Unplanned travel & Happy results


Until 6 PM yesterday I was not sure what am I going to do. Whether to go to Chennai or Coimbatore or Stay back in Bangalore. It was very drowsy feeling and nothing was happening till 4 PM. I was still on the bed browsing and watching T.V, didn’t take bath, lots of cloths to wash, house was dusty.

By 4 PM I realized that I can’t do anything with the Sales Tax work after 4 o clock. I thought I must do something to make the day productive and I broke my laziness and I went one to wash my cloths and it was 5 PM by then.

Then I sweeped the house, had a perfect shave and had a nice bath and it was 5.45 PM. Then again back watching T.V, browsing and thinking what to do next. Then I thought I can check tickets for Chennai and thought if I don’t get a ticket I can think of next choice.

I logged into KPN travels site and found 4 tickets were available for the last bus which was very expensive (cost of a ticket is Rs.706/-). Last bus was always my choice when it comes to travelling between Bangalore – Chennai. Then there was no second thinking. I booked tickets and found KPN has got a new facility to collect tickets on counter upon providing a PIN unlike before where in we had to carry a printout of e-ticket.

Then I travelled to my cousins house in BTM had dinner with him and he dropped me in Bhommanahalli and I boarded the bus by 11.45 PM. I was eager to know what is special with the bus as it costs so much. On boarding I found it was a big bus with 42 seats. I was surprised to see how come they charge so much for having more capacity. When volume is more cost has to come down that is the theory of economies of scale.

Anyways I didn’t bother as I was able to take a decision because of availability of ticket. Then after boarding the bus I made couple of calls until the bus reached Hosur by 12.20 AM and I slept by then. The bus reached Porur by 5 o clock sharp. I woke up exactly before Porur. Thanks to the driver for playing FM songs and switching on the lights. Normally nothing perturbs me on sleep but this time it was unusual and again I’m not going to complain as the result was good as I got down near my house, had good sleep and comfortable travel.

Overall it was very much unplanned and all ended up comfortably and now I’m in Chennai posting this blog.

Thought for weekend


Who is more responsible?
 
The hand that makes the bomb..
The one that ignites it..
Or the bomb that blasts??
 
Our anger is a bomb that destroys the peace around us.
Let us try not to be the reason of an argument..
Let us avoid from being the one who ignites a fight..
Lets us not be the victim of the bomb of anger..
 
No peace comes from shattered pieces.

Chinese detective humor


Warning: This post consists of some adult materials and if you are below 18 kindly don’t read further.

A guy suspected that his wife was cheating on him, so he hired a Chinese detective… The cheapest one he could find.

This is his report:

Most honorable sir,

You leave house. I watch house. He come house. I watch. He and she leave house. I follow. He and she go hotel. I climb tree. I look window. He kiss she. She kiss he. He strip she. She strip he.. He play with she. She play with he. I play with me. I fall off tree. I no see.

No fee,
Cheng Lee

Something about SEO


What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine Optimization is the term given to optimize a website to get listed in Search Engine.

How important is SEO required for a site?

SEO is very vital to get good listing for a site in a search engine. If you want to get your sited listed in top 10 results page of a search engine for a particular Key Word then you have to optimize your site for your Key Word.

Better ranking will result in business conversion.

What is a Key Word?

Goto www.google.com and search for the term “SEO services firm” and see for results. You will be having http://www.iseofirm.com would be comming as the 7th result.

What are basic SEO standards for a website?

To get better search results a website must have

  • Title, Meta Description & Meta Keywords.
  • Must have maximum one way links. We can get one way links through;
    • Must be bookmarked with social bookmarking sites.
    • Links from other blogs.
    • Links from social networking sites.
  • Publish news about your site in free PR publishing sites.
  • Publish articles about your site.

Is there any firm providing professional SEO services?

There are several firms providing SEO services. But I’ve personally used the services of www.iseofirm.com…

Their tariffs are nominal and they are offering high quality services. Their site is also highly informative…

Home Alone


For the whole day I’ve been at home all alone. Yes no mom’s nagging, no travelling, no meetings and no friend’s visits. But was picking calls and was online so some office work is done. So what is special staying alone at home?

