Write it when you feel it!

2012: Doomsday?

2012-01-09T15:34:00.005+08:00

The whole world had been talking about doomsday during this New Year when quite a lot of people are seen celebrating New Year so much as if this is the last New Year they’ve got. Is this really going to end this time?
I am not a great believer of any calendar be it Mayan or Indian. But there are quite a few things that I would like to bring it across. Let’s leave alone the fact or myth that world will end this year but can we try to evaluate the facts that we have & the observations of great men before us?
Let’s start with what is a Yuga. A yuga is an era within the cycle of four ages. The four ages being Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dvapara Yuga & Kali Yuga. All this is caused and controlled by the stars revolving and rushing above our heads. The end described in some of the spiritual Hindu texts share that it will start raining continuously until everything is flooded and drowned. By this time the people’s mind would have been corrupted beyond repair. The seeds would have given up giving more fruits. But do you think we are yet there? Can this whole happen in another few months? They say that the four ages will be work in a circular manner. Once the Kali Yuga is completed, it will again start with Satya Yuga.

The planetarium software had helped to date the existence of Rama based on Valmiki Ramayana to somewhere in 5000+ BC. King Rama is still considered one of the best men to live in India considering his warring feats and administration. This is written into every Hindu’s brains as soon as they are born. People have excavated and located Dwaraka under water as described by the Mahabharata. Satellite pictures had shown the existence of Nala Sethu bridge under water connection India to present day Lanka & much more which is proving that it all existed long back. Some of the mythology classified texts had been turning into big bulky history books. Most things that people are finding out now had been found and used millions of years ago by humans as seen in Pyramid and other megalithic architectures and much more from the excavated facts.

Are we lacking something to understand and accept it all to be real? Yes, we are. It has become human nature to question everything that they cannot digest and disprove if they cannot prove. The Mayan calendar talks about world ending in 2012 due to many things. People who understand and talk about tectonic plate shifting which in turn causes a pole shift for the earth also believes in the same. There are quite a few evidences still left in this world that shows that there was an ice age with wooly mammoth and similar animals. There was an age with dinosaurs and men who were 15foot tall. All this had been found and examined, but still the same bunch doesn’t support a polar shift. What else would have caused a quick shuffle of the world if not for earth herself moving her internals? There are evidences left of lot of civilizations being swallowed by the sea across the world. People are also talking about the lost continents in Lemuria & Kumari Kandam and much more. Are we actually turning blind or is it really the start of perish?

Every religious text in case you are a religious person talks about the world ending and a new beginning in which their hero God starts everything for them all over again. Let’s not debate about God this time but do you actually think there has to be something to do with everything ending and starting all over again. Another interesting thing to note is that all the texts also talks about flood and continuous rain which is also the case as described as the end of Kali Yuga. Tsunami’s which started hitting the present day world in near past was unknown to present day intelligent homo-sapiens but well written and documented in tamil scriptures explaining the tsunami which ate away a big chunk of prosperous land few thousand years ago.

In case your spare time allows, read the interesting not of Kali Yuga on Wikipedia and see whether it matches with present day situation in India.(Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kali_Yuga). By the way we have great analysts and credible scientists in all industries in this earth. They had predicted that there won’t be any havoc this year and earth is not expecting any shock. Gist of it is business as usual. But remember we also had at least 500% more financial analysts and geeks who could not even predict a global slowdown and recession in 2008 when everything was rosy. To decide whom to trust is one’s personal matter which I don’t want to persuade.

Predicted doomsday is 21 December, 2012 which might just come and go like another day if we all got lucky and our kids luckier. A similar catastrophe was predicted in May 2003 in the form a planet heading towards earth to collide. It is end of cycle in Mayan calendar in Winter of 2012 too. NASA claims that it will be a normal day and year and earth will continue to exist in their websites.(NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html). If you believe in international politics and role of India in discovery and research, the Roland Emmerich and Harald Kloser written 2012 movie would look damn real.

As per astrology, a solar eclipse is predicted on 13th November 2012 and a lunar eclipse on 28th November 2012. It is expected that the effect of these two back to back eclipse’s can cause earthquakes, floods, tsunamis or volcanic eruptions as mentioned in some of the studies. But this is not going to be end of world. It could be just another bad day for we earth inhabitants as it had happened in recent past.
As per world politics, considering the pace at which terrorism is heading and people/countries forming for and against it in groups, we could also expect a world war III, which could really be devastating given the weapons some countries possess. No one could predict when but if not handled carefully such issues which are at times religious in foundation, having political pillars and nuclear roofs could not be stopped. Anyone going against it or country for that matter would be isolated and could even be attacked equally from all fronts. The story of climate control & global warming would be forgotten during the battle for power and prestige. Remember that nuclear weapons when used can cause such effects that even the creators can’t predict by even eradicating a whole race. There are evidences of use of nuclear weapons in ancient warfare available in the present day earth. Will man himself bring the doomsday by such foolish acts?

As a matter of fact, anything can happen anytime to anyone. So let’s not worry too much whether world would end but think about what best we can do today when we are all alive and together. To get started, I would recommend you to do good research on following topics to know more about what happened to earth and on earth. I would also recommend you to look for things before 0 BC and not after that. There can be lot of fabrications involving foreign bodies and powerful organizations otherwise.

Trust me you would be fascinated!

a. Megalithic Structures
b. Alien life on earth
c. Lemuria
d. Aztecs
e. Atlantis
f. Peru secrets
g. Rama empire
h. World energy grids
i. Lost continents
j. Kumari Kandam
k. Ancient Civilizations
l. Tamil Texts
m. Sanskrit Language
n. Hinduism
o. Pagan worshippers

Life - Live it!

2011-06-01T14:28:00.004+08:00

The greatest memories that we treasure had always been from our childhood. When we happen to crash onto an old childhood friend most times we get a wave a events in our thoughts which had happened years back. That very night most of us would love to sleep early to dream about those days. Our age at this time is forgotten and doesn't affect. Our mention about past experiences and memories are ubiquitous in all forms of conversations. As great men always said, you should be child when it comes to learning. The key attribute that a child or baby possess is observation skills which we overlook as we get older. We overlook this considering the pattern that is build in our brain based on our observations as a baby, child and adult. We tend to assume as we get older and consider ourselves more wise than the next generation.

I think I had been floating around my topic without actually catching the flag. Let me come to my subject for the day which is impact of TV, Internet & Computers on us. By the way I am not discussing here to throw away all those boxes which you had bought worth big bucks. But I am talking about wise use of it and to make them feel the nature which we once did. There is a connection between every child who was brought up in India few years back and nature. This connection is something that cannot be explained in the few words that I know from schools. This association with nature is what is missing in most of the children today.

Every kid until they reach 8-10years old, you can find them in front of TV once they start perceiving few things. Parents actually are more relaxed due to this habit since they could find time for other house hold chores. If you ask any kid around 2-3yrs old he/she would have a favorite song, favorite actor, favorite cartoon and many more favorites. Do you think this is by chosen from many? No this is chosen from what elders decide them to see. It might be good or bad, it depends on the exposure every kid receives and what their parents want.

This is something we could work on make it better by guiding them to perceive good things and enhance their knowledge on the nature. When I say nature, I am not talking about National Geographic or Discovery channel but to bring them out of their house. You could see that most kids are happy this way. They enjoy being outside their houses or flats. The want to feel more things. This urge to feel more things is not for pleasure but to learn, the obsession to learn. Take it as tip to reduce your utilities bill too. This helps the mental growth of children and the data they collect at such a young age will always be with them.

Now what happens when they grow older around 8-10. This is when kids now get completely exposed to computer and internet. It is really great to know computer and internet at such young age. He/She don't need to spend much time getting it handy in later stages of life. Every parent would love them to be computer wizards. But playing games really making them that? It is good to play computer games as per some studies since it helps you develop you brain, reflex, this, that and many more. It is equally or may be more significant to spend quality time outside with friends playing a game of their choice. Which helps in building the team work into your veins. It is important that kids actually realize the fact that life is all about team work, be it with family, friends or work. It really matters to know how to mingle and be best at that. Again this is where you feel your nature and bond with people. This is where you create memories which you would once cherish.

What will be in your treasured memory container when your childhood is in front of computer playing that x game? Will it be filled with you shooting down 100 bots? It should not be that silly. We should engage in such activities during late evenings or early mornings when you really cannot do anything outside. Whenever you get a chance you should and even promote your children to feel the nature. It really would help them pick up few tricks in life.

Every day is moving so fast that no one realizes how fast we are growing grey. Take the example of yourself or some of your friends. What's their favorite pastime? Most of them would be tweeting that they had pizza, turned left from Big Ben and much more. Some would be busy just idling in front of Facebook refreshing their profile page to find more comments or busy copying from some online sites to paste some philosophical thoughts in Facebook.

All these social networking websites are just great and it helps us to get connected with all those dear and near ones which we once felt we lost them with time. This will again help you bring back your old soothing memories and might help you stalk someone you always wanted. But is it worth sitting in front of it and refreshing whole day? Or say 4-5hrs? You create Save Tiger cause on Facebook and your friends say...Yeah!Save tiger buddy. I support it and 100 others say, this rocks!, but end of the day...are you saving any tiger at least one in your whole life? How you think given a chance you would save a tiger? You can have discussion forums and discuss about real issues and find solutions but when will you act upon it? It is equally important that we adults learn how to effectively use all these technical wonders blessed upon us. When we were kids we all had a hobby and now we think we don't have time to chase it when we can actually do wonders. We feel a hobby is too silly and its more cool to be on Facebook all the time. You can find save nature, save trees and plants in your social networking sites and can find millions of people on it. We could actually save trees and plants if we really decide to come out of our virtual world and do it in real.

We should live to create memories because memories are the only thing that is going to be with you when time comes calling. We need to connect with nature, people and feel them in real.

More Traffic = More Oil!

2011-03-22T23:38:00.005+08:00

All compartments seem to be filled with dreams and hopes. You could see 100’s of people boarding from different stations filled with plans and hopes, some good, few bad and many evil. I am off to visit my family to have fun time with them for a week after which I would return to Bangalore and get back to work. Hope all the good dreams of all those nice people in this Island Express gets true. The train was parked in platform 3 from the time I reached there around 8 p.m. I was actually shocked to see that some women were attracting people into the dark compartments due to no lights given until 9:15pm. These women were making sounds to get attention by needy men. I found few guys going in too since almost all others waited outside the trains until the lights came. These women and guys were swallowed by darkness when railway police came for rounds.

I had been wondering what India really possess like those oil rich countries. As everyone out here would think, "Yeah, it really is talent". But our discussion is not on talent right now. What about making money from public for something that they won't digest and neglect to sure? That is to mint money from traffic rules. Idea might seem to be crazy but it really would do wonders.

Have a look around yourself and you would see few hundred riders everyday not following any rules or with vehicles with no valid documents and much more including stolen ones. Every state government could generate few million Rupees if the traffic police really start doing their job rather than just looking alone for people with vehicles registered out of state as in the case of Bangalore. If you look at the amount of people not wearing helmets on every other road you would understand how much money we are talking about. Not following lane rules, over-speed, not respecting old riders, not following traffic signals, cutting one ways, smoking while driving a public transport vehicle, spitting on bike riders from bus, parking in no parking places & much more. All these seem to be a common sight and part of life here in India. We believe that this cannot be corrected and better left alone. This is the attitude we as a nation needs to change for the development of this country. Couple of days back, I took Mysore Road towards Kalasipalayam. I encountered block for around 20mins to get past few blocks. I was all the while thinking lot of people or vehicles out here might be the problem. I was shocked to see what the real problem was. On one side of the road itself there was two lanes of vehicles parked; note that it is the Mysore Road which is busy throughout the day. Apart from this illegal parking; there are street shops on the main road leaving a whole track behind them & selling towards the center of the road. I could see policemen coming in bikes from other direction when it was a one way track on either side. They came to shop banana leaves for dussera. Then there was bike parking which was in two layers on one side & again promoted by policemen. Three policemen stood next to the signal talking while vehicles were going from all directions neglecting in the signal on such a critical road.

We citizens of India should not stop ourselves from expressing what is really wrong and coming up with solutions which can not only correct the system but also create a better environment for future generations. Imagine our traffic police going to get stricter and make people really follow the rules. Do you think the current police force in any state in India can handle the volume we are speaking about in case of vehicles and drivers? I would say never! This makes it a clear case of under staffed groups. Now why are they really understaffed? It could be because rulers or governments don't take it as a priority right now. But what if they really understand how much they are going to generate in fines, will they recruits more traffic policemen? Still not sure, since that’s how India works.

Consider that we have enough staff; do you think they would stick to the big plan and make it happen for government to generate revenue from fines? It needs to be seen as it happens to be frank. But what if government keeps a commission system based on the revenue they generate legally with no complaints from riders? Will it work? It can also work negatively where people are troubled n fined for no reasons. As I write this, I think we need to think of express judiciary systems which we lack.

We as a country needs to revisit the laws and regulations written in mid-1900 and rephrase or customize it based on current century. This step needs to be considered at some point of time by every country. Why not we Indians pioneer it? Many of our laws seems to be out-dated and neglecting the technology growth all around the globe. Last day I happen to fill indemnity note for the Railways and still found a column caste in there. The only thing they wanted me to write was name, age, father's name, caste and profession. I understand without proper scrutiny it would be impossible to remove the caste from Indian forms and law books. But something that we can definitely do right now is to make it an optional column. Any citizen of India should be given rights to fill in caste only if he needs to utilize the privileges that governments provide for the underprivileged. But otherwise he can opt not to fill caste if he finds it unsuitable based on his conscience.

We really have a long way to go and we definitely needs to work together as a nation forgetting the diversity and also demolishing the selfishness in us.

Back to Bangalore, India

2011-03-20T10:39:00.006+08:00

India greeted me well as expected with it's notoriety. My days in Kerala went fine with no troubles or hassles to be cherished. It all started once I landed in Bangalore. Any mention about Bangalore nowadays starts with autorickshaw's and their pilots. Anytime you want to go somewhere or other, let it be morning, noon or midnight, rates are all in hundreds. I felt the pain of getting looted in bright daylight. I would like to narrate to you the following incidents that happened to me first hand in garden city with more dust than flowers.

I had received 5/7 boxes sent in cargo from Singapore and two more were to reach. The delivery guy called Sooraj my buddy n house owner's phone and asked for the route. After failing to reach home in 45mins from a 10mins distance where they were when it all started. Sooraj called them back. This time they changed their tone and asked Sooraj to get to where they were since it's we who want the cargo boxes according to them. The fact of respecting and doing once duty seems to be long forgotten here which was proved true again and again by auto's. This daylight looting made me force my dad to send my bike to Bangalore in train after booking parcel. The parcel reached Bangalore on 16-March-2011. Myself and Sooraj went to grab the bike by spending Rs.150 since most other auto wanted Rs.200. After reaching there, we came to know that we need to submit the original parcel booking slip here in Bangalore to take the bike. How on earth does this kind of parcel booking work where the sender has to courier the parcel slip separately? More fun was waiting for us. Every hour I have to pay 10Rs. until I get the bike. I asked them the logic of such a model for which they just laughed.

The only other way to get the bike was to get a stamp paper of Rs.100 and get the indemnity note typed on that and submit it. The night shift guy never told us that this was required. He said come next day morning and get the format of what need to be put in the bond. Next day morning to my amusement the lady sitting in the same desk where I met the first person pulled out a peforma and asked me to use it. I went to court to buy a bond after long fights with 3-4 auto drivers. I stood in queue to get the form and later again to pay the amount and submit the form after filling it. They said to me it will take 1hour to give the bond which tested my nerves. I waited there looking at them for 1 hour and finally got it. Later got the matter typed with the help of typist in court complex and returned to railway station. My autorickshaw charges in two days rounding railway station had reached Rs.500+ by now. I went to the 1st platform office from where they redirected me to 4th platform and again back to 1st platform. Each time carrying my new helmet and 1litre petrol hoping to take my bike out from there. Later they directed me to an office around 1Km far from railway station where I had to walk all the way. It was around 1:30 pm by now. While waiting for the bond in the court complex, I felt depressed and sad looking at Subhash Chandra Bose, Mahatma Gandhi and Dr.Ambedkar staring at me. Felt is this what they really wanted India to become? Will this kind of irrational rules and corrupt progress get us in the summit?

