Aaah .. the sweet smell of success !!

Its almost 2:30 in the morning, as I sit at my computer typing away at this blog recording one of my most momentous days of my life.  And what was special today, well nothing much, just that it was CA Results day.  Unlike all the other result days that I have been through, this one was just special.  Got up today morning, feeling fresh (though the night before was almost as late as tonite, slept only around 2), the usual jitters that I have around my exam results day was missing.  I had also told myself that I would do things differently this time, hence had even abstained from leaving an online query for my marks at the site.

Had a match to play so was at the ground till one of my friends called up and told me about the results being out.  I was kinda excited but something in me told me to hold on.  I tried telling my friend my hall ticket number but couldnt get that to mind.  Anyways played the game and came back on powerd on my computer and got to the website.  Scared at first, excited to say the least, the thought about what if i fail lurking heavy, and then it all happend.  I keyed in my hall ticket number and viola, I had passed !!

The long wait of close to three years had finally come to an end.  Well I am no dumbo, but yes, the CA has been taking a lot of my time and patience.  So here I am, a part qualified Chartered Accountant.  Another set of exams to go and I will be a full fledged Chartered.

Second part of the evening uptil about half an hour ago, I was at the theatre - Prasadz IMAX as they call it out here.  Went with friends from office to watch this movie called Rang De Basanthi - sorry guys no translation on this.  It was one of the best movies that I have seen in the near time future.  Its more of an awakening kinda movies, the thought that I have seen such a movie, makes me proud of what my country is able to produce.  Truly world class ! A strong Go See in the Theatre from me.  Interesting ?? There is more at the official site http://www.rangdebasanti.net/.  I loved the movie, the way it was picturised and most importantly the message behind it.  We all need to wake up and create a new India, free of corruption and beaurocracy.  An India that the people who gave up their lives to get back from the British deserved !!

Cheers    

Why do I see things I dont want to see

My mind sees what I dont want to see ... so much of violence, so much of anger !! Why ?? Life is meant to be lived to the fullest ... but are we even within sight of that ?? Hasn’t it turned to just another illusion .. utopia ?

So much of pain, so much of torment, so much hatred and frustration in the world that we live in.  Brothers up in arms to kill each other.  So much of road rage, ready to shout and curse at one another for the smallest reason.  Are we really living in civilized times, is this the price that we pay for development ? Disappointment galore, with no one ready to lower the bar ... everyone wants to be the first in the so called Rat Race, often bad mouthing one another to get to a better spot.  Where is all this headed to ?? Is there any light at the end of the tunnel ?

Spare a thought as we start a new week, cos if we think and react, we can all make the world a better place to live in.  Just cut the anger ... which is a major let down of educated people !

So this week,  when we are driving to our offices and someone skips a lane or force overtakes you, stop .. dont swear at him, instead smile and let your mind be calm.  When your spouse begins to tell about her problems, listen to it and understand the stand that he/she is trying to make, dont butt off the conversation with the I'm busy dialogue.  When your child wants your attention, give it cos that may be the one most important thing in the life of that child.  When the elders at home as for help, do so happily, who knows you may never get a chance to help that person again in his / her lifetime.

Lets all make the world a better place to live in !! Keep smiling and helping guys :) Cheers    

Friday evening blog

Yipee it’s the weekend already !! Man this week really went whizzing past me and I am all excited about the weekend.  Naah … not that I am going to meet some new girl in town or the like, but just the fact that I would be out of office and doing something makes me feel good.  

So many things all planned up and my weekend looks real stacked up.  We have this movie planned up with friends of mine – “The Angrez” and this is the time that I would like to introduce my readers to the concept of Hyderabadi Hindi.  For the people who do not speak Hindi, understanding it in itself is a big thing but the twister comes when you are faced with having to listen to Hyderabadi Hindi.  Pretty much like how the Texan accent and lingo to English is so much different from the rest of the US.  This movie is all about the Hyderabadi Lingo, majorly slap stick and full of slangs.  

So that’s morning for me, after that we have this planned up to go to the Local KFC joint and catch some grub before we go out shopping with the ladies to West Side and Lifestyle (decent sized shopping malls in Hyderabad).  

