Money – Marketing!

Lately I have been stumbling upon dollar bills with Ads in it. Recently I got a dollar bill in which somebody advertised their website in it. It seems like an easy and effective way of advertising. But I am not sure whether it is legal to do it that way.

Some people try to get their message across by hook or crook. I have tried to do some research on Internet marketing. From all my analysis, I can see that the startup websites success depend on the most part on Google results. They somehow have to find a way to make sure that they stay on top of Google ranking. If not there isn’t much chance that someone is going to visit your website by chance. There are lots of websites who claim that they can ensure that your site stays on top of Google rankings and charge hefty fee for the service. I am not sure how effective they are.

It’s a tough world out there. Anybody can create a website. But it takes real talent and patience to market it.

What do you think?

Casual writing

One thing I have noticed with people’s casual writing these days is that they have started composing sentences in a manner easier for them rather than being grammatically correct. It has become a vogue these days. E.g. ‘Where as’ is getting replaced by ‘Were us’, through getting replaced by thru’ etc.

I am not a purist by any means and I always believe that language is just a means of communication. As long as we are able to deliver the message, the purpose is served. But I have heard people complaining about it. I usually avoid doing it out of the fear that that I’ll get used to it. Once you get used to something, it’s tough to revert back to original. Also this kind of a language does not help in professional writing. You’ll inadvertently write it that way if you get used to it.

I think the main reason for this to happen is because of advent of SMS, blackberry, cell phone etc. People want to convey their message as short as possible and have come up with this easy way. There is nothing wrong with it. But it sure will anger some purists.

Begging Problem in India

One of my friends recently visited India and said this story to me which I found shocking. He was traveling one day in Chennai and his car stopped in a traffic signal. A beggar who had no legs was pushing himself on a wooden slab with wheels begging for money.So my friend out of sympathy handed over five rupees to the beggar. But to his surprise the beggar started cursing my friend saying that he is cheap and demanded more money from him. My friend was totally embarrassed and didn’t know what to do.

I am not sure how I would have reacted in that circumstance. But I think such things should not be encouraged. Begging has become more like a business in India. I have heard horrible stories about people choosing begging as a profession since its easy money. I have also heard stories about how people force their kids to beg since it extracts more money from people out of sympathy.

What would you have done?

Cage free farm fresh Vegetarian fed hen eggs

I was walking in the grocery aisle at my local retail store and decided to buy some eggs. I usually get the 'cage free farm fresh eggs'. There is some theory that eggs from hens which are bred on a farm, are supposed to be tasty. The reasoning seems to be that those that are not caged are supposed to be happy and happy hens produce tasty eggs (?????!).

Yesterday I was surprised to see 'Vegetarian fed hen' eggs. I am not sure what the reasoning is behind it. Are Vegetarian fed hen supposed to create more tasty eggs? Whatever the case maybe, we should appreciate the good marketing idea.

So far the best of the eggs according to egg companies are ‘cage free farm fresh Vegetarian fed hen’ eggs. I am wondering what’ll be their next move!

Who will she support?

This weird question popped in my mind when we where watching the India vs Srilanka match on Friday. Who would Muralitharan’s wife support? As most of you know Murali’s wife is a native of Chennai, India.

As we were watching the proceedings, our doubts were cleared. She was cheering for every move Murali makes thereby supporting Srilanka.

Typical Indian girl? Something in light vein for an otherwise depressing day.

Toddlers Grocery List

My 2 1/2 year old almost always wants to go to Meijer, a local grocery store, just to buy candies. I was intrigued and I thought I would try to get the list of things he would buy from Meijer.

Me: Varun, What do you want to get from Meijer today?

He thinks for a few seconds and came up with this list

Cheese
Waters (This is how he says if he wants lots of water)
Suckers
Lollipop
Kit Kat
Candies

I wish we can eat like this everyday.

Mexican food makes me sleepy

I have always felt very sleepy after I have had Mexican food. Same is probably true with South Indian food. But I know that for south Indian food, it is because of the carbohydrate load.

So I decided to do some research on what in Mexican food makes us feel sleepy. To my surprise I found that both black and pinto beans have high level of tryptophan. This is the same substance found in Turkeys which supposedly causes sleepiness.

