What Ivy wants, Ivy gets

wow!

2011-11-14T07:46:00.000+05:30

Work from home and live the life you've always dreamed of! http://www.buffalo.edu/ubreporter/mail/B54BMW

Key to a Happy Marriage: Love with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind

2010-01-03T23:25:00.000+05:30

"Dear God, thank you so much for bringing us together as a couple. We know that you have a plan and a purpose for our marriage, and we invite you to forgive the past self-centeredness, come into our lives and relationship and direct our steps from now on. Please give us the grace to put you and each other first every day. Make our relationship a blessing to others. But most of all; make it a blessing to you. Amen."

Bad Analysis: 10 reasons people make stupid decisions

2009-12-21T13:29:00.001+05:30

Have you ever wondered why most of the people you know (and probably your elected representatives) insist on making dumb decisions when they are so clearly wrong? Below are ten reasons that they act like idiots without even knowing it. And as they say in poker, if you can't spot the sucker at the table, then it's probably you...

10. We’ve come this far… (sunk cost bias) - We all know that the past is past and we can’t get back money or time that we already spent. But many people irrationally take sunk costs, time, money, or other resources which have already been spent and can't be recovered, into their decision making. Barry Schwartz from Swarthmore College, author of The Paradox of Choice, in an LA Times op-ed piece highlights examples of sunk costs used in decision making, such as how much you spent to get your car fixed last time, how long you have been dating someone, how much you invested in a stock, or how many troops have been lost in Iraq so far.

9. Me me me! (egocentric bias) - Putting yourself in another person’s shoes is harder than it sounds for most people. Consider the example from an op-ed piece in the NY Times by Daniel Gilbert from Harvard, author of Stumbling on Happiness. In a study conducted by Sukhwinder Shergill and colleagues at University College London, pairs of volunteers were connected to a device that allowed each of them to exert pressure on the other volunteer’s fingers. The researcher began by exerting a fixed amount of pressure on the first volunteer’s finger. The first volunteer was then asked to exert the same amount of pressure on the second volunteer’s finger. The second volunteer was then asked to exert the same amount of pressure on the first volunteer’s finger, and so on. Although volunteers tried to respond with equal force, they typically responded with about 40 percent more force than they had just experienced. Each time a volunteer was touched, he touched back harder, which led the other volunteer to touch back even harder. Is this why parties in a conflict invariably think they are both "right"?

8. That just proves my point. (confirmation bias) - Isn't it a coincidence that no matter what happens in the world, politicians can spin it to show why that confirms their opinions? A cynical explanation is that politicians twist the truth to get what they want. But a more subtle explanation is that our brains tend to search for and interpret information in ways that support our pre-exisiting opinions. As explained in a Scientific American article by Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic, a study before the 2004 presidential election had 30 participants view statements by Kerry and Bush in which both men clearly contradicted themselves. The 15 of the participants who were strong Republicans were critical of Kerry but let Bush off the hook, and vice-versa. In addition, neuroimaging results showed that the part of the brain most associated with reasoning, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, was inactive. Most active were the orbital frontal cortex (processing of emotions), the anterior cingulate (conflict resolution), the posterior cingulate (making judgments about moral accountability), and the ventral striatum (reward and pleasure).

7. That’s easy. (overconfidence) - According to a famous survey of drivers conducted by Ole Svenson in 1981, 80% of respondents rated themselves in the top 30% of all drivers. And anyone who doesn't see that as a strange finding probably rated themselves in the top 30% in math also. While overconfidence is definitely a good thing in many situations, it probably means people don't work on their weaknesses as much as they should. Do overconfident drivers practice safe driving given their lack of abilities? Do overconfident doctors, discussed in this HealthDay article, get the proper training? Do overconfident public officials realize when they are making bad foreign policy decisions?

6. I’m #1! I’m #1! (dysfunctional competition) - Have mixed feelings when you find out your co-workers get a promotion that you weren't even interested in? You're not alone. People's happiness is often a function of what they have relative to others. Your co-workers might be just as happy with you getting a pay cut as they would with getting a raise themselves. In a Q&A with Max Bazerman from Harvard, "When I ask people whether they would prefer a) $7 for themselves and for another person or b) $8 for themselves and $10 for the other person, people choose "b." However, when people are simply given "a" or "b," "a" makes them happier."

5. Mine mine mine! (endowment effect) - Why is it so hard for people to throw, give away or sell things that are past their prime? One theory is that people tend to place a higher value on objects they own relative to objects they do not. As explained on behaviouralfinance.net, an experiment by Kahneman, Knetsch and Thaler found that randomly assigned owners of a mug needed to be paid around $7 for it, while randomly assigned buyers were only willing to pay around $3. So it's likely that your neighbor values things they already have more than they would if they didn't already own them. If you have ever tried executing a trade in fantasy football right after the draft, you understand this irrationality well.

4. Watch out for sharks. (availability bias) - People are suckers for recent and memorable events. So much so, that they think these types of events are more likely to happen than they actually are. An article in Wired Magazine by Ryan Singel ranked the odds of someone dying over the past 10 years from various causes, from terrorism to a hernia to accidental poisoning. Despite the focus that terrorism has gotten in the past several years, the risk of dying from terrorism is very low compared to much more mundane ways to die such as driving off the road (80 times more likely to kill you) or even a hernia (5 times more likely to kill you). A Motley Fool article even explains how misleading vividness can cause major errors in investing (all my friends have a Treo .... I should invest in Palm!). How much of a problem is this? Well, if the world has limited resources to invest, where do you think people are going to want to spend it? Stopping the slow and steady march of global warming that won't affect any of us during our lifetimes? Or more graphic threats like terrorism?

3. If everybody else think so… (conformity) - People make decisions based on what they think and not what everyone else thinks, right? Well, a famous experiment by Solomon Asch, explained on Answers.com, had one participant and several experimenters in disguise were asked to announce their judgement about the length of several lines (such as which line was longer then the other, etc.) The experimenters in disguise were instructed to give incorrect answers to these easy questions. Surprisingly, a third of respondents gave wrong answers because of the pressure of their peers. Are these types of pressures enough to get people to do things that they know are wrong (shoplifting, accounting fraud, genocide...)?

2. Lets go hard 8! (illusion of control) - We all know that there’s no difference between my chances in craps if I have the dice or someone else at the table does, right? As explained in Wikipedia, Ellen Langer from Harvard famously showed that people rolling the dice in craps threw harder on average when going for high numbers and softer when going for low numbers. And they tended to bet more when they were rolling relative to others. This may be one reason that people know gambling doesn't pay on average, yet gladly gamble their own money. It should also cause you to question the confidence of your co-workers who know they will hit an aggressive deadline even though there are many factors out of their control.

1. He's just a moron. (attribution error) - Is the driver that cut you off a jerk? Or is he a good guy who didn't see you because he's distracted by something else going on in his life. Judging by the finger that you chose to hold up, you think he's a jerk. That's about par for the course, as most people tend to over-emphasize personality-based explanations for the actions of others. A NewYorker article by James Surowiecki discusses a classic experiement where "subjects shown a person shooting a basketball in a gym with poor lighting and another person shooting a basketball in a gym with excellent lighting assume that the second person hit more shots because he was a better player." So maybe it's better to withhold judgement about a person until you've actually talked to them. Even if they did cut in front of you in line at McDonalds.

Real friends!

2009-12-21T13:21:00.001+05:30

Jay Leno quotes:

“Go through your phone book, call people and ask them to drive you to the airport. The ones who will drive you are your true friends. The rest aren't bad people; they're just acquaintances.”

“Fate is not satisfied with inflicting one calamity.”

2009-12-07T13:38:00.001+05:30

Learning to fight back...

2009-12-03T13:22:00.003+05:30

"You are the creator of your destiny, not the victim!" With your right actions, you have to challenge the destiny; never give it the walkover. Challenging the destiny is no ordinary job. It will give you a very tough fight. It would create frustrating situations. Yet, the satisfaction of fight may lead you and make you understand new dimensions of life and living.

Be great in fight, be glorious in defeat! For, forecasting is a virtue to give you the light to live your life with wisdom. Seek help but do not depend on it blindly.

ResumINg bloggINg

2009-12-03T13:19:00.003+05:30

From today onwards, I am resuming writing on my blog. For long I have been postponing this moment to express my views on the strange things happening around me and my thoughts :)

My Heart's In The City

2009-06-27T02:43:00.008+05:30

Farewell to the mountains, farewell to the clouds;
Farewell I give to the shadows that enshrouds;
Farewell to my friends, farewell to those trends;
Farewell to the companionship that I cherish no ends.

Farewell to Clovers, farewell to Majestic;
The end days of Estate that were so fantastic;
Wherever I would wander, wherever I would rove;
This country of mystique, forever I would love.

Birthday bashes and drunken revelries;
Jokes cracked like wild-strawberries;
People aghast on the cakes I smashed;
Not to underscore the pain that I hashed.

Trails that were tracked, mails that were hacked;
Organs that were hit, efforts that weren't fit;
Late nights that became lovely mornings,
Early mornings that became heart-burnings.

Days came and days went by;
Happiness came but some said goodbye;
More boring movies were seen than were let bye;
Hence is the irony, of the days that slid by.

Aspiring hope, conspiring destiny;
Following desires, longing from years so many;
Chasing the doe, resulting in woe;
The time has come when I have to go.

Thank you my friends, for all the stimulants;
Save The End, by keeping phone in hand;
I expect your real hey, since its just airway;
Meet me some day is what I would say.

Because after all...

I am just shifting city, not from being witty!!

The Long Awaited Day has finally Arrived

2008-08-03T00:09:00.014+05:30

Hey everyone, I have finally disjointed my professional blog from this blog which has random pieces of writing. I am keeping my new blog anonymous (not linked to my name for privacy concerns). If you know me enough, you will eventually come to know about the new blog address by yourself pretty soon. Thank you for demonstrating your continuous patronage.

Here is the clue:

Kung Fu style Career Advice

2008-07-30T22:43:00.002+05:30

If a giant panda can become a mighty kung-fu warrior - so could you. Not kung-fu, but whatever. Ballet dancer, arctic explorer or investment banker.

I can already hear you say,"Hey, that happens only in the movies."

Well, yes and no. Here are some definite takeaways from Kung fu Panda, for all those of you struggling with questions of what, where and how to steer your career.

