Swine Flu...some more dimensions

Swine flu. I feel it is the best example of globalization in the recent memory. It has its footprints all over the world aka true MNC. While going through the newspaper i was wondering whether it is not a leveller of sorts. In Disunited states of India, it infects people irrespective of the caste, religion, region (a new fad of our dear politicians) and on many others parameters (according to one’s whims and fancies). Raj Thakrey and his bunch of supporters must be incensed with swine flu. How did it dare not to differentiate Maratha manoos from the north Indians in Maharashtra?
The news channel must be thanking swine flu in their hindsight. Their kitty was getting depleted and they were not finding a topic to scaremonger people (an innovative method to increase the TRP). The TV news channels should be recommended for an award for their perseverance to telecast the same message again and again. Even swine flu would be wondering whether it’s ‘capability’ matches the sudden shower of stardom on it.
This news coverage has also benefitted another personality. Guess who? Arrey, it’s our very own Ramu. No it’s not Satyam’s erstwhile Ramu (last heard he was busy playing badminton in jail) but our Ram Gopal Verma. He can easily select one of the news readers for his new horror (?) flicks. Did you ever notice the expression on the newsreaders while delivering key news (?) about swine flu.
Thanks to swine flu, the world is now going green. Nowadays you see green masks on so many people. India has got an advantage here. It can leverage its human resources (no pun intended) and can distribute green masks to the whole of population and trade for the carbon reduction. Jairam Ramesh burdens would decrease on hearing this idea.

Miracle

Last weekend, amidst the hectic schedule of the B-School , i got a chance to sneak to my home.Going after 1.5 months ( Believe me It’s a long time for distance less that 200 Kms!! ) i was craving for food and all other luxuries of home ( Getting Tea on the Bed !! ). After Reaching home , greeting parents and sipping tea i headed direct to bed . Well !! its been long time sleeping on a clean and well made bed !!!.

Mummy wake me in afternoon for lunch , and though reluctantly, i relinquished my ordeal in the dreamworld. Rubbing eyes , i switched on the TV ( another luxury if you live in hostel). Still it was 1:30 , so good 2 hours before the last Ashes match to start . I was just sifting channels when i saw a ice hokey match somewhere. It was HBO and some movie on ice hockey was being aired at that time. Out of curiosity , i started watching the movie, The name of the movie was Miracle ( Usually Known as Miracle on ice ). The plot was nicely woven amidst the tensions of cold war in 1980’s and the reign of USSR in Ice Hockey.

Let us travel back in time. The year is 1980, winter Olympics being held at Lake Placid, USA. USSR the reigning champions , who had won gold medal every Olympic since 1956 barring 1960 ( USA won that year). The coach of USA is herb brookes , a player who was part of the squad in 1960 but was sent back ( Any Body Remembering Chak de India !!) . But Above all , USSR Team was all seasoned professionals and USA Team was picked from college, all young teenagers.

Add the spice of Cold war Tension , and this becomes one helluva match ( Parallels can be drawn to India-Pak Matches). This is the story about how a charismatic coach motivate his team of young budding players to take on might y soviets and defeating them in the medal Round. That was termed as Miracle on Ice, and is rated as the best sporting moment in the US history. It was not just a hockey match, it was a game of identity, hope and passion. This was the game where loosing was not a option.

Movie Really gave me goosebumps, and as soon as i returned to the campus, i googled all the possible links. saw many videos in Youtube and today downloaded the movie from DC++.

Meanwhile, England Reclaimed the Ashes , was not really a miracle , but still a famous and well deserved victory. It was the Andrew strauss tryst with glory , many english captains die with this dream !!. Also, liverpool is making a sinusoidal curve with its performance , recently being defeated by Aston Villa in Anfield. but miracles do happen.

Not very surprisingly, with the advent of science and technology , we are loosing our power of belief. Now we do not believe any thing which can’t be proved and justified. Miracles are one of them, yes they do happen , but then you have to believe that they happen. It does not mean that you stop working and wait for a miracle to happen. Work with best of your abilities, and then leave the rest to the almighty. What is a miracle ? a moment of luck , a unseen opportunity , something which gives us a thrust can termed as a miracle. Our body is the biggest miracle, with so many organs working in tandem , our DNA chains that are not replicated yet with the best of technologies, our brain which is still largely a black box. Our mere existence is a miracle, and who says miracles do not happen!!!. Just see the world holistically and you will see miracle every where.

So, from now onwards believe in miracles, but be in position to take the advantage of them. Also, try to get hold of the movie, can lift your spirits any time ( Guess Seen it before Football and basketball Debacle !!). And, for Liverpool, Yes i believe in miracle, this year create a miracle on grass !!

The Subprime Crisis

Prelude

In these trying times, one wonders where to spend to ensure profits in the short run and windfall profits in the long run. An average investor expects too much from his instruments. Contrary to the recessionary trend in the markets, its more about the psychological dent in the common man’s confidence that has prolonged the recovery. The falling of financial behemoths like a pack of cards was really a factor. It was of no help that automobile industries faced the music during the same time and oil prices see-sawed like a child’s play. These unwelcomed happenings encouraged the world wide speculations that recession has arrived and is here to stay.

Moving to the US and its perceptible role in giving birth to this crisis, arouses reflection of the past policies safeguarded by the Federal Reserve Bank. The chairman of the 80s, Alan Greenspan viewed spending as an indication of economy’s growth. He was of the view that one should save minimally since the government was taking care of the emergencies and nearly every expensive commodity was insured. He lowered the interest rates to assist the liquidity. Soon people began to realize their ambitions. The complex human nature can not be satiated. They began to spend multiple times of their income. The Housing bubble was a product of this tendency.

People, blinded by their ambitions baited onto the mortgage fish. The banks, on the other end, had already started trading the mortgage securities to investment banks like Lehman Brothers. Banks were pressurized from the top to increase their network of mortgage lending. Under a propensity to feed the cycle (will discuss later), they relaxed the criteria of granting the principal. Thus, the mortgages were sold out to all and sundry. It wasn’t imperative that customers did not have adequate bank balance, the collateral was deemed enough. Lending to such customers is known as Sub-prime lending.

How it worked out ?

