CORONA CHRONICLES

The entire world was anticipating and welcoming 2020 with pomp and bash but the creator had his own plans.

Starting Feb 2020, the fear of COVID embarked the world with news of patients getting increased and it's fast spreading as a pandemic which was beyond human imagination. Countries with boast as world super powers are the ones to be worst affected.

But can it be seen as a intervention by god to alert we humans to stick back to basics and make us feel that there is a power above us which can control and rule us. Let us all hope that we pass through this tough phase and stay strong and pray to come out of it. I am sure we will soon.

As we are continuously updated by news channels and media on  the virus effects and ots cons let us try to understand the impact it has on our life.

1. All staying @ home

2. Working from Home

3. No travel

4. No to restaurant, Hotels & vacation

5. No to Malls and unnecessary shopping

6. Spending more time with kids

7. Kids learning effectively

8. WFH harnessed by all sectors exploring possibilities of shift in paradigm to WFH post pandemic.

9. People not going to hospital and taking unnecessary medicines for common cold and flu

10. learning new skills

11. Eating healthy food to increase our immunity.

Cybercrime & Hacking

In today's digital era, information and data holds key value. We get to hear of many incidents as below:

1. my bank account is hacked
2. money withdrawn from my account
3. my FB account is hacked
4. My credit card was compromised
5. My personal details are revealed
6. Email ids's getting compromised.

How does all this happen? Who is responsible? - It is none other than you. Astonishing right. Ok let us answer these questions below:

1. How many of you use your credit card in a fuel pump or restaurant where the card is taken out of your vicinity? - Within minutes the data can be swiped

2. How many of you provide your personal details like name, email and mobile number & date of birth to unknown individuals just for a piece of free gift or luck dip for some price?

3. How many of you get greedy by seeing links in sites of free gifts, lottery and raffles?

So the hackers are luring you to provide your personal data by giving  you freebies - These freebies cost you your hard earned savings and your valuable information - Personal data.

Be aware of all applications you have downloaded in your mobile. There are many applications which access your gallery and even your camera and indulge in data theft. So ensure which applications you have in your mobile.

Some even read the messages you get from your bank/dear ones.

Your privacy gets lost when all your data is no more private. Hence safeguard your privacy by being cyber secure. Some tips:

1. Never click on insecure links
2. dont fall prey to scam messages
3. Never reveal personal identity to unknown
4. Never befriend with unknown people in social media
5. Never portray your family pics and your location in FB
6. Don't reveal travel plans in social media
7. Dont give your name, email & mobile to unknown people
8. Always change your passwords and PIN number periodically. Dont reveal to anyone
9. Dont enable auto save for passwords of websites-Particularly banks an financial dealings
10. Avoid sharing common messages which are often having embedded links
11. Always use virtual or hover board to type bank passwords.

Grooming Successful Kids

In this E world which is filled with Gadgets and electronic devices which can easily divert any kid-So may be some parents. The biggest challenge is grooming our kids successfully and in the right way. Now is the biggest question which exist?

Parents want their kids to be the best kids in all aspects-Good thing which every parent will want too but what are the steps taken by them to have that achieved.

Many parents are making their kids a show case model or forcing them showcase talent in front of friends and relatives to show they are a class apart.

As part of parenting you should say say NO and be strict to your kids when he/she is wrong. They should face failures and learn to understand if they are wrong. This makes them to understand things and learn to judge between what is good, needed and what is not required.

Its better we split the day for activities so that the online/gadget time be restricted to 1-2 hrs maximum for our kids.

Many parents believe that academics is the only way to success in life which is not true.  I am not negating it and agree that academics has a major part but other aspects like social skills, communication, mutual respect, and basic qualities - respect elders, understand others, decision making, facing failures, being calm and subtle when needed are also some of the qualities which has to be taught to them. Not to forget eating healthy food is the need of the hour now.

Parents should ensure that love and logic is part of parenting to be a success. Parenting is one of the toughest job where we need more of patience. Kids easily learn from us and hence we need to be perfect to get the same from him/her.😏

What today's kids are missing?

Being brought up in the love and affection of Grandpa and Grandma Everyday
Learning basic qualities of life in the form of stories and fairy tale
Now it happens only as part of your short Holiday 
Amidst your busy trip, all has become pale

Is that what our kids are missing?

