Art of Living Ashram Visit - International Center, Kanakpura Road-Bangalore, India

Art of Living is founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Guruji). The institution is involved in teaching yoga & meditation since last three decades and also does lot of social welfare activities - running schools, colleges, etc. for the needy. The foundation is present in over 100 countries.

International Center at Kanakpura road, Bangalore is where it all started and has a ashram where Guruji along with his disciples stay. The sprawling campus spans over several acres and has got hostels, several lecture centers, fountains and lot of plantation.

The center of attraction is VishaLakshi Mantap (VM)- place for all the major activities in the ashram- Meditation courses, Guruji discourses, satsang, etc. Beautiful building with traditional hindu architecture with enough space to accomodate over 500 people. Lot of cushions available to sit or lie down for meditation. The view from the first floor of the building is amazing with nice cool breeze flowing all the time.

The spiritual places must have lot of greenary- trees & plants, vegetation helps in relaxing the mind. Most of the people visit ashrams to run away from dust & pollution. This ashram has got lot of vegetation in and around. The ambience is really good and has got a calming effect. Thats how people should live, amongst nature- flowers, green trees, birds-in harmony with them. The concrete jungle is making people go insane.

The ashram provide rooms for stay- twin, triple & quadruple sharing basis, costing Rs 900, Rs 600 & Rs 300 resp. The hostels are very neat & clean. The waste management is really good, wont find any garbage lying around, a welcome change in Bangalore. Food is provided free to all the ashramities.
                  There are various courses in which one can enroll and learn yoga & meditation. Part I, Part II , Advanced, Yes+, etc. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar discovered Sudarshan Kriya, a form of breathing patterns, and is taught in every courses run here. The Kriya is very powerful and effective, and if done regularly, can really help to clean the cellar filled with lot of garbage in your head.

There is a Lake just behind the ashram and the views around it is very good. I spend some time sitting around the lake and appreciating the beauty of nature. One should take a stroll around it while there. Amazed to see the size of fishes available in the lake.

RadhaKunj is another must see place within the Ashram. This is where Guruji stays with other key disciples. This has got lot of vegetation, lecture halls and a big fountain. Few rabbits, a deer & some birds are other occupants.

The highlight of entire stay is always the Satsang- religious song sung in VM. Satsang happens every weekday from 6.30 PM to 8.30 PM. Some really good singers lend their voice to popular religious compositions. Everybody joins in and the effect it creates is really amazing. Some just go into medititation, some start dancing while others join in the chorus. Guruji, when he is around, delivers his talk post the satsang at this very place.

Art of Living has grown really big. Lot of sevaks are required to run the entire ashram & its various courses & establishments. Bangalore has grown big enough and come close to this ashram. The land of Ashram, running several acres, will be worth several hundred million dollars in future. Usually, these foundations running in the name of one spiritual Guru, do not survive post the passing away of founder. And bitter squabbling over property starts and ruins the sanctity of the institution.

It is to be seen how successfully they manage to come up with a succession policy. Finding a CEO is easy, but finding a suitable enlightened Guru these days is very difficult. Disciples world over need a leader to continue the good work as the Guru is their only guiding light. People renounce everything and devote their lives to spiritual Gurus, making them the purpose & motive of life. I wonder how they cope with passing away of their Gurus. The only motive of life dies, what next.

HRA Calculation - Income Tax Act 1961 - Section 10 ( 13A)- Rule 2a

Step 1: What is defined as Salary?


Salary = Basic Pay + Dearness Allowance (D.A.)
DA – Govt Employees (% Basic)

Private Sector – No D.A.

Step 2: Eligibility Criteria

Three conditions must be fulfilled:

A.HRA Component as part of package
B.Staying in rented accommodation
C.Rent is more that 10% of salary { Basic 40,000/ Rent>4,000}

Step 3: HRA Exemption in Metro & Non-Metro

Metro [Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai or Kolkata] = 50% of Basic Pay
Non- Metro = 40% of Basic Pay

Step 4: HRA Tax Exemption Calculation

A.What’s your HRA allowance amount (salary slip)?

Ex:
Basic – Rs 40,000
HRA – Rs 20,000
Flexi – Rs 30,000

Ans: Rs 20,000

B.What’s your HRA Exemption amount based on location {metro/non-metro}?

