

6) Play a Popular Onam Game
Some well-known Onam games are Talappanthukali, Pulikali, Ambeyyal, Kutukutu, Attakalam and Kayyankali. You can easily get hold of their rules and norms online and start playing.

7) Organize Fun Activities and Contests
Organize and participate in cultural activities such as creating pookkalam and traditional dance performances. Hosting pookkalam or dance contests will surely make the event more exciting.

Kutukutu

8) Shower gifts on the loved ones
Nothing better and more delighting than gifts coming from ones that matter! Surprise your loved ones with an ‘Onam special’ gift such as a Kerala attire, Kerala meal voucher or a box of sweets.

What will be the best way to celebrate a Kerala-style Onam party in your residential community? Tell us how you plan to celebrate and experience the spirit of Onam this year!

Source- infosamay, Kochiservnet, yentha.com, painetworks, goibibo.com,
aomsikerala, britishsouthindians.co.uk, migrantmallu.com

Smart Residential Living

When a Builder delays in property handover

Sep 1,2014 / By Nimesh / 47 Comments

There’s no denying that buying a house is indeed a hectic job!

But the challenge does not end with just finding the perfect house in the perfect
location, successfully getting a home loan and booking the place. If the place is
not ready within the promised date (which happens in most cases), you have very
little choice other than to wait out the indefinite delay (from the builder’s end)
to actually possess your ‘dream property’.

Today, ‘what one can do when a builder delays handover’ is a raging issue
among house-buyers with a number of possible solutions for it.

Steps you may take:

1) Read through the Buyer’s Agreement: In the sales agreement initially
signed, you will see all the terms, conditions and stipulations, such as time of
property handover and compensation if handover is delayed, clearly stated.
Check for penalty clauses in the document and ask builders for compensation
wherever there has been a deviation.

2) Form a buyers’ association: Another smart way to go about this is to
interact with other buyers associated with the same project just like you and
form an association with them. A body of people with the same grievance and
objective will surely make the impact more powerful.

You can form a group using an online platform (like CommonFloor Groups) and discuss updates and collectively decide on measures to take in case of a
builder related disappointment.

3) Communication of cancellation: If the scheduled delivery is missed,
you should send a letter of complaint to the builder about this delay. If you get
no response, follow it with an agreement cancellation notice and demand for a
complete refund of amount paid (along with interest on it) and compensation
for mental harassment. These letters should be sent by registered post with
A/D (acknowledgement due). Remember to specify that they’ll next receive a
legal notice.

4) Legal Notice: If both these notices go unanswered, it’ll be time to send a
legal notice on consultation with a competent lawyer, clearly stating consequence
on failure to deliver property immediately.

5) Take Action: If builder does not respond to the legal notice, you should
either file a complaint in the consumer forum or file a lawsuit in the civil court
against the concerned builder.

Some laws in your favour to deal with this situation

i. Real Estate Bill: A developer can charge over 10% of the cost of the build
only on signing a written agreement with the buyer.

ii. Sub section 2 of section 17: The buyer must be informed of the date
of project completion.

iii. Sub-section 4 of section 17: The buyer is entitled to receive full refund
of paid amount if the builder is unable to handover the property within the time
mentioned in the agreement.

iv. Consumer Protection Act, 1986: The buyer can file a case with the
consumer forum for a quick redressal of his grievances.

6) Post your reviews on social media channels: Remember to write down
your experience, good or bad, on social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter,
blogs and LinkedIn to help other prospective buyers make an informed decision.

Delay in property handover being a common occurrence these days, it’s important
to not fret and bring together other home buyers related to the same project.
There are many laws and organisations in place to help you out of such situations.

Have you had unpleasant experiences while buying a house? How did
you deal with it? Write down your story in the comment section below.

Author Archives: Nimesh

Fascinating Legends Behind the Celebration of Navratri

Android mobile app updates: Buy Sell, Instant Push notifications, Personal Messages

How to Ensure CommonFloor Groups Mails Reach Your Gmail Primary Tab

Celebrating Onam in Your Apartment Complex

When a Builder delays in property handover