The icing on the cake is the fact that the 2nd Test match between India and Pakistan starts tomorrow and no prizes for guessing which team I am gonna support ! Go India Go      

The Travails of an MP3 Player Hunter

In continuation to my blog recommending / suggesting a “dekho” (Indian slang for – give a look in) to the Creative Range of MP3 players, yours truly also visited a computer place to do an initial survey of the availability / price range of models.  

There is this wonderful place called Chenoy  Trade Centre (“CTC”), which has forever been a roost for any kind of computer geek or enthusiast.  My first computer had come right from there, bits and pieces sourced from the “Hajhar” (Indian slang for – Many, basically means one thousand, not that I went counting all these shops!! weak minded comedy ;)). Anyways, this place is a complex that has lots of computer shops, stocking everything from the latest Pentium processor to the trivial star screw.  Just the type of place that computer enthusiasts like me, would love to go to and chill out, going from one shop to the other, window shopping for possible acquisitionable stuff (Sure that my Grade 1 English teacher is gonna be furious for that usage!), buying CDs, asking out for prices, quotations and stuff.

So me went there this Tuesday, right before I was supposed to be out for work (Okay, for guys who don’t know me personally as yet, my work starts only at 2 in the afternoon which leaves me lots of free time in the morning to do the stuff that I want to – well no smarty pants … I don’t work for any demented job, read right below for a low down on what I do).  Well, so equipped with the Research that I had done on the net for the Creative models, specifically the Creative Zen Vision M™, the baby that I always wanted (well … what I currently want, notice the blog shouts “This is me… NOW”).  Did the calculations, told myself about the source of financing it and repeatedly told myself that I could afford it.  On the Creative ™ US website, the product lists at $329.99 which worked out to roughly about INR 15,000, well within my reach.  

But little did I know about what was to follow, for starters no one even knew about Creative™ making any MP3 players.  The first couple of shops that I asked out at looked at me as if I was an alien asking for something from home base in Mars.  I guess the people could not come to terms with the fact that Creative™ goes beyond making the Soundblaster™ and the Live!™  soundcards and the Aspire™ Speaker system.  So a couple of shops down and many more to go, I strode on, confident that I would be able to make my decision in the next couple of half-hours (just complicating the fact that I had about an hour before I needed to get to work).  

Next shop, was this place that I already knew of.  So me went there and asked him about the Creative Zen.  So I tell this shopkeeper about how it plays videos and has capacity to hold lots of photos and stuff.  He seems to understand what I was talking about and I was happy - my quest for the MP3 player was about to finish! The wise shop keeper (notice me buildup the suspense, read on and u will figure it out … I hope :D ), jumps out at me, visibly amused at my supposed ignorance of the whole thing, corrects me that it isn’t a MP3 player and should be called an MP4 player.  Main ne kaha theek hai yaar … MP4 to MP4 his sahi … I would like to see it.  The shop keeper, happy with the gyan (Indian phrase again for “knowledge sharing”) that he had just passed on, he got back into this shop of his and out he came with the piece that he called the supposed MP4 player.  It turned out to be one of those sidey Korean / Chinese stuff that on a comparison to the Creative Zen M™ that I was thinking about comes a distant last !!  

So close yet so far, and mentally cursing the shop keeper, I moved on to the next level, quickly moving past a lot of shops which I dint even want to spend my time explaining my Object of desire to.  

Went to one of the biggest shops, atleast visibly big, and asked out for the Creative ZEN player, and all that he had was a MUVO, a poorer cousin of the ZEN, a 512MB player that plays only MP3s whereas the one that I was looking out for is a player that has video capacity and comes with a whopping 30GB (I know that in the future, people will look at this comment with utter disdain, 30GB ?!? Things that they have not heard about at all when the norm is in TB – Terrabits or something bigger).  Another thing that I totally forgot to mention, getting the salesman’s attention is next to impossible in these shops.  So many people, not the customers .. hah got u guys … there are hordes of salesmen … but they are all in the mode that I call – TTLB – Trying to Look Busy !!

So after a lot of reasoning about which shop to enter and which one not to, thanks to all my math teachers who taught me the concepts of permutations and combinations, inspired by relativity (though the closest that I have been to that is the fact that I know Edison made it .. or was it Einstein … never mind they all are from the same fraternity anyways) I hovered in on this shop that looked pretty decent sized, and I went in and told the guy at the counter about what I wanted.  Past experience behind me I was in no mood to get excited about this.  

