Niraj's blog

Diamonds are forever, what to look for!

2013-05-27T08:37:00.000-07:00

Diamonds have been popularized in our cultures with taglines like- diamonds are forever, diamonds are a woman's best friend and what not. But before you take that plunge on an impulsive buy, here is a basic primer on what to look for. You have probably heard about this thing called 4 Cs- Cut, Clarity, Color and Carat, when coming to buying diamonds , but what exactly are these? If you want to buy retails what is the typical markup to expect? (hint anywhere from 10% to 300%- buyers beware :-)), can you rely on the certificates issued by the Jewelers? To that end, yes and no. There are some certification which are reliable and some which are not. One of the better known ones is the GIA certified (GIA- Gemological Institute of America). Now the final question should we as investors look at diamond only from luxury perspective or there is a case for investment in diamonds. Turns out there is one, given the booming demand for diamonds in India and China. Should we just buy stocks of diamond related blue chip companies like Tiffany ( retailer), Blue Niles ( online retailer), Rio-Tinto ( Miner) or buy the diamonds straight?Read this article to find out more.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

2013-04-07T19:35:00.004-07:00

Came across this article which pictorially demonstrates what 200 calories of different foods looks like, Obviously Celery is t he winner, you can eat 1.425 Kg and still only 200 calories!

1. Celery (1,425 grams/50.27 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

2. Broccoli (588 grams/20.74 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

3. Baby Carrots (570 grams/20.11 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

4. Coca Cola (496 ml/17.50 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

5. Apples (385 grams/13.58 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

6. Canned Green Peas (357 grams/12.59 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

7. Grapes (290 grams/10.26 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

8. Sliced Smoked Turkey (204 grams/7.20 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

9. Eggs (150 grams/5.29 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

10. Cooked Pasta (145 grams/5.11 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

11. Avocado (125 grams/4.41 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

12. Canned Tuna in Oil (102 grams/3.6 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

13. Jack in the Box Cheeseburger
(75 grams/2.65 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

14. Jack in the Box French Fries
(73 grams/2.58 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

15. Blueberry Muffin (72 grams/2.54 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

16. Sesame Seed Bagel (70 grams/2.47 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

17. Hot Dogs (66 grams/2.33 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

18. Medium Cheddar Cheese (51 grams/1.8 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

19. Fruit Loops Cereal (51 grams/1.8 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

20. Snickers (41 grams/1.45 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

21. Doritos (41 grams/1.45 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

22. Fried Bacon (34 grams/1.2 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

23. Peanut Butter (34 grams/1.2 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

24. Salted Mixed Nuts (33 grams/1.16 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

25. Butter (28 grams/0.99 ounces = 200 Calories)

Photograph by wiseGEEK.com

Sleep deprivation, a silent killer!

2013-04-07T11:35:00.000-07:00

Found this on the web somewhere, talks about big risks related to sleep deprivation. I am reading more and more about risks associated with lack of sleep, it is time we should wake up to this sleeping nightmare...no pun intended!

Ranjan Das, CEO and MD of SAP Indian subcontinent died after a massive cardiac arrest in Mumbai on Wednesday. One of the youngest CEOs, he was just 42 year old

What killed Ranjan Das and Lessons for Corporate India

A few months ago, many of us heard about the sad demise of Ranjan Das from Bandra, Mumbai. He was very active in sports, was a fitness freak and a marathon runner. It was common to see him run on Bandra's Carter Road . Just after Diwali, on 21st Oct, he returned home from his gym after a workout, collapse! d with a massive heart attack and died.

It was certainly a wake-up call for corporate India . However, it was even more disastrous for runners amongst us. Since Ranjan was an avid marathoner ( in Feb 09, he ran Chennai Marathon at the same time some of us were running Pondicherry Marathon 180 km away ), the question came as to why an exceptionally active, athletic person succumb to heart attack at 42 years of age.

Was it the stress?

While Ranjan had mentioned that he faced a lot of stress, that is a common element in most of our lives. We used to think that by being fit, one can conquer the bad effects of stress.

The Real Reason However, everyone missed out a small line in the reports that Ranjan used to make do with 4-5 hours of sleep. This is an earlier interview of Ranjan on NDTV in the program. Well-known cardiologist on the subject of 'Heart Disease caused by Lack of
Sleep' have distilled the key points below in the hope it will save some of our lives.

Some Excerpts:

1. Short sleep duration ( <5 350="" 5-6="" 500="" 6="" bp="" by="" compared="" for="" high="" hours="" increased="" longer="" night.="" or="" per="" risk="" slept="" span="" than="" those="" to="" who="">

2. Young people ( 25-49 years of age ) are twice as likely to get high BP if they sleep less.

3. Individuals who slept less than 5 hours a night had a 3-fold increased risk of heart attacks.

4. Complete and partial lack of sleep increased the blood concentrations of High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-cRP), the strongest predictor of heart attacks. Even after getting adequate sleep later, the levels stayed high!!

5. Just one night of sleep loss increases very toxic substances in body such as Interleukin-6 (IL! -6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (cRP). They increase risks of many medical conditions, including cancer, arthritis and heart disease.

6. Sleeping for <=5 hours per night leads to 39% increase in heart disease. Sleeping for <=6 hours per night leads to 18% increase in heart disease.

Ideal Sleep

In brief, sleep is composed of two stages: REM ( Rapid Eye Movement ) and non-REM. The former helps in mental consolidation while the latter helps in physical repair and rebuilding. During the night, you alternate between REM and non-REM stages 4-5 times.

The earlier part of sleep is mostly non-REM. During that period, your pituitary gland releases growth hormones that repair your body. The latter part of sleep is more and more REM type.

For us to be mentally alert during the day, the latter part of sleep is more important. No wonder when you wake up with an alarm clock after 5-6 hours of sleep, you are mentally irritable throughout the day (lack of REM sleep). And if you have slept for less than
5 hours, your body is in a complete physical mess ( lack of non-REM sleep ), you are tired throughout the day, moving like a zombie and your immunity is way down.

Finally, as long-distance runners, you need an hour of extra sleep to repair the running related damage.

In conclusion:

Barring stress control, Ranjan Das did everything right: eating proper food, exercising ( marathoning! ), maintaining proper weight. But he missed getting proper and adequate sleep, minimum 7 hours. In our opinion, that killed him.

