Point of View

What the builder means --

2012-01-22T18:54:00.000-08:00

Photo source: Google
When the builder says

1. The site is just a stone throw away from the main road

Actual - The site is a minimum of 1-2 kms away from the main road

2. The entire project would be ready in 6 months

Actual - Just add up another 6 months- 2 yrs for it to get completed (And another year for the facilities like club house, park, pool, store etc)

3. Everything is sold out - just a few ones left

Actual - As of now only few are sold - Its a way to create false demand

4. We have xyz sq ft of common area, open space ....

Actual - The buyer is paying for each sq ft of this space @ price per sqft for every built up area

5. The selling rate in the area is 500-1000 rs more than our rate - we are giving you at a discounted rate

Actual - No builder would think of reducing rates and thereby their profits

3- Idiots or Nanban ??

2012-01-19T19:43:00.000-08:00

The latest in the series of remakes is Nanban - the remake of the Hindi block buster 3- Idiots.

The lead roles in 3- Idiots : Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Sharman Joshi, Boman Irani and Kareena Kapoor.

The lead roles in Nanban : Vijay, Jiva, Srikanth, Sathyaraj and Illeana

Vijay may have tried his best to replicate every movement of Aamir, but wish he had worked a bit on his look to be more convincing as a college student. Aamir excelled here looking young and with mannerisms so much like a student.

Jiva and Srikanth more or less did a job as good as Madhavan and Sharman Joshi.

Boman Irani enacted a strong character of Virus and he had equal weightage in the movie.- a memorable character. However Sathyaraj is almost like a dummy in the movie. Wish he had not toned down his dialogues and had been his usual self - the characterisation would have been much better.

Illeana is the only refreshing thing in Nanban and looks cool..

Overall, 3- Idiots is unmatchable and Nanban is an extremely good watch provided you have not watched 3- Idiots earlier and dont get into comparisons of both the movies like ME :-)

Did you ever think like this ?

2010-03-07T07:14:00.001-08:00

A human body can bear only upto 45 Del (unit) of pain.

But at the time of giving birth, a woman feels upto 57 Del of Pain.

This is similar to 20 bones getting fractured at a time!!!!

LOVE UR MOM...

God couldn't be everywhere and therefore he made Mothers...

Telecom - a viewpoint

2009-10-08T06:10:00.000-07:00

Reliance's 50 paisa for all calls announcement and TRAI's per minute tariff suggestion have brought down all the telecom stocks . The leader Bharti is down almost 23% in 3 days and idea is trading below it's issue price. So, is it an end of all situation for the telecom world?.

Telecom has the widest reach of customers and no one can beat them in reach ( bottom of pyramid). There is a lot of rural penetration left . 3G, Net usage over phone are in their intial years. Banking opportunities are also foreseen for the telecom operators in rural areas ( may be in urban India too).

Tariff war, reduction in ARPU and more competition waiting to jump in are definitely negative factors. But some how I see a great future for telecom.

With reduction in tariff over the years, my bill has never come down and Internet usage over telephone network is going up. So, I see a huge opportunity in these big falls of telecom stocks.

In the long run these companies ought to bounce back strongly. Let's keep our fingers crossed till then . Such chaos mostly provide great opportunities.

should I buy bhart, rcom, idea, MTNL, BSNL at this level? is it a good buy. what returns will telecom give

The attitude of Indians towards Indians

2009-10-03T09:40:00.000-07:00

We went on a short trip to Pushkar (Near Ajmer, Rajasthan) and were shocked by the behaviour and attitude of the shopkeepers in the market area. Except for 2 or 3, all the others were indifferent towards Indian buyers. Everyone seems to be focussing and trying to attract the foreign tourists. There are "Namaste", " Good Morning, " Welcome" everything that the shop keepers feel would attract the foreign tourists to their shops. However, at the same time the Indian tourists are ignored in their own country. Even if we showed interest in buying something, they were not ready to speak and sell their goods to us..Is it because they can extract more money from foreign tourists or that the vendors feel that only Indians are fond of window shopping..Irrespective of the reasons, we felt like expats in our own country..Why arent the Indian tourists treated well in such a holy place like Pushkar in India ?? A look at 90% of the garment shops in those small lanes are even more shocking..they are full of western clothes..Why this discrimination in our motherland ??

