You — Not Your Competitors — Define Your Destiny

You — Not Your Competitors — Define Your Destiny

via GigaOM by Om Malik on 2/24/11

When I was a little boy, my grandfather gave me some advice: He suggested I always march to the rhythm of my own drum. While he said it made perfect sense for me to appreciate others and what they did, in the end what would make me unique was me. Of course, I was too little to quite understand what he meant. Soon thereafter, he passed away. But as I’ve grown older, I’ve started to appreciate his wisdom.

Why do I bring this up? Because I increasingly see companies, both big and small, often focusing too much on their competitors and not focusing on being unique. A few weeks ago, when I stopped by at the Square offices, COO Keith Rabois, in response to a question about his competition, succinctly said it was what he and his company does which will determine the outcome for the company.

If one sets the rules, then there is a distinct advantage when it comes to winning. However, if a company spends all its energy trying to be the same as another, it has already lost the game. It’s letting someone else define the agenda. Instead of trying to be great at what they do, companies start to come-up with reactive and mediocre strategies that are well, mediocre.

Let’s take this year’s big news: tablets, or rather, rivals of Apple’s iPad. HP announced its WebOS-based TouchPad. Motorola announced Xoom, which is powered by Google’s Honeycomb tablet-oriented Android OS. There are scores of others that have been announced and/or are waiting in the wings. They all have one thing in common: They are desperately trying to be the iPad. HP couldn’t resist using “pad” in the name. Others may not have the name, but are essentially trying to beat iPad on what was known in the PC world as “feeds and speeds.”

The problem is that the minute Apple announces its rumored iPad 2, all these devices are going to take on a look of last season’s couture. What Apple does so well is that it doesn’t pay too much attention to what others are doing, and instead, builds what it feels is the right product. Same goes for other iconic brands such as Mercedes.

The big companies can be excused for catching this “keep up with Joneses” disease, but what is inexcusable is startups spending all their energy on trying to keep tabs on their competitors, taking a cue from their rivals (and often copying them) and in the process, not focusing on what really matters: their product and strategy as it relates to their customers.

In my professional career, especially as an entrepreneur, I found that whenever I did things my way, I found not only great satisfaction, but also found an edge that was entirely my own. When I’ve deviated from that approach, I’ve found things have started to go wrong. Today, the world of news is commoditized and has turned into churnalism; the way we stand out is by focusing on analysis and our own unique twist on news. It might not be for everyone’s taste, but there are many who find that useful.

In my favorite TV show, House, Dr. Lisa Cuddy, when trying to convince Dr. House  that they should be together, said that what they had was unique and not common. “Because common is just common.” Next time, remember that.

4 things about Home Loan you might not Know

 

4 things about Home Loan you might not Know

via Jago Investor by Manish Chauhan on 2/22/11

Can you claim tax deduction for your under-constructed house? Can you claim tax for the home loan taken from your friend and not from Bank ? These are some of the questions which are not generally discussed over and lot of investors have no idea about actual rules. In the video below I will talk about four not so known rules of home loans . Keep reading ! . Readers on email can watch the video on this article.

1. Tax deductions for House under-construction

Can you claim tax benefits for home loan taken for under-construction house ? A lot of investors assume that they can claim tax deductions and without doing much research, they go ahead with the loan. However they should know the fact that claiming tax in case of under-construction house is different. You cannot claim the tax deductions for the principal amount for under-construction house. You need to have possession and certificate of ownership to claim tax under 80C. However Interest part is little different. You can not claim the interest amount, unless you get the possession of house . However you can always claim the deductions later in 5 equal installments for next 5 yrs from the end of financial year of possession.

Example : Suppose Ajay bought a house on loan on 5th June 2010 and he pays total 3 lacs as interest in next 2.5 yrs and gets possession on 7th Nov 2012 . He will be able to claim this 4 lacs Rs in equity installments in the next 5 yrs period , which is 80,000 per year in 2013 – 2017 . However the total limit for exemption will still be 1.5 lacs per year.

