Beautiful holiday times...

I was watching a television talk show where people were arguing what kind of life is better- a slow & steady one or a fast & active one? The topic got so digressed that people got into a word play between laziness,patience,haste and carelessness rather than talking about the need of urgency vs. steadiness. Finally it turned out into a question of who enjoys life? Being slow does not mean that he/she enjoys doing it; nor a fast person means he does not enjoy his work. After all we do all these to enjoy life, aint we?

A winter morning is always beautiful, peace and calm. Cuddling under the quilt and snoozing the alarm every 10 mins, getting up in sunlight, sipping an aromatic Nescafe which sure is 'the Taste that gets you started up; the Taste that gets you going on'...wow wow...If you are a fan of Carnatic music, MS Subbulakshmi's melancholious suprabatham will sure brighten up your day. This reminds me of my childhood holidays in the month of Marghazhi (December) which is a winter, getting awakened by the aroma of Pongal which mom cooks,running in curiousity to look at her beautiful and geometrically proportioned Rangoli (when measured will be a perfect symmetry), listening to bhajans in the temple and arguing with mom that my late morning bath should not be a breakfast stopper/delayer...sweet calls  of cuckoos, moo moos of calves, dad's pooja bells, divine smell of incense sticks, visiting Ganesh ji 's temple by the side of rippling river...you should be there to enjoy it!

Like Thanksgiving,Christmas and New Year, beginning of Marghazi is the official start of Tamil festival season. Our village carnival starts with Cart festival (Therottam) which is a trade season with all kinds of sweet stalls, balloons, music & lights, sugarcane juice, merry-go rounds & giant wheels, bangles and other jewellery, melodious music concerts... the big temple has about 20-30 popular deities who are brought out of their sanctum for a village tour during those 10 days of festival. The deities are taken out in chariots with beautiful flower arrangements which not only please the eyes but also attracts by the fragrance.

After the 10 days of carnival, comes Pongal, which is a Thanksgiving of Tamil people where they thank God and request his blessings for the harvest season which is coming ahead. Family get togethers, everyday pooja, variety of food...hmm I miss them!

Bush's day out

Apparently Bush ji is enjoying his post-white house days with Barney, his pet!
Anyone who passes by Dallas can never control their sense of Aw on looking at the turnpikes, spaghetti bridges , interstates and infrastructure implemented by him!

ஏனோ ஏனோ பனித்துளி பனித்துளி

ஹும்ம்...நீண்ட நாட்களாக தமிழில் ஒரு கட்டுரையாவது எழுத வேண்டுமென்று ஆசை. ஆனால் என்ன எழுதுவது? தெரியவில்லை! சொந்தமாக எழுத முடியவில்லை என்றாலும் மனதிற்கு பிடித்த எதையாவது இன்று எழுதிவிட வேண்டுமென்ற முடிவோடு யோசித்த பொழுது, வெளிவர இருக்கும் ஆதவன் படத்திலுள்ள "ஏனோ ஏனோ பனித்துளி" பாடல் நினைவுக்கு வர, அதன் வரிகளையே எழுதி விடலாமென்று தோன்றியது. ஹாரிஸ் ஜெயராஜின் அருமையான கிதார் இசையும், ஷகில், சுதா ரகுநாதன், ஆண்ட்ரியாவின் குரல் இனிமையும் பாடலை மீண்டும் மீண்டும் கேட்கத் தூண்டுகிறது. காரில் பயணம் செய்யும்போது கண்டிப்பாக கேட்க வேண்டிய ஒரு பாடல். தாமரையின் வரிகளோ பாடலை முணு முணுக்க வைக்கின்றன. கே எஸ் ரவிக்குமார் நமக்கு ஏமாற்றத்தை தராமல், பாடலை நல்லவிதமாக படமாக்கி இருப்பார்  என்று நினைக்கிறேன். எனக்கு ஒரே ஒரு சிறிய குறை. ஆண்ட்ரியா  "பநிதுலி,  வெலி வாராய்,என்னை தல்ல, என்னி என்னி" என்று

 பாடாமல் நாவை சிறிது திருத்தி பாடி, வரிகளுக்கு மெருகு ஊட்டி இருக்கலாமோ என்று சிறிய எண்ணம்.சரி இதோ அந்த அருமை வரிகளும் இசையும்!

Download: Eno eno panithuli

ஏனோ ஏனோ பனித்துளி பனித்துளி பெண் மேலே
தேனோ பாலோ எரியுது எரியுது தீ போலே
மேலும் உள்ளம் உருகுது உருகுது தன்னாலே
கண்கள் பார்க்கும் போது நெஞ்சுக்குள்ளே
போனாய் நீ போனாய் என் நெஞ்சம் என்ன மெத்தை தானா
கூறாய் நீ கூறாய் உனை பூட்டிக்கொண்டாயே
வாராய் வெளி வாராய் இனி என்னை விட்டு எங்கும் செல்ல மாட்டாய்- மாட்டாய் மாட்டாயே...

