FDI – What is it actually??

The recent hot topic in media and as usual, heavily debated by general public in social network medias is about Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).  Everybody has got an opinion on FDI and wants the Indian Government to ban FDI in retail sector.  So, I thought let me also write my opinion about FDI.  Now, whoever is reading this blog has no choice but to read my opinion!!!!

What’s wrong in allowing FDI in retail sector?  Isn’t competition good for business and also for end user?  I have seen few people saying the local traditional “nadar shops” and “chettiar shops” have to close down if Government allows FDI in retail sector.

What are these people trying to tell me? That nadar shops and chettiar shops are more expensive than Wal-Mart, Carrefour, etc.?  If yes, then I think it is only fair to bring these international giants in order for the nadar shops and chettiar shops to be in competitive range.

As an end-user consumer, where will we buy the product (assuming we are comparing apple to an apple)?  We will buy from the cheapest shop.  If this is the case, how can Wal-Mart and Carrefour be a threat or competition to local retail vendors?  How can a multi-national company, considering all the huge investments and expenses, be competitive than a local vendor?

In my opinion, the public is opposing FDI just because the media and some politicians are saying it is wrong.  Haven’t we, India as a country, allowed foreign companies in other sectors?  Where were all these individuals opposing FDI were at that time?

The day we decide to buy a car, we compare Toyota, Honda, Hyundai and Ford for price and fuel efficiency comparison.  We sometimes even forget that Maruti and Tata do make cars, which are Indian companies.

We want to celebrate a birthday party or get together at Pizza Hut, Dominoes Pizza, Mary Brown, KFC, etc.  At that time in our short list for venue, the Muniyandi Vilas, Thalapakattu Briyani and other local vendors name won’t feature.

Ask the current generation kids what soft drink they like.  Mostly, the answer will be Pepsi or Coca Cola.  They might have even forgotten that there was a local company producing Thumbs Up (now they may remember due to fantastic advertisement campaign with Akshay Kumar).  We want to drink Coke and Pepsi but don’t want foreign companies entering into retail business.

How many individuals own BPL TV or other Indian made televisions?  Most of us have Sony, Samsung, Panasonic, etc… Why don’t we stop buying foreign televisions?

I am not even sure if any Indian company makes cell phones in India.  The biggest market shareholder for cell phones are Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Blackberry, Apple, etc.  Why do we buy foreign brands if we are protesting against FDI?

So, we want to enjoy the fruits of all international comforts and cuisine.  When Government opens one more sector for foreign investment, we start the protest and say the Government is trying to kill retail vendors in the country.

Look at the other side also.  We proudly say Mr. Vijay Mallya has bought White & Mackay Distillery and he is now the world’s third largest distillery owner.  An Indian buying foreign companies and investing in foreign countries is national pride.

Tata Motors went ahead and bought Jaguar and Land Rover companies in a single deal.  We were very proud to say that now Jaguar and Land Rover are party Indian made cars (due to the ownership).

We want our Indian investors and businesses to invest/buy foreign businesses but we do not want foreign investments to enter into India.  Is this reasonable or being patriotic?  I think this is being greedy.  We want to take over the entire world with our money power but don’t want foreign companies making entry into India.

For some reason, Indian currency became weaker against dollar and many other foreign currencies.  What did happen?  There’s an article, which claims more than $700 million worth of foreign currency came into India during this period.  These are money transferred by NRI’s living outside India.  There was also an article, which stated that Saudi Arabia thought of banning money transfer into India for a while due to the amount of money going out of Saudi Arabia.

What does above indicate?  We have so many Indians working abroad (that includes me too!), who earn money living in a foreign country.  If we are all so patriotic that we do not want foreign countries to invest in India, why do we come abroad in search of a job?  By doing that, aren’t we taking away employment opportunity from local nationals, wherever we go to work?  In what way this is right if a foreign company investing in India is wrong?

I don’t want to deviate from the topic of this blog and I am going to write my next blog about the public mentality and media’s role in diverting issues.  Many of us blindly believe what media says is 100% truth. 

So, as I drive my Nissan SUV in UAE roads and spending Dirhams as I watch the Indian currency exchange rate keenly, I also protest FDI being allowed in India…. JAI HIND !!!

I HAVE A NECK SPRAIN… THIS IS BECAUSE OF THIS NEW GOVERNMENT!!!!

I know the title of this blog would have made few to raise their eyebrows.  I won’t say the few who read my blogs would have been ‘shocked’ with this title…

We blame the Government for everything.  This is the latest trend.  This can be seen in the newspapers, TV channels, Facebook, Twitter, etc…etc…  Yes, government is responsible for everything.  We, as common public, are not responsible.  Our only responsibility is to blame the government.

Severe power cut in Tamil Nadu – It’s all because of this new Government led by AIADMK.  Wow, how short people’s memory is!!!!  Before the elections, the general consensus among people, media and critics are that DMK may lose the elections mainly because of the power cut issue right through the state.  Now, when we have electricity shortage and face power cut, we blame it on the new Government.

What would have the old Government done if there’s power shortage?  How would have they solved this problem?  As general public, I don’t care… I have already blamed the current government for this problem.  My social responsibility as a citizen is over!!!  Worst case, if this power cut problem continues, we will start a demonstration, fasting and other acts of protest against the Government till the power cut problem is solved.

