Tips for people who are thinking of suicide!

(Vivek Babajee's suicide and 3 idiots movie suicide made me think quite a few points about Suicide)

First of all, suicide is a crime. So its better you plan really well in advance to make sure that you don't be unsuccessful, unless you are prepared to be jailed.

Now, when you write a suicide letter, and want to blame someone for your situation, don't just 'Name' the person! I know you must be really depressed and want to take revenge on each and every person who has been even slightly bad with you. Even on your servant maid who did not come to work the previous day. Your position is anyway hopeless. As a matter of fact, you are a big loser. There cannot be a bigger one!
Now, diverting from your loser point. When you want to name someone for your miserable situation, give examples and anecdotes of why was that person cruel to you, with approximate time line and place. So that he/she can be rightfully pinned by law. If you do not have any significant reason or examples against that person, then do not just write a Name, you are committing a double sin - suicide and ruining someone's life. And in fact, if you do not have a significant reason, you might want to re-think as to why you want to kill yourself.

And on second thought, if the person has really made your life so horrible that it made you think of dropping to a loser level, I mean, made you think of committing suicide, Why not kill that person?! .. See, he might have a very good chance of escaping Indian law system. And in any case, he is not gonna be hanged because you committed a suicide. By killing that person, you will obviously have a risk of getting caught, but again, even if u get caught, Indian law system applies to you too. You have a bright chance of going free! Killing yourself is obviously not the option, you loser!

And finally, spiritually speaking - If you are committing suicide because you are in a deep 'trouble' (psst.. I wanted to write s*** here but I wanted 'family ratings' for my blog :P) because of your own actions, Suicide is just procrastinating your problems. If you think you are running away from your ruins, then you are not. You are gonna be Reborn and Suffer for all the deeds you did in this life and also for killing a human - Yourself!

Bandh losses estimates : nothing but Amusing!

I really find it amusing reading the news about estimates of losses to economy of more than Rs. 13,000 crores. Well, I think there are some real morons out there in media who make such calculations and poor ignorant readers and viewers also believe in them. (Click here for related news)
Lets do a simple calculation. India's annual GDP is around 50 trillion rupees. So, when we divide that by 365 days, i.e to calculate the GDP per day, it comes out to a touch more than 13 thousand crores rupees.
Do you really think that one day (rather, 12 hours) of Bandh will actually mean that GDP of that much amount will be lost, totally!
The figure of 13000 Crores sounds really stupid to me.

If this theory has to be true, then

• Everyone who was gonna buy food items on the day of Bandh will not buy those items and observe fast for one day. (or are they gonna buy more food items on previous day / later days?)
• People who were planning to buy clothes and accessories will drop their plans of buying them altogether just because Monday was declared Bandh and they had planned to buy the items on Monday and only on that Monday!
• Some IT companies claiming that they had a loss of 50 crores rupees in a day. Well, it means that they are not gonna compensate for all the man-hours lost by making their employees work on a weekend?!
• and so on...

I think its really absurd to estimate the losses for one day of Bandh that was observed. People are just gonna delay their purchases or compensate for their production by working more hours later on. However, I dont mean to say that Bandh had no effect on commerce and economy. There is a loss to economy but I think its negligible compared to the amounts being mentioned in news channel and newspaper. The figures and estimates about loss to the economy are simply absurd according to me.

(Well, the people who really suffer because of Bandh are the ones who work on daily wages. Their one day of wage was wasted. Many others did make loss, but nothing hurts as much as it does to daily wage laborers)

Any comments or argument?! you are most welcome! :)

A Day Not to Remember...

I am generally one of the biggest advocates of Mumbai as the best place in India to live in.. rather, one of the best places in World to live in... but today, probably for the first time in almost 25 years of my lifetime, I was disappointed with way she behaved.. Today was the third phase of the 13th lok sabha general elections and the voter turnout in almost all the constituencies in Mumbai was abysmal... and being a Gujarati, I am associated with Gujarat too... so it was even more disheartening for me as Gujarat too showed lacklustre voter turnout with only 50% of voters reaching out to election booths...

