Mar 2, 2017

All about CREDIT

2 Mar'17
What is a Credit Information Report (CIR)?

A Credit Information Report or CIR contains details of your credit history, as collated by a credit information company. Whenever you apply for a loan, the lender contacts a credit bureau to check your credit background. This gives them details such as whether you have paid earlier dues on time. This information is reflective of your monthly payments and how you manage your credit. This is part of your overall credit history and will reflect in your CIR. These factors are also responsible for your credit score.

Your credit score acts as a gateway for credit institutions to determine how likely you are to pay back a loan based on past patterns of credit usage and loan repayment behavior.

A CIR can also be used by you to check your loan eligibility.

What are the factors that affect my credit score?

The credit bureaus in India use data from all lending institutions to arrive at your credit score. Specifically,

  1. Information related to types and amount of credit product held by you, the borrower
  2. Payment behavior on these credit products
  3. Credit utilization
  4. Amount of time for which the borrower has serviced these credit payments
  5. Number of inquiries made for new credit products

Free Report

As per the central bank (RBI) guidelines, all credit bureaus in the country are mandatorily required to provide one full credit report on demand and without any charges. As there are 4 credit bureaus, one can request for 4 free reports in a year, one from each bureau.

Dec 11, 2015

Thin Slicing

Today we get to know about an interesting concept in psychology called Thin Slicing. It is the ability of our unconscious to find specific patterns and hence reach conclusions in situations and about behaviours based on very narrow slices of experience.


The question is how is it possible  for the unconscious to base decisions on such a small instance of experience. Studies have shown that some behavioral scientists have been able to predict divorces based on mere 3 mins of conversation between them. This is an instance of Thin Slicing at work. How can a duration as small as 3 mins be a remarkable predictor of an event like divorce even if someone were Thin Slicing? The answer to this is the ability to recognize patterns that are stronger predictor of a relationship going sour. For instance, in this case a lot of us would think that hatred and elements of it in the 3 min conversation imply a higher probability of a marriage going sour; but over time it has been observed that contempt is the biggest cause. This is the result of Thin Slicing and recognizing that contempt is a bigger driver so the predictor would only look for bouts of contempt as an emotion and ignore the other emotional aspects in the conversation,

This is a classic example of how recognizing the right pattern and using it to make conclusions can mean even shorter overlap times and poetically split-second experiences can be valuable in the decision making ability of an individual.

Nov 23, 2015

On a raiy day

When I decided to write this post today afternoon, it was out of sheer will to stay in touch with writing as a hobby; as this is something I feel brings me closer to where my inner GPS keeps pointing me. I have realized that regular blogging will provide me a major part of the solace I need to pursue with patience the ultimate purpose of my life.



I write to write. I express to express. I speak because that is what makes me come alive. These are the little pleasures and joys in my life, truly authentic, truly simple.



To quote Howard Thurman, "Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it, because what the world needs is people who have come alive."



In an attempt to do what makes me come alive, I have decided to write regularly; and while it may sound weired in the beginning, I am confident of my abilities to reach a stage of refined, cohesive writing which will make the time spent on reading the piece worthy enough.

Oprah Winfrey once said, that while the world looks for validation of your background through resumes, posts, titles and positions you may have held throughout your life, the one thing that will help you get up and knock back in the face  of adversity is who you really are.

I have come to realize that at the end of the day what matters is the core within you and that is the single most important thing that determines where you will arrive at the end of your journey; it has the power to determine whether you will realize your hitherto lofty goals be it about yourself, your life, your career, your relationships, your dreams, your contribution to the world or anything for that matter.

I would like to close with this epic thought by Robin Sharma: "HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE BETTER OFF BECAUSE OF I LIVED?"

Can I make a difference? Will I?



Nov 4, 2015

Today and Tomorrow?

It is one of those days when you find yourself thankful for staying in touch with a friend who can dare to be brutally honest with you, about you and that too, bang in your face! Yes, it is true that I am indeed grateful about it. So, rather than chiding him for not giving as much of a respect to the job I have or the space I am in as I possibly have, I actually responded to his rather disconcerting remarks with a "thanks so much". And I am here to jot down the reasons why I did what I did.