Ok, Government is trying their best to avoid this power cut problem.  What’s the best solution?  Alternate sources of energy.  Government has spent crores of rupees in Koodangulam Nuclear Power project.  What we did as general citizen of this country?  We staged demonstrations, fasting and protests against the Government stating the nuclear power plant should not be started.

On one hand we oppose the government for power shortage and on the other, we also oppose the government when they try to start new power plant projects.  So, what should the Government do?  As a common citizen, here’s my answer: “I don’t care…. They should not start nuclear power plant to overcome power shortage.  At the same time, there should not be any power shortage in the country/state”.

What’s the rule as per TNEB for new power connection?  Only one connection (meter) per kitchen.  This means, if a building has two houses, you can have only 2 connections and then one connection for common utilities (viz., motor, general lights, etc.).  But what do we do?  We pay ‘something’ under the table and split our electricity connection into multiple connections so that we will not pay high tariff due to high consumption slab.  With all this, obviously TNEB will make losses.  They raise their tariff in order to cover all actual expenses, what do we do?  Stage protests, demonstrate, fasting, etc.

Whenever the new Government takes over, people tend to agitate against each and every single decision about the government.   What this beautiful media and general public forget (conveniently) is that this new government is there in power because majority of the general public voted for that party!!!!

So, we select a government – this is disputable statement – majority of us are very busy to go even for voting.  Technically, we have always had minority government.  The maximum state-wide polling is about 60% only.  So, 40% of our learned public are too lazy or too busy to participate in electoral process.

But when the government is formed, we are ready 100% to find all loopholes in the decisions taken by the government and protest against it.  This is the true “PUBLIC DEMOCRACY” !!!!

Are the politicians only the corrupt people in this society?  This is a huge topic on which I have already written a blog and in general ‘majority’ of the readers disagreed with me!

What does general public do?  Mostly (out of the 60% who takes the pain to go the polling booth to cast their votes), they vote for the party offering better ‘terms’ for the vote.  If a party is giving free laptop, free grinder, free mixer, then we will vote for them.  So, we - the general public, have started selling our votes, which is our basic democratic right.  If we vote only to the party offering us more benefits, then this is business.  The political parties who offer such things have to make more money so that they can offer better terms for the next election.  So, why blame them for being corrupt?

Due to recent heavy rains in Chennai, there was havoc in the city.  Particularly the low-lying areas were flooded completely with water.  I was watching Sun News with my early morning cup of tea.  They were showing footage from one of the areas where the local residents were complaining about lack of facilities and were stating, “Government is not doing anything”.  Whoever was lucky enough to see that footage could have seen that the road was very narrow.  There was a small sitting area (thinnai) in almost every house.  Where is this built?  On the road, outside the proper land area owned by the resident.

Earlier, the Government has brought in a rule that every house should have rainwater-harvesting facility.  What did we as common public do?  We buy 800 sq. ft. of land and build a house edge-to-edge (half the balcony will be in the adjacent property-overhanging).  We make the entire plot total concrete.  What happens where there’s heavy rain? The rainwater goes into the sewage system, which is not built to take that much load.  We do not have any soil in our plot, which can absorb the water.  Who do we blame?  The Government… Because it is their problem that the water is not cleared from the roads and our own plots as soon the rain has stopped…

Why are we not contributing something to the society and then force the Government to continue it?  Why do we need everything to be done by the Government?  We want to by-pass the system in order to pay lesser utility bill, we will vote for the party, which offers more freebies, but when it comes to Government, they have to PLEASE ALL OF US… We don’t care how they can do it and the Government also cannot expect anything from us but we need it all.

Now, after writing this blog, still my neck is not alright. I think the Government has to do something about this!

Child Labor... What is it actually???

Hello Friends,

It's been a while since I met you all here in my blog.  Finally, found some time to check a draft blog from past and decided to post it here for my friends to read, comment and criticize... :)

In the recent past, I've heard far too many people crying out loud against "Child Labor"....  They all convey their views, criticisms, opinions and demand everyone to avoid child labor.  Great thought... Will genuinely appreciate anybody who takes a step to get children into school and to educate them and better their lifestyle and future.  But will definitely not appreciate just propaganda against child labor without any action...

What's the point in protesting against a problem without solution?  There's a saying that more than 95% of people know the problem and can talk about it... But only 5% can offer a solution for the problem rather than talking about the problem itself...

Personally, I've never given much thought about child labor and have never been encouraging or discouraging it.  I realize there are child labor in this society just because of the living conditions and other social reasons. 

If we want to abolish child labor, what's that family going to do for that extra income?  How are they going to feed themselves?  Are we intending to abolish child labor and put a entire family out of streets hungry?  I don't think that's the right path or decision.

Also, increasingly I see anti-child labor slogans against the fireworks industry.  Even my nephew told me couple of years back that he will not buy crackers for Diwali anymore since there are child labor in that industry.... Good job... Good decision.

Now, let us assume we all stand united and boycott buying fireworks for Diwali and other occasions.  What will all the employees employed by these fireworks industry do for their living?  Beg on the streets?  By doing such abolition, we are not eradicating a problem called child labor... But, we are creating far more new problems like unemployment, economic slowdown (as this industry brings considerable % of foreign currency and revenue in other forms), loss of money to government through central excise and taxes, which will increase the other tax % in future, which is going to increase the burden on everybody else!!!!

