IGOphobia-RTO Dealings: Not a big deal!

 I am a confirmed IGOphobiac (suffer from fear of Indian Government Offices).

After my brother in law handed over the signed paper for the bike, I carefully studied the RTO website (http://www.rto.kar.nic.in) and noted down all pre-requisites - RC book, Insurance, Form 29, Form 30 etc. Then, anticipating issues, I took two photocopies of each document. After double and triple-checking, and assuming I was all set to go.

Took one hour permission from office and went to KR Puram RTO. It was 2:30 PM and not much crowded. I had presented my papers to which the Supervisor scribbled that he needed Electricity bill (In spite of my rent agreement) and SASE.  The cash counter closes by 2:30 PM and I had no choice but to come back next day.

The next day I was all set with in excess of documents required with their photocopies. First I bought a brown cover and Rs.25 stamps from the nearby post office and headed straight to the RTO. The scene was the typical govt office chaos. Crowds of people buzzing around and few others who distinguished can quicken the process if you showered them with money.  

I first headed to the cash counter at ground floor and paid the required amount. Went to the first floor where supervisor was suppose to be seated, after a long wait from 10:30 am to 11:30 am the supervisor gave his darshan, there were other who were waiting in queue from 10 am some left and some wondering if he would even come. Luckily I was the first in the queue when he came as other ahead of me tried to find if he will come or to seek other channels. I presented the documents bunch to the supervisor and he tried hard to see if he could find any fault with it, and yes after shuffling through few other files he showed me to get other postal envelope which had different color. Why I don’t know(might be the shop guy nearby gives him commission on sale of it)!!! So there I go again to get the envelope the supervisor mentioned from the nearby shop where they sell juices, tea, envelope with stamps and photocopies. Got the SASE(envelope with stamps) from the shop wrote my address as neatly as I could and headed back to the supervisor. There you go now no room for mistake and convinced that I will not bribe he gave his precious signature and told me to get biometric sticker on it. The room on the ground floor (which is photo + biometric was double crowded) and I navigated and got it pasted on my cash receipt done finally. Now the final stages for the Acknowledgement of receipt I thought, which was on the second floor. I entered the room and showed my papers and they say it’s not there and go to first floor, why only he knows. But I told him I have verified the documents and I was sent to second floor by the supervisor. He diverted me to the lady sitting two tables from him and yes that was my last check point. I gave her the documents after seeing everything she looks at me and gives me three points to do

1.     Mention my bike registration number and my mobile number on the SASE.

2.     To get an small plastic zip bag for the smart card

3.     Go get signature from the seller (Form 30).

On hearing the third point I went bonkers and I tell her the signature is there on the signature area, but she still insists. I say ok and left the place. I went down to shop again, bought the zip bag for the smart card, a file tying thread and had a juice to kill 10 minutes. While that time I rearrange my documents tie with the thread and went back to the second floor. I gave the papers and after stating at it for few seconds she writes my details on her register and gave me the Acknowledgement slip and told me that you can expect the new card at your address in 30 days time :)

And that was it.  The transaction was over, leaving me absolutely thrilled.  I'd done a transaction with a government office, in the proper manner - no bribes, no agents, just the proper process and Patience.

Summary of transaction:

·         Time spent at the office: about 1 hour first day, About 3 hours second day

·         Total Cost: Rs. 248 (Rs. 160 for the fee; Rs. 63 for Biometric stamp, Rs. 25 for the self-addressed stamped speed post envelope near RTO)

·         Peace of mind and clear conscience gained by not succumbing to agents / touts: priceless!

So is my IGOphobia cured?  Not completely, but I'm getting there!

Unboxing New Apple EarPods

The moment I saw it I knew I will get one.
I got the delivery today and tested it with my Samsung Galaxy S3 and it works great along with the other apple products. Its comfortable and fits in right.

Here is the link on Unboxing and the first look of it.

