Assignment 2 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Assignment 2 - Essay Example Right from the time of birth up to maturity, people anticipate to have some sense of love and belonging. Relationships make people to feel in place. Relationships make people happy and appreciate their life worth living. However, it is the same relationships that cause stress for most people. Relationships are major and common causes of stress for many individuals, especially when the relationships turn sour. People frequently undergo relationship problems such as, but not limited to infidelity. Relationships between spouses, peers, friends, employees and any other form of social systems, are usually characterized by conflicts. Despite the fact that relationship problems are the most prevalent, many people are oblivious of the causes of the problems. It is this lack of comprehensive understanding of the causes and nature of conflicts in relationships that causes stress for many individuals. In most occasions, problems in relationships are associated with concealed conversations and c onduct patterns buried deep within individuals. Most often, people fail to recognize their roles in relationships. Further, many people are always perplexed about what they are supposed to do in order to establish and sustain blissful, triumphant and long-lasting relationships. As they mull over how to make their relationships perfect, most people end up stressed. However, in many incidents, break ups in relationships and lack of understanding are usually what result into stress for many individuals. Relatively few people can manage their stress levels after break-ups. Instead of focusing on positive ways of dealing with their predicaments, many people are often engulfed in sulking and crying over spilt milk, which worsen their situation all together. What stresses one person may not be a problem to the other. According to mental health experts, personality contributes hugely to the manner in which people handle their relationships and stress. According to mental health professional s, individuals with â€Å"Type A† personalities are usually impatient, determined, time-conscious and driven. These personalities if not controlled properly may lead to stress-related ill health. On the other hand, people with â€Å"Type B† traits tend to be relaxed, not overly time-conscious, determined. As such, people with â€Å"Type B† traits often perceive things adaptively. Unlike individuals with â€Å"Type A† traits, they can think constructively and figure out how they can resolve their situations. Generally, individuals with â€Å"Type B† personalities tend to be less vulnerable to stress compared to people with â€Å"Type A† traits (Pejuskovic et al 389). It is often noticed that women and men usually respond to stress differently. One of the reasons that have been attributed to this is hormonal influence (Rai 52). Three hormones are believed to play a significant role in how women and men react to stress. These include cortisol, epinephrine, and oxytocin. In the event of stress, cortisol and epinephrine hormones are released, which increases blood pressure and also increase blood sugar level of an individual. Cortisol also reduces the efficiency of an individual’s immune system (Rai 52). In women, cortisol and epinephrine hormones are released into the bloodstream during a stressful event; oxytocin hormone is released from the brain to counter the release of cortisol and epinephrine hormones. Oxytocin also plays a role in nurturing and calming emotions.

Marketing and Citibank Essay Example for Free

Marketing and Citibank Essay ACKNOWLEDGMENT Alhamdulillah, first of all i would like to thank God as finally I was able to finish my assignment that have been given by Marketing lecturer to me. Besides that, not forget also a to my friends Muhammad Kharusani because without his guide me assignment cannot be done properly like this. He always gives supports and guide to me how to do the assignment in purpose to produce a good outcome from research that been studied. Credits also are given to friends class HND1B which help each other to complete this task. Topic that been given by me are regarding concept and process of marketing citibank company. Finally, thank to our beloved friend that always stick together and also work hard to produce a good assignment with all afford and responsibility. Hope that all the effort will give a lot of benefits to me . Not forget also for those who help me complete this assignment direct or indirectly. ABOUT CITIBANK Citibank, a major international bank, is the consumer banking arm of financial services giant Citigroup. Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York, later First National City Bank of New York. As of March 2010, Citigroup is the third largest bank holding company in the United States by total assets, after Bank of America and JP Morgan Chase. Citibank has retail banking operations in more than 160 countries and territories around the world. More than half of its 1,400 offices are in the United States, mostly in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Washington, D.C. and Miami. More recently, Citibank has expanded its operations in the Boston, Philadelphia, Houston, and Dallas metropolitan areas. In addition to the standard banking transactions, Citibank offers insurance, credit cards and investment products. Their online services division is among the most successful in the field, citation needed claiming about 15 million users. As a result of the global financial crisis of 2008–2009 and huge losses in the value of its subprime mortgage assets, Citibank was rescued by the U.S. government under plans agreed for Citigroup. On November 23, 2008, in addition to initial aid of $25 billion, a further $25 billion was invested in the corporation together with guarantees for risky assets amounting to $306 billion. Since