மௌனம் என்னும் சாட்டை வீசி என்னை கீறாதே
மாலைத் தென்றல் பட்டால்கூட காயம் ஆறாதே
அக்கம் பக்கம் யாரும் இல்லை வா என் பக்கம்
தேடல் கொஞ்சம் ஊடல் கொஞ்சம் நீ யார் பக்கம்
ஏதோ ஒன்று என்னை தள்ள நதிகளின் ஓரம் நாணல் போலே சாய்ந்தேன்
உன்னை மட்டும் எண்ணி எண்ணி நிலவைப்போல் நீ இல்லாமல் தேய்ந்தேன்

ஏனோ ஏனோ பனித்துளி பனித்துளி ...

நானும் நீயும் பேசும்போது தென்றல் வந்ததே
பேசிப்போட்ட வார்த்தை எல்லாம் அள்ளிச் சென்றதே
சேலை ஒன்றும் மாலை ஒன்றும் வாங்கி வந்தாயா
சேதி நல்ல சேதி சொன்னால் வேண்டம் என்பாயா?
ஓஹோ ஓஹோ ஓஹோ ஓஹோ திரும்பிய பக்கம் எல்லாம் நீதான் நின்றாய்
காற்றைப் போலே தொட்டுத் தொட்டு தினசரி வாழ்வில் மாற்றம் நீதான் செய்தாய்         

ஏனோ ஏனோ பனித்துளி பனித்துளி...

Healthcare

'Health is wealth' saying has gained more relevance in the recent decades. While the cost of healthcare sky rockets adding to the worldover economic crisis, new pandemics like swine flu pose a serious challenge to all countries. Unlike well developed countries, developing countries have not linked the basic medical facilities to insurance. It is a great relief because basic healthcare is still in the affordable limit in developing countries. The medical system in developed countries has grown up so much that it has become so complicated and sophisticated with lots of regulations with reforms being added on a frequent basis. There is more of commercialisation than benefaction.

Let us consider a hypothetical scenario where a person catches fever. He does not know if it is common flu or swine flu or any other epidemic. He cannot walkin to a physician for a cure.

1.Get an appointment with a doctor which takes a minimum of one week wait.

2.Or go for an emergency which gobbles big money provided you have an insurance.

3.After getting a doctor's appointment, get all the insurance formalities done. Dont have an insurance card? No consultantion or prescription.

4.After consultation, all the tests required are routed through insurance. Even if you have money, no use.

After the treatment/test, claims are submitted to insurance companies who reject most claims. So there is a need for a lawyer to fight for claims! No money for paying an attorney? Then no recovery of claims and hence no further treatment.By the time all these processes are done, either the patient dies or loses trust in the medical system. Movies like 'The Rainmaker', portray this situation beautifully. And so the health care industry has become the bread and butter to many other professions viz. law firms,insurance, etc apart from the pharmacists.

It is not clear why there should be so much hierarchy and systems for a basic medical treatment. There can be a simple walkin for consultation and easy card payment if a person suffers any common ailment. If the treatment involves serious medication,operation or sophisticated treatments, insurance can be brought it.Otherwise the system does not require such complexities. Any measure by the government to streamline or simplify the process either do not reach or benefit the common man in the way it is expected to. May be because it does not have one common motive of serving people but has hidden agendas.

A survey in Aug 2009 by CBS says that most Americans do not understand the healthcare reforms announced. The poll quotes " Two in three Americans call the health care reforms being debated by lawmakers confusing".

The more developed a country is, the more complicated their systems are. Now that all services are being commercialised-education,healthcare,etc, very soon the term 'non-profitable organization' will disappear from the corporate dictionary.

Nail Art

Nails are no more layers of keratin but tools of expression. Designers and fashion gurus are using nails to articulate their mood, fantasyand imagination. Creativity, which was once expressed on clothes,shoes,accessories gradually moved from material to man in the form of tatoos and body piercing. Today it has become more sophisticated and has reached new arenas like nail art.

Nail art originated 5000 years ago in India as a form of manicure. A herb called henna was used by Indian women to decorate hands and nails which also had a soothing effect. Tatooing is also believed to have originated from henna which is also known as mehendi art. Nail care which started with manicure therapy like hand massage,nail filing ,polishing,painting slowly moved towards nail sculpture where nails were carved into different shapes. Gradually it developed into nail art with the emergence of acrylics, shimmers, nail piercing,rhinestones,etc.

Organized nail art however started with French Revlon in 1932 which introduced pigments became widely popular along with the French manicure.Nail industry uses about 10,000 chemicals for manufacturing various decorative nail products including fish scales, pearl essence,gels,glitters,rhinestones apart from hundreds of brushes including airbrushes which spray paint . Nail art has become more sophisticated like any other industry and has emerged as a serious profession to lot many designers. Digital nail art for instance, allows you to print any picture of your wish on your nail. Nanotechnology is used to build nail plates from inside out. Acrylic nails are preffered to natural nails for designing because of the sustainability and flexibility.

