Passion to work

Have you noticed that some people work with so much passion? I went to the cafeteria today for my breakfast and one thing I noticed was that the lady working there was working hard to make sure that she pleases everybody’s palate. She had to serve lot of people and she did so with the same amount of passion, enthusiasm and detail. On the other hand I have seen some people who work in the same cafeteria doing their job as if it was imposed on them.

I think it’s very important for everybody to enjoy their work. I understand that some people, even if they don’t enjoy what they do, continue doing what they do because of different circumstances. But if possible they should move on.

What do you think?

Microsoft Vista

As most people know Microsoft Vista was released today to the general public. One thing I am wondering is - Should I really upgrade my PC right now? I looked at most of the features that are offered. Here are some salient features of the Home premium edition as described by microsoft:

Peace-of-mind security – I already get this through my Mcafee protection kit. So I already have a ‘peace of mind’.

Find files fast - First of all I don’t search for files often. Even if I do I don’t mind waiting a little longer.

Cool desktop experience – I like anything that enhances user experience. I looked at Vista in circuit city yesterday and it does look cool especially the 3-D navigation. So this is a Plus.

Better mobility - I am not worried about this. XP is good for the laptops and I haven’t faced any problems so far. So even if there is some sort of a technical upgrade that I am not aware of, I am not going to worry about it now.

Do more with your photos and videos – I don’t do anything with my photos and videos. I upload them into my PC and probably to a website. That’s pretty much all I do. So this feature is not really going to help me now.

Entertainment anywhere – This is to enjoy photos, videos and music on TVs throughout your home using an Xbox 360 or other streaming devices. This looks like a good feature. It’s always a struggle connecting wires to TV every time you want to watch photos in it. At the same time I am not going to spend extra 500 bucks for Xbox. But this is something I really like. I don’t know whether we can play what’s downloaded in Media player through Xbox. If we can, then this is a really challenge for Apple’s I-tv.

Another important piece of Info – Vista Home premium costs $240.

Even though Vista looks cool, we all know that there will definitely be bugs in the system that will crop up in the next few months. Since MSFT is the most targeted OS in the market by hackers, they will definitely try to penetrate through the ‘impregnable security’ of Vista and as usual they will succeed. This will eventually get fixed with future Service Pack releases. So we are better of waiting for the next few months.

I do want to make one thing clear. I want everybody else to buy this because I want Microsoft to report good earnings number next quarter and I want to see my share prices go up. But I’ll wait for the dust to settle and price to come down. How about that?

Shyness and Arrogance

One bad thing about being shy is that it could be mistaken for arrogance. This will especially be true if you are very successful and better than the person judging you. I remember the interview of one of the Indian cricket player who suddenly shot to fame in the last couple of years – Dhoni. In one of his interview he remarked that he is a very shy individual and now that he is very successful, if he still remains shy and stays away from people, he is being considered arrogant and strong headed.

This happens to me very often (Even though I am not even close to being popular as Dhoni!). I am a kind of person who doesn’t voluntarily go and talk to others. It requires a few meetings for me to get comfortable and talk to them. So people sometimes had mistaken my shyness for arrogance. Sometimes when I don’t call somebody and talk to some relatives of mine back in India, they think that I am very arrogant and strong headed.

I guess this is something where I should strive to strike a balance. What do you think?

Uncertain Life!

There is this guy I know who was recently diagnosed with cancer that could eventually be fatal. He is somebody I do business with very often and after he was diagnosed with it, every time I lift the phone to talk with him, there is this uneasy feeling. I am always not sure whether to talk to him about his condition or not. Usually I just ask him how he is doing and I don’t probe him about his condition. He is a brave guy and sounds very enthusiastic as usual and talks business as usual. Sometimes he himself talks about his condition and the medicines he is on.

But there is this uneasy feeling in me ever since I heard the news and I just hope I get over it.

Life surely is very uncertain and we should enjoy every minute of it.

Soy, Tofu and Edamame

Lately there have been so many mails going around describing the ill effects of eating tofu especially for women. At one point tofu used to be ‘THE’ health food (In fact I should say soy. But many consume soy in the form of tofu.).

