Money... Saving's ... & Me!

Day before yesterday, post lunch, I and 3 of my fav colleagues, decided to take a walk around the lush green, serene office campus as we vacated the cafeteria well before time. :) As usual, we are experts at discussing everything under the sun, In JD's terms, " Though I am unmarried and don't have any kids, I keep giving funda's to people on these topics, I wonder what will happen to me, the day I actually get married and have kids... who will be giving me funda's ?? :D"

So here we were discussing about our work, job profile and our all time favorite topic... MONEY!! When we started discussing that we have some decent no. of yrs work ex and not a single penny as saving and were amused at how people around us had saved up so much and even got married! The facts were actually astonishing & I guess, I have been the biggest jerk around :) undoubtedly.

"Where does the salary go???", was sri's question.. and we all were wondering that are we truely basking on a very exotic & lavish lifestyle? Well the answer was certainly not! To be honest, I know the reasons for my expenditure and barely any saving, but is that an excuse that I am giving myself?? In that case, it's high time that I did some retrospection and caught a hold on the situation. 

 I follow a blog quite closely, www.entrepreneurs-journey.com , which is always full of good, interesting well-versed stuff that any entrepreneur should be aware off. Although I show no signs of a capable entrepreneur, knowledge always comes in handy :)... accidentally happened to read this fascinating article on Freelancing by Ali Hale and decided to view his blog which speaks about getting more out of life. For a day-dreamer like me, I thought it would be fun to read someone's thoughts/opinion and see how much I can relate to it.  Ali Ventures was an amalgamation of my four years of engg. hostel, knowledge sharing sessions in some or the other room :) but there was one article which caught my eye.. More for your Money . It's an e-book written by Ali on how to practically make an effort on monitoring savings and where is the money going?

In my opinion, she has blended her thoughts well and suggested some good, practical methods to make a difference in your monthly budgets but this is for the beginners (i.e. people who have recently started getting the feel of the currency and their hand's are always twitching to grab some new stuff) . What I liked best? "Don’t fall into the trap of spending a lot of time to save a little money"... I think this is something I should remember. Anyway, it's a good read for all and hence, I decided to share it.

Hope this helps some one, some where :)

Cheers!

Blauk.com.. "I saw you there.. and I thought.."

Blogging is Passe, welcome to "I saw you there .. and I thought..." :)

When I read about this concept in the Hindu, I was taken aback by the whole idea of this kind of macro blogging and felt that this concept made no sense. To my surprise, http://www.blauk.com/ is setting a new trend. Indians, who are often branded as stereotypes, are actually breaking the norms & utilizing a site like blauk.com to post there opinion on strangers decorously.

The concept...quite simple and neat.. it's a short blog service which allows you to post macro blogs about random people you meet/observe. When I first saw the posts, they were hilarious. :) People have provided some amazing information such as when and where they saw the person which lets the readers identify themselves and connect with it. The good thing is, it's uncontaminated ;) yet loud; so makes total sense! But how is Blauk.com going to maintain a healthy platform for strangers interaction is something we would have to wait and watch.

The idea has great potential in today's socio-networking site savvy world & hat's off to Samson Manickaraj, the creator, who claims that this is bigger than twitter and facebook. Considering the fact that it's just 4 weeks old, it will be exciting to watch it's flow. Check it out people :)

Cheers!

Welcome 2010!!

Why me?? Why today?? Couldn't this have happened yesterday or tomorrow? were some of the questions that my sis asked me on 31st dec '09, a remarkable day in her and my life! The world was preparing itself for the great surprises in store for them in 2010, people looking forward to finding new partners & settling down :), getting into schools of their choice for higher education, finding a new job with a new pay package, getting back to hobbies long gone, making resolutions to loose or gain weight... We (I and my family), were blessed by a shock... nerve reckoning incident which totally re-enforced my belief in the super-natural power.

Home, a place we all feel safe, our habitat! What happens when someone nasty has the key to your safe zone? Some one insane keeps a track of every movement of yours? What would you do, when suddenly, one fine afternoon, you open your door and find a stranger waiting for you??

On 31st dec '09, my sisters budday, the remarkable day when she got placed into a company during this recession, a day when she was more than happy receiving gifts and best wishes.. she walked into our house which was apparently locked, by opening it with her keys & was resting. Fortunately, after 10mins, my mother also came back home. They both, as usual, were having a discussion on her gifts in my mom's room when a shadow passed behind my sister. My mom freaked out and started screaming, they started looking around, when the ghastly creature, who was hiding under the dining table, pushed them and ran out. My sis froze! My mom kept screaming and I was not surprised that no one came for help.

