Monday, December 29, 2008

Donkey Wisdom…

As we close this year and barge into another, there will be a sigh of relief among many, some people will bid farewell with a moist eye and there will be others who would have never wanted this to end. Different people, different perspective and different opinions and I guess this is what makes this world very interesting. Imagine a world where we all would be same, of same shade, thought likewise and there were no difference ..the world would be such a bland place to stay. But irrespective of what we think and want, change is inevitable and if for certain we have to usher in a new year i would rather welcome the year with a new found optimism and courage then to accept the change grudgingly with disdain and anxiety.

I came across this story and it fits the bill:-

 

Once upon a time there was a farmer who had an old mule. The mule fell into a deep dry well and began to cry loudly. Hearing his mule cry, the farmer came over and assessed the situation. The well was deep and the mule was heavy. He knew it would be difficult, if not impossible, to lift the animal out.

Because the mule was old and the well was dry, the farmer decided to bury the animal in the well. In this way he could solve two problems: put the old mule out of his misery and have his well filled. He called upon his neighbors to help him and they agreed to help. To work they went. Shovel full of dirt after shovel full of dirt began to fall on the mule's back. He became hysterical.

Then all of a sudden an idea came to the mule. Each time they would throw a shovel full of dirt on his back he could shake it off and step up. Shovel full after shovel full, the mule would shake it off and step up.

Now exhausted and dirty, but quite alive, the mule stepped over the top of the well and walked through the crowd. A great attitude. A great way to approach life. Shake it off and step up. Too often we hold on to what has happened to us.

As we head towards a brand new year we wish the readers of the blog a great year ahead. We would also like to believe that New Year will bring in new joys, opportunities and challenges for all. There are too many among us who hang on to the past, just shake it off, step up and move on…..

Have a scrumptious and sumptuous year ahead……

Sac

 

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Wonder COSMOS.....

The year 2008 has been a traumatic year for all of us, the global meltdown has affected all and sundry, the series of bombing and terrorist acts has left us shaken, the floods and other natural calamity has set us thinking that even the gods have taken a displeasure, the violence and agitation in Jammu and Kashmir that lasted for more then a month and if this was not enough we had the dastardly and cowardly Mumbai attacks that defied all realms of human morality.

So many lives lost, so many homes destroyed and in turn countless other affected. There have also been some major achievements and between these white and black there has been lot of grey areas and life has to move on. All this events though have a huge impact in our lives and sets one thinking about the significance of it if at all.

The other day i was reading a book named COSMOS by Carl Sagan, when i picked up the book i thought this would be just another book on realms of the universe, its beginning and all the scientific stuff, but what I found was extraordinarily different and gave a new insight into life and its origin, but most of it made me feel how insignificant we were.

Its says that our planet must be about 4 billion years old and the simplest of life form that originated in the planet in the form of one celled organism would be about 3 billion years old. Since then various life forms has evolved and then only a few million years ago humans appeared on the scene. To come to think of our presence in the planet we are a relatively new phenomenon but in this small existence of our's we have had profound impact on the planet. 

Also in this period billions of different life forms has come and many have become extinct. To think of the probability that we are born as humans is one in many billion, the probability of we being living in this era, at this time and in this place would be almost 1/infinite. To comprehend the space that we occupy in the planet would be almost as insignificant, lesser then a speck of dust particle. The probability keep getting compelling the more we think of our existence and our life.

So does that make our lives inconsequential, when lives can be lost at the drop of the hat what meaning does it hold, does that mean that we carry no value and all our actions actually come to naught?

In my article "A Life less ordinary" I had mentioned how each one of us can contribute to nation building, to development of each other, to upliftment of society as a whole and this is what gives significance to the whole concept of our lives. When the probability of being what we are is so compellingly against us i.e. less then one in many billion then I would assume that our presence on earth is not by chance but by design. If by design then there has to be some purpose; as a purposeless life is like a rudderless boat.

Though insignificant it might sound but our actions are very significant. Small actions live a big impact on our lives and present a future that is completely unforeseeable from the present. It’s not just ours that get impacted but the impact is multifold. Just like a forest fire that starts with a spark and eventually engulfs the whole forest or even a town. A small action as writing this blog might have some profound impact on people that I don’t even know.