I guess it’s better to cut down on my bean burrito lunches.

Cricket is not boring

There are many who feel that cricket is a boring game since it is played for quite a long duration when compared to others. They are accustomed to watching Basketball, football etc. which usually runs for 2-3 hrs.

As far as I am concerned, cricket is like chess but physical. You work on your opposition for quite a long time, coming up with strategies to defeat them. You have to Plan, Analyze the pitch, Pick players to suit the conditions, Keep adjusting to different situations that arise during the course of the match etc… I don’t know about others. But I am always tensed throughout the proceedings wondering what would happen next.

You can imagine how these people would talk about test matches which are played for 5 days. But I like test matches too because for those 5 days there are always twist and turns and you are always worried about what would happen next. If you are a cricket fan like me, following cricket since your early days, you will definitely understand my feelings.

But for others – Oh Well! Some thing’s cannot be described in words.

Cricket - my passion

I am kind of enjoying my days as a cricket fan. I usually get much tensed in a crunch situation of a cricket match. I am one of those who wouldn’t like to eat or in fact do anything when things are tense out there.

One of my colleagues asked me whether I remember the match where Miandad hit a 6 of the last ball to fetch that famous victory for Pakistan. I very vividly remember it. I was probably 11/12 at that time and I was so tensed that I walked out of the house for the last 2 overs. I was walking aimlessly in the street praying that India should win not having the courage to watch the TV. I was just back to watch the last ball and we all know what happened. You can never forget things in life if you passionately love it.

Cricket is my passion just like many other fellow Indians out there. Go India!

Bluetooth wireless headphones

With the advent of Bluetooth and wireless headphones, you see people everywhere using wireless headphones. The other day when I was walking in a mall, I saw somebody walking toward me saying something. Then I realized that he was talking through the wireless headphones. Since these headsets are very tiny, sometimes you might think that somebody is talking to themselves.

But this is a better solution for driving and talking with cell phones. At least you would have both your hands on the steering. What do you think?

Reacting to things we see

Have you realized that we usually react faster to things we see rather than the things we don't see?

Take for example, eating five servings of fruits and veggies a day. We all know it’s good for us. But still we don’t eat it. The main reason, as I see it, is the fact that we don’t see the ill effects, since it is happening inside the body. So we just ignore it. Just assume a condition that we get rashes all over our face if we do not eat 5 servings of veggies/fruits in a day. Wouldn’t we react to it? We sure would.

Too much Information?

Are we getting too paranoid these days because of too much media exposure? With the advent of internet, all the information is at your fingertip. Any news that happens in the nook end of the world gets to you in a jiffy.

With that comes the concept of 'too much information'. Media always has this habit of blowing bad things out of proportions. So people these days are getting paranoid about those things they really don't have to.

Think about bird flu and the headlines it made last year. Most people experienced an 'end of world' like phenomenon because of the way in which it was covered by the media.Before this media explosion most wouldn't have known about these things and they would have been calm and happy. Now we are made to worry about every possible thing that can happen to us.

Some people may argue that too much information is better than very little information. This helps us to be prepared.

I guess we should somehow learn to just absorb the crux of the information and leave the exaggeration behind.

What do you think?

Indians and Tourism

Indians have a penchant for touring places. I have been to many famous tourist attractions in US and Europe. One thing you can count on for sure is that you’ll be sure to see fellow Indians wherever you go. I guess it can be partially attributed to our population size.

Here are 2 things I cannot forget that clearly shows how we Indians dominate in many tourist places.

1. We went to Switzerland for our honeymoon. We had to travel for a long time to go to the highest point in Europe called Jungfrau. To our surprise there were so many Indians tourists out there. So many that somebody decided to start a samosa stall out there.

2. We went to Niagara few months back and we saw so many Indians out there. There were so many of them that one of the Americans inquired my family whether there was any Indian carnival that weekend in Niagara.

Have you noticed the same ?

Carpets and Toddlers don’t mix

One thing I hate in houses here in US is carpets. It’s very hard to get any stains out of it and keep it clean all times. Granted there are so many cleaners available in the market and so many different kinds of vacuum cleaners. But it still doesn’t help.