Lesson # 1: If you want something badly enough, you get it somehow.

Po the panda wanted to be a kung-fu warrior really really badly. He followed every kung fu teacher, every battle, every hero there ever was. The chap was a walking Kung Fu Encyclopedia!

And of course, he dreamt about kung fu too.

Ask yourself - do you care something in your life that strongly? If you do - it will be yours one day.

Lesson # 2: It could take a while but you'll get there.

So if you believe Lesson # 1 the question is 'how'? Now sometimes you may get there the straight and easy way. The way to be a kung fu warrior is to train under a great Master, right?

Well, Po got the job another way. He bumbled and tumbled up the mountain and finally literally 'dropped in from the sky'. Master Oogway then pronounced:"He is the one, the great Dragon Warrior". To everybody's surprise!

In real life there aren't enough Oogways who can see a diamond in the coal; a kung fu champion in a blubbering mass of fat.

But how many of you have struggled like the panda to even get to that mountain top where there may be a Master waiting for you?

Lesson # 3: 'A peach tree will blossom into a peach tree. It can't become an apple tree...' - Master Oogway

Why many of us come to grief is we don't know 'who we are'. Are we a peach tree, or a jasmine tree or a cactus? Every one of those is beautiful and useful in its own way. No one is 'superior' to the other.

Yet in life many of us believe that we must all be peach trees. ie MBAs and engineers. The aroma of the jasmine is lost to the world and all we have is peach, peach and more peach (fruity burp!).

Lesson # 4: 'There are no accidents in life...' - Master Shifu

Yup, the fact that you did not make it to IIT or IIM or with that cute chick on the second floor. This was the way it was meant to be.

Think about Steve Jobs being forced to exit his own company in 1985. He went through hell but was forced to think of new ideas, new directions. It led to the creation of Pixar and a whole new kind of animation.

And ultimately, he went back to Apple with iTunes and iPod.

Could he have done all this had he never left Apple? I don't know. But I think greatness is born more out of adversity than in nice hot bathtubs.

Woh Archimedes wala funda bhi theek hai but you can't run naked in the streets anymore. By the time you dress up and get out into the world, you find josh chala gaya.

Lesson # 5: There is no secret ingredient in the secret ingredient soup.

And this is especially relevant at a time when we are all on the quest for the Holy Grail. We believe that joining the right college, the right course or the right company is the secret ingredient which will spice up our soup - our careers, our lives.

The truth is, it's all about what you believe. The moment you join an IIT or an IIM you start believing,"Hey I am really really good". You get the confidence to take on the world, the chutzpah to say,"The world is my oyster".

Clearing these super tough exams is like running a lawnmower through your own mental garden. It crushes the weeds of self doubt and self pity which we've allowed to grow.

Exam or no exam, you can choose to yank out those weeds. Then look the guys who think they know better in the eye and declare,"My soup is as kick-ass as yours."

Lastly, words of wisdom from Master Oogway which apply not just to careers, but any and every walk of life: 'Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery... today is a gift'.

Have you at least undone the wrapping paper of this brand new, beautiful moment? Right here, right now, today??

P.G. Wodehouse: Jeeves in the Offing - Goofiness in the Opposite Sex

2008-07-26T15:27:00.001+05:30

In Chapter 3, while Bertie Wooster is hunting for Bobbie Wickham at her aunt Dahlia Traver's house:

"One learns, as one goes through life, to spot goofiness in the other sex with an unerring eye, and this exhibit had a sort of mild, Soul's Awakening kind of expression which made it abundantly clear that, while not a super-goof like some of the female goofs I'd met, she was quite goofy enough to be going on with."

THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER CHOICE

2008-07-26T12:32:00.004+05:30

You don't have to buy from anyone.
You don't have to work at any particular job.
You don't have to participate in any given relationship.
You can choose.

You alone steer the course you choose
in the direction of where you want to be today,
tomorrow or in any distant time to come.
You hold the tiller.

You can decide to alter the course of your life at any time.
No one can ever take that away from you.
You can decide what you want and go after it.
It's always your next move.

Beyond the Work-Life Balance: Living through the Success Elements™

2008-07-12T02:02:00.003+05:30

Much has been written about finding a harmonious balance between work and life, and this article does not intend to discredit any of it. It is essential to strike a balance between the professional and personal. True success is multidimensional, and if you focus exclusively on work your personal life suffers, and vice versa. Limiting your perspective of success to the two dimensions of work and personal life can lead to a lack of balance within both professional and personal success. To separate life and work into disparate entities misses the point of true success.

The Success Elements™

There are elements of success that are the building blocks of professional and personal life. The Success Elements™ principle is founded on the four elements of Health, Wealth, Wisdom, and Relationships. By achieving balance in all of the Success Elements™, you can be assured that your success will transcend both your work life and personal life.

Applying the Success Elements™

The application of the Success Elements™ in your personal life is easy to see. If you focus on Wealth too heavily, your family life will suffer. If you neglect your Health, all other areas of life will suffer. Even focusing on Relationships too much—which on the surface seems laudable—can disrupt everything else.

So now that we have established that the Success Elements™ are applicable to your personal life, what about business?

Health

Good Health benefits more than your personal life. In business, success in Health will lead to fewer sick days, less burnout, increased focus, greater profitability, and more energy. Health can also lead to a longer and more fruitful career.

Wealth

This has the most obvious application in professional life and needs little explanation. As long as you realize that exclusive focus on any one Success Element™ can be disastrous, pursuing Wealth is good. Pursuing Wealth, though, does not imply that money is everything. Wealth is about complementing the pursuit of excellence in the other Success Elements™.

Wisdom

The Wisdom element can have tremendous impact on your business life. The modern economy rewards innovation and flexibility, and Wisdom is about the continuous pursuit of knowledge and insight. You should seek to constantly expand the horizon of your skill sets, as this will assist you in reaching your professional dreams.

Relationships

At first glance, many think that Relationships only applies to friends and family. But Relationships also applies to your supervisor, subordinates, colleagues, mentors, customers, and community. It is essential for business success to develop strong relationships with everyone in your professional circle. Seek to add value to everyone in your network.

And by all means, do not forget to build a network!

The unique aspect of the Success Elements™ is that they transcend the individual and can be applied corporately. A company cannot afford to neglect any of the Success Elements™. Each element has a place in the business world, and balance among the Success Elements™ is just as essential for companies as it is for individuals.

So ask yourself, is there balance in your life—in all areas of your life?

Triumph Over The Manager From Hell

2008-07-12T00:21:00.003+05:30

Whether your manager is unreasonably demanding or they are apparently incompetent or they have no people skills, it can feel like you’re working with the manager from hell! As tough as it sounds, your task is to focus on getting your job done…period.

The important concept to remember is that you have total responsibility and authority for your response in the situation. Once you fully understand your power to choose, you can be clear and comfortable making the best decision for your work environment.

Here are a few other things to remember:

No one can make you look incompetent or foolish or feel bad without your permission.

You allow yourself to look incompetent or foolish or to feel bad. One of my “from hell” managers would burst into shouting and flailing his arms. Once he finished throwing his tantrum (and without responding to his outburst), I would calmly recommend the next course of action to
move the situation to resolution. Just because he was out of control didn’t mean I have to be.

You’re not the only one who understands you’re working with the manager from hell.

I discovered that everyone recognized the same not-so-wonderful incompetence in that manager that I did. More importantly, I was able to observe their interactions to determine what worked well and what did not. It doesn’t mean I gossiped about the situation or the manager with my co-workers. Instead, I listened and learned from their encounters.

The behavior of the manager from hell is not a reflection of your professionalism.

In the case of the tantrum-throwing manager, he was the one who appeared foolish and incompetent – not me. Your challenge is to perform despite their lack of professionalism. You have a true opening to practice your skill as a communicator, facilitator, problem-solver and leader. Yours in an excellent opportunity to showcase your composure, competence and capability.

Your behavior IS a reflection of your professionalism.

In fact, you have a responsibility to set an example of genuine professionalism. Seek out the support you need to prevent the situation from festering inside of you. Exercise, take time out for yourself and enjoy your life away from the job. In this way, you’re balancing the scales and preparing yourself at every turn for the difficulty of facing this manager day in and day out.

The bottom line is that everyone isn’t cut out to be a manager. Unfortunately, you cannot always choose your manager or your work environment. However, you can begin to triumph over the manager from hell…it IS possible when you recognize and embrace your power to make it happen!

Cause and effect.

2008-07-10T17:36:00.001+05:30

One of the most refreshing laws nature has to offer.

Why?

Because if you want a certain effect, just look for the cause(s) and implement accordingly.

Cause and effect.

It strips everything down and makes the big picture a whole lot clearer.

Things We Can Learn from the Italian Stallion - Part III

2008-07-10T01:59:00.002+05:30

At the end of Rocky II Rocky wins the title of heavyweight champion. He is now very wealthy and defends his title 10 times. In the beginning of Rocky III a real contender wants a piece of Rocky Balboa. His name…Clubber Lang.

Stay Hungry

Rocky has been living the good life for some years now beating up on has-beens and raking in the cash. When Clubber Lang comes along Rocky is not ready. While Clubber was training to win, Rocky had his training sessions at a hotel taking pictures with fans, selling merchandise. Doing everything, but training. Rocky was not hungry. He was the champ, what can stop him. Well, Clubber Lang stopped him. Rocky was not prepared and lost badly.

As consultants we always need to be prepared. Every initiative we work on is different. Just because we may have broad experience and a history of success we need to stay hungry. Think of your next project as Clubber Lang. Always remember to be prepared and have the eye of the tiger!

Don't be afraid of Change

After Rocky's loss to Clubber Lang, the great manager, Mickey Goldmill, died of a heart attack. In a bizarre turn of events Rocky went to train with his old rival Apollo Creed to take another stab at Clubber. In the first bought Apollo noticed how slow Rocky was and that he needed some quickness to avoid the thundering blows from Clubber. Apollo had Rocky focus on techniques that helped him move his feet. Initially Rocky was clumsy and struggling through these techniques. He was obviously frustrated. To try and motivate Rocky, Apollo tells him "it takes a real man to change." That was one piece that helped Rocky excel to another level and eventually defeat Clubber Lang.

