Variant Day: February 2006

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

[Biz] Union Budget 2006 - A perspective review

The Union Budget of 2006 has been a mix of highs and lows. When Chidambram quoted Charles Dickens' - 'the best of times and the worst of times' for the time the country is going through, he also set the stage of the upcoming budget too. In this small review, I present the budget from my perspective - proposals that would affect me personally. As a typified professional working in a large corporation, this probably would be how many of my colleagues would be affected too.

First the highs - the country is doing well with a GDP of 8%+. Completion of 96% of the Golden Quadrilateral would give the required shot in the arm to the ailing infrastructure. Manufacturing sector shows signs of recovery at 9.4%. Some semblance is likely for the residents of Bangalore as the metro rail project gets a nod. To ensure that the stock markets keep chugging at their current pace, FII investments have been increased from $1.75B to $2B. VAT has been a success in the previous year and will now be implemented in other states too. And goods are likely to get cheaper due to reduction in customs, import and excise duties for a broad spectrum of products.

For the salaried class, the 1/6 rule for filing taxes has been abolished. The tax rates will remain the same. In this I feel PC has taken the 'why fix something that's nor broken' approach. There's one important proposal in this budget that's likely to pinch all our pockets - service tax has been hiked from 10% to 12%. Since this tax applies to a wide variety of services, most of us will be directly affected. The finance minister has indicated his proclivity for savings - he's exempted long term FD from income tax.

In my personal opinion, this budget is likely to increase the cost of services but decrease the cost of goods. I hope the service tax increase and the VAT/duty combination balance each other out. We shall see the effects of this budget unfolding in the coming months.

posted by Div @ 12:54 AM 1 comments

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

[Personal] Cute Children and History!

Hi Friends,

Sometimes something happen during the day that changes the entire course of events. Something that brings a smile on your face, a smile that lasts all day. That event needn't be really big or significant… it could be just something cute. Today, i came across this small video on our corporate site. Its about children and history. Children definitely are ineffable, so lovely and beyond expression. And they are at their best when that talk in their sweet voices. Here's the video. I'd be glad if this made your day too…lemme know :)

(Opens in a new window)

PS: Legal, if you are reading this and don't want me to put this wonderful video out for the world, just mail me on my corporate id. Rest, please enjoy :)

posted by Div @ 1:05 AM 3 comments

Sunday, February 12, 2006

[Personal] I Carry Your Heart with Me

I carry your heart with me (i carry it in my heart)
i am never without it (anywhere i go you go,my dear;
and whatever is done by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear no fate (for you are my fate,my sweet)
i want no world (for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

Here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;
which grows higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

-- E. E. Cummings

posted by Div @ 10:33 PM 2 comments

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

[Personal] Split Second Decision

It was Tuesday night. I was traveling home, taking the normal route. It was a relatively cool night. There weren't many vehicles on the road and I was having a smooth cruise. The wind was fresh with the aroma of the night. The cool air had me enveloped in its folds. It was making that distinctive mild whistle as I steered back home. Just then I noticed a Santro had pulled over about fifty meters ahead. It had its emergency lights on and the hatchback was open. In the dim golden street-light, I could see the figure of a girl standing beside the open hatchback. As I approached the vehicle, I saw her trying to work her way towards the tyre kept there. I couldn't see the girl in that light, but only saw a figure in the backdrop of those yellow-orange emergency lights going on and off periodically. By then I had just passed the car. It took me two seconds to realize that her car needed a tyre change and she probably needed help. With my speed, I had reached 100 meters ahead of the car and then decided to turn back. One U-turn and then another, I came back to the spot where the car was. But now, from a distance I could see more than just a figure, there were three. As I approached I saw figures of two men, probably passersbys, removing the tyre. I was happy that she'd got some help. And I decided to move on...

It was still fifteen minutes to reach home. As I reflected upon the incident and how I reacted to it, I wondered… why did it take me that two seconds to come to a decision? It definitely was thinking from the gut. But not my usual instinct…which is way faster than that. I realized that sometimes we don't have the time to weigh all the possibilities before we make up our minds. Sometimes the rational process is too slow to handle situations. Sometimes we just need to let go and judge on instinct. This event made me conscious of this fact and I think that split second is very important. I know now and am working towards it.

posted by Div @ 10:27 PM 5 comments

Monday, February 06, 2006

[Personal] Weekend Movies...

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

If you've seen the latest MI3 trailer and wondered who the lavishing lady is, then you should watch 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang'! Michelle Monaghan, the leading lady, doles out a multitude of emotions well - from a bubbly girl to a smoldering seductress. This movie would form a good prologue to the Tom Cruise movie.

Overall the movie is ok, and at times I was reminded of the Pikies in Brad Pitt starrer Snatch. These two have a similar style - broken story lines, gaps in the narration - and the audience has to work out the movie. But definitely, Snatch was way much better.

Robert Downey Jr and Val Kilmer are in the leading roles. One, by a stroke of fate has landed in LA for acting and the other is a private investigator who is training the other guy. And then there are two threads of story which happen to converge towards the end (what a coincidence!).

Overall the movie is ok, and watchable.

Rumor Has It…

Jennifer Aniston is a NY city girl whose career is going no where and is tired of her mundane life. Her boyfriend, Mark Ruffalo, is a lawer and is looking forward to a happy married life with Aniston. But then the plot takes a sharp turn when she discovers that her family is the undisclosed source for the story of 'The Gradute' (novel and movie). Aniston then resolves to unearth the secrets behind her family and find out if her father is her real father.

Average acting and a tenuous plot leave us wanting for more. Mena Suvari is someone to watch out for. Overall, if you haven't seen this movie, you probably can safely skip it.

posted by Div @ 9:15 PM 0 comments