After reaching the parcel shelter, they asked me to bring surety to sign on the form and also they required two witness. I told them that they bike is on my name, I have the registration card in my pocket. Original insurance, my driving license and my pan card. Why on earth do u require two witness and surety for me to take my own bike?
For which they replied this is a rule passed in parliament and if you have any compliance go and tell there. I enquired whether there is anyone who really can help me to file a suggestion/compliant. This made them smile and tell, why not you try depty.Station Master even though nothing will happen they said. Then asked me to write to commercial railways head in Bangalore and whole office was laughing at me. Later I asked them how can someone have original receipt for a parcel sent on his or her name before the parcel reaches in train from a different state. For which they said, it's the rule and no one questions it! Wow, what a way to set rules which guarantees minimum of Rs.240 for late charges to Railways. I felt helpless but accepted the fact that this is how India works and went home hoping to get back with original receipt tomorrow.
Now are you interested to know how to cut your queue to get a platform ticket? It seems to be sold out of the STD booth opposite to the railway station in Majestic for Rs.4 when the original price is Rs.3. I came to know when I the booth guy refused to give me change for Rs.5 and asked if it's really platform ticket for which you need this, he can give me the ticket. I had no idea it was Rs.4 until he took it.
On 18 March, 2011, I received my bike just by showing the original parcel slip which my Dad had earlier send through airbus driver on same day morning. They didn't even check any documents, just the slip was enough. Imagine what if we had kept the receipt in the same bike while sending! I am very pleased by the fact that there was no bending rules from either side and no bribes involved. Seems like it's really getting better in that front. My total autorickshaw and fine for taking it late went more than Rs.1000+.

There was another incident wherein the DTDC courier guy asked me to pay Rs.250 for a mobile which was worth not even Rs.100 to be send. This is because my mom had forgotten to carry her mobile and we didn't want to risk sending her brand new mobile but she still needed one since she was in hostel. Since my bike is there with me now, hope I don't need to fight auto uncles often.

Dream IT!

2011-01-21T21:56:00.003+08:00

Dreaming about IT had been the buzz in India for the last two decades. India makes people think it as Indian Technology rather than Information Technology. The growth story throughout the world for IT always was linked to India or Indians. Let me respect the fact that, the real fire took off in US in 1960s. Indians always made it big in all parts of the world for everything linked with science and technology. All of you know the education in Asia and especially India from 20th century focussed on creating industry ready people.The workforce creation which were the hybrid versions of the seeds once sown by the imperialist countries on their colonies still going strong. The brain rich geniouses from mammoth universities of India migrated to Western world considering the riches they could enrich their lives with, rather than staying loyal to a small developing nation. You all would take this as a case study for brain drain, but I would consider it as a test dose of Indian brains to the Western world. These are the guys who really played a pivotal role in the growth of India. These sample sachets in human form did perform past anybody's imagination. This might have made people think what a group of them can do for us which started it all.

My generation was never brought up to fit into IT world since it was a novice subject back then. The world now sees India as an IT hub. India is doing top class business in IT & IT-ES services bringing back the wealth to India in the form of dollars which was once looted in the form of gems. A job well done to all those big IT companies of ours. You could find that at least 4 out of 10 new IT companies coming up in North America has something or other to do with an Indian. Mostly started by Indians, sold to others by Indians, or employs Indians, or OUTSOURCES their work to India. What is outsourcing? Outsourcing just means to obtain services from another person or an organization often used with the term subcontract. In plain words it just as simple as getting your job done by somebody else for a cheaper expense. Imagine you have a job and you don't want to do it but still want the money. Maybe you lack expertise or brains or interest. But you still want the money. So how can you achieve that? There comes outsourcing to help you out. You find someone who can do the same job for cheaper amount for you and you just take the difference to your wallet which would still be thick. Is this commission business? Yeah, to an extent it is. But why to India? You can find an IT company in almost every street of Bangalore and most other parts of India. Again, why is it coming to India?

Most of my IT employed friends would be clear on the Onsite-Offshore model by now. So how does that work? For my non IT readers, let me put it in simple words. You place one guy(or many based on profit) to face the customer, get to know the requirements firsthand. While you have a whole team waiting out there in offshore in India to take details from this guy facing customer. This offshore(local) team in India does the job for the customer abroad while they are seated here in India. So is this model effective? It might be otherwise maynot survive so long. Or it would have survived due to the absence of any other models, which itself could be a good subject to explore if it tickles your interests. For a customer this model works, because they get the benefit of Indian brains sitting in India building it for them taking Indian Rupees while they pay in dollars. The communication is so easy due to this global medium called English and almighty Internet. Again it works out cheaper for them since it is outsourced! I don't want to explain how IT works and help you in starting a business. If we rethink this again, did I say Indian brains working taking Indian Rupees? Yeah, I did. This is what it is all about. The IT companies charge the customer based on their profit margin, business model, business strategy and much more and ofcourse considering what they need to pay for their team in Indian salaries which is cheaper than employing someone abroad due to the cost of living in India. But is that true?

You really think the cost of living is low in India? This is the real problem which is going to hit all sectors but for now lets focus on IT. It will bang hard on IT doors maybe faster than it once knocked on Indian doors. The cost of living is going higher and higher. This makes people in India expect more from every company. There are a lot of companies who pays that based on their profit margin and everybody on earth can't work for that company. This fact forces expectation to rise to those verticals where there are really no limits. Imagine that the business is still the same, customer is still the same, outsourced Indian/foreign company is still the same. The change is only with the employee or the workforce who has a bigger expectation now. This goes to an economic condition where demand is more but supply is less. Companies want people but there are very few grooming out every year to fit into their monetary bracket due to the industry ready education model which would forget IT if the workforce considers better profit elsewhere. Finally different companies succumb to this pressure where if they don't provide service due to the absence of workforce, somebody else will. This makes them start paying employees more. This is a kind of business model that can go crazy and bust in no time due to competition. Now the situation is employees happy, companies losing profit(still manageable), clients happy and business goes on. I think this is all gonna get to a limit where employees not happy(thumb rule: man is never happy with what he has), companies not happy, clients/customers unhappy and business fails. So does that mean IT is going to end forever?

That never means IT business will stop, it just means time for other countries who can provide cheaper labour due to their living conditions and good command on English would take up India's role in IT. Does that mean it was not really Indian brains that made the difference. Yes, it might have been to start off but not anymore. If not complete but at least, a big chunk of it will go out of India due to this. Can expect some Indians to go to that part of the world to find a living too but never to reduce their rising expectations which had already hit the roof. Again it goes on, it really is a vicious cycle and we are just in the middle of the first cycle. And again it goes on...

The advent of IT in India can be viewed as modern day colonialism which we had welcome with both hands. This emergence of MNC's in India had brought us jobs and money but that was the same thing industrialism gave us. Our forefathers fought for us to get freedom and now we are trying to boast of being a MNC colony.

to commute: to travel regularly over some distance

2010-12-05T22:43:00.007+08:00

How much is "some" in that distance in this title? Transportation itself is a large industry with lot of people, power and money involved. Whenever these three are involved along comes trouble. My visits to Mumbai during my childhood was always exciting. It was not just because I was with my dear and near ones there but it helped me to visualize what city life would be that is the future for every semi-urban places in India that time. The most fascinating thing I saw in those times were of course Mumbai traffic and Metro Rail. In recent past as old as 3 years back, I was forced to reschedule my flight to Delhi since I got stuck in Mumbai traffic for 1.5hrs while returning from a business meeting to my Hotel. I just had to pick my luggage and rush to airport. But in that pace it would have taken me 4-5hrs to reach airport. Similar incident had happened to me just after two days in Chennai when I trusted Chennai to be better than Mumbai in traffic. Often think how life is at such a high pace in such cities where people don't have time to run fast since most of their life is spend in travel or stuck in traffic.

Right now we don't have a complete solution to reduce these traffic jams. People like me could just preach to use public transport more but can that happen in big metros of the world? When will people realize that these hours they spend stuck in traffic just eats up 10% of their life for no cause, good or bad. We should try to address the root thought of why we prefer to have our own cars or motorcycles or bikes or whatever vehicles. One of that I could think of is mobility. It gives us mobility and freedom to get to wherever we want and whenever we want. Having a closer look at these two key points makes us think. Do we really have that freedom? Remember we have a higher chance to get stuck in traffic. That kills of the 'whenever' we want part of it. Now 'wherever' we want, is that because our public transports can't get us there?
Maybe true at times it happens. No train can come to your house!

But consider we use public transport for our daily needs. Knowingly or unknowingly what all problems we tackle with that?
1. We tend to plan our schedules more better since we know what time our bus or train leaves our place.
2. We protect our environment by less carbon emissions and provide a better world for our next generations.
3. We might end up walking some distance that most of us don't want to, which in turn helps your heart and helps you keep fit.
4. You can cut short on your gym spendings to keep fit. Accidents could be reduced but should not overlook the fact that when one happens it could be devastating too with public transport.
5. Can forget about your vehicle insurance payments and much more.

I would leave it to you guys to find out the pros of it, since cons would always be on back of every body's mind when it comes to question our habits. Do remember that the number of private vehicles is growing exponentially which is evident from the total sales(YOY) of Maruti Suzuki & Hero Honda in India.

Coming back to the second thing that always fascinated me in Mumbai and later made me think for sometime was the Metro Rail & the best part of it was the frequency of operations. The only turn off to that was the rush to board and the rush inside these trains which at times hit my lungs since I was too short for the tall crowd. But again if we really think of making people use public transport to overcome few issues create more issues? More rush? More suffocations for other short guys in there? Yes, would be the answer that we would have for now.

We should start thinking of a solution which would be worked upon and vigilantly scrutinized. First thing that I saw most places lacked is the discipline of people boarding which would be a difficult problem to tackle at this stage with current infrastructure.

Can we think of having double decker trains with high rise Railway stations which would have boarding on each decks at same time? For each train there would be 4 platforms. Two platforms for boarding and two for alighting. Proper man power should be recruited to make sure that people alighting through the boarding side of the train is promptly fined for their action. When a train stops in a station, people should be boarding from both the decks at same time from one side of the train and people alighting in both decks from other side of the train. Both stations and trains should be well lit with proper surveillance cameras in place. Current solutions our country is looking to just give these existing trains a world class look with replacing them with state of art stylish trains. But is that what we really require considering the population and growth of our country needs to be revisited. Technical challenges for the proposed solution would be how a double decker train would balance on the current tracks. This would also need new kind of tracks to be built with new architecture which needs to be thoroughly designed and engineered to perfection.

We could also think of special compartments for old people similar to existing ladies compartments in these new trains. This would help old people to board and alight at their own pace without getting hurt by the rush of adrenaline in some youthful body.

Do we really need Oxygen to live?

2010-11-27T13:48:00.002+08:00

These funny thoughts had been in my mind for some time now. Always thought are we overlooking the fact that we need Oxygen to live? Or is it that we have taken it for granted? This picture is of a tree which used to shower Oxygen in my neighbourhood, now don't ask me who used to breathe from it or how much Oxygen it produced daily. The significant thing here is that it is not there any more and gave way for 3 parking lots for two wheelers as you can see.

We all accept the fact that two wheelers can help people to travel fast during rush hours and can beat the traffic jam with ease. But in case we don't have these two wheelers parked in exactly the same place where this tree once stood, it can never be parked? Somebody has to keep riding it always? Are we that short of land? Maybe its insane to post such questions which might look ridiculous for few. But the fact is we really are running shot of land. People ignore the importance of trees in human life. How many of us really observe the breathing that our body does so efficiently and effectively? We actually think it as an automated job running in background always in the human server called 'Myself'. But what will happen if we don't get enough Oxygen? Our otherwise brilliant world had never found a substitute for humans to survive without spending a Zimbabwe dollar.

Is it a plot by extra smart governments to finally sell Oxygen created in some lab as a byproduct of some chemical reaction in plastic bags to the common man? It will be unfair to people of this world, if they had to fight for Oxygen along with the current fist fight for money, food, water and whatever. We should understand the importance of trees for the existence of this world. We often read about climate changes and adverse effects of hurricanes, tsunami's & earth quakes. It is just another by-product of what we are giving to this planet called earth. We are destroying the natural habitat in this planet to satisfy our fashionable needs. I don't want to go into global warming with this post. Which itself is another world of bone breaking issues. We all should take active participation in protecting the trees around us and promote the importance of planting new ones.

Never take our successor, our children to a state where they have to pay to breathe. Increased use of public transport by those three scooter owners would have let that tree live. We should rethink about buying vehicles if we already have one to satisfy our need. Current world sees mode of transport as fashion and forget the importance of fuel efficiency and our responsibilities to the planet. We all should respect the fact that we need vehicles to commute fast but not to destroy our world. We should restrict the urge to buy more than one car/scooter if we really don't need it. How many cars can you drive at a time? Forget the marketing that these companies do which makes you think its like a suit or blazer, i.e. a car for every occasion. Do good to our planet, our plants and it will surely give us the best in this world. This prayer is not just for us but for the future generations also.

In case you feel like you need to know what is Oxygen, - Click Me!

Teens - stay at home or get stabbed?

2010-11-22T08:55:00.001+08:00

My title would send chills to few parents considering what new youth is up to what they enjoy doing. In recent weeks there had been couple of incidents in otherwise quiet Singapore with teens stabbing two guys.

The first one seems to be a gang war whereas the reasons for second one is still unknown. I would suspect these guys are using kitchen knife's stolen from their mama's kitchen cabinet. What would be the real thrill in piercing someone's body with a knife? There should be something about it that makes people doing it.

Singapore is a very good country in terms of protecting their people and securing a good living environment. These two incidents would have definitely made the intelligent minds in this country think about severe punishments so that there is no repeat occurrences. This is normal in any countries case. This keeps happening everywhere and people think of stringent rules and shocking punishments.

But should we just go for the root cause of it rather than just punishing the foolish youth. I would assume part of it is to blame the parents who might have got less time due to the work demands to educate the children with moral values and to respect peoples life. It is very normal for an adolescent youth to get violent. Most of us must have at least got very violent at home at the very least once. And our parents might have corrected us that time joking between them "he is proving he is in his teens."

There should be proper programs in schools which enhances the moral values of the wards. These programs should attack the shortcomings in parenting and still be able to feed the tough teen kid with words of wisdom from virtues of humble living. Current youth seems to be blind in believing the folks from entertainment. You can see the growth of sales for companies which basically just uses few entertainers for their advertisements. Fashion & Movies which is completely different topic have a good say at these youths way of living. People try to imitate the stars thinking whatever they do is the way of living. Its good in some cases at least there is someone who they obeys or respects in that age which is usually a tough period to pass through mentally.

The competition in the academic world also would be a factor in ruining the sleeps of these young minds. We all understand how tough it is to keep the young minds at bay when it comes to music, movies, fashion & adultery. All these industries has the power to add values to our life but at the same time there are segments within these industries which can completely take us to a different negative world. This affects our mind directly and the comeback from this world to the ordinary humble way of life is impossible in most cases. We need to educate the youth what is best in these segments for their life. Then let them choose the path and if it ever gets wrong will leave it again in the safe hands of Police and governments to correct them.

Diminishing family values and love is another factor which is affecting the growing children. This reaches its prime when the kids are in their teens. The downfall in family values is simply because of the chase for money which everyone in todays world are happy to indulge in. Kids are like clay models which I strongly believe is which can be mould into any forms between age 0 months to 12years. I am no expert in this but these are just my thoughts. Your own research would be appreciated when it comes to your kids. Don't take risk buying my words. Once they get to their teens its totally different story. The gist of it is good parenting cures 50% of the problem and rest can be taken care with the help of good friends and good schooling.

You think it's fair to cut the queue?

2010-11-20T10:28:00.001+08:00

The word itself is the real cause of the problem. "CorrUPtion" itself comprehends the meaning of growth, a green arrow pointing upwards if you take it in today's world. People get obsessed with growth n money and easiest way UP is getting corrupted. I don't blame the corrupt people of the world. I just pity them whereas I would come back to across a proposition to the system. We should start with cleaning up the word corruption before we get to the root of it.

