So much hype, so much of publicity and exceeding expectations gave way to the global conference held at the Institute. Never before had so many VIP’s gathered and never will there be any such congregation in the near future. So what are these special creatures made up of?
The thing about these VIP’s is that they are humans like us and still manage to gather so much attention that people go ga-ga just by hearing their names. Yes, they are also known as celebrities but are important enough to the society. What makes them so special? Why can’t you and me become as important? What do they have that you and me don’t? Hope that the below arguments might just pop up some possible answers
1. You can’t be important unless you feel that you are after all ‘important’ – This effectively translates the principle of 'self fulfilling prophecy' or the belief in the principle that one is born to achive nothing less than being famous.
2. You need to have lot of flabber (hindi word for it-charbi) in order to break the ice.
3. You need to have good everlasting contacts of course!!, the more of the opposite sex, the better!!
4. You need to follow the PDCA cycle (Plan, do, check, act which is the fundamental principles builing block of ISO certification)for all your activities, nobody is going to hear the same old speech on the same subject given at different venues.
5. You need to create a demand for yourself. This is the hardest part, but if perfected, can lead to heavenly position. This is where the true test of character and principles will show up the result - whether you are fit to be a VIP or not!!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Recession blues
Battling the recession is not going to be a piece of cake, so apart from beating the heat in Lebanon (if you haven't still figured out whats so special about Lebanon, here's the fact - the male : female ratio there is 1:6) people can now concentrate on exploiting new markets like the one below.
Faced with shortage, Canada woos skilled Indian workers
Wed, Dec 3 11:15 AM
Chandigarh, Dec 3 (IANS) Here's good news for engineers, technicians and other skilled workers wanting to work abroad. Canada is trying to attract young talent from countries like India by relaxing norms for visas in this category, says a Canadian immigration expert.
'There is an acute shortage of skilled workers in Canada and the situation will worsen in the next 5-10 years unless the government makes an effort to attract talent from a young country like India,' said Curtis Panke, director of global operations for the Ontario-based Global Placement Services.
Pointing out that the retirement age for most occupations in Canada is 55 years, he said in the next five years, more than 20 percent of the country's engineers, doctors, professors and geologists would retire.
'This huge void cannot be filled with domestic talent alone. If we do not attract the talent from outside, there will be a talent vacuum of up to 70 percent in the next 10 to 15 years,' Panke told IANS.
Keeping all this in mind, he said, the Canadian government has made vital changes in its immigration policy and relaxed certain norms for a Canadian visa in the skilled worker category.
The latest fast track processing of visa applications in the federal skilled worker category ensures a Canadian visa in a shorter period of just 6-12 months, pointed out Panke.
The Canadian government has issued a list of 38 high-demand occupational categories, including health, finance, engineers, heavy-duty mechanics, industrial technicians, food service managers and other skilled trades.
Panke is in Punjab to gauge the talent pool available and to conduct seminars all over the state in collaboration with the city-based World Wide Immigration Consultancy Services (WWICS), which has sent over 60,000 families and around 250,000 individuals to Canada till date.
'There are thousands of Punjabis in Canada, who are doing extremely well in their professions and contributing to the country's economy. Comparatively, we have more applicants from this region if we compare it with other states in India,' stated Panke.
Asked about the impact of global recession on the Canadian economy, Panke said a majority of the organisations and companies there would be unaffected in the long run.
'There is some impact but all this is a temporary phase and will pass very soon. Moreover, there is no impact on the openings available under skilled category there and Canada is looking forward to employ skilled workers in a big way.'
Talking about Canada's federal investor category for permanent residency in the country, Lt Col (retd) B.S. Sandhu, chief managing director of WWICS, said: 'An investor is only needed to invest Rs.5 million in some flourishing trade in Canada and can relocate there under the Canadian Investor Program.'
The applicant, under this category, only needs to have a work experience of two years and no language proficiency test like IELTS is required, he added.
Faced with shortage, Canada woos skilled Indian workers
Wed, Dec 3 11:15 AM
Chandigarh, Dec 3 (IANS) Here's good news for engineers, technicians and other skilled workers wanting to work abroad. Canada is trying to attract young talent from countries like India by relaxing norms for visas in this category, says a Canadian immigration expert.
'There is an acute shortage of skilled workers in Canada and the situation will worsen in the next 5-10 years unless the government makes an effort to attract talent from a young country like India,' said Curtis Panke, director of global operations for the Ontario-based Global Placement Services.
Pointing out that the retirement age for most occupations in Canada is 55 years, he said in the next five years, more than 20 percent of the country's engineers, doctors, professors and geologists would retire.
'This huge void cannot be filled with domestic talent alone. If we do not attract the talent from outside, there will be a talent vacuum of up to 70 percent in the next 10 to 15 years,' Panke told IANS.
Keeping all this in mind, he said, the Canadian government has made vital changes in its immigration policy and relaxed certain norms for a Canadian visa in the skilled worker category.
The latest fast track processing of visa applications in the federal skilled worker category ensures a Canadian visa in a shorter period of just 6-12 months, pointed out Panke.
The Canadian government has issued a list of 38 high-demand occupational categories, including health, finance, engineers, heavy-duty mechanics, industrial technicians, food service managers and other skilled trades.
Panke is in Punjab to gauge the talent pool available and to conduct seminars all over the state in collaboration with the city-based World Wide Immigration Consultancy Services (WWICS), which has sent over 60,000 families and around 250,000 individuals to Canada till date.
'There are thousands of Punjabis in Canada, who are doing extremely well in their professions and contributing to the country's economy. Comparatively, we have more applicants from this region if we compare it with other states in India,' stated Panke.
Asked about the impact of global recession on the Canadian economy, Panke said a majority of the organisations and companies there would be unaffected in the long run.
'There is some impact but all this is a temporary phase and will pass very soon. Moreover, there is no impact on the openings available under skilled category there and Canada is looking forward to employ skilled workers in a big way.'
