Governance System

As a daily habit, the 10-year Old Pintu was reading newspaper.

Suddenly he asked his father, ” Dad! What does it mean by ‘Governance

System’ ? “

“Its Like…” father said while thinking, “See! I earn and bring money

to home, mean’s I am a ‘Money Holder’. Your mother decides where and how

to spend that money and that means she is ‘Government’. That maid in our

home is doing all the household works, so she will be ‘Labour Class’.

You are a ‘Common man’ or ‘Public’. Your kid brother is ‘Future’ or the

‘Next Generation’, understand?”.

That day Pintu slept with all those thoughts. In the middle of the night

he woke-up because his kid brother was crying. He wetted the matress so

he was crying. Pintu went to wake-up his mother. She was in deep sleep

so Pintu went to the Maid’s room to wake her up. But there his father

was sleeping with the maid. So he came back with frustration.

Next morning father asked Pintu, ” Hey Pintu Darling! You understood the

‘Governance System’? “.

Pintu replied, ” Yeah Dad, I understood! When money Holder is exploiting

Labour Class, our Government is sleeping. Future of our nation is crying

for not getting their basic needs fulfilled and in all this Common Man

is suffering!”

Fart-O-logy

 

Facts about farts

 

Interesting facts about Farts

Greetings from Vivek

Wishes for year ahead !!

“Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright New Year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”

I wish you & your family members a HAPPY & Prosperous NEW YEAR.

Wish you all good luck in your tasks.

Money v/s Happiness

Blog Posted by Singapore ‘s Youngest Millionaire

By Adam Khoo |

Some of you may already know that I travel around the region pretty frequently, having to visit and conduct seminars at my offices in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Suzhou (China). I am in the airport almost every other week so I get to bump into many people who have attended my seminars or have read my books.

Recently, someone came up to me on a plane to KL and looked rather shocked.. He asked, ‘How come a millionaire like you is travelling economy?’ My reply was, ‘That’s why I am a millionaire. ‘ He still looked pretty confused. This again confirms that greatest lie ever told about wealth (which I wrote about in my latest book ‘Secrets of Self Made Millionaires’ ). Many people have been brainwashed to think that millionaires have to wear Gucci, Hugo Boss, Rolex, and sit in first class in air travel. This is why so many people never become rich because the moment that earn more money, they think that it is only natural that they spend more, putting them back to square one.

The truth is that most self-made millionaires are frugal and only spend on what is necessary and of value. That is why they are able to accumulate and multiply their wealth so much faster. Over the last 7 years, I have saved about 80% of my income while today I save only about 60% (because I have my wife, mother in law, 2 maids, 2 kids, etc. to support). Still, it is way above most people who save 10% of their income (if they are lucky). I refuse to buy a first class ticket or to buy a $300 shirt because I think that it is a complete waste of money. However, I happily pay $1,300 to send my 2-year old daughter to Julia Gabriel Speech and Drama without thinking twice.

When I joined the YEO (Young Entrepreneur’ s Organization) a few years back (YEO is an exclusive club open to those who are under 40 and make over $1m a year in their own business) I discovered that those who were self-made thought like me. Many of them with net worths well over $5m, travelled economy class and some even drove Toyotas and Nissans (not Audis, Mercs, BMWs).

I noticed that it was only those who never had to work hard to build their own wealth (there were also a few ministers’ and tycoons’ sons in the club) who spent like there was no tomorrow. Somehow, when you did not have to build everything from scratch, you do not really value money. This is precisely the reason why a family’s wealth(no matter how much) rarely lasts past the third generation. Thank God my rich dad (oh no! I sound like Kiyosaki) foresaw this terrible possibility and refused to give me a cent to start my business.

Then some people ask me, ‘What is the point in making so much money if you don’t enjoy it?’ The thing is that I don’t really find happiness in buying branded clothes, jewellery or sitting first class. Even if buying something makes me happy it is only for a while, it does not last. Material happiness never lasts, it just gives you a quick fix. After a while you feel lousy again and have to buy the next thing which you think will make you happy. I always think that if you need material things to make you happy, then you live a pretty sad and unfulfilled life.

