Deepa's

Client Testimonials

27 May, 2009

Jan Johnson
Business card Design (Aug 03 2008 / 03:56:27)
http://www.coullcollectibles.com/

I have continued to use Deepa for a variety of small projects including the design of Business cards for my website. I will probably use her again to help me design further promotional material for my website. I have recommended Deepa's work to some of my clients.
Online tutoring :- Spoken english through BuddySchool
The student is a Native Tamil Speaker from SriLanka, and was very keen on improving the spoken skills. His job profile demands that he converse freely with the company staff outside his country.
Direct Feedback:-

enku remba pidita teacher deepa . deepa mikavu pakumana ponnu. nan eppolutum matipuhodukinren

Copy pasted from BuddySchool Review. Please use this link to see the actual Scriptlance page

she is good teacher and she is very anxious, I will learn english. I am very happy for she
Scriptlance Buyer

Review: In my opinion, Deepa did a great job understanding what I wanted from a fairly complicated project and always addressed my questions, both with answers and results. It was a pretty collaborative effort, and I'm confident I would use Deepa again in the future.

Jan Johnson

http://www.coullcollectibles.com/

Scott J. magin

oDesk Buyer

Blogspot customisation

Great experience. Would love to work with Deepa again.

oDesk Buyer

Online Tutoring

Deepa is an excellent teacher and was very well prepared for the lessons.
My mum is now much more confident about her trip to India.

Do a Nano This Recession - Yes you can !

01 April, 2009

All of us have been tracking the Nasdaq & BSE for the past several months. For some, it could be for investment / book profit-loss & for some, this could be just to keep oneself abreast with the economic situation at large. Few months back, when the wall street collapsed, every other market was anticipating a butterfly effect & it did happen too... to some extent. The Mumbai terror attacks & Satyam fiasco scared most of our investors away, Uncertainty looms over our NRI friends , People are being asked take either a "huge salary cut" or resign with dignity . Those who still hold a job can feel the Damocles sword.

It is not just the corporate environment; this recession has hit homes too. Those who would not bat an eyelid to take an auto, now patiently wait for the BMTC bus to come by. Students have discovered that carbon papers work out cheaper than Xerox. The Bhelpuri and Panipuri stalls gain crowd while the Pizza-Huts and McDonalds give a deserted look. Suddenly water seems to be tastier than Pepsi and Coke. Your local cable-guy seems to have better collection of movies than the neighborhood multiplex. Malls are for free AC & parks are for public interaction seem to be the new mantra.

When things were good, we did not mind spending few extra bucks, and when things are not so good, no one is shy to admit that they have to put certain luxuries on hold. This "Face it head on – Attitude" is something that I admire in the present generation. Once we are able to relate to the reality around us on a more personal level, then it's easy to weigh our options and take the best route. Loosing ones job is bad (-- this is reality). If the person continues to sulk about it, he is disconnected from his life (--- how long can one afford sulking , figuratively and literally). Instead, if he can find the courage to at least make and attempt to lookup & look ahead, then that would be the best thing to do, given the circumstances.

I agree, it's easier said than done. But, today, we have someone in flesh and blood to draw inspiration from. The story of Nano – the small car is no small feat. Keep your Mechanical & Automotive engineering degrees aside and take a look at Nano –the big concept. When Mr.Ratan Tata proposed this idea, he faced ridicule & scorn which was more than enough to send anyone's confidence to the dumps. Yet, with persistence and perseverance he delivered the first Nano in Jan 2008. The "others" were not done yet with Mr.Tata. They forgot that Mr.Tata has converted a concept to reality. Instead they got busy speculating the financial – impossibilities. Exactly 14 months later, he put all those speculations to rest. The Standard Model still costs 1.Lakh – Dealer's price.

My point is, there is no better time than now to take stock of your endurance and perseverance. Boldly hope against all hopes towards a better tomorrow. Don't just sit and sulk, get up and face your (to)day ahead with conviction, tomorrow will take care of itself. If you are apprehensive about your family, friends and "relatives", Have Some Faith. You will be pleasantly surprised.

