Bathroom Imaginations & Screenplay: Saatchya Aat Gharat

To the writer of this movie, Mr. Sanjay Surkar, I just have this to say, "Get well soon!".

My heartfelt best wishes for you to get back into a better mental state, so that Marathi Cinema is spared another horrible state than what was achieved by the late. Laxmikant Berde & the not-so late Mr. Ashok Saraf.

Another suggestion, please do not ponder so much, about culture and humanity...you are incapable to both, and most of all, judging modern humanity.

I saw this movie, and was appalled by the senseless writing and screenplay, all under the guise of "intellectual" cinema. Here is why:

1. The whole movie tries to represent an entire generation, when it actually portrays some management kids (incapable of simple logical thoughts) in a dire situation - the guise of which is so foolish, it makes you see through the callousness of the writer to disregard depth in his story.
2. The movie tries to draw parallels' between mythology and real-life, and the lead is shown lecturing a man over her deep thinking, which, based on the screenplay, is nothing more than comparision to mytical circumstances. Why? Well, again the writer is too bored to use a wifi-laptop while he's relieving his compost, and research humanity, and sociology. Two key elements that are so sorely missed in this movie.
3. The superficial handling of a key topic shows immaturity. Acceptance of an assault victim isnt quite new Mr. Writer, not only that, Indian culture has a seriously long history of infidelity, which I personally believe is far more shocking than being assaulted. But hell, assault is a kick-ass word and sure to tickle the small marathi cine-goers, especially the grey heads that are clinging on to the hope that glory days are around the corner.
4. Undue importance to godly matters, while bearing no relevance to the actual story line, keeps
rearing its' head every once in a while throughout the movie, and gives it a pro-believer stance (its' not quite difficult to guess which community was involved in making the movie), I think the best way to debunk the gods in India would be to kill all demons aka "Bhul Bhulaiyaa" which would certainly open eyes of Indians to the "real" facts of human life and death.
5. Now, lastly to my serious contention that marathi cinema is dying not because of bad characterisation or storylines, but rather because the marathi film-industry is so far away from the modern concepts of human stories and stays so far away from key elements that make classics like Forrest Gump, RDB, Shwaas or all the ones that get oscars and nominations, that no one hopes much more than z-grade from them.

Another interesting fact which I feel is a bit of a sideline to the story, is the fact that its' set in Pune, a city full of students and IT / ITES companies. Full stop. No trade, no finance, nothing. Essentially the story of culturally old parents and young millionaire children. The movie is fantastic, within the boundaries of such a Galapagos, but applying it to anything beyond that is like imagining Dinosaurs as primary dairy suppliers.

However all's not lost, there is always a gem that comes out once in a while, and lets hope someone out there actually decides to take some efforts, do real work and then write movies.

Hyundai i10

http://www.hyundaii10.co.in/

Diwali - World's Most Dangerous & Destructive Festival

Today was the first day after a night-full of crackers and fireworks explosions. I have always heard of the effect on the environment, but today I witnessed it first hand. Today was an ordinary day with absolutely NO CLOUDS, but it was made extra-ordinary by the fireworks of yesterday. As captured in the photo on my previous blog, the night sky showed a thick coat of smog, and the effect of it lasted the whole day today. The sun was shining, but the day was hardly bright, I'd rate it in-between a gloomy day and an overcast one.

It was surprising and at the same time disgusting to witness such an occurence in my own lifetime. When we ultimately face the consequences of such acts, we'd be left without any options.

I thought I'd seen and lived all my horrors, but instead in the evening, we thought of enjoying the sights and sounds of Diwali, so started off for a drive with a stopover to visit my granny. We parked our Car next to a pani-puri vendor, and before we could get out, there were crazy loud thuds on the opposite side of the road. Few minors had collected all their firecraker "malas" and placed a chain of notorious "sutli bombs" on top of it. Some burning blast fragments were being spread to a area of more than 8-10 meter diameter. One such burning fragments hit the driver side door pane, close to the rubber lining, and my heart sank. I wasted no time, and took my car to a area that appeared desolate (relative term).