If you are not getting enough sleep ( 7 hours ), you are playing with fire, even if you have low stress.

Unfortunately, Ranjan Das is not alone when it comes to missing sleep. Many of us are doing exactly the same, perhaps out of ignorance. Please forward this mail to your colleagues/friends as possible, especially those who might be short-changing their sleep. If we can save even one young life because of this email, we would be the happiest person on earth.

Heart health related from Dr Shetty

2013-04-06T17:09:00.000-07:00

A chat with Dr.Devi Shetty, Narayana Hrudayalaya (Heart Specialist) Bangalore was arranged by WIPRO for its employees. The transcript of the chat is given below. Useful for everyone.

Qn: What are the thumb rules for a layman to take care of his heart?
Ans:
1. Diet - Less of carbohydrate, more of protein, less oil
2. Exercise - Half an hour's walk, at least five days a week;
avoid lifts and
avoid sitting for a longtime
3. Quit smoking
4. Control weight
5. Control BP - Blood pressure and Sugar

Qn: Is eating non-veg food (fish) good for the heart?
Ans: No

Qn: It's still a grave shock to hear that some apparently healthy person
gets a cardiac arrest. How do we understand it in perspective?
Ans: This is called silent attack; that is why we recommend everyone past the age of 30 to undergo routine health checkups.

Qn: Are heart diseases hereditary?
Ans: Yes

Qn: What are the ways in which the heart is stressed? What practices do you suggest to de-stress?
Ans: Change your attitude towards life. Do not look for perfection in everything in life.

Qn: Is walking better than jogging or is more intensive exercise required to keep a healthy heart?
Ans: Walking is better than jogging, since jogging leads to early fatigue and injury to joints

Qn: You have done so much for the poor and needy. What has inspired you to do so?
Ans: Mother Theresa, who was my patient.

Qn: Can people with low blood pressure suffer heart diseases?
Ans: Extremely rare.

Qn: Does cholesterol accumulates right from an early age (I'm currently only 22) or do you have to worry about it only after you are above 30 years of age?
Ans: Cholesterol accumulates from childhood.

Qn: How do irregular eating habits affect the heart ?
Ans: You tend to eat junk food when the habits are irregular and your body's enzyme release for digestion gets confused.

Qn: How can I control cholesterol content without using medicines?
Ans: Control diet, walk and eat walnut.

Qn: Which is the best and worst food for the heart?
Ans: Fruits and vegetables are the best and oilis the worst.

Qn: Which oil is better - groundnut, sunflower, olive?
Ans: All oils are bad.

Qn: What is the routine checkup one should go through? Is there any specific test?
Ans: Routine blood test to ensure sugar, cholesterol is ok. Check BP, Treadmill test after an echo.

Qn: What are the first aid steps to be taken on a heart attack?
Ans: Help the person into a sleeping position, place an aspirin tablet under the tongue with a sorbitrate tablet if available, and rush him to a coronary care unit, since the maximum casualty takes place within the first hour.

Qn: How do you differentiate between pain caused by a heart attack and that caused due to gastric trouble?
Ans: Extremely difficult without ECG.

Qn: What is the main cause of a steep increase in heart problems amongst youngsters? I see people of about 30-40 yrs of age having heart attacks and serious heart problems.
Ans: Increased awareness has increased incidents. Also, sedentary lifestyles, smoking, junk food, lack of exercise in a country where people are genetically three times more vulnerable for heart attacks than Europeans and Americans.

Qn: Is it possible for a person to have BP outside the normal range of 120/80 and yet be perfectly healthy?
Ans: Yes.

Qn: Marriages within close relatives can lead to heart problems for the child. Is it true?
Ans : Yes, co-sanguinity leads to congenital abnormalities and you may NOT have a software engineer as a child

Qn: Many of us have an irregular daily routine and many a times we have to stay late nights in office. Does this affect our heart? What precautions would you recommend?
Ans : When you are young, nature protects you against all these irregularities. However, as yougrow older, respect the biological clock.

Qn: Will taking anti-hypertensive drugs cause some other complications (short/long term)?
Ans : Yes, most drugs have some side effects. However, modern anti-hypertensive drugs are extremely safe.

Qn: Will consuming more coffee/tea lead to heart attacks?
Ans : No.

Qn: Are asthma patients more prone to heart disease?
Ans : No.

Qn: How would you define junk food?
Ans : Fried food like Kentucky , McDonalds , Samosas, and even Masala Dosas.

Qn: You mentioned that Indians are three times more vulnerable. What is the reason for this, as Europeans and Americans also eat a lot of junk food?
Ans: Every race is vulnerable to some disease and unfortunately, Indians are vulnerable for the most expensive disease.

Qn: Does consuming bananas help reduce hypertension?
Ans: No.

Qn: Can a person help himself during a heart attack (Because we see a lot of forwarded e-mails on this)?
Ans: Yes. Lie down comfortably and put anaspirin tablet of any description under the tongue and ask someone to take you to the nearest coronary care unit without any delay and do not wait for the ambulance since most of the time, the ambulance does not turn up.

Qn: Do, in any way, low white blood cells and low hemoglobin count lead to heart problems?
Ans: No. But it is ideal to have normal hemoglobin level to increase your exercise capacity.

Qn: Sometimes, due to the hectic schedule we are not able to exercise. So, does walking while doing daily chores at home or climbing the stairs in the house, work as a substitute for exercise?
Ans : Certainly. Avoid sitting continuously for more than half an hour and even the act of getting out of the chair and going to another chair and sitting helps a lot.

Qn: Is there a relation between heart problems and blood sugar?
Ans: Yes. A strong relationship since diabetics are more vulnerable to heart attacks than non-diabetics.

Qn: What are the things one needs to take care of after a heart operation?
Ans : Diet, exercise, drugs on time , Control cholesterol, BP, weight.

Qn: Are people working on night shifts more vulnerable to heart disease when compared to day shift workers?
Ans : No.

Qn: What are the modern anti-hypertensive drugs?
Ans: There are hundreds of drugs and your doctor will chose the right combination for your problem, but my suggestion is to avoid the drugsand go for natural ways of controlling blood pressure by walk, diet to reduce weight and changing attitudes towards lifestyles.

Qn: Does dispirin or similar headache pills increase the risk of heart attacks?
Ans : No.

