24-26 is not a nice age for a Man......

Your ex-desires are getting married.....
Your career has just started......
Elders treat you as unproven theorems.....
College guys feel that you are too old to have in there group......
You seem to enjoy both cartoon and news.....
You can no longer eat whatever you wish without putting on weight.....
You look like an ape if you don’t shave daily......
You are not invited for weekend cricket matches......
Every Aunty you meet ask “Shaadi kab kar rahe ho beta!!”......
while uncle asks “Career ka kya socha hai beta…”......
When the reality is that you are just riding the wave and going with the flow…...
You have all the confidence in the world but little achievements to show.....
You already have the first hand experience of the life.....
You know that whatever you have been taught about the world in schools has been sheer waste of time.....
You can be denied a job even after passing the test and you could be given a job if you know someone placed high enough…....
Politics till now was a dirty word but now you feel it everywhere......
You know now love is not that blind and that friendship has its terms and conditions.
You know there is nothing for granted and free lunches are not free…....
Your overconfidence is now making way for a humble conscience.....
You now know it is not exactly what we thought it would be ...!!!!!!!!!

Did Europe get a Deal or was it an ILLUSION !!!!!!!

Europe’s leaders did better than expected, but expectations were low to start. They announced a greatly strengthened financial rescue plan that includes bigger write-downs of Greek Debt and new injections of Capital into weakened European Banks. Still, far too many of the crucial details have been left to work out over the days, weeks and months ahead.

Until  those are known, it will not be clear if Europe has finally mobilized enough cash and political will to stop the unraveling that now also threatens Italy, Spain and even France. And Europe is still only grappling with the financial systems of the crisis, not the underlying causes.

One of the biggest of those is that while Europe has a unified currency, and independent Central Bank, it has no lender of last resort - like the Federal Reserve – that can supply unlimited emergency funds to Governments and banks that need them.

This week, the write-down plan has advanced to a different level altogether. Greece’s Non-Govt. Creditors – Banks and Private investors – were told to agree to “VOLUNTARY” swaps and rescheduling that would yield them roughly 50 cents of every dollar now owed to them. Markets value this debt at close to 40 cents on the dollar.

Writing down Greek debt will show how dangerously low on Capital major European Banks have become. Markets are understandably wary. None of these would be necessary if the  European Central bank was authorized to act as a lender of last resort. Without that, Europe’s crisis will continue and continue to threaten markets worldwide.

The news of such DEALS will only show momentary upsurge in Indian markets while the actual global recovery might take weeks, months and years………

So are we ready for the unexpected in the days to come ????????

Extracts from The New York Times

We PLAN to RETIRE at the AGE of 40 !!!!!!

Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, had Hrithik Roshan saying, “ 40 KI AGE PE RETIREMENT AUR PHIR ENJOYMENT”. 

But are we Ready for this………??????

With a young population, attractive entry level salaries the likes of which were beyond the imagination of their parents, the segment of young earners has a very high DISPOSABLE INCOME. Even though they are well paid, they are often insecure, debt ridden and confused as the priorities of a young earner are way different from those of someone who has been earning for a few years.

However, the fact remains that almost all their major long term goals can be met if young earners follow a disciplined approach towards financial planning. 

Some common pitfalls which this Generation faces :

1.      Balance between budget and life  -  The easy route that most of the young earners take is to worry about finances and security later, but eventually any overspending or lack of provision will catch up with them.

2.      Payback now and save later  -  Many young earners at the earlier stage of their career are burdened with student loans. And that is the biggest load on their mind.

3.       Savings & Cash Safety Net  -  Many people in their twenties feel they do not have enough money to live on, let alone set aside for a nest egg. At least save enough money to cover three months worth of their monthly costs. This is not an investment but rather a safety net to protect them against unforeseen events and expenses.

4.      Encourage to invest aggressively - Invest as aggressively as you can stomach. For younger people, their biggest asset is their potential income stream and their capacity to bear risk is very high. If they are in their 20s they could easily be 100 per cent in stocks or equity and afford to lose 40 per cent and still make it up in their lifetime.

