Wishing you all my readers a very Happy, Peaceful, Prosperous and Eventful New Year 2012!!
There can't be a better start to this New Year than reading these lines below:
"We will open the book.
Its pages are blank.
We are going to put words on them ourselves.
The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day"
- Edith Love-joy Pierce
"You are what your deep, driving desire is.
As your desire is, so is your will.
As your will is, so is your deed.
As your deed is, so is your destiny"
- BRIHADARANYAKA UPANISHAD IV.4.5
My opinions on many things this life offers changes very frequently.. some call it flexibility some call it fickle-mindedness.. but that is what I am!!
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Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Showing posts with label General. Show all posts
Mobile Number Portability
Mobile Number Portability is finally in India. It has delayed by a good 2 years from the originally planned date of launch. True Indian style!!
To know how to port your number to a new service provider, please click on the link below.
http://www.moneylife.in/article/78/13298.html
To know how to port your number to a new service provider, please click on the link below.
http://www.moneylife.in/article/78/13298.html
Happy New Year 2011
Happy New Year to one and all you visits this blog!! As usual this new year as well brought along with itself variety of greetings. Out of that, I have picked out couple of quotes, which I liked very much:
May this Year 2011 be
A Year of Health and Happiness,
A Year of Wealth and Wisdom,
A Year of Peace and Prosperity,
A Year of Glee and Glow,
A Year of Love and Laughter!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!!!
(Thanks Anand Krishnamurthy and Step 2 Fitness Studio)
“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every New Year find you a better man". - Benjamin Franklin
May this Year 2011 be
A Year of Health and Happiness,
A Year of Wealth and Wisdom,
A Year of Peace and Prosperity,
A Year of Glee and Glow,
A Year of Love and Laughter!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR 2011!!!
(Thanks Anand Krishnamurthy and Step 2 Fitness Studio)
“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every New Year find you a better man". - Benjamin Franklin
(Thanks, Rajesh Renganathan for sending this across)
Google URL shortener
Never realised that there is a google tool called "URL shortener". You can access it from http://www.goo.gl/.
It is a simple way to shorten the URL, very useful for the twitter crowd.
For example, this blog's short form is http://goo.gl/B85qD
It is a simple way to shorten the URL, very useful for the twitter crowd.
For example, this blog's short form is http://goo.gl/B85qD
Random Thoughts on few personalities!
# Jyothika and Surya were blessed with their second child, their son, named Dev. First is a daughter named Diya. Two typical North Indian names, gives you a hint whose diktat rules in the family. "Thatha" Sivakumar talks about "Kambaramayanam" and the beauty of Tamil for hours!
# Naresh Gupta, retired as Chief Election Officer of Tamilnadu on July 31 after 8 years in the post. He was a simple, honest and upright officer and never gave-in to the Chief Ministers of the day. Karunanidhi even commented that Naresh Gupta hasn't met him after he took over as Chief Minister in 2006. But the reply from Naresh Gupta was that he is holding a Constitutional Post and he needn't go and meet the Chief Minister. Requires lot of guts to say that! Poor man, should get his PF and retirement benefits correctly.
# Umashankar, another IAS officer known from his integrity is being hounded by the present day Tamilnadu Government. Guess for what, for going against the wishes of the Government. Once a blue-eyed boy of the CM Karunanidhi, he is currently suspended and fighting it out in the Central Administrative Tribunal. Lucky, he has got spontaneous support from various quarters including the all powerful his caste based parties. Learn that there is also a big resentment among the IAS lobby becos they are apprehensive what fate is in store for them if you don't toe the politicians line. Lets see who wins this one!
# M K Stalin, what is the secret of his youthfulness? He let it out in one interview when he said "that he starts eating when he is hungry and finishes his meal when he is still hungry". I think thats a good habit to follow. Eat only 3/4 of the stomach. You can become another Stalin - like person!
# Naresh Gupta, retired as Chief Election Officer of Tamilnadu on July 31 after 8 years in the post. He was a simple, honest and upright officer and never gave-in to the Chief Ministers of the day. Karunanidhi even commented that Naresh Gupta hasn't met him after he took over as Chief Minister in 2006. But the reply from Naresh Gupta was that he is holding a Constitutional Post and he needn't go and meet the Chief Minister. Requires lot of guts to say that! Poor man, should get his PF and retirement benefits correctly.