2. Selling the House before 5 yrs reverses the tax saved earlier

We think of saving tax, but once the tax is saved for a particular year, it does not mean the story ends here. The tax benefit under sec 80C is allowed for home loans considering the condition that it wont be sold before 5 yrs from the date of purchase. Read some nice tips for house buying from real buyers

If you sell your house before the expiry of 5 yrs, all the money you saved under sec 80C in earlier years will be deemed to be your income in the year of sale and added to your salary. For example, if you bought the flat in Oct 2010 and in next 4 yrs you saved 1 lac in tax under sec 80C, then this 1 lac will become your income in the year of sale and will be taxed . However interest component once saved is saved and it wont be reversed.

The tax benefit under section 80c is allowed subject to the condition that house property should not be sold before a period of 5 years. If you sell the house before the expiry of five years from the end of the financial year in which you obtained the possession, the deduction will be discontinued and the entire tax deduction claimed in earlier years under section 80c – for repayment of principal component of the home loan – will be deemed to be your income (in addition to capital gains) in the year in which you sell the property. However, the housing loan interest deduction claimed under section 24(b) won’t be reversed.

3. Loan taken from Friends and Family is eligible for Deductions (Interest)

Incase you want to take loan from your friends , parents or any other person , you can still claim the interest on the loan under sec 24 , which is upto 1.5 lacs per year . However you can not claim the principal amount under sec 80C, that’s applicable only if you take up the loan from some Bank or financial institution . So you don’t always need to take the loan from Bank. if you can take it from a friend or Family , you can still claim tax deductions on Interest part .

4. 80C is not allowed for loans taken for Extension or Renovation of House

If you take a loan for extension or renovation of your existing house, in that case you can not claim the principal part under sec 80C , but you will be able to claim interest amount under sec 24 , which is 1.5 lacs per annum .

10 Things I am Trying to Teach My Kids About Money Before They Reach Adulthood

A Post by Frugal Dad

1. No one owes you a thing. Too many people go through their entire lives with the expectation they are owed something. This is not the case, or at least it shouldn’t be. All you should ever expect is to be judged, compensated and respected based on your work ethic and your ability to create, inspire and hustle.

2. Debt is a cancer. Debt is a cancer on our society, on households, and on us as individuals. It saps creativity. It creates pessimism. It robs your future dollars. It limits your freedom. Avoid debt like the plague. Remember the old adage:

“He who understands interest – earns it. He who doesn’t understand interest – pays it.

3. Save for emergencies…big emergencies. When you are young and many years from considering retirement (and not earning much), it’s tough to save money. But I have discovered no softer pillow than having money in the bank for emergencies. Aim to save about a year of your basic living expenses in a simple savings account (no risky investments here). With a one-year cushion, you’ll be able to weather storms many others will not.

4. Live simply. In 2011, life seems pretty complicated. By the time you are adults, I imagine it will be even more so. There will be new gadgets and toys and cool services and “got to haves.” The problem is, all these things compete for your earnings. I’m not advocating living like a pauper, but limit yourself to only a few of life’s luxuries.

5. Sleep on big financial decisions. When it comes time to buy a car, or a house, or book your first major vacation as a family, sleep on the plans for a couple nights. People selling you these things want you to act immediately to lock in their commission, as I would expect them to, but remember that you are the one who has to pay the bill. Some of my biggest financial regrets came because of a knee-jerk reaction. Be slow. Be methodical. Listen to your gut.

6. Protect your credit. Not because you hope to borrow money, but because you may find people extending a service to you may do so for less cost if they think you aren’t a big risk. And if those people don’t know you well, your credit score may be their only determining factor. It’s not necessarily fair, but it’s a part of life. Credit blemishes can hang around for a decade, so it’s best to avoid them in the first place.

7. Learn to do things yourself, but don’t be afraid to call in the experts. You may remember the time your dad rescued a toy from the toilet trap, saving us an expensive plumbing repair bill. Or the time I climbed up in the attic to unclog the air conditioner drain. But your dad knows his limitations, and calls in the experts when necessary. That’s what emergency savings are for.

8. Shallow people judge your things, real friends judge your character. Some of the saddest, loneliest people I’ve ever known have been surrounded by the nicest things money can buy. They often acquired these things to impress people they thought mattered, and in many cases it did – temporarily. Meaningful relationships are based on things money cannot buy: trust, respect, integrity, compassion, love.