Also, I do not understand targeting one specific industry like fireworks or match industry.  Many people who are against child labor in fireworks and match industry, completely forget other industries / business which employ child labor.  Some examples I could think of are below:

(A) Our friend, who boycotted buying match box and fireworks, goes to a tea shop and says "Thambi... strong-a oru tea kuduppa" to a 10 year old boy working there... Why not boycott drinking tea than ordering your tea through a child?

(B) We go to a shopping mall (or a shop) and we cannot carry our own shopping bags (this can be seen widely in big textile stores).  So, our 'thambi' working there, who could be only 12 or 14 year old will carry our bags to our car and we will generously tip him for helping us.  Why do we buy things which we cannot carry?  Why not we shout against child labor there and stop buying clothes from such shops?

(C) We ride our motorcycle and unfortunately end-up with a flat tyre... We struggle to push the two wheeler to the nearest shop.  There's a 10 year old sitting their managing the business.  We tell him "Thambi... Urgent-a puncture seri pannuppa... I have important work"... We don't mind child labor there... Why not abandon our vehicle there and go find a shop which does not employ a child?

(D) We have seen many of our friends and neighbors employing small girl or a boy as their house maid.  How many of us have protested against it?  How is that right when employing child labor by fireworks/match industry is wrong?  Why not we boycott such friends and neighbors?

Is our concern when we protest against fireworks industry and matches industry really about child labor or is it because of increasing prices of fireworks and reduced dependency on match boxes?  I honestly feel we target these industries because many of us are hurt with increasing prices every year for fireworks.  Also, I don't think many houses use match boxes anymore.  Most of the smokers use lighters and match boxes are used at home only in pooja room!!! 

In my humble opinion, above is the fact.  But honestly, I've never fought against child labor.  Because it is not the fault of the businessmen to employ young children.  It is the need the family has to run their livelihood that they send their children to work.  I believe, if we completely abolish child labor, we will end-up with far more social problems than a simple child labor problem.

As stated earlier, I don't want to be in the 95% mass of talking only about problems... I would love to be in the 5% (or at least try to work towards reaching into that 5%).  I think below are the basic steps that needs to be taken in order to avoid child labor.

- Any family sending their children to work, should be compensated by the Government for children's education and better employment opportunity (to compensate the earning of the child) to the family so that they can earn their livelihood.

- Increased access to education and other facilities right throughout the country and increased awareness and assurance to the parents that they will have access to their necessities when they send their children to school.

Above are the couple of thoughts / ideas which immediately came to my mind... These are not entirely possible by individuals and social working groups.  This needs a much better and bigger set-up like the governments themselves working towards this and funding this.

Also, this may result in little more of tax from us so that government can achieve these objectives. 

How many of us are willing to bear extra expense/tax in order to achieve this?  We all should... and then we can talk about abolishing child labor.

When Indian Government came-up with Education Cess, how many of us happily paid it?  We don't even question the government on how they are spending millions of rupees collected... Shouldn't we all start from there?

As always, I look forward to comments and criticisms from my friends.... :)

A big Thank you !!!

Thought of writing a blog today but too lazy after I finished couple of projects I was working on.  There's been a bit of gap in my blogs due to hectic travel and projects.  Also, spent some good two weeks with my family here in Dubai :)

I was so delighted to see my blog page today and realize I've hit the 4 digits on readership!!! Yes, more than 1,000 reads as of today morning.

I am glad people do read my blog so much and also appreciate all the comments, feedback and criticism....

You guys encourage me to write more (this is official warning!!!!).  Don't blame me later that I didn't warn you.... :)

Again I will take this opportunity to thank few of my regular followers - Anu, Sangeetha (my official Ko Pa Se), Sriram and the recent addition to my readers list Jana... :)  You guys make the difference!

Thanks again for your interest in my blog....

Will be back soon with my blog (quite a few topics are already written half-way!).

Love and peace to all,
SK

CHARITY - Should we publicize???

My friend Sangeetha wrote a blog about this last month.  This blog can be viewed at: http://www.sangeethaarunachalam.com/?p=439

However, my views on charity is totally different.  I don’t think anybody should be publicizing about his or her charity work until and unless you want the entire world to praise you about what you have done.

In my opinion, the above applies only to individuals.  I am not saying trusts and other charitable organizations should keep a low profile.  These trusts and other charitable organizations are started with a vision to help the needy by collecting as much contribution as they can and hence requires publicity.

Jai Sarathy, Sangeetha and other younger generation people have started a trust called Manasika Foundation in Chennai.  They have their Facebook page and are doing whatever they can to help orphan children.

But as an individual, if I have to tell what all charity work I’ve done, then it is like I’m seeking some form of publicity from what I’ve done.  If that’s the case, then I won’t call the money given away as “charity” but rather would call it as “publicity expenses”!!!!!  

If our aim is to have publicity, why give money to some needy people, take photograph and publicize their inabilities and their need for money also along with our good publicity?  Just go ahead print posters, banners and stick it on every compound wall in your city… That will help I guess!

What is Charity?  As per Wikipedia, it is defined as the practice of benevolent giving and caring.   The term charity is derived from Jewish word Tzedakah, which is the Jewish concept of giving to worthy causes or people in need.

