That's The End

Hi Guys & Gals.I just want to take this opprtunity to thank all those who have helped me achieve this.
Thanks to you guys:-
-My family for their guidance
-Mr Ee Poh Lam, for his supervision
-Agnesh Rai, for his valuable help I shall never forget
-Nachiket Kulkarni Sachin & Axl Chong - who provided the moral support
-Times of India Newspaper
-Project Playlist
-cbox.ws
-Facebook
-Flickr
-Google
-Wikipedia

Thanks for your contributions one and all.I hope to keep this blog alive.........

NIL SINE LABORE:
Sanjeev Menon

English Post 5:An Unusual Thing That Happened

Before I formally begin this blog post;I personally wish to remind:-
THIS IS THE LAST POST OF MY
BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Ever thought of facing one of life's toughest challenges when you don't expect it.Maybe its a bit too soon for you and meto face this but there may just come a moment in your life where there is a high risk of such an occurence.Some may have already passed this moment while others havent.Today,i would just like to share with you the story of a teenage girl,a girl with the will power to fight against her destiny and come out succesful.Though every story may or may not have its ups and downs,this incident is set to inspire us and instill within our very own minds the true meaning of determination.


Her name is Nitya,aged 16.My last trip to Kerala,India provided me the sound opportunity to see that teen wonder.I reside in the temple town of Thrissur.Along my stay there,was the annual inter-school Youth Festival.This usually involved lots of activities ranging from shooting to writing and also to theatrical perfomances.As I was free along the vacations,I made time to watch the programmes and events that took place only a stone's throw away from my house.As per schedule,I decided to attend the 'Bharatnatyam'(Indian Classical dance) event along with my grandmother.There were many competitors and one of those was Nitya from Sacred Heart Girls' Convent,Thrissur.The atmosphere was tense.Then a call came from the announcer that Nitya was unable to reach the perfomance venue as there was a bus strike in the state.Nitya's will power did not lack a second as she moved forward and pleaded her dad to provide transport to the venue.Hurriedly,they took a rickshaw and the kind man offered a free ride.In a moment of folly,she dressed and climbed the stairs towards the stage.The staircase was a roller type.Her dress as well as her leg got caught in between.Despite the fact that she tried to take it out, nothing happened.

Then,the organisers of the programme tried their best to pull it out but to no avail.The only choice was to call the ICDF,Indian Civil Defence Force.The ICDF removed the rollers and extrcted her foot cautiously.The health care nurse suggested that she be brought to the hospital for further treatment.Nitya,broke down in tears upon hearing that she was unable to perform.The organisers dashed in and spoke to Nitya.They said that she could only perform if the doctor permitted her to.She pleaded and of course,the doctor ecstatically agreed.She was in high hopes.

After that incident,she perfomed flawlessly in front of the audience sweeping everyone's mind away despite having a bent ankle..This just comes to show that Perseverance is truly the key to sucess.

English Post 4:Life's Hardships

Life.It's full of ups and downs.It affects us so much to an extent that we are unable to bear it any further and that moment is the most sorrowful moment of our life called death.Some people suffer so much that its their destiny,their fate to commit suicide.Imagine the amount of depression that the families of the victim face....That's just what I saw when I went to Mumbai this year.I felt as though it was such a privilege for me to even stay in a HDB flat in such a cosmopolitan city,Singapore.

This thought came up to as I travelled along the streets of Mumbai from Bandra towards Mahim. I stopped the car,just to take a look at the world's largest slum,'Dharavi'.The situation was just so horrible that there were not even thatched roof.They had to stay with advertisement boards of jewelry stores that had been removed after its contract date.That day i read the newspapers and a small article wrote that the increasing amount of people residing in slums.The current standing of people living in slums was a extremely high 62%.We were lucky enough to observe the entrance.Upon asking the rent of a house, they replied an amount of meagre $4 a month.This answered the cause of such poor health conditions.How was this possible???Imagine ourselves with narrow,unsanitised living conditions.Upon every sight we could see the worst sights of our lives.I simply felt pitiful for them.I was unable to think of myself in such a situation.I wouldn't even have been provided the chance to study and eat at McDonalds or even wear such expensive clothing.I would have been helpless.Who knew by now,I may have just died of cholera or even dengue.There are so many slums in Mumbai despite it being the commercial city of India.Right behind the Chatrappati Shivaji Domestic Airport in SantaCruz there is a slum.When I landed I saw many blue topped house of different designs.At first, I thought it was a river with boats but slums was the last thing I ever expected it to be...Most of you may loathe or grin at this blog entry but if you go in and experience their trouble you may just come out in the verge of tears feeling sympathetic for those.

