Magnetic Compass

Avatar - A series of Impossible events

2011-06-11T14:35:00.001-07:00

1) There is a planet called Pandora - OK agreed, Every sci-fi movie
should have some other planet where life exists.

2) There is a alien tribe called Navi, which exists in that planet -
What fun is a planet in a sci-fi movie which does not have aliens in
it...Agreed too

3) There is a 5 months hyper sleep which a person needs
to go through to reach Pandora from Earth - I have seen Aliens, so the
concept of hypersleep is not new...after all this is a Cameroon movie.

4) There is a Human camp in Pandora, with all the equipments mind can
think of - This is fetching the story a little far away...But still
agreed

5) There is a Mineral called unobtainium - OMG,,,wait let me
digest this information

6) There is a project called Avatar - OK the
title suggests that

7) You can get into the Avatar by getting into a
jelly mass bed an closing your own coffin shaped stuff - Wait did i
hear it right...What kind of technology is that ...Should This movie be
retitled - A series of impossible events.

8) Things does not stop there - There is Eywa to come in the picture,
there is a Ikran, There is a Horse which you connect to and there is
all supernatural stuff the mind cannot imagine...

With all these impossibilities, revealed one after the another...the
movie unfolds with dramatic technology usage and a storyline which is
perfect till the end.

Only Cameroon could pull such series of impossibilities and spun them
into a story without affecting the storyline in anyway. Hats Off...This
is the Holy grail of all Sci-fi movies.

Avatar - A series of Impossible events

2011-06-11T14:35:00.000-07:00

1) There is a planet called Pandora - OK agreed, Every sci-fi movie
should have some other planet where life exists.

2) There is a alien tribe called Navi, which exists in that planet -
What fun is a planet in a sci-fi movie which does not have aliens in
it...Agreed too 3) There is a 5 months hyper sleep which a person needs
to go through to reach Pandora from Earth - I have seen Aliens, so the
concept of hypersleep is not new...after all this is a Cameroon movie.

4) There is a Human camp in Pandora, with all the equipments mind can
think of - This is fetching the story a little far away...But still
agreed 5) There is a Mineral called unobtainium - OMG,,,wait let me
digest this information 6) There is a project called Avatar - OK the
title suggests that 7) You can get into the Avatar by getting into a
jelly mass bed an closing your own coffin shaped stuff - Wait did i
hear it right...What kind of technology is that ...Should This movie be
retitled - A series of impossible events.

8) Things does not stop there - There is Eywa to come in the picture,
there is a Ikran, There is a Horse which you connect to and there is
all supernatural stuff the mind cannot imagine...

With all these impossibilities, revealed one after the another...the
movie unfolds with dramatic technology usage and a storyline which is
perfect till the end.

Only Cameroon could pull such series of impossibilities and spun them
into a story without affecting the storyline in anyway. Hats Off...This
is the Holy grail of all Sci-fi movies.

Reasons why Hangover 2 is terribly funny

2011-06-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

1) It is terribly funny, that a whole movie can be a spoiler. Had you seen part 1, this is a carbon copy of that...except the tiger is replaced by a monkey and Vegas is replaced by Bangkok....andd hey hold on...Allen also gets his head shaved...how F%%%g amazing and different.

2) It is terribly funny, that the movie was able to pull off with a Thai cast, that did not know the basics of acting...especially Mason Lee (Teddy) looked like he was having a vacation with a smile on his face always. Very polite of him that even after losing his finger he was happily smiling and exchanging niceties with his fellow hooligans.

3) It is terribly funny, that the movie makes you puke...the glitz and glamour of Vegas is replaced with the slums of Bangkok, the Sl%%y beauatiful chicks of Vegas are replaced by a bunch of Trannies, and of course the tiger is replaced by a monkey that can smoke....How funny.

4) It is terribly funny, that the entire movie can be a harrasment and goofy, slapstick so called comedies which make one gruntle than laugh....Monks are harassed, underaged kids harassed and even the spectators get harrased.

5) It is terribly funny, that we chose this movie over Kung Fu panda 2 over the memorial weekend on the very first day.

Wrestlemania 27

2011-04-11T02:51:00.000-07:00

It has been a dream to watch the WWF, as it was previously called, in STAR Sports. Scary guys coming out of a grave and beating the crap outta everyone...man whoever came up with this concept cannot be a genius but should be streetsmart and knew a thing or two int the entertainment industry.

But it took me 5 more years to figure out that it is fake and 15 more years to get a pass to the great Wrestlemania 27 at Atlanta GA. From the days when we used to bunk our Maths coaching classes and get into our friends home to watch WWF, here we are watching the biggest event in WWE (As it is now called) on stage.

So our plan was to leave Salem and head to Atlanta in the morning, but thanks to the big ticket WC cricket finals (Another event which was worth missing your schedules for) our schedule was delayed by 8 hrs. And after Dhoni cleared the ropes and got us our second world cup in style, deighted and on top of the world, we started off to Wrestlemania 27.

We took an pitstop in Charlotte NC, for the night, and after enjoying some Indian food in Saffron restaurent, staying overnight in Charlotte, and once again with a delayed schedule we did finally start off on a long drive to Atlanta.

And this time is not like any other Wrestling event. First of all it is Wrestlemania, one of the biggest events in WWE. Second it is hosted by the Rock, the most electrifying man in sports and entertainment. Third it had the big ticket game between Triple H and the Undertaker. Yes, the same old awe inspiring Undertaker who used to come out of the grave. And Third, it featured the Texas rattlesnake, the Stone cold Steve Austin. I cannot ask for anything more than this.

Reaching Atlanta late in the evening, we were 10 mins late to the event when it started. After the initial games were over involving unknown names, there came the Edge Vs some Random guy game which Edge won. After that there was Rey Mysterio, Randy Orton, Kane, Trish and the Big Show.

Now came the interesting part with Stone cold steve Austin driving his fancy bikes into the Arena and beating the crap outta Michael Kole. Beer Guzzling and delivering a stunner to whoever came on the ring. This time the stunner was delivered to Booker T and that Sucka was not able to Dig that.