There were too many questions running in my head, when I heard about it from my weeping and howling sis (after a minute of the incident) who had lost her senses for more than a day. Though I asked her to triple check no one was there in that small 2bhk and if any grill was opened.. I was more than glad that they were unharmed.

This was not the 1st incident in our building, it was the 3rd... and despite the fact that someone from the building was surely involved, the guard was never changed! Nothing was done to make the building more secure. I have never seen such terribly insensitive and non-nonsensical people around who thank god that it was not their house and just walk away, leaving the situation totally unattended! What a ridiculous way to leave yourself to the mercy of some stranger who knows you are helpless! This was an incident in the broad day light where no one say him coming or leaving the building. How ironic is that????

What I learn't: wherever you buy a place to live, first make sure your neighborhood has Humans living and not morons!

This post is totally from the heart and may contain mistakes (language wise)... pardon me!

Online Circulating library for Bangalore, Pune & Mumbai

I was desperately looking for an online library to get back to my second love, Reading! After ages, I felt that something was lacking... something that I was missing... and for the lamest reasons! So I decided to find a solution & hence surfed on the Net god, Google.. Guess what, I was lucky and found something really interesting, and I am sure it will be useful for all the book-lovers in Bangalore, Pune and Mumbai!For all those who pursue reading as their hobby and need a good place to regularly get their hand's on the latest and not so latest books :).. especially who live in the net savvy Bangalore or Pune and rocking Mumbai, http://www.librarywala.com/ is an excellent way to keep your hobby going.

They are an extremely reasonable & a great option for the hard or smart working geeks in the above mentioned cities. Personally I have not enrolled yet, but will be enrolling soon & will post an update about my opinion on their service here. Apparently, They home deliver your choice of books within 24 hours, you can keep the book as long as you like with no penalty (which is a boon for freaks like me, as I can never ever finish a book in time... why?? :P Good Question! Although I love reading, higher priority stuff will always barge their way through my schedule & use up all my time :P ) & They have a pretty good collection too I must say!


So folks, if you are looking for someplace which can provide you good stuff to read at reasonable price and libraries are always a boon :) ... do check this site out, http://www.librarywala.com/
Chao..

Interesting Quotes :)

Some Lovely quotes which I would like to share 

Don’t compare yourself with anyone in this world. If you do so, you are insulting yourself --ALEN STRIKE.

You are not responsible for what people think about you.
But you are responsible for what you give them to think about you. ---STANLEY FERRARD.

A man is lucky if he is the first love of a Woman.

A woman is lucky if she is the last love of a man. ---CHARLES DICKENS.

Write your Sad times in Sand, Write your Good times in Stone. ---GEORGE BERNARD SHAW.

Behind every successful man, there is an untold pain in his heart. ----BILL JACOBS .

Without your involvement you can't succeed. With your involvement you can't fail. ----- Dr. ABDUL KALAM.

Love your job but don't love your Company because you may not know

when your company stops loving you. -----Narayan moorthy.

You may get DELAYED to reach your Targets.

But every step you take towards your target is EQUAL to Victory. ------KARL MARX.

It's better to lose your Ego to the one you Love,

than to lose the one you LOVE because of EGO. -----JOHN KEATS.

Don't make promise when you are in JOY. Don't reply when you are SAD.

Don't take decisions when you are ANGRY. Think twice, Act wise. BE happy.

When you start caring about yourself, you start loving somebody..

What is the secret of Success...? "RIGHT DECISIONS"

How do you make Right Decisions...? "EXPERIENCE"

How do you get Experience... ? "WRONG DECISIONS"

ICE AGE 3, the dawn of dinosaurs-- Movie review

After a long span of time, I decided to hit the theater for a movie & my doll sis demanded it to be Ice age 3, So we hit Imax on a cool saturday afternoon :)
When I saw Ice Age, I adored the movie. Ice Age 2 was equally impressive & the Dawn of dinosaurs simply lovable. The animation only gets better!! I am sure, views may vary, but hey!! this is my blog :D and I am the boss here :P Though the concept of Dino's is not a new thing, but watch out for the superb animation & the cute looking baby mammoth!!