9. Don’t trade the things you care about for a big salary. Remember what mattered to you most when you were a kid: Family, fun, dreams. These things should remain important to you as a grown-up, but often adults sacrifice these things to earn a big salary. Now, everyone has to sacrifice some to earn a living, but by learning to be content, you may be able to earn a comfortable living while still enjoying other things.

10. Start saving early. Remember those money games we used to play when you were a kid? One of them was an attempt to get you to understand one of the great financial wonders of the world: compound interest. You see, when you save money you earn interest on it. The next month you earn interest on the money you first put in, plus the interest you earned the month before. That’s right; you earn interest on interest. Now carry out that example for many years, even decades, and you can understand how some people are able to accumulate wealth. The trick is, you have to start early.

Finally, keep in mind something your great grandfather taught your dad about finding balance. Be frugal, but remember to occasionally stop and smell the roses. Life is short, and it is meant to be enjoyed. Take an expensive vacation every now and then. Buy something of your “heart’s desire,” even if it doesn’t make sense financially. Be frugal in other areas of your life to make room for things you truly enjoy.

 

 

The Habit of Being Honest

The Habit of Being Honest

Atanu Dey on India's Development

A few days ago, a Pakistani singer by the name of Rahat was caught smuggling around $130,000 out of India. It does not matter what the prescribed penalties are for such an act but the interior minister of Pakistan called up the Home Minister of India, P. Chidambaram and thanked him for facilitating Rahat’s release. Thanks to Mr Chidambaram’s intervention in the matter, it all ended well for the singer. But not for the country.

I could not help but marvel at that incident, and it brought to mind another incident. That one also involved the breaking of a law by an expatriate and a call from an official of the home country. That matter ended differently. In the difference in the outcomes of those two apparently trivial incidents lies the explanation for the enormous differences in the fortunes of two states.

It was 1994. An American expatriate in Singapore was convicted of vandalizing property. Not a big deal in the overall scheme of things — an 18-year old doing what teenagers sometimes do — but the law in Singapore was clear on the matter of vandalism. The sentence was four months in jail, S$3,500 in fines, and caning — six lashes on bare buttocks.

The US president, Bill Clinton, appealed for clemency. Two dozen senators wrote to the Singaporean government for mercy. But the sentence was carried out. Michael Fay was convicted of a crime and he paid for it, which was the law of the land. (The lashes were reduced to four from six — out of respect for the US President’s appeal.)

Singapore and India are entirely different states. Though both were neck and neck economically around 50 years ago, today Singapore is a prosperous state while India is pathetically poor. In global rankings of corruption in nations, India ranks as one of the most corrupt and Singapore one of the least corrupt.

In Singapore, the powerful and the powerless are all equal before the law. In India, depending on who you know, you can get away with murder — literally. In Singapore, they have rule by law, and in India we have rule by people.

Yesterday Indians had the most impressive demonstration of how deep-rooted corruption is unavoidable in a system where things are done according to the whims and fancies of those in power, and not according to rules. The prime minister of India deflected all blame away from himself for the many multi-billion dollar corruptions he has enabled by saying that he is helpless.

What that says is that in a tussle between the law of the land and powerful but corrupt people, the corrupt win and the law is powerless.

What Mr Singh demonstrated is not just his personal moral turpitude but also that the nation is morally bankrupt. The people know that the corrupt rule the roost and yet they tolerate it. Honest people with any sense of right and wrong would be outraged enough to force the legal system to punish the guilty. But Indians don’t care and the corrupt flourish while the country sinks deeper into unimaginable poverty.

Alfred North Whitehead once observed that “Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them.” If you ponder that for a bit, you see that to perform important operations without thinking about them requires learning, the acquisition of habits through repeated performance of that operation till it becomes second nature.

Honesty is a habit. Dishonesty is also a habit. There is a social compact which says that I recognize that you are dishonest, and you are at the top of the heap for now. It says that I aspire to someday get to your position and when I do, I will so exactly what you do and make my personal fortune. So I have to allow you to do what I hope to do myself when I get there. I cannot begrudge you what you do since I hope to there someday myself and do what you do.