this time, Citibank has repaid its government loans in full. Q1. Present two definitions of marketing and compare both definitions. Provide relevant examples which relate to Citibank case study. Based on Philip kotler definition, Marketing is a social and managerial process whereby individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others. In other words, customer will exchange what their value (e.g money), only if their want is met. Based on my opinion, Philip kotler saying that people change what they want is to gain profit and use their valuable item to change it. In daily life also, we need to satisfy our demand by used exchanging process otherwise we cannot improve in a way of how we live. In wanting to possess such a product, we have to pay a price (cost). Hence, in making a decision to purchase an item, the customer will consider both the value and the price. After we have decided on the product, it can then be procured via the process of exchange or transactions. Based on Citigroup, they are using this strategy to satisfy their customer needs and wants. Based on Rochelle Rucker, Citibank faced a few problems to initiate manual fund problems. When they want to send money from their accounts, they call their banker and then fax, phone or mail in requests to have the transaction processed. Because the process was so complicated, customers complained. Most of the complaints lodged with the department dealt with the time it took to complete the process. So, in order to overcome this problem, Citibank use six sigma program methods to solve it. Six Sigma is a business management strategy seeks to improve the quality of process outputs by identifying and removing the causes of defects (errors) and minimizing variability in manufacturing and business processes. Six sigma used a simple method which is Pareto chart. This chart gives data which has the highest problem occur most often. A team composed of bankers and operations people identified the entire funds transfer process, tabulating defects and analyzing them using a Pareto chart. One of the methods is using internal call-back procedure, which required staff to call the person requesting the funds transfer to make sure that the instructions were correct and hadnt been altered. So in this way, Citibank can ensure that their customer has no problem and problem solved. By using this six sigma method Citibank strives for perfect processes to satisfy customer. In Citibank Malaysia, they have proved their commitment for their customer and community live. A large aspect of Citibank’s corporate citizenship in Malaysia focuses on helping people of all ages better understand and practise financial management. In 2010, Citibank Foundation allocated grants totalling USD208,000 for their community-based projects. They have worked with Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) and invited a new collaboration with ERA Consumer Malaysia to launch the second season of the â€Å"Stretching Your Ringgit† program on TV1, TV2 and Radio RTM. The initiative followed encouraging survey findings that showed more than 70% of Malaysians polled realised the importance of financial management, especially those in the low-middle income bracket. According to American Marketing Association Board of Directors Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customer s, clients, partners, and society at large. In this case, AMA said that marketing occur when both of the company involve when there is activity among them. Citibank use the same concept which they provide services to their customer to save the money and make it easier. Citibank also provide bank loan, Credit card, Deposits, Investment, Citigold which gives benefit to customer. Citibank also use communicating to contact with their customer to provide services or solving problem. Citibank provide services to customer which can give both benefit. for example Citibank provide bank loan and this can reduce burden for people which has low income. As for the Citibank also, they make interest for those who borrow bank loan and this will give benefit to the firm. Both of definition gives the same meaning in different way. Philip kotler emphasize of the customer needs and wants. We can say Citibank really care about their customer so they will try the best to overcome any problem that customer faced. In india Citibank care their customer, this can be shown by their customer â€Å"I can safely say that Citi provides the best card services for India, which is why most of my spend is on Citi and I recommend it to my friends. A lot of the success is the result of having passionate, committed, service oriented people like Manish. My kudos to him†. (J sajeev, 2011).American Marketing Association which more to creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society. The difference between this concept is AMA is more to set of activity which no related to customer needs and wants. Citibank satisfy their customer and this is the key of how Citibank more success than the others banker in Malaysia. Compare to Maybank Malaysia, Citibank is much older than the others banker in Malaysia. We can say that Citibank is more experience in handling money. Q2. Identify at least three main characteristics of a marketing-oriented organization of Citibank case study and provide an examples for each characteristic. What is marketing orientation? Marketing orientation is a philosophy focused on discovering and meeting the needs and desires of its customers through its product mix. Unlike past marketing strategies that concentrated on establishing selling points for existing products, market orientation works in reverse, attempting to tailor products to meet the demands of customers. In essence, market orientation can be thought of as a coordinated marketing campaign between a company and its customers. Nowadays, business firm use this concept to make