great ways to spend your Great vacation

10 great ways to spend your summer vacation

Does your day begin at 10 am? Are your evenings a blur? Are your nights completely unforgettable?

Well... you sure need a good vacation then. A week into this routine and yawn... you want to do something new, don't you?After all, vacations are to try out new stuff.

We thought and thought to come up with unique ways to spend your vacation. Here's what we finally collated:

Take up a job

Many companies hire teenagers during the summer season. Most companies face a crunch, what with existing staff vacationing with their families. Hence, for those with career aspirations, get a job. Who's hiring? Almost everyone. If you have a skill, leverage it. Right from BPOs, software firms, advertising agencies, newspapers, corporates, hospitals, hotels... the list is endless.

Take up a hobby

Ya, right. So you've heard this before. But this time around, make it happen. First of all choose your hobby well. Let it be something you've been dying to do all your life. First of all, remember to list all the things you've wanted to do. Then identify the hobby that best fits your time, budget, and location.

Learn

Learn a new skill this vacation. Let it be a crash course on enhancing communication skills -- gaining this has become very essential for everyone. It could be a short typing course to enhance your typing skills.

Or it could be something more tangible like a short-term JAVA course or some other computer language. It could be a new language that you could learn. It could also be a semi-vocational course like tailoring or sketching. Something that will help you build your technical skills.

Learn a new game

It's never too late to learn a new game. If you are hooked on to Playstation, move on to something else -- like the Age of Empires. Games are a huge industry and who knows, one of you might get into the industry because of your sheet passion for the game. And then, if you are the brick and mortar type, run to your local toy shop and buy something for yourself. I know a lot of young people out there who love to construct and deconstruct toys/games.

These are toys created by using everyday materials.

Go adventure-hunting

If you are the adventurous type, the world has suddenly opened up for you. Hunt for new places where you can vacation and conduct adventure sports. It could be a local dam that very few have heard of or it could be the mountain patch that becomes accessible during this season.

Explore, talk, and reach out. Go bird-watching, join nature trails, or go back-packing. Remember to do all this based on expert guidance.

Nurture a pet

It could be something as no-high-maintenance like a cat. If you have the will and the time, you could get yourself a dog, a rabbit, a duck, love birds, and such animals. Talk to someone who knows about animals to make your choice.

Do some volunteering

For the socially conscious, may be volunteering with some local social agency might be a good idea. There are many voluntary groups that regularly require youngsters to contribute to their effort. Especially, the NGOs that work with street children. You could enroll up for one of these.

Create a study group

The best way to share knowledge is to create study groups. These are groups of like-minded people, who come together to share thoughts and ideas. Some of the greatest thoughts in history have come due to interactions within the young, like you. Decide on a place and a time. Choose a topic to discuss and run it to ground. Many who are petrified of group discussions can find this activity beneficial.

Learn a new tool

There are some who learn when they create. Learn a new tool... it could be working with a pick-axe or learning to use the scissor well. You could even learn tools like the tools from different ethnicities.

What are the tools the Chinese use to make moh-mohs? (the answer is... they don't call them moh-mohs, they call them dumplings...)

Connect with the spiritual you

This could be a good time to de-stress yourself, especially if the next year is going to be an academically challenging year. Learn some yoga, some meditation technique, try vipassana, or may be pranayama. Choose whatever you think suits your personality the best. Sometimes doing something as mundane as cooking can be de-stressing for some people. Identify the task that helps you de-stress and works towards a calmer you.

So, here are our tips. Pick any you like. And if you have any more tips, do share them with us.

Happy Holidays!

K. V. Kamath CEO ICICI Profile

Kundapur Vaman Kamath (born December 2, 1947 in Mangalore, Karnataka) is the Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank, the largest private bank in India.
Early life

Kamath is a kannadiga born on December 2, 1947, in Mangalore, Karnataka where he spent most of his early years. After completing Higher Secondary and Pre-University from St. Aloysius School, he joined the presitigious Karnataka Regional Engineering College (now called National Institute of Technology Karnataka) in Surathkal for a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering. After graduating from KREC in 1969, he joined the prestigious Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A) for a Masters Degree in Business Administration.

Career

After graduating from IIM-A in 1971, Kamath started his career with ICICI (Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India), in the Project Finance division and moved on to different departments to gather experience which included setting up of new businesses such as leasing, venture capital, credit rating as well as handling general management positions. As part of his general management responsibilities he initiated and implemented ICICI's computerisation programme. Substantial investments in technology from the early years have resulted in systems that are today a competitive advantage for ICICI. Kamath has generally been credited with expanding ICICI's businesses to evolve it into a technology-enabled financial organisation catering to the financial needs of corporate and retail customers.

In 1988, Kamath joined the Asian Development Bank, Manila in their Private Sector Department. His principal work experience at ADB was in various projects in China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Bangladesh and Vietnam. He was the ADB representative on the Boards of several companies.

