Wandering Thoughts

Coal – Opportunities and Challenges in India

2012-01-16T21:51:00.000+05:30

A research by KPMG in 2007 suggested that the rapidly growing Indian economy would require an investment of around USD 120 to 150 billion, from 2007 to 2012, in the energy sector. Research from McKinsey Global Institute reveals that the global energy needs are set to increase at a pace of around 2.2% till 2022. This is a clear indication that the energy sector would be looking for a high level of the investment. For this, however, strong private sector participation would be required to complement the public sector, set standard for performances, and bring in newer technologies. Private players have been showing interest in development of captive coal mining, oil and gas exploration. It can be deemed from their interest that they would be equally interested if the coal sector was to become an open market as well. It is also expected that once the INDO-US nuclear deal is finalised, the private players may be set to enter the nuclear sector as well.

Furthermore, there is an inclination towards market mechanism for greater transparency. This change, though, would have to be gradual seeing as already the supply is continuously lagging behind the demand. To this extent, both public sector companies as well as private players are competing abroad for energy blocks.

Opportunities also exist in the supporting energy transport infrastructure such as ports, railways, pipelines and power transmission networks. These segments need significant investment and are witnessing private participation. However, for private players to be interested in entering the sector, tariff reforms are needed to phase out subsidies and bring efficiency in the power sector. Also, the government would need to come out of its mentality to support the government enterprises over private players, regardless of the fact how sub-standard the government organizations may be performing. Thus, the government should take a back seat and not the driver’s seat and let the free market take the reins.

Coal

India is well-endowed with coal. However, 71% of its oil needs are met by crude imports. Rural India is predominantly dependent on traditional fuel sources like firewood, animal dung and biomass, estimated at around 143 Mtoe per annum or approximately 44% of total primary energy use.

The majority of India’s energy requirements are met by coal; which is largely mined in the Eastern and the Central regions of the country. In 2008-09, the total coal production in the country was around 400 - 450 MMT with major customers in the steel, power and cement sectors.

The graph shows a trend between the domestic coal production and the demand. This is an indication of how the demand is always exceeding the supply, thereby resulting in a continuous, never ending demand for the product and availability of a market ready to lap up any and all output.

Key Issues Facing the Sector

· The biggest problem facing this sector are the issues associated with land acquisition. Coal being a commodity which is found only in certain areas of the country, the locals of the area and their politicians often find themselves having a leverage with which they blackmail coal companies to agree on their terms and conditions. Government aided companies like Coal India Limited (CIL) often have to bow to these demands and this leads to inefficiencies in the mining and office operations as the people recruited under these terms are often not qualified enough and are not willing to work their dues.

· Unavailability of a proper solution to deal with fly ash generated at coal stations results in high pollution levels

· Indian coal mining is plagued with low levels of employee productivity

· With the coal sector being directly or indirectly related with the political decisions in the country, there is a huge level of interference with the operations. Good decisions are often neglected in the face of political concerns.

Some steps which can be adopted to improve the performance of Coal sector could be:

· Since majority of coal in India is mined by Coal India Limited (CIL); it is imperative that for the performance of coal sector to improve, CIL would have to improve upon its mining costs, which are way higher than those of leading coal exporters like Australia, Indonesia and South Africa.

· Mining is often done at areas which are very far away from the place of ultimate use. Hence, the produced coal has to be transported over huge distances by a variety of means and different conditions. Since India does not have that well developed Supply Chain Management system, any bottlenecks in logistic infrastructure, such as ports and railways, have huge effects in the performance of the coal sector. Hence, Indian Railways would have to make an effort to augment its capacity to ensure ease of transportation from the coal producing regions to the demand centres. Furthermore, ports would need to be developed to handle the shipping vessels of large sizes to achieve efficiencies in the transportation.

· The way to the successful future for the coal industry lies in developing newer technologies which would help increase the mining efficiencies, improve the environment friendliness of the mining operations and increase the chances for commercial exploration of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) as a source of natural gas.

The Indian Opportunity

Recognition of private investment requirements for the sector has opened up immense investment opportunities in coal and related sectors. Furthermore, with the entry of private players in the open coal market the Public players would have to acknowledge the need to improve operational efficiency. This would help decrease the operation costs of coal mining and make the existing players competitive.

Captive mining across different user industries is an immediate opportunity for private investors. Several coal fields have been identified for captive allocation. Additionally, there is a huge scope in other aspects of coal mining value chain including coal washeries, transportation and associated logistics. Yet more opportunities can be observed in the yet to be explored areas of Carbon Credits. With the millions of tonnage of coal being extracted every year and development of CBM extraction processes, the companies can gain millions per year with carbon credits.

Since coal operations are heavily depended on transportation and logistics, these segments would require extensive investment for an optimal “Coal Supply Chain”. While the Indian Railways would have to make a conscious effort to increase the load capacity of the cargo trains, they would also have to make an effort that the trains are available as per the requirements for coal transportation. Similarly, the sea ports need to be renovated as the existing ports cannot handle large consignments. There is a huge queue at the ports. Even then, there are several large sized tankers which simply cannot be served at the existing ports. This, in effect, increases the transportation costs for the importers and exporters.

Future Energy Requirements and Supply Options

Given the present growth rate of 5% in coal production, India’s extractable reserves would be exhausted in 45 years. Hence, all the more need to look at alternative options for fuels. Recently, numerous experiments have been done to retrieve Coal Bed Methane, conversion of coal to gasoline and other fuels such as those by Naphtha. There are efforts being carried out to incorporate nuclear technology in the quest to meet the growing energy requirements.

Several companies are making an effort to incorporate the renewable sources of energy such as wind and solar power. And this trend is expected to grow in the near future.

Till that time, however, there are several steps that may be taken to optimise the usage of energy, such as:

· Employ energy conserving devices for both commercial and residential purposes.

· R&D should be carried out to devise standards to reduce fuel consumption in automobiles.

· Development of Natural Gas sources and renewable energy sources for power generation

A key fact that the Government of India should remember that currently the commercial coal sector, being a public sector, is dominated by the problems often associated with Public Sector Undertakings such as lower employee productivity, overstaffing both in and out of mines, lack of incentive for people to work. One possible reason for the same could be the fact that with most of the coal mining being nationalised, there is no incentive for the people to perform beyond the bare minimum expected of them. To this extent, lesson should be learnt from telecom sector where after the entry of private players, even the public players have increased their operational efficiencies, the customer complaints have declined and the like. Once the sector is exposed to market mechanisms and private participations, the sector will witness higher efficiencies, not only because of the competitive policies but also because of the technical and R&D competence that such a step would bring.

Yet another thing that government should look into is to streamline the policy framework so that the entire coal block allocation process is facilitative for private players as well. It is imperative that the government implements these steps with sufficient political will so that these issues do not remain unaddressed. Furthermore, government also needs to take action to cut down on losses due to theft and pilferage, especially as most of the mining operations nowadays are plagued by coal mafia.

As it happens, India has amongst the largest reserves of coal in the world and the producer and consumer as well. It is an emerging market in the world and a conscious effort needs to be made that the country gets the benefits that it deserves.

References

Integrated Energy Policy, 2006
KPMG India Energy Conclave, 2007
McKinsey Quarterly, 2007 Number 1
Planning Commission of India
Preparing For Fundamental Shift In Energy, BCG
Energy and efficiency - The changing power climate, PWC 2007

Love at first sight

2011-11-24T12:01:00.001+05:30

Tim and Helen fell in love with each other the moment they saw each other. Of course they did not know it at that time. At that time they thought they hated each other’s guts.

As the two lawyers sat on the opposite sides of tables with their clients; all they could think of how they hated the very presence of other. It did not help that the couple that they were representing, Mr. and Mrs. Markham, were hell bent on fighting each other to the last penny; with the result that the lawyers were automatically at each other’s throat 24X7.

Sometimes Mrs. Markham would have a renewed interest in something that Mr. Markham was favoring such as the Mongolian vase that they bought five years ago. So she would call Helen who in turn would call Tim at one in the morning to discuss the issue. They would keep on fighting till one of them has their way. Similarly, Mr. Markham would have similar urges to lay claim over something that Mrs. Markham simply could not live without such as their black Labrador. So Tim would call Helen in the middle of her yoga sessions and have one of their spontaneous shouting matches, known for their ferociousness and tenacity.

Their next meeting was not in even such amicable circumstances, if there could be something even worse than that. They were in a car accident. I don’t mean a car accident case. But a live car accident of their own! Well, to call it an accident would be an exaggeration as Helen’s car had just bumped into Tim’s. No dent or anything but a minor scratch that wasn’t, under other circumstances, even worth mentioning but they just couldn’t let go of the opportunity to be at each other’s throat. Thankfully, an elderly gentleman passing by interfered to bring peace to the two or else I am sure there would have been a homicide case to boot.

