East or West Vodafone is Best


After trying Aircel & Airtel until 2004 I settled for Hutch (now Vodafine)… It all started with minor issues with Hutch & after then it has been a smooth ride… After sorting those issues I’ve only become comfortable and addict to this brand…

I keep hearing issues about Airtel & Aircel from my friends related to Billing, Signal Problem, Poor Customer service etc… I’ve never worried about anything else… If I was genuine in paying my bills promptly I’m given best of the service…

Now Mobile Number Portability getting introduced today a lot of my friends asked if I’ll try with some other operator… Though I’m happy that MNP is going to keep Mobile Operators on their toe’s… I’m not planning to shift because I’m sure Vodafone is only going to improve its standards compared to other operators… Infact I’m happy that I can bring all my employees under Vodafone CUG…

For now I’m following Vodafone…

How a credit card works when you shop??


Priya: I want to buy a Sony digital camera costing Rs.20,000, but I don?t have any cash right now.

Raj: Why don?t you use your ICICI Bank credit card? Never heard them say ? Hum Hain Na ??

Priya: I am quite skeptic about using these cards. I pay using the card, get a bill after 30 days and pay after another 20 days. This is a maximum of 50 days interest free loan. Why does any bank do it?

If I borrow Rs.20,000 on personal loan at 11%.
Interest to be paid for 50 days = Rs. 20,000 * 11% * (50/365) = Rs. 301.40.

Here the bank is giving me a loan without interest when I use the credit card. Something is wrong somewhere!

Raj: Well? let me tell you how it works when you use your card to pay for the camera.

  • You present your ICICI Bank credit card ? a VISA card.
  • Sony World swipes your card on a machine provided by Citibank. Lets call Citibank ? the acquirer bank and the process of Sony World swiping the card on that machine ? requesting authorization .
  • Citibank communicates with the card issuer ? ICICI Bank through VISA Network to check if the card is valid and has the required credit limit.
  • ICICI Bank reviews and approves / declines which is communicated back to Sony World.
  • You sign a receipt called Sales Draft given by Citibank. This is the obligation on your part to pay the money to ICICI Bank. Data on this receipt can be captured electronically and transmitted.

At the end of day or at the end of some period Sony World chooses:

  • Sony World submits the receipt you signed to Citibank who pays Sony World the money. Sony World pays Citibank a fee called Merchant Discount . Let us say this is 6% of the sale value = 6% * 20,000 = Rs. 1200
  • Citibank sends the receipt electronically to a Visa data center which in turn sends it to ICICI Bank.
  • ICICI Bank transfers the money to a settlement bank which in turn transfers the funds to Citibank.
  • Citibank pays ICICI Bank an Interchange Fee of 4% of the;
    • sale value = 4% * 20,000 = Rs. 800
  • 20 to 50 days later ICICI Bank gets the money from you ? and you don?t pay the interest!!

Priya: Interesting! So Sony World pays more than the interest that I should have paid for the loan that I take. I, as a cardholder have the following benefits

  1. Convenience of not having to carry cash.
  2. Credit availability ? free of interest.

However what benefits does Sony World get for paying so much money?
Isn’t it more profitable for them to take cash?
They can save as much as Rs.1200.

Raj: Certainly. Some retail outlets offer you discounts if you pay by cash, don’t they?

However when you don?t count the money that you are spending, you tend to buy more! Cards encourage this ?
called impulse purchase .

If you did not have access to credit, you would not have bought the camera this month ? or may be not any time soon either. By accepting cards, the merchant is actually extending you credit at the risk of the card issuer. He pays money to the banks to carry that risk.

Priya: So ICICI Bank uses this money to pay back to us when they announce 5% cash back. They insist that the Sales draft that I sign at the retailer should also be from ICICI Bank. This means they are saving on the Interchange Fee and also pay me a part of the Merchant Discount that they get.

Raj: Exactly! If you have noticed, ICICI Bank gives you the cash back in the next credit card statement. They keep the ?cash back? money for a maximum of 60 days before passing on a part to you. This accrues them interest too.

Say if ICICI Bank earns an interest of 6% per annum for the cash they carry ?

they get Rs.1000 * 6% * (60/365) = Rs. 10

That is not huge, but money nevertheless. And when you consider that almost everyone in this city shops with a credit card these days, it is a big sum.

Priya: And that also explains why banks tie up with petrol pumps? like ICICI Bank has tied up with HPCL and I could re-fuel there without having to pay the fuel surcharge of 2.5%. The card issuer and the acquiring bank is the same and that saves interchange fees.

Raj: Good! You seem to have figured out how it all works! Let me summarize:

[All the numbers used to explain concepts in this article must be treated only as an example. Merchant Discounts may vary from bank to bank. Interchange Fee is regulated by VISA and MasterCard]

Wine Terms


The wine industry has many industry-specific terms that can be a bit daunting, especially for newcomers to wine. In this article, I will provide brief explanations of key wine terms.