We Indians tolerate corruption because we aspire to make our fortunes the same way if we ever get that chance.

There’s a cost, however. When you look into the eyes of the next malnourished child begging at a traffic light, you should know that it is your acceptance of gross corruption which enables that injustice. You make this state of affairs possible that the economy is so compromised that it accepts the starvation of children as a matter of fact.

We are all collectively responsible. We have not developed that habit of rule of law that makes a caring society possible. We have made it possible for the corrupt to flourish because we are ourselves corrupt.

What is it that distinguishes a person who is an alcoholic but knows that he is one, from another who is as much an alcoholic but steadfastly refuses to acknowledge his problem? The former has the possibility of seeking redemption but the latter will continue to sink further into oblivion. Who knows how long it will take for us to admit that we as a collective are dishonest and as a consequence of our collective dishonesty we are poor.

It is all karma, neh?

Related Posts:

The Ownership Society. October 2005.

The Tangled Web — Part 3. June 2007.

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Koodalmanikyam - Nadavarambu - Bharathan Temple

AFAIK this is the only temple in India for Bharathan who was the brother of Rama. A massive temple in Nadavarambu which celebrates it is festivals after the Thirssur Pooram.

via - http://www.koodalmanikyam.com/legend.htm

The official website of Sree Koodalmanikyam Temple inaugurated by
Devaswom Minister Sri G Karthikeyan (2004)

 

It is believed that thousands of years ago the entire area now known, as Irinjalakuda was a dense forest   a number of Rishis under Kulipini Maharshi were engaged in an incessant Yagna offering severe penance to please Maha Vishnu.   Ultimately pleased at the intensity and sincerity of their devotion, the Lord appeared before them and offered to satisfy their wish.   All they wanted was his eternal presence at the place.  The Lord readily agreed.

The Rishis now prayed to Deva Ganga to bless the sacred Yagabhoomi with her presence.  As the springs of River Ganga fountained up and inundated the area the Rishis immersed themselves in the sacred waters and became one with the Lord. The presence of Ganga is believed to continue in the Kulipini Theertham named after the chief of Rishis.   This tank on the Northern side is believed to be as sacred as Sanctum Sanctorum.   Water snakes, frogs etc. commonly found in most temple tanks are totally absent here.   Only fish grow freely and feeding them is considered to be of special merit.  Water for preparation of Nivedyam is taken form this tank only.    Archakas after bath at the outside pond have to take a dip in Kulipini Theertham before entering Sanctum Sanctorum.

The temple itself was not built immediately after the incident narrated above.  The place was not inhabited for many hundred years probably.   The folklore about how the temple came to be established here says that a local Chieftain, Vakkay Kaimal, had a dream one night in which some mysterious person appeared before him and told him that four idols have been washed ashore and that these idols are to be consecrated at such and such places.   The Kaimal being an ardent devotee hastened to the sea shore there lay four idols as indicated in the dream.  They were duly installed in four temples as directed in the dream.  Rama at Thriprayar (22 Km North west of Irinjalakuda) Bharata at Irinjalakuda, Lakshmana at Moozhikulam (30 KM south west of Irinjalakuda) and Satrugna at Payammal (5 KM south of Irinjalakuda).   It is believed that worship at all these four temples on the same day is especially meritorious.    Ardent devotees used to make it even in those far off days when they had to cover the entire distance by foot or in bullock carts.   It has become very easy now a day.   In the Malayalam month of Karkidakam (July 15th to August 15th) – the Ramayana Masa, thousands of devotees do this special pilgrimge, which is popularly known as Nalambalam Tthozhal – a pilgrimage to the four temples.

