Mission reading 2

Its been long time since i have updated my blog, i was busy ( At least i would like to think that way!) Its been 3 months that i have got into a B-school and it took time to settle down. I thought of writing a post titled "Life@ B-school" but in order to get back to my my writing habit i assumed writing a book review would be good. Well again i am not sure how much justice i can do to this book,nevertheless whats wrong in trying!




This is the second autobiography i have read, but the first one to complete! I really hate myself for not being to able to complete a book,a very bad habit to inculcate.I happened to see this book in the library in the New arrival section and i had set my eyes on the book. So rather than using my library card for issuing subject related books i got "Simplyfly"

I kept the book for three weeks! I couldn't find time to read it, well being a MBA student i have been told that giving this excuse is the biggest mistake you can do! But honesty comes with a price doesn't it? I finally finished this book and must say felt enriched after reading the autobiography.

This book is a story of a simple middle class guy born in a orthodox family in Karnataka,here i could easily relate to him,since i am also from karnataka and we both are from the same caste too! He completed his schooling from a sainik school and joined NDA and later IMA Dehradun. He has beautifully narrated his young age and how Military taught him discipline and how really an army soldier feels when he is at the border.

I felt good to read about a soldier and how he fought in the Bangladesh war and his Himalayan posting days, then he resigned from military and took to Farming!! A unusual decision but the way he has rationaled it made me agree to his view point.For about 5 years he was dedicated to Farming and espicially Organic farming, he has beautifully described the future and throughout the book he quotes some classic poets and writers which clearly suggest how well read he is.

Then he ventured into Hotel business and then enfield dealership and later into Politics ,he always had something on his plate never to be bogged down to routine life. Thats a wonderful quality i would love to inculcate,then finally he started Deccan helicopter business and the confidence he has shown in starting the business without any capital is commendable.
I felt his political connections helped him immensely to get past the labryinth of red tapism in our country,but he never lost his integrity by bribing the officials, thats truly inspiring.

He has shared some beautiful experiences of his helicopter business and how it transformed that sector in the country and after that he set his eyes on airline with main focus being to fly the common man. The way he set out to do the work is astounding, miliary discipline surely helped him great deal in his endevours. His book then explains how he started Air deccan and how it revolutionalised the passenger airline industry ( Effect of being a MBA student: Need to be specific about the industry!)

In the last part of the book he explains how Vijay Mallya tried unsuccessfully to acquire his airways and how he tried to solve many problems his airways was facing. Then due to many indsutrial effects he finally had to agree to mallya and they made the deal worth billions on a phone call ~Phew~ Both Mallya and Gopinath are two extremes when it comes to lifestlye and this marriage was not going to be successful but nevertheless it had to happen. Finally Gopinath resigned from his executive post and allowed Mallya to rule.

In hindsight a few mistakes cost gopinath his airlines but he played a huge part in bringing the LCC( Low cost carriers) concept to india, i mean bringing it successfully. He has now started his cargo business "Deccan 360" whose concept he got while he was running air deccan, he has capitalised on his learnings from life.

Its a great book and i am sure you will love it and it would be hard to put it down, you will learn a lot from it. Do get a copy for yourslf.

( Sorry for grammatical mistakes and my excellent 'Hinglish' I suffer from a fear called Englophobia :) :))

Mission reading-1

For me reading books is a mission, i have promised myself that i am going to read loads and loads of books, Something which i should have done earlier. Its never too late, is it?

This is the post about the two books i read recently,

I am not reviewing them since i don't think i am capable of doing justice to the job of reviewing. I shall try to write down my thoughts on them and what i got to learn from them.

I started reading Non-Fiction books recently and must say they are truly more rewarding than fiction. Though there are exceptions!

1] Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert kiyosaki

I was advised to read this book so that i get to know some basics stuff of finance, I come from a technical background(at least i think i do!) hence have no idea of financial concepts.When i saw the book in the crossword store i was skeptical should it. But then i thought lets take the risk and see what this book with a unusual title is all about. I am happy that i purchased the book since it has taught me very valuable lessons on how to deal with finances.

