DC Design customises Renault Duster for Rs 3.49 lakh

Automobile style guru Dilip Chhabria has redesigned the Renault Duster into a luxury SUV. If you want to jazz up your already good-looking Duster, take it to DC Design and this gorgeous machine can be yours at an extra cost of Rs 3.5 lakh. ** Please note that Rs 3.5 lakh is the price for the customization pack, not the vehicle. 



















 

10 money lessons from billionaires

10. "The ultimate definition of success is: you could lose everything that you have and truly be okay with it. Your happiness isn't based on external factors." --Tony Hsieh, net worth of $840 million So often, we push happiness out on the horizon of life. "Once I get this job, I'll be happy." Or, "If only I landed that promotion, then everything would be good." Of course, life doesn't work that way, and there is always another goal once we reach our previous idea of happiness. Money is important, but your life should never be built around it. Happiness comes before success, not after it. less
  
  9. "No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit." --Andrew Carnegie, net worth of $298.3 billion (in 2007 dollars) Success unshared is failure. Our connections with other people are what give our work meaning. The things we do will only matter if they are shared with others.
  
  8. "The role of business is to produce goods and services that make people's lives better." --Charles Koch, net worth of $25 billion If your only goal is to become rich, then you're going to have trouble meeting your goal. However, if your focus is on making people's lives better, then you'll find that success comes much more quickly. 5. Charles G. Koch, 76
    Company: Koch Industries
    Net worth: $24.7 billion
    Compensation: N/A

   
 Charles G. Koch has been the chairman and CEO of Koch Industries — one of the largest privately owned companies in the U.S. — since 1967. The group’s annual revenue is more than $100 billion, according to Forbes. less
   
 6. "If I'm going to do something, I do it spectacularly or I don't do it at all." --Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud, net worth of $18 billion Developing a world-class skill means that you have the capability to ignore everything else. You have to be able to focus on doing an incredible job or on ignoring it completely. Greatness doesn't come from simply "putting the time in" ... you have to put the time in with effort, energy, and resolve. less
   
 7. "It's through curiosity and looking at opportunities in new ways that we've always mapped our path at Dell. There's always an opportunity to make a difference." --Michael Dell, net worth of $15.9 billion Take a look at any market-leading company. Are they compromising on their product in one way or another? That's an opportunity for disruption, growth, and change. Any unmet need, any annoying problem, any half-baked solution offers a chance to change things. less

    5. "Getting the job done has been the basis for the success my company has achieved." --Michael Bloomberg, net worth of $22 billion Billionaires have grit and perseverance. Top performers work hard at hard things. And that means that successful people do the things that most people don't want to do, and that's why they get the job done.
  
  4. “I think that our fundamental belief is that for us growth is a way of life and we have to grow at all times.” —Mukesh Ambani, net worth of $22.3 billion Success is not an event—it’s a process. Billionaires embody that process better than most of us. They are on a constant quest to improve, enhance, and outperform themselves. It’s a constant, internal drive to become a better person.
   
 3. "The typical human life seems to be quite unplanned, undirected, unlived, and unsavored. Only those who consciously think about the adventure of living as a matter of making choices among options, which they have found for themselves, ever establish real self-control and live their lives fully." --Karl Albrecht, net worth of $25.4 billion Everything you do (or choose not to do) is a choice. Most of us think that life happens to us, but in reality life is something that we choose either by actively pursuing options and creating our own circumstances, or by blocking opportunities and limiting our beliefs of what is possible. You can choose the type of life you want to live. less
  
  2. "What we say here every day is that our success is really based on our members' success, our community's success." --Pierre Omidyar, net worth of $6.7 billion Your success is directly tied to how much you do for others. It's not what you know. It's not who you know. It's what you do for who you know. Success follows generosity.
   
1. "You become what you believe. You are where you are today in your life based on everything you have believed." --Oprah Winfrey, net worth of $2.7 billion First and foremost, you have to believe that greatness is possible. Many of the world's billionaires have shifted the way our world works, because they believed that they were capable of doing something that was previously impossible. Change is possible. Greatness is possible. But you can't do anything unless you first believe in yourself.

