Came across this wonderful blogpost by Shiju
(Imitation, they say is the biggest form of appreciation and that's the reason this is here - A Definite read..)
1) The story - Glider teaches an Eagle to fly
2) The post by Shiju here
3) The lines i loved - " The chosen few were not chosen by others, but by themselves. And it's up to us to choose the option to fly. Take off, learn to fly "
The Saddest words in life are undoubtedly - "I should have" . Go fly..
Friday, November 07, 2008
Thursday, November 06, 2008
BCCI !!!
I was checking on the score for today's match when i came across this very funny comment - goes a lot to say about the image of BCCI !!
Greg Lucas from Aus is on drugs: "Sehwag will loft Kreja for 6 to bring up his 100 but unluckily, the ball will hit Ganguly while he is relaxing in the pavilion. Ganguly will be unable to bat. BCCI will rule that Krejza intentionally bowled it there for Sehwag to hit and wiill sue CA for damages. The ICC will fine Krejza 100% of his match fee!"
:-)
Greg Lucas from Aus is on drugs: "Sehwag will loft Kreja for 6 to bring up his 100 but unluckily, the ball will hit Ganguly while he is relaxing in the pavilion. Ganguly will be unable to bat. BCCI will rule that Krejza intentionally bowled it there for Sehwag to hit and wiill sue CA for damages. The ICC will fine Krejza 100% of his match fee!"
:-)
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Nu-clear to me !
‘India does the impossible’, ‘India powers its way into Nuke Biz’ read a few headlines on Sunday. The NSG Waiver is big news for India. The benefits may not be really visible or significant over the short term, but all of us do agree that this is much needed. Iam not getting into whether opening up nuclear supplies commerce is good or bad for India, whether this agreement puts India sovereignty at risk or not, much has been said and debated about this…
Let’s try and see this from the viewpoint of say Australia or New Zealand and to some extent China as well. These are countries that have signed the NPT (maybe even the CTBT, not sure) and then are able to trade in Nuclear supplies (and that too with severe restrictions capping the usage).
India then comes up with the backing of US and tells the world – “Look, We want to access the nuclear supplies for civil purposes, its going to help in the development of the country, solve all infrastructure and power problems, accelerate industrialization . This is absolutely critical for us, so we need the nuclear deal. But we will not sign your NPT. We have a ‘No first use” policy, you can take our word on this, but we will not sign the NPT !!”
This to me seems strange. Why should there be a special case for India alone? How does India justify access to nuclear civil supplies without signing the NPT? They have made other signatories to NPT look like real clowns – compared to them we get all benefits that they get, but unlike them we are not obliged at all! There seems to be something missing here, isn’t it??
Australia by deciding not to sell Uranium to India has already expressed its views – It’s a strong statement of non co-operation with India. And Australia accounts for over 35% of Uranium to the world. If other countries follow suit, it could get very embarrassing for India. Apart from the license to trade, you also need a counterparty!!
There is no argument here as to whether this is right or wrong. Everyone wants the best at the least cost and India is no exception. We need to congratulate the government for clinching this deal despite all the opposition. Iam only wondering how can India demand and get a special treatment?
What happens when say tomorrow Australia demands a NSG Waiver and terminates its obligation on NPT? Given its own position, can India object to that? How does US react given its earlier stand on India? These are difficult questions India and US have put forward to the world…
Let’s try and see this from the viewpoint of say Australia or New Zealand and to some extent China as well. These are countries that have signed the NPT (maybe even the CTBT, not sure) and then are able to trade in Nuclear supplies (and that too with severe restrictions capping the usage).
India then comes up with the backing of US and tells the world – “Look, We want to access the nuclear supplies for civil purposes, its going to help in the development of the country, solve all infrastructure and power problems, accelerate industrialization . This is absolutely critical for us, so we need the nuclear deal. But we will not sign your NPT. We have a ‘No first use” policy, you can take our word on this, but we will not sign the NPT !!”
This to me seems strange. Why should there be a special case for India alone? How does India justify access to nuclear civil supplies without signing the NPT? They have made other signatories to NPT look like real clowns – compared to them we get all benefits that they get, but unlike them we are not obliged at all! There seems to be something missing here, isn’t it??
Australia by deciding not to sell Uranium to India has already expressed its views – It’s a strong statement of non co-operation with India. And Australia accounts for over 35% of Uranium to the world. If other countries follow suit, it could get very embarrassing for India. Apart from the license to trade, you also need a counterparty!!
There is no argument here as to whether this is right or wrong. Everyone wants the best at the least cost and India is no exception. We need to congratulate the government for clinching this deal despite all the opposition. Iam only wondering how can India demand and get a special treatment?
What happens when say tomorrow Australia demands a NSG Waiver and terminates its obligation on NPT? Given its own position, can India object to that? How does US react given its earlier stand on India? These are difficult questions India and US have put forward to the world…
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
The Bull's back !!
The Bull's back !!
Hey before any of you jump to any conclusions about me back on the dashboard ( iam still the old painfully optimistic guy ! ), this one is about the sensex today. Rose by over 500 points to close above the 'magical' 15000 mark - sometimes i wonder what's so magical about any number that ends with a couple or more zeros..Magic to me is something that is difficult to believe. Dont we really trust the market when it touches 14000,15000,16000 etc and so we think its magical..??
I was trying to decipher this sudden bullishness in the market and my friend tells me - you dont know anything, Gustav is rated 2 now and the crude has slipped to about $ 105 levels, so every stock except poor Cairn energy is rising..go buy ! Well congratulations to you and to all of us ..
If Crude falling by a couple of percentage points can bring joy to us or rising by 10 dollars a barrel, suddenly can send the whole nation and government in a tizzy, i think thats very disconcerning. And we try and call India a self-dependent, developing , self-sufficient country ?? From whatever business i have learnt, no enterprise can develop ( or survive ! ) if they are exposed to any single factor to such a great extent -its called operating risk and its fatal beyond a certain point. If businesses cannot reduce this risk, they try and reduce the financial leverage. Hedging using financial derivatives is a case in point , aimed at reducing your operating risk at the expense of a few dollars.
Now lets look at India as an enterprise. We need to import 70% of our crude oil requirement - thats the sad reality and so we are exposed to this risk. Oil has risen from around $30 a barrel to more than $100 today in the last few years. Lets look at the financials and see whats happening there. Wikipedia tells me the Forex reserves has grown from around USD 6 Billion in 1991 to about USD 308 Billion in July 2008 and the GDP at current exchange rate is USD 1.09 Trillion and measured in purchasing power parity it is at USD 4.732 Trillion.
Note the differences in the GDP Figures - suggests that if India stops exporting and importing , it is about 4.5 times more rich ( or less poor, depending on the benchmark ). And this should not change if international trades are done at the PPP exchange rate which is the 'real' exchange rate. Look at the numbers above and it is clear that the intrinsic or real value of the rupee is much more than the current exchange rate - 4.5 times which works out to a real exchange rate of 10 Rupees per dollar !! The Rupee is artificially kept to a low of about 22 % of its actual value.
Going back to the original context, on how India finances its oil bill payments . Consider a Barter system where Rupee is a 'good' in itself. So you receive imports and pay for it from your inventory of Rupees. This is the problem - for a barrel of oil costing say 100 dollars per barrel, we should pay 100 * 10 = Rs. 1000 whereas we end up paying 100 * 45 = Rs. 4500.
Eureka ..Eureka !! Not really, this problem is well known to all but the circumstances have changed. Oil has moved to about 3 times its price in a couple of years ( how the financial derivatives market has artificially increased oil prices by pumping in trillions of dollars is a completely different story in itself - India, is no culprit there, only a poor victim ). And suddenly this problem has magnified. When Oil was only at 30-40 dollars a barrel, it didn't bother India much. A depreciated rupee was a great news for the Great Indian revolution of technology, outsourcing , apprarel exports. Everyone was making money . FII's and FDI's found Rupee cheap too, Indian assets were at a huge discount and so they invested. Everyone was making money, but a discount sale cannot go on for ever.
With Oil zooming to artifical highs, the game has suddenly changed. You cannot afford to pay artifically devalued rupee at artifically inflated oil rates. And you cannot suddenly change the exchange rate to reflect the 'real' exchange rate. The Rupee is still kept at an artificial low so that exporters do not suffer, technology and outsourcing still make money and try and keep everyone 'artificially ' happy.
So we are offering our services in the technology and outsourcing sector at a discounted rate ( no offences, iam in the same sector ), our exports at a discounted rate and getting more business. And increasingly the rates decide whether we remain in business. Yet after all this, inflation adjusted , our per capita incomes have come down, the disparity in income levels of people who earn dollars and the nation which pays in dollars has increased. The forex reserves that we are holding and measuring our prosperity are itself in dollars which as above shows itself is over-valued.
We are 'Valuing' ourselves at a huge discount. Its high time, we gradually ( with a capital G ) moved to a mechanism where the exchange rates are atleast 'relatively real' , we win business'es not on cheap costs alone but rather on quality and product. We are worth more and the pricing should reflect this. Ensure that we do not invite dollars in our economy and increase inflation , rather by valuing rupee correctly, make it fair for India Inc to go abroad and buy assets at the 'real' price. No one can conquer sitting and waiting for funds at home, you need to go out and conquer..
We need to take more pride in ourselves, in the goods we export, in the services we offer and charge the appropriate price instead of discounting rupee and earning more dollars and pounds which we have over-valued ourselves. And if the financial system corrects oil back to say 50 dollars a barrel, how about Petrol at 20 Rs per litre again !
Know what, the sensex at 25000 will not look magical anymore..No more taare zameen par..its Taare aasmaan par . Lets put ourselves where we belong to..
Hey before any of you jump to any conclusions about me back on the dashboard ( iam still the old painfully optimistic guy ! ), this one is about the sensex today. Rose by over 500 points to close above the 'magical' 15000 mark - sometimes i wonder what's so magical about any number that ends with a couple or more zeros..Magic to me is something that is difficult to believe. Dont we really trust the market when it touches 14000,15000,16000 etc and so we think its magical..??
I was trying to decipher this sudden bullishness in the market and my friend tells me - you dont know anything, Gustav is rated 2 now and the crude has slipped to about $ 105 levels, so every stock except poor Cairn energy is rising..go buy ! Well congratulations to you and to all of us ..
If Crude falling by a couple of percentage points can bring joy to us or rising by 10 dollars a barrel, suddenly can send the whole nation and government in a tizzy, i think thats very disconcerning. And we try and call India a self-dependent, developing , self-sufficient country ?? From whatever business i have learnt, no enterprise can develop ( or survive ! ) if they are exposed to any single factor to such a great extent -its called operating risk and its fatal beyond a certain point. If businesses cannot reduce this risk, they try and reduce the financial leverage. Hedging using financial derivatives is a case in point , aimed at reducing your operating risk at the expense of a few dollars.
Now lets look at India as an enterprise. We need to import 70% of our crude oil requirement - thats the sad reality and so we are exposed to this risk. Oil has risen from around $30 a barrel to more than $100 today in the last few years. Lets look at the financials and see whats happening there. Wikipedia tells me the Forex reserves has grown from around USD 6 Billion in 1991 to about USD 308 Billion in July 2008 and the GDP at current exchange rate is USD 1.09 Trillion and measured in purchasing power parity it is at USD 4.732 Trillion.
Note the differences in the GDP Figures - suggests that if India stops exporting and importing , it is about 4.5 times more rich ( or less poor, depending on the benchmark ). And this should not change if international trades are done at the PPP exchange rate which is the 'real' exchange rate. Look at the numbers above and it is clear that the intrinsic or real value of the rupee is much more than the current exchange rate - 4.5 times which works out to a real exchange rate of 10 Rupees per dollar !! The Rupee is artificially kept to a low of about 22 % of its actual value.
Going back to the original context, on how India finances its oil bill payments . Consider a Barter system where Rupee is a 'good' in itself. So you receive imports and pay for it from your inventory of Rupees. This is the problem - for a barrel of oil costing say 100 dollars per barrel, we should pay 100 * 10 = Rs. 1000 whereas we end up paying 100 * 45 = Rs. 4500.
Eureka ..Eureka !! Not really, this problem is well known to all but the circumstances have changed. Oil has moved to about 3 times its price in a couple of years ( how the financial derivatives market has artificially increased oil prices by pumping in trillions of dollars is a completely different story in itself - India, is no culprit there, only a poor victim ). And suddenly this problem has magnified. When Oil was only at 30-40 dollars a barrel, it didn't bother India much. A depreciated rupee was a great news for the Great Indian revolution of technology, outsourcing , apprarel exports. Everyone was making money . FII's and FDI's found Rupee cheap too, Indian assets were at a huge discount and so they invested. Everyone was making money, but a discount sale cannot go on for ever.
With Oil zooming to artifical highs, the game has suddenly changed. You cannot afford to pay artifically devalued rupee at artifically inflated oil rates. And you cannot suddenly change the exchange rate to reflect the 'real' exchange rate. The Rupee is still kept at an artificial low so that exporters do not suffer, technology and outsourcing still make money and try and keep everyone 'artificially ' happy.
So we are offering our services in the technology and outsourcing sector at a discounted rate ( no offences, iam in the same sector ), our exports at a discounted rate and getting more business. And increasingly the rates decide whether we remain in business. Yet after all this, inflation adjusted , our per capita incomes have come down, the disparity in income levels of people who earn dollars and the nation which pays in dollars has increased. The forex reserves that we are holding and measuring our prosperity are itself in dollars which as above shows itself is over-valued.
We are 'Valuing' ourselves at a huge discount. Its high time, we gradually ( with a capital G ) moved to a mechanism where the exchange rates are atleast 'relatively real' , we win business'es not on cheap costs alone but rather on quality and product. We are worth more and the pricing should reflect this. Ensure that we do not invite dollars in our economy and increase inflation , rather by valuing rupee correctly, make it fair for India Inc to go abroad and buy assets at the 'real' price. No one can conquer sitting and waiting for funds at home, you need to go out and conquer..
We need to take more pride in ourselves, in the goods we export, in the services we offer and charge the appropriate price instead of discounting rupee and earning more dollars and pounds which we have over-valued ourselves. And if the financial system corrects oil back to say 50 dollars a barrel, how about Petrol at 20 Rs per litre again !
Know what, the sensex at 25000 will not look magical anymore..No more taare zameen par..its Taare aasmaan par . Lets put ourselves where we belong to..
Monday, April 28, 2008
Tashan ka Tension
Issued in Public Interest
Tashan movie - Iam out of words actually and still in shock. Please avoid.
Tashan movie - Iam out of words actually and still in shock. Please avoid.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Its all in the Game !!
I wrote the following poem ages back - right after the 1999 Cricket world cup in England, still in my teens - so you will find more stress on the rhymes rather than the flow and language of the poem ( actually its a set of paragraphs, calling it a poem would be false )
Its All in the Game:
'India', 'India', roared the air,
It seemed every soul had joined the fair;
There were songs and there were praises,
The players now had to tie hard their laces.
