The Wrigleys Story - An Inspiration...

What springs to your mind when the word Chewing Gum flashes? There are atleast half a dozen brands at a person’s disposal! Here's my favourite article that was written for our newsletter named the LOYOLITE. I just love it because it is just one article that shows how enthusiasm, energy and luck proves iportant to everyone's life. Its a true inspiration - The Wrigleys Story.

William Wrigley Jr. was just 29 when he set foot in Chicago from Philadelphia in 1891.He had just $32 in his pocket and unlimited enthusiasm and energy. His father was a soap manufacturer, and at the start of his new business in Chicago, Mr. Wrigley sold Wrigley’s Scouring Soap. As an extra incentive to merchants, Mr. Wrigley offered premiums. He knew his customers would be more likely to carry Wrigley’s soap if they received a little “something for nothing.” One of these premiums was baking powder. When baking powder proved to be more popular than soap, he switched to the baking powder business. Then in 1892, Mr. Wrigley got the idea of offering two packages of chewing gum with each can of baking powder. The offer was a massive success. Once again, the premium – the chewing gum seemed more promising than the product it was supposed to promote.

At that time, there were at least a dozen chewing gum companies in the US, but the industry was relatively undeveloped. Mr. Wrigley decided that chewing gum was the product with the potential he had been looking for.So he began marketing it under his own name. His first two brands were Lotta and Vassar. Juicy Fruit gum came next in 1893, and Wrigley’s Spearmint was introduced later that same year.

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Several times the young company was on the verge of going under, but hard work overcame the difficulties, and the business forged ahead. In the very early days, William Wrigley Jr. personally did much of the selling to the trade. He had a gift for seeing his customers’ point of view and accommodating himself to their needs. To go by Philip Kotler’s words, he identified that his job is not to find the right customer for his product but to find the right product for his customers.

He saw that consumer acceptance of Wrigley’s gum could be built faster by using innovative and catchy techniques of advertising. As the company continued to grow, it steadfastly applied this basic principle: “Even in a little thing like a stick of gum, quality is important.”

This Airport is flying high!!!

Situated nearly 10+kms away from the city, the Kamraj Domestic Terminal and the Anna international terminal of the Chennai airport poses a proud and a pretty picture. This is the first (and probably the only) airport to receive an ISO 9001/2000 award.

What makes it to standout? The airport is by itself situated at a really good location and is ideal for the commuters to travel to this landmark. It’s easily accessible with the Thirusoolam Station bang opposite the airport and frequent buses connect it to the city. The airport encompasses a wide area including a separate terminal for cargos and housing quarters for people related to the airliners or the air force.

One thing that really captures your attention is the cleanliness and the way the airport officials handle the vehicle traffic outside the terminals. There is wide range of Airliners’ office along in one stretch thus not making the passenger to roam around in case of any need.

The Chennai Airport

The other thing is the A/C that’s present everywhere in the airport. It has a good restaurant along with a fast food counters. The Passenger traffic is really well maintained. The people even at peak hours can get themselves seated after the security check in. The air traffic I find is also looked upon. The authorities though very occupied when flights leave in quick succession, they do their job very well by being very passenger friendly. Another striking thing that stands out is the harmony among the airliners when it comes to boarding – they adjust a lot.

The Proposed International Airport at Sri Perambuthur

With the expansion in full swing and probably a new airport on the cards, this airport has a lot more to offer not only for the airliners but also to the passengers. Surely this Airport is flying high!!!

Flying Paramount!!!

This might sound like an advertisement or like a promotion campaign for Paramount Airways, but it isn’t one. This company came into picture for buying an entirely new aircraft and bringing it into the Indian aviation industry – the new Embraer aircraft. This aircraft is slightly bigger than the ATR aircrafts and probably about 3/4th the size of a Boeing aircrafts. The airways has its own USP for attracting the people.

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What makes it special? Well the MD, Mr.Thiagarajan (I think I’m right) has tried to provide extended customer services to its guests. Thus he has concentrated and has chosen an aircraft that is not only low on costs in running but also provides an ample and a very comfortable space for oneself in the air all the way through. Furthermore, it provides other services like exquisite cuisine, trolley carriage, best check in services and also a complimentary gourmet if you arrive in the airport a little early. This way they keep the consumer always occupied. The in-flight operations and the landing as well as the take offs are probably the best.

I have fallen in love with this airway. It’s just because of the fact that when other airliners try in maximizing their profitability at the expense of their customer service, paramount thinks otherwise. It has never got into trouble except for the Vishakapatnam incident a few months ago. Though it is way below in the competition list, its always expanding and one fine day it might capture the market as it has in the south. Fly Paramount and you can see the world of difference.

