Sunday, September 30, 2012

Valuepluz, Adding Wealth seminar #mydadspeaks

I wish someone told me the seminar is gonna be THAT good! Yes, today my father made his maiden speech for his realty company - ValuePluz "Adding Wealth session". The seminar essentially was a dream building seminar, comprising a four member speaker team!

Speaker 1 : Mr Pugalendhi (my dad), Sr. Investment Advisor & MD of ValuePluz.
Starting the session with Dream Building, Mr Pugal asks : When someone asks you where you see yourself financially - we say we see a 2BHK or probably a 3BHK and handy cash in the bank. Why is that Bill Gates could dream of being the richest man in America and also achieve it? The important portion is that he DARED TO DREAM. Then, the speaker proceeds to discusses the essence of  'Law of Attraction' by Rhonda Bryne and discusses at depths and how to overcome your fear and build your dream!

80-20 rule, Cash flow quadrant and real-life example. 
What is financial stability? 
Being able to not only fill your pocket with money, but have all the time on the earth to enjoy it is financial stability! You work in a software company for 14 hours a day and you get a paycheck of 2 lakhs / month. You still cannot take that vacation as you do not have TIME. Do you call your self financially stable? 

Why do you think 20% of the world holds 80% of the money, you think that is an accident? Absolutely not, says the speaker, and goes forward to explain the cashflow quadrant explained by Robert Kiyosaki of Rich  dad, Poor dad fame. As you see, there are four quadrants : 

  • Employers quadrant, who work for money (a person can make 100Rs in 1hr, then the max he can make is 2400 working for 24 hours SANS sleep!), they do not have time and have limited money. Their equation is time=money.
  • Self-Employed, like doctors and Engineers who decide to start on their own (they have the command over time and earn a little higher than the Employee quadrant people, but imagine if you're sick? You CANNOT work, you end up with having no money as still the equation is time=money)
  • Business quadrant, they are people who own organizations big and small and have people work under them, they have an exponentially high margin of profit. The person can make 100Rs in 1hr, then if 10 people are employed for 10 hrs each the gross money earned is 10,000 Rs. Can you see the figure raising by a high margin? Wouldn't you love to be in that quadrant  These people have a LOT of money, but still run short of time. THEY have to invest their time and manage the 10 people. 
  • Investor Quadrant :
How will you have time if you're busy creating money? So yea, welcome to the Investor Quadrant!!! These people have built all their life building asset over liability! :)

Asset Vs Liability. 
Anything that puts money in your pocket is asset (like Real estate, Bonds, Fixed deposits), anything that takes away money from your pocket is Liability. When anyone asks about our dreams its natural for us to say it is : buying a car, making a travel - do they put money in our pocket (or) burn your pocket? Asks Mr.Pugal. 

The Investor quadrant people have INVESTED a substantially MEAGER TIME in creating their assets. He works for 5 years buys a house for his self, works for 5 more years creates an asset - a string of rent-able buildings, a second house for rent purpose. THEN, comes the icing on the cake - he can sit back and relax thereafter, cos money has started to work for him! He's got all the time & money!! So see you here, says he!

Speaker 2. Mr Rajaram, Mind and Body Academy (MBA)
He speaks at length about dream building, and why is that we fail to accomplish our dreams. It is due to lack of awareness (or) lack of care shown by our mind. When our mind is not at ease, how is it supposed to help our body? He wonderfully quotes Barathiyar who said "kaani nelam vendum adi", yes it is our birthright to have a house of our own and have a piece of land :

Yours truly would like to add her own experience here, two years ago I was paying a rent of 10k/mth, for two years that is 2.4 Lakhs. WHY AM I making MY LANDLORD RICH?? He is 2.4 Lakhs richer and I am 2.4 lakhs poorer. Today we (hubby and me) pay an EMI of 20 k for our house, big deal! I am paying a 10k extra, but at least the house is mine! If I continue to pay the landlord for 20 more years, considering the rent never hiked, I AM making my LANDLORD a 24 LAKH richerrrrrr!!

Speaker 3. Mr.Saravana Kumar, Sr.Lawyer, Madras Highcourt.
He spoke wonderfully about all the documents necessary to avoid fraudulent registering of properties, or those that we have to check in prior like - Parent document, Sale deed, Encumbrance certificate, Tax \receipt for the Property ect. AMAZING he was, just on the dot about where we would go wrong. He has made the audience realize the importance of a Lawyer opinion in case of real estate transactions!

