Opportunity Cost and it’s relevance

Something different to write upon starting with an easy yet fun topic, Opportunity Cost. So what’s it? 

Let’s say you are a neutral football fan and someone asks you to choose between Messi and Ronaldo, and you choose Ronaldo thinking he has a good physique. Good, but since you had one option and you choose Ronaldo, you lost the chance to choose Messi at that place. This loss in terms of Economics is called as Opportunity Cost, just like the popular dialogue - ‘I won, but at what cost?’, that cost is a concept called Opportunity Cost.

In terms of definitions, it is the loss of other alternatives, when one alternative is chosen. You can say it is a concept of deciding the best choice among all the alternatives present. It is a matter of benefits and sacrifice among the choices. 

Another example by the view of Economics- Say you have a degree from some B- School and also have some savings with you. You will have two choices, one you can do a job and have fixed income coming every month, two you can set up your business with your savings as the initial capital and have a source of income coming from it. So if you choose the later, you directly miss the opportunity to earn fixed income every month from that job. That ‘miss’ is the opportunity cost as it’s a loss. 

Just like every resource i.e land, money, time can have an alternative use out of it, every action, decision and method can have an associated opportunity cost to it. Opportunity Cost comes under the Microeconomics part which deals with the interests of individuals but an individual’s decision(s) can have a big effect on the whole system as well, Eg. A CEO taking a big merger decision which could affect the whole system/company (hypothetical one). This is the easy concept of Opportunity Cost and it’s existence in Practicality.

Well this is a very easy topic though, I said too much about it above as I love this concept 😁, maybe something complex next time. Cheers!

Part III - Jaisalmer/Sam

Thank You all for reading the previous parts and I hope you like this part! 

So after visiting Udaipur, next was 'The Golden City', Jaisalmer. After leaving Udaipur in the morning, on the way we visited SriNathji Temple, home to Lord Krishna in Gujrathi culture. The belief, those chants simply showed the unconditional love for God. Coming out, down there was a stall selling Thandai and Bhang so me and my brother just went there to try it in that intense heat only to know Bhaang being overrated. Later in the night we reached Sam(सैम), the place where actual Sand Dunes or Desert is found. On the way it was so lonely with no lights, no vehicles, nothing just dunes on the both sides and the best thing, Open Sky! With not many lights around, the night sky was clear and beautiful with stars shining to their best. We were going to stay in a Tent House situated in the dunes itself. After freshening up and having dinner, just around 11 PM I went out to see how the surrounding was, just to see actual 'Pin Drop' silence with no one awake around except those Camels. The next morning we had Camel Safari planned with two lovely Camels waiting there. The Sand Dunes were equally beautiful with the cold winds hitting all around. Sam is also the last place allowed for tourists in the state as some far west starts the India-Pakistan Border. Then we left back to Jaisalmer City which is highly recognised for the Jain Temples situated there. The best thing there was the height and the colour of the Fort. The yellowish sandstone was shining bright and was just as big as it looked from the outside. At the top, one could see the whole city easily and even could see the remote ways to reach the Dunes. The Fort even had shops on the way to the top. There was an antique shop there which had many amazing things on sale and some extraordinary things to show just not for sale, which included some rare stones and pieces. The best view from there was that of the Jain Temple Tops which were very different than the normal Hindu Temple Tops. Well all this was good enough but the best thing I loved about Jaisalmer was the Food. As Jaisalmer was done sooner than expected, we went back to Sam just to see the Dunes again, like when could we see those Camels and Dunes again. There we tried the Jeep Safari which would take us to the center of the desert. The Jeep Safari was undoubtedly the best thing to do there, so good that I can't tell it in words. It took us to the center of the desert and the popular 'Thar Desert'. And it wasn't as remote and isloated it looked as the scenes there were totally different. Camels were having a race there, tourists in high numbers and even food stalls there. Well we stopped there just to click some photos and the guide telling unending names of movies which were shot here. Well being in the centre of a desert and not having 'Chai' would be a crime for me (if you know, you know well). So all done well and then waving a goodbye to those lovely Camels, the next day we visited the Jaisalmer War Museum which had information about the 1971 Indo-Pak War fought in Loungewala, around 10 kms from the Dunes. The Museum was in the memory of the brave soldiers who fought in the 1971 War. Tanks, Weapons, War Maps and many other things were kept here which keeps you sticked reading the facts. It was all done having a big tour of the War Memorial and a goodbye to Jaisalmer only for time being to visit again. According to local people, Jaisalmer is the most visited tourist place in the State and surely it should be! This was my view on Jaisalmer and Sam. Some of the photos I clicked are attached below. Cheers! 

                       Sam Sand Dunes

                        Sam Tent House

                  Rajasthani Cultural Show

                  Jaisalmer War Memorial

                             Chai is ❤️ 

A Trip in the Golden Sands - Part II (The City of Lakes)

Before continuing my experience, I would like to thank you all for the love you gave for the previous part and I hope you guys love my further writings too!