Single Prathishta The lord at Koodalmanikyam is Chathurbahu Vishnu with Conch, Chakra, Gada and Japamaala.   The general belief, however, is that the Lord is Bharatha the brother of Sree Rama.    He anxiously and devotedly awaited the return of Rama from exile for fourteen years and then learnt from Hanuman that Rama has reached the outskirts of Ayodhya.   He was much relieved and happy.  Baratha in that mood is worshipped here.   Naturally Hanuman is also present at Thidappilly  [the holy kitchen]  A distinctive feature of Koodalmanikyam temple is that there is only one single Prathista.   Even Vigneswara, usually found in all temples dose not find place here. Usually when Thulasi leaves are offered to the diety, its seeds invariably sprouts in the premises.  How this has not at any time happened in this temple is a mystery. One explanation is that Thulasi plant being sacred; it is worshipped wherever it is found.  Probably it is to forbid even such an object of secondary worship in the temple precincts that Thulasi is not allowed to grow by some unforeseen power.

The Sangameswara   Irinjalakuda in former days is believed to have the confluence of two rivers, the place name suggesting such a conjecture.   The Lord at the confluence is thus known as Sangameswara.   Though the two rivers (Kurumali river and Chalakudy river) have changed course and Irinjalakuda is no longer on any river bank, Arattu – the holy dip of the idol at the close of the Annual Festival, is held alternatively in these two rivers suggesting a previous connection with these rivers.  There is a folklore relating to the name Samgameswara.   One saintly person belonging to Taliparambu was on a strange mission.   His objective was to collect the chaithanya of idols of important temples in Kerala for being transferred to the idol of the temple in his village.    This he did by entering the Sanctum Sanctorum of the temples he visited and transferring the Chaithanya on to the conch in his possession.   When he did the same in Irinjalakuda he accidentally fell down and the conch was broken instantly transferring the divinity of all idols he had acquired on to the idol at Irinjlakuda.   Thus the idol in which merged the divine Chaithanya of several idols came to be known as Sangameswara.   The Namboodiri Brahmins associated with the temple still make all their Sevaas in the name of Siva, Vishnu and Devi at Sangamesa Sannidhi itself.

Kannam Puzhai Baghavathy - Chalakudi - Suyambhu

It is a suyambu ambal and the locals believe that there is immense power in this Ambal. The story goes that when a person was sharpening is knife on a stone the stone started bleeding and it was a suyambu and they built a temple around that. No Maps / Photos of this. Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel

Kodungallur Bagavathy - An amsam of Kannagi

After kannagi burnt Madurai for erroneous judgement which killed her husbandn she came with lot of ugram and sat here. She is the amsam of all bghavathies and is sitting south facing. Diets always face the Sun either east or west and don't face south. In the same nada is another roopam of ambal and she is facing east. The temple also houses a balakan who is ever growing. It is said that when the balakan reaches the roof the earth will disintegrate. Updates with Map Location and photos to follow. Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel

Thiruvanchi Kolam - Temple to Solve wedding issues.

Kodugalur temple famous for solving wedding woes. Only temple in INDIA AFAIK which has both sivan and parvathy in one nada. Here the sivan and parvathi arw sitting near to each other unlike in other places where they are in seperate sanadhis.

Even in the ever famous thirumamnancheri the ambal sits in her own sanadhi and only the utsava moorthi is a Kalyana kolam. Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel

Talking to God

When you are born you are ordained to achieve something in this world, says the Gita.

Certain people have been born to lead a life of austerity and serve the god in turn they become the bridge between the god and the common man. These people due to their selfless service have that fragile thread of communication between the super power and self. Over a period of time they gain popularity and the word spreads and they start getting dakshina ( Guru Dakshina is an important part of our culture ), this dakshina is percentaged between the god/temple and him, lions share going to the temple and a little for his sustenance. This changes in due course and he starts to eye the money now more than god and at this point that fragile thread is cut loose and the communication stops. Unfortunately due to the requirement of the lifestyle change he is required to wear the mask and continue saying things that may not be relevant, the common man did not know about the communication break and continues to believe in him and ends up in a mess. Once he comes to know that the common man has become a conned man he starts to riot and spew vulgarities at the guru who was all the way leading him. The above is true for all the guru's of today, be it "Sri Sri Sri", Nithyananda, kanchi pedathipathi or the sai Baba in putaparthi. So what am I ordained to do ?
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Random Thoughts

When you are really tired It is very difficult to sleep. I have an alarm at 0359 Hrs tomorrow and I am yet to sleep. SAT, FEB 12, 2011 23:23:24 Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel

Sabarimala Darisanam

Another trip to Sabarimala, this is with my in laws at Chalakudi and as always it is a small troupe (we are 6) as compared to my Mylapore troupe ( which usually runs to 80 odd).

