Diary of the Chennai Traveller- The homecoming...

The last two days went off in a jiffy...there was a lot of last moment shopping and lots of last minute meetings...with various people who could not meet us during our 10 days stay there.
One of the places that I went to was a Cafe called Amethyst... like all other great places this too was built out of a house and had an amazing ambiance...the food was ok..nothing really that I can rave about... but it was the atmosphere that took away all..it has a small Boutique where you get clothes,shoes and lots of junk that is all overpriced...but there is a cute flower shop there where you can pick up cute lil flowers....

Then on the last night we were all invited to the Punjabi Food Festival that was held at the Sheraton towers...we were dining with the GM himself...and so the treatment was all royal ofcourse... but the food too was great.

And then the flight... its a bad idea to take the first flight of the day...and a worse idea is to take the last flight out too... the airplane is dirty..and chances are that it is gonna get delayed nonetheless...I reached home at 2 in the morning... the only good streak was that we bumped into Ishant Sharma on the airport...the poor lil got mobbed...and to stay away he was on the phone constantly... yeah...I got an autograph and clicked pics too... but the best part was that he passed a huge smile to me...when he was on the bus on the boarding area... I waved him a goodbye n he passed a huge smile... wow that ws awesome... btw..he looks so much lk Zayed Khan that had he been a few inches shorter and not so lean...he could actually be a duplicate of Zayed.

Homecoming was great... like I always say home is the best place to come back to...
Its great to be back... and tomorrow morning...its back to the usual grind...
The finance posts are gonna come back soon...so keep coming back...

Cheers...

Diary of the Chennai Traveller- Day 8 & 9

I am summing up yesterday and today... coz yesterday we did nothing that extra ordinary... except having lots to eat.



Anyways- yesterday we went out with this friend of Bua... she is damn cute... I mean she is a mother of a 5 year old... but jst like me..talkative and chirpy. And we went to Sarvana Bhawan and had their special thali...which is a must try... lots to eat...and eat and eat.

Later we went to her house.. which is in Numbakbakum...another very posh area of Chennai. There is a HUGE Shoppers stop in that area... so if you are all into big stores and big brands you can go and shop there.



But...then there is always a shopping place in every city...where you have the landmark stores. Here in Chennai its called T- Nagar. It has a Jwellery store.. called GRT...which is on three floors...and not small three floors...and that is not the only store there... which is this big and sells jwellery... there are so many of them...and then there is Nalli's... there are two Nalli's in about 100 mts of each other and they are huge. Another store that you can check out in that area is Pothy's. Great stuff...and good prices. Looking for steel utensils...what you wont get anywhere in the country you'll get it here... there are steel stores that are over three floors huge....its so much of fun just looking at the stores.

Now if you are tired of shopping you can have a hhuge meal either at Bar-b-Que Nation... or grab a drink at 10 Downing street... no not at London's PM's place..but an awesome pub...where if you are alone..then you can just pick up a book..and grab a beer and relax.



And then...if you have time... you can grab a movie at Sathyam's... BIG theatre with great great seats and sound system... oh...now what? In the evening you can go to Basant Nagar...and sit on the beach with your beau...

Well... it was a long day.... and now.. we are ready to sit down and play some Scrabble...

Cheers.....

Diary of the Chennai traveller- Day 7

I have completed a weeks' stay here in Chennai. Its been a beautiful week...

Anyways on the 7th day of my visit here... I saw a mall that is spred over 3 floors and all the three floors are equivalent to the Palika Bazaar that we have in Delhi.

This is known as Spencers plaza... and try as much as you like... the chances that you are gonna get lost is 99%... so you wont be able to exit from the gate you entered.

the plaza is made of lot of small and big stores... you have branded names like pantaloons... Levis..etc and then there are khokas..the bargain shops too....