Interest rates were further lowered to arrest the economy from receding into recession after the 2000 dot com bubble burst. Thus the money was flowing and people were willing to take loans. Situation was grim for those with bad credit records. They were not allotted the loans by the banks until then. Banks initiated another route for them. They started providing home loans to them at high interest rates, taking their homes as collateral. Since the property prices were rising uninhibitedly, banks assumed they will get good deals even if the sub- prime debtors were unable to pay the EMIs. The loans were offered in variety of formats. Most common of them was Adjustable Rate Mortgage, where the rate of interest could be increased depending on the economic trends. Debtors low on credibility, were undeterred. They were thinking of refinancing the loan at lower rate of interests when their property price would boom.

The situation does not end here. Banks realized they had taken too many risks. They had loan out ample money but were bound to oblige the bank account holders. To generate the money inflow, they decided to diversify the risk of sub-prime mortgage lending. The loans were divided into packages and securitized as Collaterized Debt Obligations to investment banks and other investors. Packages were accorded credit ratings like A, AA, AAA based on the relative credit records of the borrowers. As per the risk evaluation, CDOs were valued differently. Banks also approached insurers to get the sub-prime loan products insured. In case of defaults, the insurance agency could keep the collateral.

The investment banks created Credit Default Swaps (CDS) from these packages and sold it to other investors worldwide. CDS is a swap contract where investors make a series of payments for a particular loan derivative product and are paid off in case debtor defaults on loan linked to that CDS. Insurance companies too fell in for CDS and traded the derivatives vehemently. Going by the rising realty prices, they would have profited even in case of defaults.

The beginning of the end

These series of steps were really bringing in smiles to everybody’s face. The defaulters were few, but the overall situation was under control. A propensity was always there to continue this process. There was mounting pressure on the banks to offer more generous home loans to people and create more securitized instruments. Liquidity had decreased in the system considerably. A bout of inflation followed and there was whopping increase in rate of interest consequently. Customers were hard to find now. Many of the borrowers could not arrange the inflated EMIs. There was a substantial increase in the defaults. Insurers and investment bankers began to roll out money to pay the CDS investors. The condition worsened with a huge number of sub-prime borrowers refusing to pay EMIs and opting for foreclosures. Investment banks doled out huge sums as the part of their obligation to investors in CDS. In fact, they struggled to pay back and came in debts of billions of dollars.

The insurers were also feeling the heat. They tried to sell the collaterals. Few were willing to buy a property. The list of borrowers was longer than those of potential buyers. As a result, the realty prices plummeted and the insurers had to contend with selling at a subdued price. The result was same: billions of dollars in debt.

Banks which had propagated this crisis had many unsecuritized loans left with them. Moreover, the investors were approaching them to get their payment done. In spite of these facts they were in a relatively less cash-strapped position.

The impending crisis began to swallow one company after another. The widespread reach of the sub-prime related tradable components only aggravated the situation. Investors protested for their money which had disappeared. Investment banks had been cogitating filing bankruptcy. Insurance companies were aided by the government bailout packages. Onus was falling on the banks which initiated the toxic trading in the first place. Some acquisitions followed while some fell apart. Some of the companies went to their deathbed. The rest pleaded monetary assistance from the Federal Reserve and the US Govt.

An Epidemic ?

This crisis had percolated to the European and Asian markets. Many companies which had invested in the loan derivatives belonged to the same region. Individual investors were also left in the lurch. English banks suffered huge losses. They were acquired and saved by their better off peers. The vast after effects dented investors’ confidence. He/she had suffered losses or was lucky to survive the storm. For obvious reasons, it was imperative that every step is taken with caution. Thus came the bearish trend in markets. Investors were concerned about selling shares at some profit rather buying more and suffering from losses in future.

The share markets can regain their pre-crisis levels in times to come. It’s truly a matter of returning to safe measures and adequate regulations to ensure the proper functioning of financial sector in future.

Engaging the employee and optimizing HR practices

Introduction

HR practices of numerous organizations are focused towards attaining the objective of employee engagement. With a large workforce comprising thousands of employees, its imperative that the employee’s motivation levels keep driving the growth incessantly. Taking the case of IT Services Company particularly, some of the employees are on bench. Many are executing mundane tasks for months. They are bound to be unsatisfied, indifferent and in extreme cases, frustrated. At the time of recruitment, the HR tests the enthusiasm levels and learning abilities of the candidate. These features are rendered obsolete after initial training is imparted. The employees keep carrying the same schedule and routine tasks for years. They have a liability towards their family and themselves. But, there is a sense of discomfort within. A growing need to explore and re-invent themselves emerges. Consequently, they begin to search for other opportunities within the organization. If they realize the job constraints, they approach other companies.

The result of this dissatisfaction is indicated by the rising attrition rate in the organization. This can not be compensated by hiring new recruits as they need time to understand the job requirements and organization culture. Moreover, there is a potential risk of dissatisfied customers since efficient employees are leaving the company. So it could really lead to drastic effects. The top-line and the bottom-line can be affected if your customer is no more interested to do business with you.

HR’s role assumes important responsibility here. He has to identify the critical resource, interact with him and ascertain his job satisfaction levels. This is a hard task since employees work in teams in most organizations where the responsibilities are linked and divided. How can one pick one and neglect the rest? There must be an organization wide initiative to tackle this issue.

Employee First, Customer Second

This HR strategy was launched in an IT company to bring down the level of attrition. It propagated that delightful employees create delightful customers. So the focus shifted to improvise employee HR practices. The purpose was to engage the employee in co-curricular activities which provide him/her a sense of achievement. Even in a less significant job as perceived by the employee, he/she could achieve satisfaction levels through participation in different activities. Different employee councils were formed, namely in Sports, Talent, Community Service, Health and Fitness, Grey Cell areas. Members were selected through a poll conducted for candidates by all employees. They were accorded with the right to conduct programmes and events.

Employee Engagement

The cost incurred in organizing such events was minimal. The office infrastructure was utilized and the employees were asked to manage time from their work hours. Competitions were conducted in full spirit and provided opportunities for casual conversations between different hierarchies. This was helpful in breaking the ice. The employees were more straightforward in expressing themselves. They would de-stress and experience the joy of recognition and rewards.