Ex:
Location - Bangalore
Basic – Rs 40,000
HRA – Rs 20,000
Flexi – Rs 30,000

Ans: Bangalore [non-metro]= 40% x Basic = Rs 16,000

C.How much rent have you paid in excess of 10% of your basic pay?

Ex:
Rent Paid – Rs 15,000
Basic – Rs 40,000
HRA – Rs 20,000
Flexi – Rs 30,000

Ans:
10% of Basic = 4,000
Rent paid in excess of 10% of Basic = 15,000 – 4,000=11,000

D. Least of three rule- Income Tax Act, 1961

Least of following three is exempt from tax:

1. Actual HRA received
2. Rent paid in excess of 10% of salary (Basic + DA)
3. 40% of salary in Non-metro (50% if residing in a metro i.e., New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai or Mumbai)

E. Example

Rent Paid – Rs 15,000
Location – Bangalore
Basic – Rs 40,000
HRA – Rs 20,000
Flexi – Rs 30,000

1.Actual HRA received
[Rs 20,000]

2. Rent paid in excess of 10% of salary (Basic + DA)
[15,000-(10%x 40,000)] =11,000

3. 40% of salary in Non-metro (50% if residing in a metro i.e., New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai or Mumbai)
[Bangalore= 40% x 40,000 = 16,000]

Least of three = Rs 11,000

Yearly HRA exempted from Tax calculation = 11,000 x 12 = Rs 132,000
Taxable = 20000(HRA) x 12 - 132000 = Rs 108,000

Step 4: Proof

Rent is < Rs 3,000: No Proof Required

Rent is > Rs 3,000: Rent Receipts Required


Income Tax Act, 1961, Rule 2a

Pattaya Tour 2011

Thailand is one of the most popular tourist destination in the world and asia-pacific in particular. Thailand is known for beaches, temples and sex tourism. Pattaya and Phuket, the cities of Thailand, are highly rated and enjoys millions of visitors every year.

I decided to visit Pattaya and spend some memorable days there. Landed at the Suvarnabhumi airport, Bangkok early morning mid Dec-this being the nearest airport to Pattaya. The airport is quite large & good architecturally and buzzing with travellers. Pattaya is around 120kms from the airport and bus is the cheapest mode of transportation. Booked a bus online from http://www.belltravelservice.com/ - no payment required. One is required to visit their office at Level 1 Gate no 8 at the airport to pay and board the bus. They have luxury bus service running every 2 hours from airport to Pattaya starting at 6 am in the morning, costs 200 Bhat. The buses are airconditioned and very comfortable.

The road from airport to Pattaya is wide and very good throughout, built with concrete on most parts. No point paying over 1000 Bhat for taxis if not a big family. It took less than 2 hrs to reach Pattaya- airconditioned bus station at the northeren end. Bell services will drop you to your hotel in mini-vans free of cost from the bus stand which is located on the outskirts. They will pick you from the hotel for the return journey as well.

Pattaya thrives on tourism. The first glimpse of Pattaya - tourist, tourist and tourist everywhere. The sea waves sound and pleasant breeze greets you the moment one enters the town. Plenty of hotels on every street and corner. The December weather in Pattaya is very comfortable- no humidity, cool breeze and convenient temperature. Only during the afternoon, 1-3 pm, can one experience some kind of heat. Soi 6,7 and 8 are the places to find hotels in as they are at the edge of Walking Street- the epicentre of all the buzz.

After 6pm the entire Pattaya resembles like one Big bar. Hundreds of bars with hundreds of girls seeking your attention for a round of drink at every inch of Pattaya. These bar girls mostly look for older european tourist- who enjoys the younger girls company, spends money on buying their drinks and picks up the girl later on as well. They dont spend too much time on tourist who just comes and drinks 60 Bhat beer and disappears. Their skin is not for them. Older white men with pension money are the most sought after. These bar girls double up as escorts and one can take them out. Some of these bars have live bands playing english music, the others have LCD playing football matches, the rest playing loud english music. Kind of surprising that they haven't yet started playing russian music, they dominate Pattaya from sheer numbers perspective.