But to my sheer anguish, there were a set of people from Anagram Finance, who were in a very "happy" mood at their shop (belonging to one Haresh Parekh, an investment advisor) and were hell bent on setting all their brokerage on fire. My car endured a volley of high-decibel blasts, from less than three meters away for more than 30-35 minutes.

Later on, we took a drive on the link road towards Don Bosco high-school, which I must say is one the best areas of Borivali. The lights' and overall decor was breath-taking. However, to spoil the look, there was a lot of sound being generated by none other than the infamous "sutli bomb", and the hissing rockets. I saw so many of the rockets hit sides of one building or another. It was quite disturbing to see such shameful exhibition of fire-power in a densely populated city like Mumbai.

Lastly, if it's worth, I strongly urge the Indian Government, and the powers that be, to issue a BLANKET BAN on fire-crackers in Mumbai!

Please act now, and save off some quality of life before its' too late.

Goodwill Hunting - Deepika Padukone

India on the global scene is harshly misrepresented as a country of IT professionals, Call-center "Executives" and generally low cost professionals. So it comes as a surprise when India & Indians are presented with an aggressive and overtly glamourous defiance.

What am I talking about?

Om Shanti Om has released today to packed audience. Amongst the several theatrics on TV today, was a news-channel showcasing the publicity visits by the cast of OSO to theatres in London.

And out came Deepika wearing a red Indian traditional dress, that brought the scintillating beauty and charm hidden beneath her calm exterior to fore.

Maybe I'm exaggerating, however it was quite pleasing to see Indian actors being celebrated the same manner overseas as they so boringly are back home. There was much more in store, a bit of googling around for OSO reviews, and the surprise was even much more pleasant. A canadian film critic not only rates OSO 3/5, but goes on to say that "OSO is far better than any Hollywood movie released right now, and one thing you realize is, this movie puts a smile on your face", and concludes with "Must watch".

Great work SRK & Deepika et. al.

Sub-prime jitters in India?

While surfing today, I came across this:
http://www.myiris.com/newsCentre/newsPopup.php?fileR=20071106075455130&dir=2007/11/06&secID=livenews

Does it indicate the begining of the end of Real-Estate woes in India? ICICI is a shark, and for a blood-thirsty shark to give away its' meal like this sounds alarming. I personally feel ICICI may have lot more percent of NPAs, and I would definately like to track ICICI's 50% loan portfolio involving housing sector financing.

Its' not surprise that Arcil has a CEO from ICICI, who was involved with recovering "stressed loans" to the tune of thousands of crores.

With the loan recovery mechanics of ICICI making prime-time news, its' probably the begining of something big from ICICI.

Diwali 2007

Wish you a very Happy Diwali!

Let's atleast hope the colors and light festival can be enjoyed in the same light a century from now. The fog and the pollution may not permit our next generations to live and enjoy Diwali. Act now, time is passing us all by, and there's only one right thing to do...

Say no to Firecrackers!

Concorde - A380

21-January-1976, two historical events happened on this day, a. The Concorde took its' maiden flight over the Atlantic bringing the new world within 2 hours of the old world. The second can be easily guessed.

I have always had an emotional attachment to the Concorde, the sheer beauty and technical wizardry it exhibited is still unmatched. However the very values that the Concorde represented have been eclipsed, that Man no longer values speed and grace is the sad but true state of Modern Aviation.

Today the world has seen the rise of a Goliath, a beast, with ugly looks, but nevertheless, state-of-the-art technology under its' belly. The A380 shines through all the needs of travellers all over the world, especially long-distance travellers.

But, after 9/11, does it make sense to build planes that can carry 800 pax, and triple the amount of fuel carried by the B757s & B767s used to create havoc?

Well, if anything, one might argue, that the world should never bow down to the evil ambitions of handful men. Agreed, but doesnt risk-assessment mean anything anymore?

