Last two days my brain almost stopped working and I didn’t find any interesting topic to write… That is when I thought I can leave it to my followers in twitter and I got couple of ideas…

I want to share some stupid things I did in business, some may be funny, idiotic and stupid but would be interesting to read… Let my rewind and start shooting them…

• First business meeting to get a corporate training project in a company in Guindy, Chennai. I didn’t know java nor any business thoughts… Still a student, I stood like an fool in front of their team… I didn’t give any appropriate answer in a meeting which lasted an hour… Today I can’t believe how I overcame such a situation…
• An inspector from Employee State Insurance (ESI) visited my offer… ESI is like social security an compliance which companies in India must comply… When that lady entered the office with and approached me, I asked her to get out telling I’m not interested in getting any insurance policy…
• Initial days I offered college projects for students to sustain… Three girls MCA girls came to office requesting for project… After talking a lot about java came to know those girls already completed a project in java and wanted to get a certificate… Ended up getting ragged by those girls…
• My office boy brought a guy telling he has come for interview; actually he is a marketing guy and has come to sell his banking product… For fifteen min I was taking the HR round and only after finishing my interview both of us came to know that there was a mess…
• I was hunted by Thiruvanmiyur police for two days and the constable found me after two day and yelled at me telling he was hunting me for 2 days… The address constable had been wrong and he somehow made it… I was scared a lot and he asked me to come to Thiruvanmiyur police station… When I visited the station I came to know that inspector was looking for a groom and the groom was working in my company and he was to get a testimony of his conduct… The way that constable took me to police station was very rude and I had high temperature once I came out from police station and recovered only after a week…

There are still more things, but these are the things I can immediately recollect… When ever I remember things, I’ll add them as sequel…

It is always encouraging to get recognition from people and when they write a blog about us there is nothing more motivating… I must take this opportunity to thank Yu Yu who is an ex-pat and helped me in hunting for people for internet marketing…

This blog of her has some word about me…

Next person is Swami Nathan we are neighbors and childhood friends… Swami is one person who reads my blog regularly and give me recommendations for my blog posts… In fact I must dedicate couple of blog post to him… This blog of him is has a couple of word about me…

Thank you very much folks…

WHAT IS TWITTER?
Twitter is a new social network (similar to Facebook) that lets you send messages to a huge range of people around the world. Your updates are limited to 140 characters, just like an SMS.

WHAT IS FOLLOWING?
Following on Twitter is like friending on Facebook – if you follow somebody you will get their updates. The main difference is that the other person doesn’t have to accept you as a friend for you to connect with them. I might follow you but you don’t have to follow me back.

HOW IS IT DIFFERENT TO FACEBOOK/LINKEDIN?
All of these networks can be used in many different ways – Twitter is just another option for you. I have found it great for connecting with a big range of people in different places around the world. Because each message is limited to 140 characters it means your messages have to be concise and that makes it easier to keep up with.

WHY WON’T PEOPLE FOLLOW ME?
There is some great advice about this at http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://mashable.com%2F2009%2F01%2F06%2Ftwitter-follow-fail%2F – it really helps if you have an interesting profile.

Today was a smooth day and i worked from home, my mind was fully thinking about solutions to the challenges faced with delivery…Had detailed telecom with Mr.Bala Murugan to get his thoughts and we came up with some solutions

• Project Manager is over loaded with work, he
• Trains fresh programmers
• Manages post sales which takes most of his time
• Review daily reports sent by developers and send it back to clients
• Review product development…

Planned to split his responsibilities and assign it to Team leaders so that PM can concentrate in his work…

• For last one month there has been frequent internet disconnection…   

Planned to take another internet connection so that we can we will be backed up when there is any disconnection…

Then asked bala to conduct a Audit on reports and documents done by BDE, Admin, HR & Developers… Since this is the first time we have planned to do an audit, I asked bala to review and prepare a due diligence so that it would be helpful for second and third audits…