This was followed by the match eveyone was waiting for Triple H and the Undertaker in a no holds barred game. There the Undertaker established his 19th Win in Wrestlemania, which is a record in WWE beating Triple H out.

And the final game was John Cena Vs. the Miz. As we expected there was the Rocky chant in the air, expecting the Rock to intevene. But he was never to be found. We had our SLR ready (Off course Dev was sitting with me and wondering if the Rock will come at all). He was bored with the entire wreslting thing and was concentrating more on his Veggie Cheese pizza from Papa Johns. And voila we hear the music now "If you smell what the Rock is cooking", and here he is the most electrifying man electrifying the arena filled with 71,000 crazy people.

The Rock came, gave his usual electrifying speech and delivered the smacketh down and the Peoples elbow to John Cena and the Miz respectively. They said the Miz won the championship but the true winner was the Rock. There was no difference in watching it on TV vs watching it live since the whole event was very well co-ordinated, it felt as if we were watching it on the TV.

So we missed a nights sleep (driving back), couple of boring calls to offshore where the same stuff gets discussed for days and days and days, half a day of work (Now how do i log my efforts), where days feels like years, and the usual Monday morning Diatribes to get a glimpse of our favorite Superstars and to shout at the top of our lungs "If you Smell what the Rock is cooking".

P.S. - Thanks to Dev, who was driving for most of our Night time at 30+ over the speed limit to get us back to office on time. Otherwise i would not have written this post.

Verbal Vampires

2011-03-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered how it feels like to be a Vampire. The phenomenon in question is also something similar, but here instead of sucking the blood out of people you learn to suck another valuable resource from them, which is even more costlier than blood, their Time. Sounds wonderful.

And when the Vampire gets a taste of you, you too become a vampire. Similarly Verbal Vampirism is also highly contagious and a very effective phenomenon which can spread like wildfire once it gets hold of a person. Resilient and Highly Contagious...Once it gets hold of a brain its almost impossible to eradicate. When it is fully formed -fully understood - it sticks right in there somewhere

So if you have a question...Where do i start ...Right here and right now. Have the five golden rules in your mind and you will be the next Verbal Dracula.

Thats the introduction, now let us analyze this phenomenon of being a Verbal Vampire . To define the term, it can be defined as "Talking...Talking and Talking...little action...and again talking...And more importantly there should not be any ideas or concepts in your talks. The Talking should be for the sole purpose of gaining airtime for you and very important you should waste the time of the people around you".

And when practiced properly it will result in either a promotion if you are in a job, or it will provide you a job if you use this in group discussions, and if you are a student it can give you admission into some B schools.

Five Golden rules to start with your practice... you dont have to be a expert...just be with the flow

1) Be redundant - Nobody will realize what you said is redundant. State the obvious, in a more eloborate manner. Or if someone in the discussion had come up with a good point...restate it in a different manner. For example if someone says we can follow the waterfall methodology for this engagement...dont just say OK and stop. Say "Yes you are right...I think it should be a good idea ...if we can follow the Waterfall methodology for this engagement...". Now you gained more airtime.

2) Use Kicks - A kick is a filler, which comes handy and a very useful tool for Vampires. It is redundant repetition of words which are effective in a cumulative manner in wasting the time of others. For example instead of saying a simple "Yes" say it five times "Yes...Yes...Yes...Yes...Yes" or a simple "OK...OK...OK...OK...OK". This technique is called as the Why-5-Hi-Fi technique. This can be used if you do not have anything to say but you want to acknowledge something which someone else just said in a more emphatic fashion. It will not only provide more airtime for you..which you dont deserve ...but also give the sucker who is listening to you a feeling that you completely understood him/her.

And another technique to use for kicks is to use fillers like Basically, Actually, probably, factually, effectively, probabilistically, hmmm, huhhhh, welllll etc. This technique is called as the "Mentally ..hmmmm...welll...how can i say...actually it is called as ....Actually.....huhh.. i dont have a name basically...Wellll....Will be great....huhhhh...if you can give some suggestions....if basically actually, and economically feasible you are fine with"...

3) Desperate participation - This is a golden rule if you want to be a real vampire. This is what differentiates a rookie from a lestat or a dracula...Always and remember Always ...and trust me always... use the few extra hours or minutes of others. For example if you are in a class of 45 mins duration...Use the last 4.5 or 9 mins after the class is over for your discussion with the prof. Extend the class....The rookies will first object...but it is only a matter of time before they fall into your place...and they will also do the same in due course of time. The class should be over when you start this desperate participation of yours.. If you are in a meeting for 30 mins extend it with your nonsense for the next 6 mins of desperate participation. If you work for 8 hours use 2 more hours after the work hours to catch hold of someone to listen to you. The thumb rule is 20% of the time given to you should be extended...This will give others a feeling that for you work is more important than time...They will beleive that you dont mind running the extra mile when in reality you are making others run two miles for you on your behalf.

4) Actions ...to accompany - Remember "Words speak louder than Actions", but the right actions should always accompany your words...First and foremost...There should be action when there is no word...In a discussion you cannot be the person who always talks...sometimes others also talk...But to be a Vampire lord, you should be a action man when others talk....like repeating the last few words they say...Or like nodding your head vigorously...like if you were in a rockshow...or like converting what they speak into actions...imagine your kid when she is reciting a nursery rhyme...Actions are important. This nodding of the head is a very useful technique...if you are nodding your whole body along with the head even better...It not only gives a feeling that you completely understood them but also acts as a exercise for your neck.

5) When there is Vaccum - Vaccum is a phenomenon in which you have run out of words and actions...it occurs to everyone...First thing to do when you are in a vaccum is to understand it is normal phenomenon and every master vampire goes through it. How to overcome it?...When you dont have anyone to talk to there is your laptop.... Get into it...Shoot your mails to everyone you might know...asking for something or other.....make sure that the mail is sent in weird hours of the day like sunday evening 7:00 o clock, late night 12:00 o clock, Saturday night 2:00 clock, after you are done with your party etc. And when you are going through Vaccum, remember to run around to people or schedule random meetings , talk to them, and keep running around meeting new people...it is also a good exercise to run around. And even then if the vaccum is not filled there is a ready solution...Weather...look at the predictions of weather for a week and start your smalltalk on that. Or if the Weather is not exciting get hold of something which is exciting from google...sure there should be something available.

