Life in Bangalore

Toastmasters International ( www.toastmasters.org ) is a worldwide forum for developing / practicing communication and leadership skills.Its a purely "Learning By Doing" forum. I used to be a part of this club till not so long ago while working for my previous organisation. Toastmasters in a club typically meet once every week for an hour. A Toastmasters session would have a Prepared speech on a Toastmaster project, Impromptu speaking session and finally the evaluation. You would not only develop the speaking capability but also the listening skills.It is a self-paced exercise where in the aspiring speaker can develop his/her communication and leadership skills through a set of projects.The membership comes with a nominal cost (around $37 for 6 months + one time membership fee of $50). I was a reluctant joiner to the Toastmasters club even though my then boss used to talk about it very often. So I was literally dragged  into one of the meetings on a Thursday evening in Ju

Cricket Career Challenging Situation: Rescues the team ; Converts to Opportunity & becomes “Man of The Match” Challenging Situation: Converts to Opportunity and becomes more indispensable Match Winner: Turns the match around by Sheer Discipline & Willpower.Takes away match from the Opposition Game Changer : Thinks & Implements Innovative Ideas that result in Great products that competitors feel difficult to match Team Player : Fits in Different roles that situation demands. Team Player : Be-Self-Motivated.help Peers when Required Playing & Winning Abroad: Identify area of improvement needed to face the different environment Learn New Technology / Areas : Identify Customer requirements.Learn New technologies that may be required. Learn to work outside the comfort zone Facing Opposition : Never be discouraged by banter Respect each delivery and ply on merit Enjoy & Have Fun Facing Criticism : Don’t worry about what others may think about you Run your o

Have a Spending account:  Most of us have a Salary Account where usually the Income gets credited. It pays to have an Expenses Account separately. Every month you (&your spouse) would put a specified amount into this account. You would want to use this account for all your spending so that you have a record for your spending at the end of every month without additional effort Set up Standing Instruction : Be it Investment or Debt repayment set up a Standing Instruction for money transfer. The more automated your financial system the more you are bound to be systematic. You can always cancel the Standing Instruction if you want to stop Do not Default: Be prompt in payment of loans & credit card payments. Any default on loan/credit card payment is bound to have a severe repercussion on your credit rating being tracked by the credit agency (CIBIL in India). This will in turn reduce your If you have a major issue in payment, approach the banker who can provide so

The much awaited Metro Rail Network was inaugurated in Bangalore on 20 th October 2011 after an inordinate number of delays and postponements. From the initial reactions it seems it was worth the wait. So I decided to check out the Bangalore Metro on my way back from Office along with 4 of my colleagues.   We took the ride from MG Road to Byappanahalli on the Metro on its second day Oct 22 nd . There was a huge crowd at the ornately decorated MG Road station waiting to get the entry. There was a security check of us and the bags that we carried. Metro Railway Station   looks like the terminal of an international airport. Hope it would retain the cleanliness. Ticket was like a plastic coin that had to put on top of the turnstile for it to open. We took the elevator to the platform. Most of the crowd were seen with camera & handycam and enjoying the moment. Then the train arrived. Crowds barged in and in the typical Indian mentality jostled to get a seat. Within seconds people r

It is always nice to have “Change”. The change I refer to is the denominations of the currency that one need to carry for shopping, especially in India. Very recently the humble 25 Paisa which had lost practical use long back was declared dead by the Reserve Bank of India. I hope that least count of the denomination would stay with One Rupee Coin at-least for symbolic value if not for practical value. You would be feel the power of “Change” ,be it in Auto-rickshaw, Bus or Grocery shop .As a consumer, If you don’t have change you would be at the receiving end of the round-off that the vendor resorts to citing lack of change.In auto-rickshaw, the driver has the tendency to round of to the next highest “five rupee”.If the auto meter shows Rs.17 ,he would charge Rs.20 citing lack of change. In Public Transport buses, it’s a must for you to give the correct change for buying a ticket. Otherwise, the conductor would scribble the amount that he needs t o return in the back of the ticket. Most

  ‘ we read hundreds and hundreds of annual reports every year ’ – Warren Buffett when asked about the secret behind his success in investing. Most people never choose a stock investment by themselves. They rely on their uncle or the stock broker who seems to have figured out how the trend of Stock market over the next year. The reality though is that the best guide to choose a stock for investment is   yourself. The underlying requirement though is that you should have the capability to understand at the very least the Annual Financial Statement of a company. Let us look at some of the important Financial Keywords & where to find them in Company Balance Sheet that any Stock Investor need to know. Equity Capital : Money contributed by promoters and other shareholders in return for the shares in the company plus the portion of past profits that are retained in the company over the years Debt Capital : Money borrowed from banks or other Investors by issuing bond