My new saying now is "It takes a real man to change." I have said before we have to continuously learn and adapt to tackle the next project or situation. Yes it will be frustrating at times, but the rewards are huge. Don't be afraid to makes mistakes. Those are the best learning opportunities. And don't just talk with people that approach things like you do. Find people who have a different style or take an alternative approach to situations.

Things We Can Learn from the Italian Stallion - Part II

2008-07-10T01:54:00.001+05:30

In case you are not as familiar with the Rocky movies as I am, here is a little recap of what happens at the end of Rocky. Rocky goes 15 rounds with Apollo Creed. Rocky's right eye is badly damaged and the peripheral vision in that eye is all but gone. At the end of the fight both Rocky and Apollo say there will not be a rematch.

Now on to Rocky II where we learn some important lessons about checking our egos at the door and never saying never.

Ego

Since Apollo was supposed to finish off Rocky in 3 rounds in their first fight, Apollo was getting abused in the media and receiving a ton of hate mail. Basically calling him a joke, washed up, etc. Apollo then started calling for a rematch with Rocky. Even though his trainers, managers, and family all thought it was a bad idea he kept pressing for a rematch. He wanted this rematch because of his ego not because it was the right thing to do.

Sometimes we need to leave our egos at the "door" when working on projects. The project is not about us. Our goal is to do what is right for the project. If your mindset is focused on the project needs, the project will be a success and you will get recognition. Remember, it is not what the project can do for you, but what you can do for the project!

"There ain't no Can'ts"

A great line from the great manager Mickey Goldmill. Apollo pushed and pushed until Rocky and Mick finally agreed to the rematch. The problem was that Rocky's eye was so bad that he could not fight as Southpaw. Since his peripheral vision was so poor he would never see punches coming from Apollo until they were right on his face. So Mick was pushing Rocky to become a right-handed fighter. After a number of times with Rocky saying "I can't do it Mick", Mick yells back "there ain't no can'ts."

Every situation we encounter in life is slightly different. The project characteristics are different, the people we work with are different. We can not use the same techniques on every project we are on. Always try to learn new techniques and skills and never say "I can't do it Mick."

Things We Can Learn from the Italian Stallion - Part I

2008-07-08T12:15:00.005+05:30

Things We Can Learn from the Italian Stallion - Part I

OK, I'm coming clean. My all time favorite movie is Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky II, Rocky IV, Rocky V, and Rocky Balboa. Every now and then I watch one of the movies and never get tired of the scenes of Rocky training or battling the next opponent in the ring. But, there is more to the Rocky movies than just boxing. There are lessons we can all learn from Rocky Balboa. I decided to dedicate the next set of blog posts to the greatest boxer to ever live!

Go ahead and launch the Rocky Theme Song while you read!

Mentorship

As part of our personal and career development we should all find mentors and be a mentor for someone else. There are many benfits to being a mentor including working on your listening and leadership skills. Being a mentee will allow you to learn valuable lessons from someone who has priceless experience and has been where you have at this point in your career.

Throughout the Rocky movie the concept of mentorship kept popping out to me. There is a scene where Little Marie is hanging out with some older boys on the street corner and Rocky pulls her away and walks her home. During the walk home he is trying to give her advice about life and how the people she associates herself with will influence who she is as she grows up. As Little Marie is walking into her house she turns and says to Rocky. "Screw you creepo!" As Rocky walks away he mumbles, "Yeah, who am I to give advice." Don't think you can't be a mentor. You have expereinces that can help others. Little marie ends up thanking him later.

Later in the movie after Rocky decides to fight Apollo Creed he does not accept help from anyone to help train and prepare for the fight. Finally he comes around and gets Mickey to be his trainer and even gets Paulie involved. In the end he is prepared for battle. We all need mentors, we can all learn from others that have experienced things we have not. Do not be ashamed to use a mentor. You do not have to do this alone.

Also, check out this site for mentoring tips. http://www.mentoringgroup.com/

Celebrating the 2-year journey of hope, pain & fun

2008-07-06T21:38:00.003+05:30

Hello Party Ppl,

Kitni shiddat se humne life mein peace maarne ki kosish ki hai .. per har manager ne hamare khilaaf saajish ki hai......
Kehte hain kisi deliverable ko agar dil se QC karo to saari kayanath usme error daalne ki koshish me lag jaati hai....

Aaj aapki wajah se main yahan 2 saal poore kar paya... Thank you very much.. and I feel like I am the king of the world.....
Aaj mujhe yakin hogaya dosto, ki hamari zindagi bhi hamare hindi filmon ke jaisi hi hai... jaha pe end mein sab kuch theek ho jaata hai.. "Happies Endings".. Lekin agar End mein sab kuch theek na ho to woh the end nahi hain dosto.. Picture abhi baaki hai....mere dost !!

Let's celebrate this with a gathering tonight.

Kiwa lounge @ Koregaon Park. from 7:30 onwards.

Innovation Workouts - Rekindle the Grey Matter

2008-07-05T22:24:00.000+05:30

We all appreciate and applaud Sachin Tendulkar’s brilliance and his records in all the forms of cricket. But we are unable to appreciate the hard work he has put in over the years in the nets. In the nets no runs are scored, but the net practice helps him score tons on the real battle field.

Similarly companies must allow its employees to have innovation workouts challenging them with an opportunity or a problem. Such workout may or may not yield immediate result but what it can definitely do is to help build the self confidence in the Ideation process. Such ideation can be done by individual employees in their own space and time. The result can be shared afterwards in a group workout. This will ensure that everyone gets a chance to think & present his own idea resulting into bountiful ideas.

Companies no more compete on products and services but on the grey matter sealed in their employees head and their inner voice to innovate.

My blog - splitting soon!

2008-07-05T20:20:00.003+05:30

I think I have been blogging very haphazardly for quite a time. Though in past my friends and other visitors have given comments, both, online as well as offline, expressing their appreciation of the content of my blog, I feel the urge to get more focused on the choice of the topics of my blog postings.

Hence, I have decided very soon I am going to separate my blog articles to differentiate personal/general postings from other creative postings. In this regard, I would like to receive some thoughts from the visitors. Please feel free to drop your comments!

Don't worry, be happy!

2008-07-05T11:11:00.002+05:30

Career lessons from Bunty Aur Babli

2008-07-04T01:01:00.001+05:30

"apki naukri mein na izzat hai, na mazaa hai aur na matlab" (Your job has neither respect nor fun nor meaning)," declares the new tall, angry young man. (Dialogue from BUNTY AUR BABLI)

Whatever its storytelling flaws, this is one sentiment the scriptwriter has identified perfectly.

Izzat (Respectability) x Mazaa (Fun) x Matlab (Meaning) = Career Satisfaction. Apply it to just about any industry or profession. And it works!

All mazaa, no izzat:

Take BPOs, which are worried about employee attrition. These companies provide young graduates with the best of everything -- money, work environment, career growth. Even fun, in the form of special allowances, movies and parties.

The mazaa angle is, thus, well taken care of. But what about izzat?

'I work at a call centre., that statement will not really impress your girlfriend's father.

At the end of the day, the job essentially lacks matlab. You work for one company but answer calls for another. There is no shared vision or mission beyond answering the next call. What you do never really seems to make a 'difference'. In the Izzat x Mazaa x Matlab equation, there is only one variable the young person can control. And hence s/he hops from job to job in search of more mazaa (money).

Izzat and mazaa, but no matlab?:

On the other hand, IT, which mainly employs young engineers, has a better chance of retaining its employees. Not only do they provide decent starting salaries/ fabulous campuses, there is the additional mazaa angle of being sent abroad to work within a couple of years of joining.

Plus, saying you work for Infosys, Wipro or Cognizant Technologies receives a respectful nod from peers and parents.

The reason many still quit IT is the matlab angle. Those who equate coding work with being a cybercoolie often choose to go abroad for further studies or try an MBA.

Not that life after the MBA may offer any more in terms of matlab, but having the IIM or Bajaj tag adds to izzat value. And if you are lucky enough to be placed on Day 0 or Day 1, the mazaa factor is multiplied as well.

The quest for matlab:

The relative importance of these three factors -- izzat, mazaa and matlab -- varies from person to person.

Matlab, in fact, is the most personal variable. Some of us can happily buy into the mission statements of the companies we work for. We can find personal meaning by reaching our goals and targets as well as be a tough but fair boss/ employee/ coworker and a loyal and loving spouse/ parent/ friend.

But to others, 'meaning' comes from doing what you are passionate about, something you really care for. This definition of matlab is often swept under the carpet at an early age when we follow the herd towards the engineering/ medicine/ MBA degrees we never really wanted (but were assured was the only way to go).

If you are a young doctor, often, it is only the matlab factor that keeps you going. Given the salaries and working conditions at public hospitals, the mazaa factor is extremely low. And given the commercialism that has crept into the profession, izzat -- although still high -- is on the decline.

On the other hand, professions like modeling and acting which, a couple of decades ago, commanded no izzat, are now seen with awe. The only problem is, there is an additional variable in the equation: risk.

This risk varies from 0 (absolute flop) to 1 (making it big).

Izzat x Matlab x Mazaa divided by Risk could mean you become a Priyanka Chopra or one of the millions of aspirants who never makes it beyond the casting couch.

The same applies to other creative and thode glamorous professions, like copywriting, filmmaking, dance, music and art. But if you really have the talent and belief in yourself, the risk is worth taking.

The trick, really, is figuring out your own personal equation; instead of living by what you saw scrawled on the Blackboard of Life by people before you.

Because two equations could be completely different, yet add up to that mythical '42'.

The answer to life, the universe and everything that makes you truly happy.

T.e.M.p.t.A.t.I.o.N.s.!!!

2008-07-03T09:35:00.001+05:30

There was an old marketing campaign for a famous chips company that
went something like this:

"Betcha can't eat just one."

A lot of people could easily identify with that slogan because once
that first chip goes in your mouth, it's very hard to resist all the others
that follow it.

When it comes to temptations, it's better in the long run to exercise
self control to suppress that first desire, than to lose yourself in
satisfying all the rest that follow it.

Benefits of Failure & Importance of Imagination

2008-07-01T02:06:00.004+05:30

The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination

Highlights:

- Achievable goals: the first step towards personal improvement.