This election was the most impressive when it comes to use of media and marketing to urge people to participate in this biggest democracy of world... I was of the feeling that Mumbai being high tech with majority of people having access to Television, Internet, Newspapers, etc., would break all the records.. News in morning said 10% voting till 10 AM.. I tried to be positive, and I felt like shouting out loud 'Mumbai, 7 more hours to go. Get out. Get your nails painted blue' .. I waited and waited, but it was in vain... Mumbai didn't respond to my cry..
I did try to make a difference by volunteering for Jaago Re movement (by ever responsible Tata group), and persuading people to VOTE.. This was the first time in last 6 months that I woke up at 7 in the morning.. so that I could vote and then get along with related work! ... I am also happy that my society and areas surrounding had a hefty turnout.. I feel proud to be a member of the society* in which I live :) .. but Mumbai as a whole did let me down big time... especially the youngsters... It really keeps me thinking what should we do to make youngsters vote as youngsters were the ones who did not turn up... I got reason that it was a long weekend (today, 30th... 1st may being a labour day... 2nd and 3rd being weekend), so people went out on a 4 day trip!... Guys, booth starts at 7 AM... you could have easily voted and then gone for the 'still left 4 days' for a trip... then second reason was hot weather.. hmm.. youngsters sweating out in mumbai sun for hardly 30 minutes will dehydrate them, make them fall sick?!!... losers!...

Mumbai was vociferous, out on streets when terrorists attack happened... now when time to do something that really matters... to vote in someone who obviates the need of those candle light morchas.. nothing happened! ... but i think mumbai has no right to do that now... ignorance and short term memory loss at its best..

Well, the biggest rival of Mumbai as a city in India is Delhi, when it comes to argument of best cities... and I want Mumbai to win in all aspects.. but in this case, I really want Delhi to win... Delhi has got its voting day on 7th May,... so Delhi, go out and vote.. you got golden opportunity to beat Mumbai here... you won't get it often! ;) ... and for a change make me proud by doing that...

Politics is not a swear word.. VOTE!

India is the biggest democracy in world by far and we surely don't take a back seat in talking about that, but when it comes to being a part of that record, you say 'mujhse akele se kya fark padta hai'.. we can'tt get any more cynical than that.. well, I am not asking you to go out and fight for elections... that is not as easy... but at least 'VOTE', my friends.... people refrain from voting by saying 'NO CANDIDATE in my constituency was good enough to get my vote.. '.. we say that very boastfully, trying to portray ourselves as smart, but in my view, we are simply irresponsible... as most of us never tried to know the candidates just because we wanted to sleep on a holiday (i.e a voting day) .. if we ever took pains to know, we can at least go and vote for the better amongst the candidates, rather than none.. at least we will make it a point that whoever comes into lok sabha/vidhan sabha will do less harm than others will, if not good...

Chandrababu Naidu said this when he was at his peak in politics during NDA rule, "Politics need not be a swear word. Politicians can be good for people. Politicians can be business managers. Running the state like it is a company. Where change is a number that has to be achieved. A politician can know how to use a computer and turn a backwater into a technology and an industry hub. He can be a fanatic, but about the common man's prosperity; Stay in power by the surrender of power; By representing people, not ruling. Politics and governance can be transparent. People will be able to hold a politician responsible for his actions. Starting now, politicians should stop asking for people's support. They should support people. politics should not come in people's way. It should be, the way."

This is possible only if we participate in democracy. We can raise voice to our representative only if we have participated in electing 

him.

I know that most of us and especially the fairer sex have 'Ignore' state of mind whenever they hear anything distantly in relation to politics. We love to hate politics and blame everything on politicians. Its fashionable to curse the politicians. But we hardly realise that we are actually cursing ourselves as we are the ones who elect the politics. And at the same time, if we are not participating in the democracy by not voting, we are also proving that we are stupid.

I remember this saying by George Bernard Shaw .. "Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve" ... Its only us who is responsible for whatever things that politicians do, because they are OUR representatives.

Note : 

1. Please vist http://www.jaagore.com and register.. They take up various initiatives (elecotral registration, voicing grievances, etc)

2. One more interesting website, http://www.politicalcompass.org/test ... test what kind of political ideology you possess... so that you know which political party's ideology matches yours

Are we really Jain (vegetarian) ?

