I blogged late November, when I managed to watch 3 of the 4 “financial thrillers”. The 5th just got added. Its called “Stock Shock“, a documentary movie based on the mysteries of Sirius XM stock in the American markets. So much so, the movie has prompted the SEC to investigate. (Securities & Exchange Commission is the SEBI of India)

One industry where “innovation” could be harmful is the financial!

Finance consulting services in India is in a pathetic state of affairs-

• Record collections to mutual fund NFOs (MF agents encourage investors to churn portfolios since frequent activity earn commissions)
• Non-popularity of index/exchange traded funds (these products carry the least expense ratio but not earners for agents)
• Extreme popularity of unit-linked insurance policies (term insurances makes most sense to genuinely protect one against risks. Term insurance premiums are 1/20th of money-back insurance policies)

Though dedicated efforts are being made by government agencies to improve, there is long way to go. In the meanwhile, “savers” need to quickly graduate to “investors” i.e financially literate. There is no choice.

By the way, State Bank of India reduced interest on deposit rates. If you did not know this, ……………….. (you know what I mean!)

Update: From Outlook Money’s Small Talk, Big Matters- Harish Rao conducts summer camps in Bangalore for 10-14 year age group on money management. A bit of looking around and discovered Harish Rao’s blog - Simple Equation & a podcast.

Anyways, a rare soul with a logical mind at the “airtel relationship centre” cooperated yesterday - unlocked my number and assured me the accounts will be reconciled the coming week. hope so! 

Bottom line, my personal is now active. If you tried reaching me in last 2 months, you have to try just once more. I am talking about 99802XXXXX.

Cheers!

Trivia: Cafe Masala is part of the BJN Group which also owns a impressive list of other restaurants - Angeethi, Aromas of China, Bombay Post, Indijoe, Samarkhand, Bamboo Shoot, Hypnos, Vaayu, Sahib Sindh Sultan,Firangi Paan!

Please be informed that on February 27th, March 2nd and 3rd there will be water cut from 9.30 am to 5.00pm, in order to change equipments.

Due to this intervention, some stores, without any danger for your health, can circulate in pipes and fluster water.

We apologize for the disturbance.

“some stores can circulate in pipes and fluster water??????” sorry! I didn’t get that!

The history of French fries seems to be non-definitive. Americans attribute the origin to the French but the Belgians and Spanish to themselves while the French to the Belgians! Nevertheless, its a great snack. If you love them, there is a officialfrenchfries.com

French toast lovers, guess how they originated? “As a way to use day-old or stale bread” and they seem to have got a French name attached because French bread becomes stale in a day. I have not seen and had French toast in my short tint in Paris though. However, French bread is just so hard! It has to be plucked with both hands (and ofcourse, chewed real hard with both jaws :) ). The Indian name is Bombay toast.

French onion soup - I tried it last week and liked it. Guess I had last tried in Ebony on MG Road, Bangalore. I can now saw it was well made at Ebony too.

Lastly, here is an interesting “political” twist around French fries & toast, not so long ago, in 2003:

“On February 20, 2003, Neal Rowland, owner of Cubbie’s Diner in Beaufort, North Carolina, declared that his restaurant would no longer serve French fries but “freedom fries” in retaliation for the French refusal to sanction the U.S. war on Iraq. The U.S. Congress followed suit, mandating on March 12 that the cafeterias in the House of Representatives would serve “freedom toast” and “freedom fries” in lieu of the offending “French”-monikered items. Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) called the change “a small but symbolic effort to show the strong displeasure of many on Capitol Hill with the actions of our so-called ally, France.” The French embassy responded, first by pointing out that French fries are actually Belgian, and then declaring that “We are at a very serious moment dealing with very serious issues and we are not focusing on the name you give to potatoes.”(Nathalie Loisau, embassy spokeswoman)” -Source

Once I was on a small regional flight from South Bend to Atlanta with about 15 passengers. At the destination, the caption announced his pleasure to have carried a US soldier bound for Iraq and requested him to disembark first. I was impressed with the respect and honour shown by the citizens of the country to a soldier in a civilian environment. Everybody clapped as the soldier walked past them. The movie reminded me of this event.