Talking about Canada's federal investor category for permanent residency in the country, Lt Col (retd) B.S. Sandhu, chief managing director of WWICS, said: 'An investor is only needed to invest Rs.5 million in some flourishing trade in Canada and can relocate there under the Canadian Investor Program.'
The applicant, under this category, only needs to have a work experience of two years and no language proficiency test like IELTS is required, he added.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Aftermath
Finally, after two days and a lot of widespread destruction, nature's fury ended, but the exactly opposite happened on the West coast, in the financial capital of India. Terrorists went on and on relentlessly until the death toll reached 300.
But, this time I feel angry on myself, I feel angry on the common man who needs a reason such as a 'terror attack' to lash at the politicians. This is just like saying "I will worship God only during Diwali and the rest of the days, I just do nothing". This feeling of guilt is going to stay on for years to come. On the contrary, one might argue that the common man cannot do anything about it just because he is "common" and not "special", he does not have any power.
Well, can anyone prove the "common" statement wrong, please!!!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Weather forecast
Never paid attention to cyclonic warnings and such stuff in my life, but this time, it dragged attention because couldnt move around much and was cramped for doing work and moving around. So, googled on the Indian met dept and got this image which shows the situation, this is really baffling. No wonder, 28 deaths have been reported in TamilNadu since this whole cyclone terror began on Tuesday 25.11.08
Monday, November 10, 2008
A film
Well, its not like it appears in a sentence "I watched a film", neither is it the sarcastic way of telling that I watched "a" film, it was "the" film or something like that. In a way it was, but I am really referring to the name of the film "A" in a most unusual language (and my favorite) , I bet the first thought would be that its a hollywood blue film or some french/spanish masala. But, seriously this film is a kannada film and my inner true fan following for Upendra (the actor cum director)led me to this post.
From any kannadigas point of view, the moment one utters a word about Upendra, thats it, people start getting hallucinations, feel instant jitters and write him off as a confusing "real star". In fact, even Upendra doesnt expect his audience to fully understand the movie, one of the rare specialities, and the talent he shows in the movies is simply out of this world, nobody can imagine. I seriously recommend people to watch his movies with subtitles. Although, there is nothing to beat the real dialogues in Kannada.
Coming to this movie, it is quite old and his debut movie. It is not expected to be understood and I will attempt to give some insight for easier understanding.
Well, its a film for all of us which contains a film inside a film. We all know about the concept of a film inside a film like for example say Om shanti Om. But, imagine a double decker of that!!
The best part is that it deals with all issues related to the common man, which gives me the best reason to follow Upendra. In the opening scenes itself, he acts like a retard and goes on to become God!, Not to mention the dialogues, wow! Amazing!, stupendous! (like Himesh puts it in Saregama)
As I said, its not expected to be understood. Only hope to watch more of such movies, already watched Raktha kanneeru, which is again marvellous. I must thank IIT's Lan system and the genius behind it. This post certainly is in a way dedicated partially to the genius apart from the man "Upendra"
From any kannadigas point of view, the moment one utters a word about Upendra, thats it, people start getting hallucinations, feel instant jitters and write him off as a confusing "real star". In fact, even Upendra doesnt expect his audience to fully understand the movie, one of the rare specialities, and the talent he shows in the movies is simply out of this world, nobody can imagine. I seriously recommend people to watch his movies with subtitles. Although, there is nothing to beat the real dialogues in Kannada.
Coming to this movie, it is quite old and his debut movie. It is not expected to be understood and I will attempt to give some insight for easier understanding.
Well, its a film for all of us which contains a film inside a film. We all know about the concept of a film inside a film like for example say Om shanti Om. But, imagine a double decker of that!!
The best part is that it deals with all issues related to the common man, which gives me the best reason to follow Upendra. In the opening scenes itself, he acts like a retard and goes on to become God!, Not to mention the dialogues, wow! Amazing!, stupendous! (like Himesh puts it in Saregama)
As I said, its not expected to be understood. Only hope to watch more of such movies, already watched Raktha kanneeru, which is again marvellous. I must thank IIT's Lan system and the genius behind it. This post certainly is in a way dedicated partially to the genius apart from the man "Upendra"
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Back on Track(aray)
Certainly there has to be something like 'inertia' which controls human mind and bodies. A gap of 15 days since the last blog just proves that Newton was a great scientist even though some of his theories are found to be irrelevant in quantum terms.
Moving on from science to politics, the new trend bundled in an old school thought 'divide and rule' is being followed by none other than Thakeray uncle who is very happy with the support of Maratha manoos and since people can't do anything with manoos nearby, dislikers protest in their own state. Trains in Bihar burned with the fury of the angry mob who can't stand the size of Raj T.
Some say, he is a mole of the mountain or a "baccha" of politics, but his charisma and the support he has managed to gather is laudable. These things say a completely different story and the fact that even the police had to resort to tactics to keep him in jail, speak volumes about the matured and new "teenager" or youth of politics who can't be undermined.
Whether he is a hero, or the villian, at this point is irrelevant. For now, he is the hero in Maharashtra and villian elsewhere. At times, one has to respect even enemies for their greatness and learn from them. Only hope that he doesnt end up implementing a 'visa' scheme for all outsiders who wish to enter Maharashtra.
Moving on from science to politics, the new trend bundled in an old school thought 'divide and rule' is being followed by none other than Thakeray uncle who is very happy with the support of Maratha manoos and since people can't do anything with manoos nearby, dislikers protest in their own state. Trains in Bihar burned with the fury of the angry mob who can't stand the size of Raj T.
Some say, he is a mole of the mountain or a "baccha" of politics, but his charisma and the support he has managed to gather is laudable. These things say a completely different story and the fact that even the police had to resort to tactics to keep him in jail, speak volumes about the matured and new "teenager" or youth of politics who can't be undermined.
Whether he is a hero, or the villian, at this point is irrelevant. For now, he is the hero in Maharashtra and villian elsewhere. At times, one has to respect even enemies for their greatness and learn from them. Only hope that he doesnt end up implementing a 'visa' scheme for all outsiders who wish to enter Maharashtra.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Looking ahead : Diwali!!
