Dhirubhai Ambani ..Rise Of a Normal Man

Rise of a Common man like us on World Horizon......

See what dreams can do: the Reliance group had an annual turnover of Rs 70 crore and Dhirubhai had started the business with Rs.15,000.




Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, one of the leading Indian businessmen, was born on December 28, 1932 in Chorwad, Gujarat. Popularly known as Dhirubhai Ambani, he heads The Reliance Industries, India's largest private enterprise.

Dhirubhai started off as a small time worker with Arab merchants in the 1950s and moved to Mumbai in 1958 to start his own business in spices. After making modest profits, he moved into textiles and opened his mill near Ahmedabad. Dhirubhai founded Reliance Industries in 1958. After that it was a saga of expansions and successes.

Reliance, acknowledged as one of the best-run companies in the world has various sectors like petrochemicals, textiles and is involved in the production of crude oil and gas, to polyester and polymer products. The companies refinery at Jamnagar accounts for over 25% of India's total refining capacity and their plant at Hazira is the biggest chemical complex in India. The company has further diversified into Telecom, Insurance and Internet Businesses, the Power Sector and so on. Now the Reliance group with over 85,000 employees provides almost 5% of the Central Government's total revenue.

Dhirubhai has been one among the select Forbes billionaires and has also figured in the Sunday Times list of top 50 businessmen in Asia. His industrious nature and willingness to take on any risk has made him what he is. In 1986 after a heart attack he has handed over his empire to his two sons Anil and Mukesh. His sons are carrying on the successful tradition of their illustrious father.

Early life

'Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani' was born on 28 December 1932, at Chorwad, Junagadh in the state of Gujarat, India, into a Modh family of very moderate means. He was the second son of a school teacher. When he was 16 years old, he moved to Aden, Yemen. Initially, Dhirubhai worked as a dispatch clerk with A. Besse & Co. Two years later A. Besse & Co. became the distributors for Shell products and Dhirubhai was promoted to manage the company’s oil-filling station at the port of Aden.

He was married to Kokilaben and had two sons and two daughters. He also worked in Dubai for some time during his early years.

Life in Aden

Kokilaben and Dhirubhai Ambani, In the 1950s, the Yemini administration realized that their main unit of currency, the Rial, was disappearing fast. Upon launching an investigation, they realized that a lot of Rials were being routed to the Port City of Aden. It was found that a young man in his twenties was placing unlimited buy orders for Yemini Rials.

During those days, the Yemini Rial was made of pure silver coins and was in much demand at the London Bullion Exchange. Young Dhirubhai bought the Rials, melted them into pure silver and sold it to the bullion traders in London. During the latter part of his life, while talking to reporters, it is believed that he said “The margins were small but it was money for jam. After three months, it was stopped. But I made a few lakhs. In short, I was a manipulator. A very good manipulator. But I don’t believe in not taking opportunities.

Reliance Commercial Corporation

Ten years later, Dhirubai returned to India and started the Reliance Commercial Corporation with a capital of Rs. 15,000.00. The primary business of Reliance Commercial Corporation was to import polyester yarn and export spices.

The business was setup in partnership with Champaklal Damani, his second cousin, who used to be with him in Aden, Yemen. The first office of the Reliance Commercial Corporation was set up at the Narsinathan Street in Masjid Bunder. It was a 350 Sq. Ft. room with a telephone, one table and three chairs. Initially, they had two assistants to help them with their business. In 1965, Champaklal Damani and Dhirubhai Ambani ended their partnership and Dhirubhai started on his own. It is believed that both had different temperaments and a different take on how to conduct business. While Mr. Damani was a cautious trader and did not believe in building yarn inventories, Dhirubhai was a known risk taker and he considered that building inventories, anticipating a price rise, and making profits through that was good for growth.

During this period, Dhirubhai and his family used to stay in an one bedroom apartment at the Jaihind Estate in Bhuleshwar. Mumbai. In 1968, he moved to an up market apartment at Altamount Road in South Mumbai.

Reliance Textiles

Sensing a good opportunity in the textile business, Dhirubhai started his first textile mill at Naroda, near Ahmedabad in the year 1966. Textiles were manufactured using polyester fibre yarn. Dhirubhai started the brand "Vimal", which was named after his elder brother Ramaniklal Ambani's son, Vimal Ambani. Extensive marketing of the brand "Vimal" in the interiors of India made it a household name. Franchise retail outlets were started and they used to sell "only Vimal" brand of textiles. In the year 1975, a Technical team from the World Bank visited the Reliance Textiles' Manufacturing unit. This unit has the rare distinction of being certified as "excellent even by developed country standards" during that period.