  • Acidity is what makes your mouth pucker when you drink wine. If you smell and taste a lot of grapefruit and lime in the wine, you can expect a fairly acidic wine.
  • Appellation is the wine region the grapes are grown in. Napa Valley is an appellation. Within the Napa Valley appellation, there are 15 subappellations, or AVAs (American Viticultural Areas). Appellations are designated by government agencies or trade bureaus, depending on the country.
  • Sulfites are byproducts of yeast that occur naturally in grapes and that wine makers add to wine in large part to improve a wine’s shelf stability.
  • Legs are the rivulets you see coming down the wine glass. While legs are fun to look at, they don’t tell you anything about the quality of the wine. They tell you about viscosity and alcohol content. As a general rule, the more pronounced the legs, the higher the alcohol content of the wine.
  • Malolactic fermentation (MLF) is when malic acid is converted to lactic acid and carbon dioxide. When you think malic acid, think tangy and sharp, like a green apple. When you think lactic acid, think milky. A Chardonnay that hasn’t gone through MLF is likely to taste crisp and clean. A Chardonnay that has gone through MLF is likely to taste more mellow and buttery.
  • Meritage (rhyming with heritage) is the term used to designate American-made Bordeaux blends.
  • Tannins are flavonoids in wine that make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth. They are more prevalent in red wines than in whites, because they come primarily from the grape’s skin. Wines with a lot of tannins, such as Cabernets, tend to be more ageable than wines with lower tannins.
  • Terroir is a French term that represents the growing environment of the grapes. It encompasses the content of the soil, the slant of the hill, the direction of the sun, the amount of fog and precipitation, and anything else impacting the grape’s growing experience.
  • Varietal refers to the grape from which the wine is made. Examples include Merlot, Chardonnay and Zinfandel. Somebody might ask you what your favorite varietal is. If you are new to wine, you might say that you are exploring many different varietals but that you lean towards the sweeter varietals such as Riesling.
  • Vintage is the year the grapes are grown and picked. The vintage year is reflected on the label. If you go to the store and see a 2007 wine on the shelf, you know that the grapes were grown and picked in 2007. But you don’t know whether the wine went through a long aging process and was bottled only recently or whether the bottle has been sitting on the shelf for a number of years.

Source: Benny’s Wine Musings

How Smirnoff Vodka Became The Best Selling Vodka


In the late 30’s the Smirnoff Vodka makers was looking to increase sales. In general they were ‘ok’, they were surviving but not really thriving. The company decided to hire an outside consultant for creating new marketing message. This consultant studied the Smirnoff Vodka in and out. He tried to understand every aspect of the vodka and what makes it unique. By doing this – he would be able to launch an effective marketing campaign for Smirnoff Vodka focused on Smirnoff’s unique selling points.

In his research he discovered one thing that was very unique: When you drink the vodka – you don’t have the smell of vodka in your mouth afterwards.

Based on this discovery, Smirnoff launched a campaign promoting this message and the company became one of the top selling Vodka companies in the world.

Message : Its all about finding that one little thing in your business thats a little bit better then your competitors.

Tees Maar Khan Hilarious


I’ve never had any best company to watch a movie unlike Mr.KaviRaj & how can I explain an experience if the movie is also Hilarious… Another thing which I want to tell before venturing into my review is that we went to the movie on time for the first time… Yep this is a miracle with Kavi…

Talking about TMK I was taken back to watch the movie owing to bad review on media and from friends… But the movie was great stress burner and I don’t know what made people to give it a thumbs down… I really enjoyed the entire movie and both half of the movie was quick with its screen play…

So here are my good pointers about the movie;

  • No say about Sheela Ki Jawani item number…. Music was awesome, Kate was hot and Dance was more than expected from kate…
  • Though Katrina Kaif had nothing big… She can get contented with Sheela Ki Jawani which is a must play song in all party…
  • Akshy Kumar was as usual casual with his comedy…
  • Akshy Khanna also did a good job & he best utilized his opportunity…
  • For a Sallu fan it was a gift to get a peep on Sallu with Wallah Re Wallah…

Over all it was a treat and it was best time out after a long time..

1st Jan 2011


After having a long nap at residency I got back to my house by 4 in the evening… My mom was curious to know how I partied and it was time to narrate her the way I enjoyed the day… Then my parents had to move to a party organized in my fathers office…

Then I got a call from my friend Roshan & we thought we have to goto Ganesh temple in ECR and then to have a small get-together in our Residency room… There was huge traffic and he were late by an hour and we reached Residency by 8.45 PM…

First person to reach the place was Natraj, then came Rooban, followed by Prasad & finally by Arshet and his friend… We all had a nice interaction and we had a nice Business discussion… Finally I left the hotel by 2 AM and reached home after having a great Party & a get-together…

Wonderful New Year Bash


It was almost 6 PM reaching Chennai from Chidambaram… Almost all my pals were not available;

  • Balaji is in Australia…
  • Kavi went to Bangalore to meet his fiancee…
  • Roshan went to Thirupathi…

And my saviour of the day was Rooban & things were not planning until the last minute… When I called Rooban at 6 PM he asked me to get ready for a drive to Pondy… I was not excited with Pondy for following reasons;

  • I just travelled through Pondy while driving to Chennai…
  • We were not planned and any messing will spoil the day…
  • I always cant forget C@$%^Y in Pondy and am not prepared to there for any other event…

Then we finally decided to Settle for some place in Chennai… Since one of my old friend had taken rights to organize events at The Park I had open access to Pasha, Leather Bar & Banquet hall… Because of the crowd at Leather Bar & Pasha we settled at Banquet Hall… Events got started by 8.30 PM and when I checked time it was 1.30 AM… We all missed to Shout Happy New Year at zero’th hour… That was the fun we had that night…

Then we went to Thiruvanmiyur beach and stayed for some time… Then we started feeling hungry and went to Taj Coromandel only to be sent back because the Restaurent is closed… Then we went to Residency for buffer and after a small grub we decided to book room and stay there…

Since we got free entry and spent nothing for the New Year bash we booked a room at Residency slept until 1 PM and went back home… Then after wishing my parents, going to a temple with Roshan we rushed back to the Hotel to utilize the full 24 hours…

Over all it was really an electrifying New Year and I’m charged enough to start 2011 with a bang…