People who lives the lives less ordinary are like eternal torches whose light emates long after they are gone and though they are not present physically their saga lives on brightening the lives of humanity. They are like flames that can light millions of other candles and though they might be gone, their light is there to inspire coming generations.

In one of my articles i had said that it is in death that we treasure life, the recent spate of events should make us treasure life even more and in doing so help others to enrich their live and thus give it a real purpose and make this planet a real wonder of this whole cosmos.

Sac...

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Mind Teaser - II

In the given division every letter represent a distinct single digit.
            
        __________
   c d 9) a h a h b i  ( 5 b 1
             a g d e
                g 3 b
                f  i  8
                  c d i
                  c d 9
                   o

Find the value of h, d  and c.
Post your answers in the comments.... winner gets it all... :-) 
Sac

                

Sunday, November 30, 2008

AND NOW ITS YOUR TIME.......

Hour of wolves feasting on manflesh,
Fed & let loose by nocturnal allies & backstabbing neigbours,
Self proclaimed Men of god end lives in the name of God.

Lost sons & daughters long for vengance .
A home divided within, hyenas & vultures dressed in white appear in time .
Nation's jugular bleeds, heart weeps & blood gushes from stabbed back.

Long into the night sons answer call of duty,
Innocents relieved , Terror is smoked out and killed by count.
Anxiety doused, Anger still pulsating in the viens .

We do not rejoice. Songs of victory are coming none.
We mourn the dead & lend silence for the brave.

We look to crying mothers and to the heavens ...
He is not unjust.

Make your prayers ...... when we come after your brothers.
God is on our side.
And even if he's not....... make no mistake ..... We will bring you down .

Rahul

Friday, November 28, 2008

A life less ordinary

They say one week is a long time in politics, I say one day or rather an hour or even a minute and you can possibly go on decimating it further, is a very long time indeed. Ask this to the people of Mumbai when just a seemingly harmless and benevolent night, turned the city which is the nerve centre of India into a real battleground. For those who lost their lives that one tenth of a second was what really mattered and for many others their lives further on will be a bigger fight for survival. 

In my one of the article I had mentioned about the interconnectedness of the world and explained this phenomenon with Globalization, Internet and others, where I really missed out; was terrorism. These terrorists where not trained in India, the weapons, ammunition and the dexterity with which they carried out their task, the fact that they went after killing US, UK and Israeli citizens  clearly indicates that they belong to a bigger international network and India now prominently in their jihad. 

It’s high time that we wake up to this fact and a concerted effort is required to root out this menace. A few days back i was listening to a chat show featuring Nandan Nilekani the cofounder of Infosys. He very rightly pointed out that we all are very fascinated with the concept of India we imagine, and India we actually see. For the abstract India of our dreams to come alive is the responsibility that each of us has to shoulder and this means living life less ordinary.

What I mean by life less ordinary is left to readers of the blog to imagine.... to eek out a role for themselves. For me, the cops who died, the millions of NGO's working overtime to change lives, the army and police who zealously carry out their duties in spite of the risks involved, the entrepreneurs and businessmen who has made us proud in lot of ways or even the daily wage earner who in spite of all his odd does his work diligently and make a honest living so that people like you and me can sit back and relax ........

all this and more symbolizes a life lived less ordinary.........

Sac…

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Did u ever feel like giving up.....

This is the article i came across when i just started my career and everything written there seems so very true. During my highs and lows i always make it a point to read this and it really keeps me going. The feeling of empoverment is very strong evertime i read this and i so i thought of sharing this with all the readers of this blog, i am sure all of you can relate to this in some form or other........

One day I decided to quit...I quit my job, my relationship, my Spirituality... I wanted to quit my life.  

I went to the woods to have one last talk with God. "God", I Said "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?" His answer surprised me... 

"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?" 

"Yes", I replied.  

"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good Care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo." He said.  

"In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. 

In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo see. I would not quit." He said.  

"Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant...But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.  

It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle." He said to me.  

"Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots?"  

"I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you."  

"Don't compare yourself to others." He said. "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest Beautiful."  

"Your time will come", God said to me. "You will rise high"  

"How high should I rise?" I asked.  

"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.  

"As high as it can?" I questioned  

"Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."  