Here I am, Killing time!!!

It has been a really boring summer except on a few occasions. Just not because of the fact that the weather here at Chennai was pretty bad, but because of the fact that the college got over and friends have started becoming very possessive in their own way by looking after their own needs and in the process fail to relive the glorious past.

My vacations started of in a spectacular way by going out for lunch immediately the exams got over, the next day for a movie. Slowly days got drier and the heat made people not to go out anywhere but to sit dumb in the A/C room. Movies became very occasional and people started to go out of stations for holidays.

The feeling of writing CAT again, probably better, was motivating me enough to do sums in the afternoons until one fine day. The day was in the 2nd week of May, when I received a letter from a B School for which I had gone for an interview after doing well in CAT. That was a big break because after consulting, I decided to join this College. Good Bye to CAT again.

Then about 2 weeks went by without much hue and the results of the college were far delayed by then. The whole time I spent was online looking for softwares and spending majority of the time Orkutting. Then again came the interesting part of the summer – The Coimbatore – Munnar trip. It was sensational. Then again came back to Chennai’s heat.

Went for Unnalae Unnalae with friends and on the first of June we went again, for the Pirates. There was a Chennaiite meet on June 3rd. Then again 2 weeks passed with me going out just once or twice. On June 16th, I went for Sivaji (the most anticipated Tamil film) – It rocked. At last, the rains arrived with uncertainty of how many days to dock at Chennai. It was raining till I left for Palani. Now am at Coimbatore, as a part of the Palani Trip, sitting inside the house with rains lashing outside.

The last week before slogging out for 2 years seems very promising with get together, welcoming friends, going out plans and Sending offs as well. I’m hoping for a better week ahead. Right now, here I am writing articles so that I can put them in my blog. Right now, here I am killing time!!!

The Forum and the FOCkers!!!

I always wanted to write about the Forum Of Commerce we established in my graduation days. Here's the activities of the Forum and the FOCkers during the academic year 2006-07 in our final year. What started as an 8 men team blew into proportions and nearly 100+ students worked for us at the end of the year.

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FOCkers @ Ega Theatre, Chennai ...
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INAUGURATION OF THE FORUM
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The Bertram Hall is fully occupied … What can probably be the reason??? Ovations? No! Examinations? No! Inauguration? Definitely YES!

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No other Inauguration of any department over these years in the history of Loyola College has been this big. Full capacity crowd, Overwhelming support from the teachers, Good Coordination by the students and what more, Mr. N.Ram ( Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu) as our chief guest.

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The inauguration kicked of on a flying note. The office bearers assumed office, The LOYOLITE and TRANSACTIONS logo were unveiled by our honorable chief guest and Cultural events that set the stage on fire.

TEACHER’S DAY CELEBRATIONS

The teacher’s day was celebrated with much fun and fare on Septemner 5, 2006. It was the day when the whole Forum of Commerce showed its gratitude to the professors who mould the students everyday through their valuable sessions on different subjects.

All the teachers were asked to assemble at the Department after the evening break. The occasion was marked with a cake that was cut by the coordinator Prof. Carlton Young.

Souvenirs were also distributed to show the unbound respect to all the staffs of the department. This marked the end of a very interesting and a wonderful day. What more ??? The students got to leave early as the last 2 hours of the day was suspended.

OVATIONS 2006

This mega InterDepartmental event was organized in the month of August. A lot was put into this culturals. The Forum split itself into 2 groups – B.Com SSC and B.Com Evening on one side and B.B.A and B.A Corp on the other. The talent search as promised, was conducted in a fair way and the best teams were picked for the events not only for Ovations but also the other culturals that followed during the academic year.

The dream of winning the Ovations was almost achieved. So close, yet so far, the last event was the decider for this Cultural Event. The B.Com SSC and Evening team fell short by 8 points. However, the Forum took pride as the team comprising of B.Com SSC, B.Com Evening and the team comprising of B.B.A and B.A Corp walked away with the 2nd and the 3rd place respectivey – An aggregate way higher than what any other department as a whole achieved.

JOURNAL MEETINGS

There were a number of Journal meetings that took place after the Inauguration of the forum. Each meeting had a significant importance and a continuous stream of ideas flowed with respect to the Journals.Consensus as regards to the type of articles and the features that has to be published.

With the forum concentrsting on the OVATIONS on one side, it was upto the Journal team to bring out a dream named LOYOLITE. The Passion and the Dedication for launching an entirely new genre of newsletters, ran high among the members of the Journal team.

