My story of selecting a sofa-cum-bed

It was decided to buy some sturdy furniture, unlike the fragile plastic chairs, for my mother to sit. Instead of sofa, we decided to go for sofa-cum-bed which will serve two purposes i.e., sitting and sleeping.

After deciding that, I started my search. I would have enquired almost 20 furniture shops including various carpenter's workshop. The shops were spanned all the way from Nigdi to interiors of Pimpri. I found many similarities in the shops I visited. Some salient points are:

1. Most of the shop owners are from Rajasthan
2. Only Ad-hoc prices were told by most of them
3. Some bigger shops had catalog of sofa-cum-beds, but not all
4. Only one universal design (with storage facility) was available in all the shops
5. Their unique selling point was the sofa when expanded can "aaram se" accommodate two people to sleep, technically it is 6 feet by 6 feet.
6. They were selling curl-on mattresses along with the sofa-cum-bed, since the bed alone can not be obtained in the non-standard size. If something is non-standard or people are habituated to use non-standard items, then the shop owners are looting taking the disadvantage of the situation. If something has to be accommodated for a non-standard commodity, then it has to be customized. If there is customization, there is enough chance to cheat people.
7. I could not judge the quality of material used.
8. Biggest advantage I found: You can return the furniture after use and can get a resale value of 60~70% of the original price. One has to enquire thoroughly for this option for the shop.
9. Two biggest disadvantages:

1. All the furniture is unnecessarily costly (Rs.7000 -15000) and it is not worthy for that money.
2. The available design is STUPID.

10. The shop owners are successful in selling this stupid design claiming it as the best design available in the market. People are so naive to buy because they do not have other options and become so habituated to the fact that if the shop is not glamorous like some big malls, the prices will be cheap. You will be deceived solely on the basis of your assumption. Mind it.

Why the design of the sofa-cum-bed is stupid?
To obtain a correct sitting posture, a sofa should allow the users, to keep the feet firmly on the floor and to recline the user's back properly on the back portion of the sofa. Sounds cool! Actually my wife gave me this knowledge.

But all the furniture I saw was having this inherent flaw. If the back portion of the sofa is 3 feet away from the sitting edge, one can NOT keep one's feet in the ground. Otherwise your legs will be hanging in the air causing leg pain. To accommodate this posture the shop keeper will give you a brilliant idea of using thick pillows between you and the back portion of the sofa. Don't get carried away by that. He will try to convince you that every one is doing the same thing. Just because, a majority of the people is doing something, the same need not be followed. Apart from the additional expenses for you to bear, you will have to suffer from back pain too because of this peculiar arrangement.

Otherwise you have to sit in the cross -legged position ON the sofa, as you would like to sit for some feast in functions on the floor. Or you can stretch yourself in the sleep- straight position, causing inconvenience to other users.

Then I ditched all the local shops and started enquiring in bigger furniture shops. They include: Krome in Big Bazaar complex, Adorn in Chinchwad and two more big shops in Aundh and Godrej Lifespace.

My observations:

1. They have lot of attractive models. But as usual the prices are very high.
2. The furniture is worth buying only if there is a good discount
3. Discounts are many times deceiving; price after discount will be higher than the price before discount most of the times. This can be confirmed only when you track the price of the particular furniture. I was tracking price for one of the furniture in Krome. After diwali discount, the price was actually higher for a sofa-cum-bed set and this did not surprise me.
4. I understood their modus operandi. Most of the furniture is imported from countries like China and Malaysia.
5. Usually there is no guarantee or warranty even if you purchase the furniture for one lakh rupees.
6. Storage type sofa-cum-bed models are usually not available.

By that time I was tired of searching for my sofa-cum-bed model and I almost dropped the plan. Also my wife starting blaming me for not buying one particular model that we saw in Krome during this process. It was Rs.13, 500. I thought I would get some better offer else where. But my assumption was absolutely wrong. By the time, I finished my research and finalized to go for the one that we saw at Krome, that model was already sold. And the shop keeper told me that the price was highly discounted and they don't have any plan to provide such a heavy discount there after. Also he added that the models are unique and they can not guarantee the same model every time. My wife was very much disappointed and I started feeling inferior for not executing some thing on time.

Lessons learnt:
1. If you feel that the price is reasonable based on your research make your final decision in 2 or 3 days.
2. Since all the furniture is imported, the shop owners will buy only less numbers for a particular model. They rather try to include variety.

This entire story went for some 3 to 4 months in total. Mean while I promised my wife to get some furniture fitting our requirements, for her some how. And I opened a new branch of my search operations. I started searching in Internet for furniture. The information available was limited at least for the furniture available in India. Some of the sites I visited are: Durian, Godrej life space and other 2 ~3 designer furniture web sites. There is one particular type of block kind of furniture which is famous in Jaipur. But I did not like that personally.

