Life Vs Money Vs Death

Just a note before you begin - the information completely pertains to Life Insurance in India. It may or may not be similar to the system in other countries.

DISCLAIMER: I am not an expert and neither am I an exceptionally good investor. I just do what I can and I have jotted down what I know in terms I am familiar with. So, take it with a pinch of salt. And any suggestions/corrections/criticism welcome :)

Who needs Life Insurance and why?
Anyone with a regular income needs Life Insurance. Here is why:
- To make up for liabilities (could be anything from a housing loan to taking care of dependents)
- To get a tax rebate
- To have a form of investment for the future.
However it should be kept in mind that the primary purpose of Life Insurance is to make up for the financial deficit that could be caused by one's sudden demise and it is not intended to purely be an investment.

What terms are often used?
SA - Sum assured: This is the sum paid by the Insurance Provider on the demise of the policy holder.
PA or PLA - Principal Life Assured: The policy holder or the person whose life is insured
SLA - Spouse Life Assured: Spouse of the policy holder or the person whose life is insured
Guaranteed Return: The SA is usually guaranteed (usually known as Guaranteed Death Benefit). Some schemes may also offer a percentage of the SA as a guaranteed return i.e. irrespective of how your premium is invested, you will get this amount (usually known as Guaranteed Survival Benefit).

You can also see this in the picture (there are pseudo numbers generated for the sake of clarity). Green indicates the Guaranteed Return while the red indicates the non-guaranteed return for two cases (6% and 10% ROI) based on how the investments perform. This policy starts when the PLA is 28 years old and shows that the premiums are to be paid for 16 years. The death benefit is valid until the age of 85.

What are the two common forms of Life Insurance (LI)?
1. Term Life Insurance
2. Permanent Life Insurance

What is Term Insurance (TI)?
Term Insurance or Term Life Insurance is purely a death benefit scheme i.e the policy pays out if and only it the policy holder expires during the coverage period. The payments are at fixed rate and coverage period is limited. The major difference between this and Permanent Life Insurance is that the latter pays out a sum (with accrued bonus, as applicable) after a period of time, even if the policy holder is alive i.e besides the SA there is also a return on Investment(ROI). For this reason, the premiums in case of Permanent Life Insurance are considerably higher than in case of the Term Insurance.

Insurance agents generally will not recommend TI because the commission they get out of it is negligible.

What is Permanent Life Insurance (PLI)?
As explained before, the policy accrues cash value and there is a payout at the end of the policy term besides the SA.

When is a good time to get Life Insurance?
As soon as one starts paying taxes (aka having a regular income). Exception: If one is a student and one takes a bank loan of 10 Lakhs for one’s studies, then one should have a Life Insurance to cover this liability. This means one should have a policy with a SA of a minimum of 10 lakhs (ideally, 12-15 lakhs to account for interest accrued on one’s educational loan during the period of one’s studies). In this case, since the insurance is purely to cover liability, one opts for what is known as term insurance. There are no returns but the premium for such a high SA is very less (roughly Rs.1000 per annum assuming the policy holder is 21 years old). This is necessary because in case of an unfortunate accident, the family, already going through a trauma due to the loss, need not have to deal with the repayment of the educational loan as well.

What is the minimum amount of Life Insurance needed?
There are 4 basic rules of thumb (from what I have seen/heard/learnt):
1. Income plus expenses rule: This rule suggests that an individual needs insurance equal to five times your gross annual income, plus the total of basic expenses like housing or car loans, personal debt, child's education, etc. This is only in the case of the person being the sole bread winner with no other form of income or property. Ideally, the amount should be sufficient to cover one’s financial responsibilities (care of dependents) and should be at least twice the annual income

2. Premiums as percentage of income: By this rule, payment of insurance premium depends on disposable income. Remember, only a portion of your savings can go towards this since you should have other forms of investment. At the same time, commit an appropriate percentage of your income for paying the life insurance premium. Care should be taken here because non-payment of even one of the premiums can result in the policy becoming invalid.