The Journal Team

Sri Charan R
Bharat S
Abishek Vijayakumar
Ankur
Abishek Ravoor
Arun
Shray
Roger Francis Jose
Siddarth Prasanna

LAUNCH OF LOYOLITE - 1ST EDITION

The Idea behind

2005 was blessed with a remarkable change with uninterrupted rains leaving even the robust behind the doors. Though the blessing turned out to be curse as the rains scaled new heights, it was an all new scenario to be accounted. A total transformation... While all this was happening outdoors, it was hightime that the student community of Commerce Department of Loyola College arose and embarked on a different proposition indoors.

The notion of a news journal sprung up to base a launching pad for the student community to express their views, culture and lifestyle. After considerable debating out of a few names that cropped up, ‘Horizon’ was finalised, to give effect to the budding thoughts and ambitious aspirations. It was all set to board the flight to ‘Horizon’ as a part of the plans laid down by few students from major Arts colleges were to be the co-passengers.

Thus an editorial team was constituted. As the flight took off, it was not going to be a smooth flying after all. The flight had to halt only to remain grounded and not start flying again. “So close...yet so far”, the ‘Horizon’ faded away.

How things Clicked

The project left incomplete found fresh blood. This time around it was with the backing of the Forum of Commerce with a rejuvenated effect and an all new name ‘Loyolite’. The ‘Loyolite’ with its ingredients was sure to spring a surprise on the readers and serve enough variety to keep them at the edge of their seats.

‘Loyolite’ is bigger not only with its scope but also with the reach and its grey matter. A conscious attempt to cater to a variety of interests of the youth today characterizes the structure and content of the ‘Loyolite’. From entertainment to opportunities, college life to celebrity’s life, this newsletter has the perfect blend of variety, youthful facts and enlightening information.

The Launch

Though the Loyolite was ready as per the target set offically, due to some academic and administrative reasons, the launch got delayed. Almost a month went by, on 22nd November 2006, The Loyolite had a grand openingat Lawrence Sundaram Auditorium. The occasion was also marked with the inauguration of our department website and affiliation with CRY and Helpage India Rev. Fr. Alphonse Manickam (Vice Principal S.S.C) gave the key note address. The copies was then distributed to the popular Science and Arts college in the city.

CRY AND HELPAGE INDIA AFFILIATION

The need for the Social Concerns as regards to the activity of the forum was felt. Only then, did the Forum relate itself to CRY and HELPAGE INDIA. Why so??? There can be many explanations but the true reason was based on some humanitarian grounds of doing good to the society by standing together as unit and as only one unit.

The idea of collecting funds was primarily through the regular contribution our college students and also by the contribution of other college students in the times of any cultural events that happen.

The affiliation took place on 22nd November 2006 at Lawrence Sundaram Auditorium. It was on the same day as the Loyolite -1st edition and the web page was launched. The first donors were the Vice Principal, The Asst. Vice Principal, The Coordinator and the President of the forum.

F.O.C. ( SSC ) WEB PAGE LAUNCH

The Official web page of the Forum of Commerce was launched along with the Launch of Loyolite and The Affiliation with CRY and HelpAge India on 22nd November 2006.

It should be said worthy of Ankur who was the sole anchor behind creating the page. The launch meant a transparent functioning of the forum and better communication with the other departments and other Arts and Science Colleges in the city as well.

CEO WEEK

The CEO week was another feather to the Forum of Commerce’s hat. Eminent personalities from different fields shared their experience as how it is to be the leader. The CEO week took place between 27th November 2006 to 1st December 2006. It was held at the Yedanapalli Hall through out the week. The following was the schedule of the CEO week

27th November 2006:
Mr.Ramji – MD and CEO – Madras Auto works ( TVS Group )

28th November 2006:
Mr.Shivaram – Head, Investment Councellor – ABN Amro bank

30th November 2006:
Mr.Amresh Acharya – Head, Liabilities – Deutsche bank

1st December 2006:
Mr.Rajiv Mehrotra – Chairman – Shyam Telecoms.

The CEO week was a success not only among the students but also the professors. The important aspect that made the CEO week stand out was the willingness of the leaders to participate.

BIG BUCKS 2006

Probably the biggest Commerce festival was conducted on December 15th and 16th 2006 - BIG BUCKS it was!!! The entire idea right from the word Big Bucks was unique and different.

Renaming Perceptionz was given a long thought. The search for a new name was
even longer. Once Big Bucks was named, the need for doing it differently was the theme on which the forum worked – The reason being it was felt that Big Bucks by itself should stand a class apart from all the other commerce culturals.

The events were of different genre; if not at least the scoring system was for sure. Each team were initially given a sum of 20000 points. Each team was called a Company. With the 20000 points given, the companies had to bid according to their wish in a series of events that were absolutely unique. However a Compulsory bidding was also there were a company had to bid compulsorily in an event of their choice.

