pune from pensioner's paradise to pollution hell

This year Pune city did not have any winter at all!! We did not have to use any sweaters or blankets!! My mind goes back to the year 1993 when we first moved here! The climate was so good we did not have to use a ceiling fan except for a month or so in the month of may. I did not see any air coolers or air conditioners anywhere! now the situation is such that my apartment complex which has 200 residents can now boast of at least 100 a/c's vying with each other in using up power. Electricity aha now we moved to pune from visakhapatnam where we had to suffer power cuts of 4 to 5 hours every day in 1991-92So moving to pune where there was an abundance of water and power was a wonderful experience to us.But the last 15 years I'm very sorry that the infrastructure has deteriorated so badly that we have power cuts, poor water supply and woeful traffic conditions.Comparatively Visakhaptnam now boasts of excellent roads better power situation and more greenery now thanks to better and visionary governance.So Pune And Puneris wake up before it is too late and your city starts looking like a concrete jungle.the need here would be better public transport(please no experiments such as BRTS) and awareness among people to use fewer vehicles.Also the city needs better planning in the sense that residential and commercial areas need to be located separately to avoid chaos in front of every apartment complex due to the presence of shops.

recession and your credit card

Here we are talking of recession in the USA and its fallout in other countries. I was in the United States the last two months and witnessed a lack lustre thanksgiving and christmas shopping season.It made me wonder about the american way of life(swiping your credit card for even the smallest of purchases) Now get me wrong, b'cause that's exactly what I too was doing.i.e using my credit card for making purchases as low as $2. The way of life in the era of recession made me really think!! are we doing the right thing. For the small convenience of not needing to carry cash, do we not spend more than that we intended to whenever we use the colourful piece of plastic to pay with. If you look keenly at your photo on the card before you swipe it you cant miss the smirk!! which says dude do you need all this stuff!
Most of us miss reading the fine print and pages of text which comes to you along with the credit card under the opinion that "why do i need to know things like interest rate. Im going to be paying of my dues every month promptly. Maybe it works if you have a regular pay cheque.But what happens when the pay cheque is no longer coming in and the bills come pouring in and you end up using the card and start paying only the minimum amount.Let me warn you those of you who are doing this stop it now!! before you start drowning in interest debt. Try not to use your credit card when you go shopping for necessities.
I am still trying to figure out how the American Health Insurance Industry works. As of now I am unable to comprehend why medicines and hospitalisation is so expensive and also why there is copay even when you pay your insurance.I am from the insurance industry so this does interest me.So I shall write about it in my next post.

Slum dog millionaire

I watched today's news where the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" was nominated in 10 categories for the academy awards. I watched this movie last weekend and also had the opportunity to listen to others review about the movie, and was a little surprised at the reaction of some of the people (Non Indians). The movie was released here in the USA before it was released in India and it is being released in India today i.e the day it was nominated for the awards.The movie in my opinion may not be what you could call as a box office hit in INDIA. The movie depicts the harsh realities of living and growing up orphan in the slums of Dharavi in Mumbai.For us in India the movie theatre is a place where we do not want to see reality. We are content to spend a few hundred bucks to watch our stars where designer clothes and cavort to snazzy songs in locales all over the world.(If it happens to be a yash chopra movie then an overdose of Switzerland). any way coming back to the movie, here's my honest opinion about it. I liked the movie because of the portrayal of innocence and indomitable spirit in spite of all the harsh realities the main character in the movie has to face. This optimism is what India and Indians are all about!! Not just filthy living conditions. I wish that those who see the movie see this spirit not the filth of Dharavi. I am not one of those who goes to watch Academy award nominated movies but this one I really liked it and felt that the nominations were justified. I do hope that it does win!!! Yes and I wish that similar movies directed by INDIAN directors could also make to the Oscars. More about this when I get the feedback from my friends in India after they have watched the movie.

hello and welcome

Hi there! this is my first post after creating my blog so I really dont know what to say!! So until I can organise my thoughts bye for now!!