Death

Dhirubhai Ambani was admitted to the Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai on June 24, 2002 after he suffered a major "brain stroke". This was his second stroke, the first one had occurred in February 1986 and had kept his right hand paralyzed. He was in a state of coma for more than a week. A battery of doctors were unable to save his life. He breathed his last on July 6, 2002, at around 11:50 P.M. (Indian Standard Time).

His funeral procession was not only attended by business people, politicians and celebrities but also by thousands of ordinary people. His elder son, Mukesh Ambani, performed the last rites as per Hindu traditions. He was cremated at the Chandanwadi Crematorium in Mumbai at around 4:30 PM (Indian Standard Time) on July 7, 2002.

He is survived by Kokilaben Ambani, his wife, two sons, Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, and two daughters, Nina Kothari and Deepti Salgaocar.

Dhirubhai Ambani started his long journey in Bombay from the Mulji-Jetha Textile Market, where he started as a small-trader. As a mark of respect to this great businessman, The Mumbai Textile Merchants' decided to keep the market closed on July 8, 2002. At the time of Dhirubhai's death, Reliance Group had a gross turnover of Rs. 75,000 Crore or USD $ 15 Billion. In 1976-77, the Reliance group had an annual turnover of Rs 70 crore and Dhirubhai had started the business with Rs.15,000.

Lagaan ' a managment lesson '

Lagaan - A Case study in IIM'S ,See some facts

'Lagaan' which literally mean Tax (in the form of grains) is a story of ordinary people set in a small village 'Champaner' in Central India during the British rule in 1893. The tale narrates the determination of the villagers to fight against injustice and opposition.

The story goes like this...............................................
There is no rain in the village since a year. The villagers who depend on rain for farming are unable to pay the lagaan to the ruler Captain Russel. On top of that they are asked to pay dugna lagaan (double taxes). Captain Russell gives an alternative to the villagers that if they defeat the British in a game of cricket, they will be exempted from tax for three consecutive years but if they loose they will have to pay three times more lagaan. It becomes a life or death situation for the villagers.

Bhuvan (Aamir Khan) a young farmer takes up the impossible task to save his village. He forms a team of 11 with his fellowmen. Elizabeth (Rachel Shelly) Captain Russell's sister who has a soft corner for Bhuvan gives her full support to the villagers cause despite her brother's opposition. Gauri, a village girl loves Bhuvan and has complete faith in him .

This group is a wonderful mix of all religions, cast, color ,creed even a handicap spinner. Bhuvan makes them identify their potential and assures them that as a united group, they will succeed for sure. And they do............





Lessons from lagaan

1) Think of Problems as Opportunities.

When Captain Russel challenges Bhuvan to a cricket match, Bhuvan accepts it because he knows that there is really no option. It is a risk, but without taking risks, there are no rewards. Given the state of his brethren (and with no looming rains), Bhuvan viewed the incrementalism of trying to reduce the "double tax" as a non-option against the possibility of a "10-100x" quality of life improvement offered by a victory in the cricket match. In our lives too, we face a lot of problems. We need to think of these as opportunities for innovation.

2) Dream Big and Define the Goal.

Once Bhuvan accepted the challenge, his dream was three years of no tax. It may have seemed unrealistic or even improbable, but then that's what dreams are. Dreaming is about imagining a different future. In the case of Bhuvan, he not only dreamt big but also put in place a strategy to make that a reality. Another name for Dream is Vision. To make things happen the way we want, we have to envision the future, and paint a picture in front of the others of what we want to achieve.

3) Put Community Before Self.

The important thing about Bhuvan's dream was that it was not for himself, it was for the community. Never in his talk or action did Bhuvan put himself or his self-interest before that of what his village needed. Bhuvan's dream of greater good thus elicited (after some initial resistance) the support of the entire province.

4) Be Determined in face of Opposition.

This comes across many times in the movie. Right from the start when the entire village opposes Bhuvan's having taken up the challenge to when the rest of his team refuses to play because Bhuvan wants to take on board Kachra, who is an untouchable. On all occasions, Bhuvan knows he is right, and faces up and answers his critics with courage, winning their support in the end. We face this situation many times in our organisations. Many a time, we give up and accept what we feel is perhaps a lesser decision. It is at times like these that we need to speak up - as long as we know we are fighting for the right issue, and not against an individual.

5) Give Example to Enhance Understanding.

Even though Bhuvan didn't know the difference at that time, he simplified the challenge of learning cricket by portraying it as something similar to gilli-danda. By doing this, he made the impossible seem achievable, he made the mountain seem climbable. Analogies have that effect and can be powerful in helping tame the seemingly difficult. As managers and leaders, we too have the task of motivating the troops to take up challenges in the marketplace. Vision needs to be translated into a series of tasks that the team can understand, thus building a path through the fog.




