Who bells the Fat Cat, wins!

I am not a big fan of lottery. Luck has never been on my side, you see. But I love games and crunching numbers; it sets my adrenaline high. So, when I saw Lucky 6 by Fat Cat on Indiblogger, I was intrigued. Why Lucky 6, I wondered? I downloaded it on my iPad to unravel the mystery and boy, I was thrilled! It's a dream game for all those who love to trade in stock market. If you are bored of racing cars, killing pigs and crushing candies, it's like a breath of fresh air.

After I downloaded it, I created my account using my email. This is how my profile looks - 

My Dashboard on Lucky 6

Next step was to figure out 'how to play' this game. It is quite self-explanatory, I would say. All you have to do is select 6 brands. From international corporations to Indian multinationals, from auto majors to FMCG companies and from Dabur to Coca-cola; all well known names are on the list. After you've selected 6 brands, the wait begins... This game runs on the day stock market opens around the globe. It's called - The Game Day. For player's convenience, App shows how much time is left till the next game.

Day 1 - Selection

So, the next question is - how the top 6 brands are selected? Is it because that particular brand performed better in stock market OR that brand was picked by maximum number of people? Answer is - top 6 brands are the ones with the highest move in their stock price on the game day. If your choice matches the top 6, you win. Simple, isn't it? Sadly, none of the stocks I selected were among the top 6. And my score was 202. Like - I selected ICICI Bank from Banking sector but that particular day, Kotak Mahindra Bank performed better and was among the top 6. 

Play 1 - Result

While I was searching more about this game, I landed on this video on www.fatcatgaming.com. Have a look at it -

Fat Cat™ - Crowdfunding Proposition from Fat Cat Gaming on Vimeo.

In the video, CEO of SHM Entertainment Ltd, explains the simplicity of this game. It's a step ahead from the traditional lottery system. Instead of picking numbers, you pick your favorite brands. This game is launched in India first and I brimmed with pride to hear that they are using bloggers to help them market it. Also, I learnt - it's more of a social game. If you invite your friends and family to play with you, you can win more. The more, the merrier - as they say. So, instead of sending Candy Crush Saga or FarmVille request, invite your friends to play Lucky 6 on Facebook. No one will curse you for sending request of a game in which they can hit a jackpot. You see, who doesn't like to win money while tapping their phone a few times. Share it on Facebook, Twitter or simply email it to your friends. Play, share and be a real game changer!

In their words... 

"If you introduce a friend to the game, they automatically become part of your ‘Crowd”.  When it comes to the Jackpot, if one of your “Crowd” is lucky enough to have picked the correct combo, you will still win … a bonus prize equal to 25% of the Jackpot paid to your friend.  Now that is worth sharing."

Now after understanding its working and concept of Crowdfunding, I was all set to play it better. I rested heavily on my intuition and kept my fingers crossed while selecting brands for play 2. This time I played with different stocks and when I was writing this post, there were couple of hours left for the game to begin. There is also QuizApp, a game where you have to answer few simple general knowledge questions but it is an upcoming feature. Anyway, I played and answered 3 simple questions for fun.

QuizApp - Coming Soon...

The most important thing - what do we win? It's cash and vacation around the globe. How very tempting!

So now, I will play more, invite more friends and hopefully win a jackpot. This game is exciting and for a stock market buff like me, it's thrilling to witness the movements of your selected brands and finally knowing which stock performed better at the end of the day. Even if your selection doesn't make it to the top 6 list, it increases your knowledge. While trading stocks online, play this game and add fun to your experience; not to forget the chance of hitting the jackpot. A win-win situation for me. It's a game meant to change the way people spend time on their phone and I am so looking forward to play it daily. And it's much more better than the traditional lottery system, it keeps the player on the edge when the game is in play. 

So, what are you all waiting for, download and play it. Who knows, you'll be the next to hit the jackpot! 

Click here to download.

#ToiletForBabli - Paving The Way For Healthier India

How many of us feel disgusted when we spot people defecating in open? We curse our system and move on. Do we really care about it? No, we don't! Honestly, even I didn't. We live far from such places to affect our peace of mind. But unfortunately, I knew someone who had a terrible time because of lack of sanitation facility. I am talking about my mother's maid in Ambala. I knew she had a proper pukka house; but one day when she told me that she didn't have a toilet and goes out in open, I was shocked. Not that defecating in open was new to me but she lived in a nearby developed village, which by no means showed a sign of backward India.

Later, I discussed this problem with my mother, who revealed that many people in our village in Himachal defecate in open and such a practice is quite common. I always associated defecating with slumps and it presented a harsh reality to me of people I personally knew. For me it was a difficult thing to fathom what those women go through. It goes without saying that defecating in open has health issues but think how difficult it is for those women when they have having their menstrual cycle. And what about the children, they are more prone to diseases spread by such unhealthy environment. Later, I read that hundreds of people die of preventable diseases each year which are caused due to lack of proper sanitation. It came as a bigger shock to learn that 2.5 billion people defecate in open according to a UN report and the worst part is India tops the list with 600 million people. 

Now we all must be thinking why our government is not doing anything about it. Well, there are programs but all lack proper implementation. Funds allocated for improving sanitation conditions hardly reach those who need it, sanitation facilities run by government are not maintained properly and as usual, there are more people than the number of toilets available. There are portable toilets at some places but they have the same issues as with other government programs. Later, I observed while commuting to college that even good administrations like that of Union Territory Chandigarh can't handle this issue efficiently. So, now the question is how can we deal with it? We can't leave something which is causing health issues and staggering number of deaths in our country.

Answer to this lies in spreading awareness and launching a larger campaign where all can join hands to work towards the cause of providing proper sanitation to all those who can't afford it. We need to educate people of health hazards associated with defecating in open and teach them the importance of maintaining cleaner toilets. We also need to tell people how to use public toilets and leave it clean as a courtesy to the people who will be using it next. We have to imbibe cleaner habits. Recently, Domex India launched a campaign called #ToiletForBabli where their goal is to make villages in India 'Open Defecation Free.' We all can contribute to this worthy cause, just click on the 'Contribute Tab' on www.domex.in and eradicate open defecation from our country and pave way for healthier and cleaner India. 

I believe that with proper implementation of government programs, well structured campaigns and more awareness, we can make India cleaner, healthier and open defecation free. Let's make India clean and build enough toilets for children like Babli.