Author: anandnataraj

Entrepreneur, Blogger, Traveller, Pet Lover, Networker, Social Drinker, Party Animal, Movie Addict, Startup Enthusiast, Organic Gardner, Avid Reader....

My Birthday 2013


This has been a very different birthday without party, glamour and fun… This time spending time in hospital to care take my dad… This time I’m glad that the first person whom I got blessed was my dad… From mid-night there were calls, wishes thru FaceBook, email and text messages…

Tough this birthday is something unusual compared with my usual celebration… I’m enjoying this moment too…

  • Got wishes from Cogzians
  • Wishes form MOM, Sister & Wife
  • Wishes from 300+ friends and relatives and still poring
  • From Hemang K Bhadani (former cricket player)
  • Director Vikraman Sir
  • Suresh Menon Sir
  • Actor Prem
  • Actor Vimal

Another good news in the morning is one of my good friend Satheesh Seelan has become a proud father of a baby boy and he happily said from next year it is going to be 2 birthday celebration this day…

Also big thanks to Mr.Vipin Sachdev Chairman of Willi and Burgandys for offering me 25% discount voucher on my birthday… A special thanks to you for your gesture SIR!!!

Also it is pouring text wishes from Corporates too…

Text From Franklin Templeton

Dear Anand Nataraj S Birthday Greetings from Franklin Templeton Investments. Looking forward to celebrating many more special days with you.

Text From Standard Chartered Bank

We at StanChart wish you a very Happy Birthday and a wonderful year ahead.

Text From HDFC Bank

Dear Mr.ANAND NATARAJ SIVANESAN,Wish you A Very Happy Birthday,May this year bring you all the Success,Joy & Happiness.Regards HDFC Bank Ltd – Retail Loans

Text From Vodafone which also gifted me with 25 free text messages… Thank you Vodafone…

Hello! Mr. ANAND NATARAJ S , Birthday Greetings from Vodafone! Have a great year ahead.

Dear Customer, on your special day spread happiness with 25 FREE Local and National SMS being gifted to you from Vodafone. Thank you for being with us.

Gift Zone

Got this special gift from my loveable better half and she made my day… Thanks a lot honey…

20130225-131951.jpg

Then it is Anand gifting Anand… Yes I wanted to buy As The Crow Flies and I placed an order in FlipKart on Saturday and just it got dispatched… And what an experience it is to make a self gift…

20130225-132458.jpg

The 99 Club


Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious lifestyle, was neither happy nor content.

One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked. This fascinated the King; why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy.

The King asked the servant, ‘Why are you so happy?’

The man replied, ‘Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don’t need too much – just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies.’

The king was not satisfied with that reply. Later in the day, he sought the advice of his most trusted advisor. After hearing the King’s woes and the servant’s story, the advisor said, ‘Your Majesty, I believe that the servant Has not been made part of The 99 Club.’

‘The 99 Club? And what exactly is that?’ the King inquired.

The advisor replied, ‘Your Majesty, to truly know what The 99 Club is, place 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant’s doorstep.’

When the servant saw the bag, he took it into his house. When he opened the bag, he let out a great shout of joy… So many gold coins!

He began to count them. After several counts, he was at last convinced that there were 99 coins. He wondered, ‘What could’ve happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99 coins!’

He looked everywhere he could, but that final coin was elusive. Finally, exhausted he decided that he was going to have to work harder than ever to earn that gold coin and complete his collection.

From that day, the servant’s life was changed. He was overworked, horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping him make that 100th gold coin. He stopped singing while he worked.

Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled. When he sought his advisor’s help, the advisor said, ‘Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined The 99 Club.’

He continued, ‘The 99 Club is a name given to those people who have enough to be happy but are never contented, because they’re always yearning and Striving for that extra 1, saying to themselves: ‘Let me get that one final thing and then I will be happy for life.’ 

We can be happy, even with very little in our lives, but the minute we’re given something bigger and better, we want even more! We lose our sleep, our happiness, we hurt the people around us; all these as a price for our growing needs and desires.