The A380 will rule the skies, no doubt, and I certainly do hope, that Modern Aviation, does not falter, not the very least to terrorism, but I also feel, while we celebrate the birth of the A380, we are quietly letting the very thing that symbolizes magnificence become nothing more than a memory.

BPO Employee Murdered

Why doesnt Indian Government, follow Saudi Principles of Justice, where each criminal not only pays for his/her crimes, but does so in a manner that sets an example for society.

My sincere condolences to Late Miss. Chaudhari, and I pray that she gets justice quickly.

Emergency in Pakistan

Dont quite know what to expect now, or if it matters to us Indians, but to know that folks across the borders are being deprived of constitutional rights is not very nice.

I just hope for the sake of World-peace, that Mia Musharraf has good intentions at heart, and would create a path-breaking mechanism of fixing the twisted social fabric of Pakistan.

Some insights into real-estate pricing

I have discovered some insights into how Real-Estate companies price their properties. Although the macro factors are quite standard and well-documented, I recently witnessed an unprecedented example of how this bubble takes shape.

I'd visited the R.N.A. (A.A) builders stall at the MCHI property expo, and one of their "complexes" in Mira Road - E - RNA Courtyard - was quoting Rs. 2741 psf, the date & time for this quote was 28-Oct-2007 20:00 Hrs.

This week, I decided to give a few followup calls' to all the builders just to get a sense of where the market was headed. And lo-behold, RNA Courtyard was hiked to Rs. 3441 psf, an appreciation of Rs. 800 (or 29.18 % ) within a matter of 5 days, whereas ALL other projects were quoting the exact same price as at the Expo. This startling appreciation of project quote points at two facts:
1. There was a huge demand for that property at the Expo.
2. Most likely there are a few products remaining to be sold.

However, there is one more aspect of Real-Estate pricing which has come to fore, which is "Benchmark Pricing" & "Incremental Valuations". The concepts are fairly rudimentary and quite obvious but, to know that such methods are still being followed in what some experts call a "mature" industry is quite disturbing. Its' akin to you being priced in increments when you buy anything, so imagine someone charging Rs. 10, 12, 14, 17, 20 for 5 Pepsi Bottles that you buy. Its' a classical definition of a "Sellers Market", the market valuations are almost being twisted on its' head based on purchasing power of consumers. There is one downside though, with speculators so rampant in such market, there is a huge amount of value that's being lost because ultimately gains made by an individual have opportunity costs, and by spending out of your nose to buy a flat will ensure, other commodities face a decline.

I can clearly see the begining of the end, although my confidence in this prediction is shaky, because I've grossly under-estimated the holding capacity of Indian speculators before.

MCHI Property Fair 2007

The games start now!

I saw a very humble picture of Mumbai's Real Estate market, the rates have gone down, a good 10%-15%.

The projects still stuck with the same rates as earlier were desolate devoid of any visitors, the ones' that were rocking were projects which have taken into account the fact that the average Indian doesnt earn 75 lacs a year!

Some of the properties which have been around forever, are obviously not willing to learn from economics, that ballons can be blown to their capacity, but not any further.

May god help the countless people who are gonna be stuck with debts higher than the value of their flats, either that, or may lord have mercy on me coz I do not wish to buy no flat in these boiling water.

SEBI Proposes Tighter Rules on P-Notes: Catch the bull by its' Horns

Securities & Exchange Board of India has issues a draft document proposing tightening of noose around the "FII" inflow into the country off the back of P-Notes.

As discussed earlier, this route is no doubt used by the mafia, underworld, corrupt politicians and likely hawala operators under the guise of "FII" investment. The total anonymity in such transactions opens a Pandora's Box, as Occams' Razor suggests, the simplest explanation is often the truth.

If my vote counts, please re-consider banning P-Notes in totality. If not, then please make this draft into a directive asap.

Thank You SEBI, RBI & FM...please save India from this menace.