Festivals are an inseparable part of life in India not just because people are so religious towards God and they feel that they really show their gratitude (majority don't - no offence here) but because its a damn holiday, and festival like diwali brings yearly bonus together with it. Everyone starting from a petty maid to a high class employee from any Indian organization expects gifts and bonuses.
With so much of 'give and take', the economy is bustling, sudden demand for all items in market, Gold prices and Real estate prices skyrocket and even the local tailor makes a huge sum because of sudden increase in orders for custom made 'grand' suits to be worn on the occassion of diwali.
The custom itself is being religiously followed and all the idea behind the festival is smeared deep beneath dust.Even a 5-yr kid will tell you that People burst crackers for their enjoyment, not for God's.
So, where does the fault lie. Its hard and bitter to hear the truth and this truth has been debated upon in many occassions, it has been suppressed to a large extent and nobody will believe such a truth, so I wont give away the answer but leave you pondering about it, hoping that you wont celebrate diwali the way other's do.
With so much of 'give and take', the economy is bustling, sudden demand for all items in market, Gold prices and Real estate prices skyrocket and even the local tailor makes a huge sum because of sudden increase in orders for custom made 'grand' suits to be worn on the occassion of diwali.
The custom itself is being religiously followed and all the idea behind the festival is smeared deep beneath dust.Even a 5-yr kid will tell you that People burst crackers for their enjoyment, not for God's.
So, where does the fault lie. Its hard and bitter to hear the truth and this truth has been debated upon in many occassions, it has been suppressed to a large extent and nobody will believe such a truth, so I wont give away the answer but leave you pondering about it, hoping that you wont celebrate diwali the way other's do.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Can anybody tell the future
Read the front page article of all daily newspapers dated Oct 11th 2008, in big bold letters, you want to avoid seeing it but its there and the commonest man on this earth is talking about it
"Sensex sheds 1000 points"
Wow, we really need to check tommorow's paper for the number of suicides or murder-suicides committed, but I can't tell you the exact number sitting here right now. Nor can anybody, its the irony that we live with every day
We can never predict the future
People who anticipated that markets would touch 30,000 levels and rupee will appreciate to Rs 35 per dollar were just onlookers to the sad and eventful month, in fact 9/15 has become a global historic date. Its when the big three of the US gave up.
The point that I am making is
-Never be lured by the stock market and never buy shares directly, invest in mutual funds and leave it to the fund managers. Common people like us will get nothing but suffering and huge losses if we start predicting future of markets and stuff.
-About forex, well dont even think in your wildest dreams to become a spot forex trader, its the most dreaded jobs you can ever do which will never let you sleep even if you have had a bottle full of sleeping pills.
These learnings have not originated from me but from my Profs and guest lectures at IIT, so its authentic 'gyaan'.
"Sensex sheds 1000 points"
Wow, we really need to check tommorow's paper for the number of suicides or murder-suicides committed, but I can't tell you the exact number sitting here right now. Nor can anybody, its the irony that we live with every day
We can never predict the future
People who anticipated that markets would touch 30,000 levels and rupee will appreciate to Rs 35 per dollar were just onlookers to the sad and eventful month, in fact 9/15 has become a global historic date. Its when the big three of the US gave up.
The point that I am making is
-Never be lured by the stock market and never buy shares directly, invest in mutual funds and leave it to the fund managers. Common people like us will get nothing but suffering and huge losses if we start predicting future of markets and stuff.
-About forex, well dont even think in your wildest dreams to become a spot forex trader, its the most dreaded jobs you can ever do which will never let you sleep even if you have had a bottle full of sleeping pills.
These learnings have not originated from me but from my Profs and guest lectures at IIT, so its authentic 'gyaan'.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Shaastra and its aftermath
Almost forgot that I had a blog that people would be waiting to read and was so engrossed in wondering why it takes so much time for human beings to recover back from some daily routine. Do humans also follow the Newton's first law, of course the answer would be that every particle of which the human is made of, behaves that way and so the human as a whole has some inertia.
But what is the inertia I am talking about, what is the 'recovery'. Well, the recent tech fest in IIT which was obviously bigger and better than any other fest on Earth, did not spare me from the intense labour and my sleeping habits changed drastically. Even during Shaastra, the environment was so technical, the most common words I used to hear in the morning were Einstein, turbine, patents, brainfck, quiz, DRDO, aerofoil, boomerang, laser show, robot, fire n ice, finance, Video conference etc.
In the evening, it used to be classical IIT lingo with fellow coordinators and volunteers like maccha, dude, coord, vol, mawali, dhule, bhojpuri, fundae, gen, junta, pain, cup, fart, peace etc along with f-word and m-words and etc.
Involvement also reached new high. Imagine me writing a Science fiction story, about 'a Robot who knew everything', what fart I would have left and me with all the social fundaes of common junta would have pained the reader of the story so much that he won't dare to be an event coord next sem.
On the whole, coming back to normal does take time; hope my next post is atleast slightly better than this one and my memory system does not backfire.
But what is the inertia I am talking about, what is the 'recovery'. Well, the recent tech fest in IIT which was obviously bigger and better than any other fest on Earth, did not spare me from the intense labour and my sleeping habits changed drastically. Even during Shaastra, the environment was so technical, the most common words I used to hear in the morning were Einstein, turbine, patents, brainfck, quiz, DRDO, aerofoil, boomerang, laser show, robot, fire n ice, finance, Video conference etc.
In the evening, it used to be classical IIT lingo with fellow coordinators and volunteers like maccha, dude, coord, vol, mawali, dhule, bhojpuri, fundae, gen, junta, pain, cup, fart, peace etc along with f-word and m-words and etc.
Involvement also reached new high. Imagine me writing a Science fiction story, about 'a Robot who knew everything', what fart I would have left and me with all the social fundaes of common junta would have pained the reader of the story so much that he won't dare to be an event coord next sem.
On the whole, coming back to normal does take time; hope my next post is atleast slightly better than this one and my memory system does not backfire.
