IP Phone - Magic Jack vs Vonage vs Skype

When I decided to R2I, carrying an IP phone to India was one of the important things that I had in my R2I planning list. I wanted to stay in touch with my friends in US & be contactable from US. I wanted to carry something that is 'Always ON', so that I can make and receive calls anytime. So, I decided to get an IP Phone connection with US number.

Many of my friends, suggested to buy a Magic Jack, because it was cheap (just $40 for the first year & $20 for subsequent renewals). However, I was not very excited about that option because I've to connect the phone to the computer & the computer has to be kept ON, always. Also, Magic Jack has an upper limit on the total number of hours that you can use in a calendar year (A few of my colleagues used Magic Jack for about 6 months and their services were de-activated due to excess usage - I'm not sure about the 'actual' limit). Also, Magic Jack doesn't provide you an incoming phone number. So, you cannot receive incoming calls. One advantage of using Magic Jack is that you can use your regular phone for making calls using the 'Magic Jack'. You don't have to buy a new phone.

Vonage service is good - the only drawback is that you've to be on a hefty monthly plan, irrespective of whether you use the service or not (approx. $20 every month, which is $240 for the whole year).

I decided to go for the Skype phone service. I bought a Skype Belkin Phone ($80) & signed up for SkypeIn Service (this provides a US phone number for $30) & SkypeOut Calling Plan ($3 every month). They provide 10,000 minutes of talk time, every month (which is more than enough for me). Every year, I had to pay approx $66 for Skype. Also, the voice quality is excellent. So far, I don't have any issues with the Skype Phone Service.

Note:

The Internet connection in India is at times, very unreliable (unlike US). Hence, any IP based phone connection cannot be guaranteed to work 100% of the times.

Also read:
R2I - 25 things to do / checklist
R2I - List of things to pack/bring from US

Goods in US market - lots of options & cheaper price

During my recent trip to US, I had been to Frys Electronics. Man ... Electronics are so cheap in US ! Until a few months ago, I used to think "We get everything in India. Why should I carry things from US to India?". But, now I realize that there is at least 20% premium you have to pay for buying the same electronic item in India.  (Also read: IP Phone - Magic Jack vs Vonage vs Skype)

I bought a Panasonic phone in India (with 2 cordless handsets & no base station dialing) for Rs.5,500. Frys sells Panasonic phones (with 3 handsets & base station dialing) for just $74 (approx. Rs.3,500). It is not just phones. All electronics (including Televisions, Laptops, Printers, MP3 players etc.,) are cheap in US. Also, there are lots of options to choose from.

I really miss a shop like Frys electronics, in India. Yesterday, the engineer in me wanted to stream movies from my laptop (Youtube) and watch it on my decade old Sony Trinitron TV. I visited Croma (TATA's Electronics store) to look for a specific S-Video cable. My TV didn't have a S-Video port. All it can take was input from a component cable (yellow, white and red ports). So, I was looking for a S-Video to 3 pin RCA cable. But, Croma didn't have that. All they had was an S-Video to S-Video cable. This was my first visit to a Croma store. The show room looked more like Best Buy showroom - however, it was very small. They had a decent collection of TVs, MP3 players, DVD players, Cameras, Music systems etc., But, they didn't have lots of electronic accessories. So, I went to a mom & pop electronic store near my house. Surprisingly, the store carried an S-Video to 3 pin RCA cable. I bought it for just Rs.100. I came home and tried it out. I worked OK and I was able to stream Youtube videos to my TV. We all watched a full Tamil movie online, from Youtube.

It is not just electronics, even dresses are cheaper in US. Also, the goods are of very high quality. Though most of these items get manufactured in China/India, they're sold at a higher price in India (when compared to US). Big ticket items such as imported cars are also way too costly in India. Honda Accord costs nearly Rs.19 Lakhs (~$40K) & Honda Civic costs nearly Rs.12 Lakhs (~$25K)

US market has lots of options for consumers and the goods (mostly, electronics & big-ticket items) are also sold at a relatively cheaper price. I think the reason for this is due to the large consumer base and tough competition. There are only a few people who would be interested in things like these, in India. It doesn't justify for the Indian retailers to sell them at a low price to just a handful of consumers. Hopefully, a day will come when the cost of electronics become very affordable to Indian consumers. Until then, I'll have to pay the premium for buying these fancy goods.

Also read:

IP Phone - Magic Jack vs Vonage vs Skype
10 things to know before your R2I
Canon Camera Service Centers in Chennai - Scarce & Costly

Back from a short trip to US

I had been to US on a short business trip and I got a chance to meet many of my friends. Some of the common questions from them, were - How is life there in India? Is it difficult to get adjusted? Are you thinking of coming back? Your wife/kid liking it there? Some of them were trying to solidify their R2I plans by asking such questions and others were trying to collect ammunition to justify their continued stay in America. I can empathize with all of them. Though I had always wanted to return back to India, it took a long time for me to just 'pull the plug'.