their customer stick with their product. We can say that the idea that companies can create a product and sell its features to an eager buying public is no longer concrete. With an increasingly global economy and more and more choices for consumers, companies must be willing to adapt their mark et orientation to stay competitive. Based on my opinion, nowadays in Malaysia, we can see a lot of bank is available. So the competition becomes higher than before. In order to attract more people to use their services, Citibank has to adapt with current situation. Citibank use marketing oriented business to identifying customer, consumer needs and wants. In Malaysia, Citibank provide Islamic banking way to satisfy their customer. By using PEST analysis, we can say that Malaysian people are majority muslim and the idea of Citibank to provide Islamic banking which satisfy customer are brilliant. So people can enjoy with low interest rates given. Citibank in Malaysia facing a problem regarding high interest rate offered, so they make a research and develop a new system which enable customer use their Islamic banking. Another services that they provide is Citibank Guard Savings is The first savings account in Malaysia that’s enhanced with free Takaful coverage against critical illness. Citibank Home i Partner provide Capped Rate, Flexible Payment and Daily Calculation, Citibank Checking Account I is a system provided by checking account that honours the Islamic banking principle of guaranteed safe custody approved by the Shariah body. Based on the services provided by Citibank, we can conclude that Citibank care about their customer needs and develop a new system according to community lived. Just like the others bank, Citibank online will make all the transactions become much easier as customer can save valuable time and money. No more hassles with long queues, parking and travelling. As we can see, Citibank developing products to meet customer needs and wants. So they come out with product and services which give benefit to their customer Credit Cards, Ready Credit, Home Loans, Loans, Deposits, Investments, Insurance, Islamic Banking. So this is basic need in any of bank in Malaysia. What is the differences between Citibank and the other bank? So let’s take an example of Citibank ready card. Citibank Ready Credit is an Unsecured Personal Overdraft with Checking Facility that allows you to access cash easily in any amount in excess of your credit balance up to the approved overdraft limit. With ready card, we can access our balance in credit card even if the amount has exceeds the limits. As a fact, Maybank did not have their owned ready card. Citibank ready card is benefit to their customer as it is convenient to pay, pay for amount that we use. Another characteristic of a marketing oriented business is making the product is available to customer at a righ t time and place. We already know about product and services of Citibank as Credit Cards, Ready Credit, Home Loans, Loans, Deposits, Investments, Insurance, Islamic Banking. Let’s take an example of Credit cards, before this Citibank only produced normal credit for their customer only. But now, Citibank produced a new credit card Citibank at work. Citibank at Work takes Citibanks world-class consumer banking products and services right to the doorstep of employees at their workplace. Apart from enjoying customized privileges across a wide range of products including banking accounts, credit cards, loans, deposits and insurance on-site, employees of these companies also have access to financial seminars and lifestyle events, tailored to their specific profiles and needs. By using Citibank at work, business company can do their job efficiently as they have their own business credit card. Q3. Explain four elements of the marketing concept and relate your answer with Citibank case study. FOUR ELEMENTS OF MARKETING ORIENTED ORGANIZATION Production Concept is a concept where goods are produced without taking into consideration the choices or tastes of your customers. It is one of the earliest marketing concepts where goods were just produced on the belief that they will be sold because consumers need them. It holds that customers will prefer products that are widely available and inexpensive. Manager focusing on this concept concentrate on achieving high production efficiency, low cost, and mass distribution. From my opinion, production concept emphasize on distribution of product. This type of concept are easier to use. Based on the case study, Citibank provided more credit card for their customer. Each customer could have more than one credit card. Product Concept holds that consumers will favor those products that offer the most quality, performance, or innovative features. Managers focusing on this concept concentrate on making superior products and improving them over time. They assume that buyers admire well-made products and can appraise quality and performance. However, these managers are sometimes caught up in a love affair with their product and do not realize what the market needs. Related to the case study, Citibank improved their product to satisfy customer need. Before this, customer got problem to use their credit card where credit card can be used for loan only. But after an improvement, Citibank come out with Citibank Premier Miles card, Platinum, Citi business, Air-Asia Citibank gold. Next elements use is selling concept. It holds that consumers and businesses if left alone, will ordinarily not buy enough of the selling company’s product. Selling concept also is an idea in marketing that if customers are left to themselves, they will not make the effort to buy a companys products. Therefore, it dictates, companies must be aggressive in pushing their sales. Based on my opinion, if company want to sell their product by using selling concept, they have to be aggressive in