Then towards the evening... we went to the Marina Beach... if the beach is beautiful during the day then its mesmersing in the evening... with the gliterring lights of the docks and various buildings... that spread across the beach. The water has such a calming effect on the mind..body and soul.

And then from there we went to the Kapleshwar Temple. One thing that is great about the temples here in south is the carvings that they have on the math. Its just awesome...and another thing that is popular in here is special entry... for payement of 10 rs for each person...you can get the priest to do spl puja for you.

And now... I am again cuddling back with a book...and waiting for the next morning to come..... Cheers...

Diary of the Chennai Traveller - Day 6

Well... I'll say that it was a day well spent... since I am on a holiday.. it only makes sense to chill up and enjoy, isn't it?

Anyways after a late breakfast...Arushi and I went to a church here. This church is one of the oldest churches in India...and it enjoys a great deal of importance in the Christain community... coz apart from St. Peter's in Vatican and St. John's in Rome... this is the only Church that has been built on the Apostle of Jesus Christ. This church is called St. Thomas Basicila. Its a huge church and they have an underground shrine of St. Thomas. The foundation of the church have been laid on this shrine. This is also an Museum that you can visit... there is a lot of stuff that makes all the conspiracy theorists think...

Well... when you think about South India... you are often mislead about the food... there is a huge variety of south indian food... and Kerelian food...has no dosas and sambhars... its so different and amazingly yum... and for authentic kerala food... you must check out Ente Keralam. Its situated at Arington Road... another small lil restaurant... but great food.

Chennai... doesnt have malls...it doesnt need any... coz most of the single shops are spread over three floors... and the poor mall is very small indeed. Its called the City Center... and has an Inox in it. I went and saw a strictly ok movie - Race... watch it at your own risk. The good part was that the theatre was built very beautifully!

Lets see... if I am able to surf tomo at Marina Beach... Ciao... cheers....

Diary of the Chennai traveller- Day 5

After a very active weekend... I had a very slow start to my week... I got up late and literally had nothing much to do...

Though... I must add that down here in south it is very difficult to find good punjabi food... and the choices limit themselves when it comes to ordering vegetarian food... coz here its just the dosas and idli. A restaurant that defies this all is - Creamy Center. This place is bustling with crowd even on a Monday afternoon... and the food is amazing... the Menu is completely vegetarian and its not south indian. I must add that they have amazing chole bhature... and you must try their special biryani.

The evening was spent in some working out... and yeah... the pics so far are great... I'll post em as soon as am back... 

So now I am gonna snuggle and watch a movie with family... wow what a Day...!!! cheers...

Diary of the Chennai Traveller- Day 3 & Day 4

I have just had dinner... after a long drive back home...

My weekend was spent in a town that was developed by the French when they settled in this part of the world...

Yes, Pondicherry... now known as Puducherry... ( I hate this name changing thingy... ). This li'l town is situated about 3.5 hours away from Chennai.. it's around the East Coast Road.

In between Pondicherry and Chennai - stands another lil settlement called Mahabalipuram. This place is preserved by the Archaeological Survey of India... and trust me - the architecture that you get to see here is unbelievable. Krishna's butter-ball... is a huge stone shaped in a ball... and is balanced on a slope w/o any external help... wondrous, isn't it? And then there is a Shivalinga inside a cave with beautiful figureens carved.

If carvings and temples are not your taste then you can check out the beach that is very well maintained... and if you can shell out a few bucks extra then you can have your own part on the beach by way of the premier resort that is situated at the starting of Mahabalipuram.