Corruption can be tackled in few different ways which would be only successful when every individual get to take part in it and enact their role to the max. Last day I happened to read an article from a spiritual leader who had given example of youth in some place in India who decided that they will never pay bribes. When they happened to visit a government office in India they were asked to pay bribes to proceed. These young men dared to respond to the seeker that they can come back 20 times for this, they would still respect the officer but will never pay bribe for what they need. This impressed the seeker and he agreed to do his job faster. This is just an example but there are in-numerous examples where people were ready to pay bribes just because things can be done out of the queue. This is the urge which we would require each individual to tackle himself. We must together enter into a covenant that we would never think of cutting the queue with bribes.

The piece where we would require the system to help us is to understand the importance of civil servants or government officials in keeping the system ticking and give proper remunerations which would help them sustain a reasonable standard of living. Most countries deny the civil servants with such pay checks and allow them to make money out of their position themselves. It is a good idea to build entrepreneurs but would bite back the system like what it had done today. Once again I would say we should educate the youth and children from schooling to fight against corruption in their own ways. The recent happenings around our world especially in India made me think about this evergreen disgrace to the world "corruption". To quote a few of those happenings India's telecom minister is forced to resign due to scam in selling 2G licenses, one of the chief minister of a state in India again forced to resign.

We need governments across the world to forget the existing order of prosecution and in these cases have a different one which doesn't need to go through different layers for few decades. It should be a one where in within 1-2 days there is a decision and people are punished. I know it can be unfair in case of just people. But trusting the judiciary and under the belief that it will bring justice to all, we should not allow another hearing for such cases. There should not be any more re-opening of such cases by persons unless a ruling or opposition government want to support this person and reopen it with their backing where they take the blame as a unit if decision is against them. This will make them re-think whether to take the risk of putting the brand name of their political party on the spot.

As it is the case today, biggest investment in India from foreign entities is also through political corruption and not in Infrastructure, healthcare or markets or whatever. We should tackle this international threat with proper understanding of the operations and execution rather than been naive. No country should allow the world to take advantage of their corrupt system. Following a process in every form of life and work is important and beneficial if everyone follows it. Otherwise it just mess up the whole system beyond correction. In case of corruption, it is this correction that we need to execute now. Every moment lost in this regard is a decade lost for sure.

Is it time for something new?

2010-11-19T09:31:00.001+08:00

New here would be completely new or something we overlooked along our way to the riches. This is on the world without oil. It is not just oil but everything related to oil. Crude Oil & Petroleum industry had made lot of people & countries what they are today. The whole world seems to be run by crude oil price including the share market, inflation, deflation & foreign reserves and much much more. Do you think without oil will it all get to a dead-end?

I will leave it to you to get to know the chemistry of the hydrocarbons inside the oil but let's discuss on the economics of it. The pricing references of crude oil is based on the place where it is mined from. For e.g. North America, Europe, Africa, Middle-east, Dubai, Oman, Malaysia, Indonesia & some other OPEC countries. Oil always brought power to nations since its use was in various industries in multitudinous forms. Some of its uses are as fuels, lubricants, wax, coke & agriculture.

Based on Consumption of Oil, US leads the world followed by China, Japan, India and Russia in that order. Production of Oil is led by Saudi Arabia followed by Russia, US, Iran & China. US being the largest consumer of Oil the export is very few from US. The export charts shows Saudi Arabia as the king of oil exports with Russia, Norway, Iran & UAE far behind them. The worlds leading importers of Oil is again US, Japan, China, Germany & South Korea.

Oil extraction is considered as a process which has lot of negatives in it including pollution and also the infrequent spill which kills a whole world under water. Based on what Science had told us, Oil is a fossil-fuel. Which of course is not forever. Are we ready to face a world without Oil? What would be the world without Oil? What are the options we have? Right now very few but as the world found use of Oil to throw away the old horse carts which produced more stuck traffics and environment pollution we believe we would find something else this time.

Today's world had been after different technologies and concepts for a Oil free world. Forget about what will happen to the people of all those Oil rich wealthy lands which itself is a different story. New world is trying to make use of wind to harvest the power of nature to create energy. This technology cannot feed the world for its needs to substitute oil because it is profoundly dependent on geography. Hydrogen seems to be costly option as well. We still need to go a long way to either get rid of Oil completely or make more man made Oil.

Maybe a time will come when man will learn to make more OIL from OIL in our school chemistry labs and hope those days are not very far.

Thinking generation

2010-11-18T20:47:00.000+08:00

Ours is considered as a generation who thinks lot more than our forefathers in most cases. We might have often heard these worlds flying around at normal households nowadays. "Dad, you don't understand. This is generation gap". Is there really such a big generation gap? I don't buy that.

There is a gap but it is not because of generation, it is just a matter of thought. We consider sometimes ourselves more intelligent than the so called wise ones with some grey ones on their head.

We need a change in thought process and this change can only come once both the parents and todays youth get access to same news, same channels & same people. Even though this is a tough thing to achieve, our social networking sites are doing a good job in doing so. New age parents are friends with their children's friends in social networking and can easily track the mental growth of their loved ones by the nature of their posts.

But are they sharing the same news feeds? That is where our society needs drastic change. Parents should get grow younger to enjoy what their kids enjoy to understand what news they access.

Consider the case of India, other day I saw a video in Facebook which shows brain drain examples and Indian kids showing their thrill in getting a job abroad. In India people want to stop this. But is that really possible without creating a thinking generation rather creating a industrialism ready generation?

New age parents, teachers & NGO's should together pledge to educate the youth to understand the importance of growing a country rather than growing the weight in their own wallets. Countries like Japan, US, Singapore, Korea & China are examples of such growth. Parents should stay put on the fact that for them more than their kids growing richer want to see them making India grow richer.

People should apprehend how they can together grow a rich India rather than waiting for others to grow for them and meanwhile mourning on what they have. We definitely needs to stop brain drain with all your help.

Nifty - Since 2000 until October 2010

2010-10-22T11:42:00.009+08:00

I had been under self-hibernation mode going underneath the big shelves of Nifty charts and trends which I don't actually understand much. I don't call it a research just not to kill the word but would love to call it re-search, since whatever I did was search something again in Google which someone else would have definitely searched before.

Would like to share the detailed re-search report of Nifty for last 10 years which may not be appropriate as some what call it but this is all what I could gather. Thought of sharing the whole process with you guys to let you know what I understood looking at all those Nifty charts.

Before going into the boring statistics...let me quote here a famous dialogue from Michael Douglas in Wall Street(1987) - "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 and greed"

I would also say greed is good if it doesn't harm others and uplifts your life and status. By the way, I am not that greedy. Let me put the facts right on your face now rather than beating around.

The average monthly movement seen in Nifty is 35 points up or down as per last ten years stats. Keeping this average of +/- 35, there had been 39 months out of 118 months where there had been a downward movement. 25 months which had negligible effect on the market and a whopping 66 months with upside trend.

I later decided to take +/- 100 points as a base to identify noteworthy above average movement in markets. There were 23 months in last 10 years until October this year(2010) where market had negative movements higher than -100 points against 43 months which had significant upsides of +100 & above.

The trend makes me speculate the few things for the following months for my fellow traders. I am not a master at this but just a novice speculator :-).
Nov 2010 - Not great for buying. Good to hold.
Dec 2010 - Not great for buying. Good to Sell towards end.
Jan 2011 - Market would lose few points, risky to buy.
Feb 2011 - Market would lose few points, risky to buy. Good to start looking.
Mar 2011 - Market would lose few points, risky to buy. Start Buying if you can take risk.
Apr 2011 - Would be average without significant changes.

I don't want you to blindly follow my views but would expect you to do your own analysis before buying any stocks. The above ideas are on Nifty movement and not on any particular stock. Every stock has its own trend which you need to closely analyze if you are to buy it.

If we are to take the facts laid out above seriously.
I would say we could lay out our own strategies. To get the thought process started lets discuss few ideas.
1. Consider you bought your scrips during bull market.(Assuming its a good stock)
a. During Bear, keep accumulating if you can
b. During Bull, hold/sell as per your need/strategy

2. Consider you bought your scripts during bear market. (Again assuming its a good stock.)
a. During bull, hold/sell as per your need/strategy
b. During bear, keep accumulating if you can

Basic idea I wanted to share is that market data shows, keep accumulating for your own good...because there are more time to sell than to buy. Don't panic and go after the grand stories that professionals lay out for you. Any trading company would persuade to trade more(sell/buy often), this is because that's the best way they could survive. If you make loss or profit, they can still make their profit as long as you trade. Make your choices after you do proper market research because you know how you earn those bucks and how dear it is to lose in market.

Another good way for making good money while leaving it to the experts with minimum extra bucks spent for their expertise is called Mutual funds. Read more on SIP investments which would be best considering the fluctuations and making most out of it. To read more Click Here

Note:
I don't deny the fact that you know more than us and can enlighten us. Please leave your comment to help us all learn more and attack stock markets with more vigor.

World Cup Squads - 2010

2010-06-02T09:49:00.003+08:00

Group A

SOUTH AFRICA (23): Goalkeepers: Moeneeb Josephs (Orlando Pirates), Itumeleng Khune (Kaizer Chiefs), Shu-Aib Walters (Maritzburg United) Defenders: Matthew Booth, Siboniso Gaxa (both Mamelodi Sundowns), Bongani Khumalo (SuperSport United), Tsepo Masilela (Maccabi Haifa), Aaron Mokoena (Portsmouth), Anele Ngcongoa (Racing Genk), Siyabonga Sangweni (Lamontville Golden Arrows), Lucas Thwala (Orlando Pirates); Midfielders: Lance Davids (Ajax Cape Town), Kagisho Dikgacoi (Fulham), Thanduyise Khuboni (Lamontville Golden Arrows), Reneilwe Letsholonyane (Kaizer Chiefs), Teko Modise (Orlando Pirates), Surprise Moriri (Mamelodi Sundowns), Steven Pienaar (Everton), MacBeth Sibaya (Rubin Kazan), Siphiwe Tshabalala (Kaizer Chiefs); Forwards: Katlego Mphela (Mamelodi Sundowns), Siyabonga Nomvete (Moroka Swallows), Bernard Parker (FC Twente)

FRANCE (23): Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Marseille), Cedric Carrasso (Bordeaux); Defenders: Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Patrice Evra (Manchester United), William Gallas (Arsenal), Eric Abidal (Barcelona), Sebastien Squillaci (Sevilla), Marc Planus (Bordeaux), Gael Clichy (Arsenal), Anthony Reveillere (Lyon); Midfielders: Alou Diarra (Bordeaux), Jeremy Toulalan (Lyon), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux), Abou Diaby (Arsenal); Forwards: Thierry Henry (Barcelona), Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea), Andre-Pierre Gignac (Toulouse), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Sidney Govou (Lyon), Djibril Cisse (Panathinaikos), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille)

MEXICO (23): Goalkeepers: Oscar Perez (Chiapas), Guillermo Ochoa (America), Luis Ernesto Michel (Guadalajara); Defenders: Rafael Marquez (Barcelona), Ricardo Osorio (VfB Stuttgart), Francisco Rodriguez, Carlos Salcido (both PSV Eindhoven), Hector Moreno (AZ Alkmaar), Paul Aguilar (Pachuca), Efrain Juarez (Pumas UNAM), Jonny Magallon (Guadalajara), Jorge Torres Nilo (Atlas); Midfielders: Andres Guardado (Deportivo Coruna), Gerardo Torrado (Cruz Azul), Israel Castro (Pumas UNAM), Giovani dos Santos (Galatasaray); Forwards: Pablo Barrera (Pumas UNAM), Adolfo Bautista, Alberto Medina (both Guadalajara), Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Veracruz), Carlos Vela (Arsenal), Javier Hernandez (Manchester United), Guillermo Franco (free agent)

URUGUAY (23): Goalkeepers: Fernando Muslera (Lazio), Juan Castillo (Deportivo Cali), Martin Silva (Defensor Sporting) Defenders: Diego Lugano (Fenerbahce), Diego Godin (Villarreal), Andres Scotti (Colo Colo), Mauricio Victorino (Universidad de Chile), Martin Caceres (Juventus), Jorge Fucile (Porto), Maximiliano Pereira (Benfica) Midfielders: Sebastian Eguren (AIK Stockholm), Alvaro Pereira (Porto), Walter Gargano (Napoli), Diego Perez (AS Monaco), Alvaro Fernandez (Universidad de Chile), Nicolas Lodeiro (Ajax), Egidio Arevalo Rios (Penarol), Ignacio Gonzalez (Valencia) Forwards: Luis Suarez (Ajax), Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid), Sebastian Abreu (Botafogo), Edinson Cavani (Palermo), Sebastian Fernandez (Banfield)

Group B

ARGENTINA (23): Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar), Mariano Andujar (Catania), Diego Pozo (Colon); Defenders: Nicolas Burdisso (Roma), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich), Walter Samuel (Internazionale), Gabriel Heinze (Marseille), Nicolas Otamendi (Velez Sarsfield), Clemente Rodriguez (Estudiantes), Ariel Garce (Colon); Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Juan Sebastian Veron (Estudiantes), Maxi Rodriguez (Liverpool), Mario Bolatti (Fiorentina), Angel Di Maria (Benfica), Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle), Javier Pastore (Palermo); Forwards: Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Diego Milito (Internazionale), Martin Palermo (Boca Juniors), Carlos Tevez (Manchester City), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid), Lionel Messi (Barcelona)

GREECE (23) Goalkeepers: Michalis Sifakis (Aris Salonika), Alexandros Tzorvas (Panathinaikos), Kostas Chalkias (PAOK Salonika); Defenders: Giorgos Seitaridis (Panathinaikos), Loukas Vintra (Panathinaikos), Evangelos Moras (Bologna), Socrates Papastathopoulos (Genoa), Sotiris Kyrgiakos (Liverpool), Avraam Papadopoulos (Olympiakos), Vasilis Torosidis (Olympiakos), Nikos Spiropoulos (Panathinaikos), Stelios Malezas (PAOK Salonika); Midfielders: Kostas Katsouranis (Panathinaikos), Alexandros Tziolis (Siena), Giorgos Karagounis (Panathinaikos), Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos), Christos Patsatzoglou (Omonia), Sakis Prittas (Aris Salonika); Forwards: Angelos Charisteas (Nuremberg), Dimitris Salpigidis (Panathinaikos), Pantelis Kapetanos (Steaua Bucharest), Theofanis Gekas (Hertha Berlin), Giorgos Samaras (Celtic)

NIGERIA (23) Goalkeepers: Dele Aiyenugba (Bnei Yehuda), Austin Ejide (Hapoel Petah Tikvah), Vincent Enyeama (Hapoel Tel Aviv); Defenders: Dele Adeleye (Sparta Rotterdam), Rabiu Afolabi (Red Bull Salzburg), Elderson Echiejile (Stade Rennes), Chidi Odiah (CSKA Moscow), Danny Shittu (Bolton Wanderers), Taye Taiwo (Olympique Marseille), Joseph Yobo (Everton); Midfielders: Yusuf Ayila (Dynamo Kiev), Dickson Etuhu (Fulham), Sani Kaita (Alania Vladikavhaz), Nwankwo Kanu (Portsmouth), Haruna Lukman (Monaco), John Obi Mikel (Chelsea), Kalu Uche (Almeria), John Utaka (Portsmouth); Forwards: Yakubu Aiyegbeni (Everton), Obafemi Martins (VfL Wolfsburg), Obinna Nsofor (Malaga), Chinedu Obasi (Hoffenheim), Peter Odemwingie (Lokomotiv Moscow)

SOUTH KOREA (23): Goalkeepers: Kim Young-Kwang (Ulsan), Lee Woon-Jae (Suwon), Jung Sung-Ryong (Seongnam); Defenders: Kwak Tae-Hwi (Kyoto), Kim Dong-Jin (Ulsan), Kim Hyung-Il (Pohang), Oh Beom-Seok (Ulsan), Lee Young-Pyo (Al Hilal), Lee Jung-Soo (Kashima Antlers), Cha Du-Ri (SC Freiburg), Cho Yong-Hyung (Jeju); Midfielders: Ki Sung-Yong (Celtic), Kim Bo-Kyung (Oita), Kim Nam-Il (Tom Tomsk), Kim Jae-Sung (Pohang), Kim Jung-Woo (Gwangju), Lee Chung-Yong (Bolton), Park Ji-Sung (Manchester United); Forwards: Park Ju-Young (AS Monaco), Ahn Jung-Hwan (Dalian Shide), Lee Seung-Ryul (Seoul), Yeom Ki-Hun (Suwon), Lee Dong-Guk (Jeonbuk)

Group C

ENGLAND (23): Goalkeepers: Robert Green (West Ham United), Joe Hart (Manchester City), David James (Portsmouth); Defenders: Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ledley King (Tottenham Hotspur), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham United), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa); Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham Hotspur), James Milner (Aston Villa), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City); Forwards: Peter Crouch (Tottenham Hotspur), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham Hotspur), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).