Moments later, I realized that this guy did know about it cos he was talking about prices that the website offered.  He told me that the prices aren’t really available in India, and that I would have to cough up about INR 28,000 for the same stuff (almost double when compared to the US converted figure of INR 15,000).  And 28K for this was a wee bit too high, the shopkeeper though came up with another option to it all, he asked me to get it straight from the US.  Sounds sensible to me … but where will I get someone to come from the US at the drop of a hat to get me my MP3 player ?

I faced the same when I went hunting for an IPOD™ with another friend of mine sometime ago, with the Apple guys in India charging almost double in comparison to the list price on the US Website.  But there is hope for me, for my Creative Zen M™, there is this one another place that I know in Hyderabad that had offered the US Website price when I had gone for the IPOD™.  So this weekend when you need to know where I am, chances are that you will find me at this shop in Hyderabad.  

Cheers !!


p.s. the ™ signs all across this post are just to add to the jazz, not like we are having a Intellectual Property issue out here.  

Kya Likhoon ??

Was just thinking about what I should write today … really nothing comes to mind! Nothing phenomenally different has happened in the world … Yeah so what … India got back to making new records, went about squishing the Pakistan bowling and giving them back what they gave us bowlers.  

To think of it, the pitch really wasn’t meant for a test match.  A surface like this would be ideal for a 20Twenty or a one dayer, but other than that … well sad show Mr. Groundsman.  There should be something in it for the bowlers too.  

With tomorrow being the last day, the only interest left in the game is as to how much India pile on.  Another day of match batting practice – benefactors India so it is kewl ! Lets hope that Sehwag gets to another 300 and Dravid manages more than a 200.  It sure wud be fun to see how much they finally end up making.  

Abhi Tera kya hoga Ganguwa ?

I aint sure how much people out of Cricket playing countries may appreciate this post but anyways ... This is a story of an ex captain ... someone who has got several laurels for india - Saurav Ganguly !!Saurav lost favor with the Indian Cricket Team management about 2 months back post his spat with the New Team Coach - Greg Chappel. Now he is back in the team and has been selected as an opener for the India Pak Series. Day 1 of the match had this sensation of Dravid, Chappel and Ganguly locked in a pretty animated discussion ... with one character standing out single ... Ganguly. Day 2 of the match and surprise surprise ... Dravid walks in as opener !! Well for crying out loud ... you have got this guy into the team only as an opener then why not let him do that ?!? And for a change this time Ganguly was putting his hand up for as high that it could go to give him a chance to open !This move looks more political than one based on talent and form of the player. Yeah sure Mr. Dalmiya, we still dont forgive you for preparing a grassy wicket which suited the South Africans more than the home team at the Eden Gardens ... we remember that quite well. But this one is totally different ... Ganguly seems squished between the earstwhile Mr. Dalmiya and the current Boss ... So what was Ganguly's boon once upon a time looms over as a big bane right now !Well lets hope that Indian Cricket that is scaling new heights by the day does not get bogged down by this kinda lousy political plays ! Go Ganguly All the best !! Show them what you are made up of !!p.s. Readers please dont confuse this post with me being regionalistic or anything ... though I have a very bengali sounding name, fact is that I am from the other side of the country ... Kerala !!    

IPOD ... nnnnnnaaaah !!

In my continued effort to surprise all the people that come to my blog, I thought that I would write a tech review. Well may not be as tech as my friends who visit this blog often, lets call it an awareness post.

I am also part of this major bandwagon of new adults (new phrase coined at this moment – meaning to say people who have moved out of their teens and ain’t into total adulthood types) who want to own / or own the latest gizmo … THE IPOD. I fall in the sub group of people who want to buy it, and as of now my thoughts are centered around picking up a model of the IPOD to buy.

Those who have been on my blog for sometime now (sometime = days visiting the blog > 3 cos, not that this blog is a very old one ;) may miss the “For the unitiated” bit of the discussion. I ain’t gonna explain what an IPOD is cos of the immense popularity of the thingie. You hear about it all the time, so if you really don’t know about it … ahm well .. may be u can use my new search (so that showcases the new element that I have added also)

Well with so much talk about the IPOD… I aint sure if anyone even realizes that there are other products that come close or in my opinion even better than the IPOD when it comes to features. I was looking at the options that I have in hand, and I came across the Creative ZEN series of MP3 players. I was looking at this 20 GB version, absolutely fab one and comes for about INR 12,500. Much cheaper than the IPOD of the same specs, and this one has an added feature of FM Radio and also Recording. Further, this model is as sleek looking as the Nano and comes in black (for the people who really love the color like me :)

So as I get busy doing my final calculations for what to go about buying ... Me suggest that everyone do a rethink about the IPOD.