With so much protein in one serving and lots of other minerals, I used to think that it is a sure bet for protein especially for vegetarians. I guess it’s still true. But too much consumption especially for women is said to be bad and cancerous. For men it’s said to produce kidney stone because of calcium oxalate.

We haven't stopped eating tofu.But we are eating it less than before. But lately we have been eating something called edamame beans which are nothing but soybeans in its natural form rather than synthesized form like tofu. I am hoping anything natural is good unless somebody proves otherwise. You can get this in any retail stores.

Check this out.

http://www.edamame.com/

I guess this incident again enforces the paradigm – ‘Eat everything in moderation’.

Serving Size

As most people here in US know the serving size/portion here for food is huge. What we call ‘large’ in India is probably ‘small’ here. I remember when I first came here to US, I asked for a small coffee in Starbucks. They gave what looked like a large to me and I asked them to give me a small! I was so used to drinking coffee in that small silver glass back in India that a ‘small’ Starbucks coffee looked monstrous to me.Of course now I am used to it. But it initially was a surprise for me.

Another thing I have noticed is that kids growing here seem to have an enormous appetite compared to this growing in India. I guess it’s because of the fact that they are so used this norm of eating everything in large portions right from their young age.

This obviously contributes to obesity here. So unless we watch our portion size we’ll also end up becoming obese.

Oatmeal month

Even though January is almost over, I just came to know that this month is celebrated as the ‘Oatmeal month’. I am an avid lover of oatmeal and I eat it at least 300/365 days every year. I have had this practice for almost 4-5 years now ever since the doctor told me that my cholesterol is nearing 200. My cholesterol is way down now and I attribute it partly to oatmeal. I know it’s tasteless. But you can add any fruit to it to it and it seems to go well with it. I usually eat it with raisins.

It’s a food high in fiber, minerals and low in sodium. Just read this link for all nutritional info about oatmeal. You'll be amazed.

http://whfoods.org/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=54

Have a good ‘Oatmeal Month’.

State of the Union

I watched the state of the Union address yesterday by President Bush. I almost always watch it every time just for the pomp and glamour associated with it. Even though I didn’t care very much for the content of the speech, one thing that always amazes me is the eloquence of the president. Most people always make a big joke on President Bush regarding his IQ, Intelligence etc… Letterman, Leno and all other comedians have a ball whenever Bush makes a faux-pas. I do admit he is not good during those impromptu meetings and interviews. But he is very good in a well rehearsed situation.

I understand that as a president he should be capable of doing this.No matter who you are, I think it’s not easy to give such an eloquent speech for 1 hour garnering everybody’s attention.

What do you think?

Oscar Nominations

There is always this buzz when Oscar nominations are announced. The nominations were announced today and none of the Indian movies were included as expected.

But the real question to ask is – Should Indian Film industries really care about it? We always hold our standards against the western movies when our culture and emotions are totally different than the western culture. The feel of Indian movies is totally different and I am not sure if the westerners could comprehend the emotions behind it. Leave alone all the crappy movies that come out each year. Even the good ones that seem very well done to us may not be felt the same way by the westerners.

Take the movie ‘Lagaan’ for instance which went all the way to the final stages. Most people don’t understand cricket and I don’t know if they could get the same feel as we get when we watch the movie. I have been here for quite some time and even now I don’t get the same level excitement that I get in cricket when I watch basketball or baseball.

Another reason could be the fact that dance and song sequences are always a part of every Indian movie even if it is not a musical. We are always very used to seeing movies that way that a movie without song and dance would seem very boring for us. On the other hand songs included in a non musical film could be a total shocker for a westerner watching a movie. Not that this is bad or good. I am just trying to show how different our taste is compared to a westerner.

I guess it is nice to get recognized outside India. But I don’t think the industry should be utterly disappointed if they don’t make it in the Oscars.

What do you think?

Tiny and Virtual keyboards

One thing that really annoys me is using those tiny teeny keyboards that come in some cell phones, blackberry’s etc… I have seen some people using it with so much ease and it beats me how they can do it. They type like they are playing a video game. I am guessing those things are bad for both your eyes and fingers when used for a long time.

