2015 overview

They say, the way to enlightenment is by reading books or by traveling. You can say the year was good if you have read more books or visited more places. 2015 for me was special in many ways. This year started with a late night birthday party at Monkey Bar. Danced till I was tired and I knew something exiting was in store for this year. Started the year with a small trip to Hyderabad, followed by a trip to mettupalyam and Ooty. Visited Coimbatore for few days. Attended a naturalist training course followed by a trip to Hampi and a trek in Tadiyandamol. Concluded the year by trekking Balladrayana Durga hill and a road trip to Gokarna. The year was peppered with lots of birding session. Read Batman Begins and Dark knight Returns. As a cherry on the top, we were blessed with a little angel. Its really nice to be with someone who supports my passion for travel. All this was possible because of Shyla who does not stop me from going out while she manages things at home. Looking forward to 2016 with more books and travel plans. I'm sure it will be exciting with the little one around. 

Honda Amaze | Petrol EX Varient : Ownership Review

"If you drive a Honda, seldom you'll switch your brand during your next upgrade" a good friend of mine who is driving a Honda from past 20 years said this to me. I was contemplating on buying a car from past one year and had set my eyes on Volkswagen Polo. Even when I was handing over the purchase order, I was not sure if I should take it back and go to VW dealer. My mind said Honda but my heart was set on VW. It is not easy when this is your first car and also a major investment for the first time. To begin with, I was not sure if I should be investing 7 Lakhs on a car. But in country like India where inflation is high, its worth the investment because in next 1 year the same car may cost another 1 Lakh extra. Its better to pay the extra 1 Lakh as interest and enjoy the car.


I took test drive of Brio, Swift, Polo (Both Petrol & Diesel), Felt Brio had too much glass and the gears were stiff, VW people had an air. When I called them for a test drive, they asked me to come half way as my house was far away. They even asked how much my salary was to confirm if I could afford the car. What bullshit. For every question of mine was met with "Its German Engineering" statement. So far the best service experience I had was at Maruti. They spoke my local language, not too intrusive nor distant. They came to my house three times with three different models. They handed over the keys and just allowed me to experience the car to my hearts content. For a second I felt I should just go ahead and buy a swift. But the looks were outdated and I like the old model better then the new one.

I wanted the title of this blog post to be "How Volkswagen sold me a Honda". No doubt VW has some good cars but they also have some worst dealers.  With all the recent VW scandal 'm happy with my decision to buy Honda.

Let me go ahead with the likes and dislike about the car so that any one reading this can make an informed decision:

Dislikes: 

1. Build Quality. It is always nice to hear the reassuring thud when you close the door which is missing is this car.

2. Rubber housing around the windows. When the windows are half open and you drive on a rough road, windows shake and make noise. (I did not face this issue on test car)

3. Rear window can be opened upto 90%, not a major issue.

4. Panel Gaps.

5. You can see the wires when you bend and look below the steering.  They could have used some clever engineering hacks to at least clamp the wires.

6. Buy an S Variant instead of going for E or EX variant. I made a mistake picking up the EX variant. If you can afford, go for the model that has an ABS.

7. Option to use the key only on driver side. Hence I had to install a remote lock.

8. OEM Horn: Stopped working in the very first month

Likes:

1. iVTEC Engine: Single most reason to pick a Honda. Recently took the car out to Ooty and it just handled the curves beautifully without slowing down to catch a breath.

2. Handling: With short turning radius and stiff suspension you will feel confident handing the car. Just responds the way you want it to.

3. Mileage: 17 - 18 KM/Liter on highway with AC

4. Its Spacious.

5. I like the way the steering is designed. You just feel like holding it.

6. OEM front speakers are very good. Do not change the front speakers

7. I'm satisfied with the OEM tires and 165mm width. May change them to Michelin XM 2 during my next upgrade

Despite cost cutting being evident, its a good car to own if you live in a big city. Its almost two years and this is a late post. I have heard that the Honda has increased the base price as the model became popular. When I purchased, interest rates were very high but the interest now is slightly less. On a side note, i would like to add that I drove Hundai Xcent and was impressed with the power and the build quality. It was a brief 5 minute ride and it is difficult to judge a car in such a short span of time.