Now, what is worthy cause to you may not be worthy cause for me.   If I read about somebody doing a charity work and I feel it is not necessary to develop such things and encourage by giving charity, I get furious… Even though I don’t comment most of the times, I start to hate people offering and seeking charity for such acts.  By this publicity, actually sometimes we may all lose interest in charity and that’s one of the principle reason, I believe we should donate, help and contribute towards charity whichever we feel like doing without any publicity.

Why do we engage ourselves in charity activities?  For me personally, it’s for self-satisfaction.  A peace of mind when I know I’ve helped in some way to people who are in need.  If charity is for inner peace and self-satisfaction, why do we need to publicize it?

Charity takes many forms… Helping a beggar (disabled) on the road, giving money for school fees to needy parents in order to educate their children, giving books to children in need, helping orphanages to provide proper food, shelter and education to kids, etc.…etc.…

For many people, donations given to temples are also considered as charity.  In my opinion, whatever we do for a temple does not fall under the category charity.  If we donate money specifically for a free food scheme or education scheme of a temple or other religious institutions, then it can be called charity, as we know the money is used only for that purpose.  However, the money we put in the “hundi” of many temples cannot be called charity.  Most of the temples use such money for various other purposes (including complete golden karpagraham at Tirupati temple and other temple related works).

I am not against we offering money to temple or other religious institutions.  My point is that it cannot be called charity.   Such offerings to temples and other religious institutions take a total different aspect called religion and I’m not willing to dwell into that topic (at least for now).

So, bottom line, I don’t think we should be publicizing our charity works until and unless our only aim to do such things are for publicity.

Any comments, feedback, criticism from my friends?

Marriages..... My own view

Friends, after a long break, I am back to blogging... Been hectic couple of weeks (or more... I lost count) on the work front.  Last one week, my family is also here in Dubai and been very busy with them and having lot of fun.... :)

Thought I will write this blog as reply to my friend Sangeetha's blog about marriages.  Visit this link to read Sangeetha's views on marriages:  

http://www.sangeethaarunachalam.com/?p=414

In my opinion, marriages are a social event where you get to see and mingle with lots of friends and family members whom you may not have a chance to meet frequently.  So, the event should be memorable for all good reasons.

Apart from that, the way the marriage is conducted, amount of money spent, etc. depends on every individual's capability and their wishes.

I took care of all arrangements for my niece's wedding.  Wanted to make it a grand event and I think I've succeeded to a great extent.  Was involved in every aspect of marriage arrangement to ensure there's no room for any complaint from anybody.

Since I'm in logistics business and know what it takes to spoil a grand event, I ensured to get involved in all the details.  When the caterer {God bless him... When I wanted clouds, he was aiming for heaven and beyond !!!! :) } started explaining me the menu for the entire event, I started showing off my experience in food service industry.  Instead of regular juice or anything else, I told him we need to serve tender coconut juice (ilaneer) during the marriage.  The concept looks simple but I know it is very difficult to arrange tender coconut juice for about 1,000 people without it getting spoiled.

Result??? Everyone who attended the marriage appreciated it.  I even heard comments from some elders stating "in so many marriages I have attended so far, this is the first marriage I've seen tender coconut juice being served"... That satisfaction and remark gave me and the catering team a big boost.... :)

Similarly, a lot of other arrangements... I can keep writing but as usual didn't want to brag about things I could do and done... :)

My bottom line opinion is that spend all you can on marriages to make everyone happy.  After all it's once in a life time occasion for both bride and the groom....

As Sangeetha rightly said in her blog about marriages, the only thing many of us remember after some years about a marriage is the food... There's nothing else which matters.

About all other things listed by Sangeetha (I'm not going to list them here and make this blog look like a duplicate of that blog), it all depends on every individual.  If the bride and/or groom are not comfortable with few things, just leave it be. 

I think I've posted my opinions on this and as usual, look forward to comments / feedback and criticism from my friends.... Feel like I'm losing touch in writing blogs after this gap...

Will continue to write on other topics which I have penned down during this break.

See you all in my next blog....

What is Passion???

Friends,

As I am busy finishing up two projects, I did not have any time to write blogs even though I have a lot of requests on topics and I have few things already in mind after reading couple of blogs by Sangeetha...

Will definitely write my next blog soon.  This 'soon' is going to be around mid July, since I will be on travel in USA from Saturday.

In the meantime, I saw my daughter, Abinaya, writing below in her Facebook.  Thought I will share this with you all here....

Good job Abi... Kudos to you! :)

********* PASSION - Written by Abinaya Kannan ************

It’s a word with a profound meaning. Passion is a compelling or powerful emotion or feeling. It’s a feeling that drives you crazy. It could be about anything. You could be passionate about writing, dancing, singing or even, programming!

Passion is a feeling that drives life. It moves us forward towards our goal, keeps us focused, helps overcome obstacles and feel contended and happy with life.

But, in today’s world, money and opportunity has replaced passion. Passion does not only need to be in your hobbies. It should be a part of your everyday life, the job that you do, and the course that you study. There is always that one thing that makes our heart throb with happiness and we are always eager to do something in it. That should our path of life. Fine arts do not need to be a hobby only. This is a misconception. Dancing, singing, writing, etc. can very well be career choices in our life. You might not end up like Asha Bhosle, Yamini Krishnamurthy or John Grisham, but the happiness derived out of pursuing something close to your heart is exponential.

If your passion lies in cars and you are not sure if there is a future ahead in that field, go ahead study a course about automobiles and pursue a career in it. Life is not about money alone. It is about doing things that make you happy. Ambition and passion are words with more profound meanings than money.

