A New Experience

I had always wondered how would it be like to drive in hills. I had never been lucky enough to get a chance to drive on hills. But the last weekend I got the chance to drive on the Dehradun - Mussoorie road and it was a great experience. I must confess that it is a entirely different experience driving in hills as compared to driving in plains. You seem to get tired soon both mentally and physically. You have to be very alert all of the time, even a blink of the eye may be expensive. But it was a good experience.

I enjoyed the entire drive, although some part of it when I was driving through the city of Mussoorie was really scary with some really stiff uphill roads. The road was so narrow at places that only one vehicle could pass at a time and that was a bit of concern. I was also a bit nervous as it was the first time I was driving there and also the car was not mine so I also had to adjust to the car and its whereabouts.

I must say that it was a learning curve for me and I would love to experience the same again if I get a chance to do so. Now I feel more confident, I have also learnt few tips and tricks about driving uphill or downhill. Overall it was a great experience and I am looking forward for another trip soon.

The IPL Confusion

I like cricket and follow it closely and like every Indian I want India to win every match. Whenever India is playing a match against any country it goes without saying that India gets the support of the Indians and everyone is following their favourite team. But this statement does not hold true for the IPL matches. I find myself very confused as to which team I am supporting. I worship Sachin and love the way he plays so I have to support Mumbai Indians. I also like Dhoni's passion and the way he handles things, his tactics and his ability to stay calm under pressure situations. I then have to support him and hence the Chennai Superkings. I love the way Yuvraj bats, the elegance with which he plays is second to none, I also like Preity Zinta and don't want to see her upset so I have to support Kings XI Punjab. This is what I call the IPL Confusion i.e. you cannot exactly decide which team to follow and support.

I was at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium for the Delhi vs Chennai game and I found myself divided on which team to support. I was enjoying the atmosphere out there, the enthusiasm of the people around and the blistering knock of Virender Sehwag. It was actually a great experience to see the likes of Sehwag, Raina, Hayden, Muralidharan, Justin Kemp, Stephen Flemming and many more in person. I am a great fan of Harsha Bhogle and it was a pleasure to see him in flesh and blood. But my support was divided.

I guess in the IPL we end up supporting our superstars and our favourite cricketers and not a particular team. Although when I was in the stadium, I was actually forced to follow the Delhi team just by the amount of cheer each positive approach of the Delhi team was being cheered and every shot by the Chennai batsmen was being greeted with pin drop silence. But it was a great experience to be there and witness the best of players perform.

Future of Hockey in India

India played host for the Hockey world cup just recently, all the matches were held in Delhi, there were so many promotions for the events, the tickets were priced as low as 100 so that majority of people could afford it. But now the Cup is over and so are the advertisements and promotions. So what is going to be the future of Indian Hockey is a question that comes to my mind and to which I don't have an answer to.

The Hockey World cup has been a real success in India, it gained lots of popularity and the stadium was full atleast on the day India was playing. Even other matches attracted audience. Although the Indian team did not perform that well but still all the matches were cheered by the fans. So what is next ? was this a transition phase or just a one time show. I hope this is a transition and hockey gains more popularity after all it is our National game.

Last Sunday I saw few children in my society actually playing hockey and that too with proper hockey sticks. I was really pleased to see this change. I have been in Delhi for 5 years now and I had not once seen anybody playing hockey. So it was a different experience, it also emphasized the fact that all the promotions by our super models through various media has actually had an impact on the younger generation. I hope and pray that this passion stays and does not fade away with time. Lets us hope for the best of our National game. But having said that I also accept the fact that the Indian hockey has a long way to go before it can gain general popularity.

Superb...

Superb is the latest model to have hit the roads from Skoda. It is really a superb car. I was with a friend of mine at a Skoda showroom in Delhi to enquire about Fabia when my eyes got stuck on this massive car standing proudly in the centre of the showroom. I was so hit by the appearance of the car that I grabbed the door handle, pulled the door open and sat on the drivers seat. The interiors, the comfort, the feel of luxury, the awesome sun roof, electrifying LED display, the beautiful gear knob.... as I was going through the car interiors I was trying to guess the price of the car. But I was totally unaware of it and was wondering if I could just own one.