I didn't try to camouflage the living conditions in India. I told everyone "India hasn't changed much. In order to R2I, you really need to have a strong passion and determination. Otherwise, R2I attempt would be a failure". India hasn't changed much - the roads are bad, traffic is horrible, pollution everywhere, dealing with government is painful, you've to wait anywhere you go, punctuality isn't valued,
you've to work for long hours and it goes on and on. However, there are certain things that are special to India - Staying with/closer to parents, attending weddings/functions, celebrating festivals,
 meeting people regularly (actually often!), abundant house hold help, kids getting a lot of support from grand parents, etc., I didn't want to paint a rosy picture to my friends about R2I. I just wanted to give them the facts.

I visited some of the places that I normally go to - Great Mall, Frys, Walmart, Safeway, SCUMBAT & TGIF Toastmasters, Milpitas Jain Temple, Rivermark Plaza etc., Yes... the roads are clean, the shopping malls are huge, there are lots of friends, life-style is good. But still, USA looked very alien to me. I was literally counting my days to go back to India and live with my family. May be, I'm telling my conscience that 'These grapes are sour'. But, I feel that it is right.

I reached India on the 17th of Dec. By the time, I reached home it was 4am. My wife opened the doors for me. I went to the bedroom to see my daughter. She woke up on hearing me stepping into the room and got very excited. She ran to me and hugged with lots of passion. She said "Dad ! I missed you". My excess joy showed up as tears on my eyes.

Also read:

100 reasons to Return to India (R2I)
10 things to know before your R2I

Traveling near restrooms in the train isn't fun

I had an interesting (rather horrendous) experience during my return trip from Tiruppur, last week. I had booked two tickets (for me & my wife) from Tiruppur to Chennai. Both the tickets were in the Waiting List (single digit waiting list number) until the last day. Most of the times, the wait listed tickets get confirmed just before the charts were prepared. Unfortunately, only one of the two tickets got confirmed during the day of the journey. I went to the station and checked at the "Inquiry" department. The person at the counter recommended me to board the train & check with the TTE if there are any vacant berths. It was too late for me to cancel the train tickets & to take a bus to Chennai. Also, it won't be comfortable to travel in a bus, with a kid (There is only one stop in-between the whole journey & kids cannot control peeing in-between). I decided to take a chance - hoping that I would definitely get a berth since I'm traveling with a female & kid.

The train (Allepey Express) came to Tiruppur at around 10.45 pm and we boarded the train. To our surprise, there were already 3 folks sitting near the restrooms because their tickets are wait listed. All the lights inside the coach were switched off and the coach was completely dark. All the other passengers were in deep sleep. I asked my wife and kid to get into the confirmed birth. I waited for the TTE to show up. The train started to move and pick up speed. I waited with the other 3 passengers near the restrooms. The TTE showed up in about 15 minutes. He said all the berths are booked and there are no vacant seats. At about 11 pm, the train stopped at Erode and all my 3 companions got down/vanished.

I was the lonely person sitting near the door/restrooms. It was not a pleasant experience, though. I was very tired and fell asleep in about 30 minutes. However, I couldn't continue to sleep for more than an hour. The smell emanating from the restrooms was constantly increasing as more and more passengers start to use them. To add to this, there was a trash bin close to the restrooms. It was filled with cockroaches and mosquitoes, that were busily scavenging the left overs of food parcels. I couldn't imagine how I was able to sit there for such a long time. But, I didn't have any other option. My eyes started to burn and I went back to sleep again. Around 4 am, the TTE stopped by and asked me to take a vacant berth. I had a sound sleep for 2 hours.

The few hours that I spent near the restrooms made me to think about several issues in the system - the 'automated' ticketing system that confirmed just 1 out of 2 tickets, the unhygienic condition of the restrooms, the fate of poor passengers who travel in cramped 'unreserved' compartments etc., At least, I was better-off traveling in an A/C coach :) I'm thankful to the TTE who let me stay in the A/C coach. The state of unreserved coaches is pathetic. They are packed with people and there is hardly any space to walk or even to comfortably sit. We keep talking about human values and human rights. But, people are packed like cattle in these unreserved coaches. When would the system change? I'm very confident that the system wouldn't change, unless we do something about it.

Also read:

I love IRCTC.CO.IN
Skywalks in Train Stations - What are they for?
If I don't care, who'll care?

Kovai Trip - Maruthamalai/GCT visit

We went on a short trip to Coimbatore, last
weekend to attend a couple of weddings. I visited Maruthamalai temple & Government College of Technology (GCT) after nearly 7 years.