Hard floors are easy to clean and once it is cleaned, you’ll have a satisfaction that it is clean. You can see it with your eyes that it is clean. But with carpets, even if you vacuum it multiple times, you’ll still not have the same satisfaction. There is no way to confirm that it is clean. If you don’t have a good quality vacuum cleaner, you can be assured that you’ll leave some filth in the carpet even if you vacuum multiple times.

Another major disadvantage of carpet is the allergy factor. There are lots of people here in US allergic to carpet fibers.

I have a toddler at home and kids are well known to vomit. So we have a hard time at home cleaning the carpets and maintaining it. Carpets and Toddlers just don’t mix.

Email vs Voice communication

Have you been in a circumstance where you write something in the e-mail to somebody and the other person misinterprets it because of the way it’s written?

I have always found that, if possible, it is better to talk face to face instead of communicating through email. If you observe carefully, any sentence can be interpreted in different ways with different tone of voice. So if a topic is very sensitive, then I think it’s better to communicate through voice than through email.Also an email is a legal evidence in case you type something bad in a fit of anger. It's something irrevocable.

I heard recently about a new email system called 'self destructing' email ,which would basically leave no trace of where it originated.
http://www.forbes.com/2000/09/12/feat.html

Isn't this interesting?

Superficial

Most people must have read about Arun Nayar – Liz Hurley wedding and how grand they are. Also most of you must have heard about Lakshmi Mittal’s daughters wedding and many other Indian big shot weddings. One thing I don’t understand is why are Indians so obsessed with extravagant weddings?

One thing I have observed with most of my fellow Indians is that, they are not shy to display how opulent they are to the whole society. People wear these big gold ornaments; celebrate opulent weddings etc. just to show the society that they are rich. What is even more pathetic is that sometimes people, who are not really rich, spend beyond their means just to show the society that they are no less compared to others.

We talk about how superficial western society is. On the other hand we do the same thing.

I really don’t understand what people gain by showing off their opulence and by being so superficial?

Students??

I was reminiscing my years as a student here in the US. It was mainly because of the fact that I heard a presentation from my University’s chair today, who is now the president of the company I work for.

One thing startling for me when I first started my masters here in the US is the fact that most of my fellow students in class were old folks. Most of them were over 40 and it really surprised me that people here in US go to school even at that age. That is something unheard of in India. I haven’t seen any uncle or aunt going to school after their early years.

Corporate America is a bit severe sometimes. If you don’t keep yourself updated with latest skills, you could be left behind. Of course it does do it part of helping employees, by providing incentives to learn new things. Most companies reimburse for courses we learn through school. That is one of the inspiring reasons for people to go to school even after they age. In fact that’s what motivated me to do my masters.

But it really was a surprise for me the first time when I attended school.

Naariyal Paani

I used to drink fresh coconut water when I was in India almost every day. That is one thing I really miss here. We get ‘Thai coconut water’ here in grocery stores. But some how it doesn’t taste like the ones we get in India. I find Thai coconut water very sweet.

There are lots of tropical fruits we get in India which we don’t get here in the US. Some of them we get it only as canned food. Even if we do get them, it is exorbitantly priced.

I really miss them.

ICC World cup 2007

After a lot of deliberation on my mind whether to subscribe for World cup cricket or not, I decided to do it yesterday. It was a bit expensive at $200 for the whole series. Its 50 bucks an year since it is once every 4 years. So what the heck! I decided to subscribe for it.

Most of my friends suggested that I watch it through those illegal online streaming websites. Some how I didn’t feel it was a right way to do it. Plus you are at the mercy of some web site admin whom you have no way to contact. So I decided to do it the right way and I am sure I won’t regret it.

I am all set month and half of cricket fun. Hope India goes all the way at least till the semis.

Smoking to lose weight

There are lots of people I know who smoke with the intention of losing weight. People smoke and starve to lose weight. There is this common consensus that smoking curbs your appetite. So people smoke to curb their appetite and in turn lose weight. But isn’t it common sense that it’s not the right way to do it?

I think this practice is especially prevalent with teenage girls and women in US who would do anything possible to lose weight. I just don’t understand why people would do something that is detrimental to their body just to look slim. Western culture is becoming very superficial day by day. I hope this culture doesn’t spread to India.