PS:- I don’t know Mr.Ratan Tata on a personal level.
PS2:- I am not a Nano- Dealer
PS3:- Image Source Pic1 & Pic 2

Freelancing & Tax Laws in India

27 January, 2009

Freelancing in India is highly untapped market. With the advent of affordable broadband services, working from home is close to becoming a reality. Sites like oDesk, Get A Freelancer, Scriptlance & scores of other sites offer more than enough opportunities one can handle. Today, I have reason to believe, freelancing does pay. All it takes is a little bit of patience and lots of perseverance.

With all the dictionary definitions on one side, the term freelancing is normally associated with extra income. More fondly known as “parallel income”, something that you would do during your “non-office”hours and get paid for it too. If you are the type who would still do the same thing, even if no one pays you, then you just got yourself a hobby.

If you have had the experience of being associated with a startup, then I am sure you will be able to relate to the following scenario. First you burn your eyes out by making the right contacts & clinching the right kind of deals. Then you work your butt out at keeping the deadlines, and finally you wait with bated breath for the payment to get credited. Then its the same cycle all over again. Amidst all this frenzy you need to keep track of all administrative work, do the accounts, pay the salaries and last but not the least, file your taxes as well.

Things tend to approach this frenzy in freelancing once your clientele begin to grow. But, as freelancers we tend to forget that “we earn”, albeit marginally, it is still an income. Tell me, how many of us knew that “Any income derived by way of freelancing job is taxable under the provisions of Income Tax Act. 1961.” ( -- there, now you know)

I tired searching for over 8 months all over the internet for some pointers in tax laws that might provide some insight from a freelancer's point of view ( note :- freelancer from India). http://www.incometaxindia.gov.in/ did not give me any relevant results & http://indiankanoon.org threw some case references at me. Not to be surprised, everything bounced off my head even before I knew it. Then I did what I knew best I could do. I began looking for lawyers in the blogosphere. And that did it for me.

I came across Mr.Ranjith Xavier's blog at http://indianlawyer.blogspot.com/, where he blogs about various legal topics. He is an Independent Legal Services Professional, and practicing in the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam. All I had to do was ask and after few emails, Ranjith was hard at work compiling this extensive information about the various tax laws and the terminologies involved. He can be contacted at ranjithxavier(AT)gmail.com & has agreed to help to the best of his knowledge. Thanks! Ranjith.

He puts things under perspective as Tax Laws & FOREX laws ( i.e. Foreign exchange laws) Please click on the image to download the pdf document

If your annual income derived out of freelancing job alone; or if added to your other income(s), adds up to exceed the annual limit mentioned in the Income TaxAct, you are duty bound to apply for and obtain a Permanent Account Number (PAN).
Under the provisions of the THE FOREIGN TRADE (DEVELOPMENT AND REGULATION) ACT,1992, anyone doing import or export is expected to apply for and obtain an Importer-Exporter Code Number (IEC Number).

Strangely though, he also put forth this query to us, before answering it for us

"Import” and "export" means respectively bringing into, or taking out of, India any goods by land, sea or air;” In common parlance, “Goods” means merchandise or movable property in physical form.Now the question to be considered is whether a person who transmits digital files over internet is exporting “goods” from India to abroad.
Once “services” too are brought into the ambit (ie scope) of the said Section 7 of the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act, 1992,every freelancer who performs services to a foreign client would be exporting it and thus attracting the provisions of the said Act. In such a case, he/she should apply for and obtain the IEC Number.

These are snippets from the compilation that Mr.Ranjith Xavier has put forth for us. Honestly, I am getting intimidated by looking at the links listed in this document from where the relevant information has been handpicked by Ranjith. Few months back, I was all lost, be it the search phrase or which site to look. Now, Thanks to Ranjith, at least now I know where to start. From what I understand , the information within this document is only the tip of an iceberg.