3. Capital fund rule: This rule suggests that if you need 2 lakhs p.a. for your family needs, and assuming you do not have any other income-generating assets, you may like to create a capital fund of 25 lakhs which can yield 2 lakhs annual income @ 8% p.a. Therefore a life insurance policy of 25 lakhs.

4. Liability rule: The SA should be at least equal to an individual’s liability. For example, If you have a housing loan of 20 Lakhs and if you are the only borrower then the SA should be at least 20 lakhs.

Is medical check-up needed for Life Insurance?
This depends obviously on the amount insured, the age of the person and the type of insurance. A medical check-up is mandatory for TI (Exceptions being children or youngsters). In case of PLI, normally SA of less than 10 Lakhs will not required a medical check-up.

Is Life Insurance an investment?
Yes and No

No because it is principally intended to reduce financial pressure on the dependents on the person’s demise i.e to counter liability, as explained before.
Yes because by choosing a good scheme, there can be a ROI of 10-15%

What kind of risk-return ratio is advisable?
Since LI is more of a protection than an investment, high risk is not preferable. However, one should keep in mind that these policies run for 15-20 years and over this period, the risk-return ratio will stabilize (irrespective of momentary fluctuations)

What other features are included or should be taken care of?
- Check if the Insurance is International, i.e. if benefits change depending on the location of the PLA’s demise
- Check if there are premium waiver benefits in case of dismemberment and/or accident. For example, if the PLA meets with an accident and cannot take on employment, is there an option for premium waiver? This is generally not offered to NRIs and is restricted to the accidents taking place in India but when the PLA moves back to India he/she can add this option.
- Check if the premium allocation and fund management charges (a fee is charge for processing your policy as well for premiums paid) are reasonable
- Check your eligibility for tax rebate
- Check if partial withdrawal option is available – A portion of the amount + accrued bonus will be paid to the PLA (This will be inevitably mean some loss in the ROI but can help in case of emergencies).

Are Life Insurance and Pension Plan the same?
Not necessarily

In case of LI, depending on the scheme and its life period, one can get a lumpsum amount when one retires but this is not the intention behind a LI. In case of a pension plan, one can either opt for a 'lumpsum amount' (I think this term is of desi origin :D) or a monthly pension and these schemes will usually also have death and dismemberment benefits.

Are nominations enough to claim money?
No, Nominations just indicate a person who is responsible for receiving the policy sum (or benefits) and is not necessarily the owner of it, according to the Insurance act of 1938 (I went crazy trying to read this document !) i.e. if a father's policy lists one of the sons as a nominee, he does not necessarily have claim to the policy sum on his father's demise. The other son can contest this in court unless there is a will that clearly explains that the nominee's claim. So if you have enough investments and want to avoid a family feud, make a will !

Other tips?
- Do some homework about the company– look at the history and reliability of the company, their financial record, where they invest in, stability of investments (you would be amazed at how much information google can generate on this topic !)
- Do some homework about the scheme – Many schemes are withdrawn from time to time even by companies long standing in the Insurance industry. So check what financial experts have to say about a scheme.
- Do not look at the ROI alone – Just because the policy ‘predicts’ that the amount in your account along with the bonus accrued will result in 20 lakhs at the end of 15 years is not enough to choose the scheme. Remember the inflation! Assuming an inflation rate of 4%, this would probably be worth only 10 lakhs (or even less) at the end of policy period !!
- Diversify your portfolio – When thinking about ROI, consider multiple options (Fixed deposits, Mutual Funds, Shares, Real Estate etc.). Do not use just insurance. Even too much Insurance can be fatal (pun unintended) !
- Above all, inform the nominee about your policy and make them aware of the benefits. There is no point in doing anything when no one can use the policy or is even aware that one exists. Also review the policies from time to time. For example, Marriage may call for a change of nominee - from parents to spouse or your liabilities may increase.

So, Be smart and let your spouse/parents/dependents know that you are :)

Are you Wazing ?