Another annoying kind of keyboard is the virtual keyboard that comes up in those mini and micro devices. If you have a fat finger you really can ‘fat finger’. The other alternative is the use of stylus which is even more annoying for me. From what i have seen , people eventually lose the stylus or break it. I guess these equipments are directed towards young and teens with no regard for old people.
A few of my customers at work who are in their 50's tried to use those and it was a struggle for them. They decided to switch back to the big screen with the big comfortable keyboards.

With all devices growing smaller day by day, I guess it’s time we get used to those tiny teeny keyboards. I wonder what will be the next innovation in keyboard? I hope it's a kind of innovation that lets both young and old to use it with ease.

Corporate Mergers and Takeovers

I always get happy and excited when the share price of the company I own goes up because of good mergers or takeovers. Last year 2006 was a year of mergers with so many corporate giants either merging or taking over other giants.

Usually such mergers or takeovers boost the stock price based on earnings speculation in future. That’s what happened to many stocks last year. This year is when we would see the results on such mergers. So a shrewd investor should always watch out for the stocks after the speculative rising of its value. I usually take the gains after a certain percent increase and wait for it to settle down before I buy it again. So I love mergers or takeovers from a share market aspect.

The other aspect of mergers or takeovers deals with the employees itself. There is always a potential for employees to be let go after such deals. On a personal front everybody hopes that the company they work for is not taken over by somebody else even if it a big boost for the company. Usually such mergers are announced out of the blue and nobody likes a drastic change in their life suddenly.

What do you think?

What would you have done?

This is a true incident that one of my family members wanted me to post. This woman went to a salon shop along with her daughter. The daughter was a minor and she was asked by the salon professional if she wanted some extra services other than what she was doing right now. Obviously those services were expensive and the salon professional was trying to get it done without the consent of the mother who was going to pay for it. When the mother interfered saying that she does not need it, the salon professional asked her to shut up and started to try to convince the daughter. In fact she even told the mother she can report to whomever she wants to and that she doesn’t care. The mother obviously got angry and I guess they walked out of the salon.

What would you have done in this situation?

Stutter

I was standing in line at Qdoba once again and I had a guy in front of me who started chit chatting with me. This guy suddenly started stuttering and I didn’t know how to react. I am sure he would have seen my face change when he started stuttering. I guess he would have been used to such reactions by now. But I felt really bad (even though I didn’t do anything wrong!). After the initial discomfort we started talking normally. But it truly was difficult for me those few seconds.

One thing I learned by Googling about the people who stutter is that they hate it if we complete the sentence for them. So keep that in mind in case you come across somebody like that.

Retail Return Policies

One thing that really impressed me when I first came to US was the return policies in the stores here. Most stores allow you to return the products for up to 30 days as long as you have the receipt. This allows customers to buy the products with complete confidence and peace of mind. You can always be sure that you can return it when you are not satisfied.

This was unheard of as long as I was in India. Things may have changed now. I don’t know. But it used to be quite the opposite a few years back.

In fact the shop keepers used to be very rude to you when you try to return something back to them even if it is for legitimate reason. I have had a few personal experiences on my own. I remember trying to return a defective Iron box a few days after I bought it. The retailer placed the onus on the manufacturer and said that he would send it back to the manufacturer for repair and refused it replace it with a new one even though I bought it only a few days back. Customer satisfaction was the last thing in his mind.

I understand most of the retail shops in India are not giant corporations like they are here. But one thing people have to remember is that some of these giant corporations also initially started out as a small store. It is because of their acute business sense and their emphasis on customer satisfaction that they were able to grow this big.

Should I mind?

People here in US are very sensitive when we talk with somebody else in our mother tongue in front of them. I guess they have every right to react like that.

I faced a similar situation few days back and that made very uncomfortable not knowing whether they were talking about me or talking about something else. In fact these things are very prominent in a software company mainly because of outsourcing. I have come across many instances where people talk very loudly in their mother tongue not minding people around them. I think this behavior is unprofessional. It’s OK when you talk with your friends in your own language of comfort. But if we are doing it in a public place we should talk in a low tone so that it does not bother others.

What do you think?

Brand Names

It is always a vogue to buy branded products especially during your teens. We didn’t earn at that time and didn’t realize what a waste it is to shell out a few extra bucks even when there is a cheap alternative available.

