थे वर्ल्ड'एस बेस्ट इनवेस्टमेंट ..

The world's best investment - ( got this from a friend..)

Many people don't think of it consciously, but much of our lives are spent deciding how to invest our resources. Families decide whether to move into a bigger house, or save their money and stay in the current one. Young women decide which man they should bet their reproductive potential on. Workers ponder what they should do with their holidays. And so on.

Of course there's also the more obvious fields of investment. Where should you put your retirement funds? Should you put a windfall into shares or property?

And there's the biggest investment question of all - What should I spend the limited days of my life doing?

Some investments are good, some bad.

Time invested in exercise is great for your health. But spend a month not exercising, and you'll be back to square one. Many purchases have a similar problem. We all know a new car loses value the minute you drive it off the block.

But there's one investment that stays with you almost your entire life. Every minute put into it improves your well-being, and will continue to pay back years later.

That investment is education. Once it's in your head, it's there forever. Sure it may fade a little, but it usually doesn't take much work to bring it back.

It's usually reasonably priced in time and money. And it's fun. The more of it you invest in - the bigger the returns you get from it.

There are very few educational undertakings that aren't worthwhile. You should spend your life improving your own education and understanding of the world. Leverage off the learnings of others, and fill your head with interesting stuff.

Education is the world's best investment. Put some of your own resources into it.

Trek report, Mekedatu, 18 Nov 2007.

One of the most loveliest treks I have ever gone for.

With about 100 participants and only three staff members to help, we were afraid in the beginning to go for this one, but the enthusiasm of the students overcame all our fears and we set out for the trek on 18 Nov, 2007, Sunday morning at 8 AM. The organising enthusiasm and sincerity of Amal and his team was very encouraging for us. We also wanted this first trek from XIME to be really successful, we felt that it should never be a mediocre one.

Even though the private bus (which was to take us the distance of 100 kms one way, 3 hrs travel time) was to come at 6 AM, though all students were ready, it was a bit late and that gave us enough time to mingle and get to know each other better. Prof George Kuriyan and RoseMary were ably taking care of all of us !! The new video camera with Prof George Kuriyan could be seen everywhere..

We reached Sangama at 11 AM and immediately after making some enquiries with the locals ( we should admit that our reconnaissance mission was not planned properly) we went out to cross the confluence point of the Cauvery and Arkavathy, come what may. To our surprise we found that it was not deep at all, about waist deep. The first taste of cold water on the body. We got drenched and after some splashing and playing in water, we gathered together and started our 4 km trek to Mekedatu.

Some people fell ill, some had sprains , not anything major, but we kept moving, The distance initially seemed never to end, but we kept moving. Finally at 1.30 pm , we reached the point, Mekedatu. We descended the steps to the gorges and adding to our fears, the force of the gushing waters of the Cauvery and the deafening noise, got us really afraid. I could not afford to look at the river direct down, it was terrifying and frightening !!

The sharp crevices and gorges cut by the river in the mountains over millions of years, was a trip back in history over a million years. The river must have been running very heavy and violent then, else how could it cut those sharp corners about twenty to thirty feet high on the side rocks ? How many goats must have committed harakiri trying to jump across the Cauvery from the top crevice to the bottom point, about fifteen feet away ? Even before homo sapiens set foot on this earth, the river Cauvery must have been gushing, of course under a different name then..

After 2 hrs at the point, we decided to return. The trail of the trekkers were long enough running for a km or more. There were many water holes and some terrific photography points on the way, besides Cauvery. In one of these water holes we decided to get ourselves immersed and there we really get ourselves totally immersed and drenched to the bones.

It was an exciting and refreshing two hours in the water of the Cauvery, pure and clean. No wonder Karnataka does not want to spare any water to Tamil Nadu and TN wants every drop of it. After getting ourselves dried and some rounds of Frisbee, we started on our journey back to the Sangama. Spotting elephant dung, not fresh, on the way, reminded us that elephants do frequent this place often during the summer months to drink water. I got to pair up with many students on the trek and talk to them regarding lot of issues of mutual interest. We reached Sangama at 5 45 PM.

There were initial reports that the power plant upstream the river would release water by evening time, causing the water level to rise to ten feet, making manual crossing difficult. All those fears were unfounded as we reached the Sangama and found people playing in the middle of the confluence in the water.

Some of us decided to cross the Sangama on the coracle, the round saucer shaped boat, which could overturn any moment and get everybody sunk !!. To add to the thrill, I could see the boatman forcibly turning the coracle around as if it has got caught in a swirl or whirl pool in the Cauvery.. The coracle trip was possible only after paying a princely Rs ten. Others preferred to wade through, me included. Water is fun any time and anywhere, as long it is up to your waist. .. It was a terrific trek that was coming to an end.

