'One Night at Tura'

I would like to start by saying ‘You and I like many others having good and bad habits and most of us in real life believe in ab-initio principals not approximations’. If you go across the dictionary you will find ab-initio means ‘from the beginning’ and you all understand the meaning of approximations.

Now let’s forget about the above written lines, you may understand what I meant after reading the following paragraphs.
It was pretty late into the night, we were lazing on the man-made paths in middle of forest with endless insects making weird sounds and the starry sky above us and the mood was all set.

And then suddenly one of us asked how do we know that we are happy with our self? According to him, if we devote some time to family and love one, some time to our work, some time to our body and needs and rest of the time to our desires and don’t bother what others think you would be peace with yourself.

Let’s go one by one through the four picks:

• Family & Loved Ones:

This list includes all the people we know in this world; naturally we can’t give ample time to everyone. Our aim should be giving our best time what we can devote for anybody. Even if the other person is least interested in talking to you at that point of time and if you give your little time is best form of behavior and care, later on the other person would be thinking how nicely you talked to him/her and made that person feel important. I am sure that person would have good thoughts for you the next time you meet him/her. The more you nicely you talk with other people more respect you would get and you can feel the positive vibes coming from them.

• Work: 

Work is the means of our livelihood though we should always know our limits. Whenever we are working beyond our limits we are prone to more mistakes. It does nothing except hampering our work more. So once you feel you have reached the saturation level take a break and look forward for your desires.

The same applies for those who are studying.

• Needs of Body: 

Here you can include everything from sleep, eating, exercise and whatever you can think of which will satisfy your body needs.

• Desires: 

We all have a tendency to desire the unattainable. This mistake is made when we confuse the myth of our desire with the reality of our experience. When fantasies become expectations, the only outcome can be disappointment.

However unattainable desire as proclaimed by many suddenly has been attained and thus life is made easier. Most of our everyday items were at one time thought to be unattainable or even never thought about at all. The humans’ desire usually tends to be better with time, which makes our life easier or more comfortable.

So don’t keep your desires limited, we can achieve anything we want and have any desires and can pursue them until it keeps us happy.

Following this may help you to keep happy and satisfied. Now go back to the first paragraph and relate to it.

Ever heard about the David Scott Trail in Meghalaya??

Out from the archives, the pictures from David Scott Trail in Meghalaya visited in September 2009; almost 11 years back.

The starting point of the trek near Mawphlang village

This 16km trek is part of the horse cart trail which was built to connect Assam and Bangladesh during the nineteenth century.

The highest point of the Trek

The trail is named after David Scott who operated around Khasi hills for almost 30 years and he was the first British administrator to be sent to North East India during the British Raj.

The hanging bridge over Umiam River to cross over from one hill to another

Another view of the hanging bridge

This is one of the oldest trekking routes in Meghalaya starting from Mawphlang (nearer to Shillong) ending at Ladmawphlang (near to Cherrapunji). We were accompanied by two Khasi localities who took us to the highest points of the trail, returned back since we didn't have time to complete the 16km trek till Ladmawphlang, and had to return back to Shillong before the evening.

We continued our descent towards Mawphlang

Every bend threw up something new. Rolling hills with every kind of green shade; the deep valley; the red and white flowers peeping out through the greens; the crystal clear waters in the natural pools; the sparkling river appearing and disappearing.

Enjoying the panoramic view of the Khasi Hills

#davidscotttrail
#meghalaya
#meghalayadiaries
#11yearsold
#trekking
#trails
#trailslikethese
#travelblogger
#16kmtrek
#travel
#travelphotography
#nature
#hilltop
#travelgram
#photooftheday
#instagood
#wanderlust
#instatravel
#stayathomestorytime
#travelstories
#adventure
#khasihills
#mawphlang
#mountains
#travelholic
#northeastindia
#iwanttotraveleverywhere
#iwttew
#travelonyourmind
#toym

Movie Review: Man of Steel

It was obvious from the outset; it is a new Superman for a new time.