5.      Plan for Retirement – This Generation starts planning for Retirement, the Day one gets the OFFER LETTER. Planning is good but EXECUTION of which is lacking in most of the cases.

Remember, the days, when we used to get POCKET MONEY from our Parents, this helped us to manage that money in the best possible manner for a certain duration, not that one was denied further allowance but this helped us MANAGING FINANCES better.

Similarly, if  WE issues are addressed by devoting proper time and research, then definitely retirement at an early age is possible, and more importantly then we can vouch for Hrithik’s opinion in the film saying “ AGAR BANK MEIN Rs. 40,000 Crore ho, to ENTERTAINMENT ke liye BIWI ki kya ZAROORAT HAI”

So don’t just start PLANNING today, EXECUTION is more important........

 

The Article is a contrast to the one published in Economic Times dated 08^th September, 2011

One mind blowing interview !!!!

Interviewer : Tell me about yourself.

Candidate: I am Rameshwar Kulkarni. I did my Tele Communication engineering from BabanRao Dhole-Patil Inst it ute of Technology.

Interviewer : BabanRao Dhole-Patil Inst it ute of Technology? I had never heard of this college before!
Candidate : Great! Even I had not heard of it before getting an admission into it ..
What happened is – due to cricket world cup I scored badly! in 12th.I was getting a paid seat in a good college. But my father said (I prefer to call him ‘baap’) – “I can not invest so much of money”.(The baap actually said – “I will never waste so much of money on you”). So I had to join this college. Frankly speaking this name – BabanRao Dhole-Patil, can at the most be related to a Shetakari Mahavidyalaya

Interviewer: ok, ok. It seems you have taken 6 years to complete your engineering.
Candidate : Actually I tried my best to finish it in 4 years. But you know, these cricket matches and football world cup, and tennis tournaments. It is difficult to concentrate. So I flunked in 2nd and 3rd year. So in all I took 4 + 2 = 7 years.

Interviewer: But 4+2 is 6.
Candidate: Oh, is it ? You know I always had KT in maths. But I will try to keep this in mind. 4+2 is 6, good, thanks. These cricket matches really affect exams a lot.. I think they should ban it .

Interviewer : Good to know that you want cricket matches to be banned.
Candidate : No, no… I am talking about Exams!!

Interviewer: Ok, What is your biggest achievement in life?
Candidate : Obviously, completing my Engineering. My mom never thought I would complete it . In fact, when I flunked in 3rd year, she was looking for a job for me in BEST (Bus
corporation in Maharashtra ) through some relative.

Interviewer : Do you have any plans of higher study?
Candidate: he he he.. Are you kidding? Completing ‘lower’ education it self was so much of pain!!

Interviewer : Let’s talk about technical stuff. On which platforms have you worked?
Candidate : Well, I work at SEEPZ, so you can say Andheri is my current platforms. Earlier I was at Vashi center. So Vashi was my platform then. As you can see I have experience of different platforms! (Vashi and Andheri are the places in Mumbai)

Interviewer : And which languages have you used?
Candidate : Marathi, Hindi, English. By the way, I can keep quiet in German, French, Russian and many other languages.

Interviewer: Why VC is better than VB?
Candidate : It is a common sense – C comes after B. So VC is a higher version than VB. I heard very soon they are coming up w it h a new language VD!

Interviewer: Do you know anything about Assembly Language?
Candidate: Well, I have not heard of it . But I guess, this is the language our ministers and MPs use in assembly.

Interviewer : What is your general project experience?
Candidate : My general experience about projects is – most of the times they are in pipeline!

Interviewer: Can you tell me about your current job?
Candidate: Sure, Currently I am working for Bata Info Tech ltd. Since joining BIL, I am on Bench. Before joining BIL, I used to think that Bench was another software like Windows.

Interviewer : Do you have any project management experience?
Candidate: No, but I guess it shouldn’t be difficult. I know Word and Excel. I can talk a lot. I know how to dial for International phone call and use speaker facility. And very important – I know few words like – ‘Showstoppers ‘ , ‘hot fixes’, ‘SEI-CMM’, ‘quality’, ‘version control’, ‘deadlines’ , ‘Customer Satisfaction’ etc. Also I can blame others for my mistakes!