Then I came across a wonderful site www.alibaba.com. I was astonished to see that site. It is an enterprise-to-enterprise, e-commerce website. I was happy to see numerous advertisements from furniture manufacturers in one single web page. I could see all the furniture that I saw in the big shops silently staring at me through the web pages. Then I decided buy furniture online from China directly. I was overwhelmed to see some of the promotional videos showing the factory setup and the process of furniture making. Also the prices displayed were 1/3rd or 2/3rd of the prices told by the furniture shop owners. But my enthusiasm was suddenly curbed. Because the customer can not directly get the items required by them through alibaba.com. Alibaba.com is not like e-bay. The import and payment procedure were so complex that only enterprises can afford to do such kind of activities. So I dropped that plan also.

Finally I came across one advertisement from Adorn shop, Chinchwad claiming 40% discount on all of their items. We went one day and saw one simple sofa-cum-bed which we were exactly looking for. The price was some where around 11,500. I asked for further discount and finally the price was settled at Rs 10,190 and I got the sofa the next day. And the final search for my sofa ended here.





Tip: Don't just go by the looks. Please sit or sleep on the furniture which you intend to buy. We usually forget to do this.

Blame LIC agents!

Do you believe that your LIC agent is telling all the right plans for you? Have you ever heard of an insurance plan that does not give anything you in return? If you have not heard something like this, the chances are more that your friendly LIC agent has kept you in darkness.

It sounds good that one should not go for ANY insurance product, which does not give any lump sum return after a stipulated period of time. But in reality, it is not so. This is a myth. Term insurance is the simplest and powerful form of insurance, which will not give you a penny even after sincere payment of premiums every year. Does it feel awkward? If I say something like you invest X amount every year, for 25 years and you get Y amount after 25 years, say normally with 8% return per annum. This seems to be convincing, right! Your LIC agent is exactly doing this trick.

Term insurance will provide you the full insured amount only after the insurer death to the nominee. But the premium for a hefty insured amount like 25 lakhs to 35 lakhs is minimum, when compared to premiums of endorsement insurance, money back insurance and ULIP.

But what is the disadvantage of promoting a term insurance product? The answer is simple. Due to its low premium amount, your friendly LIC agent will get less commission on your policy. More the premium amount, more the commission. Are you shocked? Yes. That is the fact. Popular LIC has got only one term insurance plan so far in their portfolio, I think. Agents will always talk about your child's future and your future etc., and they conveniently avoid topics like personal death and total permanent disability etc. Even if you ask them about those details, they will simply say," Why are you thinking about such inauspicious things? Why you are not thinking positive?"This would be their usual reply. Remember but there are some personal motives behind this answer.

For example, in my case I have one LIC money back plan (hope it is Jeevan Surabhi). The details are:
Insured amount: 1 lakh
Premium quarterly: 2695
In case of death: I get 2 lakhs + some bonus (Which will never exceed 3 ~ 4 lakhs)

I have one ULIP from Birla Sunlife (equivalent to term insurance - It is not a pure term insurance product. But the premiums will be closer to this amount). Total insured amount is 35 lakhs and the premium is 9300. See the difference!

The LIC agents must be blamed for demoralizing Indian women and their families by creating and maintaining a negative and sinful impression that the money obtained after the insured bread winner's death as "Widow's money". Also they were very successful in creating one more myth that using widow's money indicates ill fortune and it is not good for the entire family.

Enough said; now LIC is changing to create some more term insurance products only after some private insurance companies were successful in creating a good market share.

Final word:
1) Don't unnecessarily include investment and insurance together. Prioritize your needs and decide.
2) Not all the insurance products that give you "something" in return are the good product.
3) Don't go by any insurance agents' word. Break your head in deciding the right product for you.
4) Get a term insurance for yourself especially if you are the earning member.

What is common between your electrician and your computer repair guy?

Careless attitude and insensitivity.

They just don't care for your product as well as your concerns. They are here to postpone things, misguide people and rework number of times, even for a simplest problem. Moreover, they won't show any signs of embarrassment for their endless delays and for their adamancy in collecting the money from you. If you are convinced with this answer, you can continue to read this post. Otherwise, wait for some time, until your electrical items or your computer starts creating problems.

Addressing only these two kinds of guys is not well deserved, at least in this post. There are other great men like plumbers, marriage brokers, house brokers, etc., who are all ready to populate your worry-list. But there is a striking commonality between all these men we are talking about. They all belong to one sector of people called "service people". I don't think there is any pride associated with this term. But they are protected from any forms of disruptive economy. You got it right! They are not affected by recession; they are not affected by global economic melt down. Your average-quality pipe can not understand the prevailing circumstances and can start leaking at any point of time, making you seek for a plumber.

