Hi, everyone. It has been a long time since my last post. But today I had a bad experience with a budget airline and so I thought I would pour my thoughts into this post. We are traveling on Spirit Airlines for Spring Break. As the day of our departure approached, we realized that if we check bags earlier, it is cheaper than if you check bags at the counter. Spirit is one of many budget airlines and as the name suggests, these airlines offer cheap tickets for air travel. But where they get you is with additional charges for check-in bags and in the case of Spirit they also charge for carry on bags. Besides they do not offer a toll free customer service number. So I had to check in bags and Spirit charges anywhere from $20-$50 for a check-in bag. But Spirit is not the only one. Other major airlines charge baggage fees too (Last year, airlines collected $2.4 billion in baggage fees!!). But they don’t charge for carry on bags. On Spirit, charge for carry on bags is more than the charge for check in bags. Anyway, I got an email the night before my trip that my itinerary is pending and that I should call their toll number to resolve the issue. It was 10 pm when I saw this message, given that I was supposed to fly the next morning, I called them. I immediately got their menu and I was told that due to heavy call volume, my wait will be 20-30 minutes. The message also said that for faster service visit their website, but when I went to the website, I could not see any pending transactions. So I stayed on hold and after 40 minutes, I got a live person who told me that there is no problem with my itinerary. I was pissed. I gave the gentleman a piece of my mind and he apologized and encouraged me to complete their survey. I intend to do that, but I also felt that I should relate my story to a wider audience. Earlier in the week, I also had a problem with adding our frequent flyer numbers and when I called Spirit, I was on hold for 20 minutes. On both occasions, while I was on hold, I kept getting a message that it is easier and faster to visit their website. Unfortunately, I could not resolve the issue on the website and so I had no choice but to call their toll number.

Another airline that started the budget trend was Ryan Air. Last year we went to Spain and Portugal and on one of the trips we booked tickets on Ryan Air. Their base fare was 25 Euro. But charge for checking a bag was 50 Euro, charge for reserving a seat was 25 Euro, so my 25 Euro fare actually ended up costing me 100 Euro or $113. But the kicker is that Ryan Air does not allow you to check-in at the counter for free. We did not know that and unfortunately we had a rude awakening. The Airbnb we were staying at did not have good wi-fi and so we did not check-in online. As I said the next day when we went to the Ryan Air counter they told us that it will cost us another 50 Euro per ticket for check-in. Also, the ticket agent is not equipped to take money from you so you have to go to Ryan Air’s service counter, pay the fees and take your receipt to the ticket agent. Now I realize that as a buyer, I should be aware of the airline policies and I did not check their policy. The moral of the story is, budget airlines are not necessarily budget and that buyer beware. Please comment with your experience and also share this post. Thanks.

Good morning. Have you ever wondered what you would do if you won the lottery. I often think about it. I religiously buy lottery tickets from time to time. Then I go into the possibilities. Quit my job, travel the world, buy a private jet, pay off my house, set money aside for kids education and the list goes on. But one day I really sat down and tried to figure out what I would do if I won a million dollars. One of the first things I would do is donate $50K each to our local temple and to the temple in Pittsburgh, PA. I will take $250K and start my own pharmaceutical company. I will take $100K and open an Indian restaurant. I will set aside $400K for our kids education. Out of the remaining $150K, I will put $100K in savings, use $25K for a nice family vacation and the remaining, I will donate to our community organization. All this is possible if I get the money in one lump some. You will realize that a million dollars does not go too far. I guess it depends on how you use it. Also a lot of things on my list are still incomplete. Obviously if I hit the Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot, my plans will drastically change for the better. Then perhaps I can check off things like buying a private jet, luxury cars etc. But I will also proportionately increase amounts given to organizations listed above. Until then, I guess I have to wake up everyday, go to work and follow my routine. So what would you do if you won the lottery?

Good morning all. I have not written a blogpost in a long time. So I am excited about writing again. Also, I just want to mention upfront that I am not making a political statement, but I just feel that there are a lot of lessons learned.  As a parent of two teenage kids, I worry about how they behave outside the home.