A group mail would convey the notifications and results to all. Every Friday there was a ‘Fundoo Friday’ quiz based on a variety of topics. Participation reached better levels and fostered a sense of belonging to the organization. Initiatives for community services instilled meaning and self-satisfaction in employees’ lives. Health council arranged doctor’s visits for health check ups once a month. Employees started enjoying their stay at the office. Even if they weren’t always working, they had a vehicle to grow.

But the employee first councils didn’t solve the purpose of regularly updating the technical skills of employees. In adherence to this requirement, an e-learn portal was started. Based on the interest of an individual, one can learn new concepts and courses straight from the web. To facilitate interactive learning, knowledge sharing sessions were conducted. Still, it was observed that real time problems were not being solved. Communities for different computer languages, centers of excellence and centers of practices were created on the internet. People could collaborate and resolve issues instantly.

Addressing Employees Grievances

In a vast organization in terms of resources, HR practices need to be efficient and effective. There should be an effort to mitigate the time taken to hear, act and resolve human conflicts and distress. A new website was created to cater to this purpose. The website was Employee HR Services and had an animated mascot. The mascot communicated with employees in language they understand and in a format they can easily access. An online Service Desk served as an automated “trouble-ticketing” tool. For any issue and transaction, the employees don't have to run to HR or finance or call them up, they could simply open a ticket in the Service Desk and the process started on its own. Every week a service desk tracker was circulated to all employees showing the adherence or breaches. This transparency guaranteed assured and prompt HR services. The process served two objectives: it helped the company to tell its employees that the company listens to and solves their problems faster than anybody else. The system had other benefits too in terms of cost.

Resource tracking and deployment

There was a SAP record maintenance of each employee. The project assigned to the employee would cease to appear in the case of delimitation. Within 15 days, he must consult his reporting manager. The manager will search in his control area and possibly deploy him. If that does not materialize, the employee can himself search for different requirements on the company’s resource management portal. One can upload the CV and if the profile matches, will get a call.

Recruitment

A comprehensive list of idle resources together with their expertise areas will be available to the managers through the database. They can then judge whether to go for recruitment drive or not. They could ascertain the probable number of new recruits needed. Moreover, it helps to specifically define the skills required in new recruits.

Conclusion

The need for efficiency in all systems of the organization is desired to maximize growth. HR, being an important component in managing the most critical elements in the organization can not be left behind. These measures were instrumental in declining the attrition rate for years to come. Moreover, people began to notice the company and b-schools came with case studies. The cumulative effect was the ‘best employer in India’ award in the year 2009. The increasing role of Information Technology and employee engagement through various unprecedented measures are sustaining large workforce organization’s Human Resource practices today.

A FAMILY LONG LOST....(Another Of My Originals)

There was something about the morning sunshine that always made Ron cheerful. Agreed, that global warming had increased the temperature of the earth marginally but the morning sun always gave Ron a new hope and a new vigour. But today was somehow different. Ron did not feel like getting up from his bed. The fact that he had been using only one side of his double sized bed had never even bothered Ron till today. But, somehow he had been feeling very lonely since the dawn of the day. For may be the first time in his life, he desired to be loved. He somehow longed for a partner with whom he could share his joys and sorrows and this feeling was somehow new for him. Ron’s sexual escapades and one-night stands had been the popular talk of the grape vine in his office but he had never found out the right person with whom he could actually fall in love till date. After a few minutes of listlessness, he somehow dragged himself out of the bed. He felt drained, tired, lacking energy and above all bored to death. He simply could not explain what he felt although the day appeared bright, sunny and cheerful. He put his palm to his forehead and tried to check if he had a fever. He could not find any traces of it and satisfied that he would not have to waste another sick leave from his ever dwindling balance of leaves, he finally caught hold of his toothbrush. He searched for the missing tube of tooth paste cursing softly under his breath and finally found it under a pile of magazines propped against a rack near the wash basin and tried to feel cheerful but in vain. After around half an hour, he was finally done with his daily ablutions and one look at the clock confirmed that he was actually getting very late to work. All the while, he was trying to figure out the root cause of the weird feelings he was having today but he could not come across any concrete analysis about the same. Finally, with a spring in his step, he said aloud “Enough of this crap about feeling sad and lonely....Let me just go to work today....” Saying this he started searching for his car keys which were nowhere to be found as usual. Somehow he thought that these weird feelings would vanish once he goes to work. Just when he found his car keys under a pile of dirty laundry, he heard a soft knock on his door. Wondering who could be knocking when he had a melodious calling bell installed and whose switch was clearly visible on the wall near the door, Ron opened the door just enough to see who was looking for him. What he saw outside nearly made him drop his car keys in surprise. He saw Maureen. Maureen had been Ron’s best friend all the way from pre-school till high school. It had been 14 years since he had last seen her. Ron had turned 31 last summer and the last person he had expected to meet again ever in his life had been Maureen. Their friendship had broken under very tragic circumstances which Ron had tried to forget for a long time. And there was Maureen standing with a straight face near Ron’s door now. Maureen said “Hello Ron....Won’t you let me in?” Unable to say anything, Ron simply opened the door fully and let Maureen walk in. Maureen went and sat on the sofa set while Ron called in sick at work and closed the door behind him. No words had been exchanged between them after the first line. Finally Ron asked Maureen “Would you like some coffee?” Maureen nodded and Ron came back with two cups of coffee after a couple of moments. After a few silent moments, Maureen began “Remember the last time we met Ron?” Could Ron ever forget the last time they had seen each other? The bitter fight and the nasty words were etched in Ron’s memory for a long time and it was with a lot of difficulty that Ron had finally been able to recover from the incident. It was the last year at high school and both Ron and Maureen were casual 17 year olds. They had been to the class prom that night together. Although none of them had proposed to the other, they had a relationship that had somehow transcended the borders of friendship sometime during their early lives. That night, they had danced romantically and had finally left the party in Ron’s car for a long drive after which Ron planned to drop Maureen at her home and drive back. They had gone and stopped over a small hillock off the road and had started talking with a couple of beer cans in their hands. Slowly, one thing led to another and before they knew it they were making love in the back seat of the car. They had not even realised that they had used no protection. Everything was fine till the day Maureen had come to know that she was pregnant and that was when all hell had broken loose on Ron. Scared that he might have to sacrifice his career and start earning without completing his college degree made Ron very nervous. The day Maureen had told Ron that she was pregnant; Ron was simply out of control in shock and had simply declared “Maureen, I need to complete my graduation degree before I could think about marriage. Forget about the child. The pregnancy has to be aborted.” Maureen had simply flown into a rage accusing Ron of using her and playing with her emotions. Ron had simply walked out of her life after that and had never seen her again till today. Today Maureen sat in front of her ever so beautiful without a trace of any of that old anger towards Ron. He could make out that something was not right though. Somehow, Maureen looked pale and disconcerted. Ron asked her “What’s the matter Maureen? Why are you here?” Maureen replied with a soft voice “Remember our unborn child Ron?” Ron looked at her face bewildered unable to guess what the next words would be. Maureen continued “I had not aborted the pregnancy Ron. I had decided to keep the baby as a sign of the love we shared. I loved you a lot Ron and wanted you to father our child. But you turned your back towards me leaving me alone and never returning back my love. I was left alone Ron. You never took me back in your arms and you moved on in your life. My parents disowned me too but I raised Rick all on my own. I had no intention of meeting you again Ron. I had decided that I would not see you till you realised that you had a family who were waiting for you. The only reason I came here today was to inform you that Rick died last night hit by a car with a drunk driver behind wheels. He was 14, Ron, and he was transforming into a wonderful young man when God took him away from me rather, away from us. His funeral is to be held today and your presence will let his soul rest in peace. You may never see me again after today.” Ron was speechless. Now he realised why he was feeling so lonely, depressed and desperate for love since the morning. He had lost his son last night.