# Umashankar, another IAS officer known from his integrity is being hounded by the present day Tamilnadu Government. Guess for what, for going against the wishes of the Government. Once a blue-eyed boy of the CM Karunanidhi, he is currently suspended and fighting it out in the Central Administrative Tribunal. Lucky, he has got spontaneous support from various quarters including the all powerful his caste based parties. Learn that there is also a big resentment among the IAS lobby becos they are apprehensive what fate is in store for them if you don't toe the politicians line. Lets see who wins this one!
# M K Stalin, what is the secret of his youthfulness? He let it out in one interview when he said "that he starts eating when he is hungry and finishes his meal when he is still hungry". I think thats a good habit to follow. Eat only 3/4 of the stomach. You can become another Stalin - like person!
I had a makeover!!
That is, blog had a makeover!! It has been long time since I did any changes to the blog layout and design. May be, for more than a year now. Blogger has been making available lot of new tools and design templates, but I was very lazy to look at it and adapt it to the blog. Today when I opened the blog, I saw the pop-ups from the blogger telling me about the new templates and instinctively I picked one, which has a high element of sky blue. I love this colour "sky blue" and for you to know that at one point had almost all my formal shirts in this colour. You can now imagine the fondness of this colour to me. It is a different story that it lead to domestic troubles!! I still carry a soft corner for this colour and tend to pick clothes which has shades of blue.
In addition to the change in the layout, I have also added a "Reactions" button where the reader can mark his reaction to the post like "WOW/Okay/Boring". I would rather prefer something like "Very Useful/Informative/Useless". But let me start with what is available readily.
Hope you enjoy the new layout and it is easy on the eyes as well. Please post your comments and mark your reactions to the post.
PS: You can mark reactions even to the old post, so please go ahead and trash all my past posts as well!!
In addition to the change in the layout, I have also added a "Reactions" button where the reader can mark his reaction to the post like "WOW/Okay/Boring". I would rather prefer something like "Very Useful/Informative/Useless". But let me start with what is available readily.
Hope you enjoy the new layout and it is easy on the eyes as well. Please post your comments and mark your reactions to the post.
PS: You can mark reactions even to the old post, so please go ahead and trash all my past posts as well!!
They ask for the moon!!
I was engaging the services of water proofing guy to plug the holes on the window frames. It has been 6 years now that we are enduring the pain of water leakage during rainy season, thanks to the brilliant idea of our builder of not having sun shades for windows. Asthetic sense, he claims, but it is we, (ok, ok, my wife) who swipes the floor after every rain??
Thought of atleast stopping the seepage through the window sill by doing some water proofing. Guess what? He asked for Rs13K for a day's work. He brought in two assistants who did all the scrubbing work for 3 hours and after that they applied the "magic german" chemical which they promise would stop the water leaking through the window. We have done it now and literally waiting for the next rain to check if there is water leak or not.
Looking at the amount of money he has taken, I am not expecting a single drop of water to come in. Else, he is going to have it. At any level, Rs13K for a day's job is little too high but that is the cost you pay for the "technical" work they do. I would not say there was any kind of technical work involved in the whole process.
I am looking at my house maid, who sweeps, swipes, cleans utensils, washes clothes and at the end of the month gets paid Rs700. What a disparity?!
Thought of atleast stopping the seepage through the window sill by doing some water proofing. Guess what? He asked for Rs13K for a day's work. He brought in two assistants who did all the scrubbing work for 3 hours and after that they applied the "magic german" chemical which they promise would stop the water leaking through the window. We have done it now and literally waiting for the next rain to check if there is water leak or not.
Looking at the amount of money he has taken, I am not expecting a single drop of water to come in. Else, he is going to have it. At any level, Rs13K for a day's job is little too high but that is the cost you pay for the "technical" work they do. I would not say there was any kind of technical work involved in the whole process.