Still struck with marketing strategy for Cogzidel Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. Pls visit http://www.cogzidel.in to see the services offered and let me know if you have any ideas to market the service…

Last one week has been extremely exciting days at work… Today had been pretty normal day.. Had no sleep the whole night as myself and bala had some good business discussion…

• Had a nice haircut…
• Went to Maraimalai nagar to see if there is any SBI… There is no SBI from Vandalur onwards… Confirmed it by making a call to Just Dial…
• Then went to Country Club and once again none of their managers were there in office… Poor investors, I think this is the company next to Satyam to con Investors…
• Then attended SBI Property Fair – 2009… SBI representatives told me even they don’t offer loan to empty plots… Must work some loan for settling Pre-EMI with IDBI…
• From there went to Chennai Citi Center had lunch, Aalu Tikki Chenna, Pani Puri & Swiss Coffee Mocca…
• From there went to White Cliffs Hair Studio and enquired about hair replacement… They recommended me to buy a LaserComb… Right now googling to check the testimonials of LaserComb…
• From there went and met Dermatologist and returned home…

There has been couple news/updates which were not that great…

1. The US has made a new weapon that destroys people but keeps the building standing. It’s called the stock market – Jay Leno

2. Do you have any idea how cheap stocks are? Wall Street is now being called Wall Mart Street – Jay Leno

3. The difference between a pigeon and a London investment banker. The pigeon can still make a deposit on a BMW.

4. What’s the difference between a guy who lost everything in Las Vegas and an investment banker? A tie!

5. The problem with investment bank balance sheet is that on the left side nothing’s right and on the right side nothing’s left.

6. I want to warn people from Nigeria who might be watching our show, if you get any emails from Washington asking for money, it’s a scam. Don’t fall for it – Jay Leno

7. Bush was asked about the credit crunch. He said it was his favorite candy bar – Jay Leno

8. The rescue bill was about 450 pages. President Bush’s copy is even thicker. They had to include pictures – Jay Leno

9. President Bush’s response was to meet some small business owners in San Antonio last week. The small business owners are General Motors, General Electric and Century 21 – Jay Leno

10. What worries me most about the credit crunch is that if one of my cheques is returned stamped ‘insufficient funds’, I won’t know whether that refers to mine or the bank’s.

I’m writing this as a blog because I’m unable to think of a unique topic which I can write… Forgive me swami, still I’ve one request from you which I’ll will write it next week… Other thing is I’ve severe memory loss and thought you readers can help me recollect things…

1. Paying Pre-EMI to IDBI which is 100% interest just came to know a week back that pre-emi’s are 100% interest… Had been paying pre-emi for last 28 months which is of no use, still the principle stays in tact… It can be converted into post-emi only when I construct a building as per IDBI terms… I’ve no idea to construct any building at the moment… So, need to look for a bank which offers me home loan for just land purchase I can transfer this loan also I want to merge my personal loan with it, if there are any banker or if someone can help out would be appreciated…
2. Brought a Nintendo WII and the adapter got burned… Need to fix it and start using it… Also need help in finding someone who can fix adaptors…
3. Claim refund from Country Club for the land purchase I made… I recommend everyone to stay away from this company, totally unprofessional and they are conning people… My take them legally if they don’t give me a refund…
4. Must be regular to workouts and must at least reduce 3000 calories by this year end…
5. Write a book about my college days, already started writing it, must wrap it at least by this year…
6. Must finish writing content for cogzidel.com by next week…
7. Join a photography course and must become a good photographer…
8. Must tour Theni, Kambam, Thekadi, Kaniya Kumari, Munnar in next 6 months and shoot some good snaps…
9. Create platform get residual income by this year end…

 

I think I can stop with this and concentrate on this and try to accomplish all the stuff… I think I can spare some time from my professional responsibilities… Will write a blog next year same day to tell how many of these I was able to do…