My mom and I have frequent arguments on this topic. Whenever anybody happens to tell my mom about the limited scope in Aeronautical Engineering, my mom hypes up and asks me why I had to take up that course. When I happen to tell my mom the passion and interest I have in that field, my mom immediately retaliates about how money is more important. She tells me how I cannot fulfill my demands without it. Yes, I completely agree with you, mom. But, can money buy me passion? Can it alone make me happy?

The richest people in the world are not happy ONLY because they are rich, they are happy because they listened to their hearts. They pursued their passion or put in passion in whatever they had to do. When you look back at life, it’s not money or property that’s going to make you smile. It’s what you did with your life that’ll make you beam, cause only then will you have lived a life with no regrets!
Money is a by-product of our hard work, passion and all the time we invested in something. Money alone should not make you happy, the work out of which you gained money should make you happy!
In short, all I’m saying is pursue you passion.

"There are many things in life that will catch your eye, but only a few will catch your heart."
- Ben Crenshaw

Now.. That’s what PASSION is about. :)

This is just my opinion. Please feel free to comment about yours.

Technology – Boon or curse??

No doubt the technology world is improving every day.  We have new inventions on almost daily basis.  The human race is running to invent new things as if there’s no tomorrow.

Is all these technologies are really a boon in our life or is it a curse where in we have lost good personal time?

Till about 1996, cell phones were very rare commodity.  Today, how many are there in the world without a cell phone?   I still distinctly remember – In 1996, I visited the GITEX exhibition (world’s second largest computer/IT exhibition) in Dubai and was carrying my office cell phone.  Our office (with about 100 employees at that time) had only one cell phone and whoever needed it to carry with them for official reason should get approval from management and do so.  Many people in the exhibition hall were very impressed that I had a cell phone (huge Motorola phone with huge antenna).

But today, many people have 3 or 4 cell phones along with other accessories (like iPad, iPod, etc.).  How much have we personally gained from these technological advancements?

Weren’t we happy when we had no cell phones and we did not carry work home?  Once you leave the office, that’s the end of workday.  But in today’s environment, almost every one of us works 24/7.  What you call this?  Advancement or technology eating away our personal time?

There was a time when I worked almost 24/7. Thanks to Blackberry and all other gadgets, which never allowed me to think outside of office issues.  But now, I’ve made a conscious decision of not checking my mails after I walk out of office or when I’m in a party or something.  But still the habit keeps creeping back up when I want to check my office mails.

Trust me, I am not against inventions and not against technology being used in modern day activities.  But, why should we use technology by compromising some of the pleasures of life?

Assume we are playing with our children and they start to tell a story or trying to tell what they did during day, the phone rings?  Why should we stop the child and upset the child to take an official call?  Why not we be like our previous generation, where the work ended at office and they had time to spend with us?

With this technological advancement, now lot of gadgets are much more affordable.  Good thing that we can use and enjoy the technology.  But what has happened in the end?  We buy gaming consoles, cell phones and computers with Internet access to our children also.  How many of current generation children play outdoor sports?  Their idea of weekend is becoming glued to computer screens, playing video games, online games, browsing the net, etc.  Is this healthy development?

I believe that we as parents should ensure proper control so that the children are not spoilt with technology and forget some good things they can enjoy as children (which many of us enjoyed during our childhood days).  Relate this to the blog I posted earlier titled “how much to load on our children”.  Read the comments I’ve received on that blog.  Many of us are guilty of not checking with our children on what they wanted to do. 

Above statement is becoming true due to the fact that we are becoming slaves of technology and have no time for family, fun, etc. like we used to do in the past.  Due to this, we make children feel better by giving them the gadgets… Is it good?

I asked my younger daughter just before her 3^rd birthday about what gift she wants for her birthday.  She said “I need mobile with camera”… Good to know that technology has reached a 3 year old.  But when we were 3 year old, the maximum we would have asked is for “dress, chocolate, sweets, etc.”… Not a mobile phone with camera.

Another problem I see with technology getting better and better is that we do not want to remember many things like we used to do.  I used to remember at least about 50 telephone numbers related to my work, personal, etc.  But today, I can hardly remember about 10 numbers since I can easily dial them by going into “contacts” in my phone.  So, we are getting lazy with the technology getting advanced and we getting addicted to it.

I am not saying everybody is guilty of this.  But many of us are…

How many of us write using the good old technique of paper and pen?  We type SMS, email, etc. and have almost forgotten the art of letter writing.  How many of us write letters anymore?  I am not even sure if post offices in India sell post cards or inland letters anymore.  While writing this, I am thinking if my daughter knows what or how inland letters look like. 

One thing I ensure in my office during my training sessions is that everybody has to write notes.  Also, to test the knowledge of my team, I give them tests and I want them to write answer sheets so that nobody goes out of touch with writing.  Look at the way we write nowadays, thanks to SMS and other short versions: “Can u come b4 7?”, “gr8 to meet u”.  What happened to our writing?  Has technology made us more lazy and lesser competent in the language skills?

This slavery to technology is a vicious cycle.  Very close resemblance to my blog regarding “wants and needs”.  We need to draw a line and stay within the line so that we enjoy best of both worlds.  Nobody can judge how much technology the other person needs to conduct his life.  We should be our own judges.