Cheers !!

Praise and Worship !

Like I told you guys in the About the Blog  part … my mind is a wanderer .. and has so much to say about so many things.  You will not find a continuity in theme in this blog.  This one for instance is about Praise and Worship … the last one was about Alzheimer’s.  Expect to be surprised, each time you get to this blog spot (

Yesterday me went for this amazing praise and worship session at the Parade Grounds in Hyderabad.  Joyce Mayer is in Hyderabad and it was so fab being there.  Had a blast of a time.  Had a great worship session with close to about 10 songs being played by both a local Hyderabad group and another from the Joyce Mayer ministry group.  

The key point was the sermon that Joyce gave yesterday.  It was a sermon meant for people that are just beginning to move towards religion (notice I say religion and not Christianity).  One thing that appeals to me about Joyce is the fact that she doesn’t overly stress on religion, but does a lot of general talking.  I guess it helps when you have people from other religions also partaking in the festival.   This doesn’t take away from me the fact that I am an ardent Christian and very strong in Faith (Praise God for that!! ).

Joyce’s sermon went on for close to an hour or something,  that’s enough time for me to sleep of a couple of million times at Church, but in this one, believe me I barely even blinked.  The aura of having her talk so easily about faith and how we can live a fuller life was too much to even miss a second of (

The festival is on in Hyderabad for the next 3 days and am surely gonna attend each and every one of them!!   So until my next post … have fun guys and gals and keep the comments coming, appreciate each and every one of them that gets to my blog !        

Coping with Alzheimers'

With the average lifespan of people going up all over the world, more and more people are being affected by this disease.  For the ignorant about this ailment, it is a problem faced by elderly people who face a medical problem referred to as “dementia”.  Basically, the patient begins to imagine and think about things that don’t exist, they become anxious or aggressive, and others repeat certain questions or gestures.  

For a family that has a person suffering from Alzheimers (“ALZ”), the problem is doubly difficult.  First and foremost is the fact that the patient is a loved one and the current behavior of the person doesn’t match up with what he / she was previously.  The second and equally important one is that everyone in the family is on high emotional pressure and strain.  What makes the situation even worse is that the family knows that the patient doesn’t mean even a single thing of what they are saying!

So what does one really do when they are faced with such a situation!  People try many different things to overcome this situation ranging from admitting the patient to Retirement Homes/ Home for the Aged to cases where a family member would sacrifice a career to take care of the aged patient.  

Taking care of a loved one suffering from ALZ is one of the toughest tasks that one can think of, and the sad bit is that there is not much medically possible to correct this behavior of the patient.  Most of the time this cycle rubs off on the behavior of the family.  

Okay so we have elderly at home who are suffering from ALZ, can’t be treated and life needs to go on.  But what’s for the people who are still young and active.  Can something be done to make sure that we don’t get into this?  Well the solution comes from the roots of the problem itself.  Most of the time, ALZ hits people who have been immensely active in their life, accomplished a lot and have been a guiding force to all in the family.  

Stay Fit …

Most of us think about being fit only from the neck down.  Well that’s not the case right now people.  A healthy brain will go a long way in helping us in our careers and at the same time also equip us to combat this problem and reducing the risk of ALZ or any other form of dementia.  Couple of tips that I have gathered from a bit of reading about the disease:

Stay active for as long as you can.  Whenever you hear your parents talking about retirement and stuff, convince them of moving the retirement age bar a wee bit higher.  May be they could move to a social cause or something like that.

Social activity, back to Class II – Social Studies, Man is a social animal! But come to think of it, this is one of the best ways to keep ALZ at sea.  Most of dementia strikes when you are lonely and your mind begins to take over the real happenings.  

Physical Fitness and Proper Diet, as simple as it sounds, may not be the easiest to apply though ;) I speak for myself on this one.  

For the families that are going through this, talk to people around you.  Exchange ideas with people who are in the similar situation.  Most importantly, never think of the patient as a burden.  Get over your emotions and tackle the situation as you would in a business scenario.  Don’t take anything that they say personally … chances are that that person doesn’t even know what they are talking about.  Try being patient and most importantly … PRAY  - it works !
           