Instead, what make ME happy is when I see my children laughing and playing and learning so fast. What makes me happy is when I see by companies and trainers reaching more and more people every year in so many more countries. What makes me really happy is when I read all the emails about how my books and seminars have touched and inspired someone’s life. What makes me really happy is reading all your wonderful posts about how this BLOG is inspiring you. This happiness makes me feel really good for a long time, much much more than what a Rolex would do for me.

I think the point I want to put across is that happiness must come from doing your life’s work (be in teaching, building homes, designing, trading, winning tournaments etc.) and the money that comes is only a by-product. If you hate what you are doing and rely on the money you earn to make you happy by buying stuff, then I think that you are living a meaningless life.

Rain Rain come again

This happened on 14th Feb 2006. I got married in year 2005 and with in 20 days of marriage we left for Scotland. Scotland is a beautiful place and I felt that from my bottom of my heart that day.

It was our very first valentine’s day and she gifted me with a nice photo frame with a painting made by her in which girl was kissing boy and both were dancing. I gifted her flowers and cards.

It was awesome, mind blowing. It couldn’t have been better and the best thing was that as I left office little early for the day, and it was just the right time to spend some time with my love. The weather was just perfect to spend time with my loved one — a very pleasant cool breeze blew with bit of drizzling and both of us just enjoyed each other’s company. I had always longed to kiss my darling and was just waiting for one opportunity — it couldn’t have been better than this.

It was raining from morning however it was not much in evening and I decided to visit Indian restaurant near by so that we do not have to take taxis or train.

Days are really short in Scotland during winter (sun sets at 4:00 PM and it will be dark at 5:30 PM) and weather was pleasant outside our apartment , drizzling. As we were on our way, it started pouring heavily however we ran fast for 1-2 minutes and reached restaurant easily. As we were finishing our dinner we saw rain drops on the mirror of restaurant. It was very heavy and we waited for some time to get it stop or slowdown so that we can leave for our home which was nearly 15-20 minutes walk from our apartment. Some how rain stopped for a while and we left restaurant, though we were carrying umbrella but only one and it was not enough in that sort of rain and with gutsy winds of 35 kmph.

In just 2 minutes our umbrella was literally flown away and was broken however I tried my best to make it work but not with much success. We started waking holding each other and talking to each others. It was too dark and only we can hear the sound of rain or passing by cars. It was so cold (2-3 degree Celsius) and there was no shelter to stop so we decided to walk in rain like this and enjoy the rain.

When we reached home we were fully wet and water was dripping from our clothes like loose tap. We changed our cloths and directly slipped into our beds as we were feeling cold.

After that I never get chance to get fully drenched in rain as in Bangalore it is really risky to get wet in rain and we always travel in our car or something. However I will always remember my first Valentines day because of my wife lovely gift and time spent walking in rain.

Kabini – Dine and Wine with Nature

I have heard a lot about series of wildlife sanctuaries in Karnataka, I was slightly skeptical of the feasibility of going to them with a family, especially with few months old kid. This skepticism was given the usually dismal facilities and condition of anything that the country provides today in the garb of naturist vacations…

However, my company came up with an idea of offsite meeting at Kabini at Cicada resorts .Its a wonderful resort and the sunset and sunrise are your clocks here and the whistling of the wind or the water flowing by is music. The glory of nature is on full display.

To cut the long story short, I discovered that Kabini Cicada resorts, at the south of Nagarhole National Park, was one of the top 5 wildlife resorts in the world, voted by a prominent British travel guide.

We started at 7.30 AM in morning from our office in two buses and picked team members at various stops till Total Mall on Mysore road. We had all the possible fun during our bus journey.

Chikmagalur: More than a hill station- Hoyasala Dynasty temples

We are so used to travelling when ever we get time however due to office work, we had long gap this time. Our feet were itching for a long drive and vacation due to extended weekend of good Friday.

We decided to make Chikmagalur our next travel destination. This destination was ideal in all sense as we want to relax and enjoy quality time with family and kids.

Chickmagalur, the name literally means ‘Younger Daughter’s Town’. It is said to have been given as a dowry to the younger daughter of Rukmangada, the legendary chief of Sakrepatna.

Chikmagalur is a calm, serene town full of scenic surprises, hills, valleys, streams and snow-white coffee blossoms. Situated 270 kms from Bangalore, Chikmagalur is a trekker’s delight, with its rugged mountain trails. We did not choose to trek as small kids accompanied us.