From today, I am going to seriously look into the technology I am using and see how else I can overcome that by going back into old methods what our ancestors used.  If I succeed in anything, I will share my experience in the blog.

If I do not succeed, after all I am a person living in 21^st century!!! :)

Any thoughts from my friends on this?

My life in transition

 This is another writing from my daughter Abinaya Kannan.  Since she has written it well, thought I will publish this in my blog...


Kudos to you Abi... Well written (both the articles).... :)




************* 
My life is in transition.  I’m moving towards a new phase in my life.

I’ve graduated high school & am going to step into college. I’m going to get rid of this ‘TEENAGER’ tag, as I’m almost 18. A young adult.

I’ve crossed many phases with different emotions. I’ve moved on from an infant to a baby, baby to a child, child to a teen & now, am moving forward in life. Though I am not aware of all the emotions, I can feel what the transition phase is putting me through.

Right now, I am uncertain about the future, confused, got my heart set at my goal & waiting to push through all that life has to offer me.

Transition is a part of life & with it comes adapting to the new ‘you’. Being a teenager gave me a greater sense of freedom & independence. It also brought in me the want to enjoy life & a sense of a little carefree nature. My parents molded me to the person I am today. Now, it’s my turn to mold my life to the form I want it.

Stepping into college makes me feel like I’m responsible for my life. It makes me more ambitious, assertive, independent & invokes in me the attitude to excel. College might be the place to have fun, as rules are broken & classes bunked. But it is also the place that will shape the future. It is what I do here that will determine how I will be decades down the line.

I didn’t achieve what I am capable of for the past two years. And right now, I’m glad I didn’t, as I have a greater urge to excel. I should be thankful that I have parents who will go to any extent to get me what I wish for. I’ve learned a lot over the past two years. When you’re easy on life, it gets infinitely harder on you. The path of life should be in your hands. Yes, be a path breaker.

I don’t know if this is what every teenager goes through when they’re entering college. I don’t know whether they enter with dreams to achieve. I don’t know if temptations take the better of them or whether their will power isn’t strong enough. But I just know what I am made of. I know where I want to be a decade down the line. I know that I listen to my heart more than my mind. If my heart lies in doing something, I know it’s close to me having achieved it!

It’s difficult for me to set my heart & mind into doing something, to tune into the essence of my life. But, only when a bee sucks a flower, there is pollen, nectar & finally, sweet honey. Only when life grinds you, your true capabilities are shown and life ends up being sweet honey.

Coming back to my life, I know that I’ve wanted to do Aeronautical Engineering, since I knew to dream. I’ve always had a knot in my stomach (in a good way!), a wide-open mouth, glittering eyes, a child’s fascination and a zap into the future, every time I’ve seen an aircraft. I’ve imagined myself in the cockpit, in charge of the beautiful machine, an instrument in my hands. Now’s the chance for me to achieve what I want.

Yes, my life is in transition, but I’m more confident about making this transition the best that has happened to me. A lot of my friends are getting into college & I hope they have the brightest future possible!

After all, it’s your life. You can make it or break it. Make it phase of your life favor you! 

What is Life???? A 17 year old's perspective

Friends... Over the weekend (I am in Dubai so Friday and Saturday are the weekends) I was thinking about few things to share in this blog.  Came online to check the status of my blog, visitors, comments, etc. and then to start writing.


Was pleasantly surprised to see that my daughter, Abinaya Kannan, have written an essay (sort of) in her Facebook and tagged me in that.  Read the essay and thought I will just share it here instead of me writing anything.


What you see below is as written by her (except few corrections by me for typo).  


*********** LIFE - By Abinaya Kannan ***************


Life's a beautiful gift from the Almighty. It has to be lived to it's fullest worth. Each person has the right to live life the way they want to, but always remember to live without regrets. Because twenty years from now, you'll be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than the things that you did. So, EXPLORE. DREAM. DISCOVER.

There are no mistakes in life, only lessons. Always love yourself, trust your choice & EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE. To accomplish great things in life, we must not only ACT, but also DREAM, not only PLAN, but also BELIEVE.
Never be afraid to cry. Your tears are only warm drops of light that remind you how to feel. Do not be afraid to laugh, for that is the sound of a world that cares. Do not be afraid to care. It is only by caring that you do what must be done. Never ever be afraid to STAND OUT.

There are many ways to live life. You can fall in love or fall in hate, you can get depressed or you can get inspired. You can ace a test or flunk a class. You can speak the truth or lie & cheat. You can dance on the tables or sit in a corner. Life is divine chaos. EMBRACE IT. FORGIVE YOURSELF. Breathe.. And enjoy the ride. The choice is yours.

I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will even forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. MAKE PEOPLE FEEL LOVED. Let them know that they are cared for & that they are special. Cause sometimes, all that a person needs is a hand to hold & a heart to understand. :)
Life lives, Life dies. Life laughs, Life cries. Life gives up & Life tries. All I'm trying to say is that life looks different through everyone's eyes. So, NEVER UNDERESTIMATE the potential in a person. Let everyone live life to the best of their capabilities.

Learn from failures. Always keep trying, for the greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. Make mistakes, but always remember that FAILURE IS AN EVENT & IT IS NOT YOU.
I've loved my life, I've lived it, I've lied, I've hurt people, I've lost & gained, I've trusted, I've been betrayed.. Yes, I've made mistakes. Most of all, I'VE LEARNED FROM MY MISTAKES.