For those who wanna know the cast, here it is :D
Manny (The mammoth daddy) - Ray Romano
Sid (the cute weasel) - John Leguizamo
Diego (the dashing tiger) - Denis Leary
Ellie (the sexy mommy mammoth) - Queen Latifah
Crash and Eddie (the 2 rats) - Seann William Scott and Josh Peck
Buck (a new character introduced, a handsome single eyed weasel) - Simon Pegg

All the characters visit Dino-Land for an adventure which makes this movie more attractive than its predecessors. Ice Age 3 has a new character called Buck who perks up the story. The scenes are really lovable this time & the one liners add a punch. The characters are more identifiable & for those who had missed the earlier tickles of ice age will never feel lost because the writers have drawn up the character sketches and presented them all over again in a terrific manner.

We have the mammoth couple, getting ready for the delivery of their first baby(which is an adorable darling :)). They have their friendly tiger for company who gets into a little depression that he's 'losing his edge' and may lose his friends once they move on to parenthood. Although he does get into form once he heads out with his friends to search for Sid, who has been transported to dino-land, due to the sudden love for parenthood that has made him look after three baby dinosaurs.

The fun only continues with the arrival of buck who is a complete package :P their guide, savior & philosopher. He has a sole 'dino tooth' as a weapon that he earned courtesy his deadly encounter with "Rudy" a few years back. Fun and action move at an immense pace and are enhanced with some cool 3D animations which makes the experience of watching this movie a great. Volcanoes erupt, rock slides happen, dinosaurs strike, bridges collapse, trolleys snap and laughing gas makes them all uncontrollable even as buck entertains them all through his high-on-action flashback. This movie is a perfect entertainer for a lovely weekend with your family!!!!!!!

Nandi Hills : Beauty untouched :)

A chilly usual Saturday morning, I arrived at Bangalore after a terrible week at work place just for the feel good factor. Believe me, this city always uplifts my mood and brings back all the smiles :D. May be it's just the wind or a feeling of being at home :) I reached home & a warm welcome from papa, removed all the anxiety & frustrations & drew me to peace.

Spent my usual morning talking to dad about family, politics, markets, business... almost everything under the sun over a not so tasty, yet filling breakfast... made by the expert chef Me :D !!! Finally Pratap called... for those who don’t know this remarkable ajuba on earth... let me introduce u to the one out of my 4 musketeers, the king of PJ’s, someone I totally believed could never put on weight :P & one of my closest & dearest friends, who was born to drive me crazy :D But I simply adore the fact that he is always around... it gets me uneasy sometimes you know; when I don’t get to hear his trashy jokes :D So if i start describing this happy go lucky guy & my lovely 6 years of friendship with him, I would never get to Nandi Hills :D

I used to be one the most pampered one in the whole lot of 12 guys :D And this guy was always the protective one. When he finally came home & I saw him after 2 months (which actually seemed like ages), I felt, I was meant to be here; “Why the hell did I leave my best buddies and go to a place where solitude had no bounds???”, was what rushed through my Grey cells. I smiled, smiled & smiled after really long time. Dad, Pratap & I roamed about the usual places, I was lucky to get some gifts :D and did something which I had not done for quite some time, something that I came to realize later that I had missed, I was longing for, that was caring for people, helping my friends to shop Bossing over just for the heck of it and telling them that my word was the final word ;) knowing very well they will not like it and they would let me have it my way, no questions asked May be that’s what friendship is all about. Although, I was acting stupid, he was so sweet to me, probably, he missed me equally. :D There are not too many people who are lucky in this world... But I sure am! :D

Once we reached Pratap’s place, I was overwhelmed to see Rahul & Ravi... rahul urf haathi.. my 2nd musketeer, with & without whom life had always been miserable. :D The surprising part was not that I was elated seeing these species, but the fact that they seemed quite elated themselves :D. Ok! So that was a great start... so here we were, 4 crazy people, a pack of cards & a scorer :D Pratap of course! Soon from “the last card” game to buying properties in monopoly, we had played them all, tried all the tricks to fool each other :P although nothing seemed to be working. That’s when Mr.Holder called :D Before I get to this guy, I must mention some details about Ravi here. If we were ever a group of 12 & if i have to describe my relationship with him totally unexaggerated, then he was the only one who never liked me around. But that was ok! We all have our own choices & I respected that. An opener in our game of Marriage, a sensitive, nice guy who has been a great friend of my best friend, the 3rd musketeer for years. After knowing him for 3 years, I was taken aback by his splendid, caring & inoffensive behaviour. “Was it me or him???”, was ringing in my mind. So Mr.Holder aka Holdy aka the 4th & the final musketeer arrived & made my day. My one & only dearest friend who may not speak to me for a week or 2 but will check on me when he is down or when I am low or when he is off work and booze :D. “Just sit by his side, silently stay there for an hour or a minute & leave, you still would know you made the best conversation ever”. :) My sweetest & most caring buddy who likes turmeric powder in maggie with a tadka :).. yeah.. Someone who’s always “been there”! People say I am always rough with my ‘guy’ friends... but he is one guy I have never ever raised my hand on :) I couldn’t.