The most unique part of Big Bucks was the Business Guru. While the companies were participating in all the events on stage, one representative of each company had to participate in Business Guru – An off stage compilation of ALL the events that take place onstage. This event was isolated and held at a different location.

Many Colleges from different states participated. In the end, it was CHRIST COLLEGE from Bangalore who walked away with the overalls. This event wouldn’t have been a success but for the involvement of the office bearers, the memebers of the forum , the volunteers and most importantly, the Sponsors…

ISGBOC 2007

The long desired International Symposium on Global Business Opportunities and Challenges (ISGBOC) was held on the 15th and 16th of February 2007. This international Symposium was the first of its kind to be conducted by the Department of Commerce.

5 technical sessions took place and there were 5 functional areas that were concentrated upon. 447 papers were submitted on the fields like Marketing, Finance, Human Resource, Production and Entrepreneurship together. These sessions were happening simultaneously at Lawrence Sundaram Auditorium, Yeddanapalli hall, MRF hall and at J.D hall respectively.

The Key note address was given by Dr.Lodewijk J.J. Berlage, C.E.S. from Katholieke Universiteit leuven, Belgium. The Chief Guest for the day was Shri.R.Sellamuthu, I.A.S., the Secretary to Govt. of TamilNadu, Housing and Urban Development Department.

15th Feb 2007:

The registration process started at sharp 9am in the morning. Souvenirs were distributed simultaneously to the participants. The inauguration was slightly held up because of the detail registration process that occurred and started at 10.30am. The felicitations then took place in the presence of the Rector, Secretary, Principal, Vice Principal (SSC) and the Head of the Department of Commerce.

There were 3 sessions that were conducted from 12 noon to 6.30pm with a lunch break in-between. Different chairpersons took the stage in each of the technical sessions. Certificates were distributed to the participants and paper presenters of the first two sessions.

The evening saw a cultural program that enthralled the viewers. Dance, Songs and Mimicries formed the contents of this event. The dinner was served at 8 pm after the cultural event.

16th Feb 2007:

The second and the last day of the ISGBOC 2007 started at 9.30am after a brief registration process. As usual Souvenirs were distributed to the registered participants at the registration desk.

Though there were some problems with the electricity, the forum managed to pull off 2 technical sessions on the above areas before the lunch time. The lunch time was then succeeded by the Ratification session. It was headed by Shri. T.N.Seshan, Former Chief Election Commissioner of India.

After the ratification session, the valedictory Session took place. The Welcome address was given by the Asst. vice Principal. Prizes were then distributed for the best papers that were presented. The Vote of thanks was then given by Prof Arockiyasamy, the Convener of the ISGBOC 2007. The International Symposium signed off with the National Anthem.

LAUNCH OF TRANSACTIONS

The Annual Commerce Magazine namely the TRANSACTIONS, was released on 16th March 2007 along with the 2nd edition of LOYOLITE at Lawrence Sundaram Auditorium. Rev. Fr. Alphonse Manickam headed the function.

While the 2nd and 1st Years were very busy with the Loyolite – 2nd edition, this magazine was entirely dependent on the contributions by the 3rd years. With the help of the staff of the Department of Commerce, the magazine turned out to be an interesting and an entertaining one. The articles from the staff and the students were the base for this Magazine.

As usual, Unusual can be attributued to this Edition of TRANSACTIONS. The Edition was a mixed bag of articles from different fields – Most of which are unique to the field of commerce. It also featured a report on detailed achievements of the FORUM OF COMMERCE during the academic year 2007-

The focus of this magazine was primarily not on different fields, but as to how Commerce reflects itself in all the areas that we usually encounter in our everyday life.

LAUNCH OF LOYOLITE - 2ND EDITION

The 2nd edition of LOYOLITE was released simultaneously with the TRANSACTIONS on 16th March 2007 at Lawrence Sundaram Auditorium . The Function was attended by all the office bearers, members, students and the staffs of the Department of Commerce. It was headed by Rev.Fr. Alphonse Manickam.

This piece of beauty was mostly handled by the 2nd years and the 1st years of the Journal Team. The Idea behind this type of work allocation is that, the LOYOLITE should go on for the forthcoming years as well.

The commitment shown by the students clearly indicate a very positive impact on the publication of this Newsletter – LOYOLITE in the forthcoming years as well. This newsletter has gone places in its first year of publication and is surely cross the HORIZON.

VALEDICTORY FUNCTION

The Valedictory Function was conducted along with the launch of Loyolite – 2nd Edition and Transactions on 16th March at the Lawrence Sundaram Auditorium. It was headed by the Vice Principal (SSC). The valedictory function saw the felicitations of the Office bearers and the Executive members of the Forum.