Divine is Humanity... more Divine is to serve this humanity... this is the motto that was given by Shri. Aurobindo. One of the disciples of Aurobindo was a french woman who is now known as The Mother. Long after Shri. Aurobindo was dead... she set up a place called Auroville. Auroville is situated 10kms before Pondicherry. This Ashram houses about 2000 people out of which 60% are foreigners... and the rest, Indians. I have never seen so many foreigners working in a remote village and running cottage industries to earn themselves a living. The Ashram is surrounded by a lot of greenery. One of the biggest attraction in Auroville is Maitrimandir. This temple is in the shape of a sphere that is covered by discs made in gold mosiac tiles... over 2 million tiles have been used in making this temple of friendship and all the tiles were made in Auroville. The sphere is surrounded by 12 slopes which has 12 rooms all of different colors named differently- like,light, youth... etc... all the rooms are for meditation purposes. The Mother believed that a person should look within himself to find answers and that can be achieved thru meditation...

The actual temple- inside seems to be a direct pick up from a sci fi flick... its all dimly lit has a spiral stairway leading to a huge spherical room, which has a crystal ball set in the centre that has sunlight from top channeled over it... there are 12 pillars in the room..signifying the teachings of Shri.Aurobindo and The Mother. The whole of inside is made of marble and white carpet... the 15 minutes that I spent inside the meditating room.. were awesome... It was so quite that I could hear the silence. A must visit for everyone.

If this was all about spirituality... then Pondicherry... is for all the people who just love the thought of love. This town is very small... and divided into two towns.. one side is pretty south indian while the other is all white and has streets and avenues like in France and the streets are also named as Rue...!!! Little cafe's on the promenade... and the police band playing in the evening... I was staying in the french part of the town... in an Heritage hotel called Du Parc. Very nice rooms... and lovely decor. And the best hotel in town is called The Promanade... its on the promenade and is sea facing. One of the better restaurants is called the Rendezvous. There is a Museum and the church... not much to shop though... but you'll find a lot of stuff which is organic and natural there...mostly produced by Auroville residents.

Its a beautiful town... and you'll find a lot of french ppl there... so a lot of great faces to look at too... what say?

Diary of the Chennai Traveller - Day 2

One great thing about having a Bua who is rich and has great taste is that you get to stay in the poshest area of Chennai.

I am staying with my Bua in the boat club area.... all the houses are big...and everybody owns big cars... and they have a posh club too... the Madras Club... where i went this morning for a swim. Its a beautiful club... old school types...where you have to wear socks with your shoes to the dining table.



Btw- before I forget... the Boutique that I mentioned yesterday was Aourville... and the actual workhouse i'll let you know once I am back from Pondicherry... where I leave for tomorrow.



Chennai has some great places to eat... last night I went had Lebanese food... in a small lil place called Cedar's... great great food...esp for a first timer who hasn't had lebanese food....ever.
Talking about eating great food... my maid here cooks great South Indian food...which we had for Brunch....
I have a cousin who got married recently and stays in Banglore.... who has come over here to spend the weekend here with us... So.. we went Chennai darshan today later in the afternoon...

The Marina beach... here in Chennai is the second longest coastline in the world after Australia... surprisingly even though its located here in India its pretty well maintained... the marina beach has offices facing the seacost... the Madras university Campus is also opposite the beach..imagine to look at the sea while getting bored in the class... flanked closer to the coast is the Chor Bazaar of the town... well...Since Madras is a major Sea Port here... there is bound to be some smuggling that happens right...
Talking of Madras being a sea port... lets not forget that it was developed by the Brits, and trust me they did a great job... the architecture of the city is wonderful ... most of it belongs to the British era... but the charms is very captivating...
Then there are the memorials on the beach which pay homage to some great people like MGR...

Finally... the resorts... The resorts are towards the outskirts of towns...and the place where we had gone was called MGM... beautiful settings... the drive is called ECR... east coast road...and its beautiful... flanked with greens on both the sides...
And the night... well.. its being spent with a can of beer and and fish fry.... another evening comes to and end....
Another adventure for tomorrow....

Diary of the Chennai traveller- Day 1

So, finally I managed to get myself a welcome holiday.... I am in Chennai...as I write this blog.

I know that I was in Mumbai for a month last year but that was for work... but this trip is complete leisure... Since I am out... I would continue with the Investment Articles once I am back... that is 10 days later.