USA (23): Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Marcus Hahnemann (Wolverhampton); Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Jay DeMerit (Watford), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United); Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers), Michael Bradley (Borussia Monchengladbach), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton), Jose Torres (Pachuca); Forwards: Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Edson Buddle (Los Angeles Galaxy), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake), Herculez Gomez (Puebla)

SLOVENIA (23): Goalkeepers: Samir Handanovic (Udinese), Jasmin Handanovic (Mantova), Aleksander Seliga (Sparta Rotterdam); Defenders: Miso Brecko (FC Cologne), Bostjan Cesar (Grenoble), Branko Ilic (Lokomotiv Moscow), Matej Mavric-Rozic (Koblenz), Bojan Jokic (Chievo), Marko Suler (Ghent), Suad Filekovic (NK Maribor), Elvedin Dzinic (NK Maribor); Midfielders: Andraz Kirm (Wisla Krakow), Robert Koren (Unattached), Valter Birsa (AJ Auxerre), Andrej Komac (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Dalibor Stevanovic (Vitesse Arnhem), Aleksander Radosavljevic (Larissa), Rene Krhin (Inter Milan); Forwards: Milivoje Novakovic (FC Cologne), Zlatko Dedic (VfL Bochum), Zlatan Ljubijankic (Ghent), Nejc Pecnik (Nacional Funchal), Tim Matavz (Groningen).

ALGERIA (23): Goalkeepers: Faouzi Chaouchi (Entente Setif), Lounes Gaouaoui (ASO Chlef), Rais Ouheb Mbouli (Slavia Sofia), Defenders: Habib Belaid (Boulogne-sur-Mer), Nader Belhadj (Portsmouth), Majid Bougherra (Rangers), Rafik Halliche (Nacional), Abdelkader Laifaoui (Entente Setif), Carl Medjani (Ajaccio), Djamel Mesbah (Lecce), Antar Yahia (VfL Bochum); Midfielders: Djamel Abdoun (Nantes), Riad Boudebouz (Sochaux), Adlane Guedioura (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Fouad Kadir (Valenciennes), Medhi Lacen (Racing Santanader), Yazid Mansouri (Lorient), Hassan Yebda (Portsmouth), Karim Ziani (VfL Wolfsburg); Forwards: Rafik Djebbour (AEK Athens), Abdelkader Ghezzal (Siena), Karim Matmour (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Rafik Saifi (Istres)

Group D

GERMANY (23): Goalkeepers: Hans-Jorg Butt (Bayern Munich), Manuel Neuer (Schalke), Tim Wiese (Bremen); Defenders: Per Mertesacker (Bremen), Philipp Lahm (Bayern Munich), Jerome Boateng (Hamburg), Arne Friedrich (Hertha Berlin), Serdar Tasci (Stuttgart), Marcell Jansen (Hamburg), Holger Badstuber (Bayern Munich), Dennis Aogo (Hamubrg); Midfielders: Sami Khedira (Stuttgart), Piotr Trochowski (Hamburg), Marko Marin (Bremen), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Munich), Mesut Ozil (Bremen), Toni Kroos (Leverkusen); Forwards: Lukas Podolski (Cologne), Miroslav Klose (Bayern Munich), Stefan Kiessling (Leverkusen), Cacau (Stuttgart), Thomas Muller (Bayern Munich), Mario Gomez (Bayern Munich).

SERBIA (23): Goalkeepers: Vladimir Stojkovic (Sporting), Bojan Isailovic (Zaglebie Lubin), Andjelko Djuricic (Uniao Leiria); Defenders: Branislav Ivanovic (Chelsea), Antonio Rukavina (Munich 1860), Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United), Neven Subotic (Borussia Dortmund), Aleksandar Lukovic (Udinese), Ivan Obradovic (Zaragoza), Aleksandar Kolarov (Lazio); Midfielders: Dejan Stankovic (Inter Milan), Gojko Kacar (Hertha Berlin), Nenad Milijas (Wolverhampton Wanderers), Zdravko Kuzmanovic (VfB Stuttgart), Radosav Petrovic (Partizan Belgrade), Milos Krasic (CSKA Moscow), Zoran Tosic (Manchester United), Milos Ninkovic (Dynamo Kiev), Milan Jovanovic (Standard Liege); Forwards: Nikola Zigic (Birmingham City), Marko Pantelic (Ajax Amsterdam), Danko Lazovic (Zenit St. Petersburg), Dragan Mrdja (Vojvodina Novi Sad)

GHANA (23): Goalkeepers: Richard Kingson (Wigan), Daniel Agyei (Liberty Professionals), Stephen Ahorlu (Hearts of Lions); Defenders: Samuel Inkoom (Basle), Jonathan Mensah (Granada), Lee Addy (Bechem Chelsea), Rahim Ayew (Zamalek), Hans Sarpei (Bayer Leverkusen), John Mensah (Lyon), Isaac Vorsah (Hoffenheim), John Pantsil (Fulham); Midfielders: Sulley Muntari (Inter Milan), Derek Boateng (Getafe), Anthony Annan (Rosenborg), Kwadwo Asamoah (Udinese), Andre Ayew (Marseille), Stephen Appiah (Bologna), Quincy Owusu Abeyie (Al Sadd), Kevin-Prince Boateng (Portsmouth); Forwards: Matthew Amoah (NAC Breda), Asamoah Gyan (Rennes), Prince Tagoe (Hoffenheim), Dominic Adiyiah (AC Milan)

AUSTRALIA (28) Goalkeepers: Mark Schwarzer (Fulham), Adam Federici (Reading), Brad Jones (Middlesbrough), Eugene Galekovic (Adelaide United); Defenders: Lucas Neill (Galatasaray), Craig Moore (unattached), Scott Chipperfield (Basel), David Carney (Twente Enschede), Luke Wilkshire (Dynamo Moscow), Rhys Williams (Middlesbrough), Shane Lowry (Aston Villa), Mark Milligan (JEF United), Michael Beauchamp (Al-Jazira); Midfielders: Tim Cahill (Everton), Mark Bresciano (Palermo), Vince Grella (Blackburn) Brett Emerton (Blackburn), Jason Culina (Gold Coast), Harry Kewell (Galatasaray), Brett Holman (AZ Alkmaar), Carl Valeri (Sassuolo), Mile Jedinak (Antalyaspor), Richard Garcia (Hull), Tommy Oar (Utrecht), Dario Vidosic (Nuremberg), James Holland (AZ Alkmaar); Forwards: Josh Kennedy (Nagoya), Nikita Rukavytsya (Twente Enschede)

Group E

NETHERLANDS (23): Goalkeepers: Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Sander Boschker (Twente), Michel Vorm (Utrecht) Defenders: Khalid Boulahrouz (VFB Stuttgart), Edson Braafheid (Celtic), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), John Heitinga (Everton), Joris Mathijsen (SV Hamburg), Andre Ooijer (PSV Eindhoven), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax); Midfielders: Ibrahim Afellay (PSV Eindhoven), Mark van Bommel (Bayern Munich), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), Stijn Schaars (AZ Alkmaar), Wesley Sneijder (Internazionale), Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid), Demy de Zeeuw (Ajax); Forwards: Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Eljero Elia (SV Hamburg), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (AC Milan), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich)

DENMARK (23): Goalkeepers: Thomas Sorensen (Stoke City), Stephan Andersen (Brondby), Jesper Christiansen (FC Copenhagen); Defenders: William Kvist (FC Copenhagen), Simon Kjaer (Palermo), Lars Jacobsen (Blackburn Rovers), Per Kroldrup (Fiorentina), Daniel Agger (Liverpool), Patrick Mtiliga (Malaga), Simon Poulsen (AZ Alkmaar); Midfielders: Martin Jorgensen (AGF Aarhus), Christian Poulsen (Juventus), Jakob Poulsen (AGF Aarhus), Dennis Rommedahl (Ajax), Thomas Kahlenberg (VfL Wolfsburg), Thomas Enevoldsen (FC Groningen), Christian Eriksen (Ajax), Mikkel Beckmann (Randers), Daniel Jensen (Werder Bremen), Jepser Gronkjaer (FC Copenhagen); Forwards: Jon Dahl Tomasson (Feyenoord), Soren Larsen (MSV Duisburg), Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal)

JAPAN (23): Goalkeepers: Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus), Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale), Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi (Jubilo Iwata); Defenders: Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama F. Marinos), Marcus Tulio Tanaka (Nagoya Grampus), Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata), Daiki Iwamasa (Kashima Antlers), Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers); Midfielders: Shunsuke Nakamura (Yokohama F. Marinos), Junichi Inamoto (Kawasaki Frontale), Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Kengo Nakamura (Kawasaki Frontale), Daisuke Matsui (Grenoble), Yuki Abe (Urawa Reds), Makoto Hasebe (Wolfsburg), Keisuke Honda (CSKA Moscow); Forwards: Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus), Yoshito Okubo (Vissel Kobe), Kisho Yano (Albirex Niigata), Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse), Takayuki Morimoto (Catania)

CAMEROON (23): Goalkeepers: Hamidou Souleymanou (Kayserispor), Carlos Kameni (Espanyol), Guy Roland Ndy Assembe (Valenciennes); Defenders: Benoit Assou-Ekotto (Tottenham), Sebastien Bassong (Tottenham), Gaetan Bong (Valenciennes), Aurelien Chedjou (Lille), Geremi (Ankaragucu), Stephane Mbia (Marseille), Nicolas Nkoulou (Monaco), Rigobert Song (Trabzonspor); Midfielders: Eyong Enoh (Ajax), Jean II Makoun (Lyon), Georges Mandjeck (Kaiserslautern), Joel Matip (Schalke), Landry Nguemo (Celtic), Alexandre Song (Arsenal); Forwards: Vincent Aboubakar (Coton Sport), Eric Choupo-Moting (Nuremberg), Achille Emana (Betis), Samuel Eto'o (Inter Milan), Mohamadou Idrissou (Freiburg), Achille Webo (Mallorca)

Group F

ITALY (23): Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari); Defenders: Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Leonardo Bonucci (Bari), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Christian Maggio (Napoli), Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan); Midfielders: Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan); Forwards: Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli).

PARAGUAY (23): Goalkeepers: Justo Villar (Real Valladolid), Aldo Bobadilla (Independiente Medellin), Diego Barreto (Cerro Porteno); Defenders: Denis Caniza (Leon), Paulo Da Silva (Sunderland), Claudio Morel (Boca Juniors), Julio Cesar Caceres (Atletico Mineiro), Carlos Bonet (Olimpia), Dario Veron (Pumas UNAM), Aureliano Torres (San Lorenzo), Antolin Alcaraz (Wigan Athletic); Midfielders: Edgar Barreto (Atalanta), Cristian Riveros (Sunderland), Jonathan Santana (VfL Wolfsburg), Victor Caceres (Libertad), Enrique Vera (LDU Quito), Nestor Ortigoza (Argentinos Juniors); Forwards: Roque Santa Cruz (Manchester City), Nelson Haedo Valdez, Lucas Barrios (both Borussia Dortmund), Oscar Cardozo (Benfica), Edgar Benitez (Pachuca), Rodolfo Gamarra (Libertad)

SLOVAKIA (23): Goalkeepers: Jan Mucha (Legia Warsaw), Dusan Kuciak (Vaslui), Dusan Permis (Dundee United); Defenders: Peter Pekarik (VfL Wolfsburg), Martin Petras (Cesena), Martin Skrtel (Liverpool), Jan Durica (Lokomotiv Moscow), Radoslav Zabavnik (Mainz), Marek Cech (West Bromwich Albion), Kornel Salata (Slovan Bratislava); Midfielders: Kamil Kopunek (Spartak Trnava), Jan Kozak (Timisoara), Juraj Kucka (Sparta Prague), Marek Sapara (Ankaragucu), Marek Hamsik (Napoli), Vladimir Weiss (Manchester City), Miroslav Stoch (Chelsea), Zdeno Strba (Skoda Xanthi); Forwards: Stanislav Sestak (VfL Bochum), Erik Jendrisek (Schalke 04), Robert Vittek (Lille), Martin Jakubko (Saturn Ramenskoye), Filip Holosko (Besiktas)

NEW ZEALAND (23): Goalkeepers: James Bannatyne (Team Wellington), Glen Moss (Melbourne Victory) Mark Paston (Wellington Phoenix); Defenders: Andy Boyens (New York Red Bulls), Tony Lochhead (Wellington Phoenix), Ryan Nelsen (Blackburn Rovers), Winston Reid (FC Midtjylland), Ben Sigmund (Wellington Phoenix), Tommy Smith (Ipswich Town), Ivan Vicelich (Auckland City); Midfielders: Andy Barron (Team Wellington), Leo Bertos (Wellington Phoenix), Jeremy Brockie (Newcastle Jets), Tim Brown (Wellington Phoenix), Jeremy Christie (Tampa Bay Rowdies), Aaron Clapham (Canterbury United), Simon Elliott (unattached), Michael McGlinchey (Central Coast Mariners), David Mulligan (unattached); Forwards: Rory Fallon (Plymouth Argyle), Chris Killen (Middlesbrough), Shane Smeltz (Gold Coast), Chris Wood (West Bromwich Albion)

Group G

BRAZIL (23): Goalkeepers: Julio Cesar (Inter Milan), Doni (AS Roma), Heurelho Gomes (Tottenham Hotspur); Defenders: Maicon (Inter Milan), Daniel Alves (Barcelona), Michel Bastos (Olympique Lyon), Gilberto (Cruzeiro), Lucio (Inter Milan), Juan (AS Roma), Luisao (Benfica), Thiago Silva (AC Milan); Midfielders: Gilberto Silva (Panathinaikos), Felipe Melo (Fiorentina), Ramires (Benfica), Elano (Galatasaray), Kaka (Real Madrid), Julio Baptista (Roma), Kleberson (Flamengo), Josue (VfL Wolfsburg); Forwards: Robinho (Santos), Luis Fabiano (Sevilla), Nilmar (Villarreal), Grafite (VfL Wolfsburg)

PORTUGAL (24): Goalkeepers: Eduardo (Braga), Daniel Fernandes (Iraklis), Beto (Porto). Defenders: Miguel (Valencia), Paulo Ferreira (Chelsea), Ricardo Carvalho (Chelsea), Bruno Alves (Porto), Rolando (Porto), Ricardo Costa (Lille), Duda (Malaga), Fabio Coentrao (Benfica). Midfielders: Pedro Mendes (Sporting), Pepe (Real Madrid), Ze Castro (Deportivo Coruna), Tiago (Atletico Madrid), Deco (Chelsea), Raul Meireles (Porto), Miguel Veloso (Sporting). Forwards: Simao Sabrosa (Atletico Madrid), Danny (Zenit St Petersburg), Liedson (Sporting), Hugo Almeida (Werder Bremen), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Nani (Manchester United)