The post is entirely co-incidental and random ..not to say poorly prepared...and will definitely have some resemblences to people living or dead...The thumb rule of a disclaimer is : "If it resembles you it is co-incidental...and if it resembles others it is incdental. :-)"

The Appalachian Trail

2011-03-19T17:21:00.000-07:00

A long long time ago, this blog was created... and almost t the same time life went into a suck spiral...and the blog went into oblivion. Now not that life came out of the suck spiral...but the blog can atleast see a ray of hope.

So i decided to write on my travels so that the "Magnetic Compass" can finally show some direction. Today the Magnetic Compass pointed the north of Salem, a place called Bedford in Virginia, most famous for its Blue Ridge Parkway drive, and that is where we were headed today.

After a sumptuous meal at McD... i started to pack my travel bag, but this time around it just had a Sony Cybershot in it. Accompanying me was a SLR Camera with Dev in its travel bag...believe me the SLR did a much smarter job than did Dev. So we decided to greet the spring and hit the roads headed towards Blue Ridge Parkway, leaving the messy and smelly rooms, a dwindling career, memories of weekdays filled with redundant and predictable horror stories , discussions which seems to last a lifetime with no conclusion, and the unwashed clothes lying in my closet in the Marina's trench of our minds oblivion.

So with Rahman, Scorpions and Keisha blaring from the speakers of the Chevy Malibu (I have named it the Yardstick), with our Windshield down, at a speed limit more than the one put up on signboards and a TomTom acting as a Magnetic compass, pointing north this time, here we are with the rubber on fire to the Blue Ridge parkway. When the Cop nears us we reduce the volume , and also slow down a bit, definitely nobody wants a surcharge in their insurance premiums.

After thirty minutes came the small town of Buchanan, with the charm of a hill station city, beautiful and small with a speed limit of 25, it was right at the entrance into the Blueridge Parkway. After a right turn from Buchanan was Bedford and a few miles from there into the BR Parkway lay the beautiful camping and picnic spot more famously called the "Peak of Otter".

We stopped at the Visitor center, and Dev took off his famous SLR and started working out his Magic with the camera. Really this guy has got a lots of talent (I am sure you are reading this)... with the Camera...I am sure the photographs he took today deserved a place in photographic journals. So i decided to exploit Dev's photographic skills, and get a couple of good snaps of mine too..

After a small photographic session we set off on a trail called the "Elk Run trail" Hike... After half a mile into the woods filled with Oak trees, and small fresh water streams flowing, we took as many pictures as we could in the woods. A occasional rustling sound in the foliage would make us turn to see if we can get a sight of either a Raccoon or a Rabbit, but it was just the wind every time playing peek-a-boo with us. Spring is just setting in so the Oak trees are still to get into a blooming stage. But the sounds of the woods is music to the ears which has been tortured for a week...listening to you know what (If you still are wondering what...watch for my next post).

After returning from the Elk trail...we set off to the Abbott Lake which was nearby... Set next to the Abbott lake is the Lake view restaurant... yes yes it had a view of the lake and served wonderful food. The Lake was looked like it was out of a painting ...and Dev was quick to capture the beauty in his SLR...such a wonderful photograph...with three different types of blue...The Azure Sky, the Blue ridge peaks and the Blue waters of Abbott lake.

So after the pics of the Abbott lake...we set on another trail, this time a much tougher 1.5 mile trail up hill called the "Sharp Top trail". We climbed half a mile when the evening was setting in. We had to stop and get down at time for our much early dinner at 5:30 PM... So back to the Lake View Restaurant and there came a Country cooked Steak, Mashed Potatoes and Casserole with bread a coke for thirsty travellers... So tired wished i had a beer but the calorie consciousness got the better off me and settled for Pepsi.
So after some window shopping, where i collected some postcards as usual, with a fully satiated hunger, with a well spent day behind and wonderful photographs of Dev's magic in his SLR...we went back to the car.

So back in the car Dev calls me "Dude...I did a awesome stuff"... "What is it Dev?"
"By mistake i have deleted all the photographs in the cam"...
"You mean all of them"... and a beaming Dev replies ..."Yes ...ALL OF THEM".

PS- Check out the pics shot by the cybershot point and shoot in Facebook.

From Chidamabaram to Cambridge

2010-04-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

Just finished reading this article on Nobel Laureate Venkataraman Ramakrishnan in "The Hindu". Venkataraman has joined the not very formidable line-up of people with Indian origins who have been conferred with this highest honor in science.

http://beta.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article391164.ece

With respect to Indians, even though we have quite a handful of Nobel laureates in various fields, only Sir CV Raman and Chandrasekhar have managed to receive this honor in a scientific field (Both in Physics). And now the list is extended by the first person of Indian origins to receive a Nobel prize in Chemistry in the more than 100 long years of the award's history.

Getting to know about the early years of some of the great people is always interesting. It gives an understanding of how very simple people were transformed into following something with a passion and establishing themselves in their respective fields. And in that way Mr. Venkataraman’s story was more closer to home and very relatable.

From being born in Chidambaram and having early education in Tamil Nadu, to being a confused graduate not sure which field to choose from the story of his life is very simple and relatable.

Anyhow this was an interesting read.

Maoist Menace

2010-04-11T00:14:00.000-07:00

In a country that is already bleeding due to terrorist attacks from across the border, the recent attacks by Maoists on the CRPF troops in Dantewada forest region, emphasizes that equal importance should be given to acts of violence from within the country.

Dantewada is another macabre manifestation of the heinous crimes that are committed against innocent civilians and government servants by the Maoists. While it is a ghastly act that needs to be condemned by all the responsible citizens, it is also time to take notice of how to tackle the menace of Maoists which is spreading like a lethal virus across the country.