World cup 1999 was the affair,
It was a complete May fair;
Azhar led his boys towards the Goal,
Against the proteas though, disappointing on the whole.
A tragedy then occured, left all in a bother,
Sachin had lost his dear father;
Came home the son, without any 'Shor',
The Ads still appeared - Yeh Dil maange more.
There in England, was another tragedy,
India lost the match to Zimbabwe badly;
It seemed the world cup was good as over,
The Indians had lost their love, faith and honour,
But when Sachin hit a century for his father,
The Indians could breathe a little lighter;
However the best was yet to be seen,
Saurav against the lankans proved very mean.
He hit the ball, constantly to the ropes,
The Lankans had now lost all hopes;
Saurav then had England in a fix,
As India advanced to Super six.
The Indians now rapidly marched,
And they also looked very charged;
Against the Kangaroos still they lost,
As wickets kept falling fast.
Permutations and combinations now started to work,
A Slim chance still did knock;
The Pakistanis were the next target,
As the old rivals again met.
'Good Practice', said Wasim, when winning a must,
As a result, he had to bite all the dust;
The Pakistanis received a good 'maar',
The Indians had won the battle, if not the war.
The Indians now had a close watch,
On the Pakistan- Zimbabwe match;
The Zimbabeweans lost in the meeting,
The Indian hopes now got a final beating.
It was over now,all over,
The Whole of India got sober;
The Kiwis crushed India and won,
Even they were having so much fun.
The disappointment here knew no bounds,
There were hardly any sounds.
This is what you call cricket,
You score runs and take many a wicket,
But you may still have to hide,
As winning and losing are part of the ride.
You face a lot of critics and still earn fame,
As they say - 'Its all in the Game !!'
Its All in the Game:
'India', 'India', roared the air,
It seemed every soul had joined the fair;
There were songs and there were praises,
The players now had to tie hard their laces.
World cup 1999 was the affair,
It was a complete May fair;
Azhar led his boys towards the Goal,
Against the proteas though, disappointing on the whole.
A tragedy then occured, left all in a bother,
Sachin had lost his dear father;
Came home the son, without any 'Shor',
The Ads still appeared - Yeh Dil maange more.
There in England, was another tragedy,
India lost the match to Zimbabwe badly;
It seemed the world cup was good as over,
The Indians had lost their love, faith and honour,
But when Sachin hit a century for his father,
The Indians could breathe a little lighter;
However the best was yet to be seen,
Saurav against the lankans proved very mean.
He hit the ball, constantly to the ropes,
The Lankans had now lost all hopes;
Saurav then had England in a fix,
As India advanced to Super six.
The Indians now rapidly marched,
And they also looked very charged;
Against the Kangaroos still they lost,
As wickets kept falling fast.
Permutations and combinations now started to work,
A Slim chance still did knock;
The Pakistanis were the next target,
As the old rivals again met.
'Good Practice', said Wasim, when winning a must,
As a result, he had to bite all the dust;
The Pakistanis received a good 'maar',
The Indians had won the battle, if not the war.
The Indians now had a close watch,
On the Pakistan- Zimbabwe match;
The Zimbabeweans lost in the meeting,
The Indian hopes now got a final beating.
It was over now,all over,
The Whole of India got sober;
The Kiwis crushed India and won,
Even they were having so much fun.
The disappointment here knew no bounds,
There were hardly any sounds.
This is what you call cricket,
You score runs and take many a wicket,
But you may still have to hide,
As winning and losing are part of the ride.
You face a lot of critics and still earn fame,
As they say - 'Its all in the Game !!'
Saturday, March 15, 2008
HiP HIP hIP hip HURRAY !
Had a chance to watch 'Taare zameen par' last weekend ( yes, that’s right - it was only last weekend ) and like all of you, I found the movie fantastic. Some things i loved about the movie:
1) I was intrigued by the scene in which Aamir tries to explain how numbers and alphabets could be all or nothing. And the comparison with a Chinese ( or Korean, I don’t know ) language and then the linkup with the education system is beautiful.
Lets see if we can get this working backwards. All of us know that our education system ( not limited to schools ) has too much focus on the 'What' , 'When' and 'Where' of knowledge , conveniently ignoring the 'How' and even important question ' Why ?'. So we only know and learn what we are taught only at times when we are taught and at places where we are taught. We don’t know why we are taught, and we don’t question how we are taught.
You only need to ' Remember ' when asked about questions of What, when and where. However we need to ' Think ' when asked questions of Why and How. This is a critical issue that the movie addresses - Are we moving towards a system where we are ceasing to think, ceasing to wonder, limiting ourselves with what we have been taught and curbing our creativity ?
2) The movie was brilliant in highlighting simple teaching methodology - the way Ishaan is actually taught. Teaching addition while walking steps is a simple and beautiful example. Not necessarily creative, but simple. Have a look at the below and decide for yourself: Can the Pythagorean theorem be taught in a more simple and clear manner ?
3) The most beautiful part of the movie is the message of irrationality. There are lot of eccentric people and things in the world , who have an ability to see things very differently than all of us and they make the world a more interesting place.
We need to start appreciating the eccentricities in all of us , in people and things around us. We may find and name things stupid , idiotic etc , but just because they seem so to us does not mean they are actually so. In fact , what we consider stupid and idiotic are a function of our own education, assumptions and judgment which may be faulty.
Lets try to use all our education, assumptions and judgments to solve this:
Using our favourite Pythagorean Theorem we know the length of hypotenuse is √2. And we also know √2 is an number with infinite decimals. If the decimals are infinite, it means you cannot measure ( Like your Visa Card, it never stops !! ). However as you can see above, the hypotenuse clearly has a beginning and an end. So why can't we measure ?
For us , numbers and alphabets mean only so much as has been taught to us. For Characters like Ishaan, they mean much more and beyond. We use them as answers but they use it as questions.
We need to learn to appreciate thinking that is different from our thinking, appreciate people who ask questions about things we always thought we had answers to , and try and find answer to questions that we thought never existed...Thank you Aamir ..
Cheers to Irrationality ! HiP HIP hIP hip HURRAY !!
1) I was intrigued by the scene in which Aamir tries to explain how numbers and alphabets could be all or nothing. And the comparison with a Chinese ( or Korean, I don’t know ) language and then the linkup with the education system is beautiful.
Lets see if we can get this working backwards. All of us know that our education system ( not limited to schools ) has too much focus on the 'What' , 'When' and 'Where' of knowledge , conveniently ignoring the 'How' and even important question ' Why ?'. So we only know and learn what we are taught only at times when we are taught and at places where we are taught. We don’t know why we are taught, and we don’t question how we are taught.
You only need to ' Remember ' when asked about questions of What, when and where. However we need to ' Think ' when asked questions of Why and How. This is a critical issue that the movie addresses - Are we moving towards a system where we are ceasing to think, ceasing to wonder, limiting ourselves with what we have been taught and curbing our creativity ?
2) The movie was brilliant in highlighting simple teaching methodology - the way Ishaan is actually taught. Teaching addition while walking steps is a simple and beautiful example. Not necessarily creative, but simple. Have a look at the below and decide for yourself: Can the Pythagorean theorem be taught in a more simple and clear manner ?
3) The most beautiful part of the movie is the message of irrationality. There are lot of eccentric people and things in the world , who have an ability to see things very differently than all of us and they make the world a more interesting place.
We need to start appreciating the eccentricities in all of us , in people and things around us. We may find and name things stupid , idiotic etc , but just because they seem so to us does not mean they are actually so. In fact , what we consider stupid and idiotic are a function of our own education, assumptions and judgment which may be faulty.
Lets try to use all our education, assumptions and judgments to solve this:
Using our favourite Pythagorean Theorem we know the length of hypotenuse is √2. And we also know √2 is an number with infinite decimals. If the decimals are infinite, it means you cannot measure ( Like your Visa Card, it never stops !! ). However as you can see above, the hypotenuse clearly has a beginning and an end. So why can't we measure ?
For us , numbers and alphabets mean only so much as has been taught to us. For Characters like Ishaan, they mean much more and beyond. We use them as answers but they use it as questions.
We need to learn to appreciate thinking that is different from our thinking, appreciate people who ask questions about things we always thought we had answers to , and try and find answer to questions that we thought never existed...Thank you Aamir ..
Cheers to Irrationality ! HiP HIP hIP hip HURRAY !!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Guess the title contest - I have run out of stories ( and titles ). Be the winner and get featured on the blog - Please someone !!
Its Valentines day and no wonder iam alone,free ( and happy !! ). Life is always about choices - either your's, others or bosses. So my choice,penned down the following, to match the occasion. ( 100% original hain yaar !! )
" Kehni hain aaj ek kahani, bas aapse hi toh kehni hain,
Dil mein basi ek tasveer, aankhon mein nazar aati hain ;
Shabdo ka saath ab nahi, aur aannkhon ko mauka milta nahi,
Imtihaan sa yeh ab hamara, ek kahani aapko sunaye kaise.
Kehni hain aaj ek kahani, bas aapse hi toh kehni hain,
Dil mein basi ek tasveer, aankhon mein woh nazar aati hain ;
Paas agar aaj aap nahi tho kya, sapno mein toh hamesha rahenge,
Kahani na suna sake tho kya, aankhon mein Aayna hi dikha denge."
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The Perfect Hedge
While everyone in the markets tries to get a perfect hedge of their exposures ( what with the rupee dollar vols ), here is one company which i found has the perfect hedge ->Royal Stag - Seagram brands .. Wonder why ?? Well..its got its two brand ambassadors as Ricky ponting and guess who - Harbhajan singh!!
Now thats some matchmaking or should we say market making :)
Saturday, December 29, 2007
2nd Innings !!
Wish you a wonderful new year all..and yes, will start blogging again - not a new year resolution really, but one which iam pretty keen on .
Actually, never stopped blogging . I was blogging anonymously, but as always me, iam bored of the continuity and so suspending that blog currently..
Lets see how longer can i bat on here ..Your misery starts again :)
Got a few intresting comments backlog cleared. Check them out in the previous posts .
Actually, never stopped blogging . I was blogging anonymously, but as always me, iam bored of the continuity and so suspending that blog currently..
Lets see how longer can i bat on here ..Your misery starts again :)
Got a few intresting comments backlog cleared. Check them out in the previous posts .
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Being happy
Nothing much to write. Simply put, iam Happy !! Not sure why, but guess you become happy when you meet true friends in your way unexpectedly and suddenly ..
Would be intresting to know from you when you felt happy without a reason or when you dont know what's the reason for being happy ??
Share in your experiences...comments invited..
Would be intresting to know from you when you felt happy without a reason or when you dont know what's the reason for being happy ??
Share in your experiences...comments invited..
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Optimism !!
Always thought i was a ok sort of optimist guy , but this one beats me..
A soldier shouts to his Captain : " Captain, we are surrounded by the enemy on all sides"
Captain : " Excellent !! ... We can now shoot in any direction "
Done..
A soldier shouts to his Captain : " Captain, we are surrounded by the enemy on all sides"
Captain : " Excellent !! ... We can now shoot in any direction "
Done..
Friday, July 14, 2006
Simple solutions to complex problems
Simple solutions to complex problems.
Problems Problems everywhere ! Wonder how many of us keep utilising our energies on the problem more than the solution. Thats just an afterthought anyways after Raghav forwarded me this happening which is truly amazing..
People in chennai must be pretty aware of the water shortage problem , BUT its nothing compared to the problem the African community faces . Thousands of people die due to lack of water - there are serious hygiene , sanitation and health issues which are there because of lack of water .
And all of us in our childhood must have enjoyed the unmatched excitement and joy we had on the merry go rounds on our tuesday , thursday and saturday park evenings. Now where's the connection.. There is ...
The problem in Africa is not lack of water. Its the fact that Water is not easily available. It needs to be pumped up and that takes away resources and energy . So the problem exactly is lack of resources and energy. I remember my Maths teacher telling us once that it is important first to identify the problem properly - Most true in this case . Women and girls need to walk long distances to carry water and this takes away time and they are unable to study.
So Playpump International uses the Merry go around in parks as the energy generator to produce energy and the childern happily play and go meery go round , ignorant of the fact that this energy is used to pump up the water in pumps installed in the park . Its really amazing this one. This is a must visit - Read on more about Playpumps here
Such a simple solution to a seemingly drastic problem. Can we replicate this is the next question ? I think we need to ..
Albert Einstien had once quoted that any fool can make problems more complex. It takes a genius to move in the opposite direction, think simple and think big !
Playpumps International - Kudos to you ..
Saturday, June 24, 2006
The Real MBA..
At B-school, we have a chance to interact with sometimes the Who's Who of the corporate world, gain and learn from them. But remember a quote which said - Inspiration is everywhere, it only depends on the way in which you look at it..
A similar thing happened, when i conversed with my laundry guy . Its a small family of 3 who do not wash clothes, but just take washed clothes for iron'ing. They use a small handcart and are stationed at a place near a corporation ground.
Everytime i went to them, they would tell me a particular time for delivery and i used to bargain them for providing it me early . The guy said, he had lots of work and he meant it. One small glance on the Hand Cart, the space below, and the adjoining areas and you would find bundles and bundles of cloth.
I just asked him why he also does not wash clothes as that would mean additional income from the same set of customers ( i tried applying my MBA stuff there..going up the value chain etc..though i never mentioned any of these there,my thinking was on the same lines) ...And then he started replying...We had a pretty small discussion about 4-5 minutes..Look at his responses :
1) He told me firstly that he would not go for washing clothes, because that would mean additional investment. I asked what investment ? And he replied, all 3 in his family are already over-worked here and he would have to take more people. Am not sure how many corporates view their people as an investment ? It hit me straight like a bullet.
2) Second bullet he shot - He is earning decent returns on his Iron'ing business . He charges about Rs. 2 and they all do about 300-400 ( its not a typo ! ) clothes a day and works for almost all days in the week , excepting festivals etc. His only costs are the coal costs used for heating the Iron box and that is well within control .
In washing the clothes, he would never be able to do more than 80-100 clothes a day ..all 3 together. And though the charge could be anywhere between 5-7 Rs, yet the effort required would be atleast 5 times more . This guy knew his mathematics. I remembered Key driver costing techniques which was taught . This guy was taking his own time to be the Key driver and working out the marginal returns and deciding on the services to be offered !
3) I asked him how he plans to grow then ( being an MBA, its our birthright to ask questions ) . And he said, i will start thinking of other things only if iam free . Now iam continously expanding my customers in the same line of business . Once he does not find new customers, he will start thinking about it. Couldn't argue much..The guy made so much sense..I remember the BCG Matrix and also the Mature market concept.
4) And this was the best of them all ..I just asked him what he would do if his customers would switch to another guy who did both washing and laundry.