I left the forest and bring back this story. I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you. 


HE will never give up on you!
...Sac

Thursday, November 20, 2008

HOW MANY CAN YOU IDENTIFY??

Identify the faces in the picture ( click on above image for an enlarged view )
Go ahead post your count ! ....... highest count till date is 41 .... lets see if you can go beyond this number ! .


Tuesday, November 18, 2008

CONGRATULATIONS

Mr Avinash Sharma,
Congratulations for Solving the Sunday Mind Teaser posted by SAC. We look forward to your continued participation and would like present 2 tickets of the movie " Quantan of Solace" for Friday 21/11.

Pls mail your address at wepromiceonly@gmail.com

MANAGEMENT

Monday, November 17, 2008

The all enchanting/strangling web…..

In my last article I had talked about the interconnectedness of anything and everything in the world. The World Wide Web is one shining example and talking of web, I have been witnessing a strange chain of events last few weeks. Each time I paid a visit to my garage to drive out my car a peculiar set of web formation caught my eye.  I could see some spiders working vigorously and creating a so called trap to make a killing. A carefree guy that I am really didn’t bother much to clear up the mess, but each time I went in it definitely caught my eye. 

With every passing day I saw it growing and after few days it actually started producing results. One could see insects of different variants of getting stuck up there and struggling for their life....most would end up dead. It was a roaring business for them. For me this was a normal stuff and really didn’t bother me much being fully aware of how the nature functions.

A few days, rather a few weeks went by and it was great going for the spider. I thought that a false sense of security engulfed them because I often saw some of his compatriot roaming freely with a distinctive air of confidence. So much so one day I saw on of them on the hood of my car.

Then the ill-fated happened as if it was written all over the place. I saw one of them struggling to get disentangle in the web they had built. I watched this with amusement and the following day there were two of them, one had given up on struggle and the other was hoping against the hope.

Those were spiders, who had to abide by their basic nature and the only survival tool they have but for the man we know; creation of web is the additional tool for satiating his insatiable appetite.

I am sure we all can draw parallel to this in our own lives and all around us in which ever part of the world we live. Be it relationships we have built, people around us, nature of our work or anything and everything we do. Also one cannot help relating this to the current financial mess which is the creation of the complex web we built and the incidents that followed is an open book now.

Some one rightly said “We design our lives with the power of our choices” do we want to make it a complex web or keep it simple is completely our decision…..

Sac

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Mind Teaser

         T A T E 
+      T A K E
=    A E X I X
Find the value of AEXIX...
Each alphabet represents distinct single digit from 0-9.
post the answers with explanation in the comment section. 
...Sac

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Modern Mystique

Last few days have been very eventful, Barak Obama has arrived at the centre stage and his call of the change has finally been answered. They said: “Change we need” and Change they got. A few days back India ended the Aussies dominance to the world cricket…"Change we got”. Everyday the world changes in more then one ways.

From the complete American dominance we have seen how even this highly arrogant superpower has been bought to the knees by the world financial crises. How a kingmaker who lived all his life in palaces adorned with gold was caught in a rat hole and finally died in prison. How the 9/11 episode, the breaking of Berlin wall, the anti-apartheid movement, the French revolution and many other events changed everything.

Change we know is a fact and an accepted phenomenon but what is surprising is how these changes affect us all at a very functional level. How a totally unrelated event in some part of the world can make huge changes in our lives.

Let’s looks at economics point of view…. a hurricane Katrina or Gustava in US, or a fire in the oil fields or a bad monsoon in India can really change the scheme of things for us. Even more surprising is a 100 basis point increase in lending rate by bank of Japan can see world stock market crashing and FII’s pulling out money like droves.

Global Warming the most debated topic is truly global phenomenon. The impact of the pollution caused by US and now by developing nations like China & India is felt globally. Portions of the world like Africa or Artic Circle that contribute least to the warming, are most affected by its impact.

Take the example of World Wide Web…the internet has affected us in more then a handful of ways. It has bought world closer …so close that it is there virtually in your drawing room. Emotions flow over net, people develop life long relationship, new contacts get build and some also get annihilated over net…strange things can happen.

