The disease called EMI [Equated Monthly Installment]

The option of Equated Monthly Installments have attracted many a men. Nowadays there is option available to purchase almost anything under the sun and pay the amount in EMIs. This has increased the buyer capacity as now even a person who can afford some 50,000 bugs can easily go for any item that is going to cost him up to 3,00,000 bugs.

Lets take a very simple example:
Suppose we want to buy a car that is priced at 2,90,000 approx. Now if i give some 60,000 as down payment and go for car loan at a rate of 12% p.a. then the balance value comes to 5000 per month approx for five years. To make things even more lubricating i make the down payment through my credit card and convert the transaction into EMIs as well. This leaves me paying almost nothing at the point of initial purchase. So i am delighted but when i get to see the reality i end up paying some 3,70,000 for the entire transaction. But looking at it with the perspective that you get to own an item immediately while you keep on paying for the next 5 years is very attractive.

Problem occurs when a person gets too much involved in this EMI web and something like a market crash or recession happens. Now that person is faced with the challenging problem of paying these EMIs in time and how to manage it. Let me give you an example: One of my friends who was working as a Tech. Lead in a leading MNC with earnings amounting to 75K per month. He was married and a proud father of a 2 year old daughter. He had purchased a house in Ghaziabad [EMI: 38,000] and a beautiful car [EMI: 5600]. At the time of recession last year end, he faced a salary cut and his net income was reduced to some 40,000 rupees per month. Now the problem that he faced must be pretty clear to all of you. He had a fixed expense of Rs. 43,600 per month and add to that the cost of living of a family in Ghaziabad.

The reason i took this topic up was to address all of the people out there who are very fond of EMI and to tell them that this is a wonderful offer and is very helpful when you are in need but at the same time it is very tempting and people are often attracted to it. This is an option provided for the general people to support them fulfil their dreams. It is my humble request that please do not use it unless you really feel the need of it. I am in no sense against the EMI option but one should exercise it wisely. The rising prices of the Real Estate makes it almost impossible to purchase a house without availing the Home Loan option. But luxuries can be avoided. If you remember we had a Bollywood movie by the name of Ta Ra Rum Pum in which similar subject was showcased where when Saif loses his job he loses almost everything and finally ends up without a place to live in.

The EMI option no doubt has brought a spark amongst the buyers, it is a very good option but should be used wisely and only when there is no other option. This should never be used as the first option. This has definitely brought many things within the reach of a middleman which were otherwise a dream for them but nothing comes easy and one has to pay a good price for everything.

Devoid of Rain.... Delhi prays....

Its almost end of June and still there are no signs of rain. The monsoon has got more attention these days than any other topic. So i tried to analyse the impacts that it has and i was stunned to note it has huge impacts on our life. The direct impact that we may face is power cut, though the impact on agriculture and farming will not impact us immediately but it the long run it will have a telling effect on each of our lives.

Remember that song in Lagaan when they saw clouds coming [Kaale Megha, Kaale Megha paani to barsa]. Similarly these days everyone is concerned and is praying for the rains to come. The heat is full on and the sun seems to have come closer to us. If you open the door the heat waves that hit you are unbearable. If this scorching heat continues i am not able to imagine the heat that we may have to face. The power cuts have increased significantly and even after sunset the heat waves doesn't seem to stop. Just for the statistical point of view Apr 29, 2009: Delhi recorded its highest temperature in 50 years on Wednesday with the mercury level touching 43.2 degrees Celsius.

So to get respite from this heat, we need good rains. I join hands with the millions of Delhites to pray to the Rain Gods to come down heavily on us and relieve us of this unbearable heat.

Lets hope that Indra, the Rain God, is reading this blog and grants our wish.

Waiting to dance in the Rain !!!!

Three Friends whom I miss the most

I have had hard luck in my life when it comes to keeping friends. I have a habit of losing friends when i need them the most. Just lately one of my very close friends, who is also a colleague at FirstRain, decided its time to move ahead and resigned. The very thought that the distance that may appear between us due to the different work timings and so many other unexpected things sparked me to write this blog. I could count several friends that i lost touch during the course of my life but there were three friends that i miss the most.