Television - Make a big decision

2009-09-12T23:42:00.000-07:00

Whether you call the television an idiot box or a source of information, did you ever think how much it has influenced your relationship with your family members and also your social life...

Try answering these questions -

When was the last time you decided to spend some quality time with your family rather than watching television ??

When was the last time all the family members had dinner together on the dining table without watching television ??

When was the last time you decided to go out with your family to some park for some fresh air rather than watching some movie/awards function on the TV ???

How attentive are you to what your kids are doing or some important matter is being discussed by your spouse when you are watching your favourite program ??

When was the last time you felt that it is better to meditate/exercise or pursue your hobbies or do something constructive rather than watching some programme that wouldnt benefit you in anyway ???

Well, if you dont have answers to any of these questions then probably the television has penetrated into your life in such a manner that it is controlling your life in some way or the other..

Television is a source of entertainment and there are no doubts about the number of interesting programs and channels that increase your knowledge and widen your perspective in life..However it is really important that we dont let go small pleasures and memorable moments of our life for the sake of television..

So, it is crucial that we make this big decision of not letting television rule over us. Lets ensure that we watch TV during free time and not all the time..

Are you really balancing your professional and personal life

2009-09-08T00:57:00.000-07:00

This is the age of working women balancing their professional and personal life. Most of them claim to be successfully doing this balancing act, but are they really able to give sufficient time to their relations..Many of them give more importance to their professional life and spend very less time with their family..Have a look at this situation in reality-

Some of the working women feel they should give more importance to her career and high paying job and so has a maid to clean the house, a cook, a driver, a full time maid to take care of kids, tutions for kids to ensure they study well...Many of them put up their kids (including few month old babies) in creches for the full day. But what about the love, affection and time that the kid expects from parents..

So many kids find it difficult to cope up with such situations and some of them even resort to wrong path in life

How far will the kids be attached to their parents..will they have good childhood memories with their parents..Later when parents become old and feel that their kids dont take proper care of them and stay busy with their lives - who will be responsible for the situation??? If you are not able to give time to your kids when they need it the most, they can in no way be blamed for ignoring you in your old age

Some of them even get their parents / in-laws just to take care of the kids. At that age when they themselves require care and affection from their kids, they are forced into bringing up their grandchild..

Let me clarify that I am against only those working women who feel their job and career is everything and ignore their family responsibilities. This doesnt include those women who are left with no option but to work to meet ends meet

Tradition and Solar Eclipse

2009-07-23T00:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a Solar Eclipse..Some of us were viewing the eclipse with safe lens while some were busy with traditional rituals like having bath at the particular time in religious ponds..

From my childhood I have been hearing that one should not consume food starting 5 hours before the eclipse till you finish a complete bath including washing hair after the eclipse. Also, a kind of dry grass called darbey is put on all food items before the eclipse starts-the reason being given is that the food will turn into poison had it not been for the small piece of grass.

But there are so many people who dont follow any of these traditions..so what happens to them..nothing at all..I dont have access to the dry grass since the past four years..After my marriage, we have not been using it on food items before the eclipse starts due to its unavailability and also a constant thought to overcome this fear of what will happen if it is not used. However we continue to have the traditional bath after the eclipse..

Another interesting thing is that some Indians in other countries follow the timings for the eclipse as in India rather than the country they stay in..

Any ideas as to the origin of the customs of having bath and the dry grass ??

The woman in your life

2009-06-30T00:16:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow you may get a working woman, but you should marry her with these facts as well.

Here is a girl, who is as much educated as you are;

Who is earning almost as much as you do;

One, who has dreams and aspirations just as you have because she is as human as you are;

One, who has never entered the kitchen in her life just like you or your Sister haven't, as she was busy in studies and competing in a system that gives no special concession to girls for their culinary achievements

One, who has lived and loved her parents & brothers & sisters, almost as much as you do for 20-25 years of her life;

One, who has bravely agreed to leave behind all that, her home, people who love her, to adopt your home, your family, your ways and even your family ,name

One, who is somehow expected to be a master-chef from day #1, while you sleep oblivious to her predicament in her new circumstances, environment and that kitchen

One, who is expected to make the tea, first thing in the morning and cook food at the end of the day, even if she is as tired as you are, maybe more, and yet never ever expected to complain;

to be a servant, a cook, a mother, a wife, even if she doesn't want to; and is learning just like you are as to what you want from her; and is clumsy and sloppy at times and knows that you won't like it if she is too demanding, or if she learns faster than you;