First things first - In this age of eternal niceties (albeit only on the face) he was kind and somewhat daring [enough] to offer his side of an honest interpretation of what he thinks I do for a living and where those skills will or will not take me in the next few years as far as my career and my personality goes. Looks like it is turning out to be a rather bland post but I will continue jotting down my thoughts nevertheless; because I have been planning to make writing a regular habit for way too long and if there is this one thing that has prompted me a first chance to put that planning into practice, it's a no-brainer that I embrace it with widely open arms(but fingers on the keyboard,ofcourse)!

Not digressing from the original point I intended to make when starting this post, let's delve deeper into how I found our conversation today worthy of all this - at least a short piece of writing. It prompted me to write. I was challenged into thinking if my current job is what I intended to do with my life, or is it at least something that offers me a gateway into what I intend to do in life? Is it helping me get any closer, which-so-ever way? I was forced into seriously considering my 2 year plan, if not a five year plan, especially as far as my career is concerned; or wait! is it really a career I have already dedicated my 6 months to? I realized that at the end of the next set of 6 months it will be a year into this role I received an offer from a campus that's considered to be among the most prestigious institutes in the country and among the creams in the world; And here I find myself comparing numbers and justifying differences. No mean task by any standards, considering the impact my work has on the existence of the firm in its current capacity. The question here is not about how good the role is, it's not about the team or the firm I am in. And as they say, It's not about them/these things, it's about me!!! It's about whether I consider it worthy enough to be giving my years and decades to, it's weather this is something for the personality that I am, or the personality I want to be, or at least the personality I aspired to be when I was sitting in the Business Communication classes at ISB admiring every bit of how Kanishka and Girish managed to chart for themselves a career they dreamed of starting from literally nothing in that space; or that time management session taken by Revathi who is an epitome of a self-made person in every sense of the term; having moved from a software development role to starting her own venture in the soft skills training space and her ambition to pursue a PhD in the field after nearly ten years of working experience; whether it's about a beloved professor's passion to promote a course on happiness and show the world that a path to inner peace and happiness is possible even in a highly action packed stress machine like ISB or Robin Sharma who inspires me every time I hear or read him - and not just because of the words he speaks/writes or the way he delivers them, but by the mere fact that he chose the career he is living today by a deliberate and intentional decision to leave the comfort of a well paying job to do something he always aspired to do. Each of the instances sighted here reminds me of the assignments I took as part of the Creativity & Leadership course(or Happiness course) under professor Raj - writing about my life's goals, about the things that motivate me, the things that I truly want to be doing or invest myself in. I distinctly remember a piece from one such assignment essay where we had to visualize ourselves 5 to 10 years down the line.

In that essay...I was at the Global Bank(fictitious) office in NYC, and ended up meeting my ex-manager by pure dint of chance when I was conducting one of the many soft skills sessions that Global Bank(fictitious) and several other wall street biggies had signed me up for. I was enjoying every bit of the session because, alas, that's what I had always aspired to do and to have my ex-manager come and congratulate me about the session and my achievement was nothing short of an icing on the cake. A couple of sessions later I was headed to the rehearsals of that Broadway show I was slated to perform at in the following week. I returned from the rehearsals accompanying my spouse who offered to pick me up while heading home from work where a friendly family dinner and chat were the order of the day...

That was how I had imagined an ideal day in my life. If I come to really think about it, today, I am definitely living parts of my definition of an ideal day, though certainly not in its entirety. Call it a tryst with destiny or a spate of chance I did join the firm of my dreams I had dreamed of joining; I went to NYC and met and probably took my ex-manager(s) by surprise because of where I had arrived in a mere one year's timeline.There were days when my spouse also came to accompany me while returning from work while in NYC...but there's more of my ideal day that I wish to bring to  practice in reality - the core of it.

The question is, will I dare to do that?

Oct 10, 2014

When I watched Homeless to Harvard

A gem of a movie, a masterpiece of inspiration, just phenomenal. It is based on a true story which makes it so worthwhile to watch this!

