Socially Networked

My partner has been bugging me to blog for all this time and I have been escaping saying I am BC !! Really busy or lazy ? Well partly both are true . Probably ran out of topics .. Really ? Then how am I connected to the whole world .
There been a flurry of socially networking site . The Orkuts of the world , Facebooks ..Twitter ..
Well to net unaware netizens if I have to help understand what these are then these are networking sites to say hi to all your friends and keep them aware of what you are up to .
I have seen some of my friend's tweets as " I am going to bed" ..Gosh guys are you so very vela .
In my perspective the only benefit these sites have is to pass time . Initially I was thrilled by Orkut which brought in a connection to my old friends . But then as time passed , I realized that the only thing I had to say them was a simple Hi... I didn't have anything much to say :( Then what are the benefits of these social network sites. One big benefit that I could think of as create a lot of controversies . FYI ..Twitter has made a MP fall down just because he could keep his mouth shut .
Does that mean don't I have any such ids in these social sites. Of course not . I am a guy who has logins in almost all the sites and pretty decently active in all these sites but still believe its of no use . I am always in touch even in these only with whom I am actively connected .
My juniors have a different philosophy together . They claim face books of the world have been the best things to use in the internet . mmm..fair thought and I have always seen them connected only in one of the social sites ..
Knock Knock..my door bell rang . I saw an unknown person at my my door step . He had come to give my post mail . Realized that he was my neighbour whom I haven't met for the past 2 years that I have lived in this apartment . Neither did he have a clue that I was his neighbour .
Just an irony in the world of social networking , the neighbours arent networked :(

ESPecial win

Long Hiatus ..reason certainly not whats there in the title. But the one i had put up as an exciting day . Yes I have upgraded my status . So so good with a lot of tension before the status change . Now things are settling down . I am safe with no injuries from poori kattais and idli karandis. I have outsourced some of my activities and am certainly having more free time than before . hopefully she doesnt read this post lest i will be having more work .

Chal Cia.. This post has got nothing with the title . Just a misnomer title .

Madhu
- No longer a bachelor .

Caught napping

Yesterday evening , I had to go to the bank to check if my account has got transferred from Kalpax to Bangalore . yes you read it correct . I have an account still in Kalpakkam . After 10 years I decided to get this account transferred .
.Should I go to the bank just to transfer this amount . Anyways the account has stayed dormant for 10 years , Cant I let it stay as it is ...Several thoughts were running . The thought of bangalore traffic made me think to avoid it . I poushed myself over and decided to go for it .
Being an avid follower of rules, I hate breaking lines . Try to follow traffic rules as much as possible. Avoid bribing people for any reason . And of course try not to take bribes . Not that I am govt. servant for me to take bribes . Sometimes I feel I act like rules Ramanujam . As I got closer to the bank and was waiting for a signal to get green , I heard a lorry honking right behind . I was just cursing the lorry driver for severly honking at me . Hey idiot , its still red , you cant go over the signal . As the signal got green , I took a U Turn and moved away giving way to the
lorry . Ha I was feeeling relaxed for having such lorries get past me . As I had started accelerating my bike ......
From no where did a constable appear and waved her hand accross . I didnt do any thing wrong ..Did I . I have my papers , I didnt jump any signal . I wanted to make myself doubly sure , if she was asking me to stop ..Creech...my brakes were on and I moved to the left to park my bike . I started to tell her that I didnt jump signals , I had my papers on ..etc. etc . For which she quietly said there a NO U turn signal and I didnt obey it . Oops. didnt I notice it at all ..

My pocket grew lighter by Rs.100 and I had my challan for taking a wrong U turn .

Madhu
- the traffic breaker .

Another year passes ...

A long year passed ...A lot of ups and downs as usual ..Lot of stuff happened .Interesting and uninteresting . The future is always exciting . Let me see whats in store for me in 2010 .

Madhu
- Eagerly entering 2010

Finally its out..