This is a guest post from my friend Balaganesamoorthy a.k.a. Bala. He is a Bike Freak. To know him more check ( http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100000263497416&sk=wall&v=wall ) 1. Before starting (Kick Start/Button Start), confirm that you are facing the riding direction. 2. Avoid, moving back and forth after starting 3. Switch off Lights (if its on), lock petrol nob , engine off and side lock 4. Maintain appropriate Gear, Clutch and speed for better fuel efficiency/mileage. 5. Always use centre/double stand. 6. Check air for every 250Km and if the road condition is worse then check for every 100Km 7. Check oil for every 3000km or 6 months whichever is early 8. Servicing is mandatory every 1500km or once in 3months whichever is earlier 9. Adjust your view mirrors for better rear view while riding. 10. Always have a copies of Eco-certificate, License, Registration Certificate and Insurance 11. Wearing helmet is a good habit and essential too

How many of you have watched a cricket match at the stadium ? How did you feel ? Electrifying?….Rocking?…Pulsating?… …. Let me recount my experience. It was year 1999 : November 11; I had just joined  my first company in Hyderabad.  That was the first time I had been living outside my family. I was homesick and found a savior in Sridhar,my childhood friend . He had settled  with his parents in Hyderabad at  Mehdipatnam. Every weekend I used to visit them whether they liked or not. It was once such weekend , I got a call from Sridhar. I could sense both joy & tension at the same time in his voice . He said “Mukund, I have got 4 tickets for the cricket match at the Lalbahadur shastri stadium . So you come on Sunday sharp at 5:00 am to my house”. I was wondering why he asked me to come at such an odd time. Is it a night& day match or what ? I was disappointed, more because my interest laid more on Sridhar’s mother’s cooking rather than my friend himself. So I was there on t

“I started Investing at the age of 11 and regret not starting earlier” - Warren Buffett While this Quote exemplifies the humor of Buffett, there are two important lessons to be learnt here which are fundamental in any Investing : Learning & Power of Compounding.  Warren made his first investment at the age of 11 on three shares in a Company at a price of $38 each. But,soon the price fell down to $27. He was shocked. Fortunately, the stock price of the company rose again to $40.He immediately sold it and gained a net profit of 5 dollars and felt greatly relieved.The particular stock went on to reach  $200 per share. He had learnt his first lesson that “If an investment gives good value, one should not sell it irrespective of its price.” This   lesson that he learnt while trading with 3 shares helped him to stay calm when he went on to invest in more than 30 million shares. Another hidden lesson is that, It pays to start early in the Investments. Even if we falter initially, the

I admire Mr.Warren Buffett as much for the hell a lot of Money that he possesses as much for the simplicity of his thoughts. He is a man of Wit and humor and he is known for his one-liners. They possess a great message for the layman investor. Let us look at some of them and try to decipher the mind that earned billions many times over (in the faint hope that even if we get to earn 0.0000001% of what he earned it would make a difference to our life) ‘Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years.’ This is the message that Warren Buffett strives to emphasis over and over again.Most people do not invest in stock market. They just trade in the Stock Market. Unlike other modes of investment such as Debt Funds, Bank FDs or Real estate people do not have the patience in holding the stock. The moment they buy the stock, mostly based on the suggestion from the stock broker, they start monitoring the price. So called “Stock Investors” let th

This is a must read precursor post for all the Dummies on Do’s & Don’ts in a Kitchen . Most of the points are Common sense. However, reiteration has become necessary as Common sense is not too common. • Always Use holder to handle the cooking bowls/utensils • Stick a nametag to each and every ingredient in kitchen • Always be conservative with use of Sugar & Salt as there is no Undo Option • Have the recipe on a paper with Font Size of 30 • Have the ingredients for each dish well before you heat up the stove • Practice your cooking with local cuisine…Continental shall wait till you graduate as Master Chef • While cooking, your mind & body should be in kitchen…No TV / Internet/Phone • Timing is the key differentiator between a good and bad dish…Have a Clock in the Kitchen • Don’t Worry…A lot of people haven’t got any cooking talent • Savor the favorite dish you cooked yourself. Even if its undercooked it will taste heavenly (although only for you)