Dear Reader,
When you think of money, so many dimensions come rushing to your mind, isn’t it? For some it’s a dire necessity, for others it spells luxury, some call it sheer trouble, others call it the ticket to happiness. That’s essentially what we aim to capture in this September 2011 issue of Spark themed, ‘All about Money!’ – the different perspectives. And no, we don’t just stop with money as it means to us from a philosophical and practical point of view. We have three special columns that explore money from a financial perspective too. Click here to read the September 2011 issue on our e-reader, ISSUU, or to download the issue as a PDF.
An issue themed ‘All About Money!’ cannot be complete if we don’t discuss crucial topics such as financial planning and economic issues. We are pleased to present three very informative columns this month. Deepa Venkatraghvan, author of three CNBC-TV18 bestsellers writes a column on the recent U.S. debt downgrade by S&P, answering some of the questions bothering commoners. Priya Gopal, an educator involved in curriculum planning at Kangaroo Kids, Mumbai shares her thoughts on the need to to talk money with children and include Personal Finance as part of school curriculum. Finally, Viswanathan Subramanian, a banker with over 35 years experience writes a tutorial on ‘Inflation’ – the very crucial economic indicator. You sure don’t want to miss them! Catch all the columns here.
Call it foreign-return-high-handedness or ex-NRI ramblings, Vani Viswanathan opens up on first thoughts about money she has come across in her three months since returning to India.
Are you increasingly beginning to feel that the ‘customer’ is no longer the ‘king’? Well, you are not alone! Service providers today are least bothered about treating their customers well, points out Yayaati Joshi. For all the money that we pay them –from the tailor to domestic help to bigger service providers such as banks and telecom companies, service leaves a lot to be desired. Read on for more personal observations on this unhealthy trend.
Sandhya Ramachandran presents the irony of money in India through a sketch with a powerful message.
‘A Free Man’ by Aman Sethi is narrated exceptionally well and combines good journalistic writing with a moving story of an unknown man and his life. That is its winning point, making it a worthy read, says Anupama Krishnakumar.
Here’s looking at money from a philosophical point of view. As the writer, Parth Pandya, notes, this is a poem inspired from a tale from the Mahabharata, called the Yaksha Prashna. In that didactic Hindu dialogue, Yaksha, a spirit of the lake, challenges Yudhishtira with philosophical questions, while his failed dead brothers lie around him.
The one rupee coin is special for many an Indian kid. Meera Ramanathan shares her experiences with the coin. Read on.