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Innocent and the guilty
Think of a sweet kid, for simplicity sake just imagine your little one or a younger cousin or friend's small wonder. Every time you go to meet that child, it expects something from you, a chocolate at least. In haste, you forget your helmet and other groceries that you purchased for home. Just when you are about to leave, a shrill voice echoes through "Arre baap re, how can you forget your baggage and leave". With the baggage in hand and a smiling face, your heart turns blue and you want to express a lot of things, but your mind refuses to cooperate with your body and you just say from the bottom of your heart "Thank You"
This idealized situation mentioned above unfortunately happens only in dreams and imagination. Not that the kid's behavior has dramatically changed nowadays from the innocent, shy little puppy to a back answering barking machine. The situation has turned to be the reverse, older men gifting death instead of life.
In one recent incident, a known relatives kidnaps a two year old and brutally murders a young one just for the sake of jealousy and a few pounds. What kind of monstrous act would be worse than this, apart from hordes of reports in the past about infant rapes and murders. We need to question, do we live in a civilized society?, if so who can't be trusted ?, if not who can be trusted? . Such questions seem to have no answers in this age of the "Kaliyuga"
A honest boy pays with his life for only one sin of "being honest" and running behind a bunch of monsters for returning their baggage which seemed to have been 'accidentally' dropped off a bike. Little did he realize that his 'sin' would lead him to a plastic bag of doom in front of him.
So, who is to blame, God?
For a moment, we feel that the answer is yes, in God's name, the religious acts and religious terrorism takes place, but the truth is you should "Never even think of such a thing" because we have been given the power to choose what is right or wrong, to punish the guilty and save the innocent. We have been given powers superior to any animal in this world, not for enjoying it but for putting it to good use. We ought to blame ourselves as human beings.
Finally, it is said that God invites the good people from this world at the earliest because he is flattered by the goodness in them. So, we should be more honest, more cheerful and sing out in God's praise louder because only then shall we be called civilized, only then will the guilty be convicted, and only then shall we be invited to his abode.
This idealized situation mentioned above unfortunately happens only in dreams and imagination. Not that the kid's behavior has dramatically changed nowadays from the innocent, shy little puppy to a back answering barking machine. The situation has turned to be the reverse, older men gifting death instead of life.
In one recent incident, a known relatives kidnaps a two year old and brutally murders a young one just for the sake of jealousy and a few pounds. What kind of monstrous act would be worse than this, apart from hordes of reports in the past about infant rapes and murders. We need to question, do we live in a civilized society?, if so who can't be trusted ?, if not who can be trusted? . Such questions seem to have no answers in this age of the "Kaliyuga"
A honest boy pays with his life for only one sin of "being honest" and running behind a bunch of monsters for returning their baggage which seemed to have been 'accidentally' dropped off a bike. Little did he realize that his 'sin' would lead him to a plastic bag of doom in front of him.
So, who is to blame, God?
For a moment, we feel that the answer is yes, in God's name, the religious acts and religious terrorism takes place, but the truth is you should "Never even think of such a thing" because we have been given the power to choose what is right or wrong, to punish the guilty and save the innocent. We have been given powers superior to any animal in this world, not for enjoying it but for putting it to good use. We ought to blame ourselves as human beings.
Finally, it is said that God invites the good people from this world at the earliest because he is flattered by the goodness in them. So, we should be more honest, more cheerful and sing out in God's praise louder because only then shall we be called civilized, only then will the guilty be convicted, and only then shall we be invited to his abode.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
A midsummer day dream
For once, I felt my dream was coming true. I always dreamt of wild lions and tigers (my favorite) and wanted to do anything possible to see them and have a word with these majestic species. Two chances I had already lost to dogs in the last year, the first was a trip to bandipur last year. Hopelessly, I managed to see just one elephant, a gang of monkeys who tried to steal my meal and spotted deer which are so often spotted in the jungle of IIT. I was really made to feel that tigers are extinct in the area, such haphazard was the situation there.
Imagine going through a dense forest and just chancing on a glimpse of a wild tiger, even for that matter putting your foot on a tiger's footmark. I was so excited in this direction and so the second was a trip to Kalakad forest. Destiny still didnt favour the brave, and I was again back to squares. One thought kept reeling in my mind, "what the hell, is the wild tiger really extinct"
As I couldn't pounce upon any opportunity this year, I was disheartened. But, two chances emerged and I want to capitalize on these because bhagwan jaane kal ho na ho.
The first is an opportunity to walk the forest on moonlit nights, hopefully try for this in december, and the second is an opportunity to adopt a wild animal at a local zoo. Something to cheer forward to atleast.
Hope for the best
and leave the rest
to the best
is the modified saying in Gita. So let me do the first job of "hoping"
Imagine going through a dense forest and just chancing on a glimpse of a wild tiger, even for that matter putting your foot on a tiger's footmark. I was so excited in this direction and so the second was a trip to Kalakad forest. Destiny still didnt favour the brave, and I was again back to squares. One thought kept reeling in my mind, "what the hell, is the wild tiger really extinct"
As I couldn't pounce upon any opportunity this year, I was disheartened. But, two chances emerged and I want to capitalize on these because bhagwan jaane kal ho na ho.
The first is an opportunity to walk the forest on moonlit nights, hopefully try for this in december, and the second is an opportunity to adopt a wild animal at a local zoo. Something to cheer forward to atleast.
Hope for the best
and leave the rest
to the best
is the modified saying in Gita. So let me do the first job of "hoping"
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Janta ki soch
Continuing with the series of the 'common man' , I thought of sharing what people generally do on social networking sites and their gen thoughts & comments, which of- course are more often than not 'copy pasted items'. Check these status lines of google friends for example
1. The Value lies not within any particular thing, but in the desire placed on that thing
2. Advice is like kissing. It costs nothing and is a pleasant thing to do
3. The axle of a cart loaded only with light peacock feathers can also break, if it is greatly overloaded
4. Love the heart that hurts you.. but never hurt the heart that loves you!!!
5. If you don't Stand for Something.You will Fall for Everything
6. Keep running and never stop, Keep running till my veins go pop, You will get tired and when you do, I may be too far away from you
7. Some intellectual guy reads: "Independence is the equity in freedom of expression that your opponent enjoys in relation to yours."