It is not a investment strategy book like some people call it,it is a book which teaches you, how to manage your finances and become rich. Yes it also tells you different ways to invest but that is not the main goal of the book. It gives some good insights on why people never become rich and why they keep on falling into debts. I understood some concepts which i would like to mention briefly,

-> People think that in order to become rich they need to work harder at their job but they do not realize that the more they earn the more they spend! Rich people spend smartly and middle class people dont.

-> The difference between asset and liability is defined in a simple and easy to understand manner. People generally consider their liabilities as their assets and never spend enough time to accumulate the real assets.

-> The biggest mistake what education is doing is, it is not teaching 'financial literacy' which is of utmost importance. If anyone wants to learn how to become rich he is said to be greedy but we are digging our own grave by falling prey to debt in the forms of loans.

-> In order to come out of rat race you need to be smart and have financial literacy. The book in no way tells you to avoid work infact it tells you to concentrate more on work but also handle your finances intelligently.

The author has explained in a beautiful manner of a story and not one minute will you get bored.

Everyone should read this book especially one's who have no knowledge of finance. Go ahead and get your copy and get all the gyan!

2] Tipping point by Malcolm Gladwell

In my city Hyderabad there is a market for second hand books which is put up every sunday. For people like me who cannot spend more money this place is a gold mine! You get all the famous books and also a few duplicate stuff. I try not to buy pirated stuff but at times have no other option. I have promised myself that once i start earning i will get the books from real book stores. Most of the times i buy second hand books and Tipping point was one such book.

I bought this book after checking out the cover and reading the brief intro about it. I was not sure whether i would like it or not considering how old the book was(both years and the condition of the book!) After reading it i again gained lot of gyaan!

This book answers some interesting questions,

1] Why certain ideas or behaviors get a spark and become a epidemic whereas others don't?

2] Can we deliberately start social epidemics in a positive sense?

The book explains this by using various examples and experiments performed by social scientists and psychologists.It is a very interesting way of explaining and the author makes sure that you get the point. He basically gives three concepts

-> Law of few:Connectors,Mavens

-> Stickiness factor

-> The power of context

Each and every point has been explained in a detailed manner.

You also get to know why fight against smoking is failing, because we are focusing in the wrong direction. Its a interesting way to look at the smoking problem.

Throughout the book the author says how little factors are responsible for major change and how little effort put in the right direction can get you amazing results. These factors are responsible for the ideas to reach their tipping point.

It is a must read book according to me. You should not miss out such a great book.

"In nonfiction, you have that limitation, that constraint, of telling the truth"

~PeterMathiessen~

"Nadi Astrology"

I have always found astrology very fascinating, who wouldn't love to know about the future.

so being from a family who believed in all kinds of astrology i had many fields of astrology to explore! From Numerology to Palmistry to traditional astrology based on stars to tarot and finally Nadi astrology.

I found nadi astrology to be very interesting and its results are amazingly accurate. Don't believe me? Just google for information you will find plenty of sites.

"Nadi astrology is the form of hindu astrology based on the belief that the past,present and future lives of humans were foreseen by hindu sages in ancient sages and written down as Palm leaf manuscripts"

The experience of getting your nadi astrology done itself is a experience! I had this experience a year ago and had written about it on a forum called "Pagalguy" For those who do not know what Pagalguy is 'Its a mecca of information about MBA' and for people like me it is a community of people who help each other which is rare in our world. Now you might be wondering what has a MBA forum to do with astrology. PG as we call it is a place for intellectuals to brain storm their concepts of cracking different entrance exams and also for them to relax and get to know each other via so many threads in chit chat section. I being a 'Non-Intellectual' use PG for that!

If you are not a member of it then be one!

I am going to copy paste that post here ( Laziness ka baap :))

My parents had got their reading years back and not surprisingly most of what was said in the Tape( given by nadi astrologer) has happened. I was pretty much confused after my Engineering. I had this idiotic idea that i should do MS in Computer networks in England. But then i was planning to write CAT and all other exams. So in order to make a decision i thought lets go to Astrologer( I know its stupid). Astrology always interested me.

Now coming to that day,the guy here in hyderabad is a Tamilian and speaks a very strange Telugu,He took my Thumb impression and gave me a Pamplet on which i had to decide which all chapters of life i wanted to know. I being so curious ticked them all and had to shell out 3500rs for it.( I know thats heights of stupidity!!) He asked us to come after 2 days.

