sukku

Flew in from Mumbai yesterday evening, was in the Mumbai Airport reading a book titled "Jesus" by Deepak Chopra. Didn't do much last night as I checked by dinner time, had some RC whisky at the Cocktail hour at the Hotel F.O.C. Woke up pretty early as my body was still following Malaysian time and after that it was a busy schedule with the Auditor and then the Lawyer. Bought some more books at Walden first thing in the morning. Picked the following books: 1. The Associate by John Grisham 2. Outliers by Malcom Gladwell 3. What Got You here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith 4. It's not how Good you are, It's how Good you want to be by Paul Arden 5. The Rules of Management by Richard Templar Looks like I have a lot to read when I get back. And guess what I had for lunch, the famous Hyderabati Dum Briyani and for breakfast I had super soft idly with chutney. It's been awhile since I had all these goodies. Well tomorrow is going to be equally hectic as...

Yes all of a sudden my boss had informed me that I have to make a trip to Mumbai tomorrow and I would be with him for day there and then fly to Hyderabad for some work with my Auditor and Lawyer. I hardly had any time to prepare for the trip and I have a presentation to make to my company board of directors on my objective for the trip tomorrow afternoon before flying off. It's like jumping from the frying pan to fire as I have no answers as regards to my objective but I know I have a lot of work to do when I am there with regards to tidying up the company accounts and other matters. Besides the work, I should be able to do some shopping with regards to stocking my medicines, get a few books namely the best sellers, Indian sweets for my wife and finally get to bring back some of the things like my DVD, books etc, that I had left in Hyderabad. I hope to meet up with friends too and finally get to relish the famous "Hyderabad Dum Briyani" and the kebabs.

I guess it is one of those days where I won't forget as I had the pleasure of meeting up with a car repossessor. It was a cool affair, he was waiting beside my car Nissan X-Trail (Company Car) and informed me that I haven't paid 3 months instalment, I told him that my company must have forgotten as there are some new guys in the accounts department. But he was polite and I told him that I want to drive the car to my office which was close to the site and then talk to my accountant. He told me to sit down next to him as he had the keys and he drove me to my office. At my office I informed them about the car being repossessed and so I was told to negotiate with them and finally we agreed to a certain sum, for them not to take the car and I assured them that the company would pay up the amount owed to the Bank. In the evening, my accountant got the cheque prepared and had to look for my Director for his signature and tomorrow after another signature on the cheque and he will be i...

Taken from Robin Sharma's blog and please pass this around...... 1. You be the change you dream of seeing (Thanks Mahatma Gandhi). "If everyone of us would sweep their own doorstep, the whole world would be clean," observed Mother Teresa. She was right. 2. Make time every day to reconnect to your highest ideals and boldest dreams. Without hope, people perish.  3. Leave every person you meet better than you found them. Life's too short to withhold encouragement and kindness.  4. As I wrote in 'The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari", see every setback as a stepping stone and every problem as a blessing in disguise. Contrary to what critics might say, these are NOT corny aphorisms. They are timeless truths of humanity. (And critics are just people too scared to grow their dreams anyway - pay no attention to them. The world needs more people lifting people up rather than putting people down). 5. Go the extra mile in everything you do - you don't need a title to be a ...

Paulo Coelho I AM someone who believes in the judicial system. Despite all the drawbacks, we see — for example — the US Supreme Court disqualifying torture as a method of interrogation, even when the President and his vice have, through legal artifices, tried to justify it. Nonetheless, my belief is not shared by many people. A lawyer friend said to me, “The law is not made to solve problems, but to prolong them indefinitely”. Just to exercise my imagination, I decided to use his theory analysing Genesis, first book of the Bible. If God were alive today, we would all still be in Paradise, while He would still be replying to pleas, appeals, letters rogatory, court injunctions or writs — and would have to explain at countless hearings his decision to expel Adam and Eve from Paradise — just for breaking an arbitrary law, without any legal grounds: not to eat the fruit of good and evil. If he hadn’t wanted that to happen, why did he put that tree in the middle of the Gard...