It means a lot time to; 

  • Think back and cherish the best moments in life.
  • Think back into horror moments and see how we overcame those situations.
  • Understanding our mistakes and thinking of solutions.

Over all got a good opportunity for self-realization.

Secondly staying alone means freedom. 

  • Got up very late.
  • Didn’t take bath till evening.
  • Had some grub by evening.
  • Then washed cloths @ 10 o clock in the night.
  • Staying awake without mom’s interference at 4 o clock in the morning and blogging.
  • Watching TV channels of my likes. No Airtel Super Singer or reality shows.

Whole day lived a life which was total indiscipline and been myself. Again back to business from tomorrow and let me close the day without knowing if I’ll get a chance again like this.

Signing off for now… Good Night…

Law of the Garbage Truck


One day I hopped in a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his brakes, skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was really friendly. So I asked, ‘Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!’ This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, ‘The Law of the Garbage Truck.’

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks.. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they’ll dump it on you. Don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don’t take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the streets.. The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. 

Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so….  Love the people who treat you right. Forgive the ones who don’t. Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

Have a garbage-free day!

Bangalore professional tax experience


Preparation for registering and remitting professional tax for our clients Bangalore branch started on Sunday. I had to get the route from maps.google.com. My client’s office changed six months back but it was not updated in their system in head office. So went to the old address only to find they no longer exist there. Their new office was located near to my house. One good thing for the client is they changed the new address in all their communication only yesterday.

Then from then on I had to head to Strum Board Building put up is Raseeldar Street in Sehsadripuram. The trail in Google map was long one. My father guided me thru a short route. It didn’t take more time to find places in Bangalore courtesy to my roaming in Bangalore in my college days. Now I realize noting goes as waste in life :).

Again irony in Bureaucracy started immediately. The concerned officer was on leave and there was no alternative to handle the case. But one particular staff was good enough to look into the document and told me that we didn’t fill Form I & II. I was shocked seeing the form it was completely in Kannada. I requested the offer for a copy in English / Hindi. Unfortunately forms are only in Kannada. Returned for the day doing nothing

Next day had to goto client’s office again to get the form filled as I didn’t have any clue on the contents of the form. Then I reached the professional tax office and found soft spoken gentle men who were present today. He still found some missing elements and he gave me the numbers about the penalty to be paid and he asked me to meet the superior.

One entering the superior office that is of gazette officer rank asked me come after 2 hours. Then I had to wait outside the office playing games in my mobile and making calls as my house is 25 KM from this place.

I went back after 2 hours and the officer spoke to me for 30 min without any point. He asked for offer letter of 50 employees. Immediately I understood he is expecting a bribe. He asked for 4 more documents and he said he wanted tax till date to create a Professional Tax no. and I had to return back with only 50% of work getting done.

Now we have requested clients for more documents and sure it is going to take time from their end and I must return to Bangalore again sometime this month.

Over all it is a good experience and tomorrow I’m leaving to Salem to register and remit professional tax there and I going there without expectation…