The Video of unboxing - Video

The product can be got on-line from Apple store - Link

Attitude and Emotions - Powerful Lesson

When someone is doing something or is about to do something, in a way we don't want it to be done and when we are not able to accept it, we become angry. 

  

However, when someone is doing something or is about to do something, in a way we don't want it to be done – and we are able to accept it – We remain tolerant. 

  

When someone has something which we don't have, or someone is able to produce the results which we are not able to produce – and we are not able to accept it – we become jealous. 

  

When someone has something which we don't have or someone is able to produce the results which we are not able to produce and we are able to accept it we get inspired. 

  

When Someone is present in our thoughts, but if not physically present and we are not able to accept it – We say 'I am missing you'. 

  

When someone is present in our thoughts, but not physically present – and we are able to accept it – We say 'I am thinking of you'. 

  

Then emotional equation is quite simple. 

  

Something + Acceptance = Positive Emotion 

Something + Non Acceptance = Negative Emotion 

  

So, it is not 'Something' or 'someone' who is making us feel positive or negative, but it is our 'acceptance' or 'non acceptance' of something or someone, which is making us feel positive or negative. 

  

It isn't the world but the quality of our response to the world (acceptance or non acceptance) that determines the quality of our emotions. 

  

Next time we feel disturbed with a negative emotion, instead of asking who or what is disturbing us, we will examine who or what we are resisting (not accepting) that is causing this disturbance in us. 

We will replace resistance (non acceptance) with acceptance, and the negative emotion will turn into a positive one.

Emotional management begins by stopping to blame that 'something' or 'someone' and starting to take the responsibility to respond to life with 'acceptance'.

Tips on Singapore PR Application

I recently applied for Singapore PR and while browsing through net could not find much information that was being shared so I thought to do so.

Most information that is needed is given in the ICA site ICA Link

First thing is to decide is why you would want the PR for. In our case we just fell in love with this place. The security and life all feels just right for us. I was much impressed with the fact on NS service for the boy which I personally feel is good for country as well as good for Individual as the discipline in life is established at early age, for the later part in the break in education a person who wishes to educated will do so no matter what.

Step One: Book an Appointment (Generally its 1 to 3 months waiting period)

ICA e-Appointment Link

Step Two:

Download the Form A from the ICA website (ICA Link).

• You need to 2 sets of completed Form 4A (one original and one photocopy)
• Download the Accompanying Notes to Form 4A. This will list the supporting documents that will have to be submitted together with your application. (And strictly follow the listed document needed)

Step Three:

Keep the documents in Order.
The best way is to keep the Original followed by photocopies underneath it. 

The outcome is know from 4 to 6 months time.

Some say applying for PR requires too much documents or its complicates which is not so, all you need to do is to keep documents in order and its takes only 15 mins max at the time of submission.

The application counter takes many applications in a day so the least we can do is to keep things in order so as the process is smooth.

Keep in mind that while applying for PR the governments needs the reason to give it to you.

IF you are serious you can do the following below:

• Plan, Act and Do things as if you are going to stay here.
• Make savings and keep it in Singapore for your future use.
• Take Insurance for self and family you would do that in your own country if you know you will stay there forever right.
• Enrol in Community Service. That’s important as being the part of the society what are you doing is important just than reaping the good from it.
• The longer you are in Singapore the better it is for your application.
• If your application got rejected give it some time. Redo the application with fresh outlook and please scrap the old photocopies of the application you have kept as reference possibilities are that you may have entered something wrong or was not legible, why do the same again.

I have also prepared a checklist excel I made for myself, you can download it and free to alter for your needs. Sample PR Checklist.xls

Also attaching a sample cover letter that I felt right for me you can download and alter it to you need as well. Sample Singapore PR Cover Letter.doc

Last but not the least the outcome might not be in our hand but attest we can keep our best foot forward.

All the Best.