I have seen most of us Jains opposing abattoirs (slaughter house) by protesting against government policies using various means like online petitions, news paper reports, silent morchas, etc. I am not particularly against this practice but do you ever wonder why government is doing something or not doing something before opposing the steps of government.
I have tried to analyse this situation a bit.
The first table (2005-06 data) shows that India exports 1.5 billion dollars worth of Marine products and more than 1 billion dollar (second table) worth of livestock products. So in all, 2.5 billions of dollars of exports is something we rate as Non-vegetarian.

Now, if u see from the 3rd table, it is clear that India has net imports of 10 billion (i.e imports is 10 billion dollar more than the exports) and amongst this, 7.5 dollars is due to petroleum products (7.5 billion more of petroleum imports than petroleum exports).
This is the kind of consumption that India has when it comes to petroleum and its related products.
Now, assume India stops all of these slaughterhouses, that means India's balance of payments is more negative by 2.5 billion dollars. Do you have any idea how much loss does that mean when it comes to India's international trade (things like increased trade deficit,etc.. don't want to get too technical here). But it simply means that we are selling less than what we are buying, and this means loss in terms of business.
Well, by this time, you must be cursing me on the point that I am supporting slaughterhouses.
What I intend to convey by this blog is that other than all the steps mentioned above against government , we must also reduce our usage of
petroleum products. This predominantly involves 'Judicial use of personal vehicles'. I know the use of cars is sadly regarded as social status in our society, so I don't intend to say that Stop using cars. But find alternatives whenever possible (I cant think of ways that we can do that, but comments section is open for that).
So if we really think that we are vegetarian, we must first reduce the use of petroleum products, which can have cascading effect on the stoppage of slaughterhouses... Give this a thought, my fellow Jains/vegetarians.

Also, as day by day fuel consumption is going up, the global worries of fuel shortage has forced people to generate fuel by alternative methods. Tyson foods (largest producer of meat) has proposed and doing a reasearch on turning animal fat into fuel, to tackle the fuel demands. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19420483/)
So, one more reason to un-petrofy** your daily uses, if you think you are against killing animals and not just against eating animals...

*4500 Cr rupees ~ 1 Billion dollar

** un-petrofy - reduce the use of petroleum and related products (this is not a dictionary word, purely my vocabulary :D )

Mumbai terror attack makes me wonder....

when will India eradicate terrorists in India rather than just reacting to their attack...

where are Raj thackeray and his MNS sevaks hiding during the battle in Mumbai...

when will the criminals/terrorists be prosecuted in time...when will Mohammad Afzal be hanged...

when will India's defence intelligence give some information Before some attack happens...

when will some politicians kin die in these attacks, which will make them take some step... 

what will happen to Congress in the upcoming Union elections after the horrible last 5 year report on countering terrorism, inflation, reservation (in the name of secularism), etc...

and to end with, what exactly is the real terror.. illiteracy, ill literacy (mark the difference between two), unemployment/non-inclusive growth, or the jehadi attacks...

this blog is open to all... convey your points as a comment... it will be appreciated... :)

MBA ke pehele 3 mahine!

This time, unlike my last few blogs, I am playing with myself and keeping politics, economy, etc away.. well, that doesn't mean that I got rid of my contentious nature.. :P...

MBA journey so far... It all started in Chennai. Yes, Chennai. I was frustrated to the core. The factors adding to the frustration was Chennai , IT, and everything else linked to me, and that was when my resolve to go for MBA became steelier. I applied for CAT and started preparation. At snail's pace. And then, I experienced one of the most happiest moments of my life. I was leaving Chennai for Pune. Redemption... back home (almost home.. just 3 hours away from home) ... and that slowed the preparation even more. Preparation was pushed into oblivion. Because of pressures from parents, I started preparing again for MBA.. this time it was GMAT and not CAT...as I had given up on CAT thinking it was too late...

and the pressure from parents that I mentioned was not the pressure of studying, it was that of 'talks of marriage'!... yes, it sounds weird, but I would say that my motivation to go for MBA was

'To not get married'.. I mean not getting married this early in my life!.. am not a misogamist! ... so all you eligible spinsters, do not lose hope ! :P

and there it was, CAT was ready to get out of the bag on 18 November, 2007 .. that same old 3rd Sunday of November.. and with it, starts the MBA season of India... I was one of those few people who went to the CAT centre with least expectations on me but contrastingly, with IQ more than anyone else in that 'least expectation' group (hope you will appreciate the sarcasm here) ... I was by this time, scoring decently on GMAT mock tests, so was all set to go for it and fly abroad... But voila!, that was not what was destined for me.. I did well in CAT (if you are not laughing here, there is something seriously wrong with your sense of humor.. this was a joke.. a real life joke) .. one important lesson here...