- "Half my lifetime ago, I was striking an uneasy balance between the ambition I had for myself, and what those closest to me expected of me."

- Poverty entails fear, and stress, and sometimes depression; it means a thousand petty humiliations and hardships. Climbing out of poverty by your own efforts, that is indeed something on which to pride yourself, but poverty itself is romanticised only by fools.

- What I feared most for myself at your age was not poverty, but failure.

- "Talent and intelligence never yet inoculated anyone against the caprice of the Fates, and I do not for a moment suppose that everyone here has enjoyed an existence of unruffled privilege and contentment."

"...failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive..."

- You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default

- The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. You will never truly know yourself, or the strength of your relationships, until both have been tested by adversity. Such knowledge is a true gift, for all that it is painfully won, and it has been worth more to me than any qualification I ever earned.

- Life is difficult, and complicated, and beyond anyone's total control, and the humility to know that will enable you to survive its vicissitudes.

- In its arguably most transformative and revelatory capacity, it (Imagination) is the power that enables us to empathise with humans whose experiences we have never shared.

- We do not need magic to change the world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.

Creating change - Change techniques

2008-06-30T00:55:00.003+05:30

These are techniques for creating change in any organization. Here is an alphabetic list of some of the methods you can use.

Boiling the frog: Incremental changes may well not be noticed.
Burning bridges: Ensure there is no way back.
Burning platform: Expose or create a crisis to get things going.
Challenge: Inspire them to achieve remarkable things.
Coaching: Psychological support for executives.
Command: Tell them what to do.
Destabilizing: Shake people of their
comfort zone.
Evidence for change: Cold, hard data to show
need for change.
Evidence stream: Show them time and
again that the change is happening.
Education: Learn them to change.
Facilitation: Use a facilitator to guide
team meetings.
First steps: Make it easy to get going.
Golden handcuffs: Keep key people with
delayed rewards.
Institutionalization: Building
change into the formal systems and structures.
Involvement: Give them an important role.
Management by Objectives (MBO): Tell people what to do, but not how.
Management causality mapping: Helping a team see its own role.
Open Space: People talking about what interests them.
Rationalization trap: Get them into action first.
Re-education: Train the people you have in new knowledge/skills.
Restructuring: Redesign the organization to force behavior change.
Reward alignment: Align rewards with desired behaviors.
Rites of passage: Use formal rituals to confirm change.
Setting goals: Give them a formal objective.
Shift-and-sync: Change a bit then pause to restabilize.
Socializing: Build it into the social fabric.
Spill-and-fill: Incremental movement to a new organization.
Stepwise change: Breaking things down into smaller packages.
Visioning: Create a motivating view of the future.
Whole-system Planning: Everyone planning together.

These are also available, sorted by Lewin's freeze phases, as:

Unfreezing techniques to get them going.
Transitioning techniques to get them to the right place.
Refreezing techniques to keep them there.

Rice Field Art

2008-06-30T00:38:00.002+05:30

Rice field art in the country of the rising sun. Each year these guys
make new images on their field by planting rice in different patterns
making various images. They use different sorts of rice for color. The
result is amazing as you can see. It’s a pity they only last as long as
it’s time to harvest the rice.

6 Benefits From Not Getting Promoted

2008-06-29T19:52:00.007+05:30

Workers who have stayed glued to the same positions and the same salaries for years wonder if that much coveted job promotion will ever come their way. They are punctual, submit time-sheets on time, and get along fine with other workers. So what's the snag? Perhaps they are doing some things the wrong way.

It's so unfortunate that you have to miss that last promotion. I know, it's kinda tough when you've set your hopes high then get turned down.

But there's a silver lining in every cloud, once a door is closed, another one will open. Here's the benefit if you don't get the promotion you always wanted:

1. Improved Anger Management Skills

Being constantly ridiculed by fellow colleagues while laden with the anger towards your boss, you'll be forced to equip yourself with improved anger management technique since you don't want to end up in jail.

2. Enhanced Creative Talent

You'll make up bull5hits to tell everyone outside your office about how you're mistreated, that there's a conspiracy to deny your promotion, on how favoritism cost you dearly. But the fact remains the same: you're not qualified for the promotion and now you're polishing your creative skills.

3. Enriched Knowledge

With this disappointment, you'll finally say "It's time to move on". Which means you'll spend more time reading the newspapers and surfing the net for job openings. Ah, finally, you'll do some reading.

4. Get New Friends

Being turned down breed disappointments, which will gain you new friends- explicit one like therapists and whine-partner, along with implicit one like booze and cigarettes.

5. Better Financial Awareness

People always spend lavishly in anticipation of a raise associated with a promotion. Thanks to credit cards. Now thanks to the plastic, and the failure to get the promotion, you're caught in debts, so burdening that you're actually thinking about being a wise spender.

6. Keeping The Low Profile

Not getting the promotion means you're one step lower under the radar, which will spare you from the increased fame. You'll have more peace of mind, saving yourself from being a potential target of gossips and defamation.

And not getting the accompanying pay raise will also mean you're less attractive to those robbers. It's good because unless you're me, you won't get richer every time you're robbed.

Posting Secrets

2008-06-29T19:46:00.005+05:30

Ono! I have teh emo.

2008-06-24T01:28:00.002+05:30

A bit of silliness I got into over the weekend. Gawwwd I should publish it on my Blog !

Pretending to Work

2008-06-24T01:19:00.000+05:30

The art of pretending is tricky indeed.
It takes planning, luck, and lots of speed.
Your boss comes by so you pick up the phone,
You talk to yourself in a professional tone.
A quick click required to change the screen,
So games and emails remain unseen.

If you must nap you do it with style,
With hands on keyboard all the while.
You train yourself to wake when needed
And if nobody notices, you know you’ve succeeded.
But if you’re caught you’ve got excuses to spare
You were on break, or thinking, or adjusting your chair.

Work is boring, that much we can agree
And pretending to work may just set you free.
So pretend to work if you think that you can,
But make sure you’ve got yourself a backup plan.
Always be ready to B.S. your way out,
Because that’s what pretending is all about.

NEXT NATURE: If giraffes lived in the US

2007-12-28T20:15:00.000+05:30

There may even come a moment that our connection with an industrially manufactured coke bottle may be richer and more mythical than our relation with a genetically analyzed and manipulated rabbit in the woods.

Monomania: "To defeat you I must become you"

2007-10-08T16:19:00.000+05:30

"It’s like Star Wars, 'to defeat you I must become you.'"

Quarter-life Crisis Syndrome (QC Syndrome)

2007-09-12T14:05:00.001+05:30

Maybe we all r going through this "Being Twenty-Something"

They call it the "Quarter-life Crisis." It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, but then get scared because you barely know where you are now. You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones. What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere, but that they are as confused as you. You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you. Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't. One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life. You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try and cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward. You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better. Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person. One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic. You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision. You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender! What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it. We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can to figure this whole thing out. Send this to your twenty something friends.... maybe it will help someone feel like they aren't alone in their state of confusion..... GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF US!!!!!
--

1ks81y.

Reference to Mayo Clinic

2007-09-10T15:50:00.001+05:30

Charlie Munger's Address: Deserved Trust

Charlie Munger delivered the 2007 Law School Commencement address at the University of Southern California on May 13th. Munger is a guru in the original sense of the Sanskrit word, a person who conveys wisdom. The transcript of the talk is worth reading very very slowly. The highlights of his speech were as follow (hope you will find it interesting):

He begins the talk with "Safest way to get what you want is to deserve what you want. The highest form a civilization can reach is a seamless web of deserved trust." Not much procedure, just totally reliable people correctly trusting one another. That's the way an operating room works at the Mayo Clinic.

Takeaways from his speech are worth discussing:

Firstly, you get most satisfied not when you get your dreams fulfilled but when you achieve a dream that you deserve. Secondly, when you are working in a team, it is the trust that you have in your team members that keeps you moving and attain success collectively. A car can't run with one tyre flat. All need to work together for the same ultimate aim. Nor can the car be driven if all the tyres are desynchronized. That's makes the Mayo Clinic example a notable example. Can an operation be successful when all the pertinent doctors start doing it their own way? I guess not otherwise that would turn scary to observe them having their own will.

The thing that makes the above example even more interesting is when you apply it to everyday life. When you are working on your academic assignments or client projects in a group, you always have a tendency to strive for limelight. Primarily because you are being judged on your contribution to the accomplishment. But what beats me is the fact that how can you segregate and rate the involvement of a single person in the team when it was a team's success.

Also thinking in ideal sense, I wonder how will be such a company to work with or think of, both in function and delivery of results, where people work with trust in colleagues, in company, in customers and in the work that they do. Wouldn't that turn into a real success story? (...some food for thought). Don't the values and charter of a company work towards that direction and serve the purpose? But how many of us have imbibed that into our minds when we started working in the organisation at whatever level and capacity; may that be your college, internship, job etc.? When was the last time you worked in a team and had full confidence in the other members in all ways, viz. intentions, capabilities etc.?

--
with regards,

1ks81y.

Funny Thing about Human Beings

2007-06-30T15:46:00.001+05:30

Our contradictionaries. We are in such a hurry to grow up, and then we long for our lost childhood. We make ourselves ill earning money, and then spend all our money on getting well again We think so much about the futures that we neglect the present, and thus experience neither the present nor the future. We live as if we were never going to die, and die as if we had never lived.

WAQT NAHI

Har khushi Hai Logon Ke Daman Mein,
Par Ek Hansi Ke Liye Waqt Nahi.
Din Raat Daudti Duniya Mein,
Zindagi Ke Liye Hi Waqt Nahi.

Maa Ki Loree Ka Ehsaas To Hai,
Par Maa Ko Maa Kehne Ka Waqt Nahi.
Saare Rishton Ko To Hum Maar Chuke,
Ab Unhe Dafnane Ka Bhi Waqt Nahi.

Saare Naam Mobile Mein Hain,
Par Dosti Ke Lye Waqt Nahi.
Gairon Ki Kya Baat Karen,
Jab Apno Ke Liye Hi Waqt Nahi.

Aankhon Me Hai Neend Badee,
Par Sone Ka Waqt Nahi.
Dil Hai Ghamon Se Bhara Hua,
Par Rone Ka Bhi Waqt Nahi.