The whole concept of eastern philosophy is based on interdependence of things and the mutual interrelationship of all things and events and everything is the manifestation of one ultimate reality. This basic oneness is not only the central characteristic of the mystical experience but is also the most important revelation of the modern physics. It becomes apparent at sub atomic level as one penetrates deeper into matter. As we probe further beyond neutrons, protons and electrons we find that the basic building blocks of all matter are energy that travels at the speed of light. Probe further and we find that everything is nothing but energy as very well depicted by Einstein in the theory of relativity…E = mc^2.

So next time you think of doing something small or something new…be careful you might just be changing a lot of things in a way that you may not have foreseen at all.

As the name of our blog suggest's, comments from the readers on their perspective will be highly appreciated. 

 ….Sac

Monday, November 3, 2008


Beginning of the End

In my article “The Balancing Act” I had highlighted how India will go on to a celebration mode from October and this will continue right till December. The other day we as a nation celebrated Diwali, Dusherra and Kali Puja and the recurring theme in all of these was the ultimate triumph of ‘Good over Evil’. The gloom and doom world scenario has affected all and sundry but that did not stop us from staging a grand celebration. In fact festivities like this, reinforces our belief and gives us the confidence to surge ahead in spite of all the impediments.

If we look at the human history we will see that at various points of time human beings have made great strides but at the same time in some other period there were moments of anxiety, depression and destruction. The important thing is we have always been able to evade all of these and looked ahead to a brighter tomorrow. In fact more often that not, just after the bad patches we have had some of the most glorious times. This interplay of good and bad actually can be traced to the Chinese philosophy of “Taoism” which is very well depicted in Yin and Yang. The Taoist saw all changes in nature as manifestations of the dynamic interplay between polar opposite’s Yin and Yang. Whenever you want to achieve anything they said, you should start with its opposite. Thus said Lao Tzu:-

“In order to contract a thing, you should surely expand it first

  In order to weaken, one will surely strengthen first.

  In order to take, one should surely give first”

This philosophy talks of eternal truth and the basic building block on which the world today stands. Having understood this and know very well that in order to strengthen one has to weaken first, I cannot help but correlate the recent chain of events to this all powerful wisdom. Even in our lives there are bound to be turbulent times, setbacks, failings and disappointment, but unless we have witness such events how much will our appreciation be for the good times is anybody’s guess. From the biographies that I have come across I have recognized that the best people have undergone the worst of times and invariably they have come out as a better human being. Good, Bad, Boom, Doom, +ve , -ve and so on are the two sides of the same coin and to maintain equilibrium both these contrasting events have to live in harmony with one another. Hence it won’t be wrong to say that what we are witnessing today is just the beginning of the end….

....Sac

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Two Worlds Many Lives


This week India zoomed its way into space looking for answers for questions that has long mystified the world at large. Another event I saw on television actually looked to assume answers by interpreting texts to suit their purpose in the name of god. Both of them very contrasting indeed.

What is interesting is the fact that the day when this great feat happened I saw a documentary on national television about the Taliban way of life and I had an opportunity to compare two completely different world in a radius of few thousand km’s. First thing first...it was a moment of great joy and pride to see India making great strides in science and technology especially in space which one thought was a territory reserved for chosen few. I have recently completed reading a book by our former president APJ Abul Kalam called "Wings of fire". In this book Mr. Kalam actually talks about Indian space odyssey and how it started with a very humble beginning. To see it come of age is very heartening and a great inspiration for all of us. The world has suddenly started taking note of India, and we are being seen as major world power. In this development, women have contributed as much as any men and the example of this was very clearly seen in the launching of the Chandrayan(The lunar satellite) and all the other feat which today we are so very proud of.

Now contrast this with the episode I saw on television where women were beaten for making loud noise with their feet, where display of any body part would invite the wrath of the militia and moral policemen would trod the city looking to make merry on a prey at the first signs of defiance. 