And he thought for a moment and replied - I might actually lose customers if i started offering washing services as well. I asked how ? And he told, for washing he would need to go to a far-off place , carry the clothes ,wash them , dry them , wait for so long as they got dry and then carry them back, Iron them and then give it to the customer. All of this would easily take 2 days . AND HE DID NOT TRUST THE UNPREDICTABLE CHENNAI WEATHER. IF IT RAINS, THE CLOTHES NEED TO BE WASHED AGAIN AND THE WHOLE PROCESS REPEATS ITSELF.
I started smiling and he made the same gesture and said - when you are not willing to wait for a total of 3-4 hours and fight with me for early delivery, iam not willing to take the risk . Customer satisfaction, ..no he was talking about Customer delight. Only promising what you can deliver !
Now this sealed it. I argued no further. Met a Real MBA - Master of Business really . I realised that we are just working and its high time we stopped calling ourselves MBA's. Just as you cannot learn swimming without getting in the water, its just not possible to master a business without owning it and feeling it. And this was a 5 Minute MBA course !
I asked him if he had any special discounts or any Loyalty programs for customers and he just smiled and replied - " I can do a few handkerchief's free for you " !!
A similar thing happened, when i conversed with my laundry guy . Its a small family of 3 who do not wash clothes, but just take washed clothes for iron'ing. They use a small handcart and are stationed at a place near a corporation ground.
Everytime i went to them, they would tell me a particular time for delivery and i used to bargain them for providing it me early . The guy said, he had lots of work and he meant it. One small glance on the Hand Cart, the space below, and the adjoining areas and you would find bundles and bundles of cloth.
I just asked him why he also does not wash clothes as that would mean additional income from the same set of customers ( i tried applying my MBA stuff there..going up the value chain etc..though i never mentioned any of these there,my thinking was on the same lines) ...And then he started replying...We had a pretty small discussion about 4-5 minutes..Look at his responses :
1) He told me firstly that he would not go for washing clothes, because that would mean additional investment. I asked what investment ? And he replied, all 3 in his family are already over-worked here and he would have to take more people. Am not sure how many corporates view their people as an investment ? It hit me straight like a bullet.
2) Second bullet he shot - He is earning decent returns on his Iron'ing business . He charges about Rs. 2 and they all do about 300-400 ( its not a typo ! ) clothes a day and works for almost all days in the week , excepting festivals etc. His only costs are the coal costs used for heating the Iron box and that is well within control .
In washing the clothes, he would never be able to do more than 80-100 clothes a day ..all 3 together. And though the charge could be anywhere between 5-7 Rs, yet the effort required would be atleast 5 times more . This guy knew his mathematics. I remembered Key driver costing techniques which was taught . This guy was taking his own time to be the Key driver and working out the marginal returns and deciding on the services to be offered !
3) I asked him how he plans to grow then ( being an MBA, its our birthright to ask questions ) . And he said, i will start thinking of other things only if iam free . Now iam continously expanding my customers in the same line of business . Once he does not find new customers, he will start thinking about it. Couldn't argue much..The guy made so much sense..I remember the BCG Matrix and also the Mature market concept.
4) And this was the best of them all ..I just asked him what he would do if his customers would switch to another guy who did both washing and laundry.
And he thought for a moment and replied - I might actually lose customers if i started offering washing services as well. I asked how ? And he told, for washing he would need to go to a far-off place , carry the clothes ,wash them , dry them , wait for so long as they got dry and then carry them back, Iron them and then give it to the customer. All of this would easily take 2 days . AND HE DID NOT TRUST THE UNPREDICTABLE CHENNAI WEATHER. IF IT RAINS, THE CLOTHES NEED TO BE WASHED AGAIN AND THE WHOLE PROCESS REPEATS ITSELF.
I started smiling and he made the same gesture and said - when you are not willing to wait for a total of 3-4 hours and fight with me for early delivery, iam not willing to take the risk . Customer satisfaction, ..no he was talking about Customer delight. Only promising what you can deliver !
Now this sealed it. I argued no further. Met a Real MBA - Master of Business really . I realised that we are just working and its high time we stopped calling ourselves MBA's. Just as you cannot learn swimming without getting in the water, its just not possible to master a business without owning it and feeling it. And this was a 5 Minute MBA course !
I asked him if he had any special discounts or any Loyalty programs for customers and he just smiled and replied - " I can do a few handkerchief's free for you " !!
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Mahabalipuram Trip updates
Updates from Sandy
Some updates on the trip to Mahabs….
10.30- scheduled time to reach toll plaza….. none of us were there!!!
11.30- Bhatter and Viswin – guess were the first ones to reach the resort….perhaps most of us thought this was some BIM class session wherein we could enter during the first break or during the last few minutes to give our attendance!!!
12.00- people trickle in….some leave to attend urgent work on a Sunday-( u know we BIMites don’t see a difference between a Sunday or a Monday)
12.30 – 1.30- some guys go for a swim, rest of them vetti mokkai….who is doing what? Who is getting married? Who is leaving which company and who is joining where etc?
Do note that quite a few surprises were thrown up!!!...with most of us completing a year at work…people are definitely looking out at options….both personally and professionally …some have been lucky …and guess will soon be giving out the news.
1.30- 2.30- lunch was arranged in the resort …menu- as already mentioned by arun,veg only).
+ the mokkai continues….some serious talk on how the interest rates are moving??......wondering why this topic came up?? …BIM20-family is buying a house..
Of course during the course of all these sessions people didn’t forget their old BIM habits of pulling other’s leg and if u wanna know who the target was…check out the photos…
2.30-4.30-Panndu khanna arrives….!! The last one to reach the venue…. People move to the beach front ….for some beach volleyball…and then some daredevils tried their hands at sea swimming…
Most of the gang playing volleyball seemed a bit rustic ….. we also had some new entrants to the court…Mr.Bhatter…who now looks like some indipop musician…unkempt hair, a small..tummy. Bhatter tried his best at volleyball with some coaching from his roomie..khanna….who incidentally is now a member of the Infosys volleyball team( so he claims!!)
A few phone calls from the guys who wanted to be there but could not make it, kept the rest occupied…
5.00- pack up time- ..a part of the gang heads back to Chennai and a few others stop on the way back at ECR dhabba for “bajji” which unfortunately was not available…so had to settle with some tea, biscuits and lime juice(one of the worst I ever had!!)a small goof up!!- u need something like this….to end the day
Nair missed the Dhabba…session though he didn’t have any big work to do back home .cos he taught that he was racing with UG and when UG stopped at the dhaba,he sensed his opportunity…and sped…only to find that there was no one racing with him
Regarding the attendance at the meet…..forget the numbers…the spirit of BIM 20 was there with people from far and wide making it to the meet.. …heard that our guy from orissa was also trying to make his way to the resort…but couldn’t make it…and was stranded at Thiruvanmiyur
Anything missed out.- people are free to add…
Hope to catch up with the entire BIM 20 sometime again..
Some updates on the trip to Mahabs….
10.30- scheduled time to reach toll plaza….. none of us were there!!!
11.30- Bhatter and Viswin – guess were the first ones to reach the resort….perhaps most of us thought this was some BIM class session wherein we could enter during the first break or during the last few minutes to give our attendance!!!
12.00- people trickle in….some leave to attend urgent work on a Sunday-( u know we BIMites don’t see a difference between a Sunday or a Monday)
12.30 – 1.30- some guys go for a swim, rest of them vetti mokkai….who is doing what? Who is getting married? Who is leaving which company and who is joining where etc?
Do note that quite a few surprises were thrown up!!!...with most of us completing a year at work…people are definitely looking out at options….both personally and professionally …some have been lucky …and guess will soon be giving out the news.
1.30- 2.30- lunch was arranged in the resort …menu- as already mentioned by arun,veg only).
+ the mokkai continues….some serious talk on how the interest rates are moving??......wondering why this topic came up?? …BIM20-family is buying a house..
Of course during the course of all these sessions people didn’t forget their old BIM habits of pulling other’s leg and if u wanna know who the target was…check out the photos…
2.30-4.30-Panndu khanna arrives….!! The last one to reach the venue…. People move to the beach front ….for some beach volleyball…and then some daredevils tried their hands at sea swimming…
Most of the gang playing volleyball seemed a bit rustic ….. we also had some new entrants to the court…Mr.Bhatter…who now looks like some indipop musician…unkempt hair, a small..tummy. Bhatter tried his best at volleyball with some coaching from his roomie..khanna….who incidentally is now a member of the Infosys volleyball team( so he claims!!)
A few phone calls from the guys who wanted to be there but could not make it, kept the rest occupied…
5.00- pack up time- ..a part of the gang heads back to Chennai and a few others stop on the way back at ECR dhabba for “bajji” which unfortunately was not available…so had to settle with some tea, biscuits and lime juice(one of the worst I ever had!!)a small goof up!!- u need something like this….to end the day
Nair missed the Dhabba…session though he didn’t have any big work to do back home .cos he taught that he was racing with UG and when UG stopped at the dhaba,he sensed his opportunity…and sped…only to find that there was no one racing with him
Regarding the attendance at the meet…..forget the numbers…the spirit of BIM 20 was there with people from far and wide making it to the meet.. …heard that our guy from orissa was also trying to make his way to the resort…but couldn’t make it…and was stranded at Thiruvanmiyur
Anything missed out.- people are free to add…
Hope to catch up with the entire BIM 20 sometime again..
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Start of a new journey..
Progreen has turned from a dream to a reality . Yes , we are in the final stages of starting the pilot unit at Salem . This would also be completed and the unit starting before the month-end.
Get the full story here
Get the full story here
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Nothing is completely useless..not even me..
A friend sent me this message yesterday :-
" Never lose heart. You are not completely useless . You can always be used as a bad example !!! "
;)
" Never lose heart. You are not completely useless . You can always be used as a bad example !!! "
;)
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
A Very special April 1
Know its a bit late, but its fun anytime.. This is what happened on
April 1 this year ...
Cast: Me, Viswin and Meghana
Scene: April 1, Saturday . After long office hours on March 31, was
feeling quite restless and thought should hang out today ..so decide to ask viswin..
12:30 P.M - Deepak to Viswin - SMS - Movie chal raha hai kya ?
Viswin replies - Nahi yaar not possible..got some work now...
2.30 P.M - Meghana to Deepak - Calls up - Movie ?
- Deepak - Yup
- Meghana - Ok..I will book the tickets today evening 7.30 show
6.30 P.M - Viswin to Deepak - SMS - Where are you ? Shall we go to Mocha ?
Deepak to Viswin -SMS - Iam at Satyam theatre yaar.
7.30 - 9.15 P.M - Deepak and Meghana watch the movie
9.30 P.M - Deepak and Meghana having dinner at Gangotri
9.35 P.M - Viswin to Meghana - SMS - Kya Chal raha hai thambi ?
(Now me and Meghana decide to have some fun..decide to play a prank..Poor Guy, Viswin..didnt know how much trouble he was landing himself in..Only god knows why he called up Meghana only that day ! )
- Meghana replies - Kuch nahi.. U Coming for a movie ?
- Viswin to Meghana - SMS - Nahi yaar..Got a CD at home today . will watch movie at home
- Meghana to Viswin - Kya yaar.. I asked for a movie...No to that also. So bad..
9.55 P.M - Viswin calls up Meghana - And is convinced for a movie. They decide to meet up
at around 10.15 at satyam
10.00 P.M - Deepak to viswin - calls up - Kahan hai yaar..
Viswin - Iam travelling..on way to satyam
Deepak - Oh good..i got tickets in the evening itself ..come soon
Viswin - Meghana just called me up, i told her iam coming
Deepak - So why did you tell her ?
Viswin - All of you ppl planned together rite ?
Deepak - Nahi yaar..i didnt meet her for some days now..Evening when you called
me at 6.30 , i got tickets then itself..whatever you come fast
Viswin - Oh...I told meghana but,,ok i will come and see
10.15 P.M - Deepak and Meghana start walking back to Satyam , with the hope to see the look on viswin's face when he doesn't find both of them there..
10.20 P.M - Viswin calls Meghana - We decide not to take the call..unsure what to tell him
10.20 - 10.25 P.M- The guy keeps calling Deepak and Meghana ..none of them pick up
10.25 P.M - We are close to satyam theatre now.. This time when he calls up, we were fearing that he might understand whats up and leave the place and we would not be able to see the reaction ..So we decide to pick up the call
10.27 P.M - Viswin calls Deepak - Hey where are you ?
10.30 P.M - Deepak - " Hey Why didnt you come ..i was waiting for you..and you did not come. I met meghana here and we decided to go for the movie...Right now , iam in the movie hall with her ..Where are you btw ?"
Viswin - " Saale. kutte kamine ***** !!!!.. You guys made a fool of me " ..Cuts the phone
( He really got wild .. Imagine being called up for the same movie by 2 people and then finding those 2 going to the movie hall and ditching him)
10.32 P.M - Viswin walking back to the Parking lot, only to find me and meghana near his Pulsar laughing our hearts out..
We kept making fun of him for the next 3-4 hours at Mocha..
All in a day ..so many people calling each other for a movie ..My most memorable April 1..
Viswin - Thanks for making it so special and memorable !
April 1 this year ...
Cast: Me, Viswin and Meghana
Scene: April 1, Saturday . After long office hours on March 31, was
feeling quite restless and thought should hang out today ..so decide to ask viswin..
12:30 P.M - Deepak to Viswin - SMS - Movie chal raha hai kya ?
Viswin replies - Nahi yaar not possible..got some work now...
2.30 P.M - Meghana to Deepak - Calls up - Movie ?
- Deepak - Yup
- Meghana - Ok..I will book the tickets today evening 7.30 show
6.30 P.M - Viswin to Deepak - SMS - Where are you ? Shall we go to Mocha ?
Deepak to Viswin -SMS - Iam at Satyam theatre yaar.
7.30 - 9.15 P.M - Deepak and Meghana watch the movie
9.30 P.M - Deepak and Meghana having dinner at Gangotri
9.35 P.M - Viswin to Meghana - SMS - Kya Chal raha hai thambi ?
(Now me and Meghana decide to have some fun..decide to play a prank..Poor Guy, Viswin..didnt know how much trouble he was landing himself in..Only god knows why he called up Meghana only that day ! )
- Meghana replies - Kuch nahi.. U Coming for a movie ?
- Viswin to Meghana - SMS - Nahi yaar..Got a CD at home today . will watch movie at home
- Meghana to Viswin - Kya yaar.. I asked for a movie...No to that also. So bad..
9.55 P.M - Viswin calls up Meghana - And is convinced for a movie. They decide to meet up
at around 10.15 at satyam
10.00 P.M - Deepak to viswin - calls up - Kahan hai yaar..
Viswin - Iam travelling..on way to satyam
Deepak - Oh good..i got tickets in the evening itself ..come soon
Viswin - Meghana just called me up, i told her iam coming
Deepak - So why did you tell her ?
Viswin - All of you ppl planned together rite ?