Taken from Times of India Hyderabad Edition dated 05.02.2009. Patna: A court here sentenced a 75-year-old doctor to jail for accepting 25 rupees (USD 0.50) as bribe nearly a quarter of a century ago, officials said on Wednesday. The police had arrested Balgovind Prasad for accepting 25 rupees (USD 0.50) from a sweeper in 1985 for issuing a fake medical certificate. The case dragged on for years and Prasad was convicted in 1992 and given a one-year jail term. However, he was freed after he appealed against the sentence. On Tuesday, a higher court in Bihar reduced the one-year term to three months, saying the bribe amount was too small, but directed the police to take Prasad into custody as he was guilty of the crime. “The case was dragging and the bribe money was too small, so Prasad thought he would get a reprieve from the court,” prosecution lawyer Vipin Kumar Sinha told reporters after the verdict. “But all the charges has been proved against him.” REUTERS I bet the lawyers ...

A British man has been fined 185 pounds (approximately 13,000 rupees) for riding a horse while drunk. Godfrey Blacklin pleaded guilty for being drunk while riding the animal bareback,through the streets of Newcastle, England.      The Newcastle magistrates heard that cops found that Blacklin was slurring his words, and was unsteady on his feet. The large horse, called Bart, was held by a police officer for more than an hour near Wellbeck Road, while Blacklin was taken to a police station. “It is not a charge you see everyday. The police had concerns about him and, in the process of speaking to him, became aware of his intoxication,” a daily quoted constable David Thompson as saying. “The concern was that he was in control of a large animal where there were other road users. It was clear that he was drunk and that is definitely an offense,” he added.      Defending the charges, Blacklin said that he rode the horse as he knew it needed some exercise. “It is ridiculous. No one seems to ha...

Yes I started the New Year with some resolution but I can see now that it is like a distant past. I have broken all my resolution. One of the things that I want to do is cut down on snacking, my passion for fried peanuts. I know I am putting on weight around my waist and that has to stop (I mean the munching of peanuts) and also my passion for beer....  As they say as you get older it is that difficult to lose weight and I know how true the statement is. What else I have to do....I told myself I have to look for another job....and I am slipping away... I just got a call from my friend on a job opening in East Malaysia...and I am going to send my resume afterwards...and hopefully attend the interview within the next couple of days. So I guess I have to tackle my resolution one at a time....

The shopping mall was empty as the crowd is still away on a long extended holiday until 01.02.2009. Anyway I managed to get the snap shot of the stage for the cultural show and also a man dressed up in ancient Chinese attire like one of those opera actors or singers. If I had got any closer to him, I should control myself from pulling his beard.

"I believe each individual is naturally entitled to do as he pleases with himself and the fruits of his labor, so far as it in no way interferes with any other man's rights."  --Abraham Lincoln "The cave you most fear to enter contains the greatest treasure."  --Joseph Campbell "Life is not measured by its length, but by its depth"  --Ralph Waldo Emerson

Nice Tasty Prawns and it was succulent. Shark's fin soup and it was yummy... "Yee Sang" or Raw Fish Salad in celebration of the upcoming Chinese New Year at our office dinner. Yee Sang is made from thin slices of raw fish, shredded vegetables, herbs, spices and oil. In Malaysian Chinese culture, Yee Sang is believed to bring good fortune and wealth in the upcoming year to those who toss and mix it while shouting"Low Hei," which symbolizes liveliness, prosperity and longevity. Anyway this was the first dish served and oops....I forgot to shout....there goes my luck...BTW I was busy with the camera...