Qn: Why is the rate of heart attacks more in men than in women?
Ans: Nature protects women till the age of 45. (Present Global census show that the Percentage of heart disease in women has increased than in men )

Qn: How can one keep the heart in a good condition?
Ans: Eat a healthy diet, avoid junk food, exercise everyday, do not smoke and, go for health checkups if you are past the age of 30 ( once in six months recommended) ....

Please, don't hoard knowledge.
It takes sharing of knowledge to discover and understand the world in which we live.
Please send it to all your friends and relatives....... They might benefit as well...

Dr. Devi Shetty,
Narayana Hrudayalaya (Heart Specialist)
Bangalore

Miracle in the Hudson - fourth annversary

2013-01-20T21:55:00.003-08:00

Here's an interview of Captain Sully given to Kate Courie on fourth anniversary of Miracle on Hudson. Captian Sally is quoted as saying, experience is like a cheque you deposit every single day and then one day you get to en-cash it. So true, be it flying, be it financial markets, be it any job, experience matters...if some one tells you otherwise, don't believe it! And now go get some experience of your own and build you safety deposit :-)

Gross Vs. Net revenue recognition.

2013-01-19T22:07:00.001-08:00

Here's a nice article I found on the web.

Basically businesses like travel agents, real estate brokers and other similar commission based businesses operate on net basis, the idea being if you are just an intermediary and the final party who is responsible for delivery controls everything else, then you use net basis. For example the travel agent, they are just the middle men, the end user gets the flight service from the end company like commercial air lines, the middle men have very little role, they do not assume risk or are the key beneficence of the transaction so they have to use net basis of revenue recognition. Why is this important, for the simple reason the businesses do not inflate there top line numbers ( revue numbers) , more so when they are a public company and there stock price in the market place depends largely on the revue numbers. It is important for the investors to know the real top line to help them determine fair value of the stock.

Happy New Year, some tips for better living

2013-01-12T21:08:00.000-08:00

Came across this on the Web, worth taking note of, and wishing a very haapy new year to all my readers!

40 Tips for Happy Health Life - MUST READ & SHARE
Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E’s — Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5. Make time for prayer and reflection
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2012.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.

Personality:
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day —- and while you walk, smile.
11. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don’t over do; keep your limits.
14. Don’t take yourself so seriously; no one else does.
15. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Community:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right things.
33. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. Forgiveness heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.
38. When you awake alive in the morning, don’t take it for granted – embrace life.
39. Your inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

Last but not least:
40. Enjoy LIFE!

Mark to Market

2012-12-20T16:38:00.000-08:00

Mark to Market impacts the balance sheet differently , I get that, how about Income statement, is it impacted too per the Sarbanes -Oxley Act??
I know income statement is impacted too, I should re frame my question , is there an objective criteria, a threshold on number of transactions perhaps, or percentage of total income derived from such transactions, that determines whether the income should be categorized as ordinary income vis a vis capital gains?
FAS 133 goes into some of the details when dealing with derivatives, hedges-

See some answers below, there is a distinction made between two type of securities, although both are mark to market " trading securities" and " available for sale securities", the former hits the income statement and the latter doesn't. I think the FASB has just broad guideline to distinguish the two , no quantifiable criteria that I could find.

The commodity markets in consolidation

2012-12-20T16:32:00.000-08:00

Crude oil (WTI) $84/barrel - $90/barrel- 12 week range, trying to break out of its recent range at $90/barrel today. Gold- stuck between $1630/oz and $1790/oz since summer - working on a break down towards lower end of trading range. Copper right in the middle- been trading between $3.40 and $3.60 in the past few months, last price $3.53. When one group of commodity is in the top of the range ( crude, RBOB), another one at middle (Platinum, Copper) and a third one (Gold, Silver) at bottom of range, this is a classic market with no net money supply , just sector rotation going on! So much of crosscurrents and the normal inter-market correlations gone haywire is characteristic of a market in consolidation.

This is little bit of a surprise given Feds policy of unlimited QE3 (Fed funds rate of zero percent until 2015 at minimum likely until 2016, 2017 given that Bernanke has linked it to US unemplyoment rate of 6.5% or lower). The consensus has been that the global liquidity injection by ECB, Federal Reserve, Bank of Japan would lead to inflationary pressure and that would show up in generally rising commodity prices. Hasn't happened so far, but hopefully new year, new money supply can help these markets break out of their respective trading ranges :-)

The hurricane Sandy and the New York Stock Exchange.

2012-10-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

NYSE closed for second consecutive day, only second time it has happened since 1800s (Mar. 12-13, 1888: Blizzard of 1888). The more things change, the more they stay the same! Why don't they have a backup site to operate from, in 21st century?( given 90% of trades happen electronically anyway, with NASDAQ being 100% electronic!). See the history of past closures here.

My thoughts and prayers are always with those impacted with Sandy, but there is no reason for rest of the world to suffer for this. A closed exchange means billions of dollars in losses to a special class of investors/traders, which kind of goes unnoticed, these are the option traders. Option prices are susceptible to time decay, more so now when they have introduced weekly options, which as the name suggests have life of just one week. So if the exchanges are closed for 2 days out of 5 days in a week, these instruments will theoretically lose 2/5 that is 40% of their value even if the market goes nowhere in terms of price of underlying asset.

If they are going to have these complex products in the market place, they should also have enough safeguards to protect the players, otherwise it is going to undermine confidence in the system....yeah I understand act of God etc, but that is why we have concepts of backup sites and disaster recovery which is so well known in the IT World...time for NYSE to learn some lessons IMHO.

A friend of mine asked me the following question: I heard that exchange decided against electronic only trading for fear of algorithmic trading driven crash...do you know more?

There was a risk of the algos going berserk in low liquidity situation, the HFTs ( High Frequency Traders) get blamed for flash crashes all the time, so they provide a convenient excuse. But if you look at it objectively, despite long running investigation by the likes of SEC, CFTC and other regulators, they have not been able to pin point previous flash crashes to the HFTs or the algos . Over 40% of daily trading volume are now because of program trading, so if the algos are gone, so will be the volume from the market. There are issues like recent blow up by Knight trading company, but I consider them isolated events. As long as we have software making investment/trading decisions, there are going to be bugs and occasional blowups, that should be no reason to halt the exchanges in my opinion.