I believe that everything happens for a reason. But then, I can't find the reason in some cases. At such times, I just tell myself that what's done is done. YOU HAVE TO MOVE FORWARD IN LIFE. You can't keep looking back. After all, it's just a chapter in the past. But don't close the book, just turn the page.

NEVER COMPLAIN ABOUT TROUBLES. For they are not troubles, but CHALLENGES. Challenges are what makes life interesting. And it is only overcoming them that makes life meaningful. So, face challenges, show it what you’re made of!

Learn to be contended with what you have, but NEVER STOP DREAMING. There is nothing wrong with wanting more.
Sometimes in life, you do not get what you want & you get things that you can't believe to possess. LIFE IS FULL OF SURPRISES. You never know how much you'll miss something, until you lose it. So, hold on to your loved ones & things that are important to you.

Never predict your future. Just CREATE IT.

In this world, you can be anybody. You can be a Marilyn Monroe, a Mother Teresa, a Mukesh Ambani, a Ratan Tata, a Sachin Tendulkar.. But why be somebody else, when you can BE YOURSELF? Be a first rate version of yourself, not a second rate version of somebody else!

Want to know how to be yourself, if your not accepted as you?  Be who you are & say what you feel, because THOSE WHO MIND DON'T MATTER & THOSE WHO MATTER DON'T MIND.

We are who we are for a lot of reasons, & maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can feel good about them. ♥

Some pursue happiness while others create it. Belong to the latter & SHARE YOUR JOY with others!
ALWAYS CHOOSE.. to live by choice, not chance; to make changes, not excuses; to be motivated, not manipulated; to be useful, not used; to excel & not compete. Always choose to have self-esteem & not self-pity. CHOOSE TO LISTEN TO YOUR INNER VOICE and not the random opinions of others.

You have THREE CHOICES: give in, give up or GIVE IT YOUR ALL.

Life is never easy; it isn't about finding who you are, but CREATING WHO YOU WANT TO BE. The most important things in life aren't things. You are more important than them. Make the important a PRIORITY in your life & not an option. Every story has an end; but in life, there are no ends. Just beginnings.

Sometimes in life, you have to hit the lowest point of being sad, where you can't take it anymore & you completely lose yourself, to get back on your feet again. Without fear, there would be no accomplishment & no testing our limitations. FACE FEAR & THE FEAR WILL VANISH.

Don't dwell on the past. Your history can't be erased, but your future is yet to be written. MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN, instead of worrying about what you can't change. Don't waste your time being sad, because your wasting away moments in which you could BE HAPPY.

Always LIVE LIFE, A DAY AT A TIME. Do not grieve over the past for it has gone; & do not be troubled about the future, for it has not yet come. LIVE IN THE PRESENT and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering.

NEVER BE AFRAID TO TAKE CHANCES. Life is about trusting our feelings & taking chances, losing & finding happiness, appreciating memories & learning from the past. In life, it doesn't matter how long you take to get where you want, as long as you get there.

The purpose of life is to live it, to TASTE EXPERIENCE to the utmost, to reach out eagerly & without fear for newer & richer experiences. Always remember that who you are is more important than what you look like. The beauty inside will never equal the made-up beauty outside. FEEL BEAUTIFUL and you will eventually end up looking beautiful. :)
If life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, brood or be sad, show life that you have a thousand reasons to SMILE.

I'd like to end by saying that life comes with no guarantee, no time outs & no second chance. You just have to LIVE life to the fullest, LAUGH as much as you can, spend money, tell someone what they mean to you, tell someone off, speak out, DANCE in the pouring rain, HOLD someone's hand, comfort a FRIEND, have fun, fall asleep watching the sun come up, stay up late, SMILE until your face hurts, don't be AFRAID to take chances or fall in LOVE and most of all, live in the moment, cause when you look back someday, knowing you have NO REGRETS, it's going to be that what's going to make you smile! :) 

******************

Wants and Needs

What is “want” and what is “need”? Many of us (that includes me as well) seem to have confusion between the wants and the needs.

For me personally, I would classify “want” and “need” as below:

WANT – Something we want to have but not necessary to have.  For example, I have a normal TV at home but I want a nice 100” plasma or LCD TV.  It is not required that I should have it for having to conduct my routine life.

NEED – Something I definitely need in my day-to-day life.  For example, like a large family we are, we need good amount of furniture in our living room as against very simple couple of chairs.  This is a need as we spend a lot of time with friends and relatives in the living room and it should be comfortable for both the guests and the hosts.

Lot of us, most of the time, confuse ourselves between wants and needs and end-up spending a lot of money on things that we do not need.

When we get ourselves confused between wants and needs, that’s a thin line between being ‘needy’ and ‘greedy’ and in many cases, we have the greed factor settling in.  My personal line about greed is “greed takes you to grave”…

I look at my own stuff quite regularly to see where I did misunderstand ‘want’ as ‘need’.  I have so many gadgets and others items with me, which are not used by me regularly.  At some stage I thought I NEED them but it was really a ‘want’ and I ended up buying, which was of no or very little use after some time.  A classic example many of us can relate to ourselves will be mobile phones.  When we see some new make/model, we feel we need it and end up buying the phone, which in essence is of same use as our previous phone.