It is surprising how sometimes you just get lost into something, you forget the actual reason you went there. That was exactly my condition, I did not want to get out of the car, it was literally Superb. The comfort that I felt as I sat on the driving seat, I could feel that I may even fall asleep on my way to office if I am in this car. Everything was perfect, the finishing was spectacular. It was a superb experience. But like every other dream this one also had to end so I finally got out of it and went to see Fabia.

After we were done with the Fabia thing and were moving out, a thought crossed my mind but I could not decide whether to do it or not. I wanted to get a picture of mine clicked along side this magnificent car but just could not gather the courage to ask for it. As I walked out of the showroom I had the rate list in my hand so I decided to read it to get the price of the model that I just witnessed. To my surprise, well not really, the masterpiece was priced at 28 lakhs approx for the high end model. It was at this point of time that I felt elated and told myself that this has been a day to remember for long. But I must say it was indeed a SUPERB experience.

Review of Ford Figo

I had heard about it through several people. It has been the talk of town for sometime now so I decided to go and have a hard look at it. I visited the Ford showroom and was surprised to see that I was not the only one who was there to see the newly launched Fego. People were present there in large numbers to take a look at the car. I studied all the facts of the car, went through the minutest details and also took the test drive. Here is what I experienced.

The car looks impressive, the interiors are good, the dashboard is of a dull red color which pinches in your eye, but that can be altered to black if you decide to take the top 2 models otherwise you have to live with that awfully bad dashboard. The car has sufficient leg space and I particularly liked the long leg room for the driver. It was a comfortable position to be in. The indicators switch has been positioned on the left side of the steering and the wiper controls are on right side, which is the exact opposite of the Maruti Swift that I proudly own, so it was confusing and I often hit the wipers when I wanted to hit the indicators but this is just matter of getting comfortable.

While driving it did not feel like I am driving a 1.2l petrol engine, the pick up is just ok, the car runs a bit heavy and you could feel the engine working hard to reach 60 with 4 people in it. The car was not as free as I expected it to be when I hit the top gear. The drive was ok but nothing more than that. I guess if you compare it with Ritz, i10 or so it does not stand a change for the comfort and ease of drive.

The car is heavily loaded with funky features, in a price of about 4.7 lakhs you are getting airbags, ABS, climate control system, rear wiper, a high tech music system with Blue tooth, front power windows and more. But as per my understanding, these things do matter but not as much as the engine performance, riding comfort. So for me this car is not worth the price. I would anytime go for Ritz Vxi (priced at 4.34 lakhs on road) than Fego (Zxi priced at 4.34 lakhs on road). For my personal liking, Fego disappoints.

The Mysteries of Income Tax

There is one mystery under the Income tax that I am unable to justify. Well there are so many mysteries within the entire concept of Tax that are hard for us to understand but still there are some things that we ought to understand if we want to save tax. Almost everyone who pays tax keeps an eye on the tax brackets, the amount of tax he/she needs to pay and the different ways which could help him save tax. One thing that I cannot understand or which I cannot digest is the Tax exemption range. The current exempted amount is 1.60 Lakhs for men, 1.90 lakhs for women and 2.10 or 2.20 for senior citizens. My concern is regarding the difference in values for men and women.

I am of the opinion that in most cases where a women is employed, her salary is the second salary in the house. This case should hold true for 90-95% cases. So I cannot understand the concept behind keeping the exempted value higher than those for men. Infact if I were to have a say I would have proposed otherwise. I do not know what the tax pundits thought when they put things into shape neither I know what is the take of the people who work in the same domain but I am unable to justify this difference.

I may have crossed the line here and commented on a totally alien subject but this concept of tax has been all over my mind for sometime now and I was unable to find a solution or justification for the same. So if by any chance any one who is reading this blog has any sort of answer that could me help solve the so called mysteries that I see in tax bracket demarcations is welcome to post his answers and help me understand things. Till then I will keep searching for answers.

India and the Hockey World Cup

I have read and heard so much about the ongoing Hockey World Cup in New Delhi and I really feel sad to hear the way people are talking about the performance of the Indian team. I really appreciate the support that all of us gave to our team and I am equally disappointed that out team did not make it to the semis or finals for that matter but I did not like phrases like 'we are disgraced' or 'we gave them support and they gave us defeat.'