The next time they met, the circumstances were a bit more docile. They were involved in the divorce of the sweetest couple they knew in their entire career. There were some minor differences amongst Mr. and Mrs. Raina on which they were not adjusting with each other. A bit of adjustment was all that was needed to get this marriage working. Otherwise, they were a perfect match for each other. Not only in terms of qualifications; but their temper and affability to all resembled. At times they were opposite to each other but as they say “Opposites attract”. That was certainly true in their case. As it happened, the way they ran things was exactly opposite to the Malkani couple. One day, Mrs. Raina was going through her collection of CDs when she started to sob suddenly. When Helen enquired as to the cause, she saw a Bob Dylan track which was Mr. Raina’s favorite. Similarly Mr. Raina could not contain his emotions while looking at the dummy bison trophy that they had gotten from their trip to South Africa.

It was then that Tim and Helen decided to join forces, as difficult as it was for them to acknowledge each other without sneers or snorts, to get the couple together.

The day that the Rainas decided to forego the idea of divorce was a momentous occasion for the two lawyers and they made an exception to have a gala celebration with just the two of them at the grand central hotel. Each made a vow that this was to be a one off exception and that they would be loathe working on the same side again in the future. Except that it wasn’t and they weren’t.

Another year or so passed before the two met each other. And it wasn’t in one of their usual spots vis the corridors or courtroom or bar rooms or in library conducting research or in a Constabulary supporting their “victim”. It was at an art gallery, of all places. Incidentally the two of them were invited by a common friend, which they didn’t think would exist but did. Not knowing any soul other than each other, and being the least bit interested in art, they decided to pass the evening by chatting with each other. It was at the chat that they realized that the two of them shared more than a common art friend and a profession. They both loved hard rock and despised Justin Bieber. Both were a diehard fan of continental cuisine, loved travelling and going on adventure sports. There were traits in which they were as opposite as they could be. But more often than not, they were like a purrfect match for each other. The two of them could feel a growing sense of elation at having found someone so similar to their own selves. But even now was not the time that decided to get together. Although, after the “Art Gallery Incident”, as they fondly used to call that evening, they began to going out more often. They decided to keep it casual. They would go out for a lunch, for couple dinner dates and so on. Though, after some time Helen started to became restless as she was genuinely beginning to like Tim a lot and wanted to take the relation to the next level but was getting exasperated that Tim wasn’t picking the hints she was throwing for becoming more than just “Friends”. He, she felt, was more than happy with the casual relation that they were maintaining.

Then one night changed it all.

It was a wonderfully clear night. Perfect for an outing. That night they set a dinner date at a fancy new Italian diner in their vicinity. They ordered foie-de-gras and sparkling white wine. They started to talk on a wide variety of topics, pending cases, new amendments, friends, family etc… until they came to the section on future. It was then that Tim dropped the bomb on Helen.

You know what? It was a good thing that we decided to keep things casual. It gave me enough time to explore various opportunities. I think I might have now found my true one.

Uhmm… said a shocked Helen.

In fact, I think I will propose to her soon. And I think I will do it in a slightly different way. People give rings in proposals. I would like to give her a pendant or something. That would be amazing, wouldn’t it?

Yes. That would be swell!

Rest of the evening passed without any further mention of the proposal and that night, for the first time in years, Helen cried her heart out. Then she resolved, she would be absolutely supporting of whosoever Tim chooses and never reveal her emotions to him.

Another week passed before she heard from Tim again. He called her up on Saturday evening to fix up a dinner date. He had some exciting news to share with her, he said. Bracing herself she went to the dinner.

I kind of told her that I am planning to propose!

That is wonderful news. How did she react?

I…I… I haven’t told her in exact words as yet. Just dropped some hints. I am planning to propose to her with this locket. Do look at it and tell me how is it?

He gave her the heart shaped locket. It has T and H etched on the surface in beautiful calligraphy. Sighing, she turned it around to see another carved on the back with the inscription “Love you Always”.

Open it. Said an excited Tim.

She opened the locket to see a small cutout of Tim’s face wedged on one of the sides.

She almost dropped the locket when she looked at the other side to see a small, heart shaped mirror showing her reflection.

Confused, she looked up to Tim… Only to find him on his knees!

“Wow granny! That is such a wonderful story” exclaimed the ten year Naira. “Did you know the couple very well”? “Well you can say that they were very very close friends” replied grandma, fingering the golden locket with the initials T & H on the front and a small heart on the back.

PS: Apologies for such a long gap between the posts but had so much to do that I couldnt find any time for the posts...

PPS: This post marks the completion of my 101 posts... yipppeee!!!

PPS: The rest of the Johannesburg/South Afria diaries will follow soon!

Johannesburg Diary – 1

2011-10-06T10:07:00.000+05:30

As a part of a project, I was required to go to Johannesburg. Being in the line of profession that I am, traveling is an inevitable part of the job. I loved to have this opportunity to visit the country.

Hence I thought of putting a brief travelogue for the trip. This would be a series of posts in which I will describe some of the focal points of my journey. If, in the process, it helps some souls; all the better for me!

So here it goes… ‘Johannesburg Diary – 1’

We left India on a Sunday. Our flight schedule was arranged in such a way that we would reach J’burg on the same day (as per local time). Our total travel time was 13.5 hours; with in flight time of around 11.5 hours.

We had a brief stopover in Dubai. While landing in Dubai, I switched on my in flight camera and watched it for a couple of minutes prior to the landing. A lot of ‘deserty’ vastness. The inside of the airport was, though, a different thing altogether. The Dubai airport is huge in size with a lot many departure gates. So a lot of walking area! And all the major brands have a presence in the airport. All the major food icons, fashion icons and not to mention those in-numerous jewelery shops; all that made The Dubai airport a big shopping mall with an in-built airport. :D

The stopover being a brief one, I did not get a chance to stop and have a closer look and feel of the things. So my plan is on my return trip, I will try and make an extended stopover to enjoy the airport even more.

The we sat for an arduous flight of around 9 hours; after which we landed in the OR Tambo airport in J’burg, SA . One thing which struck me was the wide and bold combination of colors they have used in the airport and even on their own self. More about that later.

So we had booked a hotel for the night before traveling to our next destinations, a town around 120 odd kilometers outside J’burg by the name of Secunda. We had a hotel booking there but we would leave in the morning as we were advised against traveling in the middle of the night anywhere in SA. Again, more on that later.

Our first stop in SA was at ‘City Lodge Hotel’ at the airport. Despite being aware of the fact that the hotel was remarkably close to the airport; being unfamiliar, we had booked a cab driver to take us to the hotel.

Unfortunately, the driver didn’t turn up. So we were uncertain as to what to do next. Fortunately for us, a very helpful airport employee took us to the hotel; which turned out to in the same building structure as the airport itself. That close!

So we stayed in the hotel for the night, enjoyed a nice buffet in the morning and set off to Secunda in the morning for our next destination – Graceland Casino and Hotel. Boy! This was looking like a fun trip already!

Anna Hazare - A beacon of hope or A mirage of desperation?

2011-08-25T22:26:00.000+05:30

In light of recent events, with Anna 'ji' Hazare fasting unto death (I hope not!); I started googling to get a view on what the blogosphere thinks about the God Man.

Following are some of the snippets of the articles which I got from the net and their links have been provided alongside for purview of the complete article.

1) A Request to Anna Hazare from a Corrupt Indian

As a Corrupt Indian, who has got Driving License, Passport, Registered sale deeds, Registered FIRs with police for accident insurance etc, I make this request to Anna Hazare.

Sir, Look around you. Every one around you is corrupt or have been tolerant of corrupton in their own way. Don't fast unto death for creating one more institution, one more policeman. We cannot keep monitoring ourselves. Our institutions need to be transparent and people need to be honest to some extent. That's the only way we can fight corruption. Let's all fight for it.

2) Anna Hazare – An Indian Hitler Or Don Quixote?

If Cervantes, the Spanish author who created Don Quixote four hundred years ago visits India today, he would be amused to see the ruckus being created by Anna Hazare. However, he will be aghast how his character could go out of control and create the current mass hysteria sweeping the Indian continent, unless he digs up why Adolph Hitler could whip up something similar in the pre war Germany.

3) Why Anna Hazare Is Not India’s Arab Spring

If the government gives way on the ambit of the anticorruption bill, chances are Hazare will, too, and his planned hunger strike that is the focal point for the marching thousands will not proceed. It is all significant, to be sure, but these are not demands or differences that are going to change how most people in India are governed, regardless of how it turns out. Whether Hazare or the government prevails, the result should still be a positive for the transparency of Indian democracy though perhaps with a slight difference of degree.

4) Why I’d rather be Anna than Arundhati

There was an article in The Hindu today by Arundhati against the movement for Janlokpal, she’s eloquent as usual, and she misses the point, pretty much as usual. In this article I am trying to talk about the points she raised and hopefully when we are done we might have a broader perspective of this movement than what Arundhati has projected.

Arundhati’s most important gripe seems to be that the people in the movement are raising slogans like – (a) Vande Mataram (b) Bharat Mata ki jai (c) India is Anna, Anna is India (d) Jai Hindi. Would she prefer if they said (a) India Hai Hai (b) Indian govt murdabad (c) Jeeve-jeeve Pakistan, when they come out on the streets to demand that the Indian government creates a better system for our people?