6) Make a Beginning.

Bhuvan did not wait to start. He did not see around. He made a bat and a ball, got the kid interested and started. Many times, we brood and end up thinking too much. The only way one can test out new ideas is by jumping in, by getting started. Only when we close the door behind us will we see the doors in front start opening.

7) Small Victories are Important at the Start.

The first time Bhuvan hits the ball, he does so in public, in full view of the entire village. He makes it seem easy, he makes them want to participate. In the film, watch the faces of the villagers after Bhuvan's first strike. When starting any project, it is important to have small wins at the start to motivate the team.

8) Building the Team.

This is at the heart of the film in the first half. Building the team is like recruitment. One needs to select the right people and motivate them. Just watching Bhuvan go from one to eleven offers a lot of learning. He understands the pressures and the soft points of people, and uses this knowledge to make them part of his team. Watch and listen to the song which he uses to recruit Goli, the largest land owner in the village, and Ishwar Kaka, Gauri's father. To get Bhura, the murgiwalla, he makes him feel important as a person who can teach something (catching) to the rest of the lot. Watch also how Bhuvan talks to each of his team members. Each one is treated as special, as being different.

9) Allocating Roles.

Bhuvan also assigns responsibilities to each of his people. Just getting the people on board is not good enough. They have to be told what the goal is. Just as the hand consists of a thumb and four fingers, a team consists of different individuals. The objective is to make them all work together like a fist, like a team.

10) Support the Team Members.

Bhuvan backs his people to the hilt, even when they make mistakes. He is willing to give Kachra a second chance (on the second afternoon of the match) despite the skepticism of others. He knows Kachra can be a match-winner - and Kachra proves him right. It is very important in any team that the captain support his team, backing the right person at the right time for the right job.

11) Passion as the Differentiator.

Bhuvan and his team were playing for the hopes and aspirations of a nation. Their passion, especially Bhuvan's, made all the difference. It is in crunch times that one's passion for the work helps in bringing out that extra strength from within. Bhuvan's body language, his actions all speak for themselves. He is confident, not arrogant. As leaders, we all have to be careful of what we say and do, for the slightest sign of weakness can get magnified within the rest of the team.




12) Lead from the Front.

Bhuvan is always there - encouraging, talking, making the decisions. He knows that having taken up the challenge, he has to take the fight and be there till the end. The same applies to us. If we take on a responsibility, we have to take it to completion. Bhuvan, as a true leader, also points out the mistakes of others - like when he ticks off his team members at the start of the match when they are all running after the ball and complimenting each other.

13) Define the Enemy.

To Bhuvan and his team, the enemy was clear: the (bad) British and their oppressive laws. For Russel's team, it was not so clear. While for Russel the enemy was clearly (and only) Bhuvan, his team members were not quite sure about the cause. To them, it was just a game. Having a clearly defined enemy works as a rallying point for the team.

14) Overconfidence Destroys.

Look at Captain Russel. In trying to destroy Bhuvan (a personal enmity), he forgets what he is speaking and what he is offering (when he puts up the challenge). What he was trying to do was to take his anger against an individual against the entire province - and it boomeranged back at him. It made the opposition (the villagers) united, it made them discover talents they never had. One should never overestimate oneself or underestimate others.

15) Train and Practice.

Bhuvan and his team did not just go into the match; they trained and practiced day and night. There are no short-cuts for physical and mental fitness. To be fit, one needs to work hard.

16) Celebrate the Small Wins.

Watch the genuine joy in Bhuvan's team when a catch is taken or a wicket falls. The small celebrations help in encouraging and motivating the team as a whole. It also helps lift everyone's spirits. How many of us celebrate the small wins in the workplace?

17) Never Give Up.

Because the Last Ball can be the winner. A small opening - as in Chess, as in Cricket, as in a battle, and as in life - is all that it takes to make the difference and turn the tide. But you have to be prepared to be able to exploit it. Look at the situation in the Lagaan match. One ball to go in the match, 5 runs to win and Bhuvan is at the non-striker's end, with the partly handicapped Kachra facing. A seemingly lost cause. But Bhuvan did not give up. When Kachra hit the ball, he ran and took a single. As it turned out, the ball was a no-ball. That single created the opening for Bhuvan. If he had not taken that run assuming that they could not have won, the extra ball would not have made a difference. In sport, in life and in business, always be alert because you never know how and when opportunity comes.





18) Faith In God.

The pre-match rituals and the prayer at the end of the second day are examples. When everything else seems lost, God shows the way - as long as you are on the side of the Right.

19) Make the Best of Limited Resources.