Swati Bhatnagar: She was my junior at the Computer Institute from where i was pursuing my DOEACC 'O' Level course in the year 2000. She was the first girl that i was friends with so the feeling was great. I almost fell for her, she was this very simple girl that you can walk home with and make her meet your parents. I almost proposed to her 10 times but i couldn't gather the courage to say it all. Finally i did it and she unsurprisingly accepted it. Things then went for few years and we were very sure that we would marry. The only thing stopping me was that i was not working so i didn't have the courage to talk to my parents. As usual her parents we not ready to wait and they forcefully married her. I got to know this only after the marriage, reason being our relationship was known to them and they kept her from contacting me. That time i felt cheated and so many thoughts crossed my mind. The result of this heartbreak reflected directly on my MCA 5th semester result where i aggregated just 48% compared to the overall 73% thus far.

Shweta Singh: She was a very dear friend of mine. We met in a trial class for 'C' Language. We shared similar thoughts though had different goals. She was the only other person that knew about my relationship with Swati. She was so close to me that we didn't live one day without meeting. We knew each others family as well. She had two other sisters and no brother, so i became her brother and accepted the responsibilities gleefully. She was then my 'Rakhi Sister' and we enjoyed life to the fullest. We used to share all the things and there was no issue. She had a dream of making it to the MBA and i was into MCA. So the destinations were different. As she got through CAT she left Allahabad and joined a college in Pune. As i completed my studies i went to Delhi for my first job assignment. So this was the point where the distances between us started developing. We were still in touch and even are today but only virtually (thanks to the Internet). She is now happily married and settled in Mumbai. I miss her very dearly.

Aditya Pandey: He was my school mate, but we were not close until after we left SJC. We came close through other common friends and slowly we became the best of pals. He was also in Allahabad and we used to spend the major part of our lives together. He was the person with whom i landed in Delhi for the first time. Believe me i was not aware of anything i.e. where would we stay and how will we follow up. It was all his call and i had blind faith on him. He was like a brother to me. We lived together in Delhi, celebrated my first job. Well he also knew about Swati, only other person than Shweta. We even went to Nainital to celebrate a New Year Eve. The pictures of him still are there in my orkut profile. There was some misunderstanding and that destroyed it all, he stopped talking to me and finally we separated to different houses. I still get his new from common friends but we are not on talking terms. I still wish one day we could resume all the friendship ties that we shared initially. I am waiting and will wait till the cock lays an egg.

So these were the 3 people whom i miss the most in my life. There were the friends whom i was very close and they sort of completed me. I miss you guys and hope one day just for once we can be together and relive the moments i cherish. I still have each and every memory locked in my heart. I love you all.

Lead upto the ICC World T20 Final

The Big day has finally arrived and we are all set to witness another game of cricket. The only difference is that this is the biggest stage of the T20 matches we have seen through out this year, its the Final of the ICC World T20.

As the tournament started there were basically two favourites, the defending champions India and the very inform South Africa. India could post wins only against the minnows and South Africans once again lived up to their 'chokers' label.

So we have two teams which not many would have imagined at the start of the tournament. The two teams as all of us know are Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

Sri Lanka has a strong batting top order with Dilshan being in the form of his life and Sangakkara and Mahela to play around him. We cannot at any point discount the Champion in Jayasuria, if he is on song then any bowling line up can be taken to the cleaners. Even the bowling department looks power packed with Malinga, Mendis and the all time great Muralitharan. They are also a side in form, its going to take some kind of heroic effort to topple them.
The only problem that i see in the Lankan team is the lack of batting depth and this must be point in the Pakistans game strategy.