Spending time with cousin brothers and sisters
Long weekends at aunts and uncle's place
Now we introduce many aunts and uncles during holiday
Making hard for kids to remember - Who is related how?

Is that what our kids are missing?

Short vacation on days of celebrations, Learning what family is all about
Learning what to give and what to take - Good and Bad
Now busy amidst gadgets and TV
Families in whats app groups and Skype to say Hi

Is that what our kids are missing?

Needless to say where we are going
Will our kids remember us atleast
Is it because life is short and fast
Or are we making it more complicated?

I am sure we are missing a lot more important....

Demonetization Drive in India

8 PM on Nov 8, 2016 was when the entire Indians were happy but shocked - Credits to NAMO the man behind modifying India.

As denominations of Rs 1000 and 500 were withdrawn to curb black money, differnt views started floating in social media about the ban- positive and negative but ultimately the drive was effective and weclomed by the common man.

It was a first thwart to the black money and black market dealers- may it be politicians, professionals, big or small time business man whoever has black matter.They now need a black magic to turn their black to white.

However the drive has adversly affected the common man who had various commitments and hey couldnt fulfill due to the reduction in the cash flow. Banks & ATMS were flocked by people eager to get it done on priority. Hatss off to the men behind - Banks and their staff who are working round the clock without break to ensure circulation of money is effective.

The MIMS and CYNICS of people in queue and hartals by black politicians are increasing day by day to demoralize and gain suupport of the people-Its part of democracy.

But the public is behind this man to support and ensure his vision and mission is fulfilled.

Cultural Shift in India

India is a country which is valued across the world for its rich heritage and culture. English and Americans value indian traditions and culture which they see as the reason for bonding togetherness in family life and instilling self discipline.

However in the recent years there is a major shift in culture within in the indian younger generation- Name the reason as IT, Global development, People travelling across countries.

As Indian we need to admit one thing we welcome change and get used to it very easily. Most of do not know the value and reason behind our rituals and practices- Hence leave it in one go

Some Samples


- Salwars & Saris turn to Sleeveless and Shorts
- Pizza & Burgers become breakfast in place of IDLI & DOSA
- Noodles in place of IDIYAPPAM
-Forehead becomes 'Bindi' Less
- APPA and AMMA becomes MOM & DAD
- Forgetting traditional festivals and start celebrating in different ways

They feel it proud to say 'My Kids don't know Tamil'. Aren't we ashamed to say you do not know your mother tongue

I accept that this is modernization and living the western way of life. But are Foreigners in India doing that when they are in India. They might do it for a day but will never adapt to it. But we do.-WHY?

When our culture is recognized across the world we as Indians needs to be brand ambassador in making sure that it is spread across the world.

The result of the western impact in our culture is reflected in the daily news we read

- Number of marriage breakups
- Kids becoming Obese

Just thinking of our next generation which is growing seeing this change.

Pls make sure that your kids are aware of the culture and tradition _ Let it not go in Vain.

FB Mania

Face Book - As the name goes is the most used site for all of us through your LAptops or hand held devices.

If you do not have a FB account then you cannot show your face to anyone. From Kids to youngsters to youth to middle age man to old people-Its the buzz word.

Good that its a tool to stay connected but at the same time we should know and have our limits-What to post what not to post. What to share and what not to..

I have been on FB for long time but accept friend request only from close friends and known people.

We need to keep in mind that our post can be viewed by many people who are not connected to you but to you and your friends. Its relative to the settings selected by your group of friends.

So friends my personal advice is that although its a good media, never share any personal information and photographs.

Many cant wake or go to bed without posting a message,

Some want to share and see how many likes they get...Crazy..

Hope you would have heard stories of personal data theft and photo morphing in FB.

Remember all these data is stored in a server which is not in your control.

So my humble request is to excercise caution before you post personal aspects in FB.

The Noble Heart

Mr.Kalayanasundaram worked as a Librarian for 30 years. Every month in his 30 year experience(service), he donated his entire salary to help the needy. He worked as a server in a hotel to meet his needs. He donated even his pension amount of about ten lakh rupees to the needy.

He is the first person in the world to spend the entire earnings for a social cause. In recognition to his service, the American government honoured him with the ‘Man of the Millennium’ award. He received a sum of Rs 30 crores as part of this award which he distributed entirely for the needy as usual.

