Success & Fame in Career/Profession and the correlation with Gita Gopinath being Chief Economist of IMF!

Whenever a native Indian with a humble background ends up climbing to a reputed stature and position in a first world country, it tends to grab eyeballs and the media makes a big meal about it. Regionalism also comes to play with schools and even cities trying to seize attention by claiming that the particular individual happened to be a product of their lineage, spoke the native language etc by sharing snippets about the past and drawing attention to how he or she's career unfolded with simple upbringings from a particular surrounding environment.

The recent case in point happens to be Gita Gopinath who garnered headlines for all the right reasons. Gita has been appointed as the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) chief economist making it a really momentous occasion and a proud achievement for the nation as a whole. She also happens to be the global organisations first ever female chief economist. There is always another side to the coin where critics would point out that such talent needs to be harnessed locally and that it's a big miss for the country. But whatever said and done, there's no denying that her appointment is a huge source of inspiration for youngsters by showcasing especially that any pinnacle can be conquered whether locally or internationally if one puts his heart, mind and soul into it.

To be frank, I haven't heard or read much about her until I unknowingly stumbled across a you tube video of her father paying glowing tributes about her laurels and honors and giving a brief synopsis of her journey right from birth to being elected to the prestigious post of chief economist of IMF. One other thing which lapped me up was he explicitly mentioned her time and place of birth and being an astrology enthusiast, I immediately wanted to cast a glance at her horoscope to see if especially the 10th house of career/fame/achievements/profession concurs on the same lines.

Sharing below her birth details:
DOB : 8th Dec 1971
POB : Kolkata, West Bengal
TOB : 20:00 HRS (Rectified to 7:56 pm)
Ayanamsa : 22-01-08.41

I am focusing here mainly on her academic and professional expertise by taking a peeka-boo in to her rasi chart which by itself gives plenty of pointers in the affirmative. Few concepts of Parashara and Jaimini go hand in hand and complement features beautifully.

First up, she is clearly a Cancer rising with her Moon placed in the Nakshatra of Magha in the 4th pada. Listed below are a few pertinent underlines boosting up the professional front.

- Lagna Lord in 2nd house:
The 2-6-10 trine is the major one to look at with regard to profession and you see here that her Lagna lord Moon is falling in the 2nd house of income. Lagna lord receiving aspect from Yogakaraka is definitely an advantage.

- Node Ketu in Lagna:
The node Ketu is placed in Lagna conferring enormous intelligence. Now, I've seen a number of cases of many brilliant people with Ketu in the first house. In terms of other parameters it may not be great but seldom have I witnessed someone with Ketu in the first house not having knowledge of the highest order. Ketu gives mathematical ability and wisdom and in this case with Jupiter aspecting the Lagna & Ketu through its powerful 9th aspect, it only expands this caliber.

- Yogakaraka effect of Mars:
The Yogakaraka or the most promising planet for Cancer Ascendant happens to be Mars on account of his ownership of both a kendra and trikona house. Mars happens to be 10th lord and is sitting in the 8th house indicating a profession connected with finance/number crunching. Mars aspects Saturn, the natural significator for profession and incidentally also happens to be sitting 10th from Saturn itself. It also aspects Moon which is posited in the second house. Benefic 10th lord's aspect on the second house and Moon which also happens to be the Lagna lord can grant sudden prosperity and wealth to come upon to the native.

- The power of Atmakaraka:
Here is the biggest and most interesting catch. Not only the Yogakaraka but even the Atmakaraka (planet traversing the highest degree in a sign) happens to be Mars which is the 10th lord. Atmakaraka tells about the soul and here it's very clear that the soul focus is towards work and career as exemplified by it's presence of being 10th lord, Yogakaraka and also Atmakaraka.

- Yoga of 9th lord and 2nd lord in a trine:
The best yoga in the chart perhaps happens to be the 9th lord of fortune/blessings Jupiter and 2nd lord of wealth/speech Sun sitting favorably in 5th house in sign of Scorpio. Ironically Jupiter happens to be Amatyakaraka (indicator pigeonholed for profession) and Sun is Bhatrukaraka (indicator for courage and desires - 3rd and 11th house effects)

- Miscellaneous Factors:
You find that the 3rd lord as well as the natural signifier of communication (Mercury) which is definitely an essential in a work of this kind of magnitude forms a Vipareeta Raja Yoga by being in the 6th. Being retrograde, it adds further strength and it is clear that her oratory skills are supreme just by listening to her speak. Saturn the projector of profession is sitting in highest upachaya (growth) house of 11th in it's friend's sign of Venus. Also in the Navamsa, you find Mars and Mercury conjoined in guess what the 10th house along with an exalted Rahu to propel things even further.