It certainly was heartwarming; my eyes welled with tears every minute of the movie, but the end is so inspiring..

A girl born in a New York suburb to loving but drug addict parents...her mother an utter slave to the addiction; but her father, though an alcoholic was a brilliant mind! I guess she got some bit of him...She was helped by a neighbor who would give her encyclopedia books from a scrap house she accidentally got access to..She ended up reading all the books and would only show up for her end term exams in the public school she had been enrolled in.

She still would ace all of them..Somehow she had the guts to leave her home when her mother was dying and her father had been taken away because he couldn't pay the house rent anfd was an addict himself. A kind grandfatherly soul stayed with her mother until her last breath...

She cried a lot when she first got to know the news..but then she was strong enough to put herself together

"Do any of us bargain for our lives? It seems to me we just kind of fall into them..and then we have to do the best we can."

She worked as hard as could and see what could come to her..she won the NYT scholarship and went on to join Harvard. A like her could come thus far only because of her grit, determination, hard work and common sense...most important of all her ability to move on..

Sep 22, 2014

Imagine!

Imagine…a little girl on the first day of her school – two pony tails adorning her head, a bag on her back, running incessantly through the school corridors, panting, scared, slightly confused, tears rolling down her cheeks….looking around for something…with eyes full of hope perhaps expecting to find a lost treasure somewhere. She is too shy to ask the strangers around her for help- some of them her new classmates and teachers…Secretly hoping someone to come to her rescue and help find  the lost water-bottle!

Ladies and gentlemen, this was me more than two decades ago – I had lost my new bottle on the first day but couldn’t come to speak to anyone about it– shy, demure, reserved, scared to speak up, uncomfortable in public settings, cozy in my own shell. In-fact most of the subsequent years, I didn’t change much.  Even as an adolescent I was this unilateral, academics focused girl rarely willing to come out of my space of books– mostly the quiet and studious kind. I found my retreat to the books most comforting as that meant I could live with my shyness and conceal my social anxiety from others. Thus I was able to score decent marks and my parents were more than happy about it- it was all that mattered! I was contented too – almost a celebrity in the neighborhood…I took great pride in that status.

But then like a bolt from the blue came the first big realization of what I was missing out on. When I joined engineering I met so many people from different places across the country. They were smart, confident, socially confident …not an iota of shyness in whatever they did.  There were times when I envied those who could easily slide into conversations, make small talks when I didn’t seem to be able to and used their slimmest connections with mere passing acquaintances to develop business or learn interesting stuff that I totally missed out on. All this talking, this rather liquid confessing was something I didn’t think I could ever bring myself to do.
“…because I rant not, neither rave of what I feel, can you be so shallow as to dream that I feel nothing?”

Nevertheless it was evident that my shyness had ruined so many good opportunities! The important thing was, it significantly affected people’s perception about me - and I could sense that well. With each passing day my desire to come out of my shell grew more and more intense. I decided to turn things around for the better.

I began forcing myself beyond my comfort zone. Ensuring I attended as many public events as I could, whether it was a formal GD session, an informal discussion with friends, an outing with a large group – I was there every single time. And that did help. By the time I passed out of engineering I was much better off and reasonably comfortable in a social setting.
My tryst with global diversity was the next big thing that helped me in this regard. Through a three months' long work orientation in New York I had the opportunity to get trained with people from across the globe. The exposure that I got in the classrooms there was remarkable! Especially, when studying in an environment with a tremendous focus on group exercises, discussions, case studies and brain storming sessions with people from a wide range of background and ethnicities, it took me to a new comfort level with regards to social exposure.

By the time I came back, I had completely turned myself around from being the demure little school-girl to a more outgoing kind.

I was now a great fan of socializing. I grew fond of hosting parties or joining others on theirs, going on treks with a host of folks, participating in group events like the  Oxfam 100 Km Trailwalker , enrolling in  different extra-curricular like dance, public speaking, community work. I was more than happy being with and around people.

I strongly believe that Toastmasters is the next big step in my journey towards self enrichment!

