Stagflation

Had seen news papers reporting stagflation of Indian economy by Moody's Analytics. First time, I was hearing the word Stagflation (off course, I am not a economist!!?!). The means, the economic growth or GDP is less or getting down, while inflation is still going strong.

 Hmm..., though not surprised, more than an year back had written a post about Indian economy 's GDP Vs Inflation compared to US and Chinese economy. In that post had mentioned that all may not be well even with higher GDP. 

 With GDP also decreasing now, reduction of interest rate could fuel inflation further. It could well be a double whammy for Indian economy.

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The Mind Game

One needs to have positive frame of mind and feel good factor to work towards achieving one's goal in life. Unfortunately it is not always easy to stay positive, its just not the mind by the environment particularly the people around you and even the place matter in achieving the desired state of mind.

 Most of the times the environment can be static and monotonous. Your office, home with most of the time you interact with same set of people at least 60 to 80% of the time. Definitely the people around you influence your state of mind.

 Though, it may be difficult, to change people around you but you can always make an attempts to influence them.

 There is a famous saying in Tamil. "Ul Ondru vaithu puram ondru pesuvar uravu kalavaami Vendum"

  Meaning of it - Help me to get rid of any association with those whose speeches are contradictory to their thoughts. This is very opt in today's environment. Positive talk or inspirational talks might not help you, if the people around you have different opinion in back of the mind and hence association with right people make the difference.

 Apart from people around you, the materialistic world also take their toll in bringing the negative thoughts. Think of a day when the gadget supports refuses to work for a you, be in it mobile phone, computer, microoven, Vehicle, Washing machine, TV there is a frustration and your mind is more occupied with the thought of bring it back to work.

 Our body need to intake food, absorbs vital vitamins & nutrient and excrete unwanted waste as far as possible. However, we cannot say the same with our mind. Our mind get all inputs both positive and  negative thoughts at all times. A persons outlook depends on what his mind is occupied at most point of time.

 At times places you visit bring you feel good factor and positive frame of mind. This could last till the time you are at the place, however it can bring you a positive feel whenever your recollect or think back about the place. Such positive energy generating place could vary from person to person and depends on a person passion as well.

  Some of the nature's positive vibe pictures to me from my own collection. 

               
 Disappointment or failures can be common in life. When one faces disappointment, take a step back from the original issue and ask yourself. 

  "Is there a alternative approach to solution ?" and "What is that I need?" 

 Disappointments aren't meant to hurt you or keep you down. They're meant to help you to realize you more and grow you more as time progresses.

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Sedan Cars – Indian Market

About six month back, we decided to change Hyundai Santro. More than me the demand to change the car was from my wife and daughter. The six plus years old Santro was absolutely fantastic, the mileage I had done pretty less and I did not face much problem with it.

 In the last few years, there are many more choices for consumer for any segment, be it hatch back or sedan or SUV. As a matter of fact, we kept changing our choices, before we finally decided on one.
 When looking at sedan car, we had decided on certain points to look for, 


• Budget – restricted to range of INR 8 Lacs. 
• Elegance and looks.
• Performance in Indian market in last few years and service points post sales. 
• Driving condition and features.
• Mileage. 
• Petrol - I like petrol car pick up, my car usage is pretty less and hence, did not call for diesel car due to higher upfront investment.

 Based on these points had restricted my search to Hyundai Verna, Suzuki SX4, Ford Fiesta and Toyota Etios. There might have been few other Sedan, which could satisfy or even better the above criteria, however due to paucity of time, I did not opt for them.:


Hyundai Verna:
Stunning look and new age design simply ‘sport ......ish’. Nice interiors and many added features, particularly on high end variant. Having used Santro, I was almost hooked to Verna from the time it was released last year.


My budget had to be stretched, as even base model of 1.4 variant was in range of INR 8+ Lacs. Further, to my surprise I did not find many Verna in 1.4 variant on road, it had always being 1.6 variant. The 1.6 variant was costing INR 9 + lacs and definitely not in my expected range. 


The other one, I felt while test driving is that, Verna does not seem to have good ground clearance. The front hood (bonnet) looks longer. With bumper to bumper driving condition in India, I felt there may be issue with ground clearance, particularly the front hood (bonnet) not visible from driver seat.


Suzuki SX4: 
Looks sturdy, can be named .....’man...ish’ or ‘muscle...ish’. Nice interior, seat adjustment horizontal and vertical. Base version, was only in my expected range.


Further, since SX4 is around or more than 6 years, the model change was also in back of my mind. 


Ford Fiesta: 
There are two variant, ford fiesta ‘classic’ and all new ford fiesta introduced last year. The new Ford fiesta have a ‘sport...ish’ design like Verna Fluidic. Like Verna, might have a ground clearance issue, though have not test driven this car. I did not opt for this car on road price was in range of INR 9 lacs.


 The ford fiesta ‘classic’ was in the range of INR 8 Lacs and pretty neat car. Like SX4, Ford Fiesta ‘classic’ model is in market for 5 to 6 years now, hence the model change was in back of my mind. 


Toyota Etios: 
I would say this car was introduced with Indian road condition in mind. The exterior looks good though the same cannot be said about the interior.  However dual colour seat are available from ‘V’ variant, this makes the interior presentable.

 Found this car built with all safety features for the price in range of INR 8 lacs. The 'V' variant is available with alloys wheals, air bags, ABS, which I don’t think any other sedan car manufacturers offers considering the basic points and price, which I had mentioned at the start of the article.

 Importantly, felt it had good ground clearance comparable to SX4 and Ford fiesta ‘classic’. Further, Etios is expected to provide better mileage in Sedan category. Its total weight is comparatively less than most of the sedan, hence naturally one can expect better mileage .

 Finally, decided and purchased Toyota Etios ‘V’ variant and now need to see how it’s going to perform.

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