Till then- here is Chennai for you to visualize...from my point of view. The pics will only come at the end... 'coz I forgot to carry my cable.

Anyways - Day 1 - for all those who like to travel for the fun of it...never take a flight before sunrise...especially if you are traveling domestic... you tend to spoil the whole day 'coz of the fatigue... and if you do plan to take the early flight... then sleep well, the night before.

Jokes apart - I landed in Chennai after taking the 5.35 am Spice Jet flight no. SG 301. The flight was on time and as the doors of the aircraft opened we were greeted by warm sultry air in which you could smell the sea. Unlike Mumbai, where you are greeted by a huge slum on the side of the airport... the view from top is breath taking. It's all green around and for a moment you a taken aback 'coz you hardly get to see so much of greenery staying in Delhi.

The roads here are narrow... the town, a li'l backward... but it does have the largest university of the country which, along with its affiliates, provide education in various fields to 250,000 students all over the country.

The weather here is great and I saw a handicraft boutique here whose place of manufacture will be shown to me on the way to Pondicherry...which I'm gonna visit this weekend.

Right now - we are getting ready for dinner... this day was spent resting... tomorrow, the fun starts...

cheers...

Mumbai Bloggers' Meet

It was great to know that IndiBlogger had planned to organize a bloggers' meet in Mumbai on the 20th of March, 2008. I've been trying to attend one of these meets for a long time now but unfortunately I've always been away. This time, I actually rushed over to Mumbai attend the meet but however, it seems, it's not gonna materialize this time. They still haven't put up the venue on the site. Just my luck, I guess! I was really very eager to attend this one meet up. :-(

Key to being Rich: Invest Early....

The Wall Mag... this is a blog page that hs been made by a group of students who have left their beloved college are working all over the world in best of companies.. some even studying abroad and are telling each other about their lives and times there. I too go on that page off and on.

Ok before you start questioning...what has the wall mag got to do with this blog... well.. the last two posts on the blog have revealed a lot of frustrations that is among the young who have hefty jobs and are earning taxable incomes for the first time. There are a lot of dreams.. a lot creativity alot of desires that are being left behind by these brilliant minds just to earn some money... but then isn't money that makes the world go round and it surely does.

So how can this same money buy happiness? By making this money earn for you...and work for you. The very first thing that a youngster does with his first salary is to maybe give it to his parents or buy gifts etc... but never does he sit and think about making it grow. Dont believe me... well.. believe this then... A Reader's Digest Survey says- Most young Indians are either not investing at all or not starting early enough...

oops... now that is sad news... by the time you are 30 and realise that you have responsibilities of a family that you have started... it might just be a lil too late.

The Key word here is- COMPOUNDING.

This key word, surprisingly works with another factor that influences ultimately the lifestyle of your retirement... Time.

Yes.. we have all learned our 9th standard mathematics that tought us about compunding intresests for the various profit and loss problems... and surprisingly its the same compounding interest that gives you loads of savings via investment plans.

Here is a lil story for you guys... this one is pretty old... I stumbled upon this when I was researching for various things for this article.