I saw this extremely interesting video on youtube and then checked out some of the companies. One of them that caught my attention was Waze.

Waze is a social mobile application to provide live traffic updates, map generation/updates from driver generated reports and other information (like a hazard or a road construction etc.). It is 100% user generated content and relies on drivers who download this application to their phones and run it while driving. By tracking GPS points from multiple drivers, the basic road network can be constructed. Although most information is provided by the ‘passive’ drivers, users can also take an active role by, say, reporting map errors or recording new roads (all by simple clicks in the application) and those who want to participate even more can then go to the waze website and fix map errors as well (yup, power of user-generated content strikes again !)

What is different in Waze is that it is not a turn-by-turn navigation application (many attributes like street names, traffic lights, speed limits may be absent) but it is for those who commute everyday to work or drive the same route often and helps them get there faster since the keyword here is ‘live updates’. For now the Waze community, especially in Europe, is very small but like all user communities, this one will grow too – people will do anything to avoid traffic (except using public transport, ofcourse), won’t they ?

If you want to know more, check out the guided tour - It is less than 10 minutes and provides a good overview. Waze has been nominated for both the ‘Best GPS Navigation App’ and ‘Best Use of Location Services’, we should wait and see if they are going to win.

From Handshake to Hugs

I got a request from SK, a fellow blogger, that I should write about the cultural shock that Indians get when coming to Germany. I think this post is a lot less relevant these days with westernization moving at an exponential pace in India. Since this is confined mostly to the cities and there are others who come to Germany, I think some of this probably still makes sense (or it simply makes for an interesting read :D). Of course the culture shock can take varying forms, depending on the sex, background, personality and the overall mindset of a person.

I am going to begin by listing some of my experiences, and I am going to be as frank as I can (as is permissible in a public forum). It should be noted that I came here in Feb 2003 and that was the time when MNCs had not ventured into India in full force, take-away pizzas were rare, dating was unheard of (and those who did date did it like the CIA and guarded their secret like the FBI) and there were no ‘educational’ movies like Dhoom 2 or Race or Kandhasamy to learn from.

It was my second day in Germany. As I was sitting with a bunch of my classmates, 2 Spanish students joined us. They introduced themselves as newcomers and began by shaking hands with everyone. As the first one approached me, I put out my hand (a little reluctantly, albeit with a big smile) and before I knew it, he gave me a hug!! I was still in shock when the second guy gave me a hug too! To me it was completely unexpectant and in fact, quite bewildering. Then they sat down and began merrily chatting with all of us.

Physical contact: The first thing that bothered me was the hitherto-unused-to physical contact – handshakes, hugs and sometimes even a kiss on the cheek or on the hand. Although I have been born and brought up in Chennai with a number of male friends (some of them really close that they meet my parents now and then even when I am not in town), both from school and college, there was somehow no physical contact in the friendship. I have lots of cousins and I am close with them and excepting those, physical contact with guys was completely foreign to me.

It was my first month in Germany. I was in the S-Bahn (local train) and the only one in a 4-seater, with 2 seats facing 2 others. In one of the stops, a young couple boarded the train and sat in the seats exactly opposite to me. As soon as they sat down, they began kissing vehemently. I was completely embarrassed and didn’t know where I should look since they were in my line of sight, I looked outside the window for a while and stared at the train ceiling for a while and all along, I had this creepy sensation of two people being tongue-tied next to me. At one point, I could take it no longer and so I moved away to a different part of the train. When I mentioned this to one of my friends, he said, ‘Nee james bond movies parthadhu illaya??’ and I retorted ‘sure, but ivalo close-upla, ivalo livea naan edhuvum parthadhe illa’!!!

Public displays: It is very common to see couples here holding hands, hugging, kissing etc. in public places (right from a shopping mall to an elevator – no exceptions!). This has embarrassed me quite a few times but I slowly learnt to live with it or rather ignore it. Over time, I have grown up to an extent that public displays of love sometimes make me smile. What bothers me most is when there is a public display of lust. I saw a lady step down from a train, and nearly run to hug her husband and kids on the platform – this falls in the former category and is heart-warming while seeing 2 teenagers lip-locked in front of my building is not!

