I am still there!

Hi all,
You all must be wondering where this guy disappeared? I am still very much there! Just got little lost with my work and personal life.
Ofcourse only 1 post in last 4 months is too bad a record for a person like me ! :)
I will come back shortly with my new thoughts!
See you soon,
-Arun

Hi Saudi Arabia!

I returned to Bangalore last month after successfully completing one of the exciting assignments in my career. It is really nice to conclude some thing with a great note.

This was my first ever visit to Middle East as well as Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is one of the prominent countries in Middle East and is also known as Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The population is around 3+ crores. The form of government is Monarchy and not democracy like in India. A monarchy is a form of government in which an individual rules as head of state, often for life or until abdication. The person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch. Currently 44 nations in the world have monarchs as heads of state, 16 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognize Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as head of state.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is being ruled by the members of a Royal family. The brothers will take oath as King in the respective order. Later the sons of eldest brother will become King and then sons of next brother and so on. There is no restrictions on how long will a particular king rules. It is as long as he lives. So every one has to wait till their turn comes. Currently King Abdullah is ruling the country. Before that King Fahad, elder brother of current king Abdullah ruled the country for about 23 years till 2005.

I was staying in a city by name Al-Khobar on the east coast of KSA. Riyadh is the capital city of SA. Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Yembu, Al-khobar, Mecca, Madina are some of the main cities in Saudi. My Place was about 450 Kms from Riyadh (Capital City) and about 1300 Kms from Mecca and Madina. Mecca and Madina are two greatest religion places for Muslim Community in the world. It is presumed or understood that the King is the savior of these two religious places and he needs to implement/follow all the rules of Muslim community in the kingdom and maintain of sanity of the religious places.

When it comes to life style here, it is little restricted compared to neighboring countries like Dubai and Bahrain. The restriction is in the form of policies and a very hot weather.

