Tuesday 19 February 2013

[www.keralites.net] LETTER WRITTEN BY A WIFE AFTER HER HUSBAND'S DEATH

 

Letter written by a wife after her husband's death in an accident


"Few things I learnt after my husband's death:-

We always believe we will live forever. Bad things always happen to others.

Only when things hit us bang on your head you realise... Life is so unpredictable....

My husband was an IT guy.AllTechnical. AndI am a chartered accountant.

Awesome combination you may think.


Techie guy so everything is on his laptop.His to do list. His e-bill and his bank statements in his email. He even maintained a folder which said IMPWDS wherein he stored all login id and passwords for all his online accounts.And even his laptop had a password. Techie guy so all the passwords were alpha-numeric with a special character not an easy one to crack.Office policy said passwords needed to be changed every 30 days.So every time I accessed his laptop I wouldrealizeit's a new password again. I would simply opt for asking him 'What's the latest password' instead of taking the strain tomemorizeit.

You may think me being a Chartered Accountant would means everything is documented and filed properly. Alas many of my chartered accountant friends would agree that the precision we follow with our office documents and papers do not flow in to day to day home life. At office you have be epitome of Reliability / Competent / Diligent etc but. At home front there is always a tomorrow.

One fine morning my hubby expired in a bike accident on his way home from office.. He was just 33.His laptop with all his data crashed.everything on his hard disk wiped off.No folder of IMPWDS to refer back to.His mobile with all the numbers on it was smashed.But that was just the beginning. I realised I had lot to learn.

9 years married to one of the best human beings.with no kids.just the two of us to fall back on.but now I stood all alone and lost.

Being chartered accountant helped in more ways than one but it was not enough. I needed help.His saving bank accounts, his salary bank accounts had no nominee.On his insurance his mom was the nominee and it was almost 2 years back she had expired. But this was just a start.I didn't know the password to his email account where all his e-bill came.I didn't know which expenses he paid by standing instructions.

His office front too was not easy. His department had changed recently.I didn't know his reporting boss name to start with.when had he last claimed his shift allowance, his mobile reimbursement.

The house we bought with all the excitement on a loan thought with our joint salary we could afford the EMI. when the home loans guys suggested insurance on the loan.we decided the instead of paying the premium the difference in the EMI on account of the insurance could be used pay towards prepayment of the loan and get the tenure down.We never thought what we would do if we have to live on a single salary.So now there was huge EMI to look into .

I realised I was in for a long haul.

Road accident case. So everywhere I needed a Death certificate, FIR report, Post Mortem report. For everything there were forms running into pages.indemnity bonds.notary.surety to stand up for you.No objections certificates from your co-heirs.

I learnt other than your house, your land, Your car, your bike are also your property.So what if you are the joint owner of the flat.you don't become the owner just because your hubby is no more. So what if your hubby expired in the bike accident and you are the nominee but if the bike is in a repairable condition .you have to get the bike transferred in your name to claim the insurance.And that was again not easy. The bike or car cannot be transferred in your name without going through a set of legal documents. Getting a Succession Certificate is another battle all together.

Then came the time you realise now you have to start changing all the bills, assets in your name.Your gas connection, electricity meter, your own house, your car, your investments and all sundries. And then change all the nominations where your own investments are concerned.And again a start of a new set of paperwork.

To say I was shaken.my whole life had just turned upside down was an understatement.You realise you don't have time to morn and grieve for the person with whom you spend the best years of your life. Because you are busy sorting all the paper work.

I realised then how much I took life for granted.I thought being a chartered accountant I am undergoing so many difficulties.what would have happened to someone who was house maker who wouldn't understand this legal hotchpotch.

A sweet friend then told me dear this was not an end.you have no kids.your assets will be for all who stand to claim.after my hubby's sudden death.I realised it was time I took life more seriously. I now needed to make a Will. I would have laughed if a few months back if he had asked me to make one.But now life had taken a twist.

Lessons learnt this hard way were meant to be shared.After all why should the people whom we love the most suffer after we are no more.Sorting some paperwork before we go will at least ease some of their grief.

1. Check all your nominations...
It's a usual practice to put a name (i.e in the first place if you have mentioned it) and royally forget about it. Most of us have named our parent as a nominee for investments, bank accounts opened before marriage. We have not changed the same even years after they are no longer there with us. Even your salary account usually has no nomination.. Kindly check all your Nominations.
- Bank Accounts
- Fixed Deposits, NSC
- Bank Lockers
- Demat Accounts
- Insurance (Life, Bike or Car or Property)
- Investments
- PF Pension Forms

2. Passwords..
We have passwords for practically everything. Email accounts, Bank accounts, even for the laptop you use. What happens when your next in kin cannot access any of these simply because they do not know your password... Put it down on a paper.