The Stalker....(Original Short Story by Soumya Darshan Mishra....that's me :-) :-) )

Lady Victoria stepped into the bathroom after a hard day's work for a refreshing shower. She had come home early that day unable to bear the merciless sun beating down upon the hot Kalahari desert. It had been 12 years since she had lost her husband after the uprising in Morocco in 1936 and it had been long since her tears had dried.

Her's had been a fairy-tale love story, with unprecedented twists and turns. She had come as a part of the American Red Cross team to help those who had been wounded in the uprising. She was then an exuberant teen, fresh out of a decent nursing school in the U.S. Trained, smart, beautiful and intelligent, she was just the type of lady every man dreamt of marrying. But then rebellious as she was, she had just broken up a loving boy friend just because she had found him too predictable and she wanted to explore what life had in store for her. The next thing she knew, she had volunteered for the relief camp at Morocco and she found herself on a small ship to Morocco amongst a hefty supply of medicines and gauge bandages. On the sultry soil of Morocco, she helped the doctors in changing bandages and doing other sundry tasks like satisfying their carnal desires. Then came Mohammed who had changed her life forever. He was a member of the Moroccan Army of Liberation who was brought to the camp wounded and barely living. Victoria nursed him as was required of her job. Somehow the person survived and stayed on in the camp for some days. Victoria sometimes caught him staring at her. Slowly Mohammed started searching for opportunities of talking to her. Victoria had initially avoided him at first but then one night under the cool Moroccan moon, they had started talking and they had slowly opened thei hearts to each other. They found they had quite a lot of things in common, their common dislike for Roosevelt's policies, their common love for tap-dancing and their common fear of rattle snakes. They even found that they had almost the same recurring nightmare of falling into a dry well although with a slight change in events! That night they felt connected and they became pretty sure that soul mates did exist on this planet. And when they kissed that night for the first time under the moon light with an owl hooting in the back ground, they knew that they were made for each other. After a few days of courtship, Mohammed proposed marriage. Although it caught Victoria by surprise or to be precise, by shock, she agreed just to give Mohammed's love a try. They hadnt divorced till the uprising was over and even after that, a fact that sometimes astonishes Victoria because when she had accepted Mohammed's proposal, she was just a casual teen with a non-chalant attitude towards life trying to experiment a marriage with a foreigner which she knew would be over before a wink. A part of her only wanted the marriage for the legitimate sex. But as she grew wiser, she had realised how mature, understanding and loving Mohammed had been. His performance on bed had definitely given a booster to their marriage though. But then Mohammed died years after their marriage on a chilly winter night, 13th of December to be precise and Victoria was heart-broken. She realised how much she missed him. They had decided not to have children, lest their love for each other was shared and the time and attention they gave each other was divided. It was then that she realised her truest love for him and she took a decision of staying on in Morocco alone in the memories of Mohammed and not marrying again. Mohammed had set up a small fruit shop with mediocre business and Victoria decided to sell fruits till she breathed her last.

But business today had not been good for her. With the competition growing and Morocco progressing, it had been getting harder for her to compete. And with a failing health, Victoria had been pressing herself to go on for some more days. She now regretted the decision of not having children. She was lonely and friendless and she sometimes felt the urge to go on waning.

That day when she was about to enter the bathroom, she immediately saw a thin, malnourished black boy staring at her from the window. Victoria was stunned. The first thought that struck her mind was that "How dare a boy hardly 12 or 13 years old do such a shameless act of peeping through the window of the bathroom of the lady around 45 years old?" He shouted at the boy but he seemed unperturbed. She quickly put on the bare necessities of clothing and immediately rushed out to confront the boy. The boy unashamed and undisturbed stood there simply staring at Victoria. On closer inspection, Victoria immediately recognised the boy. She had caught him staring at her on numerous occasions. She had seen him outside her shop, on the road, near her house and elsewhere. But they had not talked to each other.

Victoria's anger somehow dispersed and she was taken over by a sense of curiosity as to who the boy was. His eyes oddly resembled Mohammed's. Victoria called the boy inside and they got on talking. She could not still explain the dissapearance of her sudden burst of anger. As they got on talking, Victoria learnt that his name was Abubo. He was born in a small village nearby. He said he was 12 years old and was born on the 13th of December. He said he hated Roosevelt, he loved tap-dancing and he was very afraid of rattle-snakes. He also added that he had a recurring dream of falling into a dry well often. Then he said "Victoria, my love, I am here for you." Victoria fainted.