I am looking at my house maid, who sweeps, swipes, cleans utensils, washes clothes and at the end of the month gets paid Rs700. What a disparity?!
Facebook is killing my blog posts!
I think with the increasing usage of short messaging like Facebook where you update status on a regular basis, I think my blog writing is taking a toll. I have managed to post a blog post once a week only in the last 2 months or so. Previously, I used to write even more regularly.
What is in my mind, I update it in the form of a facebook status update and then the desire to write a post for the blog is gone. I think I should write more often and I would make it a point in the coming days.
What is in my mind, I update it in the form of a facebook status update and then the desire to write a post for the blog is gone. I think I should write more often and I would make it a point in the coming days.
Tamizh Chemmozhi Conference - will it awaken the "Learn Tamizh" movement!!
The TN Government is conducting a five day conference in Coimbatore on the occasion of Tamizh being conferred the "classical" (chemmozhi) status by the Central Government. Tamizh, no doubt, is a great language and as a Tamizhan I can't stress it more. I am no Tamizh Scholar but I can read, write and speak Tamizh, which itself is considered a significant achievement these days!! If you can read and write your mother tongue, it is a great thing!!!
But the saddest thing which has befallen on the language is the fact that a good portion of the current young generation hasn't learnt the language over the last 20 years or so. Particularly in the urban areas, many have switched to Hindi/Sanskrit/French as their second language instead of Tamizh. I would be the happiest person if this conference can awaken the spirits of my fellow Tamilians to learn this language and the Government takes some effort in promoting Tamizh as a medium of education. It is a long way to go to achieve that since most of the recent developments in all the fields like medicine, engineering, business or commerce has not been made available in Tamizh. Conscious and concerted efforts needs to be made to bring these developments into Tamizh to enable the language to survive in the years ahead.
Even for youngsters who have opted for other languages in School, parents should make it a point to teach them to read and write Tamizh. They should be encouraged to read Tamizh magazines and story books to improve their reading ability. I think the complete discontinuance of the habit of writing letters is one of the main reasons for me not writing in Tamizh. With the internet taking over communication and Tamizh being largely absent in the initial days, I have completely stopped writing in Tamizh. But I still think in Tamizh.. that can't be changed. But not sure in which language my son would think as he is among the one who has opted for Hindi!!
One of the suggestions made by Suba.Veerapandian, while speaking at the Tamizh Chemmozhi Conference was that Tamilians should sign in their mother tongue. I found it interesting to do it and willing to change my signature to Tamizh. But it would help in developing the language, I guess not. It is more of a symbolic gesture rather than anything else.
The CM is expected to make grand announcements at the conference on Sunday and lets see how it is going to help Tamizh grow and prosper. From my part, I have decided to do the following to keep myself close with Tamizh:
1. Read important works in Tamizh like Thirukurral and understand the meaning
2. Once in a while write a post in Tamizh on my blog
3. Make sure that my son learns to read and write Tamizh
4. Speak in Tamizh with fellow Tamzhilans (which is the most difficult part, I guess!!)
Vazhga Tamizh!!
But the saddest thing which has befallen on the language is the fact that a good portion of the current young generation hasn't learnt the language over the last 20 years or so. Particularly in the urban areas, many have switched to Hindi/Sanskrit/French as their second language instead of Tamizh. I would be the happiest person if this conference can awaken the spirits of my fellow Tamilians to learn this language and the Government takes some effort in promoting Tamizh as a medium of education. It is a long way to go to achieve that since most of the recent developments in all the fields like medicine, engineering, business or commerce has not been made available in Tamizh. Conscious and concerted efforts needs to be made to bring these developments into Tamizh to enable the language to survive in the years ahead.
Even for youngsters who have opted for other languages in School, parents should make it a point to teach them to read and write Tamizh. They should be encouraged to read Tamizh magazines and story books to improve their reading ability. I think the complete discontinuance of the habit of writing letters is one of the main reasons for me not writing in Tamizh. With the internet taking over communication and Tamizh being largely absent in the initial days, I have completely stopped writing in Tamizh. But I still think in Tamizh.. that can't be changed. But not sure in which language my son would think as he is among the one who has opted for Hindi!!