I was waiting to withdraw cash from an ATM and in the queue, there was a desi guy and ahead of him was a German. When the German got his turn and was at the machine, the desi guy stood very close behind him (like we do in queues in India fearing that if we left a gap, someone would come and fill it !) and the German turned and stared at him a couple of times and finally said “Könnten Sie bitte Abstand halten” i.e. “Can you please maintain some distance?”

Personal space: People need their space be it a queue or public transport. I have noticed people standing even when there are seats left in a 4-seater since they prefer standing to sitting in close quarters with strangers. In general, no one breaks a queue anywhere, so people maintain a good distance from each other.

I was in Amsterdam for a weekend and as I turned around a corner, I almost ran into two people kissing. I was flustered and looked up to apologize, but the two blonde men (yes, men) hadn’t even noticed me !

I was on a work trip to Canada and although I was traveling alone, I had a spacious suite with a living room, dining room and a huge bedroom with twin beds. One of my colleagues who was leaving Canada that night missed her flight and had to spend the night. While she was thinking of hotel rooms, I suggested that she stay with me instead of spending money. She happily agreed and when she came to spend the night, she had brought her own sleeping bag and slept in the living room although I told her more than once that she can sleep in one of the beds.

Same sex interaction: Interaction between similar sexes is pushed to extremes here. When on the one side, there are same-sex couples, on the other side men are totally against any physical contact with other men like hugging or having one’s arm over the other’s shoulder and they are completely shocked when they see desis do all this (I had a couple of people, who have seen guys sharing a bicycle – doubles – ask me if they are homosexual). In case of women, there are some who would hug and kiss (or rub cheeks, I really do not know the right way!) when they greet and some who shy away from it.

I was in the University when one of the guys who worked with me under the same professor as a RA (research assistant) asked me if I would have coffee with him. I was under the impression that coffee meant ‘just coffee’ until he had this sheepish grin on his face.

I was coming home after a b’day party and as I was waiting in the train station, an unknown guy approached me and asked if I was interested to have some drinks with him and some “fun”. I pointed to the ring in my finger and I said that I am married (although I wasn’t then, the ring is sure helpful!) and not interested. He walked away.

Accosting people and dating: Men accosting women either for dates or ‘otherwise’ is quite common. The key is to assess the situation and react accordingly without going into panic mode. Being accosted by a drunken gang in a station at night is obviously much different than being asked out by a guy at work. In one way, I feel this is better than being gawked at all the time. People generally take ‘no’ well too.

It was my first summer here and it was extremely hot (touched 40 deg C on one day). My apartment in the university was just behind the woods and also had considerable stretches of greenery on the front. Women in bikins and men in trunks (Irrespective of their figures, all people who sun-bathed would be clad in similar costume) sun bathing was something that happened everyday. I did get used to seeing it pretty quickly but what always bothered me was some desis and people from other countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, staring open-mouthed at these people.

It was my first time to the University swimming pool. When I went to the women’s bathroom, to take a shower, I was in for a shock. There were no curtains, no partitions – it was just a huge room with a number of showers and everyone in there was naked. I was the only one showering with a swim suit on and excepting a couple who gave me a weird look, no one else cared.

‘Freedom’ w.r.t clothing: I need not elaborate on this. What one must understand is that everyone has his/her own opinion as to what and what not to wear. This is almost akin to vegetarianism for me. While I do not eat meat, I do not make faces when someone next to me does. So be yourself and let others do what they do. People here are used to seeing women in skimpy clothes, so someone wearing a swim suit does not attract as much attention as it would in India. While this works to the advantage of desi girls, guys get in trouble ! For guys (and sometimes, even girls), sight adichufying is different from gaping at someone. Alavodu jolli valamaga vazhga !

Many universities like the University of Stuttgart, offer integration programs that discuss various aspects of the Cultural shock, not only to arriving desis but also to Germans who have to interact with them.