Ban Outdated Rickshaws & Taxis in Mumbai

Mumbai roads have been ruled by Taxis and Rickshaws for over three decades now. Today we are living in a city trying to establish an image on a global stage. Some of the worlds richest people live in this city, moreover the city houses establishments that have become a rage on the global investment front. We are seeing broad developments in the city, be it the roads, the trains, eateries, fashion circuit, airports, hotels et al. But sadly there is one "cancer" that is choking Mumbai to its' death.

According to this report on Mumbai's Pollution, the levels of Carbon Monoxide (CO), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Suspended Particulate Matter (SPM) & Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) are way beyond acceptable limits in inhabited placed. Other contaminants such as Lead (Pb) and Oxides of Nitrogen are also found in increasingly larger quantities.

There is no doubt that Mumbai's pollution is due to the rapid growth of Automobiles, and the continued usage of dilapidated trucks and vehicles especially Rickshaws and Taxis. What we need is a blanket ban on these, or at the very least trim them to about 10% of their current numbers. Here's why

Taxi
1. Taxi operators are using vehicles manufactured a minimum 20 years ago. Moreover, the vehicles are no longer receiving genuine parts, and one wonders how the engine behaves when its' been subjected to unbranded/customizations.
2. Taxis offer "Zero" ride-quality. These vehicles are having very tough rubber tyres, and the rides in pot-holed areas, or even slight level mismatches on a concrete road are pretty rough. We pay a great amount of money for this?
3. Arrogant Taxi drivers of Mumbai are folklore.
4. Most taxis are sluggish due to conversion to CNG, but their arrogant, uneducated and unmannered drivers always believe in driving on the fast lane (Right Lanes). Some taxi drivers are also known to mix Kerosene with petrol, causing horrible SPM pollution.
5. There are so many taxis' which either do not have a functional headlight or a tail-light or the turn-indicator lights. Some do not have either in working condition. I sincerely wonder why is fact tolerated by the RTO?
6. A quick chat-survey of Taxi-Utilization, reveals that a Taxi may get two or maximum three "bhaadas" every day, requiring one or two hours of driving. However, the driver needs to hunt his fish the whole of 10-12 hours (mostly waiting in queues) to be able to meet this figure. It means on an average a Taxi has only 8%-10% utilization.
7. The union holds the entire city at ransom through their strikes.
8. Whenever citizens really need the Taxi's services, the taxi operators invariably try to rob the person blind. Best examples were 26/7, or whenever sub-train services are disrupted.

Rickshaw
1. The rickshaws are a symbol of Indian Entrepreneurship gone horribly wrong. We have given rise to this ugly animal in our own backyard, courtesy the greed and vision (illusion) of one man. The very purpose of a rickshaw is to provide a low-cost carrier to the common man. Rickshaw fare is almost 82% of a Taxi fare. Are rickshaws' really serving their purpose?
2. Rickshaw drivers are the most notorious drivers in Mumbai. There are a few strict "NO"s that are taught in driving schools, but probably as means of getting back at the society, a rickshaw driver not only practices them, but has ingenious ways to invent more.
3. Ride quality in Taxis' is bad, but in a Rickshaw, its' even worse. The small wheelbase results in serious jolts, add to that the whims and fancies of its' seat designers which range from wooden planks to the cheapest train seat.
4. The three wheel approach lends to a very unstable platform. I've myself been involved in a rickshaw toppling incident, and witnessed atleast 2 of them (No injuries, just bruises). Add to that the fact that a rickshaw is driven along three parallel lines, thus making avoidance of potholes a nightmare. A driver usually takes care not to involve the front wheel in a pothole, the other wheels lead to heads bangs (to begin with) or even miscarriages at the extreme.
5. Rickshaw drivers are known to pick-up fights in a haste, and are a menace to society.

The sooner the powers in question realize these, the earlier we can take Mumbai to a far cleaner, and brighter city.

Visit to Bombay Stock Exchange

There are two phases in every mumbaikar's life. First, when he's not yet come across the charisma, grandeur and the sheer power to challenge and alter your destiny. And the next one, is when you have visited the Bombay Stock Exchange, and interacted with the very men that made it one of the oldest financial benchmarks of Indian Economy.