Paison ki Daud Me Aise Daude,
Ki Thakne ka Bhi Waqt Nahi.
Paraye Ehsason Ki Kya Kadr Karein,
Jab Apane Sapno Ke Liye Hi Waqt Nahi.

Tu Hi Bata E Zindagi,
Iss Zindagi Ka Kya Hoga,
Ki Har Pal Marne Walon Ko,
Jeene Ke Liye Bhi Waqt Nahi.......

1ks81y.

Gmail - In Chicago.jpg

2007-03-03T20:35:00.000+05:30

Happy days that I spent at Chicago with my friends...
Gmail - In Chicago.jpg

Last days of college: time to bid Adieu!

2006-05-14T08:25:00.000+05:30

Today when I look back over my past 4 years, my eyes fill with tears; tears for the happy moments I have shared with my friends, tears for the patience with which they all bore with my tantrums, my foibles and idiosyncrasies; for the menace I have been...for the meance they have been to me ;-) Tears for how I fooled the profs., how I have finally come to the verge of completion of my B.Tech.

Today I saw my hostel video again...it was really touching to see it. I don't know whether I am ever going to get such friends again...donno if I am going to get such time for leisure...donno if I will get an opportunity to bunk a class again! ;'-) My first year hostel, present hostel, every building in IIT seems to be calling me to bid adieu!

But the fact remains...everyone had come to IIT with some dreams of getting good jobs, going for higher studies etc. and almost everyone today is satisfied and heading to realize this dream. Still during this path we have come across some unforgettable moments! Don't know if I am ever going to forget 'em.

Being Branch Councillor, I feel so attached to my batch also...for all the work I have done for it. To honestly admit, I have done everywork for it with all sincerity and honesty. I have done many things unofficially which to some outsider might seem to be unfair but has worker its way past obstacles for my friends and all who ever came with some problem. Ranging from getting 'em internship to putting strats for...(can't disclose all in open, come on!) But to sum up, I feel proud for whatever I have done. Today everyone seems to be a family; carefully woven into a fabric! Let me take a flash back at my four years spent on this beautiful campus.Close eyes, go back to those 4 years at IIT and what do you see:

The two elephants at the GC; hostel entrance; security guard; announcements in the PA system; dhobi boy; OAT; ED assignments; schroeter; RBG; tarams; quark; saarang; night outs; dean's office; placement notice board; classes; Gurunath store; patisserie; MSB. The list goes on.

From where do we start first? Let's start with the seemingly unobserving yet highly watchful beings of the campus, the security guards. "23-nayan, Internet call online; 34-jeero, visitor waiting waiting waiting.." They entertained us when they spoke into the hostel PA system, made us angry when they confiscated our vandis and demonstrated their accounting skills when they helped us know about that missed call though the log book.

Next, if there were a board that made us regret about the time that we wasted in the previous semester that would be the academic section notice board. "Macha! The grades are out da.." This is the only place I believe, besides perhaps Sarayu, which was responsible for quickening the pace of our collective heart. Fast forward to next sem and the history repeats.

CLT. From the time we were overjoyed and overly fascinated kids who came here to be counseled, to the time we were wide-eyed freshies learning what lit-soc was all about, to the time we evolved into obliged second-years who went about choosing our Minor Streams rather noisily, into cynical third-years booing on forever at the mandatory industrial lectures, into opportunist fourth-years mugging word lists in the CLT's air-conditioned quietness. In the end, CLT was never about counseling, or lit-soc, or industrial lectures, or even Saarang events. It was about – as you and I know - the air conditioner.

Taramani & Velachery. Oops! Tarams & Vels. The two places where no one would come and ask you to put out that cigarette. The two places which provided the best coffee and tea within easy reach, second only to the coffee machines installed in the hostels. Plus, those eat-outs serving yummy noodles & spicy gobi manchurian combo to the hungry late-night souls. But sadly, you will now find these gates closing at 6:00 PM sharp everyday!

The acads. Is it necessary that we need to talk about them here? Do you still remember that supervisor in fitting workshop who made you file that ugly piece of iron completely only to replace it with a fresh piece asking to start all over again. But thanks to the branch toppers for sharing their notes which, without doubt, had spent most of its time on top of the Xerox machines. Were you the topper in your school? But chances are that you might have cupped in IIT acads in spite of the senate's attempts to make them easy – by reducing the number of quizzes, by reducing the number of credits, by offering summer courses etc etc.

Yet, that was:

A life which is to end
Only when I am no more
A life which transformed me
in a fighter to the core

A season of love and friendship,
For eternity which will last
In my future to follow
I will long to relive this past

a life which is to end only when we are no more,
a life which has transformed us to a fighter to the core.

Memories of this part of journey,
I will carry of life long
Memories of those precious moments
Which made my life a beautiful song.

My eyes go teary
Emotions fill my heart
As my days left here are few
Now its time to bid Adieu!

I am an EXPLOSIVE!

2006-04-20T17:45:00.000+05:30

Can you believe? Ha ha, how will you…I haven’t even told you! But ya one possibility is there:- Since I am so convincing always… you will dare not contradict what I have to say. Crap apart, today it was a horrible day. As the semester is approaching an end everyone seems to be running like bucks being chased by Salman Khan! The pressure on everyone in the lab is on the all time high. Morever the lab assistants seems to be enjoying there time by taking hols when they are indispensable.

It was really so painful in the morning when I wasn’t able to get a wire to connect to my set-up, leave aside insulation tape which, I believe, has become a rare specie. Whatever! Today when prof. told me to show him oil and fuel pumps working on oil and fuel respectively synchronized by FPGA control, it didn’t take me more than 5 mins. To realize that I have been asked a stupendous task! Oh gosh! You won’t believe…I had to go all the way out to buy engine oil and petrol. There wasn’t a single drop in the lab. To add to my misery…when I somehow thought of “I should buy “ I came to know that I won’t be provided even a bottle. How shady!!! I had to call my friend to arrange for two bottles as I didn’t have any enthu left in me to go all the way to the hostel zone any. Anyhow he was coming near my lab [ come on friends can at least do this much help ;-) ] Finally I went in the blistering hot weather to buy them from a petrol pump. After I reach here what do you I find to my surprise?? There is no funnel in the lab to be spared for me.

“What on earth does this lab has??” These were the exact words that came out of my mouth…

Akshay the creative somehow made my way past somehow of this hurdle…(after tasting engine oil :P) But fact remains: Now instead of sweat I perspire engine oil!! Really, not joking! I am an explosive…BE AWARE!!

I live believing a few rules in life...

2006-04-17T14:03:00.000+05:30

I live believing a few rules in life...and as one knows rules and all that crap comes into play only when the chips are down not when one is on top of the world...When u are @ top, everything that u do becomes a rule then...
anyway these rules seem to work like a Swiss watch (I like all things Swiss... watches...army knives... cheese, chocolates...scenic locations....and I can’t think of anything else...ok lets add shoes.. :D)...just precisely perfect under trying circumstances.

1) Good Guys Always Finish Last...still try to be good!
2) If something has to go wrong, then it will be magnificently wrong.
3) Life is a Bitch, an untamed one.
4) There always is a silver lining to every cloud, and there always is a way up from every situation.
5) Time, tide and life wait for none.
6) Stick by your friends through their worst times, and there is a God up above who will stick with you in your worst times, even if all these friends desert you :).

6 Rules... too many... too many. :)...my life is way too unordered for me to live by so many rules... I live by just one rule: "hard work and perseverance pay...when? I don’t know...but it does" but these are good rules to remember...

Thought I should add a 7th..." when u were born... u cried and the world rejoiced... make sure that when u die...the world will cry and u will rejoice" for all those arty ones reading my blog..."make sure u lead an honest and generous life...so that everyone loves you" (my interpretation, of course... u are more than welcome to have your own way to look at it)

PS: this was something I wanted to do a long time back...so now don’t come bugging me with... hang in there...are u alright...I’ll screw u all :)

Biotech Regulation

2006-03-07T18:24:00.000+05:30

Biotech Regulation

The global regulatory system for genetically modified foods is heavily fragmented. Some countries, including the US, consider genetically modified foods substantially equivalent to conventional ones and regulate them similarly. Others, including the EU, scrutinize and require mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods.

Labeling of genetically modified foods helps to safeguard consumers’ right to an informed choice. The mandatory labeling is necessary if markets when left on their own would fail to provide consumers with appropriate information and product choice.

But some other issues that need consideration is whether mandatory labeling laws necessary or cost effective and how different standards of mandatory labeling laws implemented in other countries can be compared.

Evaluation of the merits and relevance of mandatory labeling policy should be done against the standard criteria any regulation must confront:

Would there be a market failure necessitating regulatory intervention?

If so, would regulation be efficient? That is, would the social benefits secured through regulatory intervention exceed the costs?

Would the regulation be cost-effective?

MARKET FAILURE
The existence of market failure can be fully examined only through joint analysis of supply and demand conditions. The substantial voluntary labeling activity and product differentiation that exist today through various market initiatives around the world suggest that market failure is by no means obvious or demonstrated. But if there is chance of market failure in an economy, it is in interest of the citizens to have such regulations. Hence a mandatory regulation scores over here to prevent any such unwanted incidence.

EFFICIENCY
The regulation need not be in the best interest of society. For that, the regulation must be shown to be efficient economically — i.e. it generates more benefits to society than costs. Mandatory regulation obviously brings in some inefficiency.

COSTS
Compliance costs of the regulation — the incremental costs associated with physically separating as well as preserving, testing, and assuring the identity of various genetically modified or conventional foods across the agri-food marketing chain. Compliance costs can be substantial, especially in the case of commodities used in thousands of processed foods like corn and soybeans.

BENEFITS
We do not know about consumer’s preferences and their differential willingness to pay for genetically modified and conventional foods. Much of what is known today about consumer purchasing intentions toward genetically modified foods or interest in labels is inferred from attitude surveys which indicate widespread public skepticism toward genetically modified foods and interest in mandatory labeling. Attitude surveys can capture public sentiment towards genetically modified foods and biotechnologies but are constrained by their hypothetical structure, especially because they do not account for price and income effects on consumer-stated preferences. Attitude surveys may also engage their subjects as citizens rather than strictly as consumers.