As you might be aware NYSE is now amongst the few modern day exchanges in the world where there still is a trading floor and there are specialists who make the market ( market makers), other popular exchanges like Japan's Osaka exchange, London Stock Exchange, EuroNext, Hang Seng have all gone fully electronic. Writing on the wall is clear, NYSE has to get rid of its trading floor and the specialist system. Some say it is the floor trader lobby at NYSE which wanted the exchange shut down, trying to prove to the world they are indispensable- no specialists on the trading floor = financial capital of the world comes to a grinding halt!

Yash Chopra- end of an era.

2012-10-21T21:39:00.003-07:00

Yash Chopra, the noted Indian film director died today after 53 years in the industry. He was 80 years old, died of Dengue fever, what? These communicable diseases don't discriminate between celebrities and the common man, reminds us of the ephemeral that is life and how we should make the best use of time we have on this earth.
Here's what a noted film actor of Indian cinema, Shah Rukh Khan, had to say on Yashraj Chopra's death "Whenever my loved ones depart...ı feel a part of me extinguishes itself with them. Will there come a day that I will no longer have a bit of myself to let go of? And then the thought follows...that every time they have taken some of me with them onto theır last journey , I have found a fragment of them left inside me too...I will always have some love to give and I will always be both emptied and replenished by the loved ones I lose. I keep u wıth me Yashjı and I mıss u too Yashjı...lots."

These few lines were posted by Indian super star Amitabh Bachhan , remembering Mr Chopra:

दुःख की इन अँधेरी घड़ियों में हम उनके निकट परिवार के सभी सदस्यों को अपना शोक प्रकट करते हैं , और केवल इतना कहना चाहेंगे की ... ' है अँधेरी रात पर दीवा जलाना कब मना है '. ये पंक्तियाँ मेरे पूज्य पिताजी की लिखी एक कविता से हैं ... 'है अँधेरी रात पर दिवा जलाना कब मना है '
इसलिए ... भविष्य में , आने वाले दिनों में , आशा और उम्मीद के लाखों करोड़ों दीपों को प्रज्ज्वलित करने के लिए , प्रोत्साहन के रूप में , बाबूजी की ही लिखी पंक्तियों से अपनी बात समाप्त करना चाहूँगा ... की .... जो बीत गयी सो बात गयी !!

" जो बीत गयी सो बात गयी
जीवन में एक सितारा था ,
माना वो बेहद प्यारा था ,
वो डूब गया तो डूब गया -
एम्बर के आनन् को देखो
कितने इसके तारे टूटे ,
कितने इसके प्यारे छूटे ..
जो छूट गए फिर कहाँ मिले ,
पर बोलो टूटे तारों पर , कब एम्बर शोक मनाता है ..
जो बीत गयी सो बात गयी - "

What powerful words from a poet. Let go of the past, move on, life is another name for moving on. It doesn't mean we forget our loved ones, it just means remeber them for all the happiness they brought in your life and celebrate their life our life!

I whole heartedly share the feelings of SRK and Amitabh Bachhan jee- RIP Yash Chopra, you will be missed!

Forward slip vs side slip

2012-09-17T23:21:00.002-07:00

Both the forward slip and thee side slip are a type of slip, characterized by the opposite reaction caused by adverse yaw tot he initial direction of turn. This is simple physics, when the plane turns the lift on the wings which was vertical initially, now has a horizontal component. This horizontal component of the lift is what causes the adverse yaw. So Aerodynamically both forward slip and side slip are same, so what exactly is the difference between these two?

The difference between these two would be clear if we look at the applied aspect of these two, imagine a plane is about to land and the runway is in sight. Your heading is pointing to the heading of the runway , thereby meaning you are perfectly aligned with the runway. Now imagine all of a sudden you are hit with a crosswind of 10 knots. What will this do to your aircraft? Hmmm....all else being equal now you will no longer be pointing to the runway , you are likely to miss your mark on the runway touch down point and land on the grass instead if you are lucky!

Side slip is used to handle the crosswind landing. Here the flight track is maintained (aligned with the runway) as opposite input is given to ailerons and rudder.
Forward slip is used to quickly lose height. This is done by increasing drag on the plane. The drag i s increased by pressing the outer rudder and then giving the opposite aileron input so that net of net the plane doesn't deviate from its original flight path, although its nose may be pointed in a different direction ( because of rudder pressed)
The slip is a risky maneuver and one mistake can lead to a spin, very important to keep watching your airspeed as you do this., what you don't want is an aerodynamic stall under this situation. The best way to prevent the stall is to keep watching for your airspeed and your thereby your angle of attack. Make sure your nose is not pitched up very high , otherwise it is a disaster waiting to happen.

I know this post is an oversimplification and there's lot more to slipping, no pun intended! Things like what happens it if it is a slipping turn instead of straight and level flight?I found this article which goes into little more detail if you are interested. Remember this , in flying always think about safety first! There are old pilots and there are bold pilots. Unfortunately there are not many old and bold pilots...think about that, happy flying!!!

Various airspeeds , Squawk codes, emergency.

2012-09-16T23:44:00.002-07:00

Some key airspeed the pilots need to know:

Vs: The stall speed- if the airspeed falls below this the plan may stall and start to fall.
Vs0- The stall speed in landing configuration ( meaning with the flaps on)
Vx- air speed for best angle of climb, this is utilized if their is an obstacle near teh runway and the pilot need to have the steepest angle of climb so as to avoid it.
Vy- This is the air speed required for fastest rate of climb. So if the Boeing you are flying in wants to go to 350000 cruising altitude in fastest possible time, the pilot needs to fly it at Vy.

Please note Vy is greater than Vx, which is kind of obvious. Vx means a higher angle of attack, your pitch angle is high so as to get you the steepest angle of climb, that leads to the lower air speed. The lesser the angle of attack, the higher is the airspeed, kind of inversely proportional relationship between the two.

Typically a pilot would fly at a climb speed which is higher than both Vx and Vy, this would be the most fuel efficient. way to limb.

Vr- Rotation Speed, teh sped on take off ru n at which the plane will start to lift off.
Vno - Maximum structural cruise speed.
Vne- Never exceed.
Va- safe to do control maneuvres up to this speed.