Go go bars are also in plenty with entry rates of 100-300 Bhat(one free beer). Nude pole dancing by girls starting at age 13. One can buy them a drink which costs 100 Bhat and enjoy their company for sometime, people are seen doing all kind of activities with these girls possible in public. They also double up as escorts, one can take them out or go upstairs for quick pleasure. Everything is possible with money there.
                My heart goes out for teenage girls working over there, not sure how they become part of this business, by force or by wish. For me it was painful to witness them doing what they were doing in a age when they should be playing in schools. Everyone of these girls was smoking and drinking. Sex has become a commodity for people in Pattaya.

Pattaya beach is narrow but clean. This is the first stop in the morning for any tourist for sun bathing, relaxing or just lazing around enjoying the magnifient view. Jet skiing, banana rides and parasailing are some of the sporting activities found in plenty on the beach. One has to be careful while hiring these Jet ski bikes, its a scam and the Thai mafia can make you pay for as much as 50000 Bhat for damages to the bike. Its better to avoid, police is involved as well.

Koi Larn beach is 9 kms from Pattaya beach. One can club the Parasailing andseawalking with the Koi Larn tour- the entire return trip with activities will cost 2000 Bhat. Pattaya sea is bit rough, the speed boat really gives you tough time during the 20 mts ride. The view from Parasailing deck is really nice- good photo oppurtunity. For me Koi is about privacy, the beach is not yet popular, so few tourist there. The beach has got just one bar and restaurant. One can hire bikes to discover the island, will cost you 600 bhat/hr (very steep and the owners very rude). One can do snorkelling there apart from lazing around on the beach. Filled with Russian tourists, the beach didn't excite me much.

For me the the Pattaya beach pathways was like heaven- full of coconut trees, shady and cool breeze. Lot of concrete benches to sit and the area very clean. One can laze around on the pathways throughout the day and thats what most of the long term tourists do. Fruit vendors will ensure you always have something to eat and the view and sound of the vast sea is just amazing.

Pattaya beaches are narrow and sea a bit rough. There is lot of concern on the beaches disappearing because of sand erosion, which can have a huge impact on the tourism industry there. The wave on the shore are bit strong as well, one has to careful while swimming. Moreover, the sea water is not clean, of late it has become a dumping ground for city waste.
                  The scenes, feel and atmosphere at the beach is very pleasant. Sounds of waves crashing at the shore is music and one can order drinks and food at the stalls on the beach. The settings on the beach is good enough to let you relax and unwind for longer hours.

Pattaya at night looks very interesting as well. The beaches are well lit and one can find tourists strolling on the beach even late night. And its absolutely safe. The fun of having beer and enjoying the silence of night only broken by the sound of waves and nice feeling cool breeze is just awesome.

 The Pattaya beach pathways becomes a never ending queue of prostitutes at night. It seems like each and every girl working on bars, massage parlours, shops convert into prostitutes seeking your attention and money. They come in all shapes, sizes, colour and sexuality with price tag starting at as low as 200 Bhat. They wont disturb you, touch you or mess with you, they will keep standing silently waiting for their next prospective customer.

There are lot of sightseeing places to see in Pattaya, like ecojungle(not the exact name), aquarium, tiffany show(cabaret), temples, etc. For me taking in the feel of the place, the culture and atmosphere is more important that sightseeing places and thats what I did.

Pattaya is now attracting lot of visitors from Russia and India. One can find beautiful russian girls all over the place. I think the bar girls should now start learning another language- Russian. Infact russian tourists dominate the entire Pattaya, coming in big numbers. India new found economic progress has brought in a new culture of travelling abroad and the nearest tourism country is Thailand and Singapore, both these countries are attracting plenty of tourists from there. Soap massage parlours in Pattaya have 80% customers from India.

Shopping malls don't fit into culture of tourist destination like Pattaya and in fact kills the makeup. Central, shopping mall, has comeup on the edge of Pattaya beach and it ruining the earnings of localites. The food court over there is cheap and has lot of variety, no wonder its filled with tourists who end up shopping there as well. I think the govt over there has committed a blunder. Sophistication kills tourism, infact people go on a vacation to places like Pattaya to run away from sophisticated city life. Local restaurants, local food, local made souveneirs, local shops should be encouraged over malls to ensure the livelihood of people associated directly with tourism.