 Compare this to the Amar Jawan Jyoti in Delhi. A 9 euro ticket + 264 steps took me to the top of historical monument. The panoramic view is enthralling and the view of 6-8 roads shooting out of the monument is picturesque. The first look at Eiffel tower, the wonder of the world evidently stands out. It is hard to stop viewing the beauty and walk down. I spent more than an hour at the top! 

Back to the ground level, after long lunch (lunch and dinner are never quick in any French restaurant) at a bistro, I walked through the high fashion crowded Champs Elysees walking into concept stores of Mercedes, Renault, Toyota, Citereon. The Mercedes bicycle and Citereon SUV were the stand outs. At the Disney Store, I found a princessly top (I don’t know what it is called exactly!) for Aashira. After a cafe (cafe = coffee in French) in one of parks, I spent some time walking along the banks of River Seine and clicking photos of the Eiffel Tower during sun set. It was 7pm and took a metro to Trocadero for dinner and a closer look of the Eiffel tower. Dinner was at a cafe sitting along on the sidewalk overlooking the Eiffel Tower. I had read <about servers in French restaurants>. Post dinner, it was a long photo session of the Eiffel Tower. 

Sunday began late, very late. The plan to visit to 2 shopping malls crumbed when I reached the place only to realise, they are closed on Sundays! I changed course and visited the flea market of Paris. Contrast to Champs Elysees, the flea market is like the fashion street in Bombay with rows of cheaper stuff and bargaining is key to making a good deal. The highlight was a stall playing DDLJ music and selling DVDs, posters, t-shirts of Aishwarya Rai, Shakrukh Khan etc! Also, a few stores were selling vinyl records! Does anybody use them any more or is it for the museums? It was late evening; the next destination was Le Chapelle - predominantly Sri Lankan/Tamil settlement. Chennai Silks, Sumangali Textiles, Krishna Bhavan, Chettinad Mess, Jaffna Butchers are the kind of stores. I relished dinner on dosas with spicy chutneys at one of the restaurants.

Usually when I all by myself, I tend to move on faster but in Paris, such is the beauty, I tend to go slow and spend a long time, be it at the top of Arc De Triomphe or banks of River Seine or streets of Champs Elysees 

or the parks in Louvre (the museum that houses the mysterious Mona Lisa and foundation of the theory of Da Vinci Code. As of today, I have no plans to venture into the Louvre. At least 3 have “strongly” suggested I must, but I stand by my position. I have no interest in museums)

Photos are here

The most striking thing as I got to the hotel in a taxi from Charles De Gualle (Paris airport) was the writings on the walls along the road. The writings were comparable to those unwanted and unsolicited ones back in India. But I guess, in Paris its art!?! :)

Getting back to “Charles De Gualle”! How does the pronunciation go? It goes like “Sharl du gol”. Getting a pronunciation right is fun here. With some practice, I seem to got the basic greetings right. (Certified by my 2 French colleagues :)). The true test of my pronunciation skills will be on this weekend, when I plan to visit some of the popular spots in Paris.

Dined in Indian restaurant last night & Japanese tonight. Japanese wasn’t impressive. A good Japanese friend in Frankfurt tells me that many Chinese run the Japanese restaurants. So, I guess Japanese food cooked by Chinese with a French touch isn’t going well with Indian! ;)

The owner of Indian restaurant made an interesting point- the recession is taking a toll on business, pointing to the rows of empty tables. Contrast that to Bangalore and restaurants, resorts & traffic - everything seems to be going full.

Met 4 young Indian chaps at the Indian restaurant. 3 of them study petroleum at IFP and 1 works in Total, possibly also IFP alum. Its interesting to meet new people venturing into different avenues.

The experience of sorts happened day 1 at the office cafeteria. As I was lost in the size and variety for lunch in the cafeteria, the cashier in the counter freaks me out with just 2 words - “tamil tereyama” (means do you know Tamil?). #$%^&*(*&^%$%^&*( :O I was baffled! The environment was further deceiving. I recovered from my shock and discovered it was the Pondicherry connection! :)

Awaiting weekend… Planning a long walk starting from Arc De Trimpho, through Champs Elysees, Louvre, Cathedrale Notre Dame ending at the des Arts pedestrian bridge over River Seine. Here is the plan on Google Maps.