Watch how Bhuvan makes the bat and ball, and later how the pads are made. Look at the scene where Bhuvan and his team are practicing at night - the entire village is gathered around their team with mashaals to create the light. The villagers of Champaner have limited resources, but they make the best use of them. One cannot always wait for the perfect tools or for the availability of infinite resources. As entrepreneurs, we must innovate - focus on getting the work done. When one has fewer resources, the brain and body work that much harder and much more imaginatively.

20) Face the Challenges.

When you are batting and facing a fast bowler, if you run away it is all over. You have to stand there and face the bowling to have a chance of winning. The balls being thrown are like the challenges we have to face every day: the answer is not trying to escape from them, but to stand there and let the bat (our actions) do the talking.

21) Take the Unexpected in Your Stride.

The runout of Devaa, the "Mankading" (bowler running out the non-striker before delivering the ball) of the kid (and thus, Ismail), Russel's kicking the ball for a boundary towards the end to keep Bhuvan away from the strike - unfortunate things will always happen. One cannot dwell or worry too much about the setbacks. One has to take them with the good and move on.

22) It's about Team Spirit. ,

However good and passionate Bhuvan was, he could not have won the match on his own. Cricket needs eleven players. It is a team game. So is business. Individual brilliance means a lot, but as Bhuvan showed, an average group filled with team spirit and playing with passion can overcome a group of talented, experienced but under-motivated individuals. Members must put the Team before Self. Take the time when Bhuvan is batting with Bhura, and he (Bhuvan) slips while going for a run. Bhura pushes Bhuvan away to the other half of the pitch, and sacrifices his own wicket because he knows that the captain is the one who can lead the way.


23) It's about People.

Lagaan is about how ordinary people can do extraordinary deeds. We all have it within us. Look at the Reader's Digest "Drama In Real Life" stories. When the occasion comes, people - each one of us - can do amazing things.


source: Thankx to Ela she has worked on this concept and
given her wrok to me to b posted here.

Motivation Read it till end

THE 4 WIVES


There was a rich merchant who had 4 wives. He loved the 4th wife the most and adorned her with rich robes and treated her to delicacies. He took great care of her and gave her nothing but the best.

He also loved the 3rd wife very much. He's very proud of her and always wanted to show off her to his friends. However, the merchant is always in great fear that she might run away with some other men.

He too, loved his 2nd wife. She is a very considerate person, always patient and in fact is the merchant's confidante. Whenever the merchant faced some problems, he always turned to his 2nd wife and she would always help him out and tide him through difficult times.

Now, the merchant's 1st wife is a very loyal partner and has made great contributions in maintaining his wealth and business as well as taking care of the household. However, the merchant did not love the first wife and although she loved him deeply, he hardly took notice of her.

One day, the merchant fell ill. Before long, he knew that he was going to die soon. He thought of his luxurious life and told himself, "Now I have 4 wives with me. But when I die, I'll be alone. How lonely I'll be!"

Thus, he asked the 4th wife, "I loved you most, endowed you with the finest clothing and showered great care over you. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No way!" replied the 4th wife and she walked away without another word.

The answer cut like a sharp knife right into the merchant's heart. The sad merchant then asked the 3rd wife, "I have loved you so much for all my life. Now that I'm dying, will you follow me and keep me company?" "No!" replied the 3rd wife. "Life is so good over here! I'm going to remarry when you die!" The merchant's heart sank and turned cold.

He then asked the 2nd wife, "I always turned to you for help and you've always helped me out. Now I need your help again. When I die, will you follow me and keep me company?" "I'm sorry, I can't help you out this time!" replied the 2nd wife. "At the very most, I can only send you to your grave." The answer came like a bolt of thunder and the merchant was devastated.

Then a voice called out : "I'll leave with you. I'll follow you no matter where you go." The merchant looked up and there was his first wife. She was so skinny, almost like she suffered from malnutrition. Greatly grieved, the merchant said, "I should have taken much better care of you while I could have !"

Actually, we all have 4 wives in our lives

a. The 4th wife is our body. No matter how much time and effort we lavish in making it look good, it'll leave us when we die.

b. Our 3rd wife ? Our possessions, status and wealth. When we die, they all go to others.

c. The 2nd wife is our family and friends. No matter how close they had been there for us when we're alive, the furthest they can stay by us is up to the grave.

d. The 1st wife is in fact our soul, often neglected in our pursuit of material, wealth and sensual pleasure.

Guess what? It is actually the only thing that follows us wherever we go. Perhaps it's a good idea to cultivate and strengthen it now rather than to wait until we're on our deathbed to lament

Paying petrol bill with your card? Watch out

Credit Cards :

NEW DELHI: Hackers around the world are getting innovative. From skimimng and cloning your credit card, to making fake sites; from using stolen cards on them to using new online trading models, the cyber thieves are working overtime to hack into your bank account.