It all comes down to living and learning and giving people the benefit of doubt. Do some research on dos and donts and exercise discretion and you should be fine. At the end of it all, you would definitely have some interesting stuff to share like I do :). But, please, please, bear in mind that while in Germany, you are an Indian ambassador and anything/everything you do will go into a German's definition of an Indian. So do your bit to make this definition better and not the other way around.

For more information about ''what is typical in Germany'', read this post.

SK, let me know if there is anything else you want me to elaborate on.

PS: Finally, the cultural shock I had in Nov 2005 when I came to India after 2.75 years was much bigger than the shock I had when I first came to Germany ! Maybe I should write about that too...

Christmas Shopping in Jan ?!

Today I got an email that said ''Nur noch 347 Tage bis Weihnachten'' i.e. ''Just 347 Days left until Christmas'' and it urged me to buy something and use their 5 euro gift certificate - enna kodumai saravanan ?! When people are still wishing each other ''Happy New Year'', urging them to shop for the upcoming Christmas is just marketing tactics at its preposterousest (another contribution to the English language :D) !! Well...it did catch my attention, so they score, but since its absurd, I won't buy anything, so effectively the marketing team should come up with something better.

Its sad that Christmas is being exploited so much. Most Christians would tell you that Easter is important than Christmas from a religious perspective and its only the gifts that's making Christmas score over it and businesses are taking undue advantage of it.

I saw a news piece in the CNN about how Christmas has gained popularity in Turkey. There is this journalist going around asking everyone what they like about Christmas and its almost inevitably the same reply ''Santa Claus'' and then when you see ''Santa Claus'' he is either advertising a coffee machine or a vacation.....paavam Santa ! Commercialization simply is gobbling up everything...why cant they at least leave Santa in peace for a while ?!

I fell in love....

with Salamanca....

I envy the students in Salamanca. Not only do they get to study in one of the oldest Universities in Europe but they get to have a coffee in the Plaza Mayor, the most beautiful city square in Europe. They can stroll through the Plaza Anaya while discussing lectures and exams, they have the Casa la Conches as their library, they can walk up to the top of the Cathedral of Santa Maria on a summer afternoon to enjoy a view of the city or have a drink with their friends on the Roman Bridge.......its true that one always cherishes student life but student life in Salamanca, I guess, would be unbelievable for a lot of other reasons too !

It was drizzling when we were in Salamanca and even with that rain, I was awestruck seeing the Plaza Mayor (completed in 1755). It was one of those times I regretted not having the expertise to take a panoramic photo. I did use the ''stitch'' option in my camera to create one but it didn't come out as well as I expected. Still, I kept walking to and fro, trying to take in all the beauty.

This is where all the life of the city can be seen. If you look at the map, all roads lead to the Plaza Mayor. We walked into a cafe for some regular Spanish breakfast - churros con chocolate (you dunk bread sticks in thick rich chocolate) and coffee, while I ordered hot water for my green tea :D (Ashok said un thollai thangala, everytime I did that :D) !

I loved the Cathedral (from the 12th century) not only for its architecture but also for the tourist-friendly design that allowed visitors to explore every part of it, something I have never before seen in any other Cathedral in Europe. There are steps that give access not only to the top but also allows visitors to view the inside of the church in great detail. The altarpiece, from the 15th century, was magnificent and is considered one of the most important art works in Spain. It has 53 panels depicting the life of Christ.

The monastery of San Esteban was the next on our list and I really liked the courtyard with its orange trees and walkway of arches.

Then we walked around the University of Salamanca (its everywhere by the way) and finally concluded our visit by walking across the Roman bridge (is supposed to be from 1st century AD). The best way to explore the whole place is on foot and the visit should last until the night where all these monuments under the dark blue moonlight sky, look even more astounding.

There are many more places to see, one can probably spend a whole week here, looking at each one of them, understanding the history and walking through time to see all these things take shape and form.