Having seen this and having read both the books of Khalid Hussaini ('The Kite Runner' and 'The Thousand Splendid Sun's') I just cannot sigh away for thanking god for having given me the society that I am in. India for all its failings is a far, far more civilized society. At the same time we also cannot shrug away from the responsibility to better it and make it a model for all to follow. In my last article i had talked of Indian way of life and here i would go one step further in saying that Indian way of life should not only be limited to savings, spirituality or family orientation in fact we should move forward towards building the nation, a opportunity for everyone to perform or excel be it male or female or any individual subscribing to any faith. Also a free reign without any regulation is good for no one and I am of firm opinion that any individual or group not subscribing to the values of Indian constitution should be dealt with very heavy hand. If we can do this and do it with vigor and passion, Indian way of life could be our next biggest export and in the era of strengthening dollar this could bring about handsome return as well………

.....Sac

 

Sunday, October 19, 2008

The Black Hole

"Black Hole"- well thats what the BFSI collapse sounds like and the tech companies are heading towards tough times.
On an average BFSI firms spend 6-10% of their revenues on technology and as the finanical cirsis is deepening the industry is expecting a cut of 15 to 20% on the total offshore business to which India accounts for 75% to 80%.
The competition is further going to stiffen as the consolidation in the BFSI will trigger revision of existing contracts with their technical partners. Like Merrill Lynch's takeover by BOA would leave satyam computers unsure whether the combined entity will retain it on its vendors list as BOA has been working with Infy and TCS only. Or this kind of a situation might invite price war which remains to be vitnessed in the comming years.

Avinash
The above article has been carved out from a story in Nov 1 08 outlook by Nandita Datta

RECIPE OF THE DAY

NON VEG
Chicken - Breast piece 250 gms
Curd - 5 table spoons
Lemon - 1 small size
Red chilli powder
Green Chillies - 1 medium size
Ginger Garlic Paste - 1 table spoon
Salt and Pepper

The Recipe
Mix - Curd, Lemon, salt, red chillies, lemon , chopped green chillies and marinate the chicken in it for 1 hr.
Meanwhile pre heat the oven at 230 deg.
After one hour put the marinated pices of chicken in the oven on a greased plate for 30 minutes.

The scribbling of a Sunday afternoon....

Watching Howard Hughes happened while my remote worked overtime .

The condition on a late Sunday morning is much like meditation - when your body is completely relaxed , the mind remains in state of active alertness . Like a ninja .. still like lake water but ever conscious of impending danger. Similar is the situation when you've been lying motionless on couch for time untold and the remote in tandem with your mind moves from one channel to other .....Ever alert to the first signs of boredom and spryly moving to next .. this is when u also take deep breaths ..yaaaawwnnnnn!

Following a such a breath of life .. ,,I stumbled upon Howard Hughes's story on the history channel . Howard used to design and construct planes . Also an ace pilot he was known to test flight his own designs when not making movies and planning industrial expansion.

Nov 1, 19 something( post world war II) entire country watched the largest water plane get ready for maiden run in the California waters. H4, as it was called ,was clearly a herculean effort . Critics believed that the plane of this size can never take off . It was three times the size of largest aircraft known to be commissioned for the US air force .

It took five years of non stop work from Howard’s team. While the aircraft was in its last stage of assembly, Howard was test piloting another lighter aircraft. A technical snag in the flight caused Howard to stay in air longer than expected. It is said that he continued with the flight to understand more of the problem ensuing a crash landing in one of the house. This is the third time he tricked death.

H4 project came in middle of whirlwind of government charges against Howard on many contracts he executed for the air force. Howard defended it with all his force .The trauma lasted 6 months.

Back to H4, the plane was finally ready... and amidst all criticism and pressure Howard took H4 into the ocean. The plane was to be run on taxi with 100 reporters on board and an inspector from the aviation ministry.

Howard was categorically told NOT to fly as certain hydraulics remained to be tested. Howard pushed on all engines and pushed the aircraft near take off velocity. While the world waited in anticipation if the H4 could fly, the inspector’s cold eyes would record incident in log and cause h4 to be grounded for ever. Howard also knew it could risk the lives of all on board.

He pushed it further, H4 was airborne and the country erupted in joy as the live commentator broadcasted the scene sitting in the cabin.

It was the only flight H4 ever made. ….But Howard proved every single disbeliever wrong !

History does not get made on couches.... but blogs do . ..he he !!
Rahul

http://www.vccircle.com/columns/the-us-financial-crisis-impact-on-the-indian-it-sector

The US Financial Crisis: Impact On The Indian IT Sector

By Manohar M. Atreya, Head - Technology M&A, o3 Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd,

Friday, October 17, 2008

DIG THIS!!!

