Sunday, March 22, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Inkaar To 'Car'
Those who follow business news might be aware that Car Sales increased in India in the month of February. Incidentally 3 of my colleagues also bought their 'dream' cars in this month. Below are few reasons i feel why i should not join them:
1. Even now i had a hangover of the book 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' which says - 'Buy Assests First Before Buying Liabilities'. It says anything that you need to spend money for its maintenance is a liability and i agree that Car will be a liability for me as of now. I dont want to get in this 'rat race' of buying liabilities and then slogging to maintain them.
2. I always feel buying car is easy, but maintaining it is expensive.
3. Compared to a car, i can easily be fast by 5-10 minutes with my 2-wheeler.
4. Pollution & Traffic - One day i was trying to enter into my office in the evening hours when everyone is leaving office. And to my surprise i found that there is no way i can enter the office in those hours. I just cant, i need to park my vehicle somewhere on the road and walk. When i was about to curse the infrastructure of this 'millenium city' called Gurgaon, i noticed that 90% of the cars have only 1 person in it. Why cant they try 'Car Pooling' ?
5. One more reason i dont want to buy a car is just for the sake of 'peer pressure'. Everyone else got a car, so should i ! I am not falling in this trap.
6. Once my sister joked that i dont need a 'car', but i need a 'cycle' so that i can be 'fit'. I think she has a point.
7. Its a fancy for some people to buy a car and just hit the road. I dont know why i am not that 'into' the 'buying' or 'owning' part though i love travelling.
I dont mean that i will not buy car forever, but i will definitely buy when there is a need and hopefully an 'asset' which can take care of its maintenance on a regular basis. As of now, I am thinking of buying a 'cool' bicycle. Lets see..
1. Even now i had a hangover of the book 'Rich Dad Poor Dad' which says - 'Buy Assests First Before Buying Liabilities'. It says anything that you need to spend money for its maintenance is a liability and i agree that Car will be a liability for me as of now. I dont want to get in this 'rat race' of buying liabilities and then slogging to maintain them.
2. I always feel buying car is easy, but maintaining it is expensive.
3. Compared to a car, i can easily be fast by 5-10 minutes with my 2-wheeler.
4. Pollution & Traffic - One day i was trying to enter into my office in the evening hours when everyone is leaving office. And to my surprise i found that there is no way i can enter the office in those hours. I just cant, i need to park my vehicle somewhere on the road and walk. When i was about to curse the infrastructure of this 'millenium city' called Gurgaon, i noticed that 90% of the cars have only 1 person in it. Why cant they try 'Car Pooling' ?
5. One more reason i dont want to buy a car is just for the sake of 'peer pressure'. Everyone else got a car, so should i ! I am not falling in this trap.
6. Once my sister joked that i dont need a 'car', but i need a 'cycle' so that i can be 'fit'. I think she has a point.
7. Its a fancy for some people to buy a car and just hit the road. I dont know why i am not that 'into' the 'buying' or 'owning' part though i love travelling.
I dont mean that i will not buy car forever, but i will definitely buy when there is a need and hopefully an 'asset' which can take care of its maintenance on a regular basis. As of now, I am thinking of buying a 'cool' bicycle. Lets see..
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Donating The Tax
Its 'March', the month-end of the financial year in India. Most of the salaried individuals must be busy in their eleventh hour efforts to save ( actually avoid) tax. Investing in the government prescribed tax rebate schemes, trying to find and use all the possible clauses and sections and trying to get the possible fake receipts. :) Like everyone in the office i also took part in this exercise. Last year i made a donation to 'CRY' and later realized that i can claim tax rebate on that. This year also i thought of doing this and actually wanted to do this every year from now. I am not sure myself why exactly i wanted to do this! Is this for personal gratitude or feel-good or for tax rebate or because i really 'care'. I think i do care and wanted to give back something for the society. I always feel that i am privileged to have the benefits i have today. One day definitely i will volunteer in some NGO activities. I am disappointed there is no response from 'Teach India' till now for my registration.