On the other hand, Pakistan are not too far behind in terms of sheer class and talent. Gul is bowling superbly and Afridi is playing almost as a bowler and is in good form. The induction of Razzak has been a huge plus to the Pakistan team. Ajmal and Aamer are also doing a good enough job. The Pakistani batting is awesome on paper with the likes of Younis, Shoaib, Misbah, Akmal and Razzak.
The problem with this team is unpredictability and the lack of good starts, once you start badly, you don't have enough time to recover.

Both the teams have won and lost two games each in head-to-head. Though the past records don't count much in such crucial encounters still we can say as per the stats things are pretty even Stevens.

Let us wait and watch what happens and who emerges victorious. However we can safely presume that its going to be a intense encounter and the team that plays better cricket today emerges as the winner. So as they say let 'Cricket' be the winner today.

Cheers!!!

A walk through St. Joseph's College... My Alma Mater

When i decided to start blogging there were several ideas in my mind, but I chose to start from the start.
St Joseph's College (SJC) is the place where it all began.
I went to Green Lawns before that but i was too young to remember anything, but the fact that i was very energetic and fond of the place.

I got into SJC in 1988 and passed out in the year 2000, and in this span of over a decade i learnt so many good and bad things. I made many friends and lived a life that i cherish even today.

I was never into studies and always admired the toppers in my class. Though my report cards tell a different story as i was under immense pressure from my parents to perform. As soon as i grew out of their hands my academic records de-graded. I still remember getting a 93 out of 100 in class 7th and that remains my highest score thus far. The nearest i got was in 10th class when i got a 92 in Computer Science.

I'll not waste a lot of time talking academics and get into business soon. I would try to be as precise as possible and list out the most memorable moments of my life in random order.

1. The first thing that comes to mind is the Inter Institutional Meet 'Vision 2000'. I participated in the 'Skit' and was also named the leader of the crew. We bunked lots of classes in order to practice hard for the same. I still remember the script, it was an anti - pollution campaign. We had a great time and finally won the first prize in the competition. That is the only piece of Gold that i ever earned.

2. The practical examination of Physics and Chemistry in class 11th and 12th also need a mention. I used to get things copied from Rahul Misra (a friend whom i admire as a genius), Kumar Toshik (a friend who i lost to an ugly accident) and many other friends.

3. Few teachers who have left a never ending mark on my life. Mr. Raphael, Mr. Kazmi, Mrs Gandhi, Mr. R.P Srivatstava, Mr. Dimri the list is long. I was very lucky to get so many wonderful teachers. It was a real pleasure to be under their guidance and grow up under such talent.

4. The friends that i made during my stay in SJC. Thanks to Internet, we are in touch with many friends, but i would like to name a few friends whom i dearly miss and would like to meet if possible. I had a huge gang starting from the Ali brothers Rushdi and Lutfi, Jobin Jose, Piyush Bose, Ujjawal Dixit, Kumar Gandharwa, Rahul Misra, Umair Sayeed, Kumar Toshik, Rajarsh Gupta, Amit Agarawal, Prafull Sharma, Vaibhav Kumar, Rishi Kumar, Amit Arora, Dhruv Singh to name only a few. And to my bad luck i have not had a word to some of these for over 10 years now.

I could go on and on writing about my memories of SJC but i would conclude with the biggest event that was a part of each and every year that we were in SJC. The Annual Sports.

The Annual Sport of SJC is conducted at a very large scale and witnessed by several people across the town. It is the biggest event hosted by SJC. I still remember the intense practice sessions leading to the event. The March Past, the various competitions, the cycle races, the pyramids and whole lots of other events marked the day.

The opening ceremony, the sport captain running with the torch, the chief guest opening the meet, the fire crackers, the big torch on the top of the Gymnasium and the awesome fire work at the conclusion were all a treat to watch.

I miss this institution as much as anything in the world and given a chance i would love to visit it all over again. Many of you, who have been a part of this great institution will agree with me when i say that those were the best days of my life and the memories are such that they last forever.

This was just my way of saluting my Alma mater and telling it that how much i love it and miss it.