If you live in the US, it is hard not to be aware of what is going on with the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh for the US Supreme Court. The US Supreme Court Justice is a person  nominated by the President of the US. The US Senate has hearings to confirm this nominee and if confirmed, the appointment is for LIFE. Talk about job security. Anyway, as Mr. Kavanaugh’s hearings were going on, a lady, Christine Blasey Ford, accused him of assaulting her at a party when they were both in high school, almost 35 years ago. She claimed that he was very drunk. After her accusation, two more women came forth and accused Mr. Kavanaugh. The FBI is currently investigating him. I want to be absolutely clear here: I AM NOT TAKING ANY SIDES. I will let the system decide what happens. So here is my advice for young people:

1. When you are in high school, you are under 21 which is the legal drinking age in the US and many other countries. If you are underage, DON’T DRINK.
2. If you go to a party, make sure you know who is going. When there is a party, word gets around and a friend of a friend of a friend also comes to the party. My point is, you may not always know who is coming. So be careful.
3. Always stay in a group. If you go to a party with your friend, tell them to watch your back and you do the same. Don’t put yourself in a situation where your safety is compromised.
4. If you do find yourself in a compromising situation, do WHATEVER you can to protect yourself. Whether it is screaming, kicking, spitting, injuring your assailant, do it.
5. In spite of your best efforts, if you do get assaulted, the first thing you should do is tell your parents or another responsible adult and launch a formal police complaint. You will probably anger your parents when you tell them what happened, but don’t be afraid. Parents will always protect their kids NO MATTER WHAT. It is important to do it as soon after the incident as possible.
6. In general, think before you act. You never know what you will become and who might want to come forth with past information about you at the most inopportune time.
7. With cellphones and other recording devices, you are constantly being recorded. You cannot control where this recording will end up. I have read that prospective employers check your social media profile. Many sites like Amazon, Google, Facebook collect data on you that you can’t even imagine. As you know, this data is far from secure. Just recently hackers stole data from 50 million Facebook accounts. You could potentially lose or not get a job because of what you did in the past.

I hope you like this post. As usual, I would like to welcome any comments you have and also please share with your contacts.

Hi folks, good morning. It has been a long time since my last post. But today, I wanted to talk about Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT). Now this article is not meant to be medical advice or to treat/diagnose any disease. This is for your information. Please consult your physician before beginning any new treatment. Also, this information is not just for men, but also for their close family members who love them.

After the age of 30, men start losing testosterone. In some cases, the testosterone levels go so low that it becomes a medical condition. If it becomes a medical issue, then it needs to be treated. But only your doctor can make that decision. Many pharmaceutical companies used this natural event and marketed it as if it was something that can make men feel like “less of a man”. Please understand that I work for a pharmaceutical company and lately with all the political rhetoric, pharmaceutical companies are being unfairly maligned as the bad guys. A few days ago, I had written a blog post about why drugs cost so much. Fact of the matter is that pharmaceutical companies spend a lot of money to develop life saving treatments and just want to recoup their investment and then also use it for new research. I realize this is very simplified version of what happens, but I hope you get the point. I also hope that you do your own research before making accusations of price gouging.

On July 25, 2017, AbbVie, the maker of AndroGel, a TRT product was smacked with a $150 Million Verdict (http://www.fiercepharma.com/legal/abbvie-hit-150m-verdict-bellwether-androgel-case). A gentleman used AbbVie’s product for 4 years and then had a heart attack. He claimed that AbbVie did not warn people of the side effects of TRT. The court concluded that the heart attack was not caused by AndroGel and that the company was not negligent, but that the company fraudulently misrepresented the product and that is why it awarded $150 million in punitive damages. Legal experts think that this award will probably be reduced, but nonetheless, the plaintiff’s attorney said that this sends a strong message to companies for improperly marketing their drugs for off-label uses. This another practice used by the advertising and marketing folks that bothers me. Now they are doing their job, but I think there should be some guidelines.

So in my opinion, if you are over 30 and are concerned about your declining testosterone levels, please talk to your doctor. Your doctor will advise you to get a blood test. When he says that, please tell him that you would like to see the levels of free and bound testosterone. The amount of free testosterone in your body is a more accurate value and the decision to get TRT should be based on that. But again, talk to your doctor. There are also natural alternatives like eating organic grass fed beef, resistance training, getting good quality sleep that you can try as well. I wrote a book called The Great Testosterone Myth: Honest Facts No Hype and it is available on Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/Great-Testosterone-Myth-Aniruddha-Railkar/dp/1534709401/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501239316&sr=8-1&keywords=the+great+testosterone+myth). I have tried to write it such that anyone can read and understand it. Please read that book and then make an informed decision. I gave a copy of my book to my personal physician and asked him if he would write a review, but he kindly declined. However, he told me that the book was good and an easy read. He also thought that it was informative. He did say that it became technical in some chapters, but overall, he thought the book was good. I hope you enjoyed the post. As usual, please share it and provide your thoughts and feedback.

