Commonwealth Games Melbourne

இந்த பதிவில் நம்ம ஊரபத்தி கொஞ்சம் நல்ல விஷயம் பேசுவோம்.போன வாரம் நடந்து முடிந்த Commonwealth Games ல் இந்தியா 22 தங்கம்,17 வெள்ளி,11 வெண்களம் வாங்கி 4 place வந்தாங்க. Samresh Jung என்பவர் 5தங்கம்,1வெள்ளி,1வெண்களம் வாங்கி'Best Athlete of the 18th Commonwealth Games' award வாங்கினார்.இந்த Award வாங்கும் முதல் இந்தியர் இவர் தான்.அவருக்கு வாழ்த்துக்கள். இதுல highlight என்னன்னா closing day ceremony தான். நம்ம Bollywood பட்டாளம் Melbourne ஒரு கலக்கு கலக்கிட்டாங்க.எப்படின்னு கீழ இருக்கற படத்த பார்த்து தெரிஞ்சுக்கோங்க.

நம்ம அக்கா ஐஸ்வர்யா ராய்,பேரழகி பிரியங்கா சோப்ரா,ரானி முகர்ஜி,லாரா தத்தா(இந்த அம்மனி நம்ம Brain Lara வ கல்யானம் பன்னிட்டா லாரா லாரா ஆய்டுவாங்களா?hehe) Saif Ali khan,Sunil gavaskar,P.T.usha,Milka Singh,Vijay Amirtharaj etc etc இவங்க எல்லாரும் வந்திருந்தாங்க.

நம்ம ரானி முகர்ஜி ,Saif Ali Khan போட்ட பங்ரா Dance பார்த்த தொன்னூராயிரம் Melbourne மக்கள் பேச்சு மூச்சில்லாம அசந்துட்டாங்க,இதையெல்லாம் பார்த்த நம்ம Tony Blair(U.K prime Minister) வீட்டுக்காரம்மா வாய பொலந்ந்ந்ந்ந்ந்ந்துடாங்க,எப்படின்னு கீழ இருக்கற படத்த பாருங்க.

It was really a good performance by Indian team all together.

டேய் கையவெச்சுக்கிட்டு சும்மா இருடா!

அன்பு நன்பர்களே Melbourne மண்ணில் நம்ம இந்தியா நிறைய தங்கம்(Commonwealth games) வாங்கினது உங்களுக்குத் தெரியும் ஆனா, உங்களுக்குத் தெரியாத ஒரு விஷயத்த பத்தி இப்ப சொல்லப்போறேன். இந்தியாவிலிருந்து இங்க வந்த (non-playing member, i mean supporting Staff) ஒருத்தர் அவர் தங்கி இருந்த ரூம(Room)சுத்தம் பன்ன வந்த பதினாறு வயசு பொன்ன(Australian) மெல்லம ஒரு தடவு தடவி பாத்துருக்கார்(sexual harrasment).அந்த பொன்னு சும்மா விடும்மா, போலிஸ்கிட்ட போட்டுகொடுத்துருச்சு,பாஸ்போர்ட்ட புடுங்கி வெச்சுட்டாங்க.நம்மாள இப்போ பேப்பர்லெல்லாம் "Indian-masseur"இப்படிதான் கூப்பிடராங்க.வந்தமா,ஊரெல்லாம் சுத்தி பாத்தமா,நாழு போஸ் குடுத்து போட்டோ எடுத்தமா,முழுங்கினமானு இல்லாம,கை வெக்கரிங்களா கையி,வெட்டிபுடுவாங்கப்பு.

ஆமாம்பா,ஒத்துக்கரேன், இங்க பதினாறு வயசு பொன்னு நம்ம நமிதால நென்டி பர்சன்ட்(90%)(எப்படி நம்ம எதுகை மோனை he he)இருப்பாங்கதான்.(நம்ம உஷாவுக்குத் தெரியும் கேட்டுப்பாருங்க). வெண்ணயா தின்னு வளர்த்த ஒடம்பப்பு அது,அப்படித்தான் இருக்கும்,அதுக்காக, கைவெச்சுடுவிங்களோ?இவனுக்கு நம்ம டைரக்டர் பாலா Treatment தான் சரிவரும்.ஏர்கனவே அவ அவனுக்கு இந்தியான எரியுது. கையவெச்சுக்கிட்டு சும்மா இருங்களேன்டா.