The thought of Coimbatore brings deep memories of the past - a colorful college life ... filled with lots of dreams & ambitions, 5 or 6 of us eating from the same plate at hostel, exciting college tours, sleepless combined studies, vibrant college symposiums, campus interview preparations, watching movies from the front rows, chit chats in-front of tea shop ... the list goes on and on.

We took Nilgiri express from Chennai which promptly reached CBE Junction at 5 am. We got down the train and came out of the station. It was still very dark. However, the place was very busy. It was filled with people everywhere. Tea stalls were busy catching up the morning crowd. The weather was slightly cold. We tried to rent a hotel room near the station, for a short stay. We couldn't succeed in getting a reasonable accommodation at an affordable cost. We decided to go to Maruthamalai and rent a hotel room there. We went to the bus stop and waited for Maruthamalai bus. In the mean time, an auto driver was eagerly trying to persuade us to board his auto rickshaw. He closed the deal at Rs.120 for taking us to Maruthamalai. I was pleasantly surprised. An auto driver in Chennai charges the same amount to take us from just Choolaimedu to T.Nagar !! He took us through the streets of Coimbatore and I was reminded of the days when we used to walk back to the college after watching night show movies. He dropped us at a hotel near the foot steps of Maruthamalai.

Also read:

Rameswaram Trip Experiences
Tirupati Tirumala Temple Visit - May be the last?
Tiruchendur Temple Visit - Poojari's demanding money

We rented a room in Hotel Podhigai Regency. It appeared to be recently built and they gave us a single bed room for Rs.600 (one day stay). We got ready, had breakfast at a road side restaurant and visited the temple. There aren't any decent restaurants in that area (Well, the same restaurants looked decent to my eyes 12 years ago). We took the mini bus from the bottom of the hill to the top. There are some infrastructure changes going on at the temple. Other than that, there are not many changes. We spent a couple of hours there and came back. We then took a bus to GCT Coimbatore.

We reached GCT, at around 10 am. The famous 'Mahalakshmi bakery' where we had our late night tea was missing. Vasanthi bakery was still there. The 'Kayyeandi Bhavan' where we used to have our dinner most of the times was also missing. We entered the college through the 2nd gate (boys hostel gate). The college looked very colorful. The college playground, and the surrounding trees/bushes looked fresh, as if they were just painted in green. In general, the college campus looked very clean. I went to the CSE department and met Prof. Lakshmi Prabha (HOD) & Prof. Annadurai (Ex. HOD, some regional head now). We had an hour long conversation. Except for the seminar hall (which was upgraded with teleconferencing facilities), the remaining infrastructure looked pretty much the same. Lots of multi-national companies such as Oracle, AIG are visiting the campus these days for recruitment. CS department had 100% placement last year. The folks in the college are very upbeat. I heard that hostels have Internet facilities and most of the students have laptops/computers. We spent another 1 hour going around the campus and taking pictures of Auditorium, Canteen, Class rooms, Stationery store, Hostels, etc., When I left the campus, I was very emotionally moved. (Also read: Infoquest 2010 in GCT, Coimbatore  World Classical Tamil Meet 2010 - Coimbatore)

Life is so wonderful. You never know what is in store for you. Dreams change. Ambitions change. But, you keep moving on. The world is full of unopened doors.  Every time you open a door, you are exposed to new things in life. I'm quite excited about the beauty of this life and its mysteries. We don't have to worry what will happen to us in future. If we can make sure that we do our best in the present, our future will definitely be bright and beautiful. OK! Let me stop right here.

Also read:

Rameswaram Trip Experiences
Tirupati Tirumala Temple Visit - May be the last?
Tiruchendur Temple Visit - Poojari's demanding money
Infoquest 2010 in GCT, Coimbatore 

R2I - List of MNCs in Chennai

Are you planning to R2I and looking for a job in Chennai?  Wondering what are some MNCs/Product companies in Chennai? I've made an attempt to compile the list of MNCs/Product companies in Chennai (includes hardware as well as software companies). Hopefully this will help folks who are planning their R2I to Chennai and looking for a job.

Also read: 10 tips for R2I salary negotiation 

1. Alcatel (AlcaLu)
2. Amazon
3. Adobe (formerly Efficient Frontier - careers section will list Chennai Jobs)
4. Aruba (now, acquired by HP) 
5. Ballys Technologies 
6. Bank of America / BA Continuum (Ascendas Tech Park, Taramani)
7. Cisco/Scientific Atlanta 
8. Cavium Networks 
   
9. eBay/PayPal (No 334 Futura IT Park Block A, Old Mahabalipuram Road, Sholinganallur, Chennai - 600119) +(91)-(44)-66348001 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              +(91)-(44)-66348001      end_of_the_skype_highlighting, 66348000)
10. Force10 Networks  (now Dell)
    