Hi everyone. In my last post, I talked about the Paris Climate Agreement. Today I want to talk about humankind and how much time we have left on Earth. About a month ago, physicist Dr. Stephen Hawking said that unless we colonize another planet in the next hundred years, humankind will not survive. He predicted this based on 4 possibilities: Nuclear Warfare- In the 1980’s during the height of the cold war, only the US and Russia had nuclear weapons. But now many countries have that capability and our aggressive nature could lead to nuclear warfare which would destroy us. Global Warming- This goes back to the Paris agreement. Mr. Trump has said that it is a hoax. But there are definitely signs of global warming and that humans are the ones responsible. Now many people say that our models could be wrong, but what if they are right? We need to take some deliberate steps to reduce/reverse global warming. Also, by the end of this century, i.e. in the year 2100, human population is predicted to be 20 billion. We are probably going to run out of space to live and food to eat especially because we are destroying forests and open land to make room for housing. Man Made Viruses- Decoding the human genome is a great advance. We can now figure out what genes are responsible for diseases. But we still don’t know a lot about genes. What if we create microorganisms that are resistant to existing medicines? They could wipe out our race. Robots-Advances in Artificial Intelligence could lead to more advanced weapons. Robots could take over kind of like in the Terminator movies.

But Mr. Hawking also says that he is an optimist and that human beings can survive longer if we recognize all these dangers and take steps to manage them.

Please let me know what you think.

Hi everyone. Good morning. It has been a long time since my last post. But recent events have given me a reason to write this post. I am pretty sure all of you know that on Thursday June 1st, President Trump said that he was withdrawing the US from the Paris Climate Agreement. Now for the record, I don’t agree with the decision and many people around the world don’t either. Also, for the record, I don’t believe global warming is a hoax. Obviously, President Trump received a lot of criticism for making that decision. The Paris Agreement, while good in theory, had a lot of practical issues. You are welcome to delve deep into its details, but basically the agreement states that countries will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by a certain percentage by a certain time. First, it is a non-binding agreement. So if a country does not meet its requirements, there is no penalty or consequence. Second, there was not set date by which the countries are supposed to lower the emissions. For example the US said it will do so by 2025, while China said that it will do so by 2030. Not sure why there was no fixed date for every country. The third and the most important according to me is that there is no enforcer of the agreement. In other words, if a country does not meet their commitment, who will enforce the agreement. Given that two of the biggest polluters, the US and China, also happen to be the two most powerful countries, enforcement could be a big issue. Granted countries could form a coalition to enforce it, I still think it is difficult.

In his decision, President Trump said that I was elected to serve citizens of Pittsburgh and not Paris. Ironically, the Mayor of Pittsburgh is in favor of staying in the Paris Agreement and he said that Pittsburgh will do whatever it can to protect the environment. There in lies the message of this post. I don’t think it is up to Government to protect the environment. Granted that Government makes policy, but as voters, we can influence that policy. Just like anything else, if we want to protect the environment, we have to take steps ourselves by doing whatever we can. For example, recycling, reusing and reducing the waste we create, driving energy efficient or hybrid or electric cars.  Using solar or other forms of alternate energy. So I hope we can do our part and let the Government catch up.

Hi everyone, good morning. My last post was in the beginning of February. As I mentioned before, I have serious writers block and I was having a tough time trying to write something. I am still not over it, but I felt like writing today about a movie we saw last night. It is called Hidden Figures and it is about 3 black/African American women who worked at NASA. For those of you that have not seen the movie, I won’t spoil the suspense. But I want to make a point. Also, if you have not seen it, please do so. I also want to say that it is not my objective to discuss race and discrimination.

It was the late 1950’s-early 1960’s. America was still segregated between blacks (they used to be called Negros or colored) and whites. So much so that there were separate restrooms, water fountains, eating rooms. There were also separate schools. Libraries had separate sections and not all the books available to whites were available to the colored. in spite of all these things, NASA used to employ almost 30 African American women and they used to be called computers. Of course computers were just about being deployed in NASA and they had a lot of trouble getting them to work. So all the calculations were being done by using hand held calculators or adding machines. But there was a space race going on. Russia had already sent a dog into space, then Yuri Gagarin became the first man ever to go into space and return to earth safely.