Thank you…

Off late we are hearing a lot of bad news starting from Lehman brothers to Satyam Computers… We all must be aware that we have just opened the Pandora box and we are yet to reach the peak of the recession… It is time for all of us to wear the socks and start planning for lean days ahead… I started my cost cutting activity already, as I clearly stated that I don’t have a lot of new year resolutions, these are some things I’m doing and I’ll be doing till I overcome this recession…

• No new expenses list other than basic expenses…
• Stopped buying merchandise. It is time to collect all the reward points in credit card and start using those points to buy things we need… To my surprise I’ve accumulated Rs.30,000/- as my reward points and made big shopping last month… I brought merchandise for next 2 years…
• Cutting fuel cost… I stopped going for long drives on car… In fact stopped using car for this spring, just using scooter as climate is not that bad and started using more public transport…
• Cutting on my visits to malls as I can’t control my desires and I tend spend more… In fact for last two months I’ve not visited Chennai Citi Center & Bangalore’s Forum or Garuda mall…
• Work on your financials. There are two types of financial things we have to do, one is to plan our finance and the other is to monitor our existing finances…
• Plan finances means planning our “expenses & savings” with our income…
• Monitor finances is checking of Return on Investment, on investments we have made… Look into banking charges on our bank account & cards… To my shock only now I noticed I’ve been swindled by banks by making lot of charges and just made a visit to banks and got all things sorted… I’m saving almost Rs.5000/- a year on getting waiver from charges…
• Cut on lavish parties… Generally I throw lavish parties for my birthday, that doesn’t mean I’m going to stop it, but it might not be the way I did for last 3 years…
• Paid a year for GYM and I saved 50% of for the charge and also working on my fitness is the only New Year resolution… So, I think I’ll serious in my workout…
• I’ve been an avid spender and most of my spending will be in fuel, food & merchandise… All that happens only when I go to lavish places… So made some investment to stay at home…
• Brought Nintendo WII and will be playing inside my house
• Brought a Camera and planning to learn photography… Will be visiting places where I can shoot and that too will be using Public Transport only :)…
• Writing blogs so that I’ve the pleasure of sharing my experience and also improve my writing skills…
• Networking and getting more friends…
• Cutting on my mobile bills, I’ve been a High Value Customer for my service provider and no longer will I be one :)… Thought this is very hard, some how I managed to cut 20% but I still want to reduce this by 60%…

Over all I want to cut 75% on my expense compared to what I did for last 3 years… I’m somewhat successful in it as I was able to cut things by 30% and in months to come I’m sure I can reach my goals… Other important thing is I’m also looking on alternate source of income other than my salary like making some money  from my blogging, thought it is too early to reap results, in time to come I must be benefitting on the efforts I’m putting today… Also we have enjoyed the sunny days and it is time to be careful for the rainy days ahead… Think more than once before making an expense and do shopping during festive seasons to get some good discounts… Enjoy what you are doing so that you don’t feel the pinch of falling down…

For your information I got a report on past recessions and think it would be nice to share it here so that you can get some idea from history on duration of recessions and how you can plan… Wish you all a happy recession :)…

Peak (Recession Start)*	Trough (Recession End)*
	December 1854 (IV)
June 1857 (II)	December 1858 (IV)
October 1860 (III)	June 1861 (III)
April 1865 (I)	December 1867 (I)
June 1869 (II)	December 1870 (IV)
October 1873 (III)	March 1879 (I)
March 1882 (I)	May 1885 (II)
March 1887 (II)	April 1888 (I)
July 1890 (III)	May 1891 (II)
January 1893 (I)	June 1894 (II)
December 1895 (IV)	June 1897 (II)
June 1899 (III)	December 1900 (IV)
September 1902 (IV)	August 1904 (III)
May 1907 (II)	June 1908 (II)
January 1910 (I)	January 1912 (IV)
January 1913 (I)	December 1914 (IV)
August 1918 (III)	March 1919 (I)
January 1920 (I)	July 1921 (III)
May 1923 (II)	July 1924 (III)
October 1926 (III)	November 1927 (IV)
August 1929 (III)	March 1933 (I)
May 1937 (II)	June 1938 (II)
February 1945 (I)	October 1945 (IV)
November 1948 (IV)	October 1949 (IV)
July 1953 (II)	May 1954 (II)
August 1957 (III)	April 1958 (II)
April 1960 (II)	February 1961 (I)
December 1969 (IV)	November 1970 (IV)
November 1973 (IV)	March 1975 (I)
January 1980 (I)	July 1980 (III)
July 1981 (III)	November 1982 (IV)
July 1990 (III)	March 1991(I)
March 2001 (I)	November 2001 (IV)
*Quarterly dates are in parentheses