The next day,I took a train journey from Andheri to Mahalakshmi to visit the famous Siddhi Vinayak Temple.En route,I faced the troubles of every native who took the train daily.It was such a pain for them to travel for a long distance.Unlike Singapore,Mumbai had no air-conditioned trains.The condition was so pathetic that 5-6 people shared a space meant for 3.Even men stood hanging to the plastic railing.Newspaper reports mentions some died doing this.So, with all this happening within our very own world.What are we doing to save our very own people,our own species.Think about it......India is worsening day by day,no proper toilets that all resort to doing their business on the railway track.....

I just want to make it clear that if everyone chips in their part we can truly make the world a better place.If Singapore can be such a well-groomed cosmopolitan city,Why cant India???It's only a matter of lack of awareness.No one bothers.It's god's good grace that the movie Slumdog Millionaire is released at the peak of such happenings....This would at least help us survive in a decent world rather than choosing the mode of suicide....

With a compassionate mind,

Signing off,

Sanjeev Menon

English Post 3:A Difficulty You Faced!!!!!!!!!

Phobia.It's probably the worst feelings you would want to have during your lifespan.Seriously,come to think of it..............Imagine yourself facing the worst fears of your life right in front of you.It just seems so hard to apprehend it..Well,growing as a toddler,then a young boy and now to a teen. So,what engulfed in me this phobia, and what was the phobia that caused me to suffer all these years??

Now,i solemly swear to tell you maybe the darkest secret of my life.(No,please don't laugh)Rain,yes rain.Rain seems like such a small thing to you.(maybe) but for me its terror.Simply speaking,I dread rain,the thoughts and everything that is related to this natural errata.Most of you maybe laughing your heads off or even thinking is there a limit to idiosyncrasy. All my life it was made clear to me that getting wet in the rain was equal to that of dying.So,with such a negative exposure towards rain,I considered it as an enemy.Despite the fact that at the age of 10,I learnt the water cycle.I continued to see rain as a bane than a boon.After completing the chapter on water cycles,I accepted rain, only as a fact of nature;not something to enjoy so avidly.

A mere two days after, I met the most exhilarating and adventurous girl by the name of Shenaya as she became our tenant.Being as tough as nails, she explained to me some of her experiences throughout the world.Adopting me as her nephew, we became good friends.My parents liked the influence she had over me and never questioned whatever I did as long as I was with Shenaya.

One day,we decided to take a walk down the reservoir that stood opposite my house.The sun was shining but upon or way back it began to drizzle.'Oh no!!!' I muttered out silently.{How's that possible?Whatever???}Reacting as life had taught me, I began to run as fast as I could to the nearest shelter a mere 150m away.Shenaya ran behind me and followed.Shenaya caught me in a vice-like grip.'No,You shall bare this no more....'Aghast, I explained to her but to no avail. She let go of my hand and I saw it falling.A few drops landed on me .I began to feel them with my soft, smooth skin.It felt like purewater.one dropped on my forehead,then the nose and so on.As the rain drops grew heavier,the wider I spread my arms trying to enjoy the pelting rain.My hair was a mess.(Who cares???)The rain drops spread across my printed tee and it began to tickle but it too fun to lose out on. I muttered 'Heck' and decided to because it was right to do so. I had possibly missed out on the world's most beautiful natural extravaganza. It was just contagious.

After that, almost every rain, i enjoy it with utmost concentration.If not for Shenaya, who knows till today I would have had the phobia of Rain. God bless you,Shenaya!!!

Warmest Regards,
Sanjeev Menon

English Post 2:The Global Economic Financial Crisis!!!!

Today,the day of 25th January. For most people its the eve of Chinese New Year, but for me I clearly tell you its the dawn of a new era.Why am I raising this question?The simple thought of the financial crisis causes me to ponder for a long time.I decided to post this blog entry after a thorough analysis of the 2009 Budget for Singapore.Therefore,I say that 2009 poses to not only me but to others in the world as the beginning of a so-called millennium.Its a time we have to gather courage and fight the obstacles that come our way.Its a time to be resilient and focus on the priorities first.Now or first approach of analysis would be why the Singapore Government decided to release its budget earlier than its expected release in mid-March.If we tackle this question with a sensible and practical approach rather than a theoretical approach,we would find a vast difference.As we know, Chinese New Year is around the corner.This also marks the 1st festive season of the year 2009.After this CNY, companies are expected to have a mass retrenchment exercise.After all in the daily news we hear of people losing their jobs day by day. Recently, IBM retrenched 3000 workers while computer giant,Microsoft reduced its work capacity by 5000.Another 1000 were practically discarded from Sun Micro systems.Intel, on the other hand retrenched a whopping 6000 from South East Asia and USA.With all these evidence, where will we go??What will we do???Imagine the pain we will have to suffer if this continues.That's were the Budget of 2009 comes in to help us survive the risk of falling into a 3rd world or a developing country.