The 'Land of Smiles' is really a land of smiles. The bar and massage girls lead a tough life but never short of smiles. Wake up in the morning , put-on makeup, invite customers to bars, play with them, drink with them, have some food and its evening, put the makeup again, invite customers, drink with them, dance for them, play with them, seduce and go to the hotel with one of them, have sex , wakeup, go back to your bar, makeup and start all over again with a big Smile ! Its Tragic.

Mysore Trip Report

Decided to take Mysore trip by car, the popular historical places and short distance drive from Bangalore made it too tempting to resist.Two day weekend tour plan seemed liked the right way to approach.
 Saturday :

The drive : Bangalore to Mysore is about 140 kms. The old tour drive wisdoms says ' start early in the moring ' and thats what we did to beat the notorious traffic. At 5.30 am Saturday morning we embarked on our journey and reached the state highway in 20 mts time from Old airport road. The state highway to Mysore, SH-17, is 4-lane well made quality road, absolutely jerkless. One can drive at 100kmph on most part of the highway. Bangalore-Mysore has become an important corridor and I guess 4-lane is not enough, one can find good traffic along the entire 130 km stretch.Moreover villages and towns are present at every 10-15 kms with speed breakers and local traffic.Bangalore-Mysore needs a 6-lane expressway with uninterrupted traffic which I guess is currently underway, which will definitely reduce the travel time on highway from 2 hrs to 1 hr.

One can find lot of descend food joints starting wth ' kamat lokaruchi ' to cafe day, though I feel break in 100 km drive is a waste of time.Bidadi, Ramanagaram (Sholay was shot here), Channapatna (famous for wodden toys) ,Maddur ( maddur vada), Mandya ( sugar factory town), Srirangapatna ( Tipu's den) are the towns enroute.

Somnathpur : 10 kms before Srirangapatna there is a diversion to Somnathpur temple.We decided to take it, milestone said 32 kms. This route passes through complete village road ( drivable condition) and some of the scenes that you see enroute is really beautiful. Lush green paddy fields, water canals, unending lines of coconut trees and absolutely no traffic - a perfect getaway for a traffic tormented Bangalorean like me. Green,green & more green for the next 20 kms, felt like I have breathed pure air after decades.

Took 1 hr to reach the temple, bought Rs 5/- ticket and entered. The ticket looked like boarding pass absolutely unneccessary expenditure.I even asked the guy at the counter, why to print such expensive ticket when the fee is only Rs5/-, unfortunately he only understood kannada language.
                                  The temple made in 13th century is really good architecture, worth seeing.Every inch of space has some image sculpted and the modification of temple went on for 300 years. The images does say a lot about the lives and people at those times.
 This temple is worth seeing, only drawback is the distance, 60 kms to and fro.So if you are really pressed for time, can keep this for later. As far as I am concerned I enjoyed the drive through the fields and drinking real good coconut water ( upto 1 liter in each ) and seeing a very good architecture temple 700 yrs old at the end of it all was very satisfying.
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Mayura Yatri Niwas- Kstdc : By around 1 pm we reached Mysore city railway station and checked-in to our ultra cheap hotel nearby (50 meters from rly stn) run by Kstdc ( state tourism) - Mayura Yatri Niwas. The room was double bed without AC @ Rs 650/- per day with check-in time of 12 noon.The moment we opened the door of our room a deep strong stench greeted us.We opened the doors & window for 20 mts which reduced the effect somewhat but stench persisted for rest of our stay.

The hotel had no room-service (not even tea) and I felt that at this price demanding one would be a crime.The blanket looked liked being used since world war II, even beggars use better ones.
I strongly feel that govt should get out of this hospitality sector, sell all its hotels and may be regulate the tariffs from getting it sky rocketted. The hotel next to it, in the same compound, is also a govt run hotel with a restarant & bar.One can always hear tourist fighting with hotel staff for service.One guy waited at the table for 2 hrs for his breakfast, and then launched his attack at the manager, who seemed to be least bothered ( no one gets fired at govt enterprises). Rude & lazy staff in these hotels dont deserve their job even for single day.

If somebody is hell bent on saving money or is a born miser, then he should'nt look further, for everyone else discourage & dissmiss govt run hotels with unprofessional, unruly & lazy staff and stinking rooms.
Mysore Palace : At around 2 pm we headed to Mysore palace which is located in the heart of city, few kms from rly stn.Joined the queue for Rs 20/- ticket along with hundreds, the crowd was pretty good ( in thousands), but the palace is big enough to accomodate huge crowds.Only one ticket counter for such a crowd, took more than half an hour standing in sun to get tickets. Govt again is living in past, while tourist has multiplied ticket counters hasnt, poor mgt.