Asus Fonepad tablet available for Rs 15,500

Asus has brought Fonepad Tablet in India. It is already famous for its Nexus 7 tablet co-manufactured with Google. Read about specifications of this new tablet in comparision with Nexus 7. What differentiates this tablet from Nexus 7 is the SIM slot that helps you to use Fonepad as a smartphone.

 Asus is all set to launch its 3G SIM calling tablet, called Fonepad, in India tomorrow. The tablet will be launched with a price tag of Rs 15,500. The Fonepad is an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean based tablet, powered by Atom Z2420 processor running at 1.2 GHz. The tablet has all the features of a smartphone including voice call and 3G support.

It features a 7 inch IPS display with HD 1280 x 800 resolution and is powered with Intel's newer Lexington
   The Asus Fonepad also also has a micro SD card slot for up to 32 GB of additional storage along with 5 GB of cloud storage offered by Asus. It comes with a front 1.2 megapixel camera and a 3 megapixel autofocus rear camera with 720p HD video recording capability. The Asus Fonepad is going to be a direct competition to the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 P3100 whose 16 GB variant is currently retailing at around Rs 15,000.  More from The Mobile Indian.
 The 16GB version Nexus has come with a price tag of Rs. 19,999, which is a bit too high when compared to its original price in the US ($199). While there is a 32GB model, and a 3G version tablet, presently only the 16GB, Wi-Fi-only version will be available in India. This tablet would be sold at ASUS showrooms and Chroma from November 20, 2012.
   

 Nexus 7 runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and has 7-inch screen with a resolution of 1280x800 pixels. It weighs about 340 grams, has 1GB RAM and Tegra 3 processor. It also has a micro-USB port, a 1.2MP front camera. The battery backup is of 9.5 hours.
 

   There are about 675,000 apps and games, a large collection of eBooks, songs, thousands of movies and TV shows, and the latest magazines available on Google Play.
   

 Google says, the tablet has been designed with gaming in mind.
  

  With this tablet, one can make the best use of Google Apps like Gmail, Chrome, Google+ and Maps.
   

 COMPETES WITH: Samsung Tab 2, Apple iPad Mini, Amazon KindleFire
  

  Samsung Tab 2 is the immediate competitor in the Indian market, with the similar features and price range. Many people who waited for Nexus 7 since months have tweeted that they might go for Tab 2, because it has 3G.
   

 However, with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and Tegra 3 processor, Nexus 7 gives faster performance and better touch response than the Tab 2. The Samsung device has both front a facing camera and a rear camera, while Nexus 7 has only a front facing camera of 1.3-mega pixel.
   

 The iPad mini is a bigger one with 7.9-inch display and has a resolution of 1024X768. It also has a 5-mp rear iSight camera.
  

  Apple iPad Mini is yet to come to India, and the price of iPad mini Wi-Fi version would be far higher than the price of Nexus 7. The 16GB Wi-Fi version of the iPad mini is sold online for the price of about 26,990.
  

  Amazon's Kindle Fire is not available in India, and will not be in the direct competition with Nexus 7. However, one can purchase it online.
  

 

  There are many other budget tablets in the Indian market like Micromax Funbook, HCL ME, Akash and others, but we cannot compare them with the above said tablets. Nevertheless, it depends on the personal preference and usage.