I was having loads of free time those days( 3 months back). So after coming to home i did lot of research( Googling!!) on Nadi astrology and got to know a lot of info on that and about a person named Shashank Oak who was a Air force personal and has written a book on Nadi astrology. I read that book in the night until 3 am!! ( If i had same interest in my engineering books,i would have had better percentage!) I read many Experiences of different people and was anxious to know about my reading. After 2 days it was show time!!

The astrologer started asking me questions to which i had to answer only in Yes or No. He asked me a few questions regarding my date of birth whether was it in May,june. I said no. Then he said it is April and after a few questions he said Its April 14 1988 I was shocked!! Then he said my mother's name and that she has completed Bcom and is working in a Government and deals with Finances. My mother works in a Bank. Then about my father.Even that was absolutely correct!! Then he said i have done Engineering in Electronics,i was in no position to react I have met with this person only twice in my life and he knows everything about my past!!
He said i am in a confused state about my higher studies,well that was very true. Now that my past and present were absolutely right,he started revealing my future.

He said i would do my Masters( MS or MBA??) in a Place where there is a Ocean,he gave examples of Mumbai,chennai etc If not in India then surely abroad. My masters would start from 2010 and complete successfully in 2012.
I will do a job in a Place where there is Ocean!!( Obsession with Ocean)
I will eventually have a love marriage with a girl who is 3 yrs younger to me and has same qualifications as me and is from a Different caste( My dad was surprised). Now this is the fun part,the girl lives in a place which is 6hrs from my place and there is a Open land or a school or hospital right in front of their home!!( I was just enjoying the session)

I would change a few jobs and my company would send me abroad and i would be for most of my life there and i have one more education which i am going to do part time( 3 yrs). Then i am going to be very good at a job which includes a lot of talking. I would become some advisor of sorts to a company!!
I will have 2 kids and i am going to get lots of guru krupa later in my life( I already have a guru in my life).
I am going to die at the age of 76 in afternoon on a Day which is one day after "Ekadasi". He said i would get moksha

You can believe it or ridicule it, I love to believe it when its good and i completely ridicule it when its bad! So when i can believe what is written on leaves by some unknown sage centuries ago then why should i doubt Octopus baba??

PS: I love to change my blog themes and this one seems to the best of all i have used so far. Isn't it good?

Helpless

"RTE is the tryst with destiny in the education sector"-Kapil sibal

With above words we added a fundamental right to the constitution and civics books. I don't know about all the fundamental rights but one that is commonly used or should i say abused is the right to freedom of speech and expression, an example of which we saw in yesterday's hugely "successful" bharath bandh. By the way did you participate in the bandh? I dint because all i needed was a holiday.

Coming to the point of this post, RTE provides free education to children between the age 6 and 14.

According to the right any child between the said age group if found not going to school or working during the school hours becomes a violation of the act and is illegal. we can complain to concerned local authority which will ensure that the child goes to school.

{For complete information on RTE check out this brilliant article here}

There is this girl who is 8 years old who comes along with our domestic help( Honestly called maid) and helps in cleaning the home. When asked whether she goes to school, she said she used to but now she isn't. On further questioning i got to know why she doesn't, her story makes me feel that RTE does not help in her case.

This girl is the granddaughter of our maid's elder sister, she used to live in village with her parents but her father who was unable to look after her sent her to the city(Hyderabad) to stay with her grandmother. After coming to the city she started going to school for a few months but then her grandmother had to go to a different city so she decided to hand over the responsibility to her sister. (Our maid) Now the girl has stopped going to school since our maid does not want to pay for her school. Even though government gives free education still there are additional expenses which need to be taken care of.

So instead of sitting idle in her home she also comes to our home and helps in cleaning.

Now the question arises what does RTE does in this case? Kapil sibal had made it clear that it is our responsibility to make sure that all children around us go to school. But what can we do when parents do not want to send their child to school?? This girl's father now wants her to come to village and he does not want her to go to school!!

Government through RTE provides free education until 8th class but then in this case it cant do anything. I feel helpless in this situation and also feel responsible in some way because we are letting a child work in our home.