At about 6.30 PM we got into the buses ( SMS Travels) which were waiting for us at the Sangama from morning and we were off to Bangalore, Except for some minor hitches with loss of about 2 hrs, with some three members not being able to catch the bus ( they came by the KSRTC bus behind and joined the group) and for one person, Anshu, losing his mobile phone ( which was later discovered at his seat itself) we were comfortably getting back to our institute for dinner and a good sleep. All were dead tired after an exhilarating day in the water !! It would not be an exaggeration if we mentioned that about fifty percent of the time we were in the water.

At about 10 30 PM we reached XIME and after dinner of chicken biriyani, we went back to our rooms, too tired to discuss the day's happenings with anybody. The next day, at 9 AM we had classes and so could not miss any sleep before getting to the class.

Overall, it was an exciting trek, the first one in XIME. Prof George Kuriyan and Rose Mary and myself made the total 95, and very soon we shall put up some of the snaps here on this site.

Thanks everybody for your help and co-operation, a special mention to Amal and his team for organising things well and for making it memorable and SAFE !!

Hoping to have many more such exciting treks in future !!!

george..

Information to students reg Mekedatu trek, 18 Nov 2007.

http://chitra-vihaar.blogspot.com/2006/01/mekedatu.html

http://alok.smugmug.com/gallery/2439988#127959869, terrific photos Alok Anand..

The active enthusiastic students of Xavier Institute of Management and En'ship (XIME), Bangalore is planning to go on a trek this Sunday to this place called Mekedatu, about 100 kms south of Bangalore as part of the nature club activities of XIME.

From kanakpura, we go on the main road southwards to reach a place called Sangama, the confluence of Arkavathy river and Cauvery river. After alighting from the bus, we cross the two rivers. Trek for 4 kms (one way) along the Cauvery river to a point where it gorges itself through rocks at the place called Mekedatu. In Kannada, Mekedatu means goat's leap, ie, goats could leap across the gorge and cross the mighty Cauvery at this point .. Some goats must have died in the process. The legend is very interesting. I do not know whether any humans have attempted and succeeded.

The return trip also has the same 4 km trek and the two river crossings. During summer, the water level does not go beyond 3 to 4 ft, but being just after rains, it is feared the water level may be about 10 ft or so. We require the help of expert swimmers from the group to take all of us across the riners. We are carrying enough ropes to take us across the Cauvery and Arkavathy. On the return route we will also be visiting the Chun-chi waterfalls on the Cauvery which is about 25 kms from the main road.

It is recommended that students come in their trekking gear, with good shoes, canvas preferred, water bottle, cap, some chocolates, dried fruits and a set of clothes to change, in case you would like to return in a fresh set of dry clothes than the stinking, sticky ones after the long trek. The organising team of Amal, Anoop etc will also see that there are enough frisbees and other things to play around in Mekedatu.

The students are informed hereby that the bus leaves the campus at 6 AM and so collect your breakfast (bread, omlette, butter and jam) and lunch ( veg pulao with raita) packs from the mess hall before boarding the bus. Tea will be served in the mess hall at 6 am for the trekkers. we hope to return by 8.30 PM and have dinner in the mess hall itself.

we hope to have some wonderful, quality time with almost 100+ students ( boys and girls) and five faculty in 2 buses. Unforgettable times of your life !! With fond memories to cherish your whole life time !!

Amal and Anoop have also made a movie on the trek, a good one, quite enticing !!

Hope we have more such treks in future and develop a strong bonding with mother nature ..

george..

PS : pl do not litter the place and so carry plastic bags with you to bring the waste back to XIME.....

Information Overload ..??

I remember a time when I was doing my graduation, almost twenty three years back, 1983, British Council Library at Trivandrum, Kerala used to be my favourite haunt in the evenings. It had very valid reasons too. The British Council Library had lot of quality reading material, magazines and books, both reference and stack room ones, to refer and read.

For the first time in my life I was introduced to the Economist magazine in this Library. Earlier at home we were getting the Life, Time, Newsweek etc, besides the National Geographic and other Indian Magazines and journals which my brother used to get from family friends. We all uused to enjoy reading those magazines at home. After leaving Trivandrum in 1986 after the engineering, it was very difficult to get hold of the Economist to read as the next twenty I spent in Goa and Bombay. Goa was a bit far from civilization. IIT Bombay had all these magazines, but very less time to read them, so it was as good as not having them at all.

At Peermade I made some futile efforts to get the college authorities to subscribe to some of these good magazines, but had to give up finally, it was very difficult to get them to differentiate the good from the bad, the need to stimulate the minds and imagination of students thru such good high quality reading. A sad state !!