Deepak - Nahi yaar..i didnt meet her for some days now..Evening when you called
me at 6.30 , i got tickets then itself..whatever you come fast
Viswin - Oh...I told meghana but,,ok i will come and see
10.15 P.M - Deepak and Meghana start walking back to Satyam , with the hope to see the look on viswin's face when he doesn't find both of them there..
10.20 P.M - Viswin calls Meghana - We decide not to take the call..unsure what to tell him
10.20 - 10.25 P.M- The guy keeps calling Deepak and Meghana ..none of them pick up
10.25 P.M - We are close to satyam theatre now.. This time when he calls up, we were fearing that he might understand whats up and leave the place and we would not be able to see the reaction ..So we decide to pick up the call
10.27 P.M - Viswin calls Deepak - Hey where are you ?
10.30 P.M - Deepak - " Hey Why didnt you come ..i was waiting for you..and you did not come. I met meghana here and we decided to go for the movie...Right now , iam in the movie hall with her ..Where are you btw ?"
Viswin - " Saale. kutte kamine ***** !!!!.. You guys made a fool of me " ..Cuts the phone
( He really got wild .. Imagine being called up for the same movie by 2 people and then finding those 2 going to the movie hall and ditching him)
10.32 P.M - Viswin walking back to the Parking lot, only to find me and meghana near his Pulsar laughing our hearts out..
We kept making fun of him for the next 3-4 hours at Mocha..
All in a day ..so many people calling each other for a movie ..My most memorable April 1..
Viswin - Thanks for making it so special and memorable !
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Of Memories and Friends - 9 April 2006
Of Memories and Friends - 9 April 2005
9th of April 2005 - Well , that was when i had written this piece -
Of memories and friends , and now its more than a year since
that day has passed. Somehow, this day has remained in my memory since then . I wrote something that day , probably with a lot of emotions
inside me and maybe using my heart and not head. I still think that it
was right, because you can't choose your friends with your head . And if you do , you are very clearly not using your head at all.
The rest of April and May in 2005 was a real pain but somehow things
got sorted out.The word 'Sorry' has really a lot of powers. Luckily,
things are great now.One year is a long time and this one was also special because this was the first year where i was completely out of home, campus and on my own.Had a smooth journey so far and have learnt a lot of things. Matured enough now to understand that short term issues should not be given a serious thought at all.. and have learnt to laugh at myself.
Reading through my post again a year after, iam actually smiling . You need to
read my previous post to understand what iam trying to convey. ( Previous post here)
Think i was very kiddish at that point of time..Dont know for sure though..Maybe its just the passing away of time..
I remember one of Charlie chaplin's saying - You look at life in a close up and its the biggest tragedy and you look at the same ife from a long shot, and its the biggest and best comedy..
Have realised that very clearly now.What drove me to sad thoughts then ,
is making me smile today ..Amazing na...Iam smiling again :)
9th of April 2005 - Well , that was when i had written this piece -
Of memories and friends , and now its more than a year since
that day has passed. Somehow, this day has remained in my memory since then . I wrote something that day , probably with a lot of emotions
inside me and maybe using my heart and not head. I still think that it
was right, because you can't choose your friends with your head . And if you do , you are very clearly not using your head at all.
The rest of April and May in 2005 was a real pain but somehow things
got sorted out.The word 'Sorry' has really a lot of powers. Luckily,
things are great now.One year is a long time and this one was also special because this was the first year where i was completely out of home, campus and on my own.Had a smooth journey so far and have learnt a lot of things. Matured enough now to understand that short term issues should not be given a serious thought at all.. and have learnt to laugh at myself.
Reading through my post again a year after, iam actually smiling . You need to
read my previous post to understand what iam trying to convey. ( Previous post here)
Think i was very kiddish at that point of time..Dont know for sure though..Maybe its just the passing away of time..
I remember one of Charlie chaplin's saying - You look at life in a close up and its the biggest tragedy and you look at the same ife from a long shot, and its the biggest and best comedy..
Have realised that very clearly now.What drove me to sad thoughts then ,
is making me smile today ..Amazing na...Iam smiling again :)
Saturday, April 01, 2006
A Fool's Paradise
The 1st of April - The Fools day ..And if you are thinking iam gonna write about how the fools day originated, the custom , the best pranks played etc etc, iam sorry. Iam not going to write any of it and the reason i say that is because i myself do not know what iam goint to write. Hands on the Keyboard, Eyes on the monitor and the brain still wandering...Thats the status message from me..
But pretty sure iam not going to write about the custom of the fools day because every fool knows that . Hold on a second.. I meant only fools know that..Why do we need to know that. That is the funniest question ?..
On a serious note, life need not be so serious after all.. I know so many people who take life so so seriously, that i really pity them. I do it to myself also a lot of the times.. And then realise life is not about career, job, or money. Its more about living , helping, celebrations, family, friends , travelling, music and dance. There was this saying - if you want to achieve your dreams, wake up.. Scrap complete scrap..In worrying about the past, and planning our future, we sometimes forget to live the present..
Sometimes i wonder why do i think , and why do i need to think about my career one year down the line when i dont really know what iam to do today evening.Eccentricity you may say, but without the eccentrics, without the sardarji jokes our life would not be the same fun after all..
To me my life should mean variety - variety in the kinda jobs i do, new friends everyday, better relationships , lots of movies , lots of games, visiting lots of places, a feeling of getting up everyday charged up to go to office, a feeling of sadness that a day has ended and a sense of excitement that the new day is about to being , a sense of fulfillment making others happy .
And hold on ..i suddenly realised, there is no space for my career, my job and money . Life is too short to worry about such things. iam not going to spend any of my time worrying about this...Do my duties dutifully and if i succeed, great ..And if i don't , well iam not bothered as long as i give my best shot..Success they say is a relative thing. Think the same applies to money and happiness too..
Lessons usually are learnt in the struggle and not the victory . And life lived is in the journey rather the destination. And the choice very clearly is between the journey and the destination.. Journey to me looks more tempting !
Iam happy for that..Happy for myself not to set such materialistic goals.. Its a Fool's Paradise maybe, but a Paradise iam in ..
And if you thought i did not make any sense at all , the piece was complete rubbish..well ..i can just say ... April fool banaya !
But pretty sure iam not going to write about the custom of the fools day because every fool knows that . Hold on a second.. I meant only fools know that..Why do we need to know that. That is the funniest question ?..
On a serious note, life need not be so serious after all.. I know so many people who take life so so seriously, that i really pity them. I do it to myself also a lot of the times.. And then realise life is not about career, job, or money. Its more about living , helping, celebrations, family, friends , travelling, music and dance. There was this saying - if you want to achieve your dreams, wake up.. Scrap complete scrap..In worrying about the past, and planning our future, we sometimes forget to live the present..
Sometimes i wonder why do i think , and why do i need to think about my career one year down the line when i dont really know what iam to do today evening.Eccentricity you may say, but without the eccentrics, without the sardarji jokes our life would not be the same fun after all..
To me my life should mean variety - variety in the kinda jobs i do, new friends everyday, better relationships , lots of movies , lots of games, visiting lots of places, a feeling of getting up everyday charged up to go to office, a feeling of sadness that a day has ended and a sense of excitement that the new day is about to being , a sense of fulfillment making others happy .
And hold on ..i suddenly realised, there is no space for my career, my job and money . Life is too short to worry about such things. iam not going to spend any of my time worrying about this...Do my duties dutifully and if i succeed, great ..And if i don't , well iam not bothered as long as i give my best shot..Success they say is a relative thing. Think the same applies to money and happiness too..
Lessons usually are learnt in the struggle and not the victory . And life lived is in the journey rather the destination. And the choice very clearly is between the journey and the destination.. Journey to me looks more tempting !
Iam happy for that..Happy for myself not to set such materialistic goals.. Its a Fool's Paradise maybe, but a Paradise iam in ..
And if you thought i did not make any sense at all , the piece was complete rubbish..well ..i can just say ... April fool banaya !
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Saravanaaasuran...
And today ..the unimaginable happened..
Every day , me and parthi wondered during lunch time observing
the appetite of saravana. The guy hardly ate anything. He talks,
talks and talks in the cafetaria about everything ranging from
Sachin's form to Saurav's exclusion to Bush Visit to the Budget
Analysis to Brand BIM to well anything. In the process he hardly
eats anything. The sight of food it seemed, made the rats run
around in his brain ! While he thought we used to tease him for
that, in reality me and parthi were in appreciation for the
efforts he takes to keep himself in shape
Until this happened. A challenge thrown in and Sara takes it ..
A Vada Pav, A Bhelpuri, A Dahi samosa, A Panipuri and A Sweet
Lime juice are eliminated in the process. The guy wins and we
pay up for the food. Parthi, Me and Raghav are so amazed that
we gulp down multiple glasses of water..
And Raghav titles Saravana as "Saravanaaasuran"
Today we have decided to give sara a medal and a cup as well.
And he goes home shouting - " Amma, Amma ... Today in office..".
And while everyone at home is waiting to what he is going to
say , he says " I had one vada pav, one bhelpuri....."
Am unsure though whether he has appetite left for the rest of
the week . Sara incidentally had doubts too..
Sara just realised today - Food is an essential ingredient to
a balanced diet ...
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Why why ?
A question that came about as an answer to 'what should i write now' ?
Its been more than a year now since i started blogging and i was wondering today , first - what to write ? and then since nothing came to my rescue, i just thought - why to write ? and then why to blog ?
hmmm..a medium to share my thoughts and feelings, a personal diary, a medium to communicate, to do something new, being in touch with ppl when iam physically far away with them, making new friends on the blogosphere, creating a web identity, etc etc..Looks like i got a lot of reasons. But a lot of it is bookish. So we are backto square one- why blog ?
But seriously, what i found most intresting is the fact that it allows me to 'write' - as plain simple as that.Sometimes i feel that after the academia, this generation ( includes me )does not really 'write ' much. We read, understand, listen, watch, eat , sleep, drink, run, talk, but when do we write?
Ask yourself when was the last time you wrote something. Especially in the field where iam in - its only spreadsheet ,spreadsheet and spreadsheets. MS Excel morning, noon and for dinner ... I read somewhere ( see..still 'read' . The 'Write'part is absent from our lives) that reading makes a good man..oops i forgot the exact phrase..but it ends something like -writing makes a perfect man... ( Not Raymonds !! )
It really helps - if not in getting structured thoughts, atleast in presenting thoughts in a strucutured manner - So that is one good reason i found.
I once did this also for my other favourite activity of running. While i believed that it improves my mindset, concentration, etc and did some research to know the proper way to run, the shoes one should wear, the surfaces that one needs to run, and other 'care' list, the benefits that i get etc etc. At the end of it , realised i dont need any of this gyaan. I just want to run for the hell of it . Why do i need a reason. The same for blogging maybe ...
The question now is - Why do we search for reasons everytime and not get about doing things we like to do ? That is the bigger question
Learn from the mistakes of others, because you can't live long enough to make them all yourself.
Its been more than a year now since i started blogging and i was wondering today , first - what to write ? and then since nothing came to my rescue, i just thought - why to write ? and then why to blog ?
hmmm..a medium to share my thoughts and feelings, a personal diary, a medium to communicate, to do something new, being in touch with ppl when iam physically far away with them, making new friends on the blogosphere, creating a web identity, etc etc..Looks like i got a lot of reasons. But a lot of it is bookish. So we are backto square one- why blog ?
But seriously, what i found most intresting is the fact that it allows me to 'write' - as plain simple as that.Sometimes i feel that after the academia, this generation ( includes me )does not really 'write ' much. We read, understand, listen, watch, eat , sleep, drink, run, talk, but when do we write?
Ask yourself when was the last time you wrote something. Especially in the field where iam in - its only spreadsheet ,spreadsheet and spreadsheets. MS Excel morning, noon and for dinner ... I read somewhere ( see..still 'read' . The 'Write'part is absent from our lives) that reading makes a good man..oops i forgot the exact phrase..but it ends something like -writing makes a perfect man... ( Not Raymonds !! )
It really helps - if not in getting structured thoughts, atleast in presenting thoughts in a strucutured manner - So that is one good reason i found.
I once did this also for my other favourite activity of running. While i believed that it improves my mindset, concentration, etc and did some research to know the proper way to run, the shoes one should wear, the surfaces that one needs to run, and other 'care' list, the benefits that i get etc etc. At the end of it , realised i dont need any of this gyaan. I just want to run for the hell of it . Why do i need a reason. The same for blogging maybe ...
The question now is - Why do we search for reasons everytime and not get about doing things we like to do ? That is the bigger question
Learn from the mistakes of others, because you can't live long enough to make them all yourself.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
A Musical Silence...
RDB currently is ruling the charts on my system in office, in my TV and casette
player at home ( thats right..still don't own an ipod ) and on my lips. The
numbers are awesome and in particular 'tu bin bataye' . The song is
very very slow , slow enough to put Indian railways to shame , but wonderful
to listen. Dont remember a song so slow . The song is all of around 6 minutes but
seems like an eternity . But it still manages to hold its melody.
Another beautiful part of the song is its lyrics. So simple that
you are almost left to search for meanings.
Check these lyrics:
"tu bin bataye mujhe le chal kaheen
jahan tu muskuraye meri manzil wahin
tu bin bataye mujhe le chal kaheen
jahan tu muskuraye meri manzil wahin
meethi lagi, chakh ke dekhi abhi
mishri ki dali, zindagi ho chali
jahan hain teri baahein mera sahil wahin
tu bin bataye mujhe le chal kaheen
jahan tu muskuraye meri manzil wahin
mann ki gali tu phuharoon si aa
bheeg jaye mere khwabon ka kafila
jise tu gungunaye meri dhun hai wahin
tu bin bataye mujhe le chal kaheen
jahan tu muskuraye meri manzil wahin"
Simple lyrics + Slow lyric + Simple background music with no noise - And you got a wonderful number you can keep listening to . The final output is definetly more
than the sum of its parts.
The Song is defintely a more than once hear. The only other number who scores on similar parameters for its sheer simplicity and melody is ' Hai re...'
Silence defintely is the most expressive thing and music the next...
Go on...Treat yourself here to beauty and simplicity..
Tu Bin Bataye
Hai Re...
player at home ( thats right..still don't own an ipod ) and on my lips. The
numbers are awesome and in particular 'tu bin bataye' . The song is
very very slow , slow enough to put Indian railways to shame , but wonderful
to listen. Dont remember a song so slow . The song is all of around 6 minutes but
seems like an eternity . But it still manages to hold its melody.
Another beautiful part of the song is its lyrics. So simple that
you are almost left to search for meanings.