After 14 years

Have you ever met your friend after 14 years ? Think, its not commonplace.

It was 1995 when Bhola and Pooja were studying in the IVth class. Bhola had many friends with whom he used to enjoy playing cricket, share assignments and even do combined studies. When he had to interact with girls, he was quite shy which he used to hide in his aloofness. So the perception developed among girls and they began to dislike him. Bhola was unperturbed but who wanted such situation ?

Bhola was busy doing his Maths homework when the door bell rang. He used to attend people reluctantly. His mother asked him repeatedly and he went to the door. He saw and welcomed a lady. But, behind her he could see it was Pooja. Bhola's mom and Pooja's mom were childhood friends. Bhola didn't like this situation. He felt an obligation to befriend Pooja. Neither Pooja thought to make a dull friend like Bhola!

Soon, Bhola left the room and went for his study. There was a loud round of talks and laughter. He was hardly able to concentrate. His mother called him but he pretended to be busy. She told her friend(Pooja's mom) that Bhola is very shy. He's not comfortable talking to girls. Pooja and her mother went back to their home. Pooja got readied for her swimming class. The bus arrived and Bhola was there sitting at the back, away from girls. After some days, Bhola's birthday arrived. Due to his mother's insistence he had to call Pooja's family. His friends teased him and he was embarassed.

14 Years passed. Pooja graduated and presently is in the last year of her MBA. Bhola joined an IT firm after graduation. Soon, he left the job to study management at a reputed college. It was then that Bhola noticed Pooja in one of his friends' friends list in Orkut. She had her photo in the profile. He immediately recognized it and sent her the friend request.

Pooja was busy with wrapping up her studies at Mumbai. She got a notification mail regarding Bhola's request. She was so happy to see him after so many years. They had a chat today and both were sharing their experiences and memories way back in 1995. It was an amazing feeling where the mind was replenished with yesteryears' memories. Those silly mistakes like squeezing of ink on Bhola's face was compelling Pooja to apologise today. He didn't remember this incident. Though Bhola had a faint knowledge of his mental block that prevented him from interacting with Pooja. He too had a sense of guilt. Both wanted to make sure that they make up for the lost time. Lets see what happens!!

Loose Talk

15th August, 62nd aniversary of our nations tryst with destiny, has finally compelled me to write something after a long time . Gallons of water has flown under the bridge since the last time i had written something, and it was primarily due to my knack of sleeping at almost any opportunity. Also my laptop had deserted me for few days !!!!.


A wet, drizzling morning welcomed us on the independence day. Although waking at 9 am on a holiday is crime , but today it was for the nation. This is one day, when we show our gratitude, our solidarity and pay tribute to the martyrs who ensured that we are breathing in a free air today. The program organised by the college was sweet and simple following the principle of KISS ( Keep it Simple and short ). Dances were good and skit was awesome. The program aptly ended by distribution of clothes and books to the blue collared employees, which shows our committment towards the welfare of society in general.


I firmly believe that the ultimate purpose of the education is to uplift the society. Though the short term goals may be, creating a knowledge base and a skilled workforce , but education should fulfill the purpose of changing the face of the soceity by developing it. I was impressed by the book distribution as it would help them in long run. There is a famous adage " You give fish to man you feed him for a day, you teach him fishing you feed him for the life time "


Swine Flu after having its honeymoon in US and Europe finally travelled to India. Rather than being proactive we first waited for it to create some news and then act . There was a false belief that it would not affect the people of india, which was proven wrong by the rising cases and death tolls in the country. The peculiar thing about the disease is that it affects the young and schoolgoing children , which have more immunity than the compartively old people. Being a highly contagious disease , it has a potential of becoming a pandemic, and thus causing a lot of panic . Yesterday we saw people roaming with masks in a mall ( although they scared us) and also shows of movie " Kaminey" were postponed in Mumbai and Pune.


Coming to the movie, after reading good reviews we watched it yesterday. Well, this is not certainly for the mango people ( Aam Aadmi). Although a notch below Omkara, Vishal Bhardwaj Direction is wonderful on not so great a script. Shahid kapoor is improving as an actor and Priyanka's performance was really heart warming ( Now she can act Finally !! ) . But the real stars of the movie are the characters whom the director allowed to develop. Whether it is a flawless bhau !! , or corrupt cops supplying cocaine to the underworld, or a Lipsy protaganist , everybody had done justice to their roles. Watch it if you wanna see some artistic cinema , else take a stroll in mall, coz it could also be painful to watch .


Last but not the least, i am exploring the new ways of life in MBA. I was told before coming to IMT, that you have to study a lot in a MBA college. You have to live life on edge. He was partially true, life is certainly on edge here. within 24 hours i had played cicket , table tennis , counter strike and basket ball. The only thing missing is studies which i hope to do someday ( I promised to study regularly after the mid terms !!!!) . Now , the gravitational forces of my bed started to pull me towards itself and i am again retiring to the dreamworld, so till next time , bis bald , guten tag ( i also learning german too !!)

Cycle

You get what you deserve

You deserve more if you practice more

Practice makes a person perfect

Perfection is endangered if you are emotional

Emotions are difficult to check, ask any woman

Woman must be empowered and respected in relationships

Relationships with women are divine, exceptions can be there if she is your spouse

A good spouse is a matter of luck

Luck governs your future, if you insist

Insistence to persevere endures your efforts

Efforts determine the difference between two individuals

Individual accomplishes less when not working in team

Team work compensates for each others' weaknesses

Weakness is characterized by psychological inability to perform

Perform until you reach your goal

Goal is the focus to realize your dreams

Dreams are abstract until you get them

You get what............

PUSHING ONESELF....