Time and again the Government of India has tried to engage the Maoists in discussions in understanding their ideological issues, but the time has come to realize that such forces should be tackled with bullets and not through discussions.

The Government should immediately act in bringing not only the perpetrators of Dantewada to justice but should focus on the other elements that are supporting the Maoists across the country. The source of funds for the Maoists should be tracked down along with cutting off their political patronage if any.

It should be ensured that these atrocious criminals are not called once again to any round table but were brought to justice as soon as possible.

Right to Education

2010-04-02T10:48:00.001-07:00

Wherein his predecessors were more concerned with higher education reforms concentrating on the IIM’s, Kapil Sibal have taken a much welcome shift concentrating on Education at the grassroots level. The Right to Education is a landmark act in the history of India addressing one of the plaguing issues of the Indian Society.

As mentioned by Mr. Sibal, “The bill provides a framework for quality education and access to it” providing the right direction for primary education in India. The keyword to note is Quality and ensuring access to Quality Education across the cross section of society. However this will depend on the multiple stakeholders and their interests, right from parents, teachers, educational institutions and the society as a whole.

The commendable part of the bill is the delineation of Literacy from Education, whereas literacy is defined as the ability of a person above the age of 7 to read and write, education is much more than literacy enabling comprehension. So it is time to do a reality check as to what are the gaps that needs to be filled in order to achieve the ambition of 100% access to primary education.

In 2005, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh mentioned that only 47 out of 100 children enrolled in class I were able to reach class VIII. This puts the dropout ratio at 52.79%.
19% of the total primary schools in India are single teacher schools. 42 million students in the age group of 6-14 do not attend school due to various reasons like accessibility, poverty, inadequate quality of education etc. 16.64 % of the country’s villages do not have any primary schooling facilities. Teacher absenteeism ranges from 15% in Maharashtra to as high as 42% in Jharkand. The teacher-student ratio in India is 1:42, whereas in Bihar alone it is 1:83. (Sourcehttp://www.unicef.org/india/education_1551.htm)

The reality seems bad enough as the data points out the jarring gap in infrastructure and the ambitious goal of achieving quality education for all children. So the first step will be to set appropriate incentives for each of the above-mentioned stakeholders. (The mid-day meal scheme was one such incentive prompting the child to attend school).

Similarly in order to get Quality education, Quality Teachers are a necessity which unfortunately India lacks due to the miniscule pay scale set for the teaching community. A performance based incentive for the teaching community which is at par with any other industry should be set. The performance of a teacher can be measured as the pass percentage of his/her students based on which incentives can be set.

The bill targets compulsory education till 14 years of age or till Class VIII only. Whereas the syllabus is set in such a way that real education starts only after the age of 14 for a child. While primary education will concentrate on ensuring literacy, Education will begin only after the age of 14. But with the kind of startling statistics with respect to education in India achieving 100% literacy in the first place will prove to be a herculean task for the policymakers.

The bill is only a signboard which points to destination miles away and not the destination itself.

Rin Vs Tide

2010-02-28T05:17:00.000-08:00

Yesterday i saw this ad from Rin which was a direct dig on the competitor detergent brand Tide. Don't know how long this campaign has been on or the history behind it, as weekends are the only time i am getting nowadays to watch TV. But rather than directly classifying this ad as illegal or uncompetitive, just thought or trying to think from the point of view of HUL, as to what might be the strategy behind such a ad campaign that can lead to a possible lawsuit from P&G's Tide.

Will it be actually true that RIN can provide more 'safedi' to clothes rather than Tide. Is there any scientific proof that RIN is superior to Tide, which HUL is taking to its advantage of to educate the consumer. Is HUL trying to prove a fact by making a statement, which could possibly be true, and in that way trying to help the confused consumer who is entangled and bored with the run of the mill ad campaigns which are hitting them from multiple directions. Is HUL trying to provide direct facts to the consumer, and in that way enabling him to compare two different products, in a objective and direct way. Is this giving raise to a new paradigm in ad making which seems to be more objective at the outset. This is one way of looking into the advertisement.

But the question remains that if HUL is so concerned about providing objective data to the consumer, why not do a comparison between RIN and Surf, both of which are the products of HUL. It is a very well known fact that Surf Excel is positioned and priced as a high end product when compared to RIN which is more of a lower end product in comparison. But leaving the comparison in terms of positioning and pricing why not provide a comparison of the first P, the product, between Surf and RIN. Or even for that matter of fact between Wheel and Rin.

The conclusion is clear as light, no organization actually cares about educating the consumer or even showing a concern towards the end user. All a brand wants is to spread, and even if it requires to kill the other brands with their vitriolic campaigning in the name of providing facts. Should wait and see what will be the response from P&G with respect to this...

A Taxing Task

2009-12-26T09:05:00.000-08:00

Three years back, I remember receiving my first paycheck when I was worried about the amount going away as income tax. New to the whole idea of tax saving options, which are available, I went to a Tax consultant, to seek his advice on these tax saving instruments.

He suggested the best way, or so did he call it, for tax savings the ULIP or Unit Linked Insurance Plans, which offer both insurance and investment returns. I bought both the idea and ULIP as a gullible rookie as far as tax savings go.

Again in the same year I thought of investing in some other tax-saving instrument and opted for a Mutual Fund, the guy who came to my office again started talking about this wonder called ULIP as the best tax saving instrument and tried to push me into it once again. But failed this time coz I was adamant on buying a MF rather than a ULIP.

So, the question is, Is ULIP the best tax saving option available, what are the Fine prints which go unread and why are the Tax consultants so eager and pushy to sell the ULIP’s.
Let’s analyze this one by one…

Tax saving options can be divided into two types, one which is tied to the market like ULIPs and MFs and therefore risky and others which are least risky like the PPF (Public Provident Fund), NSC (National Savings Certificate), Pension Funds, Fixed Deposits (FD) and Infrastructure Bonds (IB). But the returns of these instruments vary based on the amount of risk you are willing to take.