The recent interesting embellishment to nail art - fimo frootsies, which are polyvinyl chloride polymer clay drilled,sliced, cut,painted and made into beads/different shapes used to decorate nails.

While the traditional art emanated from India, Japan is believed to be the mother of modern nail art. Designer nail art market in Japan was estimated to be worth $2.2 billion in 2008. Nail art festival, which happens annually in Osaka is a stage for thematic innovative nail designs like 3D art.

The United States which covers the majority of world nail art market employs about 15000 employees, about 43% of them being Vietnamese.The size of US nail art market is about $20 bn and has more than 5000 professional establishments.A nail salon normally charges a minimum of $15 per treatment, provides an earning potential of $2000-$4000 to every nail artist employed there.

While the whole world is submerged in recession, nail art industry seems recession proof. With 160 million visits to spas and salons, the industry has grown 18% from the previous year. Women, surely are pleased by this wonder art and are a major force behind this creativity's flourishment. With advance technology being brought into this market, nail art is expected to become further more convoluted and pull in more market!

Kill boredom

"Necessity is the mother of invention" - so goes a saying. Must be true or else the world would not have got so many wonderful inventions. Internet is one such invention which not only kills boredom but also provides a sea of opportunities to learn,earn,network...

When pushed into a sea of boredom, many of us try to explore ways to get out of it. Volunteering, reading, music, gaming, etc etc. Or some of us might end up in internet networking sites. Networking sites are available today in different forms - social networks like orkut, myspace, facebook, professional networks like linkedin, other sites like Shelfari where people share their hobbies, sites like twitter where you let people know what you are upto. Then we slowly move on exploring other arenas. Some hit up with Swagbucks; an upcoming search engine which rewards for your searches. Interesting! With 50,000 fans in facebook, 20000 followers in twitter and much more, the engine is progressing everyday. There are also lot many sites like irazoo which are equally good in rewarding searches.

Another field which pays is online surveys. There are lot of sites like surveyhead, greenfield online,etc which pay for the surveys we take or for clicking the ads displayed on the sites. These rewards may be peanuts but something is always better than nothing...so if you have lot of free time, just give a try .

The stock market swing

A stock market is as enigmatic as a woman's mind ; deep and unpredictable. Even millions of analysts around the world try to predict its movement but have seldom succeeded. At times they rule and drive a country's economy; sometimes bringing wealth, sometimes taking wealth. A game where the money lost by someone is the money gained by another. The size of stock arket is abot $40 trillion, about 40 times the size of Indian economy.

Inspired by the enormous opportunities of wealth creation offered by stock markets, everyday retail investors park their money in stocks. Those who do not have the patience or time to track the market, take advantage of the mutual funds who professionally manage our money by investing in stocks. The recent hullaballoo being SIP (systemmatic investment plans) where every month a fixed amount is invested in stocks by the fund manager. No wonder that these plans received good recognition from retail investors as it takes advantage of the ups and downs of market. The SEBI, as a moderator, keeps changing the rules of the game now and then; latest being abolishment of entry load (a fee for puting money in a mutual fund).Good news for people who have burnt their fingers in the past bear run; analysts have predicted that markets are going to turn bullish again.

Commodities often rule the world economy. Steel, which once commanded the economy has lost its sheen in the current decade and has given way to oil. Oil bonds, which usually shows a negative correlation with equities (high oil price leads to high transportation, producion and operating cost for companies and hence reduced corporate earnings), are showing a positive correlation surprisingly. If we look at the recent bounce back in the market, oil price has also rallied parallely; meaning they both have gone up together. There is also a good demand increase in the market for oil as well as for equities.Hence there is no hard and fast rule in a market; after all if there is one there will not be any losers?

There are different ways to analyse a stock . The most common being:

- fundamental analysis which uses the company's financial,business,market,managerial strength to evaluate the value of a stock

- technical analysis deals with predicting stock movement using charts, graphs and patterns

All these tools will guide and give a fair idea about a scrip's performance; however there is no tool to find the certainity of a stock's movement. Blue chip (popularly traded stocks) are the favourites of low risk preferes, mid caps are preferred by moderate risk takers and small caps are preferred by high risk investors. It is always good not to put all your eggs in one basket but to have a combination of stocks in a portfolio.

Too much of anything is good for nothing; a rule of thumb is that an ideal portfolio is something which has about 15-20 different stocks and not more than that with an ideal mix from various industries, risk level and .

"A rupee earned today is worth more than a rupee earned tomorow". So utilize the magnanomous opportunities offerred by equities in various forms viz. mutual funds, derivatives, stocks and add wealth because higher the opportunity cost, higher will be the returns expected.