Moved by his passion to help others, Super Star Rajinikanth adopted him as his father. He still stays as a bachelor and dedicated his entire life for serving the society. You can read more about him here.
...

See the attachment also.

All our Politicians, Film stars, Business magnets, cricketers Press and we all Indians should be PROUD of Kalayanasundaram. American Government has honored him but we Indians even don't know that such a personality exist amongst us.

Atleast have the courtesy to pass this on and on till the whole world comes to know about this Great Good Samaritan.

Hat's off Kalayanasundaram.. We Indians are extremely proud of you and proudly say "THIS HAPPENS ONLY IN INDIA"

MRUDESHWARAR

OM NAMA SHIVAYA

Happy Diwali Folks

Happy Diwali Folks

Come November the festive season across the country...people Welcome Diwali with Sparkling new dresses, sweets and bursting crackers...

 

Let us also extend our hands for the underprivileged...There are lot of People who are in need of good food and dresses to wear...

 

Let us also contribute towards the society...Donate Generously and be a responsible citizen..

From this Diwali I assure that this blog will be active with more contributions...keep Reading...

 

2012-Start and Journey Forth...

I know that all would think I am mad to welcome the year 2012 at the fag end of the month February...But I was waiting for everyone to complete New year celeberation and V day celeberation and add comments...

In India New year is celeberated with great cheer and happiness....Welcome sign but we should also make sure that we shouldn't hurt the feelings and centiments of other people...

How do you cleberate your new Year?

When we ask the above question to 10 people, 7-8 of them will say that they go to late night parties and spend lavishly and welcome new year. 2-3 of them will say that they will stay at home and avoid being on the road...

How many of them say that I cleberate New year in an old age home or an orphange with the elders/Kids there giving them hope and trust that this new year will bring brightness to their life?

I experienced the trauma of chennai road on new year night as I was travelling back from my BILs house which is just about 10 kms from mine.

My car was delliberatively stopped at 3-4 places by a drunken mob which asked/forced me to down my windows and wish them a happy new year-- The sad part is that the group was mostly high school or college going children...Does this relate to where our younger society is taken to by the corrupt politicians?

Post Jan 1st all were waiting for Jan 26th to rain offers to people and then came Feb 14th were the couple offers were promoted...Slashed prices, 50-70% off sales...Are these possible or true? One of my friend who is in the retail industry shared that never they sell anything below their cost price + Profit Margin...This are just marketing strategies to wee in crowd....Once they see this pamplets are in then they convert that to business...So Let us be Aware...

You will get the next Pamplet on April 14th.....So are you all waiting for it?

Diwali Celeberation

Let me start with a Diwali Wish - Wish you all a Happy Diwali 2011....



Diwali is a festival which is celeberated across India with pomp and ceremony by the Hindus. It is a festival of lights during which we offer prayers to Goddess Lakshmi, celeberate the end of evil and express our joy by bursting crackers..

The cracking part of Diwali is the crack of cracking of crackers...which becomes uncontrollable at some point...Many of them start as early as 3-4 AM in the morning as if they need to lead by waking others....Disturbing their Sleep.Kids and Elderly people are taken for a toll by the noise pollution it creates.The bang continues upto late night till 11-12 pm so that rest assure no one has a good sleep.

Some feel that the amount of crackers burst by them represents their social status-Good Assumption

Apart from noise pollution it also has an impact on the environment...The smoke that gets released because of bursting crackers affects our 'Go GREEN' Mantra.

The good part is that many of the younger generation have stop bursting crackers for the following reasons:

- Noise Pollution
-Environment gets polluted
-Child labour involved in making crackers
-Burning crackers is same as burning Money-Let money be used effectively.
-Safety of Kids and Elderly people on the Road

I am not saying that we shoudln't burst crackers but we need to ensure that we do that within our limits and maintain the balance across all the elements involved.

So my kind appeal to celeberate a BALANCED and SAFE Diwali moving forward.