While PPF, NSC, Pension Funds, FD’s and IB’s offer a fixed rate of return, ULIP’s and MF’s offer varying returns since they invest in stocks and bonds depending on the type of plan which is chosen. Almost all these instruments have a lock-in period during which money cannot be withdrawn; The Lock-in period starts from a minimum of 3 years for ULIP’s and MF’s to a Maximum of 15 years in case of the PPF.

The best investment vehicle should be chosen based on the investment objective of the investor. The investor should understand that tax advantage is just an added incentive for investing in these options and not an objective in itself.

ULIP will be the preferred option if the investor’s objective is to buy an insurance policy which has investment also as an additional goodie. As an investment Vehicle ULIP will always fare far lesser than the Mutual Fund the entry load in an MF is far lesser than what goes in the name of service charges for an ULIP. And Insurance plans are available in the market for far lesser premiums than what is being charged under the name of ULIPs.

So what good is the ULIP, if you see ULIP as an investment vehicle providing high returns, a Mutual Fund will always fare better since for a ULIP the service charges range from 20% for the first year and 5-10% for the second year whereas a MFs are talking about the “No Entry Load” scheme suggested by SEBI means all your money is invested. But these service charges for ULIP are usually mentioned in fine prints or the tax consultant never even mentions it.
Also in an ULIP if the investor defers the payment and was not in a position to pay the premiums in a particular year, there is a risk of the policy cancellation due to the non-payment of premium making him lose the entire money.

As an insurance policy, there are many conventional policies available in the market for a lesser premium than the service charges demanded by ULIP. When I invested 25 K in ULIP 5K went as service charges whereas had I taken a Life Insurance I would have paid a premium of only 2500 to 3000 for the same amount of coverage (In this case 100000).
And ULIP tends to differ from each insurance company differing in terms of lock-in period, Sum Assured, coverage, service charges etc. with fine prints and terms and conditions insulting the intelligence of an average investor.

In spite of all these disadvantages why does the tax consultant push for this product? As Freakonomics puts it, man is an Economic animal who responds to various forms of incentives. The Tax consultants are also Insurance Agents, and always get a better commission by selling Insurance policies rather than the other products. And a flawed product like ULIP, will always carry a better commission rather than both MF’s and conventional insurance policies. So a lesson learnt and my ULIP policy has matured and will soon post on the losses I have made on this investment of mine…

And the Nobel Goes Too

2009-12-13T04:13:00.000-08:00

Dec 10 2009, amid controversies Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Well there is a controversy looming around this decision of the Nobel committee, where some believe that Obama deserves the prize for not being Bush and others find Obama’s statement on the necessity of war for achieving peace a little more like the statement of a Jihadist.

But as the controversy takes its own time to metamorphose into fact, and finally turn into a butterfly, as does most of the controversies, let’s analyze some of the top 10 controversial decisions of the Nobel committee from its inception in 1901.

No. 10 – The Inventors War

When it comes to Inventions, the first name that will come to anyone’s mind is Thomas Alva Edison. There will be no text-books dealing with Physics or Electronics which do not have the name of Edison in them. But Edison never received a Nobel questioning the credibility of the award itself.

Same is the case with Nikoli Tesla, the man who is credited with not only the Alternating Current, but also known as the inventor of Radio. Whereas Marconi received the Nobel for Radio in 1909, Tesla was not even nominated in that year. The Magnetic field is measured by the name which was not considered for Nobel.
These two inventors, although were nominated during 1916, bad-mouthed each other so much that the Nobel committee decided to skip the Nobel award for physics that year.

No. 9 – E = MC2
In one of my Physics papers there was this question, that “For what did Einstein awarded the Nobel Prize?” I as usual did not go prepared for the exams, but believed that this is an easy one. Although I was a bit confused between “Theory of Relativity” and “Mass Energy Equation”, I took a gamble and went for “Theory of Relativity”.

But after the exams, it was a surprise that neither were right answers. He was awarded the Nobel on his explanation of the Photoelectric Effect in 1921. Even though when compared to his other theories which were instrumental in creating a new term called “Modern Physics” as opposed to the Newtonian Physics, he was never recognized for his path-breaking theories explaining relativity or Mass Energy relation.

Some see this as a fallacy and others say that this is justified because some of his theories were yet to be proved during those times, but at the end of the day, I did not clear my Physics paper.

No. 8 – Barracks Obama
The most recent controversy surrounding the peace prize, guess there is nothing required to talk more on this. It is time for the man to do it in action.
No. 7 – A Pre – Phosphorus mistake

The man who created the first periodic table of classification of the known elements, Mendeleev, never received the Nobel. He was nominated for the Nobel in 1906 but due to the behind the scene politics, he did not get the award. The Chemistry award that year went to a man who isolated fluorine from its compounds.

No 6. – War and Peace

1973 – Henry Kissinger gets the Nobel for Peace.
1969 – 1975 – Henry Kissinger was involved in bombing NVA infiltrators in Cambodia
1975 – Operation Condor, involving the assassination of more than 60,000 people belonging to the left wing in S. America. USA even though played a Supervisory role in this, Kissinger was the man on the forefront, allegedly well aware of the Operation Condor.
Nobel peace was put to good use in quelling all the opposing elements ensuring peace.

No 5 – Hesperisum – What is that ???

In 1938, Enrico Fermi was awarded the Nobel in Chemistry for creating this weird named element Hesperium. But later It was found that he has not created any new elements and the Hesperium is nothing but some isotope produced due to Nuclear Fission.

A Nobel once given cannot be recalled.

No 4 – Sabbatical wars
Anwar Sadat, the then PM of Egypt, who lead the Yom Kippur war, on the day of the Sabbath against Israel, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978.
Also another person Menachim Begin, who was an alleged terrorist, against the British rule in Israel, was also awarded the Nobel Peace Prize the same year.

No 3 – The PLO and Peace Prize

1994 – Yasser Arafat, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Arafat, a known terrorist leader, with a long history of violence was awarded the Peace Prize.

No. 2 – Ahimsa’s Way out

While Yasser Arafat, Anwar Sadat and Kissinger were given the peace prize, with known history of violence, the man who wielded his walking stick and travelled the nation promoting peaceful protests was shown the door by the Nobel Committee.