IVORY COAST (23): Goalkeepers: Boubacar Barry (Lokeren), Aristides Zogbo (Maccabi Netanya), Daniel Yeboah (ASEC Abidjan); Defenders: Souleymane Bamba (Hibernian), Arthur Boka (VfB Stuttgart), Guy Demel (Hamburg SV), Emmanuel Eboue (Arsenal), Steve Gohouri (Wigan Athletic), Siaka Tiene (Valenciennes), Kolo Toure (Manchester City), Benjamin Brou Angoua (Valenciennes); Midfielders: Jean-Jacques Gosso Gosso (Monaco), Abdelkader Keita (Galatasaray), Emmanuel Kone (International Curtea Arges), Gervais Yao Kouassi (Lille), Christian Koffi Ndri (Sevilla), Cheik Ismael Tiote (Twente Enschede), Yaya Toure (Barcelona), Didier Zokora (Sevilla); Forwards: Aruna Dindane (Lekhwiya), Seydou Doumbia (Young Boys Berne), Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Salomon Kalou (Chelsea)

NORTH KOREA (23): Goalkeepers: Kim Myong-gil (Amrokgang), Kim Myong-won (Amrokgang), Ri Myong-guk (Pyongyang City); Defenders: Cha Jong-hyok (Amrokgang), Nam Song-chol (April 25), Pak Chol-jin (Amrokgang), Pak Nam-chol (Amrokgang), Ri Jun-il (Sobaeksu), Ri Kwang-chon (April 25), Ri Kwang-hyok (Kyonggongop); Midfielders: An Yong-hak (Omiya Ardija), Ji Yun-nam (April 25), Kim Kyong-il (Rimyongsu), Kim Yong-jun (Pyongyang City), Mun In-guk (April 25), Ri Chol-myong (Pyongyang City), Pak Nam-chol (April 25), Pak Sung-hyok (Sobaeksu); Forwards: An Chol-hyok (Rimyongsu), Choe Kum-chol (April 25), Hong Yong-jo (Rostov), Jong Tae-se (Kawasaki Frontale), Kim Kum-il (April 25)

Group H

SPAIN (23) Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Victor Valdes (Barcelona). Defenders: Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Carles Puyol (Barcelona), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid). Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Javi Martinez (Athletic Bilbao), David Silva (Valencia), Xavi (Barcelona). Forwards: Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Juan Mata (Valencia), Pedro (Barcelona), Fernando Llorente (Athletic Bilbao), Fernando Torres (Liverpool), David Villa (Valencia)

CHILE (24): Goalkeepers: Claudio Bravo (Real Sociedad), Miguel Pinto (Universidad de Chile), Luis Marin (Union Espanola); Defenders: Waldo Ponce (Universidad Catolica), Gonzalo Jara (West Bromwich Albion), Gary Medel (Boca Juniors), Mauricio Isla (Udinese), Pablo Contreras (PAOK Salonika), Ismael Fuentes (Universidad Catolica); Midfielders: Marco Estrada, (Universidad de Chile), Roberto Cereceda, Rodrigo Millar, (both Colo Colo), Arturo Vidal (Bayer Leverkusen), Carlos Carmona (Reggina), Jorge Valdivia (Al Ain), Matias Fernandez (Sporting Lisbon), Jean Beausejour (Club America), Gonzalo Fierro (Flamengo), Rodrigo Tello (Besiktas); Forwards: Humberto Suazo (Real Zaragoza), Esteban Paredes (Colo Colo), Alexis Sanchez (Udinese), Fabian Orellana (Xerez), Mark Gonzalez (CSKA Moscow).

SWITZERLAND (23): Goalkeepers: Diego Benaglio (VfL Wolfsburg), Johnny Leoni (FC Zurich), Marco Woelfli (Young Boys Berne); Defenders: Mario Eggimann (Hanover 96), Stephane Grichting (Auxerre), Stephan Lichtsteiner (Lazio), Philippe Senderos (Arsenal), Ludovic Magnin (FC Zurich), Steve Von Bergen (Hertha Berlin), Reto Ziegler (Sampdoria); Midfielders: Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen), Valon Behrami (West Ham United), Gelson Fernandes (St Etienne), Benjamin Huggel (FC Basel), Marco Padalino (Sampdoria), Pirmin Schwegler (Eintracht Frankfurt), Goklan Inler (Udinese); Forwards: Eren Derdiyok (Bayer Leverkusen), Alexander Frei (FC Basel), Blaise Nkufo (Twente Enschede), Hakan Yakin (FC Luzern), Xherdan Shaqiri (FC Basel), Albert Bunjaku (Nuiernburg)

HONDURAS (23): Goalkeepers: Noel Valladares, Donis Escober (both Olimpia), Ricardo Canales (Motagua); Defenders: Sergio Mendoza, Emilio Izaguirre (both Motagua), Mauricio Sabillon (Hangzhou Greentown), Osman Chavez (Platense), Johnny Palacios, Boniek Garcia (both Olimpia), Maynor Figueroa (Wigan Athletic), Victor Bernardez (Anderlecht); Midfielders: Danilo Turcios, Ramon Nunez (both Olimpia), Hendry Thomas (Wigan Athletic), Edgard Alvarez (Bari), Roger Espinoza (Kansas City Wizards), Amado Guevara (Motagua), Wilson Palacios (Tottenham Hotspur), Julio Cesar de Leon (Torino); Forwards: Walter Martinez (Marathon), Georgie Welcome (Motagua), Carlos Pavon (Real Espana), David Suazo (Genoa)

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia - Day 3

2010-05-31T20:35:00.000+08:00

Day 3 - Morning

Body & mind was enjoying a good vacation when I myself wanted to visit Petronas Towers for the skybridge view. Again I was late for the skybridge management. I doubt whether they are actually giving away any sort of tickets at all. We had our breakfast in O'Briens in Suriya KLCC. We were very hungry tha we couldn't even think of finding q better place to get a better breakfast. From Suriya we got q cab to Berjaya Times Square. We had to get to this place in the evening for boarding our bus to Singapore back home. I took this opportunity to find our boarding place for starmart express. This can be found on the main road on the same side of Berjaya Times Square. It looks like a kiosk on the footpath with two ladies sitting inside.

We took Taxi twice today and found that it is best to take taxi for commuting within he city area and it was cheaper for two of us since train required more amount due to the connection trains we would end up boarding. I would recommend to get into taxi's with Chinese/Malay drivers. Indian drivers were not reasonable and would also insists on fixing charges first before boarding that too about 20-30MYR always. Chinese drivers were using the taxi meter and it was always reasonable around 4-6MYR for city rides between the places you would probably take a cab.

Time Square was huge with lots of storey for shopping and business. They also had few sales going on there where we bought into few stuff. Now back in my hotel getting ready for the evening ride to Singapore. I need to check out of this place around 1pm. So afternoon would be with our bags on raid hunting for food and shopping. Once again thankful for this location we chose for our trip which had been the best part of our trip.

Day 3 - Afternoon

I woke up from my afternoon nap when the hotel receptionist called me to remind me of my checkout at 1pm. We quickly packed up our things and went downstairs to checkout. There was no confusions or any issues, no extra payments or taxes. Since I had paid them upfront there was nothing more and less. We took a taxi to Berjaya Times Square. Spent sometime there and decided to hunt for lunch.

The banana leaf restaurant we had found didn't influence enough that we had to have lunch there. We later located a subway and later it turned out to be the worst subway I have ever entered in my life. This one was in the 3rd floor of the mall. I got plastic in my sub which should have been used to cover the vegetables. The sandwich artist was also very rude in general. The Parmesan bread I chose tasted odd and vegetables not that great. I couldn't finish a 6inch sub due to all this and was forced to enter Wendy's right opposite to subway for a cheese n cheese baked potato.

Later we spent some time in the cosmos theme park watching the thrill eating youth. After few activities out there we moved to starbucks while waiting for our bus so that I could browse and also fill up my stomach. Our bus check-in was quick and easy. This bus started right on time and now I am heading back to Singapore where I reside. The bus stopped for dinner in a foodcourt/general stores. This foodcourt sold local delicacies and smelled good for my senses. Overall it was a wonderful short trip to kick start many more in future.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia - Day 2

2010-05-31T20:34:00.001+08:00

Day 2 - Morning

Woke up late around 8:30am, rushed to the hotel cafe around 9:00am to get started. The meal was same as last morning for me whereas Seethu got different stuff to start her day.

We had to go to Batu caves as per our itinerary today morning. I checked with the Hotel reception tourist operator. He could only rent a taxi for 40MYR which was not agreeable to us. We decided to get local bus towards Batu caves. Local taxi drivers also quoted as low as 35MYR for one side. We walked towards central market, was not able to locate the bus station apart from the Pasar Reni bus station. We happened to meet this Malay kid who was very keen in helping us out and he took us to the bus station and also found the bus we need to board for us. I knew this was what even God wanted before we meet him in Batu caves. The bus charge was as low as 5MYR for both of us together one side. It was a exact 30mins ride towards the caves.

We got down there and was amused by the worlds tallest Murugan statue standing right in front of us. Most people were foreigners which is a clear indication of the importance Indians would give for a pilgrimage during a Kuala Lumpur outing. But I would recommend you to visit this place for the experience that you could get inside the cave after climbing 200 odd stairs which is relatively very steep. The very sign of light entering the cave from a hole in the cave was beautiful. There is a temple uphill which you can visit if interested otherwise it's a beautiful scene with the darkness of the cave and sun rays hitting us through peepholes set by God himself.

We took bus back to Kuala Lumpur again costing us 5MYR together. We felt very happy saving 70MYR and you could guess I won't let it go waste rather decided to spend on shopping. We got down from bus after reaching Central Market and walked towards the restaurant for a nice lunch after a tiring morning. Our hotel location was so good that all places looked very near to us. Now taking some rest and will start again around 3pm towards KLCC and watch tower hoping to get some good shots with my Kodak Z650.

Day 2 - Afternoon

As expected we started our trip to watch the KL wonder Petronas Tower. We had to go to KLCC and found the cheapest and easiest way to get there was train for us since we were leaving opposite to Plaza Rakyat station. We took a train to Masjid Jamek station and took a connection train to KLCC station. Once inside the station, I stationed myself in the last door waiting for the train. But once train came I realized that only 3-4 doors would open and that too was far from where I stood since train was a small one.

The KLCC station was under Suriya mall. The mall was beautifully constructed with all the international brands finding a place to host their stores. We had a coffee from Starbucks while waiting for the rain to get over. It was raining heavily and could not go out of the mall for sometime. When we went to enter the skybridge, they informed the ticket was over and I need to return tomorrow. I was ok for the idea. Tomorrow my bus starts at 4:30pm, so I had to get a slot before 11am so that I can check out of the hotel by 12 noon.

Once the downpour halted we went out to take photos of the Petronas Towers.
The construction looked solid and robust. Lots n lots of steel was used for the building. We later took the train back to Pasar Seni. Had our dinner in the Indian hotel I had found since Seethu was not in a mood to try anything new. After dinner we walked back towards our Hotel.

I understood the best way to travel in Kuala Lumpur was to take trains since the whole city was well connected and it was cheap too. Eventhough I didn't take taxi, used my tourist status to poke taxi drivers by asking for the rates which was always above 25MYR. We need to wake up early tomorrow to try to get a ticket to watch Kuala Lumpur from the sky bridge at Petronas Towers.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia - Day 1

2010-05-31T20:29:00.003+08:00

Singapore to Malaysia - Bus Travel

We reached the golden mile complex by 6:50 pm. All our formalities had completed by 7:00 pm. The bus which we had to board came around 8:20 pm. We had to wait for 40mins extra. They tried to send us into some other bus since it had free seats, but I insisted to board this bus which was what I booked for. Seethu pointed out that the bus shows 7:08 pm in the clock inside the bus. No wonder it came late.

Immigration Clearance

There was a long queue in the Singapore customs for both bus and people. Our bus queues for around 20mins to get to the point where they can leave us for customs check. I had rushed to a queue to get my customs check done. It took me few minutes to notice that everyone in my queue had red passports. Funny part is the queue was extremely fast because it was using an automated system but this was only for Singaporean passport holders. We had to change our queue to a manual one.

This was the Singapore customs check and there was more to come. We had to board the bus and move for some distance before we reached another customs checkpost and this time around it was from Malaysian governments. We could feel the difference. From posh marbled hall to a normal hall with tiles and faded emulsions. The customs officer looked at my passport and asked me where is the white card. I stared at him in amusement, he later give us arrival card to fill in. By the time we filled the card and came back to queue it was a long one. We has to carry our luggage when we left bus for clearance since my friend had lost his purse during one of his visits. One another friend had already warned of some card that we would definitely miss, which was the white card. I had overlooked it.

The scenery changed drastically, it was a well lit smooth road earlier and now it was bumpy one with very dark tracks with only the beaming halogens of our bus litting up the road. And I knew my first visit to Malaysia had begun.

Arrival
Forgot to tell you that we didn't get time to have dinner while waiting for the bus. Having trained to no food in trains ans buses in Singapore, I was hesitant to believe the fact that they really allow to carry and eat food in bus. Few times I ended up eating a bite from the sub that the lady in next seat was eating but in my dreams.

We reached Kuala Lumpur around 2:20a.m. We felt like it was a short ride and good that we decided to take bus. Maybe finding reasons for the decision I made as often. Kuala Lumpur looks more like India except for few sky scrapers that I could notice when I was in bus. We had got down at Berjaya Times Square with the crowd in bus and eventhough it was walkable we took a taxi driven by a Tamil uncle. He took 25MYR from us. He was mentioning about the double charge at night. Anyways I was prepared to get looted by my first taxi since I knew it is inevitable wherever you travel.

We got to our Hotel and did a check-in as indicated to them around 2:45 a.m. The lady had asked me to make full payment but I was not carrying enough MYR's. I paid her 90% of the MYR's I had and promised to pay the rest in the morning after conversion. She said they won't accept Singapore dollars. My hunger brought the craziness out again. After we got settled in the room, I went out to the 7-11 store which I had spotted when I was in taxi and bought everything my mind craved to eat. We had our first dinner at 3:00 a.m. and now going to sleep since I had to wake up at 7:30am for my first complementary breakfast here. Feels like browsing through my traveller's guide before my body switches off to sleep.

Breakfast - day 1

Browsed through 21 odd pages of my traveller's guide by Discovery Channel before getting lost in my sleep. Was feeling tired to walk up. Seethu managed to pull me off from the cozy bed around 8:30am. Took the lift to hit the cafe for free breakfast and anything free would be more enjoyed by the women. Seethu had quite a lot of choices like fried rice, egg, sausage and much more that I could not eat due to my mentally forced vegetarianism.

I got myself equipped with the fried tomato, beans baked in tomato sauce, bread-butter-jam, chocolate corn flakes, orange juice and black tea. Yeah, I know that is a big list for a breakfast. Now back in room, planning for the day ahead.

Day 1 - Morning

We started off with a visit to the historic heart of Kuala Lumpur after changing the currency to MYR. Unlike Bintan where we could get away with SGD, here it was only Ringitts.

Ignoring the hot sun, we decided to take a walking trail. As some of my friends might say, time to show off my sun glasses. We saw Masjid Jamek, Cathedral of virgin Mary built in 1800's and Central Market on our way.

The grand part of it was the Mughal touch that we could notice in the north part of India and some other states. The buildings on Jalan Raja were of historic importance. The thirst due to the unforgiving sun was immense. Had filled up my stomach with two bottles of 100+ on my way. We came to Masjid Jamek train station after the long and tiring walk. Decided to take a train to Jalan Bukit Bintang.

The train system was different from the tap and go system of Singapore. This was more like Tokyo, where we put a ticket or card the system to enter. We had to take connection monorail from Hang Tuah station. I felt like having a sub from subway which had dragged me to Bukit Bintang. I was able to locate Subway without any problem. After two footlong subs which costs us about 24MYR, we moved to Bukit Bintang plaza and other shopping malls over there.by this time Seethu was getting a bad headache due to the hot sun and my foolish decision to start the day walking. We later took a train to Plaza Rakyat and back to Hotel for a quick nap before heading to other locations in the evening.

Day 1 - Afternoon

Guess I have overslept again. My afternoon nap was more than what I have wanted for a rest. Maybe my legs were fainting itself without letting me know so that my false cachet be intact. I have decided to give myself a break in this vacation from my office and others. So sleeping few extra hours was never an overkill.