The palace is built by Wodiyars in 1897 so its comparatively new historical place.Wodiyars ruled the state of Mysore since 1200s with a brief interruption of 40 yrs by Haider & Tipu sultan in eighteenth century.Wodiyars have known to be good administrators which shows in the foundation of Mysore city.The palace has lots of paintings, photographs, huge rooms for different ceromonies with expensive chandeliers, collection of momentos & gifts recieved by wodiyars, arms collection, furnitures, clothes, etc.It gives an insight into lives of Wodiyar family and their extravagance.After the death of Tipu in 1799, wodiyars was given the kingdom back by British which used them as puppets.

The palace is must-see for any Mysore visitor.
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KRS Dam-Vrindavan garden : At around 5 PM we decided to go to Vrindavan garden at around 20 kms from the rly station. A decision we'll regret.

I remember visiting Vrindavan garden 20 yrs back with my family.The garden was really a treat to watch, with range of flowers, well cut hedges and fine carpet of grass. We were the only few people in the garden, a requirement to really appreciate the beauty of any garden.
Most of it has remained exactly the same except the number of visitors.More than ten thousand (conservative estimate) tourist were there on saturday evening to see the garden managed by state govt- people with small kids, old parents,foreigner, locals, outsiders.

The nasty experience started at the queue for ticket, hundreds in the queue with just two counters. People under scorching sun-pushing each other, jumping the queue,shouting- all for just an entrance ticket.There are food stalls just after the entrance with all kind of cold drinks and eatables on sale.No body enters the Vrindavan garden without the eatables - carrying drink bottles, fried items, polybags- they even allow people to sell eatable in the garden itself.The moment you enter the garden to see varieties of flowers you find that you cant see anything else except sea of people.There are people at each & every inch of the garden munching the eatables.I dont recall even a single flower that I saw there. Litters strewn all over the park and water in the fountains dirty as hell.I will never understand why they dont keep ' Waste bins' in these places, few bins for entire park and 10000 people.Disguisting !!

One of the highlights of Vrindavan garden is the musical fountain which happens everyday from 7-8 pm (weekends 7-9 pm).To go to musical fountain at the other end of the park one is supposed to cross a 50 meter long bridge.Saturday evening, 10000 people, 6 feet wide bridge and musical fountain about to start - all hell is about to loose. Hundreds of people on that narrow bridge , people going towards fountain and people coming from it, maddening crowd pushing against each other, women/children in extreme discomfort. We spend 1 hr on the bridge to-fro, an experience we would like to forget in a hurry.

The musical fountain played in session of three songs(hindi,kannada & patriotic) . Let me be honest, the musical fountain is no great shakes, and its small in size, hasnt changed in last 20 yrs. I have seen musical fountains three times in size played everyday in kolkata in front of victoria memorial and only few hundred people watches it.With all the pain taken its absolutely not worth it.

We watched a session and again passed through the ordeal on the bridge to go back to exit of garden.There awaited a bigger ordeal.Parking lot meant for 300 vehicles had atleast 1500 vehicles(four wheelers) parked. Volvo buses, cars, suvs, motor bikes everything was crammed-in.It was a utter chaos and complete traffic mess.People waiting on the roads for their buses to come out, people leaving on foot in dispair, childrens crying, buses meant for 40 people were carrying more than 200 people, horn honking, temper flaring and no qualified person to manage it all. It took 3 hrs to get my vehicle out of this mess.At one point I had given up and thought about sleeping in car whole night.Two lane road leading to garden had traffic coming as well as leaving.Hundreds of vehicle trying to leave on a single lane road created a big halting traffic mess. If they simply stop vehicles from coming-in after 7pm, only outgoing traffic will ease the congestion a lot, but who cares when the moolah is coming thick and fast ( Rs 30/- for car parking).