Time Period and Dasa with respect to Profession:
As per Vimshottari Dasa time scale, Rahu Dasa has recently begun and it has clearly expanded the horizon for her. Rahu follows her most auspicious Mars Dasa which laid the platform and the Dasa of Rahu has witnessed her being elevated to the pedestal of IMF Chief Economist. It's Rahu MD and Jupiter AD period and as I've already pointed above Rahu is exalted in the 10th in Navamsa and the 9th lord Jupiter is placed in the 5th in the rasi chart which is a fantastic placement.

Looking at it from Jaimini angle, it was towards the end of Aquarius Dasa which saw her capturing the most prized prestigious post of IMF Chief Economist. In fact looking at it, Aquarius is the perfect contender for the throne because the 10th lord Mars is placed there and being a fixed sign, all movable signs except the one adjacent to Aquarius aspects it. And if you see the signs connected it includes Aries which is the 10th lord which is also the Mool Trikona position for Mars. Also taking Mars as Karakamsa, you find Sun and Jupiter being placed 10th from it. The added bonzer being Mars, the auspicious work lord being placed right at the forefront in Aquarius, the running Dasa.

I would also like to pinpoint some factors of her personal life where not much of information is available. But from whatever is known, hers is a love marriage. Rahu in 7th can give rise to a partner of a different caste and it is clearly emphasized here as she is married to a Sikh of Muslim origin. Also 7th lord placed in 11th house shows love blossoming and desires of marriage being fulfilled which is evident. It is believed that she wedded in 1999 and that time the running Dasa was Moon which happens to be Lagna Lord. By all counts if it had happened around the second half of the year, it would be Moon MD and Mars AD both of which are 1-7 from each other again spotlighting things astrologically beautifully.

Thus, if one looks at the set of facts, a basic run down through her horoscope chart signifies exemplary results and success on the professional front. Having great placements is one thing but putting them to use is another and in her case it's fructified in finesse fashion with all factors coming to fruition in a unified manner with her rollicking rise to the top in the world of Economics.

You can watch the video of the proud father via this link below:

Check out her horoscope chart with the planetary positions here:

Not Finishing the Job - India's cricketing story in Big Ticket ICC Events

It's not always that you come so close to winning championships. India have no doubt been good enough continuously coming to the final stages of ICC world events, but there is a thing called 'finishing the job' and we have failed at that miserably.

Since the WC win in 2011, the results in ICC events are listed below. After 2013 Champions Trophy, a big ticket victory has eluded India despite coming close on several occasions
2011 WC - Winners
2012 T20 WC - Group Elimination
2013 CT - Winners
2014 T20 WC - Runners-up
2015 WC - Semi finals
2016 T20 WC - Semi finals
2017 CT - Runners-up

We handed the 2014 T20 WC final to Sri Lanka in a platter through a horrendous batting performance by getting an abysmal score of 129 off 20 overs having lost just 3 wickets. Then again in the semi of the T20 WC 2016 vs West Indies where we spilled regulation chances, not doing our basics right and allowing them to chase over 190 preventing us from having a shot at the final at home.

And today's result is the culmination of all disappointment. First it was against Pakistan and more so in an ICC world tournament final. We allowed them to bat first when we should have stocked up and put the runs beyond their wherewithal. Instead we bowled and did that despicably without any planning and leaking runs by the second. And when the batting was expected to come up trumps, we just caved into pressure and fell off even without offering a fight. This will rank as one of the most embarrassing defeats for India.

Sorry, if we are to compare ourselves to the Aussie team of yore, we are just not there. That ruthlessness and killer attitude just didn't come up when especially needed. Personally am extremely disgruntled and no amount of our past ICC tournament wins against Pakistan is going to be of any solace.

As a hard nut Indian cricket fan, defeats hurt but this one is just too personal to swallow 😐.

Monte Nero - The World on a Plate!

Gone are the days when Chennai was looked at as a hub cardinally serving traditional south indian rice & curry and a piecemeal of tiffin variety. It has expanded it's wings not only across the country but also the globe in bringing together diverse cuisines from different parts of the world. Though there are a number of restaurants serving a good spread of global vittle, 'Montenero' is perhaps the first one to bring a variegated portfolio of exotic dishes all under one roof in it's newly opened outlet located in the vicinity of Nungambakkam.

Montenero comes with the caption "the world on a plate" and has an oeuvre of food items traversing across the length and breath of the atlas and brings to the table much sought after delightful delicacies. There are items hitherto you would have heard and it was indeed a pleasure consuming stuff which I've never really tried before. As an ever craving food lover always on the exploration prowl, I must confess Montenero ended up being extremely pleasing.

