King of Clay Vs Master of Grass

These last few years might be easily some of the best years in the history of tennis. The top 2 seeds in the world Roger Federer and Rafal Nadal – have played so many thrilling matches against each other including the 5+ hours, nail-biter from 2008 Wimbledon championship. They are going to meet again in yet another grand slam final – Australian Open – this weekend! What a feast for tennis lovers. These two players are respected, admired and loved in every country by every tennis fan. It’s just hard to hate either one of them. They have lot of respect for each other as well. Both are classic gentlemen and extraordinary athletes. Although Rafa is very tired from today’s five setter and has less time to rest as compared to Roger for the big game on Sunday, I think it will still be a great match.

May the best man win!

What Do You Think Of the the following Lines

Hi All

Currently reading 4 Books (I Know, I Know .. I must be nuts to read them together) Found a couple of intresting lines. Thought that i should share them with ya'll

1. The Point of life is not to get anywhere - It is to notice that you are, and have allways been, already there . You are, always and forever, in the moment of pure creation. The point of life is therefore to create - who and what you are, and then to exprience that.

2. You cannot resist something to which you grant to reality. The act of resisting a thing is the act of granting it life. When you resist an energy, you place it there. the more you resist, the more you make it real - whatever it is you are resisting.

Will let you guys know the names of the books later

Take Care

C

Movie Review : Slumdog Millionaire

My rating: 3 out of 5 stars.

Although I have been watching promos of this movie since last 4 months, I never got around watching it until last night. After all, I had to see what all the buzz is about. Every now and then a low-budget movie comes around that no one has ever heard of which ends up winning several international awards. Slumdog Millionaire is one of those movies.

Slumdog is a brilliantly directed movie with a great screenplay. If you didn’t know, the movie is based on the novel ‘Q & A’ by Vikas Swarup and directed by Danny Boyle. I have never heard of either of these names. Neither have I heard of the main characters in the movie Dev Patel and Freida Pinto. But still, this movie will entertain you till the end.

In spite of being a common bollywood love-story ( a boy, a girl, a villain, struggling life from rags to riches and a cheesy love song at the end), Slumdog doesn’t have the typical non-sense masala that you see in most of the bollywood movies. Jamal Malik's life starts in the filthy slums of Mumbai along with his elder brother Saleem and a friend Latika. They go through a series of unfortunate events and eventually the lovers get separated. In order to get his love back, Jamal decides to go on the famous TV show; Kaun Bangea Cororepati (fine performance by the host Anil Kapoor) because he knows Latika likes to watch that show. That’s where Jamal gets surprise of his lifetime when he discovers that all the questions on the show are somehow connected to story of his life. As he cruises through the questions, everybody on the show including the host starts to doubt that how does this kid from the slums possibly know answers to all these questions. Irfan Khan plays a cop who interrogates Jamal because they all think he cheated. The end of the movie is predictable. A R Rehman’s magical music adds a desi flavor to the movie.

Had this movie been directed by an Indian director, I don’t think it would have achieved anywhere close to the success that it has achieved today. Directory Danny Boyle has done an excellent job in giving an international platform to this film. Personally, I think except the people directly involved with this project, nobody (I mean no Indians) deserve to beat their chest about the success of the movie.

The only reason I am giving it three stars because we have seen the slums and the love stories several times. I just want someone to make a movie about modern India. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely don’t have problem in accepting the fact that such slums and child-abuse scandals still exists in India. That is a fact.

Go see this one. Not for kids due to some foul language.

The best job in the world ( literally)

This is hard to believe. An Australian island has opened up a position titled as Island Caretaker, which is being described as the best job in the world. Here are some of the highlights of this job.

• The length of the employment is 6 months.


• The main responsibility of the Island Caretaker is exploring and blogging about the activities of the island on the internet.


• It’s open to everyone in the whole entire world.


• Free ticket from your home country, housing on the beach, meals, traveling will be provided by the employer – Queensland Tourism.


• This is the best part - The salary is US $100,000 or Rs 50 Lakhs.
  
  This is no joke guys! Australia wants to promote tourism on the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. Not to mention already hundreds of thousands of people have applied for the job. The deadline is January 22nd. First they will short-list 50 candidates, which will be eventually cut down to the 11 (just like Eleven Cousins). These 11 candidates will be called for an on-site interview on the island. One lucky person will be awarded the job on May 6th.
  
  This island has already gained so much popularity. What a unique way to promote tourism. So are you all ready to apply? Click here.
  

Indi Movies worth watching

Hi All

here are a few movies that everyone should watch, esp if you have a philosophical bend. 