Here are some nice Dilbert’s one liners


1. I say no to alcohol, it just doesn’t listen.

2. A friend in need is a pest indeed.

3.   Try & try, if you don’t succeed, then CHEAT

4. Work is fine if it doesn’t take too much of your time.

5. When everything comes in your way you’re in the wrong lane.

6. The light at the end of the tunnel may be an incoming train..

7. Born free, taxed to death.

8. Everyone has a photographic memory, some just don’t have film.

9. Life is unsure; always eat your dessert first.

10. Smile, it makes people wonder what you are thinking.

11. If you keep your feet firmly on the ground, you’ll have trouble putting on your pants.

12. It’s not hard to meet expenses, they are everywhere.

13. I love being a writer… what I can’t stand is the paperwork.

14. A printer consists of 3 main parts: the case, the jammed paper tray and the blinking red light.

15. The guy who invented the first wheel was an idiot. The guy who invented the other three, he was the genius.

16. The trouble with being punctual is that no one is there to appreciate it.

17. In a country of free speech, why are there phone bills?

18. If you cannot change your mind, are you sure you have one?

19. Beat the 5 O’clock rush, leave work at noon!

20. If you can’t convince them, confuse them. 

21. It’s not the fall that kills you. It’s the sudden stop at the end.

22. I couldn’t repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder.

23. Hot glass looks same as cold glass. – Cunino’s Law of Burnt Fingers

24. The cigarette does the smoking you are just the sucker.

25. Someday is not a day of the week

26. Whenever I find the key to success, someone changes the lock.

27. To Err is human; to forgive is not a Company policy.

28. The road to success…. Is always under construction.

29. Alcohol doesn’t solve any problems, but if you think again, neither does Milk.

30. In order to get a Loan, you first need to prove that you don’t need it.

🙂 and here’s the best of the lot 🙂

31. All the desirable things in life are either illegal, expensive, fattening or in love with someone else

Nice management stories


Nice management stories through Gopal Ramanan.

A story from Buddha’s life…

Once Buddha was walking from one town to another town with a few of his followers. This was in the initial days. While they were travelling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his disciples, “I am thirsty. Do get me some water from that lake there.”

The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that some people were washing clothes in the water, and right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid. The disciple thought, “How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink!” So he came back and told Buddha, “The water in there is very muddy. I don’t think it is fit to drink.”

After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake. This time he found that the lake had absolutely clear water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha. Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said, “See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be…. and the mud settled down on its own – and you got clear water. Your mind is also like that! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don’t have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.” What did Buddha emphasize here? He said, “It is effortless.”

Having ‘Peace of Mind’ is not a strenuous job; it is an effortless process! When there is peace inside you, that peace permeates to the outside. It spreads around you and in the environment, such that people around start feeling that peace and grace.

Don’t keep distance

A saint asked his disciples, ‘Why do we shout in anger? Why do people shout at each other when they are upset?’

Disciples thought for a while, one of them said, ‘Because we lose our calm, we shout for that.’

‘But, why to shout when the other person is just next to you?’ asked the saint. ‘Isn’t it possible to speak to him or her with a soft voice? Why do you shout at a person when you’re angry?’

Disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the saint.

Finally he explained, ‘When two people are angry at each other, their hearts distance a lot. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other through that great distance.’

Then the saint asked, ‘What happens when two people fall in love? They don’t shout at each other but talk softly, why? Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is very small…’

The saint continued, ‘When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love.

Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that’s all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.’

 MORAL: When you argue do not let your hearts get distant, do not say words that distance each other more, else there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return.

My new hobby


For last couple of years I’ve cultivated the habit of creating new hobbies. Couple of hobbies I’ve started in the recent past and I’ve been successfully doing is; 

  • Vagabond travel trips where in I travel to places in India in all local transport / low cost transport. In this one year I’ve travelled to Kodaikanal, Munnar, KaniyaKumari, Coimbatore, Andamans etc.
  • Investments
  • Reading
  • Social media activity and I’ve become a consistent Blogger, Twitter and actively participating in Linkedin and Peerpower kind of networks.
  • Long drives and finding new routs in and around Chennai.
  • Amateur photography.

Other than this I’m adding an additional stuff to this list. Last week when I was in Coimbatore I visited G.D.Naidu’s museum and I was carried away by seeing his collections.

I always think ahead which people thing I must be crazy. When I was in college I booked my domain name WWW.AnandNataraj.Com for Rs.4000/- then using all my savings. When my parents and friends questioned my I said when I become Bill Gates one day and when I don’t get the domain I might feel bad. Though I’m not to the level of Bill Gates I’m happy that I’m the owner of the Domain name which has my name.

Likewise when I visited the museum I thought even after my death there must be something I did or I used and I thought I must start collecting something different. All my hobbies are low cost or inexpensive. So I’ve decided to collect designer articles. The first in the list is a Key-Chain in the design of shock absorber which costs Rs.350/-. So what is special about this key chain is it is GM’s Official Design.

Next thing in my list is to buy a designer wooden showcase to display all my collections. It is time to get stingy and save money for new goal.