Don’t mess with Senior Citizens


A married couple is travelling by car from Victoria to Prince George . Being seniors, after almost eleven hours on the road, they were too tired to continue and decided to take a room. But, they only planned to sleep for four hours and then get back on the road.

When they checked out four hours later, the desk clerk handed them a bill for $350.00.

The man explodes and demands to know why the charge is so high. He told the clerk although it’s a nice hotel; the rooms certainly aren’t worth $350.00 for four hours. Then the clerk tells him that $350.00 is the ‘standard rate’. He insisted on speaking to the Manager.

The Manager appears, listens to him, and then explains that the hotel has an Olympic-sized pool and a huge conference centre that were available for us to use.

“But we didn’t use them,” the husband said.

“Well, they are here, and you could have,” explained the Manager.

The Manager went on to explain that the couple could also have taken in one of the shows for which the hotel is famous. “We have the best entertainers from New York , Hollywood , and Las Vegas perform here,” the Manager says.

“But we didn’t go to any of those shows,” the husband said.

“Well, we have them, and you could have,” the Manager replied.

No matter what amenity the Manager mentioned, the husband replied, “But we didn’t use it!”

The Manager is unmoved, and eventually the husband gave up and agreed topay. As he didn’t have the check book, he asked his wife to write the check. She did and gave it to the Manager.

The Manager is surprised when he looks at the check. “But ma’am, this is made out for only $50.00.”

“That’s correct. I charged you $300.00 for sleeping with me,” she replied.

“But I didn’t!” exclaims the Manager.

“Well, too bad, I was here, and you could have.”

Moral: Don’t mess with senior citizens. They didn’t get there by being stupid.

Mobile Solar Generator for SMEs


20130223-171624.jpg

We have received an excellent offer on a product which we find of immense use. iKUBE (Italian Product) offers Mobile Solar Generators which are foldable, in various capacities from 1 KW to 5 KW.
These are ready to use, on wheels, and supply power anywhere/anytime once charged by Solar Light. Extremely convenient, need no installation and can be used at Homes, farm houses, at picnics, offices, temporary installations, commercial offices…. anywhere.
The dealer Contura Solar have offered to supply the 3KW product (Made in Italy) at all inclusive price of Rs.4.95 lac. They are sending us one 3KW iKUBE at a very special introductory price of Rs.4.75 lac.plus 2% CST against Form C.
80% Depreciation can be availed for Income Tax purposes. (Saving of upto Rs.1.14lac)
In case any member is interested, Contact:
IamSMEofIndia Solar Energy Facilitation Centre
C/o. Faridabad Small Industries Association
FSIA Park, Opp. Plot No. 23, Sector 24, Faridabad-121005
fsiaindia@gmail.com, info@iamsmeofindia.co.in, 9711123111
http://www.iamsmeofindia.com

Why stress?


While working with freshers we notice that they get stressed quickly… We can very well understand the reason behind this mindset because they have never been exposed to;

  • Criticism
  • Humiliation
  • Aggression
  • Pressure
  • Targets
  • Provocation etc

When they get exposed all of a sudden they get bogged down which leads to stress… One thing they fail to realize is that their first 3-4 years of their career is their honeymoon period… As they grow their responsibility will grow personally and professionally…

In my case I took up entrepreneurship as a career and first four years were really like a hell… When I look back those were the days I learned a lot… As a fresh entrepreneur I had to learn the nuances of business like;

  • Marketing
  • Sales
  • Project Management
  • Operations Management
  • Human Resource Management
  • Finance Management
  • Operational Knowledge
  • Public Relations

And a whole bunch of things… When I was exposed all of a sudden I suffocated… But situation made me not to quit which eventually carved a personality in me and an identity in me…

Likewise when people start their career they must realize that they are working on their;

  • Soft-Skills
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Communication Skills
  • Technical Skills
  • Team Work

They are in the verge of carving their own identity… So, one needs lots of patience and perseverance… They must have trust and belief in their leaders who are going to be their mentors…

Last thing I’d like to tell people is to think and take time to choose their leader or mentor… Once decided one has to show patience, belief and trust in their leader and never quit until the mission is accomplished…

Last but not least remember these quotes friends…

Heated GOLD becomes Ornament!!!
Beaten COPPER becomes Wire!!!
Depleted STONE becomes Statue!!!