So there I was finally in the royal land of Udaipur, happy and shivering in that cold weather. As we reached out of the airport, there was high security, police officials guarding around and many government 'On Duty' vehicles waiting and it was unexpected to see such high security in the morning. Well it was for some minister who was on his way, we had to wait long for our driver to come. After some time he came, somehow beating the crowd and he was such a simple innocent looking guy, not at all how I expected him to be. So we reached the hotel, and as soon as I entered in the room, the interiors and wall art just amazed me. It was a such a beautiful room with all the luxury wall art you could imagine and it was worth to spend time in that room, but we were not there to stay in the room right. After freshening up and having some breakfast, we left for what the state is actually famous for, the highlight of the city, The City Palace of Udaipur. It looked marvellous from outside as the golden colour of the exterior was shining in that afternoon heat. Inside it was like some old Haveli with a Tulsi plant in the centre and a big tree besides it. After hiring a guide there, he told us that, the beautiful palace was not built by one particular king. The foundations were laid down by  Maharana Uday Singh II and the palace was eventually built in the next 400 years! The interiors of the palace were beautiful to watch and the walls had the history of the rulers pasted, so the visitors to understand the great history of the Rajputs. The guide's sense of pride came in notice when he started to tell about Maharana Pratap,the one who did not accept to be a puppet ruler under the Mughals and choose pride over anything else. Well after a while, me, my brother and my mom got bored listening about the warriors, but my dad was listening curiously, like he had some exam to appear tomorrow on the topic, well I respect his love towards the warriors. Then the palace came to an end when there  struck a point where I thought that I had seen this place so many times. I was not able to recollect where I had seen it, till the guide said many movie scenes have been shot here. Without any doubt in my mind, it was Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in my mind, recollecting one of the best shots in Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, where they sit on the edge and Naina says something beautiful to make Bunny stop. I don't need to say more because most of the you have seen 'YJHD' numerous times and can recollect the scene instantly. The main thing all over the palace was the mesmerizing architecture, both the Rajput and Mughal architectural style.  This huge palace was built atop a real hill and from there whole Udaipur could be seen easily. Coming down the palace, there was the popular Lake Pichola which was beautiful in it's own sense. For me this was like living in a TV serial, as when I was a kid I used to watch a household serial which was based in the city of Udaipur. Well it was worth the visit here, like knowing how rich the Rajputs were and how grand life they lived. There were collections of the gold and silver vessels, jewelry, armours and other things which just makes us realise that the name 'Golden Bird' given to India makes some sense. This was about the palace, then it was a visit to a famous temple situated at the top of a hill. Honestly for me the temple wasn't the main case as temples are everywhere but the main thing here was the Ropeway which connects us to the hill. I had never been in a ropeway and this was the chance. It was great to be in it but the actual beauty was at the top. There was a Sunset Point up there and the first word in my mind reaching there was 'Peace'. The fresh air, birds chirping, the city infront of my eyes and the lakes shining bright, all thanks to the sunrays, it was just beautiful to be there (attached a photo of this). So this was it, all about the first city in the tour and the part will be continued with the next city I visited. Some of the pictures I clicked are attached below. Cheers! 

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Exterior of the Palace.

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Sunset Point

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The beautiful Interiors as I said!

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Popular Matka Chai (Chai is Love ❤️)

A Trip in the Golden Sands - Part I (My First Air Journey)

Ghosh Finally! was my reaction when I got to know that I will be going to Rajasthan. For many years watching all those historical shows, let it be Maharana Pratap, Rani Padmawati, Jodha Akbar, I always wondered how beautiful the palaces would be in reality. Rajasthan the royal state in the north west of a country with such a great heritage is as beautiful as it is shown and said of. This tour was planned by my brother who lives in the United States and comes home once a year. Family Trip is mostly to spend time together and so was the main motive behind this Rajasthan trip. It was a special trip to me in many ways. The first and a memorable one being me traveling in an airplane for the first time. Yeah a simple yet happy memory to remember for time being. My parents were equally excited about the trip as how many times do our parents get to travel leaving their chores behind. The trip started from Aurangabad, the city I live in, which is also called as the Tourism capital of Maharashtra, on 19th of February and it was an early morning flight which would depart as early as 6 in the morning. Yeah 6 isn't early enough but getting ready, arriving at the airport and then waiting all takes enough time. Air India which is in headlines these days was the one by which we were travelling. These days private airlines are preferred more but for me it was not the case as it was my first time and all I wanted was to feel the experience of travelling in an airplane. My brother knew what it feels and thus had booked a window seat for me to enjoy the view of the sky and it was beautiful, just beautiful (attached a photo I took from my window seat). I had heard people say that it feels different when the plane takes off and I saw many people putting cotton buds in their ears and I thought it would be something thrilling but I didn't feel anything when the plane took off and it was a normal experience for me. The joy was of a different kind honestly as me in the sky and the land slowly being apart from me but it was beautiful. I understood that first air travels aren't overrated and they give some sort of an experience for sure. So that was the departure and in 50 minutes we were at Maharana Pratap Airport in  Udaipur, which is roughly 720 Kms from Aurangabad. This was it, finally me in the royal land of Rajasthan. This was all about the beginning of the trip and I will write about the rest soon. I love clicking photos of anything which I feel beautiful, so I attached the photo of the beautiful view from my window seat. Cheers!