We got ready around 6pm and hit the road again for another long walk. This time towards Little India and Chinatown. We were fortunate enough to find an Indian vegetarian hotel which was more than enough for an illustrious dinner.

I felt Kuala Lumpur was a small city. Not sure whether it is the colossal Watch Tower or gargantuan Petronas Towers which makes me feel so. Wherever we went these two were always in the vicinity with the clouds.

We commissioned ourself into buying something from the overly crowded Petaling street market. As desired I bought 4 jerseys. 3 for myself and 1 which Ramu asked for. I was captivated towards the two German jerseys and bought into Portugal jersey as for the words of the shopkeeper knowing the fact that in that reddish color I would be no different from a dolt.

Once again my camera who is with me for last 4years was doing his job irreproachably. I had packed his food in the form of 4 fully charged energizer batteries. But by night 2 of them were too jaded like me. I had to put them to recharge at night so that they be fit for my Sunday outing. My charger had an adapter which didn't suit the Malaysian plug points and couldn't find a suitable adapter anywhere nearby. Feel like listening to good old malayalam songs. Maybe I should take a bath, listen to one and doze off without wasting much time hoping for a better Day 2 in Kuala Lumpur.

Small Caps for you

2010-05-13T11:41:00.002+08:00

1. Sujana Metal Products
Stock Price: Rs.23.20(12 May 2010)
Book Value: Rs.52.55
Sales Turnover: 1,929.86(Highest in Steel Rolling)
Assets: 1,258.12(Second Highest in Steel Rolling)

Currently not doing great, but a good pick for making. Research more yourself before you decide.

2. Sanghi Industries
Stock Price: Rs.24.20
Book Value: Rs.30.00
Total Assets: 1,717.31

3. Suprajit Engineering
Stock Price: Rs.16.40
Book Value: Rs.48.03

Excellent customer base local and abroad.

Please don't use this as recommendation to buy. This is for your analysis.

India - Its time to change!

2010-01-31T10:59:00.005+08:00

It had been long time since I felt like writing something. Today when the whole world is talking about China becoming no.1 in the world by 2020 and U.S. relegated to a mere no.2. People see ourself taking the no.3 slot and waiting to capitalize on others flaws and enter the top 2. But will it be possible? Maybe yes, but how big is that 'yes' and how small is that 'maybe'?

We have lots n lots of things to change before we can reach the goal. If we reach the top of the world economically without clearing off all the bad things we have in our system, we will never stay in top. It can be for one fiscal year and that's it.
Let this blog start a new revolution, a revolution from thought and deed.
We often tend to believe that what others are doing is irrational or wrong in most cases. But we never tend to understand that it is just a perception. We see it in a different way. If everyone thinks the same, there won't be any need to make a black car and a white car. Since everyone will be buying the same color. I guess I am dragging to wrong topics here.

So what are the things that needs to be changed in India? I will draft out few things that I believe needs to be changed in our system and will welcome your comments on the same.

Let's start with what we can do and not what government can do. The whole idea of changing the perception of government is insane and such guys are projected as rebels.

We often overlook the importance of traffic signals. We are very fond of jaywalking in India. We should respect the signals and cross only when it is allowed. Since everything in life is a competition we mistake crossing roads too is part of it. We feel why to wait for few minutes and get late. But never ready to accept the risk that these few minutes holds when we do our jaywalking.

Corruption will play the keyrole in dragging down our chance to grow. Knowingly or unknowingly we all play a huge part in this. We tend to be happy to pay those Rs.50 rather than getting a Rs.150 fine for missing that signal or not wearing a helmet. This is a profit and loss game where ofcourse we are benefitted. This happens in all levels. There are innumerous instances when people in all levels take bribe to move things even though its legal and rational. This all starts with parents bribing their kids to study well or get good grades. We can see in India there is a practice that when kids get good marks, parents buy them gifts. I never used to get that from my dad since there was no such time when I was a brilliant student. :-).
I have often noticed other parents buying mobiles, bikes and other stuff. Maybe its my jealousy that is speaking its mind but this is from where it starts. Kids grow up to become adults and have this feeling that if a person is rewarded for his deeds how miserable it is he tends to do it better and quicker. Since we all are grown up now, why don't we just stop giving bribes. Next time a policeman catches you for overspeed, just tell him "Sir, tell me how much is the fine and I am ok to pay." Never allow him to bargain for the money which he doesn't deserve. If we take off this bribe from our society, India will be 50% better place to live.

Everyone is graded at every level. I saw an interesting study on internet on the failure of different countries to make creative people. Our schooling system is the backbone to this failure. As a kid when we draw a picture our parents encourage us, but how many parents we can see encouraging kids to draw a picture on the eve of their X standard exams. No one will ever dare to do that. Why? This is because not just them but the whole society grades us as children and now as adults based on the marks we score in school and college. But why? Anyone who has passed out of college would understand that these marks doesn't indicate anybody's brilliance. But we grow up to become a father or teacher one day and still gauge another kid by his educational brilliance. We often overlook the fact that our education system is created in such a way that they give the industrialist what they need next year. Every other year a bunch of these kids get into corporates or industries and try to run them. So where is the creativity going? It just becomes another industry advertising and media. Not joking this is what is happening to the world. We don't realize this fact because we all have got used to it. We live to get admission to big colleges, later big companies and then big families for a bride. Even there you can expect stiff competition from people who can be richer or from a degree from Oxford or working in US. I do understand that competition is good and it can bring the best out of you most of the times. My blog would not be able to change the education system but atleast it brings a thought in us indicating we need a change.

We often feel foreign goods are better and more value for money. We don't understand that how good Indian products are and how tall it stands in international markets. We need to understand this and also try to buy Indian products more. This will help Indian economy a lot. This is one advantage China, Japan and Korea has over India. The citizens there use the products made locally which gets the money rolling in their own country and later move big stones from their path to grow further and bigger. We should understand how much it can add to our country's growth and start doing it right away. I don't want to market any products here but make sure you do your study before buying next time. Let's get it rolling on our end and make things happen.

Together we can do a lot, as current generation of youngsters we can change a lot in India. If not India atleast our deeds we can change. To glorify this once glorious country.

Next blog more on India - Its time to change! Part 2

Arsenal kills off Wolves threat!

2009-11-08T10:27:00.002+08:00

Gunners started off nervous as usual. Maybe young guns feared the set piece threat that Wolves were claiming too much. After about 15mins from kick-off, Arsenal started kicking in. We were unfortunate to lose Diaby to injury and not heard on the severity ever since. Alex Song was rested today when the game started.

Arsenal line-up was different from other ones that we had been seeing off late.

Almunia
Sagna-Gallas-Vermaelen-Gibbs
Fabregas-Ramsey-Diaby
Arshavin-van Persie-Eduardo

We saw Ramsey coming in for Song, Gibbs for the injured Clichy and Eduardo starting.
Arsenal bench needs a mention here for its strength. I was so happy to look at the bench last night and was guessing how it would look later this year when our injured players are back and hoping no one plans to join injury club.

Mannone-Senderos-Silvestre-Eboue-Nasri-Rosicky-Song

Arsene Wenger seems to be keeping his promise to Ramsey by giving him good chance to play and grow at such an young age of 18. There were very less stand out performances. It was more of a team game. Eduardo forced Zubar to score an own goal from a Fabregas freekick and later Eduardo's chip was deflected by Craddock for another own goal adding to Wolves misery. The other two goals came from a beautiful layoff from van Persie for Fabregas who finished it with ease. Arshavin scored a beauty from a Fabregas corner when goal keeper had pushed the ball off away to find Arshavin's feet. Alex Song had to come off bench for Diaby due to injury. Eduardo was substituted with Rosicky and Nasri came in for Arshavin. There was no damage done by Arsenal side after 66th minute strike from Arshavin. Nasri-Fabregas-Rosicky combined well for many attacks without finding the back of the net.

Eventhough I would tell it was a team performance and individual hard works were not that notable, still I would pick Alex Song as the player of the day for two reasons. One, he brought in the much needed strength and belief in the middle since Arsenal was able to attack comfortable once Song came in as substitute. Till then Gunners were finding it tough. That made it clear he is controlling the Arsenal engine.
Two, he was instrumental in defending, marking and clearing off the balls whenever needed and also in setting up attacks with Fabregas. He brought in the physical presence and strength which was missed in the opening 24mins in Arsenal camp.

Stock Picks for Long Term

2009-10-04T16:20:00.005+08:00

Indian Markets had been reaching new highs and conquering new boundaries. I would like to share you this quarters stock picks. Please take this as scrips to be tracked and not as a buying suggestion. Only listen to your mind while picking your stocks. Track the picks suggested for sometime before you decide whether its best for you. Almost all the scrips are long term picks so understand the fact that there is no quick bucks promised.

Check out the below scrips:
Hindalco Industries
Swaraj Mazda
Kotak Mahindra Bank
Federal Bank
Canara Bank
Aksh Optifibre
Electrosteel Castings
Sanghi Industries
Moser Baer India
Mahindra Satyam
Firstsource Solutions
Subex
Salora International
Gati
Punj Lloyd
Ballarpur Industries
Harrisons Malyalam
Provogue

Let me know your views on the picks you have.

My Stock Picks for long term

2009-07-18T12:36:00.004+08:00

This time I am going to share with you my picks in different sectors.
Please don't believe me until you track these stocks yourself and get to know yourself.

My analysis is based on market capitalization, sales turnover, net profit and total assets for different stocks. This is also based on where they stand with their competitors and potential for growth. This could be completely wrong intuition from my side. In stock markets, as I wrote in my previous block. The best analyst is yourself.
This following classification is based on sector and stock pick under that.

CEMENT - AMBUJA CEMENTS
CONSUMER GOODS - VALUE INDUSTRIES
FINANCE - INDIABULLS
DRY CELLS - EVEREADY INDUSTRIES
FINANCE - HOUSING - CAN FIN HOMES
FINANCE - LEASING AND HIRE - CHOLAMANDALAM
FINANCE - TERM LENDING - IFCI
GLASS - ASAHI INDIA GLASS
HOTELS - INDIAN HOTELS/HOTEL LEELA
INFRASTRUCTURE - GENERAL - GMR INFRA
LUBRICANTS - CASTROL
MISCELLANEOUS - GUJ NRE COKE
PACKAGING - UFLEX
PAINTS - BERGER PAINTS
PAPER - BALLARPUR IND
PERSONAL CARE - MARICO
PESTICIDES/AGRO - MEGHMANI ORGANI
PETROCHEMICALS - FINOLEX INDUSTRIES
PRINTING AND STATIONERY - DECCAN CHRONICLE
STEEL GP/GC - ISPAT INDUSTRIES
REFINERIES - MRPL
SHIPPING - SHIPPING CORP
STEEL - LARGE - TATA STEEL
STEEL - SPONGE IRON - ADHUNIK METALIKS
TEXTILE - COMPOSITE MILLS - NAHAR INDUSTRIES
TEXTILE - WEAVING - ALOK INDUSTRIES
TRANSPORT - JET AIRWAYS
TYRES - APOLLO TYRES

Please don't think I am trying to promote these stocks.
Infact I hold few of the above stocks only namely JET AIRWAYS, FINOLEX INDUSTRIES, ADHUNIK METALIKS, ISPAT INDUSTRIES and INDIABULLS. This is written to help out others who are looking for stock picks which could be a good bets for long term investment in Indian Markets. I believe in INDIAN MARKETS and I am sure it will come back strong in couple of years. Onething that needs to be taken care is the time to enter the markets. You should be entering the markets with proper timing. I know no-one can time the markets. But do look for market falls as a good oppourtunity to enter. The above picks could be useful even if you enter in anytime. The reason is that I have recommended them for a long term. Don't forget to track your stocks regularly atleast once in a week. Just to make sure that they remain good long term bets. There could be certain negative factors that can change once you have the stock. So be vigilant and careful while playing with stocks. Enjoy investing and do it with proper plan. Hope you reap good benefits in coming years.

My next blog on "How to build a portfolio"

Stock Markets - For Dummies!

2009-07-12T10:06:00.006+08:00

Everyone seems to be so excited about investing in stock markets these days. There are so many myths and misunderstandings that make us all bad investors. Today I would love to share few of my beliefs which could again be a misunderstanding with you guys.

Why people invest in Stock Markets?
In India, most of the youth find onething fascinating about stock markets and that is quick bucks. They believe that this is short cut to wealth. Guys there is no short cut to wealth. A person is wealthy only because of his hard-work and patience. Otherwise it could be inherited fortune from parents. Anyways lets discuss on the two starting points in Stock Investment. Hard Work and Patience.

What kind of Hard Work and Patience you need to do?
Let me make one point clear. Never ask your stock broker which stock to buy and when to sell. Just because he is not here to make you rich but to make profit for his company. He will always entertain buying and selling. Remember your transactions is what makes them tick and not your buy n hold strategy.

The best person to pick a stock for you is YOU! I can understand it is hard to pick a stock if you are not following markets. Best thing to get started is follow markets and analyse the trend and situations that arise. Read everyother article you could find eventhough it makes less sense to you. Get help from your close friends who are already into it. Most of them won't share the losses they have made and only share the profit. So look for their mistakes and learn from it before you make your own. We are sure to make mistakes in stocks picking and time to sell etc. That is how we learn.

We all tend to think that our first stock pick should fetch us profits and then we can infer whether this thing suits me. Guys how many of you have started walking one fine day without ever falling down? Anyways I still fall sometimes...so that is part of life. Have u ever thought...I fell down...now I won't stand forever...let me sit here itself? If we think like that will we ever move in life? To get going...to keep moving we need to stand up again...same like that never ever get afraid of your failures in life and in Stock markets...To start with play with less money that you can afford to lose. Just to get the feel of it.

Look for fundamentally strong companies. Read and analyse whether the companies way of management is something you would enjoy? How they are treating their investors? What is their long term plans?, before looking into technical charts and other tech stuff...Then look for its market cap, how it performs compared to its peers in the sector based on sales turnover and profits. It won't be tough to find atleast one stock in the whole of NSE and BSE scrips listed by anyone. Let it be right or wrong. Learn to take risks and go for it. Remember always invest the amount you can afford to lose. Another thing that we all must think of is the money we put in is not to be withdrawn immediately. Give time for your pick to perform. Sometimes even I tend to sell it off seeing that it has reached some level that I expected. These are trading and don't confuse it for investment. Have a long term target. Atleast for few years. Don't fall for trading calls. For e.g, In CNBC or someother channel, few technical analysts will come and tell you...guys this scip is gonna go below this level..I would say SELL!...these are for traders. You don't need to worry what will happen to that scrip today or tomorrow. Think of it as a long term bets. Don't panic. We can see people hyping the budget and other such economic factors...its true the markets tend to crash or sail based on it...but how long? its just temporary...markets has to come back and in few years time it will always be back...

Have your targets with the money you have invested and also keep tracking the stock in a weekly or monthly wise...and not daily...daily tracking increases panic and force you to sell...Read about it always..what are companies plans? Are they really crashing? In case you realize that they are really crashing and has no reforms planned yet...you know your money is in trouble...that is one thing that can force you to sell before your intended years.

As great investors in Stock Markets told us, "Buy when everyone is selling and Sell when everyone is buying"...But for me I would say buy your pick when everyone is selling...sell when it is time for you to sell it...if you tend to sell when everyone is buying it could be another trader in making and not an investor...An investor should always look for oppourtunities..whether it is stock markets or wherever. In stock markets, your oppourtunity is when the scrip you are tracking has hit a certain low which could make you buy. Always look for long term bets...there is no gain without pain. Patience wins in markets.

You must have read about STOCK MARKETS CRASHES in Indian newspapers...People read about it and acts insane you know. I know many guys who sold of everything at tht stage thinking it is crashing and will never come back...The wise ones knew it was wealth in disguise...you would be amazed to know that in last year 2008 October...stocks that traded in X levels are now 3X - 4X levels...take most of your picks and compare the price in last year october or February and see the price now...this is not to convince anyone..this is just to make you realize the facts...its all there..you just needs to put some time to learn...