1. Waking Life (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0243017/)

The movie is about a young dude in a lucid dream state, in the dream he has philosophical disscussions, and tries very hard to wake up.
Some of the discussions pose important questions about humanity.

The movie is a must see for anyone who is trying to discover themselves

2. The Man from Earth (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756683/)

wont say anything about this movie .. See it Period.

3.  The Fountain (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0414993/)

A difficult to comprehend if you miss even a dialog Love Story. I was almost in tears at the end. Fantastic. ( I know lot of people that did not understand the flick at all)

btw i do have all three with me .. Trying to get HD versions (Blue Ray or DVD)

Have fun watching them .. Not recomended for children as the content may not make any sense to them (no nudity or anything of that sort in all three.. Its just that the content is not suitable for any one under 15.)

Regards

C

Is your life recession-proof?

A few weeks ago I was talking to an individual inside my industry and he was proudly saying that their business is recession-proof. It was the first time I had heard this word. What he really meant was this global economic meltdown is having no effect on his business. I was little bit surprised, but I said hey, good for him. This week, I talked to the same person and his opinion has changed. He was complaining about the economy and how it’s affecting their business.

In last few months we all have read and heard lots of news about recession and how you can make your job or business recession proof. But why just focus on job? I think it affects more than just your job. I want to divide this in the following categories


1. Job and Career
This is an obvious issue and most likely the recession has affected all of us in one way or another. My company is running at 80% of what we were doing a year ago! We lost a good 20% of so business to slowness in economy and overall decline in the market. Although this does not affect my monthly paycheck, this will affect the bonus and other perks. The yearly raise is already out of the question. Not to mention the fretfulness regarding the job security. So far our company has handled the recession very well, because we are owned by a very big company. For small business owners, it gets worst. On the other side, there are certain businesses which have no effect of recession or better yet, are thriving due to recession.

2. Health and Fitness
I was on a roll about a month ago! I was hitting gym 3-4 times a week, eating healthy and was in line with my weight loss goal. All of a sudden, the recession hit me! No folks, I am just kidding!! My reason to discontinue all that has nothing to do with recession. (I thought I might as well blame this on economy!) But it definitely has to do with the extreme cold weather we are having and the holidays. I need to stop being so lazy and get back on the track.

But seriously, I am sure there are some people whose health is affected by recession. There could be several reasons like not being able to afford the gym membership because you want to save money, or unable to continue the sports activity because you spend more hours at work to improve job security or not able to afford eating organic and fresh food because you are keeping money for other necessary expenses. It could be just plain mental depression.


3. Family and Friends
Recession has not affected this area of my life either. Fortunately, I don’t know anybody who has lost a job or a business due to recession. I don’t want to know.

You hear everyday that unemployment rates are going up. In US it has sneaked up to 7%. That means there is a chance that every 1 out of 14 people you know is out of work! That is scary. One more way it can affect your life is people who lose jobs might move away from your neighborhood or even your city, eventually you may lose contact with them.

The flip side of recession in this area of your life is, now that people don’t have cash to spend on vacations and other activities, they may want to socialize more. I mean just hang out at home and spend more time with close family and friends. So did the recession bring you close to your loved ones?


4. Dreams and Goals
This area of my life is definitely affected by recession. I am 30 years old and still have about 30 more years before retiring, that means as compared to some older folks (over 50) out there, my long term dreams are still intact and I will have several chances to make those come true. I feel bad for people who are very close to the retirement and have lost so much money recently that they will have to push out their retirement by few more years. However, some of my short term goals of savings and investments have definitely had an impact. I am not a big investor, but whatever little money I had in stocks is down by more than 50%!! I know I am in the same boat as most of the people. One of my other goals is to take a cruise or a foreign vacation, but slowly it looks like I am going to have to sacrifice this one. I just don’t feel financially secured anymore to justify this vacation.


5. Others
I can think of some unique ways in which recession can hit your life. Family extension plans, marriage, renovating your house, donations and charity contributions, taking care of chronic health issues, desires of higher education etc. At this time, there is no other part of my life which has had a significant impact due to recession.

So, how is recession affecting your life? Would you categorize the issues any differently? I am curious to know if your life truly is recession-proof or not.

Luck? what is it anyways

Have been thinking about this for some time now.. what is LUCK? Why are some people always or most of the time lucky and some are constantly unlucky in life. Why do a set of things 'happen' to just a selected bunch!

After brainstorming for a while I am beginning to think that there is nothing like 'LUCK'. It’s more of set of decisions one makes all through his life, is aware of opportunities around him and grabs the one at right time.