promoting their product. Not like the older ways where they promote their product by using agents. As for the Citibank case study, nowadays they advertise their product through internet and media more efficiently. Marketing concept is a business philosophy that combines above three business orientation. It holds that the key to achieving it’s organizational goals consists of company being more effective than competitors in creating, delivering, and communicating customer value to it’s selected target customers. These three philosophies are the product, selling, and marketing philosophies. Even though each philosophy has a particular time when it was dominant, a philosophy did not die with the end of its era of dominance. In fact, all three philosophies are being used today. The best way to meet the organizations goals is also by meeting customer needs and wants. The marketing concepts emphasis is to understand the customers before designing and producing a product for them. With the customers wants and needs incorporated into the design and manufacture of the product, sales and profit goals are far more likely to be met. What are Citibank do to satisfy their customer needs based on marketing concept is they make swot analysis to know what can be done to attract more customer in Citibank. Citibank (2009) has mention that their customers can have their banking activities in the Islamic principles. This not only able attracts more customer but Citibank are show that they understand their customer need in the daily banking activities. This principle have apply in Citibank branch in Malaysia. â€Å"What are the reasons behind the recent growth in Islamic finance? One is the strong demand from a large number of immigrant and non immigrant Muslims for Sharia-compliant financial services and transactions.† (Low chee hua, 2010) In order to compete in the rising of the demand of Islamic Banking, Citibank has introduced the Islamic Banking to their customers. So basically, marketing concept is satisfy customer problem and solved it by looking of what customer need. The societal marketing concept was an offshoot of the marketing concept wherein an organization believes in giving back to the society by producing better products targeted towards society welfare. Some have questioned whether the marketing concept is an appropriate philosophy in an age of environmental deterioration, resource shortages, explosive population growth, world hunger and poverty, and neglected social services. The marketing concept possibily sidesteps the potential conflicts among consumer wants. Citibank also take part in their societal marketing. Citibank became a major sponsor of the Sydney Swans in 2005, who is play in the AFL. The marketing concept is about matching a companys capabilities with customer wants. This matching process takes place in what is called the marketing environment. Businesses do not undertake marketing activities alone. They face threats from competitors, and changes in the political, economic, social and technological environment. All these factors have to be taken into account as a business tries to match its capabilities with the needs and wants of its target customers. An organisation that adopts the marketing concept accepts the needs of potential customers as the basis for its operations. Success is dependent on satisfying customer needs. So basically, Citibank use marketing concept to attract more customer to use their services. One of the techniques used is credit card promotion such as Instant Rewards at Shell, Domino’s pizza, Samsung S3, Asia web direct. Before this, if customer wants to pay bill or loan they have to go to Citibank. But nowadays, they upgrade their system to online banking so that customer can pay instantly and reduce waste time. Q4. Provide an indication of the likely costs and benefits to Citibank case study in adapting a marketing approach. In Citibank, there are many advantages and disadvantages of a marketing approach. Customer Satisfaction In customer satisfaction, it refers to which a product’s perceived performance matches a buyer’s expectation. It is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. We can see based on their services of Citibank do for their customer. In Malaysia, Even the Citibank atm machine is less than the other bank, but their services to customer is good. Citibank will try their best to solve problem of customer credit card so that they will not lose their customer. Customer Care Customer care is a phrase that is used to describe the process of taking care of our customers in a positive manner. The term is used in place of complaint handling due to its positive focus, and is a reminder that customer satisfaction is a priority. Related to Citibank case study, they care about their customer. we can see that Citibank provide customer services so they will know any problem of customer faced. There is a few customer having problem regarding Citibank delay card. As banks are losing their customer fast, they are coming up with different strategies to retain their customers. ‘When/where was the last time you made the transaction with the card?’; I told him I don’t remember anymore since I have a few cards and I have not been using Citibank Card for a while. He insisted me to answer that question before he can proceed, and I insisted I that I don’t remember and suggested him to ask another verification question†. (Kclau, 2010) Quality of services and products. In company, they must have their own quality of services and products. It is designed to constantly improve the quality of their products, services and marketing concept. In Citibank, their main objective at Citibank is to provide reliable and quality services to our customers. Our customer service policy has the overall aim of ensuring that our customers are provided with services which are reliable and best suited to their needs. They