Okay, I'm still in a kind of daze, about how I could stay away from the stock markets for so long, especially when all indicators were screaming out loud at even putting in pension funds into the stock market.

The reason I happened to visit the stock market was to attend a course on "Fundamental Analysis" at the BSE Training Institute (19th Floor). The course provides a completely fresh perspective into how stock markets need to be approached. An over-whelming feeling that almost took me over towards the end of this session, I literally felt like an ostrich with his head buried into the ground. The few important pointers I gathered from the course were, always study the true worth (Valuation) of a company, before deciding to invest in one. The markets always come around to respect that figure. Keep a keen eye on what the promoters are upto, Indians are criminals when it comes to integrity, and the course covered a lot of examples of such family businesses. Essar group, Naresh Goyal, Great Eastern being a few of them. Another key perspective, which I guess I was not prepared for, was the depth of insight that one needs to have on the economy to make sound / logical calls.

As regards the venue, what I must recommend to anyone who reads this + lives in Mumbai, is to take this or any other course. The view one gets of south bombay, the financial HQ of India and above all, the opportunity to meet the ex-president / leading brokers of BSE is once in a lifetime.
Left: View atop the BSE, overlooking the Gateway of India, Museum and other such landmarks. (Click for a full-size image)

A few things that have indeed unchanged even after LPG has hit us hard, plus since the FIIs and other institutions come together to challenge the dominance of BSE in the form of NSE are the love of money. The whiff of opportunity strikes you as soon as you enter the building.

My sincere Thanks, to every broker, dealer and member of Bombay Stock Exchange. Thanks for making the place I was born in, so respectable, and so desirable!

Below: Video of the brand new ticker and screen courtesy BSE and NDTV Profit

Indian Railways: A bed of roses for Corruption

Its' incredible, how our Finance Minister talks about bringing in all unaccounted wealth under tax-purview, how the proliferation of black economy is hurting us bad at the world-stage. But does he ever question / ask for income details of the thousands of Ticket Collectors operating in Indian Railways?

They are Corrupt, beyond imagination!

I have no words to describe the very means a (dis)respectful Ticket Collector employs and literally make you pay for your desperation or dire needs.

I think this species of humans ought to be classified separately, as their corruption is so blatant and public, its shameful that no one ever does anything about it. Its' about time each Ticket Collector & his spendings are monitored carefully, and the guilty ones (Most likely all of them) are made porters in the same town that they live in.

The modus operandi is very simple, Indian Railways, under the leadership of the worlds worst human being-cum-politician, issues far more wait-listed tickets than are ever possible to be filled. Inspite of having paid the entire amount, the TC then charges his own fees (in cash) to allocate a vacant berth to a wait-listed passenger.

It is a usual sight to see old men with balding / grey heads asking for Rs. 100 almost as easily as a beggar does at signals. But like I said, this is a different species altogether, shameless, humans ready to make a easy buck for virtually a brain-less job. They do absolutely no service whatsoever, the computerised ticketing system does an excellent job of grouping and allocating passengers well, but the illusions of progress are shattered the day one sees the Railway Ticket Collector going around asking society to pay him coz, he aint capable of earning it himself.

Dollar at 30 - by 2008

My earliest memory goes back upto Rs. 13/$, but those were golden days' when India was almost self-reliant, and license raj was still allowed, that was 1988.

Not for long, the worlds' most idiotic political party got elected (barely) and decided to do something that silly minds always do. Disturb a calm lake, and ever since all hell broke loose, Rupee hit an all-time low of Rs. 49/$, that was 1998.

But even bad things dont stay forever, the Reserve Bank of India (Mom's bank), and apparently even the Finance Ministry decided to stop "pegging" the rupee to a basket and let it free...and free it has been. After a few hiccups, the rupee is sailing, we've witnessed an unprecedented rise in the rupee against the dollar over the last few days, a lot of it due to the largesse of funds being poured into India by "FIIs" (Read black-marketeers & underworld and yeah of-course genuine FIIs as well).