Al Harrison, the head of the space program is under a lot of pressure. At that time his group consisted of 99% white males and 1% white females. The African American women were temporary staff and were assigned to different groups within NASA. They were not promoted, their work was not acknowledged. Even simple things like having a restroom close to your department, drinking coffee from the same pot as whites were not allowed. Given these odds, you would think that anyone would be discouraged. But these three women; Dorothy Vaughn (played by Octavia Spencer), Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) and Katherine Gobel (later she gets married and her last name changes to Johnson, played by Taraji P. Henson), persevere and are able to contribute to the space program. Their contributions were acknowledged by President Obama in 2016.

As I said, there is a message. It is that regardless of what the odds are and if they are not in your favor, if you are good, you can never be kept down. You just have to have the courage, patience and perseverance to get through it.

Hi everyone. Good morning. My last post was early January. I am suffering from a severe case of writers block and that is why I have not posted. I hope I can get back on track.

But today’s post is in memory of a friend. My friend AKD who was the same age as me, passed away in his sleep on Jan 31st. I fondly called him Lambya, which means tall in my native language, Marathi. Lambya was my brother from another mother. In college, he and I were inseparable. He was my friend, philosopher and guide. He was like a member of my family. His wife and I share the same birthday and she is like a sister to me.

I remember our college days when we spent time studying for exams. In my first year, a friend had rented a room in the college dorm. We used to go there during exams and drink strong tea or coffee so we could stay up and study for exams. We used to pull allnighters and then wake up and go to the exam. But from my second year, I used to go to Lambya’s house to study. After dinner, I used to ride my bike to his house. We used to study at night and then I used to have some breakfast and go home. His family also treated me like a member. We were a fixture at each other’s houses for religious ceremonies and special occasions. I came to the US in 1987, but we still kept in touch. I went back to India after 7 years and when I got out of immigration and customs, I saw Lambya standing there with my family. When I went to India in 1995, after my dad had passed away, Lambya was there at the airport. Every time I went to India, I made it a point to visit him. And every time it was like I had never left. If I was on my deathbed, besides my family, I would have wanted him by my side. Words cannot describe what he meant to me.

When I heard the news of his passing, I was shocked and could not believe it. I felt helpless. The last time I saw him was in Jan 2016. As recently as this January, we had shared our recent family pictures. I wish we had done so many things. So rest in peace my dear friend and may your soul be one with God.

I just want to say to everyone, if you have been lucky enough to be blessed with a friend like Lambya, reach out to them today and tell them what they mean to you. If possible visit them have a drink with them or whatever, but make the most of the time you have with them. Same thing goes for your family, close or living far away. Also, open that bottle of wine that you have been saving for a special occasion, take that trip that you put off, in other words don’t wait for tomorrow. I regret the fact that Lambya never visited me in the US.

Peace and Love!

Hi everyone. Did you know that only 8% of people who make New Year’s resolutions actually succeed in achieving them? That’s a 92% failure rate!

 Does that mean we shouldn’t bother making resolutions?

 Not really…

 Here is the good news. Those who do make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t explicitly make resolutions.

 So it’s definitely worth it!

The problem is, most people who make New Year’s resolutions lack the tools and support they need to achieve their goal.

They try to do too much too soon – and get overwhelmed and burn out. Or they run into unexpected roadblocks and get discouraged. They haven’t created a realistic plan for themselves – and go off in all directions without ever making any real progress toward their goal.

My record with resolutions is ok. I have managed to keep some while some I have failed. What I noticed with those that I managed to keep was that I think they were realistic and I was able to track them and measure them. Also, what I did was calculated backwards and broke the goals down into yearly, monthly, weekly and daily goals. So that would be my suggestion. Good luck!

Good morning all. Happy new year again. Today I would like to share some wisdom from Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the US.

1. It is necessary for me to be extremely frugal for some time, till I have paid what I owe. Ben has said “A penny saved is a penny earned”. So take a look at where you can save money for e.g. internet or phone plans, credit card fees etc.
2. To endeavor to speak truth in every instance; to give nobody expectations that are not likely to be answered, but aim at sincerity in every word and action – the most amicable excellence in a rational being.
3. To apply myself industriously to whatever business I take in hand, and not divert my mind from my business by any foolish project of growing suddenly rich; for industry and patience are the surest means of plenty. I am guilty of this. I try to chase different business ideas, but from now on, I am going to focus on only one or two things,
4. I resolve to speak ill of no man whatever, not even in a matter of truth; but rather by some means excuse the faults I hear charged upon others, and upon proper occasions speak all the good I know of everybody. It is easy to find faults with someone, but we should try to find good qualities.

It is said that Ben came up with these rules very early in life and stuck with them until his old age. I hope this was helpful. There are 363 days to follow these rules.