The country is in grip of population explosion and our infrastructure is failing miserably.Lot of people have moved into middle-class and started to travel. A place like vrindavan garden having over 10000 visitor on a single evening is unthinkable.One cant just manage these huge crowd like they did 20 yrs ago.It requires professional expertise with qualified people having project management expertise. Its high time govt starts doling out tenders to asset mgt companies to manage both the site as well as burgeoning visitors.
                                 On the positive side, its a very good sign for travel,fun and leisure industry. People are willing to lap whatever little is available and they are spending like anything.I saw poor family spending 200 Rs on just cold drinks.Time has come to really start planning to capitalize on it. Increase the musical fountain size by three time, may be create an indoor fountain show auditorium so that it can be played at all times of the day and accomodate 5000 people at one go, create a big world class aquarium in the vicinity, etc.Oppurtunity is just endless.

Advice : Dont even think of visiting this place on saturdays/sundays evening.Dont bother about musical fountains, you wont miss a thing.Visit during weekdays or before 4pm on weekends.
Day end : The forgettable experience at garden spoiled our mood and sapped all our energy. Went to a good restaurant, had couple of bottles of beer and good food and retired for the day.
Sunday :
We had a hectic last day so woke up late. AT 10 pm we started for Chamudeshwari temple on Chamundi hill, 12 kms from the city.The road to top of the hill was good, with beautiful view of city all around.Smarting from last day experience, I was expecting madding traffic here too, but compared to vrindavan it was nothing.It has atleast 4 parking lots so it was easy to find a space.Took Rs 100/- ticket for express darshan (normal darshan Rs 20/-) and we were done in 20 mts flat with sufficient time to see the deity. Saw the Nandi ,spent some time at various vantage points for city viewing and got down the hill.No descend breakfast joints there on the hill so come prepared.

Zoo : Next stop was zoo which was enroute to Chamundi Hills. Took Rs 30/- ticket and entered. The entire zoo tour takes 3 hrs approx.It starts with ziraffe and ends with crocodiles with their mouths open.It also houses several white bengal tigers.Being in cage they were really feeling restless, such pity being caged and then photographed by thousands.The highlight of the zoo was ' the only gorilla of India '. He stroke a pose and sit there, while people in hundreds clicked, as if trying to say ' you foolish humans thats all you do, cage us and click pics, go ahead I am striked a pose '.
                                  The zoo is not funded by state govt, one can own these pets. All the animals are being owned by people on a yearly basis, anil kumble supports a giraffe while chief minister a royal bengal tiger. One can really come foreward and support these animals to sustain this zoo.Again several thousand people were there in the zoo on sunday afternoon, but since zoo is several kms long, it didnt matter.
St.Philomena : At around 4.30 pm we came back to the hotel and took rest for an hour.We headed for St Philomena church, 4 kms from rly stn. Built in 1933, funded by wodiyars is around 40 meters tall with Gothic architecture.The architecture looks formiddable and imposing, stands out in the city.Attended an ongoing mass.Felt a lot peace and calm in there, there is something about these religious places that calms your nerves and makes you smile within.Spend sometime outside appreciating the height and left for our last stop.

Mysore palace lighting : Every sunday from 7-8 pm, the entire palace is lit by 96,000 bulbs.The illuminated palace is a major attraction of the city.We reached the palace gate at 6.30 pm, munched some snacks outside, strolled outside for sometime and then at 7 went inside the palace compounds ( no ticket required). 40,000 people were inside the compound to view the illumination, way beyond my expectation.I have only seen so many people in cricket stadium, but the palace compound is huge so it wasnt a problem. And you can bring your stuff inside, so people were seen muching eatables, people with complete luggage about to catch a bus/train, considerable amount of litter was being generated ( no dustbins again).
                                               Neverthless the sight is a treat to watch.Sitting with your family or friends in the lawns, with hugh illuminated palace in front, and chips & popcorns in plenty, is definetly time well spent relaxing.

At 8 pm the lights were switched off and this huge congregation of people started to rush out.This time I decided to wait till everyone has left instead of braving the crowd.There is a hundred year old temple in the campus, we decided to pay a visit.The feeling inside was divine, only 5-6 people inside and absolute silence.We sat there for half-an-hour and felt completely de-stressed and peaceful.100 yrs of continuous prayers being offered generates a kind of posiive vibration which stays in the place and has immediate effect on you once you enter.
Backward journey : From palace we headed to restaurant , had beer and food and back to hotel.Woke up monday morning at 4.30 am.did the checkout and hopped-on to car a 5 am. The highway was almost empty, did 100 kmph for most part of the highway, reached home at 8 am, slept for couple of hours and back to participate in rat race at office by 12.30am.
About Mysore : Mysore is definetly a clean city with proper infrastructure in place and good weather.The city still has its heritage charm and culture intact.City is fast becoming an economic hub but still has the charecteristic of small town living, easy going and simple.I loved the feel of Mysore which has lot of innocence still intact despite-of buzz in economic activities and commercialization in recent times.