If you think that giving your credit or debit card to a petrol pump attendant or a restaurant waiter is safe, think again. Chances are that it would be ‘skimmed’ and ‘cloned’ into multiple cards by the time you reach home, warn security experts. Card thieves are using magnetic stripe readers and encoders which are easily available in the market for $250-$600. While a card reader can read the data on the magnetic band of your credit or debit card, an encoder can encode it on to any plastic card with a magnetic band, even a normal hotel room key.


Says network security management company Appin’s founder director, Rajat Khare, “All credit cards can be cloned by simply inscribing cards with a similar magnetic band just like a hotel number is fed into a magnetic room key. These kind of card frauds are becoming common.” Banks are advising customers to subscribe to mobile alerts. ICICI Bank card products head Sachin Khandelwal said, “We have a 45% market share with about 8.5 million credit cards in the market. The percentage of card frauds is low at about 4 basis points of all transactions. Nevertheless, we shoot an SMS alert for every transaction above Rs 2,000 to all our customers. Skimming of credit cards is generally done when a customer places a mail or phone order transaction.”

In additions to mobile alerts, HDFC bank also provides an extra security layer for all credit and debit card customers. Through this facility, the cardholder can create his own additional password, which provides an additional security layer for all On-line transactions, said HDFC Bank credit card marketing head Parag Rao.

Another kind of credit fraud happens even before a new card has been received from the bank. If you have just received a new credit card from the bank, but discover that it already has a charge attached on it, don’t be surprised. Credit card number generators are freely available online (on sites like http://www.brothersoft.com) which claim to generate card numbers of various companies starting from ‘5’ (Master Card) or ‘4’ (Visa) or other digits. It also generates 13, 16, 18 or 19 digit card numbers. These generators use the same algorithms like `Luhn formula’ used by government agencies and banks to generate numbers.

“In one case, a hacker managed to crack the algorithm of a bank’s credit card generator and sold hundreds of numbers online. So even before the fresh card came into customer’s hands, they already had a charge on them. In another case, a credit card hacker set up a site and started using stolen card numbers to provide downloadable images and managed to siphon off about $2 million,” Mr Khare adds.

E-commerce portals have also become safe trading havens for hackers. It works like this: A hacker enters the stolen card number and CVV (card verification value) number, as mentioned on the reverse of the card, into an e-commerce site and buys a product. The payment is made but the buyer doesn’t take the delivery immediately. He gives the delivery date – of generally a week to 10 days. During this time, the hacker posts his costly buys (from the stolen card) on the portal for sale obviously for an even lower price. As the hacker gets a customer for his product, offered at a jaw dropping price, he gives the customer’s address as the delivery address, on the same or other portal.

He receives cash from the final customer in an electronic cash account or an escrow account from where he converts it into hard cash.

Thus during the entire transaction the hacker can manage to cruise through without leaving a trace. Says IT risk and consulting firm Mahindra Special Services Group Captain Raghu Raman, “Most hackers try and steal small amounts–just 2-3% of a monthly transaction to avoid getting caught. In large transactions, the banks usually call and ask the customer immediately to cross check whether a transaction was done by him. Hackers are also using card numbers to get a subscription or download a costly software which they in turn sell it online.”

Transacting on the web with your credit card may not be 100% safe, say net security experts. They suggest to use your credit cards only sites which are Https (Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer) and direct the transaction webpage to a payment gateway. Deleting cookies and browsing history from your computer after a transaction might also help prevent the cyber thief stealing your card number.

source:http://economictimes.indiatimes.com

Motivation

The Window"

Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.

The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.

The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.

One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should hehave all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn't seem fair. As the thought fermented, the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window - and that thought now controlled his life.

Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence--deathly silence.

The following morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take it away--no words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.

Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.

Moral of the story:

The pursuit of happiness is a matter of choice...it is a positive attitude we consciously choose to express. It is not a gift that gets delivered to our doorstep each morning, nor does it come through the window. And I am certain that our circumstances are just a small part of what makes us joyful. If we wait for them to get just right, we will never find lasting joy.

The pursuit of happiness is an inward journey. Our minds are like programs, awaiting the code that will determine behaviors; like bank vaults awaiting our deposits. If we regularly deposit positive, encouraging, and uplifting thoughts, if we continue to bite our lips just before we begin to grumble and complain, if we shoot down that seemingly harmless negative thought as it germinates, we will find that there is much to rejoice about.

Unconditional Love

Unconditional Love - motivating story

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco.
"Mom and Dad, I'm coming home, but I've a favor to ask. I have a friend I'd like to bring home with me."