'IT IS NEVER TOO LATE (to start prep for CAT), YOU CAN ALWAYS RIDE ON YOUR LUCK' ;) ...

I hurriedly applied for IMT (one of the lasts in premium B schools of India :) ).. and expectantly, I got a GD/PI Call from IMT... and again, riding on my luck, I cleared GD PI ... the interviewer, poor thing, got foxed by my pseudo-innocent and pseudo-confident looks..

After coughing up dad's hard earned money on the exorbitant fees, landed in IMT, Ghaziabad,UP... UP, land of one of the behemoths of Indian politics right now, Mayawati ! ...

I was warned by myriads of people before coming here about how NCR has become National Crime Region from a National Capital Region, and how I needed to be careful when dealing with people... I really pity myself thinking I wasted my time listening to those people, as I hardly get out of campus here and deal with external world! ... the only connection to external world here is 'economic times' and Internet! ...

Its been one helluva roller coaster ride for 3 months which formed my first trimester. Ingredients of first trimester were hundreds of exams, thousands of lectures, millions of quizzes and relatively minuscule amount of sleep!

The most interesting part was though the part after the trimester. Finance world was going berserk after Freddie, Fannie, Lehman and other cartoon character like named Mortgage funds / Investment Bank firms on the verge of becoming kangaal !

MBA studs doing the coveted Finance course were all depressed. Then one of the IB firms came and recruited a couple of guys and a girl for summer intern. Though they wanted only 3 out of 120!, everyone was basking in the glory. But that did not last long as 3 days later after they appointed 3 studs, the firm went bankrupt and 3 more days later, the appointment was cancelled. The state of depression was back, aggravated!. Well, I am one of the Marketing species of MBA student and I get a feeling here that I am taking sadistic pleasure while talking about Finance guys. But then, to say, even we marketing guys are not far behind. Every company coming to recruit summer interns has an appetite of a pauper. The companies come, they shortlist 200 people, then they interview a few 10s of them. They smile all the way through the interview and you think that, 'WOW, what an interview', but the problem is that so does everyone else who gives an interview, and so your exuberance is only ephemeral. And that turns into disappointment for majority as they end up taking 1 or 2; the number may go to 5, if you are lucky!.. and the number goes to 10 if company is Unlucky ;-).

Okay, enough of my memoirs.

My opinion about current market situation:
Well, this meltdown of economy triggered by US Sub prime crisis wont last long. According to me, there is always a 'slack' which comes after every 7-8 years. And there is one 'crisis' which is a bit more in magnitude after every 5-6 such 'slacks'. Many of my colleagues are a bit bogged down by this. But, if you get rid of this cynicism, and give the situation a rational thought, then you may arrive at conclusion that this is the time to give your best as the others who were claimed to be best, are in doldrums. As my friend put it 'sab kachra saaf ho jaayega'. The market will be clear for fresh, new and young minds to enter in. Competition is washed away! There isn't a better opportunity for Indians. Buck up my friends, its our Time! Lets show the world what we are made of!

To end with,

I would like to share what NRN Murthy said (2001) -

'Wake up India. It's time to NOT go to work. It's time to get people to work for you. Don't be an Engineer just because you have a degree. Do what you think you're good at. And you'll be Good at what you Think.Start something that's your own. Where you can't be Sacked. And you certainly can't Quit. Start something for as little as Ten Thousand. You don't need much more than that. You don't need references, politicians, or the police. ALL YOU NEED, IS YOU. Start. And Ten Thousand could become billions. It's true. You can do it. You, simple, regular guy. Like it happened once, to a simple, regular guy. Wake up India. And start dreaming.'

Rock On :)