Man of Steel of Warner Bros spent an estimated $225 million as start of a new Superman Franchise. Out of the $225 million some of the pennies were spent as part of Warner Bros promotion strategy with continuous trailers and ad's being aired on television during the another Warner Bros's movie The Dark Knight which on coming on television yesterday evening. The trailers made a good impression, they were awesome and I felt I am ready for Superman to fly back into my life.



Directed by Zack Snyder (300) and overseen by producer filmmaker Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight trilogy, Inception), does delivers on the promise of its title. The good start cast, powerful dialogues (not Dark Knight comparable), Hans Zimmers subtle music and 3-D experience does add to the experience. The screenplay might not flow all that well with a particularly bumpy first half as the scenes in the first half didn't align smoothly with one another. It's not because of the great flashback scenes, the flashback scenes did help in framing up the pictures to fall into the right places. And the visual effects by the way are awesome.


Man of Steel for many, is far from a perfect movie and yes I also agree they could have done some things better when compared with the new Batman movie.


If I have to rate, I would say the Batman films are great and this Superman film is good.

Tough Times

When the times are tough,and way seem rough.Your states are gone,and your stores are blown.

When the wind sweeps away your guard,and your are put on the stand.When you got to guard your hopes,with no shields and nothing in hand.

Then my friend, for not your own quest of greatness,of all the torment and its final sweetness.

You topples thousands times before your ever learnt to walk,Your tongue slipped hundred times in pursuit of the first talk.

The pain that mind registers, it is only a routine affair.It is the upbringing of life,and it is very fair.

Tribulation

At the time of tribulation of these days the sun is darkened, the moon is not give her light and the stars may vanish from sky, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

And then again time shall come when the sun is shining at its peak, the moon will come out of the clouds to light up the night and star twinkling the whole day thou it wouldn't be visible in the morning. And then the heavens would be at peace once again.

May you be blessed with peace, patience and understanding in these days.

THE NUMBER GAME

English Barclay Championship is perceived by fans, commentators and academics of football of being highly competitive and non-polarized, dominated by Manchester United, Chelsea and lately by Manchester City, with a significant number of other teams participating in the leagues. Out of the top 20 clubs having highest revenue in the year 2011/12, 7 of them are playing their traits in English Premier League.

There are a number of financial and non-financial methods that can be used to determine a club’s brand equity – including measures of attendance, fan-base, broadcast audience, or on-pitch success. Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur  and Newcastle United are the 7 English premier league teams that are in the top 20 list in the list of ability to generate revenue from day to day football operations.

2011/12 represented a solid year in terms of revenue growth for the game’s elite clubs, with the top 20 League Clubs generating over $6.1 billion in 2011/12, a 10% increase on the previous year. Double digit percentage revenue growth in 2011/12 represents continued remarkably strong performance in these tough economic times. The sport’s top 20 revenue generating clubs now contribute over a quarter of the total revenues of the European football market and can be expected to generate close to $6.7 billion between them in 2012/13.

Top Three:                                               

1. Real Madrid:

Real Madrid tops the League rankings, matching the eight year hegemony that Manchester United enjoyed between 1996/97 and 2003/04, and is the first club to surpass the €500m revenue in a single year. Real has undoubtedly led the way in the phenomenal level of revenue growth enjoyed by the sport’s top clubs over the past two decades.

2. Barcelona:

FC Barcelona retain second place, maintaining a Spanish one-two in this position for the fourth successive year, whilst the top six clubs remain unchanged for a fifth successive year, emphasizing the fact that these clubs have some of the largest fan-bases and hence strongest revenues, in both domestic and international markets.

3. Manchester United:

Manchester United retain third place despite revenues declining by £11.1m (3%) to £320.3m  in a season which saw the club narrowly miss out on retaining their Premier League title as well as suffer early exits from the UEFA Champions League and FA Cup.