5) Why Some Are Not Anna

If there is anyone in today’s India that would receive more scorn than the pedophile and the baby-murderer, it is he who does not provide the fullest support to Anna Hazare and his Jan Lok Pal campaign. So much as express a smidgen of doubt about the “Second Independence Struggle” and be prepared to be digitally and socially mauled, unfriended, unfollowed, drawn, quartered and subject to death by a thousand cuts. “Congress agent” “Traitor” “Jealous of Anna Hazare’s success” “I cannot believe you are the same person I once respected” and “What have you done for the country? I am bunking work and sending SMS and have you done that?” are just some of the more polite responses you should expect to encounter should you not be a member of “100000 Indians in support of Anna Hazare”. This invective is ironic considering that Team Anna and its supporters, being so zealously possessive of their rights of dissent (and rightfully too), would be expected to give others the right to disagree without making them run the gauntlet.

PS: I will keep on updating this post as and when I get newer ideas or images on the topic.

Free? To do what exactly?

2011-08-15T12:28:00.003+05:30

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 23; the twenty-third edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. The theme for this month is FREE.

Free to do what exactly???

PS: Found this really awesome strip... Have a look:

Images Courtesy: unbelievablepainting.blogspot, buzzpicturez. wordpress, Youth for Equality, scrapetv.com, asset2.learnhub.com, msmagazine.com, lilithgallery.com, xkcd.com

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. Happy Independence Day!

India @ 65!

2011-08-14T12:02:00.001+05:30

India turns 65 tomorrow!

Got these pretty neat post from yahoo which I am sharing here. Original can be found here and here!

Images/Data Courtesy: facts.randomhistory.com, www.cia.gov, sree.teck.in, www.neoncarrot.co.uk, www.indif.com, www.real-factsabout-india.com, www.indiafolks.com, www.pratheep.com, www.economist.com, in.news.yahoo.com

Revenge

2011-07-22T20:20:00.000+05:30

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 22; the twenty-second edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

The moment she saw him, she was overwhelmed with all the old emotions that she had been trying to suppress for years now. She began to feel sick to the stomach and could not help feeling short breathed. She could immediately remember each and every detail just like it was yesterday.

Some 12 odd years back, when she had just entered her first year of graduation. Belonging to a small town in the eastern UP, the big city of Mumbai was like a dream to her. She could not believe that she was able to convince her parents to let her go to such a big city. Her parents, while not very rich themselves, were not exactly poor. They had a sizable amount of agricultural land and led a comfortable life with all modern amenities. Even then, it was a task for her to convince her parents to let her pursue her dream of higher education.

So the first day of the college came and boy! Was she excited? She went to college and began regular studies. Very soon she was able to establish a close group of friends. Of course, being in Mumbai, very soon they started going out for various parties; some even extending to the early hours of the morning. Despite all the partying, boozing going on around her; she used to maintain that humble air around her which most people took her as being shy.

It was at one of these parties that she met Vikas. There was an instant connection between the two and she felt that she could easily talk to him. He seemed to be a nice guy. That is until the midnight of 14th Feb, 1999.

As her friendship with Vikas developed, they started going out more often. But she was still hesitant about anything further because of her small town, cautious upbringing. And she discussed this with Vikas as well, who said that he was fine with this. But apparently he was not. After the V-Day party, he took her for a midnight drive. Being unfamiliar with the city landscape; she did not know the area well. Vikas stopped the car at a lonely place and forced himself on her. Tried as she might, she could not get herself away from his clutches. She was shattered after the incident while Vikas absconded from the city. And she could not even create too much ruckus about it else her parent would have cut short her studies and that would have been the end of her career, much before it even began. So she kept the things to pretty much herself and maintained a low profile for the rest of the time.

But that was the day which scarred her life forever. That day was the reason that she pushed herself so hard that she would not have time for anything else in life. That day was the reason that despite all the psychological counseling she still needed sleeping pills every night.

And all those memories flooded her as she came face to face with Vikas on her flight from HongKong to Sydney with her feet still aching in her Jimmy Choo stilettos and the LV bag refusing to stay in position. So, she purposely dropped her purse in Vikas’ lap to let him establish the connection. But all she got was a smile in return. Bloody man didn’t even have the courtesy to hand her bag back to her. Absolutely no trace of recognition! How could it be that while that one incident has scarred her so badly; Vikas seems to have forgotten her completely?

“That could not be right” thought she. And it was then that she saw him sipping scotch and a plan began to form in her mind. She requested the air hostess to switch her seat to one next to Vikas.

L: Hi! I am Liz. What’s your name?
V: Hey! This is Vikas. So what do you do Liz?
L: I am a director with a multinational entertainment giant. I handle a lot of fortune 10 clients and their advertisement campaigns.
V: Hmmm… that sounds interesting. I am into an NGO for social welfare of poor and illiterate women. Teaching them how to read and right, among other skills.
L: Wow that is so cool…

And the conversation continued so on for next hour or so with more drinks being ordered. Being a teetotaler, she did not drink but ensured that Vikas had plenty of it. When, after another hour or so, she was sure that he had stopped moving, she pulled a nightcap on his eyes, switched off the lights and whispered to the air-hostess “Poor guy… dead tired… Please ensure that nobody disturbs him till the flight reaches Atlanta… not even in the stopover at Sydney”.

She de-boarded at Sydney and went to the luggage section to pick her baggage. Where she was standing, a boy was asking his mother “Mom please help me with 6-Down. A seven letter word. Best served cold.” “I don’t know honey… please let mama check the baggage out”.

“Revenge” offered Liz “Revenge is a dish best served cold!”

"Thanks ma’m” said the boy.

Liz walked away with a new spring in her steps, stopping just long enough at a waste-bin around the corner to throw away the freshly emptied strip of sleeping pills…

Images Courtesy: thefarpoint.org, blog.30dollardatenight.com, chinatownconnection.com

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective postshere. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton. can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

You are a workaholic if...

2011-07-14T23:07:00.001+05:30

1. The only way for you to remember birthdays and anniversaries is through your outlook calendar

2. You are trapped in a kidnapped flight on way to Afghanistan and having been safely rescued, the first thing you do on getting a network signal is checking your mail.

3.You make a ten page flowchart, and cross reference each node, to prove that Harry Potter universe just cannot exist.

4. You consume less food/water because that would mean wasting time going to loo!

5. You feel irritated that laptops are not allowed in movie halls.

6. You can’t remember the last social function that you attended.

7. You wore a faded shirt to the seventy fifth anniversary of your parents

whereas you regularly get new suits tailored only for office wear.

8. All your relatives and friends have forgotten your name and refer to you as ‘That Guy’.

9. You feel that hobbies are something which are done when one has spare time.

10. The only time you've had off in the last three years was to attend your favorite uncle's funeral.

11. You let the janitors out of the office before the start of the working hours and let them in after everyone has gone home.

12. You have used “This is the last time I am working so late” at least three times last week.

13. You cannot understand why people around you seem much more interested in talking among themselves instead of listening to you telling them about your new job.

14. You tried your best to reschedule wife’s delivery to facilitate your client deliverable.

15. You slept off the joyride.

16. You wonder why you cannot sleep and eat at the same time.

18. You bought a Bluetooth headset so that you carry on a meeting while being on the call.

19. You feel guilty when not working or doing something fun.

20. Your idea of a family reunion is arranging a videoconferencing on skype for all the members.

21. You actually went to a bookshop to search the very much talked about ‘Face’Book.

22. Your playlist has not been updated for last 10 years.

23. You bought an I-Pad for situations where you can’t work on laptops.

24. You tend to send meeting appointments and subsequent reminders for lunch date with your wife.

25. You feel Baba Ramdev is a waste of time and 15 minutes of power nap can solve all the ailments and bring world peace.

26. You actually have a spare sleeping bag and change of clothes in your office.

27. You did not see that number 17 is missing.

28. Now you scrolled back to check and are now smiling :D

Images Courtesy: ba6alah.wordpress.com, wildwomanfundraising.com, careerwatch.wordpress.com, sleepzine.com.

PS: I know #27 & #28 have been done a number of times earlier but this being my first list based post, I could not resist it!

Book Review: Darke – Book 6 of the Septimus Heap series

2011-07-08T13:17:00.000+05:30

Caution: Spoilers ahead!

Having read the first five books of the series earnestly, it was for quite some time that I had been waiting for Darke to come out.

I wouldn’t say that the long wait was a wasted effort; though the book fell short of expectations. At least in my case.

To give a brief background of the storyline; the main protagonist of the story is Septimus Heap. The series follows the adventures of Septimus Heap who, as a seventh son of a seventh son, is supposed to, and partly does, have extraordinary magical powers. After he becomes an apprentice to the arch ("ExtraOrdinary") wizard of the series, Marcia Overstrand, he must study for seven years and a day until his apprenticeship ends. In the first book, he is known as Young Army Expendable Boy 412, until his great-aunt, Zelda Zanuba Heap reveals his true identity. His adventures are placed in the context of the warmth and strength of his family, and developed alongside those of Jenna, his adoptive sister, who is heir to the throne of the Castle, the community where they live. The novels, set in an elaborate fantastic world, describe the many challenges that Septimus and his friends must overcome. (Courtesy Wikipedia)

There are six books in the series: Magyk, Flyte, Physic, Queste, Syren and the latest Darke; in that order.