We should accept a few things before we can jump to conclusions and call the Indian hockey team a disgrace. First of all we must accept the fact that the Indian team is not the best team in the world, we did not have any match practice in the last year. I read some where that the Indian team has played just 3 matches in the last year. So we were actually short on match practice. Also the confidence of the Indian team is not 100% and they do not believe that they can win.

I have religiously followed all the matches in which India played and I must say that their performance improved with every match. I also accept the fact that the players looked rusty and missed some real sitters. All the big names were missing from the team. We did beat Pakistan 4-1 and almost beat South Africa. I was there in the stadium to watch the match between India and South Africa and I was really impressed by the way the Indian team played. If you had followed the match religiously, you would have noticed that almost 65% of the time the ball was in South Africa's half and we had more ball possession than South Africa as well.

So I believe that we had set very high expectations, I also felt that this is after a long time that the Indian Hockey team got the support it deserved. The team is still in the re-building phase and should be ready soon for good. I saw it myself in the stadium that even a simple dribble by an Indian player was being cheered like a goal, each penetration into the opposition's area was also cheered like an emphatic win. I think we should just control our emotions and should consider all the facts and numbers before jumping to a conclusion and start bad mouthing. Let us give these guys some time and wish for the best.

End Of Season 'SALE'

I have a special deal with all the so called End Of Season SALE, I try to catch up on these sales to buy something for myself but somehow I have not been lucky enough to get a great deal. It is a usual story that whatever I choose ends up being the fresh stock that is not on sale. This has happened to me so many times and then I have to make a decision that I still wanna buy it or leave it. The answer generally is just take it. So I can say I fall in a group of persons who buys fresh stocks when the whole of India is on SALE.

I am still searching for the day when I would like something and the company says that yes that is on sale. Due to this talent of mine I do not consider sales which says up to X% off. I prefer flat sales. Reebok being my favourite as it generally gives a flat 40% sale and then all the items in the shop are on sale. I have a good buying experience with Reebok. I also have a liking for brands like 'Giovani' where the collection does not have lots of variety but whatever little they have is good quality decent collection and they also run a flat sale. I have purchased a couple of T Shirts and one of my friends got himself 2 woolen suits and we got a fantastic deal on both occasions.

I personally hate brands that run sale through out the year and the sale is also in the range of 50% + 40% types. I cannot understand the concept behind pricing your items at an extreme rate and then giving 60% to 70% discount on the prices. I guess the buyers these days are mature enough and offers as bad as these do not attract them. I would rather like to go to a shop that is Fixed Rate shop and which offers me a reasonable price. I do not like to bargain, though sometimes you have to, as I believe that you are never satisfied with the price that you end up paying after a bargain. But then there is nothing much that you can do so all I can say is Happy Shopping !!!

Mixed Feelings on Coming Back

It has been a hectic week to say the least, I was occupied with my family and relatives for the better part of the week and when I returned back to Delhi and walked into office, it was like a torture to see so many mails lined up and so many pending tasks to attend. But then suddenly I realised, that I am back and I have to cover up for a weeks leave that I enjoyed so dearly.

It has been a great last week where I enjoyed each and every minute of the long holiday. It feels so good to be surrounded with parents, relatives and all loved ones. I so very miss all my family and friends there in Allahabad but then again that is the price that I was ready to pay when I choose this career. So no more regrets now.

I have certainly matured as a professional and I can actually feel it. There were situations that made me panic and nervous, they can now be handled easily and confidently. I could sense this change in me and I could feel the confidence as I walk around within the office premises. I guess when you have spent almost 3 years in a company, you feel at home and you are very comfortable and acquainted with the surroundings and atmosphere, and that helps boost your confidence. Even the walls seem to recognize you and never feel alone. It is a good feeling when there are people around you that are all familiar.

I can now understand why people do not want to switch their jobs that often. At a younger age I was of the opinion that you will get a significant increase in your pay when you switch your job so people should change their jobs regularly. But now at the position that I am and whatever little experience I have, my approach has certainly changed and now I think differently. Money is not the most important thing now. I have always wanted to talk about this topic but I guess I will do that in a new post. I do not want to make this post excessively long and out of context.

So I am back and yes I am very awake, I have been itching to write something but I did not get time for the same. But now when I am back, I would try to cover up for the time I have been away and give you people something good to read.