So more the pain you face in your life more valuable you become…

This would be my bed room cum wardrobe soon…


Am fond of carpentry and modular designs… When I came across this marvel somewhere online I’ve decided this is going to be mine one day…

20130222-110752.jpg

Build a team which accepts criticism and absorb pressure


One of the latest learning in my team building experience is quitting for criticism and bogging down for pressure….

Also this has happened with my top management and core team… From the beginning they were shielded from  facing criticism and pressure…

Once left open to face the reality they immediately bogged down and quit without even trying…

With this hard learned lesson we now decided to put people under pressure and  criticise even smallest deviation… In this method many people quirt and a handful of people stayed… Now we have a bunch of folks who could handle pressure and criticism…

Situations which needs to be addressed;

  • meeting commitments…
  • fixing process deviations….
  • pushing to accept change…
  • managing peer pressure…
  • breaking hurdles…
  • increasing benchmark…
  • increasing lateral thinking…
  • developing problem solving skills…
  • build go-getter attitude…

Made my contribution to Kamal Hassan


I was in no mood to follow the controversy running behind Viswaroopam… But I was standing behind Kamal without showing my support by sending him the ticket money or by shouting in Social Networks…

Also I missed to watch the movie on the first day with my friends… Normally I watch a movie like a mass crowd by shooting at heros intro…

After a while I was too stressed because of some if my relatives and wanted to walkout of home… What is the best place to distract from stress, a place to rest and to pass time… Decided to goto a theatre and the immediate choice was Viswaroopam…

Most people who watched the movie said it was a mediocre movie… But I didn’t get bored at any point of time and importantly I was watching the movie alone…

Come to the controversy part where Muslims were shown as terrorist… I saw more of a reality than exaggeration and I didn’t feel any community being targeted…

What can be done with  Hollywood movies where Muslims are shown in bad light?? Also I saw huge crowds of Muslims coming with family… While coming down I heard a Muslim asking her relative about his thought and he gestured it was like seeing a Hollywood movie and he didn’t see anything wrong in the movie…

Finally movie helped me to relax my mind and my urge to watch Viswaroopam…

It is OK to disobey Parents


Normally an Indian middle class family has too much of caring and intrusion into the upbringing of children… For Indian parents their kids remain a kid always… In my case which is common Indian parental syndrome I still;

  • get approval for taking decisions…
  • career choices had to be discussed…
  • show credit card bill and explain the reason for expenses…
  • tell them the reason for terminating a policy or for delaying any payments…
  • liberty to read my personal emails and mails…
  • liberty to police my blogs and social media posts…

Over a point our parents gets out dated and most parents resist to update themselves… In such cases it is better to disobey them… In India disobedience means a big crime and you will have to face the warmth of relatives and neighbours explaining them why we are irresponsible… In my case;

My parents and grandparents look at me a different person as I took entrepreneurship and my approach towards things… My practical approach has often or always offends them and they keep complaining my behaviour… In reality from my angle they look different 🙂 which they don’t realise…

If you are a person with dreams and a prisoner of parental obligation it is ok to break it by means of ignoring or disobedience… What all it matters if success and when you can surpass tough times and show success you can always win over their confidence… Sometimes even when they don’t recognise your success or efforts there is nothing to worry as they are tuned to be ordinary…

Overall folks don’t bother much about disobeying because;

  • Gandhi got us freedom because of civil disobedience movement and today we are calling him father of the nation…
  • Many successful entrepreneurs like Dhirubhai Ambani, Naraya Murthy, Muchael Dell disobeyed their parents and ran behind their dreams
  • We wouldn’t have got a SuperStar Rajini Kanth if he had obeyed his father

Though emotionally it is tough and difficult to disobey our parents we have to do it considering we have a genuine dream and goal which is not against law or anti social…