Furthermore, one very dynamic aspect of this Function was the presentation of the activity report of the Forum of Commerce activities during the academic year 2006-07. The Sincere efforts of all the people, teaching Staffs, Non-Teaching staffs, the Forum were acknowledged. An eventful year came to a close. The satisfaction of fulfilling all the promises was relished by the Forum.

The Forum of Commerce was the best thing that happened in my life in any educational institute I’ve studied earlier. What more I along with few were conferred the title of Star of Commerce. What more can I ask for??? I'm proud to be a FOCker any day.

My College Life – Episode 3

The College started in the same political manner with elections for the commerce dept. along with the elections for the students union took place pretty much simultaneously within a week. The election was done on a deal with the Students union, as in, the contestants all entered into a single deal of mutual support on either sides. We won the commerce department hands down.

We soon formed a committee known as the Forum of Commerce. In this year of tremendous success, the most interesting thing in college life I learnt is the respect what you get not only from your juniors but also the teachers is what that would make you stand out. We FOCkers, Stood out. We actually ruled the third year. No one was able to stop our growth. In spite of many hurdles both internally and externally, we, I would say did what many departments would have never dreamt of.

As far as the studies, the fifth semester was a tough one, cause; the CAT was on the cards. The Sixth semester, attended hardly about a weeks class. Did pretty average on both the semesters but eventually did enough go get that distinction.

The college though lived on its Name, still managed to be there in the top three because and only because of the Students there. Even now there’s a long procedure to get my TC and am still confused about the consolidated mark sheet. For everyone eying Loyola as their dream destination for their UG, make sure that your voice is heard and heard loud.

My College Life – Episode 2

In my earlier article, I mentioned how life was in my first year at Loyola College, Chennai. This time, it’s the second year. It began in a political fashion as we as a gang was unofficially campaigning for the post of Joint Secretary in the Main building, building relationships with people new to this college – our juniors.

The subjects this time was entirely new as when compared to the first year. The teachers were far more efficient except for a few. The class was on the second floor close to the Staffroom – Lions den. Our former classroom and the entire stretch of building were demolished for rebuilding purposes. The canteen was taken over by a local contractor and it was never the same before. The coffee shop was lifted from its original place and was kept close to the canteen on the far side of the road.

Then the Joint sec elections took place. Though we indulged in heavy campaigning, we lost by a considerable margin – The votes were split due to a contestant of our own class. Then we decided to come back the next year to stand for the secretary post. While all this was going on inside the campus, we as a group decided to launch a news journal that would encompass a contribution by all the students of various colleges. It was named the Horizon. However, the whole plan broke up since there was a little commitment shown by the other people.

The college was also inculcating the habit of Social service through a curriculum program called the Outreach. We were asked to choose a line of social service and each class was given an area close to the college. I along with many chose formal teaching with me teaching English and Maths for the 7th and the 8th standard students. The days – Monday and Thursdays were absolutely tiring as we had to be out the whole day from the morning. Worst were the crowded trains we used to catch, to arrive at Nungambakkam.

The whole year was a little boring with heavy monsoons making us lazier than ever. My performance was pretty much on the peak only during this year. However we had lighter moments especially during the classes with teachers like the Black Venom.

My College Life – Episode 1

I did my B.Com, before completing it recently at Loyola College, Chennai. Ever since I chose Commerce as my background, it had always been a dream for me to get into this college. I still remember my Mom telling me once when we passed through the college, that she desired me to be a product of this college. Somehow I managed to get 95+ percent in my boards and managed a seat into the coll. The first revelation about the college’s bossy attitude came when I was outrightedly denied a seat in the day college by the principal, though a person scoring 650 on 1200 being a catholic and from the backward community scored a point over me. This was not all; the admission process on the whole was very pathetic. Our college was huge, so they had enough space to conduct the interviews for every department. This worked out to be our main disadvantage because we were made to roam around. Worst was the fees payment. With Rs 12000+ money in my hand, I was asked to wait, just like others nearly 4½ hours to get the fees paid. Disgusting!!!

Well with so much ambition, I entered into the college. We had our Orientations on the first and the second day. We were not allowed to go out even to drink water. The NSS cadets were bullying around with the juniors. There were open warnings stating that the student would not be allowed inside the college and would be denied admission if they did not attend the 2 day orientation. After attending three-fourths of the first day orientation and some how breaking through the NSS, I dared not to attend the second day orientation, just like many. Then the big day arrived, the official opening day of the coll. We were made to lurch around the corridors searching for our classrooms every floor. Many of my classmates still recall themselves sitting in a wrong classroom and realizing it only after a day or two.