8. This is a good one: There's a secret part of you that loves being miserable. Life gets easier once you admit that.
9. This one deserves the first prize, it goes like this:
All that a guy wants is a girl who's hot, a girl who's smart, a girl who's caring and understanding. Unfortunately you can have only one girl...
10. But wait, this one is really cool, its from a person who has exams starting from monday and he just has the status line saying "YAAHHHOOOOO!!!!!"
There are loads of such interesting one-liners, I hope somebody replies with those.
1. The Value lies not within any particular thing, but in the desire placed on that thing
2. Advice is like kissing. It costs nothing and is a pleasant thing to do
3. The axle of a cart loaded only with light peacock feathers can also break, if it is greatly overloaded
4. Love the heart that hurts you.. but never hurt the heart that loves you!!!
5. If you don't Stand for Something.You will Fall for Everything
6. Keep running and never stop, Keep running till my veins go pop, You will get tired and when you do, I may be too far away from you
7. Some intellectual guy reads: "Independence is the equity in freedom of expression that your opponent enjoys in relation to yours."
8. This is a good one: There's a secret part of you that loves being miserable. Life gets easier once you admit that.
9. This one deserves the first prize, it goes like this:
All that a guy wants is a girl who's hot, a girl who's smart, a girl who's caring and understanding. Unfortunately you can have only one girl...
10. But wait, this one is really cool, its from a person who has exams starting from monday and he just has the status line saying "YAAHHHOOOOO!!!!!"
There are loads of such interesting one-liners, I hope somebody replies with those.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
No pain no gain
Not referring to the type of pain which the Delhi'ites felt in the past couple of days & Bangaloreans & Gujjus in the recent past during blasts, but this blog is dedicated to sweet pain, felt mostly by students especially those in IIT Madras of all IIT's and specially those in M.B.A & Civil Departments.
Students selected in IITM do not realize that their worst nightmare is yet to come. They feel quite excited after a few days of joining. Reason: tradition of welcoming students is the only thing which is best here, need not comment about the rest. Anyway, new excited students start feeling the miserable heat and start losing interest in lousy Chennai within a few weeks of joining and the glow on their face is about to disappear, but wait.................
It is at this opportune moment that the grand entry of the most hated phenomenon in human history called "pain" creeps in, almost unnoticed in the beginning but nevertheless makes no mistake in creating a big impact on the already confused minds.
Here is a brief excerpt from what can be expected out of a course in a subject called "consumer behaviour" in Management dept. Its so brief that you will feel pain just by reading the excerpt.
Hats off to the Prof Bob!! (Can't mention real name here, for obvious reasons) .Really, if there was a remote chance of me being a Prof, I would not have thought of such wonderful ideas to kill a dead cow.
But friends, finally it all boils down to the famous saying "No pain, no gain", I believe that this saying is true only if the Prof(the true author of the above excerpt) is ready to recommend the students of the course for a job in say McKinsey or Microsoft or etc big guns, otherwise it is nothing but a national waste and pain for nothing but down the drain.
Students selected in IITM do not realize that their worst nightmare is yet to come. They feel quite excited after a few days of joining. Reason: tradition of welcoming students is the only thing which is best here, need not comment about the rest. Anyway, new excited students start feeling the miserable heat and start losing interest in lousy Chennai within a few weeks of joining and the glow on their face is about to disappear, but wait.................
It is at this opportune moment that the grand entry of the most hated phenomenon in human history called "pain" creeps in, almost unnoticed in the beginning but nevertheless makes no mistake in creating a big impact on the already confused minds.
Here is a brief excerpt from what can be expected out of a course in a subject called "consumer behaviour" in Management dept. Its so brief that you will feel pain just by reading the excerpt.
Please note that while the instructor will make every effort to adhere to the above schedule, it is not cast in stone and there may be some fine-tuning as we go along. However, what is cast in stone and is absolutely sacrosanct are the due dates for the group activities. Please make a note of the dates in your diaries.
Please make a note of the following points:
- The workload in this course will not be light. Slackers, this is not the course for you!
- Please be on time. Punctuality is a highly required virtue and it is best that you practise this from now. Latecomers will not be allowed to class. The instructor will be really strict in this regard.
- Attendance will be taken. Latecomers will not be allowed to class. They will lose attendance. Anyone clocking below 75% attendance will have to face the bureaucratic wrath of the IIT system. The instructor is serious in this regard.
- Likewise, the instructor strongly urges students to pay attention in class and avoid communication of any sort (like talking or even passing notes) between themselves. It is extremely rude to talk in class since it disturbs others and the instructor too. The instructor will again come down hard on such undesirable behaviour.
- You must be present on the day of the assignments. Else, a dim view of the matter will be taken. If your group is presenting and you are not present, you will be marked zero for that particular assignment.
- You will be divided into groups for the assignments. In his prior experience with students in groups (not just in India, but abroad too), the instructor has observed the phenomenon called social loafing i.e. some students doing all the work and some others “sacking out” and doing nothing/little; finally both sets of students get awarded the same marks. This is a patently unfair situation and to avoid this, this instructor will administer a peer evaluation form. In other words, you will evaluate your other group members in terms of his contribution to the assignment. Likewise, all your other group members will evaluate your contribution. The instructor will make use of this data to assign marks to students. Social loafers, be warned, there ain’t no free lunch.
- Assignments have to be submitted within 10 minutes of the beginning of the class on the scheduled days. Assignments submitted late will be penalised very heavily – 25 marks (out of 100) will be deducted for a late submission within 1 day after the scheduled day of submission. Students who submit more than one day late will not be marked. They will get a zero for that particular assignment. A late submission is defined as a report that is submitted 10 minutes after class begins. The instructor is a stickler for punctuality and timely submission and hates excuses like “Sir, there was a printer problem and my friend is right now printing in the lab”.
- The instructor will not accept e-mail attachments. The number of viruses floating around makes this a risky proposition. Therefore, assignment reports have to be on hard copy.