Even though i am way past my teens,I bought a Nike shoes last week to use during my badminton practice. After a few sessions it was beginning to get really uncomfortable. I must have shelled out an extra $30 because it was a brand name.So I returned and bought an unknown brand. It was much better than Nike – Very comfortable. So from now on I have decided not to fall for brand names. We already do that when we buy groceries here. We buy local brands for a cheaper price rather than name brands.

I am becoming cheaper day by day - second hand cars, Local brands etc... I guess I am growing up.

Community

Apparently I live in a community. If there are lots of houses grouped together then it’s called a community here in the US. But the strange thing is I don’t know anybody else in the so called community other than my next house neighbors. Even the neighbors I see them once in while especially during summer. In winter I don’t even know whether they still live there or not.

It’s the total opposite when I used to live in India. I used to know almost everyone that lived in my street and there is a lot of socializing that goes on within a community. But I think that’s the other extreme. People around me used to be extremely nosey and there used to be very little privacy. There’s always a lot of pressure to be better than your neighbors because you know a lot about them and they know a lot about you.

I am not sure which is better. Both have their own advantages and disadvantages. May be a little bit of both might be good.

What do you think is better?

IPC 498A - Anti Dowry Law

There is a new law called IPC 498A or anti dowry law in works in India.

According to Sify

‘Once a case is registered under 498A, the police get into action and book the groom and his family and they are immediately taken into custody. And if the groom is an NRI, a 'Red Corner Notice' is issued against him and his passport impounded. It is a cognizable offence and a non-bailable offence, one has to get the bail from the court, if, booked under 498A’.

I just love this. This kind of heavy handedness is required in our country to curb dowry. I guess it's high time that men stop 'buying' women in the name of marriage. Such law could also have ripple effects and curb other bad practices like female infanticide in the long run. I just hope that it gets implemented.

In Search of Humidity

Back home I come from a very humid place. It used to be so humid that you sweat a lot. You have no choice but to shower at least 2 times a day.

Now I live in Midwest US. Here winters are quite severe with temperatures going below Zero. So most houses obviously have heaters installed. Because of the dry air from the heater we are absolutely left with no humidity in the house. Even with the humidifier the air is usually very dry. So now I am in search of humidity. I have centrally installed humidifier in my house and I have many personal humidifiers. But still air seems pretty dry. My 2 year old sometimes bleeds from his nose due to lack of humidity.

It’s just funny when I think about the fact that I used to hate humidity back home and long for it here.

Food products from Cloned animals

There is a push underway to sell meat and other products coming from cloned animals. Even though the markets still haven’t started carrying those yet, just the thought of it is very repugnant.

I read a report where it said that cloning is not much different than other type of assisted reproduction in farm animals. I understand that. But the very idea of manipulating nature’s design and reaping benefits from it makes me very uncomfortable. I just don’t think I’ll feel comfortable drinking milk from a cloned cow.

I just hope that if FDA does decide to allow companies to sell products from cloned animals, they do it in such a way that it is transparent to the customers whether it’s from cloned animals or not. Super markets should specially mark these products like they do for Organic foods.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

What do you think?

Odd Jobs

I was watching one of the Indian movies and in one of the scenes hero shopping in a retail shop hands over the credit card to the cashier and the cashier hands it over to another guy who is employed out there just to swipe the credit card.

It’s really amazing the kind of manpower we have in India and the kind of work people are ready to do. I am not making fun of the guy swiping the credit card. These are some people desperate to earn money to make their ends meet.

There are lots of resources available in India who is ready to do odd jobs to make life of middle and upper class easier and comfortable. Even though what they are doing is sad, I think the kind of comfort you can afford in India cannot be imagined by normal middle class here in US.

But the plights of people who are doing such jobs are sad though.

What do you think?

Date of Expiry

Why is that none of the Indian products I buy here in US having a proper expiry date? It has a date on it. But for some reason I am not sure whether it is credible.

I have never cared about the expiry date of the product till I came here to US. It’s probably because I wasn’t buying groceries in India. My parents used to. So because of this expiry date factor,I am always very hesitant to buy any Indian snacks from the store. I buy dry groceries and vegetables, but always hesitant to buy snack products.

One more reason for this is bad enforcement by the Desi store keepers here (although it is much better than how it was a few years back.). I have had some bad experiences with some desi store keepers selling expired products to me and not even repenting the fact that they are doing it.