Speaker 4 : Mr. Krishna Chitanya, Standard Charter bank
He showed the areas where the banks are helping people with loans etc and said there were 15 types of loans. Fifteen? *gasps* Then we have a wrap up from all the four speakers, thereunto tea!


I had invited my best friends over to attend the seminar as they were investor material. Thanks Rat, Jebby, Karthik for honoring my invite! :) They were not only investor material but also harsh critics !! Know what, received positive criticism! *yay*

Dear dad, 
I blog today, as you taught me the ABCs. 
Its funny that you still teach me the ABCs, well this time, in Investment...

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend
an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda

Thursday, September 27, 2012

[review] The Krishna Key by Ashwin Sanghi


Ashwin Sanghi has done a lovely job of making archaeologist hero! The Krishna key is a marvelous combination of ancient India and modern Indian Subject Matter experts (SMEs) painting a rich pallor to the country and its technical prowess; via the thriller-genre. The thriller is woven along with factual info about the ancient India and has figments of Gita. A lot of little stories that we may have read in the Gita is sporadically sprinkled along the length of the book.

Ancient Dwarga, the city which Krishna has purportedly built over seven times, requested their citizens to carry a seal as a passport. Anil Varshney gets in hand four of these seals. Not willing to put the safety of the four seals in peril, he decides to split them with his spit-promise-type-friends, the four men in whom he has a LOT of faith. The four seals and a baseplate to rest the four seals consists of what is known as the Krishna Key; they open the doors to 5000+ year old preserved secret.

Krishna is the 8th avatar of God Vishnu. It is claimed in the Gita that in the realms of Kaliyuga, Krishna will don his Kalki avatar, the 10th one, to bring the evil on earth to an apocalyptic end.  The villain believes he is that avatar. He thwarts the bearers of the seal and their hunt, as the protagonists move toward solving the puzzle to the Krishna key.

*spoiler alert begins*
As Anil parts his seal away with his four friends he is killed in a peculiar fashion, Ravi Mohan Saini who had spent the day before with Anil therefore becomes the prime suspect. He evades the police - Rathika and Rathore – and moves on the run, along with his student Priya. He should accomplish two tasks one – get the seals secured from the rest of the three men and two – solve the Krishna Key and vanquish the puzzle. The question of life and death along with execution of the task in hand is portrayed well. Another refreshing twist occurs when the villain in hand is really not the villain but are a pseudo villains – puppets who strings are controlled by the don who fought his way up the dirty ladder! It makes you ask a new series of why all over again. Is the puppet controlled by the string or string by the puppet is another think you would be pondering about.
*spoiler alert ends*

We are on an information avalanche that answers a lot of questions which might have been on our minds. The book discusses various myths that are associated with Hinduism and has progressed to say that they are not myths but they are historical facts. The book astounds readers with information like :
  • The Harappa Mohenjodaro/Indus valley civilization was a secondary effect that happened after the Saraswathi civilization that flourished along the Saraswathi rives in 3000 odd BC. The period when Krishna lived.
  • It also discusses how Mount Kailash was also known as mount Meru – which was coopted in the Sumerian Civilization. Thus implying what went on in India as the Saraswathi civilization was the mother. This information just burns the reader with anxiety, here the author throws more information asking – is Mt. Kailash an artificial architecture feat? It shows that Mt Kailash was not only a holy place for Hindus but also Jains, Bons, Buddhists.
  •  How Megasthenes a Greek ambassador in Chandra Gupta Maurya court speaks about Krishna as Hercules in his address. How the Abraham discussed in both Christian and Islamic religion is nothing but a twist of Bhrama and make the reader go wow!
  • We know that India was resplendent with a lot of richness which was plundered by Mohammed Gajini. The Somnath temple was one of the affected structures - here the Lingam is said to be levitating, the scientific explanations supporting levitation is mind blowing!


To know how all these information are entwined into the thriller. To know who eats whom in the dog eat dog world. To read about the hunt for the Key which might reveal the weapon Bhramastra or Syamantaka or perhaps even Krishnas DNA - reach out to your online bookstore rightaway and shed 250 bucks; worth the money considering the fact the book is not just one, but a lot of mini-books complied into one!