The Subjects though were very interesting as in contrast with the professors. Only then I realized, in college life, the likeness of the subject and the teacher handling it were directly proportional to each other and also the marks scored in the subject, were directly proportional to the teacher liking the student. We had really bad teachers. Many though qualified and experienced, were not able to teach properly. (Ex) Accounts were thought verbally folks. The teacher hardly used the chalks. Another one, English professors really didn’t know what to teach and ventured into matured topics that became the order of the day, any day.

The rules were strict – Very strict. Though lack of attendance meant payment of fine and other severe consequences, we used to Mass bunk classes and became the only class unified together in this one thing, right from the beginning. The days just moved on with not much hype and me scoring just above average than many. Studies were then the main criteria to set you apart. No exposure to the external activities at all during the first year. Luckily I had a nice group of friends who gelled together right from the day one. The specialty of course in the first year was the Mahabalipuram trip we ventured as a group, excl. one. And what was special in that??? Me falling off when the cameras were rolling L. Became quite famous then on for many reasons. Then came the first Bday treat by Abishek, our Devdas. Lots of Movies side by side with The Village being the first one. The Coffee shop was also very famous incl. the Egg Parotta at the Old and Gold Canteen. So much for the first year at a college named Loyola. Interestingly Loyola managed to be there in the top ten colleges in commerce that year. Still confused and wondering how!!!

Oh My God!!! What an Airport!!!

Ever since I was a child I was fascinated by seeing the planes … I used to reside close to the airport and more often I used to build up stories of touching the plane when it passes by and also so many stories about the Concorde jet. Till date one thing that never bores me is Flights … Just to see them take off and land is the main objective when we used to sit dumb for hours at the St. Thomas Mount – close to the airport.

Long time ago, I came across this picture when we were busy hunting for aircraft pictures for our college newsletter “LOYOLITE”. People those who never cared for take offs and landings of an aircraft were surely inspired. Aw was the feeling we had.

The Incredible video @ http://www.metacafe.com/watch/663030/insane_747_400_landing/

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Recently I saw this video of an insane 747 jumbo landing in an airstrip that’s really small. The picturisation was the same image that I saw when we were looking out for a flight photo. I googled for the airport details and I came up with the following data

The airport is Princess Juliana International Airport (PJIA) of St. Maarten. It is located 15 kilometers northwest of Philipsburg and is operated by Princess Juliana International Operating Company NV (PJIAE), a limited liability company, which is wholly owned by PJIA Holding N.V. which in turn is fully owned by the Island Government of the Island Territory of St. Maarten. Under a concession granted to PJIAE by Government for a period of twenty years - effective January 3, 1997- PJIAE manages, operates, maintains and develops the Princess Juliana International Airport.

The island of St. Maarten / St. Martin is the smallest landmass in the world shared by two nations. The northern side (St. Martin) is governed by the French and the southern side (St. Maarten) is one of the five island territories that make up the semi autonomous country of the Netherlands Antilles, part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. While English is the main language on both sides, Dutch is the official language on the southern side and French the official language on the northern side.

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PJIA is the second busiest airport in the North Eastern Caribbean, in terms of aircraft movements, behind San Juan, Puerto Rico. PJIA is the single most important strategic asset of St. Maarten.

More interesting is that the people have really accustomed to the avionic sounds. Though this strip is small it is a tourist location itself. It’s a paradise for all the aviation lookers around the world and many of the world’s best shots of flights are taken here. More so because u can really boast around saying u touched the aircraft if u really wanted to, cause u will able to do so.

Oh My God!!! What an Airport!!!

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Photo Courtesy: www.airliners.net

Fact file Courtesy: www.pijae.com

Who’s water will it be???

Its nice to see the Tamil Nadu govt. coming up with the master plan to interlink 3 main rivers of the Deccan India – Godavari, Krishna, Cauvery. The whole idea behind as far as I can understand is transferring the excess floodwaters to dry and scarce areas. The National Dept. relating to agriculture recently conducted a study of the feasibility of the project and came out with positive results.

The South Indian River Basin

Now one question that comes to my mind is that “how much will the people of Karnataka and Andhra benefit”??? Its so because when they finish this project the river waters are going to run into the Bay of Bengal thro Cauvery. The people of the other 2 states have the benefit of the rivers originating in their states, but with water let to go freely, how much will they benefit in comparison to the current scenario???

Another complication that will arise in the near future will be construction of dams due to the request of the farmers of the respective states. So how would the states react if one is built??? – one question that alludes everyone. The dispute for the Cauvery River is well known and it has drawn shame to both Karnataka and T.N.