I had such bad experiences from my child hood itself. There was one electrician called Athmarao. He was the hero for the whole mass of my street. It was very difficult to catch him for any kind of electrical or motor related works. The demand was so much that, I was often sent to his house at weird times like 6 AM, sacrificing my sleep, to catch him red-handed and to bring him to my house. The number of Athmarao's is only increasing nowadays and their attitude remains unchanged. Times have changed, but the problems that give livelihood to these people, have not changed. The problems are multiplied and they are even more complex then they were. This chaotic situation provides them with a bunch full of opportunities to make their living.

What kind of jobs will remain intact under any economic conditions? The answer is simple: All local jobs. Electrical appliances maintenance, computer repair etc. This is predicted by Peter Drucker or Alvin Tofler, who thinks about future, some how denying the underlying philosophy of "Arrow of time". Not only their jobs will be secure but also their pay will be higher. This trend is inevitable. A simple demand and supply chain rule governs this kind of lifestyle. There is no saturation limit yet to be reached for such "services".

As more and more people wants to be known as a "knowledge worker" rather than a simple "worker", parents are sending their children for basic education. This is sufficient for the children to learn something about science & mathematics, and the children will eventually change their mindset to become a scientist or at least an engineer.

The GAP between the actual services required for the problematic electrical appliances and the availability of people for this localized "service" starts at this juncture, when children go school. Though these people are not "respected" that much like an engineer, the trend will change. There is less number of people today, to do this kind of work. But this situation itself can not be blamed for the lack of attitude shown by our "service" guys.

No way to solve this problem. As usual, this is an unanswerable situation. Like friction, the necessity of those people's "service" will be required, even if their attitude is not desirable.

Live with that necessary evil.

How to unlock volume setting in your ipod?

I was annoyed when I could not change the volume of my ipod that my brother gave to me. He also forgot the password to change the volume. I searched in Internet for the solution. There were many weird solutions asking user to erase the contents of the ipod and reload using i-tunes. But my common sense was not convinced by the solutions provided by various sites.

After some hours of tiring search, I came across wiki_answers.com to find the simple and the correct solution for removing the settings of the file. Here are the settings:

1. Plug ipod in any computer and it will appear in your computer as a removable hard disk
2. Enable hidden folders.
In Windows Explorer,go to "Tools", "Folder Options". Then click on the tab called "View", and under "Hidden Files and Folders", click "Show Hidden Files and Folders".
3. Navigate ("My Computer" to double-click on the icon of your attached iPod) to the hidden folder named "iPod_Control", and once there click on the folder "Device". Once there, delete the file named "_volumelocked".
4. Eject your iPod. Then, restart your iPod. You can do this by holding down the center and menu button for at least 6 seconds.
5. Once your iPod has rebooted, check and make sure that it worked. Simply go into "Settings", "Volume Limit". If it asks for a PIN, you did it WRONG. Retry the above procedure.
Happy resetting!

Value creation and what happens when it ends?

What is value creation? Honestly speaking, I am not convinced with the any of the definitions I got from the Internet. And I feel comfortable to give a simple definition on my own. In very simple connotation "value" means something positive, something of good quality, and some improvement from the status quo. That is all. And our job is to create value in the tasks whatever we do - called VALUE CREATION.

Value creation (or the lack of it) affects each and everyone in many different ways. This mammoth economic meltdown is a simple reflection of the lack of value creation, especially by banks and finance companies. By giving a loan to an already "sick" customer, how do they expect to CREATE VALUE to the customer as well as their own self? When the value creation ends by itself or not taken care, then it ends in severe damages to the individual as well as the society and the nation.

Can we call value creation is equivalent to Kaizen? Yes. To some extent. Seeking for continuous improvement in each and every activity and always questioning the status quo for betterments is the essence of kaizen. I think value creation exactly means that. Tiny drops make an ocean. Tiny value creations make a prosperous nation.

Building a bridge for the public is a value creation; plating a tree is a value creation; spitting in the street is NOT a value creation; switching off lights is a value creation; greeting your friend is a value creation; improving your productivity is a value creation; blaming others and criticizing others for your failure is NOT a value creation.

When the value creation ends, it can lead to a sudden explosion of the status quo, which was hidden under the blanket of human innocence. It not only affects companies but also to individuals in a big way. If the value creation stops, you may not be liked or respected by the people, whom used to accept you for the value you have created.