Couple of observations I made -
1. All the shops and businesses close during prayer time for about 15-20 minutes for five times a day.
There are facilities to do your prayer in all public places for ex: in places like Airport, hotel, offices etc.,
2. Alcohol/Drug are strictly banned here. If you are found to possess drugs, the punishment is death and judgment will be made within a week.
3. All the women irrespective of their community, country or religion must wear burkhas when they step out of the house and women must be accompanied by either their husband or any relative. They should also possess the proof of identity. They cannot go out alone.
4. Women cannot drive any type of vehicles in SA. They cannot work in any public sectors except in jobs like teachers, nurses.
5. Cinema is banned in public, but satellite channels are available and you get some Indian Channels like NDTV Arabia, Zee TV Arabia, Sony Max etc that are aired from Dubai. These channels are approved/censored versions of their Indian counterparts, so the contents sometimes will be little late and obsolete.
6. Life is also restricted by the weather and it makes people sit inside the house or go out only in air-conditioned car. The temperatures are very high here usually above 40 degrees. The peak temperatures at 12noon will be around will go up to 46 to 50 degrees centigrade during noon. And believe me, these construction workers from different countries work in open air at such hot temperatures! All for the love of their loved ones back home in India. It rains once or twice in a year.
7. Life is very restricted, but NOT dangerous. I had heard many stories about this country. But it is that not bad. Life here is just like in India. Only weather is very hot. If you live within your limits without trying any adventures and extra curricular activities, this country is very peaceful.
8. The neighboring countries Dubai and Bahrain are quite different than KSA and encourage a very free life style. Bahrain is just 2 Hrs drive from Saudi Arabia. You have a world-class highway connecting Bahrain and KSA. People quite often drive to this country for entertainment. Tourism is the major industry in Bahrain.
9. There are an estimated 55-lakh immigrants here in KSA, majority of them from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Philippines. Many of the Indians are living here for more than 10-15 years. I met couple of Kannadigas also who have settled here for long time.
10. But the majority of Indian population is from KERALA. It looks like a mini Kerala. Every other guy here is a Keralite!
11. For sight seeing, you can see Sand Racing in the evenings. People drive their car up the hill at high speed over a sand mountain and return at same speed. There will be so many of them trying their skills! In between you will find young kids driving their little bikes run on petrol engines and racing ahead.
12. About beaches, there are two types of beaches family beaches and hidden beaches. Family beaches are strictly for families and hidden beaches are for people from foreign countries like USA, UK..etc.,
13. The local currency is SAUDI RIYALS(SR) and fraction of it is called HALLAL. 100 Hallals are equal to 1 Saudi Riyal.
1 SR = 11.5 INR and 1 USD = 3.75 SR.
14. General food is non-veg. I can say 90% of the hotels provide only non-veg food. But there are many good Indian hotels, which provide both veg and non-veg food.
15. Dates is one of the major products grown here in this country. There are an estimated 500 different types of dates grown here. Just like the bakery shops in Bangalore, you will get too see so many sweet shops which sell variety of sweets, chocolates made of dates.
16. Saudi Arabia’s Economy is very robust for next so many years and they have excess reserve funds in their kitty to plan and implement their vision for the future. Currently the government is building a huge city called King Abdulla city near Jeddah to reduce the population density in Jeddah and provide more and more job opportunities for all. I heard there is requirement for an estimated 12 lakh people over next five years.
17. Usually tourists from outside mainly purchase Gold and Diamond here. This is not for the cheaper price, but for the quality of Gold. You will find authentic gold ornaments made of 24, 22, 20 and 18 carrots. They will even provide you with certificate on authenticity.
18. KSA has got world-class infrastructure as far as Malls and Highways. They are just replica of American highways and malls. You would really love to drive fast cars on these highways. Allowed speed limit is 120Kms per hour, but people drive at speeds of around 180Kms ! The drivers even overtake through shoulders, talk on mobiles, drink water and even take hands off the steering at these speeds! I was just thinking to what amount my company has insured on my life when we were being driven at such speeds!
19. And of course petrol is much much cheaper than water here! 1 Ltr petrol costs you 40 Hallals i.e about Rs.4.50! People have costly cars here, which consume 1 Ltr just if you start the engine! (Our kannada cine star Darshan’s Hummer consumes 1 liter of petrol for every kilometer!)
1 Ltr of water costs you any where between 2 to 5 Saudi Riyals. (Rs.22 to 55)
20. We heard there is a religious police, which strictly maintains all the religious rules. But we never faced any such situation or saw this olice force.
21. Cost of living depends on what kind of accommodation you choose. A typical double bed room would cost you around 1000 to 2000 to 3000 Saudi Riyals based on the locality. There is no advance concept here. You will have to deposit six months rent in advance. Food in Kerala hotels is quite reasonably priced. But Indian hotels in down towns charge heavily on food.
22. All the major Indian Magazines and newspapers are available in Kerala Hotels. I even bought some Kannada Magazines there.
23. There will be dust storms every now and then. The dust storm is not just hard sand, but fine particles of sand. Dust storm looks like a cloud and covers the city for about a day when it comes. It is dangerous to breath such contaminated air.

All in all, I enjoyed my stay in KSA and got a different perspective on the life here than what I had earlier. It was memorable. More later!

Back on my blog!

I am back on my blog ! :)
Sorry for not blooging for over a month. I was away from India on an assignment in Saudi Arabia. (Yes.. you can very well expect some good informative blogs from me on KSA!)
Lot of things have happened during this phase and I have met lot of different types of people. Many things to share!Watch for my blogs!
In the meanwhile I have received couple of feedback from new readers.
Thank you all for visiting my blog and providing your valuable comments.
-Arun Yadwad
arun.yadwad@gmail.com

For what all I need to save?

You know what , of late I am thinking a bit more about where is all the money going actually?( Don't say I don’t have any other work to do..! :) ) For what all I need to save? Or how many things, I mean different headers I really need to consider and care about vis a vis financial stuff.
I keep discovering and my list goes endless. I believe in any urban city whether both husband and wife are working or it is only husband is working, it does not really matter . These headers will remain common and in fact may even grow bigger. The only thing that changes is the size of the canvas that you are playing on.