Hats off to the Prof Bob!! (Can't mention real name here, for obvious reasons) .Really, if there was a remote chance of me being a Prof, I would not have thought of such wonderful ideas to kill a dead cow.
But friends, finally it all boils down to the famous saying "No pain, no gain", I believe that this saying is true only if the Prof(the true author of the above excerpt) is ready to recommend the students of the course for a job in say McKinsey or Microsoft or etc big guns, otherwise it is nothing but a national waste and pain for nothing but down the drain.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Movers & Stayers
Really wonder sometimes, how do people spend time in college staying in the shabby hostel during a long weekend. Managed to jot down some interesting findings on the people who stay back(lets call them stayers) and the people who move out during the weekend (lets call them movers)
First the movers
Only suggestion is "Rock on!"
First the movers
- These guys are more excited about the journey rather than the place called home
- Spend more time outside home anyway traveling within the hometown, meeting friends and relatives
- Always feel 'time flies off dude'!!
- There is always something left over at home which is to be forgotten. Most often forget their only underwear at home, tooth brush is the next common
- Always feel refreshed and reloaded. This plus point just overtakes all the negatives (if any)
- These guys feel jealous of the movers to some extent
- Curse themselves and their parents as to why their hometown is not nearby
- End up wasting time in holidays
- Curse themselves again for not planning a short trip, for ex Pondy, Mahabalipuram
- Curse their kismat (rotten luck) every time during the long weekend as the internet is always down during this time
- Watch movies like dogs
- Frustrated, every time there is a long weekend and this builds up on the previous frustration just like a pile of bricks
Only suggestion is "Rock on!"
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
SRK & 'Deewana'
My mind went blank about topics to blog about, so many things happening these days i.e, from NSG waiver, Singur drama to India becoming a waste importing destination & impeachment of judges. I thought it was not good to add to people's bustling General knowledge which suddenly seemed to have surged high up.
I thought why not give junta a chill pill and stimulate thinking about something very general. This time its hindi movie star Shah Rukh Khan and his stint with the word Deewana
I just had a dream on one sleepless night thinking whenever SRK used the word deewana or sang it in his movie, the movie went on to be a big hit. Managed to pen down some of the movies and the songs
I thought why not give junta a chill pill and stimulate thinking about something very general. This time its hindi movie star Shah Rukh Khan and his stint with the word Deewana
I just had a dream on one sleepless night thinking whenever SRK used the word deewana or sang it in his movie, the movie went on to be a big hit. Managed to pen down some of the movies and the songs
- DDLJ - Ruk jaa oh dil Deewane
- Kuch Kuch hota hai - Yeh ladki hai deewani
- Om shanti Om - Bas deewangi, deewangi
- English babu desi mem - Deewana, dil tera
- Kabhi haan kabhi naa - Deewana dil deewana
- Baadshah - Hum to deewane huye yaar
- Deewana - there should be one dialogue which features the word in the movie titled deewana
Of course, this list is partial, there has to be lots more. Coz, our pal Shahrukh has done so many hit movies, we take him for granted nowadays. Lets give him some research to cheer about
Sunday, September 7, 2008
How the common man 'suffers'
Recently, all roads leading to IIT Madras were blocked/ choked due to visit of VIP. This so called 'very important person' becomes so important that all others become too 'common' just like in thermodynamics, everything outside the system becomes the 'surrounding'.
Now, that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be VIP's. But, it makes no sense to trouble innocent civilians in his name. The cause of the trouble is a much debated phenomena in India, the million dollar question is: Is it ethical to disturb regular people who commute between places and suddenly realize they are in for a traffic jam, caused by this creature called 'VIP'.
Worse than this creature are his noble deeds, which do not have anything to do for the welfare of the needy but only one motto called "Make the rich, richer" which serves two purposes
- Getting famous
- Networking
So a classic example of 'एक तीर से दो शिकार ' this creature has no idea of what the common man thinks of all this bull shit.
Coming back to the 'thing' which happened a day before yesterday which irked me into writing this post: A VIP visit to an educational institute like IIT Madras for celebrating a hospital's silver jubilee and launch of new so called state of the art hospitals in rural areas
Unfortunately, the VIP referred to here is the prime minister of our country. No marks for guessing the hospital's name which is none other than the famous Apollo, who started the 'business' of healthcare which was hitherto a noble affair. The ads, hoardings on streets, thousands of beggars hired on the road for support and cheering of the VIP, all these speak volumes about a truly high class business concern. Anyway, an ad given by the concern in newspaper read "In our constant endeavour to deliver quality high tech healthcare to rural areas we are launching ..........". How would any sane person react to this ad, think about it. Its not that they are providing services for free, who would afford such high tech in rural areas and at whose cost would be the first question to arise. The answer is so simple that everyone knows it, so I take great pride in anwering such a question myself
Answer - "The common man's pocket will bear everything"
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Why did Ganesha ever curse the moon
Generally, I avoid writing stuff which is personal, the main idea of engrossing myself in blogging is to surface things going on around the general masses and how it is affecting them. But, I couldn't resist writing this piece because of the most common thing which affects everyone's daily life. Yes, I am talking about "Superstitions"
Ya, we all know the mythological story which goes like this "One day while travelling round the universe on his rat, Ganesha came to Chandraloka , blah blah....." which I incidentally found while searching for info on google. But, the million dollar question is 'how many of us believe in the story and neglect the moon on the day of Ganesha Chaturthi
I was a kid when I was told to resist watching the moon on this very day because bad luck will haunt you and stuff. The moment somebody says the magic word bad luck, it immediately registers in the mind and you are well positioned to face the challenge of neglecting the moon. Unfortunately, the story doesn't end here. Scientifically speaking, our subconscious mind tries to do the unthinkable that is your mind will always say 'ah, mate; just a little glance at the moon once and see how it looks'. Astronomically speaking, the position of the moon on the fourth day after the new moon is bound to be near horizon, which is at eye level, which makes matters even worse.