Other English Premier Clubs:

1. Chelsea:

Chelsea is placed at fifth position, with total revenue in 2011/12 increasing by £32.4m (14%) to £261m. This significant growth is largely down to the on-field successes of the season. 2011/12 will be remembered as the year Chelsea became the first London club to win the UEFA Champions League, overcoming Barcelona in the semi-finals and then defeating Bayern Munich in a dramatic penalty shoot-out in the final at the Allianz Arena. Chelsea made it a cup double in defeating Liverpool 2-1 in the FA Cup final. However, their cup form was not matched in the Premier League, finishing in a modest sixth place, their lowest League position for ten years.

2. Arsenal:

Arsenal’s revenue increased to £234.9m in 2011/12. It represented an £8.1m (4%) rise on the previous year. In their 125th anniversary season the Gunners experienced a similar level of on-pitch performance to the previous season. A late season rally helped the club finish in third position in the Premier League, with broadcast distributions remaining constant at £56.2m. As in 2010/11, the club exited the Champions League at the round of 16-stage with defeat to AC Milan, as a remarkable comeback fell just short. Arsenal is at the sixth position in the standings.

3. Manchester City:

City became English League Champions for the first time in 44 years after a dramatic climax to the Premier League season. However, their strong league form did not translate to the European stage and they failed to qualify from the group stages of the UEFA Champions League and were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League at the last 16 stage. Team’s revenue was €244m in 2011/12 and is behind Arsenal in the standing at seventh position.

4. Liverpool:

Liverpool is at ninth position in the standing and despite their absence from European competition for the first time since season 1999/00, recorded a £5.1m (3%) increase in revenues to £188.7m. Although the club won the Carling Cup and reached the FA Cup final, a disappointing eighth-place finish in the Premier League meant that 2011/12 was the third successive season in which Liverpool failed to qualify for the Champions League.

5. Tottenham Hotspur:

Tottenham Hotspur was at 13th position, with total revenue decreasing by £19.3m (12%) to £144.2m in 2011/12. This is primarily down to the failure to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, following their successful debut in the 2010/11 season. Spurs had an ultimately frustrating 2011/12 season, reaching the semi-finals of the FA Cup, and despite finishing in 4th place in the Premier League, missed out on Champions League qualification owing to Chelsea’s triumph in the Champions League final.

6. Newcastle United:

The Magpies are at the twentieth position during the 2011/12 and their revenue totaled up to £93.3m, an increase of £4.8m (5%) from the previous year.

Unlike a typical business entity, success for a football club is measured not in terms of financial figures alone, but like any business model a Football Clubs too has a cost and revenue side. The business model of these soccer clubs would be interesting to understand. In the next few articles, we may understand one such football clubs business model.

Another Brand Disaster??

Santoor has been very consistent in its positioning. It has been positioned as younger looking skin beauty soap. Now its has launched a Santoor Baby Soap. This new product by Wipro Consumer Care, the Baby soap will be trying to leverage Santoor's equity. Santoor's market share is  8.8% (compared with 8.3% in the September '12 quarter). It stand at No. 3. The Hindustan Lever's brands lead the ratings in the soap category (Lux & Lifebuoy with a market share of  14.4% & 14.0% respectively).

So is it going another brand disaster as we came across another such kind of example i.e. Dettol Utensil Cleaners.

The recent discussions in the Marketing class, suggests that Dettol's entry into Kitchen will affect the premium image of Dettol. Will the Santoor's image will be affected or not? 

The problem is that Santoor is perceived to be a soap for adults. And when such a brand launches a baby soap,users will doubt with regard to the mildness of the soap. The ad shows (link below) not an infant but a 2-4 year old kid. So the brand will be trying to target the segment which is slowly growing out of the Johnson and Johnson's baby soap. More over since the child is growing , mothers will not be much bothered about trying out a baby soap from Santoor's portfolio.

Johnson and Johnson is the market leader in this segment with a huge market share of 70%.

Doomsday for both Dettol & Santoor??