The only minor hiccup can be that in one or two places, there was disgruntled narrative and we would have expected a firm edition. For me, the romance was matter of factly, and not really vital as it offered nothing to the story. Leaving which the book is one satiating read. Which I would definitely recommend! And whats wrong with being Dan Brownish if the end result is good!

If you are the “I love information overdose” types you will love the book to BITS and more!

So there, what are you waiting for – get your copy of The Krishna key right away!

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program at  BlogAdda.com. Participate now to get free books!

Thursday, September 13, 2012

[movie review] Seven in one blow?


Hubby and I decided to go on a movie spree and we did! This was how the week spun out, and slowly toward the mid of the week we were like this ----->
On the top of which I did some brashy eye make up and attended a reception party. That was being pretty over ambitious, I recon. Or was watching these many movies were an over-ambituous act? You should tell me. *rolls-eyes*

Day 01 : Maalai Pozhuthin Mayakkathiley
What started as a promising story, grew annoying increasingly. Though the ending was totally abrupt - you were bellowing with happiness that the movie ENDED! whew! The tale spins in a Coffee bar and tries to bring a quatrocentric conversation between the characters to a convergence - that of a man and his quarrelsome wife and their difficult marriage, that between a waiter and the manager, the annoying flirting between a girl and a guy whom she just met. How every day life is dealt with at a cafe is discussed and characters move to a melodramatic finish. Of course, no story-bory, remember that.

Please watch if you have oodles of patience, certainly not cut out for me.

Day 02 : Mathubana Kadai
Absolutely knocked me off. I thought it was going to be another annoying movie but the movie surprised me with a tight screenplay, lest for one scene where men with painted faces and jeweled like deities appear. Except for that 2 minute scene, the rest of the 2 hour movie was good. Not refreshing, enjoyable etcetera - as the art shows a govt bar in its own skin - to call a spade a spade is always difficult for us people. We want hip hop songs in jazzy clubs showing flaming sambuca and also some skin :P

Please watch/encourage good movies as such. Fair amount of romance, fair jibes at society. Umm quite surprisingly nice!

Day 03 : Naan
Lovely picturization, decent acting by Vijay Antony, nice songs and an overall good composition. This movie is my favorite movie of the week. The supporting actors Siddharth Venugopal and Rupa Manjari (an upcoming Malayalam actress), look fabulous and also act well! Ashok is what we would typically call a sociopath and he was true to his bones (or bone marrow :P).

A prison evicts stand in the society and to live life on the run was sardonically portrayed and it makes us saddened. So this is not a happy persons movie.

Day 04 : Markendeya
Don't even ask me, I dont know what shit went on throughout the movie.

 


Day 05 : Saguni
It was the usual Karthi masala and sad mokka of Santhanam. Santhanam has bettered at destroying his reputation since OK OK. There will only be a handful of demises after which he will have himself thrown away from the industry. Trying to retrieve his ancestral property, hero Karthi bumps into autodriver Santhanam (who assumes Karthi is stinking rich) and they annoy the audience to the core calling each other Kamal sir, Rajni sir. ARRRRRGGGGGGGGGGH - run awaay!
What kinda niche is Karthi trying to carve, I wonder?

Day 06 : Mugamoodi
Its a Mysskin movie with not so much of the Mysskhin touch but for the slow paced narrative. Jeeva in another martial arts role reminds me of Diyshum. He dons a mask to allure his girlfriends cousins, little ones and falls into the traps of a robber-police chase and catches a member of the gang - hands him over onto police custody. Later where the robber gang lead (Narain) pledges to take revenge et al. He plots superfluous trouble and blames it on Jeeva. Jeeva toward the end is put at a point where he must prove his innocence to the police.

Hmm.. Not okay for me. Already I yawn at running and chasing, now running and chasing without a proper storyline. Not okay, okay?

Day 07 : Naan-e
We watched Naan-e for the second time! ;) The anime was SO cute. Samantha was gorgeous. The settings were flamboyant, we had something close to that flaming sambuca in the Naai en peru song :P The house was pretty, the micro art was pretty, everything about her pendent was pretty, love was pretty prettY! awww.. for a second time not bad!

If we believe that Transformers are autobots that came from Cybetron. Then we have to believe that a cute little housefly can write "I will kill you" in impeccably beautiful font! ;) I loved the fantasy, screenplay and art to bits.The highlight was the dance at the end where it does Simbhu step, Jeena thaana step - encore!!