Indian Union Budget 2010

Nothing striking was there in this budget, normal budget.Though saddest part was Rs 3/- increase in petroleum prices.The common man is already suffering from very high inflation of food products, increase in petroleum prices will beat them even harder.Something as essential as pulses is selling at around Rs 100/-, will be dearer by few more rupees now.

                  

Another change is the new tax-slab.20% is now till Rs 5 lac from Rs 3 lac.Unfortunately, not more than couple of million people will benefit from this new slab, a completely unnecessary exercise.It will save around Rs 60,000 /- for me, but I think I dont need this saving at this point of time, which could have been utilized in fighting alarming rate of food inflation.

The govt says that it will act as enabler and not directly involve in producing goods.Now how can one become an enabler-

a. By improving infrastructure : Gramin infrastructure needs to be improved a lot, whether its gramin sadak or rural electrification or water.Nothing has been mentioned to boost the infrastructure in rural areas in this budget.We need to remember that 2/3rd of India is in villages and in farming.Unless rural India develops, we cant become a developed nation.

b. By bringing new reforms : New reforms will spawn the creation of innovative industry, helping in creation of sustainable jobs. Reform in Telecomm saw creation of millions of direct/indirect jobs, an innovative industry for India.

             I think Retail reform is very badly needed.Look what Walmart has done to China.Initially there was lot of protest even in China, but the chinese economy has benefitted a lot from opening up the sector.Walmart rakes in $ 1.8 b from chinese economy but procures stuff worth $ 3b from the local market, thus contributing $ 1.2 b net earning to their economy.And it has helped in creating lot of manufacturing industries and sustainable employment.

           India too need Retail reform.Todays malls are very inefficient, selling things at exorbiant rates.Its like how telecomm was initially.I remember Bharti charging as much as Rs 18 for outgoing and Rs 9 for incoming.But with opening up of the sector and competition hotting up , now its 1paisa/sec.Manufacturing sector is completely missing in India.Services sector has provided employment to over 3 million people mostly in cities.Its not enough, we are 1140 million country.Retail sector can boost the creation of manufacturing small scale industries and farming .Govt needs to open it if it wants to act as enabler.

Land Acquisition : Most of the manufacturing industries are not able to take off because of land acquisition issues.Posco is struggling for last 10 yrs though if realised the 10 million tonne steel plant will create a entire new city, will bring development closer to villages and help decongest our cities.The infrastructure in Metros is crumbling under extreme pressure from alarming rate of population increment, we need to ugently create more than 100 new cities.The new proposed manufacturing industries should get realized soon.Heard about half-a-dozen proposal of setting up steel factory has been approved.Govt should take Land Acquisition bill on priority so that we move up in manufacturing & also new cities are created.

GOA - My Experience

Goa really is a branded tourist destination. It has everything for all kinds of tourist.No wonder foreigners just keep coming back time and again.The beaches calangute-baga-condolim are all good for enjoying the waves, the water temperature is also very comfortable, every other shop serves you liquor, place is always buzzing with happy tourists and there is not even a single dull moment in Goa.

Calangute is first stop for all Indian tourists, the number keeps increasing y-o-y. Scooter rides, para-sailing, banana ride keeps them excited and busy.In ten years time Goa will attract at-least four times as many tourist from India.With economy booming, middle-class population increasing by millions every year and people having started to spend money on travelling, Goa is going to get busier in coming years.The food is 20-30 % cheaper than other cities in India.Expect that to multiple at-least 3 times in next 10 yrs.As of now Goa as a whole is at least 30% cheaper than Phuket,Thailand with similar beaches & landscape minus the open sex elements.

I liked the beaches more during early morning around 6am and in the evenings after 6 pm. The tranquility and sounds of waves have therapeutic effect on your mind.Its like meditation, brings all your nerves to calm and you feel the joy within.Also, especially, in the morning there is hardly any one, so one can listen to sound waves without any interruptions or noise. No body seem to rise early in Goa, the localites work late in the night, and open their shops and shacks only after 9 am in the morning.Most of the tourists keep enjoying their Kingfisher late into the the night and very few can be found jogging early in the morning.The Yoga meditation sessions early mornings are like bliss.

