The Only Heaven on Earth

An American decided to write a book about famous churches around the World.So he bought a plane ticket and took a trip to China.On his first day he was inside a church taking photographs when He Noticed a golden telephone mounted on the wall with a sign that read "$10,000 per call".he being intrigued,asked a priest who was strolling by what the telephone was used for.priest replied that it was a direct line to heaven and for $10,000 one could talk to God.American thanked the priest and went along his way.Next stop was in Japan.There @a very large cathedral, he saw the Same golden telephone with the same sign under it.He asked a nearby Nun what its purpose was.She told him that it was a direct line to heaven and that for $10,000 He Could talk to God."O.K., thank you," said the American.He then travelled to Pakistan, Srilanka, Russia, Germany and France.In every church he saw the same golden telephone with the same"$10,000 Per call" sign under it. The American, upon leaving Vermont decided to travel to up to India to See if Indians had the same phone.He arrived in India,In every church he saw the same golden telephone with the same "$10,000Per call" sign under it. Then he arrived Kerala the first church he entered,He saw there Was the same golden telephone,but this time the sign under it "One Rupee per call." The American was surprised so he asked the priest about it" Father, I've traveled all over World and I've seen this same GoldenTelephone in many churches. All of them told that it is a direct line to Heaven,But in the Kerala price was "One Rupee per call." Why is it so cheap here The priest smiled and answered, "You're in Kerala now,GOD's OWN COUNTRY Son - it's a Local Call".
THE ONLY HEAVEN ON EARTH - KERALA

Critical for Success- City Planning Management

India is a strong country on many terms. Large Human resources bases, intellectual capital, sound financial policies etc. I am a city boy and from my observations the biggest threat to India in terms of Human Development Index (HDI) is the coming up of unplanned cities. This is a grave threat to both people living in such cities as well as the micro environment surrounding that area.

Though it’s almost impossible to control nature’s fury like floods or earthquakes preparing for it can be ideal thing to do. The age old saying prevention is better than cure still holds true. Mumbai floods would not have happened if proper planning had gone into the setting up of the infrastructure. Here is where we need a course on City Planning & management. I am not too sure if a course on this exists elsewhere but I am sure it’s a much needed course in India.

I am neither academician nor an expert on how city planning should go about. But I believe it can be add on to the current MBA course as it covers the elemental Human Resource Management, operations & finance. A civil engineer or Architectural engineers are not the only people who can do this course. But we need people who are creative so as to plan the landscape, Bio Marine experts who can manage the water bodies and various other experts form diverse domains. We need marketing people to find out what the needs of the users are and also for their negotiating and communication skills.

Yes there are a number of private players building their townships but the need of the hour is the participation of the Government and the Public Hand in Hand. Yes there is a huge cost involved in rebuilding but an opportunity exists to work on the smaller towns and municipalities. As the saying goes, “Rome was not built in a day”.