The money that the govt. is going to incur is crores and lots of em. Alternative measures can be taken like building a de-salination plant along various locations to cater to the immediate needs of the people. So at the outset, the T.N. govt. would have to go in for more scrutiny in the situation that might arise in the latter stages than looking at solving the current problem.

Was anyone speaking about linking the Ganges to Cauvery??? I Guess I heard something.

Unsung Heroes in any Business Scenario

Every day or other we see some enterprise into a business headlines for its incredible role-play in the economy. With each company eyeing to be the no.1 in their respective fields, the business in India has seen an abnormal growth of many companies. With more and more competitors, the business has moved into a rapid paced right decision making process.

Each activity of the company is carefully planned as strategies and plans based on outwitting the nearest competitors become the baselines for the business. Each company realizing its potentials and the predictable targets goes in for Job divisions and forms a Team – one that’s fully functional and incredibly reliable.

The team members are not alone when they work as per the guidelines of the seniors. They take help from both internal and external resources (the fellow employees, market researchers and outsourcing companies) in exchange for a consideration as agreed upon.

Here comes the Jinx! Whenever the team performs exceptionally well, they are lauded for their efforts. Fair Enough! But what about other people who worked for the team directly and indirectly? They are hardly remembered for their contribution and the team members know it very well.

The market as everybody says is Consumer Oriented. Consumer is the King of modern marketing system. All strategies are entirely based and dependent upon him. He in short controls the entire scenario, be it shares, stocks, production, marketing, sales etc.

It is for us to realize that no business can flourish even if the smallest of things in the business goes wrong. It might sound ridiculous but when the whole corporate sector is dependent on us, we can call ourselves Heroes – Probably Unsung heroes!

Do we bother where we work???

I have seen enough number of people not bothering about what work they are doing after slogging for 3 full years of graduation. They work in jobs that has very little or no reference to what they’ve studied in their Graduation.

We know that India has recently seen a significant growth in the services sector with BPOs and KPOs entering the job market. They have successfully managed to draw a large section of people those who do not have any prior knowledge about the jobs as a part of its employment tactics. Can I blame them? Guess I Cant!

People’s attitude has always been evolving. Earlier they wanted some job with any salary possible for their work put in. But now-a-days, they want a job, that is relevant or irrelevant to what one knows, that which gives them a nice package for less work performed. This is where the current service sector pitches in.

Another scenario of Job rotation has also increased. Earlier people moved jobs based on the experience and knowledge about the field. But now graduation in any discipline and probably good communication skills are a good qualification.

By the end of the day, I guess people would always want to work where they are comfortable. I want to work in an atmosphere that allows me to grow multitude and in an atmosphere that has solid relevance to what I’ve studied earlier. After all what do we study for???

Chennai’s The Subway

Chennai’s busiest subway connects Loyola College with Nelson Manickam road. It’s none other than the Choolaimedu subway. Being a part of various rallies and awareness campaigns and, not to forget, few of Tamil cinema’s sequences, this subway has by itself set a landmark in the city. The average users of this subway per day are larger than any other subway in the city.

6.00 a.m.: I find no traffic policemen, I breathe fresh air, I hardly see any traffic and most importantly I experience pleasure driving. However, the entire scenario changes during peak hours in the mornings and in the evenings. One experiences absolute chaos when he decides to use this subway when it’s in its peak. Furthermore its really very difficult to predict its peak hours cause u can find traffic at 8 am or earlier in the mornings and 10 pm or later in the evenings.

Trying to understand the nature for such chaotic situations is not very complicated. The prime reason for such a traffic snarl is A signal situated on the exit from the Loyola college side. One can clearly understand the fact by seeing a free flowing traffic on the other side of the road.

To add to the agony of the commuters, the Choolaimedu High Road, the arterial road for the residents at choolaimedu is also congested. Its so because there’s no right turn in the signal. So people just take a left from the signal, make a U-turn and proceed straight.

The measures taken up by the authorities to reduce traffic were far too many. It includes activities from awareness campaigns, strict traffic vigilance to building a new subway – The Harrington subway. No use!!! Though this subway requires a lot of improvements on all aspects, its surely the most happening subway. It is Chennai’s The Subway, though for many reasons.

The Reliance Colour Advertisement

Remember the old reliance colour ad??? This came into foray when reliance launched its own colour phone priced at a low price. Recently, the Telecom giant had introduced colour phones for as low as Rs.1234.

The Reliance Colour Phones

With this new strategy coming into play, the marketers have done well to woo the consumers through an extra-ordinary advertisement. This new advertisement is as long as 35 seconds only. This ad has tried its best to enthrall the viewers. I must say that it has surely managed to do it quite comprehensively.

If getting drenched in rain is happiness, then, getting drenched in a colorful rain is an Ecstasy. Probably this was what the advertisers might have had in their mind while this ad was in its pre shooting days.