It's been awhile since I had written anything on my blog and since today is Chinese New Year, I am on leave today until Wednesday. So before I forget I would like to wish all the Chinese readers "Happy and Prosperous New Year" on this year of the Ox. On Saturday I watched "Slumdog Millionaire" on DVD, don't ask me how I got the the copy of the DVD. My take on the movie is that I liked it and the soundtrack was good. What I liked about the story line was that it was based on the experience of Jamal who is from the slum and how he learnt everything that one has to know through the harsh reality of his existence. Whenever I was flying into Mumbai, I can see the slums (Asia's largest) which shares the common boundary wall of the Mumbai Airport. I have also seen beggars in Hyderabad carrying babies in order to beg for more money based on the sympathy from the public. And I knew that these babies were actually for hire and the beggars are part of a syndicate ...

"The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it." --Michelangelo Buonarroti "The outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to reflect their inner beliefs." --James Allen "Your perception is your reality." --Matt Dunlop

Well I had chopped of my banana tree and hey...presto....I got a few more tiny trees sprouting....it's now...to cut...or not to cut....what do you think? Thought of writing on some other topic....but then I got lost in my thoughts and had decided to post some photos on the plants that I have at home... not much of a choice anyway for my blog... I am having a long break from this Sunday until Thursday next week because of Chinese New Year break and I promise to update my blog with better stuff... till then....have a good week ahead....and happy shopping if you are a chinese.... btw ....which plant did you like from the pics above and why?

"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow." --Ralph Waldo Emerson "Either you deal with what is the reality or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you." --Alex Haley "In our desire to impose form on the world and our lives we have lost the capacity to see the form that is already there; and in that lies not liberation but alienation, the cutting off from things as they really are." --Lao-Tzu

Wealth is not an absolute. Its worth is relative and keeps changing, say Jug Suraiya and Narayani Ganesh A Greek king once asked Solon, the renowned lawmaker, “Tell me, have I had a good life?” Solon replied: “No one can say.” The point that the jurist was making was that no life could be considered either happy or sad while that life was still continuing because a sudden reversal of fortune could, overnight, transform happiness into sorrow or sorrow into happiness. The same holds true for financial fortune as well. As any good finance manager will tell you, all wealth is notional until you cash it in. For example, if you own shares or property, the value of these is only in the mind. You derive no immediate actual benefit from it. The value only gets actualized when you sell the property or shares and convert these into cash and exchange the cash for goods and services. Had you held on to these assets without cashing them in, their value would have always remained purely theoret...

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation." --John F. Kennedy "Love without action is meaningless and action without love is irrelevant." --Deepak Chopra "Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek." --Barack Obama

We are able to perform better at work when our family life is happy and contented, says Stephen R Covey Regardless of whether we live in the US, India or anywhere else, family is the building block of any society, and our greatest fulfillment lies there. Of course, one needs to give due importance to work. But if any society works diligently in every other area but neglects the family, it would be the same as straightening deck chairs on the Titanic. We all seek happiness but what most of us discover is that happiness is a home-made product. If you have strong and effective relationship with family members — whether living together or apart — the resultant good vibes and mental solace tend to overflow into all other aspects of life. When your family is heading in the right direction, you are better able to perform and focus at work. On the other hand, if things aren’t going well at home, it is difficult to be deeply happy anywhere else. Thus, it is supremely important that at hom...

The photos were taken at Mid-Valley Shopping Mall and I was there to get an Ipod Classic for my son as a New Year gift but there wasn't any stock at the Apple reseller and I didn't want to get it anywhere else and I guess I have to wait until after the first week of January 2009 for the stock to arrive. The shopping mall was spruced up for Christmas and New Year as you can see by the pictures and the Christmas trees were lovely and the whole shopping mall had a Christmas atmosphere. We had our lunch at the food court and after that I had to get a shorts for my son at Jusco and boy the cashier really pissed me off. Just because it's a holiday, don't tell me that the hypermarket wants to cut cost by running on a skeleton crew and we had to wait at least maybe 20 minutes to pay for it. So what did you do today on New Years day?