Do any of you feel the same way / had same kind of experiences?

Spam

I had this junk/spam email in my mailbox today which said that good things would happen to me if I forward this to 20 more of my friends and bad things would happen if I don’t. It even quoted an examples of what happened to someone who forwarded and what happened to someone who didn’t. I am sure many must have come across this kind of spam email.

What really surprises me is that people really fall for this emotional blackmail. Somehow people are afraid that it could be true and don’t want to take chances. I have also forwarded such emails out of fear. But I don’t do it anymore.

I am not sure what motivates people to create such emails? I know most of them are not virus attachments. I guess some people get happiness playing with others emotions.

Indians and Triglycerides – Heart Risk Part 2

There is another heart risk factor just like cholesterol called Triglycerides. As long as I was in India I was never tested for high triglycerides. I guess it’s not the norm there to test it. But according to doctors here it’s important to have it checked too as it is significant like HDL and LDL cholesterol.

I was an avid juice drinker some time back. I have this juicer at home and I used to juice all kinds of vegetables and fruits. Like any other juice I love carrot juice and I used to drink it a lot.

My triglyceride levels just shot up a few years back and one of the main questions my doctor asked was about my eating habits. I told her that I was a vegetarian and I consume lots of vegetables and fruits and also different kinds of juices. I also told her that as a south Indian I eat a lot of rice. She didn’t have much to think about. She told me to totally cut down on Juicing and reduce my rice intake. I told her that’s pretty much what I eat. So she asked me to start eating lots of greens and not veggies like carrot, beet etc... which has a lot of sugar in it.

Unfortunately sugar and triglycerides go hand and hand. She told me that I was eating sugar in excess (not as a sweet) in the form of rice, carrots, fruits etc... She told me that everything we eat has to be in moderation and not to excessively eat one particular thing. After that incident, it didn’t surprise me that there is a high incidence of diabetes and Heart problems in India especially for south Indians.

Indians and Cholesterol – Heart Risk Part 1

One thing I have noticed that is common to most Indian men is ‘High Cholesterol’. I am just 31 and I have talked with many of my age and almost everybody I have talked to seems to have high cholesterol even at this age.

It has been determined that Indians have the highest rates of heart disease in the world, despite coming from a culture that shuns smoking, encourages a vegetarian diet and lacks many of the other classic risk factors for the disease. Also a research has discovered one gene is responsible for part of the increased risk in heart disease rates in Indians.

Adding fuel to fire is the western greasy foods that are getting into Indian culture. Another factor is the affluence of the Indian people that is growing day by day. With affluence grows comfort and with comfort comes laziness. If you are like me (an NRI), you are enjoying epitome of comfort and has to be more careful than an average Indian in India.

So it’s time for Indian men to take their heart seriously. Also it’s better to have your cholesterol levels checked every year after the age of 30 (People usually say 40. But for Indians I think it should be 30. I am not a doctor. I am just typing this from all the observations I have made over a period of time).

Investing in Emerging Markets

If you have been following the stock market for the past 5 years one thing that really stands out are the emerging markets. The returns on emerging market funds and ETF’s have just been mind boggling with most of them returning more than 25% in the past 5 years.

There are many mutual funds out there. Personally I avoid most of the managed ones because I don’t have time to research and pick the best ones and the expense is very high on managed ones. So I have been going with the ones that follow the index. I use (Exchange Traded Funds) ETF instead of mutual funds to capture the market timing. I find it easier that way.

My personal favorite is the symbol EEM – It’s well diversified (Of course it has recently increased its stake on Russia. I am not sure what to think about that!) and has had some strong performances over the past 5 years. Of course it had a steep fall in early June losing almost 26% (oops!) but is strongly back now. So I guess it’s better to lock in on gains once in a while and reinvest when it goes down.

Also there are lots of good ETF’s if you want to take the risk of investing in one country like India, China etc...

My personal favorites are

For India IFN and IIF (These are closed end funds. So look for premium on NAV. There are no index tracking funds for India as far as I know.)
For China FXI
For Brazil – EWZ

I am nervous to look beyond these 3 countries. In fact even with these 3 countries timing has to be correct if you want to reap the benefits. But if you are daring enough there is an ETF available for almost all developing and developed nations (Ishares web site is a place to start. http://www.ishares.com ). Good Luck with emerging markets.