Now to the latest book.

In this volume, Merrin Meredith, apprentice to necromancer Domdaniel and now wearing his two faced ring has decided upon himself to setup a Darke Domaine in the castle and overcome even the Wizard Tower, with the help of his faithful THINGS. This Darke Domaine grows outward from the palace and is now threatening to overwhelm the entire city. Septimus is worried about his Darke Week where he must encounter the Darke and successfully avoid being lost in it. Unfortunately, the ghost of Ex-extraordinary Wizard, Alther Mella, has been banished Marcia Overstrand, the current Extraordinary Wizard, in a mistake and is not present to help. On the other hand is Princess Jenna in a tiff with the Port Witch coven. Beetle, on the other hand, involved in the entire charade in more than one ways: Having a crush on Jenna, past association with Manuscriptorium, association with Marcia etc.

Positives of the book:

The character of Beetle has been developed a lot with a good ending for him, for a change.
Since both Jenna and Septimus are coming of age, 14 years, in this volume; they both are coming to terms with the expectations that they have to fulfill – Jenna as the queen to be and Septimus as the possible candidate for Extraordinary wizard.

Negatives of the book:

While a lot of talk and impression were given as to Septimus having to go into Darke Halls to retrieve Alther, that bit went off fairly quickly and I felt that it could have been developed on at all. Especially since it seemed that visiting Darke Halls was all the more urgent for the removal of Darke Domaine.
More than usual detailing on Darke Domaine; at times felt it to be too lengthy and kept on going on and on.
At times Jenna and Septimus seemed a bit more childish. But I guess that can be explained as being a part of adolescence.
I was kind of looking forward to see more of Syrah and Jim Knee but they both were absent throughout.

A very surprising element was when Marcellus did something which I would have never expected him to do. That was a real nice bit.

Though, all in all a nice read and I will give it a 3.5 out of 5 rating.

The ingenuity that is IIPM

2011-06-26T14:44:00.000+05:30

Let’s cut to the chase. We have all heard all sorts of stuff about IIPM, haven’t we?

I was reading through the various posts that I have subscribed to and came across a piece on IIPM written by my batch mate. The post can be read here.

That post got me to search a bit more on the topic, and by topic I mean IIPM, and by IIPM I mean Planman, and by Planman I mean Arindam Chaudhary because it’s not like they are different entities.

See that’s the beauty of it. On the face of it, it may seem like so many different entities. But it all boils down to the one and only stakeholder of that system: Arindam Chaudhary.

So, courtesy Google baba, I started surfing for the various forums and blogs with active discussions going on about IIPM. What I read astonished me, really! I was aware of some of the things but have never kept track of it all and it seems like so many things have been happening in IIPM’s context.

Some of my observations:

I am not sure about the actual education imparted to students, but looking at how vehemently they oppose anything showing IIPM in even the slightly negative light; I am bound to feel that either they are paid to be so or IIPM is a bigger cult that KKK or Masons etc ever were. Fanatic zealotry was the word which came to my mind, and which I do realize maybe redundant exaggeration but that’s what my first impression was.
Why is it that despite there being so much people are accusing an institution of and so much activity going on; the government or the education ministry has not taken a strict enough action against the concerned person.
While we are talking about Lokpal Bill in general, I feel that IIPM deserves a dedicated ombudsman of its own!

And despite all that is visible, or rather not visible but claimed in the advertisements, the institute has the audacity to sue Caravan Magazine, Penguin Publishers and Google for Rs. 50 crore for damaging its “repute”.

Do read the following post at Jam Mag which started all the brouhaha on IIPM. Though the post has been long removed from its original, rightful place; there still are soft copies available (Courtesy Google dev)

A useless observation, search IIPM on Google. Apart from the innumerous IIPM and branches and subsidiary and sister concern’s sites, not a good word anywhere!

Some of the very good articles that I read on IIPM and are a must read for everyone are:

Sweet Smell of Success: True Story of Arindam Chaudhury

IIPM – Best only in claims

The IIPM Blog Wars: We are with you Gaurav

The fraud that is IIPM

Wikipedia articles IIPM (Look at the controversy segment) and IIPM Controversy

Images Courtesy: jobsearchingblog.com, iipm-india.info

Disclaimer:

Some people are trigger friendly. IIPM, on the other hand, is sue friendly. Hence, whatever I have written is of my own volition and my own viewpoint. Nobody else is responsible for it.

PS: I am not writing anything about the special "connection" that IIPM shares with IIM because an IIM being my alma mater, I feel that it might seem a bit biased. Rest assured, there are several standing jokes, not only at IIMs but at all other institutes with regards to IIPM; none of which I dare mention here because of the facts mentioned in the above paragraph :)

A colorless life!

2011-06-17T15:44:00.001+05:30

Sunder is your average 7 year old kid. He lives with his parents. His parent migrated from Munger district of Bihar to Delhi more than 10 years back. They wanted to live the great Delhi dream of earning more than just their bread and butter. He has two siblings, a 12 year old elder brother and a 2 year old sister. Like all the kids of his age, he doesn’t want to study. All he wants to do is to roam around in Delhi, from this street to that street, sampling different kind of foods, playing different sports etc.

Except that in his case, he doesn’t have an option to study since his parents do not have enough money.

Sunder lives with his parents on the pavement around the roundabout in front of Jaypee hotel. They get all their postal and other communication delivered at pillar number 237, opposite Jaypee hotel; on the Dwarka – Noida metro line.

He roams from this red light to the next red light, at times even chasing a sympathetic looking lady in the car; hoping that this excursion might end up with him being a rupee or two richer.

He gets a different takeaway order every day, as they have to beg a different food stall owners for previous day’s leftovers.

In the name of clothing, all Sunder has a two shirts, which are by now so ragged that it is difficult to decide what color they originally had been. He has three pajamas which he wears in rotations, just so that he gets a feel of wearing something different than the usual stuff; though for all it matter, they are as different from other as a grain of rice in a pile. Though, he has a special set of clothes for some special occasions. A shirt, without holes, which might have been navy blue once upon a time but now is a faded blue with the face in beard in cap just barely visible. His trouser hangs only an inch above the ankles and can still be recognized a denim style.

What color do they have in their life, I wonder? If it were in my power, I would like to bring more color and joy to their lives; and not just the crimson color of their blood when they are hit by a runaway vehicle which crushes them in their sleep.

Image courtesy: wakasmir.com, cribb.in

PS: Do visit HP Laserjet site

The other day

2011-06-11T15:10:00.000+05:30

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 21; the twenty-first edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

For this narrative, I am trying a little trick that I picked from one of Jeffrey archer’s short stories.

I will try and narrate a day in two different ways, how the things would have been different were one thing or the other turned out differently.

Janu didn’t want to wake up from his sleep. It wasn’t that he was feeling sleepy or anything. How could one with four others lying on a single cot in the hot and humid climate of Delhi, with nothing but the sky as a cover over their heads.

No. he did not want to wake up because of the tedious day which he knew was lying ahead of him. All he wanted to do was to keep on lying on the cot and not having to beg on the streets for once. But if that is going to fill his belly, then begging he would have to do. It’s not like he had any other option. At 7 years of age, there aren’t many employment opportunities for him. Well come to that, post recession not many opportunities for anyone. And having been separated from his family since that unfortunate incident 2 years ago hasn’t exactly turned the things in his favor either. How he longed for the day when he would be back with his family, or at least free of all the troubles and be able to have a normal life.

The other children in Janu’s group had similar background as him. All separated from their families at different ages, and for different durations. With parents who half of the time couldn’t care if one of their litter was lost or at the other times didn’t have necessary resources to search for their child. One thing was common in all of them. None of them, in their wildest dreams, could ever imagine getting back together with their family. Such was the plight of their being, having lost all hopes of ever reconciling with their brethren.

Today, the bhaiyya managing his group of 10 children came early to the shelter, if you can call two cots under the New Delhi station bridge a shelter. Not that he used to come daily, anyways. Bhaiyya ji generally did not come that early to the shelter. He used to come to the shelter on a weekly or a fortnightly basis to collect his share of the “collections”. Even when he used to come, it would be in the evening and in time for his “Get Togethers”.

So when Bhaiyya ji came to the shelter that morning, everybody was a bit surprised but so much used to him that they didn’t expect a lot different than the usual. But little did Janu know that things were about to change for him.

Bhaiyya ji announced that there was to be a rally at India Gate and that he needed a couple of children to take with him for begging and some low level pick pocketing if need be. This would also be a treat for the selected kids as it would mean a higher collection, equaling higher personal share as well as chance to scrounge on a whole lot of leftovers of the various kinds.

Janu was the first to think of volunteering and for the first time, felt that being young of age helped him somewhere as people were still bound to give him alms as compared to other grown up kids.

Now the two ways to proceed forward in this story are Gates of Hell and Heavenly Bliss, in that order.

Gates of Hell

Janu was so sure that Bhaiyya ji would pick him from the crowd. Bhaiyya ji, on the other hand, had different thoughts. He picked up two teenage kids who, due to malnourishment, looked younger than their age.