Credit Card Shopping !!!

This post is based on the article i read last month.If you are using credit cards and paying bills on time(within interest free period) but still wondering about how banks make money out of it, then please read on.

Let's say you are spending 20000 on your credit card and paying the same on the last day of your interest free day to avoid interest.Does that mean bank has offered you interest free loan for 50 days?In a personal loans scenario,if you borrow 20000 with 11% interest for 50 days then you pay Rs=301.40 as interest for those 50 days.(i.e 20,000 * 11% * (50/365) = Rs. 301.40.) whereas in credit cards you are not paying single cent to your bank if you payback within your interest free days(50).I guess Citibank in India gives you 5% money back on your total amount spent on your credit card.Sounds fishy doesn't it? Let me explain,Say you are buying a camera worth of Rs 20000 from Sony world using your ICICI Visa Credit card.

You present your ICICI Bank credit card, a VISA card. Sony World swipes your card on a machine provided by Citibank.Lets call Citibank as the acquirer bank by Sony World. Sony World swipe 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 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. And 20 to 50 days later ICICI Bank gets the money from you and you don't have to pay the interest!!

So Sony World pays more than the interest that you should have paid for the loan that you take. You, 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.Yes, and that's the secrete behind some other shops offering discount if you pay cash(Pay Less, Pay Cash) remember now.

On the other hand when you don't count the money that you are spending, you tend to buy more! This is called impulse purchase.Credit cards encourage impulse purchase. If you did not have access to credit card, 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.Banks(ICICI,CITIBANK) uses this money to pay back to you when they announce 5% cash back. They insist that the Sales draft that you sign at the retailer should also be from the same(ICICI,CITI) Bank. This means they are saving on the Interchange Fee and also pay me a part of the Merchant Discount that they get.

If you have noticed, Banks 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. when you consider that almost everyone in this city shops with a credit card these days, it is a big sum and same thing goes with Petrol cards as well. After home loans,credit cards is the main resource for banks revenue.Following chart explains the the whole process .

In my opinion,if you wanna save money then link your credit card with your savings account and always try to pay your bills by using your savings.

Introduction to Indian Caste Systems

Do you guys remember when you were introduced to the Indian Caste System for the first time in your life? Well, in this post I'm gonna write about my experience about how I got introduced to the Indian Caste System. I can very well remember that incident; I was studying in 3rd standard then. I did my schooling in Vasavi Vidyalam in Tirupur.It's a typical govt tamil medium school.There were 2 temples(Easwaran,Perumal kovil) near my school.Both temples are only 2 mins walking distance from my school. Me and my friend Ganapathi Subramaniam (he was my best friend) used to have lunch together those days.Some times we used to have lunch in one of those temples.

One fine day I was getting ready for school,i asked my amma what did she packed in my lunch box.She said fish kozhambu with smile on her face.At that time i wanted to ask her why she packed fish kozhambu coz she never used to give me any non-veg for lunch but as i was in a hurry to get ready to school, i forgot the whole conversation and went to school.In the afternoon, me and my friend Ganapathy went to Easwaran kovil to have our lunch. When ever we go there,the priest in that temple used to enquire Ganapathy about his family and what lunch we brought in that day and stuff.He was his relative.He did the same on that day as well and i said fish kozhambu calmly .He turned back angrily towards Ganapathy and he was looking so nervous(I really had no clue what's going on between them).

Priest then asked him exactly this,"intha mathire pasangaloda ellam en sera?"(why do u have friendship with these guys?)Ganapathy was going like, "Mama illa mama ivan antha mathire aagaram ellam konduvara mattan" and blah blah blah.(No uncle he won't bring that kind of food usually).Then the priest said to him not to have lunch with me that day and turned back and said to me if you bring mamisam then you shouldn't come to temple .I simply nodded at him.We both went to our usual place in that temple to have lunch.Ganapathy sat 20 m away from me.