Fuel Mixture- rich when landing lean when at cruise altitude.
carb heat- on when low rpm.
Emergency - squawk 7700 in the transponder.
Emergency frequency - 121.5
Communication failure- squawk 7600
flaps- never abruptly remove flaps- the plane can sink quickly.

Remember in emergency- aviate , navigate and then communicate!

Flying- Slip vs skid

2012-09-16T23:39:00.000-07:00

If you are a pilot you probably know these two terms very well.
These two conditions have high probability of occurring during a turn. What you need ideally is a coordinated turn. You go into a bank angle , which then leads to adverse yaw and you counteract it by stepping "on the ball" in the turn coordination indicator. You basically apply the rudder which is on the side of lowered wing to counteract the adverse yaw affect. This leads to zero slippage and a very efficient turn( very little drag).

Skid - What happens if you used the rudder alone for the turn - this may lead to what is called skidding. A very dangerous aerodynamic condition which may in turn lead to stalls which in turn may cause the plan to nosedive , unless you have enough altitude left to execute a recovery. One has to be very careful with low altitude upsets, there's just no room for errors.

Slip- What happens when you use ailerons alone for the turn. This may lead to what is called slip. Now slips are not as dangerous as skids and some time it is even used to steepen the glide angle or for crosswind landing. or for loosing a lot of altitude quickly. That being said slip can lead to a snap roll , like I mentioned in my previous blog posting. So the risk is you may be flying upside down and how many pilots can keep their perspective right when flying upside down , not to mention the 3 G, 4 G forces they may have to encounter.

An ideal turn requires simultaneous use of all the three control surfaces the ailerons, the rudder and the elevators. Use the rudder in the direction of turn to make sure the ball in the turn coordinator is centered such that the slip angle is zero. It basically means stepping on the ball to center it, but at the same time not overdoing it , otherwise the ball may now go to the other side indicating a skid situation. As you coordinate the aileron and rudder, you need to make sure the pitch is also coordinated to keep the nose from going down ( a turn means the vertical lift is reduced and there is a small horizontal lift component which aids in the turn), this reduction in vertical life usually lowers the nose. So if you do not want to lose altitude as you do this turn you may have to pull back on the yoke little bit to keep nose angle constant. You may also have to add little bit of power to hold your altitude depending on how steep turn you are executing.

Turns are very dangerous maneuvers if not done properly, it may lead to stall, spin, dive , roll etc...practice this well enough and your passengers will not complain about a bumpy ride :-)

Some safety tips for pilots

2012-09-16T23:05:00.002-07:00

If you are not a pilot probably some of the things I am going to talk today may not make sense, but if you are a pilot you better know about these risk factors in flying. In the interest of my flying buddies I mention these three things here:
1) Snap Rolls - This happens on slow speed flights and as we know every pilot encounters this situation every time we approach an airport for landing. One has to be in a slow flight in preparation for landing.

2) Spiral Dive - This accident took life of a young pilot in my community couple of years ago, I hope we learn from his mistake and become better pilot. Here's a nice youtube video that explains the concept, unfortunately no recovery form this situation, prevention is the only way out.

3) Skidded turn - This can be avoided, and is purely human tendency to cut corner. We use the rudder to increase the rate of turn when we think we are about to miss the center line of runway during base to final turn. The right thing to do is to execute a " go around" instead of trying to make a bad approach work.

I also came across this nice article which explains how veteran pilots also make mistake, part of human nature related to loss aversion. We tend to take outsize risk to avoid facing loss, even though the outcome may be a fatal crash. This happens not just in aviation , but everyday life, where you see people take chances on road. Your primary job as a pilot is to aviate safely! Be cognizant of the human factors in flying as important as your flying skills are your mental skill, to know the vulnerabilities of the human mind. Happy flying :-)

Change Management

2012-09-08T18:37:00.000-07:00

Being a Project Manager I often get asked what is the most challenging work a Project Manager does. There could be many answers to this , but the one I find most challenging happens to be change management. In the current economic climate organizations need to change themselves to survive- the changes could be restructuring, downsizing, right sizing you name it. Humans have the basic nature of resisting change, they want to stay in their comfort zone, the fear of unknown creeps in their psyche.

It is the human element of change that makes it challenging. I recently read an article on how Mayo clinic introduced change management - arguably the best health clinic apparatus in the world tried to become better. The mission of Mayo clinic is to provide " the best care for every patient every day". The clinics management believed that the value of healthcare is a function of three elements : design( the right treatment for the right patient at the right time), execution ( reliably doing it right every time to achieve the best outcomes) and cost. Accomplishing this would require standardization , transparency, and data gathering and reporting.
One other aspect of change that I found interesting was on accountability front. In hospitals it is known that human errors lead to serious complications and even fatality sometime. Mayo clinic in its step towards quality focused culture decided to pay more attention to sentinel events.- instances of clearly avoidable major patient harm. Such events are now regarded as system failures , not just accident or bad luck.
Mayo clinic used a blend of various approaches to quality improvement including the continuous improvement, Baldrige criteria, six sigma, lean and benchmarking and Toyota production system . They designed their unique transformation effort in keeping with their company mission and successfully delivered transformational change, change for the better. I leave with you the above image of what transformation does to a company( courtesy QP magazine, Aug 2012 issue) over and above standardization. Project managers are trained to bring transformation , and I love this aspect of my job, being a turn around artist!

Food Security

2012-01-31T23:00:00.000-08:00

I wish I was an agriculturalist , could have then done something to address the world food problem. The world population recently crossed 7 billion, I wonder how much mother earth can take the load of its hungry billions. I salute the scientist who are working tirelessly in this area, the need of the hour is to increase the yield on our farm lands, produce disease resistant crops and the ability to deal with vagaries of weather- drought, flood etc. I read this report from Bill Gates which covers some of the food security issues. The report talks about Swarna-Sub1 rice being planted in India and Bangladesh which scientists have recently developed with an extra yield to feed some 30 million people. This variety is resistant to flooding, which is a constant threat to Eastern India and Bangladesh. Bill Gates further writes in this report that "Just like humans, plants get attacked by viruses, bacteria, and fungi", in that sense all the advancement we have made to protect human beings from these dangerous micro organisms can be leveraged towards plants as well. What we need is innovation to kick in this area, a private public partnership and people like Bill Gates who act as a change agent.