To what extent can a person push himself???? Is it so that a person can push himself or herself to the extent his or her body permits him or her or can he actually push himself or herself beyond that???? Is the body a hurdle when one wants to push oneself???? What or who decides the limit???? Is it the mind???? Is it the psyche???? What exactly is the difference between mind and psyche???? What does one basically tame if one wants to push oneself???? The mind, the body or the psyche???? Know what....I just checked the meaning of both mind and psyche in my Word Web dictionary on my laptop and both of them mean the exact same thing....That which is responsible for one's thoughts and feelings; the seat of the faculty of reason....Now that's interesting....Why would English language promote two words for the exact same meaning???? So does it mean that if one wants to push oneself, he has to tame the seat of the faculty of reason???? So does it mean that at the time of testing your limits someone or something tries to reason out that whatever exercise you are undertaking is not suitable for you???? Now if you are trying to do something so desperately in the first place, isn't it the mind that inspires you to go for it in the first place???? Then why does it start creating hurdles once your body aches???? So then, is bodily fatigue the root cause???? And we come back to square one....Lost in the labyrinthe of life....But then, what good is life if we don't have some fun getting lost in its labyrinthe???? Isn't that something God wanted us to do???? But then how do we actually come to know what God wanted us to do???? Questions galore again and no answers....

Infant Malnutrition

The Photograph which won the Pulitzer Price was of a small kid, suffering of hunger and malnutrition crawling towards the food , and a vulture waiting behind him, waiting for him to die. Although the Photographer died due to the depression, but he had captured the gory reality of hunger and malnutrition in one of the most heart touching way.

We are reaching new heights day by day, but are we really growing as a human being !! In fact with the advance in technology we are losing touch of humanity which is the soul of our existence. In the world where the economies are in size of trillions, we are not even competent enough to provide food for the infants of our world. Where the parties galore with the sumptuous dishes, some unfortunates in world cant have 2 meals a day to survive.

If we look at the cause of the problem, one can argue that it is due to the shortage of the food grains in the world. If one even subscribe to this view, then it is itself the testimony to the height of the avarice of the human beings. Substituting cash crops for the Food grains may fill the pockets of few, but it cuts a deep hole in the skin of the mankind.

Apart from that, the granaries of leading countries of the world are overflowing with the food grains. But the selfish trade policies, arm-twisting WTO for their own monetary benefits has ensured that the food is not reaching to the needy. We recently saw a prime minister of the most powerful country of the world accusing the 3rd world countries for creating the shortage of the Food Grains.

The over ambitious zeal of few nations to become self proclaimed messiahs of humanity and justice also aggravated the situation to a large extent. The so called war of freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq deteriorated the already pain stricken life style of the citizens out there. In a Country where majority of money is spent on arm fighting, where would the money to feed infants come from. The Recent ousting of LTTE in Sri lanka would be a meaningless victory if government fails to address the humanitarian crisis over there.

We live in a world of hypocrites and lunatics. When some body sitting in a AC Room with all the facilities in the world do grave mistakes, the whole world feels the tremor of the earthquake. Banks come out with the package of billions and trillions of dollars to rescue the companies whose bosses do not really deserve to be rescued on the other hand, 67 of every 1000 children die in Zimbabwe, For many children in sudan the camps are the houses. They do not what is pizza and what is a Barista. Getting two meals a day is equivalent to enjoying a dinner at Hilton for them.
Not a tear is shed for them, not any expert write about them, not a Organisation runs conferences for them. They are left to die in the oblivion.

So what should be done. Hmm, Finding the ways to tackle this problem is not rocket Science. First and foremost, the apathy of the world towards these under privileged nations should be turned into empathy. Proper Fund allocation should be there. Organisation Like WTO and FAO should take the responsibility to provide the food grain to every mouth particularly the infants. The wastage should be reduced , a grain saved is a grain produced in the current world scenario.

The Growth and development of the world should be inclusive in nature , we can’t leave the under privileged behind and then profess to achieve the growth and development of the world. Countries Like US and other developed countries should not compromise on the fund allocations and should not shun their duties of helping the world, as the world can live without the nuclear rockets but can’t live without the bread and butter. We have to again redefine our priorities, we have to do a collective effort to save the future of the world dying untimely death, otherwise the history will never forgive us.

If we talk about the Indian context, the current government rides on the populist agenda of the inclusive growth, but it seems to be hell bent on issues like nuclear deal or economic sector reforms, where still on an average 1 person die everyday at vidarbha due to poverty, and poverty gives the way to malnutrition. Situations are still grave at kandhamal, where the hygiene conditions at refugee camps are aggravating the ill effects of malnutrition. It is the time , we should act and act decisively. There is no shortage of food grains in our food reservoirs and it’s better to distribute it to the needy rather than having rodents feast on it. For this we would need a robust and efficient public distribution system, proper identification of the needy and malnourished segments of the society and above all the undying will to make a difference.

Youth Empowerment

Being young is great. The world is at your feet. The opportunities are limitless. The mind and body are in the best of health. So what bogs us down ? Lack of knowledge! Hefty competition! Or government’s negligence!

The inexperienced youth is unsure of his ultimate goals. He does not have that courage to follow his heart. What if he goes wrong ? Citing this confusion, the youth first likes to ensure a decent job for himself. He jumps into clichéd areas of engineering, arts, medical sciences et al. Many of us must have done graduation only for the sake of it. We are not expected to follow unprecedented dreams which may propel us into a never ending struggle for existence. The case is particularly true for families with their purse strings tied.

The youth is confronted with huge competition wherever he go and whatever he choose. Just minute differences in scores decide best colleges for some lucky few. Do so many of us not possess the talent ? Certainly not. The government has not build enough good colleges to nurture the vast pool of talent. Many of the private colleges are woefully short of infrastructure. Moreover, numerous fields popping up to give specialization have not been proportionally represented. The youth is searching for a career outside.

For those who dream big, there is no provision to provide assistance in their entrepreneurship. People wait for the announcement of a new hero, rather than helping him become one. Ideas we have, but few are transformed into actions. The youth needs fillip, the politicians aren’t ready. A pathetic representation of youth in the parliament doesn’t help anyway.

It’s encouraging that increasing globalization and India’s participation has created jobs. But a vast population is still left in the lurch. We can witness the uneducated and unemployed youth becoming a puppet of selfish politicians. Brainwashed, he is eager to sacrifice his life or kill anybody to fulfill his party’s motives. The reason: he is not making a decent living. Why ? The villages of India are not equipped with good schools and teachers. A child goes to school, comes back without any learnings. When he grows up, he is rendered incompetent for graduation and ofcourse, a permanent source of income. As a result, he has no option but to search for easier path. The politicians gleefully provide temporarily, albeit satisfying their own objectives.