Interviewer: What are your expectations from our company?
Candidate : Not much.
1. I should at least get 40,000 in hand..
2. I would like to work on a live EJB project. But it should not have deadlines. I personally feel that pressure affects natural talent.
3. I believe in flexi-timings.
4. Dress Code is against basic freedom, so I would like to wear t-shirt and jeans.
5. We must have sat-sun off. I will suggest Wednesday off also, so as to avoid breakdown due to overwork.
6. I would like to go abroad 3 times a year on short term preferably 1-2 months) assignments. Personally I prefer US, Australia and Europe. But considering the fact that there are Olympics coming up in China in the current year, I don’t mind going there in that period. As you can see I am modest and don’t have many expectations. So can I assume my selection?

Interviewer : he he he ha ha ha. Thanks for your interest in our
organization. In fact I was never entertained so much before. Welcome to INFOSYS.

The fellow was appointed in a newly created section ‘Stress Management’ in the HRD of Infosys.




Source : http://www.feelings2share.com/2011/10/one-mind-blowing-interview.html

Can Amazon be "the Amazon of India"? - The Daddy of ONLINE BUSINESS is coming soon..........

Follow the Link below for the entire Article


http://firstbigleap.blogspot.com/2011/10/can-amazon-be-amazon-of-india.html

Interesting Read....Waiting for Amazon's arrival.....

Have you started buying stuff on the Internet yet......Still waiting.......???????
.

Now buy “BHAAJI” on the Internet, that too delivered to your Doorstep !!!!!

The India Online Ecosystem has Entrepreneurs entering into a space where one can buy “BHAAJI” online and that too delivered at your doorstep. Online shopping in India is taking a new shape beyond the usual apparel or electronics items.

FMCG companies and retailers have started using the online medium not only for brand promotion but also for sales. a Cash-on-Delivery model would work better unlike other categories such as electronics and other big purchase items for which the consumers make advance payments.

It is probably the last big segment / sector that is still largely out of the online commerce ambit and represents the next big challenge.

Grocery has a very high share of wallet of the Customer. Also, with more and more people getting Employed, staying away from homes, online shopping is a better alternative to have Grocery delivered at your doorstep rather than asking Maids/Servants to shop for you. Similar models are already in existence, where small vendors carry grocery in a Cycle-rickshaw van serving a particular locality.

However, the Cost of Logistics,  the changing lifestyle, and “Touch & Feel factor” are the various challenges, the adaptability according to Indian Scenario by the Entreprenuers in the space might be interesting to look forward to.

These technology driven platform that enables your neighborhood kirana (grocery) stores to have an online store-front without disrupting the brands’ existing logistics, distribution & pricing mechanism, rather it seamlessly rides on the same. 

ONLINE GROCERS IN INDIA

CITY	Website	Facebook	Twitter
Bangalore	Atmydoorsteps	Yes	Yes (last post in March)
	Towness	No	No
Chennai	Anytimegrocery	No	No
	Chennaionline	No	No
Delhi	Mygrahak.in	Yes	No
	Aaramshop.com	Yes	Yes
Faridabad	Easyration	No	No
Gurgaon	Groceryshop.in	No	No
	Farm2kitchen	Yes	Yes
Hyderabad	Vokav	Yes	Yes
Kolkata	Mylocalbazaar	Yes (last post in June)	No
Mumbai	Freshndaily	Yes	No

Clearly Aaramshop and Farm2Kitchen emerge as winners when their activity n Social Media space is concerned !!!!! 

To aap kab "BHAAJI" apne Ghar mangwa rahe ho....

Why this BLOG ?????

I have been thinking for a long time to start a blog and finally decided to take the plunge.

In this blog, I will be posting various topics and some of the best practices that will provide an interesting read, at the same time, will also be useful in our day-to-day lives

Before I begin this journey, let me introduce myself, my name is Raunak, a Chartered Accountant by Profession. My goal of building this blog is to share my experiences, learnings, successes and most importantly, the failures that were part of building myself.

I think there is a huge opportunity in India to take it to the next level and my hope is that our collective experiences, discussions and learning on this blog will help build a community that can lead that change.