3. Investments.
Every year for tax purpose we do investments. Do we maintain a excel sheet about it. If so is it on the same laptop of which the password you had not shared. Where are those physical investments hard copy.

4. Will.
Make a Will. I know you will smile even I would.had I not gone through all what I did.It would have made my life lot easier.a lot less paperwork.I wouldn't had to provide an indemnity bond, get it notarised, ask surety to stand up, no objections certificates from others...

5. Liabilities.
When you take a loan say for your house or car.Check out on all the what ifs.what if I am not there tomorrow.what if I loose my job.Will the EMI still be within my range.If not get an insurance on the loan.The people left behind will not have to worry on something as basic as their own house.

My battles have just begun...But let us at least try and make few changes so that our loved ones would not suffer after we go.We do not know what will happen in the future.But as the Scout motto goes: Be prepared "


NEVER TAKE LIFE FOR GRANTED DO THINGS APPROPRIATE FOR THE ONES WHO DEPEND ON YOU WITH LOVE.

NOTE: THIS IS A REAL INCIDENT AND A FORWARD.


--
Aano bhadra krtavo yantu vishwatah.(- RIG VEDA)
"Let noble thoughts come to me from all directions"

REGARDS
Miss.Shaija Vallikatri Bhaskaran

www.keralites.net

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[www.keralites.net] How to Develop Analytical Skills

 

In our day to day life whether official, personal or social, we have to deal with complications. Some situations are easy to handle with but other are complex which snatch thepeace of mindbecause our brain gets stuck on how best to handle such state of affair. This is where our Analytical Skills help us. The prime purpose for the Analysis of any given situation is to get to know the root cause(s) of the issue, to forecast the impact and to plan corrective/preventive actions strategy. So basically analytical skill is tovisualizea given situation, task, project or issue from several angles in order to breakdown it into smaller steps.
Below are different situations where our analytical skills are required. I shall give advices in each category accordingly:

1)WhenSummarizing Large Amount of Data: In this situation, I highly recommend using Pivot Tables feature of MS Excel in order to generate reports. The Pivot Reports feature allows us playing with the data in several ways to generate multi dimensional reports. We can breakdown large amount of data in different sheets to apply Pivot Reports separately as well.Youtubeis a very good source of videos for learning this skill. Pivot table can also generate reports for Trends and Forecast in two to three dimensions.

2)When Resolving Conflicts in Office:In this case, listen to all parties which are having difference of opinion. List down the positive and negative input factors and after-effects based on feedback from individuals. Make it in tabular format and review this with your manager to see which one is the best option to go for. Then call for a meeting to elaborate the overall picture based on your fair analysis and convince personnel for the option which is in the best interest of the company. Read me detailed articlehere

3)WhenBeing Assigned a large project: in this case you need to make a high level agenda (High Level Project Deliverables) and then start working on WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) and then assign each task to relevant resource. While making WBS you can have a meeting with your Team Leads and other stake holders. You can consider Fishbone diagram to analyze the inputs of any task. The article written by Junaid Tahir (mjunaidtahir at gmail dot com)

4)WhenResolving a Technical issue: The advice here is to consult the product guide to see the possible root causes, consult the SME (Subject Matter Expert) for opinion or consult the Lesson Learnt Register. For all kind of issues resolutions, I always recommend two things. First is to take corrective action to fix the issue, Second is to take Preventive Action (fix the root cause permanently) so that the issues do not pop up again. Six Sigma's DMAIC is another recommended way for analyzing and improving. If you want to learn Six Sigma, either do google search or drop me an email mjunaidtahir at gmail dot com so I can share my knowledgeJ

5)Whenpurchasingsomething: Let us take the example of mobile phone. When you want to purchase a new mobile you need to ask yourself: do I need touch screen, do I need wifi, do I really need to purchase new mobile, what is my budget? do I need 5MP camera, do I need iphone or Android, do I need 4 inch screen or less? What other specs do I need to consider. So Basically you are analyzing your demands to come up with the right mobile which is to be purchased. Read my article on how to buy the best phonehere

6)Whenhandling family conflicts:Being a sensitive subject, this is something where you need much more than analytical skills; For each family member involved in the conflict, you have to have sense of feelings,emotions study,stress absorption power, age factor, relationship level and convincing power so in my opinion this is the most difficult part of practicing your analytical skills. You have to consistently guide everyone about 'forgive and forget' policy. You have to calmly listen to each party and take adequate time to analyze all aspects (as mentioned a couple of lines back) vigilantly before concluding something on the brawl.