Check these lyrics:
"tu bin bataye mujhe le chal kaheen
jahan tu muskuraye meri manzil wahin
tu bin bataye mujhe le chal kaheen
jahan tu muskuraye meri manzil wahin
meethi lagi, chakh ke dekhi abhi
mishri ki dali, zindagi ho chali
jahan hain teri baahein mera sahil wahin
tu bin bataye mujhe le chal kaheen
jahan tu muskuraye meri manzil wahin
mann ki gali tu phuharoon si aa
bheeg jaye mere khwabon ka kafila
jise tu gungunaye meri dhun hai wahin
tu bin bataye mujhe le chal kaheen
jahan tu muskuraye meri manzil wahin"
Simple lyrics + Slow lyric + Simple background music with no noise - And you got a wonderful number you can keep listening to . The final output is definetly more
than the sum of its parts.
The Song is defintely a more than once hear. The only other number who scores on similar parameters for its sheer simplicity and melody is ' Hai re...'
Silence defintely is the most expressive thing and music the next...
Go on...Treat yourself here to beauty and simplicity..
Tu Bin Bataye
Hai Re...
Friday, February 24, 2006
How much is one year ?
This week is special..Really special ..
Last year, this week is when the Progreen glory started. We were there in Seattle for a week in our way to winning the GSEC. The four of us - Annie, Shakee , Sara and myself have been getting nostalgic about the day right from yesterday with mails floating amongst us.
Well if you ever thought, you had the best memory, here's is a challenge: Anita - Look at what details she managed to remember . Please note that it is one full year that has gone by:
1) 23rd Feb 2005: Anita and shakee had lunch at the university campus. Me and sara had no food and headed back to hotel . For dinner, Shakee went to the scandivian party !!
2) 24th Feb 2005: Went to an Indian restaurant and had curd rice
3) 25th Feb 2005: I went for a jog early morning
We had a fight over the presentation content after the breakfast ,
This is the best: We had banquet party at the LADY CATHERINE HALL
( How can you remember that !! )
Well, one year has passed and so much has happened.
We have graduated, had a much deserved break at home for a month, started our career,
Me and sara have left our first jobs and joined together again for stint in equity research,
Went to USA, Germany, France, SriLanka, Singapore, Japan
Went to Japan and singapore again for the Imagine cup 2005 and won that too.
Won the YSEI fellowship for Malaysia and declined it too,
Sara cleared his CFA Level 1 exam,
recognitions, press conferences, awards etc.
We twice came close to start Progreen, but because of things not in our hand, we still dream about it.
All of us encountered heavy rains in different parts of the country. Me and shakee at mumbai, Sara and Anita at bangalore and then Me and Sara at Chennai, in that order. What amazing coincidences ...
Who said one year is not enough. Its enough to change your life; or should i say sufficient to show life to you; to live your life...
And yes my blog is also exactly one year old now. It all started with posting of pictures of the Progreen journey..
And symbolically, i decided to do something that is global. So here's a new sitemeter
that i have put up in the blog. ( Thanks to Suresh , i found this interesting stuff).
The old one is gone
This sitemeter lets me check which part of the world do my visitors come from . Click on the link and then go the stats page/ world map
Iam sure you will be amazed..
Additionally it doesnt count number of hits , rather it counts the number of visitors. So though the meter slows down, it is more accurate...
..Iam learning technology.. As i say again, One year is a long time..
Iam just wondering what is in store for us till Feb 2007. You are welcome to make guesses...The best guesses about any of us stand to win a special treat from Progreen team members
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
A Wait for 60 years...
Iam not sure if i have the right words to describe the following: Happened to see this on television. A very emotional and touching story indeed...
A 60 year wait reunion that finally happened this new year...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"At the time of partition, I was very young. We all get separated and I only remembered my brothers. I am meeting them after 60-65 years. I am thankful to god that I could meet them," she said.
Seventy-two year old Bibi had embraced Islam after being separated from her family during the partition of the Indian subcontinent. After several years of waiting to meet her brothers, Bibi finally boarded the "The Samjhauta Express" which runs between Lahore and Attari.
Her family who danced to the beats of drums greeted her warmly.
Her brothers, Kesar Singh and Joginder Singh could hardly control their emotions when they hugged their sister.
Joginder Singh said that their hope of meeting Bibi was revived after tension between India and Pakistan eased in the last few years.
"On this Lohri, its like a rebirth for us. We are really happy with her visit with us," he said.
Bibi's brothers said that their sister who was only 12 was separated from the caravan which was coming to India. Tears rolled down their cheeks, even as the onlookers also became emotional to see the re-union.
Rabia Bibi was accompanied by her UK-based daughter, Amshira and son Sagir Ahmad who were so excited to meet their Amritsar-based Sikh relatives that they could not utter even a single word for 15 minutes.
Rabia Bibi said that for many decades she could not get any clue about their relatives and used to pray to the Almighty for the re-union. She said in 1984, her next door neighbour (Potha village of Mirpur district of PoK) visited Pathankot (Gurdaspur) to meet his mother, who were separated at the time of Partition.
It was a chance meeting with the Sikh family from Amritsar who had told him that they had lost their sister in 1947. He told the Sikh family that his neighbour had been talking about her Sikh background.
On his return to Potha , he told her that he had met a Sikh family who was enquiring about their sister. She confirmed that, the Amritsar family was her own. However, it took many years to get the visa for Amritsar since she belongs to Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Rabia Bibi, who is mother of six daughters and two sons, said that her children would repeatedly enquire about their maternal uncles and aunts. However, she was not sure whether they were alive or killed like thousands of other innocent persons in the communal frenzy. "It is the grace of Allah that all are alive".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was just shaken up when i came to know that for 22 years from 1984, the siblings could not meet after coming to know about the family. What an agonishing wait it should have been..
Sometimes, we just don't realise the wonderful moments of our life . Took a few moments and realised what are the precious things i own and found myself very rich to possess the love of my family, companionship of my friends and well wishers.
To be happy, we need to understand what we have first than what we want to possess. This new year, lets get richer and happier, by feeling what we already have.
A 60 year wait reunion that finally happened this new year...
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"At the time of partition, I was very young. We all get separated and I only remembered my brothers. I am meeting them after 60-65 years. I am thankful to god that I could meet them," she said.
Seventy-two year old Bibi had embraced Islam after being separated from her family during the partition of the Indian subcontinent. After several years of waiting to meet her brothers, Bibi finally boarded the "The Samjhauta Express" which runs between Lahore and Attari.
Her family who danced to the beats of drums greeted her warmly.
Her brothers, Kesar Singh and Joginder Singh could hardly control their emotions when they hugged their sister.
Joginder Singh said that their hope of meeting Bibi was revived after tension between India and Pakistan eased in the last few years.
"On this Lohri, its like a rebirth for us. We are really happy with her visit with us," he said.
Bibi's brothers said that their sister who was only 12 was separated from the caravan which was coming to India. Tears rolled down their cheeks, even as the onlookers also became emotional to see the re-union.
Rabia Bibi was accompanied by her UK-based daughter, Amshira and son Sagir Ahmad who were so excited to meet their Amritsar-based Sikh relatives that they could not utter even a single word for 15 minutes.
Rabia Bibi said that for many decades she could not get any clue about their relatives and used to pray to the Almighty for the re-union. She said in 1984, her next door neighbour (Potha village of Mirpur district of PoK) visited Pathankot (Gurdaspur) to meet his mother, who were separated at the time of Partition.
It was a chance meeting with the Sikh family from Amritsar who had told him that they had lost their sister in 1947. He told the Sikh family that his neighbour had been talking about her Sikh background.
On his return to Potha , he told her that he had met a Sikh family who was enquiring about their sister. She confirmed that, the Amritsar family was her own. However, it took many years to get the visa for Amritsar since she belongs to Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Rabia Bibi, who is mother of six daughters and two sons, said that her children would repeatedly enquire about their maternal uncles and aunts. However, she was not sure whether they were alive or killed like thousands of other innocent persons in the communal frenzy. "It is the grace of Allah that all are alive".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I was just shaken up when i came to know that for 22 years from 1984, the siblings could not meet after coming to know about the family. What an agonishing wait it should have been..
Sometimes, we just don't realise the wonderful moments of our life . Took a few moments and realised what are the precious things i own and found myself very rich to possess the love of my family, companionship of my friends and well wishers.
To be happy, we need to understand what we have first than what we want to possess. This new year, lets get richer and happier, by feeling what we already have.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Food for thought ...
Over a month in chennai now and i have been completely on my own. My weekends have been terrific with attendance at a few marriages, new year bash at pondicherry, hang outs at mocha and barista and yes ,the office also ;)
One thing i have started loving here is the south indian sappad. Did some research ( as a research analyst, you tend to lose your originality sometimes and you convince yourself saying that , iam learning
from others !! )..anyways this is what i found on the net about the south indian meal:
Called the 'Sappad',the south indian meal is served on the Banana leaf , and amazingly enough, it also serves the dual purpose of an identity card. It is believed that a careful look and a guest will know the community, the status, the exact wealth of the family, and from which
part of Tamil Nadu they originate. Found this mindboggling. Each attribute tells you something. The size of the leaf is supposed to let you know the exact community of the host..
2)Geographical details:
top half - for ancillaries
bottom half - rice
lower right - payasam
top left - salt, pickle and salad,
middle - chips, vada, wafers etc
top right - curries, and dry vegetables
center - appallam
Another important thing i came to know was that the vegetable served will be in alternate order. ( a gravy, a non-gravy and goes on..)Next time, i plan to keep a closer eye
3)Order of eating:
The food should be started off with payasam, then stuff
like chips, vada etc. Then the action starts with rice and lots of it, first with dal and ghee , then with sambar , then a second variety of
sambar, then rasam ( Thin soup made out of tamarind and spices)
and then buttermilk/curd.Finally it all ends with a small banana and betel leaf
And after the meal, you are supposed to fold up with the leaf, though i havent been able to find out why .. can anyone enlighten me on this?
A south indian meal is considered more nutritious too, because of the raw vegetables andrice to vegetables proportion. The meal also serves up all the 6 tastes - Uppu (Salty), Thithippu (Sweet), Pullippu (Sour), Kasappu (Bitter), Uraippu (Hot) and Thuvarppu (Taste of Plantain Flower). Incidentally, the western world does not seem to recognise the last 2 tastes. Ayurveda considers all six tastes though..
Sometimes though, its the subtle of things that make you take notice. My roomie , Amit found the 'affection' ( his words !!) with which the food is served in Ratna Cafe most amazing. Food is served with clinical precision and you have swarms of servers moving about and ready to serve you..This is some experience..
The next time I have my meal at ratna's, i surely have some food for thought..
P.S: To me , the best part of the meal is the amazing siesta you get after the meal , thanks to the quantity of rice. Think you know, where iam headed next .. :)
One thing i have started loving here is the south indian sappad. Did some research ( as a research analyst, you tend to lose your originality sometimes and you convince yourself saying that , iam learning
from others !! )..anyways this is what i found on the net about the south indian meal:
Called the 'Sappad',the south indian meal is served on the Banana leaf , and amazingly enough, it also serves the dual purpose of an identity card. It is believed that a careful look and a guest will know the community, the status, the exact wealth of the family, and from which
part of Tamil Nadu they originate. Found this mindboggling. Each attribute tells you something. The size of the leaf is supposed to let you know the exact community of the host..
2)Geographical details:
top half - for ancillaries
bottom half - rice
lower right - payasam
top left - salt, pickle and salad,
middle - chips, vada, wafers etc
top right - curries, and dry vegetables
center - appallam
Another important thing i came to know was that the vegetable served will be in alternate order. ( a gravy, a non-gravy and goes on..)Next time, i plan to keep a closer eye
3)Order of eating:
The food should be started off with payasam, then stuff
like chips, vada etc. Then the action starts with rice and lots of it, first with dal and ghee , then with sambar , then a second variety of
sambar, then rasam ( Thin soup made out of tamarind and spices)
and then buttermilk/curd.Finally it all ends with a small banana and betel leaf
And after the meal, you are supposed to fold up with the leaf, though i havent been able to find out why .. can anyone enlighten me on this?
A south indian meal is considered more nutritious too, because of the raw vegetables andrice to vegetables proportion. The meal also serves up all the 6 tastes - Uppu (Salty), Thithippu (Sweet), Pullippu (Sour), Kasappu (Bitter), Uraippu (Hot) and Thuvarppu (Taste of Plantain Flower). Incidentally, the western world does not seem to recognise the last 2 tastes. Ayurveda considers all six tastes though..
Sometimes though, its the subtle of things that make you take notice. My roomie , Amit found the 'affection' ( his words !!) with which the food is served in Ratna Cafe most amazing. Food is served with clinical precision and you have swarms of servers moving about and ready to serve you..This is some experience..
The next time I have my meal at ratna's, i surely have some food for thought..
P.S: To me , the best part of the meal is the amazing siesta you get after the meal , thanks to the quantity of rice. Think you know, where iam headed next .. :)
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Words of Wisdom
If you are wondering if those words of wisdom are from me, you are lucky and you survive. Its not mine .. Was reading a nice article on rediff.com and came across these paragraphs and did exactly what comes naturally to all of us - cut, copy and paste. So here it goes
"
Any words of wisdom?
For those aspiring to be investment bankers…
"Investment banking certainly has its pros. It builds your confidence, is intellectually stimulating, pushes you to give in your best all the time and offers tremendous exposure. And the money is great. But the job expectation is commensurate with what they pay you. Sure, you rake in the moolah but never forget you are paying a price to do so."
For someone who wants to switch careers…
"If you get up every morning feeling pained to go to work, it is time for a switch. If you do follow your dream, you will be a wizard at what you do because you will give it your all. Have a dream and work towards it. If you don't, revisit life. Stop and think. Otherwise, you will just be a dead man walking."
Finally, what is the best thing about being on your own?
No boss.
Flexible timings.
And your life is your own.
Remember, these are words of advice from someone whose identity at one time was a 24/7 investment banker.
"
Danger Zone begins.. I start.
Incidentally , rediff has been posting some wonderful articles on investment banking. And if you thought things in life come easy, you are mistaken. Thats the first lesson i learnt after reading those articles. So here's a small exercise . Have consciously not inserted hyperlinks on the following pages. You need to cut, copy , paste and enjoy the articles. Its worth it...i can guarantee you some fabulous reading...
1) Preparing for an interview in an investment bank
http://www.rediff.com/getahead/2005/nov/11place.htm
2) How to succeed in investment banking
http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2005/dec/26ibank.htm
3) Life as an investment banker
http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2005/dec/19ibank.htm
4) Where can investment banking lead you
http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2006/jan/03ibank.htm
And if you thought all these were insider's views on investment banking, you are right and you might have to wait a bit longer for the prescription. An outsider's view on the industry would be attempted by me soon and posted across. Views across the board are also welcome. Till then, you are welcome to leave your suggestions and footprints in the comments section.
"
Any words of wisdom?
For those aspiring to be investment bankers…
"Investment banking certainly has its pros. It builds your confidence, is intellectually stimulating, pushes you to give in your best all the time and offers tremendous exposure. And the money is great. But the job expectation is commensurate with what they pay you. Sure, you rake in the moolah but never forget you are paying a price to do so."