Video Resume

I hear that ‘myspace’ is popularizing video resumes. One thing I am very skeptic about this concept is the fact that people might get rejected based on how they look and act in front of the camera, rather than being considered for their talent. Currently your call to an interview is most likely based on your professional credentials rather than anything else. But with Video resume, you may have to end up putting a well enacted video to gain advantage over others.

We have to accept that we live in a superficial world. So if your looks are not appealing in the video or if you don’t present yourself properly, then there is a fair chance that you might not get selected. You can argue that the same is true in a face to face interview. But this video resume is more like a pre-interview and could pose an unfair advantage to some individuals even if they are highly talented.

As far as I am concerned, talking in front of a camera is an art. So if a person is not well versed in that, then he/she should probably consider hiring a professional to create a video resume.

What do you think?

Nonsense talk

Some people always speak out in the meeting even if they don't have anything meaningful to convey. I don’t mind people expressing their opinions as long as they have something genuinely good to say. But some people do it just for the sake of showing their presence in a meeting. They back up their ideas with very little facts. These people eventually end up looking like clowns.

I have come across lots of such people and it always amazes me how they can be like that and how they don’t change even after many insults.

Have you come across people like that?

The other perspective

Once you begin to strongly believe in something, you just can’t look outside the box. There is this person I know who is a staunch believer in her/his beliefs. The person is so staunch that he/she began questioning my beliefs. So I told the person that no matter how hard I try to prove to you that there is always other perspective to everything, you’ll just not accept it or take it because you strongly believe that you are right.

This I think is the main reason for all the chaos in the world. Every religion/political parties/individual etc. thinks that their way of life is right. Those who strongly believe in their faith just cannot accept that there could be a better alternative. There are some who just shun others who don’t believe in their faith, and others who are rebellious to insist on others that their way of life is right. If people become rebellious and insist that their way of life is right, then it becomes a problem for the society.

What do you think?

What are you?

There are 3 kinds of people here in US – People who watch Fox news, People who watch CNN or People who hate both and watch non partisan channels. For those who don’t know, Fox viewers are viewed as staunch republicans and CNN viewers are viewed as staunch democrats.

One thing I have figured out after my long stint with these 2 websites, fox and cnn, is an easier way to find out whether I am a democrat or republican or independent by heart.

If you want to find out whether you are a democrat or republican or independent, take the online polls on political issues in those 2 websites. If you concur with the majority opinion in CNN online polls almost all the time, then you are a democrat. If you concur with the majority opinion in Fox online polls almost all the time, then you are a Republican. If you are kind of in between, then you are an independent who votes for people rather than the political parties.

Now I know who I am. What are you?

Playing lottery for the first time

I have never played lottery in my life. I remember my father used to play it when I was young. Today I was offered by one of my colleague to participate in some big draw here and I participated for the first ever time in my life. Now that I have participated, I am very excited about it even though my heart knows that there is no chance.

I remember this is how I felt when I gambled for the first time. I remember gambling on slot machines a few years back in Las Vegas and winning close to like $100 with just $50 cents. I was so excited and greedy that I spent all the $100 on the same slot machine hoping to win more. You all can guess what must have happened.

But who knows? I might win several millions tomorrow and just quit my job. But one thing is sure - I’ll still continue to blog. Wish me luck.

Human Animal bondage

The way in which pets are treated has changed immensely in the last few decades especially here in the US. Most of the pets here live and sleep with their owners unlike a few decades back where they live in a kennel or basement or elsewhere outside the house.

Funny incident happened yesterday wherein I walked into a middle of a conversation between my 2 American friends. They were talking something like ‘how he has grown and how things change day by day’ etc. For a second I thought they were talking about their babies. Once they started talking about taking him outside on a leash, I realized they were talking about their pets.

This seems to be the mindset of most people here with pets. They are now a part of their families. Even in India, I know a lot of people who cherish their pets like their babies. I think Human Animal bondage has grown immensely in the last few decades.

I love pets too. But the only reason I don’t have them or want them is because of their longevity. If they would outlive me, I might buy. But I am very weak hearted to buy a cat or dog and see them die before me.

Interesting tidbit-
Did you know that Pets have blood banks? Healthy pets can donate blood just like humans.