11. GigaMon
12. Ericsson
13. Extreme Networks
14. IBM  
15. KLA Tencor
16. Oracle
17. Qualcomm (formerly Atheros)
18. The Fabric Startups (for ex., Velocloud & Pensa Networks)
19. Solar Winds 
20. Symantec 
21. Verizon (Olympia Tech Park, Citius, Block B, 3rd Floor, 1, Sidco Industrial Estate Guindy, Chennai, Ph: 044 43945142) - doing OSS/BSS work
22. ZOHO (formerly AdventNet)
    

The following are some MNCs in the Engineering / Construction domain:

1. Caterpillar
2. DOW Chemicals
3. Petrofac
4. Foster Wheeler (acquired by AMEC)
5. Saipem

Naukri maintains a list of 150 software/IT companies in Chennai. However, most of them are Mom 'n Pop type companies.

(Note: This list is not complete. If you happen to know about other product companies/MNCs, please drop me a note)

Related Posts:

• Work environment in India - Then & Now
  
• How to search for an R2I job?
• Cost to Company (CTC) - Peeling the Onion

Tips to get a good deal on flight, hotel and car

Once you have decided your destination & your trip duration, you are ready to make the travel arrangements. How do you get the best deal when making the travel arrangements for your trip? This blog post summarizes the strategies that I follow to get good deals when booking flights, hotel and car.

Booking flight tickets / car

Most of the times, airfare is your single biggest expense during your trip planning. Search on multiple websites like Hotwire.com, Expedia.com, and Orbitz.com. They would list a number of deals to select from. For example, if the listing shows deals from American Airlines, then go to American Airline's website and check the price. Most of the times, you'll get a better price if you directly book through the airline website. You can also adopt the same strategy for booking a car for your trip. Most of the times, I get good deals when I book directly from Alamo Car Rental.

Booking Hotel

The strategy that I adopt for booking flight tickets/car doesn't work for me when trying to book a hotel. Many times, websites such as Hotwire.com, and Hotels.com, provide good deals for stay. I've had lots of good experiences and pleasant surprises with my Hotwire.com booking. You'll get a 5 star hotel room, for a 3-star price. The only limitation with Hotwire.com is that they have hotels listed only from prominent places & cities. For example, you may not be able to find a good deal for a hotel room near National Parks, through Hotwire. You may have to try Hotels.com, in such situations.

If you want to find a really cheap accommodation, try Motel6.com. The Motel6 hotel rooms are in decent condition and at the same time, their price is also reasonable. Motel6 is for people who just want a place  to sleep for a night. You may have to read reviews carefully before you book a "Motel" for your trip. Most of the times, Motels are occupied by lorry drivers & low income people.

General Tips

• Even if the price given in websites such as Hotwire, matches the one given in airlines/car-rental web site, I would recommend booking through the airline/car-rental website. Booking done through airlines website are cancel-able & hence, you'll get credit, if you happen to cancel your trip in the last minute. Websites such as Hotwire, do not allow you to cancel the booking.

• When booking a rental car or hotel or airline, do not say that you are a corporate customer. The pricing for corporate customers is typically high. There are handful of chains that provide discounted fare for corporate customers. You have to be cautious about that. (To validate this, try selecting the "Corporate Customer" option and you'll notice that the prices are bumped by 10 - 20%)

• When you try searching for deals through web portals, the web portals will remember your session information through cookies. If you are wandering in the same portal for a long time, they'll increase the fare after some time. You'll be tempted to book right away (before the fare goes further up). Don't get caught in the trap. Try using the same web portal through a different browser instance (For example, if you have been using Firefox for the search, use IE for booking). You'll notice that the fare is different/lesser, now. This gimmick is not done by popular websites such as Hotwire. However, I've seen this happening in a few websites.
  

• Some of the airline websites allow you to book flight tickets + car + hotel (as a single package). In most of the cases, the combined fare would exceed the cost of booking them independently through different websites.
  

• Do not try to book tickets from websites whose primary business is not selling travel packages. For example, if you start your booking of tickets from websites like Tripadvisor.com, you'll be charged a premium for their service.

• Try to book cars from rental facilities in airport. You'll have the flexibility of 'renting' & 'returning' your car any time. Car rental facilities outside the airport are open only during the regular business hours. So, you may not be able to return the car at your convenience. You'll have to hold on to the car until the shop opens, the next day. You'll be unnecessarily paying extra charges for the additional time.
  

• Car rental facilities outside airport typically give good deals for weekend rentals (i.e., Fri evening to Monday morning).
  

• Some websites offer discounts when you pre-pay for the rental. If you know for sure that you are going to travel on a given day, pre-pay the costs. At times, you would get up to 10% discount on the fare (Alamo.com, offers pre-pay discounts for car rentals).

[* I have not used priceline.com, that much. So, my findings do not include the experiences from priceline.com]

Also read:

Places to see in USA