Gandhi was nominated five times and each time the Nobel committee failed to award him the Nobel. In 1948 after Gandhi’s assassination, no award was given stating that there was no living candidate with the word living underlined. This made sure that
Gandhi did not receive the prize even though he was nominated.

But Dag Hammarskjold was awarded the peace prize posthumously for being a fellow Scandinavian and not an Indian.

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/articles/gandhi/index.html

No. 1 – Hail Hitler

Even though the Nobel Committee did not award the Nobel Peace to Hitler, he was still nominated for the award in 1936.

The list of nominees cannot be published until fifty years by the Nobel Committee, and when the list till 1955 was released, it was a surprise to find Hitler among the nominees.

Bottom up Politics

2009-05-02T23:29:00.000-07:00

On 26/11, when Mumbai was attacked by terrorists from Pakistan, the entire city was outraged by the act and at the same time was disappointed by the lackluster populism politics being played by our so called “leaders”. The gallant acts of protests which were organized in Mumbai following the attacks showcased the public discontent, especially among the youth for a change and reform oriented politics as contrary to the populist, vote-bank based, reactive and blame game political approach being followed currently. There was a hunger for justice around the population, hunger for justice for those innocent civilian life lost in the brazen attack, hunger for justice for those who lost their life fighting the terrorist menace all across the country.

But the recent elections for the Lok Sabha, 2009, the voters turnout and the court proceedings against Ajmal kasab, the lone terrorist who was caught by Mumbai police are proving that justice is a mere mirage in a country which is reactive and amnesic in its own nature.

The Judiciary is too busy in determining the age of Kasab, but to be honest does it matter how old he is, looking at the magnitude of his actions and the consequences. And the direction which the court proceedings are taking proves where our courts (With all due respect) are spending their efforts, in pointless arguments which are leading nowhere. Firstly does people like Kasab, require a court proceeding which will take another ten years to come to a conclusion. Does people like him require be defended that too by an Indian lawyer, the country against which the attack was launched. If justice has to be served the court should be able to expedite the case and the intelligence should be able t o extract valuable information about the terrorist infrastructure from Kasab.

While the court is too busy with the age factor, our Mumbaikars who raised there voice and rose together against the publicity politics were no where to be seen when it came to exercising their franchise. Either they have gone to their hometowns thanks to the long weekend or too busy watching IPL. This is clear from the fact that the voter turnout in Mumbai was a mere 43%, which seems to be a dismal figure compared to the furor after the attacks.

The process of change in India has been bottom up, the economic liberty of India in the last two decades are not state sponsored but came from individual growth aspirations. When the Indian growth story was taking place our populist politicians were busy thinking about how much subsidies, loan waivers, reservations, free electricity and other freebies, losing the pulse of the restlessness and aspirations of the country. Whether it is the number of entrepreneurs, the world class industries, the booming IT and services sector, the extra ordinary growth in trade or the change in the lifestyle, all of it came from individuals or communities with the state playing a minimal role.

But when it comes to the elections and politics, there seems to be lack of individual or community based participation is appalling. One side of the argument says that irrespective of the party we vote for, it will be the same wine served maybe in a different bottle. The same old story of populist politics will take the throne irrespective of the elected party. I cannot agree more on that, looking at the manifestos of the major political parties, there was not a single reform oriented action plan but populism seems to be ubiquitous with a rat race for the most subsidies.

But if we look at the individuals and independents who are contesting in the cities (like student groups and youth federations) at least in the city, some of the manifestos where reform based. To the surprise these fledgling political aspirants were able to diagnose the pulse of the populace better than the veterans. And looking at the non-voting populace, which is more than 50%, they have a say in shifting the favor towards reforms than subsidies.

But our non-voting populace is simply indifferent. If the anger shown in the Mumbai protests were channeled into the elections and voted for the right person, we could have seen a shift in the political orientation of the country and there could have been a bottom up shift in the politics of the country as well.

First and foremost of the reforms we require is in the electoral process and the people’s mindset towards politics. Only then the necessary reforms will follow….

Why IPL will not fare in the long run

2009-05-02T00:19:00.000-07:00

“The Indian Premier League (IPL) has done wonders for bank balances across the globe” read one of the articles in The Telegraph. But how long is this dream run of the IPL going to last. All of us know that India is a cricket crazy country and rewards any form of cricket with bounties.

If we go back in history, the young India immediately after independence was an insecure country desperate for some recognition among the world countries. The desperation for recognition was only fuelled by the fact that we were constantly being ignored by the world countries. Worst of all, our very survival was dependant on the food and money supplies from the developed countries and the world bank.

When Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing achieved the feat of reaching the highest point in both the world and in history, there was a controversy over who reached the summit first. Desperate for recognition India proclaimed Tenzing to be the first person to set foot on the everest. Even though Tenzing was of Nepali origin and he was merely helping hillary to ascend the peak, Indians took pride in proclaiming Tenzing to be the first person on the everest with hillary’s name not even being mentioned. So desperate was the need for recognition….

Coming back to Cricket, the first ever test match India won was against England in 1952 in Madras followed immediately by a series win against Pakistan in the same year. These victories were soon forgotten because the next victory came in 1956 against New Zealand after four years. Soon this too was forgotten and it took us till 1971, a whopping 16 years, for a back to back series win against West indies and England respectively under the captaincy of Ajit wadekar.

The country growing more and more desperate day by day, due to the constant economic crisis, sectarian crisis, lack of recognition, bad government policies found a solace in cricket since it brought with it the much needed recognition for India.

Cricket Fever reached the crescendo with India winning the World cup in 1983, beating the West Indies, and then followed the Asia cup in 1984, and the World championship of cricket in 1985.

Cricket, was being crowned from a “solace for recognition” to a religion by itself. The victories after that and the emergence of world class cricketers like Gavaskar, Kapil Dev, Sachin, Azharruddin, Saurav Ganguly etc. made cricket as not only the unofficial national sports of India but also the most money spinning sporting event.