HAP (Healing Ambience Piano)

A relaxing massage-like experience of the whole body.
These mp3's recreate individual binaural frequencies associated to the specific organ. The last file contains
all the frequencies in order from coccyx to cortex. Algorithmic piano music mixed with sound frequencies.

Whole Body Binaurals Session
2.06 Hz coccyx
2.30 Hz genitals
2.57 Hz bladder
2.67 Hz intestines
3.07 Hz hara below navel, balance of pelvis
3.44 Hz ovaries vitality, life at every level
3.84 Hz liver, pancreas
4.11 Hz kidneys strength
4.60 Hz spleen, blood emotional impulse
5.14 Hz stomach emotional acceptance
5.35 Hz lungs oxygen, heat
6.15 Hz heart love, warmth
6.40 Hz top of head spirit, liberation, transcendence
6.88 Hz collarbones vitality, overall balance, stability
7.69 Hz shoulders strength of the arms, expansion, teaching
8.22 Hz mouth speech, creativity
9.19 Hz upper lip emotions, conflict resolution
10.3 Hz nasal passages breathing, taste
10.7 Hz ears hearing, formal concepts
12.0 Hz eyes visualization
13.8 Hz frontal lobes the seventh sense, final decision
15.4 Hz cortex intelligence

All the above in one zip

Source: Link

Muzic :)

Been running in my mind for some time to post this as I felt connected to it ...

The Script taught me how to move on.
Greenday taught me that government's gonna fail someday.
Bruno Mars taught me to do anything for that one person I love
Eminem taught me that life is hard but you? can make it through
Travis taught me to be generous
Taylor Swift taught me not every girl is going to treat? me? right
30 Seconds to Mars taught me to speak whats on my mind
Michael Jackson taught me to always love? the people around me
Music taught me to live:)

Predict and be Prepared.

The most devastating career risk we face is getting stuck doing one thing for too long without branching out. As a result increasing the chances of unemployed or underemployed or doing work that is not challenging, being poorly paid, or nearing obsolescence.

To end this we can have a framework – Career development and being proactive about learning. The big difference is how quickly the field changes and how much one feels a need to edge their career options.

It’s useful to note that all of the following stages are generally in play at any given time. If you focus only on the future, you might starve. If you focus only on the present, you might become short-sighted and hurt long term results.
The idea is that one should have:

a list of skills that have general value today,
a list of skills that are becoming obsolete, and
a list of skills that just might become very useful in the near future.

Essentially, it’s skill diversification, much like people diversify stock.

The Cash Cow
This is something that one is very good at and is currently in hot demand. It differs from a core competency because this is something that can make money doing for the near foreseeable future. This could be web programming (and others) in the late 1990s. This is probably Sharepoint (and others) today. It might be something else tomorrow.
There are different kinds of cows. It could be that Java programming is the thing you are best at and can easily find a variety of work for. This would fit the criterion that is laid out. You might have some that are solid, and some that are getting to be less profitable.
If you follow this general process, you will eventually have multiple focused competencies that can be used in the future. This helps ensure losses in one area can be absorbed in another. For example, if for some reason the technology that you are working in suddenly comes into huge legal problems, you are alright because you have other skills that are useful.
It helps to have some competencies be similar so that can leverage what is known, but it also helps to diversify. In either case, being able to quickly shift what is known and learnt something new is going to be a benefit. If dinosaurs could adapt to changing climates, they would have been in much better shape.

Some of the time things don’t pan out, but the rest of the time it looks like we can predict the future.

Branching out
At the same time, it is possible to learn more about surrounding fields and seemingly completely tangential ones. This is the longest view possible and also has larger potential gains. It takes a long time to become an expert in one field, and it’s helpful to understand other fields to try to be at least oriented in a certain field. Again, this branching out takes into consideration that short term and medium term needs also need to be fulfilled for success.
The overall goal is to maximize long-term value creation and ensure cash flow stays at an adequate level. The opportunities should be evaluated for their lifetime value and short term impact. Value could come in terms of financial compensation, contacts, experience, work environment, and more.