In May 1996, Kamath returned to ICICI as its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer. Kamath was instrumental in expanding the Group's services to the retail customers. He initiated a process of a series of acquisitions of non-banking finance companies in 1996-98, and led the way to the formation of ICICI Bank.

Personal life

Kamath presently resides in Mumbai. He is married and has a son and a daughter

[edit] Board membership

Kamath is a Member of the Governing Board on various educational institutions including the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Indian School of Business, National Institute of Bank Management and Manipal Academy of Higher Education. Kamath is also a Member of the National Council of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

Awards

* Most e-savvy CEO amongst Asian banks - The Asian Banker Journal of Singapore[citation needed]
* Finance Man of the Year award - The Mumbai Management Association[citation needed]
* Best CEO for Innovative HR practices - World HRD Congress[citation needed]
* Asian Business Leader of the Year - Asian Business Leader Award 2001 (CNBC Asia)[citation needed]
* Outstanding Business Leader of the Year - CNBC TV-18, 2006[citation needed]
* Businessman of the Year - Business India, 2005[citation needed]
* Business Leader Award of the Year - The Economic Times, 2007[citation needed]
* Businessman of the Year - Forbes Asia[1]
* Padma Bhushan award from the Indian government - 2008

K. V. Kamath(Kundapur Vaman Kamath) CEO ICICI Bank

K V Kamath, CEO and managing director of ICICI Bank, is due to step down sometime next year.

In the 12 years or so that he has been at the helm of affairs, the bank has more than cashed in on a huge growth opportunity that presented itself as the Indian economy grew stronger.

The ICICI brand must be the envy of every banker in the country including State Bank which, many point out, doesn't really connect with the younger lot -- which will soon be the largest earning segment of our population.

It's not surprising that ICICI Bank's home loan portfolio is bigger than that of State Bank.

Before the ICICI stock got a drubbing, its market capitalisation too was higher than that of State Bank. For sure, it's been a phenomenal success story.

Which is why it was disconcerting to see well-informed people -- people aware about how the financial system works -- getting nervous about their savings with the bank, when the money market turned really tight a couple of weeks back.

The anxiety increased as the stock collapsed 27 per cent one Friday -- the market knows something we don't, they said.

Despite numerous appearances on television, the bank's senior management wasn't able to reassure too many people.

The regulator's efforts at trying to calm things down were met with scepticism. If everything's fine, why does the central bank need to speak on behalf of the bank, they asked?

If many didn't actually withdraw money it was because they believed the government would never let the bank fall since that would hurt the financial system too badly and also reflect on their inadequate supervision.

Fortunately, things settled down. But, for a very brief while, it seemed as though things would get out of control, so willing were people to believe the worst.

At the end of the day, banking is a trust business and if people are unnerved and start worrying that their money might not be safe, then something is not right.

Ultimately, the strength of a brand lies in the conviction that depositors must, at all times -- and especially in times of a crisis -- feel secure. ICICI has done a great job positioning itself as a lender that offers customers a good deal and does it quickly.

Perhaps it needs to do something so that its numerous account holders feel their money is safe.

While we are sure the bank is well-capitalised and can meet all its obligations, there is nevertheless a need to reassure customers and that cannot be done through damage control.

Kamath himself is believed to have said during the recent crisis that ICICI 'suffers from the worst perception'.

Well, there must be a reason for that and if it is really so, the issue needs to be addressed.

There will always be those with mala fide intentions trying to give the bank a bad name -- in a competitive environment this cannot be wished away -- but the onus rests on the bank to overcome that.

It's not simply that the stock was punished--that may or may not have been the work of a bear cartel--there's something more to it that makes people feel that things could go wrong.

To make the obvious comparison, HDFC Bank, which started out about the same time as ICICI Bank, may not have the kind of name recall across the country that ICICI does.

But in these past three weeks, not once has anyone talked about withdrawing money from HDFC Bank.

This speaks volumes for the confidence that depositors have in the bank. The market, of course, has always rewarded HDFC Bank for its tempered approach to lending and consequently cleaner asset portfolio.

Never has that attitude seemed more correct than it has now. Centurion Bank, which was merged with HDFC Bank with effect from April this year, came with bagfuls of bad assets but, in spite of that, HDFC Bank's non-performing loans for both the June and the September quarters haven't really shot up; it still has the cleanest book in the business.

It's not that ICICI didn't do the right thing in chasing assets; it was the obvious thing to do at a time when interest rates were falling and disposable incomes and aspirations were rising.

They spotted the opportunity and didn't die wondering whether it would work.

But somewhere along the line, the bank perhaps took it a little too easy, not doing enough due diligence and believing, like many others, that the good times would last forever.

This is not to take away from the tremendous job that Kamath has done. Without doubt, he has built an enviable franchise.

But there's something missing. And before he decides to call it a day, he needs to do whatever he can to change this perception.

Stepping into his shoes will not be an easy task even for the most competent professional. But unless the 'worst perception' is changed, Kamath's successor will have a hard time.

Taj following the terrorist attack Picture, Mumbai