If we look at the history it was not the love for cricket, which made us love the game but the love for the country and yearning for recognition among the world countries which made cricket in India a success. The underlying passions that our country is able to win a championship in the world arena made us Indians exult with joy.

Looking at the IPL with the same prism, the same passion for one’s city or favorite team is either absent or artificially created by roping in film stars. Also in the teams there are more foreign players, stating the fact that the name Chennai or Rajasthan or whatever being prefixed to the team name does not have any significance for the viewer.

And thirdly being a fan of Sachin Tendulkar, I did admire his batting in the first IPL match against Chennai. But logically speaking being in Chennai, and as a fan supporting one particular side, I shouldn’t have done so. Again we Indians love to take sides, even though if we are in the wrong side we love to stick to our stand. So in IPL you have to either enjoy the game not caring about the side which is playing or you should be confused whether to support your city/state side or your favorite player or your favorite film star.

The very novelty of the idea and the marriage between cricket and Bollywood made IPL a money spinner in India, but how long will this dream run last. In view of the above mentioned reasons the long term prospect of IPL filling the bank balances is questionable.

Greed Vs Simplicity

2009-03-09T21:51:00.000-07:00

Imagining India, Ideas for the New Century, penned by Nandan Nilekani, is what I am currently reading. Being a dead slow reader, imbibing and savoring each and every word as I read, demands a long time for me to finish any book. It will take another month before I can write about the book, but what made me to buy the book was the name of ‘Nandan’. I happened to hear his speech when he visited the Mangalore DC of Infosys, where I was working two years ago. Even though I have left Infy, the Simplicity with which Nandan spoke to the Associates was something which I will remember. He did not use a lot of Jargon or complicated strategies but relied on his simple ways to explain his ideas for the future of Infosys. As Thomas L Friedman says, Nandan has an unique skill for explaining his concepts, in a simple and easy to understand manner.
Also I enjoyed reading, the autobiography of Subrato Bagchi, titled “Go Kiss the World”, where he explains the virtue called Simplicity, not as a starting point but something which is everlasting. Having come from Simple Background, these gentlemen, did not forget the virtue even as they achieved great heights by venturing into the complicated industry of IT, which is tough to understand for me even today.
Cut from Simplicity, let’s move to the Concept of Greed, one of the seven unforgivable sins, something which will be branded as “BAD” in the black and white world and also in the world with shades of grey. In the movie Wall Street, Gordan Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, says “The point is, ladies and gentleman, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind.”
We don’t stop in attributing the current global meltdown catalyzed by the Sub-Prime crisis, and fuelled by the fall of the global banking and finance industry to the greed of a few. But weren’t we happy and contented when the stock prices were moving up, when the real estate investments were sitting comfortably on Apollo 11, going towards the Moon. Something to think about.
Subrato Bagchi, re-emphasizes the concept of Abundance, stating that there is enough available for everyone in the world as against the concept of scarcity. The same principle of abundance also explained by Stephen Covey, in his book, the “Seven habits of Highly effective People”. Both these gentlemen explain that the concept of scarcity leads to greed, and fight to acquire the scarce resources as against the mentality of Abundance which builds in the virtue of simplicity and co-operation to achieve a common goal.
My take, Yes, everything is available to everyone but the question is at what price? Are these resources available? Had I been greedy enough to acquire enough property before two years I wont be spending a fortune in buying real estate now. Same is true for gold also. And what if I am a person who is in dire need for both these commodities. A common comment by bereaved individuals. Does the principle of abundance still relevant to the contemporary world.
The purpose of me writing this is not to reach a conclusion on which one of the concepts (Simplicity Vs Greed or Abundance Vs Scarcity) is relevant to the contemporary world and which one will prevail. But to kindle the grey cells into thinking about the other side of the coin is also valid. Comments Welcome.

Thrissur - This Time

2009-02-28T23:26:00.000-08:00

The last two weekends were amazing in the sense, I travelled to Thrissur in Central Kerala and Erode to the West of Chennai. Some of the photographic exploits….

What Makes Benjamin Button a Curious Case?

2009-02-14T00:49:00.001-08:00

As a matter of fact, I didn’t want to publish எனி movie reviews in my blog, even though I liked reviewing movies. I made this decision to the stay away from the“masala stuff” and also due to the sheer volume of movies which I am watching nowadays. But, the Curious case of Benjamin Button just kindled the interest in me to write my views on the movie rather than a review. So I take an exception this time and write this review or rather on how I read this movie.

The movie starts with an elderly Blanchett, in her deathbed having her last conversation with her daughter. She starts with a cryptic story of a mysterious Blind Horologist, who designs a clock running backwards, in the hope it will bring back his son who was wasted in The Great War (World War I, was called the Great War before World War 2 Occurred).
Even though the Clockmaker, do not make much impact on the storyline, I found the character quite amazing. It brought to the fore, the human feeling of escaping into the past, when faced with some terrible confusion, but still knowing for sure that you cannot reclaim or relive what has already happened. We live those days in our minds, we think about them and long for them knowing for sure that it is not possible to expect a repeat of the good times in life. Even though the hope of this Horologist, in that he expected to travel back into the good times of his life which he spent with his son by designing a backward running clock, was an extreme hope. The entire movie is about extreme situations which brining out some of the strongest human emotional disturbances to the surface with nuggets of philosophy. And this character sets the tone running for the entire movie.
Moving away from the Clockmaker to Cate Blanchett in her Deathbed, she asks her daughter to read her the diary of a Benjamin Button, whom the daughter hardly knows. (I don’t publish Spoilers in my reviews). The diary stats with the curious birth of Benjamin at the end of the Great War.
The story is all about Benjamin Button, played by Brad Pitt, born with the physical appearance of an 86 year old man, abandoned by his father after his mother’s obstetrical death. Curiously Benjamin grows up or in fact grows down at a retirement home. Yes, Benjamin starts getting biologically younger, as time passes, his biological clock runs backward. Brad Pitt, has done a wonderful job, playing the role of a old man and moving to that of a teenager. Kudos to the Gregg Cannom, for the excellent make up.
The Entire story is about how Benjamin, grows younger with time, and is a kind of a biography. What kindled my curiosity, was the narration, it does not give anybody any impression of a miracle but portrays it as a story of growing up only to realize you are different from the others. I found this interesting as I saw this as an extreme portrayal of the uniqueness of life; no two lives are similar in nature; No two problems are similar; The same decisions will not lead to the same results. Of course, Benjamin was an extreme depiction of the uniqueness, but it is very intelligent creativity.
I particularly liked the definition of the term “Accident” given by the director, as a series of minor unrelated incidents which we ignore as leading to the life changing impact. Also he explains the inability of human cognizance to do anything about the accidental situations.
Towards the end, the movie also portrays the various roles played by different people around you and the uniqueness of these roles. Concluding the movie with the note of uniqueness, this actually runs throughout the movie.
Benjamin Button does make one Curious.