Now that I am in XIME, Bangalore, I was taken aback when the first day I joined, on my table was a copy of the latest Economist mag, besides the daily newspapers and Indian business magazines. To this add the Newsweek and Outlook magazines which I have subscribed myself lately. It is an Information Overload phenomenon being experienced, as by the middle of the week, the next batch of magazines keep coming. It is a race to catch up with reading and being up-to-date with the developments. Most of the days I stay back to catch up on some of the pending reading and of course some blogging too..

Time is not a problem here as I stay in the hostel and have all the time in the world. With the willingness too, it is really a paradise for reading and keeping oneself up-to-date. This is besides the information available over the Internet !!

george..

Using cellphone data and GPS to reduce Bangalore's traffic woes !!

The 19 th Nov issue of Newsweek, talks of how cellphone user data and GPS (Geographical Positioning Systems) is helping the city of Atlanta in the state of Georgia, US to reduce the traffic delays and congestion on it's roads

An average car which gets stuck for almost six hours in traffic a week spends an amount of almost 4 - 5 litres of petrol extra idling and moving in the snail speed traffic. Besides being a drain on the car owner's wallet and precious foreign exchange for the country, this causes release of excess carbon dioxide, contributing to green house gas emissions and resultant global warming phenomenon. It is of paramount importance that we reduce these emissions and drain of foreign exchange. The loss of man hours of the intellectual capital can only be imagined. Easing out traffic congestion thus attains great importance because of the above reasons.

How does the technology of cell phone and GPS, work ?

Almost all the people moving in their cars on the roads have cell phones which are in direct contact with the mobile towers of the respective companies. So the cell phone companies are in full knowledge of where each of their customer is at any point of time during the day. If this data can be collected and shared between the cell phone companies and the provider of GPS service in Bangalore, ( recently I saw an ad advertising this service in Bangalore, and the first city in India..), the GPS company can prepare the data of congestion points in the city through real time data acquisition systems ( the cell phone user data superimposed on the geographical data of the city) to be used by the travelling public.

Some revenue can be shared by the GPS company to the cell phone companies which will motivate them to share the cell phone user data with the GPS co.. All issues of privacy can be sorted out by the parties together with assurances that the data will not be used for any purpose other than real time data acquisition systems for traffic control in the city.

This can be a cost effective method to tackle the growing traffic congestion problems in the city of Bangalore.

george..

West Bengal likened to Gujarat..??

http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/nov/14look2.htm


Both places there is intolerance and violence. CPM does it under the garb of a civilised society..

A big blow to the Marxists..!!

george..

Trek to Mekadatu, 18 nov 2007.

http://chitra-vihaar.blogspot.com/2006/01/mekedatu.html

http://alok.smugmug.com/gallery/2439988#127959869, terrific photos Alok Anand..

The active enthusiastic students of Xavier Institute of Management and En'ship (XIME), Bangalore is planning to go on a trek this Sunday to this place called Mekedatu, about 100 kms south of Bangalore as part of the nature club activities of XIME.

From kanakpura, we go on the main road southwards to reach a place called Sangama, the confluence of Arkavathy river and Cauvery river. After alighting from the bus, we cross the two rivers. Trek for 4 kms (one way) along the Cauvery river to a point where it gorges itself through rocks at the place called Mekedatu. In Kannada, Mekedatu means goat's leap, ie, goats could leap across the gorge and cross the mighty Cauvery at this point .. Some goats must have died in the process. The legend is very interesting. I do not know whether any humans have attempted and succeeded.

The return trip also has the same 4 km trek and the two river crossings. During summer, the water level does not go beyond 3 to 4 ft, but being just after rains, it is feared the water level may be about 10 ft or so. We require the help of expert swimmers from the group to take all of us across the riners. We are carrying enough ropes to take us across the Cauvery and Arkavathy. On the return route we will also be visiting the Chun-chi waterfalls on the Cauvery which is about 25 kms from the main road.

It is recommended that students come in their trekking gear, with good shoes, canvas preferred, water bottle, cap, some chocolates, dried fruits and a set of clothes to change, in case you would like to return in a fresh set of dry clothes than the stinking, sticky ones after the long trek. The organising team of Amal, Anoop etc will also see that there are enough frisbees and other things to play around in Mekedatu.

The students are informed hereby that the bus leaves the campus at 6 AM and so collect your breakfast (bread, omlette, butter and jam) and lunch ( veg pulao with raita) packs from the mess hall before boarding the bus. Tea will be served in the mess hall at 6 am for the trekkers. we hope to return by 8.30 PM and have dinner in the mess hall itself.

we hope to have some wonderful, quality time with almost 100+ students ( boys and girls) and five faculty in 2 buses. Unforgettable times of your life !! With fond memories to cherish your whole life time !!

Amal and Anoop have also made a movie on the trek, a good one, quite enticing !!

Hope we have more such treks in future and develop a strong bonding with mother nature ..

george..