One of the suggestions made by Suba.Veerapandian, while speaking at the Tamizh Chemmozhi Conference was that Tamilians should sign in their mother tongue. I found it interesting to do it and willing to change my signature to Tamizh. But it would help in developing the language, I guess not. It is more of a symbolic gesture rather than anything else.
The CM is expected to make grand announcements at the conference on Sunday and lets see how it is going to help Tamizh grow and prosper. From my part, I have decided to do the following to keep myself close with Tamizh:
1. Read important works in Tamizh like Thirukurral and understand the meaning
2. Once in a while write a post in Tamizh on my blog
3. Make sure that my son learns to read and write Tamizh
4. Speak in Tamizh with fellow Tamzhilans (which is the most difficult part, I guess!!)
Vazhga Tamizh!!
Would Soppu-Saman make a comeback?
I remember the days when children used to play with wooden toys. But over the years, the wooden toys have lost way to plastic toys and I don’t remember buying any wooden toys in the last so many years except for the infant‘s push cart. One of the most famous of wooden toys is the “soppu-saman” set which is usually gifted to children. It used to come in a box made of Palmyra leaves. I remember receiving one in my childhood but that was years ago. I have not given the same to any kid in the last 15 years or so!
Plastic toys completely took over the children’s toys world thanks to cheap Chinese variety as well. Off late, there were concerns raised on the quality of the plastic toys, particularly of Chinese origin on account of the high lead content in the paint. Though plastic toys rule the roost, I think wooden toys are also making a comeback of sorts. Read the Bloomberg report on this here.
Wooden toys made by artisans in rural India provided livelihood to many families till few years back. These artisans on seeing the dwindling demand for their wares would have changed profession and become a mason or labourer in some real estate project. We are losing our skilled artisans and we will regret for that years later. With the world moving towards wooden toys again and big names like Walmart supporting it, there is another chance for our artisans to regain their lost glory. I think in few years time there would be again a thriving business of making wooden “soppu-saman” children toys. History repeats itself!!
Plastic toys completely took over the children’s toys world thanks to cheap Chinese variety as well. Off late, there were concerns raised on the quality of the plastic toys, particularly of Chinese origin on account of the high lead content in the paint. Though plastic toys rule the roost, I think wooden toys are also making a comeback of sorts. Read the Bloomberg report on this here.
Wooden toys made by artisans in rural India provided livelihood to many families till few years back. These artisans on seeing the dwindling demand for their wares would have changed profession and become a mason or labourer in some real estate project. We are losing our skilled artisans and we will regret for that years later. With the world moving towards wooden toys again and big names like Walmart supporting it, there is another chance for our artisans to regain their lost glory. I think in few years time there would be again a thriving business of making wooden “soppu-saman” children toys. History repeats itself!!
Aircel mobile and their SMS pricing
Off late, if you have noticed closely, mobile companies have started arbitrarily charging for SMS during festival and other important days. This is in spite of offering a fixed number of free SMS every month according to the plan you have subscribed. I receive a SMS from the service provider 3 or 4 days before the special day, like New Year or Pongal that SMS sent on a particular date would be charged.
I find it annoying when you have free SMS as per your plan and finally you end up paying for these SMSes which are much less than your limit, just because of the fact that you sent some SMS on that special day. I don’t personally rely too much on SMS, but still I think there are quite a number of people who are impacted by this. I think Aircel should desist from doing this. It is unfair. But we would have signed an agreement without even reading which gives them the right to modify pricing for SMS etc.,
Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that they have increased the rates of SMS during the special days. I remember Aircel charging SMS at 25p during the New Year and Pongal but recently for the Valentines day, the charges have been increased to 50p!! I have experienced this with Aircel and I am not sure if all other service providers also resort to same kind of tactics to make that extra buck.
With the falling revenue per user (RPU) quarter on quarter and the ongoing price war among telcos, I think this practice will not help Aircel in anyway. Aircel, please understand Mobile Number Portability (MNP) is on the way.