I am optimistic that RTE will help many children go to school which is where they should be.

Great news:Fuel prices go up.

( Disclaimer: This is not sarcasm,I am serious. :) )

For people who are lazy and smart enough to not watch news channels and read 'informative' (Read: masala!) Newspapers, this is the news which is rocking the parliament and the whole country. Fuel prices have gone up! ( Nothing new right?)

Petrol: Rs 3 and some change..

Diesel: Rs 2 and some change..

LPG Gas: Rs 35 and no change!

Kerosene: Don't know, You can read your paper for further details.

Opposition parties,state ruling parties and all other state level organisations are doing what is expected of them, Protesting Vehemently by Burning effigies and stuff ( There is huge potential in Effigies manufacturing business,demand never dies down!!)

But there are few people, who recognize that the move made by government is brilliant and planned keeping future in mind. After all they have a vision for our country.

Of that few people,i would love to call myself one but i cannot! I am still not well qualified!

But i have some thoughts on the issue which will sure get affirmative from brilliant people.

There are many benefits from fuel prices hike, some of them include:

Health Benefits

1] Now you can keep your two wheeler/four wheeler in your garage/parking lot and forget about it. Yes you can! We can walk more,and am sure you all people know the wonderful benefits of walking. You can walk short distances but for long distances comes the second point.

2] Public transport(PT): You can use Buses and trains to cover long distances,and you save money too! Now if you use PT, there will be less pollution as the number of vehicles on the road will decrease. Great news for people who wear the suffocating scarfs to avoid pollution!!

3] No tension of spending money on petrol and handling irritating Petrol pump guys! Less tension more peace of mind. You can even try out spirituality!!

4] This is the best benefit according to me, You can have a clear thinking process! Pretty simple explanation for that, Time spent on vehicle to reach destination will be lot lesser than spent on walking or using PT. Now you do not have to concentrate on driving too. So you can utilize your time in thinking. Because you have already got peace of mind you can think about the betterment of society!! Hence making our country a better place to live in.

Economic benefits

1] As already explained above you will shell out less money on PT and save a lot of money on petrol too. You also don't have to spend on service charge of your old vehicle.

And the biggest save would be giving the money too Traffic policeman!

Now i will give you the rough figures which i will save every month, I encourage you to calculate your savings too.

Petrol for my 2 wheeler-> Rs 500

Traffic policeman-> Rs 100/200/300 ( Varies according to the greed)

Service charges-> Rs 300 ( Considering that my vehicle needs servicing every 3 months)

Air for Tyres-> Rs 10

Total spending per month-> Rs 710 ( Service charge per month is added as Rs 100)

If i use PT for travelling then it would amount to Rs 300.( As per Hyderabad PT charges which by the way are expected to increase!)

Amount saved: Rs 410!!

"Money saved is money earned" Now if you are sensible then you will not spend this amount but save it for investing later. 1 year savings would be Rs 4920!

If you chose to save the money for three years it becomes a whopping Rs 14760!! You can invest this money on accumulating your assets. I am not good at financial matters,i am sure you will come up with great ideas to invest that money.

The money can be spent on buying essential commodities for home as well,Food inflation is expected to go up. Government had planned this too! Great vision!

You know the benefits now, i encourage you people too thank the Government for taking such a Amazing step for the betterment of the people of our great country. We should encourage them too come up with similar ideas to make our country the best in this world.

The calculations above are based upon a middle class perspective, you may ask what about poor people. Government are coming up with great ideas to solve all their problems.

Jai Hind*

* Conditions apply

7 things you don't know about me

This post has been due for some days now, I was tagged my shyam govind to write this post.

For those who are thinking what tag? There is this theme which is being followed, I write the post titled "7 things you don't know about me" and then tag to my friends who in turn tag to their friends thus continuing the chain.

You can check out shyam govind's post here

Seven facts you do not know about me:

1] I am fat,hence i am optimist! There is a connection between fatness and optimism,people who are fat are more optimistic in nature. The amount of time 'sensible' fat people spend on dreaming about becoming slim cannot be measured! Even if we do not follow any diet or do any physical exercise still we are hopeful that magically we will lose weight! As they say "hope is a good thing" no one knows that better than us.