Cost of Car (On Road): Rs 6,75,760/- (I have not included the interest that I'm paying.)
Remote Lock + Mud flaps + Rear Speakers: Rs 8,300/-
2 Din Honda OEM Head unit: Rs 4000 + Rs 500 as fitting charges
Under Body Coating: Rs 3596/-
Fabric Seat Covers: Rs 3400/-
Better Horn: Rs 1200/-

Total Cost: Rs 6,96,756/-

Savings for not going to next model is Rs 26,976/-
But you will get a seat height adjuster, Steering audio controls, No need to cut wires to get the remote lock and wheel covers.


First Service cost : Free
Second Service cost: Free + Rs 1268/- Cost of Engine oil
Third Service: Rs 1413/-
Fourth Service Rs 2183/-
Replaced a broken mirror which costed: Rs 2504/-

If you notice the service bills are rising steadily. I do not own any other cars to know if the service charges are reasonable. Company had recalled my car to find out if the braking fluid distribution unit was defective. It turned to be OK and they gave a free wash when I left the car for inspection. I'll keep updating this post as and when some thing interesting happens with my car.

Inheritance Tax

We require re-introduction of inheritance tax. Inheritance tax was known as an estate duty in India but was abolished by the Rajiv Gandhi Govt. This is being levied in the US, UK, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Finland and Germany. This will bring down the legal disputes on property. This will lower inequality and will boost government revenue.

Non existence of inheritance tax/estate duty has resulted in wealth accumulation, increase in property value and the most dangerous one, unwanted legal case. This legal cases has slowed down our judiciary and decreased the progress of people involved in the case.

I would strongly recommend people to have minimum property that is essential for there survival. People deciding to invest in property to safeguard there bloodline are brewing a situation which may break their children. They will surely fail at a latter point of there life. Instead, if you have money, please invest on books, travel and education.

Netherent

I wanted to write about this from a very long time but could find time only today. Internet is such a democratic medium, Uninterrupted access to first hand knowledge irrespective of where you are from. Of-course there will be some exception if you are from China or North Korea. Internet is being used, abused & misused in all possible ways. Its funny how patients google there prescription to check if the doctor is right. We just have a new breed of generation who know it all. On the side note, I believe,  future is for people who has the capability to manage the information which is readily available. I have few friends who call me up for advise/suggestions and argue with me with the same points that I have posted on the internet. My opinions online has more value then the opinions I give them in person. And I had to coin a new term for this characteristic. Hence the term Netherent (adjective) is a characteristic attribute for a person who is more inclined to arrive at a decision based on content available on internet. 

If a person is Netherent and not careful, there are limitless possibilities for social engineering. 

Even on my worst day, i still want to smile.

This post is a call for people to be happy no matter what. Happiness is contagious, so spread it. Never let them see you fail. Too often people use Breakdowns in their life as a reason to play victim.

NO ONE wants to hear you crying.  Breakdowns remind you, that you've been ignoring the warning signs! Breakdowns are a blessing, a opportunity to take a honest look at how you have been operating. A slap in the face to WAKE the HELL UP!

Don't let it get you down, break you, or make you give up. Celebrate! Dance! Be excited! You are now aware of what didn't work, So now you can shift into what does work. Breakdowns are a setup for a BREAKTHROUGH. You come out stronger and wiser than before.

Put your best outfit on! Put a smile on your face! Forgive yourself! Then get ready to crush your breakdown! Let loose with positivity! Radiate a new air of confidence! Seize the day... Kill it!

Back Again

After a very long hiatus, I'm back again. I'm not sure if there are still any readers left but I come here once in while just to write down whats going on in my head. Recently completed reading a fantastic book on evolution, the greatest show on earth by Richard Dawkins. The topics are all laid out with that combination of clarity and verve. The author has left no stone unturned in explaining evolution. After reading this book I realized, even thou the so called homosapians are evolved (at least intellectually) they still exhibit animal like behavior frequently. They are hard wired to do certain things the old way. To name a few, we still have borders, draw a line across the country and fight for the territory. Just like an alpha lion, successful people have multiple affairs. They just want to plant their seeds every where. Clinton can always say "Blame the evolution, we are still not evolved". This may be an obvious trait but there are more subtle things that go unnoticed and we should be extremely careful about. 