For someone who wants to switch careers…
"If you get up every morning feeling pained to go to work, it is time for a switch. If you do follow your dream, you will be a wizard at what you do because you will give it your all. Have a dream and work towards it. If you don't, revisit life. Stop and think. Otherwise, you will just be a dead man walking."
Finally, what is the best thing about being on your own?
No boss.
Flexible timings.
And your life is your own.
Remember, these are words of advice from someone whose identity at one time was a 24/7 investment banker.
"
Danger Zone begins.. I start.
Incidentally , rediff has been posting some wonderful articles on investment banking. And if you thought things in life come easy, you are mistaken. Thats the first lesson i learnt after reading those articles. So here's a small exercise . Have consciously not inserted hyperlinks on the following pages. You need to cut, copy , paste and enjoy the articles. Its worth it...i can guarantee you some fabulous reading...
1) Preparing for an interview in an investment bank
http://www.rediff.com/getahead/2005/nov/11place.htm
2) How to succeed in investment banking
http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2005/dec/26ibank.htm
3) Life as an investment banker
http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2005/dec/19ibank.htm
4) Where can investment banking lead you
http://in.rediff.com/getahead/2006/jan/03ibank.htm
And if you thought all these were insider's views on investment banking, you are right and you might have to wait a bit longer for the prescription. An outsider's view on the industry would be attempted by me soon and posted across. Views across the board are also welcome. Till then, you are welcome to leave your suggestions and footprints in the comments section.
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Into the top 100 !!
This isn't exactly the Men's WTA Ratings, but still good enough. The Link on the India bloggers with the number on the left side lets us view the current rank of this blog in the 'personal' category. And well, a surprise..have broken into the top 100. Currently it stands at 99..
Turning out to be some good fun..
Turning out to be some good fun..
Saturday, December 17, 2005
A Scoreboard and an Ad Board
Well,
Added something in my blog.. check out the ads by google on the top left of the screen and then the bravenet hit counter right below it. For the Ads, i could end up getting some money for the space , though shakee says it will take a million hits to get any sort of money..Me an optimist as always..
The other part is more intresting..Lets me have a look at the number of hits in my blog. Advanced analytics would help me find , first time users, unique users etc. A limitation though, this counter will take it a maximum of only 20,000 hits recorded in a 24 hour period ..Didnt i tell you before i was a born optimist.
And to top it all, the link with india bloggers will help me know howz it doing compared to others. These ranks are available on a periodic basis and at present the blog is ranked No.295 overall and No.144 in the personal category...Will be good fun tracking this and keeping the latest numbers posted..
Figures remain figures though..Would prefer if you find time to post comments/ suggestions in my blog with your identity..Helps me get facts to substantite these figures..
The Meter goes on......
Added something in my blog.. check out the ads by google on the top left of the screen and then the bravenet hit counter right below it. For the Ads, i could end up getting some money for the space , though shakee says it will take a million hits to get any sort of money..Me an optimist as always..
The other part is more intresting..Lets me have a look at the number of hits in my blog. Advanced analytics would help me find , first time users, unique users etc. A limitation though, this counter will take it a maximum of only 20,000 hits recorded in a 24 hour period ..Didnt i tell you before i was a born optimist.
And to top it all, the link with india bloggers will help me know howz it doing compared to others. These ranks are available on a periodic basis and at present the blog is ranked No.295 overall and No.144 in the personal category...Will be good fun tracking this and keeping the latest numbers posted..
Figures remain figures though..Would prefer if you find time to post comments/ suggestions in my blog with your identity..Helps me get facts to substantite these figures..
The Meter goes on......
Friday, December 02, 2005
Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Got some money ??
If the buzz in the primary capital market is an indication, then all of us are in for a wonderful future. Investors across the globe have this uncanny ability to correlate the number of IPO's in the market to the economy in general with a positive +1. How i wish that were true..
This season has already seen the maximum issues in the Indian market and seem a repeat of 1995-96 era. The 1995-96 season IPO though could manage to hold most of its promises true. But i find it really amazing and uneasy, how things can suddenly
become so sunny.
Well then what does an IPO mean for you and me...More important to that, i feel is whether an IPO is meant for you and me. If i were an company and wanted to raise capital , to me the best option would be to get a Goldman Sacchs to do it for me.
Simply because, an IPO is nothing but a sale exercise and the better i sell myself, the more value i get. And its better to get a Shahrukh to sell a movie than a debutant ( Unless though iam a Hrithik Roshan and can do a google type of IPO).
And a goldman sachs will inturn 'fairly value' it by/then sell it to its Institutional buyers - their regular clients who are given the preference. Why would these people buy it from GS - Only if they find it reasonably / under priced. And GS would not
sell it to them unless it is under priced ( customer is the king !! Keep him happy.. Its on their strength that they happily take underwriting ). So in effect what we get is what they don't want and they do not want issues which are over priced.
Yet we get excited about the whole thing and we start analysing the industry prospects, the organisatonal strengths and opportunitiesthat are available to it, risks that it faces , entry and exit barriers and all such things but wisely ignore the management
team that bring the IPO to you. The IPO could be a very fancy name for the exit strategy of promoters which we dont realise.In such cases, IPO is a end rather than the beginning ..Its all about selling oneself at a profit. And the way they do it -
' Once in a Life time opportunity ' . Heaven sake, IPO's are always meant to be a one-time affair !!
The cousin of IPO seems to be an intresting species also. Called the ' Dutch Auction' , this is a method where the companyinvites bids from all and seeks price discovery ( a top to bottom approach). Usually a case of over-allotment, shares are alloted to the highest bidders though not at the price bid. It's at the lowest price of all alloted bidders. Definetly a bettermethod of price discovery , though still far from accurate.
What i found intresting here though is the interaction between psychology and finance . As an investor here, if the dealis attractive, i would say to myself - Hang on ,let me bid at a high price so that iam assured of an allotment and in any casei will get it at a lower price.. Sounds like game theory , it is !! The problem that happens is unlike game theory , you loseonly an opportunity ( in a world of endless opportunities) and hence everyone puts the bid high. The valuations thus become stretched and we burn our own fingers.. Smart companies just need a shahrukh as brand ambassador and people pay up a
premium..
Not Beware , but Be - Aware ...
A lot of people become pessimists from financing optimists...
This season has already seen the maximum issues in the Indian market and seem a repeat of 1995-96 era. The 1995-96 season IPO though could manage to hold most of its promises true. But i find it really amazing and uneasy, how things can suddenly
become so sunny.
Well then what does an IPO mean for you and me...More important to that, i feel is whether an IPO is meant for you and me. If i were an company and wanted to raise capital , to me the best option would be to get a Goldman Sacchs to do it for me.
Simply because, an IPO is nothing but a sale exercise and the better i sell myself, the more value i get. And its better to get a Shahrukh to sell a movie than a debutant ( Unless though iam a Hrithik Roshan and can do a google type of IPO).
And a goldman sachs will inturn 'fairly value' it by/then sell it to its Institutional buyers - their regular clients who are given the preference. Why would these people buy it from GS - Only if they find it reasonably / under priced. And GS would not
sell it to them unless it is under priced ( customer is the king !! Keep him happy.. Its on their strength that they happily take underwriting ). So in effect what we get is what they don't want and they do not want issues which are over priced.
Yet we get excited about the whole thing and we start analysing the industry prospects, the organisatonal strengths and opportunitiesthat are available to it, risks that it faces , entry and exit barriers and all such things but wisely ignore the management
team that bring the IPO to you. The IPO could be a very fancy name for the exit strategy of promoters which we dont realise.In such cases, IPO is a end rather than the beginning ..Its all about selling oneself at a profit. And the way they do it -
' Once in a Life time opportunity ' . Heaven sake, IPO's are always meant to be a one-time affair !!
The cousin of IPO seems to be an intresting species also. Called the ' Dutch Auction' , this is a method where the companyinvites bids from all and seeks price discovery ( a top to bottom approach). Usually a case of over-allotment, shares are alloted to the highest bidders though not at the price bid. It's at the lowest price of all alloted bidders. Definetly a bettermethod of price discovery , though still far from accurate.
What i found intresting here though is the interaction between psychology and finance . As an investor here, if the dealis attractive, i would say to myself - Hang on ,let me bid at a high price so that iam assured of an allotment and in any casei will get it at a lower price.. Sounds like game theory , it is !! The problem that happens is unlike game theory , you loseonly an opportunity ( in a world of endless opportunities) and hence everyone puts the bid high. The valuations thus become stretched and we burn our own fingers.. Smart companies just need a shahrukh as brand ambassador and people pay up a
premium..
Not Beware , but Be - Aware ...
A lot of people become pessimists from financing optimists...
Sunday, November 20, 2005
Kyon ki...its mumbai
Kyon ki, i was in mumbai for 6 months now. Was serving a well known bank and now moving
soon to Equity Research, Chennai.
6 months is what i have invested in myself in this wonderful city called mumbai - City of life, city of dreams. Well mumbai does gets its share of praise and so let me be not another sheep in the herd and avoid anything such in this piece. So no praises of mumbai here
Mistake : 1 - Mumbai has a magic of its own:
This was my first realization; Shakee landed up in Mumbai for his assignment with AC Nielson BASES and the first thing that he did was to grabs a Vada Pav (batter-fried mashed potato with bread & chutney), finds out the history of its preparation and
then that vada pav is part of history. Mumbai had already claimed one victim from our house of 2 people
And he isn’t the only one. Jumbo King's owner Dheeraj Gupte asserts, " With only 2.69 per cent fat and about 5 per cent protein, the vada pav is actually a healthy food for the masses"
Mistake: 2 - ‘Govinda ala re’ or ‘Ganpati Bappa moraya’
Shakee and me then got ourselves a flat then in Lower parel. Lower parel incidentally has played a very important role in the development of the city with all its mills (now malls) and acted as the backbone for growth of not only mumbai, but the country as well. Today though the ground conditions have changed and it has become the heaven of top brand manufacturers. Hardly a surprise that today then, agencies like Lowe, Ogliver and Mathy, JWT have set up their offices at LP.
Well, Lower parel (and parel) are also the only places where the ethnic Marathi Community still lives on in its full vigour. Will find it uncommon to see a non-marathi residing here. That was enough reason for us to decide to live on there and today we can vouch that the best place to live in any region would be the place where you could relate most easily to the culture of that place.
And how did we find that?? Krishna Janmastami, Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, the celebration of mumbai never stops. Week after week, we would witness a celebration
never seen before. Lighting, Songs and Dance, People moving in trucks and singing,(sponsored by a political party), the celebration of ‘Dahi Handi’over half a million people right next to our house during the famous lalbagucha ganpathi celebration
Lalbaug ganpathi incidentally is the biggest celebration in the world for this festival ..check out this website - lalbaug raja
And i suddenly found, Mumbai had claimed another victim from our house in its spell
Mistake -3 : Rain or more rain, Mumbai just keeps going
If having read so far, (didn’t I tell you I was a born optimist as all Gemini are) you thought that mumbai was a city of dreams, you are mistaken. The City never sleeps! (Shhh..... not the other citi; i am part of ------ Bank !! ). Being an early riser myself was surprised to see crowds early in the morning at railway stations right from sunrise onwards till the later parties that extend to early mornings. Much has been said of Local trains for me to even
repeat it. And to give some sense to the header, i was there in the city on July 26 when it flooded, but everything was normal on the 28th. And to add a perspective, our flight to Imagine cup, Japan left the Mumbai airport from a watery run-away.
So much for the spirit of mumbai
Mistake - 4 : Mumbai will keep you star-struck
If there is one place that is happening, its mumbai. In the 6 months that I have been here, have been able to interact with K.V.Kamath, J D Irani, Dr. Nachiket Mor, Saurabh Shukla (kallu mama fame), Sanjay Manjrekar, Harsha Bhogle and been lucky to catch glimpse of Rajashree Birla, Boman Irani, Joy sengupta, Sudhir Joshi, Neha Dubey, Priya Gill, Udayan Mukherjee, Girish Karnad, Women behind ICICI, Akshay Kumar, Twinkle Khanna...
No wonder Mumbai has struck me real hard then.
And they aren't the only stars; every weekend of ours loitering around at places like Phoenix Mills, Nariman Point, NCPA, Bandstand,G7, VT MacDonald's, you will find hundreds of stars there ...and there it was Shakee who was star struck most of the times
The chap thought Phoenix was his home and every lady at phoenix his homemaker!! Lopa, incidentally is still looking for a house for the past 5 months bcoz she is star struck by her landlady.... Everyone seems st(r)uck here
Mistake –5 : Working to work
Well, around 55-60 hours of my week used to be at my workplace and that was when I found what hard work is. Before this i hardly worked. Was lucky to be in a wonderful office, found myself mentally challenged amongst intellectually stimulating people with the queen of stock markets right besides me. People enjoy what they do and work just happens..
Everyone works and everyone excels. There was this butcher close to our house and on my way to office each day, used to hate him and curse him when he would start his work. Till the day when i stopped by for a moment. He did his work , provided the customer with the beef and when the customer paid back for it and left, started offering Namaz ...And it wasnt a friday either..
To really understand Mumbaikars, it is important to hold back a couple of steps and watch and learn.. Else you also be part of the wave.
I just committed 6 mistakes and this is what i learnt from the city - Commit mistakes, you forget and others forgive. Life goes on. My life moves on to Chennai next.
Think 5 months of mumbai (that’s another mistake) has given me 5 good perspectives of what mumbai has to offer to you. But some things are enjoyed best in short spells like a shower or rain. Anything longer in mumbai and i would have begun to lose these perspectives. I might have woken up to realities that i have chosen to ignore. And somehow get a feeling that this is what is happening to the city. Mumbaikars
have stopped enjoying their city by becoming too used to it.
Not many of us look up to the mirror and appreciate ourselves. We need someone else to do it. Ironically, we could easily spot a speck in the mirror. Mumbaikars are no exception. They are unable to see the charm of Mumbai; they are the charm themselves. And look what they have done to mumbai. Mumbai is no longer a noun to me; it’s an adjective - a way of life
Salaam namaste Mumbai...
P.S: Iam looking forward to the Masala Dosa of Chennai and of course to a very intresting and different assignment during work. The BIM League Cricket Matches as well. Spencer Plaza as well, Marina Beach as well…Think need a break. You deserve one too.
soon to Equity Research, Chennai.
