"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment." 
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life is a journey and not a destination..

Life is a remarkable journey that takes us up and down a road of happiness, growth, interaction, love, fear and sometimes pain and hardship, which comes with all the good we are blessed with. Everyone has their own journey, yet we all experience the same emotions and struggles that are synonymous with life. Our journey will begin with our cry at birth and end with our last breath at  death.

From birth to death we are always experiencing sensations from the world we live in. We are nurtured, loved, taught and grow, through every good and bad we encounter. Every stage of our life prepares us for the next. We learn to be social beings by interacting with everyone who crosses our path. We learn about each other through communication, intellect and emotion.

As we travel along our own road we remember people who were once an important part of our lives. We may not see these people anymore but, they will always be thought of on our journey of discovery. They will be tucked away in our minds and hearts.  Relatives, old friends, teachers and mentors have aided us in our development and also helped us along this remarkable journey of existence. They created our foundation of growth and have contributed to who we are.

We hit milestones as babies and prepare for many years of school and learning. We sometimes move from one house to another, date different people, travel or stay local. As we age and our body goes through the many transformations from birth to death we can visually observe these changes that take place in our lives. We start out vulnerable and dependent and, before the journey is completed we can easily end up vulnerable and dependent once again as we age, and it becomes harder to do the same things we once did.. The road seems to come full circle as we become elderly and  in need of assistance once again like we did as infants.

We work hard to accomplish our goals and discipline ourselves to be productive people who can make a difference in this wonderful world we live in. We start out learning from others and if we are lucky enough, down the road we can teach others the information we obtained, as we pass through certain stages of development. We go from student to teacher as we start learning from others and then with knowledge behind us we can begin to give advice and help others from the experiences we obtained.

We should not rush through our journey, because, every stage along the way can never be taken back. We will not physically pass through again. We need to continue forward as life does not give us a do over. Life is short and as we look back, it seems like it was yesterday, when it very well may have been many years that we were in a particular place, at a particular time, feeling a certain emotion.  

The destination is not the goal. Although those of us who believe in a heaven should prepare and be good people on earth to obtain the final glory of peace and tranquility with our God.  But, as we live our lives we should always take time traveling along our journey.  We should remember all the goodness and experiences that crossed our path and realize each stop along the way is part of the whole picture, the complete snapshot of our lives.

Life is a continuous journey of wonderful experiences that shape us.  We should always embrace our joys and sorrows, knowing that it is all part of where we are going and who we are. The happiness that we feel, and the many emotions we have will take us up and down this magnificent road of beauty, love, peace, joy and loss that is all truly part of life's journey.  Every step along the way should be savored, understood and enjoyed as it is meant to be in order to make this unique remarkable journey complete.

Check Your PF online soon

Checking your PF account balance will soon be hassle free. Central Provident Fund Commissioner has announced that come September and subscribers of the employees provident fund organisation will soon be able to monitor their account online.Officials stated that 'EPFO' has already put in place a software for all its 120 regional offices for updating accounts year-wise that will help it meet the finance ministry's challenge of updating all pending accounts by September this year. Apart from facilitating the subscribers , this move is expected to ensure that employers make timely payment in to the PF account and also pressurize the regional EPFO office to maintain regular updated account. Once the system goes online subscribers will only have to put in their account numbers and select their regional office to see the amounts in their accounts up to the last updates.

Good Government decision for Aam Junta - Salaried persons below Rupees 5 Lakh taxable income need not file IT Returns

Lakhs of Indian salaried taxpayers whose taxable income, including salary and interest income, is up to Rs 5 lakh, will not be required to file income-tax return from now.

No income tax returns is required for salaried persons whose annual taxable income including salary and interest is up to Rs 5 lakh.
However, this would not cover income from other sources like house property , capital gains and gains from profession and business.

The scheme would be applicable from assessment year 2011-12 onwards. This means that salaried persons eligible under the scheme would not have to file returns for the financial year 2010-11 in 2011-12 (assessment year).

Under the scheme, those salaried persons who want to claim tax refund, would have to file income tax return.

As per the Memorandum to the Finance Bill 2011, the government will be issuing a notification exempting 'classes of persons' from the requirement of furnishing income tax returns.

Under the scheme, the salaried person wants exemption from filing IT return, has to disclose about the incomes like dividend and interest to his employer for tax deduction. In the scenario, the Form 16 issued to salaried employees will be treated as income tax return. At present, it is obligatory for all salaried persons to file income tax return under the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The idea behind the move is that in cases where there are no other sources of income, filing of a return is a duplication of existing information.

Investment Tips for Beginners

• Pay yourself first every month
• Automate your investments through ECS
• If you are a beginner, do not invest directly in the stock market, instead take equity exposure through mutual funds.
• For long term capital building safety of principal amount is important.
• Make sure your savings are not sitting idle, they should stay invested to beat inflation otherwise while you are thinking that your savings would make you rich over time, actually they would get eroded by the monster of inflation in the long run.
• Your investments should depend upon your financial goals and objectives, don’t follow heard mentality.
• Equity investments are always good when done from the long term perspective, suggest you also invest in equity with long term perspective.
• Diversify your investments. Do not put all your eggs in one basket. Put no more than 10% of your total investments in one company.
• Build a contingency fund of liquid cash to meet your emergency needs.
• Take a balanced approach to investing. Avoid risky investments as well as an overly cautious approach to Investing.
• Monitor your investments once a quarter and take corrective action, if required.
• Do not try to time the entry and exit of your investments.
• Adapt SIP (Systematic Investment Plan) for your investment and then you would realize that every time is a good time to invest if you have a long- term outlook and if you keep investing regularly. You will enjoy the benefit of averaging and see the power of compounding.