“I too would like to go” piped up Janu before he could stop himself, not that he really wanted to stop anyways. He was sick of being in this shelter or the New Delhi Station. Sick of all the sweat and abuses from people hurrying to their destination. He wanted a respite for a day. This, however, did not go down well with either Bhaiyya ji or his fellow mates, who looked as if they could kill him.

“So we have an outspoken one amongst us” chided Bhaiyya ji. “Perhaps some other time, but not today. Meanwhile I hope that you all can teach him a manner or two about addressing elders or you all would have had it.”

Moments after he left, all the rest of the kids gathered around Janu and began to beat him blue and black for bringing them so close to facing the wrath of Bhaiyya ji. Once done, everybody left him to nurse to his injuries and went off for breakfast. Every movement was a pain for him and he was not able to see from an eye. Not willing to take a chance of standing up and then falling down, Janu decided to keep on lying down till his body got partially used to the aches.

When, finally, he felt like being able to move, he went to to the eating area only to find that no breakfast was left for him by the others. Cursing his luck, he set towards his begging spot lest someone should take that too away from him.

Fortunately, or not so much, such was not the case and his spot near the red light was available for him. And so he began his day of begging the young and old, women and men, people in big cars and in small cars for whatever amount of alms. This being Monday was a normal day, unlike Saturday when he would be expected to wear black costume and carry a small pail with some oil in it. Or on Tuesday with Saffron attire and a plate with Lord Hanuman photo and incense stick.

So he sat on the corner when a white van with dark mirrors stopped on the red light. He made nothing of the van or anything. Suddenly, as the light turned green, two hands shot out of the van and pulled him inside. Before anyone around had any chance to react to the sudden development, the van was gone taking Janu with him; never to be seen in that area ever again.

A week later, an unidentified dead body of a boy was found dumped near old Yamuna Bridge. The boy was approximated to be around 7 – 8 years of age and had multiple bruises on his body with his rectum torn open, suggesting gross sexual acts committed to the boy.

And to think, it was the thought that some other day might be luckier for him; which used to keep him going.

Heavenly Bliss

Just as he had hoped, Bhaiyya ji picked the two youngest kids in the group, which of course included Janu. He felt the happiest that he has been in days.

Hopping in the back of a van with Bhaiyya ji, Janu and Kartik began to count their blessings and wonder what they would do with whatever extra money they are left with in the evening and what all would they see at India Gate. They had never had the chance to be away from their shelter or Station.

As it happened, the rally at India gate turned out to be a baba teaching his followers the best techniques to exercise in the ancient Hindu manner and how to cleanse the body of all that acts as a contaminant. While baba was not even the main event for Janu, it was the horde of people milling around to get a good look at baba, so that they can tell their friends that they met The Baba, without actually having to exercise. Even the weather was helping them out with the usual scorching sun replaced with slightly cloudy skies and fair wind blowing across the place. That alone made being out in the open more bearable than he could have hoped for.

With so many people around baba and his entourage, not to mention all the families out there, Janu soon realized more returns than he had ever been able to. To add to the bonus, there were several vendors around offering a wide variety of snacking options to families. It was more than a feast for Janu and Kartik as a lot of families were buying a lot of stuff but not being able to consume all of it, would pass them on to the loiterers. Once, he was even able to convince a memsahib to get him a packet of those fancy chips that are shown on the TV. An aunty also gave him a small car that her toddler was refusing to play with. The highlight of the day, however, for Janu was when he stumbled across a 5 rupees coin lying on the lawn. He decided to keep that a secret for himself and not having to share it with Bhaiyya ji. What a wonderful day this has turned out to be! He got to have loads of collections, food different from the regular daal roti and a return gift of a 5 rupee coin.

All those thoughts about a lucky day, this, he thought, must be it!

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

An open letter to a suicidal friend

2011-06-05T11:13:00.000+05:30

I read the following article in HT Brunch today and found it worth sharing...

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To me, my problems are the worst in the world. Here's why I'll still not call it quits

Dear M, Relax, I'm not going to write about who you are and what you wrote in your e-mail to me. In fact, I'm not even going to talk about your life or about the problems that are making you feel like ending it. I'll talk about my life, if that's fine with you. When I got your mail, I wrote back that you're seeking advice from the wrong person.

This column deals with day-today stresses, by looking at the lighter side of life. And in this hay time for Babas, much as I would love to grab this opportunity to turn into a spiritual guru, I am neither qualified nor capable of advising someone on serious matters involving life and death.

But while I hope you benefit from my suggestion to seek immediate help from a professional counsellor, I still thought of letting you know that you aren't alone.

I, and surely many of those reading this right now, would have, at some point in life, got so fed up of problems that we'd thrown up our hands in the air and said things like `what's the use of such a life?' Some of us have had troubled childhood or super-stressed student life with unrealistic expectations. Some have witnessed domestic abuse to the extent that Karan Johar's `happy family' movies seem like mean, teaser, fairy tales. Some want to die because they are not getting married... some because they have got married. And some are in real bad physical pain...

and so on. But still we are all here, crowding out the earth and adding to the population explosion. Here's the thing. I don't know about your problems... to me, my problems seem like the worst. And still I won't end my life. Here's why you shouldn't, either.

No matter how bad my problems are, I could still look around and always find someone who envies me. I know the mission suicide gang doesn't agree with this. But it's true, nonetheless. Compare bad marks with having no opportunity to study, or parents who fight, with having no parents at all... or not being able to marry the girl of your choice with someone who is banging his head on the wall because he did... (all girlfriends turn into monster wives! Now, I'm dead). If you are further deep in pits, just think of someone in an impoverished, faraway village who'll happily agree to be in your shoes, just to be able to have food. Suddenly, your mother-inlaw saying bitchy things about you doesn't seem like a good enough to reason to die, isn't it?
No matter how unwanted I may feel at times, someone somewhere will surely be at a loss if I die. Even if it is the 10-year-old on the traffic signal, whose name I don't know, but he knows that everyday he's able to sell me packs of pencils I don't even need by just smiling and saying `please'. Unknowingly, each one of us is a part of someone else's life. It's an interconnected chain... and therefore it can't be our arbitrary decision to willy-nilly snap a link. We are not allowed to be that selfish.
And finally, no matter how strong my resolve may be to end-it-all, what's the rush? I don't want to go without knowing what God may have in store for my future. And these astrologers are bad, they just don't tell me. So, I won't go. Maybe by some stroke of magic, my misery is anyway destined to end a month from now. Maybe I'm destined to be the next superstar (okay, fine. It was just an example, you don't have to shake your head that vigorously). How can we be in such hurry to opt for the unknown without waiting a little bit more to see what unfolds here? And who knows, maybe life's even harder up there, and you may find yourself in some remote corner of hell with no food... or facebook. It's irreversible, silly, put those sleeping pills aside. They anyway cause indigestion.

M my friend, don't think I'm making light of your situation. I can only try to imagine what you are going through. And I'm sure it's very, very tough. But, my only point is that we're all living through our respective hells in life, and we've kinda got used to it. I'm not sure if it'll be a good idea to try and trade it for yet another unknown hell. It may just be worse. Just wait it out, things have to get better. Suicide is not the last resort....it's just not an option... at all.

Sonal Kalra is firm that after the deeply spiritual write-up above, she's set to give serious competition to Baba Ramdev. If only she could go hungry. Mail your calmness tricks to sonal.kalra@hindustantimes.com. Follow Sonal Kalra on twitter at twitter.com/sonalkalra

Neuromarketing

2011-05-27T12:05:00.000+05:30

Off lately, Neuromarketing is attracting more and more interest from marketers as a way of getting at the unconscious processes that lie behind consumers’ attitudes, feelings and behavior. A study was recently launched at the University of Oxford to study how Neuromarketing is changing market research and what this means for society. The study will also look into the possible implications for society and politics if consumers are seen to be less personally responsible for their decisions.

What does this mean?

It is one thing to see which parts of the brain become active in response to a stimulus. It is another to interpret what this means or what you can do with it.

According to neuroscientists, there are 3 main parts to the brain, each functioning as a brain unto itself. These "three brains" - nestled inside one another -- are as follows.

The "Human" ("New," or outer-most) Brain: Most evolved part of the brain known as the cortex. Responsible for logic, learning, language, conscious thoughts and our personalities.
The "Mammalian" (Middle) Brain: Also known as the limbic system. Deals with our emotions, moods, memory and hormones.
The "Reptilian" (Old) Brain: Also known as the R Complex controls our basic survival functions, such as hunger, breathing, flight-or-fight reactions and staying out of harm's way.

While neuromarketing is still a young field with many unanswered questions, one finding is clear:

The reptilian, or "old," brain drives your customers' buying decisions

Various studies have used:

Verbal report (e.g. scene recognition, brand preference)
Behavior e.g. purchase vs non purchase (Ambler, Knutson)
Different segment reactions (e.g. Democrats vs Republican brains are said to react differently to political advertisements)

But mostly the focus has been on correlation with so called ‘known centers’ such as: reward centre, self referencing centre, face recognition centre, liking centre, anticipation centre etc.

As a result, neuromarketing studies have increasingly pointed to various ‘known centers’ in the brain. Yet knowledge about these so called ‘known centers’ is often sketchy and the claims about their function are often reasoned speculation rather than known fact.