So how far would it go? Some experts have suggested a long-term stability around Rs. 38/$ and some around Rs. 35/$. But that's an experts' suggestion...its' bound to be a bit conservative, that's one limitation one doesnt have while blogging, so assuming a 10%-15% leeway, we can safely expect the dream Rs. 30/$ somewhere around mid next year or at the very worst towards 2008-Q4.

For such a possibility, we need to pump in money into the stock market, however there is one bother, the real-estate sector is a black-hole that's threatening to take away the free-capital available in the market currently.

For some reason, I keep remembering the quote Uday Kotak made towards end of 2006 - "Americans sustained a 10-Year bull run, there is no reason why we cannot better it". Amen to that sir!

OK if it does happen where does it lead us?
A. To a far, more important role in world-politics!
B. Will boost the Indian travellers' budget plans...expect New York to be lined with bhel-puri stalls soon...that would be a sight ;)
C. Oil-pool deficit reduction, but dont see it lasting for long though.
D. Depressed exporters - to hell with you, the country doesnt need to support you forever...
E. A shaken IT industry, forget the cheap-labour bargain guys, sell its' intelligence. I can say with experience we are at-par, if not better with the best on the planet.
F. Kotak Mahindra taking over Goldman Sachs (!!!)
G. Reliance buying all Fortune-500 oil companies outside India.
H. Subhiksha takes over Walmart!

Ok, last three are just wishful thoughts, though its' not impossible...Tata Steel did acquire Corus, so the rumblings have begun. But this is possible (if ever) only if Indian rupee continues its' surge against the dollar, and the US successfully plans its incursions into Iran or Venezuela, or at the very least gets' its Petrodollars alive and kicking again.

Buddha Mar Gaya : No. 1 Hindi Parody Movie

This is my favourite genre, and watching movies like Hot-Shots, Airplane!, Scary Movie series have always made me wonder what a Hindi movie parody would be like. Well I got my answer, an extremely bold, and I must say offensive at-times, movie that fits the Indianized version of parodies - Buddha Mil Gaya.

It's not an average run-of-the mill movie rolled out by senseless directors, year after year...its' a movie with a lot of thought, that's what thrilled me. Never before has a Hindi movie had me bursting out in laughter as this one did.

But, make no mistake, this is not for everyone, if you are the ones who get offended easily, then please, dont watch this movie. However, if you ever wanted to be entertained, and are expecting just that and nothing more, then watch that movie on a big screen, you will come back a different person!

My personal fav scene is when a lady senior cop, giggles at the thought of having to see unknown body sans its' head, legs and hands...why...coz it still has its' "organs" intact. She shows sympthy at the missing head, then the missing hands, and rolls her eyes downwards, and immediately recognizes the body saying "Yeh to LK hai"...

Gruesome some might say, but hell its' celluloid...no ones' dead, its' just a joke and when you see it for the first time, it really drives you nutz...

Good movie, but I'm pretty sure it wont work, coz we Indians have been bought up on a dose of watching 40+ heros' romancing around trees celebrating their first love, and anything other than that just breaks our dreams...

Adhuri ek kahani...

To my Leo! Story of our short time together!

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Independence from Credit Cards

I've finally achieved a milestone of sorts while managing my finances. I've got rid of all my credit cards, all the cut pieces are on their way to the respective banks.

The reason for this desperate measure is a serious cost-benefit analysis. Some of the factors that influenced this:

1. First and foremost, no matter how bad the risk is for a CC company, it simply doesnt justify an interest rate of 3%-4% per month!
2. The banks have non-standard days of billing, hence its' sometimes difficult to keep track of which bill is due when, especially when the number of credit cards you hold reaches double digits.
3. There is no graded interest payment schemes, so if you default by a day or 30 it will still carry the same penalty! At 3%-4% its' quite a crime that such a system is allowed to be practiced in India.
4. The eagerness with which Credit Cards are issued, only goes to show that this product operates via a PUSH model, rather than a person actually needing to own one. I realised this late, but eventually, that ever since I joined a business school, credit cards have been pushed into my wallet under the guise of "lifetime-free" schemes.
5. Many shops and establishments in Mumbai charge an extra 2% for purchases made using credit cards, so do fuel-stations, but under the guise of service tax.
6. Now, for the most important reason, I'm really not comfortable with the idea that some goons are gonna come looking for me asking me to repay paltry sums like 10K odd. That is the ugliest side of Indian Banking Industry, many thumbs down to ICICI and likes which have employed these tactics (see citation below).