6 months is what i have invested in myself in this wonderful city called mumbai - City of life, city of dreams. Well mumbai does gets its share of praise and so let me be not another sheep in the herd and avoid anything such in this piece. So no praises of mumbai here
Mistake : 1 - Mumbai has a magic of its own:
This was my first realization; Shakee landed up in Mumbai for his assignment with AC Nielson BASES and the first thing that he did was to grabs a Vada Pav (batter-fried mashed potato with bread & chutney), finds out the history of its preparation and
then that vada pav is part of history. Mumbai had already claimed one victim from our house of 2 people
And he isn’t the only one. Jumbo King's owner Dheeraj Gupte asserts, " With only 2.69 per cent fat and about 5 per cent protein, the vada pav is actually a healthy food for the masses"
Mistake: 2 - ‘Govinda ala re’ or ‘Ganpati Bappa moraya’
Shakee and me then got ourselves a flat then in Lower parel. Lower parel incidentally has played a very important role in the development of the city with all its mills (now malls) and acted as the backbone for growth of not only mumbai, but the country as well. Today though the ground conditions have changed and it has become the heaven of top brand manufacturers. Hardly a surprise that today then, agencies like Lowe, Ogliver and Mathy, JWT have set up their offices at LP.
Well, Lower parel (and parel) are also the only places where the ethnic Marathi Community still lives on in its full vigour. Will find it uncommon to see a non-marathi residing here. That was enough reason for us to decide to live on there and today we can vouch that the best place to live in any region would be the place where you could relate most easily to the culture of that place.
And how did we find that?? Krishna Janmastami, Diwali, Ganesh Chaturthi, the celebration of mumbai never stops. Week after week, we would witness a celebration
never seen before. Lighting, Songs and Dance, People moving in trucks and singing,(sponsored by a political party), the celebration of ‘Dahi Handi’over half a million people right next to our house during the famous lalbagucha ganpathi celebration
Lalbaug ganpathi incidentally is the biggest celebration in the world for this festival ..check out this website - lalbaug raja
And i suddenly found, Mumbai had claimed another victim from our house in its spell
Mistake -3 : Rain or more rain, Mumbai just keeps going
If having read so far, (didn’t I tell you I was a born optimist as all Gemini are) you thought that mumbai was a city of dreams, you are mistaken. The City never sleeps! (Shhh..... not the other citi; i am part of ------ Bank !! ). Being an early riser myself was surprised to see crowds early in the morning at railway stations right from sunrise onwards till the later parties that extend to early mornings. Much has been said of Local trains for me to even
repeat it. And to give some sense to the header, i was there in the city on July 26 when it flooded, but everything was normal on the 28th. And to add a perspective, our flight to Imagine cup, Japan left the Mumbai airport from a watery run-away.
So much for the spirit of mumbai
Mistake - 4 : Mumbai will keep you star-struck
If there is one place that is happening, its mumbai. In the 6 months that I have been here, have been able to interact with K.V.Kamath, J D Irani, Dr. Nachiket Mor, Saurabh Shukla (kallu mama fame), Sanjay Manjrekar, Harsha Bhogle and been lucky to catch glimpse of Rajashree Birla, Boman Irani, Joy sengupta, Sudhir Joshi, Neha Dubey, Priya Gill, Udayan Mukherjee, Girish Karnad, Women behind ICICI, Akshay Kumar, Twinkle Khanna...
No wonder Mumbai has struck me real hard then.
And they aren't the only stars; every weekend of ours loitering around at places like Phoenix Mills, Nariman Point, NCPA, Bandstand,G7, VT MacDonald's, you will find hundreds of stars there ...and there it was Shakee who was star struck most of the times
The chap thought Phoenix was his home and every lady at phoenix his homemaker!! Lopa, incidentally is still looking for a house for the past 5 months bcoz she is star struck by her landlady.... Everyone seems st(r)uck here
Mistake –5 : Working to work
Well, around 55-60 hours of my week used to be at my workplace and that was when I found what hard work is. Before this i hardly worked. Was lucky to be in a wonderful office, found myself mentally challenged amongst intellectually stimulating people with the queen of stock markets right besides me. People enjoy what they do and work just happens..
Everyone works and everyone excels. There was this butcher close to our house and on my way to office each day, used to hate him and curse him when he would start his work. Till the day when i stopped by for a moment. He did his work , provided the customer with the beef and when the customer paid back for it and left, started offering Namaz ...And it wasnt a friday either..
To really understand Mumbaikars, it is important to hold back a couple of steps and watch and learn.. Else you also be part of the wave.
I just committed 6 mistakes and this is what i learnt from the city - Commit mistakes, you forget and others forgive. Life goes on. My life moves on to Chennai next.
Think 5 months of mumbai (that’s another mistake) has given me 5 good perspectives of what mumbai has to offer to you. But some things are enjoyed best in short spells like a shower or rain. Anything longer in mumbai and i would have begun to lose these perspectives. I might have woken up to realities that i have chosen to ignore. And somehow get a feeling that this is what is happening to the city. Mumbaikars
have stopped enjoying their city by becoming too used to it.
Not many of us look up to the mirror and appreciate ourselves. We need someone else to do it. Ironically, we could easily spot a speck in the mirror. Mumbaikars are no exception. They are unable to see the charm of Mumbai; they are the charm themselves. And look what they have done to mumbai. Mumbai is no longer a noun to me; it’s an adjective - a way of life
Salaam namaste Mumbai...
P.S: Iam looking forward to the Masala Dosa of Chennai and of course to a very intresting and different assignment during work. The BIM League Cricket Matches as well. Spencer Plaza as well, Marina Beach as well…Think need a break. You deserve one too.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
When did you cry last ??
A Question to begin with : When was the last time you had cried ? Stumped ...Well, over the past one week when i have been asking this stupid looking question to a whole lot of people, these were the responses..What ? Why such a question? Are you nuts ? Are you alright ? No single response gave me the answer i was looking for ..
We remember when was the last time we went to a movie, got hold of a pizza, or a whole lot of such things..Why do we ignore our tears . And if its really a long time since we have cried, are'nt we missing something very natural and human ?
As infants, we have all cried; cried whenever we were feeling threatened, insecure, unsure, whenever we have been pained. Slowly, we have mastered the 'art' of controlling our tears; especially since tears become associated with so much feminism in a crazy society like ours...We dont cry now...Some still do in isolation, or in the comfort of friends . Ironically , the society lets us cry only during funerals and marraiges.
But what exactly drives us to tears; Except actors, no one else can cry without emotions. Strong emotions emanate from something very close to us. We don't and should not cry for trivial things. So understandably, tears deserve much more thought than we actually give it..
Some of the intresting things about crying is :
1) Most of us cannot shed our tears without strong emotions
2) We cannot cry without 'honest' emotions
3) We can cry only in extremes - one where we are extremely uncomfortable and it becomes unbearable to take it internally and the other when we are extremely comfortable . Most of the times, we are in the first zone and crying is a means to reach the 'comfort' zone.
There is certainly much more to it when the grey-haired say - Cry and youll feel lighter - . And you need the environment to move across these zones - you need the comfort of friends with you when you cry, you need the comfort of hands offering to wipe your tears, you need the comfort of shoulders on which you can cry. Without these, crying may not make you feel lighter at all..Which is why it is important as friends, colleagues to help people from the uncomfortable to the comfort level.
4) The most intresting thing that i have noticed about this is that tears are a wonderful form of communication. Especially in some situations only tears can say what we want to ; when the knowledge of our language deserts us to communicate what we need to , tears come to our rescue; What words can't, tears can .
Communication has various forms to it. The most effective communicator is one who understands the situation and recipient simultaneously and communicates accordingly.
Do we do this ? Think across the following :
a) Tears can be the best communicator of the message that we are in need of help
b) Tears symbolise a touch of 'honesty'
c) Tears give you the perfect tone to communicate despair ( i.e. when you speak while crying)
d) Crying would make the listener more attentive and the message would stay on longer for sure. Kapil Dev crying on camera is still very clear in my memory.
e) The very fact that we dont cry often is a clear indicator that its the last effort; We have put in all our efforts towards achieving something and only after that have we cried.
Also tears communicate that you have done your best and something that has happened/not happened is something that you cannot be blamed with.
Iam only trying to get a very objective view of the whole thing. And iam not trying to say that you should cry to get your message across; or use it as a tool to give wrong messages and mislead people. Infact it is not possible also. Try to cry without reason and the truth would dawn that there are better people who can act !!
And this is the reason why i really respect , believe people who can cry. Gives me a clear message of the person across the table , the honesty of the person .Personally also, as a person who hates hypocrites to extreme proportions, honest people come across as a comfort.
Tears don't symbolise a lack of courage and guts. In fact tears symbolise that..Takes a lot of courage and honesty to let your eyes get moist , to cry aloud. When Kapil did that, it only showed guts and glory ; it never reflected the character of cowardice...
Everytime someone cries in front of me , i feel a lot of emotions. Feel envious and jealous for the fact that maybe i lack the courage to really cry out. Feel really happy about myself because if someone can confide in my presence, he/she trusts me . A feel to learn to communicate so effectively. A feeling of inspiration to get involved in things so passionately as to break down for something.
Tears mean a lot to me ...So when was the last time you had cried ??
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Team ProGreen
ProGreen has been wonderful..sometimes i already feel nostalgic about it , though the ProGreen journey has just begun...
Was checking out the links that had stories about ProGreen..makes us all the more determined to fulfill the expectations...
Check out the links on yahoo, business line, microsoft, chennai online, stanford university and shakee's blog
Was checking out the links that had stories about ProGreen..makes us all the more determined to fulfill the expectations...
Check out the links on yahoo, business line, microsoft, chennai online, stanford university and shakee's blog
Day 2 - The Finale
Anand all set for the final show...Day 2 of the event promised a lot of fireworks (literally )..it was the japan fireworks festival to be held
Proud to Represent India
Were pleasantly surpised when hosted to dinner by the First Secretary , Indian Embassy Mr Sreenivasan...Annie was the most proud that we represented India at such an event...Anand though was busy dissecting Japanese food and the wine with full concentration !!
Day 1 - The Show Begins !!
Microsoft Sponsored Global event...17000 particpants, 92 countries .
Some snaps from the D-Day . All 4 of us had wonderful thoughts that unlike the Seattle Trip, we just had to collect our prize money this time.. Microsoft though had other plans..We had to just work hard again for 2 days...But was a lot of fun working anyways....
Adieu Singapore - Welcome Japan
On our way from Tokyo's Narita Airport to the Hotel ... Those snaps were in a Limousine ( not user friendly for taking snaps)...Shakee did an amazing job to take these wonderful snaps..The guy almost fell from his seat twice and i was on the danger line !!!
Amazing Changi Airport
A few snaps about the best airport in the world... look behind me to find the giant screen there..The airport also has a few hotels ( few ??) , movie lounges, sports complex all there inside..
Find me checking this wonderful machine , which lets you 'zero in' on any part of the world !!!
Singapore Ya India ?????
Pictures which would make you believe were in India, but these were all in singapore. Some facts; Tamil is a national language there; A place called Little India , which could be mistaken for India by anyone; Temples and Indian Restaurants; A place called Dhoby Ghaut ( read Ghat) and some amazing Masala Dosas !!!!
Snap i Love
This is a Snap that i really really love...The shopping mall right in the center of singapore..took me around 10 minutes to get the whole view ..In the end had to lie down on the ground( really !!!) and take the snap ...Managed it though..Do have a closer look at the amazing architecture though ...
Star Shakee Bucks !!!
Its probably easier to keep the scent out of the flowers , than keep shakee away from star bucks..From seattle to singapore to Tokyo, the love story has continued...
GDP growth and a casino
This is the marine bay in singapore..Last week the singapore PM decided to start development of a couple of casinos in the same place " to promote tourism ".
This would increase the GDP Growth of the country by 1 - 1.5 % is what he says..At what cost ???
The metros in singapore have a striking resemblance to our own mumbai except that its fully automated - ticketing, doors etc. And yup its less crowded too...Quality for Quantity ..were the first things that came our mind...And we could appreciate it all the more having been in the mumbai city for a month now
With Shakee at Singapore .. after a lot of efforts we did manage to get a visa after reaching singapore !!
Thats annie, trying desparately to find something in that magic bag of hers...sources say she is still trying to find something in that bag... jaane kya hoga rama re..
Singapore - Japan Snaps
This was at the singapore changi airport - most amazing airport i have seen after the frankfurt one...this one is considered to the best one in the world...really is !!
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Check this link out..
CHECK THE LINK..WASNT ABLE TO UPLOAD THE SNAPS....
http://www.chennaionline.com/colnews/newsitem.asp?NEWSID=%7BBBE5DE12-90FB-4F62-A28A-E88E13683A90%7D&CATEGORYNAME=Chennai
BIM students win Imagine Cup in Japan
Chennai, Aug 19: Coveted first place in Microsoft-sponsored Imagine Cup 2005 IT Business Plan competition held in Yokohama, Japan, and the 'Howard and Lynn Behar Grand Prize', i.e. place one in the Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition conducted by the University of Washington in Seattle. These are the achievements of the student team of Bharathidasan Institute of Management (BIM).
'ProGreen' as the team has named itself comprises of students donning different roles as part of their venture, with Santhosh Ramadoss as CEO, Deepak Kumar Bhatter as the CFO, Anand Venkataraman as the Head of Operations and Anita Parthasarathy as the Chief Training Officer. C K Ranganathan, chairman, Cavin Kare Pvt Ltd, Chennai, felicitated the students at a function a few days ago in Chennai in recognition of their achievements.
"We believe in imparting strong ethical training and instilling an equally strong sense of social orientation in our students. We firmly believe that a good B-school should not merely focus on developing excellent managers or successful leaders but should also mould them into responsible Indian citizens who will redefine the future of management. The Indian industry is now at the threshold of emerging into a major economic force in the globe. Hence, future management professionals they should also strive towards bridging the digital divide as also the economic divide in our country," says Prof M Sankaran, Director, BIM.
"Out of 130 participant teams from 90 countries, our students won with an IT-enabled co-operative to help large firms tap talent and boost economies in rural Indian communities. Even if they hadn't won, the nature of their project does BIM proud," he said.
In this Microsoft-sponsored global technology competition designed to show students the real-world opportunities that are available through technology, over 16,000 students from 92 different countries participated.
The award was given on August 1, 2005 at Yokohama, Japan by Morris Sim, Senior Director, Academic and Developer Community group, Microsoft. The award included the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2005 and a cash prize of $ 8,000.
An earlier Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition conducted by the University of Washington in Seattle in February 2005 was won by the ProGreen Team which, included Saravanan, Santhosh Ramadoss, Deepak Bhatter and Anitha Parthasarathy. This competition saw a participation of 170 teams from universities across the globe. The BIM team won the event, amidst intense competition from other international teams including University of Washington Business School, Bryan Young University, Daniel J Evans School of Pubic Affairs, and lIT Bombay, National Institute of Technology.
This event was sponsored by the University of Washington, the UW Business School, Howard and Lynn Behar, the Initiative for Global Development, a Seattle-based alliance of business and civic leaders. The BIM team won the grand first prize of $ 5,000.
"BIM graduates are successful, not just in the metros but even in the suburban areas of India. With project initiatives like this, the students can realise a vision - the growth of the Indian community as a whole, and be further motivated to work towards the upliftment of society through successful business models," says Pamela Ramalingam, Global Head- Engg. & Quality (Group Tech. Ops) Standard Chartered Bank and President, BIM Alumni Association. "The BIM Alumni feel it is our duty and responsibility to encourage and guide the BIM students in this direction. By felicitating the victorious team and acknowledging their efforts, we, the Alumni, aim to motivate them to reach greater heights, recognising their potential for making a difference," she added.