It is nice to come in a small troupe and the experience is always different. A great Darshan, but the crowd was too much. As always I timed the Harivarasanam wrongly and missed it. The food in Sabarimala is daylight robbery and we need to live with that. Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel

Another trip starts.

Early morning wakey wakey and a long drive to Madurai with imminent stops at dharmapuri and hogenakkal. We are on the way to the marriage of muktha's niece at palani with a halt at Madurai for a day and enroute see dada anjaneyar at dharmapuri. More to come. Sent from my iPad

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Patta for 1Re on a 99 year lease

This is what has been promised to the slum dwellers in Kolkata as part of the civic body election. So we will have all the illegal immigrants getting a plot of land and settling down. How many people will turn against the own country which gave them land to settle down !!!

(via India Today - May 10 2010)

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The Crying Baby Syndrome.

We are now travelling back. I have totally four kids near my Bay. I am going to love this.

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Goshala - Cow Shed

Govindhapuram 12KM from Kumbakonam is the samathi of one of the Shankaracharya's. This place also hosts a Goshala, Goshala is the place where they keep and maintain cows in better Tamil terms "Mattu Thozhuvam". I have seen many such places but this is one of the best maintained. There are 200 cows here and maybe 50% of them are got from madhura and it is believed that their lineage is of the same cows that Krishna took care of. See their Ears. All the above/below photos were taken inside the Goshala. Will Tag these photos soon. -------------------------------------
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The Crying Baby Syndrome.

  
Download now or listen on posterous

VN00002-20100503-2108.amr (15 KB)

My woes recorded.

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The Crying Baby Syndrome.

DISCLAIMER :: I DON'T HATE KIDS. KIDS r KIDS and I love them. I do have it, I attract all kinds of babies the yelling, whining, yapping all through the night varieties. Travel in a flight and I have a baby sitting near me crying all through the flight, all through the 16 hours of flight and I just love it. Don't forget the five-year olds who walk all around ensuring nobody sleeps and the family double ensuring the same. Now on the train to Kumbakonam I have 3 kids aged between 1 and 5 who are yelling at the top of their lungs. One of the kid is walking around pulling the curtain with him so that he can see what is happening inside. Kids are Kids. :) The Family which is trying to pacify the kids are making More noise now I am not sure if it is the kids or the parents who are more disturbing. BTW upper berth is called Madi :) and the lower berth is called ground floor. So I am now going with a battalion of kids and noisy parents. Hope I get to sleep before 0400.
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On the way to Kumbakonam.

So the next journey starts (OOTY was good) and this is the start of a few important functions at both my side and my wife's. Now we are going to kumbakonam to the Upanayanam of my Nephew. We did not have any inclination to leave the cool BANGALORE and get into the sultry heat of kumbakonam in the start of the Kathiri - May 4th to May 28th. The first week of June is my Wife's niece's marriage in Palani. Incidentally she is getting married to a classmate of my wife who remembers my wife but the other way round is zilch :) Followed by my Nephew's marriage in Chennai on the 5th and a get together of all the cousins in Chennai, the cousins are coming from the US and Èast Asia. Then we have MINORKUNJU's wedding http://www.twitter.com/minorkunju on the 21st of June in chennai. Apart from this we have multitude of visitors coming in all over May to BANGALORE which is going to keep us busy busy. Will keep posting my travelouge for the next two days.
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Self Discipline

This is the reason Indians and India is considered as a dirty country. I should take back Indians here, if an Indian goes out of the country he is more cleanliness conscious than the locals. Maybe it is the fear of the fines or the police but it works. I am also not sure if we can police this and ensure everybody does it. IMHO Cleanliness cannot be enforced but has to be self imposed. One should think the country/state/city/council/street should be their house and keep it clean as they keep their houses clean. The above/below photo is at the cantonment station. -------------------------------------
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Comic: Reinventing the Wheel

via willowgarage.com

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