So when he arrived, we started discussing our plans for the next day (as I was pouring the masala, in the steaming water, to prepare a huge kadhai full of Maggie ;) for the starved souls). Pratap said Nandi Hills!( A place which is around 70kms away from the main city of Bangalore towards Yelahanka). I said ok :) (the reaction was spontaneous) “We could take my car! We are 5 people right? My car will be comfortable, what say?” ” I will drive!” Ravi added, I agreed gladly. So what time? Aha!! Not so soon honey, do we ever come to a consensus without a tiff ? :) Almost never! So what was it this time, well haathi had to book tickets in the morning for his travel next week? A valid genuine reason! So what do we do? I had suggestions, but I saw repugnance in a person’s attitude & that was a cause of concern for me because I had never seen that before. Anyway, we found a solution & Pratap & Ravi via Punjab(our adda, once upon a time) dropped me back home. Although I had to wake up at 3:30, dad & I had a long chat till 12 :) After I went off to bed, I dozed like a pig :P


At 3:45 AM sharp :) Pratap called me... which was a real surprise. :) Reminded me of those times when we would have to leave for a trip early in the morning & I would call everyone to wake them up :) I was up by then anyway. After an hour and a half, these guys finally turned up :D And what do I get to see, Only Ravi & pratap! I was surprised, I thought we found a solution to haathi’s problem.. I was :( disappointed when suddenly Pratap broke the news that as usual, holdy and haathi went to have tea :) Ok! So we started our drive towards the most beautiful sunrise, I had seen in a longgg time :). The road was good & Ravi drove really well. He had a great control on speed & 120km/hr seemed as 40 km/hr :P, pratap was mum & holdy was constantly cribbing & bugging us on why were we wasting a Sunday morning without sleep and food :))) Rahul cracking his usual jokes & I was enjoying every minute of it. Finally to put an end to holdy’s cribbing; we popped out the Aloo bhujia packet from pratap’s bag, it worked :). At 6:10 am, we drove in & Man!!! What a chilly morning it was :) After the freaking hot temperature in AP, this place was heaven :). Mild fog, wind gushing down your nerves like 1000 needles piercing through, quiet & beautiful, a breath taking site! We all chose a corner to be by ourselves & after our moments of admiration, we moved to this small canteen sort of a place to grab a bite. :) Holdy was more than happy & there we were, ordering one round of Bread Omelette, a round of Maggie, another round of Maggie & a hot sip of tea. Burp! :P Well if that sounded filling, think again, because we are talking about the ex-NESA man, fully charged :). As we came out of the canteen, a thela wala (a vendor selling goods on the cart :P) was selling mango’s (khatte wale ;)) and holdy n haathi cudn’t stop themselves ;) , so they bought one and after all had grabbed their share :P I had the privilege of having the guthli.. ;) Something is better than nothing :P

After a long walk around the hill, the strong, daring and “charming” men suddenly sounded weak, huffing & puffing :)) 23-24 yrs “old” software profs :D what a site it was!! Loaded ourselves back in the machine & left the serene beauty non-tampered and raced to our next destination, Dada’s place :); Yes! my bong bro who tied the knot last yr to a very sweet and talented gal named Payel. When I see them together, there is only one expression i feel :) Happiness! They are simply perfect for each other and when we attack his place, she, as always, would be a terrific host by serving these bhukkad brats loads of food and mishthi :D On our way back, Pratap drove the car for a while & when Ravi finally convinced him to come back to the passenger seat, He said, “ What a marvel, I will surely buy this car someday”. So after completing another sumptuous round of hogging at dada’s place, we bid the couple good bye and headed back to my cocoon. The perfect ending was after 4 rounds of food, holdy exclaimed “oh great! ghar jaake chana chawal khayenge :D!!!” and haathi responded as all burst out laughing... “Kya aadmi hai sala !! “:).