Between last week and current, RBI 's activity to ease the liquidity situation led to downward revision in CRR in two phases thus injecting 20,000 cr and 10,000 cr into the system... add to this 25,000 cr of farm loan waiver which is being supplied to banks and in a crude fashion convert to dollar denomination ..... this equals a whopping $ 27 billion in a matter of 10 days!!

$250 billion is the quantum of money deployed in last week by US to to keep the economy afloat.
Compare the above nos with this information :
Size of US economy approx $14 trillion
Size of Indian economy approx $ 1 trillion

and we dont even have a subprime related issue .. :)

this is perpective ! .......... smirks chintu !

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Indian Way of Life


The recent stock market plunge has raised many questions about the sustainability of the various economies around the world. The so called G7 are the worst affected and the crises has trickled down to the developing economies and less developed economies. With every passing days we see more bloodbath in the market and no amount of government intervention and policy decision has been able to steam the tide. The situation is very similar to the bull run where no amount of regulatory measures was able to contain the markets and on the contrary it climbed to higher levels with every passing day. 
With US going under severe recession economies around the world will take a hit. It is said the when US sneezes the whole world catches cold, this time US is suffering from acute viral one can only compherehend the woes of other economies.
In India one can already sense the cooling of the economy. Companies have started cutting investments and suddenly cost cutting has become the most important management tool. In such crazy times ...crazy because just the other day everything was hunky dory, no one can be immune to any event. Just the other day indian media went berserk over the sudden dismissal of about 1000 employees of a very prominent airline company. My sense is that it is just the tip of the iceberg and many such news will make headlines in times to come.
All the leading financial institution across the world are cutting jobs and huge layoff is a fear that has gripped ever one in the corporate world especially the ones in financial sector. One can only imagine the plight of people who left their home for a cushy jobs, little did they realize the trauma that awaits them. Most of these men and women would probably be living in a nuclear family having very little to do with parents and siblings, have been a part of the world wide consumerism drive and where EMI's have become a part of their life. 
In India too we will see the rub off effect. Already major airlines have announced the layoff and more will follow the suit. 
In such difficult time one cannot help but wonder weather Indian way of life which is built on family values, advocates savings, gives a slightly conservative approach to life and a spiritual inclination will come in handy. 
No wonder the world is seeking everything Indian from fashion to food, from spiritualism to entertainment and now Indian way of life could be the next big thing in the west...........
...Sac

Monday, October 13, 2008

News Updates

Hello Everybody!!! In our endavour to constantly upgrade the blog we will be posting and daily news update by the end of the Day.

The update will cover news from the area of Finance, Politics, Lifestyle and Sports and week end updates will carry movie reviews.

Keep Visiting the blog for updates.
How did these guys manage to do this!!! Debt of USD 5.44 Bn with a population of 300 K !!!
Over seas expansion!!!


Iceland battles economic crisis
(02:07) Report
Oct 7 - Iceland takes over its second largest bank and props up its battered currency, the crown, in the face of financial crisis that threatens to overwhelm the economy.
Iceland said it was seeking a 4 billion euro (5.44 billion U.S. dollars) loan from Russia to help it through the financial meltdown and Russia said it viewed the request positively.
The island in the middle of the North Atlantic is home to just 300,000 people, but has found itself on the fault-line of a global financial crisis after a few years of aggressive overseas expansion by its banks and foreign investors have poured money into local projects.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Balancing Act

Starting October, the celebration time in India has just begun. From 2nd October which is celebrated as Mathma Gandhi's Birthday a slew of festivals and holidaying starts and continues right till New Year. This year has been no different apart from the fact that the global crises has firmly gripped the nations and those affected by the turmoil will have really hard time gathering their finances, leave apart holidaying. On Friday i.e. 10/10/08 the Bombay Stock exchange fell by almost 800 points, about 7 % of investors wealth wiped out in a day and about 16% in just a week. India was relatively better off as some of the Asian peers fell as much as 30% in just a week.