I find it annoying when you have free SMS as per your plan and finally you end up paying for these SMSes which are much less than your limit, just because of the fact that you sent some SMS on that special day. I don’t personally rely too much on SMS, but still I think there are quite a number of people who are impacted by this. I think Aircel should desist from doing this. It is unfair. But we would have signed an agreement without even reading which gives them the right to modify pricing for SMS etc.,
Adding fuel to the fire is the fact that they have increased the rates of SMS during the special days. I remember Aircel charging SMS at 25p during the New Year and Pongal but recently for the Valentines day, the charges have been increased to 50p!! I have experienced this with Aircel and I am not sure if all other service providers also resort to same kind of tactics to make that extra buck.
With the falling revenue per user (RPU) quarter on quarter and the ongoing price war among telcos, I think this practice will not help Aircel in anyway. Aircel, please understand Mobile Number Portability (MNP) is on the way.
Happy New Year!!
Wish you all and your near and dear ones a Happy, Prosperous, Successful and Peaceful New Year 2010!!
So many calamities in one day!!
I think yesterday (30 Sep 2009) was a day of calamities, both natural and man-made. It all started with the Tsunami in American Samoa, earthquake in Indonesia, boat tragedy in Thekkady, floods in Andhra and the mowing down curious onlookers by a car in CM's convoy. It is too much of bad things to happen in one single day for this world to carry one with their regular lives. I really felt bad. How cruel these are to take away so many lives across the globe in one day?
It reinforces the basic rule of life, it is uncertain. Did anybody of them would have thought yesterday would be their last day in this world? I doubt not.
PS: The number of deaths in Indonesia has crossed 1000 and still search is going on for missing people. The death rate is increasing at an alarming rate. I am really disturbed.
It reinforces the basic rule of life, it is uncertain. Did anybody of them would have thought yesterday would be their last day in this world? I doubt not.
PS: The number of deaths in Indonesia has crossed 1000 and still search is going on for missing people. The death rate is increasing at an alarming rate. I am really disturbed.
New gadgets on the blog
I have added a gadget which pulls photos from Picasa web album on a regular basis. I have chosen "Sunrise" as the key word to pull photos from Picasa Web.
There is also a poll open on who is going to win the T20 world cup today. If you happen to read it today, please vote.
There is also a poll open on who is going to win the T20 world cup today. If you happen to read it today, please vote.
Reading blogs is a real stress buster!!
Yesterday, I was really bugged and disturbed with Prasanna's exit from Airtel Super Singer 2008 . I poured my heart out in my feedback to Vijay TV and also to some extent in my previous blog post. I guess it was evident to others when few of them walked up and asked if everything is well..
So I decided to take my mind off from this by going through some blogs. I spent close to an hour browsing through and I can say it was very helpful that I felt re-charged...I landed up in quite a few interesting blogs which I thought should introduce, if you are not aware of it before.
Critical Thoughts by Vijayakrishna (www.vjkrishna.com).
Few may be familiar with this name as the owner of Chelsea fan club blog by name www.bluechampions.com. He has started recently his own personal blog where he is regularly contributing articles. Vijay, as I know him personally, is a very intelligent and analytical person who has a passion for English writing, Zen along with Football. His articles are really thought provoking and laced with humour.
Maduraiveeran by Dinesh Babu (www.maduraiveeran.wordpress.com)
I have been reading Dinesh's blog on and off for some time. He has beautiful story telling ability with great imagination and also writes with lot of humour. His blog is one of the well-read blogs with high number of comments from readers. One appreciable thing is Dinesh painstakingly replies to all the comments on the blog. He is originally from Madurai and currently resides in USA.
Inba's corner by Inbavalli (www.inbavalli.wordpress.com)
I dont know if this is her real name but what I know is she is a mother of two growing kids of 14 and 8. She has wonderful writing skills and looks at real life incidents.
I am really enjoying reading each one of them and I hope you too would like it. I have added all the three in my "blogroll" under the general blogs category.
One things which is very important for being a blogger is little bit of humour, at times self-deprecating as well.
So I decided to take my mind off from this by going through some blogs. I spent close to an hour browsing through and I can say it was very helpful that I felt re-charged...I landed up in quite a few interesting blogs which I thought should introduce, if you are not aware of it before.
