A trip to இருதயாலீஸ்வரர் கோயில்

I visited a temple after a long time. Called இருதயாலீஸ்வரர் கோயில் [Irudhayaaleeswarar Temple or Temple of Lord of Hearts] this temple is situated around 1.5 hours drive from Chennai, in a place called Thiruninravur. Roads were pretty bad in shape while going and the traffic added to the chaos. But it was worth the travel!

This temple was in an idyllic village, surrounded by lush green fields. Architecture was amazing, cool breeze flowing through the temple keeping us without sweat even though there was no power! Given the fact that the temple was built 1300 years back, the construction was marvelous and the temple also carries a huge baggage of history as explained in this wiki link

The drive back was also good, since we took a detour to reach Chennai via the national highways. I'm sure such breaks to a serene spot every weekend, religious or non-religious should be good stress busters for those who are heavily stressed during the week!

For those who want to try driving:
Route to this temple: From Chennai Koyambedu --> Ambattur --> Padi --> Thiruninravur --> Near Kodhandarama Perumal Temple in Thiruninravur

From Koyambedu, it's an hour's drive provided the traffic is normal.

Cheers for now!

IQ test results!

I recently took up an IQ test at testQ.com and the results were quite interesting to read. Here's what the test engine said:

Precision Processor

Your IQ Score is: 136

You've got a very experiential way of learning and a strong mathematical mind. You're able to whittle even the most complex situation down to comprehensible component parts. In short, you have mastered the art and science of precision. That's what makes you a Precision Processor.

For you, life is a series of equations. Your brain is naturally predisposed to intense mathematical acuity, and your understanding of numerical problems is unparalleled. It's second nature for you to cut to the heart of an issue, so that you can discover quick solutions to problems while others get bogged down in unnecessary details. One Precision Processor that comes to mind is the Greek philosopher-mathematician, Pythagoras. Pythagoras had a mind for numbers and, as such, could come up with previously unknown theories like his method for calculating the sides of a right triangle (a2+b2=c2). You too, can use numbers to translate aspects of the world around you — something that doesn't come easily to everyone. Your quick mathematical mind will allow you to communicate a variety of ideas to other people, so don't keep it to yourself.

Precision Processors can apply their mathematical skills to any situation involving numbers. That's a talent that will come in handy for everything from the workplace to splitting a bill 12 ways to converting foreign currency in your head. Others often look to you to do the math and luckily, you're well equipped.

My opinion: Pontificating on these results, right since 2003 when I started taking these tests, I almost landed up in the same region of score - between 129 - 136. I am amazed that I always get a score around this number but not more or less!! This brings me to the trillion $ question - Does IQ get shaped by environment or does it remain the same for a person due to genetic reasons?

Long time!

I just wanted to say a HI to my readers. It's long since I posted any entry in this blog. Not that I am VERY BUSY but I am lazy :-)

Will soon write a detailed entry about what I've been doing so far!

Have wonderful days ahead!!

When will India be a developed nation?

The euphoria over 8%+ growth rates of economy and soaring quarter growths of Indian Corporations grab headlines in all newspapers for the past few days! Also appear news about increasing farmer deaths, rural unrest, employment-less growth etc. So, How should we interpret the current growth of Indian Economy? With a pinch of salt? Yes/Maybe/Obviously!!

What keeps me wondering often are the lackadaisical attitude of netas and babus (One of my oft-repeated rants!) and their sheer ignorance to steer our country to the next growth levels! We often hear about our ministers undergoing phoren trips to study infrastructure in Singapore, London etc, But, their study never transforms into any learning!! As this article highlights, Indian taxpayers fuel such trips to the tune of several crores!

Our ministers blow trumpets about how they would literally banish "Child Labour" through a legislation enacted last week, But, Experts feel the other way. Atanu opines here about why this legislation will not work and why we always get out priorities wrong and treat the symptoms instead of the actual disease! Worth a read! Other ministers worth ridiculing are our HRD minister Arjun Singh, Health Anbumani and a few other minions!!!

Ok. Let me stop the rants. Will focus on some positives: :-)

Indian exports have been surging, which may catapult India to the league of Top exporting nations of the world. The highlight is, apart from s/w exports, Manufacturing exports have significantly added to the export kitty. Top MNCs want to set shop in India, including Software Companies, Telecom Hardware manufacturing, Automobile accessories and OEMs etc. All these have spillover effects in employment and in other domains like Hospitality, Travel, Banking etc which cater to these industries. Civil Aviation is another sector to look out for sporadic growth, only if the supporting infrastructure enables it!

I am left with mixed feeling at the end of the day. Inclusive Growth is the mantra of PM's office and Planning Commission's honchos! We have to wait for another 8 - 10 years to see the outcomes of reforms and initiatives for inclusive growth!

Which religion is the right one for you?

You scored as Paganism. Your beliefs are most closely aligned with those of paganism, Wicca, or a similar earth-based religion. You may also follow a Native American religion. Paganism 88% Buddhism 83% Hinduism 79% Satanism 71% Christianity 63% agnosticism 54% Islam 50% atheism 42% Judaism 42% Which religion is the right one for you? (new version) created with QuizFarm.com

Mushrooming Massage Parlours

Pick any classifieds section (of ANY newspaper) and stroll down to the "Health" section and the number of advertisements for Massage Parlours would bafffle you a lot, as it did to me!!

A few of them, hand-picked for this blog readers :-)

"Unwind yourself. Massage your senses. Awaken your soul"

"Luxurious Female/Male. Massage to relax and rest your body. Keralites for good body work"

"Special relaxation packages available with male/female massagers"

"APPRECIATABLE FEMALE/male. Home/hostel. Free pickup/drop"

Note the stress on Keralites in all the ads and also the Male/Female tag :-) And many ads were poorly worded, for eg. "Appreciatable", "massagers" et al!

My point - Why operate brothels in the name of Ayurvedic massage parlours? Another time to take stock of the situation and legalise brothels and massage parlours - so that such things don't happen in dark! If legalised, we could also prevent exploitation of youth/children who are forced into this profession.

Old economy managers for New economy companies.

By Old and New Economy, I am not dividing the whole genre into good/bad, right/wrong et al.
New Economy is anything that has got to do with click and portal where as Old Economy relates to Brick and Mortar jobs.

An Old Economy (OE) manager would stick to '8 hour schedules' and would demand employees to work for around 8 hours depending on the kind of work, as they are physically tiring too. But, A New Economy (NE) manager, should ideally not have any time bound schedules, rather project bound. Employees under NE manager shouldn't in fact, feel him being at the top. Flat structure is what is needed in a NE company.

But, sad, many Indian companies who work in the NE fields, still have OE managers in disguise as NE managers, which is much more dangerous than an OE manager himself! Managers who question flexible timings (but expect the work to get done somehow!!), managers who endlessly talk in meetings, waste a lot of man hours and end up responsible for increasing attrition in the company! Read somewhere and wise to quote here "Men don't leave jobs, but they leave their managers."

Indian Managers have been found to be a little conservative when it comes to their global counterparts. A case study was carried out by BusinessWorld in which the results were quite believable, yet revealing! Most of the Indian managers still carry the egoistic attitude, and their best hobby would be "watching TV" or "reading a book". They haven't gone far from reading books or watching TV :-). While, their counterparts across the world seem to have adventurous hobbies like snorkelling, water-rafting or even spiritual healing! YO to a global manager!

Though the borders are fast disappearing in this global village, though the jobs are more universal, Managers take long to arrive there, much later than their sub-ordinates, at times.
Yo Manager, perk up and be there before I reach there too!! :-)