Do you know about the new alpha lion that defeated the aging lion to take control of a herd, the first thing that it does is to kill the cubs that were born to the ex alpha male. Similarly you cant expect your children to be treated equally under some one else supervision. Sub consciously the care taker will consider the kids as a threat to their blood line. Either because of jealousy or they would prefer to increase the chances of their offspring. They even consume the resources you supply to better the chances of their family. The intentions of sending the children out may be good but the outcome will always be bad. I feel religion is a good attempt in keeping people in line but it does not work with every one. Parents alone can ensure proper grooming of kids and no one else. 

Compromises

There is a reason for why they call generation gap. It exist, that too in a very big way. Parents have strange way of deciding things on behalf of there children. They take decisions with all good intention and impose it on there children to accept the decisions that they take. Personally, if the decision they take would directly impact us, they should inform us before doing something that cannot be reversed. Why cant they trust us, why cant they understand that we can do a better job in bringing more value for the same amount of money that is being spent.

There are few things that I have learnt lately. There is nothing called as "good value for money". You get what you pay for. Always assign a job to a person who is always busy, you have increased your chances of the busy person to match your expectation. Never assign a job to a friend or a relative just because you know him, you cant fight with him if they end up doing a crappy job. Also you have taken away your chances of a good bargain. Always do your research even if there is delay in initiating the work.

I spend hours at a stretch just to decide a color that I want use for the websites that I design. But my parents wont ask my suggestion before a paint job is initiated to paint my room. I have NO say on this as it is there house and they have all rights to decide what they want to do with it. My reason for frustration is entirely different from what i have discussed above. But I'm helpless. I just wish, that all parents trust there children and allow them to make there own mistakes. Such a simple philosophy but so difficult to follow. But this leads to a different topic that I want to discuss at a later time, and that is "Indian have strange ways to complicate simple things in life and make there life miserable".

I Know it all

Once upon time, in college, I knew a person who knew everything. He always had an opinion on every topic under the sun. Though irritable, we used to put up with him and listen to every possible, plausible trivia he told about every thing we discussed.Only when he took me to his home I realized that he had access to most news papers, various magazine and a cable connection. He had cousins in US who were telling him on what was trending. Initially I were in an impression that he was the smartest person in our college, but by the end of term he became the most obnoxious person in our college. This was one thing that he never knew.

I always marvel  internet and how democratic it is. Thanks to it that we now have the new breed of "I KNOW IT ALL" people around us. I'm meeting many such people every day who are just like that. You tell them some thing and  next thing they say is, I know it. They can even explain why the inflation is so high, or how Mallaya duped the banks, or even talk about quantum teleportation. Few days back I saw a beautiful Egyptian Vulture flying and pointed that to a friend, next thing he did was to Google and verify if I was right. He was such a dumbo, i was trying to appreciate the way it was flying and i was not on a fact checking nature audit. He was trying to experience something that was in front of his eyes through an LCD monitor. It does not stop at that, we google the details of drugs prescribed by a doctor and verify if the doctor is competent. Watch a movie based on review written by an unknown person. Not that it is wrong, but it will be very wrong if we do not use the information we have access to in the RIGHT context.

I have even coined a term for such people and call them "NETHERENT".  They are such people who use you tube to solve a Rubik cube. Convincing such persons to make a decision is very easy. Write a nice detailed review on net, use some clever tricks to increase the page rank, time it and publish your(anonymous virtual expert on that topic) opinions, they will stumble upon that link and will in turn call us back and explain about the same review as if it was there own. As I said, borrowed opinion is such a dangerous thing and many don't realize that they are becoming that obnoxious person I was referring to. As they say, the smartest person today is not the one who can solve a problem but the one who can control the flow of information. 

Take such people on a long trek to a mountain that has no connectivity, when they are completely tired with no electronic gadgets with them and are sitting all by themselves you will hear them say, "This Sunset is soo beautiful"  instead of  "Do you know why the sun is red ?








 

Sound of Silence

Silence is not necessarily something without noise, you can find it amidst chaos. Have you ever noticed that there are pockets of silence amidst a busy mall, or a crowded convection hall or your office that is always full of activity. Its a about finding that perfect place where you can stand without being disturbed, a vantage point where you can see/feel the chaos around you but you are invisible to others. This isolated pockets gives you a strange feeling of being in peace. I have noticed this after a hectic day on a out station business trip standing in the balcony of my room watching the traffic move. After a busy day organizing a event. Its about finding that place where you cannot be disturbed and for this to work, you should be tired. It soothes the soul, quiets the inner beast, brings out the goodness in you, allows you to hear yourself. Having a moment of stillness in your life is wonderful.