Ram and Shyam. Both start working at the same time at the age of 23. Ram starts saving when he turns 25 and invests Rs 50,000 every year. Assuming that on this he earns a return of 10% every year, at the end of ten years, Ram has been able to accumulate Rs 8.77 lakh.
After this, due to financial constraints Ram is not able to invest Rs 50,000 every year. But at the same time he does not touch the money that he has already accumulated, hoping to live of it when he retires.
He lets the Rs 8.77 lakh grow and assuming that it continues to earn a return of 10% every year, he would have been able to accumulate around Rs 95 lakh by the time he turns 60. So the Rs 5 lakh (Rs 50,000 x 10 years) he had invested in the first ten years has grown to Rs 95 lakh: even though Ram stopped investing Rs 50,000 every year after the first ten years.
Now let's take the case of Shyam. During the first few years of his life Shyam enjoyed life spending money on all kinds of things rather than invest regularly. At the age of 35 reality suddenly dawns on him and he starts investing Rs 50,000 every year. He invests this amount every year till he turns 60, i.e. for 25 years. Assuming he also earns a return of 10% per year on his investments. At the end Shyam would have managed to accumulate Rs 54.1 lakh.
Even after investing Rs 50,000 regularly for 25 years, Shyam has managed to accumulate Rs 54.1 lakh, which is around Rs 41 lakh less in comparison to Ram. Now Ram has invested only Rs 5 lakh over the ten years he invested. In comparison, Shyam over the 25 years has invested Rs 12.5 lakh (Rs 50,000 x 25 years).
Even by investing two-and-a-half times more than Ram, Shyam has managed to build a corpus which is 43% less. This happened because Ram started investing earlier. This allowed the money to compound for a greater period of time.
Also as the corpus grows, the impact of compounding is greater. Ram as we know had managed to accumulate Rs 8.77 lakh after ten years and then he stopped investing Rs 50,000 every year, allowing the accumulated corpus to compound for 25 more.

See... this is as simple as that... by allowing time to take its course in your investment.. then you may end up being a millionaire. That is the magic of compunding- More time, much more the money.

The best part about investing early is that though at the age of 35 + you do have a lot of responsibilities at your head... with a wife, few kids and aging parents... but you might just be able to still fulfill a dream of yours... coz even if you are investing now for the coming 10 years in say a safe Public Provident Fund... where you are allowed to invest upto 70,000 rupees a year at 8% interest... for a period of 10 years would give you enough money to get going with that start up.

If you really are interested in investing early... and wanna an estimate of how things would go if start investing at various ages... here is a calculator that'll help you...see... now you'll be able to make just the decision that you have been wanting to... whether to invest now or a few years later... I know I am bad at making decisions on investment... I recently got my pan card and my dad is making the effort... so I am helping myself and people like me through these series of articles to understand how money can be made into more money... here is an Investment IQ test that may point you if you n I need proffessional asset managers or we can do without having one..I need some serious help... as per the calculator...

My advice...

Start Investing now so that you have millions for tomorrow..... Make the Money work.... just like you work for it...!!!

Money... Money...Tips..

"Paisa... aisa kaisa paisa.... saari khushi paisa....."

This song really lives up to the trend of money making. The indian youth today... that surely includes me... love to earn a fast buck or two.... as they say Money may not buy you happiness... but it surely buys you enough resources so that you can be happy... and it does make the world go round....

So starting today.. I am gonna write atleast two posts on how we guys should be using the money that we earn... the reason being that most of the readers that come buy here are the young guns who have recently started earning by working their ass off.

21 Money Tips:

1. Never lose control over your assets as long as you live. Think thrice before you give a power of attorney , or write property away even to your near n dear ones.

With the increasing number of Ekta Kapoor soaps, showcasing every one fighting for money... keep this one surely in mind. Relationships change over time... and money makes em change even faster.

2. Write a will anyway. The moment you guys decide to settle down finally... do this.... a will will make sure that your kids dont land up in court fighting over the property you earned...

3. Share all the financial information with your spouse as well... encourage her to take charge .. after all she is your better half... the investments on her name might just get great gains for you.

4. Money is safest in the public sector bank... remember.. the IDBI bank thingy that happened a few years back... make sure that your savings are actually safe...

5. Keep a track of your credit card statements and bank accounts. Don't go by the bank statements alone... try n verify each of youyr transactions... Ok this seems a lot of work... but it truely helps. I know of a guy, who kept a record of all his phone calls and the minutes etc... and was able to get a reimbursement wen he was overcharged in a bill. A lil effort now will reap great results.

6. Next time, when you buy jwellery... please check for the Bureau of Indian Standard(BIS) hallmark. It'll assure of the quality of the gold that you are buying...and when you change it... it'll fetch you better price...