Cricket 2 Corruption

Come 2011 has been a landmark in cricketing history as we have won the world cup after a prolonged wait. The unity displayed by we indians in celeberating the world cup win across India made us proud to feel that we Indians are so united for a common cause

 Why is this unity not shown in other issues we face in our day to day life?-Corrupt Politicians,Hike in price of essential comodities etc.,

But it is good to see medias exposing issues bravely and bringing to public attention so that the issue get resolved or highlighted until the government takes some action- The recent example is the fast by Anna hazare for getting the Lokpal bill implemented. It started in a small stage and then thousands of people across various cities supported him and that made the government to negotiate and come in agreement.

Let us stay united as we did for the world cup win for everything that affects common man...This unity will make our rulers (politicians) think and make the work as a real public servant...let us creat that thought in them...

SAVE INDIA (TAMIL NADU)

We Indians boast ourselves of our democratic and secular India. Are we really enjoying democracy?As India is a diversified country with vast heritage and different cultural values across different parts of the country-We wanted democracy. Who are the owners in the democracy? -The People, says the politicians but they feel our importance only during the elections when they need our vote.The Vote is the tool we have to show our power in democracy and we need to ensure it is not misused.

Today India is under the grips of the politicians - the so called 'NETAS' who are enjoying their power and swindling wealth for their generations. How many times does an MLA or an MP comes to his constituency to see what are the problem faced by public? He has time to reach us when he need votes but not after that...What does MLA or MP mean, they are the representatives of the people in the government but do they do that. They are busy thinking about themselves and their people.

Recently I met a MC (Municipal Councilor- the level at which his political career starts) and he had 4-5 people surrounding him as his shadow. Is it really needed? Imagine the people around MLA, Minister or MP then. These netas speed up in cars after winning the elections. When all other job requires prior experience, Politics is the only arena where no experience is required. Now a days heriditery politics is also a common scenario in India as they believe the easiest job is to fool our people.

The only powerful tool we have is the 'VOTE' and hence we need to be cautious and make use of it very effectively. Let us make use of the opportunity and select the best among the lot

Own a House in Metropolitan Chennai

The feel of owning a house makes us feel proud and all of us will devise a plan to built/buy a house of our choice that suits our pocket.What are the difficulties we currenlty face when we try to freeze a house of our choice in a metro like Chennai? Who are the various people cashing in on the Real estate market and making a huge cut in our had earned money. I am just sharing my thoughts and some scenarios I have witnessed / heard based on my experience with the Chennai real estate market since I bought a house in 2003.

In olden days a property consultant is a person who mediates between the seller and the buyer and gets a meagre amount as fees for his consulting. He also ensures that the deal is beneficial to both the parties and owns responsibility. He builts a reputation to ensure that he gets more business.

Come 2007 was the boom for real estate market when every one beelined to buy a nest for them to dwell and the prices sky rocketed from where it was in the start of 2000. An individual house/posh residential apartment in a decent locality which costed 15-20 Lacs has increased four fold. Have the factors associated with the construction risen so huge? No way, the major contribution to the rise is the middle man/power agent (so called property consultant) who flush in money into real estate market to make huge profits in short term. When you approcah a property consultant for buying a property the first question they ask:

What is your Budget?

Now the trap is laid for you that they overestimate the value of the property and then reduce some (negotiation) and completes the deal. However you might have overpaid and increased the market value in that area. All other properties will be sold with your deal as the benchmark.

Who is not a property consultant?

I am just listing different people who are self proclaiming them as property consultants/middle man

1. Auto Driver
2.Vegetable vendor
3. Dhobi
4. Lawyers
5.Retired officials
6. IT crowd (in some cases)
7. Jobless youth

Have I missed any? If so, I haven't come across them

They believe that cahing in on real estate market is the easiest way to make quick money(with tax exemption).

Apartments for sale-the Builder chain

A mason with 10 years of experience and have done 3-4 above said deal becomes a builder and starts building apartments. I have seen a lot of such second rated apartments which are far below benchmark in quality and durability, however the prices are in par with the current market. Is the government taking any steps to ensure the quality and credibality of these small time builders? Hope they need to to avoid any disaster in future..