In Lord Ramas footsteps

Rameshwaram, at the edge of the subcontinent, is many things to many people but wherever you go, legends of Lord Rama prevail

 

There is not a state in India that does not have a connection to the Ramayana. The scenes from the epic have covered virtually every land in the country. A forest lends a sacred touch, a river has a holy spring, and even the waves of the seas narrate the Lord’s name. Little shrines tell you legends of Rama’s presence. And his footprints are etched in the sands of time.
Following Rama’s footsteps, I land in Rameshwaram, one of the most spiritual and mystical lands in South India, the setting of the legendary epic. This is where Rama and his army built a bridge across the oceans to defeat Ravana. This is also where he returned after a victorious battle and prayed to Lord Shiva to absolve him of any sin accrued during the war.
Every shrine here brings the Ramayana alive. But it is the ocean that fascinates me. The first view that one gets of Rameshwaram is the Pamban Bridge, which fan out across the ocean. Located at the tip of the Indian peninsula in the Gulf of Mannar, Rameshwaram is locked in an island connected to the mainland by the bridge. The waters change colours from emerald to sapphire blue. There is also geological evidence that there might have been a land connection across the sea to Sri Lanka. There is a mild flutter, a gentle vibration, as a few vehicles rush past me, oblivious to the grandeur of nature. I gaze at the sea as the many shades of blue merge with the foam and every wave takes on a different hue. These oceans take me on a trail of the Ramayana, where tanks and temples built on their shores fill you with tales.
It is afternoon and the blue skies look grey and the sea is choppy. The ocean parts ways as the road takes us to a small temple which seems to have been renovated. We climb some steps and look out through the arches at the sea. Another flight of steps takes me to the terrace. It is the highest point in Rameshwaram. I look out to see the sea stretching out in the horizon bordered by greenery and somewhere in the distance is the washed-away town of Dhanushkodi and even beyond that is Sri Lanka. It takes a moment to sink in. This is where I am told Rama surveyed the sea in front of him and his enemy on the other shore. I have followed his footsteps as I am standing in the temple where Rama’s “padam” or footprints are placed on a chakra.
The RamanathaswamyTemple stands tall inside the town as devotees make their way to cleanse themselves with a sacred bath at the 22 wells or teerthams that surround it. Rameshwaram, I am told, has close to 64 theerthams and the holy water is stored in wells, ponds, tanks and one of them, the Agni Theertham, is the sea itself. Even today, it is believed that the tanks around the temple have a perennial source of water. 
The temple, which has the longest corridor in the world, stretches as stories from Ramayana are painted on every wall. There are many legends here, but the one that is most often reinforced is how Rama prayed to Lord Shiva to absolve him of any sins committed during the war. Rama asked Hanuman to get him a lingam from the Himalayas but as the monkey god took time, Sita carved a small lingam, which is placed in the sanctum here.

It is not just the temples that tell stories. Every drop of water here has a story to narrate. I journey around the forests to locate some of the temples and wells. On my way to Dhanushkodi I stop in the middle of a dry forest scattered with thorny shrubs. The path cuts through the wilderness and we walk through the trees until we see a board for ‘Jada Theertham’. Surrounded by dense trees is a tank under a peepal tree with a temple close by. A priest tells us that this is where Rama washed his hair (Jada) after he killed Ravana and he had installed a lingam here. Another fascinating legend says that this is where Jatayu, the king of birds, fell after his fight against Ravana.

Legends follow me wherever I go. I am headed to Villondi Teertham, right in the middle of the  ocean. The sea looks pristine blue and the azure waters sparkle in the sunlight. A bridge appears in the middle of nowhere taking me right into the ocean. A small well here is filled with water. You are allowed a sip and the water is absolutely sweet. “This is where Rama pierced his arrow to ensure sweet water flowed to quench Sita’s thirst,” says the caretaker. I am also told that Rama’s bow and arrow are buried here. Hence the name Villondi Teertham.  

Rameshwaram is many things to many people, as devotees all over the world visit the Dakshin Kasi. To me however it is the stories from the Ramayana that pervade the landscape here. I sit by the oceans and as the waves lash, I can imagine the army of birds, squirrels, monkeys and bears getting ready to fight the war against Ravana. The sea has many moods and colours here. At some places it looks deceptively calm, luring you with its blue-green shades, but in other places, it purges your mind and body. And as it changes colours yet again, I am completely lost in the world of epics and legends where good prevails over evil.
JOURNEY IN PICTURES: EXPLORE THE GHOST TOWN OF DHANUSHKODI

 














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