During this donation one interesting thought came to my mind -- What is the average money spent/donated by a person for betterment of society per year from his earnings? Will it be at least 0.5% ? I honestly hope its more that.
While trying to donate online, there seems to be a broken link in 'CRY' website and at that time, the website showed the below page. I couldnt but appreciate the creativity used in driving their message. Way to go,,, If not online i am going to donate through cheque.
When i saw pictures of my friend running in Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, i decided that i will run in one Marathon this year or next year supporting Cry. Relax, not in the full or half marathon, but the 7km 'Dream Run' kind of event. I should target the next Delhi Marathon...:) Wondering how i can start a post with tax and end with a marathon...!:)
During this donation one interesting thought came to my mind -- What is the average money spent/donated by a person for betterment of society per year from his earnings? Will it be at least 0.5% ? I honestly hope its more that.
While trying to donate online, there seems to be a broken link in 'CRY' website and at that time, the website showed the below page. I couldnt but appreciate the creativity used in driving their message. Way to go,,, If not online i am going to donate through cheque.
When i saw pictures of my friend running in Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon, i decided that i will run in one Marathon this year or next year supporting Cry. Relax, not in the full or half marathon, but the 7km 'Dream Run' kind of event. I should target the next Delhi Marathon...:) Wondering how i can start a post with tax and end with a marathon...!:)
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Hampi - Every Stone Has A Story To Tell
I always dreamt of going to Hampi when i read about that place as a kid in history books. I could visit that place at last now. Courtesty - Recession. :) Like all other companies that are doing cost-cutting in these times of recession, my company made it mandatory to take 5 earned leaves before this financial year. Everytime i have to chase manager for leaves (if they are for more than 2 days), but this time he kept chasing us. So there i have my 5 days of leave and i went to Hampi with my parents. And then i realized i havent gone anywhere with my parents after joining in my job. Thats damn 3.5 years. All this made my Hampi trip more special and memorable.
Before posting this entry i thought for a while what's the use of posting one more travelogue when there is already Giga bytes of information on the web. I thought it serves 2 purposes:
1. Good way for me to recollect about the trip at a later date.
2. I can consolidate and provide the necessary details so that any of my friends can refer directly and save time.
Hampi is one of the 2 UNESCO declared heritage sites in Karnataka. The other one in Karnataka is 'Pattadakal'. (I will be posting that travelogue too) Total there are 27 UNESCO heritage sites in India. Below are wonderful links that give good information if you are planning to go to Hampi:
Mind-blowing 360 degree view of the Hampi monuments:
http://www.world-heritage-tour.org/asia/south-asia/india/hampi/map.html
Beautiful Travelogue:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/39200-hampi-visiting-forgotten-empire-vijayanagara.html
Also refer to the information present in both 'wikipedia' and 'wikitravel'. Below i summarise regarding stay, transport and food.
Stay:
1. If you are very much fascinated about these beautiful places and want to take your time and see them at your pace, you should stay in Hampi only. The possibilities are: staying as a back-packer in some of the local guest houses in Hampi (with very minimal facilities) or the only one available Hotel - Hotel Mayura Bhuvaneshwari. This hotel is run by Karnataka Tourism. The website doesnt allow online booking. You can call them and send DD to book this hotel. In peak season going without a booking is not suggested.
2. You can stay in Hospet and use it as a hub to go to Hampi, Pattadakal, Badami and other places. Hampi is around 17Kms from Hospet and you should take care of your transport.
Local Transport:
Autos (3-wheelers/Indian Tuk-tuks) are the best option. Hospet Railway station to Hampi may cost around Rs.120/- Hospet station to any of the hotels in Hospet costs around Rs.20 to 30. Hampi day tour from Hospet (to and fro and within Hampi ) costs around Rs.800/-. The hotel guys can also arrange a car for 1-day hampi tour and they charge around Rs.1200/-
I observed that the auto guys here are very reasonable and they dont cheat normally.