On a recent flight to Shanghai I read a nice article on how China has become self sufficient in grain production thanks to high yielding rice variety, and it has also made noticeable progress in green house farming. It means that the summer vegetables are no longer confined to summer months, the same can be enjoyed year round. The abundance in vegetable has led to lower prices and food for millions. Here's a nice article on China's green house revolution. Here's another article on how the Chinese are managing fighting plant diseases , they have this unique concept of helping farmers remotely using modern telecommunication devices. Here's an article from Guardian on what is being done in some parts of the world...I didn't particularly like the insect eating part..oh I will puke! I am a vegetarian to begin with!

In India scientists recently gathered to talk about the research in GM ( Genetically Modified) rice, and they have demanded more funds for research, I would whole heartedly support them! In the news paper on that plane I also read about this great agricultural scientist from China- one of the unsung heroes- the father of hybrid rice- he is 81 now, but still working at full speed, his name is Yuan Longping.

Here's hoping that we the people are able to find a solution to global food problem before it is too late ( we already have one billion hungry people on this earth), I would encourage the young generation to think about these issues and pursue these studies to make world a better place. I would like to end this blog with a link to an article called - World in 2100 : Ten Billion People, No Oil and Not Enough Food. I am an optimist I hope the above predictions don't come true, that the global warming threat is mitigated and we have food for everyone!

The Road Not taken

2012-01-02T22:32:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year dear visitor! May the new year bring lots of happiness in your life. Below I produce my favorite poem from Robert Frost, The Road not Taken!

The Road Not Taken
--Robert Frost
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Sunshine

2011-07-02T22:00:00.000-07:00

May the sun bring you new energy by day,
May the moon softly restore you by night,
May the rain wash away your worries
And the breeze blow new strength into your being,
And all the days of your life may you walk
Gently through the world and know its beauty

--- Apache Blessing

Nature has this unique gift- it helps us rejuvenate, re-energize and bring balance in life. The picture attached is one I took at the UBC Botanical , Garden- it has a good collection of lush green trees and plants. I found myself lost in the nature, the tress, some of them 700-800 years old... they must have seen the good , the bad , the ugly ( forest fire, storms) in their life and they are still standing tall-suddenly my problems in life start looking too small :-)

Serendipity, creative thinking, friendship!

2011-06-20T23:06:00.000-07:00

Do you believe in serendipity? I do. Many important inventions and discoveries may never have happened if it was not for chance events. Insulin, Penicillin, X-rays, Allergens were all accidentally discovered. Here is an article which lists some of these. An open mind is needed to capitalize on these chance events- as the American physicist Joseph Henry once noted, "The seeds of great discoveries are constantly floating around us, but they only take root in minds well prepared to receive them."

Here is a blog post on CNN that talks about randomness. New ideas require some down time, some coming off the grind- many researchers see creative thinking as a four-step process: preparation, incubation, illumination and verification or revision.”Incubation is “the ‘mystical’ step,” one in which both the conscious mind and the subconscious mull over the problem in hard-to-define ways.” Hard to define, yes, but not hard to foster, as long as chunks of the day or the week are left open for relatively random activity: long walks, surfing the Internet, browsing a bookstore, household chores that don’t require too much thought, watching the birds at the birdfeeder and gazing out at the ocean."

Here is another great reference to serendipity discoveries , a blog post on Harvard Business Review- apparently the Post it Note, Viagra, Nylon, Aspirin, tech behind Ink Jet printers were all chance events!

The lesson- don't restrict yourself to the tried and tested- go explore the world, venture out little bit, take risks...the possibilities are immense! Something somewhere is waiting to be discovered, that distant person you never thought you could be friends with, may turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to you, go ahead extend that hand of friendship! Most of my friends today are a result of serendipity, and hence I am a firm believer :-)

Infectious diseases - microorganisms

2011-04-30T00:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I worked in my garden now that spring is here. Of course nothing unusual about that, but what was unusual was that I picked mild temperature (99) and some body-ache the next day. This being the Easter weekend, thankfully I had plenty of time to sleep all day off, again very unusual for me to sleep during the day like that. I ended up seeing the doctor and getting some antibiotics...can't really afford staying away from work for very long!

This little tryst with a microorganism (bacteria) got me thinking, one day of sickness and I already feel behind on some of my pending tasks, how about millions others who die every year because of bacterial infections. Despite it being such a big killer and more so of infants (0 to 5 years), people know very little about this dreaded microorganism. So this week I did some research and tried to understand all the microorganisms which threaten humans- bacteria, virus, fungus, parasites and protozoa. I read about the progress we have made in the last 200 years and the challenges which still lie ahead. The developing countries are worse off, per one stat 50% child mortality could be avoided just by proper vaccination, the defense is there but people are too poor to be able to afford it.

I chose engineering line as my career, but sometime I think the work in medicine may have been more fulfilling. There are still many things unknown in this world. The bacterias mutate, the virus mutates, and the medicine which worked earlier is no longer effective. No doubt we have made important progress, like we have mapped some key bacterial gnomes, we have vaccination, we have antibiotics but the task is still far from over. It takes too long to come up with a vaccination once new strains of virus or bacteria are identified. We could definitely do better. Now I can't be a doctor , too late for me, but I am going to try my best to do my part in disseminating the available information.

I will work on spreading awareness about these dangerous microorganisms and the precautions we can take to avoid their wrath. In the medical community it is said that Prevention is better than Prescription or Procedure(surgery). Till such time we map the gnome of these deadly microorganisms completely and have an antidote, let us make all out effort to steer clear of them- prevent it from happening in the first place. Here are some of the suggestions I have read- wash your hand, use hand hand sanitizer, cover your mouth when you sneeze or cough, eat antioxidants, get good sleep, exercise, eat healthy diet, stay up to date on vaccinations, take annual flu shot etc. You can read some more from this link courtesy WebMd.