Amids this gloom and doom scenario any thinking individual cannot escape the though of ephemeral nature of the wealth in the new economy. The very premises of seeing is believing is being questioned because had that been the case big co operations like Lehman Brothers, Merrile Lynch, Wachovia Corp., Morgan Stanly, AIG and so on would be the most sought after jobs in campuses around the world. The report in newspaper today says that the Indian Steel Tycoon Mr. Lakshmi Milttal is loosing 7 Million Pounds every hour since last one week. 

In India, industrial growth has slowed drastically.In Sweden, Volvo is cutting thousands of jobs. In Japan, which thought it was immune to the market chaos, a credit squeeze seems to be forcing small companies into bankruptcy. Around the world, fears of recession have fed a stock market panic, as worries about toxic assets spread from the financial sector to the credit markets and now to the broader economy.

These events makes you realize the vulnerability of anything and everything in today's times....the most pertinent point is it makes you realize who is in control??

Who is in control ? is the question that keeps coming to me and however hard i have tried, i have never been able to answer it convincingly.  A vist to the Mountains, Beaches, Valleys etc makes you realize how powerful the forces of nature are and probably what has happened over the past few days is a balancing act. Surely nature has its own way of funtioning.........

As we go on to celebrate Durga Puja, kali Puja, Diwali, Christmas, New Year and more, the world events should not dampen our spirts. Infact it should reinforce our believes knowing fully well that the real controls are with some else.....

Contributed by Sac


 

Monday, September 15, 2008

State of Affairs


Its sometimes gets intimidating to the point of scariness, looking at the state of the affairs of the world generally and our nation specifically.... what else could explain the greed and deceit which governs today’s times. The whole talk of consumerism has had profound changes in the physic of the people more so in the developing nation and the fallout is for all to see. Just mere cursory glance at the teeming mall, and standing in the midst of human splurge made me wonder about the direction we are taking, and where will this greed to consume more and more lead us to.......and then I wonder the relevance of the word consumerism and how aptly it has led to the consumption of values, ethical practices and moral uprightness. How the whirlwind of consumerism has not spared anyone, from the so called common man to the rare breed of our public servants..and we all have witnessed the recent episode so widely televised....
Cheers to our growing appetite of consumption.......
Contributed by Sac...

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Legends


Some lines from the "the guardian ".....

Can you lay your life down so a stranger can live?
Can you take what you need but take less than you give?
Can you close every day without the glory and fame?
Could you hold your head high when no one knows your name?

That's how legends are made,..................... at least that's what they say.

Can you loose everything you ever had planned?
Can you sit down again, and play another hand?
Could you risk every thing, for the chance of being alone?
Under pressure find the grace, or would you come undone.

That's how legends are made, ....................at least that's what they say.

Friday, September 12, 2008




Call it what you will but at one point of time somewhere deep down inside i had also thought that the dooms day has come. Blame it on the media or the panic stricken population or a divine turn of events, but the real issue is we all believe deep down of the nemesis which may not be very far off. To put things in perspective this is how it all happened:-
A day before the Big Bang experiment all the media were rife with stories of how the experiment might go wrong and the world could meet its demise. Initially i just ignored the stories as figment of ones imagination and that in modern era science has reached a level were these errors are next to impossible. I had recently read Angles and Demons by Dan Brown and knew about the Big Bang experiment slightly more then the general population.
The night before the experiment all was well..and suddenly at about 12.30 it started thundering. This was not a usual thunderstorm...but massive one and at one point of time i thought that i was in a war zone with US bombarding Iraq inside out. It went on right till the morning and that's when i thought something is wrong. Following this episode i did the usual stuff and reached my office on time. Just when i thought all's well and nothing would happen a employee of mine urged me come out and that he would show me a very interesting spectacle. Very reluctantly i left the comforts of my chair and went out ....The sight that i saw completely caught me off guard. At first i was all excited and wondered how amazing the sight was and that nature has it ways to surprise us. In fact the first ting i did was to dial my near and dear once to witness this amazing view.
Just then this employee of mine began to draw a co-relationship between the chain of events that happened and how probably the world is ending every minute. He asked me if he can go home and be with his family and i readily agreed. This also set me thinking weather it really was my last day on earth....very quickly i recollected various events in my life and was happy to realize that i really haven't done things that would invite the wrath of almighty and surely i would be in his good book. This thought dispelled all my fears and anxiety and i knew that i have to live much longer to fulfill all the unfinished task and that death has to come to all and sundry and it is for death that we treasure life.