Bridging the Gaps

Was listening to a very old song "Everybody is free to wear Sunscreen" . The lyrics goes something like this:

Understand that friends come and go,
But a precious few, who should hold on.
Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle
For as the older you get, the more you need the people
You knew when you were young

I have listened to this song a hundred times and had never thought about those lines. No matter how easy it is to communicate with friends over internet, it cannot replace the actual touch or the actual interaction. It is very much necessary to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle. We should be in a position to go to the place where they are and meet them. Now I understand why my grand mom always gets exited when our relatives drop in from the village where she grew up. I'm sure we will not understand the importance of meeting old friends until we grow old.

How good is your memory ?

Your memory isn’t as good as you think. When you remember an event in the past, your brain uses a very similar technique to imagining the future. The process is less like “replaying a video” than “putting on a play from a script.” If the script is wrong for whatever reason, you can have a false memory that is just as vivid as a true one. Eyewitness testimony, it turns out, is one of the least reliable forms of evidence allowed into courtrooms.

A lifespan is a billion heartbeats

I had a very interesting discussion about this topic with a scientist at NFTRI (Central Food Technological Research Institute). Complex organisms die. Sad though it is in individual cases, it’s a necessary part of the bigger picture; life pushes out the old to make way for the new. Remarkably, there exist simple scaling laws relating animal metabolism to body mass. Larger animals live longer; but they also metabolize slower, as manifested in slower heart rates. These effects cancel out, so that animals from shrews to blue whales have lifespans with just about equal number of heartbeats — about one and a half billion, if you simply must be precise. In that very real sense, all animal species experience “the same amount of time.” At least, until we become immortal.

Change is good

It’s O.K. to change your plans.Turn about face.Pivot. Take a 180.

We live in a world which punishes those who take actions to correct a mistake or a course. Wishy-washy, we call them. Flip-floppers. Unstable. Irresponsible. Lazy. Whimsical. A whole host of terms with negative connotations for people who take abrupt action to change their course, especially when that course may have been a recent decision. I’ve been thinking a lot about “consciousness” in your life’s direction – and “flexibility” in how you structure your life. Part of this is realizing is about when things need to be reversed.

1. It’s o.k. to sell your house for less than you paid for it – if you realize that freedom is worth more than the loss.
2. It’s o.k. to sell something you just bought – if you realize you no longer need it (or never needed it).
3. It’s o.k. to spend money on things that bring joy, purpose, or value into your life – even if you are paying off debt.
4. It’s o.k. to quit your job – and go backpacking around the world
5. It’s o.k. to shut down the business you recently launched and take a corporate job – if that’s what you are being called to do.
6. It’s o.k. to quit your new promising career and pave your own path – if you know deep down you’ll do what it take to make it a reality.
7. It's o.k to get drenched in rain or talk to yourself

*****

Realizing you’ve started down the wrong path – and correcting course – is admirable. It’s a trait that’s far too uncommon these days. It’s a principle that should be praised, not ridiculed. Staying with a condition in your life that you no longer believe in – just because you picked that path earlier is insane. People will challenge you. Most will criticize out of fear. They’re afraid of what similar changes might mean for their own life. If you take advice from people who are scared – don’t be surprised when you end up trapped in fear yourself.

Go ahead and flip-flop. It’ll be o.k.

Source: Man vs Debt Blog

My Android Experience

Its almost 4 months since I brought this shiny new gadget running Android 2.1. My old Nokia had dead pixels all over the screen and Nokia service was pathetic. There i was holding Samsung Galaxy and was hesitant to touch and smear it with my finger prints. But I dived in right away, entered my gmail & Facebook password and viola it came into life. I did not think much about it. A friend of mine called me up and the screen displayed his name & indicated his birthday was today. WTF, it had downloaded my address book, knew my friends number, name and his birthday. I was surprised and was annoyed and I felt my privacy was suddenly intruded. Within in few minutes my phone knew more about me then I knew about my self. My mails were imported and there were few notifications displayed reminding me of few appointments I had saved in my calendar. On my way back home I was trying to figure out how to selectively password protect my mail and realized there was none. The android was exclusively designed keeping single user operation in perspective which is not the case in India. Is'nt it scary that Google seems to know who we care about, and who cares about us

I activated the main password and was impressed by the way we had to connect the dots. The unlock method is awesome. I tried to message and was not able to insert numbers, later I figured out that the numbers had to be saved under mobile category for them to appear in message screen.