The stromboli which could be categorised as one of the avatar's of a pizza was the star of the day. This is basically a shaped piece of dough stuffed inside and topped with pizza ingredients. It was beautifully presented in a wooden pan flannel with french fries by the side and it was absolutely lovely to munch this softish piece of dough oozing with cheese and veggies. In the soup section we had a shot at the Broccoli and cheese as well as the almond asparagus. Both of them were sumptuously creamy and rich on flavours and it was quite a joy slurping them up spoon by spoon. The salad in the form of a flame roasted one contained a bunch of ingredients viz garlic, onion, carrot, zucchini, capsicum, cucumber, tomato ketchup, oregano, crushed pepper. This was spruced up and curried along wonderfully and the warm tinge proved to be the ideal confluence and the delivery pointed right on all counts. Another major surprise was on the tried and tested usual jalapeno poppers. I didn't expect much from this but they were breaded to brevity with just the right texture and it was all mouthwatering with cheese and jalapenos oozing out sinfully from those cute little cutlet balls. It also had a great companion in the mode of a fry sauce which is made 'in house'. And on the continental side we had a shot at the spinach ravioli with cream sauce. This was another show stealer. It had the right zip and this yellowish cheesy molten layer drooling on top of the greenish spinach was quite regal to say the least and just melted jocularly in the mouth. On Indian, we went for the panneer tikka satay. It was pretty decent but the cottage cheese lacked the punch and felt a little short on taste especially considering in relation to all the wondrous delights we encountered over the course of our dinner. We finished with the lava cake which was immaculate. The crumb pieces of chocolate went so well with the cake which was super soft and to boot a lovely scoop of vanilla ice cream.

On the whole it was a marvelous dinner living up way beyond expectations. The rates are par for the course and will definitely not make you slouch over especially considering what you get in return. The service was amicable and they were very much willing to assist and help us go about with our order which was very welcoming. The ambiance needs to be pepped up a bit. It looked a touch too gloomy and some shades of colour and brightness will certainly help the place boom. It's a small set up and would be good if they pack it up and get the best benefit from the seating arrangement.

They are still in the nascent stage and just taking my initial experience into count, I would without blinking an eyelid say that this was one of the best meals I've had in recent times. Right now they are in soft launch phase and about to be open full fledged very soon. Going by what I've encountered can confidently say that they have already sounded the alarm bells ringing and things only look set to get better with time. It's highly appreciative that they are trying something unique and I wish the team all the very success in making a mark in the Chennai food scene. Nungambakkam is studded with restaurant's in all corners and with the addition of 'Montenero' it's image as the food paradise of Chennai just got usurped a notch further.

Spoonbill - Global cuisine on a plate!

Spoonbill is unique and one of a kind restaurant serving specialty street food from across the globe. It has a very interesting menu with importance given to the country and the popular dish of the nation's choice. You also see hordes of enticing pictures of street food splashed across the restaurant. It has a lively buzz to it with music always playing around and is brightly lit and orangish. You also find logo's of the rare bird with the long beak called Spoonbill which incidentally is also the name of the restaurant. Not sure exactly of the connection the bird has with street food.

It also has an open kitchen setting and you can see the cooks constantly on their toes adhering to the orders placed of food from across the globe. It is based on the self service concept where you pay before you eat and this being more of the fast food types is a good system to follow. Even the drinks in the form of canned juices and iced tea's are kept in a fridge where you can pick whatever you feel like and get them billed. They also give you a small disc like machine which vibrates as soon as your order is ready.

Keeping in line with the tradition of street food, it gets prepared very soon. On this occasion decided to go European with a twist of local Indian flavor and hence ordered corn and peas Empanada and Ragada Pattice. The Empanada was stuffed judiciously with cheese and interspersed were pieces of corn and peas. Make no mistake this really tastes awesome and they give you 3 big pieces of this patty. The ragada pattice too was nice and spicy. Probably not the most authentic but definitely on the taste side it did win honors.

On the price part they are a wee bit on the expensive side but again considering the location and stuff they serve isn't too much of a misnomer. The food arrives in doubly quick time as already harped earlier. The decor with low wooden chairs with small cushions is comfortable and kind of apt for gorging on fast food based items.

They have a plethora of items in store and you will mostly always have something new to try on your next visit. The food seldom disappoints and mostly always lives up to the mark. The happy hours concept is kind of a bonus and also their sunday breakfast is a win. It always attracts a sizable crowd and continues doing so. The innovation and inventiveness goes a large way in making Spoonbill classify as a top bracketed dine out option and rightfully so.