COST- EFFECTIVENESS
Even if net welfare gains from labeling could be shown to be positive, some attention to the cost effectiveness of proposed mandatory labeling would still be warranted. Effectiveness considerations require that alternative policies that might achieve the overall policy goals at lower regulatory costs be explicitly considered.

CREDIBILITY
The relevance and optimality of mandatory labeling is also influenced by the credibility of the system or the probability of mislabeling. As the incident of mislabeling increases and consumer trust falls, the social benefits from labeling are reduced and its desirability is diminished.

Hence in the case of genetically modified foods, mandatory labeling emphasizes consumers’ right to information and has been set out to protect that right through an increasingly complex centralized bureaucratic regulation. Also such regulation brings into some inefficiency and cost related issues. But lower cost effective regulatory policies are not presently available. Significant welfare gains from such regulation are possible. The regulation will be certainly hampered if its credibility falls due to incidences of mislabeling.

Machiavelli & the art of management

2006-02-10T18:21:00.000+05:30

"A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good. Therefore it is necessary for a ruler, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case"

Britney - a beautiful sheepdog!!!

2006-02-08T18:31:00.000+05:30

Pop princess Britney Spears seems to be going cuckoo these days (Recent report in some tabloids state that she has recently developed an ardent interest in Hinduism. She with her 4 month old baby, Sear Preston, visited Malibu hindu temple. Another interesting news knocking the doors of print media these days is that her new husband is not found with her. In the rituals also he was absent and it is suspected that the famous couple is on the threshold of a break-up. Well well well… the interesting part of the whole story is that Britney is taking religious lessons from the temple pandits and apparently they have enlightened her of her previous life. She seems to have believed them that she was a Sheepdog...what crap??? Heeheheeee…

Large or Medium?

2006-02-03T08:45:00.000+05:30

When you seem to be well balanced in life and every thing seems to be going fine, usually something is awaiting that spins your omelette off the pan. Well in my case it is nothing serious just a dilemma to decide on an issue which appears to be so silly but has an overwhelmingly great importance. Now to explain the issue let me quote an example of a small child who was made to wear his big brother's shirt. To everyone's astonishment it never looked like a shirt but a frock for him. As you grow you obviously wouldn't like to fall in a similar situation where you go out wearing a big shirt and hence the prerequisite for warding off this situation is to know your correct T-shirt size. The whole point I am blabbering all this is that yesterday ZS Associates people sent me a mail asking me my T-shirt size out of S/M/L/XL/XXL. Now while my stay in IIT I am used to 3 sizes but these four sizes really baffle me. Already I twice had an experience of having big shirts, one a gift from my friend and other one I ordered (no samples were available!) @ Rs. 400 but somehow disposed it off by selling to one of my friend.

Now you only tell me: Isn't my confusion valid? How to know what they call as Large? Presently I can show 3 sizes with same L mark on them. But here my develish brain works. The ZS people are testing my forecasting skills (heheheeeee!!! ) So here I am, all ready with sword, board and ford (couldn't get better rhyming) I called for a Large size...lets see how does the answer fits... otherwise you will soon find a person strolling on IIT road like a penguin struggling hard to get out from a net!!

To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre.

Blacky !!

2006-02-02T18:05:00.000+05:30

Browny touch to my dear's hair

2006-02-02T18:03:00.000+05:30

Life ho to ayesi

2006-01-13T23:39:00.000+05:30

Today was a beautiful, lively, promising day indeed. I woke up early in the morning at the break of the day and was suprized to find myself completely sodden by the shine of the refulgent sun. Finding myself standing alone in the middle of the wing so early, with no one but a few monkeys trying their luck in the wing dustbins for traces of last night's half eaten pizzas, I showed my half-sleepy face to them and greeted :- "Good Morning". Surprisingly the monkeys were decent but rough enough to respond me back with a big smile starting from Mercury and reaching to Pluto, standing on ground but reciting AAP TO KUTLO....! I paraded down to the corner bathroom and washed my face, marched back to my room to change my clothes and get ready for.............(For what? of course ...for Lawn Tennis ) To cut it short....played a few games, lost an old worn tennis ball and found two new ones in the bushes. Then had a tedious waiting for a company HR team to persuade them to consider B.Techs for their company. After listening to their GIB level and irksome apology I pulled up stakes from this whole tarradiddle and gave them a GOOD BYE and said in my mind: "....do whatever you want! Hell with your company..."

Yesterday my recharge got over, well ahead of its validity, and I was in excrutiating pain to not to be able to even send an SMS, as for my last call gave me a BINGO of 0.00 balance. Good Heavens! How on earth can the balance be a perfect ZERO! God knows! Atleast airtel people must be knowing for sure ( Conspiracy???? I am also guessing the same....like minds always convege...Infinity is the limit)

Then pained the wing people by making them envision their future. If you are wondering whether I am some an astrologer, then I will say you have been blessed by God with a fantastic brain! Hats off to you!!

How silly..... !! Generally yaar....

Hey the most important part....got my offer letter...finally! For the first time in life I realised how cruel is the government....GIB buggers cut so much of income tax! I have to soon invest my time on TAX planning. WEIRD???? I am certainly feeling so...and that too after loosing so much from my hard TO-BE earned money...

Went to market to buy some sweets to give to the placement office. Hey man...chennai is too costly for sweets. Those bastards took 110 bugs for just a pista sweet and that too 250 mgs....

Then evening watched a movie 'Wa life ho to aysi', after coming from the market... kya movie thi be... mann to ker raha tha ki gala daba doo jisne wo movie share ker rakkhi thi apne comp pe...

Classes to endengered specie banti ja rahi hain...hope to come up with some sancturies soon!!

Things about Orkut that I find FUNNY!!!

2005-11-08T23:20:00.000+05:30

I've been on Orkut now for about one and a half year. I have met a lot of wonderful people here....And I've also noticed a few things that make me laugh! Here are just a few! (I'm not trying to offend, just think these things are funny!)

1. People who are not the person their picture shows! (If you are a SUPERMODEL.....Great! But do like some do, and post a regular picture along with all the modeling ones! Then we can see if it is....All just AIRBRUSH!!!)

2. People who steal other Orkut profiles! (Ok...yes its happened to me! For whatever reason....??? Weird? Trust me when you get caught, You'll feel stupid, and why would you want to not represent yourself...If someone did like you...? They won't once they find out you lied!!!)

3. People who use Orkut as SPY TECH!!! (I will admit...! I've done it! But, I do think its funny how people will see a scraps posted to someone...And then do the research on who sent it and what they are all about!!!.....DRAMA!!LOL!!!)

4. People who send comments to show OWNERSHIP!!!!! (What I mean here, is when get a comment from..."A Friend". That makes everyone on here think that...You are more than just...FRIENDS!!!!)

5. People that are 99 years old!!!!! (There are a lot of SEXY senior-citizens on here!!! If you think you are too OLD or too YOUNG....You're NOT! Be yourself!!!)

6. People who have so much stuff on their profile my computer crashes!!!!! (Don't you hate it when you click on someones profile and it takes forever to load? Don't get me wrong I've seen some great profiles! But too much...is just that!!!!!)

7. People who have pictures up that they would never show anywhere else!!!!! (I guess since it is the Internet, people get brave! You've got to love Digital cameras!!!)

8. People who fall in LOVE with someone they have never met!!!!! (Ok this one could be a bit touchy...I MEAN NO HARM...! I believe in attraction at first sight! Not love at first sight! I will admit you can get to know someone on here or over the phone very well! But it is crazy to me, that you would open you heart so widely to a person you have never, physically met! If you do...I'm sorry but I think you are asking for HEARTBREAK!!!!!)

These are just a few things that I've noticed....I'm sure you have some as well! Feel free to add some to the list!!!! Orkut! Orkut! Orkut! LOL!!!!!

Cheers!
*LC*

Hobo Signs & Symbols

2005-10-28T15:48:00.000+05:30

Hobo Signs & Symbols: "Hobo Signs & Symbols

Some hobos now communicate via cellular phones and e-mail. But the classic American hobo of early this century communicated through a much more basic system of marks--a code through which they gave information and warnings to their fellow Knights of the Road. Usually, these signs would be written in chalk or coal on a trestle, fence, building or sidewalk, letting others know what they could expect in the area of the symbol.

Pest Tense Mite and Main

2005-10-28T15:37:00.000+05:30

Pest Tense Mite and Main

Today the US boasts of being the only superpower in the world. Though this potent country might have forced its domination at foreign lands like Iraq, Afghanistan etc but it is loosing the battle at home grounds. The enemy which is the humble cockroach, which has infiltrated millions of American homes, causing many householders to be more exercised about the bug under the rug than they were about the red under the bed, in the good old days. The badgering insect, which has been on the earth for over 300 million years, seems to have become immune to pesticides and is proliferating at alarming rate. This makes O Henrys Baghdad-on-the-subway to be rechristened to a plain Bugsville as New York has come to be called a Cockropolis. These creatures have challenged the sanctity of the corridors of Washington also. It was amazing to come across news article on a website of

Tehelka fame that a particular resistant stain of the insect was discovered in the House of Representatives, which caused not only indignation but also words of blasphemy to arise with surround-sound echo-on. The representatives were found running around in utter confusion to their dismay. The poor biotechnologists and other scientists were forced to test their wits by coming up with a number of ingenious ploys. Now hold your belts tight because what I am going to tell you now will surely give contortions in your belly. The above clique has come up with a chemical aimed at confusing the insects sexual identity and thus inhibiting it from breeding. (Isnt it preposterous?) Anyhow such measures may not make for a gay future, and the New World takes its pest-free pleasures quite seriously.

Just as I was browsing sometime back, tracing the basic instincts of humans (now dont go for that silly film yaar) towards violence in the older years, I found that there once existed a creative entrepreneur who made killing through the mail order sale of an infallible fly destroyer: It was a simple block of wood like an anvil that I used in my fitting workshop and a mallet similar to that with a judge, with instructions to place the offending creature on the former and strike sharply with the latter.

Those whose pastime consists of what closer to home is idiomatically referred to as killing flies might wonder about the fuss being about a perfectly natural activity, or rather, non-activity. But even the most quiescent can finally be stung to the quick, as was shown by an episode in Patna. Fed up by with the municipal apathy about the local mosquito menace, citizens reportedly surrounded a number of officials and demonstrated their grievance in a pointed manner by jabbing them with pins. But how successfully or otherwise they pricked official conscience, noted for being formidably thick-skinned, is not known.