We all were ready to enjoy the long drive but thought of hiring Temp traveler so that all 4 families can stay together and have more fun.

Madurai- Rameshwaram: Discovering Gods Own Land

Madurai, Thursday, July 2

I and my in-laws both wanted to visit Rameshwaram (one of the 4 dhams mentioned in Hindu mythology) from last so many years and this summer we decided to plan and excecute it as well.

You need a very good luck to get the reservation in Tuticorin express and we were lucky enough to got it for 1^st july from Bangalore to Madurai and 4^th from Madurai to Bangalore.

I have taken off from office accordingly and planned the tour. I, my wife Smita, son Kavvy, Bro-in-law, his wife, and my father-in-law and mother-in-law left the Bangalore home in evening as it is not easy to reach Bangalore railway station due to Bangalore traffic problem. Anyway we reached station on time and after having dinner got into our train.

After train journey from Bangalore, we landed in Madurai. We were little dazed from all the traveling, but still anxious to get going. After we checked into the Hotel New Keerthi, we decided to relax and get refreshed for a while.

After having breakfast in hotel itself we got an autorickshaw and were off to see the sights at 11:00 AM.

Our first stop was the main temple, the Sri Meenakshi. It was about a 10-minute ride from the hotel.

Family Grouping at North gate of Madurai Temple

 

I could see the temple gopurams (entrance towers) from my hotel and in between buildings as we drove. They are tall, steep, pyramid-shaped structures covered with hundreds, maybe thousands, of brightly painted sculptures of Hindu gods. They are the most distinctive features of the south India temples.

We entered Sri Meenakshi through the North Gate. We have taken the guide to show us the whole temple on time as closing time for temple is 12:30 in afternoon. The entrance hallway was a mini-mall lined with stands selling all kinds of religious kitsch: posters and calendars; stickers and statues; amulets and key chains. We left our shoes at one of the shop from where we bought the prasadam and cocunut.

As soon as you entered the temple area from Northern Gate, you will find musical pillars and one tree where people (who do not have kids) tie palnas.

tying the palnas

 

Farther along the hallway we came to the Golden Lotus Tank, a large pool surrounded by cement steps. Bright sunlight flooded the area and I could see several of the colorful gopurams rising above the temple.

An evening at Madurai Temple near lotus tank

 

At the far end of the tank was the first of the two main shrines in Sri Meenakshi. It’s only open to Hindus, and we have taken the Rs. 100 ticket to avoid rush and have nice darshan. Meenakshi is of dark green colour (look like black due to lack of light) small idol. Around the corner, down a dark hallway, was the second main shrine of Shiva. I will recommend to visit on weekdays to avoid temple rush and have nice and clear darshnam.

Temple Layout

 

The temple complex was quite large. Besides the two shrines, the Golden Lotus tank, innumerable smaller shrines and even a museum. On three sides of the complex was a wide, open area where groups of Indians sat relaxing in the shade. The whole thing was surrounded by a tall wall and enclosed an area the size of several football fields. We could see that a single visit would not suffice and we came back to temple again in evening and sat down for a moment to watch the activity at Lotus tank. There was a colonnade around three sides where holy men sat giving consultation to groups of pilgrims. Other pilgrims sat relaxing on the steps and more walked past.

Once you are out of temple you will find battery operated gold cart type cars providing temple round (parikrama).

Kavvy Driving the cart

 

 

From there I decided to head back to the hotel. Near the temple we passed various souvenir shops. Farther along there were clothing and auto parts shops. The sidewalks were usually blocked with merchandise or parked vehicles forcing me to walk in the street.

Dodging mud holes, public and speeding autorickshaws we made our way slowly back toward our hotel. It turned out to be father than I thought and I had to stop several times due to traffic jams. It was quite hot and we all decided to have a hour sleep and will go out at 4:00 PM.

My kid was hungry (rather we all were hungry) so I came out to search some paratha, dal and rice for him and in the mean time all other family members were also ready to go out.
we took auto to palace (they told us it will be open till 5:30) and reached there when they have closed the doors as closing time was 5:00.
Anyway, we decided to roam in local market took an autorickshaw back to Sri Meenakshi.

Relaxing at Madurai Temple near lotus tank

 

father – son relaxing outisde Madurai Temple

 

We repeated some of the morning’s visits. First, we sat by the tank and afterwards walked around a bit more. Outside we stopped to visit a few of the expensive tourist shops that populate the north side of the temple.