Makkaley this is some cue for you to sign up for those dance classes now. When an 'e' can do, why not u? :P *kavidha kavidha...aaa* ;)

* * *


P/s The dangerous guy is on a high and he has gone on round #2. He is watching Rowdy Rathore today! Jesus Christtt!!! No wonder this saying by Giacomo Casanova holds good!!

"Man is free; yet we must not suppose that he is at liberty to do everything he pleases, for he becomes a slave the moment he allows his actions to be ruled by passion."

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Stranger in the Night

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 31; the thirty-first edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for the month is 'Strangers in the Night'

“Akka, but he is a stranger!!!!”, Vinisha squealed to her sister.

“He is not a stranger Vinisha, he is your 'Husband', for heavens sake”, her sister grunted softly and rolled her eyes.

“Still...”, she continued.

Akka stopped braiding Vinishas hair, and with a wry smile teased her, “At least you wont be Strangers in the Night” and laughed softly. 

Vinisha kept mum. She could not see the humor in her sisters cynicism.  Arrgh.

* * * *


She entered the room - eyes down, nervously looking at her feet; suddenly noticing the red on her nails and the maroon-vines the mehendi made on her feet. 

He looked at her, silently drinking in her beauty - her red Tussar draped along those slender hips, her long hair adorned with flowers; her khol rimmed eyes which showed hesitation and excitement all at once; and that beautiful mark of Sindhoor on her forehead that spoke of chastity and commitment at lengths. He sighed softly.

She looked like an apsara, was she Ramba or Oorvasi perhaps?



* * * *


One morning, Vinisha retrospected the truth in her sisters 'joke' - 

He was not a Stranger. 

They were one. 

He was her all.

She smiled lightly; enthralled at everything; her future included. . . 

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. Introduced By: Self, Participation Count: 05

Saturday, September 1, 2012

My first blog award :)

A blog award is fabulous, fantastic and all that you dream of, well especially when you dont have one and you are cozily eyeing that... quite insanely hoping someone might like you blog a tad too much!? And then when you get it - the joy is 10 fold!



Here my joy is 20 fold as I am nominated by *this* lovely lass, Menachery, whose writing  I SO adore! Knowing her only through Blog-a-Ton, I've been totally impressed by her writing style and I do think she will make a great script writer some day! Please dont forget to read her short stories!

Hmm so, I should say 7 things about myself AND I should nominate 15 Bloggers whom I find creative. Let me get started so -

1. I find it difficult to understand the 'naked' truth of PETA :P
2. I sometimes mute my TV and watch it. Yea, am THAT whatever-you-call-it. 
3. I get scared when i think of the fact that I am gonna lose my loved ones someday.
4. I can live on KFC and be shamelessly guilty and again continue to live on KFC.
5. I try to be detached and I-dont-care, but I do care. *weeps*
6. I have watched LOTR 123 and POC 123 back to back in ONE day. Did the same for Di Caprios Shutter Island, Blood Diamond, Departed, Revolutionary road. I am INSANE when it comes to movies! BUT I cannot watch movies on my laptop whatsoever.
7. I shut down on Saturdays. 

I would like to nominate the following people as Kreative Bloggers : Those who are creative in thinking, explore umpteen thoughts and ALSO bring it out well. Connecting with bloggers just over a few months, 15 is a HUGE number, so I sort of tweaked the numbers meekly!

And, my nomination rolls : 

Suresh - A lovely writer you are sire...
Apala - Her short stories are amazing! She also hosts a Photoblog.
Ganesh - For the myriad of thoughts he poses.
Rajrupa - Who has a way with word-limit(that I SO envy) and with words!
Ramya - Pretty blogname and pretty blogger! Her writing makes me *smile*
Jayshree - Who runs two blogs : her thought blog and cook blog! 
Aativas - Who writes like a wizard!
CRD - The synonym of creativity - read his short story here!
Panchali ji -  One of my top favorites :) Read her mocktail recipe and enjoy!

There was a lovely happy soul who was blogging HERE, but she quit blogging a year ago. So no donut there! Also, I should tag Menachery back again, cos she is indescribably creative. But alas, I end it with a THANK you for nominating me - You sure made my day!! :) So nominated fellas, please take the batom and say 7 things about yourselves, tag 15 bloggers and bring smiles about!

&


P/s This post was written on 31st Aug on SUCH a late night that it got posted on Sep 01, but okay - its great to start a month with a GOOD post! *yay*