What do I mean by that? If I can correctly communicate to my wife, about her value of her presence in my life, then I can lead a healthy & happy life for ever. If I fail to do so, I can never be assured of a smooth life. If you have discovered your friend's value and you have communicated to him, then he will not forget you for his life. You can remember the teacher who identified the value in you, when you were sincerely doing your home work by giving a 5-star on your note book or actively participating in some sports function. Value is always liked by people for no reason (and for all obvious reasons). So don't let your value creation to end.

Tips for ticket reservation through www.irctc.co.in

||There are some rush hours defined by railways i.e., school holiday season (Apr - July) and during Pooja season (Oct-Nov) and during year end / beginning ( Dec - Jan). If you want to book some tickets during these days, please do not rely on online ticket booking through www.irctc.co.in. I had many bad experiences in booking ticket for critical date of jounreys during these rushes period. You may think of filling everything in the form and keep it ready and wait the railway web site time to turn to 8 AM, so that you can rush to book the ticket by clicking the buttons. But you are innocent, in this case. Because railways site will not allow this to do. It will disappoint you with some weird error messages. So you have to fill up the form after 8 AM. But during these rush hours, believe me all the tickets will get vanished with in 2 minutes!

||To avoid such bad experiences better go to queue and stand there. Only some limited quota is available for ticket booking through internet. The quota is not disclosed by the railways.

||Also berth availability is a problem though internet booking. Mainly it will work on system allotted logic and most of the times you turn up with the unwanted berth preference or you will fail to book due to your berth limitations. If you are particular about better you to the counter and talk to the railways employee to get your berth preference.

||Online reservation helps a single traveler who does not prefer to have any specific berth.

||Be honest with your age for two reasons.
1. Since the system prefers to give lower berth to senior citizens, you will unnecessarily pluck a lower berth from a senior citizen.
2. System keeps track of logic and a TTE can easily understand that only because of age the lower berth is allotted. If you do not have a valid age-proof you are caught.

||Fill the master passenger list and select people from the list while filling up the form. This will save a lot of time while booking.
||Though some banks claim that they do not charge for online booking, actually the practice is not so. Somehow or other in some disguised terminology you will charged. For example, Syndicate bank says that there is no service charge and the same amount will be charged under different headings.

Additional tips for traveling:
||When you are traveling with a kid, prefer Side upper and Side lower berths. You can even arrange for a cradle with out disturbing other passengers.

||Always keep a watchful on your shoes and slippers. If you miss them, you are bound to travel to your destination with out any alternate arrangement. You will not get any slippers or shoes from the railway platform vendors. Government has banned slippers for some "religious" reasons from the list.

||Don't expect that you can adjust for some lower berths with some passengers. Remember everyone has fought hard to get a lower berth. Chances for requesting lower berth from co-passenger is really close 1% to 2%.

Rats-Ants

Rat -Although it is simple and humble creature, it is one of the most abused species in this planet. "Rat race"- By the way, who said it? I have not seen any rat racing to achieve something. Or who might have seen that, to quote this buzz word in such a casual way.

We, the humans, race and compete for everything. Some how a negative connotation is created around that technical word. Stop. My point is not that. Rats, usually build their home or anything of that sort, with lots of effort. It meticulously creates many mazes or labyrinth to reach to its sweet home. Once it creates all that crazy paths it becomes habituated to that path and it never tries to create new path. I have a catch here. This habit of rats becomes easy to trap the rat. Once if it is frightened or sensed something abnormal suddenly it runs to his own-built, favorite path, blind-folded.

May be a stroke of luck, can change the rat's fate. It may not get trapped .But fortunately or unfortunately I trapped myself in the rat's mentality. Rather, some how I am trapped. I am not able to find new ways for the new problem. I am not able to write down new perspective about the old things. Like the poor rats.Old memories - Old writings, what a nice correlation? May be stupid. If my mind starts developing some "uneasy" feelings I intend to write. Write about what? Same old things about Miss. A? Or Mrs. A? I am thinking. Hmmm. A tough question for me to answer.

Can the rats change their habits? I don't know really. But Ants are explorative I think. You give the smallest possible way; it can give you the trickiest path to over come the obstacle. Yes, I appreciate. But can I become an Ant? May be or may not be. The striking question is : Do I want to continue like a Rat or not?

Arrow of time.

Today I remembered of my school days suddenly after seeing Krmani's email. I can visit my school or college now also. But I know, I can never feel the closeness, associated with the places in the absence of the people who were with me then. A sarcastic reality! Our minds are made like this. We can only think backwards with concrete facts and realities.We can not think forward much. We can only hypothesize, predict, propose a lot of if-but scenarios, but can be never sure of the next happening second.An arrow meant to travel only in one direction, as Stephen Hawking says.Time always travels in the direction where the degree of disorderliness is increasing.A simple & straight forward thinking.