So guys, even if you have accidentally glanced the moon, don't plunge into depression by thinking about bad luck. If you don't believe in such superstitions good for you, this article might just be a joke. If you do, then google for the remedy of this curse and you will come up with the story of the "Syamantaka gem" which is a remedy to the "curse".
This brings us to an interesting juncture, do we or don't we believe in superstitions, the answer simply might be a big "yes" because everyone is afraid of death, bad luck and etc. If not, people would have been saturated and ascetic.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Drunkards Paradise
I never had such close encounters with drunkards in my life. It was funny and scary at the same time, don't expect me to narrate the stupid tales of the drunkards but let me attempt to analyze what exactly happens when people go out of control!
Last night happened to be a big celebration with my company hosting a grand party in a ball room. As soon as the bar opened, our pals who are fond of nothing but boozing started queuing up for pegs. अगर मुफ्त की दारू मिल रही है तोह कौन पागल उसको चोदेगा ! The reason for being in such a great mood after sipping in a few pegs was simple। Great music and Good girls who had come as part of a dance troupe।
उसके बाद क्या हुआ मत पूछिए, बेचारे पीयाकदो को भी याद नही के वोह क्या क्या बक गए, क्या क्या हरकतें की, खैर हॉस्टल के लिए निकल गए और हॉस्टल पहुँचने पर सब को डर लग गया की कहीं सुस्पेंद न हो जाए।
Last night happened to be a big celebration with my company hosting a grand party in a ball room. As soon as the bar opened, our pals who are fond of nothing but boozing started queuing up for pegs. अगर मुफ्त की दारू मिल रही है तोह कौन पागल उसको चोदेगा ! The reason for being in such a great mood after sipping in a few pegs was simple। Great music and Good girls who had come as part of a dance troupe।
उसके बाद क्या हुआ मत पूछिए, बेचारे पीयाकदो को भी याद नही के वोह क्या क्या बक गए, क्या क्या हरकतें की, खैर हॉस्टल के लिए निकल गए और हॉस्टल पहुँचने पर सब को डर लग गया की कहीं सुस्पेंद न हो जाए।
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Why not distribute Doctorate titles like ration cards instead??
This issue has to do a lot with people like me, simply because it involves giving a title "Doctor" to a person who has excelled in a field like Sports.
I mean, why such a young person like Abhinav Bindra who has done nothing more in his life than winning an Olympic gold, that too just because his opponent messed up with the opportunity is so ridiculous and brings out the 'stupidity' of people offering the honorary title to him.
The fault lies not in SRM university but in us, as general public. The common man is so unaware of his daily dealings and how it affects the society as a whole. In the late nineties, there were not enough colleges to supply quality candidates for the software industry, which was witnessing a boom due to outsourcing. At this juncture, small colleges like SRM, Amity, etc took advantage of the situation and by way of good advertising, brand building techniques, emerged as successful money making universities charging exorbitant fees from prospective engineers and managers to build their infrastructure. Parents, who were lured by the software boom did not mind paying the fee demanded in anticipation of returns. Even banks offered loans easily and the system did meet the requirement of the industry.
The question to be asked after this background is "What authority do such universities have to confer a title", when these universities are not adding to any research value / quality output but only fulfilling the demand. IIT's, IIM's, IISc & regional universities have been there since ages and their decisions in conferring any title is subject to a lot of scrutiny being public institutions, but who will regulate the private owned & operated universities.
Even if these universities want to recognize talent, why dont they give titles to Sachin Tendulkar for his illustrious career, Dhoni for his achievement in T-20 cricket, Dhanraj Pillai for excellence in Hockey etc.
If this trend continues, we will surely see a day when titles are distributed like ration cards!!!
I mean, why such a young person like Abhinav Bindra who has done nothing more in his life than winning an Olympic gold, that too just because his opponent messed up with the opportunity is so ridiculous and brings out the 'stupidity' of people offering the honorary title to him.
The fault lies not in SRM university but in us, as general public. The common man is so unaware of his daily dealings and how it affects the society as a whole. In the late nineties, there were not enough colleges to supply quality candidates for the software industry, which was witnessing a boom due to outsourcing. At this juncture, small colleges like SRM, Amity, etc took advantage of the situation and by way of good advertising, brand building techniques, emerged as successful money making universities charging exorbitant fees from prospective engineers and managers to build their infrastructure. Parents, who were lured by the software boom did not mind paying the fee demanded in anticipation of returns. Even banks offered loans easily and the system did meet the requirement of the industry.
The question to be asked after this background is "What authority do such universities have to confer a title", when these universities are not adding to any research value / quality output but only fulfilling the demand. IIT's, IIM's, IISc & regional universities have been there since ages and their decisions in conferring any title is subject to a lot of scrutiny being public institutions, but who will regulate the private owned & operated universities.
Even if these universities want to recognize talent, why dont they give titles to Sachin Tendulkar for his illustrious career, Dhoni for his achievement in T-20 cricket, Dhanraj Pillai for excellence in Hockey etc.
If this trend continues, we will surely see a day when titles are distributed like ration cards!!!
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Reservation & the gen comments
Sometimes, you get wild because something which you had not anticipated, or the unthinkable just happens and you just cannot do anything about it. All efforts to eradicate the "reservation for lower caste" menace went in vain and so did all the effort along with it. The most interesting part of the reservation theory which I read just a day back was that if this "thing" is implemented, a gen person with zero marks in chemistry can make it into the IIT. While students are obviously not in favour of such a 'stupid' decision, even the teaching community seem to have a common agreement. The argument is that even if the cutoff is lowered, the 'stupid' people will fill up the seats and leave the Prof in a dilemma as to "how to pass them". The whole standard of education will suffer and instead of an Indian institute of technology, the insti will have to be rechristened as "Backward Indian Institute of technology". (BIIT)
A good idea then struck to me, instead of having reservations in premier institutes, why can't these lower caste people be given a separate insti with all facilities in it like any other IIT. Even the Prof's can be of their caste itself (instead of having a whopping 49.5% of reservation of Profs from these castes in regular IIT's) and it is a win win situation for all.