Here's hoping you a very healthy life , let us take care of ourselves and enjoy the little pleasures of life! You have so many more milestones left in life, some small some big- like enjoying the morning sun on a beach, watching your near and dear ones grow, run a marathon...go get your vaccination, stick around :-)

America's 10 most popular drugs

2011-04-23T00:19:00.000-07:00

Came across this article at Times, it has stats on the 10 most popular drugs in America. The numbers confirmed what I mostly knew already, the usual culprits are all there- the blood pressure related, the cholesterol related, the sugar related, the chronic pain related and of course the antibiotics. Using the stats around prescription drug usage, one can find the common diseases and hence take action to avoid them. Here's wishing you a healthy life for years to come and may these drugs never be part of your life :-)

10. Hydrochlorothiazide (HydroDIURIL)
Type of drug: diuretic (water pill)
Used to treat: high blood pressure
Number of prescriptions in 2010: 47.8 million
Number of prescriptions in 2009: 47.9 million

The tenth most popular drug treats high blood pressure, one of the major risk factors for heart disease and stroke. About 1 in 3 American adults currently have high blood pressure, which is more common among older adults, the overweight or obese, people with a family history, smokers, people who don't exercise and African Americans.

9. Metformin HCL (Glucophage)
Type of drug: anti-diabetic
Used to treat: diabetes
Number of prescriptions in 2010: 48.3 million
Number of prescriptions in 2009: 44.3 million

Type 2 diabetes, the kind linked with obesity, affects 25.8 million Americans, or about 8% of the total population, and an estimated 7 million people are undiagnosed. What's more, 79 million people are estimated to have a condition called pre-diabetes, in which patients have impaired glucose tolerance and are at high risk for developing diabetes. In 2010, 1.9 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 years and older, according to the American Diabetes Association. Metformin is commonly used to control blood sugar in diabetes patients.

Also came across this blog which has a lot of information about this dangerous disease.

8. Amoxicillin (Amoxil)
Type of drug: antibiotic
Used to treat: bacterial infections
Number of prescriptions in 2010: 52.3 million
Number of prescriptions in 2009: 52.4 million

Antibiotics can be used to treat infections of the nose, throat, skin and urinary tract — but they cannot cure colds or flu, which are caused by viruses. Nonetheless, millions of prescriptions are written to try to treat these illnesses — improper use that is contributing to the increasing problem of antibiotic resistance.

7. Azithromycin (Zithromax)
Type of drug: antibiotic
Used to treat: bacterial infections
Number of prescriptions in 2010: 52.6 million
Number of prescriptions in 2009: 53.8 million

Like amoxicillin, azithromycin is used to treat common bacterial infections, including lung infections and some sexually transmitted infections.

6. Omeprazole (Prilosec)
Type of drug: proton pump inhibitor
Used to treat: acid reflux
Number of prescriptions in 2010: 53.4 million
Number of prescriptions in 2009: 45.4 million

About 20% of Americans suffer from stomach pain and burning related to acid reflux at least once a week, resulting in the popularity of Prilosec. Risk factors for acid reflux include obesity and cigarette smoking.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/04/19/americas-10-most-popular-prescription-drugs/#ixzz1KKTgH82U

5. Amlodipine besylate (Norvasc)
Type of drug: calcium channel blocker
Used to treat: high blood pressure
Number of prescriptions in 2010: 57.2 million
Number of prescriptions in 2009: 51.3 million

The risk of developing high blood pressure increases with age, affecting about two-thirds of people over 60 (note: the oldest of the country's 77 million Baby Boomers are turning 65 this year) — one reason that blood-pressure medications make up three of the top 10 most prescribed drugs.

4. Levothyroxine sodium (Synthroid)
Type of drug: thyroid hormone
Used to treat: low-functioning thyroid gland
Number of prescriptions in 2010: 70.5 million
Number of prescriptions in 2009: 66 million

A common cause of low thyroid hormones, primary hypothyroidism affects 9% of women and 1% of men. Symptoms include slow speech, lack of energy, weight gain, hair loss, increased sensitivity to cold, and dry, thick skin. The risk of hypothyroidism increases with age, which accounts in part for the increasing number of prescriptions written.

3. Lisinopril (Prinivil)
Type of drug: ACE inhibitor
Used to treat: high blood pressure
Number of prescriptions in 2010: 87.4 million
Number of prescriptions in 2009: 82.8 million

Out-of-control stress contributes to high blood pressure, which helps explain why the condition may be more common in the poor and in people whose jobs have high levels of responsibility but little control over outcomes.

2. Simvastatin (Zocor)
Type of drug: statin
Used to treat: high cholesterol
Number of prescriptions in 2010: 94.1 million
Number of prescriptions in 2009: 83.8 million

Nearly 36 million Americans have high cholesterol levels, high enough to more than double their risk of heart disease and stroke — and to keep rates of prescriptions for cholesterol-lowering statins sky high.

1. Hydrocodone with acetaminophen (Vicodin)
Type of drug: opioid
Used to treat: pain
Number of prescriptions in 2010: 131.2 million
Number of prescriptions in 2009: 128.2 million

Vicodin is prescribed to treat chronic pain, which affects 20% to 30% of adults and is twice as common in women as in men. The pill is also commonly prescribed to treat pain following dental procedures. Though drug misuse may account for part of the reason that hydrocodone is so popular, fewer than 3% of people prescribed opioids for chronic pain actually develop new addictions.

Read this far, good! You are serious about your health, I am sure these drugs in your life would be as rare as the black swan pictured above!

Metaphors in life ( and trading)

2011-04-15T23:05:00.000-07:00

Do you use metaphors in life? I have found them useful.These are like the crutches which help me navigate the complexities of life. One of my favorite one being- life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about dancing in the rain! Or this one- life is what happens to us while we are making other plans!

Why am I talking metaphors today, well because this is all about conditioning the mind to operate in the zone, the state of perfection! I trade the financial markets, which are very competitive in nature, nothing less than perfection will do in this business! The mind over market concept is now formally studied as part of behavioral finance, the psychology of the trader. The mentors, I have come to respect in this industry, all tell me that trading is one third psychology, one third execution and one third setups. So if i just mastered the charts alone, it is just one third of the battle:-)

I was researching how people in the financial market community use metaphors in life. I came across psychologist Ruth Barrons Roosevelt article
"I like to think of trading as sailing. Here you harness the forces that are there. You take into account the wind direction and velocity, the currents, and your destination. You've got your charts to guide you and you constantly adjust to nature's forces, sometimes pointing into the wind, sometimes running before the wind, sometimes tacking, but always in partnership with your boat, your crew, the wind, and the currents. Sure, storms can come up, but you can always let down the sail and anchor and wait out the storm. You work with the forces that are there, the forces that are much bigger than you, but you enjoy the journey, the day, the sport, and you're confident you can get to your destination, your port, your safe harbor."