Firstly, I think it is of utmost importance that we understand the cause of all the problems up till today.What was it that caused this upheaval amongst us???Without the basic understanding of this huge problem, its a miracle to understand the rest of the story.

It just triggered with the failure of companies evolving into a major ground hole in the natural life of over 6 billion people and gradually deflation.Sept 7 2008, USA's two largest mortgage finance lenders came under scrutiny at the hands of Congress, the Justice Department.The Federal National Mortgage Association,Fannie Mae, and the Federal Home Mortgage Corporation,Freddie Mac were government sponsored enterprises (GSEs). Although both companies are privately owned and managed by shareholders, they are protected financially by the support of the Federal Government. With Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac being the only 2 Fortune 500 companies not required to inform the public about any financial difficulties citizens of USA taxpayers could be held responsible for hundreds of billions of dollars in outstanding debts. A recent investigation by the Justice Department revealed accounting errors in the amount of 4.5 to 4.7 billion dollars and resulted in the termination of three of the company's top executives. Sept 14 2008:Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.,a global financial-services company that did business in investment banking,trading etc. collapsed and filed for bankruptcy of over 600 billion dollars that accounts to the largest filing of bankruptcy in USA.This in turn caused the stock values such as Straits Times Index,NYSE,Silicon Valley,Hansei and even the Sensex to lower its value.With all this problems, it caused strong currencies such as the yen,Swiss Franc and the dollar to decrease largely.

So now this year's budget gives us the chance to catch up with our economy.In the financial year ahead there are mainly 5 aspects take care of of:

-Jobs for Singaporeans-5.1 billion

-Stimulating Bank Loans- 5.8billion

-Supporting Families-2.6 billion

-Education & Healthcare-4.4 billion

-Enhancing Cash-flow to prevent bankcruptcy-2.6 billion

All this is added upto a total of 20.5 billion dollars.For the first time in this history of Singapore, the government has dipped into its reserves and plucked out money from it that accounts to about 5 milion due to this decline, the worst for 60 years.The revised Overall Budget Balance for the financial yeat of 2009 is a deficit of $8.7 billion (3.5% of Gross Domestic Product). The Basic Balance, which excludes the transfers to endowment funds as well as the contributions from Net Investment Returns, is a deficit of $14.9 billion constituting 6.0% of GDP, imparting a large fiscal boost to the economy this year. Thus,we can easily understand that this would give a particular boost to the Singapore economy.

So all I have to say is get geared for a wild adventure with the badly affected economic cash crunch...

With High HOPES For The Future,

Sanjeev Menon

English Post 1: A moment I enjoyed with my family

As John Schiller once said,'It is not flesh and blood but the heart which makes us fathers and sons.' When we recapitulate this quote, we can easily infer that it is not what inside our body makes us bond together or even our colour, it depends on what we have in our soul, our heart.The thought with which we move on is what counts.My family and I do not just believe in celebrating Hindu festivals. Instead, we celebrate festivals that hold values that can be inculcated into us and put to good use. Not all are so fortunate to have 2 parents who can spend quality time with their children and have a ball of time with them.(Thanks, Mum& Dad!!) I want to actually share my wonderful, exhilarating experience I had with my family on a special day called 'Thanksgiving'.I think Thanksgiving provides a golden opportunity to spend quality time with my parents for what they have done for me.The time they sacrificed for me as a toddler then a child and now as a teen.Thanksgiving provides me with peace, happiness and calmness within myself.As John Kennedy once mentioned,'As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.'This explains that whenever we say thanks, we shouldn't say it for the sake of it. We should live by it and honour it, for that is what matters.

Last Thanksgiving was held on 27th November 2008, and it was an excellent foray for me to even thank my grandmother, who came on a holiday visit to Singapore.We all shared a passion be it me or even my brother or even my parents,all had the same intentions of thanking each other for their valuable contributions.Now the first question that would pop up in your mind would be 'Isn't he desi(Indian)?' But really, when come to think of it, is it wrong to share the joy of anyone else?

Well, the day started off normally.(NO!No sleep mode!I cant possibly explain everything so I will summarise it!!)So,basically we go to the temple and pray for the well-being of others and care for those who have been ill-treated and those in poor living conditions.On our way back we stopped at Bedok Reservoir,admiring the serene waters as well as spending quality time reviewing our past actions and making remedies for improvement in the future. With that, dinner came we went to dine out at a restaurant.Before we knew it the day was over but the important thing was that we were able and blessed to spend the time together as a family and continue to learn more about Thanksgiving and the values that succumb to it.

Signing off ,

Sanjeev Menon