Critical Thoughts by Vijayakrishna (www.vjkrishna.com).
Few may be familiar with this name as the owner of Chelsea fan club blog by name www.bluechampions.com. He has started recently his own personal blog where he is regularly contributing articles. Vijay, as I know him personally, is a very intelligent and analytical person who has a passion for English writing, Zen along with Football. His articles are really thought provoking and laced with humour.
Maduraiveeran by Dinesh Babu (www.maduraiveeran.wordpress.com)
I have been reading Dinesh's blog on and off for some time. He has beautiful story telling ability with great imagination and also writes with lot of humour. His blog is one of the well-read blogs with high number of comments from readers. One appreciable thing is Dinesh painstakingly replies to all the comments on the blog. He is originally from Madurai and currently resides in USA.
Inba's corner by Inbavalli (www.inbavalli.wordpress.com)
I dont know if this is her real name but what I know is she is a mother of two growing kids of 14 and 8. She has wonderful writing skills and looks at real life incidents.
I am really enjoying reading each one of them and I hope you too would like it. I have added all the three in my "blogroll" under the general blogs category.
One things which is very important for being a blogger is little bit of humour, at times self-deprecating as well.
Prefix to sender's name in SMS messages
In the last two days the SMS I receive on my mobile has a prefix added to the sender's name like "DT-HDFSL" or "AT - MOSL", "DT - KOTAK" etc., I am wondering what is the prefixes like DT, AT, DT stands forI am puzzled why it has been now added to the text messages you receive.
If anybody knows anything about this, please post a comment.
If anybody knows anything about this, please post a comment.
Watching the news channels really boring!
Today there is a raod or rather rail rako by Mumbai commuters at Borivali Railway station since 9.15 AM in the morning. Rail rako was resorted by the passengers because the 9.10 AM train from Borivali has been cancelled at the last minute. Commuters would have really had a torrid time due to cancellation of trains at the last moment. But the point what I was irked was the way it is covered by news channels. I got to see only Times Now and they have been covering this issue since 10 AM in the morning. They were showing the same visuals which they were showing at 10 AM even at 1.30 PM. On top of it, they keep posting the same messages on the scroll bar. Though it is an important issue I agree, but that is not the only issue to telecast on national news channels. There is a limit to one's patience in seeing the same visuals again and again. Instead they can figure out what has caused the problem, was there any precedence of train cancellations in the last few days because I believe commuters dont resort to rail rako for cancellation of a train for one day in India. We Indians are very patient.
These news channels should grow up else they will lose their market share. I honestly believe the DD News everyday is much better than these news in 24 hours channels. So much of repitition that you feel suffocated and want to puke!!!
These news channels should grow up else they will lose their market share. I honestly believe the DD News everyday is much better than these news in 24 hours channels. So much of repitition that you feel suffocated and want to puke!!!
Monster UK website hacked and personal data stolen!
A month or so ago I wrote about the theft of personal data from various job sites. You can read the blog post here.
Today morning I came to understand that the Monster UK's website has been hacked and personal data of more than 4.5 million potential job seekers have been stolen by the online thieves. Names, passwords, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, birth dates, sex and ethnicity data as well as other “demographic information”, were all stolen, the company admitted yesterday. Monster.com refused to comment on how much information had been taken but the personal details of millions of people can be downloaded in under an hour once a hacker has gained access.
Security analysts told that the plundered data from the recruitment site would be used by organised gangs to open fake bank accounts or take out loans in the names of unsuspecting customers. Monster.co.uk has posted a message on the site advising all customers to change their passwords immediately.
“It’s a horrendous breach,” said Graham Cluley, of Sophos, an IT security firm. “The information they have can be used to cause all kinds of mischief.”
About four out of ten people use the same password to access multiple websites, Mr Cluley said, meaning that criminals could use the Monster.co.uk data to obtain far more sensitive information. “These hackers could now use the passwords to access e-mail and online bank accounts.”
In case you have registered with www.monster.co.uk , please go and change your password immediately.