I invite all to share their views on this.. what is luck for each of us and what is 'right time' or ‘timing’ as we call it!

An interesting read about 90/10 principle. It about how the decisions we make.. make our day...

My 5 favorite readings of the week

Hi All

Every week, I will be posting 5 of my favorite posts from various bloggers. If at all possible, spend few minutes of your time to read them. It’s good stuff.

# 1 We deal with this issue on a regular basis.
http://moneysmartlife.com/lending-money-to-family-and-friends/

# 2 Some great tips to kick-off 2009.
http://www.lazymanandmoney.com/how-to-be-successful-in-the-new-year/

# 3 You are most productive when working with deadlines or under time pressure.
http://www.bripblap.com/2009/free-time-does-not-translate-to-massive-productivity/

# 4 From time to time we all need a reminder of these small things.
http://livingmyrichlife.wordpress.com/2008/12/31/why-im-already-rich/

# 5 Lastly, my favorite PF blogger JD has an excellent post – how much money would it take for you to compromise your principles?
www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/01/09/how-much-money-would-it-take-for-you-to-compromise-your-principles/

Have a good weekend!

shopping......yes

though men in general find boring ....not ladies but shopping , whether for themselves or for family or for girlfriend. But there are exceptions too here as well..... i am in that exception category of men .....i love shopping with my wife . Give me amount as much as you can ..take care of my kids ( which is practically impossible) and i love....I have patience , energy , and what not. I would love to for shopping for any thing under the sun. Love to shop decorative piecses.

My shopping style.

Shopping is what every woman loves to do and most of the men hate.
I too love shopping but at the same time it is a big dilemma for me because I am always confused about buying stuff when there is too much choice. Here in the US, November-December is the best time to shop around to look for good deals. I usually get caught in the gift items, kitchen gadgets, and cosmetics sections. I just spend hours in looking around in these sections and of course end up buying something small.

When I was new in US, I used to always convert Dollars into Rupees while shopping! As a result of this, at the end, I would come out of a store with nothing. Slowly I am changing this habit.

I love to go to shopping with my husband but sometimes I prefer to go alone. I want to go with the husband because then I don’t have to pay from my pocket and his choice is better than mine. Sometimes I prefer to go alone because he is always in rush and he looks for branded stuff, which is more expensive and me being a housewife, have to compromise with brands and get some generic, cheap stuff. I am one of those people who don’t want to pay full price for any item. I will wait for good deals. For day-to-day items also I buy them in bulk if found on sale, even though I have stock at home.

Shopping doesn’t mean you have to go to malls or stores. You can shop online also. It may happen sometime that the particular item you look in the store is available at a lower price on internet. However, don’t always look for lower price, as there are other things to consider as well for example, shipping and handling, insurance, warranty and return policy. Another disadvantage of online shopping is the risk of identity theft and fraud if you buy from an unreliable website.

I don’t prefer to buy jewelry, handbags or clothes online because although the presentation of these items is very good and attractive, when you actually receive them, you find them not so great and often of cheap quality. I have to touch and feel these things before buying.

One thing I was not in big favor of was using coupons while shopping for grocery and some household items. Recently, I learned from some friends that you can actually save a lot of money by using such coupons, so I am planning to use them religiously going forward! My other weakness is to buy things just because they are on sale, even though I don’t NEED them. I am slowly overcoming this problem by deciding between WANTS and NEEDS.

How do you shop?

do and dont

like all place are meant to be what they are meant to .... so is a blog... if we are serious about the blog stuff and keen in using this for the k share forum, lets restrict the blog to being just a blog.
Lets understand what is a blog, and what we can and cant do on it..... not all of us are born with the hint of technology, and the mannerism of it.... which in due course of time we need to learn...
so lets browse around and find what it is.... and be sacrosanct about the blog, this done not have any reference to any topic being posted, or theme of the blog.

Hi all

welcome all. i am the first person all the time ........i think i have ample time on hand ... anyways so whts the topic of the day. Aushotoshji ask sumeet to write the blog in hindi.

The first post

The first post..

would wann to welcome each of the 11 cousins to the blog... lets use this space to talk out brains out... lets share knowledge, lets try to learn. lets use this to for the K factor..

lets not brag in our emotions out here. this space is ment to share what we think .. and as agreed there is no right or worng way to think... in fact thinking is the most individual activity that we as humans can do .... and its thinking that has shaped the world as we see...

so lets start a new edition out there...

would also request each of you to plz blog what you wann this space to be and not to...
looking fd for a real exciting blog to hang out on.