Happiness to your life ! travel

 It was around 2009 and I was working as a software engineer at Hewlette Packard in Bangalore, India. Around that time, I was very active working as a CSR coordinator for HP and also got myself involved in many social development and awareness activities. During this time that, LED bulbs were getting a major push from Government agencies, Even environmental groups like Greenpeace apart from their respective manufactures. Their moto was, embrace LEDs and CFLs to fight the low voltage, less availability of electricity at the time in India. I know the issue of efficient power distribution is still an issue in India especially in its rural areas. But, on researching in the Net, I could see a lot of potential environmental issues from CFLs(very widely used in India still) and upcoming LEDs. Though LEDs were much less worse than CFLs, the environmental contamination from mass use is still an issue. Apart from the retinal changes and skin cancer possibilities from long term exposure to LE...

 Hi All,  everyone is complaining about the practice of giving bribes in government offices. But inspite of laws preventing it, it has not come down in many departments. Why? It is because,  in the most cases, they will be dismissed only for a short period of time and back in service in a matter of few months at maximum.  Government officials are getting paid from the tax payers money. They have very good packages nowadays. Still they are looting money from the poor public. What is the solution for this? Make bribery a serious criminal offense. Amend the laws so that any government official taking bribery should be send to Jail for a minimum of 2 years.  The term should be increased for higher amounts of bribery or if they demand it from really poor citizens.  Also, the current law make the person compelled to give bribes also responsible. We should change this because, In majority of the cases,  it is the poor common man who is forced to give bribe. M...

Unless you can park only one car in your home, here are few reasons why you may keep your old car still in your garage when it is time to buy a new one: 1. Older cars are built to last. Most modern cars are not. I am saying from my own experience. My 15 years old TATA Indica is close to 170, 000 kms in audometer. I am still using it as a daily driver. It's pulling power is bit reduced but do not have any other problems yet. It is very easy to repair and spares are one of the cheapest in the country. Now, I self repair it most of the time, unless there is an irritating electrical problem. Self repair is something which is going to be a challenge in a new car, as they have electronics boards controlling everything. Being a diesel it still has good mileage. It do not have the refinement of a petrol engine but have amazing torque when fully loaded. Also it has very good space inside. 2. It is prudent to keep your new car for long journeys and special occasions while using the old o...

 We should all know that, fuel from plastics is such a great idea, which is already made into reality by discovery of safe and simple processes.  There are few units already making fuel, which is run by NGOs and entrepreneurs alike. It has the duel benefit of producing cheap fuel by getting rid of the harmful plastics.  But, why it is not getting the PUSH it deserves by the governments and industry in general ? It is ignored inspite of the fact that, plastics is made from crude oil itself and is one of the easiest things to convert to petrol and diesel.  We should be concerned,  because plastics waste can make hell with the environment of the next generation.  Few options to get rid of it like, using it for landfill can have its toxic effects on the environment. Only other good initiative I see is to use it in road construction. But, it can't guarantee to address the scale of the problem by itself.  Everyone is talking about moving from a petroleum bas...

 Dears!   I will be 47 in few months and I am a software professional. I have recently achieved a level of financial freedom, after paying off my loans. Right now,  I am experimenting with a retired life, consciously living out of my passive income only, though I am not yet resigned from my company. I am already seeing some very interesting positives and few negatives and want to share the experience so that it may help someone else in their planning. ( Please note, the ability to retire early is heavily depends on having a passive income.  You may want to see my own experience in raising one here or visit the topic from the home page:  Ways to Raise Passive Incomes  ) The positives I am noticing till now: 1. Completely stress free. The fact that you don't need to meet another loan emi by end of a month is relaxation in itself. It also makes you a little bold in your office because, you know you can thrive even without it. You can also enjoy  your fr...

Hi All, here are few tips that may be useful to setup a passive income, completely from scratch. Passive incomes helps to overcome financial uncertainties in our lives.They should also set you free(retire) by the age of 50. I feel everyone should be able to retire by their early 50s!. My tips are purely based on assured incomes, and not on investments like stock markets, where in theory, you can get rich very quickly, but can also lose your entire savings by small mistakes. Wish you all the very best on your early retirements!  1. RENTALS : Apartments in good locations are easy to rent out rather than a independent house.  If you  can, purchase a brand new apartment. After 15-20 years,  the maintenance costs on your apartment may go up because of things like plumbing,  leakage etc. It is best to sell an apartment around 20 years or earlier with accrued appreciation, unless your flat is in a prime rental location, where occasional maintenance can be covered comfo...

Quick stats: It costs around 9000 rupees to and fro from Kolkata. Only Alliance Air(Air India)  has flights, that is only from Kolkata as told by fellow passengers. Only one flight which starts around 1.45 in the afternoon which reach Shillong by 3.20pm. The return flight is around 4pm(same aircraft). Please note, these were says from taxi drivers/people around me at that time. There are plenty of lodges at Mylleim. Please include this destination in your travel, as the stay was so lovely, the morning walks were so memorable for a long time. Also the lodges has courteous staff and the food was simply great(traditional, super non veg food I had). The trekking around the hills are quite safe. The local people are friendly. Plenty of taxis available at any time of the day. IMO, very cheap rates considering the steap hill routes and petrol taxis. Nice momos and other food available. In a rainy season chirapunji is a must visit. On a summer tour I recommend Mylliem and Umiam l...