Trouble in paradise

The problem is that keeping up with the neuroscience literature is like trying to drink from a fire-hose. As the noted neurobiologist Steven Rose said: “The world-wide effort being poured into the neurosciences is producing an indigestible mass of facts at all levels.”

It is becoming extraordinarily difficult for full time neuroscientists to keep up - let alone businesses. Let’s face it… marketing is not interested in science or complexity. The truth is that marketing clients want ‘KIS’ not complexity. They want simplicity - an easy to understand, single number solution that says ‘this ad (or pack, or scene) ... is good/bad ….and says whether it will work or won’t work. Rather than try to drink from that fire-hose, there is a temptation for marketing to oversimplify and over-claim.

Threat

So as this bandwagon called neuromarketing picks up speed, some of the same threats that killed off previous technologies are re-emerging. A key one is over-claiming. It is an unfortunate fact that the sale of ‘smoke & mirrors’ often outsells substance. At least in the short term.

Bias towards over claiming exists in the media as well as in the marketing of consulting services to clients. The media love sensationalist stories that can carry a headline like "'Buy centre of the brain found“. As a result, journalistic reporting is prone to outstrip the scientific substance.

Conclusion

Neuromaketing is expected to open up a whole new world of understanding of the mind. As it develops, neuroscience will deliver increasingly powerful, marketing insights.

Its immediate application to general marketing requires businesses to tread carefully and disentangle the scientific substance from the promotional hype. Businesses prepared to exercise this caution and engage with it now have an opportunity for early-mover advantage before its application of neuromarketing gets constrained by regulation.

In the longer term, neuromarketing will be far more socially welcome for applications that focus on products and causes with a clear social benefit - applications like road safety messages and persuading people to give up smoking or to resist over-eating. Developing and testing strategies that are designed to cure rather than create social pathologies is hard to argue with. Used in this type of application, neuromarketing will be refined to public applause, rather than public alarm.

Compiled from various sources:

Images courtesy: francisanderson.files.wordpress.com, socialhallucinations.com

Letter to my 14 year old self

2011-05-14T18:12:00.000+05:30

Hey there! Howdy?

Due to an erratically placed birthday and honest parents who refused to change your actual birth dates compared to birth dates in record, you have been seeing that you are about 6-7 months older than your average class mates. This will continue for the rest of your life (at least till you complete graduation for sure)

Now that you are in eighth standard, you are so damn scared of the DAV boards that are about to happen later that year aren’t you? Don’t be. The exams will go swell and anyhow they are nothing like the life that you have laid ahead of you.

Believe it or not, you will graduate as an engineer (now would be the right time to stop reading and focus on something else if you don’t want to screw your future by becoming one) from a premier engineering institute of the country (go ahead… laugh with relief).

Not only that; having faced the doom of being an engineer you will set out for something far bigger and expected to provide you with a “holistic view of approaching discussions” and “multifaceted approach and managerial viewpoints". Yes you guessed it right. You are doomed to become an MBA (though from yet another premier institute). Just like all had been Bollywood actors line up for stupid box; inadvertently almost all engineers line up for an MBA. Though, by passing out in the year 2009, how should I put it delicately and yet not reveal a lot that is about to happen in future; you would still realize less than the ideal placements that you would expect from an IIM (oops!).

So now that we have gotten THAT out of the system, there are some pointers that I would like to give out to you for smooth sailing in the future.

Learn to play an instrument: Throughout your life, you will have the regret of not having learnt a musical instrument. Not having been blessed with a musical voice, or for that matter any musical telent whatsoever, you fill find it disconcerting that you cannot play a musical instrument to save your life. But, now you still have so much time at your hand. So you can do that!

Learn foreign language: You have always wanted to learn a foreign language. Be it French, Japanese, Chinese etc. take some time to learn one now that you are still in school. Will go a long way to help you out.

PS: Learn Japanese. Will help you watch Manga without the need of subtitles :D

Propose to that cute blonde girl: You see that cute blonde girl that you have been wanting to, but hesitating in, ask out. Yes, the one with curly pigtails. Don’t be hesitant and go ask her out. Because she too has been hesitating in asking you out! Not much of a CV point, you may say. But will help you much more than many other such points combined ;)

More than just studies: Later this year your maths teacher, Ms. Subramaniam, will insist that you do more than just studies. Your parents will also insist on getting you some exposure to swimming. Let them. The all just want to help you out! Go for some sports etc. play some basketball, Badminton etc. You know you like them. You will get to like them more.

Develop your talents: You have always known that you have a bit of a flair for drama. The stint with NSD this summer will just go to prove that you are right. Not to mention the gazillions of anecdotes of your relatives’ account of you saying “aap ko jaana hai toh meri laash ke upar se jao” (If you have to go, you would have to do so over my dead body!). So go ahead yaar and develop into something more.

Now that you have read the complexly worded sentences so far without developing a serious headache, this should also give you a hint of another latent talent you have and part of which you have realized for quite some time now; a voracious reading appetite (in addition to voracious appetite if I may add!.. so look out for that one). Anyhow, what I was referring to was what your English teachers often complained and will complain about is your exceedingly complicated writing style. That is your latent talent and you would do well to develop it.

Though, fun parts apart, some serious tips too!

Don't be afraid: Don't be afraid to stand up for yourself. In retrospect, you'll always wish you had. You’ll always wish you had said no to someone when you should have.

Disappointments are a part of life: Sometimes people will disappoint you in your expectations. On other times, you may be a disappointment to others. While efforts may always be done to ensure that it is not so, but all said and done just accept that fact and move on.

Enjoy life: I understand that you always feel the need to be in control of things around you. But don’t forget to relax and have fun once in a while.

Life is not fair: Life may be tough for a short while. But always remember that everything in the life is a phase. And like all phases, as good phases come and go, so do bad phases. Sometimes the things may be such that you might look for some exit strategies. But you know you're better than that. There would be times when you will look back on those incidents and laugh out loud.

Kid! See you around in another fourteen years.

Images courtesy: impactinit.assetsdelivery.com, qbtpl.net, just4lovers.files.wordpress.com, whitneymcd7.files.wordpress.com, adviceforyou.org.uk, polyvore.com, sportsandgammingfun.com, sanskritika.gecj.ac.in, gallery.photo.net, clintoncountygov.com, ldswhy.com

Thoughts of a poor man

2011-05-10T08:55:00.000+05:30

Following is a guest post by Abhirup

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The wind blows

And the ice melts,

The poor dies

and poverty lives

You were not different

from me brother,

You have the same

blood and flesh and bones

The same winter shrills us both,

The same summer warmth us both,

We played in the same fields

and sat under the same tree

But are we different now?

You live in palaces,

I live in huts

You are King, I am just a servant

I worked hard all day and long

but my child still went hungry to bed

Did you ever experience

What it feels to starve?

Were we this different?

You looked at me but walked away,

I kept looking at you,

Perhaps you will turn back

You enjoyed a lavish meal that night

But I had to starve.

I died a week later,

Did you shed a tear brother?

You had to live,

and I had to die.

The poor had to die

And poverty had to live.

But did you shed a tear brother?

I ask myself.

Perhaps you did or perhaps you didn't

But I had to die for poverty to live.

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Abhirup Bhattacharya did his graduation in Fashion Technology(Apparel Production) from NIFT following which he worked in Egypt as merchandiser for clients like Walmart. He will be joining the NMIMS Core MBA program from June 2011.

Twitter id: abhirupbh

Blog link : http://www.ideasmakemarket.com/

The benefits (or the tragedy as the case may be) of being a female in an Indian B School

2011-05-04T19:33:00.002+05:30

For those of you have been to a B-school would surely agree with me that there are several benefits that are associated with being a female in an otherwise testosterone charged environment of a B school.

In both engineering (not talking about IGIT) and management education (not talking about XLRI or other HR management instis) there is a dearth of female candidates. Thus, all that the male candidates want is a more demographic representation of the countries’ male-female ratio in these institutes. In these hallowed institutions, sightings of a fellow homo-sapiens from venus is considered a divine sign and properly revered.

Here I will make but a mere attempt to list down some benefits which, inadvertently or otherwise, get bestowed upon our fairer counterparts.

During the GD/PI process of B schools: Being a female in a group of twelve people seated for a round of “Group Discussion” has its own merit. By an unsaid rule, most of guys; who would otherwise be at each others throat to put forward their viewpoint and gain the attention of the moderator, would fall silent like a lamb the moment any girl (NOTE: GIRL and not aunties) opens her mouth. Even if she had opened her mouth to yawn, everyone would be falling over each other to give her a chance to “prove” her in the discussions and “put forward” her views. The interviewers are always more favorable to the female applicants. While the questions to a male candidate may vary from quantum application of Freudian theory (abstract right?) to the heat transfer equation between two high friction bodies; the question world invariably be about hobbies, interests and generally insipid subjects for the female candidates.

Committees: During the numerous rounds of interviews and discussion for plethora of committees that each B school invariably has, females are given a preferential treatment in two ways: Firstly- a lot of time they are always preferred over male candidates as it is assumed to boost the morale of the fellow teammates; Secondly- The interviews starting from generally eight in the evening till the sun shines; inadvertently has early interview slots for females to avoid them any “discomfort”.