One, who has her own set of friends, and that includes boys and even men at her workplace too, those, who she knows from school days and yet is willing to put all that on the back-burners to avoid your irrational jealousy, unnecessary competition and your inherent insecurities;

Yes, she can drink and dance just as well as you can, but won't, simply
Because you won't like it, even though you say otherwise

One, who can be late from work once in a while when deadlines, just like yours, are to be met;

One, who is doing her level best and wants to make this most important, relationship in her entire life a grand success, if you just help her some and trust her;

One, who just wants one thing from you, as you are the only one she knows in your entire house - your unstinted support, your sensitivities and most importantly - your understanding, or love, if you may call it.

But not many guys understand this......
Please appreciate "HER"

A BRIDGE TOO FAR

2007-10-04T21:21:00.000-07:00

Got a mail fwd. with the aforesaid title. A good one...last paragraph is hilariously true.!!

The Lord surveyed the Ram Setu and said "Hanuman, how diligently and strenuously you and your vanara sena had built this bridge several centuries back. It is remarkable that it has withstood the ravages of the climatic and geographical changes over centuries. It is indeed an amazing feat especially considering the fact that a bridge at Hyderabad built by Gammon using latest technology collapsed the other day even before they could stick the posters on its pillars."
Hanuman with all humility spoke "Jai Sri Ram, it is all because of your grace. We just scribbled your name on the bricks and threw them in thesea and they held. No steel from TISCO or cement from Ambuja or ACC was ever used. But Lord, why rake up the old issue now."
Ram spoke "Well, Hanuman some people down there want to demolish the bridge and construct a canal. The contract involves lot of money and lot of money will be made. They will make money on demolition and make more money on construction. "
Hanuman humbly bowed down and said "Why not we go down and present our case? "
Ram said "Times have changed since we were down there. They will ask us to submit age proof and we don't have either a birth certificate or school leaving certificate. We traveled mainly on foot and some times in bullock carts and so we don't have a driving license either. As far as the address proof is concerned the fact that I was born at Ayodhya is itself under litigation for over half a century, If I go in a traditional attire with bow and arrow, the ordinary folks may recognize me but Arjun Singh may take me to be some tribal and, at the most, offer a seat at IIT under the reserved category. Also, a God cannot walk in dressed in a three-piece suit and announce his arrival. It would make even the devotees suspicious. So it is dilemma so to say."
"I can vouch for you by saying that I personally built the bridge."
"My dear, Anjani putra, it will not work. They will ask you to produce the lay-out plan, the project details, including financial outlay and how the project cost was met and the completion certificate. Nothing is accepted without documentary evidence in India. You may cough but unless a doctor certifies it, you have no cough. A pensioner may present himself personally but the authorities do not take it as proof. He has to produce a life-certificate to prove that he is alive. It is that complicated."
"Lord can't understand these historians. Over the years you have given darshan once every hundred years to saints like Surdas, Tulsidas, Saint Thyagaraja, Jayadeva, Bhadrachala Ramdas and even Sant Tukaram and still they disbelieve your existence and say Ramayana is a myth. The only option, I see, is to re-enact Ramayana on earth and set the government records straight once for all."
Lord smiled "It isn't that easy today. Ravan is apprehensive that he may look like a saint in front of Karunanidhi. I also spoke to his mama Mareecha, who appeared as a golden deer to tempt Sita maiyya when I was in the forest and he said that he won't take a chance of stepping on earth as long as Salman Khan is around."

Anti-corruption

2007-09-17T00:54:00.000-07:00

Got to know from a friend about a website -5th pillar.

When everyone cribs about corruption and does nothing to eradicate it, This seemed to a good initiative by some citizens.

Unless individuals get together and fight for themselves, no one is going to help them out. ( God helps those who help themselves).

More efforts in this direction would help us progress into a better society.

Ganesh Chathurti

2007-09-14T19:24:00.000-07:00

Ganesh Chaturti wishes to everyone.

The festival season begins in most part of India with Ganesh chaturti. One of the most colourful festivals celebrated throughout India.

In the 90's--It was only small clay idol ganesha's ( for worship at home)that we could get to see in the place we lived. We used to carry small wooden planks to get Ganesha to our homes. A colourful umbrella was also bought for our Ganesha .

There were some kids at those Ganesha shops who would try to hard sell their "Erukka" garland made for the lord.