Eat:
1. In Hospet there are many local restaurants to find easily. But its mostly South-Indian food.
2. Some restaurants can serve so-called North-Indian food or American breakfast etc. But dont expect anything close to their original taste.
3. In Hampi, dont miss the lunch buffet in 'Mayura Bhuvaneshwari' hotel. They serve an excellent South-Indian buffer for 60 bucks.
And now coming to the beautiful places in Hampi. No amount of words or pictures are sufficient to describe the places in Hampi. You have to see them in real and feel it. But make sure that you dont miss the below places:
1. Virupaksha temple.
2. Two Huge ganesh statues.
3. Beautiful mono-lithic 'Narasimha' statue.
4. Krishna temple.
5. Lotus Mahal & Elephant Stables.
6. Vittala temple ( the famous musical pillars and the chariot).
Its 2 years since the government has taken measures to stop people from bashing these musical pillars. I heard that these are tapped only during VIP visits. Its really sad that government has neglected all this while and now this wonder cannot be experienced by people. They should have taken care of it from the beginning and should have a prescribed time (once in a day) where only the authorized persons tap. Hope atleast they take care of the things from now and even common people realize the importance of these national treasures. Hope Aamir Khan's 'Incredible India' campaign helps regarding this. And as they say, really in Hampi every stone has a story to tell and you will fall in love with stones definitely. Below are some pics:
Before posting this entry i thought for a while what's the use of posting one more travelogue when there is already Giga bytes of information on the web. I thought it serves 2 purposes:
1. Good way for me to recollect about the trip at a later date.
2. I can consolidate and provide the necessary details so that any of my friends can refer directly and save time.
Hampi is one of the 2 UNESCO declared heritage sites in Karnataka. The other one in Karnataka is 'Pattadakal'. (I will be posting that travelogue too) Total there are 27 UNESCO heritage sites in India. Below are wonderful links that give good information if you are planning to go to Hampi:
Mind-blowing 360 degree view of the Hampi monuments:
http://www.world-heritage-tour.org/asia/south-asia/india/hampi/map.html
Beautiful Travelogue:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travelogues/39200-hampi-visiting-forgotten-empire-vijayanagara.html
Also refer to the information present in both 'wikipedia' and 'wikitravel'. Below i summarise regarding stay, transport and food.
Stay:
1. If you are very much fascinated about these beautiful places and want to take your time and see them at your pace, you should stay in Hampi only. The possibilities are: staying as a back-packer in some of the local guest houses in Hampi (with very minimal facilities) or the only one available Hotel - Hotel Mayura Bhuvaneshwari. This hotel is run by Karnataka Tourism. The website doesnt allow online booking. You can call them and send DD to book this hotel. In peak season going without a booking is not suggested.
2. You can stay in Hospet and use it as a hub to go to Hampi, Pattadakal, Badami and other places. Hampi is around 17Kms from Hospet and you should take care of your transport.
Local Transport:
Autos (3-wheelers/Indian Tuk-tuks) are the best option. Hospet Railway station to Hampi may cost around Rs.120/- Hospet station to any of the hotels in Hospet costs around Rs.20 to 30. Hampi day tour from Hospet (to and fro and within Hampi ) costs around Rs.800/-. The hotel guys can also arrange a car for 1-day hampi tour and they charge around Rs.1200/-
I observed that the auto guys here are very reasonable and they dont cheat normally.
Eat:
1. In Hospet there are many local restaurants to find easily. But its mostly South-Indian food.
2. Some restaurants can serve so-called North-Indian food or American breakfast etc. But dont expect anything close to their original taste.
3. In Hampi, dont miss the lunch buffet in 'Mayura Bhuvaneshwari' hotel. They serve an excellent South-Indian buffer for 60 bucks.