Rich Dad Poor Dad

Everyone wishes to have more money than he has presently … takes me back to my first classes of Economics .. where my ever so wise Economics Teacher (and I mean it … still adore her teaching skills !!) told us of the basic funda of economics … “unlimited wants and limited means”.

Enter Rich Dad Poor Dad - Everyone must read that book !! An amazing piece of practical thinking!  And the way that all the concepts are so well interwoven … makes the book so kewl.  One of my acquaintances told me about this book close to a year back but I was able to lay my hands on a copy of the book only recently.  The book turned out to be so interesting that I finished it all in one go.  Something that I have not done in a long long while !

I loved the part where the author talks about making money work for you (well doesn’t everyone like that part !! ( ).  Being a finance student, I have learnt to analyze stuff like Break Even Point of Companies … never did it occur to me that the same could and should be applied to daily lives !! Now to think of it … me wonders why I dint think about it earlier .. such a simple concept and so much required.  I may be acting as a spoiler but what the hell … the author talks about the concept of making investments till you reach one point where your investments keep earning for themselves and you are left with much more of your pay packet.


Super thumbs up for the book … must read !!  

Yipeeeeeeeee .... its midweek allready and the second week of this year has almost gone past us !! Just call me the eternal optimist for waking up on Wednesday morning and talking about half the week going by !! :) Well thats my attitude ... and it is gonna be that way forever !!

Infosys results are out today and am sure waiting for a market upside with that ... seeing money multiply is one more of my hobbies ... not that it makes me a Warren Buffet or something but yes me do a bit of investing in the Stock Market, sure is better than seeing my money stagnate in a Bank account ! I really cant think of keeping my money (whatever I have) in a bank account and getting a measly 3% interest. It so much sucks ! And the risk that I take to play in the stock market fuels my imagination for better investments for faster gains.

Rang De Basanti ... amazing songs !! Love each and every one of them. The Pathshala song is so kewl ~ and the one by Lata Mangeskhar - Lukha Chupi .. soulful to say the least. All the songs fit into my happy category of songs !!

More blogging after work tonite so keep checking for more updates on me .. NOW !!

Blogging and me ... naaaaaaaah !!

Well thats what I have been thinking about all along. So at every conversation that people actually talked about blogging ... yours truely was making a silent exit from it all. Never understood the funda about the whole thing.

Took the step of getting this account created at Blogger and from the first feel that I get of this whole thing ... am sure gonna have some fun :) Me thinks that I will keep updating this blog with whats happening in my life ... hence the name .. This is Me ... NOW !! Surely meant for all those people who really wanna knw whats happening in my life :)

My first thoughts that kept me away from blogging was the fact that I get pretty philosophical and that kinda kills the fun at most places.

For all those who are just getting to know me ... other than my friends whom I am gonna spam with this blog address once I am done with this ... I am from Hyderabad, India and work with Deloitte Financial Advisory Services India. For the uninitiated, Deloitte is a MNC Multi Discipline Company thats into lots a stuff. I work for the Business Valuation division of the Company that does valuation of Companies in a business acquisition space for Companies in the US. I am persuing my Chartered Accountancy course and was working with KPMG for close to 5 years before getting here to Deloitte about 5 months back.

Listening to music (any kind of it ... Geeta Dutt to Linking Park to Iron Maiden) and playing cricket (once again ... any kind of it ... right from tennis ball cricket on the road to a pro match) are my favourite things to be doing. Pet peevs are back bitters (who doesnt hate them eh ??) and ofcourse ... my favourite ... high maintainence people (read women) !! Major techie ... have yet to figured out why I am out persuing a Finance Degree with the interest that I have in Computers. Hope to bridge the two someday with a CISA course (post my CA that is :)

I love talking and being around with people. Love making friends and partying. Recently gave up drinking after a stint at it for about 3 years and more. I am allready so high in life ... why go higher !! :) So I can tell people now .. dont smoke, dont drink. Never came to terms with how people manage to smoke ... its so ugly !!

Perfect weekend is one that is well spent, depending on what my mood is ... i would either be secluded at home listening to music or out with friends shopping for CDS or just hanging out !! Typical of being a gemini ... naah .. not the double faced thingie ... thats so negative ... i like to call it multi facated :)

Well thats me ... now !! So until u visit my blog spot again ... Cheerios !!