I am now a days hit by this analysis bug, courtesy the advice given by my close pal Suresh Purisai other day! So I hit upon idea of analyzing and listing down these headers, which might become a full-fledged financial plan later. In this blog, I am just listing down the headers. Going further we will talk about them in detail. The audience I am considering here is the salaried class living in urban cities like Bangalore.

Whatever may be your salary, job profile or age, you need to concentrate on and consider these headers and work towards saving for them or plan for them.

Following is a comprehensive list of such headers, which may even grow further, based on the kind of lifestyle you are leading.

1. Day to Day Expenses (Like Grocery, Electricity, Water, Gas, Milk ..etc)
2. Home loan EMI or Monthly House Rent
3. Dependants Care ( Your family,Parents, In-laws or any other relatives..)
4. Insurance for your life and dependants
5. Home Loan Protection Coverage (Very IMP)
6. Children Education Fund
7. Children Marriage Fund (These two headers depend on no. of Children!)
8. Retirement Fund
9. Emergency Fund
10. Any other EMIs

I will further detail out each of this header in next few blogs.

Vasanthi Hariprakash - Goooood morning Bangalore girl....!

Do you remember sometimes back the Radio City 91 FMs mornings were filled with this loud, lively and bubbly voice called Vasanthi Hariprakash who could effortlessly speak more than four languages and light up every one's morning with her lovely voice.

When I last listened to Radio City 91 FM, this voice was missing and I was wondering where did this girl disappear? You may not be aware that she is also a qualified journalist and is a sort of multi faceted personality in her own way. When I last read about her, she was going to abroad regarding presenting some paper. She had a very successful career as an RJ at RC for more than two years and was a house hold name in all Bangalore Radio listeners circle. But for some time now, there was no news of Vasanthi.

Suddenly last week I could trace her on TV! Now she is with NDTV new channel as a full time journalist from Bangalore, a profession probably she is most passionate about. Really a good move on the part of her career.

The most popular woman radio jockey of the city, Vasanthi Hariprakash, has a very eventful career from Electronics Student to Journalist to RJ to again to Journalist.
You can read more about Vasanthi at :http://www.discoverbangalore.com/Profile15.htm

Hope she will be equally successful there in her new role. Good luck Vasanthi!

Fight one more round

Whenever I feel down.. whenever I feel 'enough is enough' I just try remembering the following creation by James Corbett. It is very inspiring and keeps me up and running again. I thought of sharing with you all.

Fight one more round...

When your feet are so tired that
You have to shuffle back to the center of the ring,
Fight one more round....

When your arms are so tired that
You can hardly lift your hands to come on guard,
Fight one more round….

When your nose is bleeding and
Your eyes are black and you are so tired that
You wish your opponent would crack you one on the jaw and
Put you to sleep,
Fight one more round…

Remembering that the man who always fights
One more round is never whipped.

- James J. Corbett

Cricket in India going the movies way...!

So much of cricket is being played in India now. ICL.. IPL..20-20, 50-50..players getting auctioned.. bollywood stars fighting for best of the teams. I wonder if cricket continues like this in India, there may be a day when cricket may overtake Indian movie industry for the sheer volume of cricket it will produce.

Today I watched an old 20-20 match again on ESPN. You know which one.. The thriller between India and Pakistan from 20-20 World Cup where India won through tiebreaker by 3-0. I did not get opportunity last year to watch this match as I was in US that time.

What a match it was! The match thoroughly entertained the crowd till the last ball and even beyond that. I should say it was full paisa vasool for every one!

As I knew the result already, this time I was watching the captaincy by both the team captains very closely. The match very effectively proved that Dhoni was a very intelligent cricketer of the two. This was evident in the selection of 5 bowlers for the tie breaker.Dhoni kept more of slow and spin bowlers and 2 seamers, where as Shoeb Malik erred and took more seamers and fewer spinners. Dhoni intelligently started off with Sehwag, Harbhajan and Robin and kept his seamers at the end. The slow bowlers bowled with their natural run up and pace and hit the wickets always.