"Sure," they replied, "we'd love to meet him."

"There's something you should know the son continued, "he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mind and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us."

"I'm sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live."

"No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us."

"Son," said the father, "you don't know what you're asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can't let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He'll find a way to live on his own."

At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn't know, their son had only one arm and one leg.

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don't like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren't as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are. Thankfully, there's someone who won't treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are.



Tonight, before you tuck yourself in for the night, say a little prayer that God will give you the strength you need to accept people as they are, and to help us all be more understanding of those who are different from us!!!

There's a miracle called Friendship That dwells in the heart You don't know how it happens Or when it gets started But you know the special lift It always brings And you realize that Friendship Is God's most precious gift!

Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us.

What are Mutual Funds

Mutual funds are investment companies that pool money from investors at large and offer to sell and buy back its shares on a continuous basis and use the capital thus raised to invest in securities of different companies. This article helps you to know in depth on:

Is it possible to diversify investment if invested in mutual funds?
Find more on the working of mutual fund
Know more about the legal aspects in relation to the mutual funds
At the beginning of this millennium, mutual funds out numbered all the listed securities in New York Stock Exchange. Mutual funds have an upper hand in terms of diversity and liquidity at lower cost in comparison to bonds and stocks. The popularity of mutual funds may be relatively new but not their origin which dates back to 18th century. Holland saw the origination of mutual funds in 1774 as investment trusts before spreading to Anglo-Saxon countries in its current form by 1868.
We will discuss now as to what are mutual funds before going on to seeing the advantages of mutual funds. Mutual funds are investment companies that pool money from investors at large and offer to sell and buy back its shares on a continuous basis and use the capital thus raised to invest in securities of different companies. The stocks these mutual funds have are very fluid and are used for buying or redeeming and/or selling shares at a net asset value. Mutual funds posses shares of several companies and receive dividends in lieu of them and the earnings are distributed among the share holders.
A Brief of How Mutual Funds WorkMutual funds can be either or both of open ended and closed ended investment companies depending on their fund management pattern. An open-end fund offers to sell its shares (units) continuously to investors either in retail or in bulk without a limit on the number as opposed to a closed-end fund. Closed end funds have limited number of shares.

Mutual funds have diversified investments spread in calculated proportions amongst securities of various economic sectors. Mutual funds get their earnings in two ways. First is the most organic way, which is the dividend they get on the securities they hold. Second is by the redemption of their shares by investors will be at a discount to the current NAVs (net asset values).

Are Mutual Funds Risk Free and What are the Advantages?One must not forget the fundamentals of investment that no investment is insulated from risk. Then it becomes interesting to answer why mutual funds are so popular. To begin with, we can say mutual funds are relatively risk free in the way they invest and manage the funds. The investment from the pool is well diversified across securities and shares from various sectors. The fundamental understanding behind this is not all corporations and sectors fail to perform at a time. And in the event of a security of a corporation or a whole sector doing badly then the possible losses from that would be balanced by the returns from other shares.

This logic has seen the mutual funds to be perceived as risk free investments in the market. Yes, this is not entirely untrue if one takes a look at performances of various mutual funds. This relative freedom from risk is in addition to a couple of advantages mutual funds carry with them. So, if you are a retail investor and planning an investment in securities, you will certainly want to consider the advantages of investing in mutual funds.

Lowest per unit investment in almost all the cases
Your investment will be diversified
Your investment will be managed by professional money managers