Any other recommendations/advice are welcome.

Mistrust

Have you noticed that some people are afraid to trust others thinking that they wouldn’t be able to do the job as good as themselves? They are always under the impression that the other person would likely do a mistake and they are better off doing the thing by themselves rather than educating the other person. So they end up getting over worked and stressed.

This mistrust stems usually because of one of the following reasons

1. They have had some bad experience in the past
   or
2. The other person is really not up to the job
   or
3. They are too afraid to trust somebody else.
   or
4. They have this prejudiced opinion about some people

I am always of the impression anyone is capable of doing any job with a little bit of training and experience. So we should try to learn to trust others.

What do you think?

Indian TV and Movie Rating

One thing that amazes me is the fact that ‘rating’ is not enforced in Indian movies or TV’s. Almost all of the films that come out are either violent or has sexually explicit materials in it. I want to show my 2 year old my regional channel from India just for him to get a hang of my mother tongue. This is almost impossible now considering the fact violence and sex just dominates our TV’s.

Even the regional and national news on TV shows disturbing videos containing ‘blood’ and massacre. I cannot forget the video they showed once in sun news of a terrorist beheading an American. It still haunts me.

Is it really that hard for our technologically developed country to enforce some moral and ethical decency on TV? Or is it because only Sex and violence sells in our country?

I am not going to totally blame the media because media only works on fulfilling peoples taste and wishes. We cannot call ourselves cultured if the entertainment, media and people have such a poor taste. In fact I am very embarrassed to show our TV to any foreigner that visits my house. I just hope that things change in the future.

To cry or not !

I spent an eternity at a car dealership today and had the privilege of watching Gerald Ford’s funeral ceremony on TV while waiting. He was one of the American presidents and a denizen of Grand Rapids, Michigan which where I live. So there is a lot of pomp in the city with air force planes flying all around and making a lot of noise. The funeral was quite, organized and very detailed. Of course this was special since he was a former president, but from a religious ceremony aspect I think it’s done the same way even for regular citizens.

It’s a major contrast to funerals in India. Following are the major differences I can think of

1. There will be a very public display of emotion in India- Family members and friends crying very openly. Here there is very little public display and even those emotional conceal it by wearing dark glasses.
2. Silence is unheard of in a funeral gathering in India. It’s usually very noisy. Here it is very silent and organized
3. Women are not allowed near cremation grounds in India. Obviously that’s not the case here
4. Those attending the funeral here in US are well dressed in appropriate attire. This is the means of showing respect to the dead. In India that’s not the case.
5. Importantly the body is not allowed to be taken home like how it is in India.

I am not trying to say one is better than the other. I am just trying to describe the sharp contrast in culture. Both the cultures are so different that I can almost come to a conclusion that there must have been more than one Adam and Eve .

P.S I have heard that funerals are very expensive here in the US to the extent that there is a funeral insurance which will help you pay for burial after your death!

Aliens and UFO's

UFO’s have always enchanted me since I was young. There was news in CNN this morning that said that lots of United Airlines workers including some pilots saw a UFO like thing flying over Chicago Ohare airport. It seems that the disc shaped thingy hovered around and then flew back into the clouds.

Have you noticed that almost all UFO’s that were supposedly spotted were all ‘Disc Shaped’? For some reason humans think that UFO’s are going to show up in a disc. Why not a regular airplane? It’s the same deal with aliens too. Aliens are always portrayed like shown above.

The main reason why we think that way is because it has portrayed the same way for all these years by everybody that we can’t think otherwise. If Human mind is bombarded with the same kind of information over and over again, we’ll find it really hard to think otherwise (I guess it’s the same deal with terrorists too!).

Anyway the comment from one of the FAA authority was very funny
"To fly 7 million light years to O'Hare and then have to turn around and go home because your gate was occupied is simply unacceptable," he said

Happy New Year!

I am not a kind of person who comes up with a resolution every New Year. I usually take life as it comes. I believe in God and I believe that he’ll lead me in the right path. He always has.

With that I wish all of you a Very Happy and Prosperous New year! Happy Blogging!