2] I know first point was absurd. Coming to the second point,my friends say i am extremely silly and childish. I have to agree to that! Even though i am 22(err..23 confused about my age,will check out my date of birth certificate and update later) I have no 'maturity' and do not know what is my 'True calling'. I am still waiting for that enlightening moment where i get to know the purpose of my immature life.

3] Talking about Purpose, i read it in a book that "Purpose is a combination of want's and don't wants" Taking cue from the statement let me try to think what my purpose is.

I want to become rich,I don't want to be materialistic.

I want to be a altruist,I don't want to remain as a 'social worker' all my life.

I want to change my country,I don't want to pay tax though!

I want to bring some sense to this post,I don't know how to do that!

So my third point is i am a thoroughly confused guy.

4] I am extremely emotional,I cry when i see a typical bollywood flick for wasting my hard earned( Borrowed from parents) money. Seriously speaking,i am emotional, cannot live without friends and parents.

5] I like to hog the limelight. In doing so i have embarrassed myself many times in past,but i never learn from my mistakes hence i keep on committing same mistakes again and again.

I am that guy in a group who tries to be a leader but does not know even one quality of a leader.

6] I like people who smile when there is no reason to! I hate people who are always serious. I have a stupid sense of humor,i am sure you would have known that after reading this post.

I crack jokes and laugh on them! Obviously no one else does! I love it when people laugh at me for my fatness. It gives me the satisfaction of making people laugh which i don't get after cracking my 'excellent jokes'

7] I am a combination of good and bad,i try to be good but am not consistent. I am spiritually inclined and believe there shouldn't be any divide on the basis of religion. I believe in the philosophy of Karma, I also like seeing a child in everyone. As the great philosopher "Joker" of "dark knight" religion says

"Why so serious?"

I pass the baton to

Satwinder

Prerna munshi

Business-Basic rule

Three incidents which occurred today evening prompted me to write this post. Being a MBA student( I can call myself that now!) i will get to know all the rules of the business world in the coming two years, but i have some basic knowledge which i would like to express through this post.

Business as everyone knows is for making profits, now ethics is also a very important issue but i will keep that topic for some other time. When you want to make profit be it in small scale or large scale business it is imperative that customer/client is the king. Main purpose is to satisfy the needs of our customer/client.( Nothing new right!)

So the basic rule is and always will be

"Customer is the king"

Now coming to the three incidents that happened today,let me try to write how three different people had different perspectives of running their business.

1] First one-Tailor

We had to collect our newly stitched clothes(My dad's) from our family tailor. It is a no brain work,all we had to do was give him money and take clothes. But while we are doing that the tailor talked to me

" The Kurta is looking good on you, you should stitch yourself two more" ( He was the one who had stitched the kurta i was wearing)

Now he has planted a thought in my head and if that thought turns into action then he is going to make money out of it. So he is a good businessman who is trying to maximize his profits. Its secondary what i do but he has made me think thats where he scores his points.

2] Petrol filling guy

Next we went to the petrol bunk which we usually visit, there a short tempered guy came on his two wheeler and stood right in front of the filling guy. This guy asked him to go the next pump ( less than 5 feet away) since this one had a queue. Angered by his rudeness he asked whether he wants to fill petrol or not, our guy din't answer and the angered person went in frustration.

If the guy talked to the customer politely and asked him to join the queue or go to the next pump i guess the angered person would have listened. Because of the guy's rudeness he lost his customer. You might say it would be very small loss but then if it becomes a habit then losses will multiple.

3] Book store manager

Then i went to a big book store to buy some books(Novels). The manager was standing in front of the counter and asked me which book i was looking for. I was looking for "connect the dots" by Rashmi bhansal. I got my copy and then i wanted to check out some management books and i asked him where the section was. To my surprise he asked me to come tomorrow! It was only 8:45pm! I wanted to buy more books and he blatantly asked me to come tomorrow! I am not even a regular customer there, it was my second visit.

He was denting his own profits! He has lost a customer in me. Even if he was sitting in the shop from morning 9am still it does not make sense to close the shop before time. Couldn't he had stayed for 15 minutes more?? It was he who was to gain after all!!

Tailor had more business sense than book store owner!! See business does not have class or caste divide! Thankfully!!