Why move away from home?

Just happened to read abt a friend of mine admit crying (not literally), as to why we need to separate/ move away from our parents once we reach an age, actually he came to India for his yearly vacation and was returning. My guess work on what all could be the reasons ended pretty soon, but admittedly couldn't think beyond these- studies, career, marriage and worst of all not getting along with your parents; which in any case would rule out 'us' crying over moving away from them.

Taking the case of studies, it has been the same since ages. From the age old 'gurukulas' to modern age universities, students had to and have to move there to obtain the higher education. Few of the lucky lot have the desired centre for learning at their native but for the majority it requires moving away from the comforts of their homes. What does it offer to us?? Well, new learning & experiences, introduces us to the life around, gives us a sense of being independent and moulds a bit of our personality if it didn't take shape yet and ofcourse new friends! If one chooses to pursue courses available in their hometown they wouldn't need to move away. But they differ and choose their aspirations.

Now about careers; with the ever increasing competition, the job availability has become scarce forcing 'us' to look for opportunities, not to mention the unbalanced economies which restricted the growth to a few cities and towns. And thus in many cases they existed in places not so close to home. So, we find a reason to move away. What does it offer to us?? With the earning power vested with you, you get a chance to live life your way (not that u can't, staying with ur parents), test the boundaries of acceptable lifestyle, mould your future and explore new avenues. If one had chosen to pursue a career in the industries/ fields available in their hometown they wouldn't need to move away. And again, those who differ choose their aspirations.

Finally the most deciding factor of all -- marriage. This usually doesn't affect guys as much as it turns the whole world on its head for girls. Guys do not and are not necessarily needed to worry too much about shifting base, "JUST" because of the age old tradition of ladies having to follow in the footsteps of their pati dev. On the flipside, gals are expected to leave behind everything they have yearned for the whole lifetime 'chutki mein'. What does it offer to us?? The prospect (or suspect) of finding your life partner, defining your life from then on, making your own family and if I can put it so (challenge of) creating a perfect life for someone else. It’s here that people have not many options unless they are quite lucky or have the strength to take a firm decision to wait for the perfect one as a dear friend of mine is doing.

From my perspective, whatever may be the reason in the end it’s the individuals’ aspiration and choices are the one’s that decide their course in life. If you have any Q’s---------- feel free to keep them to yourselves, I will not be able to answer any, in any case.

Is the price of petrol in India very high?

I was becoming a bit concerned with all the information floating on the internet…. Emotional netizens passing on snippets on how low the prices of petrol were in other countries and how the ‘Indian Government’ was ripping the public off. So, I decided look into if all that was real and found that all of that was half cooked truth (in red). Following are the current prices in those countries-

Pakistan               Rs. 26    (88.41 PKR = 47.72 INR) May '11-- Reuters

Bangladesh        Rs. 22    (76 Taka = 48.07 INR) May '11—Reuters

Cuba                      Rs. 19    (1.15 CUC = 54.53 INR) Mar '11 -- Havana Times

Nepal                    Rs. 34    (102 NPR = 63.78 INR) June'11 -- Himalayan Times

Burma                  Rs. 30    (551.88 Kyatt = 4085 INR) Mar '11 -- Irrawady($1.45/ ltr)

Afghanistan        Rs. 36    (54 AFN = 59.1 INR) Jul '11

We need to rationalize how we compare the prices in two countries, if you want to compare say between India and Pakistan should we compare INR to PKR or convert prices to USD and compare so? The later definitely might not (for I am not too sure about economics) always give the ‘right’ picture. Let’s see if we take USD as the base and compare fuel prices across the globe as shown in the map below:

via chartsbin.com

This depicts that price of fuel in India is quite low compared to the ‘Whole of EU’. So, does it mean the EU is ripping of their people ‘better’ the Indian govt is doing? In which case, we are doing better than them isn’t it? For example the cost of gasoline in UK is around 129.3p which roughly translates to around 90 INR. But, it here that the factors of per capita income or cost of living or PPP and few other reasons (DO NOT ASK ME WHAT) are missing. I am sure someone other than me can throw better light on what are all the factors?

Now for price of Petrol in A.P.

The current price after the latest revision is 74 INR per litre. The info floating on internet---

BASIC COST PER 1 LITRE 16.50 + Centre tax 11.80% + Excise duty 9.75% + Vat cess 4% + State tax 8 % = Total Rs. 50.05 + Now extra 23.35 Rs, PER 1 LITRE .

For the sake of those, I have tried to put together the break down of fuel price as follows:

International price of a barrel of Crude Oil	$ 105
Price per litre of Crude	$ 0.66
Price per litre in INR	INR 30.10
Customs/ Import duty on crude @0% (‘11 Budget)	INR 00.00
Cost of Crude Refining + Transportation + Margins	INR 09.10
Customs Duty on Petrol @2,5% (‘11 Budget)	INR 00.98
Central Excise Duty on Petrol (''11 Budget)	INR 14.50
Price of Petrol arriving in AP	INR 54.68
Sales Tax levied by AP State Govt @33%	INR 18.04
Vendor Commission (assuming @1,75%)	INR 01.30
Price Paid by the citizen (in AP)	INR 74.02

There were a few assumptions made--

1.       Current price of crude oil is considered against the avg price in India’s energy basket which stands at around 110 USD

2.       Vendor commission assumed same as neighbouring states and thus arrived at petrol price arriving in AP

3.       Indian oil companies earn an avg refining margin of $8.4/ barrel.

4.       1 Barrel = 158.99 litres

5.       1 USD = 45.6 INR (Avg conversation ratio)

From the above figures it is clear the nearly 45% of the price is due to taxes levied. Central government has been trying to get off with the taxes levied at State level, but it is being resisted by the individual state heads as the tax amount is a substantial part of the state revenues. The states that levy the highest taxes on petrol are-  AP – 33%, Punjab – 32%, Karnataka – 25%(plus 5% entry tax), Kerala – 29%, Tamil Nadu –27% (they cut 3% since May ’11)….. will see if I can get the same for rest …… big ask, better forget it!