Of course some people compare trading to fishing where the patience is the key element people are trying to focus on. Some compare trading to a sniper, or a pray -predator relationship. Look for the opportunity and jump on it, no room for error. It all depends on ones mental makeup which one you like more, obviously the aggressive types will prefer the pray predator metaphor, but the same metaphor may have negative connotation to the conservative mindset traders( BTW the picture above is of a lioness I captured in my Nikon DSLR, look at the intense eyes, that kind of focus and intensity is what you need, if you believe in the pray-predator metaphor).

I like the sailing analogy to trading that Ms. Ruth provided, to me trading is a complex endeavor, and sailing is apt representation, the winds - if you get tailwinds that is, will make for a soaring bottom line, on the other hand if you have headwinds...well you need to learn to deal with that too, else the boat sinks :-) So what are the metaphors you use in your life or work:-)

What season is this?

2011-02-28T22:32:00.000-08:00

This has been a strange winter, the more I think the winter days are over, the more I get a gentle reminder- few more days my dear! Some more days of clouds, little less of sun shine, the frosty mornings and the occasional light and beautiful white snow..as if the world has been painted white, pure, pristine.... who can say no to that! The picture above is part of my backyard and that tiny hint of snow is what I am talking about...ever so gentler, kinder, softer snow..the one you don't have to worry about getting to work or clearing the driveway.

Although winter has over stayed and in some cities on the west coast totally surprised their residents (San Francisco recently had its first snow in 35 years)- I am not complaining!These things of nature make me emotional at times, recently read a poem by Mary Frye, normally read during funerals, talks about how our near ones never leave us even when they die- they are in gush of wind that touches us, the snow that falls on our garden, the birds that chirp...here it is and do not get too sentimental :)

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.
I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.
I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.
I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room.
I am in the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.
Do not stand at my grave bereft
I am not there. I have not left

Happy New Year

2011-01-23T22:03:00.000-08:00

New year is here and I hope this year brings in the change we always look for and which always seems to fall short..the new year is like a clean slate , we can make this year into whatever we would like it to be- good , bad, ugly..err not ugly, I hope! So let us do our very best and work towards this year being the most productive year of our life!! I know that is going to be my resolution! I plan to outdo myself...try hard even if it means going to the brink , to the precipice..and hopefully not fall off the cliff trying :-)

With that bit of optimism, here's something I want to share ( with permission from author)- this is from a dear friend of mine, who happens to be my classmate from IIT Kanpur, and who is a senior executive in a Technology firm might I add :-) We fondly call him Ramki.

Ramki this is dedicated to you!!

[In the spirit of re-living the lost pleasure of writing letters, minus the handwriting]

To,

A few more tears of happiness listening to soulful music,
A little more tiredness as you work yourself towards a worthy goal,
A few more thoughts towards the plight of the less fortunate,
A little less annoyance at the machinations of the keepers of power,
A few more hearty conversations with your best friends(for life),
A lighter load of worries of the past and anxieties for the future,
An increased zest in the service of those whom you love unconditionally,
An increased responsibility towards the world which made you,

From,

The blessings of those who helped you be what you are, and
The company of those who truly make you live your life to the fullest,

Subject: to the best of health, happiness and fun,

Dear Sir/Madam,

I humbly request your New Year visit you, and stay all year long!

as ever,
Ramki

Niraj's blog

Diamonds are forever, what to look for!

A picture is worth a thousand words.

1. Celery (1,425 grams/50.27 ounces = 200 Calories)

2. Broccoli (588 grams/20.74 ounces = 200 Calories)

3. Baby Carrots (570 grams/20.11 ounces = 200 Calories)

4. Coca Cola (496 ml/17.50 ounces = 200 Calories)

5. Apples (385 grams/13.58 ounces = 200 Calories)

6. Canned Green Peas (357 grams/12.59 ounces = 200 Calories)

7. Grapes (290 grams/10.26 ounces = 200 Calories)

8. Sliced Smoked Turkey (204 grams/7.20 ounces = 200 Calories)

9. Eggs (150 grams/5.29 ounces = 200 Calories)

10. Cooked Pasta (145 grams/5.11 ounces = 200 Calories)

11. Avocado (125 grams/4.41 ounces = 200 Calories)

12. Canned Tuna in Oil (102 grams/3.6 ounces = 200 Calories)

13. Jack in the Box Cheeseburger(75 grams/2.65 ounces = 200 Calories)

14. Jack in the Box French Fries(73 grams/2.58 ounces = 200 Calories)

15. Blueberry Muffin (72 grams/2.54 ounces = 200 Calories)

16. Sesame Seed Bagel (70 grams/2.47 ounces = 200 Calories)

17. Hot Dogs (66 grams/2.33 ounces = 200 Calories)

18. Medium Cheddar Cheese (51 grams/1.8 ounces = 200 Calories)

19. Fruit Loops Cereal (51 grams/1.8 ounces = 200 Calories)

20. Snickers (41 grams/1.45 ounces = 200 Calories)

21. Doritos (41 grams/1.45 ounces = 200 Calories)

22. Fried Bacon (34 grams/1.2 ounces = 200 Calories)

23. Peanut Butter (34 grams/1.2 ounces = 200 Calories)

24. Salted Mixed Nuts (33 grams/1.16 ounces = 200 Calories)

25. Butter (28 grams/0.99 ounces = 200 Calories)

Sleep deprivation, a silent killer!

Heart health related from Dr Shetty

Miracle in the Hudson - fourth annversary

Gross Vs. Net revenue recognition.

Happy New Year, some tips for better living

Mark to Market

The commodity markets in consolidation

The hurricane Sandy and the New York Stock Exchange.

Yash Chopra- end of an era.

Forward slip vs side slip

Various airspeeds , Squawk codes, emergency.

Flying- Slip vs skid

Some safety tips for pilots

Change Management

Food Security

The Road Not taken

Sunshine

Serendipity, creative thinking, friendship!

Infectious diseases - microorganisms

America's 10 most popular drugs

Metaphors in life ( and trading)

What season is this?

Happy New Year

13. Jack in the Box Cheeseburger
(75 grams/2.65 ounces = 200 Calories)

14. Jack in the Box French Fries
(73 grams/2.58 ounces = 200 Calories)