have to manage and ensure that quality control standards for services are met. Citibank also have online credit card services so they can login anytime, anywhere to view their account details and activities. DISADVANTAGES OF CITIBANK There is one reason and one reason only that it’s so easy to get a store credit card: they are confident that they will make money off of customer purchase. The interest charged on store cards, as compared to bank credit cards, is at least several percentage points higher and often as much as 10-15% higher. As well, annual fees or sign-up fees may run twice as much as those of standard credit cards. Means that, Citibank charged is higher than the other banks in Malaysia, so that’s why only businessman use Citibank. It involved high cost in retaining the customers. And also, the target market for Citibank is higher because they only target their customer on businessman. CONCLUSION As overall conclusion, Citibank is one of the multinational companies that successful in online based financial institution that operate in Malaysia. Citibank able to understand the culture of local citizen (promo Islamic Banking Services), able to gain their market share by solved the geographical problem (online banking services), able to cost cutting by promo the online banking culture to their customer, and able to compete with the local financial institution. We know that Citibank is really cares about their customer and try their best to satisfy customer needs and wants. Based on this concept of marketing, Citibank now are well known in all around the world. Although it is a foreign company but Citibank is a good model to local financial institution to learn their strategies to increase their competitive capability to compete in the global market.

Access Project :: essays research papers

MS ACCESS PROJECT The MS Access project is group oriented to allow individuals to exchange ideas and learn from each other. You will build an Access database to store stock, student, and investment information with data downloaded from the Internet and copied from other sources. Each group member starts with $10,000 in imaginary money which will be invested after the closing of the market on Friday 2/18/05, and will be sold at the closing bell on Friday 3/11/05. Each group member must invest all the group money in 2 different S&P 100 stocks. You cannot invest less than $1,000 per stock. The group that has earned the most money (or lost the least) at the end of the period will receive an extra 5 points for each group member. Group Composition Each group will consist of 4 to 5 members of same responsibilities that will equally share the workload. You will create your own groups in class. Each member of the group will be assigned the same grade unless otherwise shown in peer-evaluation. When it comes to peer-evaluation, the total group points will be divided among the members in your group, in which case you will be assigned a grade that will reflect your evaluation. This grade can be higher or lower than the group grade. Table Definitions and Table Data †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Build a new database named MIS175G000.MDB, where 000 is your assigned group number. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Import all data from SP100Stocks worksheet in the SP100Stocks.xls Excel workbook into a new table in your database. The new table will be named Stocks. The primary key for this table is the Symbol field. After the Stocks table has been created, change the size of the Symbol field to 6 Text characters, the Stock Name field to 40 characters, and the EPS (Earnings Per Share) field to a currency with 3 decimal places. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Build a new table named Groups with the following specifications: Field Name   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Data Type   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Key GroupNumber  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Text (4)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Yes GroupName   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Text (50)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   GroupMeetings  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Memo   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Create a new record in the Groups table with your assigned group number, a group name of your choice and, in the GroupMeetings field, type the days and hours you have decided to meet. †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Build a new table named Members with the following specifications: Field Name   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Data Type   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Key GroupNumber  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Text (4)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   MemberID  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  AutoNumber   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Yes FirstName   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Text(15)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   LastName  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Text(18)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   EmailAddress  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Hyperlink  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Picture  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  OLE Object  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Major  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Text (5)  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   PhoneNumber  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Text  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   †¢Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  You must define a mask for the Phone Number field.