When I am not at my place this year , It really makes me nostalgic of those days....!

Link for prayers abd info on Ganesh Chaturti.

http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/articles/ganesha_chaturthi_legends_prayers.htm#6.0

Fall of a wall

2007-09-13T09:49:00.000-07:00

It started raining heavily this evening and water started clogging on the road. The road in which I stay is a feeder road to the Bannerghatta road in Bangalore. Normally, its crowded and you can imagine the situation when it rains!!!

When the rain stopped, the water on the road got cleared. I thought , I will browse for sometime. When I heard a big THUD........ Was shocked......what would it be????

As I got out of my house, I could here water flowing fast. ....Looked down.......Whole of the basement was gushing with water..The compound wall between our flat and the one on the next road had broken.....so water rushed into our apartment. Was wondering about the quality of construction in bangalore....these should be hardly 5 year old flats!!!!.. Thank god no one was near the wall when it broke....

People started getting out, to get the cars out of our flats and park the cars safely outside our premises!!!!

Had the opportunity to (over)hear someone who has been staying in the flat ever since it was built. Got to know the 'fall of the wall ' is occurring the second time.....GOSHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

God only can save us.!!

On the roads......... in Bangalore

2007-09-12T22:02:00.001-07:00

I think being on the roads in Bangalore......is one of worst thing that can happen to your life. During the peak hours it gets clustered with everyone on the road competing for whatever space available. You see a lot of single person driven cars moving around, Jammed packed buses competing for space, Bikers on the platform ( yes, on the sidewalks of the road leaving no space for anyone to walk) , Auto wallas in their usual form.

Human behaviour stoops to very low levels on the road. It is almost a war and nobody damn cares about others. Nobody realises that they are doing a mistake !!!.

Bangalore may take the pride of hosting many multinationals which have come over here to tap the knowledge and skills of the people. On the roads you don't see anyone using their commonsense even!!!.

We can't blame the government alone for what's happening. We should bring about improvements by encouraging car pooling and enhancing public transport (may be introduce more Volvos and BMTC buses!).

Wondering what will happen to the city in a decade's time. !!! if things are OK then that's what we should call a MIRACLE.

Earn a crore

Old man who inspired me

2007-08-22T03:33:00.001-07:00

As I was walking in the morning to take a bus to my office,I noticed an Old man. He was holding his cycle and was moving slowly. He stopped the cycle. That was when I saw a bunch of newspapers on his cycle stand.

He seemed to be very old, was very very weak. He was nothing but a small and thin skeletal structure wrapped in a dhothi. He trembled and walked as he went on to deliver the papers at the doorsteps of those on the street. It was with great struggle that he moved his cycle again and carried on.........

I was impressed by this guy who was doing a job to earn his income at this terrific state ...without looking for others help.

Before I started that day,I was cribbing to go to office (as it was a Monday morning)...But thought shouldn't do cribbing after seeing this inspiring old man.

We live in a world of HYPE

2007-07-21T06:35:00.000-07:00

I remember my marketing lessons learned vaguely..." A first class product with poor advertising fares worse than an average product with first class advertising"

Harry Porter, I think is one such example. We have thousands of books in India which are classic by any standards. There is huge hype created in west about this book and the young vibrant India ( which is fast loosing it's self identity ) falls prey to such hype.

Today morning I could see a lot of kids and biggies strolling before stores to grab a copy of Harry Porter. I am not sure , it's not a life critical component to be pre-booked and purchased on the same day of release.

I think we (in India ) are also getting into great scale advertising. example is Shivaji..which was released and is on the run recently.

There are many more ' SKIM THE CREAM' and ' SUCK THE BOTTOM OF THE PYRAMID' started stories happening in India. This can't change unless the 'Buyer gets aware' and understands his craze at times makes many people super rich at the cost of his small contributions.

A must read story

Shivaji- the boss

ideas money , easy crafts , easy indian food , earn a crore

Shivaji @ PVR

2007-07-21T01:55:00.000-07:00

Watched Shivaji @ PVR . With a sophisticated audience , its no thrill to watch a super star movie.

Was a good (should I say ,a bit above average!!!)entertainer..... but no match to 'Basha' types movies of Rajni... .Shankar's grandeur was conspicuous by presence. But I think by now he should have exhausted his anti-corruption concepts and be searching very badly for a fresh idea.