A good idea then struck to me, instead of having reservations in premier institutes, why can't these lower caste people be given a separate insti with all facilities in it like any other IIT. Even the Prof's can be of their caste itself (instead of having a whopping 49.5% of reservation of Profs from these castes in regular IIT's) and it is a win win situation for all.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
LAN cut and the mute spectator
What can a common man do when the Government suddenly imposes new rules, taxes, fines etc, he has no choice but to follow. But what if, every common man is united and the mob unanimously protests against something. Do we ever realize how strong we are in a group than alone.
Attempts to be united are often foiled, a simple mass bunk cannot see the light, simply because there is always one coward, one person who wants to show his compliance to the system and pretends to be happy where he is. His political intentions then show up and the rest are penalized except him.
Initially, I thought of such an idea of gathering the masses and protesting that why do “they treat us like dogs”. But realized soon that in India, “nobody cares”. Then the idea of curbing all further rebellious thoughts struck me and the idea ended up as a blog post.
Speaking of blogs, LAN cut in IIT has certainly affected my blogging pattern, a blog is usually created online, but the rules here make me type it on a word file and then copy –paste it. Some observations in this type of blogging are
1. You cant refer to your last blog to see even if you have posted this idea before
2. Creativity is lost in staring at one blank white page for typing on it.
3. You just create a post for the sole purpose of doing the routine thing, just to satisfy yourself that well, “ I keep my blog page alive by blogging atleast every 3-4 days.”
Remember, remember the 12th of August, the Lan cut by the authorities
There should be no reason why the Lan cut should ever be forgot.
Sounds like a known little poem, has a lot of meaning with a central theme “Things die, Humans & Animals die but an “idea never dies”
Attempts to be united are often foiled, a simple mass bunk cannot see the light, simply because there is always one coward, one person who wants to show his compliance to the system and pretends to be happy where he is. His political intentions then show up and the rest are penalized except him.
Initially, I thought of such an idea of gathering the masses and protesting that why do “they treat us like dogs”. But realized soon that in India, “nobody cares”. Then the idea of curbing all further rebellious thoughts struck me and the idea ended up as a blog post.
Speaking of blogs, LAN cut in IIT has certainly affected my blogging pattern, a blog is usually created online, but the rules here make me type it on a word file and then copy –paste it. Some observations in this type of blogging are
1. You cant refer to your last blog to see even if you have posted this idea before
2. Creativity is lost in staring at one blank white page for typing on it.
3. You just create a post for the sole purpose of doing the routine thing, just to satisfy yourself that well, “ I keep my blog page alive by blogging atleast every 3-4 days.”
Remember, remember the 12th of August, the Lan cut by the authorities
There should be no reason why the Lan cut should ever be forgot.
Sounds like a known little poem, has a lot of meaning with a central theme “Things die, Humans & Animals die but an “idea never dies”
Monday, August 18, 2008
T-N(ightmare)agar
If you thought that you know everything about the inflation in India, think again! Well, have you ever visualised what inflation looks like? I literally saw inflation right in front of my eyes.
It all started from the most inauspicious moment I planned to visit the hustling T-Nagar in Chennai on a Sunday evening. The place is famous for all shoppers & window shoppers & etc's who dont want peace of mind. The word 'sunday evening' has its own meaning in this place and its equivalent to "welcome to Hell". I realized this when the bus I boarded stopped miles away from the usual bus terminus. As soon as I got down, I was greeted by hawkers selling fruits and flowers. I carried on with my mind set on the Saravana stores because I had heard a lot about it.
Enter Saravana Store, a six storeyed "everything available under the roof" building, I wondered how to walk inside because I could not see my legs, they just vanished in the crowd! I managed to climb the stairs right next to the entrance to go up from the ground floor. On the voyage, I could see great serpentine queue's and realized that they were waiting for getting the articles billed for purchase. There was a reason for this impeccable behaviour, Jeans which cost a lot to the common man were available starting from Rs 99 and all the 99 buck jeans got sold out within moments. So people went on to buy the higher range jeans and so on. As time passed by, the number of goods started decreasing and the length of the queue started increasing. After analysing the situating and visualising the term "inflation", I felt it was wise of me to just come out and scamper back home without even a miniscule thought of buying anything or roaming anywhere in the area.
To add to my woes, getting back to the bus stop this time would be a nightmare and the train had almost a 1 mile queue for obtaining tickets, apart from the rush in the local train of chennai city. So, I did the most intelligent thing of walking through small bylanes to reach the next bus stop instead of the terminus. In the process, I ended up with my legs aching all night, but hey, atleast I could see my legs!!
It all started from the most inauspicious moment I planned to visit the hustling T-Nagar in Chennai on a Sunday evening. The place is famous for all shoppers & window shoppers & etc's who dont want peace of mind. The word 'sunday evening' has its own meaning in this place and its equivalent to "welcome to Hell". I realized this when the bus I boarded stopped miles away from the usual bus terminus. As soon as I got down, I was greeted by hawkers selling fruits and flowers. I carried on with my mind set on the Saravana stores because I had heard a lot about it.
Enter Saravana Store, a six storeyed "everything available under the roof" building, I wondered how to walk inside because I could not see my legs, they just vanished in the crowd! I managed to climb the stairs right next to the entrance to go up from the ground floor. On the voyage, I could see great serpentine queue's and realized that they were waiting for getting the articles billed for purchase. There was a reason for this impeccable behaviour, Jeans which cost a lot to the common man were available starting from Rs 99 and all the 99 buck jeans got sold out within moments. So people went on to buy the higher range jeans and so on. As time passed by, the number of goods started decreasing and the length of the queue started increasing. After analysing the situating and visualising the term "inflation", I felt it was wise of me to just come out and scamper back home without even a miniscule thought of buying anything or roaming anywhere in the area.
To add to my woes, getting back to the bus stop this time would be a nightmare and the train had almost a 1 mile queue for obtaining tickets, apart from the rush in the local train of chennai city. So, I did the most intelligent thing of walking through small bylanes to reach the next bus stop instead of the terminus. In the process, I ended up with my legs aching all night, but hey, atleast I could see my legs!!
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