Contributed by Sac..

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

CRESTS & TROUGHS


Pinnacle, peak , summit , zenith call it what u will .. but only a few scale to the top.!!

Let me present myself as a subject in a hypothetical situation to illustrate a point.

I like to draw & paint ( This preoccupation, however, has been locked up and stored in the attic long ago ,much like blankets during summers ). I dabble with brushes well enough for my own people. So my friends tell me .

On the other hand , my ability on the dance floor, is limited to an unheard genre which rythmically vacilates between bhangra and break dance of the 80s. It would be rather safe to say that chintu has two leet feet. I cant dance with ease.Its uncomfortable zone for me.

Given a week of undivided attention of qualified instructors in the two diciplines.. along with my complete willingness to improve my abilities to colour a canvas and set the dance floor on fire ...... Where according to you i would stand to perform better ??

For anyone who has seen me during the pgp program would know that my hands would come out more dexterous than my feet .

Keeping examples involving ammateur authors aside :it is much easier to improve on things "you like" as compared to stuff you feel is "just not u".

Its no doubt that i would have come out a better dancer than before but am sure my paitings would have reached a completely different level.

Strengths and Weaknesses, my friends am talking about these two themes.

We tend to be concious of our weaknesses more than pur strenghts.Strengths are taken for granted . Weakness occupies the mind.We tend to work more on our weaknesses .. strengths are left alone to slowly rust and turn brittle.

Strengths are outcomes of intrinsic themes which one enjoys doing for long hours and consistently but without monotony and strain. These themes need to be chisled with hard work to give shape to a statue of super achiver.

Work on weakness make zeroes come to averages. Super achievers , one who reach the pinnacle , work on the recognised advantages.

Weaknesses also need to be worked on ,but only to the extent of hiding the dust under the carpet.

Sachin has a weakness for full length ,on target deliveries which have known to crash on to the stumps on more than one ocassion. But dont his immpecable straight drives make every cricket lover stand up and cheer .

The master has some weaknesses but he is GOD because he has exalted his strengths .
..........................................................................................................Rahul.

Hey Guys,

There dosen't seem to be any action on the blog. Imagine what happens when you go to your favourite site and see that its not been updated since last two days.

ITS DISAPPOINTING. ISTN IT??

keep posting

Regards,

MANAGEMENT

The Reddy years at RBI

Reddy’s mission as a monetary policymaker to deliver growth with price stability is still a work in progress

Read article:http://www.livemint.com/2008/09/02235101/The-Reddy-years-at-RBI.html?h=D

Some useful websites
http://www.vccircle.com/
http://www.reuters.com/
http://www.livemint.com/

Sunday, August 31, 2008

GOALS 2008/09

Its been four years since, in spite of our reluctance to end what seemed to be a well deserved honeymoon we had to jump to in torrid waters...and lots of water has flown since then..we by what can be termed as some divine intervention had a chance to meet in the upmarket house of chintu.....the funny thing is when u land in Mumbai everything seems big and grand..and when u enter his house everything is a miniature version of original. one and half days were spent in recollection of the past and how these last four years has changed our lives completely....daddy started as a trainee in the garment industry and landed being a banker...a serious one ahh.... chintu has stuck on to the job but has changed lot of other things...babe had given Videocon a miss and after lots of experimentation seems to have settled in.....we passed two days with these sweet and bitter recollection and suddenly when it was time for daddy to change roles as a banker suddenly almost like a flash there was a common thought to meet again a year later without much of a agenda. On further probing we felt the need that the whole exercise will be worth it if there was a reason to celebrate. As luck would have it we decided to set the parameter on which we will judge ourselves and define those in measurable forms that can be easily accessed.

Target setting Exercise:-
We started with the so called the grand old man of our college( Though age wise he is youngest of all).
Avinash as his parents wanted him to called...we thought otherwise and ever since then he is called daddy.
Then Chintu took over and finally Sac concluded with his goals and targets for next one year.
The whole exercise lasted for les then an hour but if each one of could take out the true meaning of the same...those few minutes of revelation might just come out as the most powerful thing we ever did......