Retirement Planning

These days most of the people are worried if they would be able to retire peacefully and gracefully as majority of private employers do not provide pension to the employees and the inflation is high, the price of everything is changing very fast and it becomes difficult to visualize how much would the same thing cost during the retirement years. Instead of getting lost on retirement, this aspect should be taken heads on, a few beginner's tips on retirement planning:-
1) Start Saving early
2) Create a Retirement Plan
3) Understand your risk tolerance and balance your investment strategy
4) Diversify your investments and assets allocation
5) Save and invest regularly as per the plan
6) make sure you pay yourself first
7) Make sure that your investment is mechanical and automated
8) yearly review your investments and make change if required
9) Never dip into your retirements savings
Sit back and relax..you should do fine in your retirement years..

Aircons - adding to the woes of environment

The weather is so hot and humid. how does it matter..these days everybody has aircons in offices, shopping malls, homes..the aircons are running full blast and we find short term solace from the heat and feel good, without possibly realizing that how much pressure we are putting on the environment and how much we are contributing to the woes of environment and endangering the future and contributing to the adverse climatic changes.

I feel ashamed of this..how to go about the much needed change..before its too late..!

Kids and Chaos Day at office - a great experience

We had Kids and Chaos Day at my office, organized by HR department which was quite a success.

My son and I had great time together.

It was a great experience. I would say a rare experience to be with your child in office on a working day.

My Son Aarav - His first school report card

Today is a very special day in my life, my son received his first ever report card (progress report), for successfully completing 'pre-nursery' with 'O' Level (Outstanding), from St. Judes.

Aarav happyily moves on to the next class 'Nursey' and would go to new school, Manav Rachna, in which 28th March would be his first day in the new class in the new school. He is very exited and we wish him the very best.

Happy Childhood...Happy Schooling...!!!

While sharing excitement with my son, i go back down the memory lane and get reminded of the fond memories of my own childhood days.

Baar Baar Aati Hai Mujhko Madhur Yaad Bachpan Teri..
Gaya Le Gaya Tu Jeevan ki Sabse Madhur Khushi Meri..

Chinta Rahit Khelna Khana wo firna nirbhaya swachchand..
Kaise Bhoola Ja Sakta Hai Bachpan Ka Atulit Anand..

India moves one step ahead in the Cricket World Cup 2011

Much awaited and talked about high profile world cup cricket quarter final match between India and Australia finally convincingly won by India, to move one more rung, up the ladder of cricket world cup 2011.

In Semi finals of the world cup India takes arch rivals Pakistan, this would be another great contest to watch.

JEETEGA BHAI JEETEGA INDIA JEETEGA....!!!

Who knows till when...

The environment has been abused in the name of growth, the corporate and country think tanks have failed in striking the balance between growth and protecting environment. The cost of growth can be really heavy, as the cost in terms of adverse affect on environment has been so far not taken up seriously, who knows till when is the question now - how long the circle would complete and people would realize that growth exists only when survival is there - Its high time now to take immediate steps to protect the environment as no one knows till when we would last to talk about growth at the cost of environment.

Life - A journey !

Life is a journey and of course a journey with no planned destinations (goals/milestones) may not be a fruitful one, having said that we should excercise caution NOT to travel so fast or be so preoccupied during the journey that we are unable to appreciate the journey itself. This is an important obvious aspect which one tends to forget in the mad rush of life these days.

The trap of social isolation - virtual socialization

More and more people have connected electronically more than
any other time in the world history, they have simultaneously
disconnected interpersonally.

Though its good that people are able to connect with friends virtually, but when one looks at a deeper level, most people are interacting socially only virtually without having human moments with their friends. This is grossly bad situation for life in general in the long run.

Connecting genuinely with other people makes one smarter, healthier, and more productive.

We should try to have more human moments everyday.

India faces Australia in quarter finals of the cricket world cup 2011

Mar 24 will decide the fate of India's world cup challenge, when India (world no. 2) clashes with Australia(world no. 1) for their berth in the semifinals.

JEETEGA BHAI JEETEGA INDIA JEETEGA....

Happiness Index

In the fast paced lives, many have forgotten the true meaning of happiness.

True happiness has slowly tip toed out of most peoples lives.

Another cost of growth - people do not realize now - but realization if comes sooner, then only some steps can be taken to improve the happiness index. Otherwise lack of true happiness is one of the factors contributing to the lifestyle health issues which are on the rise.

Happiness can not be all materialistic!

Cricket World cup 2011

What are the chances of repeat of '83 famous world cup win for the Indian cricket team.

India, a country where cricket is religion and Tendulkar is cricket God, millions of optimistic cricket fans are fancying that this is the year when India can win the world cup, which looks true when we look at the Indian batting line up on paper.

The doubts on the portability of India clinching the world cup this year stems from 3 corners:

1) The collapse of Indian batting order in the matches against more established cricketing teams
2) Very average bowling, no real savior except Zaheer Khan
3) Very average fielding

Being an Indian cricket fan I wish that India wins the world cup this time though it looks a little too much with the above 3 weaknesses - Lets hope for the best !!!

JEETEGA BHAI JEETEGA INDIA JEETEGA ....

Are these signs of beginning of end ?

Where we are headed is the big question these days after realizing the recent truth indicated by the increase in the natural disasters:-

Earthquake & Tsunami in Japan, floods in Australia, increase in natural calamities in many more geographies and the Tsunami Alert in so many countries - is this the sign of beginning of end. Is it nearing the completion of the full circle?