Thank you!


 [This is the speech I gave for my CC1 at Toastmasters International]

Apr 7, 2014

10 life lessons from House of Cards: Pearls of Wisdom indeed!*

Quoted from elitedaily.

With Netflix releasing the second season of “House of Cards,” today, fans of the political thriller rejoice in anticipation of resuming their collective love affair with the Congressman-turned-Vice President, Francis J. Underwood.
In anticipation of bunkering down for the weekend to binge on the excess of plotting, backstabbing and sweet decadence the new season will undoubtedly provide, we take a moment to look back at the ten most valuable life lessons that Frank Underwood taught us last year.

1. “Friends make the worst enemies.”

What could be worse than finding an adversary in someone who knows you intimately? This is an enemy who is able to identify your vulnerabilities and capitalize on your weaknesses more effectively than your typical opponent.
Nurture your friendships and avoid burning bridges. If you fail to heed these words, don’t be surprised when a former confidant leads the campaign to cement your downfall.

2. “I never make such big decisions so long after sunset and so far from dawn.”

When in doubt, sleep on it. Be it a new business venture or a momentous life change, it’s never wise to commit to a decision without first giving thoughtful consideration to every conceivable outcome. People who avoid this tactic end up getting swindled into buying a timeshare in Barbados for $15,000 a year.

3. “Money is the Mc-mansion in Sarasota that starts falling apart after 10 years. Power is the old stone building that stands for centuries.”

This isn’t to say that being rich and being powerful are mutually exclusive. However, those who aspire to craft an enduring legacy, move mountains with their words and accrue respect and admiration from the masses, must pursue power above all else. Without influence, your ability to overcome obstacles in your path is compromised.

4. “A great man once said, everything is about sex. Except sex. Sex is power.”

Women have been capitalizing on this concept for centuries. From Helen of Troy, whose face “launched a thousand ships,” to your buddy’s girlfriend who won’t put out until he does the dishes, sex can be an invaluable tool in achieving your goals.
Is it unfair to exploit someone’s most primitive, intense craving just to get your way? Probably, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t an effective strategy.

5. “Treading water is the same as drowning for people like you and me.”

If you want to be successful, never be content standing still. Comfort leads to apathy. Apathy kills ambition. Without ambition, you’re on the fast track to being consumed by regret, forever wondering what might have been. Step outside your comfort zone and don’t be afraid to take risks.

6. “There is no solace above or below. Only us — small, solitary, striving, battling one another. I pray to myself, for myself.”

The only person who you can unfailingly rely on is yourself. Ultimately, we are all pitted against one another in the battle that is life. We fight to climb the hierarchical ladder, clawing our way past one another in pursuit of a higher status. You can’t depend on some benevolent entity coming to your aid.

7. “Insecurity bores me.”

Confidence is key. Confidence is what allows you to fully appreciate your skills and faults and use them to your advantage. No one wants to surround themselves with people immersed in self-doubt. It comes down to optimism and pessimism. Do you want to be friends with the person who is consistently positive or the person who constantly seeks your validation of his or her worth?

8. “There’s no better way to overpower a trickle of doubt than with a flood of naked truth.”

Having trouble finding that confidence to overcome insecurity? Fear not. Everyone falls victim to insecurity at one time or another. In order to move past it, you need to accept things for the way they are, good or bad. Denial only propels the cycle of uncertainty.

9. “It’s so refreshing to work with someone who’ll throw a saddle on a gift horse rather than look it in the mouth.”

Choose to only work with people who are willing to work with you. There’s no point in forcing a partnership. Leave those who resist your offers for collaboration behind and turn your focus to pursuing those who will readily join your ranks.

10. “There are two kinds of pain: the sort of pain that makes you strong, or useless pain; the sort of pain that’s only suffering. I have no patience for useless things.”

Grief is both natural and necessary. It breeds integrity and resolve. You can’t allow the pain to come to define you; rather, you must turn the tables on the pain and define it. Show the world you are able to overcome your suffering. Grow from the experience; don’t become consumed by it.