Source: National Bureau of Economic Research

Last month we had a reunion in kodai and got opportunity to meet my college mates after a long break… I’m surprised to see friends getting changed for different reasons… As we grow we loose the importance of our friends… Their priority in life gets changed… And their character and personality also changes…

We must understand one thing that this happens even to us, we change without our knowledge and this can be felt only by our friends… Five out of eight members of our gang made it, in fact it is only we five stay in touch and other three are almost out of touch… I was really amazed to see how my friends have changed… We were all people with common synergies during our college days… We all lived and cared for others wellbeing than thinking about ourselves…

I can openly see that I’ve lost touch with Balaji with whom I spent 90% of my time during college days… It would be less than 10% of the time we would have spent for each other during post college days… Balaji got married and he is a father of 4 month old and I’m surprised to see him becoming more responsible… He has already started talking about sacrifices he has to do for raising his son… Then it is Vicky, he has been my best mate in college with whom I share all my happy and lull moments, we see to it that we share some quality time for each other… But I can’t believe how Vicky has changed from his US visit, Vicky has become more practical guy unlike what I’ve seen him 3 years back… But still he a  good hearted guy and I wish he remains the same for ever…

I can also see a lot of change in me… With people taking different paths, different priorities we no longer have same sort of synergies and we find different people filling the space, where we get linked with people whom have common interest and synergy… Every time we reach a destination we have to shake hands compliment each other and start back with our own journey and move ahead with the memories of our old journey… That is life and we have to move on with it…

I’ve have been thinking how my life was till I was 20 and how I was able to catch up with this highly competitive rat race… Lot of things has changed in this eight years… When it comes to childhood dreams nothing happened as I thought… I was told by my parents that once I successfully finish my education I’ll be successful person in life and I grew thinking I’ll be successful without any struggles once I finish my college…

This is one big challenge in Indian system… As students we are kept inside a shell and we are not aware of the competitive world… We are raised as if life is a destination… But in reality ones life/woes starts only after finishing our education… By the time we understand “Life is a journey and not destination” it becomes too late… In India we have to learn many aspects of life in a hard way…

It is high time parents raise their kids with fighting instincts in life… When I was out of college and started my business, I simply call people or visit them directly without any appointment… Many times I get insulted for that approach, today I understood and know how to manage such satiation… But those times I get so much demoralized and many times I thought of giving it up…

I’m fortunate enough to have good mentors to help me come out of this trap and culture… I feel sorry to see many of my friends and peers who easily give up without giving a fight… In my office I’ve seen people resigning or running away from office because they are unable to finish their tasks… I’ve seen a lot of my friends getting depressed for small/petty things…

This is all because of unpreparedness… We are never taught to be warriors… Our system doesn’t allow us to be innovators… I remember in my schooldays folks who mug and write ends up scoring more than people who understand and write things on their own…  

To over come this we have to change a entire generation for which we have to change the system… But don’t know that would be an immediate solution… I’m working closely with my subordinates and helping them to transform like warriors who are ready to face change and uncertainties… In a system where we have no choice we have to learn ways to motivate ourselves and fight against the odds… If you understand LIFE IS A JOURNEY AND NOT DESTINATION you can definitely become competitive and become successful…