ICICI Bank Credit Card - Terms & Conditions (Retrived on Independence Day-2007)
(d) DEFAULT AND CIRCUMSTANCES
(i) If the Cardholders fails to pay at least the Minimum Amount Due as mentioned in the Statement on or before the Payment Due Date, ICICI Bank shall be entitled to disclose information relating to days past due (“dpd”) of the Cardholder to credit information bureaus / agencies (specifically authorized by RBI). A notice shall be deemed to have been given to the Cardholder by ICICI Bank by informing the Cardholder of the disclosures of information relating to dpd status of the Cardholder through Statements. The time period between statement date and the payment due date of the credit card shall be construed to be the notice period for such reporting of the Cardholder.
(ii) ICICI Bank reports the credit/repayment history of the Cardholders to bureaus/agencies in terms of the dpd. The dpd status will indicate the number of days the Cardholder has not cleared his dues to ICICI Bank beyond the due date. The updated status of the Cardholder will be sent to the bureaus/agencies on pre decided regular intervals and thus there will be no withdrawal of the default report except in the case of disputes having been resolved in favor of the Cardholder.
(iii) Recovery procedure in the case of default: ICICI Bank shall be entitled, at the sole risk and cost of the Cardholder, to engage one or, more person(s) to collect the Cardholder’s dues and/or to enforce any security provided by the Cardholder, and ICICI Bank may (for such purposes) furnish to such person(s) such information, facts and figures pertaining to the Cardholder and the security as ICICI Bank deems fit. ICICI Bank may also delegate to such person(s) the right and authority to perform and execute all acts, deeds, matters and things connected therewith, or incidental thereto, as ICICI Bank deems fit.
(iv) Recovery of dues in the case of death/permanent incapacitance of Cardholder: The whole of the outstanding balance on the Card Account, together with the amounts of any outstanding Card transactions, effected but not yet charged to the Card Account, shall become immediately due and payable in full to ICICI Bank, by the Cardholder, his/her successors, nominees, legal heirs in the event of his/her death (after adjustment of credit shield benefit if subscribed by the Cardholder) or insolvency or winding up of the business of the Cardholder.
(v) Insurance cover for Cardholder (optional) and date of activation of policy:
The Cardholder may be offered various Insurance Benefits from time to time by ICICI Bank through a tie up with the Insurance Company, only upon the Cardholder opting for such a benefit. The date of activation of such policy will be communicated through the website. The Cardholder specifically acknowledges that in all cases of claim, the Insurance Company will be solely liable for settlement of the claim, and he/she will not hold ICICI Bank responsible in any manner whether for compensation, recovery of compensation, processing of claims or for any reason whatsoever.

Fcuk You!

Quack Homeopaths!

I thought I knew! Then I discovered this video, it features James Randi, the famous "Psychic Demystifier", exposing Homeopathy with sound scientific logical and rational explanations.

I simply could not believe it at first, then a bit of googling around Avogadro constant, HomeoWatch, and many more rational articles later, it was quite astounding to learn the amount of serious criminal acts that were being carried out under the guise of Medical Practice. Shameful, disgraceful and henious, are few words that would best describe it...why blame terrorists, these organized criminals are even worse!

Why go further, even Dr. Batras', and institution close home is shamelessly advertising the "Healing Powers" of Homeopathy. Powers of what? Placebo?

I guess its' a very complicated world that we live in, to really accept the means of living such humans have accepted!