At some stage, as a human being, if we want something and keep thinking about it, in our mind it becomes we ‘need’ it… So, if we can’t afford, we may end-up buying it on credit card or we may end up working a lot more than normal in order to earn money so that we can afford what we ‘want’…

Before we let our mind thinking something we ‘want’ as we ‘need’ it, why not analyze and decide whether we really need it or is it just another item we want which may or may not be really useful to us?

For people who are fortunate to have a lot of wealth to spend on, these do not apply.  The lifestyle itself becomes different for people who are rich… So, having more than one car is a need for them.  We are talking here only about average middle class family (which is the larger society in India).

Recently I was talking with a friend about this and she gave me an example.  A friend of her works so that she can earn more money and support her husband and live a little comfortable life.  I was told that she earns about $2,500 per month.  But the money she spends on babysitting to take care of her kid and the play school she has to put the school since she cannot be with the kid was around $2,000 a month.

With above being said, why should she work?  If she’s spending $2,000 out of her $2,500 on taking care of kid, she will definitely have more expenses to take care of few needs she will have as a working woman (e.g., nice dress to be presentable, some conveyance needs, occasional eating-out expenses, etc.).  Probably, the additional $500 she has with her is not enough to meet these expenses.

Now, if we talk to her, she may say, “nice dress, nice shoes, baby sitting, play school” are all needs for which she is working.  So, as a human being we all tend to forget why we have some “needs” for which we are struggling to make the ends meet.

I started updating this blog after my recent conversation with a friend (with above example).  But currently we see so many people in many metros of India who are confused between ‘need’ and ‘want’ and struggle to make ends meet.

Having a car (Maruti is no longer the style… We need Honda, Toyota or some other foreign name), having a good big apartment/house, outing every weekend – including parties at pubs/bars, are all becoming ‘needs’ which were not needs till sometime ago.

Also, I believe the concept of ‘want’ and ‘need’ changes depending on the generations.  What our parents wanted has become need for us and probably our children will ‘need’ what we ‘want’ today.

Just because we have created some ‘needs’, we are all under stress to make more money and then run around… By the time we decide it is time to ‘call it quits’ and retire, we may realize all our life we have been running around making money (which never seems to be enough) to have various things that we may or may not need.  Is it really fair for us to run around so much to make more money to buy things, which we do not require?  Why not enjoy life and be content with what we have?

Also, our confusion between want and need are not just materialistic… This want and need can also be intangible between two individuals’ relationship.

 

Any thought processes from my friends on this?

How much to load on our children?

I thought we will share my views a little more about what we do with our children...

I know many parents who want their children to excel in almost every field.  I will not blame any of us as parents to have that dream...  After all, we want our children to be successful in their life.  But, to achieve this why we force so many things on children?

What is extra-curricular activities?  I went to Wikipedia for definition of extra-curricular activities and this is what it is:

Extracurricular activities are activities performed by students that fall outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school or university education. 

Such activities are generally voluntary as opposed to mandatory, non-paying, social, philanthropic as opposed to scholastic, and often involve others of the same age.  

When I was a student, for us extra-curricular activities meant no class, no study, just go out and play.... I played soccer, cricket or any other sport depending on which part of the ground was empty or less crowded...

I have seen quite a few students whose entire day time is packed with various activities including their school and the burden of home work which comes with it.

We all want our children to play cricket and become like Sachin Tendulkar or Kapil Dev. 

We all want our children to learn abacus and other math techniques and become like Sagunthala Devi or Ramanujam.

We all want our children to learn music (vocal, instrument, etc..) and become like Ilayaraja, A R Rahman, SPB, etc.

We all want our children to learn dancing and become like another Padma Subramaniam or our kids starting their own Kalakshetra.

We all want our children to attend drawing classes in the hope one day they will become like M F Hussain (God rest his soul in peace).

Trust me, I am not against dreams of our kids becoming one of these great achievers.  Personally, I myself a big dreamer (gotta blame it on my sun sign !!!!).

But most of the time we decide the extra-curricular courses for our children.  We never ask them what they want to do.

My view on this is that why spend so much time on a these classes and training and pack our children with such a tight schedule when they may not choose any of these as their professional career when they grow up?

Rather, why not leave them (like the good old days when I grew up) to study and play whatever they want with other kids?  Once they grow old enough to think on their own, they can decide on what they want to become in life and then we, as parents, help them get trained on it.   I think this is better than packing them up with so many things in their young age.

My wife always wanted to put our kids in some sort of class (music, dance, painting, etc...) but I made it a point with her and convinced her to ask my kids what they wanted...  I have two lovely daughters who are as confused as me I guess... :)  My elder daughter started going to drawing class for a while and then decided she didn't like it... Decided to take up music (keyboard) and spent quite a bit of time and did well to go through few exams successfully.  Once she entered 10th grade, now that keyboard is just a 'space occupier' in my living room.

My younger one is I think far better in her thinking... All she wants to become is a teacher in life and practices it on her own at home everyday!!!!!  Can't blame a 4 year old who is so independent!!  Now, my worry is she is also following the path of her sister... Started going to drawing class.... This is DeJa Vu for me.... !!! :)  I don't want to end-up buying another piece of music instrument to occupy my living room!

Again, I don't want to waste my readers' time by telling them my stories....

My point is, why not let our children be free and choose what they want?  As parents why not we just assist and advice them in making right choices.  My idea is leave it to the kids and let them choose the line they want to excel in and then as parents let us support them to succeed there...

Any thoughts from my friends?