Its fun to compare it with some sales going on...for e.g. In Big Bazaar, if they tell you..you can buy two Colgate pastes for the price of one and coincidentaly you are in big bazaar for your monthly shopping...you would definitely buy that...why? Because you think this is profit! but how often you need to buy toothpaste at home? still you would argue...its a good deal and I will use when we need...Same applies to stock your oppourtunity is when a stock price comes low and market crashes...that is the 1 for 1 sales that happens in Stock market...People in our country think that its crashing so should stay away..but why they don't think 1 for 1 paste...I should stay away..that is greed...No investor invests without greed...so if you are greedy enough these are times you need to exploit.

Remember that the picks you make can go wrong also...never lose the trust in yourself and learn from your mistakes...

To invest in stock markets...you need to have a demat and trading account.
There are lot of companies offering this.
1. Religare
2. ICICI
3. Kotak
4. Geojith
5. Anand Rathi
6. HDFC
7. Sharekhan and many many more...
Check out with them and choose the one you think is much profitable to you.
Look for their rates...every trade you do...they have a commission...look for those rates and yearly maintenance rates...

Next Blog on ... my stock picks in different industries/sectors

Invest with Discipline - SIP

2009-07-07T20:11:00.010+08:00

Guys it has been long time since I wrote something. This time I thought of sharing my views on SIP(Systematic Investment Plan) into mutual funds. There are better ways of making quick bucks. But lets devote the whole blog to SIP. There are many of my friends who had invested into markets using the Mutual Funds just because of my advice. I would like to share my experience with mutual funds.

Why should we invest in mutual fund and not directly to stock market?
This can always be debated since on my blog on stock market I would tell learn to manage your money. But here I would tell you that lets leave it to experts.
Same as when you need legal advice and assistance you look for lawyers, Doctors for medicine...to be precise..we always believe in experts...then why to take risk?
Do you think they will leave their credibility at stake thinking its somebody elses money? Never...this is their job and will do their best.

The risk of investing through mutual fund has lot of benefits:
1. It divesifies your portfolio.
In some cases you maynot be able to buy different stocks in different sectors. But mutual funds helps to cover it. Since every rupee is divided into different paisa's for different stocks.
2. Will have experts working for you.
We can never hire someone to look after our money since it may end up taking more than what you have invested. But here we get free service for that.
3. Can get better sleep
Since your portfolio is already diversified the fall of one sector won't lead to a complete loss. Assuming you have invested in Diversified funds or ELSS.

Guys I think I am getting carried away from my topic.

So why SIP? How is it different from taking Mutual Fund at one shot?
I don't want to use any technical terms and confuse you.(I am also too poor at it)

Systematic Investment Plan:
The term itself tells you the importance of it. Its a plan. A plan to invest systematically. So you already know you will have a plan while entering this. Since its systematic it adds discipline to your life.

Let me quote an example to explain the benefits.
It happened that my friend took a mutual fund lets name it 'X Fund' this year January with a NAV(Net Asset Value) of Rs.10 for Rs.5000. Remember the age old saying 'No one can time the markets!'. Unfortunately the market crashed. Lets assume the following NAV values for the Mutual Fund 'X'
1. February - Rs.9
2. March - Rs.8
3. April - Rs.9
4. May - Rs.10

Simple mathematics tells you that he got 500 units when he bought the mutual fund. At the market risk was so high that his Asset value every month was going haywire and in few months the markets recovered and now in June the value of his asset would be Rs.5000

Now imagine I decide to take the same mutual fund 'X' and also decide to go for an SIP. First month I pooled in Rs.1000 and got only 100 units
1.February - Rs.9 - 111 units
2. March - Rs.8 - 125
3. April - Rs.9 - 111
4. May - Rs.10 - 100

Now I have invested the same Rs.5000 and total number of units with me is 547. So in June the value of his asset would be Rs.5470. This is one benefit that we get when we are in mutual funds using SIP. This works for a market when there are fluctuations. But can you point out a market with no fluctuations. That just keeps going high every other day until now. I don't think we can even imagine that. Remember when market goes up I will be making more profit since I have accumulated more units at the bad time. We know for sure there are bad times in markets but can never guess will it go to worse. So better start investing today and in long run you will benefit for sure.

Let's assume this 5 months in the above example the market kept on rising as a worst case. What happens? The units we gets reduced. But remember that the value of each unit is increasing. This makes your asset grow. Now live is not just 5months and mutual funds are not for 5 months too. You should also allow your expert to work on your money. Needs to give him his time. Say 2-3yrs minimum and stay invested. No need to add more money if you think it is not of use.

Another advantage of SIP is that we can miss paying the installments. ha ha... this is the tricky part...its not a commitment...if you pay you benefit and if you don't only you lose no one else...You can decide the time frame and also the amount. I believe in India we can invest starting from Rs.500 per month in different SIP's.

We can easily afford Rs.500 to be invested...just by skipping weekend outing and a couple of movies at the multiplexes...This will not affect your day to day expense and after few years from now you can reap benefits...Look for Mutual Funds with less or no entry and exit loads.

There is a news that Govt. may take off the entry load from Mutual funds from August this year. So check that out and plan for your SIP's starting this year. I don't have any recommendations to pick the mutual funds. But do browse through the link http://www.valueresearchonline.com and http://www.moneycontrol.com for more details.

I have taken SIP's for three mutual funds and also invested without SIP to other mutual funds which are still industry top performers. This blog is an outcome from my comparison of profits in both.

To take mutual funds in India is very easy. Never think you have to go looking.
Steps required:
1. Do your homework and pick your fund. Get help from your friends who have some experience if needed.
2. Go to any bank or agent. For e.g: ICICI Bank or SBI or HDFC.
They all sell all mutual funds. Its not just their own products.
If you need someone to assist you in Cochin, I can refer you to my friend.(No commission for me don't worry.)
3. Take your PAN Card and Cheque leaf.(Assuming you know your account number) with you. It will be easy if you opt for ECS clearance. Otherwise needs to provide with those many cheques as many installments.
4. Sign few places as they instruct.
5. Get the acknowledgement slip right away.
6. In couple of days your SIP will be active.

GOOD LUCK! HAPPY INVESTING!

My next blog on "How to explore Stock Markets!"

This is an original snapshot from one of my SIP and see how market fluctuation helps my SIP.

Mumbai Airport Incident

2009-02-13T22:39:00.001+08:00

This is a real life incident that happened to me on January, 2008...I don't remember the date exactly...this January I accidently thought of that day...infact that night!...

I was in Mumbai for a Business Meeting...At those days I was in Bangalore working for an IT company....Took the Jet Airways flight from Bangalore to Mumbai at night. I reached Mumbai around night 9pm I think...Dont remember exactly...As always in Mumbai and other Indian Airports...there was a big queue for the taxi...This time around it was looking more orderly..I felt good..India doing things with discipline...not seen or heard about...so it was fun to watch...I had one suitcase...a big one infact..since I had to travel to Delhi the very next day and then to Chennai day after...it was tedious one too...

My aunt and family lives in Mumbai...had told her already I would be home for dinner...but my office had arranged my stay in our rest house and I had to report there too...house caretaker was waiting for me too...so decided to skip the queue...with this big suitcase and one laptop bag I decided to take a taxi that was not arranged by the Mumbai Police I guess or whoever there...One guy came to me and started talking in English...He said some 200Rs or so which was way too high ...eventhough I can claim it...I never misused any of my allowances...so I argued with him and later he agreed for 150Rs which was still very high...and as all Indians I felt satisfied after the argument...as usual...I assumed he was the taxi driver...but nope...he made a call to someone assuming I don't know Hindi as I looked very southie...he started telling him to bring the taxi...I was listening eventhough it was not that clear...

When the taxi came...it already had two people sitting in front...an old Fiat car painted black and yellow...I was thinking these guys will get down here...but it never happened...the person had called the taxi on phone...rushingly took my suitcase and put inside the taxi and also helped me to get it...The taxi was going real fast eventhough I was inside airport premises....I felt something wrong...I noticed both my back doors didnt have the knob to open the door...no latches...I was feeling a kind off pressure inside...some discomfort...since I was in airport premises I told them I need to get down now...my friend is coming to pick me up...after acting like picking a call...they argued this that n all...but I kept arguing and they later left me out of taxi and still asked for money...I told lets talk with Police here since I could see a policeman nearby...and decide the amount...they rushed after hearing this...I thought ok Luckily escaped a kidnap or say getting looted and thats it for the day...needs to get home take rest and prepare for next days meeting...but never knew lot more was in store...

I again came back to the taxi queue...this time stood in queue...one guy...a taxi driver was keeping on telling me to get in his car...since I just got a bad incident...decided not to get in to any car which called me...so got into another one...that guy took me my rest house...waited for me...and then to my aunt's house and took nominal amount only...I was happy...a good taxi driver atlast...He didnt have bill...so he wrote in a white paper in hindi...his taxi number...name and amount he had taken with datetime...I reached home...and after dinner was sharing my shocking incident sometime back with my aunt and my cousin Deepak...then I wanted to show them something in my wallet...then I realised I had lost my wallet...I remember taking it 1hr back to pay the taxi...but don't know where it disappeared...then looked around at home..then near our gate...then car park n all...no where it was found...it was about 11pm now at night...then I decided to check in the airport...

Eventhough my Driving License was inside my lost wallet...I took my aunt's WagonR alongwith my cousin bro rushed to airport...Parked the car and straight away went to the taxi stand...then the same taxi man who was telling me previously to get to his car asked...hey u again..what happened...atleast this time come in my taxi..I told him I lost my wallet...he told me...see I told u so many times but you never came...see what happened...I told him I had the taxi number I took previously with me...wanted to find him...this guy took me to a policeman...here starts the next story...presence of policemen used to give me a bad feeling from childhood...never felt comfortable when those guys where around...ha ha...I told him the whole incident...he took taxi number...he took me n my bro to a place where he asked for the main leader of some kind of bad gang out there...that guy came out from somewhere...and this policeman asked him in Hindi that this Sir is a good guy...his wallet is lost in the car...if the driver had taken it return to police station as soon as possible,...then the gang leader said....ok will do that...then policeman asked where is this car now...gang leader checked the number and told some place...

Myself, my bro and policeman got into an autorickshaw...a small three wheeler...which could seat 3 + 1 driver...the autorickshaw was driven by a kid of some 15yrs...the policeman asked whether kid has license...kid said no...policeman was least bothered...the kid dropped us near a large car parking lot...and we never paid for the autorickshaw...there were quite a few bad guys outside the car park...since they saw policeman with us never made any advances...this policeman asked where is this taxi parked and where is the driver...showing him the number...
One guy in the parking lot came forward looked at the taxi number and said....This vehicle is not parked inside here...omg...it should be nearly more than 100 taxi's there...and all same colour and model...how could one guy just tell like that...I thought he was lying...but policeman believed him...so I had to believe....by this time it was around 12midnight...

We grabbed another autorickshaw and from the lead we got in the taxi parking lot that this car could be there near the Andheri area...we went straight to that place in autorickshaw...in auto this policeman told he...Sir if anybody had taken it...dont worry it will reach Police Station...I have told them very well...So onething was sure...Policeman knew whom to contact related to such cases....we were looking at each taxi and all 4 of our eyes including the new found rickshaw guys eyes where looking for the taxi...yeah...I found it...I told them there the taxi is...The taxi driver was a good guy...but policeman as soon as the rickshaw stopped jumped from it and banged on the taxi bonet...told the taxi driver who was sleeping at that time to take the car to station now...and was abusing him of stealing my wallet...I told policeman with whom I felt bit comfortable that ...please don't abuse him...let me check inside the car...I was able to find my wallet between the backseat and the door...by that time the policeman had already scared the taxi driver...then he asked me to give some money to that taxi driver since we had harrassed him...I gave him 100Rs...for me at that time money was least important...I had all my cards...credit, debit, license and lot more things inside that wallet which I could not afford to loose......then I thanked the taxi driver for his sincerity...took the same autorickshaw back to airport where our car was parked...in auto I asked the policeman frankly...see I don't know how it works here...but please tell me if I need to pay you anything...he said...Sir...nothing like..pay whatever you feel like...What could I do...I had paid 100Rs to the taxi driver...could not pay the policeman anything less...and his effort so much I could not stop myself from paying 200Rs...You may call it bribing...but that bribe if it was ever was given from heart with lot of happiness for his service...By the time we got home it was 1am past...

Some might think this seems to be a very normal incident...and happens in most other countries...but ....considering the fact that it happend in India...that too Mumbai...and ofcourse at night...makes it a unique incident...I hope that policeman is still in service and serving lot of those guys out there....if I meet him again also I may not recognize but my respect for Mumbai police remains high!...

Thanks for reading my blog...my next blog will be a continuation about God...Part 2...

GOD - a myth? - Part 1

2009-01-27T20:39:00.001+08:00

GOD - a myth? - Part 1
Don't know why some of us keep thinking this! This is one of those things that we often tend to give a second thought before putting up for a debate or discussion. We all like to keep this thought within ourself! Dirty minds...its none of those I am talking about...I am talking about GOD - The Creator...From our childhood in India we are given quite a good base on this...whatever happens our parents teach us to keep faith...to keep thinking God will come to save you...GOD - The Saviour...

It is almost 11 years now since I started to think seriously about this subject..many of my close ones know very well that I am not THAT pious a person...Just to avoid confusion that may arise reading this blog...please understand that I am unimportant...but everyone needs to get heard so...think about my words...not about me or what made me write this...

Will type in a story to start with...also these stories are from somebody's life as always...then will go to my thoughts

Few years back, say about 12-13yrs back there was a boy who was not that good at studies but used to get the grades required to pass through...this boy had a secret power...nothing much but the gift of short term memory that we all Indians are blessed with during the exam days...The only difference was his was a very short term one...he used to wake up early morning on the exam days and read his lessons and seems like it was working for him...during those days in some Indian Temples there were some pujas or say kind of prayers held which would help the kids to excel in studies...so this guys parents asked him to go to that temple during the exam days early morning as early as 5am and pray to GOD...and be there with GOD during those early morning prayers to get blessed to have the brains...poor kid...had no choice...obeyed his parents...later when results came the family got the shock of their lives...kid couldn't secure good grades...why? who knows? ha ha...If the kids parents understood that the kid would have done better if he was allowed to study during those early hours rather than wishing and waiting for godly grace things would have been different...

When the result came there was no GOD seen around...there was no GOD MAN seen around...only thing that was said is some star running in wrong direction..poor kid! how he knows that stupid star is gonna screw him up badly...lol..

Why we keep thinking GOD is going to come to help us...is going to come to keep us succeeding? Why should we be successful? There is no state like all are successful...whatever it is life or game...I do know success means different for different people...but still...why u and me keep thinking G' will help us? Why? Are we doing that good that G' is tempted to help us? All of us might have thought of something that we need to change in life and keep thinking G' will help us to change it or hope it works out?
When we go to our prayer halls...we keep praying...I want this...I want that...all such stuff...how many of u there can say I pray for the world...or say the poor guys next door...u might think why should you? Right? ok think about the fact that those people who die without even getting a simple piece of bread for weeks together..don't they pray? Then why G' never heard that?...U think they had done some sin that was unforgiveable than urs? Then why they died of hunger? why peasants kill themself just because there is no rain?

Do you think all these happen because G' doesn't want to help them...if he was there why should he neglect them? comment ur good reason!...How many days could you neglect your own kid crying beside you...how long? hrs ? mins? secs? there goes...u know if you where around or unless u r the reason for the kid to cry you would surely make him happy or stop him from that...so there comes two possibilities...either u r not there or u r the reason for him to cry...

Please note that the honour of being G' is blessed to u now through my example...consider it as G' whenever I term U

Lets use these two possibilities to explore further...
1. You not there or G' doesn't exist
When the kid knows that you are not there still you think the kid won't cry...he will cry..why he cries? He cries because he has hope...he thinks somewhere somehow you will hear him...that hope makes him cry...cry out loud until he gets the feeling that there is no point in being so stupid...How many times in our life we have cried out like this to G'...eventhough there is no presence u still believe that is HOPE...this is one important thing that makes our life so enjoyable...so enriching...the Hope of a better tomorrow!
But in life what happens by the time we realize there is no point in crying out loud rather than doing our duty it would be too far from reality...