Just like the Sony Bravia high definition LCD television advertisement, the ad directors too have used a wide range of colors from the spectrum. Only the mode differs here. In the former colour balls in motion was the base in capturing the audience. However this new Reliance advertisement has drenched the viewers in its Colorful rain.

Though the concept of advertisement for both the products is same, the innovativeness and the utilization of these colors stand out. Surely we can see more in the making. Take a bow Reliance!!!

What’s Special about Munnar???

A height of 6000 feet, Cool climate, Absolute greenery, Cleanliness, Buzzing activities and high rise mountains on all sides trying to kiss the clouds. What more do you need, you think, for drawing a tourist hill station in your mind

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A part of Munnar Town

Munnar town fits in perfectly into your picture frame. Though the munnar town is as beautiful as it can be imagined, there’s not much to do in the town except for some shopping in the Tata factory outlet and some bakeries for the essentials. However one has to visit the town before embarking on a journey to the tourist spots situated on 4 different routes. So this marks the significance of the town.

But what makes it special??? Read on to find out more…

Top Station

The Top Station route is probably the best route in munnar. This was supposedly a route connecting Kodaikanal with Munnar. However the roads were eventually left disconnected without much botheration. On this route, one can experience Gardens on a mountain backdrop, Dams, View points, Tea plantations, Echo points, Green valleys and also boating services incl speed boats. The pick of all in this segment is the Top Station – an echo point that requires a lot of trekking before reaching the last point of this entire route.

The Rajamala route connects Munnar and Coimbatore via Marayoor – Famous for Sandalwoods and Chinnar Wildlife Park. There are only 2 places that are worth visiting near Munnar – a waterfall and a mountain. The pick without doubt is Rajamala – a mountain trek to the Anaimudi Peak.

Attukkal Falls

The Pallivasal route is a beauty when it comes to the post rain season. On Route on can experience View Points, Gardens, Boat clubs, the hydel power stations and dams, the cardamom plantations and also the Waterfalls. The Pick of all is the Attukkal falls – Don’t miss out on a car journey to this waterfall – an adventure by itself. This route connects Munnar with Palakkad and Cochin

Lock Heart Gap View

The last route is my favorite anytime. This route houses a place called the Chinnakanal – Situated nearly 20 kms away from the town and at a height of 7000 feet; it features the best resorts around Munnar. Incredible viewpoints, Caves, Waterfalls and Dams mark this special route. The pick of this route is the Lock Heart Gap – a valley viewpoint. Places like Theni & Kambam and also Thekkady can be reached via this route.

The Resorts at Chinnakanal

Is that all? Yes as of now. But I’m sure I’ve missed out on many things. So if u like Trekking, Waterfalls, Mist and also traveling a lot through mountains, valleys and plantations, the time is August to October and the place is Munnar.

Night Drivers, Make way for the High beam please!!!

Light is an essential part of life. It’s absolutely important as far as the night driving goes. However the article you are gonna read does not take into account, the street lights or the warning lights, but the dangerous High beam headlights …

Being a resident of Chennai, I have witnessed a dynamic growth in all aspects of living. This does include the high density of vehicles with the chennaiites. A common phenomenon that always happens yet ignored is the issue about the use of high beam lights.

Why has it increased in usage??? Attitude problem? Just to see who’s on the other side? Sadistic Pleasure? God alone knows. You ask any person driving, he’d say for better visibility. That can be true if the roads are good enough. For the roads in Chennai, the only safe option to adopt would be to look at the road and drive rather than the vehicle in front of you. For that one should use the low beam.

There was a time when, a simple black sticker, named the Bulls Eye stickers, was used to cover the high beam lights. It was very much enough and it did its work very effectively. It is quite surprising to see the awareness that was existing in those days. Where has it gone now??? Who cares either??? Its not that nobody cares, but how does a small majority make a huge difference to the entire driving population.

Highways are the prime target for the night drivers. Actually leave alone the highways, I see it every where - Right from the main roads to the local streets. No one is spared, right from the state buses that rule the highways to the cyclist who roam the streets. The worst affected are the two wheelers. Leave alone their ability to ride through even the smallest gap. Did I hear any compulsory rule for wearing helmet while riding??? Guess I did! What for??? To protect oneself??? If there’s gonna complete blindness while riding, thanks to the high beam lights, what is the helmet gonna do??? Probably the law may soon suggest compulsory sunglasses. Not Possible??? Possible!

Chennaiites are adapting to this reality and are becoming highly trained and professional stuntsmen risking their own lives while wandering around the city for their needs. So transform into one while cruising. Night drivers, Make way for the high beam please!!!