And now coming to the beautiful places in Hampi. No amount of words or pictures are sufficient to describe the places in Hampi. You have to see them in real and feel it. But make sure that you dont miss the below places:
1. Virupaksha temple.
2. Two Huge ganesh statues.
3. Beautiful mono-lithic 'Narasimha' statue.
4. Krishna temple.
5. Lotus Mahal & Elephant Stables.
6. Vittala temple ( the famous musical pillars and the chariot).
Its 2 years since the government has taken measures to stop people from bashing these musical pillars. I heard that these are tapped only during VIP visits. Its really sad that government has neglected all this while and now this wonder cannot be experienced by people. They should have taken care of it from the beginning and should have a prescribed time (once in a day) where only the authorized persons tap. Hope atleast they take care of the things from now and even common people realize the importance of these national treasures. Hope Aamir Khan's 'Incredible India' campaign helps regarding this. And as they say, really in Hampi every stone has a story to tell and you will fall in love with stones definitely. Below are some pics:
Oscar For Slum Dog - Its Written
Slum Dog -The Under Dog became the top dog in the 81st academy awards. In my last post i wrote that i am expecting 3 or 4 awards from the 10 nominations. Soon after posting that i thought may be i just went overboard with joy and with some kind of jingoistic feeling and predicting 3 or 4 oscars without even knowing about or watching the other nominations. Wow, wow, so its not just me, its the whole world felt the same way after watching the movie. A.R. Rahman won 2 oscars and Resul Pookutty won another. 2 Indians getting 3 oscars on a single day. Only 2 other Indians got in the last 61 years of Indian Independence. Isnt it a great feeling? I was really happy.
And then there are people who say - Why India or Indians should be happy about this'? This is not an Indian film, its made by Britishers, So whats so much hulla-baloo in India? Well below are my answers to them:
1. First of all -Whats wrong in feeling a little bit happy about anything, celebrating fellow Indians success?
2. Ofcourse i agree its not an Indian movie but you cant deny that many Indians were involved and part of making this movie and above all its an Indian story written by an Indian.
3. Doesnt this bring Hindi movie technicians, actors etc on to the world stage? I hear some people saying Oscars are not 'everything'. But Oscars are the only awards recoginsed worldwide and which recoginises talent from worldwide. I think whoever says that they dont care for Oscars are like the 'fox who hates the sour grapes' or just the 'frog' in the well who doesn't know the world outside the well.
So ignoring all those naysayers i am happy and i did celebrate Slum Dog's Success. India won its first gold medal at the 2008 Olympics and kicked off 2009 with 3 Oscars. Whats next in store for India?? A grand-slam in men's or women's tennis (singles) !! Billion Dreams ! India is destined to regain its deserved place in the world. Its Written !!
And then there are people who say - Why India or Indians should be happy about this'? This is not an Indian film, its made by Britishers, So whats so much hulla-baloo in India? Well below are my answers to them:
1. First of all -Whats wrong in feeling a little bit happy about anything, celebrating fellow Indians success?
2. Ofcourse i agree its not an Indian movie but you cant deny that many Indians were involved and part of making this movie and above all its an Indian story written by an Indian.
3. Doesnt this bring Hindi movie technicians, actors etc on to the world stage? I hear some people saying Oscars are not 'everything'. But Oscars are the only awards recoginsed worldwide and which recoginises talent from worldwide. I think whoever says that they dont care for Oscars are like the 'fox who hates the sour grapes' or just the 'frog' in the well who doesn't know the world outside the well.
So ignoring all those naysayers i am happy and i did celebrate Slum Dog's Success. India won its first gold medal at the 2008 Olympics and kicked off 2009 with 3 Oscars. Whats next in store for India?? A grand-slam in men's or women's tennis (singles) !! Billion Dreams ! India is destined to regain its deserved place in the world. Its Written !!
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