IMAGINE CUP 2005: The IT Business Plan competition challenges students to present ideas for bridging the digital divide in the form of a business plan. The Indian team's proposal: grow a number of rural micro co-operatives and, drawing on that affordable labour source, provide outsourced data-entry and conversion services to large Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies. ProGreen, will interact with the large BPOs and the rural workers in an enabling, or sub-contracting role. It will provide a worksite, with connectivity, and skills-training for co-operative members.
"India has seen robust economic growth in the past decade, but the social and economic impact of such growth has been largely restricted to urban areas," says Anand Venkataraman, a Final year MBA student of BIM, for team Pro Green. "Our team members have had the benefit of working for large corporations in urban pockets like Bangalore as well as understanding the rural landscape. The real point of inspiration was when we saw educated, talented rural youth struggling to make a living!"
On paper at least, the project looks like a win-win: The large BPO firms will see several benefits - from reduced wages and a reliable source of manpower, to less attrition and an opportunity to adopt socially responsive practices. And co-operative members will benefit from average projected earnings of about US $I,100 each per year - more than most rural dwellers make today. Many will also become information leaders in their communities, thus helping to bridge the digital divide. And with economic empowerment come other social benefits, such as improvements in health and nutrition and in sanitation and hygiene, and a stemming of the migration of rural dwellers to urban areas.
GSEC Competition: This team had won the first place with their ProGreen entrepreneurship venture -- a company that manufactures and exports low-cost, bio-degradable leaf cups and plates. These cups and plates are made from the areca tree natively grown in India. The stake holders of Pro Green are also its producers i.e. cultivators of the trees and products which are mostly available and located in rural, poor sections (areas) of India. Progreen would help these farmers buy machinery, train them on production, and procure the finished goods. Profits are shared with these stake holders creating a mutually beneficial relationship between the company and its producers.
With respect to both projects, the teams aren't planning to stop with their efforts on paper. They intend to use the prize money they have won as seed money to kick-start the plan within a year.
Bharathidasan Institute of Management: BIM was born in 1984 in active partnership with BHEL, Trichy and the Bharathidasan University. It is the largest Business School in Tamil Nadu with an annual intake of 120 students.
Offering specialisations like Human Resource Management, Systems, Finance, Marketing and Operations, BIM is ranked today as an A+ (level) Business School. With 100 per cent placements, a personal growth lab and superior technological back-up, this B-school has carved a niche for itself among the top business schools in our country.
Published: Friday, August 19, 2005
http://www.chennaionline.com/colnews/newsitem.asp?NEWSID=%7BBBE5DE12-90FB-4F62-A28A-E88E13683A90%7D&CATEGORYNAME=Chennai
BIM students win Imagine Cup in Japan
Chennai, Aug 19: Coveted first place in Microsoft-sponsored Imagine Cup 2005 IT Business Plan competition held in Yokohama, Japan, and the 'Howard and Lynn Behar Grand Prize', i.e. place one in the Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition conducted by the University of Washington in Seattle. These are the achievements of the student team of Bharathidasan Institute of Management (BIM).
'ProGreen' as the team has named itself comprises of students donning different roles as part of their venture, with Santhosh Ramadoss as CEO, Deepak Kumar Bhatter as the CFO, Anand Venkataraman as the Head of Operations and Anita Parthasarathy as the Chief Training Officer. C K Ranganathan, chairman, Cavin Kare Pvt Ltd, Chennai, felicitated the students at a function a few days ago in Chennai in recognition of their achievements.
"We believe in imparting strong ethical training and instilling an equally strong sense of social orientation in our students. We firmly believe that a good B-school should not merely focus on developing excellent managers or successful leaders but should also mould them into responsible Indian citizens who will redefine the future of management. The Indian industry is now at the threshold of emerging into a major economic force in the globe. Hence, future management professionals they should also strive towards bridging the digital divide as also the economic divide in our country," says Prof M Sankaran, Director, BIM.
"Out of 130 participant teams from 90 countries, our students won with an IT-enabled co-operative to help large firms tap talent and boost economies in rural Indian communities. Even if they hadn't won, the nature of their project does BIM proud," he said.
In this Microsoft-sponsored global technology competition designed to show students the real-world opportunities that are available through technology, over 16,000 students from 92 different countries participated.
The award was given on August 1, 2005 at Yokohama, Japan by Morris Sim, Senior Director, Academic and Developer Community group, Microsoft. The award included the Microsoft Imagine Cup 2005 and a cash prize of $ 8,000.
An earlier Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition conducted by the University of Washington in Seattle in February 2005 was won by the ProGreen Team which, included Saravanan, Santhosh Ramadoss, Deepak Bhatter and Anitha Parthasarathy. This competition saw a participation of 170 teams from universities across the globe. The BIM team won the event, amidst intense competition from other international teams including University of Washington Business School, Bryan Young University, Daniel J Evans School of Pubic Affairs, and lIT Bombay, National Institute of Technology.
This event was sponsored by the University of Washington, the UW Business School, Howard and Lynn Behar, the Initiative for Global Development, a Seattle-based alliance of business and civic leaders. The BIM team won the grand first prize of $ 5,000.
"BIM graduates are successful, not just in the metros but even in the suburban areas of India. With project initiatives like this, the students can realise a vision - the growth of the Indian community as a whole, and be further motivated to work towards the upliftment of society through successful business models," says Pamela Ramalingam, Global Head- Engg. & Quality (Group Tech. Ops) Standard Chartered Bank and President, BIM Alumni Association. "The BIM Alumni feel it is our duty and responsibility to encourage and guide the BIM students in this direction. By felicitating the victorious team and acknowledging their efforts, we, the Alumni, aim to motivate them to reach greater heights, recognising their potential for making a difference," she added.
IMAGINE CUP 2005: The IT Business Plan competition challenges students to present ideas for bridging the digital divide in the form of a business plan. The Indian team's proposal: grow a number of rural micro co-operatives and, drawing on that affordable labour source, provide outsourced data-entry and conversion services to large Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) companies. ProGreen, will interact with the large BPOs and the rural workers in an enabling, or sub-contracting role. It will provide a worksite, with connectivity, and skills-training for co-operative members.
"India has seen robust economic growth in the past decade, but the social and economic impact of such growth has been largely restricted to urban areas," says Anand Venkataraman, a Final year MBA student of BIM, for team Pro Green. "Our team members have had the benefit of working for large corporations in urban pockets like Bangalore as well as understanding the rural landscape. The real point of inspiration was when we saw educated, talented rural youth struggling to make a living!"
On paper at least, the project looks like a win-win: The large BPO firms will see several benefits - from reduced wages and a reliable source of manpower, to less attrition and an opportunity to adopt socially responsive practices. And co-operative members will benefit from average projected earnings of about US $I,100 each per year - more than most rural dwellers make today. Many will also become information leaders in their communities, thus helping to bridge the digital divide. And with economic empowerment come other social benefits, such as improvements in health and nutrition and in sanitation and hygiene, and a stemming of the migration of rural dwellers to urban areas.
GSEC Competition: This team had won the first place with their ProGreen entrepreneurship venture -- a company that manufactures and exports low-cost, bio-degradable leaf cups and plates. These cups and plates are made from the areca tree natively grown in India. The stake holders of Pro Green are also its producers i.e. cultivators of the trees and products which are mostly available and located in rural, poor sections (areas) of India. Progreen would help these farmers buy machinery, train them on production, and procure the finished goods. Profits are shared with these stake holders creating a mutually beneficial relationship between the company and its producers.
With respect to both projects, the teams aren't planning to stop with their efforts on paper. They intend to use the prize money they have won as seed money to kick-start the plan within a year.
Bharathidasan Institute of Management: BIM was born in 1984 in active partnership with BHEL, Trichy and the Bharathidasan University. It is the largest Business School in Tamil Nadu with an annual intake of 120 students.
Offering specialisations like Human Resource Management, Systems, Finance, Marketing and Operations, BIM is ranked today as an A+ (level) Business School. With 100 per cent placements, a personal growth lab and superior technological back-up, this B-school has carved a niche for itself among the top business schools in our country.
Published: Friday, August 19, 2005
Saturday, April 09, 2005
Of Memories and Friends
The 9th of April 2005. Probably one of the most important days of my life for reasons more than one. Finishing my college life effectively today with all exams completed. The rest couple of days in campus will be very different for me . Today was proud of myself when one of the top companies in India calls me up and offer me straight a profile which others have to apply, reapply, struggle and get. Iam also ashamed of myself today for the efforts i have built to built myself. Well none of these truly reflect the mood iam in and the closest is the topic above - Memories and friends.
Have suddenly began to realise, began to feel and started beginning to believe that both can't exist together.There are lucky times when you have friends and then there are times when you only have memories and not friends. Some are lucky to have friends, while some only have memories.
Thoughts like these have possessed me throughout today. Was trying desperately to leave memories good and bad ,and trying to make up relations that suddenly seemed lost forever.Made a couple of sincere and honest tries but seems i have failed today. Have always heard and understood that you dont explain anything anytime to anyone, because your friends dont need one and your enemies wont listen. But still i try.
And then i realise i have a lot of self-respect for myself, which is preventing me . Call it ego, but i think its pure self-respect for myself. A ego would never have made me feel the way iam. And still i have memories. Memories that give me pain, memories that make me feel happy for what happened but desperate and helpless for what iam missing today.I realise that i cannot forget,realise that my friendsip for them cannot cease and it is said that friendship that not ceases, is real. My friendship is.
Iam not as insensitive to forget how i have been treated not iam as great as to forgive . So where do i go.Iam confused, Iam desperate, Iam hopeful , Iam relieved, Iam sad, Iam nostalgic, Iam grieved, Iam at loss of words and Iam lost and thats one reason why iam writing this. To seek some logic to myself today, to make out something of me from words written.
As the sun sets , i doubt if i will be friends again with my friend.Only have painful memories which i cannot keep and i cannot dispense with also. Got the memories in a tangible form, maybe because i fear that i might free myself of the pain, which i dont want to.
I still have hope and want to live with that only. Some pain are so unbearable that you cannot have it a second time. The very thought of it sends shivers through your body. And there are some memories that are realites and that can be the best thing too.
Still as iam listening to the tunes of " Dil chahata Hai", i realise how much meaning the words have to me now - "Din din bar ho pyaare baatein, jhoome shaame, gaaye raatein" ; "
But have decided this will not happen again, never again and i will live in memories only because over the past few days have realized that most of my life is still there...
Have suddenly began to realise, began to feel and started beginning to believe that both can't exist together.There are lucky times when you have friends and then there are times when you only have memories and not friends. Some are lucky to have friends, while some only have memories.
Thoughts like these have possessed me throughout today. Was trying desperately to leave memories good and bad ,and trying to make up relations that suddenly seemed lost forever.Made a couple of sincere and honest tries but seems i have failed today. Have always heard and understood that you dont explain anything anytime to anyone, because your friends dont need one and your enemies wont listen. But still i try.
And then i realise i have a lot of self-respect for myself, which is preventing me . Call it ego, but i think its pure self-respect for myself. A ego would never have made me feel the way iam. And still i have memories. Memories that give me pain, memories that make me feel happy for what happened but desperate and helpless for what iam missing today.I realise that i cannot forget,realise that my friendsip for them cannot cease and it is said that friendship that not ceases, is real. My friendship is.
Iam not as insensitive to forget how i have been treated not iam as great as to forgive . So where do i go.Iam confused, Iam desperate, Iam hopeful , Iam relieved, Iam sad, Iam nostalgic, Iam grieved, Iam at loss of words and Iam lost and thats one reason why iam writing this. To seek some logic to myself today, to make out something of me from words written.
As the sun sets , i doubt if i will be friends again with my friend.Only have painful memories which i cannot keep and i cannot dispense with also. Got the memories in a tangible form, maybe because i fear that i might free myself of the pain, which i dont want to.
I still have hope and want to live with that only. Some pain are so unbearable that you cannot have it a second time. The very thought of it sends shivers through your body. And there are some memories that are realites and that can be the best thing too.
Still as iam listening to the tunes of " Dil chahata Hai", i realise how much meaning the words have to me now - "Din din bar ho pyaare baatein, jhoome shaame, gaaye raatein" ; "
But have decided this will not happen again, never again and i will live in memories only because over the past few days have realized that most of my life is still there...
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Mere Words
Have a look at this beautiful poem ( Author: Kit McCallum) ...
I searched among the card displays,
To see if I could find,
A little something that would say
Just what was on my mind.
However there was not a one,
That captured it just right,
For no one else can understand
Just what I'd like to write.
I even find it difficult
To try to write it down,
For how do I portray to you,
The love that I have known?
I close my eyes and what I see,
Is someone I adore;
A person who is beautiful,
Right down into their soul.
Mere words cannot describe
The many qualities you show,
The love and caring nature that
You share with those who know.
Your kind and gentle temperament,
Your sweet angelic smile,
Your softly spoken sentiments,
That reach across the miles.
Your smile and laugh that sparkle with
The softness of your sighs,
The way your face lights up a room ...
That twinkle in your eye.
The loving gestures through the years,
That quickly come to mind,
For always you've a gentle word
To calm and soothe I find.
I struggle and I search to try
To find some words anew ...
And yet I cannot capture
All the things that make you you.
I shall therefore, be satisfied
That you must simply know,
Just how I feel about you,
For with words I cannot show.
p.s: My own original poem - "All in the Game" will be put up shortly ..keep checking
I searched among the card displays,
To see if I could find,
A little something that would say
Just what was on my mind.
However there was not a one,
That captured it just right,
For no one else can understand
Just what I'd like to write.
I even find it difficult
To try to write it down,
For how do I portray to you,
The love that I have known?
I close my eyes and what I see,
Is someone I adore;
A person who is beautiful,
Right down into their soul.
Mere words cannot describe
The many qualities you show,
The love and caring nature that
You share with those who know.
Your kind and gentle temperament,
Your sweet angelic smile,
Your softly spoken sentiments,
That reach across the miles.
Your smile and laugh that sparkle with
The softness of your sighs,
The way your face lights up a room ...
That twinkle in your eye.
The loving gestures through the years,
That quickly come to mind,
For always you've a gentle word
To calm and soothe I find.
I struggle and I search to try
To find some words anew ...
And yet I cannot capture
All the things that make you you.
I shall therefore, be satisfied
That you must simply know,
Just how I feel about you,
For with words I cannot show.
p.s: My own original poem - "All in the Game" will be put up shortly ..keep checking
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Guruji and his Fiancee Radhika....Wish you all wonderful dreams come true guru ..from everyone at BIM
At the Mumbai airport...If u like the chair, look at the left...at the right, its just not visible :)
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