Considering the inability of the fund allocated to reach upto the last mile, it will be an exaggeration to hope graduate level education for one and all. Inspite of that fact, village youths can be engaged in constructive activities. They can be recruited in skill based blue collar jobs in Small and Medium Enterprises. SMEs are based out of villages which will be value for money. They must be trained by the govt. for this endeavor. These activities are already in place, but less in number. The focus seems to be dwindling.

Women, an important component of youth, has been showing promises in different fields. The special few who have made name deserve credit. But still, there is lesser sharing of responsibilities vis-à-vis men. Most of the young Indian women are housewives. They have failed to implement the knowledge attained through various specialized courses. They have explained their minds to feel happy in their spouse’ achievements. They need to be empowered by their husband. He needs to take initiative to realize his wife’s strengths. Similar is the case with young girls whose parents must come forward and encourage her to pursue her goals.

Situation is poignant in villages. There are some where girls are treated as a burden on the family. When married, they are forced to conceive child and molested if baby girl is born. The behavior is tantamount to treating her as a baby making machine. Separate awareness for education of girl child already has been a government initiative, but its not practiced in many areas.

An important facet to bring about youth empowerment is to make them believe in their strengths and then make them trust in each other’s strengths. There are many tasks which can be undertaken in a group or more specifically, a team. For example, the youth can take the responsibility of ensuring sanitation in his village. An organization can be formed and the government can award cleanliness contracts to the same. Other initiatives like awareness campaigns can be organized in collaboration with the youth. These trust based measures will indeed lit that elusive self-confidence in our village youth and inspire him to perform quality work for society.

Whenever the situations are perceived to have created losers, empowerment has reignited the path towards success. Its imperative that the ignition is sustained over a longer duration and the illnesses eradicates from the society.

A dream nevertheless!

Ritesh was back at his hometown after four months of gruelling assignment at Chennai. He had resigned from the job and was looking forward to new experience in B-school. Before he could tighten things up, it was imperative that he relax his mind during this phase of transition. He had quite a few days to gather knowledge about the course, develop some basic understanding and also, reflect on his past choices and decisions. Unable to shed the carefree spirit at home, he couldn't help watching T.V. This was also the time spent with his parents. Ritesh wasn't interested in watching daily soaps. It were reality shows which caught his attention. Given his penchant for dancing, he enjoyed dance shows the most.

It was few years ago that he first watched the video of MJ at his best. He downloaded the video and watched MJ's steps numerous times, trying to figure out the mechanics of his movements. He tried to imitate him, but was unable to match his perfection. Being shy, Ritesh used to ensure solitude before practicing his dance movements. He was wary of the humorous reactions which his steps would invoke. Yes, for him, MJ was the god of dancing.

After making a long run around the mini stadium, Ritesh went back tired. He wasn't sleeping as much as he would've liked. A spontaneous nap followed. When he woke up, there was bewilderment written all over his face. He switched on the T.V. and searched for breaking news. He had dreamt something he never expected. Why the hell that dream ? Why can't he ignore it ? Next morning, he frantically grabbed the newspaper and perused the headlines. Relieved he was, but all this fuss over a dream ?

Soon, Ritesh went to study management at a reputed B-school. In that 15 acres campus, he could learn so much. Everyday's schedule was busy to the core. Even to talk to his parents, he did not have the liberty of picking the phone. Food at Mess was healthy and hygienic. Also, two T.V. sets were installed at the Canteen. Ritesh wished he could watch according to his choice. The thought was futile considering the huge number of students. Most of the times, a news channel was watched (unanimously).

One such day, MJ's death was announced.

Army-man talks

I was on diwali vacations when my manager called me up to reschedule my plans and 'manage' an early return to work. Within a day, it was a futile exercise searching for train reservation. So I contacted a travel agent to arrange train ticket for me. Although I was annoyed with the abruption, but there was a sense of pride citing the purpose of the journey.

It was 23:30 when the train departed (as per schedule!). I wasn't feeling sleepy. Wanting to read something, I did not want to disturb others' sleep (especially if they were burping). Luckily, there was sufficient light being transmitted through the glass door. I leveraged this opportunity to solve AIMCAT question papers. There was hardly enough time to practice during work hours. The weekends were also swallowed up by the consolidation of programs at office.

Busy solving questions, I noticed a military personnel arriving with a cellphone in his hand. He greeted me and confirmed if he could charge his phone using the socket installed there. Interaction with these people is a luxury for us civilians. I thought it will be a good learning peeking into his psyche. I obliged him and then our conversation started.

"Are you a student ?", he enquired. "No, I am working at a Software Services company", I replied.

I asked him, "Are you going to Kashmir?". "Yes, Kupwara in Kashmir", he replied.

Unable to stop my inquisitiveness, I spurted "Are you in BSF ?". "Army", the one word answer deeply entrenched with pride followed.

He continued, "I am coming from North-East. Government has decided to withdraw the forces and deploy us in J&K for upcoming elections."

I tried to apply my knowledge, "There were blasts in Assam yesterday". I was confused about the exact day.

"Today", he corrected me. "Some of the local people don't want to allow immigrants from other states to settle there. It were these people who initiated the development in Assam. Now that the infrastructure is better, why should they go away ?", he queried.

I had nothing to say except, "Why is the situation not under control ?"

He expressed his frustration,"We are restrained from taking any offensive action. Sometimes, terrorists walk freely in front of us and we can't do anything. I wonder why we were recruited".

I was apalled though many would have agreed with him.

With an intention to deviate I asked, "What about the Sixth Pay Commission ?"

"We can't accept lesser salary as compared to civilians whose govt. job involve minimal risk. We have to travel extensively at such a short notice. Though we enjoy on the whole, the destinations are too strange sometimes. It involves sacrifices on the personal front. The department is refusing this month's salary in protest. Soon, we will be granted the wishes.", came a determined and assuring reply.

He retorted candidly to my questions. Really, an armyman speaks out unequivocally.