So, the conclusion if the taxes aren’t levied the price at which “WE” can get petrol is around INR 40!! Does it mean taxation be abolished? The petroleum taxation accounts for 3.1% of national GDP and close to 16-17% of state government’s own tax revenues. And thus it becomes the case of the chicken or the egg??? Make your own inference!

What not to do when you are desperate about having a girl friend !!

This ain't exactly the piece of article one would like to write/ publish in one's blog.....no amount of reasearch going into it (does it require one!!), no fact finding made (do facts need to be proved!!)... but still, wht the heck?? It's my space & I can share whtever I want to..... So read n enjoy if u want to.... else don't even bother to comment..... n for those who knw me personally, guess if this has been written by me???

For starters....if u think I am cribbing, I ain't..... n I wouldn't want to cheat myself n say I am not desperate....either way this piece of info (I wudn't mind if u want to call it crap) per my knowledge is purely fictional n bears (hopefully) no resemblence to the apathy of anyone OUT THERE!!!!

So here we go...My target

• If you are a guy, age >=22 and still single....welcome to the club. Read this very seriously
• If you are a guy, not single then reading this is not worth your time
• If you are a girl there is nothing new here, I know most of you are omniscient

On a random day, at a random place you come across a random girl and you get an instant feeling that she is the "one" for you. In the next few mins of talk, the inevitable question comes up "Are you on Orkut?"...Now that's the beginning. You take her email ID, flick her chat ID from Orkut and start loading her inbox with messages, forwards, funny mails, quotes etc etc., . You are always online for her and the moment you comes online the question pops up on her window, "Hey hi, wass up?" You always go to places where there is a chance of seeing her. You try to run in to her and pretend that it was accidental. You wear nice dresses and try to look good on the days when there is a high probability of meeting her. After that you take her phone number and start calling her every day. For the first few days she picks up the phone, then slowly she starts giving the busy tone and the next stage is total avoidance. But, you always believe that she is interested in you or at least you don't want to accept the truth. For some of you the big day comes when you express your feelings to her and you don't even have to wait for her reply, it is generally, "I did not see you in that way, can we be just friends?". Some don't even reach that stage, they hide their feelings, but in either case one thing is common, the girl's name ends up being the password of many of their accounts for the next few months.

As soon as they realize that they have reached the "age", guys start trying to impress girls. Some try to show-off that they are smart and some have this weird belief that girls consider stupid guys as cute. Intelligence to innocence, being introvert to extrovert, being classy to messy, strong to weak ...anything and everything, every guy has own strategy. I don't know who came up with this quote "Everything is fair in love and war", he (not she) must probably have been one of them. I don't know why guys fail to understand that girls are smart enough to understand all these and why would not they? Even before they realize that they are "girls", guys start hitting on them, one after the other, day and night, not allowing them even to breathe properly.

After reading till here some of you might be in dilemma whether you are really desperate or not. It's very easy to come to a conclusion. Take a paper and answer the following questions in Yes or No

1. Whenever you see a girl walking on the road ahead of you, Do you increase your walking speed, walk past her and then turn back to see her face?
2. Do you become very conscious about what you are talking, when you are around with girls?
3. Do you try to be cool or someone else in order to impress girls?
4. Do you think staying clam or moody when in a group makes the girl think about you?
5. You ask a girl to join you for lunch or coffee; do you think a YES from other side is an indication that she is interested in you?
6. Do you keep staring at girls?
7. Are you ready to date a girl even if she is around with someone else as well?
8. Is "Girls" the main topic of all your discussions with your friends?
   If you find even a single "YES" in the paper then YOU ARE DESPERATE. Be a man, accept it.

Now the real question "What not to do when you are desperate about having a girl friend?"Did you actually believe that I would come up with some solution or tips? Had I known it, would I be still single? It was just a trick to make you guys read this one. But, I have one tip though, first and foremost STOP being desperate. I know that it is difficult. At least try not to show that you are desperate. The rule is simple, "No one in this world cares for a thing that is easily gettable" and FYI girls are never worried about finding a guy and why do they have to? Did you ever come across a girl who never had a BF or never been proposed by a guy? If yes, then that's a miracle, you met a rare species or an extinct one in this world.

If you got the tip that you wanted and don't want to read any further it's fine. But, I would recommend reading further. Trust me, keep reading.

We know that we are the ones who make the girls realize that they are important, treat them as if they are precious, tell them that they are beautiful and show that they are in demand. We buy them gifts, spend all the money we have, do their work, roam around with them all the time, carry their stuff and in the end what do we get in return? a few thanks and an offer to be a good friend. Do we need all this? If 1/1000 th of the time wasted on a girl is spent on a guy you will find a friend for a lifetime. Just play some game together or watch a movie, have a night out, having a hangover throughout the next day is more fun than spending the same night with your girl in a pub buying her drinks, talking crap, listening crap, making some crap moves..... What ever.

I know that at some point of time in your life you might have realized all this. But, there is a need to educate the rest and also pass on the message to the future generations. I dream of a day when guys are in demand and girls start worrying about finding a guy. I hope the day comes soon.

If you are still desperate, you need a second read.

P.S.: To the girls: If you think that some guy is crazy about you and trying hard to impress you, please tell him immediately if you are not interested