We ended my evening with dinner at the restaurant. It had been a great first day.

Rameshwaram, Friday, July 3

We left at 7:30 for Rameswaram, a temple town on the coast southeast of Madurai. It’s located on an island at the end of a spit of land that sticks out toward Sri Lanka and is one of several important pilgrim destinations in south India.

The morning was cool and the sun low as we pulled out onto a nearly empty road. Our driver was Raj (we hired a Innova). He was quiet and had a quick smile. We had enjoyed his company in starting but later he shows his character

The road was smooth and straight as we passed rice fields, coconut palms, banana trees, stray dogs, and a brick factory belching black smoke. After an hour or so the traffic picked up as the surface of the road deteriorated. The land was flat and covered with lush, green vegetation.

In places the road had been covered with rice stalks. Farmers put them there so that passing cars would crush the grain from the stalks.

 

Reached Ramnad around 9:30AM and had breakfast.

Then left to Rameshwaram and reached around 10:30AM. Have crossed Pamban Bridge and decided to stop while going back as temple will close and darshan is our primary concern.

 

Ramanthaswamy temple 1200 pillars

 

The temple was located in the middle of the small town and had a tall gopuram,which was painted white. It shone brilliantly in the bright sun and was striking against the intensely blue sky.

 

Then left to the temple and moved inside the temple and arranged a guide who himself arranged a guy to bath in all 22 thirthams. He had asked Rs. 245 per head and taken to all the 22 thirthams inside the temple. It is must to bath in all the 22 thirthams to finish the full cycle visiting this temple.

Walking thru more than 1200 pillars in Rameshwaram temple

 

You are supposed to pay official charge for taking bath in the 22 wells. But this will not help you. You need to hire some locals from outside to pour water on you from those wells. They charge somewhere from 50rs and above per person for all the wells.

 

You can see people running behind the guys with the small bucket in lines. He goes to each of the wells, and pours water on you. Since we had a local guide had a wonderful bath after bath. You are not allowed with wet clothes inside temple. But yes, thats only on the notice board. Still some people keep running inside the temple with wet clothes.

You have to visit both Shiva & Thayar (Ammbal) in the temple. We were right on time before the closing of temple for noon.

So, wheres next? We decided to start to Danuskodi but before that we headed to a nice lunch place.

 

Our driver took us to Gujrat Bhavan for lunch and it was nice light gujrati thali.

 

Once done with lunch, we headed to Danuskodi.

blue water at Dhanuskodi

 

The route to Danuskodi was really awesome. The roads are covered with sands, both sides of the roads are full of trees and we could also see the sea on both sides. In some places, a small wall is being constructed to stop water & sand coming to roads. Then changed the wet cloths (Temple have permanent arrangements for this) and visited the temple and the world famous 3rd Corridor in the temple. Then the car moved towards Dhanuskodi which is 17kms away from Rameshwaram and it has a new decent road till

Dhanuskodi naval check post. Frequent busses fly from Rameshwaram to this place.

You will be greeted by those blue & green waves from sea, trying to catch you.

 

 

Blue water at Dhanuskodi

 

After Dhanuskodi we visited one temple on the way back and than our driver took us to show President Kalam’s house and sea shell shop run by his brother.

Kalam’s brother Sea Shell shop

 

 

Later we went Ramar Paadham temple. It is actually located on a small hill. More than the scenery I loved the wind over there. You will see the foot prints of Lord Rama in here. People do offer flowers and pooja to that.

sitting in Ramar Padam temple

 

This is the place where lord Rama stand and departure to Srilanka to kill Ravana to retain Sita I believe. It also gives a very good view of entire Rameswaram, Shiv Temple and sea.

Maa – beta at Panam Bridge

 

 

On the way back we have seen Ram, Sita, laksman kund and floating stones and then from there we came back to Pamban Bridge and next to Pamban bridge is where you can visit Coral rocks.

Father in law watching railway track at Panam Bridge

 

Govt boats are available at Rs 30 per head and they will take you to ½ kms into sea and you can see colorful corals around here. You should go in the noon to have better sight however we were not having enough time so decided not to go there and started back to Madurai.

After a few hours we stopped at a little thatch-covered teashop for tea and back to Madurai by 7:30 PM.