Yahoo! Messenger NEW - crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail

Ban that Booty

2005-10-28T15:29:00.000+05:30

Ban that Booty

Sometimes government judicial agencies can leave companies completely befuddled by their absurd decisions. Let me quote some latest happenings in the international arena: recently the Committee of Advertising Practice in US got the alcoholic market scratching their heads. There is a company called Lambrini, which came up with their latest advertisement campaign that shows three girls drinking Lambrini alcohol and hooking a guy with fishing net. This US agency which I just talked about contends that the male in the advertisement is too hot and should be replaced by an ugly, bald, over-weight, middle-aged person as the present advertisement gives an impression to the gullible minds of British public that the supposed drink induces sexual desires in ladies.

The travesty hasnt limited itself till here as the company has taken the battle to one step ahead and tried courting the advantage of the decision to its favour. (This will sound really thrilling to you!!) The company has launched a country-wide campaign to vote for the sexiest middle-aged, bald guy for its next advertisement campaign so as to replace the earlier guy and conform to the norms of the government agency. Apparently, this has fetched wide publicity for the company and proving a blessing in disguise. I bet the agency will pay for their mistake soon. Time is not far when plumb British dudes having a bulging rotund tummy with a overwhelmingly extra amount of girth enough to prevent a person to see his own toes, are going to top the ranks of most admired models [Now this is not weird but thing to feel proud of for any nation ;-) hehehehehe.]

Yahoo! Messenger NEW - crystal clear PC to PC calling worldwide with voicemail

Your eye contact guide

2005-10-28T15:22:00.000+05:30

Your eye contact guide

Dances with Sophia

2005-10-28T15:20:00.000+05:30

Dances with Sophia

Weird Letters♥™®

2005-10-28T15:16:00.000+05:30

Adam's Page♥♥♥™®: "WIERD LETTERS!!

here's some wierd letters
for you with how to do them
on the keyboard

shapes
alt+1553•'◄'
alt+5136•'►'
alt+95236•'♦'
alt+74152963•'♥'
alt+14789630•'■'

letters
alt+9365•'ò'
alt+01532•'ü'
alt+654456•'x'
alt+652•'î'
alt+1253•'σ'
alt+0138•'Š'
alt+0233•'é'
alt+138•'è'
alt+987789•'ì'
alt+0153•'™'
alt+147•'ô'
alt+142•'Ä'
alt+145•'æ'
alt+159•'ƒ'
alt+0421•'¥'
alt+0231•'ç'
alt+123456789•'§'

arrows
alt+25•'↓'
alt+1523•'≤'
alt+3251•'│'
alt+1547•'♂'
alt+456654•'╬'
alt+1563•'←'
alt+147741•'↔'
alt+14789•'┼'
alt+ 1489•'╤'

other stuff
alt+14•'♫'
alt+147258369•'☺'
alt+1453•'¡'
alt+1458•'▓'
alt+41236•'¶'
alt+789987•'π'
alt+7532159•'⌂'
alt+761•'∙'
alt+831•'?'
alt+253'²'
alt+58545652•'⌠'
alt+748•'∞'
alt+9274613•'⌡'
alt+789456123•'√'
alt+7•'•'
alt+36•'$'
alt+14863•'☼'"

Open Book: Useful Information

2005-10-28T14:12:00.000+05:30

Open Book: Useful Information

2005-10-27T22:22:00.000+05:30

Though we seem to be going for a big rescue mission but hehe...we are all set to enjoy kerala back waters!!

New day!

2005-06-06T17:29:00.000+05:30

Hey you see today it was an amazing day. I don't know whether I told you or not, I am really good at designing esp. posters, brochures etc. I mean not sketching but designing a professional stuff (printed ones!). I have been doing a lot of such stuff there at IIT. Amazingly when I came to GE ( how on earth I don't know....) my boss got me into designing a poster for GE's Global Environmental technology week celebrations. And I captured the opportunity and walked my way past into their hearts. It was exciting to work for them. Morever there is a project leader in my group who was really impressed. Not only by my creativity in designing the poster but also how I picked up at presenting the poster. It was really challenging saying something in front of these intellectuals who are no less than Masters from USA, Ph.Ds and are hell lot of competitive. But somehow the things went really fabulously. Later I had great discussions with this guy who gave me some management fundaes.... honestly speaking it was really awesome.
Anyhow today I have got really exhausted after speaking continuously for past three hours and at lunch too (which eventually I had with my project leader....) I couldn't had much because he finshed it really fast (busy guy!!); and in all this I got screwed. Me feeling hungry again. Don't know really what to do!!! I will go and play TT and have a glass of juice and then come back.
Hey forgot to tell you one funny thing. Yesterday me and my friend came to GE (I don't know what provoked us to come on Sunday :) ). While getting back my friend who apparently had the key for our room left in his wallet in the office drawer. And we came back to our lodge at 9:30 PM when we realised about it. It was raining hard and getting it again from GE was a crazy idea. So had to break the lock. It took upon our nerves to break that 9 lever lock. We pledged to not to put such a thick lock again in our lives again. By the way have you also done any crazy mistake anytime in your life which you remember? I believe you surely might have done.
Anyway I better be moving to get my juice ;)

Right way is always the right way!

2005-05-31T14:34:00.000+05:30

Never I had thought of going for trekking to such a weird place as I had been this weekend. Last thursday all almighty IITians were discussing of ging for a trip to somwhere where this 'somewhere' wasn't defined. Though we had a little inkling that we light go to this place but no one was sure. The following day everthing seemed to move so fast. Everyon came over 'Sametime' GE messenger and started discussing over the issue but not all were of the same opinion and hence took deliberations to come upon consensus.

2005-05-25T12:08:00.000+05:30

No sleep

No sleep until I'm done

with finding the answer

Won't stop

Won't stop before I find

the cure for this cancer

Sometimes I feel like going

down, I'm so disconnected

Somehow I know that I am

haunted to be wanted

I've been watching,

I've been waiting

In the shadows for my time

I've been searching,

I've been living

For tomorrows all my life

They say that I must learn

to kill before I can feel safe

But I, I'd rather kill myself

than turn into their slave

Sometimes I feel that I should

go and play with the thunder

Somehow I just don't wanna

stay and wait for a wonder

I've been watching,

I've been waiting

In the shadows for my time

I've been searching,

I've been living

For tomorrows all my life

Lately, I've been walking,

walking in circles

Watching, waiting for something

Feel me, touch me, heal me

Come take me higher

I've been watching,

I've been waiting

In the shadows for my time

I've been searching,

I've been living

For tomorrows all my life

I've been watching,

I've been waiting,

I've been searching,

I've been living, for tomorrows....

In the shadows,

I've been waiting.

IITians are country!

2005-05-24T10:21:00.000+05:30

If you ever thought that IITians are decent creatures then you have to reconsider your notion after what I am about to tell you.
Well I have always been different and have always tried to get the maximum enjoyment of every moment I have lived. So being in GE and working close with these workaholic guys and beautiful gals ( at least hazaar better than what are in IIT) can't stop me in my lust. People might call me crazy or weird but the whole essence of certain things in life to create magic which spell bounds anyone who comes near to it.
So let not befuddle you with my endless and hazy talk and get into the stuff I want to share with all you who have cared to read what I have to say. The day before I had to stay at my lodge with no light throughout the night and when I woke up in the morning I found that I am also bereaved of water to take bath; And my dear friend Bhindi whose stomach seems to have gulped the entire desert soil of Sahara or Kalahari had finished all the drinking water. It was the test of my patience and with a flash of a second my notorious brain started coming up with weird ideas!
I proposed to spend the next day at GE. Though virtually we are already doing so by staying there 9 to 9 but what I mean is by hooking there at night too; And here does the ball goes rolling. I got some followers who gave their unquestioned support and the next scene you could see in my room was all of us preparing to spend night at GE's common room.
Late at night, Sreejith backs out giving out the craziest of the ideas I have ever heard in my life: the mobile battery finished off! What the hell? Anyway his Hutch connection doesn't let him be reachable anytime. I tried 5 times and all the times it was busy. But i am like Kawasaki....the unshakable. Nothing deterred me from my decision and I carried on to execute my plans. Bhindi and me kept playing TT and pool till the time our balls ( I mean the pool balls, perverted mind!) started preferring to stay on the table than going into the nest or, putting it another way, we kept on playing till we lost the common sense that it is the white ball whith which we are supposed to hit other balls and not the otherwise.
Then starts the whole drama: 'Chawkidaar aur uske Bachche', by Robert Bansal and Bill Khandelwal. After finally getting exhausted by the activities of the day when we decided to sleep, the biggest discovery which we had was that the 5-star couches which I thought will be our nook for the night were a little small to accommodate us. To speak truth they were short for a teenager too. So we had to get coiled and mange. Bhindi preferred to lie on carpeted floor. There comes guard at night asking our extension number and warning us against any possible burglary of our wallets and cell phones if we keep it outside openly in on the table. Then comes the sweeper to chat with his girl friend on free phone. He gets pained to see us as intruders to his usual privacy. If we think that was all then were besieged by the mosquitoes who were on the spree to put night out by sucking our blood till the time that they realized that we all shared a common blood constitution!
Morning starts with a big bustling made by the house-keeping guys of whom I had only heard during orientation. But to my surprise nothing moved my sleeping nightmare, Bhindi to give a back seat to his sleep. In fact he was one of those culprits who was constantly bugging me at night. Every minute or the other he used to get up forcing me to feel as if some foreigner has barged into our nook. He completed his pleasant dreams and fantasies by 8 in the morning and gets up taking all his time at his disposal!
Though the night couldn't be called as one full of comfort but the experience is surely worth remembering. The countenances of it will always stay deep in my heart.

Learning the unlearned...

2005-05-18T11:16:00.000+05:30

Once my magniloquent Heat Transfer prof in IIT told our class that the thing you hate most in your life and keep avoiding as much as possible are those things which will become most important in your life. These will be the things which will affect you the most and are going to get your career at your stake. He gave his own example of the subject he hated the most but was forced to make a career in it, At that time I took it very lightly and forgot it. Today while I am sitting in GE working on a project, I am recalling and using all those subjects which had always hated and had thought that I will never be using them. But see how fate plays a game. How true was my professor. I remember those moments... I cherish those thoughts... I regret why I took it lightly at that time... but I no longer feel bad about it now as i have learned from it a big lesson and have come out strong and bold!