To tell u guys honestly, i had no clue what so ever at that time about what's happening.I opened my lunch box and found Tomato Kozhambu instead of fish kozhambu.I found the reason for my mum's smile when she said fish kozhambu in the morning (my mum's tomato kozhamu tastes like fish curry).I was so happy to see tomato kozhambu .I stood up and said "dei Ganapathi enga amma thakali kozhamba chummanachuku meen kozhambunu solirukangada" by saying that i went near him.He started running with his lunch box and i was chasing and shouting at him like "dei ithu thakali kozhambu da Ganapathy".he went to that same priest .

I went to that priest and explained him the whole story.He laughed and said "inimel nee mamisam sapidaratha iruntha Ganapathy koda sera kudathu".I said ok.Later when i went home, i explained everything to my mum,the whole family was there.when i finished my story everyone had best laugh of their life. I had no clue for their laugh.My dad said," Ganapathy Iyer veetu paiyan da avan curry ellam sapida matan".I asked him y?he said something.I couldn't understand his explanation that stage.

When I think back now,I guess it wasn't a bad experience.Which priest on earth would allow you to have fish kozhambu inside the temple?Someone else in his place could have easily created hatred in mind about Iyers.Luckly that wasn't the case in my experience.

Day out with my CIO

I used to think that my CIO is coming to office for just to attend high level corporate meetings .I don't know how I developed this kind of thinking coz when ever I see him in his office(I can clearly see him from my desk)he'll be either talking to someone or listening to someone.If the board out side his office says he's OUT then if we check his calender, it'll probably say one of the following, Meeting with CEO,Meeting with CMG,Meeting with other corporate CIO's,Meeting with CFO or some Conference and so on.

I happened to spend my half day with him on March 1st .We both were involved in a project, showcasing IT capability of Victoria.That's during Commonwealth games.We had this meeting in the city on March 1st at 2.30 Pm,he was kind enough to offer me a lift to the city .He said to me that he's gonna catch up with some consultant in the city and they are gonna have a lunch .He asked me about my plans,I said to him that i'll meet him at 2.15 pm in Collins Place . You gonna explore the city are you? that was his instant reply .Everything was arranged,we left our office at 12 Pm, It took 45 mins for us to reach city.My whole perception about him and his job changed within that 45 mins,Boyyy i can't imagine the level of problems that he's facing as a CIO. He talked about the problems that he's facing in Budjet expenditure, Information Mgmt,ERP ,Telco system etc etc.(i can't elaborate here coz of Corporate ethics, he he).

We reached the city at 12.45 pm, we were lucky enough to find parking in some building(i guess Parking will become lucrative business in the future especially in India).Consultant was already waiting for him.He went with him to some restaurant.I took a train from parliament station and went to Melbourne Central station and had my lunch in one of the Indian restaurant, I had tomoto rice with chicken,hmm well, actually it's called chicken briyani here in this part of the world.After lunch I took train from Melbourne Central station to Parliament Station.Public transport in Melbourne is fantastic.

(One of the Escalators in Melbourne Central Station)

Many people who travelled all arround the world told me thisYou have the following modes of transport ,Train,Tram,Bus,Free City Circle trams.Once you buy a daily,weekly,monthly or 2 hr ticket, you can use your ticket in all modes of transport..Melbourne is very well (100%) planned city.Guess i have to post something about Melbourne City later.Anyway coming back to the point,I got down at Parliament station and went to Collins place.I just love this place,it's so colour full.

( Collins Place)

There were lotsa empty chairs on the other side of the collins space. I had a good 25 mins to spend in between,i settled in one of those chairs with coffee which i bought it from near by shop.I saw one white bloke struggling to do something in his girl friend face with his lips. he was trying to kiss her i guess,his height wasn't helping him much and yeah ,his girl friend 5 inch heels wasn't helping his purpose either.I guess there is only 2 options left for this poor chap, his gf shouldn't wear any heels and should bend down a bit when he's trying to kiss her or he should find another girl,preferably a short one.

There were lotsa pretty girls going in and arround that place but they are no way near to our pretty Coimbatore girls(should i say Tamilnadu girls or Indian Girls??).Few minitues later, I saw my CIO coming out from other side and i went and joined with him.

AUSTRALIAN SUMMER

தீயின்றித் திரியுமின்றி தேகங்கள் எரியுமென்று
இன்று தானே நானும் கண்டுகொண்டேன்!!!!!!





That's what happens if you play cricket in Australian Summer.