Puliarai Dakshinamoorthy Temple - A Snapshot

In the southern part of Tamilnadu about 75 KMs from Tirunelveli is Puliarai - A beautiful village in the foot of western ghats adjoining Tamilnadu-My Native. The scerenic beauty of the village will memerise you on the first glance.
The very old Dakshinamoorthy temple is situated in Puliarai very close to the mountains. It is a temple of old cultural heritage and the Lord Dakshinamoorthy (Guru) is very powerful. This is the only temple in the world where Lord Dakshinamoorthy is situated between 'Nandhi' and the idol of 'Lord Shiva'- All in one line. One can view Shiva through the horns of the 'Nandhi' and Dakshinamoorthy-This is said to be of unique in nature.

Thursdays and Saturdays are very special for lord Dakshinamoorthy and people beeline to Puliarai on these days to have a glance of the god and seek his blessings.

Puliarai is about 10 KM from Shencottah.You can reach Puliarai by road if you get down at Tenkasi or Shencottah.Would encourage you all to visit Puliarai once in your life time and get the blessings of Lord Dakshinamoorthy.Other temples near by are Aryankavu Aiyappan temple,Tenkasi Kasi viswanathar temple.

Increasing Trend of Cyber Addiction

Cybernet or Internet is the buzz word which has changed and modernized the way we live, work, shop and communicate/talk.Come 2000, we saw cyber cafes/browsing centers emerging across streets in India in contrast to today where most of us are connected to the cyberworld via blackberry or SMART phone (Even chinese in same cases).
       Its a good sign that technology has made our life easier by making everything available in a click of a button. However we also need to think about the number of child users who are using the internet daily and the increasing number of cyber crimes  which has increased the need for more and more cyber security.Although we are aware of the risks of cyber usage, we are still encouraging and getting more and more addicted towards it. I have seen people who will go mad if they are not allowed to log into social networking sites for a day.
    Cyber addiction has made our personal data easily vulnerable to hackers and phishers as we have our history with photos in social networking sites which makes their life easier.We need to act swift to arrive at a point where we can balance ourselves....Thoughts please

Are you a Manager or Damager?

Friends,
I have written a blog in this topic in Management Scholars Academy blog. Here goes the link.
http://msacademy.in/wordpress/management-scholars-academy-blog/2011/01/are-you-a-manager-or-damager-guest-post-by-sethuramalingam-b/

Modern-Moms Vs Kids

The hitech generation Moms have high level of expectation from their kids. They want their kid to be a role model in school and participate in all competitions - whether he/she is intrested or not and be the champion.

They boast of their kids acts amidst their friends- I know that its quite common for all parents to talk of their kids but what i am referring here is of over enthusiastic people. They should understand that "KIDS are KIDS" and we should leave then free and let them enjoy their childhood.

Ten years back, kids went to school at 5 years but now kids are going to school at 2-2.5 years. I even came across kids who are in pre school at below 2 years.The earlier LKG and UKG have been made Pre KG, Jr KG and Sr Kg thus accomadating more young kids.

They chart a tight daily routine for their kids and make them adhere to that..A sample chart follows:
1.Morning Yoga (Yoga masters have seen the market and startes kds classes)
2.Karate
3.School
4. Music
5.Chess/Abacus
6.Tuition
7.School Lessons

By the time the kid is tired, they ask him what happened in the school which will make him faint.Go school days when the kid eagerly awaits his mid term or annual holidays, the kids is pushed into a series of activities which is more hectic than the routine and it's termed as SUMMER CLASSES.

I once went to admit my seven year son for tennis class and asked the coach if his age is fit to start the coaching and the master said, you are late by 4 years...I was puzzled when the coach pointed me some tiny tots (3years old) with tennis bats around him. Their parents were watching them hardly able to catch hold of the bat thinking of  Sania mirza and Mahesh bhoopathy in their minds

Let us leave kids to enjoy themselves and be playful. I agree that new generation kids are faster and intelligent but still are Moms stretching them beyond their limit (elasticity)..

New year Parties

Now a days New Year parties are celeberated with pomp and bash similar to western countries in India. Star hotels are making huge profits by arranging parties and selling tickets at high rates as our folks beeline to grab the tickets.Do we need to really spend so much money and do a bash to welcome the new year when we have a large group of people who are below the poverty line trying to make both ends met to get a good meal?

Is it not noteworthy to take a note of what we have acheived in the last year to celeberate and welcome. New year is a calendar change which occurs every year and do we really need to go for a spree to welcome it.

Hope responsible Indians need to think if we really care for our society rather than for ourselves.