The Three Paths of Salvation in the Bhagavad-Gita

Bhagavad Gita through the Lord Krishna primarily advocates three spiritual paths towards attaining spiritual salvation, namely Karma Yoga, Jhana Yoga and Bhakti Yoga. The online Indian Purans describes these three paths as follows: Karma Yoga, the as the path of action; Bhakti Yoga as the path of love; and Jnana or Dhyana as the path of wisdom (www. indianet. zone, 2008). The Three Paths for Salvation Karma Yoga is articulated by the Lord Krishna to Arjuna when he exhorted the latter, â€Å"Perform your prescribed duty, for doing so is better than not working. One cannot maintain one’s physical body without working†. On what manner or under what circumstance that work should be done, the Lord Krishna further elaborated, â€Å"Work done as a sacrifice to Vishnu has to be performed, otherwise work causes bondage in this material world. Therefore, O son of Kunti, perform your prescribe duties for his satisfaction, and in that way you will always remain free from bondage (Prabhupada, p. 94-95)†. This exhortation is for the path seeker to dedicate his mundane works to the Lord Vishnu. The fruits of his labor should not be served for sense gratification. Dhyana Yoga, calls for one to possess the proper knowledge to know the path of right wisdom. The knowledge that is referred here is transcendental knowledge. Krishna referred to this in reverently, â€Å"In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge. Such knowledge is the mature fruit of mysticism. And one who has become accomplished in the practice of devotional service enjoys this knowledge within himself in the due course of time (Prabhupada, p. 168)†. What is referred here is spiritual understanding. It is the conclusion of the premise that the cause of our suffering and bondage is ignorance. This is the result of devotional service to Krishna. One finds peace within himself in this self-realization â€Å"Just fix your mind upon Me, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and engage all your intelligence in Me. Thus you will live in me always, without a doubt (Prabhupada, p. 433)†. This statement of the Lord Krishna embodies the path of love or bhakti yoga. This is love through expression of devotional services as prescribed in the vedas. There is acceptance that there is love of god in the hearts of everyone, many of these are impure by material association. One has to free his or her senses to be a true devotee. Conclusion All these paths ultimately lead to the supreme state of being. Nothing is indicated as being superior or more prominent among the three Paths. The Path of Wisdom or the dhyana or jhanna path could be in a bit in an elevated plane than bhakti and karma since Khrishna himself has described it in the indicated quote in superlative terms, â€Å"In this world, there is nothing so sublime and pure as transcendental knowledge. . . â€Å". What is being imparted in the Bhagavad Gita is for the three paths to serve as options to man. Through each, one may ultimately trod the other or perhaps not at all. Yet any of the three will lead to Nirvana.

Travel Writing

The reluctance to enter this climatic journey was brought upon the experiences of other riders. The facial expressions and comments I was hearing as people exited the ‘Mechanical Emotion Drawer' was unbelievable. The excruciating pain being hidden behind anxiousness and expectation. Every small, timide step forward added to the suspense making me want to break free of my personal pride. The source of my anxiety is in the U.S.A, where they are renowned for making the impossible, possible and reaching new heights in technology. Being a British Asian (Living in England) the creativity and imagination for producing the best inspires me, just like what I was about to experience. As I looked into the skyline of this masterpiece park, one ‘Godzilla' like stature dominated my view. It stood tall, bright red in colour and dominant across this sea of other great participants. This added to my sense of fear and I began to realise that anticipation would soon turn into reality. As I queued impatiently along with four of my fearless cousins, constant screaming and shouting was heard. This was coming above my head, as this piece of high-tech metal flew at a great pace. As I approached the end of my queue, clear, loud and precise instructions came from speakers beside me. ‘Pregnant woman, people with heart problems, back problems should not enter this†¦' As I heard this message , I started to question why this announcement was read out. The message continued, read in a firm manner. ‘This is due to the high speed and great heights this †¦' After hearing this I shut out the rest of the instructions. At this pacific moment, I felt, dare I say it, scared. All I could hear was the laughter and the normality of the conversations my fellow occupants of the seats that we would soon sit in. My personal pride and respect was brought into doubt when my silence was questioned as fear and cowardliness, but as stupid as it sounds I quickly dismissed these suggestions. I used reverse psychology tactics and questioned back, ‘Your frightened, that's why your asking!' Clever eh! My time eventually came and the automatic barriers opened before my glaring eyes. I hurried forward, this was to show my unconditional confidence I had. I sat on these comfortable, leather, soft seats and then only I realised one key point. There's no way back from here! As soon as everyone were seated my legs were lifted slowly behind me. I was literally lying down and, believe me, I was as nervous as going to open some important exam results. Safety padding came slowly down from above me and escape was impossible. This horror machine commenced and all you could hear was the screeching between the contact of the track and each individual open cabin. I felt somewhat relieved to have a secure seat and the thought of me turning back was out of the question. Twisting, turning, looping movements were what I was expecting as we were taken up on top of the skyline. I began to question my real respect, for why I come on death defying stunts?