Conclusion: Analytical skills can make your life easier in almost all aspects ofdecision makingor problem solving, however, it's not only the matter of considering all the options and the inputs, its matter of considering the weight of each option as well. For example, for a given situation you have two options having equal number of advantages or disadvantages so in order to conclude in such situation you have to consider the weight of each option. While doing your analysis you might want to consider the difference between Urgent and Important things. If that is the case please read my articlehttp://paradigmwisdom.blogspot.com/2012/01/learn-to-differentiate-between-urgent.html
Develop and Sharpen your analytical skills to take steps for reducing stress in your life consequently ensuring the peace of mind

M Junaid Tahir/

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[www.keralites.net] Story: Self Confidence

 



The business executive was deep in debt and could see no way out. Creditors were closing in on him. Suppliers were demanding payment. He sat on the park bench, head in hands, wondering if anything could save his company from bankruptcy.

Suddenly an old man appeared before him.

I can see that something is troubling you, he said.

After listening to the executives woes, the old man said,

I believe I can help you.

He asked the man his name, wrote out a check, and pushed it into his hand saying,

Take this money. Meet me here exactly one year from today, and you can pay me back at that time.

Then he turned and disappeared as quickly as he had come.


The business executive saw in his hand a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, then one of the richest men in the world!

I can erase my money worries in an instant!

He realized. But instead, the executive decided to put the uncashed check in his safe. Just knowing it was there might give him the strength to work out a way to save his business, he thought.

With renewed optimism, he negotiated better deals and extended terms of payment. He closed several big sales. Within a few months, he was out of debt and making money once again.

Exactly one year later, he returned to the park with the uncashed check.

At the agreed-upon time, the old man appeared. But just as the executive was about to hand back the check and share his success story, a nurse came running up and grabbed the old man.

Im so glad I caught him! she cried.

I hope he hasnt been bothering you. Hes always escaping from the rest home and telling people hes John D. Rockefeller.

And she led the old man away by the arm.

The astonished executive just stood there, stunned. All year long hed been wheeling and dealing, buying and selling, convinced he had half a million dollars behind him.

Suddenly, he realized that it wasnt the money, real or imagined, that had turned his life around. It was his newfound self-confidence that gave him the power to achieve anything he went after



www.keralites.net

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Re: [www.keralites.net] "പണി മുടക്കാന്‍ " ഒരു പണി മുടക്ക് !!!!!!!!!!

 

Dear Friends,
 
The all India strike is nothing but an atrocious act of killing people's right to live in this great country. A handful of hooligans including central/state ministers, politicians, trade union leaders and lazy workers mercilessly rape the poor peace loving unorganized public for meger political gains and vested interests. The strike is the out come of a conspiracy planned and implimented by the ruling parties and the opposition parties together. Both these uncrupulous gangs want to show the votebank that they are frieds of the worker community. These foolish politician should have the minimum common sense to know the pulse of general voters with better intellegence than the illiterate politicians. The citezens will not pardon these idiots for the irreparable production loss they made to the nation by this unwanted strike.
 
Bose 

--- On Tue, 2/19/13, Jinto P Cherian <jinto512170@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Jinto P Cherian <jinto512170@yahoo.com>
Subject: [www.keralites.net] "പണി മുടക്കാന്‍ " ഒരു പണി മുടക്ക് !!!!!!!!!!
To:
Date: Tuesday, February 19, 2013, 5:33 PM

 


നാളെയും മറ്റന്നാളുമായി നടക്കുന്ന 48 മണിക്കൂര്‍ പണിമുടക്കില്‍ രാജ്യമൊട്ടാകെ നിശ്ചലമാകും. പൊതുജീവിതത്തെ ദുരിതത്തിലേക്ക് തള്ളിവിടുന്ന പണിമുടക്ക് രാജ്യത്തിന്റെ സാമ്പത്തിക മേഘലക്ക് ഏല്‍പ്പിക്കുന്ന പ്രഹരവും ചെറുതല്ല. 15,000 മുതല്‍ 20,000 കോടി രൂപയുടെ വരെ സാമ്പത്തിക നഷ്ടം രാജ്യത്തിന് ഉണ്ടാക്കുമെന്നാണ് അനൗദ്യോഗിക കണക്കുകള്‍ സൂചിപ്പിക്കുന്നത്.വിലക്കയറ്റം തടയുക, തൊഴിലവസരങ്ങള്‍ വര്‍ധിപ്പിക്കുക, തൊഴില്‍നിയമങ്ങള്‍ നടപ്പാക്കുക, അസംഘടിത മേഖലയിലെ തൊഴിലാളികള്‍ക്കു സാമൂഹിക സുരക്ഷ ഉറപ്പുവരുത്തുക, പൊതുമേഖലാ സ്ഥാപനങ്ങളുടെ ഓഹരിവില്‍പന അവസാനിപ്പിക്കുക തുടങ്ങിയ ആവശ്യങ്ങളുന്നയിച്ചാണു പണിമുടക്ക്.
ഈ 48 മണിക്കൂര്‍കൊണ്ട് എല്ലാ പ്രിശ്ങ്ങളും പരിഹരികം ഉണ്ടാകുമോ !!
 

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