Barack Obama - the new US President!
Barack Obama has finally taken over the reins as President of USA. It was an emotional swearing-in for many Americans and even non-Americans throughout the world. Barack's ascension as President marks a new begining in the history of USA. Even when 2 million people were infront of him, Barack Obama remained calm and composed throughout the swearing in ceremony and never showed any big emotion. This man is definitely brilliant.
During the innaugural speech as well he was very "blunt" to quote BBC in reminding the people of USA to the hard reality of global economic slowdown. He is such a terrific orator you just simply start loving him. I personally think his victory day speech in November was better than this first speech as the President of America, but we need to accept the fact that his responsibilities are different now and the situation has further worsened between November'08 and January'09.
I think he has genuine concern for the betterment of the lives of his countrymen as well as for the people other countries and I hope he lives upto the expectations he has created for himself. I was talking to one of my friends today and he brought out the point that he is definitely a great inspirational leader but whether he would be able to deliver is a big question mark. The problems before him are immense from financial crisis to wars and the whole world is watching this man deliver. I pray that he delivers on his promises and let his reign bring peace and happiness across the world.
During the innaugural speech as well he was very "blunt" to quote BBC in reminding the people of USA to the hard reality of global economic slowdown. He is such a terrific orator you just simply start loving him. I personally think his victory day speech in November was better than this first speech as the President of America, but we need to accept the fact that his responsibilities are different now and the situation has further worsened between November'08 and January'09.
I think he has genuine concern for the betterment of the lives of his countrymen as well as for the people other countries and I hope he lives upto the expectations he has created for himself. I was talking to one of my friends today and he brought out the point that he is definitely a great inspirational leader but whether he would be able to deliver is a big question mark. The problems before him are immense from financial crisis to wars and the whole world is watching this man deliver. I pray that he delivers on his promises and let his reign bring peace and happiness across the world.
Sastrigal (Purohits) - going hi-tech!
I think the Sastrigal (Purohit) community is one of the communities which has adapted to the new technologies very well. They have not only adapted the technology but they are truly leveraging on them to provide their clients with seamless service. How else can you explain when Sastrigal offers Avani Avittam and Shrartham on the internet to their discerning clients living thousands of miles away. I have a personal experience with one of the Purohits based out of Tirunelveli when I went there 4 months ago to attend the wedding of my cousin. The purohit here is a young man in his early 30's and I have known him from the days of he being a young apprentice to the Senior Purohit. He has really transformed the way his services are delivered when as a matter of fact mentioned that he has clients across the globe and he uses "Skype" on a day to day basis for conducting the ceremonies. He was goading one of my cousins (who lives in Ghana) to avail his services over the internet to complete his obligations to his late father on a monthly basis. This Purohit is also a frequent flyer to US, Australia and UK to conduct homams and pujas on behalf of his clients.
I have always admired the way the busy Purohits manage their calendar, clients and ensure seamless delivery. They are also very enterprising now with all kinds of door step services and available for consultation on the phone 24X7. I today saw one advertisement in a street corner about homams being conducted by a Purohit for ensuring success in the ensuing examinations. This is an example of providing services according to the market conditions. The next couple of months are going to peak exam time and with parents doing all sort of things to help their children get good marks, I can expect many parents availing of this service. This particular Purohit also has a website which goes by the name www.sastrigalonline.com. I checked out the website and it is a properly maintained and updated website. It gives details of the academic qualifications and the various honours he has received. This shows the professionalism on the part of the Purohit.
There are various advantages in being a Purohit. The first and the foremost among them is the tax-free nature of the income. All transactions are conducted in cash and no receipts are either sought or given. Even our former Finance Ministers have not dared to tax this profession on a presumptive basis and I am sure there are number of millionaires among the Purohit community. This profession is also recession proof. There is no threat of down-sizing, pink slips etc., Most of the Purohits now own two-wheelers and few of them I know has decent cars. They have an established network of Purohits and they share work in case they are not able to meet the clients requirements. You can no longer call them poor Purohits.
Somebody should do a detailed study of Purohits just like how dabbawallahs of Mumbai has been chronicled.
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