Where as Shoeb started off with seamers and that too with a short run up! These guys erred again because they were not at all comfortable with short run up at all and could never hit the wickets! At the end Dhoni found 100% success and Shoeb 0%. It was 3-0! I guess team India was certainly better prepared to face this kind of emergency and Pakistan looked totally clueless.

Whoever wins or loses, it is ultimately the quality of Cricket I always enjoy. I feel some of the matches have some great lessons to learn from, in the way they have played. There is strategy.. there is plan, emotion, passion, grit and determination and lots of masala and suspense. Because of all these ingredients the cricket rules in India and players have become demi-GODs.

If you see the second edition of ICL tournament has produced some very good thriller and breath taking actions and whole tournament was really worth watching for the time and money you invested.ICL has come a long way since its first edition. I still remember how Stuart Binny changed the course of the match in just 3 overs and how Lance Klusener single handedly fought for his team till the last delivery. Some of the matches were simply out of this world!

People are looking eagerly for ICL tri-series Word cup edition happening next week between ICL India, ICL Pakistan and ICL-Rest of the World. Kapil is all smiles now after the second league. Unfortunately Media in India is very biased now and is not giving enough coverage for this . The best of youth talent coming from many Indian towns and proving their worth in ICL are not getting due recognition by the media. That is very sad! But I am very happy that at least these youngsters found that much needed break in ICL and proving themselves. They are doing financially well too.

Ok.. now coming back to the main topic, Cricket in India is definitely going the Indian movies way. My imagination is going wayward. If it continues how could be the future of cricket in India? I am just listing few of the possibilities here.

1. There may be some 800-100 matches being played annually in India just like the movies.
The cricket might become very commercialized like some players might say "I am booked for next 2 years. No call sheets now please !"
2. Each player irrespective of his experience will have a Individual Financial consultant, Secretary, Physio, Trainer, Doctor, A mobile Gym , Clinic and possibly a mobiile family or girl friend ! :)

3.There will be DVDs, VHS Tapes, VCDs of all matches available and people might watch some good matches again and again just for thrill.
4.Just like movies, all our kids might start dreaming of playing for a cricket club and making it big.
5. Many of the district places might come up with sophisticated world-class stadiums and multiplexes.
6. You and your son might go for an evening 20-20 match while your wife and daughter might opt for a multiplex movie.
7. There will be many ICL and IPLs. Cricketers might change their clubs just like some one changes his companies in Industry.
8. Because of the job opportunities these matches will create, there will be better mobility of funds un the market and might help economy further.
9. As players contract is purely based on quality cricket he plays, no body can take their place for granted in the team. Thus there will be many new youngsters coming to the national stage and getting recognized.
10. When you are fed with too much of something, you will lose the taste and start looking for fresh taste and new avenues.

11.There will be all types of cricket being played.. 20-20, 50-50 and Test Cricket..etc., Different class of audiences will be evolving very similr to people watching only comedies, romatic movies, suspense thriller or message oriented movies.
The new avenues look infinite for me.

1. After some time, people might lose their interest in Men's cricket. Why not Women's cricket and making it this big? We have so much to do in Indian Women Cricket. Is Subhashchandra reading this blog?

2. We have many other sports we can think promoting like this. Recently concluded Bangalore Open was such big success. We can take it further.
3. Force One of Vijay Mallya is coming up in a big way. This looks very promising in the coming years.
4. Indian Hockey...! I dont need to mention here what all we can do in Indian Hockey. Should we think of one more league like ICL to revive Indian Hockey?

You can think of many such possibilities.Personally I am very much interested in sharing such ideas and help if some one is willing to work towards bringing them to reality.

The coming days in Indian Sport are looking bright. I guess ICL and IPL rivalry is good for
our talented youngsters and as my friend Aravind Hebbalalu said other day "the day is not far off when ICL and IPL teams will lock horns to win some coveted trophy." At the end of the day it is the victory of cricket and victory of sports community!

Long live the sports community in India.