Long waits..Costly elections .low percentage turnouts. Multi Party system.Third fronts .Nehru-Gnadhi Dynasty . Modi-Advani Factor .26-11 .Recession..Aam Admi..India Shining..

Its all over . UPA is set for another term . Singh is Kingh .

Madhu
- Just a voter.

Maiden English

Rani has been our servant maid for over a year now . She talks very little and finishes her work very sincerely . The problem is language. I and my amma cannot speak kannada and Rani cant speak Tamil. Mode of communication is then Tannada . English was a taboo. She couldnt understand a word in English .
She doesnt bunk and her work is decent. But I have only one complain. She comes very late for work . She comes at 11:00 Am. Well I have asked her to report at about 7:00 am , so that she can clean the house even when I am there. Every time I have asked her to come early , she said she was working in homes where the couples were working for a fraud hit software company . Both the couples had to leave before 9:00 and it was next to impossible for Rani to come to my house at 7:00 . Point agreed . But on Sundays , she used to be at 7:00 . What ? Why do you take me for granted and disturb me at 7:00 on sundays. Am I not a office goer? Come on..

We have got used to her timings and she has got used to ours. I have stopped complaining about her weird timings to my house . Time has passed . Suddenly one fine day she starts coming at 7:00 am in the morning . We thought initially that this was a temporary arrangement and she would get back to her normal timings. After a week , amma slowly asked Rani why she was coming early these days. For which she silently replied , she was affected by "RECESSION" and carried on her with work.

Madhu
-Awed by effects of recession

why not stp ?

I am not an avid tracker of all these indices like sensex or Nifty . I have some of my friends who burnt their fingers not knowing what they were doing in the markets. Some of them were told by their mutual fund agents during the 2007-08 that indian exhanges can give you returns of 200 p.a ..What ?

Come on, lets be honest . For any stock to deliver 200 % yoy , the production needs to jump 200% . Agreed indian markets are huge and they have a lot of value .But expecting a ROI of 200% every year is just next to impossible . Investing in Indian equity would give you returns of abt 20-30% over a longer tenure , which is really good .

Taking their advices and tips , my friends investments have eroded big time .I for one never believed in stuff which generates short time happiness . I prefer long term . After some analysis, I did come to know that most Mutual fund AMCs have a product called STP .
Yeah Systematic Transfer plan . Whats so great abt it ? This is very much similar to SIP ( Systematic investment plan ) . But with a minor difference .
Here , you move the money periodically frm debt funds ( check my old article on this ) to equity funds instead of having bulk deposits . This way you if you are in the top tax bracket you save on tax on Savings account as well as you get the fruits of investment in equity . The only catch here is you might not have AMCs which are strong both in debt and equity . And you can have a STP only within a AMC ad not across AMCs.
All AMCs should have these products. You might want to try this product and let me know your feedback .

Madhu
-the financial expert .

Bus bookings

This might be old news .There are some sites that allow booking of buses online.
You might want to try this site .

KSRTC has this feature . But TNSTC doesnt .. Come on TamilNadu transport ,lon way to go ..Come out of stone age .

Madhu

Ttttt ?