The 3 Mistakes of my life by Chetan Bhagat

New Book Release: The 3 Mistakes of my life by Chetan Bhagat

Read Its First Chapter here :source chetanbhagat official website

First Chapter pre relase:-

Excerpt
It is not everyday you sit in front of your computer on a Saturday morning and get emails like this: From: Ahd_businessman@gmail.com Sent: 12/28/2005 11:40 PM To: info@chetanbhagat.com Subject: A final note
Dear Chetan,This email is a combined suicide note and a confession letter. I have let people down and have no reason to live. You don't know me. I'm an ordinary boy in Ahmedabad who read your books. And somehow I felt could write to you after that. I can't really tell anyone what I am doing to myself - which is taking a sleeping pill everytime I end a sentence, so I thought I will tell you.
I kept my coffee cup down and counted. Five full stops already.
I made three mistakes, I don’t want to go into details.My suicide is not a sentimental decision. As many around me know, I am a good businessman because I have little emotion. This is no knee-jerk reaction. I waited over three years, watched Ish’s silent face everyday. But after he refused my offer yesterday, I had no choice left.I have no regrets either. May be I’d have wanted to talk to Vidya once more – but that doesn’t seem like such a good idea right now.Sorry to bother you with this. But I felt like I had to tell someone. You have ways to improve as an author but you do write decent books. Have a nice weekend.
Regards,Businessman
17, 18, 19. Someone had popped nineteen sleeping pills while typing a mail to me. Yet, he expected me to have a nice weekend. The coffee refused to go down my throat. I broke into cold sweat.“One, you wake up late. Two, you plant yourself in front of the computer first thing. Do you even know you have a family?” Anusha said. In case it isn’t obvious enough from the authoritative tone, Anusha is my wife.I had promised to go furniture shopping with her – ten weekends agoShe took my coffee mug away and jiggled the back of my chair. “We need dining chairs. hey, you look strange?” she said.
I pointed to the monitor. “Businessman?” she said as she finished reading the mail. She looked shaken up, too.“And it is from Ahmedabad,” I said, “that is all we know.”“You sure this is real?” she said, a quiver in her voice.“This is not spam,” I said. “It is addressed to me.”My wife pulled a stool to sit down. I guess we really did need some extra chairs.“Think,” she said. “We got to let someone know. His parents may be.”“How? I don’t know where the hell it came from,” I said. “And who do we know in Ahmedabad”“We met in Ahmedabad, remember?” Anusha said. Pointless statement, I thought. Yes, we’d been classmates at IIMA years ago.“So?”“Call the institute. Prof. Basant or someone,” She sniffed and left the room. “Oh no, the daal is burning.”There are advantages to having a wife smarter than you. I could never be a detective.I searched the institute numbers on the Internet and called. An operator connected me to Prof. Basant’s residence. I checked the time, 10:00am in Singapore, 7:30am in India. It is a bad idea to mess with a Prof early morning. “Hello?” a sleepy voice answered. Had to be the prof.“Prof. Basant, Hi. This is Chetan Bhagat calling. Your old student, remember?”“Who?” he said with nil curiosity. Bad start.I told him about the course he took for us, and how we had voted him the friendliest prof.“Oh that Chetan Bhagat,” he said, like he knew a million of them. “You are a writer now, no?”“Yes sir,” I said, “that one.”“So why are you writing books?”“Tough question, sir,” I stalled. “OK, a simple one. Why are you calling me so early on a Saturday?”I told him why and forwarded the email to him.“No name, eh?” he said as he read the mail.“He could be in a hospital somewhere in Ahmedabad. He would have just checked in. May be he is dead. Or may be he is at home and this was a hoax,” I said.I was blabbering. I wanted help – for the boy and me. The prof had asked a good question. Why the hell did I write books, to get into this?“We can check hospitals,” Prof said. “I can ask a few students. But a name surely helps. Hey wait, this boy has a gmail, may be he is on Orkut.”“Or-what?” Life is tough when you are always talking to people smarter than you.“You are so out of touch, Chetan. Orkut is a networking site. Gmail users sign up there. If he is a member and we are lucky, we can see his profile.”I heard him clicking keys and sat before my own PC. I had just reached the Orkut site when Prof Basant exclaimed,“Aha, Ahmedabad Businessman. There is a brief profile here. The name only says G Patel. Interests are cricket, business, mathematics and friends. Doesn’t seem like he uses Orkut much though.”“What are you talking about Prof Basant? I woke up to a suicide note, exclusive to me. Now you are telling me hobbies. Can you help me or…”A pause, then, “I will get some students. We will search for a new young patient called G Patel, suspected sleeping pill overdose. We will call if we find anything, OK?”“Yes, sir,” I said, breathing properly after a long time.“And how is Anusha? You guys bunked my classes for dates and now forget me.”“She is fine, sir.”“Good, I always felt she was smarter than you. Anyway, let’s find your boy,” the prof said and hung up.
Besides furniture shopping, I had to finish an office presentation. My boss Michel’s boss was due from New York. Wanting to impress, Michel had asked me to make a presentation of the group, with fifty charts. I worked three nights last week until 1:00am, but had gotten only halfway.“This is a suggestion. Don’t take it the wrong way. But do consider taking a bath,” my wife said. I looked at her.“Just an option,” she said.I think she is overcautious sometimes. I don’t bite back.“Yes, yes. I will,” I said and stared at the computer again.Thoughts darted through my head. Should I call some hospitals myself? What if Prof Basant dozed off again? What if he could not collect the students? What if G Patel was dead? And why am I becoming so involved here?I took a reluctant shower. I opened the office presentation, unable to type a word.I refused breakfast, though regretted it moments later – as hunger and anxiety did not go well together.My phone rang at 1:33pm. .......to be continued releasing in May 2008

for more info visit http://chetanbhagat.com/

Apple iPhone

Apple iPhone

The Apple iPhone is not just a phone - it is a phone, music player, video player, internet device, and camera all in one. Like its Apple iPod Nano and iPod video cousins, the iPhone is slim and sleek at just 11.6mm thick, 2.4-inches wide, and 4.5-inches tall.