The Thing Called Life..

when i was a small kid who goes to school in half pants , my parents told me one thing that when some one asks what you want to become after growing up say ” doctor ” or ” IAS”. I learnt them by heart and used to mention these two words when anybody askes that question. As the things turned out, i became none. Then when i started growing up , and i was in class 10th the the horizon broaden a bit, and i started saying i want to do enginnering from IIT, that was not to be, and when i finished my graduation i told myself to do MBA from one of the top institutes in the country, which also vaporised today. Sometimes i feel that life teach you in a alltogether different way. They say that in life you get the things which you need , rather than things which you want!!!!!

so today again sun came out from the east, everything started normally ( yups there was some hiccups due to the unfornuate oil strike ) , but this is perhaps the chilliest morning of the winters. Almost 2 lakhs of indians were holding their breaths as one of the most hyped exam in the world, CAT was going to publish its result. If you had not witnessed such a scene you can’t get the essence of it. From the time when a person keys in the roll number and the actual result appears on the screen , heart skips many a beats. Probably because in such a large country with so much of young poulation and so little of resources , the stakes are very high for every person. For this exam people almost do prepration on the war footing, sometimes the CAT become the life for them.

so after 9′o clock results started pouring in, and when stakes are so high , you inevitably witness the whole continuum of emotions from one extreme to another. The people who got calls are ecstaic and jubiliant and rightly so this the moment of reckoning for them, but there are a few people on the other part of the spectrum also. For them also stakes were very high for the CAT, they also gave their heart and soul for the exam, but still they end short of the mark., and they are toughest to console or soothe cause you know that the pain is there and still you have to advice them to overcome the pain.

At the end of the day, its the effort which matters. If you tried your best and gave your best shot, then accept whatever result had came. At this moment i am recalling a comic strip forwared to me in mail, that some peoples were carrying a big wooden plank on their shoulders. One person whined and cried ” oh !! god please reduce the size of it so that i could carry it easily” and god agreed. After some time he again complained of the same problem and god again obliged. After some time they reached a ditch and peoples with long wooden plank crossed immediately while he was left stranded. So the vision of man is short and the vision of god is long, whatever you cant see he is seeing from the top. so, may be there is some good some where which you are not able to appreciate right now.

After all this is not the end of the life, in any case if we judge yourself , then you will still find yourself better than many peoples. There are some persons in Gaza who live life in hours, there are some in zimbabwe where u cant even get clean water to drink. There are some farmers in vidarbha, who not even get 500 a month. There are some homeless in bihar, whose homes are washed away by the kosi. We in any case , on any day are better than them and for that we should thank god all the time. When a crisis comes its very easy to loose the faith and very difficult to keep your faith going.

So for the people who made it, i wish them to come out with flying colours, those who missed the mark, take it in your stride and move forward. I wish the good of all… amen…..

Is This Love??

It was around 11:30 in night, Rafael Nadal had again secured a ruthless win on clay court, and after switching off the television, i put the earphones and tuned a FM Channel. A popular number of ‘Kismat Konnection’ was being aired having the lyrics ”is this love “…….. I was enjoying the melodious song, then suddenly i thought that is love is such a enigmatic thing, that people from time immemorial are demystifying it, still not successful. You pick up any of the epic, any religious book, any history encyclopedia and you would find plenty of love stories. Romeo-Juliet, Laila-Majnu, dushyant-shakuntla ; love had permeated across all the borders whether they are geographical aur social.

So this intriguing nature of love, which raises more questions then answers, forced me to find the answer for the futile question of the mankind , what is love ??

Well, we are living in the virtual world, where machines are slowly surpassing humans. To find every answer the first resort is google la a mythical “rambaan”. So, i typed ‘love’ in google and pressed enter. The first definition which i got was “deep, tender, ineffable feeling of affection and solicitude toward a person, such as that arising from kinship, recognition of attractive qualities, or a sense of underlying oneness.” ahem! ahem! quite heavy a definition, but revealing nothing !! Every body from a child to an octagenerarian intutively knows What is love , but it is very difficult to put in the words. But i was not ready to accept defeat so easily ….

First i asked my room mate about what is love. He recently had some bad expirience in love, and he said that there is only one pure love in universe and that is between mother and child, rest all love are not love, they are compromises in some extent. When things are going good , you will get too many love flowers bloomimg around you and in the bad times they vanish so quickly as they were never there !!!

Fair enough !! i got a genuine definition from a person, who has witnessed love closely. So i moved on to get some more prospestives. I caught hold of my other room mate who is expert in flirting with girls. I asked him the same question, do you know what is love. Hearing the question he started laughing . “there is nothing called love, the only thing is the habit” was his opinion. He said that, when we spend considerable time with a people, we start getting habitual of them, and we mistook it for love. He gave me the examples of love birds daily overloading the mobile network traffic with the intermittant calls overnight. He said that they are habituated to listening each other voice, and this is a part of their daily ritual , nothing more !!!

so 2 different person, and 2 exciting opinions. i went to my 3rd room mate, who is in love from his childhood with a girl in his neighbourhood , a bit ‘bollywod-sque” in nature. He is a very matured and sincere boy fully commited to his girl. When i asked him about the definition of love, he said that i do not know what is love, but from the time i remember i like this girl. Love is something, which gives you the energy , the warmth, the care and the feeling that i am also beloved. The desire from the mankind eternity was to be beloved !! , some got it by giving love, some try to yield power to achieve that , but the desire is always there. Love is some thing which gives meaning to your life, which becomes the reason for the things which you are doing.

Hmm, 3 room mates and 3 different definitions of love, this is what love is, every body has its own interpretations, every body looks it at its own perspective. On one hand there is bipasha basu of zism saying “yeh zism pyaar vyaar nahi janta bas janta hai to zism ki bhookh“ and on another numerous examples where the lovers given even the sacrifice of their lives for the happiness of their beloved one . Which is the correct menaing of love, hardly anybody knows.. but we live between these 2 extremas, spilling to either side in some situations.

So , love is what only love knows, its a too higher things for mortals like us. Those who had love in their life, should try to cherish and blossom that love, those who do not, try to give me love to others, this is the best presription of getting other’s affection. And for those to whom the concept of love is wiered , they should think that what is the force which had kept them binded to so many peoples in their lives. Science and Darwin could not be the answer to very question!!!