I was regularly using record function in my Nokia and was replaying them when required. Lack of this feature surprised me as I thought that to be the most basic feature on any phone. Single handed operation is time consuming in touch screens and to make &recei ve calls a basic Nokia is clear winner. I was able to make calls riding my bike and with android I just cant do that yet. Suddenly my inclination to blog reduced and my tweet count increased. I was getting news much faster and was being interrupted more frequently. GPS is too good to be true and helped me getting around Chennai during my visits. Four square started showing places around and my pockets started getting lighter. I never knew taco bells was opposite to my office nor knew sky walk was the the nearest mall to my room at Chennai. Now my phone keeps count of the amount of calories I burn and even annoys me to finish the to do list. Expenses are being documented but in no way helping in reducing the expenditure. I had enough battery charge to do all the other stuff but most of the times battery was low when I wanted to make calls.

Instead of being a productive tool it will be more of a procrastination tool. Hence I have made a list of few things you need to do if you buy a smart phone.

1. Get yourself a dummy email account to activate the handset. It defeats the purpose of smart phone but I'm sure you can check your personal mails on HTML browser when required
2. Switch off the Wifi and internet connection, it really does not matter if you don't get updated every few seconds.
3. Facebook is a clear no no, don't you dare think of installing the app. It takes away most of your time. It does not matter who poked you or tagged you on FB.
4. Twitter is good, use it only when necessary
5. News papers are not there yet, I prefer hard copies over internet version.

Perception

Back in 90's when I used to see male & female sculptures on temple walls or idols of women goddess, i felt they were cool and very artistic. Now I don't find them attractive enough. Well our perception of how a human body looks like is constantly changing. It might be due to ads portraying people with 6 pack or woman with just the right proportion which is far from truth. As a result there is an increased pressure for people to look good and at the same time I see people having confused with the concept of looking healthy and looking good. I feel a good doze of exercise that can help you run a 2 km stretch without gasping for breath is all that is required for a person to look attractive. It really does not make any sense if you have six pack and unable to climb a set a 10 story stairs.

I wonder how small kids will cope with looking good peer pressure as every one of them wants be like a Barbie doll. Here's a link on how Barbie dolls of 90's and 00's look like & how unrealistic there body proportions are.

Inception, Ending Explained

Yes finally saw inception and here is my take on the ending. SPOILER ALERT, If you haven't seen the movie then please don't read any further.
This is the most logical explanation that I can think of and is a very convincing analogy. Before I start, let us assume few things which is very vital to arrive at my analogy. Initially, I felt that the entire movie was Cobb's dream and the characters were Cobb's projections. I felt his subconscious was helping him with a plot to escape limbo that he was already in. Well this would defeat the purpose of the movie itself. Hence lets assume that Cobb was in a mission to plant an idea. And on succeeding he would end up meeting his children as Saito promised.
We are not sure if the Totem topples at the end. Also his children does not appear to have aged and are wearing the exact same clothes that they were wearing when he saw them in his dreams which is very unlikely in reality. There are more reasons to say that the ending scene is a dream and not reality. After credits people have heard the totem fall but is not shown and hence we have to assume that the totem is still rotating.
Now here's my take. Cobb goes into limbo and will bring himself and Saito back to reality. With the help of Ariadne during the entire process of inception he is successful at convincing himself that he can no longer think about Mal as she is dead. The plane scene at the end and the immigration scene is very much real. Later Cobb meets his children and this is not shown in the movie.
You might have noticed that a group of old people regularly visit Chemists place to experience shared dreams. Also Cobb regularly hooks himself to sedative to dream alone. This clearly explains that dreaming is addictive and necessary for any person who is into shared dreaming
The final scene happens after Cobb meets his children(which is not shown in the movie). He might have started dreaming and since he has met his children he is able to see there faces clearly. And of-course as explained earlier, Mal is no longer there in his dream. This way we can logically conclude that it was an happy ending after all
Please share your thoughts in comments :)