Steve Jobs has such confidence in the new iPhone that he has said he wants to sell over 10 million of them by 2008. I think he's setting his sights a little low, and project that Apple will sell over 10 million iPhones in less than 6 months. With the following that Apple has, and the fact that this device has been rumored about and anticipated for almost four years now, it shouldn't be too far out of the realm of possiblity.
iPod Features:

The Apple iPhone is a widescreen iPod that features touch screen controls that allow you to enjoy all your content, including audiobooks, music, TV shows, and movies. It features an amazing 3.5-inch widescreen display, and allows you to sync content from your iTunes library on your PC or Mac, making that content also accessible with just the touch of a finger.
iPhone users will be able to scroll through songs, artists, albums, and playlists with just a flick of a finger. One cool new feature of this function is the display of album artwork - you can now use Cover Flow to browse your music library by album artwork for the first time on an iPod.
Phone Features:
Using the phone function of the Apple iPhone, you can calls by simply pointing your finger at a name or number in your address book, a favorites list, or a call log. All your contacts from a PC, Mac, or Internet device are also automatically synched, you can select and listen to voicemail messages in whatever order you want — just like email. Calls can easily be merged together with just the touch of a button to create a conference call. Conference calling has never been easier!
SMS Text Messaging:




Using the iPhone, you can send text messages withan SMS application with a predictive QWERTY soft keyboard that prevents and corrects mistakes. This makes it easier and more efficient to use than the small plastic keyboards found on many smartphones.
Camera Function:
The Apple iPhone also features an amazing 2-megapixel camera, as well as a photo management application unlike anything available on a phone today. Users can sync photos from a PC or Mac, browse or email them with just a touch of the screen.
Internet Device:
The iPhone features a rich HTML email client as well as the Safari browser, which automatically syncs bookmarks from a PC or Mac. The Safari browser has built-in Google and Yahoo! search. You can also multi-task by reading a web page while simultaneously downloading your email in the background via WiFi or EDGE. Safari also includes built-in Google and Yahoo! search. You can even display Google Maps as they were meant to be seen, and zoom in to view specific points.
E-mail:
The iPhone is great for multi-tasking, so you can read a web page while downloading your email in the background over Wi-Fi or EDGE. Its e-mail client fetches your email in the background from most POP3 or IMAP mail services, and then displays photos and graphics along with the text.
Widgets:



Extend your iPhone with widgets, small applications that give you helpful information like stock reports, weather reports, and more in real time.
Touchscreen:
The iPhone features an amazing 3.5-inch widescreen display, and has one of the most revolutionary user interfaces since the mouse. The interface is unlike anything you've ever experienced on a phone, with a large multi-touch display and innovate new software that allows you to control everything with the touch of a finger.
Intelligent Keyboard:
The iPhone features a full QWERTY keyboard that allows you to send and receive SMS messages, email, etc. It is predicitive, and therefore prevents and corrects mistakes.
Built-in Sensors:
The iPhone incorporates an accelerometer, which detects when a user switches from holding the phone in landscape to portrait mode, and automatically updates the image on screen to fit the mode. The sensors also detect when you put the iPhone near your phone, and automatically shuts off the display screen until you move it away to save on battery power. An ambient light sensor automatically adjusts the screen's brightness to the appropriate level for the current ambient light, which enhances user experience and also saves on battery power.
Accessories:
As of now, Apple has announced a Bluetooth headset that will work with the iPhone, as well as new headphones that incorporate a small white box in the middle of the cord. This box has a built-in microphone and a switch to answer and hang up phone calls.
The phone is expected to come out in June 2007 in USA, Europe in the fourth QTR and Asia in 2008 and it will be available exclusively on Cingular for $499 on a two-year contract for the 4GB version and $599 for the 8GB version.

iPhone Specs:
- Screen size: 3.5 inches- Screen resolution: 320x480 at 160 ppi- Input method: Multi-touch- Operating system - OS X- Storage: 4GB or 8GB- GSM: Quad-band (MHz: 850, 900, 1800, 1900)- Wireless data: WiFi (802.11b/g) + EDGE + Bluetooth 2.0- Camera: 2.0 megapixels- Battery: Up to 5 hours Talk/Video/Browsing, 16 hours Audio Playback- Dimensions: 4.5 x 2.4 x 0.46 inches / 115 x 61 x 11.6mm- 4.8 ounces / 135 grams