Wondering the amount of money( I am not talking about black or white:-)) that this movie should have created with tickets sold ( in the counter or otherwise)at sky high rates during the period of release.

All said and done any hype wouldn't have worked for the movie ..if it hadn't been associated with the most powerful INDIVIDUAL BRAND of India ... Superstar Rajni... Kudos ! to him

A must read story

ideas money , easy crafts , easy indian food , earn a crore

Book Talk - Autobiography of a yogi

2007-06-18T21:54:00.000-07:00

Recently went through the book ' Autobiography of a yogi'.

A good book for those who are seeking the unknown. The author speaks about his experiences and introduces the readers to 'kriya yoga'.

There are various paths followed in sanathana dharma to reach god or obtain liberation. Those who have a keen interest in the path of yoga will find this book valuable.

ideas money , easy crafts , Inspirations for life

A must read story

Book Talk – The World is Flat

2007-06-10T22:18:00.000-07:00

I could catch up with Thomas Friedman’s book at last and would definitely say that it’s one of the most interesting books I have read so far.
The author has done a great job in capturing the history of the globalized world in 21st century. A powerful writing that gives us snapshot of the current world. The book also talks about what made the world flat, the portions of world which are still not flattened and the possible direction it is headed towards. The flow of the book goes this way.

How the world became flat
America and flat world
Developing Countries and flat world
Companies and the flat world
Geopolitics and the flat world
Conclusion: Imagination

Author’s understanding of the scenarios around the world is truly unbelievable. This book helps us to understand the opportunities and threat that the ‘Flat World’ has opened up for all of us.

Every individual, who wants to make use of the flat world, has definitely a lesson or two to learn from the book. For me, the key take ways from the book are ..

1. The Flat world has a plethora of opportunities in store for you irrespective of your nationality, language and geographical location.

2. You should become an ‘Untouchable”* as fast as possible. (* A person’s skill set being unique and special that his job can’t be touched/replaced by another person in the globe so easily).

3. There’s a poorer world which you need to look at and strive for connecting them on to the flat world.

4. There are mind blowing threats that the flat world faces. Have them in mind but don’t get too scared for them …Be optimistic.

5. You should have more dreams than memories.

(“Does your society have more memories than dreams or more dreams than memories? When memories exceed dreams, the end is near...”

“If we go dark as a society, if we stop being the “world’s dream factory”, we will make the world not only a darker place but also a poorer place.)

ideas money , easy crafts

Equality before God

2007-06-03T22:57:00.000-07:00

It's disheartening to see a lot of reports in the newspapers regarding 'entry barriers' in places of worship. I am not sure whether we truly respect GOD or religion, if we are doing this.

'Entry Barriers' based on caste or religion comes to the notice of media immediately. But there are other types of discrimination which have become a way of life and we do not even complain about them. I am talking about fast darshans, quick darshans and VIP darshans which have become order of the day in many ( famous) temples. It is highly discriminatory that one should be made to wait longer in a queue simply for the reason that one is not able to afford a quick entry ticket or one is not a VIP.

If we have such discriminatory practices in places of worship ( which we consider as holiest), It will be long time before we can even imagine of equality in the society.

Let's strive to make equality come true..!!

Power of Positive Talk , ideas money , easy crafts

Photo for the blog

2007-06-01T01:00:00.001-07:00

When I thought of having a picture on the header of the blog, I could only visualize the picture of eyes.

Point of View is the way in which one sees or perceives an event and need not be the correct stand point.

Different things are viewed by different people in different ways . So , thought of having lot of eyes on the picture. All the more as you all know this would compensate for the 'i' that went missing on the address of the blog.

'i' Missing in point of view

2007-06-01T00:54:00.000-07:00

Immediately after creating this blog, I started giving links to this page from the other pages. Then something interesting came to my notice.

http://pont-of-view.blogspot.com/

I had missed 'i' in the word point when creating the blog address. This was definitely an error of omission ( or you can call it tearing hurry that ended in a mistake too). I thought , I should create one more address and abandon this id.

There is no Point of View , if 'I' ( Ego) is missing , but still thought that there is going to be a lot of emphasis on 'I' ( or my point of view rather) on this blog. So , nothing wrong in missing an 'I' in the address.

Point of View

2007-06-01T00:43:00.000-07:00

I would like to express my point of view on whatever I think, speak, hear, do , see on this blog.