My first day at GE

2005-05-12T09:57:00.000+05:30

After the hectic week of exam it seemed to me that soon good old pleasure days will follow. But to my surprise it is being followed by a long spell of unending activities. Immediately after the exam I got pre-occupied in some pending official campus activities. When it seemed that after 3 days of non-stop work there in IIT I will be enjoying my time in Bangalore during my intern, I was absolutely wrong. I didn't even had a slight notion of what was to come.
My intern started with great expectations and hopes! The campus of John F. Welch Technology Centre, GE is majestic and when I saw it first, I honestly gave an awe. For the first time realized what is it being in a global company, I got my personal cabin, with a warm welcome (a bouquet and a balloon outside my cabin with 'Welcome' written on it. Smart cards everywhere, free coffees, teas, biscuits anytime, anywhere. It was all so enticing.
So there I was on my first day, equipped with the IIT ian spirit of masti everywhere, feeling sleepy in the afty etc, etc. But it was not long when I came to realization that I am expected to meet my buddy ( first friend in GE who was assigned to me to get comfortable to the campus). He gave me a thick book on a topic which is usually taught at M. Tech level. Another guy, who eventually is my benchmark (as he is damn smart at speaking and impressive too...), had a brief talk with me. I was searching for work as nothing was assigned to me. I kept bugging them to give me some work but they said that they are in the process of designing some big things for me and hence I need to wait till tomorrow. The day went comfortably. Next day arrives... I was asked by my buddy if I had finished the 400 page god level book he gave the other day. Holy shit! ( I thought how he expected to finish the entire book in one day and that too on the first day...) He somehow digested my reply ;)
Then came the the present of the second day. An assignment which took on my nerves for the next two days. In fact on the second day, hail to me, he even expanded it after hearing from me that it is easy. (Why IITians generally and unnecessarily put pseud yaar?) I got shit pained with that. Already I was getting a regular feedback from my friends here, those who are from my institute and other IIT, that GE people are ruthlessly torturing, considerably, if not to my levels. It was enough for me. I decided. What? I finished the whole thing in a single day. Did a 9 hr. non-stop job and mailed to my buddy. It took the freaks out of him and the pseud guy I was talking about. They appreciated my good start which was short lived as by the grace and all so good wishes of those in heaven I got another assignment sent by someone in Greenville, US to my buddy.
And here I am sitting on my computer, about to start on it. And you know what still I am happy. Don't say what's wrong with me! There is another side of the coin which a critic (presently me) hasn't described.... No attendance, no time compliance, no formalities, high funda work culture, helping attitude and things are more than enough to bind anyone here. You really feel motivated ( though not at least after having the grub ;) )
Never wanted to bug you people to read my long bakwaas but you know me :) I am different and that's why keep searching for different ways to pain people!

A Tribute

2005-02-22T02:18:00.000+05:30

I sit alone thinking of you
and all the things we've both been through
You are my soul mate, my very best friend
and i know you'll be there until the end
Your shoulder to cry on will soon be gone
who will be there when something is wrong
when times are tough you're always there
It shows me just how much you care
Although were going separate ways
you're in my heart till my final days
nothing can make a person see
how special a friend you are to me
I dreamed of a friend just like you
and finally my dream came true
noting else could ever fulfill
everything you're friendship will
You understand a side of me
that no one else could ever see
you know whats wrong before i cry
but if I do, you will always know why
A friend like you is hard to find
you put my problems all behind
you were there when no one cared
the best times were the ones we shared
We've been together through good and bad
you made me laugh when i was sad
and no one else could ever be
as good of a friend you are to me
Our time together is wilting away
more and more everyday
but now until the very end
you'll always be my special friend.

To my love!

2005-01-29T10:38:00.000+05:30

Ever since our great-great ancestors were swinging from the trees, scratching their underarms, our genes have been moving together across the dusty sands of Time, Life, and Fortune.

Truly Yours

2005-01-28T20:37:00.000+05:30

How have you been? Hopefully fine
I wish all the best, to do with your time.
I hope you are happy, now youýre finally free
Away from the chains, that once locked you with me.

While you are away, living with ease
I stay here and pray, still finding my peace.
All that is left, is me torn apart
Shattered in pieces, of my broken heart.

But now that youýre gone, Iým left with my pain
Memories of you, now leaves its stain.
All that is beside me, is the image of you
Where once long ago that image was true.
Iým sorry to sayý Iým a wreck without you.

Our love was so strong, how did it fade?
Along with our past, that happiness weýve made.
Our tears of joy, times of great bliss
Now are shadows of us, lost in great mist.

All that I need is, for you to hold my hand
To wipe all my tears, to say ýI understandý.
For better or for worse, to stay by your side
Until the heavens open up, and the rain has subside.

But what can I say, what can I do?
I cannot let go, cannot erase you.
And though it hurts, I just cannot part
I just cannot hide it, you still have my heart.

Are we moving towards degeneracy?

2005-01-25T10:43:00.000+05:30

Though many of you might call me pedlar of the new age philosphy but sometimes it is better to be practical. For years the natural balance of nature has kept a check over the population. Whenver there has been a high birth rate it was offset by famines. When there has been a plague or an epidemic, it was the weak who were wiped out and strong survived. Hence there was always a natural balance maintained.- nature's level. And because of this it was the strong who perpetuated themselves. They were the ones who sired the next generation.

Now, at least in the western world, we are heading towards degeneracyl. We are preserving the cripples, the weaklings, and the disease-ridden. We are accumulating burdens on society, non-producers- the unfit, unable to contribute anything to the common good. Tell me- what purpose does a sanatorium or a home for incuralble serve? Infact medicine today is preserving people who should be allowed to die. But we're helping them to live, then letting them spawn and multiply, passing their uselessness to their children and theri children's children.

Strength is of mind as well as body. Don't children inherit the mental charaacteristics of their parents - and their weaknesses? Though not all but a lot of the time they do. And it is the reason that we have so many mental hospitals. And patients in them. And people running to psychiatrists. It is just that we are breeding people who are weak, weak, weak!

Hey if anyone of you are not liking my idea please do not spare me. I can handle the criticism and arguments.

Now many of you might be of the view that illness and disease haven't come to us in a natural course of nature. They're the result of man's own environment, conditions he's created himself. Bad sanitation, lack of hygiene, air polllution - and all the other man's creation. But what i feel is: 'They are part of evolution and evolution is a part of nature'. It all adds up to the balancing process.

In the end I would say that if nature were left alone it would settle its problems before they arose - by natural selection of the fittest. Though I may seem to be a peddlar of new age philosphy but we need to take an open-minded stance on it because the time is not far away when we would have decelerated the death rate of the population to an extent that might create a similar situation everywhere like what is prevailing in European nations where the average age of the population is too high. And the condition of some of these countries is not hidden from anyone. They are just struggling for a new breed of people- energetic, young and strong. Hence it is necessary to do a trade off between the two contrary views.

What Could Go Wrong in 2005

2005-01-23T15:14:00.000+05:30

What Could Go Wrong in 2005

2005-01-23T03:57:00.000+05:30

All's well that ends well!

2005-01-23T03:56:00.000+05:30

EP team arrives back in Chennai

2005-01-23T03:55:00.001+05:30

Departing from Bangalore

2005-01-23T03:55:00.000+05:30

At the entrance of IIM-B

2005-01-23T03:54:00.000+05:30

General

2005-01-23T03:53:00.000+05:30

Approaching IIM Bangalore!

2005-01-23T03:52:00.002+05:30

Gandu's house

2005-01-23T03:52:00.001+05:30

M G Road

2005-01-23T03:52:00.000+05:30

Hungry Party!

2005-01-23T03:50:00.000+05:30

Saarang External Publicity Tean in Bangalore!

2005-01-23T01:14:00.000+05:30

Drew Barrymore

What Ivy wants, Ivy gets

wow!

Key to a Happy Marriage: Love with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind

Bad Analysis: 10 reasons people make stupid decisions

Real friends!

“Fate is not satisfied with inflicting one calamity.”

Learning to fight back...

ResumINg bloggINg

My Heart's In The City

The Long Awaited Day has finally Arrived

Kung Fu style Career Advice

P.G. Wodehouse: Jeeves in the Offing - Goofiness in the Opposite Sex

THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER CHOICE

Beyond the Work-Life Balance: Living through the Success Elements™

Triumph Over The Manager From Hell

Cause and effect.

Things We Can Learn from the Italian Stallion - Part III

Things We Can Learn from the Italian Stallion - Part II

Things We Can Learn from the Italian Stallion - Part I

Celebrating the 2-year journey of hope, pain & fun

Innovation Workouts - Rekindle the Grey Matter

My blog - splitting soon!

Don't worry, be happy!

Career lessons from Bunty Aur Babli

T.e.M.p.t.A.t.I.o.N.s.!!!

Benefits of Failure & Importance of Imagination

Creating change - Change techniques

Rice Field Art

6 Benefits From Not Getting Promoted

Posting Secrets

Ono! I have teh emo.

Pretending to Work

NEXT NATURE: If giraffes lived in the US

Monomania: "To defeat you I must become you"

Quarter-life Crisis Syndrome (QC Syndrome)

Reference to Mayo Clinic

Charlie Munger's Address: Deserved Trust

Funny Thing about Human Beings

Gmail - In Chicago.jpg

Last days of college: time to bid Adieu!

I am an EXPLOSIVE!

I live believing a few rules in life...

Biotech Regulation

Machiavelli & the art of management

Britney - a beautiful sheepdog!!!

Large or Medium?

Blacky !!

Browny touch to my dear's hair

Life ho to ayesi

Things about Orkut that I find FUNNY!!!

Hobo Signs & Symbols

Pest Tense  Mite and Main

Ban that Booty

Your eye contact guide

Dances with Sophia

Weird Letters♥™®

Open Book: Useful Information

New day!

Right way is always the right way!

IITians are country!

Learning the unlearned...

My first day at GE

A Tribute

To my love!

Truly Yours

Are we moving towards degeneracy?

What Could Go Wrong in 2005

Pest Tense Mite and Main