Destination Kozhikode

2009-02-07T03:25:00.000-08:00

This weekend I was in Kozhikode, to attend a marriage of my friend. Some of the travel advices I would say regarding Kozhikode are
1) Don’t go there on the 1st of any month – Cos it is a dry day.
2) Always carry some bottles of water- It was very hot, and completely dehydrating, a 100 m walk in the beach itself was tiring to hell.
3) Swim in the beach, only if you know how to swim – Even though it is not advisable to swim in the seas, in Kozhikode the beaches are shallow, and there were some areas were people were swimming. This was unlike Chennai, where the seas normally are very rough and even good swimmers, will not dare to venture into the sea.
4) Do not trust the tourist destinations given in wiki travel – Some of the places are very mundane. When you travel across these places, somebody should be there to let you know these are places of interest. (Ex. The light house on Kozhikode beach, Lions Park etc.)
5) Eat, Eat and Eat – Amazing Culinary, Seafood is the Specialty, if you like seafood, no place like kozhikode.Try some Mussels and Squids in the beach hotel, they were amazing. Also try some local chips , pazampozhi, and halwa.
6) Boating in Kadavu – Some 30 mins drive from Kozhikode are the Kadavu resorts, which are one of the most scenic locations also offering a boating service nearby. The food was also equally amazing. A must go in Kozhikode.

Foreign Exchange rates and Bretton Woods.

2009-02-03T07:46:00.000-08:00

Tata Motors, on the second of February, posted a surprising loss of Rs. 263 Crore of which an amount of 226 Crore is being attributed to notional foreign exchange losses.
When the price of crude oil was USD 120 per barrel, there was a considerable demand from the PSU oil majors for the increase in the price of petrol, diesel and LPG. The government followed suit by increasing the prices thereby fuelling inflation. But when the price of crude nosedived to USD 44, it took some time for the government before announcing a cut in the price of petrol and diesel. This delay is again attributed to the volatile nature of the currency market in terms of the USD.
When the rupee was going strong against the USD reaching an exchange rate of 39-40 Rs per dollar, there was again a cry from the industry, and this time it was the blue eyed boys of the Indian IT industry who were in the line of fire.
The impact of the fluctuations in US dollar and its impact on the common man, gave rise to a very fundamental question in my mind. Out of all the currencies in the world, why the USD was chosen as the base currency for trade. I looked at the economic history of the world and came across this interesting agreement, which changed the economic course of the world called Bretton Woods Agreement.
To understand where it all started, we have to go back to the 1930’s, yes the time of The Great Depression, when the countries where separated into different blocs and were following a policy called as “Beggar thy Neighbor” policy. The policy was simple, devaluate your currency so that your exports can increase than that of your neighbor thereby improving the balance of payments. Most importantly during this period gold was used as the base for the trade augmented by British pound so you devaluate your currency with respect to gold or British pound.
This policy improved the balance of payments at the cost of the local demand leading to a deflationary spiral for the countries trying to reduce their money supply. This spiral and the cost of war lead to the origin of the Bretton Woods system. Delegation from 44 countries, took part in deciding on the important aspects of the agreement leading to the formation of the IBRD (World Bank) and IMF.
It was also decided that all the currency rates will be fixed on par with that of Gold augmented by US dollar. In turn US dollar was fixed in parity with gold (35 Ounce per US Dollar) and it was agreed that dollars can be exchanged for gold anytime by the international community.
It was also decided that room for a maximum of 1% volatility in the currency rates will be considered nominal. Any sudden volatile movements in the currency rates will be financed by the IMF thereby holding the exchange rates more or less constant.

So the basic reasons on how USD was chosen as the base currency and the failure of the Bretton-Woods are:
1) US was emerging as the supreme economic power, after the second world war ravished much of the European superpowers like Britain and France. US also provided a loan of 3.8 Billion and 1 Billion dollars to Britain and France respectively resulting in the super powers holding dollar reserves.
2) US also promised an anytime return of gold in return to the Dollar reserves which are being held by France, Britain and the other countries. (At a rate of 35 ounce per dollar).
3) The production of gold was minimal to support the international trade with gold as the base currency. And most importantly much of the world’s Gold produce was from Soviet Russia. So if gold is used as the base currency Russia will be the beneficiary. So most of the war torn countries were given dollar aids further making them hold dollar reserves
4) In 1971, when it was announced that US will not trade gold for dollars, the other countries were left with no option other than to hold on with the dollar reserves thereby becoming a victim of the dollar fluctuations.
5) Bretton woods system in terms of fixed foreign exchange rates, ceased to exist in the backdrop of the US refusal on the exchange of gold.

So the next time you pay extra money for a liter of petrol, or lose some money due to the falling Tata motor prices, it is due to the failure of the Bretton Woods system and also the insistence of the usage of USD for foreign commercial transactions.
Everyone was happy as long as US economy was doing well without much currency fluctuations. But the situation now demands some basic questions on the various aspects of the economic transactions and also a CHANGE is required to avoid the spiraling down of the world economy due to its dependence on the USD.

Tabula Rasa

2008-10-26T02:17:00.000-07:00

Named after Ekonomikrisis, the Merchant from Asterix, (Also inspired from the current global phenomena) let me declare my blog open.