Project groups: I had a professor in my institute who reserved special attention for the female students with his favorite dialogue “LAA will take care of those who take care of LAA”. In fact, a lot many professors specifically request that each group MUST contain at least one female; leave aside the logic that there aren’t that many females in the entire campus to begin with (I am not kidding…. Seriously). It is particularly at such times that the females have the time of their lives as they just have to make sure they get into a good group. The work and other such trivial matters shall be taken care of by the fellow group mates. And nobody resents them for doing as such.

Placements: Unfortunately, the situation reverses at the time of placements when the odds are indescribably in the favor of fairer sex. In most of the cases, an educated (trust me even big names are not required) female from the institutes (even if they are from Baburao Ganpat Rao Apte Institute of Medical, Engineering and Commerce Studies), with decent “attributes” are amongst the first ones to land with the best of the jobs. That’s not to say that they are not qualified for the job, heaven knows I have seen more than my fair share of qualified females during both engineering and MBA, but that sometimes other glaring attributes may also play a significant role. It is at those times that all males rue the fairer sex and crib about them.

In general: Did I mention that close to 90% junta in a typical B school comprises of engineer who, for the sake of their lives, have never been close to a female colleagues of any kind. Except perhaps an odd She-male, which frankly isn’t saying much! So imagine their awe and wonder when a live female of their project group (well they don’t necessarily need to be that either) comes up to them and request for a simple thing such as making a project report overnight from scratch or getting a survey filled by some two hundred odd people. That awe and wonder, more often than not, forces these silly awestruck morons to bow down to the whims and fancies of her ladyship and do exactly as they are told. After all, who can refuse that sad puppy look?

These are but a few benefits that I have been able to capture. Please feel free to add more if you feel I have missed out some of the “aspects”

PS: I had written a short post on Stereotypes in a class, Do give it a read too!

PPS: This post inspired by a post I read here. DO go through. A very interesting read this one turned out to be!

Images courtesy: i.ehow.com, i.ehow.co.uk, www.calacademy.org

Thrifty India

2011-04-06T19:18:00.001+05:30

Couple of years back, I was watching an episode of Russel Peters in which he was proclaiming that Indians were cheap and proud to be so. View the video here.

Sometime back when I was in Kolkata, I did see people arguing over 25 paisa.

There was a time when all of us considered haggling and bargaining an essential aspect of the shopping experience. But, I guess, with the advent of the organized retailing format; that bargaining had gone out of fashion and that people considered it below them to bargain. I had written a post sometime back on The ancient art of bargaining. Do go through.

So I was pretty surprised by the latest advertisements from Future group.

The latest advertisements from Kishore Biyani’s Fairprice format emphasizes on this “cheap” aspect. They loudly proclaim being cheap and not having air-conditioning in their stores along with lack of lucrative furniture and even carry bags. With the result that all the saving is being passed on to the end consumer.

Guess things do come around a full circle.

Journey to the world

2011-04-03T20:24:00.001+05:30

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton 19; the nineteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

I don’t remember who I am. I gained consciousness only a few days back. My past is still a mystery to me. I try and try to remember something, anything, about my past but I keep on drawing a blank.

At times I hear voices around me… But when I try to see, I don’t find anyone around me.

Food and water mysteriously appears in my small room.

Okay, room is a slight exaggeration. It is a dark, dank, round kind of room. Humidity is very perceptible in the very air.

Days have been passing just like that. With each passing day, it seems that the room is getting a bit smaller… Or perhaps I am getting bigger. I can’t think straight. Don’t know what reality is and what is dream. I kind of feel like I am in a trance like state.

I can feel perceptible changes in my body too. My hair has grown longer. I have harder bits on my fingertips.

Of lately, I have been feeling kind of restless. All of a sudden, I feel an urge to move. I don’t know the direction but some primal instinct is making me move one way. Gradually, what seems like rays of light began to appear at one end.

Suddenly, I was lifted from my feet and I heard the person say “Congratulations. You have a healthy baby boy”.

Images courtesy: topicshare.net, island11.files.wordpress.com

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

The Prophecy!!!

2011-03-15T09:13:00.005+05:30

This post is written for BLOGESHWAR and Anubhooti.

“I swear had I known that something of this nature was going around in his mind, I would have stopped him. But there was nothing. Even till that day he was fine. He was normal. We had dinner that day and as usual he complained about my chapatti but still ate five of them. Little did I know that he was thinking of killing himself” said a sobbing Anita.

“But that still doesn’t explain the one crore life insurance that he took last year and which he, obviously, did not have enough resources to pay premium for!” exclaimed inspector Tambe. “I am sure there is more to this than meets the eye. Make sure madam you have some answers for me when I come back next time.”

“Uff. That inspector is such a stuffy guy, bothering you and all. Would you like to have a cup of tea?” asked Mrs. Sharma, their next door neighbor.

“No thanks. I think I will take a quick nap now.” Anita tried to reply politely, being tired of all the conversation around Rajesh’s untimely demise.

“See now that won’t do! You have children to take care of now. If you get depressed now, what would happen to them? If you ask me, go to some babaji and satsangs for some time. Would help you take your mind off the entire issue. If fact, had we known about how Rajesh was feeling; I could have taken him to babaji who would have helped him a lot” ranted Mrs. Sharma. “Now I must get going, Sharmaji must be about to come home. Take care.”

Smiling at what Rajesh’s reaction would have been had he heard of Mrs. Sharma’s offer to take him to a babaji brought a flash of smile on Anita’s lips as she remembered very well the explicit views that Rajesh had on the ‘thugs and thieves’ that were the babajis and gurujis of the world.

This gave her some energy to sort some of the affairs at the home now that all the relatives and well wishers had gone back.

The “sorting” took well over three hours when Anita finally put the last utensil back in the topmost kitchen cupboard. She was about to close it when, suddenly, a small box hidden in the back fell down to reveal a yellowing sealed envelope.

Immediately her mind flashed back to that fateful evening fifteen years ago with Pandit Shyam Sunder when Rajesh had dared Anita to prove beyond doubt that Shyam Sunder was nothing but a fake.

“Please sir! I implore you to share it with me” said Rajesh.

“But son you do not know the true burden of knowing the truth about your death”.

“You will live your life in the fear of death. There will be no moment that you will not think about it.”

“I do not care about that. In fact, there is no better way to prove your genuineness than that.”

“But I can’t go on telling people when they will die!!!”

“OK! So why don’t you write it on a paper and give it to Anita. That way I won’t know it and it would still add to your credibility.”

Stuck like that, Panditji took out his sheaf of papers, started some calculations and wrote down something on a Parchment before sealing it in an envelope with hot wax and red ribbon and gave it to Anita for safekeeping and away from the eyes of Rajesh!

Curiosity gained the better of Anita, who bent down to retrieve the sealed envelope to confirm the written date… Only to find the envelope unsealed.

Slowly, she extracted the crackling parchment from the envelope and looked at the date on the parchment and could not stop the warm flow on her cheeks. Brushing away the tears, she casually turned over the parchment and a chill suddenly ran down her spine.

Back of the parchment was covered in a scrawl she had come to recognize so very well over the years and was often a teasing point between them; revealing the last words of her late husband.

Sorry! Spend money well

Images courtesy: www.bibleprophecyupdate.com

Change!

2011-03-05T09:13:00.001+05:30

This post has been published by me as a part of the Blog-a-Ton Season 2 edition 18; the eighteenth edition of the online marathon of Bloggers; where we decide and we write. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Change the way you look;

Change the way you cook.

Change the way you talk;

Change the way you walk.

Change the way you touch and feel;

Change the way you injure and heal.

Change the way you talk to folks;

Don’t worry; sometimes you can have egg yolks.

For a change, don’t keep people in a lurch;

Once in a while, visit the church.

Ride a horse instead of a mare;

Change the world for all I care.

Change whatever others feel you mar;

Just don’t change who you really are!

Image courtesy: blog.mohmaya.com

PS: This marks my first attempt at writing something close to a poem. I generally write big articles and decided to write something lesser than a 100 words this time. Do let me know how this attempt fared.

The fellow Blog-a-Tonics who took part in this Blog-a-Ton and links to their respective posts can be checked here. To be part of the next edition, visit and start following Blog-a-Ton.

Appreciation....it counts!!!

2011-02-22T22:43:00.003+05:30

Received this as an e-mail forward sometime back and would like to share with you all!

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One young academically excellent person went to apply for a managerial position in a big company.

He passed the first interview; the director did the last interview, made the last decision. He discovered from the CV that the youth's academic result was excellent all the way, from secondary school until the postgraduate research, not a year did he not score.

The director asked, "Did you obtain any scholarship in school?" and the youth answered, "None."

The director asked, "Was it your father who paid your school fees?" The youth answered, "My father passed away when I was one year old, it is my mother who paid my school fees. "

The director asked, " Where did your mother work?"

The youth answered, "My mother worked as a clothes washer." The director requested the youth to show his hands, and the youth showed the director a pair of hands that were smooth and perfect.