New office ..new people , new characters . I am a slow mover amongst people . It takes time for me to get used to people. Its amazing how human mind makes impressions about people by just their looks . Infact I too made first hand impressions about a lot of people mostly wrong impressions .
I was getting close to Sundar who was my manager . Sundar was very talkative.Infact more talkative than me . People used to be scared of him both for his knowledge and his voice . I had no problems getting along with him .
As time passed one day he invited me to his house for a cup of coffee . You all would by now know that I am one of the greatest lovers of coffee not that I am addicted to it . Yaaru Coffee nnu sonalum I go with them without a second thought ..We got in the car and as we were travelling to his house .there was a quick argument on who was the best coffee taster . He said that he is an extensive coffee drinker . As the argument heated up, he brought about his visits to cafe coffee day in his locality . He also mentioned that star bucks in US offered him a spl rebate on account of his loyalty. He brooded that he could identify and distinguish variety of coffees by just a sip . Infact , he proclaimed his wife made coffee which was the best in the world . This was on expected guidelines . Now all that I could offer as an argument was I just drink one cup of coffee everyday but that it was a south indian filter coffee. He was laughing hither thither as we parked the car in his house .
I greeted Mrs. Sundar and their kutties Aswin Sundar and Megha Sundar . The beverage topic started again and the kids said that Boost is the secret of their energy and they wanted to be Sachins and Dhonies ..
Meanwhile , mrs Sundar gave both of us cups .As we were sipping sundar was enjoying , but my facial expression changed . This certainly wasnt tasting a bit like my regular coffee . Several thoughts were running in my mind , was this is a special Coorgean coffee, Ingy Coffee , Sukhu Coffee ? Infact this was tasting terrible . But how could I say this to my manager . I gulped this like a kashayam. Sundar was sipping his cup and called his wife to boast abt his coffee drinking and coffee identifying prowess . To impress him I asked her the recipe of this special coffee for which she silently replied that this was not coffee but Tea and that she didnt know to make coffee all through her life . What ?
I gave a wry smile to Sundar as we walked to the car .

Madhu
Coffee Champion .

Naatyam ...

Last friday one of my kalpakkam friends had invited me for a dance performance. His wife who is an eminent Bharatnatyam exponent was performing in Yavanika state youth center , Nrupatunga Road , bangalore at 6:30 PM . For whatever reasons,my inclination towards music is much
more than towards dance .I wanted to break this barrier and grabbed this
oppurtunity .
On dot 6:30 , the program started with an invocation to the dance Lord Shiva ,
in Revathy . The first thing I realised was the phenomenal stamina one needs to
have while dancing. A humble suggestion audience , pl do not pick up your mobiles while an artiste is performing . Would also appreciate if you can remain silent all through the performance .
mmm.. dance soodu pudika arambitchidhu . Right after the invocation the central piece the Varnam began . Unlike in a music concert where varnam is the starter in dance it is the core . Its like the RTP where the exponent can show all his/her talent . Madhu why do u have to compare Apples and Oranges ?
The Varnam was set to RitiGowlai ( for new comers listen to Azhagana Rakshashi, kangal Irundal ) .Sri Krishna vasudeva depicted lord Krishna leela . How beautifully the lady depcited Putana vada and shakatasura vada ( please read it as destruction not as an eatable vada :) ) . Lord Krishna becoming the
parthasarathy...Now I came to understand the dance is no less than music .
Certainly there is a visual appeal . Thanks to the lady performing .
Having done with the varnam , the track moved on to the Padam in Chinna jiru
kilyeah set to Ragamalika by Subby ( Thillu mullu style ) . The bhava of
mother child relation was just amazing. Good Job done again .
The lady singing to synchronise with the performer needs a noteworthy mention here . In all the renditions she brought abt the emotions to help the lady performing . Just a small suggestion madam , 'N', 'n' ,Gna in songs need to be relooked upon . Yeah I understand that diff lang have diff pronounciations ,but meanings differ if a wrong syllable is used .
If chinna chiru kilyeah was superb , The devar nama by Purandara Dasa
was a step further . This piece was the best rather I liked it the most .
Reason , because there was a posture of Lord Nrsimha my fav which the artist
brought about realistically .
I was just thinking , probably the theme today is only Lord Vishnu . Just as my
thought went through she started a performance in a Javali which depicted
a beautiful husband wife relation . Isnt this Raghava Prema ?
Dance without a thillana is a lunch without a desserrt . The dessert was
was in AmritaVarshini . Ok guys lets go home after such a wonderful evening.
On the whole it was a brilliant performance by the lady .Certainly appreciations to the singer , the natuvangini , the flautist and the mrindangist as well .
Great job done . My appreciation is minimal here as my knowledge in dance is
zero . I would have certainly appreciated the perf if I had known better .
Certainly the seed is sown , and I would get back with some more understanding
of the art .
Venaktesh , this academy has perfomances on every weekend on diff art forms.
Next week polama ?

Madhu
Thandava Koney