7. Buying Gold...to invest in gold... well.. that is certainly passe... now buy into gold exchange traded fund(ETF) instead. Therefore... no more worries about storing away all that gold n keeping it safe from the theifs n robbers... the best part though is there is no wealth tax or long-term capital gain tax...

8. Don't fall for very high interest rates when you take a fixed deposit....higher the rate of interest...greater will be your chance of losing your money... Post office term deposits are the safest..

9. save upto 2.5% commission if you bought mutual funds directly from the fund's office instaed of buying from a broker...

10. Using your internet for buying and selling shares actaully does you good... coz its cheaper.. and faster...and you are in control...

11. IPO... scary word after the Anil Ambani's disasterous power issues.. well they arent always good or safe... patience..is truely a virtue when it comes to stock market... you may be offered better price there.

12. You may voluntarily contribute any amout from your salary to your comapny's EPF. You'll have more tax free money when you retire...

13.Try n not withdaraw money from your EPF...its for living in that countryside cottage when you retire... transfer the balance to your new employer...

14. Save tax by reading... yup read about the various tax deductions... treatment of disabled parents, special tax concessions for senior citizens..and donation to charities are a few for which tax deductions are valid..and we overlook.

15. Debit cards that dont require a PIN for shopping are very unsafe...

16. If your credit card gets lost...or is used fraudulently...refuse to pay up for somebody else..and contest such charges... to use your credit card fraudulently.. nothing much is required just your name... spl no on the back... card number which is mostly on the merchant copy and the expiry date. B very careful when you use a credit card. Merchants are usually not in a habit of comapring signatures on the card n reciept... So much so.. the same logos offer 'zero liability' in case of fraud..even if you arent able to report the loss.. but abroad... In India you are not being offered that coz..you are not standing up to this discrimination.

17.Does your card also offer insurance...? Accident insurance etc are often offered by credit cards... they are not claimed..because you are not aware of em... make a note of this next time you sign up for a credit card.

18.Zero Interest loan.. loks so freakin attractive... but its not so... you get no discount at all.. as a matter of fact you pay things like processing fees, delivery charges and service tax. You end up paying more...

19. Thiefs..are everywhere.. even your demat account is not that safe... your shares can be stolen from your demat account..so keep a check on that... and if you are palnning to hold on to em.. then get them frozen against any debit.

20.Own shares that pay dividend... good growth strategy is to reinvest all dividents back into more shares...if its mutual funds, choose a dividend reinvestment plan... its pays well...

21. A great habit is too invest regularly...a systematic investment plan in equities work on "rupee cost averaging" but they dont always give you gains...as claimed... but nevertheless.. they make u invest regularly...

These tips have been picked up from this month's Readers' Digest issue... but I dont think that anyone minds that fact.. everyone wants to be wiser on the account of money... I swear by rule number 20.. I have two such investments done... and I think that... its a great way...to reinvest without taking too much of load...

If any of you have ne more ideas..on how to be wise with your money.... please share it with us... we are young...ready to earn....and save up...maybe...

Cheers....

An Interim Post

Yes, it's been a long vacation. Loads of things have been happening in my life. First, a really good news. I finally bought a laptop for myself. Now I hope I shall be able to contribute regularly to the blogosphere. The one I got is a Acer Aspire 5920, for 37 grands.

 

Also, got myself associated with the prestigious WATBlog. Just wrote my very first post on India's WiMAX scene, yesterday. It is great to know Rajiv Dingra and even better to get a chance to write for him. If nothing else, at least the experience shall help me acquire a huge amount of exposure in the blogging scene.

 

Currently, I'm in Mumbai, at my home, down with chicken pox. Yes, that's one of the reasons why I'm able to post on the Labyrinth, after so long. I hope I shall be able to start writing again. Till then, thanks a lot for your appreciation and support.

Adios.