It made us feel that we should move to Salamanca, take Spanish lessons and while Ashok nourished his love for history, I could take up flamenco lessons. And then, reality hit us....families, responsibilities and all the rest of it.....oh..well...it was nice for as long as it lasted......

Flaming Flamenco

There is almost nothing more Spanish than watching Flamenco in the most authentic region, Granada. Flamenco, music and dance, traces its origins to Gypsy, Arabic and Spanish music. The Gypsies of Granada are considered the true practitioners of this art. My surprise at how some of the Gypsies looked almost desi was answered by Ashok - they apparently migrated from India to Europe almost a thousand years ago.

Sacremonte, in Granada, is where all the famous flamenco shows are held. The hotel in Granada itself will have suggestions but we had friends who recommended a few shows for us, one of them being Las Cueves de Los Tarantos. A flamenco show typically starts around 11 pm and lasts for an hour.

Our tour started at 9 where we were picked up from the hotel, taken for a small tour in the Albayzin area which provides a perfect view to the Alhambra and houses the largest Mosque in Granada (the Alhambra deserves a separate post)! As we walked through the extremely narrow streets, our guide in what she called the ''Gypsy english'' explained about hammams, the arabic baths (Hamam soap has its origin in this arabic word) and showed us the path in the streets where the spent water from the baths was allowed to flow.

After enjoying the view of the Alhambra and the city itself, we proceeded to the cave, where the show was to be held. The traditional drink served would be Sangria, a kind of wine with fruit pieces in it (another reason why these shows have a pick-up service; no drunken driving) but there are obviously other non alcoholic choices one can opt for.

As we were waiting, we saw a middle aged stout man, a younger man, a guitarist and 2 dancers walk to the stage in the frilly falmenco skirts. The guitarist began with a very familiar gypsy track and suddenly there was a really high pitched voice through the air and I was totally surprised by how much breath control the stout man had (reminded me of SPB) and as he went on with something like an alapanai, one of the girls began tapping. Slowly both the music and dance gained momentum until they reached a fiery pace and when the girl finally finished, the applause reverberated in that small cave and this was just a beginning....

This was followed by a very passionate and slow number by another girl that completely moved me and then the 2 girls joined together for another feverish number. All along, the young man, completely dressed in black, did nothing but clap and while I was thinking that he had the easiest job, he started tapping. Now is the time to confess that I have taken a few tap dancing lessons and I know how difficult it can be to tap and turn and do everything at a fast pace. He did it all and by the time he was done, he was red and completely drenched in sweat and everyone was left open mouthed. The three of them finally did a peppy number highlighting the flamenco guitar - its exciting and extremely accurate rhythm, before they took a bow and had a standing ovation.

I was now confused, the show was for 1 hr and only 30 min had gone by and then it dawned on me that there was going to be another group. I was a little disappointed when I saw 5 elderly people walking towards the stage. I assumed that they were probably founders of this establishment and still insisted on performing but their age would definitely not cooperate with the energy the dance required. I was right about the former but bang wrong about the latter! If anything, there were leaps and bounds (literally!) better than the first group. The highlight of the show was the eldest lady of the group (she looked frail and would be atleast 60), who not only tapped with her feet but also with her hands using finger cymbals (something like the jalrah we use)...muy bien !!

The second time I got a chance to see the flamenco was in Madrid. Google search or the hotel you stay in will tell you the top places in the city that boasts of a flamenco show in every corner. We went to the ''Cafe de Chinitas'' and were glad we went there. While the show in Granada was simple and raw, the one in Madrid was grand and polished (I would compare the former to carnatic music and the latter to light music).Similar to the group in Granada, this one had both young and old dancers. While the younger ones danced with passion, the older ones sang and clapped with equal enthusiasm. The act was also funny at times and they included a ''Happy B'day'' for one of our little guests who had his b'day that night. There were 2 female dancers (one reminded me of Actress Sukanya) who tapped with such fervour that it was impossible to take one's eyes off it and another man, dressed as a matador who did equally well !