The director asked, " Did you ever help your mother wash the clothes?"

The youth answered, "Never, my mother always wanted me to study and read more books, furthermore, my mother can wash clothes faster than I can."

The director said, "I have a request; when you go back today, go and help to clean your mother's hands, and then see me tomorrow morning."

The youth felt that as the chances of landing the job were high, when he went home, he happily wanted to clean his mother's hands. His mother felt strange, happy but mixed with fear, she showed her hands to the youth.

The youth cleaned his mother's hands slowly, his tears dropped down as he did that. It was the first time he found his mother's hands so wrinkled, and there were so many bruises on her hands. Some bruises incited pains so strong that made his mother's body shiver when cleaned with water. This was the first time the youth realized and experienced that it was this pair of hands that washed clothes every day to earn him the school fees.

The bruises on the mother's hands was the price that the mother paid for his graduation and academic excellence and probably his future.

After finishing the cleaning of his mother's hands, the youth quietly cleaned all the remaining clothes for his mother. That night, mother and son talked for a very long time.

Next morning, the youth went to the director's office. The director noticed the tear in the youth's eye, and asked:

"Can you tell me what you have done and learned yesterday in your house?"

The youth answered, "I cleaned my mother's hands, and also finished cleaning all the remaining clothes." The director asked, "Please tell me your feelings."

The youth said :

Number 1, I knew what was appreciation; without my mother, there would not a successful me today.

Number 2, I knew how to work together with my mother, then only I could realize how difficult and tough it is to get something done.

Number 3, I knew the importance and value of family relationships.

The director said, "This is what I am asking; I want to recruit a person who can appreciate the help of others, a person who knows the suffering of others to get things done, and a person who would not put money as his only goal in life to be my manager. You are hired."

Later on, this young person worked very hard and received the respect of his subordinates; every employee worked diligently and in a team, so that the company's results improved tremendously.

A child who has been protected and habitually given whatever he wanted develops "entitlement mentality" and always put himself first. He is ignorant of his parents' efforts.

When he starts work, he assumes every one must listen to him, and when he becomes a manager, he can never know the sufferings of his employees and always blame others.

This kind of person can have good results, may be successful for a while, but eventually would not feel a sense of achievement, he will grumble and be full of hatred and fight for more. If we are this kind of protective parent, did we love the kid or destroy the kid?

You can let your kid live in a big house, eat a good meal, learn piano, watch a big screen TV. But when you are cutting grass, please let them experience it. After a meal, let them wash their plate and bowl together with their brothers and sisters. It is not because you do not have money to hire a maid, but it is because you want to love them in a right way. You want them to understand, no matter how rich their parents are, one day their hair will grow grey, same as the mother of that young person.

The most important thing is that your kid must learn how to appreciate the efforts and experience the difficulties and learn the ability to work with others to get things done.

Top 5 things that she wants from you!

2011-02-17T21:39:00.001+05:30

One thing that the girls cannot get enough of, are the complements. So, heaven forbid if you decided to let go of an opportunity to praise her dressing style, the way she looks, her nail paint and the works. At times, they are known to drop hints and lines you are supposed to catch and take the discussion with them. The best bet in this case is to be attentive, ALWAYS, when with them and despite however they may be; and LISTEN to all that she says.

Somehow they get a kick in trying to have fun with you if you missed even a bit of what they said. They will always feign indignation at your apparent lack of interest, raise hue and cry and playfully refuse to tell you the thing. The best way out of this mess is to humor them and keep on cajoling them to reveal that itsy bitsy peace of info.

Curtsy and Chivalry are the two things which are, at times, assumed to be dead but definitely not for our desi femme fatales. They most certainly want their men to open the doors for them, offer and pull up seats for them, and help them cross the road. While women empowerment people may raise hue and cry over the fact that men are trying to undermine the authority of the females and not allowing them to progress by providing them with an undue preferential treatment; even they are secretly happy when a colleague offers them a seating place.

At times you may be called upon the arduous task of helping them in choosing what shade they should go for. So, even if you don’t know the difference between cyan and fawn shades, it would really help your case if you would feign interest and actually have some conversation with her about what shade of nail paint suits her complexion most. It is not the actual color shades that she is interested in but the fact that you are paying attention to what she is actually doing. The best option for you is to take a careful look at all the shades that she has short-listed; pick any random one and stick to it. If it is a shade that she actually likes, she will be happy at your “participation” and you get to have a treat. On the other hand, if she doesn’t like the shade, she will laugh at the silly you your poor color combination skills and proceed to buy a shade of her choice while still giving you brownie points for “participation”.

And the last, but definitely not the least; CHEESY LINES! However much everyone says that the cheesy lines are passé, our female friends cannot get enough of it. Any confrontation? Try a cheesy line about her looking even better when she is angry and watch her melt faster than butter in 500o oven. Did not pay attention to her when she was asking which dress to wear to the party? Try complementing her on looking beautiful in any which dress.

Trust me! It works!!!

Images Courtesy: images.elfwood.com, i.ehow.com, www.datingtales.net, rockstar-pickup.com

PS: In the coming days, there may a lot many posts on weddings and such relationship facts. So please request you to stay tuned.

PPS: I had written an earlier post on What women want? Do go through it at your leisure!

Thank you all!

2011-01-17T08:10:00.001+05:30

It has been about 14 months that Wandering Thoughts was conceptualized. Today, my blog crossed an important milestone. Wandering Thoughts now has 100 followers on Facebook.

Hence, this post is dedicated as a thank you to all the 100 followers on Facebook, 32 followers on Google, Five followers on Networked blog and 39 subscribers on Feedburner.

Thank you for having the patience to go through the lengthy ramblings of mine, participating in the discussions and providing me with your unique perspectives.

I shall always cherish the special comments and people that I received through WT

Things which make India tick!!!

2011-01-14T15:13:00.000+05:30

Saas-bahu soaps: No post on India could be complete without a mention of the omnipotent, ever present Saas bahu soaps. All the women go to bed completely decked out in embroidered saris and wake up without a single hair out of place. The vamps are better dressed than the best of the actors with over arching make ups and sharp features. And not only women, men are hooked to these as well (I mean soaps, not the vamps... well sometimes vamps too)

Corrupt Politicians: In the land of Modis and their truckload of paperwork, Rajas and Kalmadis; what would the CEOs discuss in the board room if not the way the nation is being run by the fat, corrupt politicians. What would the newspapers be covering if not for the notorious antics, rape and other accusations on these "Bhala Manus" (Gentlemen)

Cricketers and Movie stars: In a nation obsessed with cricket, every child following the sport is more of expert than the buffoons at Statistical Analysis and Data Reconfiguration centers. When every living thought is dependent on performance of Indian cricketers vis-a-vis South Africa/Australia/Pakistan/New Zealand/Any Other; how can cricket be ignored? Also, in a place where Bollywood is akin to religion, everyday ablutions of the superstars are the source of headlines for the tabloids. Every cough and sneeze is a source of fascination to the masses.

Stray animals on the streets: Where streets are littered with litter (no pun) of puppies, hordes of bovine and cattles; where Cow is considered to be a scared animal; it is really difficult to keep the animals off the streets. especially not n

Galli cricket: Again the Indian obsession with cricket is very evident in this rudimentary form of cricket that we Indians love to play. A national holiday, sunny outside and a vacant parking --> Ideal conditions for playing cricket. And incidentally, that is where the stars of the cricket rise from.

Punjabis: Well lets face it. All said and done, Indian culture, especially Northern Indian; is prominently imapcted by the boisterous, loud and warm punjabi culture. And we are the best.

Item numbers: Be it Sheila ki Jawani or Munni or Badnaami or Beedi Jalani... The item numbers are a surefire hit every single time.

Under construction work: Just like the city that never sleeps, India is a country where the work never finishes. That is also saying something about the infrastructure investment that the government is undertaking on behalf of the public; it is an equivalent statement about how long a typical project takes to get completed and how, by the time one work finishes it is already time to start over to refurbish the entire thing.

Over-inquisitive neighbors: Well what would your neighboring aunty do all day if it were not for the daily soaps and the fact that she has to absolutely know who all are coming and going in her neighborhood. After all, what use would that long neck of her come to if no to peer over the boundary walls between the neighboring houses. And lets not even talk about the concept of Personal space because for a lot of people, there is no such thing.

Street Food: Even the mention of this topic makes one hungry. In a country with as varied food habits as anything, with street savories ranging from Chaats to Tikkis to Rabris and Jalebis; it is a literal feast for the senses to enjoy it all.

Bargaining: Who can resist a good bargain. I can not. We have entire shops built on the premises that people love to bargain. People bargain the hell out of the vendor even if it is 10 rupee toy that they are planning to purchase. Read a detailed post here.

Bigger than thou weddings: With each passing year, every one is trying to outdo the other person by planning a bigger, grander wedding than the before (Proverbially the one that people will remember for eons). A Most detailed coverage here.

Image Courtsey: www.orble.com, cedmedia.ntu.edu.sg, www.constructionweekonline.com, afeatheradrift.files.wordpress.com, blogs.sfweekly.com, stuffiranianslike.files.wordpress.com

Inspired from an article on rediff here.