Again went back to same hotel and checked in again (we checked out to cover the 24 hours clause of hotels as our train was at 7:50 PM from Madurai on 4^th July).

 

Everyone was tired so decided to have the dinner in room itself.
Madurai, Saturday, July 4

Had a nice sleep and had a nice shower on the next day morning. Had a nice and light breakfast of idli, badas and pongal.

My neighbor who is from Madurai told me to visit Azharkovil and murugan temple so we decided to hire auto to visit these places.

AzhagarKovil temple

 

We hired 2 autos for Rs. 250 each and started at 11:00 AM. This place was nearly 25-30 KM from Madurai main town and has a nice old temple. You cannot make out the temple from outside and you have to keep going in for main idol darshnam. We were on time here also as we came out from the temple before door closing.

 

There are lots of monkeys there in this temple and one has to very careful as they keep snatching things from your hands. Monkeys snatched Laddu from my kids hand.

We had nice guavas there (6-7 pieces in Rs. 10 – which you will never think of in Bangalore) and started towards Murugan temple.

having fun in AzhagarKovil temple

 

One has to buy Rs. 10 bus ticket (one sided) to reach Murugan Temple. It is a nice and small upwards hill journey before you reach temple. Lot many people go walking also.

It is a nice experience and we started back to hotel after darshnam and reached hotel by 2:00 PM. We were hungry and had our lunch before checked into the hotel.

 

 

watching work at palace

 

After relaxing for one hour I pushed everyone for Palace visit and it is really a nice experience to see such palace. Being from North India we always have different opinion about palaces and forts but this palace is totally different from north India palaces.

Palace

 

Due to renovation work we were unable to see the lighting but never mind as it is worth a visit.

 

We were back to hotel by 5:00 PM from place and boarded the train back to Bangalore at 7:50 PM from Madurai junction.

 

Rameshwaram – Facts
The holy city of Rameswaram lies about 164 kilometres from the temple city of Madurai.

Here, Sree Rama, the hero of the famous epic the Ramayana, is said to have worshipped Lord Siva to free himself from the sin of having killed Ravana, the demon-king of Lanka (Sri Lanka)

The island of Rameswaram is at the extreme south-eastern end of the Indian Perinsula. This island in the Palk Straits with its tall palms and shining sands, is washed by the waves of the Indian Ocean. Varanasi (Benares) in the north and Rameswaram in the south are considered the holiest cities by the pious Hindus. A Hindu, who visits Varanasi completes his pilgrimage by going to Rameswaram.

Rameswaram Island is said to represent Lord Mahavishnu’s conch. The island was once connected with the mainland by the Isthumus of Pamban. In the fifteen century, a causeway was constructed by Krishnamma Naick. But a severe Storm damaged it. continuous and high sand dunes cannot escape the eyes of tourist. These dunes present a lovely, natural sight along the seashore around Rameswaram.

Mythological Background
Hindu mythology relates the following story about Rameswaram. After killing Ravana, Sree Rama stayed on Mount Gandhamadhanam at Rameswaram. At that time, he wished to remove his sin of having killed several demons by worshipping Lord Siva. He asked his devoted servant, Hanuman to go to the Himalayas and bring a Siva Lingam from Mount Kailas.

The auspicious hour for installing the Linga was nearing, but Hanuman was not to be seen. So Sree Rama put up a Linga made out of sand by his consort Sita and Rama prayed to it. hanuman came late. His Lingam was then placed to the North of Ramalinga. It is called Viswanathar, Kasilingam, and Hanumalingam. The consort of Rameshwar is called Parvatha Vardhani. Much has been written about Rameswaram is Sanskrit, Tamil, Hindi and other Literature.

Love everyone hate no one

Life with Friends is like heaven
Heaven is everyone’s last target
You only hit target if you are in peace
Peace is belief
Belief brings motivation
Motivation is aspiration
Aspiration brings ambition
Ambition is destiny
Destiny embellish future
Future lies with family
Family always brings Love
Love is where heart is
Love everyone Hate no one.

Ray of Hope

I pass my day in anticipation of you
Twilight spreading wings brought a hope but no sight of you
And dusk going to kiss night but you never came

 

I feel you in twinkling of Stars and find you in moon
I know you must be seeing the moon
Smiling again after seeing moon as moon came on top of my home but you never came