My suggestion to you all is that don't keep waiting that someone will come in life to get things right for you...the feeling of that someone supernatural is great...encouraging...but just for a moment think the other way...when u know there is nobody coming to help you out...to pull u off from danger is equally scaring as encouraging it was the other way...but there is one thing that we must not leave unnoticed in the second part...the very good thing of performing...to do ur best whatever it is...work...love or life...there is no 50% help that G' would give u...until u perform ur 100% nothing is going to work ur way...this is what each of us needs to learn...to have faith and hope is good for mind during a nice sleep...life is not a dream...its real...u need to do your part fully to succeed. I am not promoting anything here...this is to live ur life...to live ur dream...its good to have faith...but make sure it doesn't decide ur fate...I know all of you might disagree with me...but somewhere inside u might still give it a thought... :-)

2. You make him cry or G' Exist but ruins
When you make ur kid cry...it is true for sometime you may not try to calm him/her down...because either ur guilt or u feel he/she deserved it...but again...how long will u act so? there is always a limit...max say 1day...afterwards? So that is again the same thing I told above...if u know u have made him cry u know eventhough u might be ok with the fact that he is crying loud...but can't live with it for long...that is the so self explanatory about the existence of G'...read above...once more to explain more on that...

This whole blog is not against any religion or any community or caste...this is just the other side of the story that we are happily part off...in case you find this offensive please understand that I myself is a believer or in my words keeps faith and hopes for a good tomorrow...but this is only to help you all to HOPE FOR BEST AND PREPARE FOR THE WORST! There is no harm in believing or praying to G' but equally important should be to perform ur duties to ur best hoping no one else will fill your gap...I am not concluding anything just because my next blog will be on the same topic but unlike this trailer which gives a high level view...next one would be drilling to lots of facts to think about and also feelings from few pious lives!

Thanks for reading my blogs...keep reading...next blog on...GOD - a myth? Part 2...

To coerce by intimidation or fear!

2008-12-25T12:44:00.001+08:00

Let me start with a simple fact "the only person who can terrify your mind is you"
The whole idea of terrorism starts from mind and ends with bullets. This blog is open to debate and discussions. Nothing is conclusive here all are thoughts and plots of my mind. The whole idea of terrorism seems to be a sadistic approach to me. I will try to get what my mind(terror engine) thinks about it. This whole blog is not related to any country or doesn't include any accusations or revealations...

What is terrorism?

It just means "the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce"
Hope you guys remember the ragging that we do in colleges. What does that do? Create terror...not always use of violence but still it is a kind of intimidation. But we still do it. Right? Yeah, I did that because I enjoyed it. Cannot infer but still could propose the fact that every terrorist or so called terror enthusiasts do enjoy the act of terifying people which could be encapsulated into the single dangerous word called - TERRORISM. I don't intend to discuss on any terrorist organizations or countries since the area is so vast that it would eat up half of my google space.

How it works?

As rightly said in Bible, "Humans are prone to get attracted to devil and his thoughts". This very fact explains how it spreads. According to the recent news reports, a big set of manpower comes from poor families which are in need of financials to get going...Money had successfully overtaken the emotions that once ruled Indian minds...The previous sentence maybe bit rude...but I found very hard to deny this particular fact. I suspect poverty in India plays a upper hand when compared to religious beliefs as far as terror recruits are considered. Lets consider Terrorist organizations as an IT company or say any company for that matter...going forward in this blog I will be mentioning company...just got bored of typing T.E.R.R.O.R a lot...These companies portray themself as religious enthusiasts or freedom fighters or whatever...so that the fresh recruits get a motive...you know in life how difficult it is to roam around without a motive a goal an ambition...so when the right persons get the wrong kind of goal...what happens? Company grows in man power...strength to strength...Most of the employees of these companies seems to be hopeless guys/girls who get a very good motive in life suddenly...this will make them more excited and empower towards their goal in life....as any other person...the only thing in life is to succeed...and success means different to different persons! Imagine the fact that the difference when one person works for a goal and when 100's work for a common goal...which one is stronger and more achievable? You know better than me! Do they actually enjoy killing people or terrifying? Yes, of course...they should be right?(Refer to What is terrorism?)

What can we do seriously?

Since we boast of having quite a lot of people with heavier heads above their neck they should act...the very strange thing that we can see in our country is people think a lot, plan a lot, imagine a lot but END UP DOING NOTHING? I suggest! I suggest only! To go after the root cause of it spreading inside our country rather than going after every know case and end up pointing to other countries or persons...why should we do that? One of the root cause is poverty as we identified earlier but what would be other reasons?

As Mohanlal said in Kirthichakra, we Indians show our patriotism only when we see a cricket match...I would add may be on Aug15 and Jan26 too...it should be something more...it should never be limited to these days...We should give more stress on patriotism from school levels...this is not about adding more text books and making those kids carry more to school...not to show off this and that...this is to add value...you think anyone who has at least once sung Vandemataram from heart will be able to betray his/her nation? to be that traitor that others discard? We are not in short of human beings in our country...you all knows that...what we need is PATRIOTIC HUMAN BEINGS! It is for you to deny or accept...if you think I make sense then raise your voice!!! who knows when it will get heard.

We should never ever blame a community or religious groups inside our country just because we are not good at what we should be good at...there are thousands of good guys there getting feeling dejected because of this...that is not good...we should be able to pick the right ones and punish...PUNISH? ever heard...ha ha...when I was in India I never heard anyone getting punished for something or even a trial ending...it goes on...you can easily live your life...by the time you retire your trial would have completed say 5 hearings(1 in every 10years-best case scenario)...why are people caught red handed in such activities never punished? just because they have human rights? so what about those bloody bodies lying around...no human rights for them? Any one of you think catching one guy or a lot will help to eradicate this? to stop all these? In case you believe...I disagree...we should try to act...and don't ask me how? In case of any Database related doubts please do contact me! ha ha..its like there are people to think of all these and do...only thing is as I said..its thinking that matters with us and not doing! I don't want to promote doing with out thinking too..but do think something that could be done! Its their job and they should be doing their best at that...not me...let me get back to the point...

We had been writing essays when we were in school in Hindi exams and English exams regularly on Poverty...and even now no change...we keep seeing the rate going up...why?All these rulers out there in case the had been to school might have wrote the same essays too...but ever acted? NEVER! why? In our country we lack the importance of an Identity card...even though we all know it can be forged easily...why is not implemented to its good? Since the ID card/Electoral card is only used for elections it is also tough for us to find out when we lost and where...ha ha...we should have a unique identifier in India if we talk in database terms...a primary key...we should not wait for a person to get to 18yrs to issue this...This should be issued when a child is born...this should be enforced in such a way that even to join schools, get medical treatments, or whatever basic necessity out there we need this...this will help in certain conditions...I don't think we will be implementing computers to read this and validate...still certain places like immigration from state to state and all this is validated...I know its a weird thought...but since it came to my mind..just put it here...Another thing is anyone getting caught on any kind of terrorist activities should be punished and never allowed to hang around on courtrooms for years to come...there should be some fear imposed on people too...anyone and everyone who are involved knowingly and known to others should also be severely punished...people who get to govt. servants for help on this regard should make sure if they have enough proof to prove something...they also get media help...even though on quite a few occasions media acts stupid too....if you have more ideas on improving our country and its fight against terrorism do comment for this blog...will make it heard...

What we can do jokingly?

The funniest idea from my side is to make terrorism a kind of tourism...create terror rides all around the terror affect strips of India...this needs good marketing skills to...some of my good friends in that advertising media should be able to comment on a better caption for this ...I would..."Stressed? Got bored of life? - Enjoy a complete terror package to ________ country!"

Let this be an adventure trip indicating places as below...

Severe - Severe risk of terrorist attacks
High - High risk of terrorist attacks
Elevated - Significant risk of terrorist attacks
Guarded - General risk of terrorist attacks
Low - Low risk of terrorist attacks.

And I am sure there is no place as no Risk!

This will help people to select based on their adventure appetite...

This way we can make enough monetary benefits that we lose to fight terrorism...ha ha...weird indeed...

When one of the biggest terror attack on India was happening I was quite suprised to see one thing on Internet TV...guys maybe it was a stupid act but....I think that was an act equal to supporting terrorists...In certain TV channels they were showing what military is planning...where all have placed the sub machine guns...to which all windows and floors that was pointing at....what was that guys? news? It should be considered act of ignorance in the fight to stay top of other channels....how can we allow this? Why is our govt encouraging such coverage? My suggestion would be not to allow any media coverage at all until the situation is under control...I know that people will panic...but considering national security this is more important...who knows whether such coverages actually helped those terrorists to survive for longer time than what they deserved...

I also heard we are in shortage of commandos...ha ha...its like we have reserves in Delhi and they had to get from there to Mumbai in a slowest flight available in India? You should be knowing we have so much tests conducted that we refine and take the least possible number of persons to our military...whereas other countries make it a compulsory to be part of their military reserves for every man/woman....I know we dont need that much soldiers out there to fight for India...because if we were to do that.....will end up saluting more than firing...ha ha...but at least the screening and tests should be minimized and encourage people to get into army...I can see sometimes some ads from our army...are u brave enough kind of stuff...what's the difference? If you are brave enough will the take you? They check more than brave enough...whether are u tall enough? ha ha...maybe I chose it because I am short...but guys think...keep thinking...are we out there for a high jump or something? or to play basketball/volleyball...its bravery and your mind that matters...just kidding...anyways...we should make the selections in such a way that out of 100 at least 60 go through...it should be motivating..we are discouraging our own people...we should not try to show it is tough to get into army...whereas encourage people...

The above blog is written out of passion...in case it is of disinterest to any organization or person...or favours any one or anything...please don't bother to read it and spoil your day...Wishing all of you a Merry X'mas and Happy New Year...

Keep reading...next blog....GOD getting criticized!

Not an advice! Just my perspective

2008-12-21T17:55:00.000+08:00

To make money is everyone's dream...But how? This question remains. This blog is an after effect of an argument with one of my manager's and I am thankful to him for that. If not him...I would never have started blogging!!! Maybe good for few and rest I don't care...Let me come to the point what this is all about..There are few things that keeps us ticking..people will say love, affection, care, friendship and lot more...but have u ever thought onething..To express all these we buy things and term it with a beautiful term called GIFT..Ever thought why marketing giants always advertises on Valentines day, Christmas and lot of other days? Ever thought why they care for our dear ones B'days and The Days? The fact is the don't care...its like firing at sky hoping some bird gets hit! This never works in markets today...It was a favourite passtime during the good times of 2007 and long before...now things have changed...

Let me comeback...To buy all these gifts we need money and where these money comes from? Ofcourse a good guess - we work, our salaries and what else...right! So lets infer we all work to get money and buy gifts for others? ha ha just joking...Take a calculation for argument sake...we have atleast 20 good friends...20 close relatives and 10 collegues with whom we are very close...These 50 will definitely have atleast one B'day per year and will be celebrating some kind of festivals that would demand gifts...so take 50days...lets divide these 50 days to 12months so how many days per month? The right answer is 4.167...lets take 4 days per month..and 400Rs per friend's gift and that makes it 1600Rs...So out of our say 20K we might be spending 1.6K for these...hey let me cut the crap..sorry for boring you guys...The Point here is the extra spending should always come from extra money!...

Have you ever dreamt of extra money? Yeah, ofcourse everyone dreams of and always tries out different options...Offlate you have been hearing that "Stay away from stock markets" Isn't it?
So guys I would rather say jump into it now and this is the best time...hey not a conclusion just an argument as I said my way of seeing it...but before closing this tab...do read through and understand why I say that...You know even my dad who I believe had never ever traded for a rupee told me to stay away...as always parents tells for our good...but this time around it was NO!!!

We all need to think of a life where we are not dependant on the regular salary and savings...make the money grow let it be by what ever means...my only concern is it should be legal..what if we lose our job? It is very unpredictable in the current market situation...people say the stock market is down and it is causing turmoil all around...but what is stock market? Its simply buying and selling off stocks by people itself...How market falls? The simplest and most digestable answer is when people sell the stocks the hold...and why do they sell? hey man...no more questions, they are here to make money and when they think they have made enough will sell...but the real fall is when panic sells happen...when people start selling seeing others sell...We all forget on basic theory of stock market..."Buy when everyone sells and Sell when everyone Buys" but guys don't go plainly on this theory...just get the basics right...I would say the best way will be to buy stocks that are undervalued than its real value...and how you know whether its undervalued? Keep reading lot of things to know...huh..just bluffing...To know whether it is undervalued is very easy...trace the past performances and where it stands with its peers...considering the market cap of that stock...how to get all these info? right...there are lots of sites out there...which I will be mentioning later...Now comes the real part...

As you all know there is no short cut to success...might deny since lot of exams we can easily pass by copying and nowadays the online exams where the master company is ur intellectual side...I mean Google guys...ha ha...but here the cut is longer...I would advice before entering stock market...keep watching...watching what?... Stock market ...then slowly consider certain picks based on your own rational let it be like some large cap stock like Bharti Airtel or whatever...hey please don't mistake as an advice to pick Airtel...I am not that mature with markets to advice you all...just an example...ok then as you are awaring markets are falling...right...so keep waiting...someday you can see that NIFTY or SENSEX needle goes in red and is falling...be curious pray well and browse through and if got lucky the Airtel that you chose will be in red too...see how red it is? I mean how much it has gone down and compare with the range it was in few weeks and months back...and in case you understood what all you read till here...you would surely have enough common sense to understand whether it is right time to pick our guy...if you can't decide...never give me a call...just joking...if you can't pick...assume your mind needs more time to make you bold enough to take decisions...don't be in a hurry...let the little bro/sis inside you take its own time...let me be specific...bro/sis here is you mind!

Wait for the right time and pick the right stock...to help you on that over internet you can find hell a lot of information...try browsing the following sites..again just my suggestion and not an advice...
1. http://www.moneycontrol.com/
2. http://www.rediff.com/
3. http://www.businessweek.com/

and lot more....
You know just to get a feel of the stock market and get familiarized...you can try using the following link.
http://moneybhai.moneycontrol.com/
Over this site you will be given a corpus of 25Lacs and hey just cool down...take a deep breath...25Lacs of virtual money...pick your stocks and play for few days, months or whatever and get in touch with the stock world...memorize the main ones...your favourites and lot more...keep going...

Sorry to disappoint you in case you expected some stock names to make some quick bucks...but believe me this is one market where it keeps changing so hard to pick a few...I have been making money on Reliance, Engineers India, Larsen, ONGC and few more since these are the key stocks that will keep going up n down..so wait for the down...seize the oppourtunity...then wait for the up...sell it!...you know when I started I had this stupid feeling of long term investment on stock market....ha ha...it never worked out...in fact just escaped without losing much...never think the stock pick you pick as ur buddy its their to fetch you some...so once your target is reached book it...hey let me tell you another thing...this is a feeling that you tend to get when you see your stock rising and firing up...the feeling is nothing but greed...hey not joking...scenario: Suppose you bought a stock for 1Rs later you see it is trading at 3Rs...you tend to hold it and see whether it goes to 5Rs and so on...remember onething...in order to make profit there should be someone to buy what you sell and who will be waiting there to buy the same stock for Rs10 from you...hey not always ok...sometimes we get lucky...lets not worry too much about the scenario..the underlying keep factor is...when you buy or scrip...keep a target in your mind according to present market condition and then don't get greedy...wash of your hands from that stock...pick the next one...this will work for sure..only thing is control the greed that is not a wrong thing because it is very much human and will keep you awake...

Ok. That's it!...What I wanted to tell in short is...whatever you earn...plan it and use it with brains and not with hearts...the notion of playing with money is dangerous...so keep it in check rather have control...once you find you are addict..make sure you take a break...In case you are losing money don't worry...take it as an investment...its like when we join a college/school we pay some money...we never ask them back when we pass/fail...take the initial days as a fees to a new course you just joined...

Guys in case I have used some technical terms inside this blog...please excuse me...just for show off only...(fieldil pidichu nilkande!)...Keep reading and wish you a good day/night...

Look out for my next blog - "All you wanted to know about Terrorism"