Bikes/cars can be hired to visit other beaches & sightseeing.I hired a scooty for Rs200/- per day.One needs to pay advance and a photo identity and should have a driving license( random police checkings happens once in a week).These vehicles are generally in good condition, petrol costs Rs60/- a litre.

Several localites approached me for drugs & prostitutes.It means that drugs are still a big business there,though done in discreet manner.The guy gave me a complete list of narcotic drugs available on short notice with complete price list.They also mentioned Russian prostitutes available for Rs15,000/- per s... & Indian girls for over Rs 6000/- per night. The govt is trying to make Goa a clean tourist destination without drugs/prostitutions/massage par-lours. I think they need to cover some more distance in that front.

Several disco's have opened employing girls to lure you in, where entry charge ranges between Rs 200-500.These disco's are different from Tito. These are meant for single people, who go in there, buy drink for one of the lady dancers (one drink will cost between Rs 200-500 ) and then one can dance with her for sometime, its a money snatching scheme.When Dance Bars closed down in Mumbai, lot of people wondered whatever happened to those bar dancers.One can find them dancing on one of these Discos, playing with customers, making deals with them and talking in a way which is very typical of mumbai bar dancer.Heard they also double as escorts.

Kingfisher marketing team has done a fabulous marketing & branding exercise in Goa.Beer means Kingfisher in Goa, though I am fan of Budweiser and think its lot better than Kf premium & Kf strong beer tastes horrible. Kingfisher really have built a big brand by entering into F1 & airlines & the marketing exercise begins in England with direct flights from several cities there, that helps a lot in building the trust.The kingfisher villa in goa looks stupendous, liquor baron does have tons of money, though the airline biz is bleeding profusely. Its time other beer companies start reworking their strategy vis-a-vis Goa, good way to globalize the brand.

There is lot that can be said about Goa, the culture, friendly people, safe destination, opportunity for friendship, endless beaches, holiday spirit & atmosphere, die hard goa fans and unending beer drinking sessions.

Only sore sight for me was lack of cleanliness.Not even a single waste box in entire beach while lot of vendors selling eatable stuffs on paper bags and plastic cups.The sands in the beaches are mixed with paper ,plastic cups and other garbage.Either you provide waste bins every 20 meters or stop eatable vendors from selling things on beach.Action needs to be taken now.There is simply no arrangement for waste disposal.

        Taxi stands are too filled with waste strewn all over. How difficult is it to spend money on keeping city clean, where so much revenues are generated ever year ? Indians can create the worlds most sophisticated software but cant keep a city clean ? Make littering an offence and fine at least Rs 200 for each offence, discipline the shack owners and shopkeepers. Cleanliness is a culture, and responsibility should fall on everybody, handful of people cant be expected to clean mess created by millions of visitors.Its high time hygiene is taken very seriously with huge investment on waste management as well. 

Film Review : ISHQIYA

Another movie in a week and some more precious hours wasted.This time I have made a firm decision  not to spend a single rupee on any first-time-director's attempt.Expectations were high, because the look of movie bore resemblance to Omkara, also Vishal has written/produced the movie. But it comes noway near and greatly disappoints.
Its a revenge film where protagonist is the heroine.Unfortunately we didnt feel any emotions when she finally met her objective.Why ?  The plot which lead to the revenge wasnt told well, the main plot languished in the background and film was flowing directionless throughout. Even they tried to show that villian had some good shades too which again made the story week.
Even the deciet was not convincing enough. The film tried to tell that the heroine had sex with one of the characters so that he can work for her .But the guy agreed to help her even before having sex, so it was just a futile exercise not adding to the story.
Again like Rann just one plot for entire movie, seemed so incomplete.
The film is very low budget movie, shot in and around Gorakhpur in some bylanes and villages. They refuse to spend anything on anything and it shows.
Only positive thing about these movies is that they give you some perspective of places other that mumbai and the issues prevailing there.Castism, kidnapping, arms-trade is shown as big business in northern UP bordering Nepal.
This movie is recommended for TV.Free watching.