Amigos, If you are ever in Southern Spain, go watch the Flamenco, its completely worth the 20 euro you spend.

Señor/Señora, If you are ever in Spain, go watch the Flamenco, its completely worth watching it even if its not in its most authentic form.

¡que lo pases bien! Adiós!

Mad...Mad...Madrid

Before I post about the various places in Spain, I think I should list the funny/interesting/bizarre experiences we had in Madrid.

- Baggage belt: We landed in Madrid and were patiently waiting at the ''From Munich'' baggage belt for our luggage and when we were getting slightly impatient we noticed some hulchul at another baggage belt. There was our luggage in the ''from Valencia'' baggage belt ! Apparently, our luggage is from Valencia even though we are from Munich :D !

- Metro numbers: Metro is the tram network in Madrid. It is a maze and neither the directions nor the train numbers help too much. Train lines are numbered 1-11. You would assume that when waiting for Line 11, there will be a train with the same number....well, you assume too much....train (numbered) 15 arrives and I am frantically looking at the signs, map everything and there is no train 15. The same thing happens when I wait for Line 4 and train 11 shows up and finally I understood that they number the trains either for the fun of it or based on its age or whatever but definitely not according to the route ! enna kodumai Saravanan ?! What I found even funnier were the maps inside the trains. I entered Line 4 and right in front of me is the route for Line 5, I am completely confused, I turn around and find maps for Lines 9 and 10 too and then it finally dawns on me that all trains have maps of all routes besides the one huge metro map that shows the whole network ! Can you spot the number in the pic ? Thats actually line 1!

- Metro temperatures: It was 9 deg C outside and as soon as we entered the metro, we realized that the heater was running at full strength and removed our jackets. It was getting hotter by the minute until we almost started sweating ! The next day, it was -4 deg C outside and we were relieved to step into the metro and lo, they chose that day to run the air conditioner at full strength....kadavule....we were literally freezing !

- ATM: Inserted the card, amount required and waited. Out came the card, the receipt that said ''cash withdrawn'' but unfortunately no cash !! Neither was there a contact number, nor was there anyone who could explain what happened. So hoping that the transaction was somehow not carried out (and that the ''non''withdrawn money was not debited from the account), we moved on to trying a different card. We later called the bank from the hotel room (since we did not have all info with us to check our account online) and were informed that if the details of transaction were given to the bank, they would ''try'' and get the money back if the amount was debited from the account...aha.....Later, after coming home, we checked the account and thankfully the amount debited had already been recredited...phew!

- Snacks Vending Machine: You know the routine right ? put in money, press the number and out pops the snack. We needed a water bottle (in counter 47). after inserting the money, everytime we pressed 47, a new number will appear - first it was 44 (I accused Ashok of pressing the wrong keys), then it was 46, then 48 and then back to 45 !! All these counters were luckily empty, otherwise God knows how many drinks we would have bought for one water bottle. You see the fateful machine in the pic !

- Green tea: Noone seems to have heard of green tea. The closest one was mint tea and that was avaliable in just one cafe. Since I was on a break from coffee, green tea was my only option. I went around ordering hot water and adding the dip green tea to it :D !

- Gym: We were in a 4-star hotel and the gym was in a dark alley away from the hotel and had one tread mill (that dint work), one rowing machine, one elliptical and 2 exercise bikes. Spaniards clearly are not fond of the Gym.

- Food: You ask for a vegetarian sandwich and you will get one with lettuce, tomatoes and lotsa egg and that is nearly the only vegetarian option you have, leaving out the pastries! And if you are a die-hard vegetarian who shys away from eggs, oh...well, you can forget about meals and live like a spartan ! Photo shows Ashok's breakfast :D ! To be fair, we did find one vegetarian place on the last day and I liked it so much (maybe because I was starved :D) that I have to dedicate a separate post for that life saviour !

Disclaimer: Those from Spain or Madrid, no offence meant. I totally loved Spain and you should wait a little longer for me to post about those experiences as well.